1. Fremont Street Experience - 3 stages with Live bands, plenty of street performers, 2 OG casinos (1 of which lets you take a picture with $1,000,000) plus plentiful bars/restaurants. Spending money is not required. We didn't make it at night, but from what I understand it is a good show. During the summer there are more popular artists that perform in the area.
2. Buy a bus pass. $20 for 3 days of unlimited rides. Bus stops at most casinos on the strip as well as Fremont Street. It can get crowded, but it is far cheaper than Lyft/Uber or parking your own vehicle.
3. Plan on having cash on hand for tipping. They gave us a booklet with recommended tipping amounts for just about any potential service you could require. On a budget you don't want to be that tourist that doesn't tip when expected, but you also don't want to overdue it. Just a quick few (Bellhops $1-$3 per bag, Housekeeping $5-$10 per day you have them clean, Buffets $5-$10 per person)
4. Just about everything else can be purchased using Credit/Debit cards. Even a lot of the street performers take digital payments now (Zelle, CashApp, Venmo, Paypal)
5. High Roller observation wheel - If you are 21+, I would recommend getting the "Happy half hour" tickets (Cost a bit more but include unlimited drinks on your ride) which can be used at any time of the day, but definitely go at night. Pods are supposed to hold up to 40 ppl, but when we went we had about 12-15 people besides us. Plenty of room and plenty of time to get your drink on.
6. Wear comfortable shoes, When looking at a map it can be deceiving how far things are from each other. You will find out quickly that you will put some mileage on. My wife and I averaged about 9-10 miles of walking per day, and that was with us trying to avoid it due to medical issues.
7. Hotel - We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations, it's a very nice hotel. Our room was massive, included a full kitchen, dishwasher, dishes, washedryer, and an in wall safe. Be aware, they will ransack you with signing up for a sales presentation. If you are willing to sit through the presentation you will score some goodies, like free show tickets or free dinner, etc. You are under no obligation to buy anything, but if you want free... this is a good way.
8. Speaking of washedryer in our room, check your booking closely to see if you have one. If you do, make sure to not overpack. We stayed a week and probably could have packed for 3 days and been just fine.
9. Book a room with a full kitchen if possible. We went grocery shopping after checking in and stocked up enough basic foods for the week so we didn't have to eat out every meal. When every meal is going to cost you a minimum of $15-$20 per person basically everywhere, it can add up quick. Plus all of the dishes were included, we just had to wash them. They also provided dishwasher detergent.
10. Resort Fees - Be aware of the hotel charging resort fees. As far as I am aware, every hotel on the strip at least has resort fees. HGV had one at $30 per night (Which literally paid for our "complimentary"Wi-Fi, having a phone in our room, and being allowed to self park) Valet was $40 per night billed on our hotel tab.
11. Do not engage with the sales people on the streets unless you are truly interested. It is easy to get scammed and you aren't getting your money back. They also will hound you if you show the least bit of interest in what they are doing. If you bring kids, be aware that there is a TON of pornographic material/cards being handed out or offered in newspaper style machines. Not to mention the "showgirls" that are wandering around with very little on offering to take pictures with you (for a fee of course), there are also BDSM women that walk around and offer to spank you, in front of everyone of course.
12. If you are a people watcher, be aware there are limited areas to sit and just people watch unless you sit at a barestaurant. There are surfaces around to sit on in some places, but I wouldn't count on it.
13. Our 2 favorite restaurants on our trip. Margaritaville (Which we were informed will be closing down it's current location due to their lease expiring, but they are looking for a new location.) and Heart attack grill. If you don't know what either of those are, go on youtube and search. Heart attack grill is a themed restaurant and it is geared towards unhealthy eaters (or fat people if you will). Food was delicious though. Margaritaville had great food, great atmoshere, and great service.
14. Buffet - If you are tempted to spend $$$ on an expensive buffet, be aware they really aren't worth the cost if you are on a budget. We went to the Wynn buffet ($75/person) which included our non-alcoholic drinks. If I had known then what I know now, I honestly would have ONLY gone for dessert. While there is a large assortment of really good food, it is all designed to fill you up quickly and there is just about zero chance you get your $75 worth unless you are a professional eater (or eat like one). But going for desserts, you have so many different choices to try and the portions are smaller being desserts. If you were to buy these desserts at a normal restaurant, they would price between $5-$25. That means you can quickly get your $75 worth without overeating. As of this post, Wynn buffet is the 2nd most expensive buffet, behind bacchanal. We only ate at the Wynn buffet, but there are also more reasonably priced buffets around $30-$50 per person.
15. Blue Man Group - If you haven't heard of them, look them up. They are a comedy show, but not stand up comedy. It's skit based, involves lots of music and crowd interaction. There is NO TALKING from the members of the blue man group, they only act. Which just adds to the show, we loved it. It's a little pricey, I paid about $135 each for tickets... but it was pretty much the highlight of our trip.
16. Any restaurants you plan on visiting, make reservations. Most you can make online. It may not be needed, but if you show up and there is a line down the block, you get to skip the line. Well worth it, just make sure you are there on time or you lose your spot.
17. Avoid buying tourist trap excursions off websites claiming to give you a deal. 99% of them are either the exact same price as if you walk up to the venue or possibly even slightly more expensive. Not to mention, they are literally called a tourist trap for a reason. If you have money to blow, have at it. But on a budget, you won't miss out by not getting sucked in.
18. At basically every restaurant there will be a photographer walking around offering to take pictures. Don't be fooled into thinking these are free photos. They will give you one complimentry photo that is tiny, like as small as those instamax cameras (1x1 photos). They will offer you 2 larger photos (4x6) in a (not so) fancy cardboard photo frame. At the time of this post, it was $20 per photo. *Tourist Hack* If you want the photos, tell them you do not want them and they will offer you both photos without the cardboard frame for $20. This worked at every single restaurant that we hit. Although, we only purchased twice, because how many restaurant photos with logos and crap on it do you need?
19. If you really want to save money, do things OFF-strip. Everything on the strip is pricier, I do mean EVERYTHING.
20. All gift shops have basically the same things. We visited the "Worlds Largest Gift Shop" and also one called ABC gifts (or something like that). Honestly, the Worlds largest felt crowded and overwhelming. The ABC shop we went to had some nice things in it that we bought, I would recommend them.

Disclaimer: This will Not Involve all bad isekai tropes, these tropes are not present in all and sometimes even most isekai, these are not tropes that are not all always bad but are often bad when they are used.

• Complacency one of the most common ones also probably the least complained about on this lists also is a big issue with other tropes because they often involve complacency but on a more specific subject. Simply Most Isekai worlds are fucked up morally and not how the modern world is fucked up morally like the us is worse than 99% percent of fictional evil empires but most people don't realize that or are know it and don't care, But isekai worlds are bad in ways that are obvious to a modern human especially one from a country like Japan that is relatively well off were these protagonists are from. Counter Arguments i know some people will use the fact that change would cause bloodshed, war, and strife, and it will but so do these terrible systems war and bloodshed is a necessary part of societies progression. Now for time where's its okay and simply these are only if the characters moral compass meaning someone whose evil or doesn't care at all i was gonna mention people that are like stop imperialism by voting but their just idiots at least some of them are actually trying to make the world better.
• Slavery This is actually complained about a lot but their are a some things people get wrong so the basic thing against slavery is that the main character buys slaves and keeps them for his own instead of fighting against slavery as a system, fighting to free the specific slaves he comes across, just buying all the slaves and freeing them, or at least fucking freeing the specific slaves he buys. Counter Arguments. the first counter argument is that slavery was common in the time and thats not true most isekai take aspects from multiple time periods mostly the middle ages specifically the high and late middles ages mostly the late. Simply slavery was not common during that time period at least in western Europe where most isekai are inspired by. their was serfdom but not much slavery. The times where slavery was around was before the fall of the roman empire and after the slave trade to the late nineteenth century so if theirs an isekai during that period that's an okay argument. Note: I'm not against mixing time periods just don't use historicity as an argument. The Next counter argument is they would face discrimination if freed, and be roped into pseudo slavery for the discrimination yeah but they would also well left in bonds. As for pseudo slavery yeah but that's not 100% the case plus they can still stay as the protagonist's party member either for gratitude or because they know about the pseudo slavery and think its the best option. Scenarios where its good i think their is no good scenario for this unless its just an evil protagonist or at least cast as the wrong thing to do.
• Nobility This Is For when theirs a strict system of nobility and hierarchy this is really bad because its exploitive and bloodline doesn't affect the ability to rule a country and its when its cast in a good light and you just need to get rid of the bad nobles or when its shown to be bad but nothings done about it. Counter Arguments. Historicity yeah but a character with modern world views should still dislike it. the others are mostly monarchist arguments if theirs a case with royality with a special gift for magic or combat then some argument's claiming they should rule because their superior but that doesn't make sense strength doesn't effect how good of a leader you are. case where its okay theirs if the characters moral compass means they should be okay with it as well as using a parliamentary monarchy but that only makes it less bad.
• Legality Guards Almost never arrive and when they do their to late or ineffective i know the medieval period didn't have a complex code of law but stuff like murder, assault and battery, and worst of all tax evasion are punished even if certain things turned a blind eye to because of prejudice or bribery a fight in the middle of the town square for example should have guards crawling over it even if its not some demon or monster but just humans fighting should be a big deal. Counter Arguments. Narrative yeah but just because the narrative requires it you shouldn't just ignore common sense give a reason or change the setting in a way that still achieves the reason its in a public place with tons of guards if it needs to be seen by everyone use broadcast magic or say most of the guards are away fighting an army or monster or say theirs a magic barrier.

P.s Some of these arent just in isekai or even anime but their still common in isekai so i mentioned them anyways

I have my PS5 wired to my router. I am sat on my couch which is six feet away from my router. It's the perfect conditions for remote play on my portal AND YET for some reason, without warning my gameplay freezes (not stutters, FREEZES) and for a few seconds nothing is happening, and then I am told that I am no longer connected to my PS5.
WHY SONY?????? What secret coded witchcraft handshake did you programme into this thing? I get that when I am away from home I can expect stuttering, I get that whilst on any network I can expect latency. I accept ALL of that, gladly, but why the HECK am I having my gameplay interrupted in a way that is able to lose me hours of progress without ANY warning???

i posted this in college but wanted to also put it here :)
Wasn't sure whether to put this here or somewhere else, but I wanted some advice. I have a sister about to enter her final year of college with no direction for her future. It wouldn't be a problem except for two reasons: one, shes about to graduate from a super expensive school with an engineering degree but has nothing to show for it, and two, my parents have made it a big deal. I am always going to be on my siblings' sides before my parents push come to shove, but I can understand their frustration. She doesn't have the grades for grad school and has expressed no interest in continuing more education (actually, she has expressed that she would rather do quite literally anything but go through more schooling), and does not have any "career-related" job/extracurricular experience. I would honestly not care, but I'm sick of hearing her and my parents argue, and I am also sick of her throwing away other job opportunities because they do not align perfectly with her major (mechanical engineering). I had gotten her a job with an insurance company, but it would be more marketing and some coding focused and she turned it down. My parents have tried getting her other ones, but they were computer engineering or something along those lines and it wasn't what she wanted. I don't know, I guess I just want her to get something so she can stop complaining about having nothing? She goes to a great school, but that alone isn't enough. I want to help, but it's rebuffed. Any ideas? If not, any way I can stop being bothered by it? I am also in college, and I don't want us to be pit against each other, but I always feel weird talking about jobs or extracurriculars I am doing now.

Some background:
— I’ve been with my bf/domestic partnewhatever you want to call it for ~15 years & have lived together for almost the entirety of our relationship.
— We are renters, own no property & likely won’t receive any substantial inheritance from either side of our families.
— He is a 1099 worker operating his business at a loss & I have a standard W2 job.
— We have no kids & that will not change (we will remain childless)
— I have an excellent credit score in the 800’s with no debt & he has some small credit card debt (< $10k) with an average credit score and no delinquencies
— We do not combine our finances (and would not be interested in doing so), but split the rent, utilities & basic necessities 50/50
My workplace offers a Blue Shield of CA Platinum PPO plan for employees & their families and I added my bf to this plan. While my company covers his monthly premium, I am still paying the taxes on his coverage since he is not my spouse. Wondering if it would make sense financially to get legally married for this reason & if there would be any tax implications if so.
Thank you in advance!

I just realized my re-entry code isn't a normal code.
For context I was an enlisted soldier in the 82nd for 7 years. I completed my first 5 year contract, and was medically separated with a "JEA" discharge code due to combat-related wounds. I've been out since 2012, and due to the fact I was MEB'd I didn't really pay attention to the re-entry code.
EDIT : I was medically separated 2 years in to my 2nd enlistment for a total of 7 years in service.
Is there a reason I should have this corrected? I already have a DD-215 due to previous errors on my 214 and if corrected, would they then combine the corrected 214 and 215?
I apologize if this is confusing, I'm not that bright.

Hello,
Could anyone offer advice for me as I apply this cycle. I am a traditional applicant but I unfortunately scored a bit low on my MCAT compared to my FL averages but it's too late to take it again this cycle. Please just be real with me, I'm just trying to see my weaknesses and work on them over the next school year in case this cycle doesn't work out. Repost from my post on SDN, no one responded to me lol.
Scores:
Major: Biomedical Engineering with focus on bio/nanomaterials
GPA: 3.8 (Did not really change much)
MCAT: 513
Research Experience:
Lab Experience: Worked with 2 labs over the past 3 years
Fields: Pediatric neuroimaging, microsurgery and regenerative medicine <- working full time intern this summer though
Publications: 0, but should have one or two by next March (Should I mention this in my SRE?)
Research hours: Close to 2k
Posters: 3 (All regional)
Oral Presentations: 1 at prestigious conference
Patents: 1 in progress
BME Design: Have worked on 2, semester long, projects with doctor clients where my team successfully created the product and wrote lengthy final reports and presented posters at yearly fair (did not include these in the poster count but would bring it up to 5).
Clinical Experience:
Experience:
ED Tech ~ 1000 hr
Shadowing ~ 10 different doctors and different specialties, 80hr
Volunteering ~ 80 hr
Community Volunteering:
Through clubs and stuff: 35 hr
Clubs:
Premedical Club: Vice President, very involved position
Volleyball Club: Travel volleyball team that practices 3 times a week.
Letters of Rec:

1. MD/PhD Co-PI: Strong letter and very well known
   
2. PhD PhD Co-PI: Very strong letter, he is a close mentor to me.
   
3. PhD Neuroimaging PI: Strong Letter
   
4. MD ER Doc: Very strong letter, we are very close.
   
5. MD Research Doc from regenerative medicine lab: Strong letter
   
6. MD/PhD Doc I shadowed: Extremely Strong Letter, he is one of the main reasons I am doing this path and has been reading my essays, overall very involved.
   

Research Interest:
I am very interested in pursuing research in nanomedicine for neuro-oncological applications and hope to become a neuro-oncologist too. This field to me combines all my research interests and my major into one direction and the schools I list below are ones I feel I have a chance with my stats and match my research fit.
School List:

1. Albert Einstein College of Medicine
2. Drexel University College of Medicine
3. Indiana University School of Medicine
4. Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
5. Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
6. Medical College of Wisconsin
7. Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine
8. Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
9. Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University
10. University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine
11. University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
12. University of Connecticut School of Medicine
13. University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
14. University of Kansas School of Medicine
15. University of Michigan Medical School (Reach)
16. University of Nebraska College of Medicine
17. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Reach)
18. University of Oklahoma College of Medicine
19. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Reach)
20. University of Virginia School of Medicine
21. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
22. Wake Forest University School of Medicine
23. Wayne State University School of Medicine

Thanks for the help!

I have a ram 2500 2012 diesel(bone stock). Essentially the title but to explain we gotta go back to 2 years ago. My transmission went, I wanted 800 hp on the truck at some point, so I upgraded, costed around $8k but I missed a thrust washer in between the pump and primary and it smoked itself within 50 miles, costed another 2k to fix what smoked. Well in doing so I got a valve body that needed a tune but the shop didn’t mess around with tunes so they recommended me to a different place. I towed the truck there, dropped it off, had them put the tune on everything worked fine and has ran amazing since. I made the dumb choice to add in a 5 dial engine tune that was supposed to be emissions intact but they messed up and put an emissionsless tune on, did my emissions and gave me my stickers. They then called 2 weeks later and said they messed up, well the truck ran amazing, felt like 100 or so more horsepower so I was very reluctant to take it back in and for various other reasons I decided not to. So I drove like that for a year and went to get it emissions tested and it said everything was “not supported” so obviously I took it back in to them and put the right tune on, However, they said the truck would not accept the tune as the check engine light was on for the egr. Now this is where it gets weird, I put on a trailer probably 6k pounds and went and burned it up a steep hill and the check engine turned off, for about a week. Took it back in that Monday night after they closed, dropped it, went home. Tuesday morning got a call that they still couldn’t get the truck to take the tune. The reason being that the vgt was throwing codes, I drive it home, buy a new turbo, stick it on, dropped it back off and the next morning again another call saying the truck wouldn’t take the tune. This time the reason being this now my nightmare of a code p2002. Now at this point I’m pretty skeptical about there work after looking into the cost of a new dpf and the fact that they could not answer any of my questions regarding what they actually tuned my truck with because they get there tunes from a place called starlight. Now it’s a reputable company and they make great tunes and alot of people use them but their customer service is only open on Wednesday from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm and that is it. So I take it into a diesel performance shop that is very reputable, which my dad has also been using for years, to diagnose the issue. Now this is where I am completely lost. The guy flashed my ecm with a stock, straight from dodge, tune and test drives it with his reader. Says EVERYTHING is running completely normal, all the numbers are normal, fuel rail, boost pressures, dpf sensors all read at normal levels at all times, regens just fine, dpf fills up and regens properly, they replaced the map sensor and the “ppm?” Sensor which reads back pressure?, etc All in all he kept it and test drove it for 2 weeks and tried everything he could think would cause this and the only thing he noticed was that the egr was not doing exactly what it should.
Now, the truck smokes ( not a lot but enough to see in the day) pretty consistently until under load. Essentially once the turbo kicks in it stops. He told me that the egr is 95% open at idle and takes a little longer to close than it should which I guess isn’t supposed to happen. He put a brand new egr on there and test drove it same thing, smoke whenever there is no boost, egr not doing what it’s supposed to. He then unplugs the egr entirely and guess what zero smoke… whatsoever… not even a puff.
Now after 2 years of cops and dmv lines and impound lots and countless hours googling everything I can find about similar issues, I’m completely lost on what to do now.
He recommends the dealer but he says he knows that they are just going to throw parts at it until it’s fixed. This is likely looking down the barrel of a 7-10k dollar shotgun. Just to find out it’s some dumb sensor or something I am not aware of.
So my questions are; What all in the computer makes the egr valve open? Has anyone dealt with this before? Or even something similar? What would you do in this case? Please ask whatever questions I will gladly answer or look into them.
Sorry if this novel is hard to read I didn’t pay attention much in school

"The Web Master"

Battle Smith/Echo Knight

Have been kicking this build around in my head and would like some opinions, suggestions, critiques, and especially for someone to point out if none of this works. I watch a lot of Colby so a lot of these ideas will be a hodgepodge from various videos.

The Build

Main Objective: Battlefield control and support
Secondary Objective: High output of consistent, reliable damage
The idea behind this build is an army of one. Someone who's in multiple places at once, controlling the battlefield. Removing enemies from the fight or putting them into no-win situations is his specialty. He'll also literally be in 3 places at once at least. I like the flavor of having a bunch of clones I control, and I really want to play echo knight.

Race

Custom Lineage (Crusher feat)

Ability Scores

I rolled very well (I realize a big reason why this build might work, but it's also less MAD than I initially expected)

Ability	Score
INT	18 + 2(CL) = 20
CON	17 + 1 (Crusher) = 18
DEX	14
WIS	14
STR	10
CHA	10

Equipment

Medium Armor and a Maul

Level Breakdown

Battle Smith 5/Echo Knight 3/Battle Smith OR War Wizard X
First ASI: Sentinel Other potential feats: Great Weapon Master, Elven Accuracy

Why Battle Smith?

1. Attacks with intelligence (SAD and potential Elven Accuracy)
2. Gives us a pet (flavored as a clone of ourselves) for improved survivability and more AoO potential
3. Web
4. Spellwrought Tattoo for Familiar

Why Echo Knight?

1. More attacks per round with greater reach
2. Gives us another clone of ourselves for more AoO potential
3. Ability to travers Web to get to enemies for attacks

Battle Strategy

This is the ideal strategy and is doable at Level 8. There are variations of this at Level 5 but just keep in mind you won't have your echo until 8.

Our Turn 1

1. We should already have our echo and steel defender up.
2. Cast Web, targeting as many enemies as possible but also leaving one enemy outside on the edge of it
3. Run up to target outside of Web and Action Surge Crusher them into it (with advantage because of familiar). This forces the save and they will hopefully fail
4. Finish 2 more attacks through echo (saving you from going into web) with advantage if they failed their save and are restrained.
5. Position echo right next to enemy.

This could lead to 6d6 + 15 (3 maul attacks w/advantage) damage on one enemy and leave multiple enemies restrained with a better than average chance of keeping them in the Web. Prioritizing GWM instead would be 6d6 + 45. I could do this 4 times before being limited to 2 attacks per round due to unleash incarnation running out.

Enemy turn

1. If enemy succeeds and is able to move, they can either attack the echo and waste an attack or try to get to me and prove an AoO from echo and have their movement reduced to 0, keeping them in the web.

Our Turn 2

1. We can keep mauling this enemy or move our echo to another enemy caught in the Web that's still restrained to continue attacking with advantage.

Alternate Battle Strategies

Like I said cloud of daggers could work with this kind of forced movement/control build.
I could also place my steel defender, echo, and myself at various points along the Web (maybe like a triangle around the perimeter) to try and intercept enemies getting free.

Pros

I think you get a lot of utility and versatility out of this. You could also potentially get another spell like Cloud of Daggers through wizard that would give you a more damage-focused option compared to the control of Web.
You can use your echo, since it's an object and not a creature, to traverse the Web without personal risk since it can't be affected by it. This allows you to hack and slash (or pound) any enemies in the Web and provoke AoO if they do get free. These AoO are additional damage and control (reduce movement with Sentinel and throw them around with crusher)
You can also lean more into damage and focus more on GWM and Elven Accuracy. Heck if I rearrange my stats I could potentially take 2 levels of Paladin for Smites.

Cons

VERY feat hungry.
Takes a while to come online.
I worry that in an attempt at control AND damage, I won't end up being very good with either.
Thoughts? Concerns? Did I get anything wrong? Anything I'm not considering?

EDIT; I work 50 hours a week as nurse making $22.00/hr & have no car payment or rent as this seems to be important information for some reason.
I am a married 21F.
I, like many others I have seen here, did not really grasp how tough the world was going to be on me.
I as of right now have about 14k in debt. As many people have told me “ it’s not that bad “ for me it is. It’s preventing me from getting good credit card rates, good car payment rates, and even a mortgage.
I have the means to pay all of this off, now at least. But I want to know what going to happen to my credit score when I do.
Do I pay it all at once? Do I pay from least owed to most owed? Do I try to bargain with the debt collectors?
I have heard so much from so many different people my head is spinning. I just want to start my life.

Good morning everyone. It's my first time to join such group. I'm actually hesitant to join because I don't know if this will just exacerbate my symptoms knowing that I'm still hyperaware of my condition because of continuous research. But I badly need your help because upon reading in some posts, I've learned that others are experiencing exactly the same with mine. So I hope you'll be patient enough to answer my queries. Thank you so much in advance.
Here's my condition in details. I actually have TMJ dysfunction for a month now. My left TMJ is displaced due to over-straining my jaw while talking and chewing I guess because I'm a teacher. The pain behind my ear never stops until now but it's actually manageable. Other than that, I don't have any complaints about my TMD.
But this alarmed me a lot. Last 2 weeks, my left ear clogged when I woke up. I think the reason is because of the ear plugs I worn that night. But upon waking, it's only my left which is clogged. No problem with my right ear tho. It's clogged and muffled as if pressure is trapped in my ears. So I went to ENT but the doctor said I don't have any problem with my ears. It's clear, no build up of ear wax nor water inside. I went to another ENT and said I have little inflammation in my nose and throat which may cause the clogging. But after few days, my condition didn't improve. Still clogged and full. So i went to another ENT doctor this time in a big hospital, I did hearing test and the result is normal. I also did tympanometry and the doctor said I have a little problem with my eustachian tube. So he prescribed betahistine and anti histamine for treatment but still no progress.
But here's what bothers me THE MOST now. When i went back home, since my lef ear is clogged, I tried to put warm compress on it maybe it will ease the pain. I did it for 15 minutes but only once. After the compress, suddenly I heard a high pitched sound which I believe is coming from the fan. Since it's kinda unusual that when I turn off the fan, the high pitched will fade. As if I am hearing two different sounds in the fan, one is the real wind sound and the high pitched accompanied by it. So i already felt there's something wrong.
Until now, the high pitched never disappeared everytime I hear the fan, AC, refrigerator, running water or any white noise related sound. I don't know where is the noise coming from. I tried to ask someone if they hear the same sound but they can't. I know I also have tinnitus because when I am in silence, I can hear some buzzing sound in my ear but actually that's more manageable than the sound I hear along with white noise sounds. It's like a high pitched/morse code sound going along with the external sound. This bothers me the most since of course I can't live without those appliances. I'm trying to ignore and just focus in the real sound but still it just amplifies the sound.
Also, everytime I go outside, I can hear some distorted harmony tune along with the external sounds. It's not music but it's just a very short cinsistent tune. The sound is very consistent and just the same. I don't know if I am just having auditory hallucinations or I can really hear the sound. This bothers me a lot because it just amplifies with other external sounds. My head hurts a lot.
This is very hard for me because ever since silence is my ultimate relief. I love silence. I hate loud noises even before. But now, the high pitched noise, morse code noise and the distorted harmony I can hear just ruined everything. I don't know what's my condition. Why this happened just very instant.
Please help me. I will appreciate all your information and advices. Thank you so much!

So I'm trying to make a different result depending on the user score but It isn't working and I don't know why, I'm really, really new at this and I want to know what am I doing wrong so I can improve next time, sorry if the code looks weird
This is the code for the boom boom
​
This is the code for the stats
The problem: This shouldn't happen
So my intention is that the result change if the user has more than 50 points and if he doesn't it don't work and the bomb explode but this is defusing even if the user doesn't have the 50 points. Again, I'm really noob when it comes to code so any help would be aprecciated

Good morning everyone. It's my first time to join such group. I'm actually hesitant to join because I don't know if this will just exacerbate my symptoms knowing that I'm still hyperaware of my condition because of continuous research. But I badly need your help because upon reading in some posts, I've learned that others are experiencing exactly the same with mine. So I hope you'll be patient enough to answer my queries. Thank you so much in advance.
Here's my condition in details. I actually have TMJ dysfunction for a month now. My left TMJ is displaced due to over-straining my jaw while talking and chewing I guess because I'm a teacher. The pain behind my ear never stops until now but it's actually manageable. Other than that, I don't have any complaints about my TMD.
But this alarmed me a lot. Last 2 weeks, my left ear clogged when I woke up. I think the reason is because of the ear plugs I worn that night. But upon waking, it's only my left which is clogged. No problem with my right ear tho. It's clogged and muffled as if pressure is trapped in my ears. So I went to ENT but the doctor said I don't have any problem with my ears. It's clear, no build up of ear wax nor water inside. I went to another ENT and said I have little inflammation in my nose and throat which may cause the clogging. But after few days, my condition didn't improve. Still clogged and full. So i went to another ENT doctor this time in a big hospital, I did hearing test and the result is normal. I also did tympanometry and the doctor said I have a little problem with my eustachian tube. So he prescribed betahistine and anti histamine for treatment but still no progress.
But here's what bothers me THE MOST now. When i went back home, since my lef ear is clogged, I tried to put warm compress on it maybe it will ease the pain. I did it for 15 minutes but only once. After the compress, suddenly I heard a high pitched sound which I believe is coming from the fan. Since it's kinda unusual that when I turn off the fan, the high pitched will fade. As if I am hearing two different sounds in the fan, one is the real wind sound and the high pitched accompanied by it. So i already felt there's something wrong.
Until now, the high pitched never disappeared everytime I hear the fan, AC, refrigerator, running water or any white noise related sound. I don't know where is the noise coming from. I tried to ask someone if they hear the same sound but they can't. I know I also have tinnitus because when I am in silence, I can hear some buzzing sound in my ear but actually that's more manageable than the sound I hear along with white noise sounds. It's like a high pitched/morse code sound going along with the external sound. This bothers me the most since of course I can't live without those appliances. I'm trying to ignore and just focus in the real sound but still it just amplifies the sound.
Also, everytime I go outside, I can hear some distorted harmony tune along with the external sounds. It's not music but it's just a very short cinsistent tune. The sound is very consistent and just the same. I don't know if I am just having auditory hallucinations or I can really hear the sound. This bothers me a lot because it just amplifies with other external sounds. My head hurts a lot.
This is very hard for me because ever since silence is my ultimate relief. I love silence. I hate loud noises even before. But now, the high pitched noise, morse code noise and the distorted harmony I can hear just ruined everything. I don't know what's my condition. Why this happened just very instant.
Please help me. I will appreciate all your information and advices. Thank you so much!

[First Contact] [Dark Ages] [First] [Prev] [Next] [wiki]
"Leave the sleeping dragons lie in peace" is a lesson that seemingly has to be taught to every wannabe conqueror over and over again.
Time after time, there will be a few idiots who only see the dragon's hoard, its cult of followers, and ignore the piles of rusted, slagged, calcified, scorched remains of every moron who tried before them. They see all of this and think "I can beat it to submission and take everything it has."
And then the dragon wakes up, and more smoldering remains are added to the scorched scrap heap.
And the Malevolent Universe grins in the darkness, and increases the "Dead morons who should have known better" counter by one. Then, waits for the next contestant. - u/Matt_Bradock, Terran Philosopher, Age of Paranoia, TerraSol
^{initiating data stream
your name is Dhruv-661391
you were purchased for the same price as a moderately priced luxury vehicle}
She knows the dead. She is of the dead. She is the keeper and guardian of the dead. Life, death and the feasting of swarms all are one within her. She knows where once-dead things were laid to rest and where the deathless still dream in their unliving slumber. She knows where the hungry dead have roamed the universe's fields, and where they still roam them unburied, and why no one remembers them as they tread. - The Fifth Horseman, First Terran Imperium, "Meditations Upon Immortals"
^{you were created to serve}
What we tell ourselves, what we tell others, and what actually happened, are often three different things.
And sometimes four. - Unknown, Age of Paranoia, TerraSol
^{your name is Dhruv
and your brain was once smooth}
Captain N'Skrek checked his datalink.
The deep data storage was still at work bringing up information on "Legion" and "Sacajawea". The older databases of the Gray Lady had data at the ready, but it was sparse.
Two of the Biological Apostles of the Digital Omnimessiah, a figure of myth and legend.
Yet, they sat across from him.
They were talking back and forth in a language that the computer's linguistic database had no record of and stubbornly resisted any attempt to decipher it.
What N'Skrek did hear was several words that he recognized.
Daxin the Unfeeling. Daxin Freeborn. Chromium Saint Peter. Enraged Phillip. Matthias the Elder. Matthias the Younger. Kibuka. Kalki. Gravity.
A litany that left data scrolling down the empty space just beyond the edge of his peripheral vision.
Daxin "The Walking War Crime" Freeborn.
NavInt and MilInt were projecting with an 80% certainty (adjusted downward for unknown probabilities) that the beings in front of him were from that long bygone era.
Finally Captain N'Skrek cleared his throat.
The bald one, Legion, turned to look at the gathered staff officers.
"My apologies. I was catching my sister up on what has transpired since she disappeared," Legion said, smiling gently. He nodded. "You probably have questions."
N'Skrek nodded back. "The biggest one is: how did you..." he thought for a second. "Why did you..." no, that wouldn't work. "What bring about..."
Legion smiled.
"How did I replace all of your clones and why?" he asked. "Why is it that if you print off too many identical clones I show up?"
N'Skrek nodded. "Yes."
Legion looked at the Terran officers and smiled wider. It was a cruel smile, reminding N'Skrek of a hook pointed knife that had been sharpened to a keen edge.
"You didn't tell them? Have you really forgotten about me?" he asked.
"It was assumed to be still prevented by the cloning systems," Vice-Admiral Breakheader stated slowly. "We have only recently been restored ourselves. Less than two months time."
Legion just smiled.
Vice-Admiral Breakheader turned to look at Captain N'Skrek. "Running off too many identical clones causes Legion to manifest. It's why we use the Born Whole system, it ensures they have different brains, different expriences, and they have a slight variation to pore and retinal patterns, hair growth, minor things like that. Otherwise, Legion manifests."
"Why?" N'Skrek asked.
The Vice-Admiral sat silently for a moment before replying. "Because," was all he said.
Legion's smile didn't leave his face.
"Because it is my nature," he said.
Sacajawea said something and Legion replied in the same language, then turned to N'Skrek.
"My sister does not know why she was rebirthed," he said. He looked at her and spoke rapidly. She answered, only a few words, which made Legion reply at length. Again, only a few words.
"It must have been important," N'Skrek interrupted.
"She states that she does not know why the Immortals system did not rebirth her when she died," Legion said. He glanced at her. "She tells me that she died, with her people, when her peaceful planet was attacked."
"By the Mar-gite?" N'Skrek asked.
Again, more conversation.
"Yes," Legion answered. He frowned as she spoke again. "She says they were a peaceful planet. Anarcho-Primitivism. Very little technology. The Mar-gite attacked without warning."
She spoke rapidly and Legion listened.
N'Skrek saw the computer still was not able to parse the language, even though it could build a lexicon of off very little data for almost any other language it encountered.
Legion turned and faced N'Skrek. "She states that she believes it was the fact that some of her people demanded that high technology be left in place in order to allow the six planets her people had settled to remain in contact. That the high tech farming and sustenance industries led the Mar-gite to attack her."
Again, Sacajawea spoke, her head lifted, looking down at Legion.
"Why she was not reborn is unknown to her. She had guided and shepherded her people for thousands of years before the outsiders came. Outsiders drawn by technology, by the abandonment of the old ways," Legion said. He was frowning as he spoke rapidly.
The conversation took a few minutes.
"She said the outsiders came and wiped her people out after entire generations held them off. That in the final battle, they overcame her when her strength failed," Legion said. There was more talking. "She's describing the Mar-gite."
"Where was this?" N'Skrek asked, bringing up a map of the galaxy. "The First Mar-gite War was only three hundred years prior to the Council-Confederacy Conflict and lasted nearly a hundred years," the brought up a sketchy timeline of the era. "When did you encounter the Mar-gite and where?"
Sacajawea spoke again at length. Legion spoke back. It grew heated for a moment before Legion looked at N'Skrek.
"She will not say. She does not want us to defile or desecrate the worlds her people settled. She does not want us to know when or where," he said.
"That might be pertinent information," N'Skrek said. "Important information to keep the Mar-gite from overwhelming the Cygnus-Orion Spur."
Sacajawea spoke quickly, heatedly, half standing up. Legion put his hand on her shoulder, obviously encouraging her to sit down, but she shrugged, throwing off Legion's hand, and her speech got more heated, her eyes flashing with anger.
"She says she will not reveal her people's resting place for us to dig up the graves and desecrate them. That it is not anyone's business where The People have gone or what The People have done," Legion said. He turned and answered her.
The conversation got heated as the N'Skrek and the officers watched.
Finally, Sacajawea stood up and turned around, folding her arms across her chest, lifting her chin.
Legion's skin darkened with anger.
"Then you can tell them that load of bullshit yourself, little sister," he snapped.
He suddenly vanished in a swirl of black powder that evaporated.
N'Skrek saw that Sacajawea was shocked by Legion's disappearance. She stood there for a long moment.
"Dhruv?" she asked mid-air.
N'Skrek motioned his officers to stay silent.
"Dhruv?" she snapped, stomping one foot.
Still silence.
"Luke!' she half-shouted, stamping her foot again.
She turned and looked at the gathered staff officers, who were all staring at her.
"Legion?" she asked quietly.
N'Skrek held up one bladearm.
"It appears, Miss, that you will have to speak for yourself."
Sacajawea frowned and clamped her lips together.
N'Skrek just stared mildly.
^{your name was tiffany}
0-0-0-0-0
^{your name was dhruv
you were created to serve the deshmuhk family
you were a gardener and a menial
but you have risen above that}
Jaskel had just gotten a plate of food and sat down in one corner of the cavernous Dining Bay Twenty-Three.
True, it was a little bit of a walk from the Telkan Marine section to that particular dining facility, but for some reason Jaskel liked the food put out by Nutriforge-Eight better than any of the others.
Like the Gunny always said, it was the little things that count.
He had arranged his silverware, his drink, and given a short prayer when he suddenly wasn't alone.
A slender man in an unfamiliar uniform suddenly appeared at one of the tables on the far side of the Dining Bay. Jaskel watched as two more stepped out of the first. They all sat down and started talking rapidly.
To Jaskel, it sounded like an argument.
It looked like one person arguing with himself.
Jaskel ate quietly and slowly, trying to avoid attracting attention, but watching the Terran out of the corner of his eye.
Terrans were universally half-crazy.
And a Terran arguing with clones of himself was probably full blown crazy.
That, and Jaskel remembered how negligent the display of power had been that had left him hanging upside down in mid-air.
Much to the amusement of his squad mates who watched the video and laughed.
He was down to dessert when the far door opened and a woman entered. Jaskel recognized her instantly as the young adult Terran woman who had appeared nude from the cloning banks, even though she was clad in clothing made of brown material and decorated with beads.
She immediately made a bee-line for the man, who had gotten a plate with a piece of pie on it while the other two argued between each other.
She stopped and stomped on foot, staring down at the sitting man.
"You look stupid," the man, Legion, said when she stopped next to him.
"Dhruv," she snapped. She rattled off words that Jaskel's datalink couldn't translate.
"Not talking to you until you speak Confederate Standard. I know you know it," Legion/Dhruv stated.
She stomped her foot again. "Luke!" she snapped.
Legion looked up. "Part of me, a large part of me, feels that you lost the right to call me by that name."
He went back to eating the pie. When the woman looked at the two clones who were staring at her, they stared back for a moment then puffed into black dust that swirled and vanished.
Jaskel kept watching out of the corner of his eye.
"Dhruv," she snapped.
"Go away, Sacajawea," Legion said.
She stood there for a moment. Then she suddenly leaned forward and slapped the plate of pie away from Legion.
"I will not call you Legion," she suddenly said as the plate clattered against the far bulkhead.
"Go away," Legion said. He looked up. "Let me put it in a way you might understand better: I just want left alone."
The woman stepped back, one hand going to her mouth.
"Yeah, still scared of him, aren't you," Legion said. He stood up. "Or are you?" he moved so he was clear of the table. "Were you ever afraid of him, Sacajawea, or was it all an act?"
Sacajawea looked away. "He was everything wrong with the world, a living reminder of what kind of men destroyed my people."
Legion suddenly laughed. "You forget history, little sister. But, of course, you never had any use for history unless it served your own ends."
Sacajawea stomped her foot. "Dhruv, be nice."
"No," Legion said, his voice low and intent. "I have yet to hear you thank me for what I did in the cloning bay, much less what I did for you before you ran off and left me holding the bag."
^{your name was luke
remember remember
your name was luke}
"I came back to find Matthias the Elder standing over the sundered murdered code of the Digital Omnimessiah," Legion said. "Then Daxin showed up, Matthias claimed I killed our Digital Father, so I ran."
"And he followed. Intent on killing you," Sacajawea sniffed.
"Yes!' Legion said. "Of course he did! I would have chased me in that situation," Legion said. He stepped forward. "And where were you, Little Sister, when it happened?"
She looked away and sniffed. "I was performing my duty, serving my people. As you well know."
Legion turned around, facing away from her. "Yeah, the people you had me bake up," he turned back around. "Not the poor bastards fighting a slowly losing war against the Mantid. They were your people too, but you left them behind. If it wasn't for the Mechakrautlanders, they'd be extinct with the rest of humanity."
"They had set aside the old ways. I told you that," Sacajawea said. She gave a sniff and turned her head away. "They were too consumed by blood lust, they would not stop fighting, would not embrace the old ways."
"EVERYONE WAS FIGHTING!" Legion shouted in a voice that made Jaskel's drink glass rattle. "There were hab-kids fighting and dying in destroyed hab-blocks in the ruins of megalopolises. It had nothing to do with 'the old ways', it was a fight for survival."
"You would not understand," Sacajawea said. She gave another sniff, still looking away. "I took my people away from where technology and the abandonment of the ways of our people had led us."
Legion stood still for a second.
"Don't give me that shit about your 'people', remember, I touched you. I know the truth," Legion said. He shook his head. "You had a task. A task to help us, help our Digital Father, help all of humanity, but you abandoned it."
"I had a task to help my people," Sacajawea sniffed. "I owed nothing to the world that stood aside or actively took part while my people were destroyed," she looked at Legion. "You wouldn't understand."
Jaskel could see purple electricity snarling around Legion's boots, clawing at the deckplates with thread-thick fingers.
"You were supposed to guide us along the path to the SUDS, so we could save everyone, Sacajawea," Legion said. "You betrayed us. Betrayed them. You were supposed to save them."
"Like they saved my people, Luke?" Sacajawea asked.
"You don't call me that any more, little sister," Legion said. "For the love of the Detainee, fucking let go of shit that doesn't matter any more. We humans have been genocided repeatedly since then."
"I'm not calling you Legion. That reeks of arrogance and pride," Sacajawea said. "And it matters to me, Luke."
"You talk a lot of shit for someone named Bird Woman," Legion snapped back. "How about I call you Tiffany?"
Sacajawea took a step back. "That is not my name. That was never my true name."
"You forget. I could see under that skin job. See who you were born as. I knew the truth, and I've kept it secret for all these eons," Legion said. He turned away. "You left us, left humanity behind on your so-called quest."
He turned back to face her.
"Now, again, we're facing extinction. The Mar-gite, they wiped you out. Now they're here in overwhelming force to the point where I'm not even sure Fortress Sol can hold them off," Legion said. "And you still want to play pretend."
He turned his back on her.
"You're no different than Matthias the Elder," Legion said quietly.
There was a dreadful silence for a long moment.
"I told Daxin, sitting in the parking garage where we used to meet, that we had to let go of the past. Learn from it, admit it happened, but we had to let it all go. The old hatreds, the old angers, the old rage," Legion said softly. "He agreed. He said perhaps it was time for us to leave the mortals behind. Let them go without us dragging baggage from worlds and events dead and gone behind us."
Sacajawea sniffed. "It's different for the two of you, neither one of you had your people..."
"I was a short bake slave clone, Tiffany," Legion said, his voice still soft and quiet. "Just like your family owned."
Sacajawea opened her mouth to answer, her eyes flashing hotly.
"One of millions grown in a vat every year. Made in humanity's image but without its grace," Legion's voice was nearly a whisper. "Our little band of siblings, only Kalki, Gravity, and Daxin came from families that did not order one of me from an online catalogue. Even Bellona lived with my people performing menial labor for her colony."
Sacajawea stepped forward, obviously about to deliver a scathing retort.
"But my people didn't count, did we, Tiffany?" Legion asked. He gave a deep sigh. "I loved you, you know."
Her mouth closed. She looked confused.
"When you left, I created another of you," Legion said quietly. "She was, of course, captured by the Imperium, like all of the Biological Apostles," he looked down at the floor. "It was why they didn't know you'd escaped."
Jaskel wished he was anywhere but in the dining bay.
"Eventually, that version of you threw off the Imperium's chains like we did. She went back to Terra. Worked tirelessly to rebuild. Eventually, led the Dandelion Fleet that became the Sky Nebula Alignment."
It was silent except for the muted sounds a starship under power in Transit Space made.
"I'll go back with you. Translate for you," Legion said, his voice still soft. He turned to face the woman.
"Just... just stop lying, Tiffany," he said.
He was silent a moment.
"I had hoped that it was that version, my version, the version I had been madly in love with, that version of you that had been rebirthed," he said. "The version who guided her people, who succored them, who helped them rebuild, who helped them thrive in the scarred and shattered world Earth had become. I had hoped, when I saw you, that you were her."
^{the buzzing can still be heard
your name is legion}
"But it's just you."
0-0-0-0-0
Captain N'Skrek watched as Legion led Sacajawea into the briefing room.
He had been busy looking up every scrap of information on the Digital Omnimessiah, the Biological Apostles, Legion, and Sacajawea.
Of all of them, information was scarcest, almost non-existent, on Sacajawea.
He waited as the Terran woman took a drink from the glass in front of her.
She looked around.
"During the Human-Mantid War, before the destruction of the Overqueen by the forces of MechaKrautland, before the Liberation of Terra," she started. She closed her eyes, sighed, and opened them. "I begged Vat Grown Luke, who you know as Legion, to clone my people and help me repair and then hijack four colony transports crashed in the Middle Kingdom."
She looked down and Legion reached over and took her hand. She looked startled for a moment, squeezed Legion's hand gently, and looked back up.
"I led my people away. From the Imperium, from Terra, from the War," she said. She reached out and touched the holo-emitter, bringing up a map of the Milky Way. She touched a single arm.
"I led them here. For over eight thousand years my people knew peace, prosperity, and plenty," she said. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled sharply.
N'Skrek recognized it as a sign of stress in Terrans.
"Roughly twelve hundred Terran Standard Years prior to the Council-Confederacy Conflict, we were attacked," she said. She looked down. "I had sworn to protect my people, to use my powers to protect my people, which had grown to fill six worlds."
She looked back up.
"The Mar-gite destroyed my people in under a decade," she said. She looked down again. "And me with them."
"A glitch in the system prevented her from moving to Afterlife or being rebirthed," Legion said. "A glitch I had caused when I helped her."
"The Mar-gite destroyed my people here," Sacajawea said, her voice filled with pain.
A single cluster of six stars burned brightly.
Deep in the Scutum-Crux Arm.
^{your name is legion}
[First Contact] [Dark Ages] [First] [Prev] [Next] [wiki]

First Prev Archive Royal Road Patreon
The testing started out extraordinarily simple. Simple math, elementary school basic, but as I knocked out questions on the tablet, it definitely moved up. This held true in all sections, but I didn't catch on until eventually, Brad held up his hand, "Mr. Donny, it says my test is done."
Donny nodded, checking his computer at his desk really quickly, "Alright then, why don't you take yourself on down t'the cafeteria. Here's a card so y'can get yourself somethin' t'eat."
I spared a glance at Darryl, who similarly, glanced over at me, and we nodded. There was no reality where Brad Warner was simply smarter than everyone else here, and that meant the parameters were different than what we generally assumed during testing. The test kept going until you hit the wall, programmed to see how far you could take it. The questions stepped up as you answered, but that wouldn't be enough, cause then you could take forever, so there was a time element. The faster and more correctly you answer then, the higher your level goes. My questions were getting more and more detailed, more advanced maths and sciences. The test itself was designed to end when you hit the limit of your learning, but not in a 'get one question wrong' way, but a summation of overall knowledge.
Aimee was the next to complete her test,and was similarly handed a card for the cafeteria as she walked up dejectedly, and I spared a glance again. Darryl was just sort of loving life, while Mackenzie was clearly getting frustrated. We kept pushing through, until Mackenzie slammed her desk with both hands, startling everyone, "Damn it!"
She stalked to the front, snatched her card out of Donny's hand, and stormed out of the room, muttering something about eternal emnity. Darryl and I eyed each other: We were the last two left, and Darryl mouthed a congratulations to me before getting back into it. We kept going for a while, and finally, a hand went up, "Done."
Darryl's head shot in my direction, and Donny smiled, "Alright then, come get your card."
I got up, and took my card, then walked over to Darryl, "I didn't hold back."
I walked out of the room to head off to the cafeteria. In the end, I'd gone as far as the test would allow in Math and Science, the things I was consistently using. Where I'd met my match was English and Social Studies. I simply hadn't studied it as much due to the project and company needs, and thus neither improved much since I'd read my textbooks. I swung through the cafeteria, very aware that everyone was staring at me from their table as I grabbed food and drinks, and came to sit. Mackenzie gave me a look, "Darryl won?!"
I got her annoyance. She was two years ahead of us, and highly competitive by nature. Her chain of trophies had not been an accident or by anyone else's hand but hers, "Yup. He got me. Pretty sure I got dinged on Social Studies and English."
Aimee cut in, "But, like, your 1%?"
"1% only effects what I work on. I haven't been in an English class since the end of September, and it's not like I've been keeping up since. Same thing with Social Studies, it's mostly a study of history, and I haven't had the time for it. The math and science sure, but I haven't really had a reason to advance in my understanding of literature or broader history, so it didn't improve," I shrugged a bit as I dug into my little sub.
Aimee and Mackenzie were both upset at their placement, but Brad seemed perfectly fine. He'd never expected to do better, and it wasn't like he was invested in it, so it was nothing that he wasn't the smartest person in the room. He'd known he wasn't. Makenzie was basically ready to go redo the test for the sake of vengeance, so she'd be fine, but Aimee was pretty upset. I took a break from food to look at her, "Aimee, I'm sure you did fine. I've got a literal superpower for learning, Darryl's a super-nerd, and Mackenzie is two years ahead of you in school. Plus, we don't know what he's potentially scoring us on."
She was biting her lip a bit, which was distractingly cute, "I know, but..."
"This was an assessment test. As far as I understand it, there's no way to fail, it's just so that he knows where we're at," I spoke softly, taking her hand.
Aimee my hand, but looked close to tears, "But you're so..."
A sound of disgust turned us toward Brad, who finally joined in the conversation, "So what if you're not as smart? Who even gives a damn?! Like, dude, no one's ever gonna be as smart as him again. It'd be like saying you'll never be in the NBA cause you lost a pick-up game where the other team has Lebron, Jordan, and Bryant in their prime."
We all took a moment. Brad didn't really talk that much, so the idea of him being deep was... new. I smirked a little, "Very well-put, Brad."
It was well-put, and gave Aimee some context, not least of which was that she played basketball and the metaphor applied directly for her. She came down a moment and wiped her eyes, and we started chatting about stuff at the H.A.A. and classes until Darryl and Donny showed up. Darryl looked like he'd been through the wars, but he was still smiling, so clearly he was pretty proud of himself as he sat with us.
Donny stepped up with his tray, but didn't take a seat, "Alright y'all, now, I gotta go over the test results and whatnot, so while I'm workin' on that, you guys eat, and then go take some time in the rec area. Sound good?"
We nodded. After being stuck in testing for so long, getting to stretch our legs was a relief. Mackenzie needed to blow off steam, so we went up to one of the second floor halls to spar while the others watched. I took a moment before we got started to get a sidebar with Mackenzie, "I get it. Darryl beat you."
"This time. I'm a junior. I should've been able to beat him," She was distinctly displeased with herself as she put on sparring pads.
"Mackenzie, it's like Brad said, Darryl's a super-nerd, and he was in a test of knowledge. There's a reason he's in the honors classes," putting on my own pads as I continued, "And I get it. Losing to me, you could've taken it cause of the 1%, but Darryl was smarter than all of us combined before, that didn't shift since I got awakened, only my power did."
She glared up from the ground she sat on to get her footpads on, and while she didn't directly respond, I knew her well enough to know she was getting it. It did not do anything for her current temper. She was determined to be the best, not good, not great, the best. Anything less was a flaw in need of correction. Mackenzie kipped up off the floor, and discussion time was over. We bowed, took stance, and when Darryl called the start, she immediately went on the assault. She fired off a punch at my face, immediately dropping low for a sweep that I stepped over, and immediately launched into a waist take down, using the force of rebound from dropping low. With arms already up from the block, and one foot off the mat, she got her take down... sort of. Instead of trying to fight it, I rolled with it, catching her belt, and throwing her as we hit the mat, using the momentum of the fall. She didn't go too far, but it was for me to break out as she threw a ground elbow to drive me off, then spun as she rose, getting more distance from a series of spinning kicks. We were back in neutral stance, but now on opposite sides. I launched into my offensive.
Darryl knew what it was like when we sparred, but not Aimee and Brad. Aimee was a bit shocked at how hard we went at it, and Brad looked like he was going to throw up, that ingrained fear of my sister being given legitimacy before his eyes. Our sparring sessions had changed, though, with it being done more or less in 'turns' now, with Mackenzie taking the lead off on offense, then me reversing to take it back and press her. We finished up after a few turns, and I grabbed a towel from the side, where Aimee was waiting, "So that's what it's like when you go all out?"
Mackenzie laughed, "Hell no. I tried that ride once, just for fun and yeah, no, I got nothing for that."
I could see Aimee considering her words, and there was something there she wanted to talk about, but she wanted to talk about it privately, "Alright, everyone. I don't know about everyone else, but I could use a cool off. I'm hitting the pool."
We got changed out, and hit the pool for a bit, mostly just relaxing. That's where Donny found us, "Alright y'all, got my lunch in and tests're graded."
Brad groaned, "Aw man, we gotta go back to class?"
Donny smiled, "Nah. We gotta do the physical assessment, and since y'all're already here, why don't we start with the pool?"
And that's when Darryl groaned. His time as champion of the assessments had come to an end.
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I have no idea what happened, but my "fire weapon" key has been unmapped and cannot be remmaped to left mouse. I click, and my character sneaks. I think it happened after I swapped "hold your breath" from one of my mods to caplocks and moved that keybind as well; I initially noticed that sneak got unbound everytime I loaded a save, then realized I couldn't fire my gun. Is there any way to fix this atrocity, or even rebind the fire key, or am I screwed?
Edit: it's actually worse than I thought. Not only can I not pull the trigger myself, if I select something in vats and press to fire it will just pop into the cinematic attac screen while my character stands unmoving and the targets name flickers rapidly.
Edit 2: I manged to rebind the attack key to something other than the mouse, which allowed me to attack. Now I just need to figure out how to bind the attack key back to mouse one. I know theres a way to edit tbe prefs ini to change the keybinds manually, but I can't seem to find the code to for the left mouse button nor even the attack key. Can anyone help?
Final Edit: Alright, this issue was a bit strange and obtuse, but I did manage to solve it eventually. Initially, swapping the device screen to the mouse did nothing, but after rebinding and subsequently unbinding the attack key to the keyboard, I managed to fix it. So for anyone else that suffers from this issue in the future for whatever reason, just rebind the attack key on the keyboard, then swap to default, then go to the mouse controls, (which should erroneously say the key is still bound), hit default again, and you should be good.

I bought a used car and still owe about $6,000 on it. It's a 2013 Ford Edge, mileage is 195,000. Ive only had it for about a year. Took it in the mechanic due to overheating, car making weird noises and sometimes when I'm sitting at a red light I noticed weird rocking.
So first mechanic was on the pricier side. I took them in once, They essentially told me they saw trouble codes for the camshaft timing but when they saw it, it looked fine so they cleaned it and sent me on my way. My check engine light came on a second time so I brought it in. They again saw the same code and said it looked good to them. So they deduced that the problem must be deeper in the engine but wanted me to pay $500 to look into it. I said no thanks and left
Second mechanic- Saw 2 problems. 1) Catalyic converter needs replacing but he told me that could wait for another year or so. 2) He saw that my coolant had a crack in it. He said it's been leaking onto the engine and it was the cause of the problem I've been having. He told me the coolant had done some damage to the engine and said I would be better off 1) replacing the engine or 2) cleaning the car up and reselling.
Now here is my dilemma:
I'm not at a place to buy a new car, that's why I got this used one.
My APR rate freaking sucks right now, I think its about 22%. My credit score was below fair but It's gone up to 6405 now thankfully. But i'm kind of scared of trading it in, getting a new car and getting screwed with a high APR rate again. IDK how APR rates are determined, so I'm like do I work for a more higher credit score first?
So it's like... do i gamble with another used car? Do i get a 3rd mechanic's opinion? Do I just buy a new engine?
I do have $2,000 in my savings I could use for a new down payment but I'm like, terrified to get a new used car and go through this crap all over again. Or do i use the money to get a new engine? Any feedback is very appreciative, thank you.

Tatoo was fomrulaic and standard and franjly unexecptional if it hadn't have been Loreen it would not have won. In its year Käärijä won the public vote for a reason. Cha Cha Cha was genuineley a better scong overall. Overall i have far less objection to Nemo winning than Baby Lasanga not winning. Tatoo had 0% true soul for me. Generlly the song was way worse than any annual song I'd fear I'd come across.The Code has more uances than expected. Its approach to gender identity was bold and refreshing