[First] [Previous] [Next]
WaveOfWire Edits :D
- - - - -
Harrison’s vision was still foggy from waking up, several blinks failing to clear the tears from his drawn-out yawn. He just escaped the encompassing embrace of his four-armed guardian, leaving their shared bed for the bathroom, where he would have to say goodbye to his beard. If he was going to travel out of the settlement, a proper seal on his gas mask was a must.
It was a shame. The slow buildup of the hair over the last month or so was a representation of his growth in a way, building up alongside his experiences in this hellhole, be they life-threatening or informative. It was almost like wiping the slate clean, even if cutting some chin scruff didn’t really change anything at all—he’d never be able to forget anything he had seen here for as long as he lived.
And there was no telling how long that’d be.
The engineer sighed, splashing the lukewarm barracks water into his face from one of the many wall-attached sinks, allowing him to fully open his eyes and size up the damage done to his favorite black blood-and-sweat-stained t-shirt. It always stayed in good condition with washing and fabricator repairs, but somehow Shar’s talons always found a way to make small holes in it. She wasn’t trying to, but with the way she fully wrapped her arms around him, the tips of her sharp fingers sometimes ended up poking into the fabric and causing some cuts.
It was such a small issue that he never considered bringing it up to her. Plus, she’d probably do her whole guilty talon-tapping thing with puppy eyes and all… He shook his head, letting the stray beads of water on his face drip into the sink.
His palm ran across his beard while his other hand reached for the razor. There wasn’t any shaving cream or the like, but he’d make do. At least he had one of the proper tools for the job. He went into the task, the blade driving through his scruff, slopping off wide areas of his hair from jaw to chin for a few seconds before it was interrupted.
A short ‘woosh’ of the entrance caught his attention.
“Aww, you’re shavin’ it off?” Tracy commented dejectedly through a yawn, the lazy drawl reinforcing the fact that she just woke up. “Th’ beard was sorta growin’ on me.”
He eyed her through the mirror, his voice coming out in a dull tone. “Yeah. I feel the same.”
She squinted under the bright bathroom lights, rubbing an eye with her wrist as she walked up to the sink beside him and started her own morning routine. “Mmm… Womp womp. Why though?”
“Need it to get a gas mask seal,” he stated flatly, focusing on the task at hand.
The technician stopped momentarily, the gears turning in her head before she gave him a downcast frown. “You’re still set on going for the vehicle bay? You know we can just send some long-range drones out there, right?”
His short exhale echoed throughout the tiled room. The engineer closed his eyes, already mentally withdrawn from the conversation. They've had this discussion twice now. “It’s to be better prepared for any chemical, biological, or radiological surprises that might come up—not just for the excursion. Even more importantly, there’s no guarantee the module is in perfect shape. If I’m there in person, I’ll have the means to get through anything for those blueprints. Plus, it should only be four days, so the only issues we have are my beard and finding a way to protect the Malkrin from the radiation while we’re out.”
Tracy looked like she wanted to say something back, but bit her lip and cast her eyes down at the sink in front of her, twisting the knob before mumbling a quiet response. “I don’t think you need to protect them from radiation at all…”
“Hmm?”
She stared at him meekly, his dismissal of her worries having clearly dampened her mood. Guilt tugged at the back of his mind before her words further caught his interest. “I think they’re immune… or resistant or something. Radiation immunity is the whole reason they were sent here. You’ve added up the pieces together too, right?”
He stared down at her, running a hand through his hair with tired exasperation depressing his voice. “Tracy, I’ve been trying my hardest to just make it another day on this God-forsaken planet, not dig into their religion. So, no. I have not spent the time to add up the pieces. Enlighten me, please.”
“…S-Sorry. I just, you know, get a lot of time to think when working on drones, and Cera has been drawing all kinds of representations of these things.” Tracy paused, gesturing toward the engineer. “Okay, so you remember the whole backstory for why the Malkrin are on the mainland in the first place?”
“Pseudo-eugenics?” he commented dryly.
“Yeah.” She nodded, a sense of excitement leaking into her voice. “And what were the parameters of banishing someone?”
“Not getting sick from a rock.”
She eyed him feverishly, brows raised with a sudden zeal. “Aaaaand that rock represented the Sky Goddess’ wrath, which did what?”
“Uhhh…” He looked upward in thought, recalling his conversation with the paladin. “I think Shar mentioned nausea, vomiting, blisters, skin melting… off…” He froze, the pieces forming. “Wait, you don’t think…”
“I do. Those symptoms could mean a lot of things, but the anomaly field was the real kicker. You know that Shar just straight up didn’t have any lingering radiation effects or anything while you were nearly put… six feet under…” Her voice quieted momentarily, the speed of her speech outpacing her train of thought. “Sorry. Um… so, I was gonna say that she, uh, I mean the scanner mentioned she had damage from ‘alpha particles’ on her skin, but nothing else happened to her organs or anything.”
Harrison squinted at her for a moment, mouth slightly opened and prepared to give some alternative reasoning besides ‘immunity.’ Maybe her armor protected her from it? No… she didn’t even have full protection, radiation would have certainly gotten around her eyes or snout. What about her height? What if… No.
He didn’t just want to believe that somehow the Malkrin could just evade a force of nature, but he didn’t have any way of proving or disproving it on hand… Well, no humane way of testing it.
“I… guess?” the engineer grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Even then, they still need armor and gas masks. The worst part of the radiation isn’t even the ionizing part. It’s the trace elements that get into your lungs and decay there. So it doesn’t hurt to use some CBRN filters.”
“Fair… but it’s interesting, isn’t it?” Tracy beamed. “Like, what kind of evolutionary factors lead to radiation immunity? Why do only some of the Malkrin have it and others don’t?”
The only real cause of radiation he could think of would be a massive nuclear proliferation of some sort. Maybe the anomalies? He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the lingering thoughts away. “I wouldn’t know. You could always ask Sebas to bring up some papers about it or generate some theories when you get the chance.”
“I probably will at some point… Maybe while I’m working.” She poked him in the bicep. “You’re still helping me with the mule, right?”
He bobbed his head, loose beard hairs itching up his chin. “Sure am. Gimme a bit to shave and test the fifty-cal ammo, then I’ll be free to assist.”
“Kay Kay.” The tradeswoman smiled and returned to the sink, washing her face.
- - - - -
“What the hell did you do to your shield?” a stunned Harrison asked the paladin, his face scrunching up in concern… and confusion.
Sharky proudly held up her once grungy orange shield with a smile, looking at its new… paint job? “Artificer Tracy has s—n to imbue my bulwark with the crest of the Sky Goddess herself! Observe the b—utiful wings that cover it!”
The engineer had just got back from setting up and overseeing the automated mule’s first excursion to the mine and back. It was a grueling task, requiring him to reset its pathing several times before it was able to make a round trip without input. Now, the maroon-skinned Malkrin in front of him had apparently gotten her massive aegis laser imprinted with crossing wings in the two hours or so he’d been gone. The areas between the black feather decals were colored with white and blue paints, contrasting with the new dark gray background.
A small weight was placed on his shoulder, Tracy’s forearm suddenly appearing atop it despite her being nearly a foot shorter than him. She beamed, staring up at him with all-too-proud eyes. “The scout regiment symbol looks good on it, right? Cera helped me with the laser engraving.”
“I…” His brows raised in perplexity. “The scout regiment?”
She shrugged, watching the paladin observe her shield from all sorts of different angles underneath the workshop’s light fixtures. “From an anime I used to watch. Men and women who were sent out to battle against massive titans for the greater good of the last settlement of humanity. Somewhat fitting, and fuckin’ awesome on her big-ass shield! Matches the bird’s wings on her armor too.”
He loudly sighed. “You wasted materials on imprinting wings on Shar’s shield? Really?”
“Hey!” Her brows furrowed into faux-annoyance, a smug grin betraying it. “It’s not a waste if you were never gonna use the paint we had on hand. Plus, we’ve got energy to spare with all the wind turbines and power cells you’ve been printing out.”
“Those paints probably could have been used for important designations… or something…” he grumbled.
“Doesn’t matter.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyway, want me to put some scary teeth or something on that big ‘ol fist-sized muzzle break on your shotgun?”
“No?” he took an incredulous step away from her, letting her arm fall off his shoulder and to her side.
“It’s okay to admit you’re jealous of Shar’s awesome decals, bro,” Tracy teased, her smugness growing tenfold. “No need to get defensive.”
He groaned, figuring there wasn’t a point in staying to bicker with the tradeswoman, leaving the two vanity-focused females to their devices. He still had to figure out how to fabricate armor and gas masks for the Malkrin and himself.
“Hey! Where ya goin?” the technician called out, clearly disappointed that he hadn’t indulged in her taunts.
“Work.”
Short taps against the hard floor sounded out as she caught up to him. She leaned forward and curiously looked up at him as she walked, holding her hands behind the small of her back. “What kind? Can I help?”
“Just need to take some measurements and compare options. Right… Speaking of which.” He turned around and cupped his palms around his mouth. “Hey Shar! Get over here, I need your help!”
The addressed Malkrin perked up, snapping out of the small haze of admiring her new shield and happily making her way toward him. She stood at attention, her tail oscillating side to side. “What n—d do you have of me?”
“Just a quick task,” he briefed her, grabbing some measuring tape from his desk… that Tracy had decided was her new chair. He sighed and turned his attention back to the paladin. “Can I bother you to lean down for a few seconds while I take some measurements?”
“Of course. Pl—se, take your time.” She stepped forward and kneeled, her head brought down to his height. Her face wore that simple content look he was growing all too accustomed to by now—slightly vibrating frills, a little curl upward of her lips, and warmly glowing eyes.
He wasted no time getting to work, noting down the various distances around her jaws, snout, eyes, and ears, already piecing together how he could cobble together some gas mask designs to fit the dimensions. She sat there quietly, sometimes leaning into the accidental head scratches adorably. It contrasted heavily with the cold-sweat-inducing layers of razor-sharp teeth within her muzzle as he measured the angle her maw opened at, bringing an idle curiosity prodded his mind.
“Say, Shar, do your teeth grow back if they fall out?” he poked, absently observing the dozens of triangular bone protrusions in her mouth as he held the underside of her jaw.
“They do,” she confirmed, the way she was able to speak despite not moving her mouth still messing with his head. “Do y—rs not?”
“Nope. Only once.”
She attempted to tilt her head, but quickly returned it when it left the embrace of his palm. “Only once?”
He nodded. “Yeah, sometime a few years after birth. They’re replaced with the teeth I have now. Don’t get any new ones, so we gotta take care of ‘em.”
“Birth?” The Malkrin’s eyes widened. “You were not cr—ted as you are now?”
A shock of stress poured down his spine like a bucket of ice water, raising the hairs on his back. Fuck. How did he let that slip? He was supposed to have just appeared from the sky to her, right…? He was doing so well for so long in keeping that in. God, had he really gotten so comfortable with the paladin that he simply forgot what he was to her? His teeth clenched, a huff of air escaping his nostrils as he lightly shook his head. It was a bit too late to backtrack. It could be explained vaguely and brushed off, right?
“Yeah. I was born,” he affirmed flatly. His hand dropped away from Shar’s muzzle, her head falling an inch or two before she registered that she couldn’t keep leaning into his touch. “That’s it for measurements, so you’re free to leave.”
A frown carved through her small smile. “I… See… F—give me if I have brought up someth—g improper.”
His exhalation burned through his frustration at himself, his hand running through his hair to wash away the spike of anxiety. “You’re fine. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Th-Then I shall take my leave,” the massive alien stated softly.
He nodded, feeling a little regretful for pushing the kindhearted Malkrin away as he shuffled back to his desk. Tracy was still sitting atop it, giving him a disappointed reaction with low brows, forcing a pointed reaction from him. “What?”
The technician took a long inhale before shrugging. “Nothin’.”
“…Alright.”
The rolling chair squeaked lightly as he rested himself, his hands already going through the motions of opening the computer and the blueprint folders. There were plenty of tabs open of sensors and motor assemblies he hadn’t closed from the previous night. That wasn’t even mentioning the pile of notes he had on proper radio-protective methods, their corners bent from his frequent flipping through them.
“Soooo…” The short black-haired woman leaned forward from her perch atop the only clear part of his desk. “Can I help you with your ‘comparing options’ work, mister busyman?”
“Sure…” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, raising a brow. “How much do you know about armor?”
- - - - -
“No way. The back support is a must, so you can have extra plating over your shoulders and chest.” Tracy pointed out from her seat beside Harrison’s, all but forcing him to pause his Malkrin gas mask designing to give her argument his full attention.
He calmly took his hands off the mouse and keyboard. “A back support needs leg assistants, which means I’ll need to have at least a fifteen pound battery pack somewhere. Those kinds of exosuits are either all in or not at all. You can go full armor and engine, or lightweight protection and simple limb support.”
“So you’re just gonna go out there with normal armor? Just run-of-the-mill plates and gear? Those fucking things would go through that shit like butter! I know we can’t make synthetic muscle yet, but at least consider wearing something a bit more. Please. Even Sharky has heavy armor!”
Harrison pinched the bridge of his nose, his brows furrowed. “Do I look like a several-hundred kilogram monster of pure muscle to you? I’m more than willing to put on a few extra kilos for protection, but I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons of putting on more armor rather than more equipment. I’d rather fifty pounds of magazines and ammo than fifty pounds of armor. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah yeah… You and your storage space…” she mumbled, swiping through a few more images on her data pad when a familiar Mars-pattern suit showed up, catching his eye.
“Hey, wait, pull that one up…”
She rotated the tablet for him to see a little better—despite already being shoulder-to-shoulder with him. “This one? What’s so special about it?”
He analyzed the few pieces of equipment on screen, noting the rusty-orange and tan color scheme, the old Martian-American flag attached to its breastplate, and the iconic quad-nod integrated helmet. “Holy shit,” he whispered. “That’s… We have that in our blueprints?”
She raised a brow, clearly confused. “Whaddya mean?”
“That’s an Orbital Drop Ranger’s standard kit,” he stated slowly, a simmering sense of awe bubbling up—why the hell was it in their blueprints folder? “It was used during the Sino-Venusian incursion of southern Mars. It still has the Old Earth American flag embedded into it, so you know it’s pre twenty-two-hundred C.E.”
“Oh shit… Pre-St.Loual’s construction? This is ancient, then, huh? Would it be any good?” She leaned in closer to him, eying the tablet further.
“Does it have the assembly view of the armored pieces?”
“Mmhmm.” She tapped a few icons, showing an isometric, exploded view of all the parts and their individual components.
It was a piece of history alright. The armor was produced just about the time when Mars was connecting their orbital stations and ground colonies to work in tandem, allowing for specialized forces to be trained in space and launched anywhere across the planet from drop pods in mere minutes, leading to common nickname of ‘Minutemen’ given to the troopers. The suits were expertly designed to withstand the harsh environments of Mars and give the soldiers the ability to engage with enemy combatants for several days before extraction, though the adept units usually completed their objectives within twenty-four hours of their landing.
The helmet was very angular and blended in with the expected rocky terrain of Mars, each component taking on a sloped frontal design with rectangular prisms flowing behind—radio, breathing apparatus, and vision modules all sharing a sleek, yet bulky look in their own right. It reminded him of some in-atmosphere ships, with the overhanging visor above the quad-nod viewport being the only non-aerodynamic pieces.
The chest and legs were a bit different, following the design of late twenty-second-century operators with tan lightweight rigs, and ammunition pouches alongside armored plates that ran from the shoulders to wrists in segments. There was a rusty-orange undersuit beneath it all for the purpose of keeping air in, which required some sturdy polymer structures to ensure it didn’t rip. Then, of course, there were the classic shock-absorbing leg supports. They weren’t too far off what Tracy was asking about earlier, but these ones didn’t provide any assistance in moving with any motors—just straight-up structural reinforcements.
Hell, the blueprints on screen even had the mag-grip gloves used to scale domes, buildings, and satellites alike. There was no doubt that the Orbital Drop Rangers had some of the coolest equipment on Mars, especially considering that it was the last to keep the ‘operator’ look… It was such a shame the government decided the orb-like helmets and rounded bubble armors were more effective.
“Hey, you know what?” he asked the technician, a shot of excitement in his voice. “This might actually work out as a suitable armor replacement.”
She perked up, her brows raised. “Oh? Actually?”
He shrugged, trying to play off the smirk plastered on his face. “Wouldn’t need a horrible amount of changes to work for our purposes. Just need to remove the oxygen converter on the back and put a gas mask replacement in the front portion of the helmet. Plus, we could probably get rid of the airtight aspect and just keep the undersuit for scratch protection. And, most importantly, it’s radio-protective.”
“Meets all your criteria, then?” She tapped through some UI interfaces, sending the armor assembly to Harrison’s monitor, which he accepted quickly.
“Sure does.” He readily clicked through the different parts and systems to differentiate what needed to be kept. “We have the resources for it, and all it needs is a layer of cadmium plus a few replacements. Definitely doesn’t need the heads-up display since there’s nothing for it to interact with either, so that’ll save on print time and materials too. Shame I cut up the beard… the Orbital Drop Rangers were allowed to have some cool ones.”
The tradeswoman scooted in even closer, practically resting her chin on his shoulder and watching him sift through the working parts. “Yeah, rest in peace, beard. Still, your armor situation is solved. What about the Malkrin?”
“I’ll be working on their gas masks, then I was thinking I’d use another one of your modeled armors for their protection since they’ve helped Shar a hell of a lot. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Mmmmm…” She looked up in thought, a smile forming along her cheeks. “You know, until we can make them any real power armor, I was thinking just some regular phobos-pattern armor. Could color ‘em based on their skin too.”
“Phobos-pattern armor?” he hummed to himself, clicking through the folder to find it. It was just as bulky as Shar’s armor, except it appeared a good bit smoother, with more rounded edges compared to her horns-and-spike-lined gauntlets and pauldrons. The blue suit Tracy was proposing didn’t have the four-armed protection compared to the chaos version, but it certainly had the same thickness of its metal plates. “Looks like it’d work pretty well. Does it have any electric components or anything?”
“No…” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Not so good with designing that stuff in the modeling program I did the WarHarberd stuff in. Could add in more sophisticated leg support or whatever if you gave me time, but for now it’s just maneuverable slabs of alloy.”
“I think that’s all we need for the time being.” He shrugged. “I just don’t want the others to be vulnerable to getting cut up by the little spider-crab grunts.”
“As long as it works for what we need, then.” Her elbow poked into his arm. “Here, how about I take care of that armor stuff while you finish up the gas masks? They need the extra arm slots too, yeah?”
“I’d actually appreciate that a lot.” He offered her a back-palm fist bump, to which she eagerly took, taking on a grin that he mirrored. “Thanks, Trace.”
“Don’t mention it. I wish work was always just doing my hobbies like this.”
\= = = = =
A grand pylon of metal construction taller than the mightiest female’s frills stood atop the beach. Blue-scaled surfaces extended near the foot of the tower, gathering the power of the sun itself. The lattice layering upon their sides hid the weaving wires and Goddess-blessed machinery. A staff the same as Shar’khee’s peeked from its top, the glass eye on its side given a wide view of the sandy environment it resided on, the defense it now provided becoming absolute. The aura it exuded as a creature of pure metal was awe-inspiring, its mere presence a showing of Harrison’s might and domain.
No abhorrent would dare step foot upon the meadow’s rolling hills, for such a mistake would ensure their immediate execution for encroaching upon his settlement—the ‘fifty-cal-e-bur’ bullet is not one to rend any beast with only simple injuries, especially with three hundred of them available at once.
The maroon-skinned paladin treaded up the hill, having completed her task of setting up the last turret. The craftsman, the juvenile, and the lumberjack had also assisted with its setup, pulling their weight in both mind and muscles to piece the components together. They completed a few others around the modules already, but this one was done without the star-sents’ oversight. The four Malkrin had practiced and learned enough to be entrusted with such.
The idea of Harrison having enough confidence in them sparked much conviction in the group, each of them more than eager to prove him right—none more so than Shar’khee herself, of course.
She finally returned to the workshop, the sun’s last rays pressing into the back of her head and frills as she crouched beneath the doorway, a small gnawing hunger for dinner digging within her stomach. The cacophony of machines soon reached her ears, the sounds of their efforts almost working in tandem with the strange melodic music playing from an unseen source above her.
Tracy was in her corner, working on new beings of metal as always. The bright lights above were turned off in favor of smaller, warmer emplacements atop her surrounding circle of desks. A hard worker, that star-sent was, though both of them were like that, the paladin supposed. Their kind was certainly intent on keeping their hands busy.
Shar’khee passed through the snakes of machines, finding her way to Harrison’s desk with an increasingly strong sway in her tail. He was working with a black object with light gray accents. It appeared to be partially flexible, yet firm in other places—notably, a large glass fixture on one side of it. There was very little she could make out about its purpose, but with the delicate touches he applied, it appeared to be quite important.
Her tongue clicked twice, garnering the attention of the Creator. He paused his work, swiveling his chair to face her and revealing a long blue-leaf jutting from his mouth. Her male appeared quite tired, but his voice did not show it.
“Oh, Shar, what’s up? Did y’all need any help with the last turret?”
She shook her head. “We do not n—d such, for it is completed. Would you care to join me for din—r? The rest of the settlem—t is enjoying their meals as of now. ”
He raised his brows before looking back at the myriad of notes, tools, and materials atop his cluttered desk. “Well, I’m kinda busy, but…” His jaw rolled around in contemplation. “Here. Let’s just test this thing real quick.”
Her head tilted. “What sh—l we be testing?”
“Your gas mask… er, well, a Malkrin gas mask. Kneel down real quick, I’ll run ya through putting it on.” He stepped off his chair and grabbed the equipment, uncomfortably rotating his shoulders. How long was he sitting on that chair? The male approached her and she did as requested. “I had the sewist help me with some of the design. Never considered you guys would ever wear hats.”
She nodded. “It is unh—lthy for one to have their frills touched by the sun for so long. Adequate shade is a must, and trees are not so p—valent along farm land.”
“Mmhmm. Shame this is just a mask… Alright, this might be a bit uncomfortable, but it’ll do the job.”
He stepped forward and slipped the black apparel onto her snout, pushing it over her face until it pressed against the sides of her head. A cool material rubbed against her skin, locking her into its embrace. It was encapsulating, surrounding her wholly.
Her breaths strengthened as she allowed the mask to cover her, a short shock of nervousness riding down her spine. She was only now registering how vulnerable she was, allowing him to possibly suffocate her… but she stayed put, keeping her four palms rested within her lap as he continued to apply the straps around her ears. She would allow it. She trusted him with her life. She would not falter.
The cords around the back of her head were tight, a few of which went along both sides of her frills, pushing up against their sides. He kept going, ensuring a ‘seal,’ but it was getting much too—
Pop.
A lightning bolt of pain rolled throughout the top of her head, sending her reeling. It stung for the briefest of moments, but its effects rebounded through her entire body, short sparks pulsing from its origin. She felt nothing but its agonizing hold for several more moments as the rest of her body caught up.
When her eyes opened once more, she found herself on the floor and staring at the ceiling. The star-sent rushed to her side, appearing to ask many questions while looking over her head, but all she heard was a piercing ring and the gruff vocalization he made whenever he shared his intent. No words reached her mind, only the now faint phantom pains from where her frills met her skull. It put everything in a haze, her eyes barely settling on her dearest’s, despite how nauseous she had become.
His deft hands quickly worked to loosen the straps, practically ripping them off until his voice suddenly reached her, like breaching the surface of the water. His voice was deep, attempting to be calculating, yet despite his calmly created stoic demeanor… she could feel his panic, his sheer worry almost flooding her senses through practiced medical queries. She slowly sat up on the floor, holding herself with two arms while the other pair quelled the kneeling male, assuring him that she was alright with their weight resting atop his shoulders.
“I am well, dearest Harrison. Do not fret for me. The straps were simply too tight.”
His anxious breaths barely slowed, narrowly allowing for his exclamation. “Too tight? Shar, you practically blacked out!”
“Too tight upon my frills, I mean. There was a pain there for a few moments, but it has passed,” she returned calmly, softly kneading his stiff shoulders with the joints of her digits.
He exhaled sharply, matching her gaze with regret in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Shar. I should’ve known. I was just trying to see how…” He paused, resting his palm atop her forearm. “Nevermind. I just… Are you alright? Should I get you to the med bay for a quick scan?”
“I do not believe that to be necessary, no.”
His guard finally fell. “If… If you say so. Guess I have to redo the straps then. Definitely gotta make sure they’re not pressing on your frills like that.”
She smiled, appreciating his dedication. “Would you like my assistance?”
“As long as you don’t have anything else to do.” He shrugged, his shoulders barely moving upward against her massaging hands.
“There is no greater wish of mine than to be by your side,” she stated warmly.
He was frozen, the soft ministrations of his digits along her arm slowly stopping in contrast to the red flush growing from his cheeks to his ears. The crack of a smirk on his face finally with a short, heart-warming chuckle brought the statue back to life after a few moments. “You know… that’s probably the sweetest thing I’ve heard for years.”
Her brows raised in subtle surprise at his response. “It… was not intended to be such… However… you are more than welcome. You must understand by now that I am speaking only the truth.”
The two of them sat there in relative silence amongst the desks and machines; her half laying on the ground with her hands on his shoulder, and him on his knees by her side, a singular hand running up and down her comparatively large forearm. She felt… weak, in a way. A vibrating sensation rummaged through her stomach, attempting to pull her muscles and nerves astray.
It was warm, just like his palm, each motion of his hand sending lightning through her skin. The upward curl of her lips into her cheeks was suddenly an insurmountable force, incapable of being put down by a thousand females. There was a tear within her to either look away or… close the distance, and she suddenly found looking anywhere but his curious green eyes to be a waste of her time.
Her talons wrapped further around his shoulders and his back, ever so slightly bringing him into her embrace—
“A-HEM.” A voice cut the moment down to its knees. “The fuck happened here?” Tracy’s swift interjection caused the paladin to flinch backwards, allowing her to see that Harrison’s other hand had been hovering right beneath her snout. The female star-sent wore a furrowed brow and crossed arms, looking down at them. “I heard a crash and came over. Are you two alright?”
Harrison cleared his throat, ever-so-subtly scooting away from the paladin. “Uh, yeah. Shar fell because, um, I tied the gas mask a lil’ too tight.”
The artificer wore an expression that told of her disbelief. “She fell because of the gas mask?”
“It was something with her frills.” The male returned with a shrug, picking himself off the floor before offering the paladin a hand up.
She took it, despite not requiring it, and wiped off some loose dust from her pants. The three of them quickly returned to work soon after, with both her and the black-haired star-sent joining Harrison in his quest to produce the gas mask. She was much less… What did the Creator call it? Bubbly? Yes, that was it. She was much less bubbly than usual, sometimes sending a cold yet emotionless glare toward Shar’khee… Nevertheless, the two females offered input on the design and applied help where they could, eventually creating the final piece of equipment.
Tracy commented on its looks, apparently drawing inspiration from the Leviathan itself, as she believed it to be like that of a ‘Sea Dragon’s.’ The maw-covering portion held two cylindrical canisters on the adjacent sides, the bottom portion being capable of distention, so that the user’s mouth may open somewhat. Its motion created what the female star-sent believed to be ‘the coolest teeth design on a mask’ she’d ever seen with how the separation formed alternating triangles.
The monster-like appearance was furthered by her own frills and horns that peeked out from behind the mask. That was not even mentioning the see-through visor that formed a malicious glare of sharp brows. The paladin looked through a hand-held mirror, finding it difficult to disagree with the look. She could imagine the horror on a fisherwoman’s face as such a terrifying creature approached from the depths.
And yet, despite its nightmarish visage, it was apparel designed to save lives, not take them—much unlike the unassuming metal rods that spewed fire with a mere flick of a lever. Curious indeed. The star-sents were seemingly never out of surprises. They even spoke of grand robots and firearms larger than Shar’khee herself as possible future projects.
Only time could tell what machinations of alloy would be birthed from their hands.
- - - - -
[First] [Previous] [Next]
Next time on Total Drama Anomaly Island - Under The Milky Way

Hey guys, I dont know why but after loading up my game today, the social tab is missing all info on it. The social relations are still there when I check it using the "Character Editor" mod, but apart for that it doesn't show up at all. I haven't added new mods or changed my load order since playing yesterday when it was fine.
https://preview.redd.it/jl67kwppcj5d1.png?width=538&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd28bf174d29648463a348993387a2caff46dbaf
https://preview.redd.it/yogm4zppcj5d1.png?width=959&format=png&auto=webp&s=02a66dbe4bbebb96f4f0e5a92922d5931f14c65b

list of songs walsh posted for them on FB group (might be missing some)
songs posted about katie: better than revenge by taylor swift & don’t bother by shakira
f*ck the pain away - divide the day (listen to this! it’s literally them i’m so excited❤️)
lucky man - the verve
wasn't expecting that - jamie lawson
she moves in her own way - the kooks
sweet child o' mine - guns n' roses
inside out - bryan adams
stitches - conor maynard
hey there delilah - plain white t's
courage - superchick (about a boy helping a girl with her ED 🙁)
patience - take that
one night - picture this
hey, soul sister - train
you belong with me - taylor swift (literally them)
nicest thing - kate nash
all of the girls you've loved before - taylor swift
you are in love - taylor swift
inner smile - texas
drops of jupiter (tell me) - train
nothing's gonna hurt you baby - cigarettes after sex (so cute 🥹)
i'll name the dogs - blake shelton
those eyes - new west (ultimate friends to lovers 🫶🏾)

Hey. I'm a long time Train watcher and I made a reddit account just to post this.
I'm personally not a tech guy and know absolutely nothing, but I have no reason to believe the information I have is false. In fact, it's probably as authentic as I could imagine it to be coming from the gambling industry.
I went to school ~20 years ago with a guy who I recently met at a summer activity. We ended up chatting and I found out he worked for a game operator for a decade, working on back-end of online slots and even leading an entire team for a time. He quit during covid and has since moved on to other things meaning he's not affiliated with anyone, so I instantly thought of Train's gambling adventures and saw my opportunity to ask any questions I could squeeze in. He was kind enough to reciprocate.
Now he hasn't worked in the industry for a few years, so some things could've changed, but he believes the main principles are still the same.
I believe I learned how slots work for real, and no, there's no tricks to win. However what I learned I haven't heard before, so I'm assuming most people don't know half of it. One thing is for sure, slots don't work the way Train thinks and I think re-wiring his brain would benefit him so much to last longer.
Before I explain, keep in mind Stake originals don't work like this. They're provably fair games and different, the entire idea being you get generated a seed that you stay on until you change it, and they don't even use RNG. Stake has an article on this on their website. Regular slots operate under RNG.
So with that out of the way, components to online slots:
Game Server - the brains. handles everything including RNG, network activity and balance. Typically a physical desktop computer. There are many of them, and different slots from the same provider can use the same one.
Load Balancer - acts like traffic control, sends you to one of the servers when you open a game and ensures servers won't be overloaded.
True RNG - a piece of hardware installed into the server. Generates actual random numbers based on something like white noise.
Pseudo RNG - deterministic algorithm, a software. Gives us numbers that the slots then use to generate results.
Apparently implementations can differ, but the core idea is always the same.
Ideally, they would use the True RNG for every single spin we make because that's actually random. But it's too slow, and that's why they have to use a Pseudo RNG that's as fast as you need it to be. However, it's deterministic, meaning if you ran it from beginning to the end and make a graph, it would always end up doing the same thing, and naturally, could be exploited.
So what they do to counter this is they use the True RNG to "seed" the Pseudo RNG. So seeding exists, but it's not at a player or account level. It's literally the software itself that gets seeded.
What they can do as well, is use another Pseudo RNG to seed it further, by using a string of things such as stake, currency, server time and date.
What's more, is that this process actually occurs quite often to increase randomness. So if you play a slot for an hour, you've been on multiple seeds.
Now it's all just numbers, and there's no concept of good or bad, and different slots use different numbers for results. This is why slots will never make sense. You can play a particular game and be on a disgusting run of losing for hours, ie. repeatedly get "bad" seeds. You can also play a slot for 2 hours and it just keeps paying, repeatedly getting "good" seeds. But there's no math to it in the short-term. Seed won't turn good just because the last one was bad. And because different slots use different numbers, that bad seed could've been good on another game.
Even if you believe none of this, thinking there's 1 seed in general makes no sense since you're playing different servers. Server A doesn't have anything to do with Server B. Then you would have to think you have your own seed on every single one of them.
You can actually find out what server you're playing by opening up browser console, network tab and clicking on your spin and checking the IP address.
They can store your information in a cloud, like your game history, but this has nothing to do with the RNG. They need this information to be able to double check results if need be and provide replays, or in specific games save your progress if there's a progressive feature. So if your info is reset, again it's not "a seed reseted".
I didn't fully understand this part, but apparently other players playing on the same server (regardless of slot) affects game results as well, since they're cycling through variables. Again, I don't know how this precisely works, but I didn't want to pry too much.
However, when they simulate the RTP for a slot, the simulation is done on an isolated server. Meaning the simulation will get everything the RNG gives it, good or bad. If max win numbers line up next, the simulation will get it. Wins and losses aren't (unevenly) divided amongst people if that makes sense. This is why after a certain amount of spins the RTP starts to stick, and eventually when you do billions of spins quantity takes over and the math hardly changes even if the simulation hits back-to-back max wins. So the simulation is reliable, just not really reflective of real gameplay since there are less variables.
I think that's pretty much it.
How all this applies to Train's usual habits:

• Every stream Train does the same thing, sit on a slot that's doing bad, spend 2M to get back 800k then it goes cold again. Wondering how it doesn't make sense. But if you remember what I said earlier, at this point he would've gone through multiple seeds already! So it actually makes perfect sense that the math in this short-term session doesn't add up. Same can work the other way around too. "Hot Fiesta seed" wasn't a seed, but multiple good ones back-to-back-to-back-to-back meaning it was a good idea to stay in it as long as it kept going.

Yeah sometimes it can turn if a slot is doing bad and you sit on it, but the wins aren't based off of previous losses. So I think Train should chase the slots that do something good, rather than chase wins on a slot that's doing bad. Sitting on slots that are eating hand you by far the biggest losses the fastest.

• Same provider is shit regardless of slot and it doesn't make sense. I think we've heard this before. But remember, slots aren't RNG. If you're playing games on the same server that's all that matters. If multiple servers are not doing well at the same time, and many of the games are re-skins and probably use similar numbers for results, it's actually pretty likely you'd get fucked on many games from the same operator.
  
• Forget common sense. If you've read this far, it's pretty clear slots are just right place at the right time. I think Train's biggest detriment is trying to make sense of everything. He's of course doing this because he's a smart guy, but If he can get rid of this mentality, pull the plug earlier if it's not working, and push it when it is, then I think he could stream a lot more.
  

That's all for me. I felt like it was worth getting this out there if it helps anyone.

Hey,
I‘m frequently thinking about why I prefer to use the notebook for some tasks, especially stuff like browsing / researching – and I think it is the ability to quickly start other processes with simple keyboard shortcuts. e.g.

• When browsing a website and I read something I want to learn more about, I type CMD+T and type in the phrase, look it up and close with CMD+W
  
• When realizing I need to check something from my notes, it‘s CMD+Space + „Notes“ and afterwards switching back with CMD+Tab
  

On iPhone, Apple introduced Gestures to allow for something similar. But for any reason they feel a bit slow for me and I don‘t seem to be able to incorporate them in my usage as well.
The option to open up Spotlight for example does only work by swiping up to go to the home screen and then swiping down to get the Spotlight search.
To the question: Do you have any tips of how to speed up such tasks? Maybe there are some Gestures I don‘t know about. Or apps that help in the process (something like Raycast for the iPhone), e.g. I‘ve heard from some people using the 3x-tap on the phone‘s back to trigger something.
Happy to hear about your ideas! 💡

I don't know any other game I've played that constantly teaches you how to play the game. I don't need to pick up an exosuit upgrade map and relentlessly be reminded without any way to turn it off. Except for throwing it into a far away storage locker and swallow the key, then forget about it completely when I need it because there's a million things to do.
There shouldn't even be a prompt asking "turn this notification off". It should come up the first time, then tell you to view catalog/guide for information.
It's exhausting. I don't always have hours and hours. I've literally had to switch my brain to seriously focus on completing tasks in this game and not deviate. This makes it just so much worse.
Also the item menu system is terrible. I want my things organized. There isn't even an option. I could be mistaken, but I havent seen a tab that allows to sort by whatever means. Other than the galaxy map (that's another issue, getting there). There's the left tabs that highlight four categories. That's not much better. The items are still scattered around like everything inside your girlfriend's purse. I should be able to sort by alphabetical order, usage order (crafting, upgrades, trading), price low to high and visa versa; and if I was a producer I'd do something cool like organize raw elements into a periodic table. That would be fantastic. Like a keyboard you would know where to look. I already try and organize my materials in a way like that so I can focus my eyes and save time.
I use my storage containers in collaboration with my freighter, as you would, to store mostly every material I need to progress. But I land at my base, I need to physically walk my ass over and transfer back and forth because why? Because fuck you I guess. I hope you waste more time and your wife gets mad then sleeps your neighbor. Then you miss little Timmies baseball game where he got his first home run. Then you were 2 minutes late to that Microsoft teams meeting with that client willing to invest in your "jump to conclusions mat" prototype model before production.
Then I have to waste more time and jump into my fucking space ship and go into space, just to look at the fucking map (unless on the bridge yes). But hey! Surprise, there's fucking half a dozen loser npc pirates you now have to fight off just so you can look at that map. There's another 5 minutes.
It's such a good game but there's sooo many incredibly annoying factors that could be changed. The most important one in my opinion is time factor. -
-More menu shortcuts -One time first experience training prompts -Fully customizable controls -option to eliminate some repeated animations -option to mute repeated audible warnings and status updates -BASIC ELEMENTS available more for purchase (I've changed the settings and still I'm like "kidding me oxygen, I need fucking oxygen and it's not for sale) -what about purchasing a ship, then hiring a pilot. Maybe I have a dope ass ship, but I don't want to use it and I hired a dope ass Tom Cruise top gun. But top gun is strictly bound to his f-14 tomahawk. When I have the f-22 lighting in the fucking hanger!
Oh and one more thing. The Minotaur mech warrior exo craft. Like where's the sprint feature. I've played mech warrior, Gundam wing, all those. Sick games. And what's common. They can at least double time with pace. I want to run full speed inside an exo mech destroying combat ready machine, boost 100' into the air, rain down rocket fire, land right after they blow the fuck out of everything and just blast everything still breathing.
If I haven't seen something to change one of these I would love to know. But y'all gotta be frustrated as hell with one of these no doubt.
Hello is still making money. They can afford to do their nerd thing and tippity type away at a keyboard and go John Cena, to make issues disappear.
This concludes my TED talk, thank you for listening.

Number	Question	Answer	Topics	Answer Link
1	Can we expect a collaboration with an Anime series or a cartoon ?	Is there any particular series you'd love to see us collaborate with?	Anime Collaboration	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7demrc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
2	When will u make more archer queen skins with the feet out	There's a wonderful deco we have coming out in July I think you'll love!	AQ Feet Decoration	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dqqd1/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
3	I'm actually really curious about this one.. whats the reason behind the decision to implement such game changing balance changes in the middle of cwl?	We wanted to get the balance changes out before the June update but we ran late on getting them finished. It's unfortunate and we'll try and avoid this in future.	Balance Changes Timing	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dcap3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
4	What does the future of builder base look like?It seems we went silent yet again after rework. Also now that versus battle has been removed, is there any scope for clan based event for builder base?	Although we're proud of the work we did with the BB2.0 update and made its core gameplay much more fun, I think we still didn't answer the question of what is the Builder Base is for and why couldn't we just do the cool stuff there in the Home Village. And that's something we need to figure out still. In the meantime we felt the focus on Builder Base and Clan Capital in the last few years had come at the expense of long overdue improvements on the Home Village, so we decided to focus this year just on the Home Village.	Builder Base and Clan Capital	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dnl9n/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
5	Will there be something new in Builder Base or Clan Capital related to Main village that will urge players to play more Builder Base and Clan Capital. Currently we have - Builder Base - Gear Up,Gem Mine Clan Capital - Raid Medal for Reinforcement and Trader shop	We're not sure on the team if this is really the right way to proceed. We don't want players to play BB and CC just to get a benefit in the Home Village. That's not respectful of your time and it's unclear if it's better for the game. We're still thinking about how these three parts should relate in future.	Builder Base and Clan Capital Integration	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dpdyz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
6	Hey Stuart! Im a th15 strategic rusher and I was wondering: -are going to be ways to catch up with ores if you missed out on events in the past? I got back to playing clash about 3 month ago, just after fireball equipment so I used my saved up gems to buy gg fa and fb. -is it possible to add all epic equipment in new events so that people that missed out could get them without spending 1500 gems? Make them the same price as the new epic so that you can catch up by buying the pass or extra event resources.	Hey welcome back! For making equipment available, we have talked about having a selection of epic equipment for medals as you described. But the pricing and when we haven't decided yet.	Catching Up with Missed Events	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dc4qj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
7	Hi Stuart, Apologize if some of these have been already asked. Feel free to answer any or all: 1: Any plans to address that annoying "Clan name covering up inferno mode glitch"? There's workarounds for regular wars but in legends and when attacking you really need to zoom in and even then it's hard to tell. 2: Any possibility of changing replays so that they show the real time relative to the attacker? For example, if my clanmate clutched out an attack with 1 second left the replay won't really show that (unless you're counting the full 3 minutes from the start) 3: Continuing on with replays, is there any possibility of an updated UI to show which hero equipment are being used? This is moreso for when you're on youtube or some other media player and can't click on the hero to see. This would be a great addition for spectators of esports for clash 4: Will there be any more updates for the tutorial levels? Those could go a long way for some of the newer players. They could even teach "fundamentals" rather than full-on attacks. 5: Last question, more of a curiosity: What is the tiebreaker for war weight when 2 players are the exact same. Subsequently, what is the tiebreaker for when 2 clanmates both have 4,000 clan games points, and also when they both have the same number of stars/destruction for cwl? Cheers!	Not sure it exactly solves your problem but we have a feature coming up in the June update that maybe helps a bit with your annoyance with Clan names. It'll let you tap on anything to see its range, level and mode more clearly.	Clan Name Covering Glitch	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dnyb7/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
8	Will there be new Perks for Clan Levels? Like Level 20 Clan having Perks of donation level +3.	We're extremely unlikely to introduce new functional perks but possibly some cosmetic perks might come at some point.	Clans	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d3cwv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
9	Will there be any member space increase for Clans? May be 60/70?	Probably not.	Clans	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d8wne/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
10	Hi Stuart! More and more communities are growing around clash of clans, from clan families/alliances to community esports groups. Being heavily involved in both, are there any plans to help expand and support these types of communities? Recent QoL changes have been great on both fronts (updated chat, friendly wars during regular wars). Just curious if anything else is on the horizon. Very excited for an update on in-game recruitment as well. Current systems outside of the game are difficult to navigate as a large group.	On families/alliances. We still want to focus on the individual Clan experience with more changes and improvements before thinking about how families/alliances might work. On recruitment I answered that in another question.	Clans, Alliances	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d9nae/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
11	I just looked at the image you posted a bit closer and the posters in the background seem to be from the clash fest mini games :0. Is there any chance those games will return at some point? I personally really liked them, especially the kart one	Let's see what we do for our next big anniversary when we turn 15 in 2027!	Clash Fest Mini Games	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dlyka/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
12	Star Wars X Clash of Clans collab possible?	Which Star Wars character would you want to see each Hero skinned as?	Collaborations	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d548t/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
13	Hey Stuart, how do you see the competitive scene shaping up in Clash this year at Worlds? Will we see similar 3 star rates?	In another post I talked about the Hard Mode we're introducing. We'll work with the competitive scene and others to tune the difficulty there so we have a Worlds as exciting as last year.	Competitive Scene	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7ddk9l/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
14	Are Supercell affiliated content creators with creator codes allowed to speak their mind about Supercell games? I've always wondered if they are allowed to cover certain issues and say negative things about Supercell games.	Yes, and lots of our creators do bring up issues they hear from their audiences and it's always super useful to us when they do.	Content Creator Freedom	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dm5q4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
15	Is there any consideration towards giving the Air Sweeper new levels that are either purely cosmetic to match the base, or perhaps have a very minor hit point upgrade and a new cosmetic design? It matches pretty well with TH16 currently, but not with multiple town halls before that and probably not with most future town halls.	Yeah we've had considered the cosmetic/HP only Air Sweeper levels a few times on the team but it always felt like an unsatisfying upgrade. We also briefly experimented with giving the Air Sweeper an extra damage effect BUT we didn't find something that was meaningful without killing certain air strategies.	Cosmetic Upgrades	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dlmdw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
16	What's the big update team is working on? Like Clan War League,Clan Capital was being worked on since long time.	Currently we're working on a mix of more medium sized things than another megaproject like Clan Capital. That's working better for us to bring y'all improvements and cool things steadily. Capital took about two years of development and that was a bit much, especially given how small the team was then.	Current Projects	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dd2t6/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
17	Hello Stuart, I have 2 questions I want to ask you about CWL. Is there a reason why in CWL there can only be 15 people or 30 people at once participating in rounds? And is there plans to make options for 20 to 25 people participating in CWL (Below champions league), to be a thing in the future?	It basically comes down to making sure we have enough Clans at different sizes in each League for things to behave sensibly. That's the reason we didn't extend the 30 size group into Champions League. It's something we've talked about making more flexible but no concrete commitment yet sorry!	CWL	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d5mzz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
18	Hi Stuart, are there plans to add more leagues above Champions 1 to CWL, like Titan 3 etc? Also, any plans to add tiers on the Legend League based on trophies?	More CWL leagues and multiplayer leagues is something we've discussed doing but there's no concrete plan for when that might happen. With Legends League there's many different reasons people are there and it currently isn't so well serving all of those needs from folk seeking the best competition, to folk who are just very active ending up there. We need to think how this could work better for everyone.	CWL, Multiplayer	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d2mg4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
19	when will we get epic equipment for Royal Champion?	Soon!	Epic Equipment for Royal Champion	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dc6a3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
20	Hi! I believe this will be a great opportunity to ask this question! For the future of Clash of Clans, since there are now many event troops added to the game, will there be a possibility to add a barrack for those troops? As bases gets more and more complex throughout the updates, having a bigger variety for attacks would not only encourage players to play more, but also to have a crazier and more amazing attacks to watch in the pro scene! I do understand that some event troops may be OP, so some could be reworked/nerfed and it could work similar to the super troop barrack, where you can only activate a certain amount of those troops	One of the things we like about event troops is that they're only around for a short while. That lets us go a bit wilder and weirder sometimes than if something was gonna be in the game forever. Sorry to disappoint but it's very unlikely we'd let people use event troops "out of season". Maybe if we had the equivalent of a "creative" mode we could let players try out all the chaos though? Then there's no worries about balance.	Event Troops, Game Modes	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d8ry0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
21	yo nice to see you chatting with the public whats your fav hero?	Currently it's the AQ but I think some of the new hero concepts we've playtested have the potential to dethrone her.	Favorite Hero	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7ddxuw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
22	Can we have Final Fantasy theme including all heroes’ skins?	Which Final Fantasy characters would you want to see skins for each Hero as?	Final Fantasy Collaboration	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dn5g5/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
23	Is archer queen freaky?	Not as freaky as the way some of you out there talk about her feet 🙈	Freaky Archer Queen	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7depw3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
24	Hi Stewart! Few Q’s for you, appreciate whatever you’re able to get around to answering. State of the game: How do you envision the state of esports going forward & how do you plan to tackle the current state of balance - for example are there any plans to create a separate balance state for players competing in leagues / tournaments & how far would this extend to everyday areas of the game? i.e cwl / legends / war Both wars & legend league have remained largely unchanged since their inception & whilst they’re both still enjoyable cornerstones of the game, they’ve grown to become repetitive / stale in their current format at times - does the team have any plans to breathe new life into these modes? QoL: Obstacles that have been previously moved with a shovel but are not currently stashed are required to be re-placed every time you open a new layout through the link feature. Would it be possible to change this so that they remain fixed in position by default? Any plans to revamp donating to make it less awkward so that you’re not required to manually retrain & drag & delete your army every time you donate? i.e some sort of auto-queue feature Could we see more skin randomiser customisation options / presets in future? i.e a day / night scenery randomiser & a toggle for matching hero skins & sceneries? Any plans to finish pre-existing skin lines? eg. clockwork champ I’d love to have the option to listen to the ambient scenery background sounds unique to each scenery w/o the scenery music, is this something you’d consider implementing if feasible? Furthermore some of the older sceneries lack custom scenery music - is something you plan to extend to the rest of them?	So many questions. I'll answer the first one! We're planning to introduce an optional Hard Mode that can be used for Friendly Challenges and Friendly Wars. This will be introduced in our June update. The exact settings of what that mode will be are still TBD and the plan is to make further adjustments to it based on community feedback. It would be used for the world finals this year. We'll think about if and how we might use this in other areas of the game. The skill gap in our players is extremely wide. Some are wanting a really tough experience while others, who are still very loyal active players are looking for something more chill. It was clear from TH15 that we overshot the mark on what that more casual audience were looking for. We're hoping to give players more choice in difficulty and their experience in future.	Friendly Challenges, Competitive Play	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d4bwv/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
25	Hello Stuart. How come your team has decided to nerf the defence at th10-th15 even when the game has already been made easier in December 2023? Surely with the new hero equipment which gave a massive boost to the heroes the game didn't need to get any easier right? I am asking since there was a big backlash after the first wave of defence nerfs so nerfing the defences for a second time wouldn't that make the game too easy for those who are looking for a challenge? Lastly, will there anything be added to clash of clans in the future to those who would like a challenge? Like a challenge mode to clan wars (one attack clan wars or clan wars that remain the same but with buffed defence or restricted cc etc). Thank you so much for hosting this AMA Stuart and I wish your team the best when it comes to developing clash of clans in the future.	We have set targets on the 3 star rates we'd like to see at different Town Halls. As we add more Town Halls and speed up the progression, what used to be the endgame hardest content ends up actually turning up pretty early in player's time with the game. Town Hall 12 actually had the 2nd lowest 3 star rate for a while recently. So we will always need to go make adjustments to get things back on track. Part of the long-term solution here is also to build better tools for players to learn better strategies. The game actually does a terrible job of making that discoverable right now without going outside of the game and watching creator videos. We'd definitely want to improve on this and happy to hear people's ideas on what might work here. I've posted elsewhere about our Hard Mode idea we're testing out for those looking for a harder challenge. Hopefully this lets players tune their experience better, and we hope in the long-run we can help more players level up their skills and enjoy the game's full challenges.	Game Balance, Competitive Play	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d7l83/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
26	Do you like the way the game is going?	Yes. I wish I could time travel a few years in the future to bring you back all the cool stuff we've been talking about on the team. But unfortunately that's not possible. More than doubling the size of the team last year was tough and it gave us a bunch of issues. Unfortunately some of those spilled out to you all in the form of more bugs/oversights than we would have wanted. But we've improved our processes and the bigger team is needed for us to improve the game. I think we are doing more at once than we've managed in the past so we can bring you that dream future version faster. Thanks for the patience bearing with us while we get there.	Game Direction	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dekep/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
27	Why isn't there a mechanic that incentives game time or time on app? As an active player, I am almost always ONLY waiting for builders and almost always with full storages (or close enough that there's zero point doing anything). It actually incentivizes me to play less or not at all. Why not a small builder boost per attack star earned (relative to league placement)? Eg. if you 3 star a base in Titan, you get a 10 minute builder boost or something. Seems counterintuitive to voluntarily limit play time and time on app. There should be some reward, even small, for wanting to play more.	Our timers are too long and we are working to bring them down. We agree too often active people get blocked with nothing to do by timers. But we also don't want those active players to run out of things to upgrade and are playing for. So we want to introduce more systems to the game that let us add more to do and play for. It'll take time to build those systems but as we have more of them our average timers will shrink. At the same time at Supercell we don't believe infinite play time is healthy for players in the long run either. So having timers and similar mechanics is needed somewhat. We don't want Clash to be a game where people feel they have to play X hours a day, as that discourages people from even trying it.	Game Timer Balance	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7doxrf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
28	How are you	I'm pretty good. Thanks for asking. It's been fun answering questions. How are you?	General Well-being	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dnr1h/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
29	Why did you remove the little grass overlay from th16 buildings? They look like they float now. This is what it looks like in buildings for th15 and below. Can you bring it back please?	The grass overlays looked really odd on those smoother floored sceneries (Shadow Scenery). But the floatiness on grass sceneries without em isn't ideal. We're trying to figure out a technical solution that won't involve having double the download size of all our buildings.	Grass Overlay Issue	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dddfg/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
30	Can you colab with gundam please?	Maybe a mecha PEKKA?	Gundam Collaboration	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dq1r4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
31	I just came to say hello.	👋	Hello	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dqt2x/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
32	Are there or any plans at all to improve heroes? Like I wanna be able to still use heroes whilst they're upgrading. I think that speeds up or atleast makes the process feel just a bit better.	Yes. We've got a plan to try something out in the summer. Hope you like it!	Heroes, Quality of Life	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d7p0g/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
33	Why Archer Towers,Cannons are not getting new level in Th16?	We plan to eventually merge them all away into Multi-Archer Towers and Ricochet Cannons. But we didn't want to drop the number of buildings too much from TH15 to TH16. So it might take a bit. Apologies to those disturbed by the disharmony in the aesthetics!	Home Village	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d1ej0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
34	As per latest report, coc would be releasing new townhall level after every 12 month. Even though there are curs being made at cost or time for upgrades, for low level townhall catching up sure seems impossible. And walls after th14 is a nightmare unless the game has already been beaten. How would this be addressed? 2. Due to the limited size of home Village, with new Townhall levels, there will be limited building that can be added, there's not much fun in it, if new buildings or elements don't come in from time to time right? How will this be addressed	We will keep up with cost and time cuts to upgrades in order to help lower level folk catch up. We have quite a big set coming in our June update. I agree Wall costs are a bit silly and we should probably think again. Originally they were a bit of a stretch goal for loot to get sunk in. But maybe the game doesn't need that now there's more things to do. Our plan is to use merging more in future to keep the number of buildings in the Village reasonable. That gives us the space to introduce more new buildings with future Town Hall releases. Our current thinking is new defenses are exciting for a few Town Halls and then become less interesting. So your village should always be filled with relatively new and interesting defenses, even if that means sadly waving goodbye to that first Cannon you upgraded way back when you started.	Home Village	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d28ac/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
35	Hi Stuart, Any hints/clues you could give the community for TH17? And how is the progress going on with the TH17 project, have you decided a theme, signature defence, possible new hero etc...? Thank you!	We've decided on the theme. And we're maybe 80% sure we're gonna merge the Eagle Artillery into the Town Hall so we move on from infernoy beams after 4 Town Halls with that. But don't worry, we'll come up with something new and signaturey (though we don't know what is yet)	Home Village	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d4qi3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
36	Hi Stuart! Thanks for the Q+A, I had a few questions myself. Is merging required to upgrade to TH17? is this the plan from now on when creating new THs? That everything has to be merged to get new buildings? Clash thrives on a social battlefront, and I knew I have more fun in clans with my friends, it can make any grind less tedious. But it has always felt like it was lacking that little bit EXTRA you know? Some possible updates that my friends have made up were: Self Clan Wars: Start a quick war within your own clan to practice without the stress of needing a 3 star every time. It could be a separate tab, similar as to how you can see prep day for the following day in CWL. An auto-Donate replacement feature (can be toggled on and off), where the troop you donate is instantly remade and shuffled to the front, would be a nice QoL change This sounds really stupid, but like, maybe a friendly mode where you can attack with modifiers to spice it up. IE: Defenses do 1.5x damage BUT you have 10 xtra spell slots, or the defensive targeting is switched. just stupid crap like that can bring a little life into an attack. I'm so glad you are doing this Q+A and if you get around to reading mine, thank you so much. We all love your game and are excited to see what's to come!	Hey! Yes, merging all possible buildings will be an upgrade requirement for TH17 and beyond. So all of you out there, get upgrading those rushed archer towers and cannons. We have talked about letting players do more weird stuff with custom modifiers to create your own ridiculous scenarios to goof about with (or get super serious and keep cranking the difficulty higher and higher)	Home Village, Quality of Life	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d6ify/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
37	Where is ice wizard	[ Removed by Reddit ]	Ice wizard	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dpty?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
38	I would like to be a part of clash of clans or to be precise, I would like to work for supercell. I am a product designer ( not UI ). Where should I start	Check out https://supercell.com/en/careers/ to see if there's anything that sounds like it matches your skillset and our company social media accounts share new job openings.	Job Opportunities	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dltmz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
39	When can we expect the june update ?	We're aiming for June 17th. The team's working on bug fixes at the moment and plans can always change. So if it's later please don't come by with pitch forks. The last time I think we confirmed a date we had to postpone, that was April 1st 2019 when we were planning to launch Season Challenges. But we found a last minute bug and had to re-submit for the next day. And of course nobody believed us that we were really postponing/really planning to release on April Fool's day.	June Update Timing	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dn0g3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
40	Hi Stuart, Could Legends League get a little love? E.g, first eight attacks count towards trophies but you could still attack after that for loot but no trophies are gained for those attacks. Legends League base are for the trophy attacks and home village base for the ’loot attacks’. This would make ’fake legends farming’ pointless. Thanks!	It would be pretty unbalanced since you couldn't lose any loot. Legends should be mostly about competitive trophy pushing but a whole ton of people are there for loot. It's more likely we will make multiplayer looting better throughout the game + split out Legends to be more focused on competition.	Legends League Changes	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dk3f9/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
41	Is there a chance for a collaboration with lego? I would love to see clash sets and lego skins!	I own far, far too much Lego and would absolutely love to do a collab with them.	Lego Collaboration	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dpzgf/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
42	What about the geared up archer tower and cannon? Will they get their own new levels?	Maybe we'll mash em together into a geared up monstrosity? Who knows what Builder will think of next.	New Defense Ideas	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7ddnr3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
43	Are you going to add new villages to the game? Develop the game in this direction?	We're pretty unlikely to add any more permanent villages. This is already a huge game and there's a lot already for players to do across Home Village, Builder Base and Clan Capital. And there's a ton for our team to do still in those three areas.	New Features	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7d6msj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
44	Hi Stuart! First off thank you for helping keep Clash of Clans alive for so long, it’s my favorite game personally. I wanted to know if at some point we could have customizable goblin maps to share with our clan mates to attack, or if anything like that might be in the works for the future?	Yeah we've talked about a creative mode/custom challenge level creator feature. It'd be cool to see what sort of wild things you'd all cook up with it.	New Features	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dafat/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
45	Do you think it is a good idea to do a new townhall every year.wont it be hard on the people in lower townhalls.	I think it's good for it to be something that players know when to expect, rather than being quite arcane speculation. I would like us to be much more transparent with our roadmap and timings in future, and we'll get there eventually. We are also in control of how quickly people can catch up. And we will keep making improvements so more and more of our players can enjoy the fun of being at the latest hall.	New Town Hall Frequency	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dqnqd/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
46	What do you have in mind for the general direction that the game is going in? Can we expect any new fundamental addition (i.e. another system like ores)?	We've got a few ideas in early stages of being thought about. My fave is troop mastery where by completing quests using a troop well you could unlock some extra abilities/buffs to that troop. It'd be a nice way to encourage players to try out different troops and let folk go deeper on the troops they really enjoyed. But important disclaimer it's not my decision and if the people doing the work think of something better they'll do that instead!	New Troop Mastery System	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dmkdj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
47	Which troop is getting the Super troop next?:9416:	It's maybe Yeti	Next Super Troop	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7ddzjz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
48	y u no wear clash merch ???? but seriously those posters look dope! what else do you have in your office which our eyes would probably never see !	We've been seriously negligent in ordering new team merch recently 😅 A ton of whiteboards with secret upcoming things, stats, dates, plans. Lots of cool statues. Our office is incredible and we're very lucky to work here. Every time people visit for the first time they're amazed and I hope I never get used to how cool it is.	Office Decorations	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dcjtx/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
49	What should I eat for lunch today?	Something that makes you go "now that was a good lunch"	Other	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dajjj/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
50	How has player numbers changed since you started implementing monthly events and equipment into the game?	⬆️	Player Numbers	https://www.reddit.com/ClashOfClans/comments/1d9ggko/comment/l7dnoc3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Hey there everyone 👋🏻 It’s nice to meet you! So I guess a run down, I’m Spencer! I’m 28, from Ontario 🇨🇦, I’ve got a little furry man whose my absolute world, I work nights at as an auditor at a hotel and am a game master at an escape room/board game cafe during the day, I play the ukulele and skateboard and hike in my free time, love music and movies as well! I play DND and WoW with my friends on the weekend. Big fan of crime and conspiracy documentaries. I love the outdoors, just the basic stuff for now! there’s a little blurb about me, am willing to pay my cat tax, hope y’all have the best day🙏🏼

Hey guys, first off I’m not very computer savvy, so treat me as such lol but I've been dealing with this for a few days now, and it's driving me insane 😭
This is the problem:
I don't get any sound out of my computer at all, whether through the speakers (3.5mm jack) or headphones plugged directly into the headphone jack. All sound is completely gone. No system sounds, no video game sounds, no sound for YouTube, etc. My computer isn’t even picking up that there are speakers or headphones plugged in, and when I do the basic Windows troubleshooting, I get the message “Problem found: The speaker, headset or headphone is unplugged”. Which for clarity, the speakers work fine, my headphones also work fine and the HDMI that connects my computer to the monitor also works fine, this has only been a problem since resetting my computer.
In the Playback tab of Sound, I have two devices listed that both just say:
NVIDIA Output
- NVIDIA High Definition Audio
- Not plugged in
This happened after I did a clean reset of my computer a few days ago, and I’ve been going through old reddit posts, IT forums etc. troubleshooting it ever since.

This is my setup:
PC: HP Pavilion
OS: Windows 10, most current edition
Sound drivers: NVIDIA High Definition Audio (version 1.4.0.1)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT630
Monitor: Samsung (no inbuilt speakers)
Speakers: Logitech (connected through the headphone jack at the front of pc)

Here's what I've tried:
Restarting the computer.
Rolling back Windows updates.
Turning HDMI audio in the ‘Set up digital audio’ part of NVIDIA Control Panel off and on again.
Uninstalling and re-installing my NVIDIA sound drivers (clean reinstalls).
Doing another factory reset of my computer. REINSTALLING WINDOWS 10. This did not work. I’ve tried all the above steps after reinstalling, multiple times, nothing worked.

Is there anything else I can do short of taking it in for repair? Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it :)

Hey guys, first off I’m not very computer savvy, so treat me as such lol but I've been dealing with this for a few days now, and it's driving me insane 😭
This is the problem:
I don't get any sound out of my computer at all, whether through the speakers (3.5mm jack) or headphones plugged directly into the headphone jack. All sound is completely gone. No system sounds, no video game sounds, no sound for YouTube, etc. My computer isn’t even picking up that there are speakers or headphones plugged in, and when I do the basic Windows troubleshooting, I get the message “Problem found: The speaker, headset or headphone is unplugged”. Which for clarity, the speakers work fine, my headphones also work fine and the HDMI that connects my computer to the monitor also works fine, this has only been a problem since resetting my computer.

In the Playback tab of Sound, I have two devices listed that both just say:
NVIDIA Output
- NVIDIA High Definition Audio
- Not plugged in
This happened after I did a clean reset of my computer a few days ago, and I’ve been going through old reddit posts, IT forums etc. troubleshooting it ever since.
This is my setup:
PC: HP Pavilion
OS: Windows 10, most current edition
Sound drivers: NVIDIA High Definition Audio (version 1.4.0.1)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT630
Monitor: Samsung (no inbuilt speakers)
Speakers: Logitech (connected through the headphone jack at the front of pc)

Here's what I've tried:
Restarting the computer.
Rolling back Windows updates.
Turning HDMI audio in the ‘Set up digital audio’ part of NVIDIA Control Panel off and on again.
Uninstalling and re-installing my NVIDIA sound drivers (clean reinstalls).
Doing another factory reset of my computer. REINSTALLING WINDOWS 10. This did not work. I’ve tried all the above steps after reinstalling, multiple times, nothing worked.

Is there anything else I can do short of taking it in for repair? Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it :)

Hey guys, first off I’m not very computer savvy, so treat me as such lol but I've been dealing with this for a few days now, and it's driving me insane 😭
This is the problem:
I don't get any sound out of my computer at all, whether through the speakers (3.5mm jack) or headphones plugged directly into the headphone jack. All sound is completely gone. No system sounds, no video game sounds, no sound for YouTube, etc. My computer isn’t even picking up that there are speakers or headphones plugged in, and when I do the basic Windows troubleshooting, I get the message “Problem found: The speaker, headset or headphone is unplugged”. Which for clarity, the speakers work fine, my headphones also work fine and the HDMI that connects my computer to the monitor also works fine, this has only been a problem since resetting my computer.

In the Playback tab of Sound, I have two devices listed that both just say:
NVIDIA Output
- NVIDIA High Definition Audio
- Not plugged in

This happened after I did a clean reset of my computer a few days ago, and I’ve been going through old reddit posts, IT forums etc. troubleshooting it ever since.

This is my setup:
PC: HP Pavilion
OS: Windows 10, most current edition
Sound drivers: NVIDIA High Definition Audio (version 1.4.0.1)
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GT630
Monitor: Samsung (no inbuilt speakers)
Speakers: Logitech (connected through the headphone jack at the front of pc)

Here's what I've tried:
Restarting the computer.
Rolling back Windows updates.
Turning HDMI audio in the ‘Set up digital audio’ part of NVIDIA Control Panel off and on again.
Uninstalling and re-installing my NVIDIA sound drivers (clean reinstalls).
Doing another factory reset of my computer. REINSTALLING WINDOWS 10. This did not work. I’ve tried all the above steps after reinstalling, multiple times, nothing worked.

Is there anything else I can do short of taking it in for repair? Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it :)

Hey all, after encountering it for the first time myself I just wanted to put a basic PSA out there for those who may need it.
Without spoilers, during one of the final boss fights there is a potential accessibility issue that you may encounter if you require frequent breaks for health, or simply have something come up IRL mid-fight.
With spoilers: During the fight with Chronos, if you try to pause the game Chronos will automatically un-pause the game for you as the 'master of time'. Needless to say, if you have something urgent come up or have to take a second, this can ruin your run. For players with health issues like arthritis, this can be a huge issue in completing the fight.
It is possible to counter this using in-game mechanics, as once you beat Chronos a few times you'll be able to concoct an incantation that lets you pause during the fight.
However, I think this is a very anti-player gimmick for the devs to have implemented. Funny the first time if you're not in a rush, but for those who have something come up or have health issues it can be an uncounterable death. Personally, I prefer that if I die I'm able to learn from my mistakes - telling me to prioritize a boss fight over real life isn't that.

WORKAROUND

You don't need the incantation in order to keep the game paused during this fight. Simply alt-tabbing out of the game will force it to pause, giving you as much time as you need to do what you needed to do before getting back into it.
Hopefully this helps someone else, maybe saves someone's run if they have to step away without warning. Hopefully they remove this gimmick (maybe keep it the first time and that's it), especially if there's such a simple workaround to bypass it entirely.

Hey all,
I am having issues regarding the Minecraft launcher and the realms tab in-game. I am trying to start up a realm with friends, however, we quickly ran into some problems. Whenever I clicked on the realms tab in the main menu, it stated: "Invalid Session. Try Restarting." I did this several times just to be greeting by the same message.
I tried to log out of my account and back in and it stated that I no longer owned the game. After logging out and back in several times trying to troubleshoot the issue, I finally got the launcher to say that I owned the game.
After relaunching, I was still greeted with the same Invalid Session prompt. I am honestly completely stumped and no longer know what to do.
Has anyone else encountered this issue? and If so does anyone know if there is a solution?

Hey, all, starting to get more into going to live music events and I just bought a pair of earplugs (HearProtek high fidelity flanged ear plugs) . I wore them for the first time about a week ago to a parade because there was going to be loud sounds and noises And to test them out. since Ive worn them my right ear feels a impacted and clogged and has been for the past several days. I’m not entirely sure if I incorrectly use the earplugs or if I had inserted them too deep. There was no pain and the earplugs felt fine after wearing them for a bit but I’m worried may have caused some damages to my ear drum.
I’ve tried yawning, chewing gum, lightly blowing through my nose while it is clogged and still my right ear feels plugged. I also have put some hydrogen peroxide in my ear and let it sit and fizz but nothing comes out. If anyone can help me out/point me somewhere to get more information that would be great.
edit: I forgot to mention that I pushed it until the pull tab was barely visible and the acoustics filter was almost flush with my ear hole.

Hey everyone.
I think i'm going slightly mad.
Does the A6600 not have a Mode Dial Guide ?
So when you turn the Mode Dial you usually get a splash screen with the info of what mode you are choosing. Aperture Priority. Shutter Priority. Movie mode. Etc.. On most if not all Sony cameras i know there is a setting to turn this on of off. Usually in the wrench or toolbox tabs.
But for the life off me i cannot find this setting on my A6600. Currently it's off, because when i turn the dial to change the shooting mode, the mode just changes without showing the 'Info screen'.
I've been googling and searching for a loooong time now, but just can't find an answer.
An example of someone with an RX100 who wants to turn it off.
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3260081
I dont really need it. It's not a big deal. But i'm just really wondering if i'm losing it, or if its just not there.
Please help !

Hey real quick question, is being prescribed 3 1mg estradiol tabs a day weird? Aren't there 3mg tabs? It's trying to prescribe me 9 boxes for a 3 month supply and that seems like, a lot a lot.
Thanks

Hey everyone, had to take down and revise my package at the dev's request.

CrossMix Refreshed

Previously I had altered script files included to change the font on Loading screens, which was a cause for concern. I've since removed them so I believe the graphics and other changes I've made should be fine to share with you all in the meantime. All changes included in my pack are:

• Added a CrossMixOS Theme
• Added multiple CrossMixOS Boot Logos
• Added new menu graphics for the System Tools app
• Added new descriptions for menu items in the System Tools app
• Added a 'No Backgrounds' option in the Background Collection tool
• Included an alternate Emus folder to remove Grid labels
• Added a Centered Icon pack to use with the removed Grid labels option
• Added new Loading Screen splash art which matches the new CrossMixOS Theme I made
• Included a revised Emus folder for 3DO to resolve games not appearing in Game Tab

I'll be moving on to Overlays to fill out the catalog for the different systems soon. Try CrossMix Refreshed out for now and let me know your thoughts. Be sure to use the ReadMe file as there are some steps to take to remove some Redundant Icon/Background folders, choose between the Labels/No Labels options for your Game tab, and fixing the 3DO library issue.
Grab it here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xPfowrcMH-6-YPgDnIFWt4OyPHBSVLXY?usp=drive_link

Themes and Previews

Most people know I've created a generously sized theme pack with over 150 themes for your Trimui Smart Pro. These are compatible with all Stock-based firmware options, so be sure to grab them. They work wonderfully with the 'No Backgrounds' option I've included in CrossMix Refreshed.
I've also included a new folder on my Drive, called Theme Previews. This will give you a screenshot of every Theme included in my theme pack, making it much faster for you to check them out and see which you might want to use on your own Trimui Smart Pro.
Grab my Themes, Theme Previews, and other Icon/Background packs for Tomato/Stock here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1eC9HBUm6Ztxy8pNDxUhSVG6RKnkVE9fI?usp=drive_link