Its going to be a long post so here's TL;DR:
2 gpu s had same issue (fans working at 100% speed but no output) with different builds and at different times, older GPU worked fine after some time or with different build
Long story:
I had 1660super gpu for about 2-3 years. One day, while i was playing, suddenly there was no output and my fans were spinning like crazy. It used to take around 12 hours of rest for it to start working again. until one day it did not want to work, system was loading but no output. I changed systems(motherboard ram psu) to a far less powerfull pc and my GPU was working fine for some time, until same thing happened: gpu fans were spinning super fast but no output. I was frustrated and didnt know what to do since no one could repair it or even get the same issue as i had with this card. I will be honest i did not think it was worth taking my whole rig with me to a service centre since i believed it was faulty card. Until today.
Few weeks ago i made a totally new build, i plugged my 1660super and to my shock it was working. I plugged in new 3060ti and was enjoying it till today, when i faced exactly same issue with completely new card: fans spinning super fast, no video output. I plugged in my 1660 and it seems to be working fine. I tried different pcie cables, tried different outlet, nothing seems to be working. My guess is something is wrong with my electricity circuit but i cannot be sure. Right now i am planning on getting UPS , which i admit i should have long ago, but if it won't help, i don't know what to do.in my old rig i think i had around 450w-500w psu, in my new its 700w gold.
Has anyone had similar issues?when i googled i found that if hardware works, it must be something with power supply. I believe now, that my hardware works fine, but i have little understanding of electricity and circuits so if anyone could help i would greatly appreciate it.

Going to Japan again in June for the 2nd time since 2018 in hopes to see and experience a little more. I have more of a budget and am willing to add/change some things I’ve written down for any ideas you guys think would be awesome.
Context: 26 year old Australian male going on the trip by myself. The guitar shops/Ochanomizu definitely need to happen. 😂
Also I like a beer.
Any suggestions are welcome- this is quite a loose plan.
Osaka June 2nd-5th (Dotonbori/Osaka castle/drinking/shotengai/guitar shops/Asahi brewery)
Nara 5th-7th (full day walk/Nara park)
Kyoto-7th-10th (Shrines/kinkakuji temple/arashiyama/eikando)
Takayama:10th-12th (ropeway/onsen) (Look around/ old village)
Mt Fuji: 12-14th (Cable caide shuzo sake brewery/ride around)
Tokyo:14th-18th (15th giants baseball game/ochanomizu/Tokyo towemario kart/golden gai)
Fly home 18th

Cover Art <<Previous Start Next >>
Kazue was of conflicted feelings as she watched the adventuring party set forth to delve into her dungeon. On the one tail, this was her dungeon and her creatures, she really wanted them to at least have a good showing! On another tail, her mom was turning out to be way cooler than she ever thought. On a third tail, her husband was working hard to make this a challenge, and she didn’t want his efforts to go to waste.
It was a good thing kitsune could count problems on tails instead of on hands. The thought made her want to giggle, but even in her own head that sounded like stress laughter, and repressed it. Which was not an easy thing for her to do, but it wasn’t as bad as usual. Which brought up another point of mixed feelings.
When Mordecai had asked her to trust him, she’d only given it a moment’s thought. Aside from the fact that over the past several weeks she had fallen for him, she’d also already thrown her lot in with him. In for a copper, in for a gold. Though it didn’t hurt that she had the security of knowing most of the people there. She knew her husband was clever, a clever person wasn’t going to do something stupid near such a crowd, so therefore he wasn’t doing something stupid. Or at least not the bad sort of stupid, but there was the risk of impulsive-stupid, which she only considered after she’d had the tea. She was rather familiar with the subject of impulsive-stupid on a personal level.
She hadn’t noticed what the tea was doing until Mordecai had asked her how she was feeling, which caused Kazue to take a moment to reflect on how she was feeling. Which was to say, she was feeling great, and that in itself was kind of scary. Mostly because she didn’t know why she was feeling great. And if she didn't know to analyze what and how she was thinking, it's easy not to notice what her mind was doing. Her core and avatar had already split their focus to different things, yet her head didn’t hurt while keeping track of conversations, and she didn't need to retreat into her thoughts to recover from the effort. It was still kind of tiring, but it was tolerable, and it didn’t make her feel quite so fuzzy-headed.
Which meant she was entirely free to pay attention to both what Mordecai was doing and what was going on with the party itself, and still keep track of the conversation with the Matr-, er, with Aia. Though by the time the party had decided to take a short break for the fourth floor, she was feeling it wear off, and leaned into Mordecai to quietly ask, “Um, that tea you made for me earlier, could I have another?”
He looked over at her thoughtfully, and she could feel him weighing options. “Is it feeling noisy again?” Kazue nodded mutely. She felt embarrassed, though she couldn’t have told anyone why she was embarrassed. And ‘fuzzy’ seemed more accurate to her, but she could see someone else call it noisy. Which left her wondering how he knew.
Even more puzzled was Moriko, who was stuck watching the two of them talk about a subject indirectly without having yet been let in on the topic. But with a guest it wasn’t time to get into any of it, so he simply made a cup for her and handed it over. This time she watched the creation of the brew carefully, and made note of its ingredients. She blinked. It wasn’t that hard to make, and she was able to backfill the conceptual process to create it. Start with a blend of about 90% tea leaves, plus a few other herbs noted for helping with alertness such as ginseng and ginger, brew a big pot of it, make it strong, then just remove a lot of the water. Add honey to compensate for the taste, which only helped so much.
That was it? Just a concentrated wake-up brew? OK, not ‘just’, she wasn’t sure how most people would be able to concentrate it that much without burning it. But that was all it took to make her head feel more like when she was zoned in? And how the hells did he know? She had so many questions, but she still only had two 'minds', and one needed to focus on entertaining their guest while the other was keeping track of what was going on in the rest of the dungeon.So for the moment she just tried to sip at her bitter brew. At least she could make her own now and as a direct copy. Mordecai was the one who had spent time bringing the concept into existence in their shared information.
“What is going on with you three?” Aia asked with a sigh. “If you can speak of it of course.” Mordecai and Moriko looked towards their guest, but Kazue could feel that the decision weighed on her. It was her issue after all. She only hesitated a moment.
“It’s complicated, and I need to take some time to figure it out. Depending upon what I learn, I may call upon you when I can to talk about it. But right now it is private, sorry. It just needed to be dealt with quickly.” Kazue said. The dark-haired nine-tail tilted her head to the side as she gave Kazue a curious look, briefly becoming The Matriarch again. It made Kazue nervous, but she was able to keep herself restrained to just flickering her ears slightly, and refused to fill in the silence.
“Very well, I apologize for prying, but seeing all three of you distracted when other things are happening is a little concerning.” Her expression softened as she spoke. “I would be happy to lend an ear later if you chose.”
Kazue held back from sighing in relief and changed the topic instead. “So, Mordecai love, what’s the game plan? You are too competitive to let this go, but I have to admit they are kind of trashing the place.” This sort of stuff was very much not her forte, but she also knew that she needed to learn it.
He smiled in response. “I haven’t fully formed all of my ideas yet, but I know where I want to start. I want to fill in two of our boss spots. Horace for our second fourth-floor boss, and our stony friend for our second raid boss. I know more about what I want to do with an earth elemental, I’ve been thinking about it since he came to us, but I am open to ideas with Horace, assuming neither you nor Horace have any objections.”
Kazue pulled an absolute blank on anything special to have her librarian do in an actual fight. His ability to eject people from the library was a function of her intent to enforce the rules that were part of the challenge. Her mind briefly bounced to thinking about how focused Mordecai had been about ‘intent’ recently, but then she yanked her thoughts back on track. “I’m OK with it. I’ll ask Horace, you talk to the elemental.”
She closed her eyes briefly to send her mental query to the orangutan, and after some consideration got an affirmative ‘ook’. That made her pause a second in confusion. Apes were already rather smart creatures, and she was certain that the upgrades she’d given him should enable him to physically speak, and thus more than capable mentally. Was he just choosing not to? She shook that off and opened her eyes.
“He says yes. Well, ‘ook’, but I’m pretty certain it’s a yes.” Mordecai raised an eyebrow, and she just shrugged to show her confusion.
“OK then.” Mordecai replied, “Well, I’ve also gotten an affirmation, and I’ve named him Enki. He’s soaking up the mana pool for his slot and growing right now, and I’ve made sure to emphasize the traits I want for him, namely that he can flow unimpeded through all stone, including worked stone and dungeon stone. Outside of that, I suspect he’s mostly going to be brute strength at first, though I am sure he’ll develop more abilities as we all grow stronger.”
He leaned forward over the table where his illusion was displayed and moved it to show the boss room for the library. “Given his abilities, Enki has an entire floor to hide under, and pop up at the right time to land surprise attacks. It’s hard for people to look up and down at the same time. But while Biblios out in the open is fine for a weaker group, with three strong spell casters he’d be blasted out of the air quickly. So I want to also develop some cover for Biblios, and integrate Horace into the fight. So I am opening the floor to ideas before I talk about my own, I don't want to cut off any thoughts.”
The four of them looked at the illusion in silence for a little while. Aia was probably not going to give any of her thoughts, she had a bit of a conflict of interest here. And Kazue was coming up blank trying to figure out what sort of special powers she’d want to give an ape to become a boss. She had a feeling that making him bigger would just make things worse here.
“Oh, I have an idea!” Moriko said with sudden excitement animating her. “So, in addition to our regular training, we often get some opportunities to spar with various masters who are passing through. This is to say, we ‘trade pointers’ by getting beaten up, and hopefully manage to learn something in the process. And to be fair, most of us do. Anyway, one of them was the crazy old dude who had mastered Monkey Style. And not just ground fighting either. The arena for him was put together with a lot of our climbing exercise equipment plus extra scaffolding put together just for this. We were given a day to get used to fighting in the arena, and it was clear that this guy wasn’t going to be staying on the ground, so we got used to climbing everything as best we could. Didn’t matter. That man could swing through there like he was an actual monkey. Bastard broke my nose when he swung down for a kick, then let go of his ‘branch’ while he still had momentum, pushing me back before he used me as a launch point to jump up to a different branch.” She shook her head with a rueful smile. “It was a blast, but I’m thankful for healing magic, or I’d probably have a crooked nose.”
Kazue was having trouble visualizing it exactly, but Mordecai was smiling evilly, so she knew that she was going to find out, and moments later she could feel Mordecai begin to reshape the Annex. While he did so, Moriko continued to talk about the visiting master. “He was amazing. Our masters sent us into the arena in groups of ten, 15 minutes apart, or when the last trainee went down, whichever happened first. Lots of people tried to form defensive groups to buy time and let our numbers build, but I don’t think any group ever hit the 15-minute mark. He had the best stories too. Apparently, he met a group of awakened apes and monkeys who were studying in a far-off monastery on another continent. Given how perfect his fighting style was, I could almost believe his tales. Though I am pretty certain he was ribbing us on one thing, he claimed the head monk of the monastery was a silver-back named Ki.”
There was a heartbeat of stunned silence as that awful pun settled into place, and Kazue burst into giggle fits. “Oh gods above, that has to be a joke, right? Like, no druid would actually do that to a creature they awakened, would they?” Ki, the ape monk. The idea was ridiculous. Mordecai only shook his head in amusement while he continued his work, and Aia sighed, lowering her face into her hands.
Moriko grinned. “I know, I am with you on that. But he swore up, down, and sideways that it was true. We tried to get him drunk to see if he’d change his tune, but the man could guzzle fermented drake’s bane without blinking an eye.” She snorted. “Mixed advantage of our training I guess. Harder to poison, but harder to enjoy a drink too.”
While she was talking, Mordecai had finished modifying the Annex, growing branches between the bookcases in a complicated pattern, but as he did so Kazue noticed him doing something else as well, creating covered intersections and tying them together. Not physically, but… she turned the full attention of her core there and watched ... something being connected. Language was failing her to describe the connections, but as she watched her core instinctively analyzed what he was doing, and she felt herself absorbing mathematical concepts she’d never heard of. It itched. Specifically, it made her core itch. That was new, not to mention extremely unpleasant, and not entirely accurate since the core didn’t have nerves, but once again language failed to give her an exact word, and itch described so many physical and mental sensations already.
He also connected the network of intersections to a dozen points in newly carved tunnels behind the bookcases. But these were a little different, they drifted randomly throughout the tunnels. “What is up with those connection points? And why does that set drift randomly, and why are they set behind the bookcases instead of in the arena?”
Mordecai chuckled softly “Well, this is me testing my limits. What I’ve done is connect these points,” here he highlighted the spots on the map for Moriko and Aia to see, “so that they are spatially adjacent. It’s not entirely a new thing for us, you touched on this sort of reality-changing when you created the library. The fourth floor is not 5 stories below the third, yet the library fits just fine. Don’t look at all of it, higher dimensional math is one thing, actually seeing in higher dimensions as a creature that exists in our three spatial dimensions is another.”
Mordecai’s words made Kazue start, as that was exactly what she was about to do. At first she was thinking he just knew her that well, but then she made a different connection. “Oh, you did that before didn’t you?”
“Guilty as charged, though that was in my original dungeon, and I had ten floors at the time. My core had a headache for a week. No, don’t ask me how that works, as far as I can tell I never figured that one out. That was one of the memories I kept as a warning, I would be so annoyed if I experienced that again, then recovered the memory that could have prevented it. But as for the random ones, it offsets things a bit. It does make it harder for the party to figure out which bookshelf Horace might be behind, but it also makes it harder for Horace to have an opening exactly where he wants. Though with sufficient time he can also just dash through the tunnels. I made sure there are plenty of vertical sections and hand grips everywhere. This way he can potentially ambush from behind them as well. Once the party knows that he can move between the intersections, they probably won't think about a different set of locations until Horace uses them.”
She could well imagine how annoying that would be. Kazue also had an idea that might work with this ambush setup. “Oh, Mordecai, I had a thought. So, I kind of want Horace to keep the librarian theme, what if he could use books as weapons? Maybe throw them or something if someone isn’t close?” Mordecai tilted his head thoughtfully, while Moriko chuckled.
“I know Horace won’t be up to my old master’s skill, but the idea of throwing that style together with a teleporting ‘archer’ sounds all kinds of annoying. Not necessarily much more deadly, but frustrating.”
The monk’s words made Mordecai smile evilly once more. “You are quite right love, it would be. And imagine if he could not only throw heavy tomes, but ink as well? And I don’t just mean ink, I mean any ink.” Moriko looked a touch confused, but his comment sent Kazue’s mind racing, and she could see from Aia’s expression that the matriarch was following the same chain of thought.
There were a lot of things that were considered inks. The line between ink and paint was a lot blurrier than most people thought, it mostly was about what surface it was going to be applied to. And there were a lot of different types of paper too. And then there were special ink compositions done for various symbols, religious or arcane. She could feel her core analyzing all her memories of doing art and calligraphy at the temple, expanding the concept of ink as far as it could and cross-referencing with the materials available to them.
Kazue also felt Mordecai act while her mind raced with possibilities, officially assigning Horace as their second fourth-floor boss and feeding his intent for a combined monk and projectile slinger, complete with an image of a satchel on either side. Then the node pulled that intent from them, combining their ideas together into a new whole as it merged with Horace’s form, drawing an evil smile from her to match Mordecai's. “Oh, I can’t wait to see what that’s going to be like!”
The process had made her a bit dizzy actually, but she was excited to have been more directly part of the boss-making process like that. Unfortunately, that was going to be a while still, which Mordecai was quick to point out. “Since that isn’t going to happen soon, I have another thing I want to work on. I wanted to make a special version of the staff for your mother. She may be wrecking the place, but she’s also dumping a ton of mana into it. Besides, she’s my mother-in-law, I think I can play favorites a little bit.”
As she and Mordecai started getting to work, Kazue couldn’t help but overhear Moriko sigh and turn to Aia. “I love them both, but they get wrapped up in this. I get it, and I am happy to contribute where I can, but times like this there isn’t a lot for me to do. I don’t suppose you happen to have a suitable combat style for a spar? They’d barely notice as long as we don’t break anything.”
The nine-tail laughed softly. “I’m afraid not. Oh, if it came down to it, I can hold my own in close quarters against most foes, but I am another spell specialist. Hmm, if you stop by the clan sometime, I can introduce you to my son. He runs the monastery side of the religious orders. I’m sure he’d be just as happy to trade some pointers with you as your old masters were.”
The exchange did make Kazue feel a little bit guilty, but it was really interesting to see the stuff Mordecai was doing too, and for once she wasn’t feeling burnt out and wanted to take full advantage of it.
<<Previous Start Next >>
My Discord if you would like to talk about the book or see what else I am up to (I also try to stream once a week, but that's strictly hobby level).
My Patreon if you want to support me directly, I currently have a bit of side content & behind the scenes content (beware of spoilers).

Curious if some of you don’t have gas smelling rogues? Ours is awful.
Is it just the ones made in Japan? Is it all of them?
Only have 1,600 miles on ours.

Blue Protocol in Japan is using Xigncode3. Their website stated that it is a anticheat to BLOCK foreign IP addresses and has a VPN Detection system.
It scans all files accessed by the PC in the last 72 hours. "XIGNCODE3 will initiate and run until the game is closed. That means it does not run as a standalone application. Whilst active, it will scan for unauthorised third-party programs. Should such programs be detected it will report which software it was and the account that triggered it."
IGNCODE3 for PC is a global leading software, protecting over 150 online game titles globally.
It uses patented ‘one time execution code method’ to provide a reliable and affordable service.

• Hack user OS detections and bans.
• Detects foreign connections and unauthorized IP bypass blocks.
• Real time security update application through live game server & game client.
• Creating new patterns by extracting suspicious logs.
• Whitelist detection functions.
• Detection and prevention of various macro input accessories.
• (ex: hardware mouse).
• Bypass detections using algorithms of "WIN32 API executable code" and "onetime execution codes".
• Extraction of real-system ID/block connections using VPN detection functions.
• Ban list management using XIGNCODE3 system
• Prevention of resource file modification.
• Enables creation of self-made patterns for real time updates.

This VPN has actively killed games like Cabal Online which were mostly populated in Asia. Many Korean and Japanese online games have recently been using this software.

^{El día 1° de cada mes saldrá este tema}
Terminó marzo y ya tenemos los resultados para la votación de fantasía y fantasía juvenil:

Resultados de la votación de Fantasía

1. La comunidad del anillo (The Fellowship of the Ring) - J.R.R. Tolkien (El señor de los anillos - The Lord of the Rings)
2. La historia interminable (Die unendliche Geschichte) - Michael Ende
3. El Hobbit (The Hobbit) - J.R.R. Tolkien (El señor de los anillos - The Lord of the Rings)
4. El principito (Le Petit Prince) - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
5. Juego de tronos (A Game of Thrones) - George R.R. Martin (Canción de Hielo y Fuego - A Song of Ice and Fire)
6. Momo - Michael Ende
7. Piranesi - Susanna Clarke
8. Buenos presagios (Good Omens) - Terry Pratchett y Neil Gaiman
9. El nombre del viento (The Name of the Wind) - Patrick Rothfuss (Crónica del asesino de reyes - The Kingkiller Chronicle)
10. El color de la magia (The colour of magic) - Terry Pratchett (Mundodisco - Discworld)

Resultados de la votación de Fantasía Juvenil

1. Alicia en el País de las Maravillas (Alice in Wonderland) - Lewis Carroll
2. Harry Potter - J.K. Rowling
3. La historia interminable (Die unendliche Geschichte) - Michael Ende
4. Crónicas de la Dragonlance (Dragonlance: Chronicles) - Margaret Weis y Tracy Hickman
5. Matilda - Roald Dahl
6. Serie de Oz - L. Frank Baum
7. Nación (Nation) - Terry Pratchett
8. Momo - Michael Ende
9. Serie de Corazón de Tinta (Tintenherz) - Cornelia Funke
10. Reinos Olvidados: El Elfo Oscuro(Forgotten Realms: The Legend of Dizzt) - R.A. Salvatore

¡Muchísimas gracias a todos los usuarios que decidieron participar y votar en nuestra encuesta! ¡Es gracias a ustedes que seguimos con el ánimo para hacer estas actividades para la comunidad!
Estos resultados (y todos los libros que participaron) también puedes verlos en la nueva página de nuestra wiki: Los libros más recomendados de libros
​
Y ahora, vamos a la votación de este mes...

Votaciones de Abril: Ficción Distópica y Distopía Juvenil.

En este mes cambiaremos la forma de hacer las encuestas. Esta vez haremos rondas relámpago con cinco obras por votación. En cada encuesta se eliminarán dos obras y tres pasarán a la siguiente ronda. Cada ronda tendrá una duración de 48 horas. Y una vez más tendremos dos encuestas por separado: ¡Ficción distópica y Distopía juvenil!
Los diez libros más votados se agregarán a la wiki de la comunidad en la nueva sección para los libros más recomendados de libros y la página de la wiki sobre el género de Ficción Distópica.

¡Este mes se votarán los libros del género Ficción Distópica!

La votación empezará con 25 libros de Ficción distópica y 10 series o libros de Distopía juvenil, seleccionados entre los posts y comentarios de nuestra comunidad.

Los libros de las votaciones

Estos son los libros a votar en la encuesta del género de Ficción distópica:

1. El talón de hierro (The Iron Heel) de Jack London (1908) [distopía, literatura universal]
2. El proceso (Der Prozess) de Franz Kafka (1925) [Distopía, novela filosófica, literatura del absurdo, literatura universal]
3. Un mundo feliz (Brave New World) de Aldous Huxley (1932) [Distopía, parodia, ficción política, ciencia ficción, novela filosófica, literatura clásica]
4. Rebelión en la granja (Animal Farm) de George Orwell (1945) [Distopía, fantasía, fábula, literatura universal, sátira, novela en clave]
5. 1984 de George Orwell (1949) [Distopía, ciencia ficción, literatura universal]
6. Mercaderes del espacio (The Space Merchants) de Frederik Pohl y C.M. Kornbluth (1953) [Distopia, ciencia ficción, sátira]
7. Fahrenheit 451 de Ray Bradbury (1953) [Distopía, novela política, ciencia ficción, novela filosófica]
8. El señor de las moscas (Lord of the Flies) de William Golding (1954) [distopía, literatura universal, terror, alegoría]
9. Las crisálidas (The Chrysalids) de John Wyndham (1955) [Distopía, ciencia ficción post-apocalíptica]
   1. La naranja mecánica (A Clockwork Orange) de Anthony Burgess (1962) [Distopía, ciencia ficción, sátira, terror]
   2. El hombre en el castillo (The Man in the High Castle) de Philip K. Dick (1962) [Ucronía, distopía, ciencia ficción, novela política, novela filosófica]
   3. ¡Hagan sitio! ¡Hagan sitio! (Make room! Make room!) de Harry Harrison (1966) [Distopía, ciencia ficción]
   4. ¿Sueñan los androides con ovejas eléctricas? (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) de Philip K. Dick (1968) [Distopía, ciencia ficción, ciberpunk, novela filosófica]
   5. Matadero Cinco (Slaughterhouse Five) de Kurt Vonnegut (1969) [Ciencia ficción, distopía, comedia negra, sátira, ficción antibélica, novela bélica, ficción autobiográfica]
   6. Los desposeídos (The Disposesed: an ambiguous utopia) de Ursula K. Le Guin (1974) [utopía, distopía, ciencia ficción blanda, ciencia ficción social]
   7. Rascacielos (High-Rise) de J.G. Ballard (1975) [Ciencia ficción, distopía, terror, suspense]
   8. El cuento de la criada (The Handmaid's Tale) de Margaret Atwood (1985) [Distopia, narrativa especulativa, ficción histórica, novela feminista]
   9. Neuromante (Neuromancer) de William Gibson (1985) [ciencia ficción, ciberpunk, distopía]
   10. Cuando falla la gravedad (When Gravity Fails) de George Alec Effinger (1986) [Distopía, ciencia ficción, ciberpunk, misterio]
   11. Hierba (Grass) de Sheri S. Tepper (1989) [Distopia, ciencia ficción, misterio, eco-feminismo]
   12. Hijos de hombres (Children of Men) de P.D. James (1992) [Distopia, ciencia ficción, misterio]
   13. Patria (Fatherland) de Robert Harris (1992) [Ucronía, thriller, misterio, distopía]
   14. La era del diamante (The Diamond Age) de Neal Stephenson (1995) [Ciencia ficción, ciberpunk, distopía]
   15. QualityLand de Marc-Uwe Kling (2017) [Distopia, ciencia ficción, humor, sátira]
   16. Cadáver exquisito de Agustina Bazterrica (2017) [terror, distopía]

Estos son los libros a votar en la encuesta del género de Distopía juvenil:

1. Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル [Batoru Rowaiaru]) de Koushun Takami (1999) [Distopía, terror]
2. Máquinas Mortales (Mortal Engines) de Philip Reeve (Máquinas mortales) [2001] {Distopía, steampunk, ciencia ficción postapocalíptica}
3. Los Juegos del Hambre (The Hunger Games) de Suzanne Collins (Juegos del Hambre) [2008] {Distopía, ciencia ficción postapocalíptica}
4. Olvidados (Gone) de Michael Grant (Gone) [2008] {Romance, distopía, fantasía, paranormalDistopia, postapocalíptico}
5. El corredor del laberinto / Maze Runner: Correr o morir (The Maze Runner) de James Dashner (El corredor del laberinto / Maze Runner) [2009] {Distopía, ciencia ficción}
6. Juntos (Matched) de Ally Condie (Juntos / Matched) [2010] {Romance postapocalíptico, distopía, ciencia ficción}
7. Ready Player One de Ernest Cline (Ready player one) [2011] {Distopia, ciencia ficción, ciberpunk}
8. Divergente (Divergent) de Veronica Roth (Divergente) [2011] {Distopía, romance postapocalíptico, ciencia ficción}
9. Mentes poderosas (The Darkest Minds) de Alexandra Bracken (Mentes poderosas / The Darkest Minds) [2012] {Romance postapocalíptico, distopía, fantasía, poderes paranormales}
   1. Amanecer rojo (Red Rising) de Pierce Brown (Amanecer Rojo) [2014] {Distopia, ciencia ficción}

Recuerda que si consideras que falta tu obra favorita, ¡puedes dejar un comentario aquí al respecto, o comentar directamente en el post de la votación!

Cómo será la votación

• Haz clic en la liga a la encuesta AQUI Ficción Distópica y AQUI Distopía Juvenil
• Las ligas te llevarán a las encuestas del día dentro de nuestra comunidad.
• Vota por tu obra preferida.
• La ronda preliminar constará de cinco encuestas, se realizará una encuesta cada 48 horas.
  • Las tres obras con mayor número de votos pasarán a la segunda ronda.
  • Durante la segunda ronda, las dos obras con mayor número de votos pasarán a la final para determinar los 5 primeros lugares.

Los resultados

Para Ficción distópica:

• La primera ronda arrojará las 15 obras que pasarán a la segunda ronda.
• Estas 15 obras estarán disponibles el día 9 de abril, que es cuando comenzará la segunda ronda.
• Esta segunda ronda arrojará los 10 primeros lugares para el día 19 de abril, y de ahí las 5 obras más votadas entrarán a la final para disputarse el primer lugar.
• El primer lugar se determinará en una ronda relámpago de 48 horas.
• Los resultados estarían listos el 22 de abril del 2023.

Para Distopía juvenil:

• La votación se hará en paralelo con la encuesta de ficción distópica.
• La primera ronda arrojará las 5 obras finalistas, que estarán disponibles el día 9 de abril.
• Esas 5 obras entrarán a la final en una ronda relámpago de 48 horas, para obtener la obra más votada de la distopía juvenil el día 12 de abril.

Los libros ganadores de ambas encuestas se darán a conocer en el siguiente tema, en este caso, el 1° de Mayo del 2023.
Al mismo tiempo se publicarán en la wiki de libros y en la página de recomendación del género ficción distópica los resultados de la votación como un nuevo recurso para recomendar libros en nuestra comunidad.

¡Yo ya voté en la encuesta!

Si ya votaste en la encuesta, ¡por favor dínoslo aquí! ¡Grita a los cuatro vientos cuales son tus libros favoritos para que todos te admiremos! ¡Escribe un comentario contándonos tu experiencia! ¡Te lo vamos a agradecer mucho!

Preguntas y comentarios

¿Faltan tus libros favoritos en la votación? ¿Quieres una explicación más a fondo de cómo votar? ¿Te gustaría sugerir un género para votar en los próximos meses? ¿Quieres decirnos lo genial que es esta idea? ¡Por favor deja tu comentario al respecto! Procuraremos responder en el menor tiempo posible.
¡Esperamos tu participación y tus votos!

VOTA Ficción Distópica ★【☆】★ VOTA Distopía juvenil

TL;DR Probably. Yes.
As HEE prepares to close its doors can we look at the difficult question of what exactly it is. Or was.
Applicants to Specialty Training Programmes may be surprised to find that if they are successful they are not being offered a contract of employment. Rather, they are offered a 'training agreement'. And as the HEE website carefully explains:- "... you will receive an offer of employment from your employer ....The offer of employment is distinct from the training agreement. You may change employers several times during your training period.".
We can come back to the 'training agreement' shortly, but in the meantime what precisely is the role of HEE in the employer-employee relationship? Clearly they are acting on behalf of, but are not themselves, the employer.
An employment agency is defined by statute as a business that provides services ... for the purpose of finding workers employment with employers, or supplying employers with workers who will be employed by them. The law distinguishes between Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses - the latter term is used for finding 'temps'.
Employment Agencies are very strictly controlled and regulated. A few key points are:-
Employment Agencies are required to notify work-seekers of the location/hours of the work, and the type of work that they will do, within three business days of an offer being made.
Employment Agencies are prohibited from making their work-finding services "conditional upon the work-seeker using other ... services provided by you". As we know, HEE not only handles recruitment but also manages several other aspects of training, revalidation and education.
The confidentiality of work-seekers is protected by regulations stating that agencies may not disclose information relating to a work-seeker, without the prior consent of that work- seeker, except in very specific circumstances and with prior consent.
The law expects the Employment Agency, and not the Employer, to:

1. Obtain and verify the necessary professional qualifications and identity, and 2 references (and provide copies of these for the hirer).
2. Ensure that the work-seeker is suitable for the role.
3. Ensure that the DBS checks are done
4. Obtain information from the hirer on health & safety risks and PPE that is provided
5. Detail the minimum pay and likely deductions

When work-seekers want to change jobs, Employment agencies can not subject a work-seeker to any detriment on the ground that—

• the relevant work-seeker has terminated or given notice to terminate any contract between the work-seeker and the agency or employment business, or
• require the relevant work-seeker to notify the agency or the employment business, or any person with whom it is connected, of the identity of any future employer of the relevant work-seeker.

​
With all these restrictions and stipulations it is hardly surprising that HEE have tied themselves in knots in order to avoid having to comply with Employment Agency legislation or clarify what manner of beast they are. An attempt in 2010 to explicitly exempt them (or Deaneries as HEE was then called) from the EA restrictions was blocked by the short-lived pressure group RemedyUK .
AND looking at the 'Specialty Training Contract' is a strangely empty experience - the sample version in the Gold Guide appears to be merely a rehash of "Good Medical Practice" , together with some random clauses from an employment contract. But nowhere in it does HEE specify that it will provide any training.
​
So are HEE an Employment Agencies? HEE itself doesn't seem to know although it does begrudgingly acknowledge that if turns out that it is then it would adhere to the law. But it should be easy to find out because the law requires that "Every advertisement issued ... by an agency or employment business shall mention ...whether the services it advertises are those of an agency or an employment business."
Surely both the Employers and Employees would like to know the answer.
​
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
DoI - I'm not an Employment Lawyer, and I was policy lead for RemedyUK. Some further reading for those that are interested:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/3319/made
https://www.gov.uk/employment-agencies-and-businesses
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936515/eas-brief-guide-for-agencies.pdf

U.S. Gold Corp Anticipates Copper and Gold Sulfide Concentrate from Its CK Gold Project to Be Readily Marketable
8:47 AM ET 3/22/23 Dow Jones
U.S. Gold Corp Anticipates Copper and Gold Sulfide Concentrate from Its CK Gold Project to Be Readily Marketable
PR Newswire
CHEYENNE, Wyo., March 22, 2023
CHEYENNE, Wyo., March 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Gold Corp. (Nasdaq: USAU) (the "Company", "we" or "our"), a copper and gold exploration and development company, released information regarding gold and copper concentrate quality from its CK Gold Project, (the "Project") located near Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Management is pleased to report that metallurgical testing at the Project site has produced a gold and copper concentrate desirable to smelter-refinery operators due to the quality of its gold and copper content and absence of some of the common penalty elements. The concentrates will be shipped off-site to a smelter for further processing and blending with other concentrates. Metal extraction that takes place off-site at an established smelter is an indication that very few chemicals are utilized at site. Additionally, there will be no emissions at the site associated with smelting and refining.
Kevin Francis, our Vice President of Exploration and Technical Services said, "We have done extensive testing and are pleased with the metallurgical work completed to date on the sample concentrate analysis. It was a pleasure to work with Mr. Michael Mason, a 45-year veteran of the smelting and refining business, who has been assisting us with recommendations for marketing the CK Gold Project concentrate and providing insight to its value. Mr. Mason has operated smelters and traded concentrates to meet smelter demands and his expertise has served to be invaluable."
Mr. Mason, in commenting on the CK Gold Project concentrate sample, said, "With a high relative level of gold content in the copper concentrate, the absence of arsenic and very low levels of other deleterious elements such as mercury, I expect that CK Gold Project concentrate will be a desirable feedstock to smelters always on the lookout for material that will enhance options for production. The gangue minerals in the CK Gold Project concentrate have favorable characteristics as a flux medium further adding to the desirability of the concentrate."
The Project's mineral processing facility is composed of a jaw crusher, semi-autogenous and ball mill grind with froth floatation and cleaning. The nominal throughput rate for the facility is 20,000 tons per day and on average, approximately 170 tons per day of concentrated product is projected to be generated for sale to North American or overseas customers. During operation, the mine anticipates shipping over 450,000 tons of sulfide concentrate off-site for refining. The filtered sulfide concentrate is anticipated to include <10% moisture content and solids containing copper, gold and silver-bearing minerals.
Based on extensive metallurgical test work, the sulfide concentrate will be a clean product that will be in demand for its high gold content and lack of deleterious metals. The exact metal content will vary over the mine life, but on average, per our prefeasibility study (released December 1, 2021), the concentrate will contain approximately 19% copper, 1.5 oz/ton gold and 1.7 oz/ton silver. The balance of concentrate mass will be made up of chalcopyrite and gangue minerals such as quartz. This composition, together with the near total absence of any deleterious elements, makes the concentrate an attractive product for sale in very well-established international markets. The copper market is expected to remain strong -- bolstered by ongoing demand for electric vehicles, wind turbines and other CO(2) mitigating technologies.
Final offtake contracts have yet to be settled, but the Project anticipates sales to one of a number of domestic copper smelters, which means that transportation of product by road is viable. The nearest facility is the Kennecott Utah smelter, near Salt Lake City, Utah and this is the most logical destination for the product. Other facilities are located in Arizona and eastern Canada.
About U.S. Gold Corp.
U.S. Gold Corp. is a publicly traded, U.S. focused gold and copper exploration and development company. U.S. Gold Corp. has a portfolio of exploration properties. Our CK Gold Project is located in Southeast Wyoming and has a Preliminary Feasibility Study technical report, which was completed by Gustavson Associates, LLC. Our Keystone exploration property is on the Cortez Trend in Nevada. Our Challis Gold Project is located in Idaho. For more information about U.S. Gold Corp., please https://www.usgoldcorp.gold/.

Netflix has over 50 games now, some of which are great, while others are just “meh”.
So I figured I’d play and rank them all + review the 15 best ones. So that you can get a quick idea of whether or not they’re actually worth checking out :)
This is meant as the 16th entry in my "best of" series here on the sub, where I’ve previously covered Dungeon Crawlers, Upcoming Games of 2023, Idle Games, Reverse Bullet-Hell games, Turn-Based Strategy Games, Offline RPGs, Multiplayer PvP Games, Mobile Ports, Tower Defense Games, Upcoming Shooters 2022, Traditional Roguelikes, Netflix Games, Upcoming Games of 2022, MMORPGs, and Action RPGs.
I hope you'll enjoy it, and be sure to share your thoughts below if you’ve already played some of these? :)
Watch the video version for some extra context: https://youtu.be/4N0MJ6BUtXs
__________

THE BEST GAMES:

1) TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge (Fighting/Beat’em’up) - Landscape
The first game is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, which is a fun campaign-based beat 'em-up fighting game with both single and co-op multiplayer.
This is just a really well-made game, and it was already a massive hit on Steam and consoles before Netflix brought it to mobile. And for good reason, I might add.
The retro art-style and animations are spot-on, the level design is awesome, and there are more than 12 different attacks and combo moves to remember.
It also has quick match-making for the co-op multiplayer parts, and with 4 players in total, things get really chaotic - in a good way. So if you like fighting games, this is just a must-try.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tmnt-shredders-revenge/id6443475072
​
2) Lucky Luna (Platform/Action) - Portrait
Another really great one is Lucky Luna from the developers of Alto’s Adventure.
This is a fun platform action game where the twist is that we can’t jump. So instead, we simply swipe left and right to move and use our speed and high precision to survive the dangerous traps and difficult boss rooms.
We’re scored based on how fast we complete each level, how many pearls we collect, and our number of deaths - and if you wanna reach the top of the highscores, this gets really intense!
The touch controls are perfect in this one, and there are lots of secret areas to discover, which I really enjoyed. And once we’ve completed the main campaign, there’s even an endless mode for some extra replayability.
I think most of you are gonna love this one.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lucky-luna/id1609150630
​
3) Into The Breach (Strategy/Roguelike/Sci-fi) - Landscape
It’s not all just fast-paced action games, though - because the turn-based sci-fi strategy game Into The Breach, from the developers of Faster Than Light, is also on mobile now.
Our objective is to use our customizable troops to destroy the invading aliens before they eliminate our civilian cities. And the entire game essentially plays like a roguelike, where we attempt to get through a series of randomly generated campaigns without dying.
The gameplay is great fun, and there’s plenty of replayability.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/into-the-breach/id1616542180
​
4) Spiritfarer (Management/Casual) - Landscape
Another super popular PC game brought to mobile is the relaxing management game Spiritfarer.
It’s a beautiful story-based adventure full of delightful characters with great humor, and it’s almost impossible not to get immersed in the game’s theme of bringing stranded spirits safely to their afterlife.
Apart from the main objectives, we can also just travel between islands, catch fish, upgrade our boat, and much more. And with over 30 hours of gameplay, this is an easy recommendation.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/spiritfarer-netflix-edition/id1610577424
​
5) Dust & Neon (Twin-Stick/ShooteAction) - Landscape
Next is the Western-themed roguelite twin-stick shooter Dust & Neon - which, yet again, used to only be available on PC but is not out on mobile.
Controlling a cyborg gunslinger, our job is to select a mission, kill all the monsters, find the secret areas, collect ammo, and defeat the bosses. And then repeat that.
In-between, we then improve our offensive and defensive skills, and gradually upgrade our base to make the next playthrough a bit easier.
The touch controls work alright, but they’re definitely the game’s biggest downside. But its great art-style and fun gameplay still makes it a nice experience.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dust-neon/id1622720173
​
6) Reigns Three Kingdoms (Strategy/Card) - Portrait
Reigns: Three Kingdoms is the fifth game in the super popular series of decision-based strategy games.
Just like in the predecessors, we’re presented with a seemingly endless series of events that we swipe left or right to respond to in different ways. Each of these decisions impact one of four traits, and if any of them become too unbalanced, we lose the game.
But this time around, we also have to recruit units that we then use to fight in the game’s new combat system. And they even took this system and built in an entire game mode just focused on real-time multiplayer combat.
It’s new, it’s fresh, and if you liked the previous games, I think you’ll enjoy it.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/reigns-three-kingdoms/id1636948693
​
7) Twelve Minutes (Point’n’Click/Thriller) - Landscape
I’m not gonna spoil the story of this one, but what I will say is that the top-down point’and’click thriller Twelve Minutes really got me hooked.
It’s basically a complex time-loop game where we have to figure out how to convince our girlfriend that time is repeating itself and then try to escape the loop. Okay, that’s all I’ll say. But I enjoyed this one, and I think you might as well.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/twelve-minutes/id1608097361
​
8) Relic Hunters: Rebels (Twin-stick/Shooter) - Landscape
I actually liked the twin-stick looter-shooter RPG Relic Hunters: Rebels more than I thought I would.
Playing as one of several fun characters with unique traits, we attempt to get through every single level by defeating the enemies, grabbing as much loot as possible, and gradually upgrading the 6 stats for each of the many different weapons.
It also has a bit of retro feel to it, so if you’re into that, definitely take it for a spin.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/relic-hunters-rebels/id1605236950
​
9) Skies of Chaos (Bullet Hell/Flying) - Portrait
The Bullet Hell genre has always been a favorite of mine, so I immediately fell in love when I tried Skies of Chaos - both because of its polished art-style, and the challenging boss fights.
The game features over 50 levels that reward us with resources used to upgrade and heavily customize the different parts of our airplane, effectively making it easier to complete the next challenges.
In my notes from when I played these games, literally wrote “holy shit, this is good!”. And I stand by that. It’s difficult to explain, but playing this game just feels awesome, and it’s rare to find a game of this quality these days. So I can’t recommend it enough.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/skies-of-chaos/id1612698180
​
10) POINPY (Arcade/Platformer) - Portrait
POINPY is a new game from the developers of Downwell, which, ironically, is a game all about moving upward instead of downward.
It’s basically an arcade action game where we swipe, aim, and release to jump around a vertical level with the objective of collecting and feeding fruits to the huge monster chasing us. Oh, and we also have to avoid the many enemies trying to kill us.
The gameplay is great fun, there are several characters with unique traits to unlock, and if you like arcade platformers, there’s a high chance you’ll enjoy this one.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/netflix-poinpy/id1615093407
​
11) Desta: The Memories Between (Dodgeball/Turn-based/Roguelike) - Landscape
The developers of Monument Valley also released their newest game, Desta, recently, and it’s essentially a turn-based dodgeball roguelike wrapped in an interesting story about dreams and regrets with great voice-acting.
But even if you don’t care about the story, the team-based dodgeball gameplay, where we have to work with our childhood friends to defeat dream-versions of people from our real life, is good fun.
It’s easily one of the most unique games I’m gonna mention today, and I enjoyed it. Although I do agree with some of the reviews that it could just have been a story-based game instead of a roguelike.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/desta-the-memories-between/id1599584290
​
12) Tomb Raider Reloaded (Archero-like) - Portrait
A game that ISN’T actually exclusive to Netflix, though, is Tomb Raider Reloaded, which is basically an Archero clone with a few new twists to the gameplay and some really badass boss fights.
The free version of this game is full of ads and pay-to-win monetization, but the Netflix version has none of that - and it actually turns it into one of the better Archero alternatives.
There’s lots to do in the game, and although they kept the energy system, you can easily play for an hour at a time without running out. So if you liked Archero, it’s worth checking out.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tomb-raider-reloaded-netflix/id6444630059
​
13) Into The Dead 2 (ShooteZombie) - Landscape
Another game that also still exists outside of Netflix as a pay-to-win game is Into The Dead 2, which is a zombie shooter where our character automatically runs forward while we move left, right, and shoot to deal with the zombies attacking us.
The gameplay is split into a neat story-based campaign, with lots of weapons and companion pets to unlock and upgrade using the gold we earn.
With all the ads and in-app purchases removed, the gameplay is great fun, and I think many of you will enjoy this as a more casual version of a traditional zombie FPS.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/into-the-dead-2-unleashed/id1607178247
​
14) Moonlighter (SimulatoDungeon Crawler) - Landscape
Moonlighter is another great, and despite Netflix removing the previous stand-alone paid version of the game (which REALLY wasn’t nice!....), I’m including it here because the game itself is definitely enjoyable.
It’s essentially a fun mix of an action RPG and a shop simulator, which means we go on dungeon runs to gather goods and items that we then try to guess the appropriate price for and put up for sale in our shop. And then we repeat that while gradually growing stronger.
As someone who used to spend entire days on Runescape’s Grand Exchange, I got pretty hooked on this gameplay loop.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/netflix-moonlighteid1612148433
​
15) Asphalt Xtreme (Racing) - Landscape
You might know that this used to be a pay-to-win game, but with all of that garbage removed, the core gameplay really shines, and it’s actually one of my personal go-to racing games right now.
The art-style has held up surprisingly well and there is lots of content to explore, so it’s definitely worth a try if you haven’t played it yet.
App Store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/asphalt-xtreme/id1590574622
____
GREAT CASUAL GAMES:

• Solitaire
• Mahjong Solitaire
• Cats & Soup
• Puzzle Gods

GOOD FOR THE GENRE:

• Valiant Hearts
• Exploding Kittens
• OXENFREE
• Kentucky Route Zero
• Hello Kitty Happiness Parade
• SpongeBob: Get Cooking
• True Story
• Scriptic Crime Stories
• Before Your Eyes

DECENT / OKAY’ISH GAMES:

• Dragon Up
• Rival Pirates
• Townsmen
• Shatter

P2W GONE F2P BADLY:

• Narcos: Cartel Wars
• Stranger Things: Puzzle Tales
• Country Friends

FOR KIDS:

• Nailed It!
• Wild Things
• Flutter Butterflies

So I wanted to make a team for a long time but couldn't because of personal stuff and exams but I finally decided to start my own team.
The requirements to join are pretty simple:
*Age - 13+ (Exceptions can be made if you are good).
*Rank - Atleast Gold 1 or 2 (I need you to be gold so that I know you have the basics of the game down).
*Location - From Singapore or India because I want people from close to where I am.
*Should be able to play on the timings and practice daily (You don't have to play 24/7, just on the specified times).
*Be serious about it because I want only serious people in this.
*You should be able to play any role but ill fix the roles once the team is made.
*You have to change your ingame name if you get selected.
​
We can start playing online qualifiers and tourns if we get started quick and are good enough.
You can message me here or on discord R0mpy#4150 if you are interested and wanna talk about how to join.

..but i have them just in case 😁
I make no apologies for being who i am, the older i get, i seem to care less about what people think or say these days. I'm more comfortable in my skin than ever before and i know what i like and what i dont like. I'm straight up honest and will say what's on my mind but at the same time, im more empathic (sometimes it's a curse) and wear my heart on my sleeve. I'm prone to over thinking and sometimes worry about the little things because the little things are actually really important.
Still with me?
Continue reading if you're..

1. From the *UK** only.*
2. Over the age of 30.
3. A Telegram user.

Things that i like: lazy mornings, people watching, the warm sun on my skin, fresh coffee, the smell of freshly cut grass, rum (spiced or dark), teasing, exploring castles and forests (not hiking), long drives in the countryside, 90's alternative music, psychological films, late nights and early mornings, drawing, dogs.
My bad points: I'm an over thinker and someone once described me as intense, but that's only because im passionate about finding someone who understands me completely.
I'm a slim man, i work out occasionally, and i have a high metabolism (i know, im cursed) olive skinned, (apparently i have that mediterranean look) 5'11, i have short dark hair that i cut myself, plain brown eyes and a short salt and pepper beard (which i was forced into growing because i was constantly being asked for my ID!). I consider myself to be a decent guy, im the type who would happily hold open a door for you and greet you with a smile. I believe in good manners, it costs nothing to say 'please' and 'thank you', id probably go as far and say that im a gentleman. I love a bit of banter and sarcasm (who doesn't), you probably won't see that side of me from the off though, as messages can be misinterpreted, and i wouldn't want to feel like i have offended you within the first few messages. I'm quietly confident, easy to get on with, very down to earth and laid back, job status or political views doesn't mean anything to me. Once we get the ball rolling then you'll find that im rather witty and can be fairly flirtatious, there maybe times where i could make your knickers wet while you're busy with your family (sorry, not sorry), but im a gentleman remember, so i know there's a time and a place for everything and anyway, conversation is so important to me, im inquisitive by nature, id want to know everything about you and what brought you to this point.
Obviously the mental attraction is the most important thing, after all, this is online, so the ability to communicate well is paramount. The physical attraction, no matter how you look at it, is still rather important, so if you'd call yourself the mum next door, or 'plain Jane' with an average body, mum bod, curvaceous then you'd most probably turn my head, because there's something about perfect imperfections, you know?
If you've made it this far (bravo), and still wondering if im worth the risk, then a little more about who im looking for, im more open to getting to know a woman who considers herself to be a free spirit, a woman who isn't constrained by convention. Someone who is kind and warm hearted but can keep me on my toes. Be feisty and bring your sassiness because i like being challenged once in a while.

So BotW was (kind of...) awesome on my first run and there was a VERY long and intense hype period surrounding the game. And i was happy af when i finally got that sweet limited edition, pro controller and switch console on day 1 to play that game. I took a week off for this and played like non-stop. And then i realized that there is literally nothing, i am working towards. It has like one of the most interesting maps ever created and is filled with one of three types of things to find (camp, shrine, korok). The only real left field surprise was malice Naydra. Divine beasts were also samey garbage to use Links abilities in a (kind of?!) creative way. The game felt more like (well made) busy work for me because, as fine as Links abilities were, i had absolutely no interest in engaging this world in my "own creative way". I despise games like Minecraft that have no narrative and shit and just lets you play on your own playground. I used to enjoy Lego when i was a kid. I am an adult (35m) now and want to play videogames ; ) I want to solve smart puzzles and want to explore different biomes, meet different characters and unravel a connected story and face great challanges that can offer great rewards. BotW lacked EVERYTHING, I enjoy in a Zelda game as I realized, I am halfway through the game and there is nothing but the vast green fields with the same 3 enemies to break my weapons on to get new ones. BotW was the first Zelda game for me to use a guide (to find the "sidequests") and didn't bother to 100% it as soon as all my weapon slots were maxed out (for which i still had to collect over 500 korok seeds). After the second divine beast, it was absolutely clear that I won't find any Dungeons in this game and in each one, i have spent as long time as possible to find every item and just try to absorb the "vibes" there (pretty much nothing at all). After all divine beasts were done, all shrines (which i hated) were done, i finally visited Hyrule castle and for the first time, BotW started to feel like Zelda again. I was blown away by the challenge and atmosphere, the castle had to offer. It was huge and interconnected (exactly what i hoped, the dungeons would be like before the game released) and i just had a blast there, even though i was painfully aware that no unique enemies would be there either (started in the prison cells). I tried to love this game but every subsequent run felt even worse than before. I can handle challenging encounters and some of the camps are tough! I even like the breakable weapons and am able to parry and flurry to beat the shit out of the Lynels that dare to face me. My GF on the other hand isn't as skilled in fast paced combat games and has a REALLY hard time, engaging multiple enemies (she usually plays strategy games or stardew valley) and especially early game encouraged her to NOT continue to play the game. And she really enjoyed the Zelda games before BotW because of the music, atmosphere and characters, these games had to offer. But still she wanted to finish BotW before TotK releases and we did it last year. So I guided her through the game and she didn't clear out enemy camps AT ALL because it just wasn't necessary. But we did all shrines and even this pathetic excuse for a DLC (of course I had to do the blight rematches) excluding trial of the sword. She told me that the part of TP she liked the least was the cave of ordeals because it was just combat in the samey area. BotW was just that but with FAR less enemies (and yes, i know that you can change the color pallette to brown, yellow or white but that's not the point). We were both relieved when the run was finished. BUT I GET THE APPEAL FOR OTHER PEOPLE! This just isn't MY kind of game. Because imo this is NOT a Zelda game. A friend of mine who is a few years younger, he loves minecraft and enjoys some procedural games (like dead cells) and is there for the gameplay alone. I borrowed my Switch to him with BotW (for about a year) and he regards this as the best game ever made! He told me that it's like therapy for him and he just loves to walk around in Hyrule and to do random shit there (he also has severe ADHD and isn't able to follow a plot of a 30 minute long TV episode). Back to TotK: Nintendo should imo be absolutely aware of the critics about the lack of dungeons and plot and what they have shown so far, implies that they just don't care. To use THE EXACT SAME MAP of BotW is imo not a bald choice. It's impudence. The audacity to charge 70 bucks for a game that is again nothing more than a playground for (VERY creative and sophisticated!) abilities to fool around with and "create your own adventure" style of gameplay really shits the classic zelda fans directly in the face (like explosive diorrhea so it leaks into EVERY hole). I was absolutely positively sure before that the gameplay would show the first 10-15 minutes of the first dungeon and show off some mechanics there (just to reassure us that they listen to the fans). What we have seen was creative and impressive. But it wasn't Zelda. It was BotW with extra steps. When Link fell off the Skyland and was skydiving straight into the river below, i thought "yes, finally they show off that they did something more and not just reuse the map in this absolutely cheap way" but Link didnt dive. He fell into the water and was immediately back on the surface. Not even underwater exploration will be in the game. Maybe i am a spoiled child. Throughout the last year, i have pumped about 650 hours into Elden Ring and (even though i am aware, it wouldn't exist without BotW in this state) imo it does EVERYTHING better in every point. Exploration is meaningful, extremely diverse areas to explore, thick lore, big time enemy variety, deep characters. For me It's the best game, ever made. Last year when Nintendo delayed TotK again, i thought "well they are aware that Elden Ring exists and have to step up their game to catch up if they want to get GotY with THE SAME GAME again". But now? I am just mad. I love Zelda. I really do. It means very much to me and the series was by my side through very dificult times in my life. I have a Windfish Tattoo on my arm and a big ass hylian crest as a trampstamp. The series is literally under my skin. And by now it seems that it will never be able to capture the magic that i appreciate so much anymore. Since I am such a big fan, of course i have preordered the collectors edition and amiibo. If that wasn't the case, i would have cancelled and bought the regular game used (if i really had the urge to play. Since by now there is no hype whatsoever).
Some of you might think "okay boomer. This is Zelda now. Deal with it" and you are propably right. For me, there are other options to play. But Nintendo was part of my life since i can walk and it just feels shitty on the consumer side for me. Others might say "but we still don't know if there won't be any dungeons" and yes. I still have a (very tiny) glimpse of hope. But i think It's highly unlikely. They are still major corporation with shareholders and shit. They will play it safe to release BotW 1.3 because the first game was such a massive success.
TLDR: TotK will be as shallow as BotW and will feel like DLC at best.

Hey all,
This post comes with quite a bit of frustration about the ranking system, and why I cannot rank up. Yes, i'm hardstuck g5/4/3 area right now, but at the peak I was plat 2 support(d5 dps), so this post may not make headway in any sense since I am at the rank I'm at.
Tonight I was playing with a friend who was gold 1 on tank, he tank diffed all but a singular tank in our 12 games. I was playing support which is my favorite role to chill on and grind, usually kiriko, sometimes moira depending on their comp (kiriko for straight healing, moira for avoiding a dive comp). Our first 6 games consisted of gold/low plat members, and we walked straight though the teams, if I was playing moira, I was out damaging and getting more elims than the dps, while creating a support gap between our other support by a significant margin, and he was getting significantly more damage and elims than their tank.
The next 4 games: I was individually checking the ranks of whoever did not have a private profile for the first 6 games, and all of them were relatively consistent of mid to high gold, and at the back half high gold to low plat which made sense since we were winning games. However, after the draw, the games because harder with better players for certain. The next game I was checking ranks, all of a sudden (as a gold 5 player) I was playing in diamond lobbies, with the highest rank in the room being D3. Now, i'm all for playing against higher tier players, as it not only improves your own gameplay, but gameplay around you. Once we had entered these lobbies we both had fresh scorecards albeit the one draw as the first game on the scorecard. We won 5 out of the 6 games in plat1 - d3 lobbies we were in.
I went from G5 to G4. I do not understand why we play in high tier lobbies which we kept up or exceeded the players that were already that rank, when we are effectively 2 entire tiers behind them. Then proceed to rank up a singular rank after 5/6 wins. It is infuriating to try and play this game when I can win 5/6 games and go up a tier regardless of the lobbies I am playing in. If anyone has suggestions on how I can attempt to rankup easier than this it would be great, otherwise I am frustrated enough at this game that it is something I do not wish to play any longer.
Thanks for the read,
CupOfKoffee

IMO, his final collection is more or less perfect. Timeless clothing with a unique, different aesthetic I've never quite seen before or since. I honestly even will go as far as to say I think its among the best fashion collections I've seen at NYFW, that's including professional fashion designers. I honestly don't even think Christian's holds a candle to it. However, I want to REALLY critique it heavily so that's what I'll do for each look. I don't think photos really does it justice so you can watch it starting at 1:08:00 at the link: https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/690032/s01-e11-season-finale?start=true .
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Let's start:
- First look (tan jacket on top of gold dress): A phenomenal first look. The jacket is so cool, I can't really think of anything I'd change there other than maybe slightly pulled up a bit more to cover the strap of the dress a bit more? I would get rid of the fur on the hem of the dress below and I don't think that square pattern in the bottom right corner is needed.
- Second look (skirt with black top and checkered scarf): This is what is so amazing. That skirt is a VERY dated clothing item that shouldn't age well at all yet the way he used it it has aged just fine. Honestly, the only thing I can think of to change in this outfit is I'm not crazy about the boots. He should've gone with something simpler.
- Third look (green tom boy outfit): GLORIOUS! The fact that is more current now than it was 20 years ago is just incredible. I love really everything about it. Maybe the yellowish bit hanging out at the waist isn't necessary (not sure if that's a top underneath?). Also, the scruffiness of the shoulders isn't needed probably either. IDK, its perfect.
- Fourth look (blue poncho with blue dress underneath): Ehh, this look isn't great. Still has an interesting point of view though and isn't bad. I appreciate him trying to incorporate a poncho in the show but honestly I'd just scrap this look all together probably. In any other designer's collection this would probably be one of their better pieces if included but since its in Jay's perfect collection, its a weak piece. IDK, there's quite a bit I would change on this look that aren't nitpicks (almost all of the looks any criticism I have are total nitpicks) and not sure if really it can be salvaged.
- Fifth look (Blue jacket with blue dress(?) underneath and blue pants): The jacket (and overall top half of the look) is PERFECT and among the best I've ever seen in PR. The arms and sleeves are also amazing. The bottom half does confuse me though. The bit of the dress we can see, it looks a bit plasticky and kind of cheap. Also, the jacket is a bit of an awkward length. I wish he made the jacket longer (so we couldn't see the dress at all. IDK what I would have done with the pants. I think probably just left them as is and accepted they were kind of a non-piece. With how glorious the jacket is, it would've been enough to call the look perfect.
- Sixth look (tom boy look with geometric print top and raggedy jeans): Great look, and again a very outdated top made to look modern the way he used it. I love the vibe of this look. My one qualm with it is the same as the previous look in that I'm not crazy about the piece underneath the jacket (I think its a dress?). The way it extends makes her legs look really short, which isn't the worst thing as it is a tom boy look. But also kind of an odd contradiction with legs being made short due to a dress. I love the pants though. I will say if there is one flaw in Jay's collection its the under pieces. The jackets he makes are more or less all perfect.
- Seventh look (gray jacket type thing over gray dress?): Either this or the poncho look is my least favorite of the collection and really the only two I don't think really hit super well. And yet neither are bad at all. I'm not really quite sure I understand this look so I'm not sure how I'd fix it. The boots are definately way overkill with all the fur. I actually do think I like the jacket(?). IDK, there's definately some intrigue here but the whole look doesn't exactly come together to form a coherent story. Although like I said, a lot of final collections in PR, if this was included in it, it would still be their best piece so its not terrible by any means. I definately would probably have just scrapped this one all together though.
- Eighth look (purple/lavendar jacket over purple patterned leggings): I'm kind of mixed if I think this look is worth reworking or should have just been scrapped. I love the color of the jacket but there's not exactly a ton going on here. I will also say this is easily his most simple piece on the runway. I also don't think the purple leggings have aged very well (one of the few things in his collection that didn't). I do think the jacket is a really nice piece (and one his more wearable items). Although is it too simple?
- Ninth look (Maroon dress and knitted cape): One of his best looks. I like how this is quite possibly a look that's more for a "mature" woman yet looks cool at the same time. The knitting on the cape is also to die for. Maybe the dress could be a bit longer, or the belt gotten rid of? IDK, really there's not anything I'd change about this look. Its amazing.
- Tenth look (fuschia dress that transitioned to various shades of purple on the bottom): OH MY GOSH!!!!! Talk about absolutely breathtaking. This piece is the defination of timeless. Julia is the perfect model for it. Truly a masterpiece if I ever saw it. I was going to say possibly the belt could be removed (the only thing on that look that isn't incredibly timeless). Also, the silhouette of the bottom part of the dress start off a bit slimmer? IDK, I'm tempted to say though that I'd bite off anbody's hand who tried to touch this piece at all though to "fix" anything because its so incredibly perfect as is.
I will also say that in addition to being so timeless, the collection has so many different techniques used. And its actually kind of wearable as well. Honestly, as perfect of a collection as you can get.

Chapter day!
ELIJAH COMMISSION SOON!
Azeline Commission
The Little Menace
Worship Her
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"You never cease to amaze me." Bennett said abruptly as the entire crew watched an army of Knights turn the Temple inside out.
Knowing that his engineer’s comment was directed at him, Elijah chose to simply gaze exhaustedly at Salvanius as the Demigod angrily picked up the podium and shattered it on the ground. “ACCURSED DECEIVERS!” He bellowed, sifting through the wreckage in search of anything to further incriminate the late Oracle.
As the man started rummaging through the splintered pieces, his large hands suddenly grazed a small leather bag hidden beneath a loose plank. Salvinus' eyes went wide for a moment before fury took him once more when he pulled out the thing and untied the drawstring.
"DAMN THEM!" Salvanius roared as a shower of glittering coins spilled out, the gold and silver surfaces reflecting in the sunlight that streamed through the stained glass. "I'm certain the acolytes were also involved in this wicked scheme!" He clenched his fists and turned to Rhea. "Names! I want all of their names! They must be brought to justice!"
Bennett and Elijah had been watching Salvanius when they suddenly experienced a violent case of mental whiplash. It had seemed the Oracle had been hoarding gold and it caused the Demigod to immediately jump to the conclusions. It appeared that Salvanius had decided that the Oracle and his acolytes had been bribed with gold to poison the pool, despite the Oracle's appearance of being a devoted servant of the Tylas.
“Real life is truly stranger than one's own imagination...” Azeline said with a shell shocked look on her face.
Having heard the woman, Salvanius spun his head towards her and scowled before nodding slowly in agreement. “Indeed… how an Oracle could fall so low…” The Demigod trailed off before becoming silent as he turned his head back to the coin on the ground. “We must re-evaluate our search parameters now that we know we have been infiltrated.” He said solemnly.
Rhea furrowed her brow and lowered her head. “Who could have guessed that even our most devoted men and women could succumb to the wicked taint of the traitors…”
Wisely choosing not to correct the two on what she found ridiculous, Azeline instead let out a deep sigh and buried her head in her hands. She couldn't believe it. They had successfully redirected Salvanius and Rhea's anger towards the Oracle, and through sheer coincidence the Inquisitors had randomly found a bag of gold that was misunderstood as bribe money. The fact that they had just inadvertently framed the Oracle was all too much to take in.
However, her musing came to a sudden end when she heard the Deacon voice call out, “Ah… Master Eli-jah!” Theodius' scurried over to where they were sitting. All 3 members of the crew slowly turned their heads towards the man at the same time and felt uneasy when they saw the excited look on his face as he fidgeted nervously.
"M-my brother and I were discussing earlier, and we came to the conclusion that the Oracle must have used a powerful mind spell on himself to commit suicide when you outed him as a traitor!" he stammered. "B-But..." with an intense look on his face.
Elijah furrowed his brow in confusion as he noticed the Deacon's face turning beet red and his eyes darting all over the place. "B-But! But we'd like to know your opinion on the matter!" the Deacon blurted out, causing a great deal of discomfort to start swelling in the pits of Elijah's stomach. He realized that he had truly made a mistake when he shared any type of knowledge with this man and couldn’t help but recoil and his upper lip slightly raised in an expression of uneasy disgust.
"T-Tell me! HOW DID HE DIE!?" The Holyman suddenly slammed his hand down on a wooden divider, causing all three of them to jump in surprise. "YOU MUST SHARE EVERY DETAIL WITH ME!"
The Temple fell silent as every eye turned to the loud man and found him breathing heavily while staring intently at Elijah. The awkwardness in the room was palpable as Theodius waited in anticipation for his vaunted guest’s to depart knowledge on to him.
For the first time, Elijah's mind went blank as he stared at Salvanius, completely speechless. He then began to slowly scoot away in order to put some distance between himself and the near salivating man.
"I, uh..." Elijah stammered, his voice trailing off as he struggled to find the right words. "The, uh, patient suffered from an epileptic episode followed closely by brain death," he finally managed to say. "And I have concluded that the episode was caused by a powerful mind spell that I could not identify." Elijah finished, glancing nervously at Salvanius. He could feel the Demigod's gaze boring into him with interest which made the Human feel even more awkward.
Noticing his younger brother's mannerisms were making Elijah uncomfortable, Salvanius placed his hand on Theodius' shoulder before he could respond and turned his attention to the healer. "Hmmm... Fascinating," Salvanius murmured, placing his other hand on his smooth chin. "In all my years, I have never heard anyone, be it a healer or any other learned man, use the terms 'epileptic episode' nor 'brain death' before," he said in a deep contemplation.
Elijah shifted in his seat as he cleared his throat, trying to dispel the unsettled feeling that Theodius’ reaction gave him.
"Well, brain death is a term used to describe the irreversible halt of all brain activity," Elijah explained as he gave Theodius a strange look. The man’s eyes were nearly bugling out of his eyes and his fingers were starting to dig into the wooden divider. "It's a state of total and permanent unconsciousness, where there's no hope of recovery." "And an epileptic episode is a seizure that's caused by abnormal electrical activity in the brain," Elijah continued, feeling more at ease When Rhea also placed a hand on the Deacon’s shoulder, trying to calm him down. "It can be caused by a number of factors, including head injuries, brain tumors, and certain… inherited conditions… or in this case, a powerful mind spell."
Salvanius listened intently to Elijah's explanation, nodding his head slowly as he processed the information. "I see," he said thoughtfully. "Thank you for enlightening us, Elijah. You are truly a learned man and I can see why my brother holds you in such high regard." He finished, giving Elijah a salute by snapping his heels together and pounding his hand over his heart.
Suddenly, the dozen or so knights in the temple stopped what they were doing and gave the same salute. Being the center of attention, Elijah felt himself break out in a sweat as he struggled to find the right words to say. Especially since the irony of being hailed as a hero dawned on him when he and his crew were the cause of this massive misunderstanding.
A misunderstanding he had absolutely no interest in correcting.
With a strained smile, Elijah graciously accepted the salute with a blow, unable to believe how they'd managed to blindly stumble into this messy success. All it took was a bit of clever bullshit and a little dash of unbelievable luck, and they’d managed to gain a rather powerful contact and possible ally. But it seemed the same irony wasn’t lost on Azeline as the woman couldn't help but let out a snicker at the absurdity of it all.
Soon the snickering turned to laughter as Salvanius and Rhea tilted their heads in confusion. “My lady?” Salvanius asked, looking around him. “What is it that you find so humorous?”
Elijah felt his heart nearly burst in panic as he shot her an aggressive look while still trying to maintain his smile. “Oh don’t mind her, she’s just… overwhelmed by being saluted by someone as magnificent as you.” The bullshit flew out of the human’s mouth."It's been her lifelong dream to be respected by an order as vaunted as yours, my lord." He said, wrapping his arm around Azeline's head in a seemingly playful manner and squeezed in an effort to stifle her laughter.
Salvanius seemed to buy it as the man flashed a bright smile across the Demigod's face. “It would be an honor to fulfill the dreams of heroes such as yourselves!” he said enthusiastically, giving them another salute and causing the other knights to follow suit.
This however, caused Azeline’s fading snickering to explode into another round of rapturous laughter even though she felt the grip around her neck tighten. Elijah shot her a look of pure desperation, silently begging her to keep it together knowing any more attention could have their deception unraveled at any time.
Noticing Elijah's discomfort, Rhea cleared her throat. "My lord, forgive me for my interruption, but should we ask for Master Eli-jahs input on how best to deal with the tainted Temple?," she said with a slight nod towards the human.
Salvanius turned his attention away from Elijah and his group and nodded in agreement. "Yes, you’re absolutely right. We should see if the good healer has any other astute methods in dealing with the Miasma, other than putting all of the inhabitants to the sword and torching the entire area," he said, turning his head back towards Elijah with a curious look.
Releasing his grip on Azeline’s head and allowing her the snicker in the background, Elijah took a deep breath, grateful for the change of subject. However, at the same time, he couldn't help but furrow his brow at the mention of the usual method of dealing with outbreaks like this.
Seeing this side of town was still intact, Elijah looked Salvanius in the eyes and started to speak, “What was it that made you change tactics in dealing with this town?” The question seemed to catch Salvanius off guard as his expression turned difficult. “If I were to be honest, it was because I was indulging my brother.” He admitted.
“Indeed, I believed I could further my rese- I mean, save the people of this town with a few experimental methods.” Theodius interjected, rubbing his hands together. “Methods that you have proven to be ineffective with your keen insights, but the bounty we have harvested was more than I could have dreamed of!”
Nodding in agreement for completely different reasons, Salvanius turned his gaze back to Elijah to question him further. “Without your help, we would not have found the corrupt within these hallowed halls. Now tell me your opinion on how best to deal with it?”
Elijah brought his hand to his mouth in deep contemplation. If he was a superstitious man, he would have assumed this was something along the lines of fate or the machinations of a higher power. What were the chances that he would pop into this world, let alone stumble into this town while a Spanish Inquisition equivalent order decides to spare an entire town from a gruesome fate on the whims of some ‘Demigod’s’ brother.
Reality was truly stranger than fiction.
"Well, we’ve already identified the source of the contamination - the pool of water over there," Elijah pointed to the contaminated pool. "While boiling the water is the most effective method, it's not really feasible in this situation. But, the next best thing we could do would be to drain it completely and then cordone off the temple," he explained.
Salvanius raised an eyebrow in surprise. "That's it? No fancy elixirs or magical incantations? Just boil the water?" he asked skeptically.
"Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best," Elijah shrugged. "But I'm not sure how you plan on boiling-" Elijah was interrupted by the sound of Salvanius unsheathing his sword and marching towards the pool of water.
Elijah looked at Salvanius in confusion. "... What is he doing?" he asked in bewilderment, looking towards Rhea.
The woman didn’t say a word and crossed her arms as she watched Salvanius stab his sword into the water. And just as the two humans were going to comment on how ridiculous it was to stab water, they suddenly noticed a small amount of steam start to rise from the surface.
"Of course!" Bennett yelled, throwing his hands into the air. "Of course he could BOIL water with his fucking sword! Why couldn’t he!?" The engineer continued, but no one seemed to notice the strange outburst and kept their attention on their respective tasks.
Running his hand through his shaggy hair, Bennett couldn’t help but feel the last bit of hope that logic and reason existed in this world, fade away. It was time to accept that the rules of physics and thermodynamics no longer applied to this twisted joke of a universe and he was going to have to start from scratch. However, as the man calmed down, the frustration gradually gave way to curiosity as the steam started to rise in intensity.
Closing his eyes for a brief second, Bennett toggled his ocular implants to a setting that allowed him to see the ‘radiation’ that the inhabitants of this world were using. And when he opened his eyes, he was greeted with a nearly blinding light that was gushing from Salvanius body into the weird rapidly pulsating runes running down his sword and into the pool.
Bennett was struck with a sense of wonder as he observed the mysterious energy gradually spread to every nook and cranny of the pool, causing the water to heat up. The way the radiation, or mana, could flow and be transformed into heat energy had truly captivated him. It stirred a sense of curiosity that he hadn't felt since childhood, when he first watched documentaries about human starships braving the unknowns of unexplored space. It was a humble reminder of just how little he truly understood about this world and its inhabitants, despite his knowledge of advanced technology.
Feeling a thirst that no drink could quench, Bennett smacked his tongue and murmured, “It’s inefficient…”
Noticing to her right just said something, Azeline looked over at him with a tilted head. “Excuse me?” She asked while her long ears bounced.
Bringing his hand to his shaggy head once more, Bennett launched into a detailed explanation of his thought process. "Well, I assumed his sword is acting like some kind of converter for whatever energy or magic you all use. Energy generally takes many forms, but in this case, he’s pumping an absurd amount into his sword and is using it as if it was a makeshift metal coil and converting the weird fairy energy into heat energy."
He paused for a moment to see the pool start to rapidly boil before continuing. “However, due to the spillage of energy that's pouring out of not only his hand, the glowing scraggly shit on his sword, I can tell he's brute forcing it. At first, I thought it was just random, but now I think there’s a method to the madness. It looks very much like a rudimentary programming language, with different parts firing off in a pattern. I can only assume that it goes in this order: Absorb, Convert, Expel."
Azeline sat there with a confused look on her face, wondering why Bennett had suddenly decided to go off on a weird tangent. But Bennett continued after leaning back and rubbing his chin in contemplation. "It's like a set of instructions for that weird fairy shit to follow, converting the raw energy into heat through a series of symbols that act like a programming language… And at the end it's just one jank ass compiler.”
Finally, he took a moment to look at Azeline and realized she was staring at him as if he was growing a third arm out of his head. “What are you even saying to me????” She asked incredulously. “There’s noises and words coming out of your mouth, but none of it even comes close to making sense.”
Closing his eyes and leaning back against the bench, Bennett sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. He finally realized who he was talking to and remembered that Azeline probably had no concept of what he was talking about.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it…” He said dispassionately while turning his attention back to Salvanius.
Bennett narrowed his eyes, studying how the energy flowed out of the Demigod and interacted with the blade in his hand. It was truly fascinating to him, and he couldn't help but wonder what kind of possibilities this ‘magic’ held and what he could make.
Glancing back at his hand, Bennett noticed that it, along with the rest of his body, was brimming with the very same mysterious 'mana.' Looking over at Salvanius’ sword, he couldn't help but wonder if the reason he couldn't manipulate it was because he lacked the proper tools. This thought was reinforced as the engineer remembered how he would lock himself in his room and start flexing his muscles or flailing his arms, attempting to elicit any kind of response from the mana. It seemed that despite his efforts, every attempt was met with inert failure.
However… whenever he TOUCHED something, there was always a slight response. The energy would flow like a gentle breeze towards whatever he was touching as if it was trying to connect to it.
“Should this be sufficient?” Salvanius said loudly, pulling his sword out of the water and catching everyone’s attention.
With a steady hand, Elijah positioned the scanner above the water with a steady hand and waited patiently for it to finish its analysis. After a few moments, the device beeped, displaying a detailed snapshot of the micro-ecology of the pool, revealing that not only the contaminants responsible for the outbreak, but every other microorganisms had become lifeless.
"Yep, that just about did it." Elijah said confidently with his still eyes fixed on the readout. “Should be safe to drink now.”
Furrowing his brow, Salvanius looked over at the holy pool and back at the still kneeling foreigner healer. “You’re sure?” He asked, clearly skeptical of the man’s claim.
Elijah looked up and pointed the screen of his device at the demigod. "See these little things with the hooks on the end and the red light around them?" he said, pointing at the highlighted and unmoving pathogen. "That's what's been making everyone sick, and as you can see, they're all dead."
Salvanius squinted his eyes at the screen, not understanding what he was looking at. “What manner of sorcery is this?” He asked in bewilderment. “Is this the magical tool you’ve used to identify miasma?” He asked with interest written all over his face. “How do we know it's truly safe?”
“Well, the only way to know for sure is to drink it and see if anyone else gets sick.” Elijah shrugged.
Elijah observed as the man brought his gauntleted hand to his chin, surveying the room to consider his next course of action. However, Elijah couldn’t help but release a weary sigh. Although it was completely reasonable for a society that was dreadfully low on the technological scale to be skeptical of his claims, he wished for things to hurry along. He still had to deal with those thugs and get business rolling business with the spines he extracted from the badger-like shadow bear.
“Look, I’ll just drink it-” He said, but was cut off by a clank of metal resounding just behind him.
Spinning his head around, Elijah saw a younger looking woman that looked like a mirror image of the Knight Captain but with shorter hair, saluting Salvanius. “Your Magnificence! I’d like to volunteer to test Master Eli-jah’s theories and drink from the pool myself!” She shouted out.
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