I realized while lurking this subreddit that many of newer GMs posting here may find themselves confused as to how to properly balance their combat encounters. This is wholly understandable as the book isn't exactly clear on the process. I thought I'd share my insight so as to help any prospective GMs design a clean and effective opfor.
Credentials: I've been GMing Lancer for ~3 years now and have run multiple successful campaigns to completion, both custom and on-module. I teach newbies how to play on the regular and have coached these same newbies to run their own combats sessions.
I will endeavor to make this guide as short as possible so as to be easy to reference. Feel free to reach out if you wanted clarification. Disclaimer: The following rules are my own method to encounter building, and while many other GMs in the community follow these rough guidelines you can expect everyone to have their own twist on it. Another GM you talk to will surely have tweaks on what I present here, but that's okay and honestly kind of cool. We all have our own signature method of playing this game and this happens to be mine!
Step 0: Nomenclature
A quick glossary of terms I'll be using frequently.
-OpFor: Stands for oppositional force. That means your entire collection of baddies used for a given combat encounter.
-Structure: The structure points for your NPCs. Normal NPCs have only 1 structure by default, but templates like Elite or Veteran can increase that.
-Activations: The number of times an individual NPC can take a turn during a round of combat. Most NPCs have only 1 activation by default, but templates like Elite or Ultra can increase that.
-Budget: The total number of NPCs you should be using for a combat encounter, based on how much Structure each individual NPC has.
Step 1: Pick a Sitrep/Budget
The first thing you need to do before you go any further is pick your Sitrep, starting at page 267 in the Core Rulebook. This is the objective that you and your players will be competing against each other to accomplish. Sitreps are an absolutely essential aspect of Lancer combat and the entire engine is designed around ensuring that you and your players have clear-cut goals with specific win conditions outlined. You can still have the occassional death match, if you're so inclined, but they should be infrequent to rare at best.
The Sitrep also determines your Budget. You'll note that each Sitrep descriptions says something like "Use the normal amount of enemies" or "Use double the amount of enemies as normal." This is what we like to call a "Single Budget" or a "Double Budget," respectively.
A Single Budget encounter should have enough total NPC Structure to equal 2x the number of players partaking in the combat. For example, if you have 4 players, you want the total Structure from all your NPCs to be 8. If you have 3 players, the total Structure from all NPCs should be 6.
A double budget encounter simply doubles that. 4 players would equal 16 total NPC Structure, 3 players would equal 12 total NPC structure, and so on. This includes reinforcements.
I'll make a comment below that lists which Sitreps have a Single Budget and which Sitreps have a Double Budget.
Step 2: Balancing Damage
It's entirely possible to do too much damage to your players. NPCs hit hard and you need to make sure they're not hitting so hard that your players don't have a chance to respond. Therefore, never have more than 50% of your OpFor be damage dealing NPCs.
The precise nature of a "damage dealing" NPC is up for interpretation. It is universally accepted that all Strikers and all Artillery archetypes are damage dealers. However, some Controllers and even Defenders fall into this category as well. Knowing who the black sheep of each archetype is comes with time and experience and every GM will tell you who they think is the biggest threat.
For now, stick to focusing on Strikers and Artillery until you get a better sense of who's who.
Step 3: Archetype Spread
In addition to having only 50% of your OpFor be damage dealers, make sure that the rest of the NPCs you're using have a healthy spread of different archetypes. You don't have to have one of each, as a rule, but if you're just starting out then that's at least a good guide rail to use until you're more comfortable experimenting.
Step 4: Don't Overdo Templates
One of the biggest mistakes I see new GMs make is to apply the Pirate Template to every single NPC in their OpFor. "But they're all pirates," they'll tell me, confused as to why their players had a miserable time going against +1d6 damage on crit from every single enemy.
Here's what the book doesn't tell you: Templates affect mechanics, not flavor. Only apply a Template to an NPC to give it the strict mechanical benefits that come with it and never for any other reason!
You can have an NPC be a pirate and not use the pirate template. In fact, you absolutely SHOULD have an NPC be a pirate without using the pirate template. The trick to this is to simply say "This guy is a pirate" and not do anything else. It's as easy as that.
Use Templates sparingly. If you're new, I wouldn't recommend using more than 1 per combat. Even now I don't really do more than 2-3, if that.
Step 5: Fair Deployment
Once you have your OpFor picked out and ready to roll, it's time to put them on the board. In an effort to not overwhelm your players but still have enough presence to apply a bit of pressure, only deploy enough NPCs so that their combined Activations equals 1.5x the number of players. For example, if you have 4 players, only have 6 activations on the board. That means 6 normal enemies, 4 normal enemies and an Elite, etc. I like to think of this as a Soft Cap for Activations.
The rest of your OpFor should be kept back as reinforcements. Follow the reinforcement rules of your chosen Sitrep to figure out when they should enter the fray, and how many.
Additionally, never have NPC activations exceed 2x the number of players. They will be overwhelmed very fast and nobody will have fun. Consider this a Hard Cap for Activations.
If you have reinforcements ready to go but you're already at the Soft Cap, you can bring more if the players are winning and you want to turn up the heat. If the players are losing, hold off and wait until they're in a better position. It's your job as GM to moderate the difficulty of combat based on active circumstances.
If you're already at Hard Cap, then no reinforcements get to enter the board yet. Wait until your players start scoring kills, the suckers.
The End
There's more nuance that goes into it than that, but this is a good starting point for anyone who just wants to wrap their heads around a complex system. As you get experienced, you'll start experimenting more with synergy, cross-classing, custom sitreps, and all kinds of crazy shit. The more experience you have, the more you'll be free to fuck around without breaking the game!

Lately, I've noticed every conversation in my life is so SERIOUS. People say controversial things to me that make me feel forced to say something blunt. My blunt mouth has me thinking I might be autistic (or SOMETHING). I actually Google am I Autistic?

• My best friend is about to move in with a guy who has two kids. I asked her if they had discussed all the issues involved with Stepparenting. There was a long, "why are you such an asshole pause," on the phone. I asked her what her Mom thought and there was more, "thanks for everyone telling me what do type of pause."
• I had to tell my boyfriend he has to go to the doctor for certain issues.
• I had to talk to my Uncle if certain issues were related to dementia.
• I live with someone who renovated our kitchen in a crazy manor. I said my piece. After spending $$$$$$$$$ they have come to agree with me and will be ripping out said kitchen. It's a $10,000 fuck up.
• A good friend of mine has a disability and a discussion about what services she needs led to a blow up.
• Another friend of mine has hid some health issues. So when those came out it was extra serious because a normal conversation just has a better flow???
• Another friend is bad about communication. When we finally did communicate, I was able to find something that solved a complex knee issue.

Are the rest of you having such serious conversations? I feel like I'd be more popular if I didn't care. However, I am known as someone who does care about how things turns out.
Do I have some kind of mental problem if I'm always saying the truth with regard to health issues? I get this from a family that holds nothing back. I personally hate it when used at me, however it was how I was raised.

It’s been over a year and a half since I detransitioned and things in my life have largely been positive. I got my breast tissue removed a few weeks ago and am recovering well. Feels good to finally take the last step in my detransition journey. I used to post here a lot under another account but honestly I just try to focus on my life and not on detrans person so I normally only lurk.
Now that my body will be something I’m comfortable with, I’m starting to consider dating seriously again but I’m really struggling with seeing the point in trying. I dated for a bit last year and found the process gruelling. Even though I think I’m an attractive man, am a fun person to be around, emotionally mature, and have a steady good job, getting any kind of dates with someone I was interested in was so much work. I did actually manage to get a girlfriend last fall, but when I told them about my detrans past a month in everything changed. They said they were ok with it, but they suddenly lost respect for me and became very demanding in a way that felt like self sabotage of our relationship. Perhaps they just revealed themselves for who they are, but I can’t help but notice the shift right after I told them about being detrans.
I’m really struggling with the fact that for a lot of women, my past will be a deal breaker. I have a lot of friends who are women, and when they describe what they’re into in men, it’s always about masculinity. I just can’t see how any woman could see me as genuinely masculine once they knew I lived as a woman for six years. I know there are some women who could look past this, but I imagine those women are rarer. I’m also technically infertile now as well, and even though I froze, sperm not being able to conceive, naturally, feels like it would be a dealbreaker early on.
I don’t take rejection well normally and it makes me super depressed. So normal dating would be hard for me, and the potential rejection around being a detrans male just makes me want to avoid the whole thing all together. I honestly wish I could just date a detrans female because at least they would understand.
I’ve worked on therapy for quite a while now, so it’s not like I haven’t been trying to come to terms with it. It just seems to be impossible to shake that feeling of hopelessness and going into dating with that sort of attitude I know will hurt me.
Any detrans males who date women had any kind of success? If you did have success when did you disclose and how did you do it?

I have Animal Crossing. Stardew Valley, Wylde Flowers, Palia, Terraria and Cozy Grove.
I don't like that you have to give the materials to somebody else to craft in Cozy Grove. I'd like to do the crafting myself.
Something like Stardew Valley or Wylde Flowers has somebody build the bigger stuff, which is fine if somebody crafts the bigger stuff.
I would like to do different kinds of cooking, maybe making clothes, tools, etc. Doesn't have to have everything just to give you an idea.
I have PC, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo DS Lite, Nintendo 64, and an Android cell.
Can be from anywhere around the world. I just need an English option.
Fighting in the game is okay. I just didn't want survival games.

Hey people,
sorry for the dramatic title but it is just the truth. This will be a little bit personal and maybe get longer then I want, but I have the little hope that sharing it in detail will help me find the right answers.
I produce music since 6 years now. I live music since 6 years. On good days music made me finally want to live life and have a passion. On bad days I would say I inject myself with music since 6 years. And I don't build up a tolerance as you can make a new drug (different beat, style) every day. This results in like 150 almost finished tracks, because it's more fun to mix a new drug then consume the rest of the day before.

This situation on itself is hard on me already as it hurts really bad that I don't have all those tracks ready to go (even if its just on my soundcloud). The bigger mindfuck is another thing tho. Every single one of those tracks gets high praise by my friends and random encounters at afterhours or similar events. I am not obnoxiously pushing my music in those situations, but when people come to after at my place and see all my equipment they're curious. And all the music I made is made for this moment to be honest. Empy mind sinking in the couch after a rave, just flying with the music. I've literally showed some randoms some tracks and they hugged me afterwards and thanked me for that experience.
And that is why it is a problem for me to ask for feedback and stuff in a sober, normal situation. You can't feel that music like its supposed to when you listen to it on 6 pm just coming from work and being all aware^{^} You know what I mean? But I can't ask everyone to please give me feedback after listening to it after a rave. But on the other hand I can't really accept feedback if the person didn't hear it in the right setting...

So why do I write this post? I dj'd quite a few times before. Always small birthday partys or really small outdoors. Now this friday a friend of mine is celebrating his birthday and booked a real venue, with real club speakers and estimates a 150-200 people. He know my music, he ( like almost all of my friends) praises my music and wants me to do whatever I want from 4:30-6:00 am. Now I am sitting here, with my tracks that are shoddily mastered (you instantly see it in rekordbox), have weird low end sometimes and are just a wild mix of techno. How do I proceed? I am expected to play many tracks of myself, and I played on rather big speakers before. The sound is not horrible but it is not quite stellar too. But even when I played the most muddy stuff nobody stopped dancing and every set I've played yet was praised by the dancers (and not only my friends). Do I just "master" them even more, so they're atleast loud and I don't have to abuse the eq and trim and just yolo? Do I just play the few tracks I am sure will sound really good mixing wise? It's is so hard for me to accept mixing feedback, as when I wake up from the trance after making a track, it is this eternal thing that made it and I am not eliglible to interfer with that.. damn, am I just crazy?

On one hand I think all my tracks are really, really good for the right context. I payed multiple semi-professionals to listen to them and they all said it's good work and ready for the world. On the other hand I think they're metaphorical drugs, and only good if you're up for taking drugs (like in the after). Not everyone at this party will be up for a deep dream. Not every track is 1A standard which scares me. Having this huge, huge library of tracks where in one second I think they're all masterpieces ( which gets fed by the great feedback I get all the time.. but theyre just being nice ;-)....) and in the next second criticize them so hard at the same time fucks me up. Maybe someone is willing to listen to 4 tracks of mine which show the whole spectrum and how different is? The kicks punch so differently because the songs differ so much, it's not like just 100 hard tech tracks or anything... even if they're the same loudness, can I even play those tracks in one set ?? I already did and it worked but it's a conspiracy haha x.x

Can anybody help? Not just about the party, but the whole problem. How can I get out of this? My tracks from a few years ago are haunting me because they're so full of emotion but not finished and ready to play. Everything haunts me expect a new beat lol. Sorry for the probably very confusing and chaotic text, but it is a good reflection of my mind :7 Thanks to everyone who reads through that. I read it 3 times now and always want to change things just making it worse, like when I try to go back into a old track lol.

For background, I work at a resort restaurant. Our resort has around 6 restaurants with three also operating pool bars during the summer months. About two years ago or so, my co-worker's husband, Dave, witnessed the before-and-after of a really bizarre situation that resulted in a pool and bar getting shut down for a whole weekend.
Dave worked in the engineering department of our resort and was tasked to do some maintenance on the pool before it opened in a few hours. As he walked in, tools in hand, he noticed a group of men and women in the pool. Now, them being there was beyond strange because the pool's gates were locked so only select employees could access, meaning these people had jumped over the fence to get in. He also noticed as he got closer to them that they were drinking beer from glass bottles and the women were entirely topless. Dave would tell my co-worker that one or two of the guys were looking at these women like hungry wolves, which was really gross to think about. They were also all visibly drunk and loud. Dave walked up to the group and told them that they weren't supposed to be there and they needed to leave. They kind of brushed him off and said it was fine. Dave didn't want to start any trouble so he just said that they just needed to leave before the pool opened and staff showed up before going to do what he was supposed to in the main building. To this day, I don't understand why he didn't call security or someone right then and there, but whatever.
I can't remember how long he was gone for, but when he came out, the group of people were gone. However, what was left behind were countless shards of shattered glass all around and inside the pool. It was like a bomb had dropped and glass of all different colors littered the pool's floor and around the edges. Dave's theory was that the women probably got fed up with the men staring at them and this resulted in bottles being thrown. They probably left right after, probably because even in their drunk states, they either realized swimming in broken glass wasn't safe or that they would be royally screwed if they were caught. Whether or not it was true, how else would so much glass end up in the pool? Dave immediately called security and police got involved since the broken glass was considered vandalism. Unfortunately, by that point in time, the group was long gone and at the time, there were no functioning cameras so no suspects could be identified or charged. No one knew if they were even guests at the resort or people who lived nearby. These people basically got away with it.
It took the resort an entire weekend to clean the pool as it had to be drained, scrubbed top to bottom, and then filled manually before it could be safely reopened for service again.
It was supposed to be a really busy weekend and this particular pool was a staple of the resort, meaning the group cost our resort potentially THOUSANDS of dollars.
Now, I actually didn't know about this story until the day after. On the day of, I was supposed to work a shift at my pool and unfortunately for me, not only did my bartender call in sick with no substitute, but I was also the only other employee scheduled that day. So I was on my own and had to deal with the much larger crowd as best as possible. I did have some bartending experience I learned from my coworkers, but I still struggled to keep up on my own and we didn't have enough staff to spare that day. It was rough, but I made it through. However, I've become very strict about glass being anywhere near my pool ever since.
Also, about a year after, working cameras were installed at every pool. Aside from this incident, I think there were others that led to it being enforced, but still it's nice to have.
I know it should be obvious why shattered glass doesn't belong in an area where 90% of its inhabitants usually walk barefoot, but please don't bring glass into a pool.

My car's transmission is on the fritz, so it's in the shop and I'm working from home for at least today. Thank goodness I can even work from home, or things would be a lot more complicated. Anyways, that's just a bit of a vent. I've also decided that I might do little lore-esque prechapter bits for some extra flavor. Hope you guys enjoy them! I find them to be fun little thought experiments on how people might perceive the world I've created from within vs from my own perspective. Enjoy some crafting and some romance!
First Previous Next
We know that the spots that are caused by looking at a source of light are, in fact, damage of some sort to the eye. This is confirmed by the spots rapidly disappearing should someone be healed whilst experiencing them. But why? Is there a divinity within light, beyond what our mortal eyes can withstand? Is there some sort of invisible emanation that comes alongside the light that damages us in some way? The discovery of light damaging the eye has opened more questions for me than it has closed.
-Musings on the Relations of Light and Fire, by Jarwic Leftun
\***
Xander carefully opened the door, finding Gabrelle already asleep, and sat down on a chair. Maybe he could get that adaptive camouflage to work right on bright colors. Surely he had some colorful things in his inventory.
He did in fact have a few colorful things in his inventory, and he whiled the rest of the night away making small adjustments to the runic array that was embroidered into the cloth. He was satisfied before dawn, the cloth now performing as well with light colors as it had with darker colors. Now he just needed to make a cloak out of it. He briefly considered coating his armor with the array, but discarded it. There might be times where he’d want to be seen. Besides, a hooded cloak would better break up the outline of his figure, the ripples of fabric, especially if he were to crouch or lay prone, obscuring his outline even more. In little time at all, he had a long, deep hooded cloak of the color shifting, runed cloth in his hands. He stashed it in his inventory for now, as he had no particular need to sneak up on something right now. The rest of the time before dawn he spent silently sitting in the chair he’d chosen, trying to keep his thoughts to a minimum, just daydreaming. Night dreaming? He couldn’t sleep anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to let his mind wander.
As the dawn came and the sun began to shine through the window of the room, Gabrelle slowly awoke, once more finding Xander sitting in a chair rather than in bed.
“Mmf,” She grunted as she stretched. “Morning, Xander. You got back late.”
“Morning, yourself,” Xander said, turning his head to look at Gabrelle. “Yeah... Yeah, I guess I did.”
“What were you doing, anyway?” She asked, curious. “You didn’t mention that you’d be out late, just that you were going to go to see Valteria at her shop.”
“I uh... went on a date.”
“I knew it! ‘Comparing notes’ was a date!” Gabrelle exclaimed triumphantly.
“It was not!” Xander complained. “But we went to a tavern in the evening and it sort of... turned into a date on the way there.”
“Awhh, that’s so cute,” Gabrelle said. “Did it go well? Is she nice? Did you kiss?”
“I think it went well. We talked a lot about different projects and ideas we had. I also got to meet another [Godsmarked] - he owns the tavern we went to. I think she’s nice. Maybe a little shy. I think she’s gotten used to being treated differently by people. I don’t think she really believed that I wanted to go on a date with her, at first. ...And yes. We kissed.”
“Ooooh, look at you! You’re growing up so fast!” Gabrelle teased.
“Oh hush. I’m older than you!” Xander huffed, then returned to seriousness. “But ah, if I’m going to be dating someone... we need to have a conversation, Gabrelle.”
“We need to stop sleeping together?” Gabrelle quickly deduced before Xander could say it himself.
“Yeah... It doesn’t feel right, even though it’s just platonic between us. I don’t think I would appreciate being in Valteria’s situation and knowing that the person I was seeing was sleeping with someone else at night.”
“Well, I figured this would happen eventually,” Gabrelle said. “Either you or I were bound to find someone eventually. Don’t worry, I’m not upset. Don’t get me wrong, the snuggles were nice, but like I told you a while ago, I don’t have nearly as much trouble sleeping when I’m with the team.”
“Thanks for not being upset, Gabrelle.”
“You know this means you have to start paying for your own room, though, right?”
“Ah, shit, you’re right. I forgot.”
Xander left the room to allow Gabrelle some privacy to get dressed and meandered back down the stairs to see if any other members of the team were already up. Looking around, he spied Graffus eating breakfast at at table and moved to sit with the dwarf.
“Mornin’” Graffus greeted Xander through a mouthful of bread.
“Morning,” Xander greeted back.
“Glad to see you made it back, we were wondering if you’d be out all night,” Graffus told him, after swallowing his bread.
“I was out a bit late, I suppose. I let the time get away from me.” Xander said, not really wanted to be teased again about going out on a date. “So what are you planning to do today?”
“Bah, Frazay has roped me into helping her do research for the drakeling. So reading is what’s in store for me.” Graffus tore himself off another piece of bread from his plate and slathered it with jam. “You going to be going back to that [Tinker] you’ve been spending time with lately?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. I’m supposed to learn more about converting mana types today, and also help her fix the suit of armor that I wrecked.”
“Welp,” Graffus said, now on his last piece of bread, “I hope ya learn something new. Never had much to do with [Tinker]s – not saying I dislike them, just that I haven’t had much experience with them – so it don’t make much sense to me. Using a hammer is about the only overlap in our professions.”
“I think your hammer is significantly larger than the one most [Tinker]s would use,” Xander chuckled. Thinking about what he should be doing before he headed to Valteria’s, he asked Graffus, “Hey, I might need to buy some monster parts or elemental cores, something like that, for practice. You know where I would go to find stuff like that?”
Graffus shrugged. “Dunno. My guess would be an alchemy and reagents shop. That’s generally what we’ve sold monster parts to that didn’t go to a smith or leatherworker.”
“Thanks, Graffus.”
The two of them chatted for a while longer, catching up on what each other had been doing. Graffus excused himself to finish getting ready for the day, saying he needed to tend to his beard, leaving Xander downstairs. Deciding to be productive and proactive, Xander stood as well and headed out of the inn to find an alchemy shop.
It wasn’t long before he found one, a familiar scene of an eclectic collection of powders, liquids, crystals, and strange organic things floating in jars inside the building. The proprietor was a dwarf, seated at a workbench. They were grinding something into a powder as Xander entered. He received a distracted greeting before the dwarf returned to his work.
Xander wandered about the shop for a few minutes, looking at the various materials throughout the shop. He identified what he thought might be an elemental core, a jagged piece of crystal looking material that seemed to have an inner flame. As for the monster parts in jars, Xander had no idea what was what. He finally felt he’d waited long enough and moved closer to the worktable that the dwarf was still sitting at, working away at the mortar and pestle.
“Excuse me,” Xander said, grabbing the shopkeep’s attention.
“Mm?” The dwarf said questioningly. “Can I help you find something?”
“I was wondering if you had any elemental cores. Something small, I just need one to practice with.”
“Aye, I’ve a few of them around the shop. You want something to practice with? So a relatively weak core, then – not all the small ones are weak. Do you need any particular type?” The dwarf stood up and stretched, moving to one of the shelves.
“Uhm no, just whatever is cost effective, I suppose.”
The alchemist rifled through the various bits and bobs on one of the shelves nearby before producing a small chip of what looked to be a semi-translucent stone. It was tinged slightly yellow with streaks of white. “This here is a chip off a lightning attuned core. Pretty weak, but it does still produce mana.”
Xander could see the dwarf’s arm hair standing up as if from static electicity as he held up the stone. “How much?” He asked.
“Twenty gold.”
Xander shrugged. Twenty gold wasn’t an issue for him anymore, and he didn’t feel like haggling. He always hated haggling. “Sure.” He fished out the coin and handed it over to the dwarf.
The dwarf handed over the stone to Xander and the pop of a static electric shock could be heard as a tiny arc passed between the two of them. The dwarf grunted and shook his hand. “Thanks for the business,” he told Xander. “Anything else you find yourself in need of?”
“Not at the moment, but thanks for asking.” Xander waved goodbye to the dwarf and pocketed the tiny elemental core. He continued down the street in the direction of Valteria’s shop, thinking about how he was going to undo the welding job he’d done on Valteria’s armor. He’d need her to guide his repair efforts.
Xander returned to the inn momentarily to grab one of his golems. He settled on Atlas for now, as it was the most basic of the humanoid forms he’d created. No extra arms or weird feet on him, no sir.
Arriving at the building that contained Valteria’s home and shop, Xander knocked before opening the door. “Morning,” he called out.
“Xander! Hello!” Valteria called out. She was at the same work bench she’d been at yesterday. Jarrett didn’t seem to be in the shop at the moment, as Xander wasn’t able to spot the man.
Commanding Atlas to follow him in and closing the door behind him, Xander started walking towards Valteria. “How’s it going?” He asked.
“Good, it’s going good,” Valteria responded as Xander brought a stool over to her workbench. “How about yourself?”
“Not bad. The upside of not sleeping is that I never struggle in the mornings now. I used to hate waking up.” Xander laughed. “I even ran an errand before I came here! Picked up this.” Xander fished around in his pocket until he found the small chip of elemental core and held it up for Valteria to see.
“Core?” She asked distractedly, staring at Atlas. She tore her eyes away and looked closely at the small crystalline stone. “Lightning attuned?”
“That’s what the [Alchemist] at the shop said,” Xander affirmed. “Said it was a very weak one, but that it did still produce mana.”
“Mmm, a good practice piece, then.”
“I thought it would be, too. Not that I know what to do with it, yet.”
“Well, how about this: I teach you to set the stone and make some conduit, and then you can help me fix my armor. All the glue has turned to dust by now, thank the gods.”
“Sounds fair enough. So, how do mana conduits work?”
“Well, the concept is simple enough. It’s a tube which conducts mana,” Valteria began to explain.
“Mmhm.” Xander nodded along.
“What you need is a setting – usually of silver, as it has good mana conductivity – which will be the first step of conduction, taking the mana from the stone. Simply wrapping the core in silver wire can work well enough, drawing in the mana that the core puts out through its surface, but for a more effecient setting, small holes are usually drilled into the core to set the wire into as well, giving more surface area to draw from.”
“So we care about the mana conductivity of the material, then? That makes sense, I just hadn’t thought about it. I actually did a little experiment with my rune work to test which fillings were the most conductive.”
“Oh really?” Valteria said, interested. “What were your results?”
“Well, gold and silver were high up there in conductivity, and probably make the most sense for someone who has to physically manipulate material without use of a skill – both for a core setting and for inlaying a rune – but I did find that sapphires and rubies were even more efficient at transferring mana than gold and silver.”
“Mmm... interesting. I’ve heard of gemstones being used in very high-grade settings, as well as various other exotic materials. I read an account of one [Mechanist] who used tubes of mercury to conduct mana, though the relative effectiveness compared to silver wasn’t mentioned.” Valteria cleared her throat. “Uhm, now, where was I? Right, basic settings. Once you have your core – or monster organ, if you’re going that route – you connect it to the conduit. Usually, this is also silver wiring. I like to braid several smaller wires together, personally. I find it to be sturdier and hold up to flexing better. From there, it needs to be tied into a device. Which is a topic for tomorrow.” Looking around the shop, Valteria seemed to identify something on one of the shelves nearby. “I have a core that you could watch me set, and then you could try setting your own, if you’d like.”
“That sounds good to me,” Xander said. “I always love to see a master as work,” he added, opting for a little flattery.
“Follow me, then.” Valteria said, standing up from her stool and waving for Xander to follow.
Xander followed Valteria as she walked over to the shelf she’d been looking at earlier and took a palm sized, bright green stone from it. “Nature attuned core,” She explained, holding it for Xander to see. “I’m told it was taken from some kind of moving tree.” Valteria then moved to another worktable, on which were several of what looked to be drill bits to Xander. There was also an apparatus that look like it was designed to hold the bits, which was confirmed for him when Valteria slotted one of the small drill heads into the device. “This thing,” Valteria said, waving the drill a little bit, “is a life saver. I used to have to drill holes with a hand cranked one. Worth every single coin I paid for it to get an enchanted one.” She turned a dial on one side of the handheld device, which Xander was coming to think of as a magic dremel tool, and it began to come to life, the drill bit beginning to spin with a quiet whirring sound.
“Neat.” Xander commented. He watched patiently as Valteria drilled a series of shallow holes in the stone, the distinct screeching of metal on stone echoing through the shop floor. “So where’s Jarrett today?” He asked.
“Oh, he has the day off today. He asked for it about a week ago, not sure what for, though,” Valteria said distractedly. Soon she was finished with the holes she was drilling into the core, and moved to another workbench. “Now we create a setting for the core. This is a fairly simple way of doing it, mind you, but it is effective.”
Xander watched as she took sections of pre-braided silver wire and fitted the ends into the holes she had drilled. Once each hole was filled with a section of wire, Valteria began to pull wire from a spool, wrapping the stone until it was completely covered with silver wire and binding the braided sections to the stone in the process. “There,” she said, setting the stone down on the workbench. “A perfectly serviceable setting."
“So, if I understand correctly, you coat the core in a mana conductive material – the more surface area, the better, hence the holes – to create a setting?”
“Mmhmm,” Valteria said, nodding.
“Seems fairly straighforward. And then you connect the silver wiring that’s wrapped around it to more wiring, and attach that to your device? Why the distance? Why not just connect the setting directly to the device?”
“You absolutely can, if space isn’t an issue. Technically, the connection between the mana battery and the device, even if it’s just a single point with no distance, is still referred to as a conduit, though, so it’s considered a three part creation.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you want to try making your own, now? I don’t mind lending you a little wire.”
“Sure, but I should be good on material, I can produce it with my skills. Doesn’t last without a source of mana, but I guess the core itself might provide enough. Think this little chip is a bit small to put holes in, though.”
Xander looked at the small piece of crystal in his hand. If he just need as much contact as possible with a mana conductive material, his best bet would be to embed it into a sapphire or ruby. He decided on ruby, for no particular reason. Still holding the chip of core in his hand, he concentrated on his [Creation] ability. Valteria watched, amazed, as a ruby began to take form and grow around the piece of core until it was completely coated in a thin layer of gemstone.
“So, you can just... make things?” Valteria asked, sounding jealous.
“Well, it costs mana, and anything I make that isn’t provided a source of mana that leaves my person disintegrates in a day, but, yes. I can just make things with my skills. But,” he added, cutting off Valteria’s complaint of unfairness, “I have never received a skill that actually lets me improve a material. Sure, I have runes, which generally makes up the difference, but I don’t have any skills that improve the things I make. So, if you made a mana battery, and I made a mana battery the same way with identical materials, yours is going to be better, I assume, because you have skills that passively improve the things that you make, am I right?”
“Okayyy,” Valteria huffed. “I guess that does make it a little less unfair. But ugh! It would be so nice not having to source materials.” She looked at the ruby with a piece of core set inside it that Xander had made. “Well, I guess that about does it for making a setting... I thought it might have taken you longer to make one. I guess we can move on to fixing my armor even sooner! It’ll be nice to have it up and moving again.”
“Sure, sure, we can do that. Where is it, anyway?” Xander asked, looking around the shop again like he somehow would have missed the eight foot tall suit of armor.
“It’s in a shed behind the house,” Valteria explained. “I have it on a hoist so I can work on it.”
“Ah, that would explain why I haven’t seen it around.”
Exiting the shop, stopping for Valteria to put a small ‘closed’ sign on the door, the two of them made their way around the building, where Xander saw the small shed that presumably held Valteria’s armor. It looked like it could just barely hold the armor and one person – two, if they were comfortable with each other – inside it.
“So this is where the magic happens?” Xander asked.
“If by ‘magic’ you mean maintenance and upgrades, then yes,” Valteria agreed. She opened the door of the shed, which comprised most of the front of the tiny little building, revealing her suit of armor, which was currently hanging from several chains attached to pulleys on the ceiling. Plates of armor were laying strewn about the suite, leaving the joints and inner workings more exposed.
Xander whistled, looking at the inner workings of the suit. He could see gears, cogs, and joints, and throughout the entirety of the armor were running filaments of silver wire, which he assumed were mana conduits running to and from elemental cores and the various mana powered aspects of the suit. “This thing really is impressive. Almost as impressive as the woman who made it,” he said.
Valteria giggled, “Stop it! You’re supposed to be fixing this mess, not flirting with me!”
“Awh, can’t I do both?” Xander asked, trying to sound as saccharine as possible.
“Mmm, I suppose that if you are sufficiently skilled at multitasking, I might allow it,” Valteria said in a mockingly thoughtful tone.
“Well, I just so happen to be an expert, so flirt away I shall,” Xander replied. “Now, how about the beauty in front of me shows me exactly where the other beauty in front of me needs some repairs?”
Valteria sighed at Xander’s antics, but he could see the slight flush in her face. “Well, you welded the wrist joints, elbows, and knees. They aren’t welded all the way round, it’s more like you smoothed over a portion of it like it was wet clay. So if you could just... put it back? Shape it back to how it was, that’s should be all that’s needed.”
“Pretty straightforward,” Xander said, standing behind Valteria as she pointed out each joint. He could see the misshapen parts where he’d slapped a weld onto the metal. He leaned over her and put his hands on the elbow joint that they were closest to and began to shape the metal back to its original form.
“You’re... very close,” Valteria murmured to him as he formed the metal.
“Would you like me not to be?” He asked, carefully.
Valteria was silent for a moment before answering, “No...” quietly.
Xander carefully shifted to be a little closer, but still not quite touching, as he moved on to the wrist joint of the same arm. The process itself was simple, but he was enjoying taking his time. As he finished the wrist, he turned to look at Valteria. He found himself looking right into her eyes, as she was staring back at him. Unable to resist the temptation he leaned in a little closer, gauging Valteria’s reaction. When she, too, leaned towards him, he closed the small gap between them, drawing her into another kiss. Valteria pressed herself against him, the shed hiding them from any prying eyes on the street, and let out a small noise as Xander squeezed her tight. She was breathing a little bit harder than before the kiss as they separated again.
Valteria let out a breath. “You’re… a really good kisser.”
“Yeah?” Xander said, pleased with himself. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“And you’re a tease, looming over me like that in this tiny little shed,” Valteria continued. “Now you’ve got me all flustered, how am I supposed to work now?” She mock complained.
Xander was glad to see that Valteria was comfortable enough with him to joke like that. “Forgive me,” he said formally, making a deep bow, “How ever can I make it up to the lady?”
“Oh stop it, I will tolerate no bowing and scraping, even in jest,” Valteria said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder, as he was still holding the bow. “You can make it up to me by fixing the rest of these joints! And by taking me out to dinner?” She added, hopefully.
“I think that can be arranged,” Xander said. “Is there anywhere you have in mind? I will admit, I haven’t become very familiar with the local restaurant scene, what with my… dietary restrictions.”
“It doesn’t… make you feel bad to go out to a restaurant, does it?” Valteria asked softly, watching his face for a reaction.
“Nah, don’t worry,” Xander said, waving off the question with one hand. “It doesn’t bother me too much. Sure, I miss the taste of a good cut of steak, but I was never that into food. Eating was more of a thing I did because I had to, so I’m not completely devastated by the loss. And I can still get some vicarious enjoyment out of watching someone else enjoy their food. Really the worst part is awkwardly having to refuse ordering anything,” he said with a laugh.
“Alright, if you say so,” Valteria said, letting out a slight breath of relief. “I was just worried that it might be upsetting to you, is all. I know I would miss eating.” She paused for a moment, something clearly on her mind. “What do you miss? If you don’t mind my asking. I just… well, I’m curious what it’s like for you.”
“Mmm, in a lot of ways, life is still the same, and in other ways, I’m technically doing better than I was before. I’m incredibly resistant to damage now, even without my armor. I do miss sleeping, though. I try to give my mind a rest and just sort of daydream and let my thoughts wander or do some meditation during the nights, but it’s just not the same. Also means I’m the one that pulls guard duty through the night,” he grumbled. “Let’s see, what else, what else. Ah, right. I can’t smell anything. Or taste. I haven’t worked out how to recreate those senses, yet. Though no sense of smell can be handy sometimes, I suppose. I don’t know if you’ve done much merc work – you mentioned being surprised that I’m not just moonlighting – but uh… the smells that you encounter on a battlefield are… unpleasant. To say the least. It was weird not having a sense of touch either, but I’ve resolved that. It’s a little bit different than my previous, natural sense of touch, but I’ve become accustomed to it to the point that I don’t much think about the difference anymore. I think I’ve even got the density of receptors down in certain areas compared to others, so I'm more sensitive in some areas than others now, just like I used to be. I’m still immune to being tickled though, so don’t even think about it – that’s a fight you’ll lose.” Growing a bit more somber, Xander continued on. “I think… the biggest thing I miss is just the feeling that I fit in more. Now I always worry about being different, there’s that nagging fear that anyone I get to know well is going to reject me once they find out what I am. Like I’m secretly lying to everyone around me with this façade I have going on.”
Valteria nodded sadly. “I get that. I’ve been… rejected before, too. At least it happens or not right from the beginning for me. I get to know if they look down on me for being different immediately instead of fearing they might later down the road.”
“Yeah,” Xander said. “People can really suck sometimes. But at least I can just, like, not tell people what I am if I so chose. You, my teammates, and the guild, since it’s on my status sheet, are really the only people who know. I keep it pretty private. You can’t do that, so I think you probably have to deal with a lot worse than I do. Not that I’d want you to hide what or who you are,” he added. “I happen to be quite enamored with who you are,” he said, teasing a smile from Valteria’s sad face.
“Sorry to bring up such a dour topic,” Valteria apologized. “I didn’t think much on it before I asked.”
“No worries,” Xander told her. “Honestly, I think it’s good to be able to talk about it with someone. It’s healthy to be able to get you feelings out there. And it helps that I feel like you understand where I’m coming from with it, though from a slightly different perspective.”
“You’re surprisingly thoughtful sometimes,” Valteria said, only half teasing.
“Only sometimes?” Xander asked with a faux expression of hurt on his face. “By the way, you didn’t react much to my comment about moonlighting as a merc. Do you ever go on contracts?”
Valteria shrugged. “I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as a professional mercenary. Moonlighter is an apt descriptor, for me, I think. I have gone on a couple, here and there, mostly on kill contracts that would net me a core or organ that would be useful for my work.”
“Mm, that makes sense. I suppose it could be handy having access to the ability to take contracts that would give you access to specialty materials,” Xander said.
“It’s also good for business,” Valteria explained. “Mercs tend to like to buy from someone who has at least been out on a contract or two before.”
“Ah, that makes sense. What kind of things do you sell to mercenaries, anyways? I saw Jarrett with a crossbow yesterday, but I imagine you make other things, too.”
“Oh all kinds of little things. Portable, flameless heaters for cooking. Water purification sieves. Mm, let’s see… I’ve made a few custom order devices, too. One customer wanted to be able to shoot a jet of flame from their gauntlet, that was a fun one.”
“Ooh, that does sound fun… reminds me of my flamethrower.”
“Your flamethrower?”
“Yeah, it’s basically a big tank with a hose attached to it. At the end of the hose is a pump that causes the flammable liquid – I use dragon’s tar – to shoot out. Add a flame that the tar passes over and bam! You’ve got a giant stream of flame that will coat anything it hits with sticky, flammable tar,” Xander said, excitedly describing the device.
“That’s… impressive. And kind of horrifying,” Valteria responded.
“Mm… I guess you’re right. I mostly use it on giant spiders. Blugh,” Xander shuddered. “But yeah, I suppose it’s not the nicest of ways to go. Very effective for area denial, though. Ah, actually I have an idea for crossbow bolt head that would ignite when it shatters! We should make that sometime and see if it sells.”
“Hmm, I think that would draw some buyers. A flaming bolt head you didn’t have to light first could be desirable to certain buyers.”
“Put that on the list and we’ll get around to it sometime.”
“We have a list?” Valteria said confusedly.
“We should!” Xander said with a laugh. “Now let’s get the rest of these joints done.”
The repair of the other arm and the leg joints that Xander had locked into position during the tournament was a short affair. Looking over the bare metal frame of the armor still hanging from the ceiling, Xander clapped his hands together, mimicking dusting them off. “Good as new!” He exclaimed. Looking over to Valteria he asked concernedly, “It is good as new, right?”
Valteria had been staring at the armor as well, lost in thought about how she was going to improve it next. “Hmm? Oh, yes. It’s right as rain again, ready for use. Thank you, by the way. For fixing it,” She said awkwardly.
“Well I’m the one who broke it, so it’s only fair that I fix it. So what do you want to work on next?” Xander asked. “I could do some rune work for you. Orrr… we could kiss some more?”
Valteria flushed at the question, but didn’t immediately say no.
A few minutes later, she found herself on her tip toes and lightly pressed against the interior wall of the shed, her lips pressed against Xanders.
Once the two of them were done acting like teenagers parked in a secluded parking lot, they made their way back into the shop. Stepping inside and closing the door behind them, Valteria let out a breath. “I think… you are going to have to do a lot of rune work to make up for how much you just kissed me, Xander.”
“What, you didn’t like it?” He said with a raised eyebrow.
“I didn’t say that,” Valteria said with a smirk.

Kaya ba mag move on ng fully kung first love mo? Di ko alam saan magsstart sa kwento ko. Minsan hate ko siya pero minsan miss ko rin siya. Miss ko lang yung time na nakalimutan ko siya pero life really has its ways.
We were childhood friends. Nagkakilala kami ni “Justin” nung preschool palang. Tapos nagkacrush ako sa kanya noong elementary. Of course yung sa puppy love, kilig kilig. Noong nag highschool kami, magka-iba ma kami ng school. We lost touch for a while pero since we had a similar circle of childhood friends we started talking again nung mga 3rd year na kami. Yun we clicked. Exact same footing nung bata pa kami. We talked everyday before going to school and falling asleep. Nagkakamustahan tungkol sa friends at family pati na rin sa mga school work. Minsan din we help each other to answer our homework. Feel ko I really fell for him at 15. He seemed so perfect to me. He understood me and my silences. Parang I didn’t have to explain my soul to him because he just got it. We never went out together na kami lang pag weekends kasi admittedly I felt like hindi ko kaya so lagi akong tumatanggi. As in parang nagrarambol yung mga butterflies sa tiyan ko when im around him. Somehow, parang yung common sense ko nawawala. Lahat pinagusapan namin hanggang sa future and mga trips for summer kahit wala naman kami label. Di ko rin alam if he felt the same way kasi never naman din kami nagshare ng feelings namin na ganon sa isat isa. Oo, bobita talaga. We went on like this until 4th year na kami. Nung prom ko, I brought one of my best friends as my dates kasi nag promise kami nung bata pa kami na kami mag kasama sa prom. I didn’t think of it much kasi Justin naman din told me he and his friends were planning to fly out for a grad trip around that time so I thought wala ding point if I asked him to go with me to prom. The night of prom sinabi ng friend niya na he kind of thought I’d ask him to prom. Shucks di ko alam pano magreact so kinalimutan ko nalang. Ayun so parang medyo nag on-off na contact namin. When we reached the last half of 12th grade, we went back to where we left off pero deep inside alam ko na I shouldn’t make anything of this anymore. His friends would tease me about him when I’d pass them in the hallway. Tapos when I bumped into his bestfriend on a night out, tinanong niya kung ano kami ni Justin. Wala akong masagot so tumawa nalang ako at sinabi friends lang. One time nagkasama lahat kami ng mga friends namin from elementary for inuman, and that night he stuck close to me. Always walking right behind me kahit na nagpapaiwan ako from the group kasi ayaw kong makasama siya na kami lang. The whole time he was asking me about the guys I’ve talked to/dated in the past years. Our group was bar hopping and just so happens na madami akong friends na lumabas that night. So naghhi hello ako and he’d just stand right behind me. He asked me how I knew most of the boys. Tapos sabi oh friend of friends lang ganon. Actually that night talaga sobrang nagccringe ako sa sarili ko kasi in one of the bars we went to he asked me to cover his part eh I didn’t want to interact with him so much so I nodded my head and paid nalang. We went to another bar naman Tapos he sat beside me. I felt so uncomfortable kasi parang di na gagana utak ko kung magkatabi kami at padami na yung na iinom. Yun umuwi ako with a friend and the night ended at that. I told myself na dapat i-let go ko na yun kasi wala naman din mangyayari at nagiging bobo lang ako. So i started replying slower and slower till di na kami nag kausap ulit. Tapos nung mga last few weeks ng grade 12 nilapitan ako ng kabarkada niya tinanong niya yung nag-uusap ba daw kami ni Justin, bat daw di kami magtry, cute naman daw kami together, bigay niya daw number ni Justin sakin para magkausap kami ulit. Tumawa nalang ako at sinabi na wala friends lang naman din kami. Yun so it’s water under the bridge na. I went to college abroad and I left right after I graduated hs. While I was settling down in a new place, tinawagan ako ng bestfriend ko. Pagkatingin ko ng mukha sa screen si Justin pala. Tinanong niya kumusta ko at dahil emotional ako at mag-isa sa ibang bansa sabi ko wag na tayo mag usap kasi alam ko may kausap or girlfriend ka na ganon. Sabi niya no wala pero yun din a week later nagpost siya na sila na ng kinakausap niya. Ok lang naman strong naman po ako. So kinalimutan ko na siya tapos masaya na ako. A few times lang rin during college nag dm siya sakin asking if may bf ako ganon pero yun lang. Fast forward graduate na kami lahat ng college so lahat kami sa batch namin nag uwian sa hometown to catch up. Di kami nag pansinan buong night. Nilapitan niya nalang ako nung may mga kumakausap sakin na mga lalaki. Nainis ako dahil di ako makalandi well since lagi siya nangingistorbo tapos paulit ulit niya ako kinakamusta na parang gago. Alam ko wala naman siyang feelings sakin, lintik lang talaga minsan. May common friend kami na girl tapos sila yung magkasama at nagsasayawan the whole night except nung times na nagpapapansin siya. Yun lang after nalaman ko may nangyari pala between them dati. Gusto kong sabihin na wala akong pake at all pero sa totoo may konting pag-irap ng mata kasi close kami dati ng ate gorl mo. Yun pa sinabihan niya ako that night na gago si guy and all that bago kami pumunta sa inuman. Recently, pumunta sa current city ko yung close friend niya na guy na ka close ko rin. We met up a few times as friends. Yun lang after ng first meeting namin na stinory ng guy friend, lagi na siya nanonood and like sa mga story ko. Ginagago niya ba ako? Or gusto niya lang lagi akong maiinis sa kanya?
TLDR: bobo ako at minsan miss ko pa rin siya

Hi folks, I am new to this subreddit and seeking advice. I'm planning to open my first business. I currently work for a large business making 6 figures. I have recently decided to open a sports training facility (different industry entirely.)
I have created an LLC, business plan, am looking for spaces, talking to vendors etc. I have no idea what i don't know about running a business. I'm aware of things like insurance etc.. I'm looking for ANY advice at all in regards to opening your own business.
Leaving the security of doing pretty well in the corp world to fly solo is incredibly daunting to think about for me. Little things like, the best accounting software to use, how to manage work life balance as a business owner.
I will be looking through the subreddit myself to find information. But any tips would be greatly appreciated.
I do want more freedom and time for myself, i know running my own business would mean MORE work hours than I currently take on each week. That is the opposite of my desire, but im looking at an opportunity i will likely regret not trying in the future if i pass up the opportunity now.

This neighborhood has the cell service equivalent to a rural area with cows and shit. I have been trying to make a doc appt for the last 2 hours. I work in this general area and this neighborhood has next to zero cell service! Idk how you all do it here. Would refuse to pay a cell bill if I have to use WiFi for every single call. And would have to drive 5 minutes out of where I live to get a signal in a super densely populated neighborhood. I have Verizon. Idk if anyone else with a different carrier has had any better luck.

There are two guys that I met on a trip who both expressed interest in me, an INFP.
ENTP
-Bonded over talking about politics and current events
-One day, he was pulled away from conversation, and seemed genuinely irritated that our conversation was cut short
-Was very shy talking to me; I'd usually have to be the one to initiate
-I got super drunk one night, and he helped hold my hair back as I threw up in the toilet
-Got jealous of ESTP’s behavior towards me, and told him and all of ESTP’s's cousins that he liked me
-Turns out, ENTP had a girlfriend, and he didn't mean to catch feelings for me, but he did
-He cut off contact with me after, but they broke up not too long later, and there were some signs he was stalking my social media
-Three years later, I’m having a mental breakdown online. ENTP sees this behavior, and asks our old friends (including ESTP) to check on me
ESTP
-He was unintentionally rude to me during our first interaction, but realized he was in the wrong, and started being nicer to me after
-Was making out with another girl at the resort the day I met him (they tried to hook up, but his mom caught them and stopped them)
-When I first started hanging out with ESTP and his cousins, I got kind of drunk, and went to sit down by myself on a couch. He got me a water and sat down next to me. He even offered to escort me to the restroom
-The same night that I got super drunk, I apologized to everyone for getting wasted. ESTP shushed me, putting his finger to his lips before putting it on mine
-After ENTP turned me down, I was more quiet after, and ESTP asked me why I was quiet. He then asked me what I like to do for fun
-After ENTP cut contact with me, ESTP ried to, in his way, ask me what was going on, and how I felt
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Hi, folks. Don't know if this is the place to ask this but it's been on my mind recently and I don't know where to go for advice so I figure Nails would be a good start, or at least maybe could point me in the right direction.
I love nails, I have always loved them. They make me feel so beautiful and I want them, badly. Only issue is I work a job where we are not allowed to have long nails, fake nails, nail polish... etc. I work in a food manufacturing plant and they're very strict about that kind of stuff. I get two day and three day weekends fairly regularly, but I never get more than 3 days off consecutively and I would really love to find a way to have nails, but ones that I can easily apply and remove so that I can have them on my weekends but take them off the night before my Mondays. Does anybody have any ideas? The closest thing I've found to this was years ago at Halloween City, I found some costume nails and they were super cheap and cheesy but they looked nice short-term. Only thing is I don't know how to find a similar product outside of that context. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Basically title. Whenever I open linkedin, some sde from FAANG is sharing notes on how to crack interviews. Some recent graduate, looking like a tard, working at one of the above company is telling people to book 1:1 call on t*pmate. Someone from IIT is making the worst humour joke of all, and then writing in their bio "Humour and Code".
And the worst of them all. Some girls will literally show their skinny legs or wear highly exposing dresses by attaching images, and then tell their preparation journey of DSA and in the end will again beg for following them.
I mean, isn't the money they are making enough or are they too much attention seeker. And most of these people are young ones, in the age group of 21-35. I sometimes find it cringe.
I wanted to ask you guys also, like what do you feel like when you see someone from your college, whom you knew very closely, does these kind of things on linkedin. Do you also feel it cringe?
Are these people really that much free that they have time for getting into video call with someone. Or are the companies not giving them enough work, because they are planning to lay them off👀.

So as we all know The Master is one of the greatest villains in Fallout, being both evil and sympathetic. His methods are cruel, yet his goals of Unity are noble and when presented with the fact that his goals are flawed he gives up and is willing to tear down everything he built. However, I think the issue of the mutants being sterile is lesser compared to one major issue with his plan of unity. Now i must disclaimer here as some of my points are inspired by aspects that we learn in later games, im also not saying he is a bad villain because of these aspects and i even think my argument actually makes him even better as a villain.

1. Mutants being sterile has an easy solution: The master was planning on using humans who were untouched by radiation, notably vault dwellers, to be those chosen to become his master race of mutants. This is because they retain/increase in intelligence rather than losing it like with the second gens, but, as they are sterile they cannot reproduce in a traditional way putting a damper on his plan for evolving humanity. However, he could simply keep a population of pure humans as stock for his mutants, enough of them to not inbreed but not too many to undermine his plan of unity. He already intended to keep the wasteland humans around but just sterilise them. These humans could be brought up to see becoming a mutant as the highest honour with their society being engineered into worshipping the master. Obviously this is something that would take considerable time but the master always looked on the longterm anyway.
   
2. The mutants are not as unified as he presents: Whilst his plan seeks to remove differences in humanity regarding race, gender and class he inadvertently creates multiple classes of mutants all of which would probably cause friction with each other down the line. First we have the first gens, keeping or improving on intelligence and these are the main stock of the master race. Then we have the second gens, who are former humans tainted with radiation meaning they lose their intelligence, we see in New Vegas that whilst they are not opposed, there is a clear hierarchy with the first gens being considered superior. Now the master was not actually intending to create more second gens and they were mostly used as footsoldiers, but their very existence and the fact that they have the same longevity as the first gens this would inevitably create a hierarchy down the line. Then we get to the Nightkin, his elite and the very fact that he has an elite is contradiction to his unity. Furthermore, the nightkin are also plagued by mental health problems due to their use of stealthboys further exacerbating their differences, though this was something that appeared down the line and he may have not foreseen. Theres also the psychic humans he has but we probably know the least about his plans regarding them.
   

Now the counterpoint to this is the fact that they all still revere the master and he allegedly has psychic influence over them but that doesnt mean that they would not fight amongst themselves for the masters approval as they still show individuality even under his psychic powers. The master essentially sought to create a false unity, one which revolved around him and would lead to more division down the line and if/when he failed would create more division in the wasteland with there now being three different kinds of mutants, ghouls and humans who still have their internal divisions. I always found it weird how Marcus was fully behind the masters plan in both Fallout 2 and New Vegas even though in both games he is dealing with the fallout (hehe) of the masters flawed unity. Less so in 2 as they were caused by humans but especially in New Vegas where there is a division between the first/second gen's and the nightkin.
Please share your thoughts and i welcome any counter points/differing interpretations.

CHARACTER AGENCY

It's ridiculous how passive and honestly "NPC" the other characters in the world are. For an installment in the series that wanted to dip deeper into the "Roleplay" side of things, it's absolutely crucial that CK3 find a way to make the other characters in the world feel like real, living, breathing, and independent people, and it currently falls flat on that.
Here are just some ways that you could improve character agency in the game:

• Characters should be able to push for appointments, regularly. How am I a god that just comes in and names every single knight and court position in the land with not a breath of reaction from my entire court. Do you know how many people would've had the king's ear in this time and been pushing for themselves or their friends or family for these appointments? Think of the court intrigue you've seen in shows like Game of Thrones or Shogun or Succession, now think how well the game captures that feeling. The -40 opinion penalty for major vassals not being on your council is a boring static modifier that doesn't take into account personality and context and only applies to your council, not to court positions or knighthoods. The random events in your Royal Court where people push for appointments are infrequent, pretty random, have little consequence, and are actually entirely optional if you never Hold Court. People should be pushing to fill your different roles regularly and react positively or negatively if you pick people they like or don't like. Here are some examples:
  • People should be able to push for themselves to be appointed, for their friends, for their family, for people they respect, for people of their culture and/or religion, for people with similar personalities to them.
  • People should oppose the appointment of their rivals, people from families their family is feuding with, people they dislike, cultures or religions they oppose, etc.
  • Personality traits should affect who people push for. Deceitful characters may want you to purposely appoint incompetent knights, bodyguards, food tasters, etc. if they dislike you. Zealous characters prioritize religion far above other qualities. Diligent characters prioritize the most competent candidate. Vengeful characters highly oppose their enemies being chosen. Greedy characters prioritize appointments for themselves or their family. Impatient characters will get upset if you leave the position vacant for too long. Trusting characters will only push for candidates they really know well.
• Characters should be able to refuse appointments, or resign from positions. Maybe the talented firstborn son of the king does not wish for the duty to rule and refuses the election to King and instead wishes to spend his days frequenting brothels and fighting in tournaments. Maybe a martially gifted vassal that has huge estates and is living comfortably in his manor off of his rents doesn't want to be appointed as my Marshall and chase and stamp down peasant revolts for a living, so he comes up with an excuse to refuse the appointment. Perhaps I need to change his mind by paying him a visit to persuade him in person, or by hosting a great feast in my hall with him as the honorary guest, or by arranging a marriage between our families. Perhaps my masterful Steward is offended at the lowborns and heathens I have hired into my council, and resigns out of protest. Perhaps my Marshall is ashamed at how badly the last war went under his purview, and resigns out of shame. Perhaps my Chancellor just heard news that his son was killed in a hunting accident back home, and resigns to go spend time on his estate with his family.
• Characters should react to actions the player takes.
  • Won a great battle? Maybe a knight approaches you after the battle wishing to enter your service after hearing of the tale. Maybe your marshall approaches you and congratulates on your generalship. If it was against heathens, maybe the Pope writes you a letter congratulating you on the victory of Christendom. Maybe a vassal approaches you and offers to build a statue in his domain to honour your victory.
  • Declared a new war? Maybe a vassal refuses the call to war citing some excuse, withholding his levies and giving you a reason to punish him in the future. Maybe another vassal joins with his personal troops as well because he is personally interested in success in this war.
  • Built a building in your vassal's land? Your vassal should thank you and like you more.
• Characters should regularly ask for favours from the player, and the player should be able to ask them in return. Maybe a an existing councillor asks that you hire him to another position for which he thinks he is better suited. Perhaps a vassal approaches you with a marriage offer, and in return offers to build a church in your honour. Perhaps a vassal approaches you and asks that you declare war on the country that is raiding their lands, and in return offers to increase his obligations to you. Perhaps a vassal asks that you raise his children with the greater learning available in your court, and in return he will send you his brother to serve as your knight. Perhaps the pope asks you to build a church and in return offers to send you some learned monks and an artifact.
• Characters should regularly travel to visit each other or do things. It seems like the only thing characters beside me do is lead armies, and go on hunts. Why don't my councillors go back to visit their estates? To see their families? Why don't distant family members travel to see each other? To host family reunions?
• The player should be able to consult decisions with other characters. What is the point of my councillors if they never give me counsel? If I am planning on giving out land to new vassals, each of them should be there with suggestions on who I should give it to, or whether I should even give it away at all. And it should not just be my councillors, sometimes these decisions are leaked and my entire court will find out, in which case many courtiers would have their own opinions on what should be done! Maybe one of my guests approaches me and begs I give the land to them due to some ancestral claim. Maybe my food taster during dinner tells me he thinks it should go to my existing vassal X because he manages his current estates so well. And what if I want to host an activity? I should be able to ask my councillors or courtiers which activity they wish for or think would be best to host next. Maybe they have suggestions for where to host it, how to plan it, who to invite, etc. Maybe my marshall wants a tournament but my chaplain wants a pilgrimage. Maybe in my feast, my Steward wants me to invite vassal X but my wife despises him and wishes me not to.

The fact that almost none of these features exist in a meaningful way in the game is kind of ridiculous, for a game that tries so hard to be role-play centered and story-driven. Think about how much we are missing out on because of the lack of agency of characters in the world. Imagine if other characters in the world acted like us as the player character. Think of the story opportunities if features like the above were implemented to make for more independent AI characters.

Waddup fam! Super late to post, but I wanted to SO the big homie ayybrahamlmaocoln - thank you for the hook up as always! Below I will list what was purchased and a bit of a review for each. I don’t typically state specific notes/accords as a “matter of fact” but rather what I may perceive them to be and cross reference with fragrantica, hoping that the notes listed are close to being accurate 😅
I don’t really rate out of a 10 point scale either, you like what you like and same goes for me - difference is you should get your nose on whatever the fuck you can at a reasonable pace
Edit: sorry for getting the name wrong bud 😭 https://imgur.com/a/IOfsdzH

• Tygr Cologne (inspired by Bvlgari Tygar) I’ll be honest, I’m not a big fan of its opening - not saying it’s bad at all though. There seems to be a sort of signature “juiciness” that presents itself in the opening of certain offerings for the house (like in LBB intense which seems rather fitting for that profile). As this transitions towards the heart, that’s where the similarities toward the OG come into play. What I love about the OG, is its opulent profile that kind of reminds me of a very luxurious hotel bathroom, linear but clean and subtle.
  
• Another 14 (inspired by Le Labo Another 13) Quite disappointing to my nose tbf. There seems to be a weird set of notes in its opening that reminds me of construction paper lmao 🤷🏽‍♂️ maybe it’s my skin, but eventually it gets close to the OG. I used to love it, but now I prefer different profile of “skin scents”
  
• Citrus Rose (inspired by MFK L’homme a la Rose) Nicely done! That same “juice” type accord is present for this iteration, it permeates through out the wear as well as the rose. It definitely is slightly stronger take on the DNA, and a definitely solid replacement in my opinion
  
• Imaginary (inspired by Louis Vuitton Imagination) This opinion might aggravate yall, but I felt like this was just.. meh lmao. It’s more subtle and everso slightly tiny bit powdery. I prefer the OG because How much sharper it’s ginger comes across
  
• Pineapple Musk (inspired by Creed Aventus) Easily my favorite from the ordered set. Montagne really does creed well - so much so that it makes me feel like what’s the point of buying the OG? The signature juiciness is also present here, and with the increase of Musk it behaves exactly how I’d want it too on my skin without sacrificing its dry down to a synthetic smell (a problem most other Aventus clones have, and a testament to the quality of ingredients Montagne has in their arsenal). The only other Aventus clone I’ve ever loved was insidious in which PM has definitely taken the throne!
  

Yesterday I had another eye appointment (my like 5th in the month of may). Except this time I thought I was finally done with everything after following the prescription from my ER visit. I go to this appointment, pressures are back down to just barely out of normal range (but at least they match each other). And so I expected for the doctor to maybe just tell me to taper off the medicine or finish the dose or whatever.
When he talked about a follow up appointment I tell him I have a "reduction" surgery on Wednesday (I live in the south). And he asks if I can just move it. Who does that?! Obviously if the surgery is in 2 days I've already been preparing for it for a long time. I told him I don't know if we can move it since it's so soon (and I don't fucking want to do that) and he calls my surgeon!!
Also some of what he said felt a little like fear mongering, but maybe that's a reach. Even when my last doctor (who granted gave me a very bad option of medicine) wanted me to go to the er he wasn't talking about me losing receptors in my eyes. Hell I didn't even know how high my eye pressure was ER day until I was in his office.
So for the last 24 hours I've had no clue if I'm going to get surgery tomorrow morning. They moved me to a different office, and the new office's number sends you straight to voice-mail. I left a voice mail this morning but my pre op instructions didn't say to call them until after 3pm.
I'm just not sure how to cope with all this uncertainty. I keep fucking crying which isn't good for my eye pressure either (it's not that big of a deal but I'm feeling very dramatic). I have so much I need to get done before surgery (if I'm having it) but I can hardly get out of bed cause I feel miserable.
It's hard because this entire process feels like it keeps slipping out of my hands the moment my fingertips reach. And how hard is it to make a phone call? Damn.
Anyways thank you for coming to my Ted talk, fuck optometrists.

Hi everyone!
I wanted to give a detailed review of my experience with sm global package for taemin’s metamorph concert in tokyo at the nippon budokan. I am months delayed in posting this (thanks to grad school) but I initially wrote it out of post-concert depression prior to returning to the states back in March.
buying the global package, twin ver:
the package was announced sometime in december 2023 if im not mistaken and I stayed up until midnight (pst) on 1/22 to book a twin package for ‘course c’ which was 2N3D (sunday concert 3/10) for my friend and I. The packages that included all three nights (5D3N) of the show sold out the quickest, but there were still packages available for individual show days. As a tip to make things easier, make sure to have your friends’ passport info to input in advance so the booking goes easier if you are booking a twin package. If you are the one making the booking, make sure to have the global package app downloaded as they will send you notifications along the way about day of show schedule, merch preorder, etc. They ask that you relay this info to your partner when you purchase a twin package, as you are the primary reservation holder. You also cannot split the cost while booking, it must go on one card through paypal. When booking, you have the option to request extending your stay at the hotel through sm c&c, but since we were planning to go to Kyoto after the concert, we just checked out the day after the concert as planned. Also we didn’t have any ACE memberships, but if I remember correctly, you can enter that info to get an exclusive MD benefit.
merch preorder:
Prior to arriving in Japan, we got a notification at around 6pm pst on 2/28 (11 days prior to the show) with our exclusive merch preorder links which went live at midnight that same night. The prices were in yen and you pay using paypal. I had no problem getting the MD I wanted, however since there were limits on the amount of MD you could purchase (including the 2 different pins, which were 1 per order) I had to ask my friend if I could purchase an additional pin through his MD preorder link since there were 2 different pins in this specific concert MD. The day of the show (3/10) at around 10am, we picked up the MD we preordered with ease and pulled our concert seat tickets and received our global package exclusive gift (a mag safe wallet) and let the staff know which transports we would be taking (round trip bus or one way to/from the venue). I was a ljttle disappointed in the global package benefit MD as I had seen what the metamorph show in Korea had received (I think it was a handwritten letter from Taemin and a little lego figurine of him 🤧). Everything was smooth and efficient. Even after the concert, I was able to get into the MD line to purchase more, even though most of the MD was sold out.
checking in/out of the hotel & hotel review:
We stayed at the Hotel Monterey Hanzomon which was really close to the venue and across the street from the Hanzomon subway line, so it was very accessible by public transit. My friend and I both flew into Haneda and it took a little less than an hour to get to the hotel from the airport via public transit, but after a 12.5 hour long flight it was exhausting. When I asked the people at the airport if there was an airport limousine to the area, they said it wouldn’t take me close enough to the hotel and recommended I take the subway. We had met a few people in line for the MD pickup who said that we (allegedly) had a nicer hotel than those who did the NCT 127 global package for their Tokyo dome show (same weekend) but all in all, Hanzomon was an economy hotel with nothing to write home about. I will say the breakfast buffet included was really nice and I’m glad we didn’t skip out on it. When we checked in the day before the show, we just showed our passports and checked in like any other hotel. In the lobby there was a whiteboard with all of the concert info (opening times for md pickup, bus schedules, and concert schedule) displayed in english, korean, chinese, and japanese. I was a little bummed to find out that the concert (which took place in the middle of the afternoon) was only going to be an hour and a half maximum, even though NCT’s concert was almost 4 hours (!!!) in length.
day of show:
We had breakfast in the lobby around 8:30/9ish then after that we got to the sm desk at 9:45am to pick up our md and pick our tickets for the show (thanks to the tip from another fan on reddit, well worth getting there a little before the booth opened). I did notice the ACE membership MD benefits were nice, but neither me nor my friend have any fanclub memberships. It was relatively straightforward, they checked our passports and handed us a lanyard that acted as our bus pass and then one person per twin package picks the pair of tickets at random (in sets of 2 so you sit with your friend) and we got seats in section A3 (floor) which were great. They asked us if we wanted a seat on the bus ride round trip or one way and we originally said only one ride to the venue, but my friend decided to take the bus back too once we got to the venue so we notified the SM staff and they added us to the roster for the ride back easily. When we got to the venue (an hour and a half-ish before doors) they escorted us to the front and we were let in immediately. The efficiency was incredible. They didn’t check my bag prior to entering like how they would for a concert in the US so I didn’t bring a water bottle into the venue but thankfully they had vending machines inside and concessions on the top levels of the venue. We also went to a booth upstairs to pair our lightsticks for the show, since the Japanese Shinee Lightstick app is only available for Japanese phones, so we showed our ticket locations and they were able to calibrate. The show was short yet sweet, we did not see anyone ejected for taking photos/videos but we were too scared to risk it. If you are caught filming or taking photos they will make you delete the photos/videos and kick you out with no sign of return, but I think because it was the last day and we were in the middle of a crowd, it was a little easier to get away with. There was a sadness in the air because it was Taemin’s last concert as a soloist under SM, but overall the show was incredible. One thing of note though is Japanese audiences are very quiet, they tend to clap rather than scream in between songs and there were times where you could hear someone from the rafters sneeze and it would resonate, so be prepared for that cultural difference. We still screamed when it felt appropriate to do so and the fanchants were loud but it was definitely strange to be golf clapping in between songs, especially in comparison to shows in the US where fans are barking 💀. It was nice to be able to hear Taemin speak uninterrupted during the ments, without pick-me fans interjecting their screams. He spoke exclusively in Japanese and there was no translator so we were left to guess what he was saying. A K-fan next to us was live Papago-ing his ments to Korean and I would peek and read what the translation was. Also shout out to this lovely K-shawol because she let my friend borrow one of her lightsticks! Once the show ended, everyone queued up to leave the venue in an orderly fashion and we cleaned up any trash we saw and we went out to the MD booth to buy any last minute MDs before going to the bus. On the bus, they gave us each a (unthemed) bag with some strawberry cookies and a waterbottle and we had a fun time air-dropping photos and videos from the show with other (braver) global package attendees. Everyone we met was so lovely and everything about the global package went very smoothly and efficiently.
closing thoughts:
the day after the show, we took advantage of the free breakfast and checked out with ease. The SM C&C staff left the whiteboard in the lobby and left a nice note for us and we wrote our thank yous on there. Overall, the package cost was $1559 for 2 people ($779 ea, 2 twin beds for 2N3D) and even though it was pricey it was so worth the convenience of not having to try to buy tickets locally, which I heard sold out entirely during fan club presale. Please note that this cost did not include airfare or transit to/from the airport. The concert coincided with my spring break and Taemin is one of my ults, I just wrote a paper on him for grad school so it was a no brainer, I had to be there no matter what lol. I was a bit disappointed in the lack of theming (I heard the concerts in Korea come with themed rooms, themed snacks, etc) and the lack of transportation to and from the airport (which I heard is sometimes an option for shows in Korea and would have been a great benefit). But otherwise the hotel was clean and convenient (a little small, but that’s how it is normally in an economy hotel in Japan), breakfast was good, SM staff were helpful and nice, and we made some new Shawol friends in the meantime :)
overall, I would absolutely book with global package again, but I would definitely want to see a show in Korea to compare the benefits. It was an unforgettable experience to be apart of the pearl aqua ocean 💎
if you have any questions ask away! prior to booking this package, I took the advice of another fan under and it was really helpful so I wanted to offer any insight based off my experience.