Kingdoms of amalur re reckoning romance
Kingdoms of Amalur
2011.07.19 19:17 Kingdoms of Amalur
A community for the game Kingdoms of Amalur.
2011.10.03 05:41 Truth_ (Romance of the) Three Kingdoms
A subreddit for those classy individuals who have a large fondness for the Three Kingdoms period of China and related content, including both the Romance and Record of the Three Kingdoms books, games, movies, and TV series.
2019.07.24 07:08 RavagesOfKingdom RavagesOfTime
A community for Ravages of Time, a manhua written and drawn by Chen Mou.
2023.06.09 23:09 Alzerkaran Following my previous publications on NHS Ucronia, now comes the History of Mu and its Continent.
The Techno-Federation of Mu is a Technocratic Federal State whose transformation is somewhat early, but its birth and emergence as a Nation-State comes from antiquity, more specifically 10,000 years ago, which if we can place it in Earth time would be in the 8,000 BC...
Mu's origin did not originate from this world... Not the one he came to either... If he did not come from one of the many alternate Realities of Planet Earth... His World... Terra in the Muan Language was a World almost equal to Earth... Almost, since in that World there were several very powerful and important Civilizations that in our world are only legends...
The First and Known by the Western World was "Atlantis" is a Civilization and Empire that arose in an Archipelago of large Islands near North Africa, more exactly 100 kilometers from the Moroccan Atlas... That Civilization had wide influence and colonies throughout North Africa and the Western Mediterranean...
The second best known and most powerful Civilization was Mu, the Pacific Continent a continent of about 40% Africa in the middle of the Pacific Osean... It was an Atlantis-like Empire that spanned the length of the Pacific Ocean colonizing multiple islands and touching each Continent, having colonies in Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia which at that time were a chain of larger islands and touching the Australian Continent of Zealand, which in the latter had a Civilization Similar to that of Mu, the Mauri...
The Third Civilization and the third most powerful in the world was Lemuria, formed in a Chain of Archipelagos and a small continent in a triangular formation that came to have the entire area of the Indian Ocean under its power...
And of course, there were other Civilizations in that World, such as Shangrila in what is now China, Civilization that agglomerated the peoples of Corea and Tíbet, and Yamuto (A Population Group that wanted to break away from Shangrila) which is now Japan, a civilization that originated after arming itself with Muan Weapons to corner the Ainus Settlers of the Islands where they lived. settled, this move on his part cost him the reputation of having Mu as his only ally due to his distrust and contempt for the rest of East Asia...
In the Américas (Specifically in the South) was the Civilization Whose City made of Gold extended its name and wealth to the rest of what would be Latin America, while in North America a Confederation of Tribes from East to West would be born...
Besides of course, the Finnish Proto-State, which had all the information on the Scandinavian Peninsula under its Control and part of Northern Russia and Europe...
Everything was going well... Until the Korean part of Shangrila separated giving the Jō-an Empire, which quickly seized much of Central Asia and Siberia rivaling Proto-Finland, which led to clashes that ended in a War that was made a Hyper-war that was only made that the rest of the World will go to war itself, Atlanteans against the Gold Civilization of South America, Lemurians against Shangrila, Muans being neutral but due to the impertinence of Yamuto that he entered at war with Jōam led Mu to a war that was leaving him ending little by little...
And so it was until Mu one day was suddenly transported from his World to another, his disappearance gave rise to many unknowns in his previous world, but in the next, World faced an Apocalyptic panorama...
-Taken from the writings made by the scribes of Mu in regard to their history-
"Cloudy Skies... Cold Weather... And, many, many refugees who, desperate for help, arrived on the Mu Continent where they were welcomed... All, in their language, claimed to be survivors of what was the Longest Day in History of his World"
"Where the Floating Cities fell precipitously from the sky to the bottom of the sea... Where all the Lights of the Cities were turned off forever, and their technology only went out to never be turned on again"
"When the remains of the Machines they created arrived from Space... Where, after the worst had happened, huge Balls of Fire fell that set the World on fire... And one that, despite impacting on the other side of it, made its impact felt by thousands of kilometers of distance"
"All this as a result of a Civil War between their benefactors from another world, a civil war between a Racist and Supremacist Group of theirs against which they helped their World to prospero"
"That Civil War made the Use of all the Weapons of its Benefactors against themselves and they erasing islands and deforming continents, turning fertile forests into wastelands, turning deserts into glass, exterminating living beings with invisible weapons, and Disintegrating Cities into a blinding flash of Light"
"And even though their 'Vehicles' were nearly indestructible, in a fight between equals it only prolonged the battles and left death and destruction, the flying Ships they deployed smaller consequently fell to the ground and into the burning sea, their Sea Ships fared the same, and the Submarines never knew what happened to them"
"And their Land Vehicles... Or disintegrated by their own weapons... Or torn to pieces until we recognize... Their small arms scrapped... Their Imaging Mirrors extinguished forever... And their Humanoids of Metal and from other unrecognizable materials"
"And no one knows how to handle their technology... And all their knowledge was lost in the devastated Cities"
"And his Biological creations while some lasted others in time fell by themselves"
"Only the Animal Humans, the Reptiles, the Felines, the Canines managed to survive since these were of equal intelligence to the other Humans and the Long-eared Humans"
"There was a race of Sea People whose Tails replaced their legs, when the Ravernal arrived they helped this people to be terrestrial using their technology, giving them legs and the ability to breathe on land, even so they retained the iconic tails of this people, giving it an improvement like the fins of a Shark, these oceanic people like others of the Semi-Human Races were one of the best examples of the technology of the Ravernal "
(Technically similar to what would be the Dragonborn of GATE only being based on Jaws)
"The same was done with the Reptilian and Dragon People, the Dragon being a huge improvement over what they were previously."
(Technically like the Dragonborn from GATE)
"All these genetically modified peoples along with normal humanoids and others had to survive what came next."
"This was the Story that the Muans were told when they arrived, and it was the only thing they knew about the Empire that ruled that World and was betrayed by its own Inhabitants, at least a part of them, it was only known that in the end what What was left of that Empire went somewhere"
"Thousands of years passed, many things happened, the Civilizations re-emerged, Mu spent a large part of that History helping the rest of that world by giving knowledge and technology to the Survivors of that World called by them "Eliysium" it was not until later when the Mu suffered a Fragmentation in their Empire, either by descendants of those refugees who came to them, or only by very powerful Muan governors, from there they founded their own nation states dividing the Mu Continent, and falling under the influence of others and the belief that the strange energy of that world was superior to Science... That Energy was called "Magic" after all"
"It was not until the 1500s when after the independence of an important colony from the Milishial Rivals that the era of innovations and the lights of science and technology arrived"
"From Rudimentary Hydraulic Technology, to Steam, from steam to Internal Combustion Engines, and from them to Electric Power"
"Multiple means of transportation arose... Steamships (Steam-Propelled Ships first with "Shovels" and then with Propellers) Trains (First using Coal, then Fuel derived from Petroleum such as Diesel, and now with electric motors most powerful together with metallic or synthetic Light materials, electric trains) both terrestrial and underground, Autocars or Automobiles, and the most important and great achievement of Science, the power to Fly, first Aircraft such as Hot Air Balloons, then Airships using Light gases like Helium or Hydrogen (Although Helium is always used) and later, Aircraft, first with a propeller, then a Turboprop and now a Turbine, the human Ingenuity has no limits for science"
"So many achievements given by the Scientific Civilization of Mu made the world welcome all their inventions and knowledge with open arms, and the Nations of the so-called Second Civilized Area little by little rejoined Mu as entities of the New Organization. Supranational of this and Leifor, the Techno-Union, The previous Kingdoms are now Republics Technocratism of all kinds of names, even the one that was the Magikareich Community (Which alluded to magic in its name) became a Techno-State"
"Even so, this growing Union of States did not stop the inevitable conflict between Mu and Milishial, a Great War that marked a before and after in the belief in the Supremacy of Magic in the world, now eclipsed by Technology"
"And all this is thanks to the Rebellion made by the Ancient Milishial Colony of Vestal, now called "Vanguardist Republic of Vestale" or "Avant-Garde Republic of Vestale" Of ideology similar to the Technocratic one called Accelerationism"
"This is just the beginning of the Age of Technology Primacy in the World"
"And the Great War of the early 1600s which demonstrated Machine Power and World industrialization at that time, the World was not the same again, the age of Science proved its prevalence over Magic, the Milishial will not give up on Show otherwise, even if they end the World in another War in the process"
submitted by Alzerkaran to nihonkoku_shoukan [link] [comments]
Mu's origin did not originate from this world... Not the one he came to either... If he did not come from one of the many alternate Realities of Planet Earth... His World... Terra in the Muan Language was a World almost equal to Earth... Almost, since in that World there were several very powerful and important Civilizations that in our world are only legends...
The First and Known by the Western World was "Atlantis" is a Civilization and Empire that arose in an Archipelago of large Islands near North Africa, more exactly 100 kilometers from the Moroccan Atlas... That Civilization had wide influence and colonies throughout North Africa and the Western Mediterranean...
The second best known and most powerful Civilization was Mu, the Pacific Continent a continent of about 40% Africa in the middle of the Pacific Osean... It was an Atlantis-like Empire that spanned the length of the Pacific Ocean colonizing multiple islands and touching each Continent, having colonies in Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia which at that time were a chain of larger islands and touching the Australian Continent of Zealand, which in the latter had a Civilization Similar to that of Mu, the Mauri...
The Third Civilization and the third most powerful in the world was Lemuria, formed in a Chain of Archipelagos and a small continent in a triangular formation that came to have the entire area of the Indian Ocean under its power...
And of course, there were other Civilizations in that World, such as Shangrila in what is now China, Civilization that agglomerated the peoples of Corea and Tíbet, and Yamuto (A Population Group that wanted to break away from Shangrila) which is now Japan, a civilization that originated after arming itself with Muan Weapons to corner the Ainus Settlers of the Islands where they lived. settled, this move on his part cost him the reputation of having Mu as his only ally due to his distrust and contempt for the rest of East Asia...
In the Américas (Specifically in the South) was the Civilization Whose City made of Gold extended its name and wealth to the rest of what would be Latin America, while in North America a Confederation of Tribes from East to West would be born...
Besides of course, the Finnish Proto-State, which had all the information on the Scandinavian Peninsula under its Control and part of Northern Russia and Europe...
Everything was going well... Until the Korean part of Shangrila separated giving the Jō-an Empire, which quickly seized much of Central Asia and Siberia rivaling Proto-Finland, which led to clashes that ended in a War that was made a Hyper-war that was only made that the rest of the World will go to war itself, Atlanteans against the Gold Civilization of South America, Lemurians against Shangrila, Muans being neutral but due to the impertinence of Yamuto that he entered at war with Jōam led Mu to a war that was leaving him ending little by little...
And so it was until Mu one day was suddenly transported from his World to another, his disappearance gave rise to many unknowns in his previous world, but in the next, World faced an Apocalyptic panorama...
-Taken from the writings made by the scribes of Mu in regard to their history-
"Cloudy Skies... Cold Weather... And, many, many refugees who, desperate for help, arrived on the Mu Continent where they were welcomed... All, in their language, claimed to be survivors of what was the Longest Day in History of his World"
"Where the Floating Cities fell precipitously from the sky to the bottom of the sea... Where all the Lights of the Cities were turned off forever, and their technology only went out to never be turned on again"
"When the remains of the Machines they created arrived from Space... Where, after the worst had happened, huge Balls of Fire fell that set the World on fire... And one that, despite impacting on the other side of it, made its impact felt by thousands of kilometers of distance"
"All this as a result of a Civil War between their benefactors from another world, a civil war between a Racist and Supremacist Group of theirs against which they helped their World to prospero"
"That Civil War made the Use of all the Weapons of its Benefactors against themselves and they erasing islands and deforming continents, turning fertile forests into wastelands, turning deserts into glass, exterminating living beings with invisible weapons, and Disintegrating Cities into a blinding flash of Light"
"And even though their 'Vehicles' were nearly indestructible, in a fight between equals it only prolonged the battles and left death and destruction, the flying Ships they deployed smaller consequently fell to the ground and into the burning sea, their Sea Ships fared the same, and the Submarines never knew what happened to them"
"And their Land Vehicles... Or disintegrated by their own weapons... Or torn to pieces until we recognize... Their small arms scrapped... Their Imaging Mirrors extinguished forever... And their Humanoids of Metal and from other unrecognizable materials"
"And no one knows how to handle their technology... And all their knowledge was lost in the devastated Cities"
"And his Biological creations while some lasted others in time fell by themselves"
"Only the Animal Humans, the Reptiles, the Felines, the Canines managed to survive since these were of equal intelligence to the other Humans and the Long-eared Humans"
"There was a race of Sea People whose Tails replaced their legs, when the Ravernal arrived they helped this people to be terrestrial using their technology, giving them legs and the ability to breathe on land, even so they retained the iconic tails of this people, giving it an improvement like the fins of a Shark, these oceanic people like others of the Semi-Human Races were one of the best examples of the technology of the Ravernal "
(Technically similar to what would be the Dragonborn of GATE only being based on Jaws)
"The same was done with the Reptilian and Dragon People, the Dragon being a huge improvement over what they were previously."
(Technically like the Dragonborn from GATE)
"All these genetically modified peoples along with normal humanoids and others had to survive what came next."
"This was the Story that the Muans were told when they arrived, and it was the only thing they knew about the Empire that ruled that World and was betrayed by its own Inhabitants, at least a part of them, it was only known that in the end what What was left of that Empire went somewhere"
"Thousands of years passed, many things happened, the Civilizations re-emerged, Mu spent a large part of that History helping the rest of that world by giving knowledge and technology to the Survivors of that World called by them "Eliysium" it was not until later when the Mu suffered a Fragmentation in their Empire, either by descendants of those refugees who came to them, or only by very powerful Muan governors, from there they founded their own nation states dividing the Mu Continent, and falling under the influence of others and the belief that the strange energy of that world was superior to Science... That Energy was called "Magic" after all"
"It was not until the 1500s when after the independence of an important colony from the Milishial Rivals that the era of innovations and the lights of science and technology arrived"
"From Rudimentary Hydraulic Technology, to Steam, from steam to Internal Combustion Engines, and from them to Electric Power"
"Multiple means of transportation arose... Steamships (Steam-Propelled Ships first with "Shovels" and then with Propellers) Trains (First using Coal, then Fuel derived from Petroleum such as Diesel, and now with electric motors most powerful together with metallic or synthetic Light materials, electric trains) both terrestrial and underground, Autocars or Automobiles, and the most important and great achievement of Science, the power to Fly, first Aircraft such as Hot Air Balloons, then Airships using Light gases like Helium or Hydrogen (Although Helium is always used) and later, Aircraft, first with a propeller, then a Turboprop and now a Turbine, the human Ingenuity has no limits for science"
"So many achievements given by the Scientific Civilization of Mu made the world welcome all their inventions and knowledge with open arms, and the Nations of the so-called Second Civilized Area little by little rejoined Mu as entities of the New Organization. Supranational of this and Leifor, the Techno-Union, The previous Kingdoms are now Republics Technocratism of all kinds of names, even the one that was the Magikareich Community (Which alluded to magic in its name) became a Techno-State"
"Even so, this growing Union of States did not stop the inevitable conflict between Mu and Milishial, a Great War that marked a before and after in the belief in the Supremacy of Magic in the world, now eclipsed by Technology"
"And all this is thanks to the Rebellion made by the Ancient Milishial Colony of Vestal, now called "Vanguardist Republic of Vestale" or "Avant-Garde Republic of Vestale" Of ideology similar to the Technocratic one called Accelerationism"
"This is just the beginning of the Age of Technology Primacy in the World"
"And the Great War of the early 1600s which demonstrated Machine Power and World industrialization at that time, the World was not the same again, the age of Science proved its prevalence over Magic, the Milishial will not give up on Show otherwise, even if they end the World in another War in the process"
2023.06.09 22:58 0gravitea (F4A) Modern Drama and Thrillers!
Hello!! I’m Mina, and I’m looking for someone to write a story with themes of romance, drama, and thriller!
What I’m looking for: - Someone 18+ - Semi-lit/lit (2-3 paras average), 3rd POV — Overall, I tend to copy however long my partner writes, but I will not dip below a paragraph. - Writing Masculine (not necessarily male!) characters - Uses Discord!
Some plots, with my character being A, and yours being B:
If you’ve come this far, please tell me your fav color in your message!
submitted by 0gravitea to Roleplay [link] [comments]
What I’m looking for: - Someone 18+ - Semi-lit/lit (2-3 paras average), 3rd POV — Overall, I tend to copy however long my partner writes, but I will not dip below a paragraph. - Writing Masculine (not necessarily male!) characters - Uses Discord!
Some plots, with my character being A, and yours being B:
- Dear Miss Genius Idol Unmatched (A) is an up and coming persona, and while her TV persona is bubbly and cheery, she is rather dreary in reality, and often struggles with problems. In comes (Character B), a crazed fan, a manager, or someone who she doesn’t know about, used to be a childhood friend — How does their relationship develop/devolve?
- Character A and Character B are constantly breaking up and dating due to being in a rather unstable relationship. Character B is known to be brooding and dark, while Character A strives to do better — Character B intends to drag Character A down with him.
- Chang’e (A) and Houyi (B) reunited?
- A modern pygmalion? A struggling artist (A) suddenly has to explain to her landlord why one of her art pieces (B) has suddenly come to life!
- A lonely god (B) takes interest in a human (A) — This could be for whatever reason, maybe he finds her life interesting, or maybe she has motives that are against his, we could def plot this out!
- A human (A) is suddenly turned priestess due to accidentally breaking a God’s (B) shrine, and now needs to pay off her debts.
- A sacrifice (A) is expected to die when sacrificed to a God (B), except he is just incredibly confused about what a human is doing in his domain.
- A prince (character B) finds themselves falling for a princess (character A) who lives in the kingdom next over, but happens to be engaged to another. The prince stops at nothing to get rid of his love’s partner, and does anything to woo the princess.
If you’ve come this far, please tell me your fav color in your message!
2023.06.09 22:51 Chiron- A Splash of Romance
We’re off on our second Virgin Voyage, this time on the Scarlet Lady, and I was able to snag the Splash of Romance add-on. I have a couple of questions, and I’m hoping someone who has had the package before might be able to answer.
1) Wristband set - I’m assuming this is about the second wristband that I saw people wearing on our last trip. Am I correct?
2) Curated daily cold-pressed juices - I remember we had four juices (mixed from concentrate) before. What kind of juices does this include, and how/where do we get them?
3) Two 3-hours thermal spa passes - I assume you can spread the time over multiple days? Do we need to make reservations?
I tried to get this the previous time that we cruised, since it was for my 70th birthday, but they filled up before I could. So this time we’re celebrating our 36th anniversary. Pretty exciting!
submitted by Chiron- to VirginVoyages [link] [comments]
1) Wristband set - I’m assuming this is about the second wristband that I saw people wearing on our last trip. Am I correct?
2) Curated daily cold-pressed juices - I remember we had four juices (mixed from concentrate) before. What kind of juices does this include, and how/where do we get them?
3) Two 3-hours thermal spa passes - I assume you can spread the time over multiple days? Do we need to make reservations?
I tried to get this the previous time that we cruised, since it was for my 70th birthday, but they filled up before I could. So this time we’re celebrating our 36th anniversary. Pretty exciting!
2023.06.09 22:47 Xftg123 Would you consider Sarah J Maas to be a Fantasy author OR a Romance one?
In every single article, bio, and all about Sarah J Maas, she's always been labeled as a Fantasy author.
However, it seems like since things such as the Goodreads Choice Awards with her winning the Fantasy category and ACOTAR being her biggest series, I've seen some comments and the like from people are saying that SJM belongs more in the Romance category rather than the Fantasy one.
Personally, I feel like it's because of ACOTAR. Crescent City, at the very least, seems to be Fantasy and then Romance second (at least, from what I've seen in regards to spoilers and stuff, it seems like it). The same thing with the Throne Of Glass series.
Now, with the ACOTAR series, being SJM's most well-known, it's a back and forth topic on whether the series is Fantasy or Romance. Since A Court Of Silver Flames, hell, probably even going further back with ACOMAF, it seems to be the case where people are now saying that the series is leaning more towards Romance rather than Fantasy.
Maas does have an overlap between those who have read ACOTAR and then other books, that are Romantic Fantasy (Romantasy) or Fantasy Romance series such as Plated Prisoner, From Blood And Ash, The Bridge Kingdom, A Touch Of Darkness, and more.
All that being said, it just makes me wonder: Do you personally consider SJM to be a Fantasy author or a Romance one?
submitted by Xftg123 to YAlit [link] [comments]
However, it seems like since things such as the Goodreads Choice Awards with her winning the Fantasy category and ACOTAR being her biggest series, I've seen some comments and the like from people are saying that SJM belongs more in the Romance category rather than the Fantasy one.
Personally, I feel like it's because of ACOTAR. Crescent City, at the very least, seems to be Fantasy and then Romance second (at least, from what I've seen in regards to spoilers and stuff, it seems like it). The same thing with the Throne Of Glass series.
Now, with the ACOTAR series, being SJM's most well-known, it's a back and forth topic on whether the series is Fantasy or Romance. Since A Court Of Silver Flames, hell, probably even going further back with ACOMAF, it seems to be the case where people are now saying that the series is leaning more towards Romance rather than Fantasy.
Maas does have an overlap between those who have read ACOTAR and then other books, that are Romantic Fantasy (Romantasy) or Fantasy Romance series such as Plated Prisoner, From Blood And Ash, The Bridge Kingdom, A Touch Of Darkness, and more.
All that being said, it just makes me wonder: Do you personally consider SJM to be a Fantasy author or a Romance one?
2023.06.09 22:41 LaticusLad Time Marches Ever Onward: Chapter 5
{THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING: Existential dread, emotional moments, romance, and a singular phrase which could be seen as suggestive depending on how dirty your mind is. ;) }
(Any sentences or phrases wrapped with brackets "[ ]" are designated as inner monologue!)
Thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating this wonderful literary universe!
< First PreviousNext >
Memory transcription subject: James Willik, Human Historian
Date [standardized human time]: July 15, 2165
“Umm. Sooo, isn’t the universe only around 14 billion years old?”
“You would be correct.” The scientist’s expression showed that he was as dumbfounded as I was. “I should add that the highest number that any of our new dating devices can go is to around 20 billion, it is entirely possible that the artifact could be even older than we can detect.”
[What the fuck.]
A shrill voice from my left shook me out of my stupor. I looked to my side to see Lemva standing out of her seat, her tail lashing angrily. “Is this some elaborate joke? That isn’t possible. What you’re saying isn’t possible.” President Zhao began to speak. “I am fully aware how frankly nonsensical this is sounding, but this is serious and we need to approach this with an open mind. The Federation rated this item as a danger to the entire galaxy for a reason. We have no idea what we’re dealing with here and with something that could pose this much danger that is not acceptable.” Lemva suddenly spat with a ferocity I haven’t heard in a long time. Her anger frightened me not just because of her abnormal behavior and proximity, but also because of the recipient of her anger.
“You are aware that what you’re saying undermines everything we know about existence, right? Are you aware of that? Do you have any idea how INSANE this is sounding? You’re telling us, US, a couple of unqualified nobody misfit historians, that we’re somehow prophesied by this magical indestructible artifact that existed before time to do… something? AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT SOMETHING IS?! You just expect us to take this sitting down? Uh-uh, no, I’m not accepting this.” I tapped the table gently to get her attention, she snapped one of her orange eyes at me in response, I could barely get out what I was going to say in fear of her. “Maybe we shouldn’t yell at President Zhao?” I squeaked my suggestion at her. She just smoldered at me.
Lemva quickly pushed her chair backward and power-walked through the doors of the conference room, the force from her slamming the door rattled its hinges. I sometimes forget how strong she is, perks of evolving on such a high gravity planet I suppose. I glance at my remaining two partners and they are just as shaken as me. We all slowly look back at Zhao in fear of his response to Lemva’s attitude. Zhao still looked calm, so that’s good, but his posture indicated exhaustion.
“You three can leave for now, I’ll schedule another meeting for tomorrow once she’s settled down. If you could talk to her, that would be greatly appreciated.” Zhao started to rise from his seat but paused momentarily. “Oh I forgot to mention, you’ve been granted access to the guest residence wing. Lars, hand them their cards please.” A large man walked around and passed us our cards, handing me a second one presumably for Lemva. “The suite’s code on the tram is S29. You’re dismissed.”
Cayek, Tassak, and I quickly hurried out of the room to catch up with the furious venlil. Thankfully she hadn’t gone far, and was just waiting at the tram. We approached her quietly, none of us having the courage to start a conversation. She barely acknowledged us as we drew closer. I steeled myself to initiate contact but to my surprise she decided to do it first. “We’re leaving. Fuck this, they expect us to just accept that everything we know is wrong? They can take their invitations and shove them up their asses.” I gathered the courage to respond to her.
“I’ve never seen you this angry before. Talk to me.” She sighed, seeming to deflate as she did. Most of her anger melted off of her and left defeat in its place. “I need some time, I don’t have the energy right now.” “Alright, that’s ok. Before we left the conference room, we were handed keycards to the suite. Zhao said that we could stay there for a while.
Lemva looked up at my face with an eye. The happy glint she usually carried in her eyes was replaced with a dull feeling of hopelessness. “Okay.” I gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She answered my request to hug her before I had even asked. She buried the side of her head into my chest. We sat there for a few seconds, and it felt good, but all good things had to come to an end eventually. I silently guided her into the tram, Cayek and Tassak following close behind. The doors closed and I typed in the code for our suite, S29. The tram took off and winded through a maze of hidden tunnels before arriving at our destination.
Exiting the tram, we came to a closed set of heavy fake wooden doors with a keycard reader to the side. I swiped my card and the hidden locks on the doors clicked several times, before the doors swung open. [Wow. This is a really nice room.]
I guided Lemva onto a nearby sofa and marched into the gargantuan kitchen provided to us in order to prepare some coffee for her. As I waited for the coffee machine to finish, I saw Cayek and Tassak exploring their new surroundings. Cayek walked around and admired the luxurious artistry that permeated the space, while Tassak… Tassak poked at various objects as if she had never seen them before. She reminded me of a curious child. She accidentally tore a hole in a chair with her claw before hastily trying to hide the damage with a very obviously out of place pillow.
The coffee machine sputtered the last few drops of liquid ambrosia into Lemva’s mug and I hurried over to where she was sitting. I placed the warm cup into her paws and sat beside her. For several minutes we watched some TV on the large screen across from us. Lemva leaned more into my shoulder the longer we sat there. Tassak and Cayek had gone to their rooms by now. After watching 8 episodes of the ninety-seventh season of The Simpsons, she had calmed down.
I looked down at her. “Are you ready to talk now?” She nodded. “Mhm.” “Ok, do you wanna tell me why you got so angry during the conference?” She frowned slightly. “Everything they were saying… the artifact, I just…” She stopped for a moment to gather her words. “If what they said was true, and the artifact is from before the universe, and it depicts us… that implies so much. If what they said is true, then whoever made the artifact could see the future. If they could see the future, that means fate exists. If fate exists, then that means that everything I’ve ever done, everything that we’ve ever done, was meaningless. I mean, all my struggles, all my successes, for no reason.” She looked up at me and I could tell she could see my confusion.
“If you were playing a game, and every action you took did absolutely nothing to change the end result, but the whole time you thought that they did, wouldn’t it hurt to realize in the middle of a round that your input is entirely meaningless and changes nothing? But then, if you look at it another way, there’s the idea that you’re not even really alive, that you’re just a machine going through the motions. The idea that everything you were, are, and will be, every action you take, every thought you think, every emotion you feel is just a set of directions and ideas set to play out for the rest of eternity, that you’re just a couple words on a page to be read…”
I had no idea how to respond to that. I was never all too good at imagining such high-brow philosophical concepts, and I’ve always been even worse at handling the emotions of others, so wrap the two up into a depressing little veggie wrap and you’ve got me stumped. I did the only thing I could think to do at that moment. I wrapped my arms around her and placed my chin on her forehead. She snuggled into my body. I hadn’t felt this much comfort for a long, long time.
“Y’know… after I dropped contact those few years ago, I always wanted to send you a message, tell you I miss you, tell you why I stopped contacting, those sorts of things. But I never did. Because I was afraid.” I lifted my chin off Lemva’s head and she looked up at my face. I stared down back at her. “What were you afraid of?” She asked me in a soft voice. “Lots of things. I was afraid of explaining what happened, the “incident” was too recent to talk about. I was afraid that you’d hate me for disappearing, and the fear only got worse the longer time went. But mostly…” I inhaled sharply as I prepared myself. “I was afraid you’d betray me.” Lemva’s eyes held a puzzled and pained expression.
“I didn’t tell you who killed my parents, only that someone did. Soon after I was born, my father went into the venlil exchange program and met a venlil named Draton. They became friends almost immediately, or at least, Draton pretended to become friends.” Malice filled my voice as I talked about the scum who murdered my family. “I loved him growing up, almost as much as my parents, for a while he was like, my third favorite person in the world. He was like an uncle to me and a sibling to my parents.” I gulped and looked away. “Hopefully it should be obvious what I’m saying he did.” I took a shuddering breath and looked deep into Lemva’s eyes. “I was terrified that another loved one would turn out to be a monster. I was terrified that you would turn out to be a monster.”
I closed my eyes and mustered all the courage I could manage and called upon every deity from every religion I could remember or had even heard of in passing. I opened my eyes and placed my hands gently on the sides of Lemva’s head. She didn’t resist. “Alright… this is my greatest secret yet. I’ve been so scared to tell you but I can’t keep holding it in anymore, I need you to know.” Lemva held her breath.
“I love you Lemva, I’ve loved you since we first hung out in history club, I loved you when you cheered and hopped around at our graduation, I loved you when you talked so enthusiastically about your job. I always have, and I always will, love you.” I could feel my face burning as blood rushed through my cheeks. Lemva had it even worse though, her face was more orange than the fruit the color was named after. Her eyes were so wide I could barely see her irises anymore.
Tears formed in her eyes, but I could tell right away that these weren’t tears of sadness. The goofiest and cutest smile I had ever seen in my life quickly formed on her little face. She squeaked at me in delight. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.” She reached up, grabbed my hands, and squeezed them tight. I could feel her tail wrap around my back, a gentle force guided me closer to her. “You sure you wanna do this?”
“I’ve been around humans all my life, I know what a kiss is, dummy.” She whispered amusedly. We closed our eyes and embraced for the first time. All my worries, fears, and doubts melted away and drained off of my mind like meltwater off a cliff as we sat there basking in each other’s warmth.
We separated our faces and stared at each other. The happy glint in her beautiful orange eyes had returned brighter than I had ever seen it before. We sat staring for what seemed like forever, I had forgotten that a world existed beyond this sofa. I looked up at an antique clock mounted on the wall and waited a moment as my implant translated the extraterrestrial time-keeping system into a familiar 12-hour format. 8PM. Almost as if in response to my realization of the time, a wave of exhaustion crashed into me like a rogue space freighter. I wanted so desperately to stay here cuddled with Lemva for the rest of my life, but alas, sleep deprivation is a cruel mistress.
“Lem, it’s 8pm, we gotta get some sleep if we’re gonna attend the conference tomorrow.” “Awww, a couple more minutes? Pleeeeeeeease?” “I know this is really comfy and I know you don’t wanna think about ‘the object’ but we’ve got to do it.” I could tell she was still uncomfortable thinking about the implication that even the mention of the artifact carried with it, and we still would need to talk that through, but for now at least, she wasn’t having an existential crisis.
We untangled ourselves, rose off the sofa, and headed toward our rooms. But Lemva suddenly halted in the middle of the hallway. I spun around to see why she stopped. She looked down at the ground and rubbed her paws together like she does when she’s nervous, her face was an almost neon orange, miraculously managing to be even more vibrant than before. She wore a bashful smile on her face. “Is something wrong?” “no… I was just wondering, could I sleep in your room for tonight?” “Sure. Why, is there something wrong?”
“No… there’s just… something I’ve been wanting to try…”
“Wha- oh.”
“Oh.”
< First PreviousNext >
(I think I've got a hang of the reddit formatting now. However, advice and critiques of the way the story is told are still very welcome.)
submitted by LaticusLad to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
(Any sentences or phrases wrapped with brackets "[ ]" are designated as inner monologue!)
Thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating this wonderful literary universe!
< First Previous
Memory transcription subject: James Willik, Human Historian
Date [standardized human time]: July 15, 2165
“Umm. Sooo, isn’t the universe only around 14 billion years old?”
“You would be correct.” The scientist’s expression showed that he was as dumbfounded as I was. “I should add that the highest number that any of our new dating devices can go is to around 20 billion, it is entirely possible that the artifact could be even older than we can detect.”
[What the fuck.]
A shrill voice from my left shook me out of my stupor. I looked to my side to see Lemva standing out of her seat, her tail lashing angrily. “Is this some elaborate joke? That isn’t possible. What you’re saying isn’t possible.” President Zhao began to speak. “I am fully aware how frankly nonsensical this is sounding, but this is serious and we need to approach this with an open mind. The Federation rated this item as a danger to the entire galaxy for a reason. We have no idea what we’re dealing with here and with something that could pose this much danger that is not acceptable.” Lemva suddenly spat with a ferocity I haven’t heard in a long time. Her anger frightened me not just because of her abnormal behavior and proximity, but also because of the recipient of her anger.
“You are aware that what you’re saying undermines everything we know about existence, right? Are you aware of that? Do you have any idea how INSANE this is sounding? You’re telling us, US, a couple of unqualified nobody misfit historians, that we’re somehow prophesied by this magical indestructible artifact that existed before time to do… something? AND YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT SOMETHING IS?! You just expect us to take this sitting down? Uh-uh, no, I’m not accepting this.” I tapped the table gently to get her attention, she snapped one of her orange eyes at me in response, I could barely get out what I was going to say in fear of her. “Maybe we shouldn’t yell at President Zhao?” I squeaked my suggestion at her. She just smoldered at me.
Lemva quickly pushed her chair backward and power-walked through the doors of the conference room, the force from her slamming the door rattled its hinges. I sometimes forget how strong she is, perks of evolving on such a high gravity planet I suppose. I glance at my remaining two partners and they are just as shaken as me. We all slowly look back at Zhao in fear of his response to Lemva’s attitude. Zhao still looked calm, so that’s good, but his posture indicated exhaustion.
“You three can leave for now, I’ll schedule another meeting for tomorrow once she’s settled down. If you could talk to her, that would be greatly appreciated.” Zhao started to rise from his seat but paused momentarily. “Oh I forgot to mention, you’ve been granted access to the guest residence wing. Lars, hand them their cards please.” A large man walked around and passed us our cards, handing me a second one presumably for Lemva. “The suite’s code on the tram is S29. You’re dismissed.”
Cayek, Tassak, and I quickly hurried out of the room to catch up with the furious venlil. Thankfully she hadn’t gone far, and was just waiting at the tram. We approached her quietly, none of us having the courage to start a conversation. She barely acknowledged us as we drew closer. I steeled myself to initiate contact but to my surprise she decided to do it first. “We’re leaving. Fuck this, they expect us to just accept that everything we know is wrong? They can take their invitations and shove them up their asses.” I gathered the courage to respond to her.
“I’ve never seen you this angry before. Talk to me.” She sighed, seeming to deflate as she did. Most of her anger melted off of her and left defeat in its place. “I need some time, I don’t have the energy right now.” “Alright, that’s ok. Before we left the conference room, we were handed keycards to the suite. Zhao said that we could stay there for a while.
Lemva looked up at my face with an eye. The happy glint she usually carried in her eyes was replaced with a dull feeling of hopelessness. “Okay.” I gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She answered my request to hug her before I had even asked. She buried the side of her head into my chest. We sat there for a few seconds, and it felt good, but all good things had to come to an end eventually. I silently guided her into the tram, Cayek and Tassak following close behind. The doors closed and I typed in the code for our suite, S29. The tram took off and winded through a maze of hidden tunnels before arriving at our destination.
Exiting the tram, we came to a closed set of heavy fake wooden doors with a keycard reader to the side. I swiped my card and the hidden locks on the doors clicked several times, before the doors swung open. [Wow. This is a really nice room.]
I guided Lemva onto a nearby sofa and marched into the gargantuan kitchen provided to us in order to prepare some coffee for her. As I waited for the coffee machine to finish, I saw Cayek and Tassak exploring their new surroundings. Cayek walked around and admired the luxurious artistry that permeated the space, while Tassak… Tassak poked at various objects as if she had never seen them before. She reminded me of a curious child. She accidentally tore a hole in a chair with her claw before hastily trying to hide the damage with a very obviously out of place pillow.
The coffee machine sputtered the last few drops of liquid ambrosia into Lemva’s mug and I hurried over to where she was sitting. I placed the warm cup into her paws and sat beside her. For several minutes we watched some TV on the large screen across from us. Lemva leaned more into my shoulder the longer we sat there. Tassak and Cayek had gone to their rooms by now. After watching 8 episodes of the ninety-seventh season of The Simpsons, she had calmed down.
I looked down at her. “Are you ready to talk now?” She nodded. “Mhm.” “Ok, do you wanna tell me why you got so angry during the conference?” She frowned slightly. “Everything they were saying… the artifact, I just…” She stopped for a moment to gather her words. “If what they said was true, and the artifact is from before the universe, and it depicts us… that implies so much. If what they said is true, then whoever made the artifact could see the future. If they could see the future, that means fate exists. If fate exists, then that means that everything I’ve ever done, everything that we’ve ever done, was meaningless. I mean, all my struggles, all my successes, for no reason.” She looked up at me and I could tell she could see my confusion.
“If you were playing a game, and every action you took did absolutely nothing to change the end result, but the whole time you thought that they did, wouldn’t it hurt to realize in the middle of a round that your input is entirely meaningless and changes nothing? But then, if you look at it another way, there’s the idea that you’re not even really alive, that you’re just a machine going through the motions. The idea that everything you were, are, and will be, every action you take, every thought you think, every emotion you feel is just a set of directions and ideas set to play out for the rest of eternity, that you’re just a couple words on a page to be read…”
I had no idea how to respond to that. I was never all too good at imagining such high-brow philosophical concepts, and I’ve always been even worse at handling the emotions of others, so wrap the two up into a depressing little veggie wrap and you’ve got me stumped. I did the only thing I could think to do at that moment. I wrapped my arms around her and placed my chin on her forehead. She snuggled into my body. I hadn’t felt this much comfort for a long, long time.
“Y’know… after I dropped contact those few years ago, I always wanted to send you a message, tell you I miss you, tell you why I stopped contacting, those sorts of things. But I never did. Because I was afraid.” I lifted my chin off Lemva’s head and she looked up at my face. I stared down back at her. “What were you afraid of?” She asked me in a soft voice. “Lots of things. I was afraid of explaining what happened, the “incident” was too recent to talk about. I was afraid that you’d hate me for disappearing, and the fear only got worse the longer time went. But mostly…” I inhaled sharply as I prepared myself. “I was afraid you’d betray me.” Lemva’s eyes held a puzzled and pained expression.
“I didn’t tell you who killed my parents, only that someone did. Soon after I was born, my father went into the venlil exchange program and met a venlil named Draton. They became friends almost immediately, or at least, Draton pretended to become friends.” Malice filled my voice as I talked about the scum who murdered my family. “I loved him growing up, almost as much as my parents, for a while he was like, my third favorite person in the world. He was like an uncle to me and a sibling to my parents.” I gulped and looked away. “Hopefully it should be obvious what I’m saying he did.” I took a shuddering breath and looked deep into Lemva’s eyes. “I was terrified that another loved one would turn out to be a monster. I was terrified that you would turn out to be a monster.”
I closed my eyes and mustered all the courage I could manage and called upon every deity from every religion I could remember or had even heard of in passing. I opened my eyes and placed my hands gently on the sides of Lemva’s head. She didn’t resist. “Alright… this is my greatest secret yet. I’ve been so scared to tell you but I can’t keep holding it in anymore, I need you to know.” Lemva held her breath.
“I love you Lemva, I’ve loved you since we first hung out in history club, I loved you when you cheered and hopped around at our graduation, I loved you when you talked so enthusiastically about your job. I always have, and I always will, love you.” I could feel my face burning as blood rushed through my cheeks. Lemva had it even worse though, her face was more orange than the fruit the color was named after. Her eyes were so wide I could barely see her irises anymore.
Tears formed in her eyes, but I could tell right away that these weren’t tears of sadness. The goofiest and cutest smile I had ever seen in my life quickly formed on her little face. She squeaked at me in delight. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.” She reached up, grabbed my hands, and squeezed them tight. I could feel her tail wrap around my back, a gentle force guided me closer to her. “You sure you wanna do this?”
“I’ve been around humans all my life, I know what a kiss is, dummy.” She whispered amusedly. We closed our eyes and embraced for the first time. All my worries, fears, and doubts melted away and drained off of my mind like meltwater off a cliff as we sat there basking in each other’s warmth.
We separated our faces and stared at each other. The happy glint in her beautiful orange eyes had returned brighter than I had ever seen it before. We sat staring for what seemed like forever, I had forgotten that a world existed beyond this sofa. I looked up at an antique clock mounted on the wall and waited a moment as my implant translated the extraterrestrial time-keeping system into a familiar 12-hour format. 8PM. Almost as if in response to my realization of the time, a wave of exhaustion crashed into me like a rogue space freighter. I wanted so desperately to stay here cuddled with Lemva for the rest of my life, but alas, sleep deprivation is a cruel mistress.
“Lem, it’s 8pm, we gotta get some sleep if we’re gonna attend the conference tomorrow.” “Awww, a couple more minutes? Pleeeeeeeease?” “I know this is really comfy and I know you don’t wanna think about ‘the object’ but we’ve got to do it.” I could tell she was still uncomfortable thinking about the implication that even the mention of the artifact carried with it, and we still would need to talk that through, but for now at least, she wasn’t having an existential crisis.
We untangled ourselves, rose off the sofa, and headed toward our rooms. But Lemva suddenly halted in the middle of the hallway. I spun around to see why she stopped. She looked down at the ground and rubbed her paws together like she does when she’s nervous, her face was an almost neon orange, miraculously managing to be even more vibrant than before. She wore a bashful smile on her face. “Is something wrong?” “no… I was just wondering, could I sleep in your room for tonight?” “Sure. Why, is there something wrong?”
“No… there’s just… something I’ve been wanting to try…”
“Wha- oh.”
“Oh.”
< First Previous
(I think I've got a hang of the reddit formatting now. However, advice and critiques of the way the story is told are still very welcome.)
2023.06.09 22:41 katierose295 A "live-blog" reaction to "Heir of Fire" by Sarah J. Maas- Which I know nothing about, but which is fast becoming the best book series I've ever read.
This is my first time reading {Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Mass}. I know NOTHING about what happens in this book. I haven’t even read the blurb.
This is me just writing down thoughts as I read, so some of them will undoubtedly be wrong in the end. I try not to go back and change anything I speculated or ranted about later, because that would be cheating. Also, there will surely be typos, especially with the weird names.
As a caveat: I bought the series as a bundle on Amazon, so my Kindle edition is one BIG book. It is 4855 pages long. That means my page numbers will not line up with the regular editions of the book. Still, I’ll include my page number to give a sense of where I am in the story.
Spoilers Abound!
Page 842 Are we going to spend this whole book in this other land, without our two boyfriends? Because, I’m not up for 300 pages of pining for Choal. On the other hand, maybe someone more interesting will arrive now.
Page 851 A tattooed fae warrior guy has arrived. Things are already looking up!
Page 854 Ugh! Choal is whining about Archer’s death and how Dorian is possibly in danger from Celeana and his loyalty to Evil King Guy, again. Like, I just want the hero focused on the heroine’s safety and goals more…? I guess he IS moving back to his evil dad’s land, to help her, though. Maybe I just enjoy bad guy types, rather than do-gooder types in my romance books. Maybe that’s why I can’t get into him as our endgame hero, yet.
Page 876 I think Wolf Warrior guy just pushed Dorian into the rose bushes to get his blood to look for magic. Or maybe he just likes picking on Dorian for the hell of it.
Page 878 Ooooo, Dorian’s got a healer girl crushing on him. A new romance must be starting, because we’ve switched to her POV and she’s all gushy about his handsomeness. This makes me happy! I like him better than Chaol.
Page 895 Hmmm… I think tattooed fae guy is Celaena’s cousin. Also, Wolf Warrior guy is her cousin. It seems like she’s related to all the new hot characters. Doesn’t bode well for a charismatic new leading man sweeping her off her feet.
Page 897 I am unclear how the witch clans fit into everything here. Why are we suddenly following them?
Page 897 Thinking about it… I do like that this book seems to be expanding the world and giving us more characters and settings. I am more invested in this story, now. So, it’s GOOD the witch is here, I guess.
Page 903 Oh, the witches are going to fly the dragon things being raised in the secret mountain pass. Gotcha.
Page 919 I like how all the witches are panicky and curious about who killed the super old carnival Yellow-Legs and why she was targeted. And Celaena only spur-of-the-moment killed her to hide Dorian’s dumb fortune-telling question. Did she even know the witch’s name? The randomness of it amuses me.
Page 970 Chaol’s been kidnapped… again.
Page 974- Wolf Warrior guy isn’t evil. I suspected he wasn’t, because Adeion seems likable and crafty. Most of the bad guys so far are smelly morons. And WHY is he named Adeion , when Celeanda’s fairy-name is Aelin? The names are SO CLOSE, when I’m reading fast. It gets me confused.
Page 974: Also, guy with two swords working with the rebels seems cool. He has a scar and two swords. That’s really all I need to be intrigued.
Page 974 Also, what the fuck Choal! Don’t tell people Celaena’s the lost princess! You’re going to get her killed, dumbass!
Page 976 Who is Ren, again? The two-swords guy? A lot of stuff seems to be happening, now with the rebels. It might have been better to do this scene from Chaol’s POV, because then I would be learning it all along with him, instead of jumping into Adeion’s head. He already knows what’s going on and now I have to catch up.
Page 955 I like Rowan and Celeana’s storyline best in this book. I like how he’s got this idea of her as useless and weak. But she’s going to show him he’s wrong sooner or later (I assume) and then, in my head, he’s going to be super impressed with her. Also, he’s not really her cousin. If he works at it, he could be the Rhysard of this series. But he probably won’t be, because I’m not great at picking leading men in a TV, book, movie series.
Page 1009 I love the witch storyline! I didn’t except that. Manon has chosen the beat up, bait wyvern and I am literally smiling. I was so sad it was being eaten alive, but now it’s got a devoted owner. It’s like a little rescue-dragon from the pound.
Page 1018 Kings don’t “hand out mind-controlling jewelry unless they want absolute dominion.” Hahahah. Adeion’s funny. I like him.
Page 1021 So many names and so much backstory! The Rebels and the Terrasen stuff is confusing to me, so far. Kudos to Adeion for being so loyal to his cousin, though. I have cousins. They would all fuck me over in a heartbeat to seize control of a kingdom. He’s never even met adult Celeana and he’s all in on her as queen. See why I like him?
Page 1024 Okay, I think I get the shift in my thinking w/t the series. I was okay with books 1 and 2, but book 3 is really hitting all the right notes with me. I feel like this one is more adult and that’s why I love it. The others had more of a YA feel. The story is now bigger and the characters are more complex. It’s like the men have arrived and before I had boys.
Page 1063 I think Eldie, the other magical, Terrasen noble girl, is alive. We’ve mentioned her a couple times now. Maybe she can date Adeion. He needs a girlfriend. (Or boyfriend. He could also date Ren.)
Page 1085 That little dragon and Manon are flying together and eating flowers. We could just switch it up and make this their book series and I’d be okay with it, now. Axi-whatever-his-name-is the most adorable little terror-monster, ever!
Page 1090 The half-fae are telling stories about Maeve. I don’t like it when someone is telling a story within a book. It’s usually blocks of text and blocks of text are hard for me to read. I skim.
Page 1140- There is another kingdom called “The Wastes” now. I feel like I was supposed to know that already, but I don’t. Jesus. I hope there’s not a test on the lore of this series, because I would fail it.
Page 1143 I love that plucky little dragon guy! Now he’s taking out evil spiders. He and Manon are my forever-ship. I am so worried, because the witches are bad guy, though. So, what if he’s hurt somehow? I would be seriously scarred by that. Not kidding.
Page 1155: Uh-oh. Dorian and healer girl are happy. Having sexy times. Not involved in any major storyline. This isn’t looking good for them. Current prediction: Healer girl is dead real soon
Page 1158: Dorian is telling Choal that he can’t pick and choose which pieces of people to love. That is really good advice. Choal will probably not listen.
Page 1207: Now I feel like Choal is NOT the endgame love interest. Because, Celeana is talking about how she is a different person these days than she was with him, blah, blah.
Page 1207 But I’m not sure Rowan is endgame either, although he and Celeana are getting closer, because the book keeps telling me there is nothing sexual going on between them. Also, it would be kind of sad for him being an immortal guy and her not being immortal. He wouldn’t want to lose another mate. I’m torn.
Page 1264: I do not trust Lady Marion. Is she still alive? Don’t remember. But I’m reading Celaena’s memories and I just vibe that she’s bad, because why else is she introduced?
Pge 1270 Whoops! Called that one wrong. Lady Marion just died in the memory, saving Celaena. Sorry Marion. I misjudged you.
Page 1283- It is now 5:54 am. I am reading and eating Frosted Flakes on my sofa. Not so unusual for breakfast… Except, it’s not breakfast. I haven’t gone to bed, yet. I’ve been up all night, reading this damn book.
Page 1306- King Evil Guy’s plan reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Lisa says to Bart, “Even if the Three Stodges did come back to life, what makes you think they’d want to hang out with you?” I mean, sure you can invite incorporeal monsters from other dimensions into your kingdom, but do you really think they’ll let it remain YOUR kingdom for long? Even as zombies? And who even WANTS to rule over a kingdom of zombies? Like, think it through, dumbass.
Page 1329- Manon is not THAT bad. She’s just not. She saved that other witch from falling and she loves the wyverns. I not sure I can vote for Celeana to win, if they ever have to fight. I like Manon too much. She might be my favorite character.
Page 1339- Uh-oh. Evil king is kidnapping Choal and Dorian and their buddies. This is one kidnapping per book for Chaol, if you’re keeping track. He’s just a terrible guardsman.
Page 1339- Shit, if Aedion does before he even gets to see Celaena I’m gonna cry. Take any of the others, Evil King, but not him!
Page 1344: Yep, healer girl is dead. I knew it was only a matter of time. Better her than Aedion.
Page 1350- Choal saved the dog, again. The book does this to me, because it wants me to question myself and my choice to not like him so much. Crap. You HAVE to sort of like someone who likes dogs. Or wyvern.
The end
Okay that one was amazing! I am still confused as hell as to the endgame romance, but I enjoyed reading the book so much I don’t even mind. Five stars!
submitted by katierose295 to RomanceBooks [link] [comments]
This is me just writing down thoughts as I read, so some of them will undoubtedly be wrong in the end. I try not to go back and change anything I speculated or ranted about later, because that would be cheating. Also, there will surely be typos, especially with the weird names.
As a caveat: I bought the series as a bundle on Amazon, so my Kindle edition is one BIG book. It is 4855 pages long. That means my page numbers will not line up with the regular editions of the book. Still, I’ll include my page number to give a sense of where I am in the story.
Spoilers Abound!
Page 842 Are we going to spend this whole book in this other land, without our two boyfriends? Because, I’m not up for 300 pages of pining for Choal. On the other hand, maybe someone more interesting will arrive now.
Page 851 A tattooed fae warrior guy has arrived. Things are already looking up!
Page 854 Ugh! Choal is whining about Archer’s death and how Dorian is possibly in danger from Celeana and his loyalty to Evil King Guy, again. Like, I just want the hero focused on the heroine’s safety and goals more…? I guess he IS moving back to his evil dad’s land, to help her, though. Maybe I just enjoy bad guy types, rather than do-gooder types in my romance books. Maybe that’s why I can’t get into him as our endgame hero, yet.
Page 876 I think Wolf Warrior guy just pushed Dorian into the rose bushes to get his blood to look for magic. Or maybe he just likes picking on Dorian for the hell of it.
Page 878 Ooooo, Dorian’s got a healer girl crushing on him. A new romance must be starting, because we’ve switched to her POV and she’s all gushy about his handsomeness. This makes me happy! I like him better than Chaol.
Page 895 Hmmm… I think tattooed fae guy is Celaena’s cousin. Also, Wolf Warrior guy is her cousin. It seems like she’s related to all the new hot characters. Doesn’t bode well for a charismatic new leading man sweeping her off her feet.
Page 897 I am unclear how the witch clans fit into everything here. Why are we suddenly following them?
Page 897 Thinking about it… I do like that this book seems to be expanding the world and giving us more characters and settings. I am more invested in this story, now. So, it’s GOOD the witch is here, I guess.
Page 903 Oh, the witches are going to fly the dragon things being raised in the secret mountain pass. Gotcha.
Page 919 I like how all the witches are panicky and curious about who killed the super old carnival Yellow-Legs and why she was targeted. And Celaena only spur-of-the-moment killed her to hide Dorian’s dumb fortune-telling question. Did she even know the witch’s name? The randomness of it amuses me.
Page 970 Chaol’s been kidnapped… again.
Page 974- Wolf Warrior guy isn’t evil. I suspected he wasn’t, because Adeion seems likable and crafty. Most of the bad guys so far are smelly morons. And WHY is he named Adeion , when Celeanda’s fairy-name is Aelin? The names are SO CLOSE, when I’m reading fast. It gets me confused.
Page 974: Also, guy with two swords working with the rebels seems cool. He has a scar and two swords. That’s really all I need to be intrigued.
Page 974 Also, what the fuck Choal! Don’t tell people Celaena’s the lost princess! You’re going to get her killed, dumbass!
Page 976 Who is Ren, again? The two-swords guy? A lot of stuff seems to be happening, now with the rebels. It might have been better to do this scene from Chaol’s POV, because then I would be learning it all along with him, instead of jumping into Adeion’s head. He already knows what’s going on and now I have to catch up.
Page 955 I like Rowan and Celeana’s storyline best in this book. I like how he’s got this idea of her as useless and weak. But she’s going to show him he’s wrong sooner or later (I assume) and then, in my head, he’s going to be super impressed with her. Also, he’s not really her cousin. If he works at it, he could be the Rhysard of this series. But he probably won’t be, because I’m not great at picking leading men in a TV, book, movie series.
Page 1009 I love the witch storyline! I didn’t except that. Manon has chosen the beat up, bait wyvern and I am literally smiling. I was so sad it was being eaten alive, but now it’s got a devoted owner. It’s like a little rescue-dragon from the pound.
Page 1018 Kings don’t “hand out mind-controlling jewelry unless they want absolute dominion.” Hahahah. Adeion’s funny. I like him.
Page 1021 So many names and so much backstory! The Rebels and the Terrasen stuff is confusing to me, so far. Kudos to Adeion for being so loyal to his cousin, though. I have cousins. They would all fuck me over in a heartbeat to seize control of a kingdom. He’s never even met adult Celeana and he’s all in on her as queen. See why I like him?
Page 1024 Okay, I think I get the shift in my thinking w/t the series. I was okay with books 1 and 2, but book 3 is really hitting all the right notes with me. I feel like this one is more adult and that’s why I love it. The others had more of a YA feel. The story is now bigger and the characters are more complex. It’s like the men have arrived and before I had boys.
Page 1063 I think Eldie, the other magical, Terrasen noble girl, is alive. We’ve mentioned her a couple times now. Maybe she can date Adeion. He needs a girlfriend. (Or boyfriend. He could also date Ren.)
Page 1085 That little dragon and Manon are flying together and eating flowers. We could just switch it up and make this their book series and I’d be okay with it, now. Axi-whatever-his-name-is the most adorable little terror-monster, ever!
Page 1090 The half-fae are telling stories about Maeve. I don’t like it when someone is telling a story within a book. It’s usually blocks of text and blocks of text are hard for me to read. I skim.
Page 1140- There is another kingdom called “The Wastes” now. I feel like I was supposed to know that already, but I don’t. Jesus. I hope there’s not a test on the lore of this series, because I would fail it.
Page 1143 I love that plucky little dragon guy! Now he’s taking out evil spiders. He and Manon are my forever-ship. I am so worried, because the witches are bad guy, though. So, what if he’s hurt somehow? I would be seriously scarred by that. Not kidding.
Page 1155: Uh-oh. Dorian and healer girl are happy. Having sexy times. Not involved in any major storyline. This isn’t looking good for them. Current prediction: Healer girl is dead real soon
Page 1158: Dorian is telling Choal that he can’t pick and choose which pieces of people to love. That is really good advice. Choal will probably not listen.
Page 1207: Now I feel like Choal is NOT the endgame love interest. Because, Celeana is talking about how she is a different person these days than she was with him, blah, blah.
Page 1207 But I’m not sure Rowan is endgame either, although he and Celeana are getting closer, because the book keeps telling me there is nothing sexual going on between them. Also, it would be kind of sad for him being an immortal guy and her not being immortal. He wouldn’t want to lose another mate. I’m torn.
Page 1264: I do not trust Lady Marion. Is she still alive? Don’t remember. But I’m reading Celaena’s memories and I just vibe that she’s bad, because why else is she introduced?
Pge 1270 Whoops! Called that one wrong. Lady Marion just died in the memory, saving Celaena. Sorry Marion. I misjudged you.
Page 1283- It is now 5:54 am. I am reading and eating Frosted Flakes on my sofa. Not so unusual for breakfast… Except, it’s not breakfast. I haven’t gone to bed, yet. I’ve been up all night, reading this damn book.
Page 1306- King Evil Guy’s plan reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Lisa says to Bart, “Even if the Three Stodges did come back to life, what makes you think they’d want to hang out with you?” I mean, sure you can invite incorporeal monsters from other dimensions into your kingdom, but do you really think they’ll let it remain YOUR kingdom for long? Even as zombies? And who even WANTS to rule over a kingdom of zombies? Like, think it through, dumbass.
Page 1329- Manon is not THAT bad. She’s just not. She saved that other witch from falling and she loves the wyverns. I not sure I can vote for Celeana to win, if they ever have to fight. I like Manon too much. She might be my favorite character.
Page 1339- Uh-oh. Evil king is kidnapping Choal and Dorian and their buddies. This is one kidnapping per book for Chaol, if you’re keeping track. He’s just a terrible guardsman.
Page 1339- Shit, if Aedion does before he even gets to see Celaena I’m gonna cry. Take any of the others, Evil King, but not him!
Page 1344: Yep, healer girl is dead. I knew it was only a matter of time. Better her than Aedion.
Page 1350- Choal saved the dog, again. The book does this to me, because it wants me to question myself and my choice to not like him so much. Crap. You HAVE to sort of like someone who likes dogs. Or wyvern.
The end
Okay that one was amazing! I am still confused as hell as to the endgame romance, but I enjoyed reading the book so much I don’t even mind. Five stars!
2023.06.09 22:33 eriksvendsen Historical Titles
The game is getting a little better at historical accuracy with each update, adding things like the Treaty of Turin (I think it’s vanilla now). However, some things in this game make me wonder why they’re there in the first place.
First of all, titles are a mess. Any country-specific title like Shah or Sultan disappears if there’s a revolt and they’re replaced with the generic “Emperor” or something similar.
Not only that, but titles aren’t always accurately represented to begin with. If you unify Italy, you get the Emperor title. Same with Yugoslavia. Both of these were kingdoms historically. Not that it matters because simulating the creation of Yugoslavia realistically is impossible to begin with.
Then there’s Russia, where the Grand Duchy of Finland gets some generically generated monarch instead of a personal union with Russia. I should also add that an independent Finland should have the Kingdom title, as they did elect a king after they gained independence, even though he never took the throne.
These might be nitpicks but for a game that takes place in a rather small period of time compared to CK3 and EU4, I think there’s room for a little more accuracy and helpful “railroading”, if you will.
submitted by eriksvendsen to victoria3 [link] [comments]
First of all, titles are a mess. Any country-specific title like Shah or Sultan disappears if there’s a revolt and they’re replaced with the generic “Emperor” or something similar.
Not only that, but titles aren’t always accurately represented to begin with. If you unify Italy, you get the Emperor title. Same with Yugoslavia. Both of these were kingdoms historically. Not that it matters because simulating the creation of Yugoslavia realistically is impossible to begin with.
Then there’s Russia, where the Grand Duchy of Finland gets some generically generated monarch instead of a personal union with Russia. I should also add that an independent Finland should have the Kingdom title, as they did elect a king after they gained independence, even though he never took the throne.
These might be nitpicks but for a game that takes place in a rather small period of time compared to CK3 and EU4, I think there’s room for a little more accuracy and helpful “railroading”, if you will.
2023.06.09 22:20 AutoModerator How To Watch Blue Jean Fullmovie Free Online Streaming On IMDB Movie
Blue Jean Movie! Here Option’s to Downloading or watching Blue Jean streaming the full movie online for free. Do you like movies? If so, then you’ll love New Romance Movie: Blue Jean. This movie is one of the best in its genre. Blue Jean will be available to watch online on Netflix’s very soon!
Showcase Cinema Warwick you’ll want to make sure you’re one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a Blue Jean movie experience like never before. of our other Marvel movies available to watch online. We’re sure you’ll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you soon! Blue Jean is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch Blue Jean for free throughout the year are described
If you’re a fan of the comics, you won’t want to miss this one! The storyline follows Blue Jean as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien Blue Jeant. Blue Jean is definitely a Blue Jean movie you don’t want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Blue Jean online streaming is available on our website. Blue Jean online is free, which includes streaming options such as 123movies, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix!
submitted by AutoModerator to BlueJeanHwFre [link] [comments]
✺➤►Watch Now📺Blue Jean Movie Online Free
Now Is Blue Jean available to stream? Is watching Blue Jean on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option/service. A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.Showcase Cinema Warwick you’ll want to make sure you’re one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a Blue Jean movie experience like never before. of our other Marvel movies available to watch online. We’re sure you’ll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you soon! Blue Jean is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch Blue Jean for free throughout the year are described
If you’re a fan of the comics, you won’t want to miss this one! The storyline follows Blue Jean as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien Blue Jeant. Blue Jean is definitely a Blue Jean movie you don’t want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Blue Jean online streaming is available on our website. Blue Jean online is free, which includes streaming options such as 123movies, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix!
2023.06.09 22:19 AutoModerator Here's Where To Watch Blue Jean Online Free Streaming For Reddit At USA [OC]
Blue Jean Movie! Here Option’s to Downloading or watching Blue Jean streaming the full movie online for free. Do you like movies? If so, then you’ll love New Romance Movie: Blue Jean. This movie is one of the best in its genre. Blue Jean will be available to watch online on Netflix’s very soon!
✺➤►Watch Now📺Blue Jean Movie Online Free
✺➤►Watch Now📺Blue Jean Movie Online Free
Now Is Blue Jean available to stream? Is watching Blue Jean on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option/service. A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.
Showcase Cinema Warwick you’ll want to make sure you’re one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a Blue Jean movie experience like never before. of our other Marvel movies available to watch online. We’re sure you’ll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you soon! Blue Jean is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch Blue Jean for free throughout the year are described
If you’re a fan of the comics, you won’t want to miss this one! The storyline follows Blue Jean as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien Blue Jeant. Blue Jean is definitely a Blue Jean movie you don’t want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Blue Jean online streaming is available on our website. Blue Jean online is free, which includes streaming options such as 123movies, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix!
Blue Jean Release in the US
Blue Jean hits theaters on January 14, 2022. Tickets to see the film at your local movie theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
How to Watch Blue Jean for Free?release on a platform that offers a free trial. Our readers to always pay for the content they wish to consume online and refrain from using illegal means.
Where to Watch Blue Jean?
There are currently no platforms that have the rights to Watch Blue Jean Movie Online.MAPPA has decided to air the movie only in theaters because it has been a huge success.The studio , on the other hand, does not wish to divert revenue Streaming the movie would only slash the profits, not increase them.
As a result, no streaming services are authorized to offer Blue Jean Movie for free. The film would, however, very definitely be acquired by services like Funimation , Netflix, and Crunchyroll. As a last consideration, which of these outlets will likely distribute the film worldwide?
Is Blue Jean on Netflix?
The streaming giant has a massive catalog of television shows and movies, but it does not include ‘Blue Jean.’ We recommend our readers watch other dark fantasy films like ‘The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.’
Is Blue Jean on Crunchyroll?
Crunchyroll, along with Funimation, has acquired the rights to the film and will be responsible for its distribution in North America.Therefore, we recommend our readers to look for the movie on the streamer in the coming months. subscribers can also watch dark fantasy shows like ‘Jujutsu Kaisen.’
Is Blue Jean on Hulu?
No, ‘Blue Jean’ is unavailable on Hulu. People who have a subscription to the platform can enjoy ‘Afro Samurai Resurrection’ or ‘Ninja Scroll.’
Is Blue Jean on Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime’s current catalog does not include ‘Blue Jean.’ However, the film may eventually release on the platform as video-on-demand in the coming months.fantasy movies on Amazon Prime’s official website. Viewers who are looking for something similar can watch the original show ‘Dororo.’
When Will Blue Jean Be on Disney+?
Blue Jean, the latest installment in the Blue Jean franchise, is coming to Disney+ on July 8th! This new movie promises to be just as exciting as the previous ones, with plenty of action and adventure to keep viewers entertained. you’re looking forward to watching it, you may be wondering when it will be available for your Disney+ subscription. Here’s an answer to that question!
Is Blue Jean on Funimation?
Crunchyroll, its official website may include the movie in its catalog in the near future. Meanwhile, people who wish to watch something similar can stream ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train.’
Blue Jean Online In The US?
Most Viewed, Most Favorite, Top Rating, Top IMDb movies online. Here we can download and watch 123movies movies offline. 123Movies website is the best alternative to Blue Jean’s (2021) free online. We will recommend 123Movies as the best Solarmovie alternative There are a
few ways to watch Blue Jean online in the US You can use a streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. You can also rent or buy the movie on iTunes or Google Play. watch it on-demand or on a streaming app available on your TV or streaming device if you have cable.
What is Blue Jean About?
It features an ensemble cast that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. In the film, a young wife living in a 2250s company town begins to believe there is a sinister secret being kept from her by the man who runs it.
What is the story of Blue Jean?
In the 2250s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top- While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury, and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can’t help but question exactly what she’s doing in Victory.
In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Blue Jean. Nearly 5,000 years have passed, and Blue Jean has gone from man to myth to legend. Now free, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern-day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone.
What is the story of Blue Jean?
In the 1950s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top-secret project. While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can’t help but question exactly what she’s doing in Victory.tqwetewsg gfghf
Blue Jean Movie Details
“Blue Jean” is a 2023 Science Fiction movie directed by Stephen E. Rivkin and starring by Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña. Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
submitted by AutoModerator to BlueJeanHwFre [link] [comments]
✺➤►Watch Now📺Blue Jean Movie Online Free
✺➤►Watch Now📺Blue Jean Movie Online Free
Now Is Blue Jean available to stream? Is watching Blue Jean on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option/service. A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.
Showcase Cinema Warwick you’ll want to make sure you’re one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a Blue Jean movie experience like never before. of our other Marvel movies available to watch online. We’re sure you’ll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you soon! Blue Jean is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch Blue Jean for free throughout the year are described
If you’re a fan of the comics, you won’t want to miss this one! The storyline follows Blue Jean as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien Blue Jeant. Blue Jean is definitely a Blue Jean movie you don’t want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Blue Jean online streaming is available on our website. Blue Jean online is free, which includes streaming options such as 123movies, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix!
Blue Jean Release in the US
Blue Jean hits theaters on January 14, 2022. Tickets to see the film at your local movie theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
How to Watch Blue Jean for Free?release on a platform that offers a free trial. Our readers to always pay for the content they wish to consume online and refrain from using illegal means.
Where to Watch Blue Jean?
There are currently no platforms that have the rights to Watch Blue Jean Movie Online.MAPPA has decided to air the movie only in theaters because it has been a huge success.The studio , on the other hand, does not wish to divert revenue Streaming the movie would only slash the profits, not increase them.
As a result, no streaming services are authorized to offer Blue Jean Movie for free. The film would, however, very definitely be acquired by services like Funimation , Netflix, and Crunchyroll. As a last consideration, which of these outlets will likely distribute the film worldwide?
Is Blue Jean on Netflix?
The streaming giant has a massive catalog of television shows and movies, but it does not include ‘Blue Jean.’ We recommend our readers watch other dark fantasy films like ‘The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.’
Is Blue Jean on Crunchyroll?
Crunchyroll, along with Funimation, has acquired the rights to the film and will be responsible for its distribution in North America.Therefore, we recommend our readers to look for the movie on the streamer in the coming months. subscribers can also watch dark fantasy shows like ‘Jujutsu Kaisen.’
Is Blue Jean on Hulu?
No, ‘Blue Jean’ is unavailable on Hulu. People who have a subscription to the platform can enjoy ‘Afro Samurai Resurrection’ or ‘Ninja Scroll.’
Is Blue Jean on Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime’s current catalog does not include ‘Blue Jean.’ However, the film may eventually release on the platform as video-on-demand in the coming months.fantasy movies on Amazon Prime’s official website. Viewers who are looking for something similar can watch the original show ‘Dororo.’
When Will Blue Jean Be on Disney+?
Blue Jean, the latest installment in the Blue Jean franchise, is coming to Disney+ on July 8th! This new movie promises to be just as exciting as the previous ones, with plenty of action and adventure to keep viewers entertained. you’re looking forward to watching it, you may be wondering when it will be available for your Disney+ subscription. Here’s an answer to that question!
Is Blue Jean on Funimation?
Crunchyroll, its official website may include the movie in its catalog in the near future. Meanwhile, people who wish to watch something similar can stream ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train.’
Blue Jean Online In The US?
Most Viewed, Most Favorite, Top Rating, Top IMDb movies online. Here we can download and watch 123movies movies offline. 123Movies website is the best alternative to Blue Jean’s (2021) free online. We will recommend 123Movies as the best Solarmovie alternative There are a
few ways to watch Blue Jean online in the US You can use a streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. You can also rent or buy the movie on iTunes or Google Play. watch it on-demand or on a streaming app available on your TV or streaming device if you have cable.
What is Blue Jean About?
It features an ensemble cast that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. In the film, a young wife living in a 2250s company town begins to believe there is a sinister secret being kept from her by the man who runs it.
What is the story of Blue Jean?
In the 2250s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top- While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury, and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can’t help but question exactly what she’s doing in Victory.
In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Blue Jean. Nearly 5,000 years have passed, and Blue Jean has gone from man to myth to legend. Now free, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern-day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone.
What is the story of Blue Jean?
In the 1950s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top-secret project. While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can’t help but question exactly what she’s doing in Victory.tqwetewsg gfghf
Blue Jean Movie Details
“Blue Jean” is a 2023 Science Fiction movie directed by Stephen E. Rivkin and starring by Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña. Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
2023.06.09 22:17 prxdictiveplagiarism FF/WLW/sapphic romance where one of them is very reserved/grumpy and the other bubbly, happy and friendly
looking for wlw romance preferably set in high school/ college, with the trope said in the title, basically i want to see the friendly one bringing out the happiness out of the other!! not too spicy, and also if they’re figuring their sexuality it would be amazing
submitted by prxdictiveplagiarism to RomanceBooks [link] [comments]
2023.06.09 22:03 UnDead_Ted Our Daily Walk Friday, June 9th
 | submitted by UnDead_Ted to TheDailyDose [link] [comments] 06/09/2023 Cheering PromisesWhereby are given unto us great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature. — 2 Pet 1:4Precious faith and precious promise are necessarily linked together (2 Pet 1:1-4). The promises excite the faith, and faith reckons upon the fulfilment of promise. One is sometimes asked why it is that God’s Word seems to fail, and that the righteous do appear to be forsaken! But surely the reason is, not that there is any failure on God’s side to fulfil His promises, but that the promise is not claimed. It is possible to carry around a pocket-full of bank notes and cheques, and to die of starvation because they have not been cashed. When you have found a promise that just fits your need, do not rest content until you have laid it before God, and claimed its fulfilment. Note that everything which is needed for life and godliness is already granted to us in Jesus our Lord (2 Pet 1:3). We have not to pray to our Father for things which He has not anticipated, but to claim those which He has already given. The one purpose of God’s preparation is that we should not only escape the corruption which is in the world, but become “partakers of His Divine Nature.” What a marvellous promise is this, which almost passes human thought and comprehension, that we should become animated and filled by the very nature of God! Note the recurrence of the phrase “these things” in the following verses. When they abound in us we cannot be idle or unfruitful. The octave of qualities enumerated reminds us of those Chinese boxes, each of which contains a smaller one, until we finally arrive at some precious article enclosed in the innermost. Faith apprehends everything else—manly courage, knowledge, sell-control, patience, godliness, kindness, and above all, love. To be deficient in “these things” is to be short-sighted (R.V.). The Apostle says that the soul which has incorporated into itself these qualities of character will be welcomed into the Eternal Kingdom. It will enter the Harbour royally, with every sail set and pennant flying, and receive a choral entrance from the eager crowds that await its approach (2 Pet 1:11). Let us be diligent in our appropriation of God’s great and precious promises, so that we shall never fail. PrayerGrant us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, always to seek Thy kingdom and righteousness; and of whatsoever Thou seest us to stand in need, mercifully grant us an abundant portion; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. |
2023.06.09 21:44 VillainTheory X-23- Hero Kit Deep Dive
Are two claws better than three? That is one of the many questions I’ll be attempting to answer as we delve into X-23’s cards! Here I will go over her cards in great detail, try to predict which aspects and archetypes she will like, as well as estimate where she’ll rank in terms of power.
Disclaimer #1: X-23 has just been previewed. I have not played her, this is all simply theoretical and done for fun!
Disclaimer #2: This is my longest deep dive yet! Skip to the conclusion if you want a shorter read! Just read the bullet points at the end for the quickest read.
But let’s cut to the chase.
Identity Card - Alter-Ego
X-23 or Laura Kinney as she’s called in alter-ego is, in many ways, much like Wolverine. She has a giant REC of 6 and has a setup ability to put her claws into play. And while yes, she is high damage and has plenty of healing, the similarities really do end there. She functions entirely differently.
So let’s hit the boring stuff. She’s got 10 hp and the standard hand size - 6 in alter-ego, 5 in hero form. Not great, but not bad - distinctly average. She also has the Mutant alter-ego trait and X-Force hero trait as you'd expect.
As mentioned, she has 6 REC and this is by _far_ her best stat. 6 REC is monstrous and shouldn’t be underestimated - she doesn’t automatically heal when starting the turn in her hero form, meaning there’s no opportunity cost for going alter-ego to use it like with Wolverine.
Given how dangerous it can be to drop to low hp in the pursuit of not missing value from a large REC stat, she will like any well-costed increases to her hit points. So far, we haven’t seen an equivalent of Adamantium Skeleton, but you can bet that Endurance, the unannounced but probable Honorary X-Force card, or even Symbiote Suit are all on the menu as potential cards for her deck-building.
Increasing her hp will help her in other ways - but we’ll get to that.
Like Wolvy, she has a setup ability to put her claws in play. Unlike Wolvy, she has a second ability that she can actively use throughout the game. It’s an action to shuffle either the Honey Badger ally or the Sisterly Bond event from her discard pile into her deck and then draw a card. The shuffling of either card is a cost, so you are only able to use it for the sweet card draw if either is in your discard pile.
Unfortunately, it appears X-23 only has one copy of Sisterly Bond and she seems heavily incentivized to keep her signature ally around on the board at all times. Which is to say, her alter-ego ability won’t always be online to use. But it's much better than not having one. ...Like Wolverine.
But let’s get to the good stuff.
Setup Ability - Shhnk!
The ability is very simple. Put X-23’s Claws into play. So let’s talk about those.
Her claws have the weapon trait, the permanent keyword, and have a hero action that reads: Exhaust X-23’s Claws and take 2 damage → X-23 gets +2 ATK until the end of the round.
As you can see, suddenly her 6 REC is looking a lot more useful. And she has other sources of healing which we’ll soon cover. She also has multiple sources of readying, and thus you can really start to get excellent value from these. If anyone has ever played Quicksilver with Maximum Velocity, multiple readies with a +2 ATK boost is incredibly good! And she can pull the trigger every turn - as long as she has the hp!
Identity Card - Hero Form
Her form is, quite frankly, amazing - and her entire kit has fantastic synergy with it. As do a lot of aspect cards.
She’s another 2 THW, 1 ATK, and 2 DEF hero. The same as Cyclops and Angel - apparently this has become popular! But like both of those heroes, she has a ready source of damage. In this case, the claws we just talked about. By taking 2 damage, suddenly she’s a 2 THW, 3 ATK, and 2 DEF hero.
2 damage might seem steep, but remember those readies I talked about? They’re here. X-23 has an ability called Living Weapon. It’s a response which says after she takes any amount of damage, ready her (Limit once per phase.). So, at the most basic level on our turn, we can always thwart for 2, ready by taking damage from our claws, and then use our basic ATK for 3 damage (or even just another 2 thwarting!).
If she attacks twice, it’s 4 total damage (1 and then 3). If she thwarts twice, it’s 4 threat removal total (2 and 2). She has to take 2 damage to do so, but restoring 2 hit points is generally considered to be roughly the equivalent of one resource.
Remember Captain America? He's pretty good. By discarding one card (read: one resource), he too can ready to potentially attack twice, thwart twice, or some combination. And he too hits a maximum of 4 damage or threat removal, but even he can’t hit 3 damage and 2 threat removal like this while X-23 can.
What I’m trying to say here is that X-23 is going to be incredibly, incredibly consistent. Notably in solo play but still amazing in multiplayer. Even before you look at your cards in hand, you can basically guarantee defeating any one of most minions or clearing most side schemes. That versatility and output from Turn 1 is rarely talked about from Captain America but I believe it is one of his greatest strengths. Now? One of X-23's.
Lastly, I need to bring attention to the fact that the Living Weapon response, the thing that readies her, is once per phase. You can defend with her on the villain phase and, should she take a point of damage, she’ll ready straight back up. Nice. Cap can’t do that either.
In short, if you’re being compared to Captain America, you’ve done good. Right now? X-23 is looking very strong.
…But maybe all her other cards are bad? Heh.
Signature Ally - Honey Badger
…Who names these characters?! Anyway, Honey Badger is a key weapon in your arsenal. Why? Because she readies you. She’s a 1 THW, 1 ATK, 2 HP ally with a printed cost of 2. She also, curiously, has the X-Men trait. This is weak, but her ability is very strong.
Her Hero Response reads: After Honey Badger takes any amount of damage, ready X-23.
This is very good because X-23 has great stats and we’ve yet to scrape the surface of how high her ATK can really go. If you’ve ever used the Web-Warrior ally of Peter Parker, you know just how good allies that ready you can be. Since consequential damage works for this, the timing will be largely comparable to Peter Parker except she’ll be defeated first before you can use her response if you spend her last hp on an ATK or THW.
With a great ability comes great potential to boost her hp and/or keep her healed. Or even recur her with something like Make the Call, Chance Encounter or Regroup.. See, you are going to want to keep Honey Badger in play as much as you can. Because readying is awesome. And we have other cards that benefit from her sticking around.
By readying you, she effectively has a THW stat of 3 or an ATK stat of 4+. And, since she delivers 1 of either the ATK or THW herself, it’s in some ways able to be split and she can definitely pop Toughs for you. So she’s already a solid ally before you factor in boosting her hp and/or keeping her alive. And all those other cards that synergize with her.
Remember the X-Men trait on her? Every aspect has a Training upgrade that adds hp. Expect to see one or more of these in all her best decks. Maybe a little X-Mansion to heal her, or Game Time, etc. Med Team, Command Team… There are a lot of options. And all of them end in Honey Badger readying you a LOT.
…In short, if your signature ally is being compared to the Web-Warrior version of Peter Parker, you’ve done good.
…But maybe, just maybe, all her other cards are bad? Hehehe…
Let’s check out her events.
Claw Mastery
A 1-cost event with the caveat that it’s “max 1 per round”. What does it do? It’s a hero action that says, until the end of the round, X-23 gets +2 attack - and, if Honey Badger is in play, her attacks gain overkill.
This is super good.
If you don’t ready her again, it’s not so hot. But if you do even once? That +2 attack becomes four damage between two attacks. Combine this with her claws’ +2 ATK bonus and she us hitting 5 ATK and is really going to love more ways to ready. If you make a basic ATK, ready, repeat a few times? We’re in Quicksilver territory. And between Leadership shenanigans with Honey Badger, or Protection shenanigans with all its direct readies? You can deal massive damage here.
Battle Fury isn’t quite in the same league, but it’s starting to make sense why it was reprinted with Wolverine now. She’ll love that too.
This is easily one of her best cards, you just need to combo it. And I say it’s one of her best cards before we even discuss the potential overkill it gives you. Note the overkill is for all her attacks, not just her basic ATK. You could drop Into the Fray on a 1 hp minion and, in addition to removing 5 threat, deal 5 overkill damage. Nice.
Sisterly Bond
A 0-cost event that is a Hero Interrupt - when Honey Badger thwarts/attacks, add X-23’s matching power to Honey Badger.
So, despite Honey Badger having 1 ATK, if you have just played Claw Mastery and used your Claws? This 0-cost card basically gives her a total of 6 ATK for one use. And even without Claw Mastery, it’s still very good at giving either 3 damage or 2 threat removal for 0-cost.
This is like Leadership’s Teamwork card in reverse, except nobody has to exhaust either. If you boost Honey Badger’s hp and/or heal her, this card is a must-play. And her best builds are almost certainly doing this.
It’s very efficient and super flexible with serious combo potential on top. And remember her alter-ego ability? Once this is in your discard pile (looks like only one copy), you can shuffle it back into your deck.
…This is easily one of her best cards too.
Regenerative Longevity
A 1-cost event and an action, meaning it can be used in hero or alter-ego form, that heals you and Honey Badger for a total of 4. It’s reminiscent of Wolverine’s healing card and is one of her two previewed cards to have the Superpower trait.
So, for two resources (1-cost + the card itself), we get 4 healing. This is basically what we should expect for our money for identity healing. However, the ability to heal Honey Badger as well is extra valuable given how ridiculously good Honey Badger is for us.
Is it one of her best cards? You’re going to have to draw it at the right time (after you’ve played Honey Badger), but then? Kinda. Keeping Honey Badger alive and healthy is incredibly valuable. Every hp restored to Honey Badger is another ready, and your readies hit HARD.
Next up? Upgrades and supports.
Sisterhood
If all three of her events and her setup ability, her claws, all combo-ing with Honey Badger wasn’t enough of a clue, here’s the final card that cements the theme: Honey Badger is vital and you absolutely desperately want to put her in play and keep her in play.
X-23 is the first hero we’ve ever seen who works so closely with their signature ally. Wong, Mantis, Vivian and maybe even Gambit come close, but not quite like this. Though, to speak of Vision, keep his Hickory Branch Lane card in mind here. This is her version of it.
Sisterhood is a 2-cost support that has an action (alter-ego or hero form) that says to exhaust it, discard an X-23 card from your hand, then search your deck and discard pile for Honey Badger and add her to your hand.
In other words, wherever you are and whatever is happening, you can always find and thus play Honey Badger once Sisterhood is in play. Whoa.
Now, I generally think beefing up Honey Badger’s hp (and, ideally, other stats) is going to be the best move, but recurring her with this? This can be a great option if you lean into it. Notably, in leadership, the Team Training card is going to do huge work here by giving Honey Badger +1 hp every time you play her. This will also combo really well with Danger Room. Just grab her, play her, and use Danger Room to immediately find and put a Training upgrade on her. And repeat as necessary.
This card is basically infinite copies of Make the Calls for your best ally. As long as you have another signature card in hand that you don’t mind swapping for her.
Nice.
This card? Easily one of her best - for the right build. Otherwise, it’s probably dead to you if you find Honey Badger first and have built the deck to keep her alive forever. However, even with such builds, this could be pretty valuable to find Honey Badger sooner if you happen to draw this first. Honey Badger is just that good.
Puncture Wound This upgrade is basically a delayed event and is reminiscent of Nebula’s techniques. Play it, benefit from the passive bonus, wait, and it goes off in the next round.
And I love it.
It’s a 0-cost card that you can only attach to an enemy that X-23 or Honey Badger have attacked this turn. The attached enemy gets -1 ATK. And then, as a forced response that triggers after the player phase begins, you must discard it - but for doing so you deal 3 damage to the attached enemy.
So, first things first - 3 damage for a 0-cost card is great. This is Turn the Tide levels of efficient. The downside is that it's conditional, also like Turn the Tide. Given X-23’s crazy damage, minions are unlikely to survive - you’re mostly putting this on the villain aside from a few edge cases and mostly in multiplayer (Surprise Contender? Dragon? Sleeper? That Future Past guy I forget the name of?). Normal minions won’t live long at all.
But for a hero who hits hard and fast, hitting the villain is going to be something you want a lot of the time, especially in solo where she can definitely melt through their hp. And if you’re focusing down the villain, you don’t want to be putting a ton of resources into your defense. And this is where the -1 ATK comes in useful.
The slight downside, the anti-synergy here, is that if you reduce the damage you take too low while also defending? You won't take any damage and so won't ready back up with your hero ability. It's going to be a fine line to balance that will vary with each scenario.
We believe she has two of these in her kit and they do stack, so for a total of 2 effective resources you can put both of these on the villain, take -2 from any attacks they make, then they take 6 damage. That’s crazy.
What’s even better is when you consider multiplayer. First of all, this is an upgrade. Cyclops is going to be able to Optic Blast off of it. Secondly, every single attack the enemy makes will be affected by that -1 ATK. So you’re really helping to protect the whole table.
The combo I’m most excited for is with Cyclops (again) and Storm, two of the best multiplayer heroes already. If Cyclops attaches Practiced Defense and Storm changes to her Blizzard Weather, you can play one Puncture Wound too and now the villain has -3 ATK for that entire villain phase. Or -4 if you draw into both of these.
But a lot of other characters will love the -1 as well. Spider-Ham might not need the help, but this will help him take lower chunks of damage for efficient toon counter generation. Drax? Now, when he takes attacks, he takes less damage too. The Groot ally? Suddenly it’s surviving a lot longer. The same goes for Spider-UK.
There are probably even more multiplayer combos I have yet to think of. There are a lot of handy little interactions.
What’s also good about this is that it makes “taunt” cards a lot better as well - cards that make the villain attack. Traditionally, cards like Toe to Toe and Bait and Switch haven’t been worth it. Whether they are now is still debatable, but certainly they get better if you can factor in the villain having -1 ATK. And remember the new card with Angel, actually called Taunt? That works great here as well.
There’s theoretically a situation where, in 4-player where everyone has their own copy of all the content, you have X-23, Storm, Cyclops and Drax, all running 3x Taunt or 3x Toe to Toe, with the first three using their -1 ATK abilities to weaken the villain throughout the game while everyone grabs massive value from these cards.
I love this card.
Grim Resolve
And now for a traditional upgrade. So traditional, in fact, that it’s basically just Clarity of Purpose. The main difference? Its cost arrow says you must TAKE 1 damage rather than DEAL 1 damage, which is relevant with the new 1.5 rules when it comes to potentially blocking the damage.
If you block damage (let’s say with Energy Barrier) from a cost which says TAKE, then you have not actually taken the damage since you prevented it. But if you block the damage from a cost which says DEAL, the damage was still dealt - you don’t have to take it to have fulfilled the cost.
(If this is confusing, while I will try to help in the comments, I recommend looking for some youtube talks on it or scouring the pages of the new 1.5 rules reference!)
Like Clarity of Purpose, it’s a 1-cost card which you exhaust to generate a resource. Clarity of Purpose has you also deal a point of damage to yourself as an extra cost. Grim Resolve has you take a point of damage as its extra cost.
It’s good! Now, you can pop your Claws to get +2 ATK first before using X-23 at all, then make a big basic ATK, then use Grim Resolve to ready then and make a second one. It gives a lot of flexibility in the timing of when you want to ready with her hero ability.
But it’s also just an ever-so-slightly worse version of Clarity of Purpose. Still, Clarity is a powerful card and X-23 has a lot of healing. You can totally run both, whether to just to find one earlier or even put both into play.
Pain Tolerance
Last but not least, we have X-23’s consistent healing card. This upgrade is 2-cost, Superpower traited, and has a Response - meaning it works in both hero and alter-ego form. It says “After you play an X-23 card (including this one), heal 1 damage from your identity.”
Any rules followers will immediately recognize the reminder text being something absent from Sky-Destroyer, another card that triggers upon playing itself, so that is a welcome addition here that should help a lot of players out who otherwise might not realize it. And so we can, in some ways, also consider this to immediately include a 1 hp heal before we even really start using it properly.
So - three effective resources for 1 hp, then 1 hp every time you play one of your signature cards. I can tell you right now that, given how ridiculously good her signature cards are, you are going to want to play them already. And not just that but, as you may have spotted throughout the preview, all X-23’s cards are cheap. So, not only do you want to play them already purely because they’re so darn good, but you can play a lot of them because they’re so darn cheap.
In short, this thing is going to give a TON of healing. Outside of an unlucky hand, this is likely a minimum of 1 and sometimes up to 3 or, if the stars align, 4. And it will likely trend on the higher side if you thin your deck or build for card draw or some kind of recursion (Mutant Education, etc! And her alter-ego ability).
It’s not mind-blowing, but she’ll benefit more from the healing than most heroes will.
And that concludes the signature cards previewed so far - let’s take a quick look through some deck-building options for her.
Basic Cards
With the Mutant trait, she’ll love a lot of the X-Men supports. With an X-Men signature ally who is key to her entire deck, she’ll also love the X-Men supports.
X-Mansion? Heal Honey Badger. Danger Room? Beef up Honey Badger who you can easily recur, and thus get multiple uses from Danger Room on just her. Cerebro? Perhaps find her faster.
Weapon-X? Find more signature cards because 1) they are awesome and 2) she will heal the damage from Weapon X with the card drawn thanks to Pain Tolerance. This can also find Honey Badger sometimes.
X-Gene? Maybe. Definitely if you run Mutant Education.
Endurance? 110%. Symbiote Suit? Honestly, she is clearly one of the better characters for it in the entire game.
Professor X is also a stand-out ally. She lacks confuses and doesn’t always want to thwart. The confuses will help her go alter-ego and use her massive REC, cycle cards back, or heal Honey Badger with X-Mansion.
Oh yeah. And Game Time for Honey Badger. That should really speak for itself. Readying yourself through readying and healing an ally? All for 0-cost? Incredibly good.
Perhaps most importantly, the new basic side scheme she brings that rewards the linked cards will be super powerful for her. It’s called Specialized Training, and she really wants the Combat Specialist reward most of all in most decks. I’m not going into great detail on the new cards here but if you haven’t already, please please check these out. +1 ATK and card draw in any aspect is immensely helpful. It has a decent cost to get it, but if you do? It's superb.
Aggression Cards
X-23 has a plan. Boost her ATK and ready. Aggression can help with both.
In terms of ATK boosting? In addition to new card “Now I’m Mad”, there is the classic Combat Training and even Fluid Motion. I don’t see her loving Brute Force, but I’m sure there’s a novelty meme build where you boost her ATK to insane levels.
For readying, there is largely only Battle Fury. She doesn’t really need another source of incoming damage, but she loves readying so much I can’t see her not using it. Expect this in a lot of decks.
I also think Hand Cannon has her name written all over it. Certainly, she can get Overkill from her Claw Mastery event, but it’s not consistent every turn. Hand Cannon will boost your ATK further and make sure none of your damage goes to waste.
Skilled Strike definitely fits with what she wants to do. With the Weapon trait on her claws, she can technically use Mean Swing and Fusillade far more reliably than most heroes - but I think she’d rather focus on keeping her hp high to just use her claws directly. Better to block with allies or stun the villain than exhaust her claws for something else, in my opinion.
She will actually possibly like Quick Strike. One of the first heroes to genuinely do so without niche builds?
And let’s not forget Papa Wolverine. Who also, like Honey Badger, wants Attack Training which X-23 110% wants to run here.
And do you know what Skilled Strike, Wolverine, Hand Cannon, Combat Training, Now I’m Mad, and Attack Training all have in common? The physical resource. Drop Kick and Jarnbjorn are both on the table. And I think she’ll like them both.
While you might not want to use all of them, that is potentially a whole deck there that just wrote itself into existence. Just add Sunfire and Psylocke like almost every modern Aggression deck.
She is going to be strong in Aggression and hit very, very hard. With the thwarting to make it very solo-viable (if you don't just speed to victory with huge damage!).
Justice Cards
X-23’s plan here is in good hands. She can’t boost her ATK, but what if we, say, gave her Heroic Intuition and just readied her for thwarting? Or split her focus? Perhaps mixed in Making an Entrance to heal? Seems good, right?
Justice also has the best access to confuse. Which means the most reliable access to heal Honey Badger through X-Mansion. And, you know, use her massive REC. And she can find Honey Badger quickly with Chance Encounter if she needs to. One Way or Another? More card draw for her amazing cards, and more healing per turn on Pain Tolerance from those cards. Having a side scheme out to thwart also sets her up well to ready with her claws even if the villain only added a measly 1 to the main scheme. Thwart→Claws→Attack.
Everything here is going to run very smoothly. And she is going to want the cards Psylocke comes with. Something she doesn’t appear to have are any status effects and Upside the Head solves that very efficiently. And with great confuses, comes great ability to use Float Like a Butterfly. With her own ready and Honey Badger’s, she is getting a bunch of damage from it.
Mission Training? That’s Honey Badger’s Justice ticket to Game Time town. That goes in every Justice deck she ever has, surely.
I don’t see any other incredible cards for her here. Just lots of very solid cards that work for most heroes, and will for her too. While it won’t play as fast as Aggression for the most part? With fantastic threat removal here, great access to alter-ego healing, and her innate damage, it’s looking hard for X-23 to actually lose in this aspect.
Leadership
Good ol' Leadership. Where do I start? X-23 is the hero who, as mentioned, resolves the most around her signature ally. And Leadership is the ally-centric aspect. I could probably write a whole deep dive on the possible combinations here.
Let’s hit the basics. Danger Room Training to enable Game Time, X-Mansion, and just get more use from Honey Badger? Auto-include.
And if you’re bringing Danger Room Training, why not bring Beast along?
Pixie can grab Honey Badger for you, or Beast or Professor X, or anyone other X-Men should you bring more.
Inspired is great if you go for the voltron angle and keep her alive forever.
Rapid Response? Eh. This actually immediately gets us a ready from Honey Badger when it deals damage to her after reviving her - but it’s not optimal for her here. Regroup is obviously a great option in multiplayer, but when is it not?
Make the Call is going to be particularly exceptional for Honey Badger recursion decks. And is always an S-tier card in general for any ally you need at any time.
The Leadership side scheme we’ve seen so far, Call for Backup, will be another way to find Honey Badger.
Team Training, so Honey Badger gets an extra use every time you recur her? Super good.
Innovation to heal Honey Badger? Why not.
Then there is Command Team to ready Honey Badger and thus yourself. You might even run it with Lead from the Front given that both you and Honey Badger will get a lot of value from it. If Honey Badger attacks twice, and you attack four times, that’s 6 damage before you factor in other allies and potentially more readies from Game Time or anything else.
There is Clarity of Purpose which I’ve already talked about. You could totally put it on Honey Badger though if you plan to heal her and buff her HP! Is it worth it? Not sure.
And of course Kaluu. As a combo-centric hero, you’ll love it when he grabs you Claw Mastery when you have a bunch of readies lined up in hand. Or vice versa.
Leadership is, at the end of the day, Leadership. It’s incredibly strong on its own and, with all the support for Honey Badger, it’s going to be one of her most popular aspects.
Protection
And finally we have Protection. My initial instinct for X-23 was Aggression or Leadership, and I was already wondering if Justice might exceed them for its consistency, but Protection? Protection might just out do them all. At least for solo play.
Picture the scene.
You’ve used your claws and played Claw Mastery. You have 5 ATK. You wink at Drax, knowing you both share the same devastating damage now. It’s time.
Suddenly you use Leading Blow. What Doesn’t Kill Me. Then Counter-Punch.
BOOM.
And let's not overlook the potential with Repurpose.
The sheer amount of readying or cheap damage based on your ATK stat here is incredible. And with Repurpose, you potentially have more than 5 ATK for all those other readies and Sisterly Bond.
Energy Barrier can help you defend the villain attack and ready without taking too much excess damage. Perfect defense? Not here. She wants to ideally defend but still take at least 1 damage. And this, of course, is the best card to combo with Repurpose. And then that brings Electrostatic Armor into the mix for a splash more damage and another Repurpose target.
Protective Training goes straight onto Honey Badger. It’s basically an auto-include like all the other X-Men Training upgrades in the other aspects.
Med Team and provide extremely consistent healing for Honey Badger and can help you in a pinch.
Iron Fist and Tackle are going to help her keep the villain under control and still help her pile on the damage quickly.
But really, I cannot overstate the value of those readies/ways to use her basic ATK. Using X-23, her own ready, the ready from Honey Badger, and let’s say drawing 2 of them alongside Claw Mastery? That’s 25 damage. And all you had to play first was Honey Badger.
More with that Combat Specialty upgrade from the new basic side scheme. More from Repurpose.
She is potentially going to run faster than Quicksilver and hit harder than Drax.
Rush has never looked so good in green. And even if you don’t love rush strategies like me, it’s hard to deny the potential. You can try to go slower, use these tools to clean up the board, and still do extraordinarily well!
Conclusion
Overall, X-23 looks amazing. She is basically a fusion of Wolverine and Quicksilver that came out looking like Captain America with a tiny pinch of Drax who really, really likes their version of the Peter Parker basic ally. And if you like any of those heroes, or you’ve ever enjoyed readying a Web-Warrior with Peter, I think you will really like X-23.
At least if you can also enjoy working closely with an ally. Some people don’t like allies, and that’s okay. But, for X-23? She can be good without Honey Badger, I think. If you broke the official rules and removed the ally from the deck, she wouldn’t be the weakest character in the game by far still. But she does lose a lot.
Unrelated to the ally, I will say I am predicting her to be the least popular of the X-Force from a general standpoint. I think many players will just see her as a clone of Wolverine - which is only true in terms of her story, not her gameplay. I also think she is a combo-centric character where it’s hard to see the value of her cards individually/without playing her. But, like Drax, will likely become a fan favourite over time.
For me personally, and this goes beyond the bounds of a hero kit deep dive, I think the biggest strike against her is the card art. It might just be me, and I mean no disrespect to any of the artists or whomever is responsible for the creative decisions, but it doesn’t work for me. We have various greys and blacks on a grey/black background. Her alter-ego art is off-center, her identity card just had a plain brown background.
I like the art for Claw Mastery, Sisterhood and Pain Tolerance. But I do think she has the worst-looking cards of all the heroes from this wave so far, and perhaps the X-Men and Web-WarrioChampion waves too.
But you know if I’m picking on the art as my first and only negative, it’s a very good sign for the rest of her. In terms of fun? I think she’ll score high and pleasantly surprise people.
In terms of power? She has a lot of strengths, but also a couple of weaknesses. But her strengths definitely outweigh the weaknesses by a landslide. So far, I have mostly focused on her strengths. So let’s cover her weaknesses quickly.
Her only true source of resource generation or card draw we have seen so far is Grim Resolve. And it’s a good card! But it’s not quite like those heroes who can draw extra cards every turn, or have a couple of extra double resources, etc! So her economy, while fine, isn’t great. I don't believe her alter-ego ability is reliable enough to contribute much.
Fortunately, it’s partially offset by her low costs and she gains a lot elsewhere in areas many high economy heroes do not.
The biggest obvious weakness is that she has no status cards - but in a game where we are getting an increased amount of steady and stalwart, it’s less of a factor. Likewise, we’re getting more access to status cards in the aspects. The exception to both arguments are Toughs but, as a hero who wants to take damage, they are less desirable for her in many situations compared to the average hero.
Cyclops doesn't have any status cards, nor does Wolverine. They get get by. But it's still worth noting!
And lastly, she is somewhat fragile. She is a 10 hp hero who wants to take damage, just like Wolverine, but Wolverine has two advantages. One, his healing is automatic from Turn 1. And two, he has Adamantium Skeleton in his signature cards - a +4 hp upgrade. Now, she can defend and ready immediately with her hero power, but it’s not guaranteed. Against weaker villains, notably on standard, she might not take enough damage to ready. And against stronger villains, particularly on expert, she might still take a significant amount of damage despite defending and readying.
It is of course a great perk of her ability that she can ready in the villain phase, but putting her in the line of fire when she already wants to take damage on her imminent turn and likely did on the previous turn can surely be rough, especially if you haven’t got her healing upgrade out yet.
But smart deck-building can cover everything. As alluded to, we have a good few status cards accessible in most aspects now. She has access to X-Gene as mentioned earlier as well as things like Weapon X, and we have plenty of “fragile” characters who do very well with a healthy supply of allies or stuns built in - plus her healing when she finds them - plus her epic 6 REC.
Another small weakness is that she’s draw-dependent to a degree. Her stats are great with just the use of Claws, but she’ll have quiet turns and large turns. Drawing Claw Mastery? Her damage goes up a lot. Drawing it with Sisterly Bond or other readies? It spikes. But you’re not going to get all those pieces together all the time, and some turns none at all.
Fortunately, as kind of mentioned, her base output is veeery good. And if you build into Honey Badger, keeping her out and alive means every turn will still be huge.
The final weakness I see is her reliance on her signature ally. With some bad luck, Honey Badger (and Sisterhood) could be hard to find. There are ways to help find her - but again, you also have to find them to find her, and most of them have costs of some kind. It's possible for this to sometimes be difficult.
But that was just a look at what I think are her weaknesses, and I hope I have not hurt your impression of her. The rest of the article is strength after strength - and all in all? She is looking brilliantly powerful. Here’s a quick summary:
Strengths:
So, where would I rank her overall and next to the other X-Force heroes? Great question. Of all the X-Force heroes, she has been my toughest one to rank. I will also say all five X-Force heroes revealed so far are ones I am predicting to be in the top 20 of what will then be 48 heroes.
For her specifically, I think the scenario is going to make the biggest difference compared to the other few X-Force heroes. She is damage incarnate, and I think tougher scenarios that can slow her down, that prevent her from winning too quickly, could see her notably fall off when she runs out of steam. On the other hand, she’ll glide through low hp villains like a hot knife through butter.
But I do think, with her best builds and some optimization, she will truly be a force to be reckoned with. So I’ll peg her to fall somewhere between the 7th best and 17th best, with my best guess right now specifically being 12th-ish. She hits very hard and can deal with pretty much anything from Turn 1, and I think that versatility is huge. But I also think that, for the most part, she’s fairly honest.
But, since she has so many combos and I've not played her at all with any of them or any approaches to Honey Badger, I really wouldn't put money on this exact placement. Just know she is going to be amazing.
In some ways, despite being so different to Wolverine, they are still very similar. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He too is high damage, low setup and - especially early game - can be a little fragile unless you build otherwise or ignore his claws. And while it will probably depend on the rest of her cards and whatever X-Force support we get, I will end by saying I do think she will be the better of the two. In my opinion? X-23 > Wolverine - for fun and for power!
Whew! We got there. Thanks for reading and I’d love to know your thoughts! Am I way off the mark? Do you agree? And is there anything I missed? I am sure there are some great aspect cards I overlooked!
submitted by VillainTheory to marvelchampionslcg [link] [comments]
Disclaimer #1: X-23 has just been previewed. I have not played her, this is all simply theoretical and done for fun!
Disclaimer #2: This is my longest deep dive yet! Skip to the conclusion if you want a shorter read! Just read the bullet points at the end for the quickest read.
But let’s cut to the chase.
Identity Card - Alter-Ego
X-23 or Laura Kinney as she’s called in alter-ego is, in many ways, much like Wolverine. She has a giant REC of 6 and has a setup ability to put her claws into play. And while yes, she is high damage and has plenty of healing, the similarities really do end there. She functions entirely differently.
So let’s hit the boring stuff. She’s got 10 hp and the standard hand size - 6 in alter-ego, 5 in hero form. Not great, but not bad - distinctly average. She also has the Mutant alter-ego trait and X-Force hero trait as you'd expect.
As mentioned, she has 6 REC and this is by _far_ her best stat. 6 REC is monstrous and shouldn’t be underestimated - she doesn’t automatically heal when starting the turn in her hero form, meaning there’s no opportunity cost for going alter-ego to use it like with Wolverine.
Given how dangerous it can be to drop to low hp in the pursuit of not missing value from a large REC stat, she will like any well-costed increases to her hit points. So far, we haven’t seen an equivalent of Adamantium Skeleton, but you can bet that Endurance, the unannounced but probable Honorary X-Force card, or even Symbiote Suit are all on the menu as potential cards for her deck-building.
Increasing her hp will help her in other ways - but we’ll get to that.
Like Wolvy, she has a setup ability to put her claws in play. Unlike Wolvy, she has a second ability that she can actively use throughout the game. It’s an action to shuffle either the Honey Badger ally or the Sisterly Bond event from her discard pile into her deck and then draw a card. The shuffling of either card is a cost, so you are only able to use it for the sweet card draw if either is in your discard pile.
Unfortunately, it appears X-23 only has one copy of Sisterly Bond and she seems heavily incentivized to keep her signature ally around on the board at all times. Which is to say, her alter-ego ability won’t always be online to use. But it's much better than not having one. ...Like Wolverine.
But let’s get to the good stuff.
Setup Ability - Shhnk!
The ability is very simple. Put X-23’s Claws into play. So let’s talk about those.
Her claws have the weapon trait, the permanent keyword, and have a hero action that reads: Exhaust X-23’s Claws and take 2 damage → X-23 gets +2 ATK until the end of the round.
As you can see, suddenly her 6 REC is looking a lot more useful. And she has other sources of healing which we’ll soon cover. She also has multiple sources of readying, and thus you can really start to get excellent value from these. If anyone has ever played Quicksilver with Maximum Velocity, multiple readies with a +2 ATK boost is incredibly good! And she can pull the trigger every turn - as long as she has the hp!
Identity Card - Hero Form
Her form is, quite frankly, amazing - and her entire kit has fantastic synergy with it. As do a lot of aspect cards.
She’s another 2 THW, 1 ATK, and 2 DEF hero. The same as Cyclops and Angel - apparently this has become popular! But like both of those heroes, she has a ready source of damage. In this case, the claws we just talked about. By taking 2 damage, suddenly she’s a 2 THW, 3 ATK, and 2 DEF hero.
2 damage might seem steep, but remember those readies I talked about? They’re here. X-23 has an ability called Living Weapon. It’s a response which says after she takes any amount of damage, ready her (Limit once per phase.). So, at the most basic level on our turn, we can always thwart for 2, ready by taking damage from our claws, and then use our basic ATK for 3 damage (or even just another 2 thwarting!).
If she attacks twice, it’s 4 total damage (1 and then 3). If she thwarts twice, it’s 4 threat removal total (2 and 2). She has to take 2 damage to do so, but restoring 2 hit points is generally considered to be roughly the equivalent of one resource.
Remember Captain America? He's pretty good. By discarding one card (read: one resource), he too can ready to potentially attack twice, thwart twice, or some combination. And he too hits a maximum of 4 damage or threat removal, but even he can’t hit 3 damage and 2 threat removal like this while X-23 can.
What I’m trying to say here is that X-23 is going to be incredibly, incredibly consistent. Notably in solo play but still amazing in multiplayer. Even before you look at your cards in hand, you can basically guarantee defeating any one of most minions or clearing most side schemes. That versatility and output from Turn 1 is rarely talked about from Captain America but I believe it is one of his greatest strengths. Now? One of X-23's.
Lastly, I need to bring attention to the fact that the Living Weapon response, the thing that readies her, is once per phase. You can defend with her on the villain phase and, should she take a point of damage, she’ll ready straight back up. Nice. Cap can’t do that either.
In short, if you’re being compared to Captain America, you’ve done good. Right now? X-23 is looking very strong.
…But maybe all her other cards are bad? Heh.
Signature Ally - Honey Badger
…Who names these characters?! Anyway, Honey Badger is a key weapon in your arsenal. Why? Because she readies you. She’s a 1 THW, 1 ATK, 2 HP ally with a printed cost of 2. She also, curiously, has the X-Men trait. This is weak, but her ability is very strong.
Her Hero Response reads: After Honey Badger takes any amount of damage, ready X-23.
This is very good because X-23 has great stats and we’ve yet to scrape the surface of how high her ATK can really go. If you’ve ever used the Web-Warrior ally of Peter Parker, you know just how good allies that ready you can be. Since consequential damage works for this, the timing will be largely comparable to Peter Parker except she’ll be defeated first before you can use her response if you spend her last hp on an ATK or THW.
With a great ability comes great potential to boost her hp and/or keep her healed. Or even recur her with something like Make the Call, Chance Encounter or Regroup.. See, you are going to want to keep Honey Badger in play as much as you can. Because readying is awesome. And we have other cards that benefit from her sticking around.
By readying you, she effectively has a THW stat of 3 or an ATK stat of 4+. And, since she delivers 1 of either the ATK or THW herself, it’s in some ways able to be split and she can definitely pop Toughs for you. So she’s already a solid ally before you factor in boosting her hp and/or keeping her alive. And all those other cards that synergize with her.
Remember the X-Men trait on her? Every aspect has a Training upgrade that adds hp. Expect to see one or more of these in all her best decks. Maybe a little X-Mansion to heal her, or Game Time, etc. Med Team, Command Team… There are a lot of options. And all of them end in Honey Badger readying you a LOT.
…In short, if your signature ally is being compared to the Web-Warrior version of Peter Parker, you’ve done good.
…But maybe, just maybe, all her other cards are bad? Hehehe…
Let’s check out her events.
Claw Mastery
A 1-cost event with the caveat that it’s “max 1 per round”. What does it do? It’s a hero action that says, until the end of the round, X-23 gets +2 attack - and, if Honey Badger is in play, her attacks gain overkill.
This is super good.
If you don’t ready her again, it’s not so hot. But if you do even once? That +2 attack becomes four damage between two attacks. Combine this with her claws’ +2 ATK bonus and she us hitting 5 ATK and is really going to love more ways to ready. If you make a basic ATK, ready, repeat a few times? We’re in Quicksilver territory. And between Leadership shenanigans with Honey Badger, or Protection shenanigans with all its direct readies? You can deal massive damage here.
Battle Fury isn’t quite in the same league, but it’s starting to make sense why it was reprinted with Wolverine now. She’ll love that too.
This is easily one of her best cards, you just need to combo it. And I say it’s one of her best cards before we even discuss the potential overkill it gives you. Note the overkill is for all her attacks, not just her basic ATK. You could drop Into the Fray on a 1 hp minion and, in addition to removing 5 threat, deal 5 overkill damage. Nice.
Sisterly Bond
A 0-cost event that is a Hero Interrupt - when Honey Badger thwarts/attacks, add X-23’s matching power to Honey Badger.
So, despite Honey Badger having 1 ATK, if you have just played Claw Mastery and used your Claws? This 0-cost card basically gives her a total of 6 ATK for one use. And even without Claw Mastery, it’s still very good at giving either 3 damage or 2 threat removal for 0-cost.
This is like Leadership’s Teamwork card in reverse, except nobody has to exhaust either. If you boost Honey Badger’s hp and/or heal her, this card is a must-play. And her best builds are almost certainly doing this.
It’s very efficient and super flexible with serious combo potential on top. And remember her alter-ego ability? Once this is in your discard pile (looks like only one copy), you can shuffle it back into your deck.
…This is easily one of her best cards too.
Regenerative Longevity
A 1-cost event and an action, meaning it can be used in hero or alter-ego form, that heals you and Honey Badger for a total of 4. It’s reminiscent of Wolverine’s healing card and is one of her two previewed cards to have the Superpower trait.
So, for two resources (1-cost + the card itself), we get 4 healing. This is basically what we should expect for our money for identity healing. However, the ability to heal Honey Badger as well is extra valuable given how ridiculously good Honey Badger is for us.
Is it one of her best cards? You’re going to have to draw it at the right time (after you’ve played Honey Badger), but then? Kinda. Keeping Honey Badger alive and healthy is incredibly valuable. Every hp restored to Honey Badger is another ready, and your readies hit HARD.
Next up? Upgrades and supports.
Sisterhood
If all three of her events and her setup ability, her claws, all combo-ing with Honey Badger wasn’t enough of a clue, here’s the final card that cements the theme: Honey Badger is vital and you absolutely desperately want to put her in play and keep her in play.
X-23 is the first hero we’ve ever seen who works so closely with their signature ally. Wong, Mantis, Vivian and maybe even Gambit come close, but not quite like this. Though, to speak of Vision, keep his Hickory Branch Lane card in mind here. This is her version of it.
Sisterhood is a 2-cost support that has an action (alter-ego or hero form) that says to exhaust it, discard an X-23 card from your hand, then search your deck and discard pile for Honey Badger and add her to your hand.
In other words, wherever you are and whatever is happening, you can always find and thus play Honey Badger once Sisterhood is in play. Whoa.
Now, I generally think beefing up Honey Badger’s hp (and, ideally, other stats) is going to be the best move, but recurring her with this? This can be a great option if you lean into it. Notably, in leadership, the Team Training card is going to do huge work here by giving Honey Badger +1 hp every time you play her. This will also combo really well with Danger Room. Just grab her, play her, and use Danger Room to immediately find and put a Training upgrade on her. And repeat as necessary.
This card is basically infinite copies of Make the Calls for your best ally. As long as you have another signature card in hand that you don’t mind swapping for her.
Nice.
This card? Easily one of her best - for the right build. Otherwise, it’s probably dead to you if you find Honey Badger first and have built the deck to keep her alive forever. However, even with such builds, this could be pretty valuable to find Honey Badger sooner if you happen to draw this first. Honey Badger is just that good.
Puncture Wound This upgrade is basically a delayed event and is reminiscent of Nebula’s techniques. Play it, benefit from the passive bonus, wait, and it goes off in the next round.
And I love it.
It’s a 0-cost card that you can only attach to an enemy that X-23 or Honey Badger have attacked this turn. The attached enemy gets -1 ATK. And then, as a forced response that triggers after the player phase begins, you must discard it - but for doing so you deal 3 damage to the attached enemy.
So, first things first - 3 damage for a 0-cost card is great. This is Turn the Tide levels of efficient. The downside is that it's conditional, also like Turn the Tide. Given X-23’s crazy damage, minions are unlikely to survive - you’re mostly putting this on the villain aside from a few edge cases and mostly in multiplayer (Surprise Contender? Dragon? Sleeper? That Future Past guy I forget the name of?). Normal minions won’t live long at all.
But for a hero who hits hard and fast, hitting the villain is going to be something you want a lot of the time, especially in solo where she can definitely melt through their hp. And if you’re focusing down the villain, you don’t want to be putting a ton of resources into your defense. And this is where the -1 ATK comes in useful.
The slight downside, the anti-synergy here, is that if you reduce the damage you take too low while also defending? You won't take any damage and so won't ready back up with your hero ability. It's going to be a fine line to balance that will vary with each scenario.
We believe she has two of these in her kit and they do stack, so for a total of 2 effective resources you can put both of these on the villain, take -2 from any attacks they make, then they take 6 damage. That’s crazy.
What’s even better is when you consider multiplayer. First of all, this is an upgrade. Cyclops is going to be able to Optic Blast off of it. Secondly, every single attack the enemy makes will be affected by that -1 ATK. So you’re really helping to protect the whole table.
The combo I’m most excited for is with Cyclops (again) and Storm, two of the best multiplayer heroes already. If Cyclops attaches Practiced Defense and Storm changes to her Blizzard Weather, you can play one Puncture Wound too and now the villain has -3 ATK for that entire villain phase. Or -4 if you draw into both of these.
But a lot of other characters will love the -1 as well. Spider-Ham might not need the help, but this will help him take lower chunks of damage for efficient toon counter generation. Drax? Now, when he takes attacks, he takes less damage too. The Groot ally? Suddenly it’s surviving a lot longer. The same goes for Spider-UK.
There are probably even more multiplayer combos I have yet to think of. There are a lot of handy little interactions.
What’s also good about this is that it makes “taunt” cards a lot better as well - cards that make the villain attack. Traditionally, cards like Toe to Toe and Bait and Switch haven’t been worth it. Whether they are now is still debatable, but certainly they get better if you can factor in the villain having -1 ATK. And remember the new card with Angel, actually called Taunt? That works great here as well.
There’s theoretically a situation where, in 4-player where everyone has their own copy of all the content, you have X-23, Storm, Cyclops and Drax, all running 3x Taunt or 3x Toe to Toe, with the first three using their -1 ATK abilities to weaken the villain throughout the game while everyone grabs massive value from these cards.
I love this card.
Grim Resolve
And now for a traditional upgrade. So traditional, in fact, that it’s basically just Clarity of Purpose. The main difference? Its cost arrow says you must TAKE 1 damage rather than DEAL 1 damage, which is relevant with the new 1.5 rules when it comes to potentially blocking the damage.
If you block damage (let’s say with Energy Barrier) from a cost which says TAKE, then you have not actually taken the damage since you prevented it. But if you block the damage from a cost which says DEAL, the damage was still dealt - you don’t have to take it to have fulfilled the cost.
(If this is confusing, while I will try to help in the comments, I recommend looking for some youtube talks on it or scouring the pages of the new 1.5 rules reference!)
Like Clarity of Purpose, it’s a 1-cost card which you exhaust to generate a resource. Clarity of Purpose has you also deal a point of damage to yourself as an extra cost. Grim Resolve has you take a point of damage as its extra cost.
It’s good! Now, you can pop your Claws to get +2 ATK first before using X-23 at all, then make a big basic ATK, then use Grim Resolve to ready then and make a second one. It gives a lot of flexibility in the timing of when you want to ready with her hero ability.
But it’s also just an ever-so-slightly worse version of Clarity of Purpose. Still, Clarity is a powerful card and X-23 has a lot of healing. You can totally run both, whether to just to find one earlier or even put both into play.
Pain Tolerance
Last but not least, we have X-23’s consistent healing card. This upgrade is 2-cost, Superpower traited, and has a Response - meaning it works in both hero and alter-ego form. It says “After you play an X-23 card (including this one), heal 1 damage from your identity.”
Any rules followers will immediately recognize the reminder text being something absent from Sky-Destroyer, another card that triggers upon playing itself, so that is a welcome addition here that should help a lot of players out who otherwise might not realize it. And so we can, in some ways, also consider this to immediately include a 1 hp heal before we even really start using it properly.
So - three effective resources for 1 hp, then 1 hp every time you play one of your signature cards. I can tell you right now that, given how ridiculously good her signature cards are, you are going to want to play them already. And not just that but, as you may have spotted throughout the preview, all X-23’s cards are cheap. So, not only do you want to play them already purely because they’re so darn good, but you can play a lot of them because they’re so darn cheap.
In short, this thing is going to give a TON of healing. Outside of an unlucky hand, this is likely a minimum of 1 and sometimes up to 3 or, if the stars align, 4. And it will likely trend on the higher side if you thin your deck or build for card draw or some kind of recursion (Mutant Education, etc! And her alter-ego ability).
It’s not mind-blowing, but she’ll benefit more from the healing than most heroes will.
And that concludes the signature cards previewed so far - let’s take a quick look through some deck-building options for her.
Basic Cards
With the Mutant trait, she’ll love a lot of the X-Men supports. With an X-Men signature ally who is key to her entire deck, she’ll also love the X-Men supports.
X-Mansion? Heal Honey Badger. Danger Room? Beef up Honey Badger who you can easily recur, and thus get multiple uses from Danger Room on just her. Cerebro? Perhaps find her faster.
Weapon-X? Find more signature cards because 1) they are awesome and 2) she will heal the damage from Weapon X with the card drawn thanks to Pain Tolerance. This can also find Honey Badger sometimes.
X-Gene? Maybe. Definitely if you run Mutant Education.
Endurance? 110%. Symbiote Suit? Honestly, she is clearly one of the better characters for it in the entire game.
Professor X is also a stand-out ally. She lacks confuses and doesn’t always want to thwart. The confuses will help her go alter-ego and use her massive REC, cycle cards back, or heal Honey Badger with X-Mansion.
Oh yeah. And Game Time for Honey Badger. That should really speak for itself. Readying yourself through readying and healing an ally? All for 0-cost? Incredibly good.
Perhaps most importantly, the new basic side scheme she brings that rewards the linked cards will be super powerful for her. It’s called Specialized Training, and she really wants the Combat Specialist reward most of all in most decks. I’m not going into great detail on the new cards here but if you haven’t already, please please check these out. +1 ATK and card draw in any aspect is immensely helpful. It has a decent cost to get it, but if you do? It's superb.
Aggression Cards
X-23 has a plan. Boost her ATK and ready. Aggression can help with both.
In terms of ATK boosting? In addition to new card “Now I’m Mad”, there is the classic Combat Training and even Fluid Motion. I don’t see her loving Brute Force, but I’m sure there’s a novelty meme build where you boost her ATK to insane levels.
For readying, there is largely only Battle Fury. She doesn’t really need another source of incoming damage, but she loves readying so much I can’t see her not using it. Expect this in a lot of decks.
I also think Hand Cannon has her name written all over it. Certainly, she can get Overkill from her Claw Mastery event, but it’s not consistent every turn. Hand Cannon will boost your ATK further and make sure none of your damage goes to waste.
Skilled Strike definitely fits with what she wants to do. With the Weapon trait on her claws, she can technically use Mean Swing and Fusillade far more reliably than most heroes - but I think she’d rather focus on keeping her hp high to just use her claws directly. Better to block with allies or stun the villain than exhaust her claws for something else, in my opinion.
She will actually possibly like Quick Strike. One of the first heroes to genuinely do so without niche builds?
And let’s not forget Papa Wolverine. Who also, like Honey Badger, wants Attack Training which X-23 110% wants to run here.
And do you know what Skilled Strike, Wolverine, Hand Cannon, Combat Training, Now I’m Mad, and Attack Training all have in common? The physical resource. Drop Kick and Jarnbjorn are both on the table. And I think she’ll like them both.
While you might not want to use all of them, that is potentially a whole deck there that just wrote itself into existence. Just add Sunfire and Psylocke like almost every modern Aggression deck.
She is going to be strong in Aggression and hit very, very hard. With the thwarting to make it very solo-viable (if you don't just speed to victory with huge damage!).
Justice Cards
X-23’s plan here is in good hands. She can’t boost her ATK, but what if we, say, gave her Heroic Intuition and just readied her for thwarting? Or split her focus? Perhaps mixed in Making an Entrance to heal? Seems good, right?
Justice also has the best access to confuse. Which means the most reliable access to heal Honey Badger through X-Mansion. And, you know, use her massive REC. And she can find Honey Badger quickly with Chance Encounter if she needs to. One Way or Another? More card draw for her amazing cards, and more healing per turn on Pain Tolerance from those cards. Having a side scheme out to thwart also sets her up well to ready with her claws even if the villain only added a measly 1 to the main scheme. Thwart→Claws→Attack.
Everything here is going to run very smoothly. And she is going to want the cards Psylocke comes with. Something she doesn’t appear to have are any status effects and Upside the Head solves that very efficiently. And with great confuses, comes great ability to use Float Like a Butterfly. With her own ready and Honey Badger’s, she is getting a bunch of damage from it.
Mission Training? That’s Honey Badger’s Justice ticket to Game Time town. That goes in every Justice deck she ever has, surely.
I don’t see any other incredible cards for her here. Just lots of very solid cards that work for most heroes, and will for her too. While it won’t play as fast as Aggression for the most part? With fantastic threat removal here, great access to alter-ego healing, and her innate damage, it’s looking hard for X-23 to actually lose in this aspect.
Leadership
Good ol' Leadership. Where do I start? X-23 is the hero who, as mentioned, resolves the most around her signature ally. And Leadership is the ally-centric aspect. I could probably write a whole deep dive on the possible combinations here.
Let’s hit the basics. Danger Room Training to enable Game Time, X-Mansion, and just get more use from Honey Badger? Auto-include.
And if you’re bringing Danger Room Training, why not bring Beast along?
Pixie can grab Honey Badger for you, or Beast or Professor X, or anyone other X-Men should you bring more.
Inspired is great if you go for the voltron angle and keep her alive forever.
Rapid Response? Eh. This actually immediately gets us a ready from Honey Badger when it deals damage to her after reviving her - but it’s not optimal for her here. Regroup is obviously a great option in multiplayer, but when is it not?
Make the Call is going to be particularly exceptional for Honey Badger recursion decks. And is always an S-tier card in general for any ally you need at any time.
The Leadership side scheme we’ve seen so far, Call for Backup, will be another way to find Honey Badger.
Team Training, so Honey Badger gets an extra use every time you recur her? Super good.
Innovation to heal Honey Badger? Why not.
Then there is Command Team to ready Honey Badger and thus yourself. You might even run it with Lead from the Front given that both you and Honey Badger will get a lot of value from it. If Honey Badger attacks twice, and you attack four times, that’s 6 damage before you factor in other allies and potentially more readies from Game Time or anything else.
There is Clarity of Purpose which I’ve already talked about. You could totally put it on Honey Badger though if you plan to heal her and buff her HP! Is it worth it? Not sure.
And of course Kaluu. As a combo-centric hero, you’ll love it when he grabs you Claw Mastery when you have a bunch of readies lined up in hand. Or vice versa.
Leadership is, at the end of the day, Leadership. It’s incredibly strong on its own and, with all the support for Honey Badger, it’s going to be one of her most popular aspects.
Protection
And finally we have Protection. My initial instinct for X-23 was Aggression or Leadership, and I was already wondering if Justice might exceed them for its consistency, but Protection? Protection might just out do them all. At least for solo play.
Picture the scene.
You’ve used your claws and played Claw Mastery. You have 5 ATK. You wink at Drax, knowing you both share the same devastating damage now. It’s time.
Suddenly you use Leading Blow. What Doesn’t Kill Me. Then Counter-Punch.
BOOM.
And let's not overlook the potential with Repurpose.
The sheer amount of readying or cheap damage based on your ATK stat here is incredible. And with Repurpose, you potentially have more than 5 ATK for all those other readies and Sisterly Bond.
Energy Barrier can help you defend the villain attack and ready without taking too much excess damage. Perfect defense? Not here. She wants to ideally defend but still take at least 1 damage. And this, of course, is the best card to combo with Repurpose. And then that brings Electrostatic Armor into the mix for a splash more damage and another Repurpose target.
Protective Training goes straight onto Honey Badger. It’s basically an auto-include like all the other X-Men Training upgrades in the other aspects.
Med Team and provide extremely consistent healing for Honey Badger and can help you in a pinch.
Iron Fist and Tackle are going to help her keep the villain under control and still help her pile on the damage quickly.
But really, I cannot overstate the value of those readies/ways to use her basic ATK. Using X-23, her own ready, the ready from Honey Badger, and let’s say drawing 2 of them alongside Claw Mastery? That’s 25 damage. And all you had to play first was Honey Badger.
More with that Combat Specialty upgrade from the new basic side scheme. More from Repurpose.
She is potentially going to run faster than Quicksilver and hit harder than Drax.
Rush has never looked so good in green. And even if you don’t love rush strategies like me, it’s hard to deny the potential. You can try to go slower, use these tools to clean up the board, and still do extraordinarily well!
Conclusion
Overall, X-23 looks amazing. She is basically a fusion of Wolverine and Quicksilver that came out looking like Captain America with a tiny pinch of Drax who really, really likes their version of the Peter Parker basic ally. And if you like any of those heroes, or you’ve ever enjoyed readying a Web-Warrior with Peter, I think you will really like X-23.
At least if you can also enjoy working closely with an ally. Some people don’t like allies, and that’s okay. But, for X-23? She can be good without Honey Badger, I think. If you broke the official rules and removed the ally from the deck, she wouldn’t be the weakest character in the game by far still. But she does lose a lot.
Unrelated to the ally, I will say I am predicting her to be the least popular of the X-Force from a general standpoint. I think many players will just see her as a clone of Wolverine - which is only true in terms of her story, not her gameplay. I also think she is a combo-centric character where it’s hard to see the value of her cards individually/without playing her. But, like Drax, will likely become a fan favourite over time.
For me personally, and this goes beyond the bounds of a hero kit deep dive, I think the biggest strike against her is the card art. It might just be me, and I mean no disrespect to any of the artists or whomever is responsible for the creative decisions, but it doesn’t work for me. We have various greys and blacks on a grey/black background. Her alter-ego art is off-center, her identity card just had a plain brown background.
I like the art for Claw Mastery, Sisterhood and Pain Tolerance. But I do think she has the worst-looking cards of all the heroes from this wave so far, and perhaps the X-Men and Web-WarrioChampion waves too.
But you know if I’m picking on the art as my first and only negative, it’s a very good sign for the rest of her. In terms of fun? I think she’ll score high and pleasantly surprise people.
In terms of power? She has a lot of strengths, but also a couple of weaknesses. But her strengths definitely outweigh the weaknesses by a landslide. So far, I have mostly focused on her strengths. So let’s cover her weaknesses quickly.
Her only true source of resource generation or card draw we have seen so far is Grim Resolve. And it’s a good card! But it’s not quite like those heroes who can draw extra cards every turn, or have a couple of extra double resources, etc! So her economy, while fine, isn’t great. I don't believe her alter-ego ability is reliable enough to contribute much.
Fortunately, it’s partially offset by her low costs and she gains a lot elsewhere in areas many high economy heroes do not.
The biggest obvious weakness is that she has no status cards - but in a game where we are getting an increased amount of steady and stalwart, it’s less of a factor. Likewise, we’re getting more access to status cards in the aspects. The exception to both arguments are Toughs but, as a hero who wants to take damage, they are less desirable for her in many situations compared to the average hero.
Cyclops doesn't have any status cards, nor does Wolverine. They get get by. But it's still worth noting!
And lastly, she is somewhat fragile. She is a 10 hp hero who wants to take damage, just like Wolverine, but Wolverine has two advantages. One, his healing is automatic from Turn 1. And two, he has Adamantium Skeleton in his signature cards - a +4 hp upgrade. Now, she can defend and ready immediately with her hero power, but it’s not guaranteed. Against weaker villains, notably on standard, she might not take enough damage to ready. And against stronger villains, particularly on expert, she might still take a significant amount of damage despite defending and readying.
It is of course a great perk of her ability that she can ready in the villain phase, but putting her in the line of fire when she already wants to take damage on her imminent turn and likely did on the previous turn can surely be rough, especially if you haven’t got her healing upgrade out yet.
But smart deck-building can cover everything. As alluded to, we have a good few status cards accessible in most aspects now. She has access to X-Gene as mentioned earlier as well as things like Weapon X, and we have plenty of “fragile” characters who do very well with a healthy supply of allies or stuns built in - plus her healing when she finds them - plus her epic 6 REC.
Another small weakness is that she’s draw-dependent to a degree. Her stats are great with just the use of Claws, but she’ll have quiet turns and large turns. Drawing Claw Mastery? Her damage goes up a lot. Drawing it with Sisterly Bond or other readies? It spikes. But you’re not going to get all those pieces together all the time, and some turns none at all.
Fortunately, as kind of mentioned, her base output is veeery good. And if you build into Honey Badger, keeping her out and alive means every turn will still be huge.
The final weakness I see is her reliance on her signature ally. With some bad luck, Honey Badger (and Sisterhood) could be hard to find. There are ways to help find her - but again, you also have to find them to find her, and most of them have costs of some kind. It's possible for this to sometimes be difficult.
But that was just a look at what I think are her weaknesses, and I hope I have not hurt your impression of her. The rest of the article is strength after strength - and all in all? She is looking brilliantly powerful. Here’s a quick summary:
Strengths:
- Incredibly high damage
- Super consistent thwarting
- Very low setup
- Very low cost curve
- Mutant traited
- Lots of deep aspect synergy
- …Did I mention incredibly high damage?
- Low-ish economy
- Semi-draw reliant
- Reliant on her signature ally for full power
- No status cards
- Somewhat fragile
So, where would I rank her overall and next to the other X-Force heroes? Great question. Of all the X-Force heroes, she has been my toughest one to rank. I will also say all five X-Force heroes revealed so far are ones I am predicting to be in the top 20 of what will then be 48 heroes.
For her specifically, I think the scenario is going to make the biggest difference compared to the other few X-Force heroes. She is damage incarnate, and I think tougher scenarios that can slow her down, that prevent her from winning too quickly, could see her notably fall off when she runs out of steam. On the other hand, she’ll glide through low hp villains like a hot knife through butter.
But I do think, with her best builds and some optimization, she will truly be a force to be reckoned with. So I’ll peg her to fall somewhere between the 7th best and 17th best, with my best guess right now specifically being 12th-ish. She hits very hard and can deal with pretty much anything from Turn 1, and I think that versatility is huge. But I also think that, for the most part, she’s fairly honest.
But, since she has so many combos and I've not played her at all with any of them or any approaches to Honey Badger, I really wouldn't put money on this exact placement. Just know she is going to be amazing.
In some ways, despite being so different to Wolverine, they are still very similar. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. He too is high damage, low setup and - especially early game - can be a little fragile unless you build otherwise or ignore his claws. And while it will probably depend on the rest of her cards and whatever X-Force support we get, I will end by saying I do think she will be the better of the two. In my opinion? X-23 > Wolverine - for fun and for power!
Whew! We got there. Thanks for reading and I’d love to know your thoughts! Am I way off the mark? Do you agree? And is there anything I missed? I am sure there are some great aspect cards I overlooked!
2023.06.09 21:42 bnoonan037 [H] Humble keys [W] paypal, offers
Entire june bundle (not looking to separate right now)
Must-Play Metroidvanias
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Haiku, the Robot
Hollow Knight
Rain World
May Choice: BUILDER SIMULATOR BEHIND THE FRAME: THE FINEST SCENERY April Choice: Rollerdrome life is strange 2 the life and suffering of sir brante Monster prom 2 revita founders fortune March: Edge of eternity rogue lords demon turf golden light January: Encased conan chop chop the serpant rogue November: Shadow Tactics: Aiko's Choice Robo Quest Eldest souls unmetal raji morbid August: in sound mind mind scanners emily is away omno July: Lawn Mowing Simulator yes, your grace Legends of keeper JUNE: Star wars Squadrons (origin) Gamedec Siege Survival: Gloria victus I Am Fish Super hot mind control delete January 2020: 2 choices remaining Bad North Whispers of a machine Mages of mystralia Grip + 1 dlc RANDOM HUMBLE KEYS: Gauntlet - Lilith the Necromancer Pack Gauntlet Slayer Edition LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 LEGO The Hobbit LEGO The Hobbit - Side Quest Character Pack LEGO The Hobbit - The Battle Pack LEGO The Hobbit - The Big Little Character Pack LEGO The Lord of the Rings Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Day of the Tentacle Remastered Full Throttle Remastered Grim Fandango Remastered LEGO® Star Wars™ III - The Clone Wars™ LEGO STAR WARS: The Force Awakens Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Avengers Chronicles Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Cinematic Pack Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Heavy Hitters Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Marvel Legends Pack Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Marvel's Women of Power Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Vengeance and Virtue Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball - Balance of the Force Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball - Heroes Within Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball - Original Pack Army Men RTS CivCity: Rome Duke Nukem Forever Duke Nukem Forever Hail to the Icons Duke Nukem Forever The Doctor Who Cloned Me The Golf Club™ 2019 featuring PGA TOUR Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack Railroad Tycoon 3 Railroad Tycoon II Platinum Sid Meier's Railroads! WWE 2K Battlegrounds WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS - Ultimate Brawlers Pass X-COM: COMPLETE PACK Vikings - Wolves of Midgard Boundless Train Valley 2 Planet Coaster - World's Fair Pack Frostpunk: The Rifts DLC DiRT Rally 2.0 - H2 RWD Double Pack DiRT Rally 2.0 - Opel Manta 400 Dirt Rally 2.0 - Porsche 911 RGT Rally Spec Chasm Fluffy Horde Regular Human Basketball Sword Legacy Omen 11-11 Memories Retold Call of Duty®: WWII - Call of Duty Endowment Bravery pack Call of Duty®: WWII - Call of Duty Endowment Fear not pack Evergarden Avernum 3: Ruined World BATTLETECH - Flashpoint BATTLETECH - Shadow Hawk Pack Override: Mech City Brawl Planet Alpha Puss! The Spiral Scouts Distance MOTHERGUNSHIP State of Mind The Adventure Pals Almost There: The Platformer Surviving Mars Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon Yoku's Island Express 60 Parsecs! Love is Dead NAIRI: Tower of Shirin Road Redemption 911 Operator 911 Operator - Special Resources DLC Duskers Paratopic Pool Panic Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered Do Not Feed the Monkeys Finding Paradise I'm not a Monster The Journey Down: Chapter Three Monster Prom Wandersong Dandara MINIT She Remembered Caterpillars Steel Rats Tannenberg EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1: Blood Storm Fight'N Rage Late Shift Paradigm Slipstream Aaero Bleed 2 Full Metal Furies Rapture Rejects Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder™ Super Daryl Deluxe Darkside Detective >observer_ Q.U.B.E. 2 Regions of Ruin Sundered Immortal Redneck NeuroVoider Purrfect Date - Visual Novel/Dating Simulator Seven: The Days Long Gone The Dwarves Hard Reset Redux Sniper Elite Dungeons 3 Hidden Folks Old Man's Journey Battle Chef Brigade Figment Zombie Night Terror Forged Battalion Kona Pathologic Classic HD Sudden Strike 4 Interplanetary: Enhanced Edition Serial Cleaner Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom 12 is Better Than 6 Rampage Knights Stick Fight: The Game AI War: Fleet Command Whispering Willows Millennium: A New Hope Acceleration of SUGURI 2 Bear With Me - Collector's Edition Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth Yooka-Laylee Aporia: Beyond the Valley Homefront: The Revolution The Land of Pain Ryse: Son of Rome Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 UAYEB NBA Playgrounds Action Henk Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander (LIGHTSPEED EDITION) JYDGE Rakuen Eufloria HD Solar Flux Toast Time Company of Heroes™ 2 - The Western Front Armies: Oberkommando West Viking: Battle for Asgard GRID™ Crouching Pony Hidden Dragon GAUGE Puddle Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians Starseed Pilgrim BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien ARMA: Cold War Assault Fish Fillets 2 The Lord of the Rings Online: Steely Dawn Starter Pack Aquaria Steam key Fractal Steam key McPixel Steam key Nightsky Steam key Waking Mars Steam key
submitted by bnoonan037 to SteamGameSwap [link] [comments]
Must-Play Metroidvanias
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Haiku, the Robot
Hollow Knight
Rain World
May Choice: BUILDER SIMULATOR BEHIND THE FRAME: THE FINEST SCENERY April Choice: Rollerdrome life is strange 2 the life and suffering of sir brante Monster prom 2 revita founders fortune March: Edge of eternity rogue lords demon turf golden light January: Encased conan chop chop the serpant rogue November: Shadow Tactics: Aiko's Choice Robo Quest Eldest souls unmetal raji morbid August: in sound mind mind scanners emily is away omno July: Lawn Mowing Simulator yes, your grace Legends of keeper JUNE: Star wars Squadrons (origin) Gamedec Siege Survival: Gloria victus I Am Fish Super hot mind control delete January 2020: 2 choices remaining Bad North Whispers of a machine Mages of mystralia Grip + 1 dlc RANDOM HUMBLE KEYS: Gauntlet - Lilith the Necromancer Pack Gauntlet Slayer Edition LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 LEGO The Hobbit LEGO The Hobbit - Side Quest Character Pack LEGO The Hobbit - The Battle Pack LEGO The Hobbit - The Big Little Character Pack LEGO The Lord of the Rings Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Day of the Tentacle Remastered Full Throttle Remastered Grim Fandango Remastered LEGO® Star Wars™ III - The Clone Wars™ LEGO STAR WARS: The Force Awakens Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Avengers Chronicles Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Cinematic Pack Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Heavy Hitters Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Marvel Legends Pack Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Marvel's Women of Power Pinball FX3 - Marvel Pinball - Vengeance and Virtue Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball - Balance of the Force Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball - Heroes Within Pinball FX3 - Star Wars Pinball - Original Pack Army Men RTS CivCity: Rome Duke Nukem Forever Duke Nukem Forever Hail to the Icons Duke Nukem Forever The Doctor Who Cloned Me The Golf Club™ 2019 featuring PGA TOUR Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack Railroad Tycoon 3 Railroad Tycoon II Platinum Sid Meier's Railroads! WWE 2K Battlegrounds WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS - Ultimate Brawlers Pass X-COM: COMPLETE PACK Vikings - Wolves of Midgard Boundless Train Valley 2 Planet Coaster - World's Fair Pack Frostpunk: The Rifts DLC DiRT Rally 2.0 - H2 RWD Double Pack DiRT Rally 2.0 - Opel Manta 400 Dirt Rally 2.0 - Porsche 911 RGT Rally Spec Chasm Fluffy Horde Regular Human Basketball Sword Legacy Omen 11-11 Memories Retold Call of Duty®: WWII - Call of Duty Endowment Bravery pack Call of Duty®: WWII - Call of Duty Endowment Fear not pack Evergarden Avernum 3: Ruined World BATTLETECH - Flashpoint BATTLETECH - Shadow Hawk Pack Override: Mech City Brawl Planet Alpha Puss! The Spiral Scouts Distance MOTHERGUNSHIP State of Mind The Adventure Pals Almost There: The Platformer Surviving Mars Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon Yoku's Island Express 60 Parsecs! Love is Dead NAIRI: Tower of Shirin Road Redemption 911 Operator 911 Operator - Special Resources DLC Duskers Paratopic Pool Panic Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered Do Not Feed the Monkeys Finding Paradise I'm not a Monster The Journey Down: Chapter Three Monster Prom Wandersong Dandara MINIT She Remembered Caterpillars Steel Rats Tannenberg EARTH DEFENSE FORCE 4.1: Blood Storm Fight'N Rage Late Shift Paradigm Slipstream Aaero Bleed 2 Full Metal Furies Rapture Rejects Rock of Ages 2: Bigger & Boulder™ Super Daryl Deluxe Darkside Detective >observer_ Q.U.B.E. 2 Regions of Ruin Sundered Immortal Redneck NeuroVoider Purrfect Date - Visual Novel/Dating Simulator Seven: The Days Long Gone The Dwarves Hard Reset Redux Sniper Elite Dungeons 3 Hidden Folks Old Man's Journey Battle Chef Brigade Figment Zombie Night Terror Forged Battalion Kona Pathologic Classic HD Sudden Strike 4 Interplanetary: Enhanced Edition Serial Cleaner Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom 12 is Better Than 6 Rampage Knights Stick Fight: The Game AI War: Fleet Command Whispering Willows Millennium: A New Hope Acceleration of SUGURI 2 Bear With Me - Collector's Edition Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!! Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth Yooka-Laylee Aporia: Beyond the Valley Homefront: The Revolution The Land of Pain Ryse: Son of Rome Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 UAYEB NBA Playgrounds Action Henk Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander (LIGHTSPEED EDITION) JYDGE Rakuen Eufloria HD Solar Flux Toast Time Company of Heroes™ 2 - The Western Front Armies: Oberkommando West Viking: Battle for Asgard GRID™ Crouching Pony Hidden Dragon GAUGE Puddle Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians Starseed Pilgrim BIT.TRIP Presents... Runner2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien ARMA: Cold War Assault Fish Fillets 2 The Lord of the Rings Online: Steely Dawn Starter Pack Aquaria Steam key Fractal Steam key McPixel Steam key Nightsky Steam key Waking Mars Steam key
2023.06.09 21:34 Frangipani-Bell Why I like the changes involving Shinjiro in Persona 3 Portable
Spoilers for Persona 3 up to October 4th.
The changes that Persona 3 Portable made to Shinjiro and Akihiko’s arcs by allowing you to save Shinjiro from death are understandably controversial. I completely get why people don’t like that change, and think it cheapens the game’s messages of death or ruins Akihiko’s arc. However, I’d like to explain why I think it makes the story work better in other ways.
Persona 3 deals with the acceptance of our inevitable deaths, of course, but the enjoyment of the lives we have is a key part of this. The game tries to depict the dangers of not just accepting, but almost worshipping death through the Nyx cultists that show up later through the game.
Shinjiro’s outlook on life is not as extreme as these characters, but can still be compared to them. I think that he can be best compared to Chidori: both live their lives with the overwhelming knowledge of their imminent deaths, avoiding connection with others because of it. They’ve basically both resigned themselves to living as if they are already dead, with Chidori following Takaya’s orders and not ever considering another way of living; and Shinji not acting or helping SEES until his past regrets are staring him directly in the face, making him feel like there’s absolutely no other choice.
But while Chidori connects with Junpei and manages to feel the joy she’d pushed away, even if it’s only in the last few moments of her life, Shinjiro just… dies. He doesn’t have a moment where his views are questioned or challenged. He doesn’t grow past his passivly-suicidal mindset. His way of “living” is never questioned. He dies as he planned, even saying “this is how it should be” as his last words.
This is probably entirely intentional.
Shinjiro’s death serves as a cautionary tale for Ken on how his life could turn out if he keeps devoting himself single mindedly to hate and revenge, without letting himself live and love others. The resolution Shinji never got in life is transferred onto Ken.
However, I don’t think that this works as well as Shinji reaching that conclusion himself. Ken’s character arc is kinda... abandoned after this point? He comes to the conclusion that he wants to keep living in a way that Shinjiro didn’t get to, and then… that’s it. He’s pushed to the side for the rest of the game. (I feel like the movies fix this, but I want to focus on the games for now.) Ken’s social link in P3P tries to address this by focusing on him deciding what kind of life he wants to live as the next step of deciding that he wants to live. But, uh, the SL takes a turn at rank seven or so, messing with the development it was trying to set up, and cementing it one of the most uncomfortable social links ever lol.
In P3P’s main story Ken gets most of the same development that he gets in the other versions, but Shinjiro gets more character alongside him.
This character, whose every aspect is so intertwined with death and his coming end, from his Persona’s design to his relationships to others to his every line of dialogue, is forced to live. His social link is basically him getting his last will and testament in order. He tries to get the members of SEES to take care of themselves, because he knows no one else will do it when he’s not there. His second to last rank is just him asking Kotone to talk with him as long as possible, so that he can be content with that last happy moment with her before he dies. In his last rank, he asks Kotone to take care of Akihiko in his stead. And at that point, in his eyes, everything is done. He’s done all he can for SEES, for Ken and Aki specifically, and he trusts that Kotone will be fine and will still be happy after he’s gone. He’s even gotten back the watch that he was sure he’d never see again. The game makes this conclusion clear as well: you’re at Rank 10, so there should be nothing more to do. From a pure gameplay perspective, and from Shinji’s perspective, any other time you try to spend with him is a waste. If you try to talk to him after Rank 10, (only possible on 10/2 or 10/3, right before he dies) you get a message saying “It doesn’t seem that your relationship can get any closer than it is… Would you still like to spend time with him?”
His impending death and his acceptance of it are so baked into the narrative that the game itself seems confused that you’d try to keep spending time with him. Shinjiro, of course, repeats this sentiment.
But he spends time with you anyway, whether you do his romance route or not, defying the path that he’s set up for himself. He’s tried to exist in the world without really living in it, basically living through the most elaborate suicide plot in history, but strays for that for a moment because he’s grown to care for Kotone.
But it isn’t enough to change his outlook completely. During the romance scene, he says that “this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.” If you try to hang out with him the next day he basically refuses to talk to you, says that it would be a waste and that you should spend time with the others.
He is still resigned to his death, and acts in much the same way he does in Male MC’s route on 10/4. He still protects Ken, still gets shot, still says “this is how it should be,” a direct contrast to the line from the romance scene, and he… doesn’t die.
The one event in his arc that it seemed so sure everything was moving towards, and it doesn’t happen. He doesn’t die. Kotone’s actions flip everything on its head. The bullet is even blocked by the watch you have to give him before seeing Rank 10, an obvious physical representation of their relationship and how it's beginning to change his outlook.
Is this kind of cheesy? Maybe?
But I think that it’s also meaningful.
After that he basically vanishes from the story other than a couple mentions of him being in a coma for the rest of the story and a missable NPC on 3/3 saying that he got out of the hospital lol. This is kinda underwhelming.
BUT in new game plus there’s a conclusion to all of this! He shows up in the last moments of the game and finally gets to talk to Kotone again. He talks about how he saw Kotone in his dreams the whole time and it gave him the strength to keep going, a reversal of his line in the romance scene lamenting that she’s “all he can think about, day and night.” Then the game ends with him saying this:
“I’m glad I met you.”
This single line encapsulated so much of the game’s themes for me. He’s saying that he’s glad he didn’t die in that moment, that he’s gained a life worth living, that even if having known her brings pain in the future that it was worth it for what little time they got together. He’s learned once and for all that life is worth living.
We get none of that if he dies. Instead, we get a Shinjiro who, while compelling, acts as more of a plot device and a springboard for Akihiko and Ken’s stories than his own character. His original arc captures the inevitability of death, yes, but I feel like it missed the imperative component of the importance of life. So the existence of P3P as an alternate scenario where he is more fleshed out is valuable to me.
I don’t think these themes would have worked as well if the route we saw portrayed in P3P was the only version of the game. The fact that we see the flip side makes this version of Shinji’s arc stand out more. The fact that we’ve seen him die before highlights how fated it was to happen, and the wonderful anomaly that his second chance at life is.
However, while I think that Shinji’s survival improves his own arc, it does lessen the impact of Akihiko’s arc. Akihiko’s resolution was still undeniably meaningful to me as someone who started with FeMC’s route, but the original version of it probably works better. But I think it’s fine that the game trades Aki’s arc for Shinji’s in this way, as the original version of Aki’s arc still exists untouched in the male route. FeMC’s route is a complement, not a replacement. It does some things worse, and other things better in their place.
submitted by Frangipani-Bell to PERSoNA [link] [comments]
The changes that Persona 3 Portable made to Shinjiro and Akihiko’s arcs by allowing you to save Shinjiro from death are understandably controversial. I completely get why people don’t like that change, and think it cheapens the game’s messages of death or ruins Akihiko’s arc. However, I’d like to explain why I think it makes the story work better in other ways.
Persona 3 deals with the acceptance of our inevitable deaths, of course, but the enjoyment of the lives we have is a key part of this. The game tries to depict the dangers of not just accepting, but almost worshipping death through the Nyx cultists that show up later through the game.
Shinjiro’s outlook on life is not as extreme as these characters, but can still be compared to them. I think that he can be best compared to Chidori: both live their lives with the overwhelming knowledge of their imminent deaths, avoiding connection with others because of it. They’ve basically both resigned themselves to living as if they are already dead, with Chidori following Takaya’s orders and not ever considering another way of living; and Shinji not acting or helping SEES until his past regrets are staring him directly in the face, making him feel like there’s absolutely no other choice.
But while Chidori connects with Junpei and manages to feel the joy she’d pushed away, even if it’s only in the last few moments of her life, Shinjiro just… dies. He doesn’t have a moment where his views are questioned or challenged. He doesn’t grow past his passivly-suicidal mindset. His way of “living” is never questioned. He dies as he planned, even saying “this is how it should be” as his last words.
This is probably entirely intentional.
Shinjiro’s death serves as a cautionary tale for Ken on how his life could turn out if he keeps devoting himself single mindedly to hate and revenge, without letting himself live and love others. The resolution Shinji never got in life is transferred onto Ken.
However, I don’t think that this works as well as Shinji reaching that conclusion himself. Ken’s character arc is kinda... abandoned after this point? He comes to the conclusion that he wants to keep living in a way that Shinjiro didn’t get to, and then… that’s it. He’s pushed to the side for the rest of the game. (I feel like the movies fix this, but I want to focus on the games for now.) Ken’s social link in P3P tries to address this by focusing on him deciding what kind of life he wants to live as the next step of deciding that he wants to live. But, uh, the SL takes a turn at rank seven or so, messing with the development it was trying to set up, and cementing it one of the most uncomfortable social links ever lol.
In P3P’s main story Ken gets most of the same development that he gets in the other versions, but Shinjiro gets more character alongside him.
This character, whose every aspect is so intertwined with death and his coming end, from his Persona’s design to his relationships to others to his every line of dialogue, is forced to live. His social link is basically him getting his last will and testament in order. He tries to get the members of SEES to take care of themselves, because he knows no one else will do it when he’s not there. His second to last rank is just him asking Kotone to talk with him as long as possible, so that he can be content with that last happy moment with her before he dies. In his last rank, he asks Kotone to take care of Akihiko in his stead. And at that point, in his eyes, everything is done. He’s done all he can for SEES, for Ken and Aki specifically, and he trusts that Kotone will be fine and will still be happy after he’s gone. He’s even gotten back the watch that he was sure he’d never see again. The game makes this conclusion clear as well: you’re at Rank 10, so there should be nothing more to do. From a pure gameplay perspective, and from Shinji’s perspective, any other time you try to spend with him is a waste. If you try to talk to him after Rank 10, (only possible on 10/2 or 10/3, right before he dies) you get a message saying “It doesn’t seem that your relationship can get any closer than it is… Would you still like to spend time with him?”
His impending death and his acceptance of it are so baked into the narrative that the game itself seems confused that you’d try to keep spending time with him. Shinjiro, of course, repeats this sentiment.
But he spends time with you anyway, whether you do his romance route or not, defying the path that he’s set up for himself. He’s tried to exist in the world without really living in it, basically living through the most elaborate suicide plot in history, but strays for that for a moment because he’s grown to care for Kotone.
But it isn’t enough to change his outlook completely. During the romance scene, he says that “this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.” If you try to hang out with him the next day he basically refuses to talk to you, says that it would be a waste and that you should spend time with the others.
He is still resigned to his death, and acts in much the same way he does in Male MC’s route on 10/4. He still protects Ken, still gets shot, still says “this is how it should be,” a direct contrast to the line from the romance scene, and he… doesn’t die.
The one event in his arc that it seemed so sure everything was moving towards, and it doesn’t happen. He doesn’t die. Kotone’s actions flip everything on its head. The bullet is even blocked by the watch you have to give him before seeing Rank 10, an obvious physical representation of their relationship and how it's beginning to change his outlook.
Is this kind of cheesy? Maybe?
But I think that it’s also meaningful.
After that he basically vanishes from the story other than a couple mentions of him being in a coma for the rest of the story and a missable NPC on 3/3 saying that he got out of the hospital lol. This is kinda underwhelming.
BUT in new game plus there’s a conclusion to all of this! He shows up in the last moments of the game and finally gets to talk to Kotone again. He talks about how he saw Kotone in his dreams the whole time and it gave him the strength to keep going, a reversal of his line in the romance scene lamenting that she’s “all he can think about, day and night.” Then the game ends with him saying this:
“I’m glad I met you.”
This single line encapsulated so much of the game’s themes for me. He’s saying that he’s glad he didn’t die in that moment, that he’s gained a life worth living, that even if having known her brings pain in the future that it was worth it for what little time they got together. He’s learned once and for all that life is worth living.
We get none of that if he dies. Instead, we get a Shinjiro who, while compelling, acts as more of a plot device and a springboard for Akihiko and Ken’s stories than his own character. His original arc captures the inevitability of death, yes, but I feel like it missed the imperative component of the importance of life. So the existence of P3P as an alternate scenario where he is more fleshed out is valuable to me.
I don’t think these themes would have worked as well if the route we saw portrayed in P3P was the only version of the game. The fact that we see the flip side makes this version of Shinji’s arc stand out more. The fact that we’ve seen him die before highlights how fated it was to happen, and the wonderful anomaly that his second chance at life is.
However, while I think that Shinji’s survival improves his own arc, it does lessen the impact of Akihiko’s arc. Akihiko’s resolution was still undeniably meaningful to me as someone who started with FeMC’s route, but the original version of it probably works better. But I think it’s fine that the game trades Aki’s arc for Shinji’s in this way, as the original version of Aki’s arc still exists untouched in the male route. FeMC’s route is a complement, not a replacement. It does some things worse, and other things better in their place.
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Título original Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
SINOPSIS
Segunda entrega de las aventuras de Miles Morales tras el filme de animación ganador del Oscar Spider-Man: Un nuevo universo (2018). Para demostrar lo que vale y transportase a través del Multiverso, el joven Spider-Man de Brooklyn se aliará con Gwen Stacy. Tras este reencuentro, los dos jóvenes arácnidos conocerán a todo un grupo de élite con los mejores Spider-Man de los diferentes Multiversos. Claro que ser un Hombre Araña también tiene sus sacrificios, y Miles Morales deberá tomar importantes decisiones. Cuando esté en juego salvar cada uno de los mundos, además de a las personas más queridas, Miles optará por hacerlo a su manera.
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso es la primera entrega de la nueva trilogía de la exitosa saga, donde los vehículos y los pleitos de Vin Diesel son una garantía. Durante casi tres décadas y a lo largo de muchas misiones y con todas las probabilidades en su contra, Dom Toretto y su elegida familia han sido más astutos y más rápidos que todos los enemigos que se han presentado en su camino. Ahora, se enfrentan al oponente más letal al que se han enfrentado jamás: una amenaza aterradora que surge de las sombras del pasado y que se alimenta con la idea de una venganza sangrienta y que está decidida a destrozar a la familia y destruir a todos, y a todo lo que Dom ama, para siempre. Retomando los conflictos de Rápidos Y Furiosos: 5in Control de 2011, Dom y su equipo derrotaron en un puente en Río de Janeiro al infame capo de la droga brasileño Hernán Reyes, dejando sin rey a su imperio. Lo que no sabían era que el hijo de Reyes, Dante, fue testigo de todo y pasó los últimos 12 años ideando un plan para hacer que Dom pague el precio que jamás imaginó. El plan de Dante dispersará a la familia de Dom de Los Ángeles a las catacumbas de Roma, de Brasil a Londres y de Portugal a la Antártida, pero todo cambiará cuando Dom descubra que su propio hijo de 8 años es el objetivo final de la venganza de su enemigo.
John Cena es novio de Dua Lipa en 'Barbie' gracias a 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso'
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Jordana Brewster revela el secreto para mantener viva la saga tras 22 años
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': La vez que Vin Diesel acompañó a la hija de Paul Walker al altar
Esto te costará la hamburguesa edición especial de 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso'
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Así puedes ver gratis el cortometraje de la boda de Toretto y Letty que dirigió Vin Diesel
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' y los estrenos en Cinemex y Cinépolis a partir del 18 de mayo
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Final explicado de la nueva película con Vin Diesel y Michelle Rodriguez
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso: Esta es la comida mexicana favorita Michelle Rodriguez
Crítica: 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso', la versión motorizada de 'Avengers: Endgame' que los fans amarán
¿Cuál fue la última escena de Paul Walker en 'Rápidos y Furiosos' antes de morir?
¿Cuántas escenas postcréditos tiene 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' con Vin Diesel?
12 actores que se han peleado en el set (Dwayne Johnson y Vin Diesel no son los únicos)
"Quiero ser ruda como ellas": Jordana Brewster y su admiración por 2 actrices de 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso'
Santa Fe Klan será parte de la familia 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' de Vin Diesel
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Así se vivió la premier en México con Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Daniela Melchior y Jordana Brewster
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Michelle Rodriguez y Vin Diesel rompieron el récord más cursi del cine y lo anunciaron en México
5 datos que todo fan debe saber antes de ver 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' con Vin Diesel
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': La cinta olvidada en la que Sylvester Stallone casi peleó con Vin Diesel
'Un pequeño gran viaje': Daniela Luján quiere llevar a actor de 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' a Tepito
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Así se vivió el fan event con Vin Diesel y Michelle Rodriguez en México
Conoce cómo y dónde ver la 𝐏elícula 𝐂ompleta deCulpa Mía(2023) online gratis en 𝐄spañol. No te preocupes, acá te dejo opciones para verCulpa Míaonline.
VerCulpa Mía online y sur Gratis en HD, es fácil en gracias a sus servidores, rapidos y sin ads. ¿Cómo VerCulpa Mía película Completa en
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso ; fecha de estreno, tráiler y dónde Ver en España y Latinoamérica
VerCulpa Mía la Película en español línea Online y Gratis
VerCulpa Mía ?ompletas Gratis en español es posible y de forma legal. Hay opciones alternativas a Netflix y Amazon que no requieren ningún tipo de pago ni suscripción y cuyo contenido es totalmente gratuito. Estas plataformas para Ver cineCulpa Mía Gratis en casa pueden ofrecer contenido sin costo gracias a cortes comerciales o bien porque tienen películas de dominio público.
VerCulpa Mía Película Completa en español Latino Subtitulado En nuestro sitio proporcionamos subtítulos y dabbing en latín, no tenga miedo por México, Chile, Perú, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, España, Argentina, Colombia y todas las regiones de habla latina, hemos proporcionado idiomas para sus Halloween Killsivas regiones. .Para disfrutar de todas estas funciones, puede registrarse y seguir en su cuenta premium.
Estreno en Europa el 15 de octubre de 2023. Esta semana llegará a la pantalla grande en Chilea. pero ¿También estará en plataformas?
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso es una secuela deCulpa Mía de 2018 que lleva a la gran pantalla las aventuras de uno de los archienemigos más peligrosos de Spider-man de Marvel. De momento se desconoce el argumento de la Pelicula pero continuará con los eventos de la primera entrega introduciendo a Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) como Carnage aka Matanza.
¿Dónde puedes verCulpa Mía online desde casa? Se habla deCulpa Mía como disponible para transmitir desde casa o solo abierto en cines.
Nada puede prepararte para No Time to Die: protégete de los spoilers para disfrutar plenamente de esta película y cerrar así el arco de quince años y cinco películas en las que hemos disfrutado del gran Daniel Craig. en el papel de James Bond.
No Time to Die (.Culpa Mía) es la vigesimoquinta película de James Bond to an external site. producida por Eon Productions. Contará con Daniel Craig en su quinta y última actuación como James Bond. Cary Fukunaga dirigirá la cinta tras la renuncia del director Danny Boyle argumentando “diferencias creativas”. La película será escrita por Neal Purvis y Robert Wade, habituales guionistas de la franquicia.
El desarrollo comenzó en 2016. Será la primera película de Bond distribuida por Universal Pictures, que adquirió los derechos de distribución internacional tras la expiración del contrato de Sony Pictures tras el estreno de Spectre en 2015. La subsidiaria de Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists Releasing posee los derechos para América del Norte, incluidos los derechos digitales y de televisión en todo el mundo. Universal también tiene los derechos de los medios físicos domésticos en todo el mundo.
¿Cuándo se estrena Venom 2 en Chile?
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso tiene fecha de estreno para el 1 de octubre de 2022 en Chile y los Latinoamérica.
Detalles de la pelicula .Culpa Mía
Daniel Craig (James Bond), Rami Malek (Lyutsifer Safin), Ralph Fiennes (M), Naomie Harris (Eve Moneypenny), Ana de Armas (Paloma), Ben Whishaw (Q), Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter), Léa Seydoux (Madeleine Swann), Rory Kinnear (Tanner), Dali Benssalah (Primo), Billy Magnussen (Logan Ash), David Dencik (Valdo Obruchev), Lashana Lynch (Nomi)
Historia de Película .Culpa Mía
“.Culpa Mía”: Un 007 para la historia. Han sido seis largos años y varios meses de espera tras la pandemia, pero por fin ha llegado la ansiada despedida de Daniel Craig como James Bond. .Culpa Mía (No Time to Die) es la quinta y definitiva entrega de una saga que empezó en 2006, y que esta vez cuenta con Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation, True Detective) detrás de cámaras. Estreno en salas de cine españolas el 1 de octubre de 2022.
¿Qué pasó con el estreno de .Culpa Mía?
Año y medio después de su fecha prevista de estreno, que ha sido aplazado en varias ocasiones por la pandemia, llega por fin a los cines .Culpa Mía (No time to die), lo último de James Bond, una cinta que supone la despedida de Daniel Craig del agente secreto más famoso del mundo.
¿Dónde Ver .Culpa Mía online, la Película Completa Español Latino?
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso película completa (2022) ya esta disponibles en plataforma de streaming como Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Repelis, y otros para ver películas.
VER AQUÍ PELÍCULAS .Culpa Mía ONLINE GRATIS sin pagar absolutamente nada Ver .Culpa Mía películas en español latino y castellano y en calidad HD.
Páginas para ver pelicula .Culpa Mía gratis? Ver película .Culpa Mía online gratis en HD sin cortes? Ver .Culpa Mía películas online gratis en español? ¡VER AQUI!
Si quieres ver películas gratis y series online en español y latino solo debes de páginas web como Repelis-play, ponerte al día. Y no necesitas una cuenta en de Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime Video, Blim, y otros para ver películas.
Ver .Culpa Mía películas online gratis en español y latino Gracias a Internet es posible ver pelis .Culpa Mía gratis online en español y también sub latino sin necesidad de pagar una cuenta de premium como Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon Prime Video o Repelis. Si eres de las personas que busca en Google términos como “páginas para ver pelis online”, “estrenos español online”, “películas online en español”, “películas gratis online”, “ver pelis online”, entre otros keywords, seguramente has sido llevado a páginas web de dudosa procedencia o que te obligan a registrarte con alguna cuenta en .Culpa Míaes sociales. Si te hartaste de eso, a continuación podrás ver las mejores películas gratis online para disfrutar sin problemas, sin interrupciones y sin publicidad para convertir tu casa en un cine.
Esta páginas para ver .Culpa Mía online sin publicidad y sin cortes, así que presta atención y apunta, que la buena experiencia cinéfila -o seriéfila- está plenamente garantizada en estos websites. Si no tienes los códigos de Netflix a la mano o tu conexión no te permite descargar películas gratis en Mega HD, conoce cómo ver películas de acción, terror, comedias, clásicos y hasta teen movies de la forma más fácil con solo unos clics. Hasta pelis de estreno puedes encontrar en español.
Páginas web para ver película .Culpa Mía gratis son de fácil acceso. eso sí, solo necesitas crear una cuenta para ver y descargar de películas, La mayoría de estas páginas web para ver películas gratis son de fácil acceso y no es necesario el registro. Eso sí, algunas incluyen publicidad antes de la reproducción del título elegido, aunque esta es casi imperceptible.
Repelis es una plataforma donde puedes ver películas de manera gratuita sin publicidad y legal con un amplio catálogo de películas, donde el usuario puede filtrar los filmes por el género, es decir, Romance, Acción, Comedia, Drama, Horror, Aventura, Animación, Animes, Superhéroes. Cómic. DC Comics, Marvel, Disney, entre otros. Todas las películas son de alta calidad, incluye una sólida colección de programas de televisión, Para acceder a ellas gratis solo necesitas crear una cuenta. Esta página es gratuita y libre de anuncios. Además, ofrece artículos sobre estrenos independientes y comerciales.flix
submitted by AutoModerator to spiderman20anos [link] [comments]
Watch Here<>Spider-Man: 20 años de películas Online
Ver¡Culpa Mía 2023 Pelicula completa VerCulpa Mía en RePelis Gratis » Estás por VerCulpa Mía [Película Completa, Gratis]. La PelículaCulpa Mía Online en Español HD. PelículaCulpa Mía Estreno del 2023 Gratis. Películas en Audio (Idioma) Español, Latino o Inglés (Subtituladas). Podrás ver la película completa deCulpa Mía online sin registrarte. Con sólo aterrizar ya verás la nueva película agregadas recientemente gratis.Cuevana Estrenos Pelispedia Pelisplus Gnula Repelisplus Repelis Pelis Pelisplus Netflix Cine Cinema Calidad Mejor Chile
VER!Culpa Mía PELICULA COMPLETA 2023 EN ESPAÑOL Y LATINO ONLINE #flix
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso Pelicula 𝐂ompleta 4K [Blu Ray] 460p - 720p - 1080p - Flv - Mp4
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso
2 de junio de 2023 en cines / 2h 20min / Animación, Acción, Fantasía, Aventura
Dirigida por Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin Thompson
Guion Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Reparto Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Issa Rae
Título original Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse
SINOPSIS
Segunda entrega de las aventuras de Miles Morales tras el filme de animación ganador del Oscar Spider-Man: Un nuevo universo (2018). Para demostrar lo que vale y transportase a través del Multiverso, el joven Spider-Man de Brooklyn se aliará con Gwen Stacy. Tras este reencuentro, los dos jóvenes arácnidos conocerán a todo un grupo de élite con los mejores Spider-Man de los diferentes Multiversos. Claro que ser un Hombre Araña también tiene sus sacrificios, y Miles Morales deberá tomar importantes decisiones. Cuando esté en juego salvar cada uno de los mundos, además de a las personas más queridas, Miles optará por hacerlo a su manera.
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso es la primera entrega de la nueva trilogía de la exitosa saga, donde los vehículos y los pleitos de Vin Diesel son una garantía. Durante casi tres décadas y a lo largo de muchas misiones y con todas las probabilidades en su contra, Dom Toretto y su elegida familia han sido más astutos y más rápidos que todos los enemigos que se han presentado en su camino. Ahora, se enfrentan al oponente más letal al que se han enfrentado jamás: una amenaza aterradora que surge de las sombras del pasado y que se alimenta con la idea de una venganza sangrienta y que está decidida a destrozar a la familia y destruir a todos, y a todo lo que Dom ama, para siempre. Retomando los conflictos de Rápidos Y Furiosos: 5in Control de 2011, Dom y su equipo derrotaron en un puente en Río de Janeiro al infame capo de la droga brasileño Hernán Reyes, dejando sin rey a su imperio. Lo que no sabían era que el hijo de Reyes, Dante, fue testigo de todo y pasó los últimos 12 años ideando un plan para hacer que Dom pague el precio que jamás imaginó. El plan de Dante dispersará a la familia de Dom de Los Ángeles a las catacumbas de Roma, de Brasil a Londres y de Portugal a la Antártida, pero todo cambiará cuando Dom descubra que su propio hijo de 8 años es el objetivo final de la venganza de su enemigo.
John Cena es novio de Dua Lipa en 'Barbie' gracias a 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso'
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Jordana Brewster revela el secreto para mantener viva la saga tras 22 años
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': La vez que Vin Diesel acompañó a la hija de Paul Walker al altar
Esto te costará la hamburguesa edición especial de 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso'
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Así puedes ver gratis el cortometraje de la boda de Toretto y Letty que dirigió Vin Diesel
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' y los estrenos en Cinemex y Cinépolis a partir del 18 de mayo
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Final explicado de la nueva película con Vin Diesel y Michelle Rodriguez
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso: Esta es la comida mexicana favorita Michelle Rodriguez
Crítica: 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso', la versión motorizada de 'Avengers: Endgame' que los fans amarán
¿Cuál fue la última escena de Paul Walker en 'Rápidos y Furiosos' antes de morir?
¿Cuántas escenas postcréditos tiene 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' con Vin Diesel?
12 actores que se han peleado en el set (Dwayne Johnson y Vin Diesel no son los únicos)
"Quiero ser ruda como ellas": Jordana Brewster y su admiración por 2 actrices de 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso'
Santa Fe Klan será parte de la familia 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' de Vin Diesel
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Así se vivió la premier en México con Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Daniela Melchior y Jordana Brewster
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Michelle Rodriguez y Vin Diesel rompieron el récord más cursi del cine y lo anunciaron en México
5 datos que todo fan debe saber antes de ver 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' con Vin Diesel
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': La cinta olvidada en la que Sylvester Stallone casi peleó con Vin Diesel
'Un pequeño gran viaje': Daniela Luján quiere llevar a actor de 'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso' a Tepito
'Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso': Así se vivió el fan event con Vin Diesel y Michelle Rodriguez en México
Conoce cómo y dónde ver la 𝐏elícula 𝐂ompleta deCulpa Mía(2023) online gratis en 𝐄spañol. No te preocupes, acá te dejo opciones para verCulpa Míaonline.
VerCulpa Mía online y sur Gratis en HD, es fácil en gracias a sus servidores, rapidos y sin ads. ¿Cómo VerCulpa Mía película Completa en
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso ; fecha de estreno, tráiler y dónde Ver en España y Latinoamérica
VerCulpa Mía la Película en español línea Online y Gratis
VerCulpa Mía ?ompletas Gratis en español es posible y de forma legal. Hay opciones alternativas a Netflix y Amazon que no requieren ningún tipo de pago ni suscripción y cuyo contenido es totalmente gratuito. Estas plataformas para Ver cineCulpa Mía Gratis en casa pueden ofrecer contenido sin costo gracias a cortes comerciales o bien porque tienen películas de dominio público.
VerCulpa Mía Película Completa en español Latino Subtitulado En nuestro sitio proporcionamos subtítulos y dabbing en latín, no tenga miedo por México, Chile, Perú, Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, España, Argentina, Colombia y todas las regiones de habla latina, hemos proporcionado idiomas para sus Halloween Killsivas regiones. .Para disfrutar de todas estas funciones, puede registrarse y seguir en su cuenta premium.
Estreno en Europa el 15 de octubre de 2023. Esta semana llegará a la pantalla grande en Chilea. pero ¿También estará en plataformas?
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso es una secuela deCulpa Mía de 2018 que lleva a la gran pantalla las aventuras de uno de los archienemigos más peligrosos de Spider-man de Marvel. De momento se desconoce el argumento de la Pelicula pero continuará con los eventos de la primera entrega introduciendo a Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) como Carnage aka Matanza.
¿Dónde puedes verCulpa Mía online desde casa? Se habla deCulpa Mía como disponible para transmitir desde casa o solo abierto en cines.
Nada puede prepararte para No Time to Die: protégete de los spoilers para disfrutar plenamente de esta película y cerrar así el arco de quince años y cinco películas en las que hemos disfrutado del gran Daniel Craig. en el papel de James Bond.
No Time to Die (.Culpa Mía) es la vigesimoquinta película de James Bond to an external site. producida por Eon Productions. Contará con Daniel Craig en su quinta y última actuación como James Bond. Cary Fukunaga dirigirá la cinta tras la renuncia del director Danny Boyle argumentando “diferencias creativas”. La película será escrita por Neal Purvis y Robert Wade, habituales guionistas de la franquicia.
El desarrollo comenzó en 2016. Será la primera película de Bond distribuida por Universal Pictures, que adquirió los derechos de distribución internacional tras la expiración del contrato de Sony Pictures tras el estreno de Spectre en 2015. La subsidiaria de Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, United Artists Releasing posee los derechos para América del Norte, incluidos los derechos digitales y de televisión en todo el mundo. Universal también tiene los derechos de los medios físicos domésticos en todo el mundo.
¿Cuándo se estrena Venom 2 en Chile?
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso tiene fecha de estreno para el 1 de octubre de 2022 en Chile y los Latinoamérica.
Detalles de la pelicula .Culpa Mía
Daniel Craig (James Bond), Rami Malek (Lyutsifer Safin), Ralph Fiennes (M), Naomie Harris (Eve Moneypenny), Ana de Armas (Paloma), Ben Whishaw (Q), Jeffrey Wright (Felix Leiter), Léa Seydoux (Madeleine Swann), Rory Kinnear (Tanner), Dali Benssalah (Primo), Billy Magnussen (Logan Ash), David Dencik (Valdo Obruchev), Lashana Lynch (Nomi)
Historia de Película .Culpa Mía
“.Culpa Mía”: Un 007 para la historia. Han sido seis largos años y varios meses de espera tras la pandemia, pero por fin ha llegado la ansiada despedida de Daniel Craig como James Bond. .Culpa Mía (No Time to Die) es la quinta y definitiva entrega de una saga que empezó en 2006, y que esta vez cuenta con Cary Joji Fukunaga (Beasts of No Nation, True Detective) detrás de cámaras. Estreno en salas de cine españolas el 1 de octubre de 2022.
¿Qué pasó con el estreno de .Culpa Mía?
Año y medio después de su fecha prevista de estreno, que ha sido aplazado en varias ocasiones por la pandemia, llega por fin a los cines .Culpa Mía (No time to die), lo último de James Bond, una cinta que supone la despedida de Daniel Craig del agente secreto más famoso del mundo.
¿Dónde Ver .Culpa Mía online, la Película Completa Español Latino?
Spider-Man: Cruzando el Multiverso película completa (2022) ya esta disponibles en plataforma de streaming como Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Repelis, y otros para ver películas.
VER AQUÍ PELÍCULAS .Culpa Mía ONLINE GRATIS sin pagar absolutamente nada Ver .Culpa Mía películas en español latino y castellano y en calidad HD.
Páginas para ver pelicula .Culpa Mía gratis? Ver película .Culpa Mía online gratis en HD sin cortes? Ver .Culpa Mía películas online gratis en español? ¡VER AQUI!
Si quieres ver películas gratis y series online en español y latino solo debes de páginas web como Repelis-play, ponerte al día. Y no necesitas una cuenta en de Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime Video, Blim, y otros para ver películas.
Ver .Culpa Mía películas online gratis en español y latino Gracias a Internet es posible ver pelis .Culpa Mía gratis online en español y también sub latino sin necesidad de pagar una cuenta de premium como Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon Prime Video o Repelis. Si eres de las personas que busca en Google términos como “páginas para ver pelis online”, “estrenos español online”, “películas online en español”, “películas gratis online”, “ver pelis online”, entre otros keywords, seguramente has sido llevado a páginas web de dudosa procedencia o que te obligan a registrarte con alguna cuenta en .Culpa Míaes sociales. Si te hartaste de eso, a continuación podrás ver las mejores películas gratis online para disfrutar sin problemas, sin interrupciones y sin publicidad para convertir tu casa en un cine.
Esta páginas para ver .Culpa Mía online sin publicidad y sin cortes, así que presta atención y apunta, que la buena experiencia cinéfila -o seriéfila- está plenamente garantizada en estos websites. Si no tienes los códigos de Netflix a la mano o tu conexión no te permite descargar películas gratis en Mega HD, conoce cómo ver películas de acción, terror, comedias, clásicos y hasta teen movies de la forma más fácil con solo unos clics. Hasta pelis de estreno puedes encontrar en español.
Páginas web para ver película .Culpa Mía gratis son de fácil acceso. eso sí, solo necesitas crear una cuenta para ver y descargar de películas, La mayoría de estas páginas web para ver películas gratis son de fácil acceso y no es necesario el registro. Eso sí, algunas incluyen publicidad antes de la reproducción del título elegido, aunque esta es casi imperceptible.
Repelis es una plataforma donde puedes ver películas de manera gratuita sin publicidad y legal con un amplio catálogo de películas, donde el usuario puede filtrar los filmes por el género, es decir, Romance, Acción, Comedia, Drama, Horror, Aventura, Animación, Animes, Superhéroes. Cómic. DC Comics, Marvel, Disney, entre otros. Todas las películas son de alta calidad, incluye una sólida colección de programas de televisión, Para acceder a ellas gratis solo necesitas crear una cuenta. Esta página es gratuita y libre de anuncios. Además, ofrece artículos sobre estrenos independientes y comerciales.flix
2023.06.09 21:09 Massiahx Dear Alessandra Hazard, just write piss kink already
Hi everyone! Sooooo Imma address the wildebeest in the room when it comes to Alessandra Hazards books. Y‘all have noticed the “jokes“ about the top pissing all over the bottom to “mark his territory“ in pretty much every book, right?? I‘m just here to say I‘m down and I support it.
Big speculation, but I‘m getting the vibe that she doesn‘t explicitly write watersport scenes bc her work is “entry level mm-books“ and it would a bit off-brand for her.
If you somehow stumble over this post Ms. Alessandra Hazard: First off, I hope your daughter is doing better. Second, I‘m your biggest fan, you‘re the queen of mm romance PERIOD. Third, don‘t be afraid to let it rain -even if it‘s with a new series/ under a new pen name. Xoxo
submitted by Massiahx to MM_RomanceBooks [link] [comments]
Big speculation, but I‘m getting the vibe that she doesn‘t explicitly write watersport scenes bc her work is “entry level mm-books“ and it would a bit off-brand for her.
If you somehow stumble over this post Ms. Alessandra Hazard: First off, I hope your daughter is doing better. Second, I‘m your biggest fan, you‘re the queen of mm romance PERIOD. Third, don‘t be afraid to let it rain -even if it‘s with a new series/ under a new pen name. Xoxo
2023.06.09 21:08 tareekpetareek Byju’s is sued by its lenders, then sues its lenders.. Or how poetic justice can be found outside Shakespeare
Original Source: https://boringmoney.in/p/byjus-is-sued-by-its-lenders
--
Four years ago I read an article in The Ken titled The making of a loan crisis at Byju’s. The gist of the story was that Byju’s was an edtech doing phenomenally well selling its digital courses to parents of young students. But these courses were expensive and these parents were poor. So it was also selling them loans to buy these courses. Only, without telling them. Parents would expect a course (which could be cancelled) but would end up with a loan (which couldn’t be cancelled).
Three days ago, Byju’s went to court in New York. Here’s the headline from TechCrunch: Byju’s sues ‘predatory’ lenders on $1.2B term loan, won’t make further payments.
Byju’s is a company that, arguably, made a business out of giving out predatory loans. Now it’s sued its own lenders and accused them of being predatory. I’m not saying that this is poetic justice but.. okay, scratch that. This is poetic justice! If Shakespeare were a finance writer this is the kind of stuff he would come up with.
Everyone wants to lend to Byju’s
In 2021, interest rates were low, loans were cheap. Tech startups were doing great, edtech startups were crushing it. Byju’s, not one to be left behind, had raised a lot of money but money was cheap so it also wanted to borrow. It wanted a $500 million loan from lenders in the US, which it wanted to use to acquire companies there. Instead, it ended up borrowing more than double—$1.2 billion—because lenders practically wanted to throw money at this overachieving edtech startup from India. [1]
The way a term loan such as this works is:
It’s likely that Blackstone, Fidelity and other of the OG lenders aren’t Byju’s’ lenders any more. They’ve almost certainly sold off their loans at a loss. Better get paid something than get paid nothing.
Dealers of the dead
If a company’s debt is being sold at a 36% discount, it’s because investors think that the company is unlikely to repay its loans. If you buy such a loan, you potentially stand to gain a lot—because of the discount—but well, you might also just lose everything.
If you’re a regular investment management company, like Blackstone, you don’t want to invest in such a loan. Your investors gave you this money to get predictable returns. If they wanted risk, they’d ask you to buy stocks. You don’t want to get into a fight with your borrower. If you feel they will not pay you back, you take a loss, sell the loans, move on.
If you’re a distressed debt investor, your entire business is to buy such distressed loans from regular investment managers like Blackstone. You’re going to get nasty borrowers who are unlikely to want to repay their loans but that’s okay. Because you’re nasty too. You spend less time on financial models, more in courts and around lawyers. You like to fight to get your money back. Sometimes you might lose, but the times you win, you win big. The wins cover your losses and some more.
Blackstone and the others sold Byju’s’ loans in desperation, and they were almost certainly bought by distressed debt investors. We don’t know who they are exactly, but Byju’s has indicated that one of them is Redwood Capital, a New York-based distressed debt investor.
If you’re a distressed debt investor, this is how it works:
Last month, Byju’s’ new lenders sued Byju’s in the Delaware Court of Chancery [3]. We’ll get to the official reasons for this lawsuit in a bit, but what’s important is that Byju’s was not being sued because it defaulted on a payment. It hadn’t. It was being sued because the distressed debt investors expect it to default sooner or later, and they would prefer dealing with it sooner rather than later.
Lenders go for the kill
Usually, the finer details of corporate loans such as Byju’s’ aren’t public. But thanks to the multiple lawsuits we know quite a bit here.
The loan was made to Byju’s’ US entity and it was secured with guarantees from multiple Byju’s companies. From Byju’s’ lawsuit this week against its creditors (which I will get to), here are the guarantors:
Apart from Byju’s the parent company itself, Whitehat was the only other Indian company guaranteeing this loan. The problem was that Whitehat itself, on paper, had negative net worth. It had probably taken loans of its own and did not have enough assets to cover them. In practice, this would be irrelevant, because Whitehat was owned by Byju’s and it would cover any of Whitehat’s liabilities. But, apparently, RBI regulations require Indian companies with negative net worth to take its approval before guaranteeing a loan. So even though Whitehat was a guarantor, the guarantee was meaningless until RBI granted its approval.
Yeah, well, RBI didn’t grant its approval. From the lawsuit:
Continuing from the lawsuit:
Oh, there’s another thing. In June 2022, The Ken reported that Byju’s’ financials for 2021 had been held up by its auditors because of certain, umm, creative accounting. By this time, Byju’s should have ideally filed even its 2022 financials. It was very late! From the lawsuit:
Byju’s sets up an offence
Before the lenders sued Byju’s last month, Byju’s tried its best to negotiate a deal. It gave the lenders an assurance of the company’s financial health, gave them concessions worth “tens of millions of dollars” and requested (pleaded) to take back their claims of Byju’s defaulting.
The lenders refused. They asked for either the full principal back or two-thirds of it, with an increment of 7% (!!) in the interest rate. Byju’s, of course, said no.
At this point, Byju’s knew that the lenders weren’t going to negotiate realistically. So it prepared its own offence. From the lawsuit:
Now what?
If push comes to shove, does Byju’s have the cash to pay off its lenders?
Last month, Byju’s transferred $500 million out of its US entity. The lenders had filed their lawsuit and there was a chance the court would freeze Byju’s’ US entity’s assets, so this was a precautionary move. So Byju’s has this $500 million. But that seems about it. Byju’s has been in the news saying that it’s trying to raise $700 million to pay off its debt. Yeah, between the horrible edtech market and the colourful lawsuits Byju’s is in, good luck with getting investors to donate their money to Byju’s.
But of course, Byju’s is now suing its lenders too. It does have an agreement that says that its debt can’t be held by distressed debt investors. So it’s not a frivolous suit.
Can Byju’s win? Sure. It would still have to pay its debt eventually. And it’s not straightforward. There are probably tens or even hundreds of lenders. It’s apparent that the distressed debt investors are the guiding force behind the lenders’ lawsuit, but it’s definitely not necessary that they form the majority of the lenders. In which case, Byju’s’ whole lawsuit falls apart.
The lenders are saying Byju’s defaulted by not keeping its part of the agreement, even though it had technically paid its dues. [4] Byju’s is saying that the lenders shouldn’t be the lenders in the first place and must be disqualified. We’ll see who’s right.
Footnotes
[1] It was a 5-year loan with a floating interest rate of 6% over Libor. Think of it as 6% over this magical interest-rate called Libor that some fancy-pants banks set amongst themselves everyday. Back in November 2021, Libor was at 0.25% and this was a 6.86% interest loan for Byju’s (the floor for Libor was 0.75%). Today, Libor is at about 5.64% and it’s an 11.6% loan.
[2] Multiple reasons for the investors to sell. One, interest rates went up and cash became more dear. If they had money stuck with Byju’s, it was money not being lent out to someone else. Second, edtech all around the world was in trouble. Kids were back in school and people didn’t think much of them anymore. Third, Byju’s as a company was showing its red flags.
[3] What a cool name!
[4] Until now, that is. Byju’s filed its lawsuit this week the same day it was supposed to make a $40 million interest payment.
Original Source: https://boringmoney.in/p/byjus-is-sued-by-its-lenders
submitted by tareekpetareek to india [link] [comments]
--
Four years ago I read an article in The Ken titled The making of a loan crisis at Byju’s. The gist of the story was that Byju’s was an edtech doing phenomenally well selling its digital courses to parents of young students. But these courses were expensive and these parents were poor. So it was also selling them loans to buy these courses. Only, without telling them. Parents would expect a course (which could be cancelled) but would end up with a loan (which couldn’t be cancelled).
Three days ago, Byju’s went to court in New York. Here’s the headline from TechCrunch: Byju’s sues ‘predatory’ lenders on $1.2B term loan, won’t make further payments.
Byju’s is a company that, arguably, made a business out of giving out predatory loans. Now it’s sued its own lenders and accused them of being predatory. I’m not saying that this is poetic justice but.. okay, scratch that. This is poetic justice! If Shakespeare were a finance writer this is the kind of stuff he would come up with.
Everyone wants to lend to Byju’s
In 2021, interest rates were low, loans were cheap. Tech startups were doing great, edtech startups were crushing it. Byju’s, not one to be left behind, had raised a lot of money but money was cheap so it also wanted to borrow. It wanted a $500 million loan from lenders in the US, which it wanted to use to acquire companies there. Instead, it ended up borrowing more than double—$1.2 billion—because lenders practically wanted to throw money at this overachieving edtech startup from India. [1]
The way a term loan such as this works is:
- A company goes to an investment bank and asks for a loan
- The bank syndicates this loan to investors, who become the lenders. Everyone comes together in a room and negotiates the specifics of the loan (which can be quite complex, as we’ll see)
- The loan goes through and everyone’s happy. Presumably, the company likes its lenders, the lenders like the company
- The original investors might sell the loans they own to other investors. The company’s only talking to an administrative agent representing the lenders, so over time it might not even know who its lenders are
It’s likely that Blackstone, Fidelity and other of the OG lenders aren’t Byju’s’ lenders any more. They’ve almost certainly sold off their loans at a loss. Better get paid something than get paid nothing.
Dealers of the dead
If a company’s debt is being sold at a 36% discount, it’s because investors think that the company is unlikely to repay its loans. If you buy such a loan, you potentially stand to gain a lot—because of the discount—but well, you might also just lose everything.
If you’re a regular investment management company, like Blackstone, you don’t want to invest in such a loan. Your investors gave you this money to get predictable returns. If they wanted risk, they’d ask you to buy stocks. You don’t want to get into a fight with your borrower. If you feel they will not pay you back, you take a loss, sell the loans, move on.
If you’re a distressed debt investor, your entire business is to buy such distressed loans from regular investment managers like Blackstone. You’re going to get nasty borrowers who are unlikely to want to repay their loans but that’s okay. Because you’re nasty too. You spend less time on financial models, more in courts and around lawyers. You like to fight to get your money back. Sometimes you might lose, but the times you win, you win big. The wins cover your losses and some more.
Blackstone and the others sold Byju’s’ loans in desperation, and they were almost certainly bought by distressed debt investors. We don’t know who they are exactly, but Byju’s has indicated that one of them is Redwood Capital, a New York-based distressed debt investor.
If you’re a distressed debt investor, this is how it works:
- You get a loan for super cheap
- If the company repays its loan, great! You make a lot of money
- But the company isn’t likely to repay, which is why you got the loan for cheap in the first place
- So it’s in your best interest to not let the company die a slow death. Instead, you want to kill the company quick. You take the company to court ASAP and take all the money you’re owed while it’s still there
Last month, Byju’s’ new lenders sued Byju’s in the Delaware Court of Chancery [3]. We’ll get to the official reasons for this lawsuit in a bit, but what’s important is that Byju’s was not being sued because it defaulted on a payment. It hadn’t. It was being sued because the distressed debt investors expect it to default sooner or later, and they would prefer dealing with it sooner rather than later.
Lenders go for the kill
Usually, the finer details of corporate loans such as Byju’s’ aren’t public. But thanks to the multiple lawsuits we know quite a bit here.
The loan was made to Byju’s’ US entity and it was secured with guarantees from multiple Byju’s companies. From Byju’s’ lawsuit this week against its creditors (which I will get to), here are the guarantors:
- Byju’s entities in India and Singapore
- Byju’s’ US and Singapore acquisitions; companies including Oros, Epic, Great Learning, and Neuron
- Whitehat India, Byju’s’ famous Indian acquisition
Apart from Byju’s the parent company itself, Whitehat was the only other Indian company guaranteeing this loan. The problem was that Whitehat itself, on paper, had negative net worth. It had probably taken loans of its own and did not have enough assets to cover them. In practice, this would be irrelevant, because Whitehat was owned by Byju’s and it would cover any of Whitehat’s liabilities. But, apparently, RBI regulations require Indian companies with negative net worth to take its approval before guaranteeing a loan. So even though Whitehat was a guarantor, the guarantee was meaningless until RBI granted its approval.
Yeah, well, RBI didn’t grant its approval. From the lawsuit:
Plaintiffs, Borrower, and Lenders had a call on or around October 6, 2022, to discuss the Whitehat Guarantee. In a good faith effort to negate any impact of the new regulations, Plaintiffs and the Borrower offered to move all assets out of Whitehat India into other subsidiaries of the Parent Guarantor that are Guarantors to the Credit Agreement, or are owned by Guarantors of the Credit Agreement. Lenders rejected this proposal without justification.In October 2022, after Byju’s’ debt was already sold to the distressed debt investors, the company spoke to its lenders and informed them that it was unable to get RBI’s approval for Whitehat to be a guarantor. Instead, it offered to move Whitehat’s assets into other companies and then use those companies to guarantee the loan. Which would really have been the same thing. But the lenders refused! Why?!
Continuing from the lawsuit:
Lenders subsequently asserted that an event of default under Section 8.1(e) of the Credit Agreement (an “Event of Default”) had occurred due to the failure to procure the Whitehat Guarantee.Oh, that’s why. Byju’s’ lenders—distressed debt investors that wanted Byju’s dead ASAP—used the fact that Whitehat couldn’t be a guarantor of this loan to claim a default and use it as a reason to take Byju’s to court in the US. Honestly, I’m impressed. The Whitehat guarantee was redundant to begin with, but the lenders had found an out and their official reason #1 to take Byju’s to court.
Oh, there’s another thing. In June 2022, The Ken reported that Byju’s’ financials for 2021 had been held up by its auditors because of certain, umm, creative accounting. By this time, Byju’s should have ideally filed even its 2022 financials. It was very late! From the lawsuit:
The FY’21 Audit was delivered to the Lenders on August 30, 2022. It did not contain a “going concern” qualification or any similar qualifications about the Parent Guarantor’s ability to continue into the future. However, the FY’22 Audit could not begin until the FY’21 Audit had been completed, and the Parent Guarantor’s business has continued to grow rapidlyByju’s’ 2021 financials were held up because auditors weren’t giving the company their go ahead, so of course its 2022 financials were held up as well.
On or around August 29, 2022, Shearman & Sterling, LLP (“S&S”), counsel for GLAS, sent a letter to Byju’s Alpha and Think & Learn requesting certain financial disclosures from Plaintiffs and Borrower, and asserting that the failure to deliver this financial information was a breach of the Credit Agreement. ... Rather than actually suffering any damage from the delayed FY’22 audit, Lenders opportunistically used this unintentional and non-material delay to exert pressure on Plaintiffs and the Borrower to extract onerous economic concessions.I love it! Byju’s’ financials were delayed. Its agreement with the original lenders said that the company must share its audited financials with them. Byju’s wasn’t able to do that. The lenders found their official reason #2 to take Byju’s to court.
Byju’s sets up an offence
Before the lenders sued Byju’s last month, Byju’s tried its best to negotiate a deal. It gave the lenders an assurance of the company’s financial health, gave them concessions worth “tens of millions of dollars” and requested (pleaded) to take back their claims of Byju’s defaulting.
The lenders refused. They asked for either the full principal back or two-thirds of it, with an increment of 7% (!!) in the interest rate. Byju’s, of course, said no.
At this point, Byju’s knew that the lenders weren’t going to negotiate realistically. So it prepared its own offence. From the lawsuit:
The Credit Agreement prohibits transfers or assignments of the Lenders’ interests in the Term Loans to “Disqualified Lenders.” The Credit Agreement includes in its definition of Disqualified Lender “[a]ny [] Person (including an Affiliate or Approved Fund of a Lender) whose primary activity is the trading or acquisition of distressed debt,” and “those banks, financial institutions and other Persons separately identified by name . . . on or before the syndication . . . (which may be updated . . . from time to time . . .)”In its agreement with the original lenders, Byju’s had put in a clause restricting its loan from being transferred to distressed debt investors. This is a risky clause to agree with, because it’s only these folks that buy loans that turn sour, but the original lenders had gone with it.
On information and belief, the entire course of Lenders’, and Defendant’s, bad-faith conduct has been driven by these distressed-debt lenders, who were never meant to have been lenders in the first place, and who acted with the intent of causing harm to Borrower and Plaintiffs. Meanwhile, Borrowers and Plaintiffs were initially unaware that the lenders were in fact being controlled by distressed debt dealers, and were therefore unable to take action to prevent their bad-faith plan from being implemented.In its lawsuit this week, the crux of Byju’s’ argument is based on the fact that its loan is owned by distressed debt investors who were not eligible to be owning its debt in the first place. Also interesting is that Byju’s doesn’t seem to know who these lenders are. In its post-lawsuit statement, Byju’s named Redwood as one of the lenders, but it’s not named anywhere in the lawsuit.
Now what?
If push comes to shove, does Byju’s have the cash to pay off its lenders?
Last month, Byju’s transferred $500 million out of its US entity. The lenders had filed their lawsuit and there was a chance the court would freeze Byju’s’ US entity’s assets, so this was a precautionary move. So Byju’s has this $500 million. But that seems about it. Byju’s has been in the news saying that it’s trying to raise $700 million to pay off its debt. Yeah, between the horrible edtech market and the colourful lawsuits Byju’s is in, good luck with getting investors to donate their money to Byju’s.
But of course, Byju’s is now suing its lenders too. It does have an agreement that says that its debt can’t be held by distressed debt investors. So it’s not a frivolous suit.
Can Byju’s win? Sure. It would still have to pay its debt eventually. And it’s not straightforward. There are probably tens or even hundreds of lenders. It’s apparent that the distressed debt investors are the guiding force behind the lenders’ lawsuit, but it’s definitely not necessary that they form the majority of the lenders. In which case, Byju’s’ whole lawsuit falls apart.
The lenders are saying Byju’s defaulted by not keeping its part of the agreement, even though it had technically paid its dues. [4] Byju’s is saying that the lenders shouldn’t be the lenders in the first place and must be disqualified. We’ll see who’s right.
Footnotes
[1] It was a 5-year loan with a floating interest rate of 6% over Libor. Think of it as 6% over this magical interest-rate called Libor that some fancy-pants banks set amongst themselves everyday. Back in November 2021, Libor was at 0.25% and this was a 6.86% interest loan for Byju’s (the floor for Libor was 0.75%). Today, Libor is at about 5.64% and it’s an 11.6% loan.
[2] Multiple reasons for the investors to sell. One, interest rates went up and cash became more dear. If they had money stuck with Byju’s, it was money not being lent out to someone else. Second, edtech all around the world was in trouble. Kids were back in school and people didn’t think much of them anymore. Third, Byju’s as a company was showing its red flags.
[3] What a cool name!
[4] Until now, that is. Byju’s filed its lawsuit this week the same day it was supposed to make a $40 million interest payment.
Original Source: https://boringmoney.in/p/byjus-is-sued-by-its-lenders
2023.06.09 20:15 telestialist Russell Nelson’s Legacy - Predictions?
Considering that Monson‘s name was only mentioned three times in the last general conference, spoiler alert for Russell Nelson:
You’re going to be kicked to the curb just as fast. There will be a new Dear Leader in town who everyone is gushing about.
And before long, someone will be dismantling your legacy just like you dismantled Gordon B Hinckley‘s legacy.
Extra spoiler alert: you’re not going to any “kingdom.” Ultimately you will be a footnote in the history of a huge cult that got out of control and ultimately fell to pieces. The footnote will say that because of your prideful and dishonest leadership, you presided over the beginning of the end of “Mormonism.”
submitted by telestialist to exmormon [link] [comments]
You’re going to be kicked to the curb just as fast. There will be a new Dear Leader in town who everyone is gushing about.
And before long, someone will be dismantling your legacy just like you dismantled Gordon B Hinckley‘s legacy.
Extra spoiler alert: you’re not going to any “kingdom.” Ultimately you will be a footnote in the history of a huge cult that got out of control and ultimately fell to pieces. The footnote will say that because of your prideful and dishonest leadership, you presided over the beginning of the end of “Mormonism.”
2023.06.09 20:14 Janius [H] Growing Up, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Dicey Dungeon, Grime, Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For- [W] Dreamscaper, Bug Fables, Miasma Chronicles, Offers
IGS Rep
My barter.vg page
Games that I want most currently: Bug Fables, Oaken, Chernobylite, Vanaris Tactics, Miasma Chronicles
I no longer need Dreamscaper
My full wishlist is below, but I will consider other games that I don't know about/aren't on the list. I really like to play Roguelites, RPGs, Strategy, Card games, and certain sims.
I also have some games on the EA Store, if you're interested just ask.
Tradeable:
submitted by Janius to indiegameswap [link] [comments]
My barter.vg page
Games that I want most currently: Bug Fables, Oaken, Chernobylite, Vanaris Tactics, Miasma Chronicles
I no longer need Dreamscaper
My full wishlist is below, but I will consider other games that I don't know about/aren't on the list. I really like to play Roguelites, RPGs, Strategy, Card games, and certain sims.
I also have some games on the EA Store, if you're interested just ask.
Tradeable:
- 112 Operator
- 911 Operator
- A Blind Legend
- Agent in Depth
- Aground
- Alchemist's Castle
- Anomaly Warzone Earth
- Autonauts
- Backbone
- Beasts of Maravilla Island
- Book of Demons
- Boyfriend Dungeon
- Builder Simulator
- Calico
- Celeste
- Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
- Cook, Serve, Delicious!
- Cosmic Express
- Crysis 2 Maximum Edition
- Curse of the Dead Gods
- Curse: The Eye of Isis
- Dead Age
- Death Squared
- Detached: Non-VR Edition
- Dicey Dungeons
- Dishonored
- DOOM 64
- Doughlings: Arcade
- Doughlings: Invasion
- Dustforce
- Edge
- Eternal Threads
- Evan's Remains
- Farming Simulator 17
- Field of Glory II
- Firegirl: Hack 'n Splash Rescue
- Five Dates
- Frick, Inc.
- Get In The Car, Loser!
- Ghostrunner
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Golden Light
- GRIME
- Growing Up
- Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
- Guns & Fishes
- Honey, I Joined a Cult
- Izmir: An Independence Simulator
- Just King
- Kingdom Two Crowns
- Lighthouse Keeper
- Luck be a Landlord
- Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For-
- Lust from Beyond: M Edition
- Mail Mole
- Medal of Honor(TM) Single Player
- MegaRace 1
- MegaRace 2
- Meow Express
- MirrorMoon EP
- Monaco
- Nomad Survival
- Non-Stop Raiders
- Orbital Racer
- Osmos
- Out of Space
- PAYDAY 2
- Perfect
- Pill Baby
- Pixross
- Planet TD
- Porcunipine
- Project Chemistry
- Quadrata
- Re:Call
- Rebel Galaxy
- Red Faction: Armageddon
- Remnants of Naezith
- Safety First!
- Slime-san
- Songbringer
- Soul Searching
- Soulblight
- Soulflow
- Space Crew: Legendary Edition
- Spiritfarer®: Farewell Edition
- Stacking
- StarCrossed
- Steel Rats
- Stick Fight: The Game
- stikir
- STONE
- Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
- Super Lesbian Animal RPG
- Survivalist
- SWINE HD Remaster
- System Shock 2
- System Shock: Enhanced Edition
- Teacup
- The Amazing American Circus
- The Forest Cathedral
- The Inner World
- The Wild Eight
- Ticket to Ride
- Turbo Golf Racing
- Turok
- Voyage: Journey to the Moon
- Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
- White Day: A Labyrinth Named School
- World of Goo
- Worms Rumble
- Wounded - The Beginning
- 🧠 OUT OF THE BOX
- Absinthia
- AETHERIS
- Aethermancer
- Age of Wonders 4
- Alchemia: Creatio Ex Nihilo
- Angkara: The Horde
- Arcadian Atlas
- Archmage Rises
- ARIA CHRONICLE Amazon
- ARIA CHRONICLE Invoker
- ARIA CHRONICLE NECROKNIGHT
- Ash of Gods: The Way
- Astrea
- Backpack Hero
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Before Your Eyes
- Beloved Rapture
- Braid
- BRAVELY DEFAULT II
- Bravery and Greed
- Brutal Orchestra
- Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling
- Capes
- Card Shark
- Cassette Beasts
- Castle Of Alchemists
- Castle of the Underdogs : Episode 1
- Cataclismo
- Chernobylite Enhanced Edition
- Colony Ship: A Post-Earth Role Playing Game
- Crimson Tactics: The Rise of The White Banner
- Curious Expedition 2
- Cygnus
- Dark Quest 3
- Dead Cells
- Demiurges
- Demonschool
- Depersonalization
- Devil's Deck 恶魔秘境
- Dice & Dungeons
- Dice Hero: The Unoriginal Story
- Die in the Dungeon
- Diplomacy is Not an Option
- Disgaea 6 Complete
- Draft of Darkness
- Dreadful River
- Dream Tactics
- Dreamscaper
- Dungeon Alchemist
- Dungeon Drafters
- Dungeons of Aether
- Dungeons of Voidria
- Eden's Last Sunrise
- Epic Battle Fantasy 5
- Fabledom
- Farthest Frontier
- FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE
- For The King II
- For The Warp
- Fortune-499
- Full Circle
- God Of Weapons
- Golfinite
- Grand Arms: March of the Red Dragon
- Gunfire Reborn - Visitors of Spirit Realm
- Hades II
- HELLCARD
- Hero’s Hour - Rogue Realms
- Hex of the Lich
- Hexrogue
- Himeko Sutori
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Horizon's Gate
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
- Ignited Steel
- Immortal Tactics: War of the Eternals
- IMMORTALITY
- Infested Fortress
- Infinite Mana
- Intergalactic Pawn Shop
- Jagged Alliance 3
- Keylocker Turn Based Cyberpunk Action
- Kingdoms of the Dump
- Knock on the Coffin Lid
- Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk
- Lakeburg Legacies
- LakeSide
- Lost In Fantaland
- Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- MatchR
- Mercenaries Rebirth
- Miasma Chronicles
- Monster Roadtrip Hitchhiker Pack - Oz & Amira
- Netherguild
- News Tower
- Night Book
- Night Trap - 25th Anniversary Edition
- Nightmare Reaper
- Nordic Ashes
- Oaken
- OCTOPATH TRAVELER II
- Pacific Drive
- Perfect Round Disc Golf
- Phantom Brigade
- Quartet
- Ravage Road
- Ravenswatch
- REMORE: INFESTED KINGDOM
- Ring of Fire: Search for a Killer
- Rising Lords
- Rogue Dungeon
- Rogue Legacy 2
- Roll Player
- SacriFire
- SaGa Frontier Remastered
- Sea of Stars
- Shadows of Forbidden Gods
- Shadows Over Loathing
- Shattered Heaven
- Shores Unknown
- Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate
- Showgunners
- Sigil of the Magi
- Sky Oceans: Wings for Hire
- Slaves of Magic
- SOULVARS
- Spelldrifter
- Spire of Glory
- Spiritlink Tactics
- STAR OCEAN THE DIVINE FORCE
- SteamWorld Build
- Stones Keeper
- Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars
- Super Fantasy Kingdom
- TaleSpire
- Tape to Tape
- Ten Dates
- Ten Thousand Coins: The Golden Merchant
- Terra Nil
- TerraScape
- The DioField Chronicle
- The Dragoness: Command of the Flame
- The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk - Back To The Futon
- The Last Starship
- The Oregon Trail
- The Pale Beyond
- The Simulacrum
- The Thaumaturge
- The Wandering Village
- Tiny Bookshop
- Together in Battle
- Tower Tactics: Liberation
- Towers Deck
- TRIANGLE STRATEGY
- Twilight Wars
- Tyrant's Blessing
- Unboxing the Cryptic Killer
- Untamed Tactics
- Vagrus - The Riven Realms
- VALKYRIE ELYSIUM
- Vampire Survivors: Legacy of the Moonspell
- Vampire Survivors: Tides of the Foscari
- Vanaris Tactics
- Vestaria Saga I: War of the Scions
- Vestaria Saga II: The Sacred Sword of Silvanister
- Void Marauders
- Voor de kroon
- Wandering Sword
- Whisker Squadron
- Whisper Mountain Outbreak
- Witchbrook
- Writer's Block
- Yaengard
- Zelter
- ＲＰＧタイム！～ライトの伝説～
2023.06.09 19:53 BakedShef Fallout 4 Build Comparison (10 Luck vs Balanced ; both very hard, with no mods enabled)
I was originally going to get the luck build to the same level as my balanced build, which is 69, but I don’t even see a point anymore the luck is way more overpowered. For me, it obviously wins.
Lucky LVL 54
S : 1 (12 w/ Power Armor)
P : 5
E : 3
C : 7
I : 7
A : 5
L : 11
Skills : Rifleman 3 - Locksmith 3 - Life Giver 3 - Local Leader 2 - Medic 2 - Gun Nut 4 - Science 4 - Gunslinger 4 - Action Boy 3 - Scrounger 3 - Idiot Savant 3 - Better Criticals 3 - Critical Banker 3 - Grim Reapers Sprint 3 - Four Leaf Clover 3 - Ricochet 1
HP : 398 - AP : 115 - Dam R : 0 (w/ Power Armor 920) - Energy R : 0 (w/ PA 670) - Rad R : 1000 (w/ PA 1050) - Carry Weight : 210 (322 w/ PA) -
Primary Weapons - Kellogg’s Pistol (refill AP on critical) - .50 Sniper Rifle (unlimited ammo capacity legendary)
MISC Game Time : 2 days 5 hours - Caps Found : 27,865 - Stimpacks Used : 154 - Radaway Used : 26 - Critical Strikes : 800 - Total Kills : 1,779
Balanced LVL 69
S : 7 (12 with power armor)
P : 5
E : 6
C : 6
I : 6
A : 3
L : 6
(Okay so technically it’s not balanced but it’s mostly balanced)
Skills : Armorer 3 - Strong Back 2 - Pickpocket 4 - Rifleman 5 - Locksmith 3 - Toughness 4 - Life Giver 3 - Aquaboy 1 - Rad Resistant 1 - Cap Collector 2 - Lone Wanderer 4 - Local Leader 2 - Gun Nut 4 - Science 4 - Gunslinger 5 - Commando 5 - Sneak 4 - Fortune Finder 2 - Scrounger 4 -
HP : 534 — AP : 120 (time to recharge 8 seconds) — Dam R : 204 (w/ Power Armor 1550) — Energy R : 163 (w/ PA 1140) — Rad R : 75 (w/ PA 910) — Carry Weight : 420 (w/ PA 520) —
Primary Weapons .44 Western Revolver (unlimited ammo capacity legendary) Radium Rifle (15dam explosive legendary) Shotgun (15dam incendiary legendary)
MISC Game Time : 4 days 15 hours Caps Found : 71,318 Stimpacks Used : 24 Radaway Used : 18 Total Kills : 3879 (including people, robots, synths, animals, creatures and turrets) Critical Strikes : 233
Now that the builds are out of the way, allow me to explain. On paper, it looks like the balanced build would be a better character to run all around, but honestly, no. I used almost 6.5x as many Stimpacks on my luck build, but it honestly is not a big deal. I find them fucking everywhere, I have so many that I’ve been just selling anything over 50 since before level 20 and I haven’t dropped below that ever since. So it really doesn’t make any difference other than having to use them more frequently. As for the Radaway, I used 90% of them in earlier levels, I got sick of it and I was taking hella damage anyway so I started just using the hazmat suit, barely used any at all in the last 25 levels.
With the balanced build, I kill like 1 in 16 people with a critical hit, if that critical kills them. Most of them are just extra damage output, it takes me an average of a 2 or 3 full magazines no matter what gun I’m using to kill them (talking legendary enemies here). With the luck build, half of the enemies I’ve killed this game are with criticals and they will indeed kill them, legendary or not. I’m actually annoyed when I don’t kill an enemy with 2 bullets or less and I can clear an entire battlefield of people with one use of VATS (technically multiple VATS uses, but I mean before I run out of action points). I can fire 4 bullets in VATS and get 4 criticals probably 75% of the time. I’ve literally used 7 criticals in a row to kill 7 enemies in a row before and that’s not like a rare thing.
I know why you’re reading this though, how much of a difference does luck really make in the games loot system? Well well boys and girls, let me tell you. I found a fat man on the ground at level 8 and had around 4 mini nukes already. I found a a legendary explosive high powered shredding mini gun around level 25, also just laying on the ground. I have over 1000 ammo in every gun that I own except the Big Boy, which I have 31 mini nukes, and the Missile Launcher, which I have 46 missiles. For comparison, on the balanced build I have 200-600 ammo in my weapons, 14 mini nukes and 35 missiles. I only have 18 fusion cores now on the luck build, but that’s because I’ve been selling them until I hit the 40s. Before I was level 20 I had around 60 of them and sold them all to buy the Big Boy. On the balanced build I have 42 fusion cores, because I used my pickpocketing to get “infinite” from the BoS airport.
The carry weight, a big factor. It was a bitch at first with the luck build, but after I found ADA around level 15-20 it hasn’t been an issue since, it makes no difference. Except, I don’t carry my big boy or my missile launcher, ADA does, so that can be a tad annoying when I need it, but it’s very rare that I do.
I’ve killed way less enemies on my luck bound because well 1, I’m 15 levels behind my other build and 2 I still haven’t even met the minutemen or the BoS. I’ve only been rocking with the railroad and doing DLCs, I’m at the mission to go to the institute now, but I have not done it. So, I’ve been very selective with what I complete this game. On my balanced build, I genuinely don’t think I even have missions left to do, except for repeatable ones and one broken quest.
All I’m going to say, is I’ve had way more fun with this build than any other build I’ve had on fallout 4. It has to be noted, I started the luck build with 2 intelligence for idiot savant to take full effect, which is damn essential because when you have 10 luck, you are just getting butt fucked until you hit level 15-20 or so. Once you hit level 32 with four leaf clover, you’re quite a force to be reckoned with, once you max grim reapers sprint, you are an unstoppable force of nature. I’m fairly certain, if you had 10 luck and 10 endurance, that would just be god mode.
Try 10 luck. Just do it. If anyone has questions or notices something I should’ve included, do let me know.
submitted by BakedShef to Fallout [link] [comments]
Lucky LVL 54
S : 1 (12 w/ Power Armor)
P : 5
E : 3
C : 7
I : 7
A : 5
L : 11
Skills : Rifleman 3 - Locksmith 3 - Life Giver 3 - Local Leader 2 - Medic 2 - Gun Nut 4 - Science 4 - Gunslinger 4 - Action Boy 3 - Scrounger 3 - Idiot Savant 3 - Better Criticals 3 - Critical Banker 3 - Grim Reapers Sprint 3 - Four Leaf Clover 3 - Ricochet 1
HP : 398 - AP : 115 - Dam R : 0 (w/ Power Armor 920) - Energy R : 0 (w/ PA 670) - Rad R : 1000 (w/ PA 1050) - Carry Weight : 210 (322 w/ PA) -
Primary Weapons - Kellogg’s Pistol (refill AP on critical) - .50 Sniper Rifle (unlimited ammo capacity legendary)
MISC Game Time : 2 days 5 hours - Caps Found : 27,865 - Stimpacks Used : 154 - Radaway Used : 26 - Critical Strikes : 800 - Total Kills : 1,779
Balanced LVL 69
S : 7 (12 with power armor)
P : 5
E : 6
C : 6
I : 6
A : 3
L : 6
(Okay so technically it’s not balanced but it’s mostly balanced)
Skills : Armorer 3 - Strong Back 2 - Pickpocket 4 - Rifleman 5 - Locksmith 3 - Toughness 4 - Life Giver 3 - Aquaboy 1 - Rad Resistant 1 - Cap Collector 2 - Lone Wanderer 4 - Local Leader 2 - Gun Nut 4 - Science 4 - Gunslinger 5 - Commando 5 - Sneak 4 - Fortune Finder 2 - Scrounger 4 -
HP : 534 — AP : 120 (time to recharge 8 seconds) — Dam R : 204 (w/ Power Armor 1550) — Energy R : 163 (w/ PA 1140) — Rad R : 75 (w/ PA 910) — Carry Weight : 420 (w/ PA 520) —
Primary Weapons .44 Western Revolver (unlimited ammo capacity legendary) Radium Rifle (15dam explosive legendary) Shotgun (15dam incendiary legendary)
MISC Game Time : 4 days 15 hours Caps Found : 71,318 Stimpacks Used : 24 Radaway Used : 18 Total Kills : 3879 (including people, robots, synths, animals, creatures and turrets) Critical Strikes : 233
With the balanced build, I kill like 1 in 16 people with a critical hit, if that critical kills them. Most of them are just extra damage output, it takes me an average of a 2 or 3 full magazines no matter what gun I’m using to kill them (talking legendary enemies here). With the luck build, half of the enemies I’ve killed this game are with criticals and they will indeed kill them, legendary or not. I’m actually annoyed when I don’t kill an enemy with 2 bullets or less and I can clear an entire battlefield of people with one use of VATS (technically multiple VATS uses, but I mean before I run out of action points). I can fire 4 bullets in VATS and get 4 criticals probably 75% of the time. I’ve literally used 7 criticals in a row to kill 7 enemies in a row before and that’s not like a rare thing.
I know why you’re reading this though, how much of a difference does luck really make in the games loot system? Well well boys and girls, let me tell you. I found a fat man on the ground at level 8 and had around 4 mini nukes already. I found a a legendary explosive high powered shredding mini gun around level 25, also just laying on the ground. I have over 1000 ammo in every gun that I own except the Big Boy, which I have 31 mini nukes, and the Missile Launcher, which I have 46 missiles. For comparison, on the balanced build I have 200-600 ammo in my weapons, 14 mini nukes and 35 missiles. I only have 18 fusion cores now on the luck build, but that’s because I’ve been selling them until I hit the 40s. Before I was level 20 I had around 60 of them and sold them all to buy the Big Boy. On the balanced build I have 42 fusion cores, because I used my pickpocketing to get “infinite” from the BoS airport.
The carry weight, a big factor. It was a bitch at first with the luck build, but after I found ADA around level 15-20 it hasn’t been an issue since, it makes no difference. Except, I don’t carry my big boy or my missile launcher, ADA does, so that can be a tad annoying when I need it, but it’s very rare that I do.
I’ve killed way less enemies on my luck bound because well 1, I’m 15 levels behind my other build and 2 I still haven’t even met the minutemen or the BoS. I’ve only been rocking with the railroad and doing DLCs, I’m at the mission to go to the institute now, but I have not done it. So, I’ve been very selective with what I complete this game. On my balanced build, I genuinely don’t think I even have missions left to do, except for repeatable ones and one broken quest.
All I’m going to say, is I’ve had way more fun with this build than any other build I’ve had on fallout 4. It has to be noted, I started the luck build with 2 intelligence for idiot savant to take full effect, which is damn essential because when you have 10 luck, you are just getting butt fucked until you hit level 15-20 or so. Once you hit level 32 with four leaf clover, you’re quite a force to be reckoned with, once you max grim reapers sprint, you are an unstoppable force of nature. I’m fairly certain, if you had 10 luck and 10 endurance, that would just be god mode.
Try 10 luck. Just do it. If anyone has questions or notices something I should’ve included, do let me know.
2023.06.09 19:53 VeryUnluckyDice Playing By Ear - Ch13 (NoP Fanfic)
First / Prev / Next
-
Memory transcription subject: Kila, Venlil Engineering Student (First Year) White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
Finally.
Professor Gretty’s calculations had been spot on. He'd even accounted for any potential difference in temperature although it should be possible to manage that element from the tuning slide near the bell.
The apparatus I’d designed was a little different than I'd originally envisioned. At the base of the device, near the mouthpiece, there was a small part that would vibrate the air via a small oscillating ‘gate’. As the air passed through, it would emulate the human lips, causing the air column to resonate properly.
To determine the necessary frequency at which the gate would operate, I had attached a thin, spooled wire to the outside of the slide. As the slide extended, the spring-loaded spool would act as a tool for measurement, determining the length the slide had been moved by how much it had been unwound. As the slide retracted, the spool would rewind. That had taken some tricky design to make consistent. Even the small inconsistencies in how the wire rewound was both breaking the mechanism and causing inaccurate measurements.
Luckily, the slide moved on a mostly fixed path so I could make due.
I had initially planned to use a wireless controller. But, early testing was proving it to be more trouble than it was worth.
The data read from the spool was fed to the gate mechanism where it adjusted the frequency in real time. The entire device used a tiny amount of electricity and while a standard battery would suffice, I'd gotten a little creative against my better judgment. The spool also acted as a tiny generator, charging the on-board battery as the slide was moved.
If this was a school project, I think I'd get perfect marks.
That thought wasn't completely born from ego. I'd gone to great lengths to make it consistent. While the device was mostly simple, I had to make sure it would stand up under rigorous action. As such, I'd been moving the slide in and out the whole time I was tweaking it.
Something my arm was pretty damn tired of.
The harmonic was controlled by a small set of four buttons placed where the player’s paw would grip the slide. Each button represented a certain harmonic level. Between the spool and the buttons, the frequency control was very much usable.
The opening at the end of the gate mechanism was fitted for a specifically designed Venlil-friendly mouthpiece. I'd been considerate of the condensation (spit) that Brad had warned me about. The inside of the gate mechanism was lined with a flexible, waterproof material, allowing the moisture to seep downward and be drained from the ‘spit valve’ at the bottom.
Why did I choose an instrument that you have to blow into?
The whole apparatus would need maintenance and repair every now and again which made for more hassle than the baseline instrument could make. But, it did work for a Venlil player, something that couldn't be said for the original design. I’d actually tested the tone myself, proving that I'd also managed to knock down one of the primary barriers for entry. According to Brad, a Human player had to train their embouchure to be able to get the right frequency for each slide position. In the case of my mechanism, the player just had to be familiar with the harmonic buttons.
It almost felt sacrilegious to make the instrument easier to play. Seemed almost like we, as Venlil, were balking at the musical challenge. But, we were physically incapable of operating the instrument otherwise.
As I held the newly manufactured trombone in my paws, I felt some pride in its creation. I'd crafted it meticulously, sacrificing lots of my time and focus to design it. I'd molded the material, carefully constructed the pitch controller, wired the tiny circuit board, and RIGOROUSLY stress-tested the whole thing to make sure it was up to snuff.
It was completely and totally finished.
Yep.
All done.
Nothing left to work on.
Tested and approved.
…
I sighed as I took the trombone apart and placed the parts in the case. Oddly enough, the relentless rush to get it designed and built was not the part I was worried about. No, the real struggle was the true end goal, the reason I'd made the whole thing in the first place.
Why am I so nervous?
I'd spent my whole life tailing Saesh, trying to emulate her outgoing and fearless nature. Even when everyone around me seemed to take it as a warning sign, I couldn't help but respect her capability. To not be debilitated with fear was a boon to accompany her kind-hearted nature. So, I'd always made it my goal to be like her. Though, I'd often found myself in the same position as my pitch controller. I could emulate the original thing well but it was never quite the same.
For that reason, the prospect of asking Mezil out had me feeling pretty hesitant. The last thing I wanted was to make things weird between us. But, I wanted to get closer to him. He was such a good soul…and it was cute watching him stumble through things.
I just…wasn't used to romance. I'd never felt this way before. And, if things didn't work out, would it ruin our friendship? I didn't know what I’d do if things somehow ended on bad terms.
“You shouldn’t be so worried about what might happen that you let inaction turn into regret.”
I thought back to Brad’s words. He'd been pretty adamant that I should go for it and he also seemed to think I had a good chance.
Maybe Mezil’s disposition was rubbing off on me and I was worrying about nothing.
I turned my pad in my paws for quite some time. Was I really going to do this? I suppose I didn't have to commit to it right away. I could just call him over to my room and give him the trombone. Then, if things went well, I could continue on with the real request.
Yeah. That works. Keep it open. Like Brad said, less serious. Just take it one step at a time.
I hovered a claw over Mezil’s contact…
-
Memory transcription subject: Mezil, Venlil Music Student (First Year) White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
After the last few paws, I’d been satisfied to take a considerably long rest. Having blazed through my homework, I took the opportunity to unwind and process everything. It was easy to feel restless with the information I’d recently gleaned but I’d be useless if I ran myself ragged anymore.
As I soaked in the blissful nothingness, I was jarred back to reality by the ringing emanating from my pad. Rolling off of my bed, I hobbled over to my desk where the device laid. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I brought the screen up to where I could read it. The call was from Kila. Odd. She usually just used text messages.
I tapped to accept and gave a groggy greeting as her visage filled the screen.
“Hey, Kila. What’s up?”
“Mezil, are you busy?”
She looked a little more serious than usual. Did something happen?
“Busy doing nothing maybe. No, I'm not really doing anything right now. Why?”
“Can you come to my dorm? I have something you might be interested in.”
That was intriguing but, to be honest, I'd have looked for just about any excuse to hang out with her again. It had only been a few paws but it felt like an eternity. I wasn't always as sociable as the average Venlil but confiding in her had helped me tremendously when it came to dealing with my academic predicament.
“Yeah, no problem. I'll clean up and head over.”
Her face lit up in response.
“Awesome! I'll see you in a bit!”
I stretched myself out and stole a glance at the mirror.
Yeesh. I really am a wreck. I'd better do a deep clean.
-
After bathing and getting the knots out of my fur, I found myself standing in front of Kila’s door. I reached my paw out and tapped out some light knocks. After a few moments, the door opened wide with Kila standing behind it. She wagged her tail in a greeting and motioned me in.
“Wow, you did clean up huh?” she asked while inspecting my newly brushed coat. I'd put some extra effort into it, wanting to make up for my recent disheveled look.
But, looking at her, it seemed she'd done about the same thing. I'd never seen her so well-groomed. Was there a special event coming up?
“Yeah,” I responded. “I've been a hygiene disaster the last few paws so I figured I should change that. You seem pretty done up too. It's a really good look. What's the occasion?”
“Oh, uh, I just wanted to clean up well. I've been kind of a wreck the last few paws too. End of the term, you know?”
I flicked my ears in affirmation. If her last few paws were as eventful as mine, I wouldn't blame her one bit.
“So, you had something you thought I’d want to see?”
“Right! But…maybe we should save that for later. I haven't talked to you lately. How’s schoolwork been treating you? Making headway?”
I sighed as I took a seat on her bed.
“It's going well enough, I guess. Busy. But, I've been completing everything so hopefully I'll pull through. That's not really what's been taking all my time though.”
“Oh? Give me the details.”
Part of me felt hesitant to disclose my findings at the library. But, ultimately I decided that Kila was plenty trustworthy. Besides, I'd already told Brad. Granted, he wasn’t living on a Federation planet.
Kila would keep it a secret. If anyone would do it for me, it'd be her.
So, I filled her in on my plight, explaining the Federation censorship and my meetings with Aebl. I showed her the music piece and told her about how Brad had played over it during our call. I briefly described to her my first experience with rock ‘n roll and how the intensity had made me view my struggles in a different light. Through it all, she sat and listened, occasionally asking questions but mostly staying enamored with the tale.
When I finished my recap, she leaned back in her desk chair and closed her eyes. After a moment of silence, she delivered her conclusion.
“Holy shit.”
An understandable response to my ramblings, I figured. I felt the same way.
“Yeah, that's been my recent experience. What about you? What have you been up to?”
She stiffened at the question, a response that made me stiffen as well. It was unlike Kila to be so jumpy around a subject. I wondered if I'd hit a sensitive spot.
“That…is a good question.”, she responded with hesitation in her voice. “Well…first of all I spoke with Brad alone. He showed me his guitar as well. We talked about some…things…”
Her vagueness was noticeable. It felt like she was dancing around the subject.
“There weren't any problems, were there?” I interjected. “I'm sure we could work out any conflicts.”
“What? No! I just…shit, I’m bad at this.”
Bad at what?
“I’m…not sure I follow.”
“You can’t follow because I’m not saying anything that makes sense! Just…hold on.”
Kila stood from her chair and opened the closet in the corner. From it, she retrieved a long black box, cradling in her arms. She sat it down lengthways on the floor and flipped open the latches. Before opening it, she looked up to me again.
“I've been working on this with Brad. I guess my physics professor helped too. It's a gift for you, actually. I've been busy with it for the last few paws.”
A gift? I hardly deserved one.
“You shouldn't have gone through the trouble,” I blurted. “Shit, it's the end of the term. You shouldn't be worried about me.”
“I'm not worried about you, doofus! Well…I am but that's not why I put this together. Besides, it's already done so don't reject it now.”
She lifted up the top half of the box and inside was a long, curved piece of metal tubing. It ended with a bell shape. Attached were a few strange devices I didn't recognize. It shone brightly, reflecting the light in the room.
…
“Uh…what is it?” I asked.
“BRAD, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”
Her sudden outburst caught me off-guard and I straightened up in response as she continued.
“I swear…Why wouldn't he show you after he showed me? Then again, he only showed me because I asked. But then, why didn't you ask about it? You're a music student! Damn it, this isn't going how I planned. Mezil, this is a trombone. It's a Human instrument.”
A human…instrument?
A HUMAN INSTRUMENT?
“How did you get a human instrument?!” I asked, nearly jumping onto the thing in my excitement.
“I made it! All in all, the instrument wasn't that complex to build with university machinery. The hard part was making it playable for Venlil. See, Humans do this thing with their lips and facial muscles…anyway, I had to emulate the whole thing mechanically.”
“You…did all of this for me?” I felt the tears forming in my eyes.
“Well…yeah.”
“How does it work? I've never seen anything like it. Holy shit, Kila, this is AWESOME!”
“Ok, so, first we need to put it together. See, the slide and the bell screw together here.”
She took the two pieces from the case and joined them at a threaded section, screwing a nut into place to secure them together.
“Then, you attach the mouthpiece here and place your mouth up to it to blow air through it. But, this is the weird part. Usually, Humans have to use their lips to make vibrations but we can't exactly do that. So, I built this here to serve the same purpose.”
Kila walked me through the functionality of the mechanism, showing me the buttons for changing the harmonic and also the less than glamorous spit valve at the bottom of the slide.
After getting her rundown, I tried it myself, placing my mouth up to the mouthpiece and pushing air through the vibrating gate.
Kila explained that I could use my tongue to cut the air flow and that it could create different effects on the tone. Pushing the air through was harder than expected as the gate restricted the air flow. Apparently, this was by design. It allowed for longer sustain since it didn't immediately require all the air in my body.
Despite the minimal air throughput, just enough to maintain a steady air column, the trombone was actually rather loud. Even the quietest tones I could produce had a significant amount of volume backing them. But, what was perhaps the most intriguing thing was the variety of sound it produced. The softer tones were melodic while the more forceful tones were almost disconcerting.
“You'll need to keep both the main slide and tuning slide greased well. You can detach the wire for the slide detection right here. The whole apparatus can be detached by removing these screws in case you need to clean the instrument. Just make sure to dry it well if you use water so it doesn't rust. And, make sure to keep dents out of the slides.”
As Kila finished her walkthrough, I placed the trombone down gently on top of its case and wrapped Kila in the best hug I could manage.
“Thank you, Kila,” I choked out. “It's amazing. You’re amazing! How did you manage this in two paws?”
“It was three paws, actually.”
“Three paws?”
“Yeah. I spoke to Brad about it that paw when you were at the library. Then, the next paw I spent playing with the design and running simulations. The next paw I built this one.”
“If it's been three paws…wait…”
Relinquishing my hug, I started rifling through my bag for my pad. I brought up the calendar, searching for assignment due dates.
My heart dropped into my stomach when I found what I was looking for.
“Oh no.”
“Mezil?”
“Oh no no no no no fuck fuck fuck FUCK!”
“Mezil, what's wrong?”
“I missed turning in like four assignments! I thought I had one more paw!”
The worry on her face only worsened as she realized the weight of what I was saying. I'd been scraping by, trying to maintain a GPA that would allow me to retain my scholarship.
I just threw that effort away.
I couldn't handle any missing assignments. My grades would still be passing but below the scholarship cutoff.
“Mezil,” she started. “Listen to me. We’ll figure it ou-”
“I'm such a fucking moron, Kila! Fuck! Everything I've done up until now…I just ruined all of it!”
“Look, maybe you can get some extra credit!”
“That's not even the point!” The tears of joy that had been in my eyes were being replaced with tears of anger as I nearly shouted in frustration. “I'm not closing the gap on my schoolwork! It's just getting worse!”
I sat back down on her bed, burying my face in my paws. Kila sat down beside me and wrapped me in a hug of her own. I felt her tail intertwine with mine like I had done when she had her first call with Brad.
“It's alright,” she spoke soothingly. “We’ll figure something out.”
“Why do you keep helping me?” I choked out. “I just keep fucking everything up.”
“No you don't. You're brave and strong. You're kind.”
“All I do is fail. Why even make this trombone for me?”
“Because…Well, actually, I wanted to ask you out for a date…So, do you wanna go out some time?”
…
What?
“I-I'm sorry?” I stammered. “Did I hear you right?”
I saw her face turn a bright orange. I felt my own face follow suit.
“Yeah. But, uh, this isn't how I expected it to go. I'm sorry. It's probably a bad time to mention it now.”
Kila’s sudden confession had snapped me out of my downward spiral completely. If anything, it was the best timing.
“Why me, though?”
“Why not you? You're a great friend. You're passionate about music, smart, and…kinda cute?”
“I'm cute, huh?” I asked, trying to add an air of teasing while I wiped tears from my eyes.
She flicked her ears in annoyance.
“Well, it helps when you clean up like you did. What shampoo is this? I like the smell.”
I chuckled at her response, feeling the tension leave my muscles.
“Mistfruit, I think.”
“So, uh,” Kila continued. “What's the answer then?”
“Answer?”
“Do you wanna go out with me?”
“Sure. But, I think I'm just happy to spend time with you anywhere.”
I didn't know where my words were coming from. There was something that I'd never consciously realized until that point: Kila was easy to talk to. With her, I could speak my mind and, despite all my social shortcomings, it was just natural. Everything felt simple with her. I didn’t mind opening up if she was around.
But I still had a problem.
I sighed and leaned into her embrace, nuzzling into her fur.
“I'm sorry, I shouldn't mention it again but what am I gonna do about my grades, Kila? School just isn’t going well at all.”
“Just do what you can. Talk to the professors. Maybe they'll give you a helping paw. Maybe some extra credit like the music assignment.”
“I don't know. Some of them are real hardasses.”
She chuckled at my response.
“Well, maybe you’ll lose that scholarship. There could still be other financial options. Maybe you can find another way to afford it.”
At this point, I was content to listen to her suggestions regardless of whether or not they were realistic. I just found myself lost in her embrace, kept calm by her steady arms.
Then, as if to spite that serenity, my pad rang once again.
“Shit, now is not the time,” I grumbled as Kila released her grip. I picked my pad up and checked the number. “A university number? Who would call me from the school?”
“It could be important,” Kila said, leaning over my shoulder. “You should answer.”
I flicked my tail in agreement and tapped to accept. The screen changed and I was met with Professor Haeli’s face.
“Hello, Mezil.”
“Professor Haeli?”
“I'm sorry to use your personal number but the university had it on record and I felt like I needed to run this by you over a call rather than a message through the school portal. Do you have a moment?”
I turned my ears inquisitively towards Kila who flicked her own ears in a ‘go ahead’ motion.
“Uh, yeah, I've got time.”
“Good. See, I spoke with Headmaster Blyne and I was able to negotiate for a bit of an opportunity.”
An opportunity?
What kind of opportunity could Haeli have for me? The extra credit assignment was already for full marks in her class. She spoke with the headmaster…How big of a deal was this?
I didn’t need to wait long for her to answer my question as she continued her spiel.
“We’ve decided that the best way to determine the merit in Human-Venlil cooperation would be to attempt something more tangible than a report. The headmaster is looking for something more practical and I suggested that we could have an in-person musical performance here at the university. That is, one that includes both Human and Venlil performers.”
A live performance? Here at White Hill?
As far as I knew, there hadn’t been any Human presence at White Hill. It would likely be the very first time. The in-person avenues for the exchange program had been restricted to military personnel. But, perhaps the university had enough leverage to get a civilian onto Venlil Prime.
I found myself wondering what the concert had to do with me. I was only a first-term student. I’d only partaken in a couple of recitals. Certainly, they didn’t want me as a performer.
“What exactly do you need from me?” I asked, unsure of what to make of the situation
“I’d like you to perform, Mezil. I know you haven’t had much of a chance to prove your musical capabilities. No first-term student has. But, you have shown a progressive mindset towards Humans and the ability to adapt to challenges. As far as I know, there’s no one more qualified for this particular event.”
I let her words sink in. She really wasn’t concerned with my lack of experience? In that case, I suppose I was the most qualified.
“Moreover,” she continued. “You’d need to determine the setlist yourself. We’re looking for both Human and Venlil musical representation. The instruments you choose to use are up to you. It really depends on how you choose to arrange your pieces. I’m willing to offer assistance in that regard. The concert would be shortly after the end of the term; five paws after the finalized grades.
You may be wondering what you’d receive in exchange. The headmaster and I went back and forth and decided that, should the performance go well, the university will place you in a program for Human integration going forward. And, you’ll be provided free tuition and board so long as you succeed in that position.”
A full ride scholarship…A FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP!
“I’ll do it!” I sputtered. “Whatever it takes, I’ll make sure the performance goes well!”
“Now, hold on a moment, Mezil,” Haeli spoke with a warning tone. “Certainly, you must know how high the expectations are for this. Don’t agree to it so lightly. This is a very delicate situation that will influence the perception of Humans by the student body and staff. It needs to be near-perfect. I’ll help, of course. But, don’t think this is going to be easy. Headmaster Blyne still needs to work with the UN to get permission to bring a Human civilian here. We’re tentatively assuming that it will be approved since the UN has been very accommodating regarding personnel thus far.
As of now, we don’t have any set Human performers. That will partly be your responsibility unless you cannot find anyone on your own. The civilian comm line to Earth is set to be complete in two paws. You should have free reign to go looking for prospective musicians. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. You may want to mull things over for a paw before committing. It won't be a walk in the park. And, I still expect the report from you as well. If you want perfect marks this term that is.”
I flicked my ears in acknowledgement.
“Thank you, professor!” I nearly shouted. “I’m glad that you chose to involve me. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
Haeli wagged her tail, seemingly pleased with my response.
“Well then, Mezil, I hope to hear from you again soon. For now, I’ll leave you to it. Have a good rest of your paw.”
“You too, professor.”
The call ended and I slumped on the bed, melting into the soft mattress.
“You are so damn lucky,” Kila said as she laid down next to me.
“I have so much work to do,” I responded.
“So…I assume you’re going to get Brad involved?”
“Of course. If I can bring him here to White Hill, that would be awesome.”
“I'm sure he'd be happy to join. It does sound like a ton of work though. Integrating Human and Venlil music with each other sounds tough.”
“Well, luckily I just so happen to have a Human instrument to work with. Someone very special to me made it as a gift.”
Kila nuzzled into me and I returned the favor.
I’ve already worn myself out. So much for a break. That's alright. No one said college would be easy.
And, I wouldn't mind staying in this moment forever.
-
Memory transcription subject: Brad Silmore, Human Field Hand
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
Watching the sun creep up and over the top of its arc, I found myself a little puzzled. I'd thought for sure that Mezil would have been itching to call. It was, after all, the weekend which was the best time for me to help him with his report.
Then again, he seemed pretty tunnel-visioned on the music hidden in the ceiling of that library. Maybe he was still focused on that. Hell, maybe he forgot what day it was.
I wonder what kind of progress Kila was making on her attempt to make a trombone. She seemed smart. Probably wouldn't take her very long.
Snapping me out of my thoughts, the exchange program app on my computer sounded an alert, luckily still audible to me on the front porch. Looked like Mezil decided to call after all.
I meandered inside, closing the door behind me and seating myself at my desk. My hand moved the mouse to click the accept button. As I pressed down, I realized I might want to turn to the side but it was too late. Mezil and Kila’s faces populated the monitor. Luckily, neither of them seemed phased by my staring into the webcam.
“Well, well, well,” I started. “I guess you didn't forget about me after all.”
“Sorry, I forgot that you were off work,” came Mezil’s sheepish response.
Heh. Sheepish.
“More like he forgot what paw it was,” Kila corrected. “He almost screwed up big time.”
Wow, I didn't actually expect to be right about that.
“I did screw up big time. But, I had a lucky break.”
On the bed behind where the two sat, I saw a trombone with a strange set of accessories tacked onto it. Did Kila already finish the construction? Then, that means…
“I see you've been acquainted with a trombone,” I noted. “So, did everything go exactly as you'd planned, Kila?”
Both their faces turned orange which answered my question for me.
“N-not exactly,” Kila stammered. “But, it worked out I think.”
Mezil supplemented his agreeing ear flicks with a head nod.
“Good stuff, I knew you had it in you. So, what's this monumental error that Mezil supposedly made?”
Mezil’s orange shade turned even more orange.
“Well, since I didn't realize what paw it was, I forgot to turn in a number of assignments.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. I knew how precarious his situation was academically.
“You're not failing any classes now are you?” I questioned.
“I'm not failing any of them, but I don't think I can keep my scholarship. Luckily, my music professor contacted me with an opportunity. She wants to do a concert with Venlil and Humans performing. And, the university is offering a position in an integration program if it goes well. If I succeed, I could get a full ride scholarship.”
Kila wagged her tail, looking almost more excited than Mezil himself. It was for good reason. What excellent news!
“That's awesome, Mezil! I know you'll knock it out of the park!”
They both turned their heads in confusion.
Oh yeah. That probably doesn't translate right.
“Er…it means you'll do a great job. It's a sports analogy.”
The pair flicked their ears in understanding. I was beginning to impress myself with how well I could read the Venlil body language.
“I plan to do my best,” Mezil confirmed. “And, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like your help.”
“Sure thing,” I responded. “Need some song suggestions?”
“Actually, I was hoping you could be a part of the performance, coming to Venlil Prime to play.”
Me? Performing on Venlil Prime.
“Mezil,” I started. “I'm not a professional musician. There have to be tons of people more qualified.”
“It doesn't matter,” he insisted. “I’m only a first-term student myself. It's not as much about musical ability. It's more about how well we can cooperate. And, you're a plenty good musician. I've heard you play. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. Just something to show that we can make good things together.”
The explanation made sense. If it was about showing the potential for Human integration, having two exchange partners would be a good plan.
“Can I even get to Venlil Prime?” I asked. “I thought it was only for military personnel.”
“My professor seems confident that they can get the UN to work it out. The request would come from the university so it would have some professional leverage.”
If I can really go to another planet…
“Alright, Mezil. I'm in. It's been a while since I practiced for something serious. But, I'll put my best foot forward.”
Mezil wagged his tail with happiness.
“Great! We’ll need to get a set list together first.”
“Well, I've got time. How would you two like to explore some music with me?”
Both of them leaned forward in anticipation.
Shoot, I didn't actually prepare anything. What haven't they heard yet?
I stopped and considered my options for a moment before a grin spread across my face.
“I do believe you've yet to be acquainted with disco.”
-
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submitted by VeryUnluckyDice to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
-
Memory transcription subject: Kila, Venlil Engineering Student (First Year) White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
Finally.
Professor Gretty’s calculations had been spot on. He'd even accounted for any potential difference in temperature although it should be possible to manage that element from the tuning slide near the bell.
The apparatus I’d designed was a little different than I'd originally envisioned. At the base of the device, near the mouthpiece, there was a small part that would vibrate the air via a small oscillating ‘gate’. As the air passed through, it would emulate the human lips, causing the air column to resonate properly.
To determine the necessary frequency at which the gate would operate, I had attached a thin, spooled wire to the outside of the slide. As the slide extended, the spring-loaded spool would act as a tool for measurement, determining the length the slide had been moved by how much it had been unwound. As the slide retracted, the spool would rewind. That had taken some tricky design to make consistent. Even the small inconsistencies in how the wire rewound was both breaking the mechanism and causing inaccurate measurements.
Luckily, the slide moved on a mostly fixed path so I could make due.
I had initially planned to use a wireless controller. But, early testing was proving it to be more trouble than it was worth.
The data read from the spool was fed to the gate mechanism where it adjusted the frequency in real time. The entire device used a tiny amount of electricity and while a standard battery would suffice, I'd gotten a little creative against my better judgment. The spool also acted as a tiny generator, charging the on-board battery as the slide was moved.
If this was a school project, I think I'd get perfect marks.
That thought wasn't completely born from ego. I'd gone to great lengths to make it consistent. While the device was mostly simple, I had to make sure it would stand up under rigorous action. As such, I'd been moving the slide in and out the whole time I was tweaking it.
Something my arm was pretty damn tired of.
The harmonic was controlled by a small set of four buttons placed where the player’s paw would grip the slide. Each button represented a certain harmonic level. Between the spool and the buttons, the frequency control was very much usable.
The opening at the end of the gate mechanism was fitted for a specifically designed Venlil-friendly mouthpiece. I'd been considerate of the condensation (spit) that Brad had warned me about. The inside of the gate mechanism was lined with a flexible, waterproof material, allowing the moisture to seep downward and be drained from the ‘spit valve’ at the bottom.
Why did I choose an instrument that you have to blow into?
The whole apparatus would need maintenance and repair every now and again which made for more hassle than the baseline instrument could make. But, it did work for a Venlil player, something that couldn't be said for the original design. I’d actually tested the tone myself, proving that I'd also managed to knock down one of the primary barriers for entry. According to Brad, a Human player had to train their embouchure to be able to get the right frequency for each slide position. In the case of my mechanism, the player just had to be familiar with the harmonic buttons.
It almost felt sacrilegious to make the instrument easier to play. Seemed almost like we, as Venlil, were balking at the musical challenge. But, we were physically incapable of operating the instrument otherwise.
As I held the newly manufactured trombone in my paws, I felt some pride in its creation. I'd crafted it meticulously, sacrificing lots of my time and focus to design it. I'd molded the material, carefully constructed the pitch controller, wired the tiny circuit board, and RIGOROUSLY stress-tested the whole thing to make sure it was up to snuff.
It was completely and totally finished.
Yep.
All done.
Nothing left to work on.
Tested and approved.
…
I sighed as I took the trombone apart and placed the parts in the case. Oddly enough, the relentless rush to get it designed and built was not the part I was worried about. No, the real struggle was the true end goal, the reason I'd made the whole thing in the first place.
Why am I so nervous?
I'd spent my whole life tailing Saesh, trying to emulate her outgoing and fearless nature. Even when everyone around me seemed to take it as a warning sign, I couldn't help but respect her capability. To not be debilitated with fear was a boon to accompany her kind-hearted nature. So, I'd always made it my goal to be like her. Though, I'd often found myself in the same position as my pitch controller. I could emulate the original thing well but it was never quite the same.
For that reason, the prospect of asking Mezil out had me feeling pretty hesitant. The last thing I wanted was to make things weird between us. But, I wanted to get closer to him. He was such a good soul…and it was cute watching him stumble through things.
I just…wasn't used to romance. I'd never felt this way before. And, if things didn't work out, would it ruin our friendship? I didn't know what I’d do if things somehow ended on bad terms.
“You shouldn’t be so worried about what might happen that you let inaction turn into regret.”
I thought back to Brad’s words. He'd been pretty adamant that I should go for it and he also seemed to think I had a good chance.
Maybe Mezil’s disposition was rubbing off on me and I was worrying about nothing.
I turned my pad in my paws for quite some time. Was I really going to do this? I suppose I didn't have to commit to it right away. I could just call him over to my room and give him the trombone. Then, if things went well, I could continue on with the real request.
Yeah. That works. Keep it open. Like Brad said, less serious. Just take it one step at a time.
I hovered a claw over Mezil’s contact…
-
Memory transcription subject: Mezil, Venlil Music Student (First Year) White Hill University
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
After the last few paws, I’d been satisfied to take a considerably long rest. Having blazed through my homework, I took the opportunity to unwind and process everything. It was easy to feel restless with the information I’d recently gleaned but I’d be useless if I ran myself ragged anymore.
As I soaked in the blissful nothingness, I was jarred back to reality by the ringing emanating from my pad. Rolling off of my bed, I hobbled over to my desk where the device laid. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I brought the screen up to where I could read it. The call was from Kila. Odd. She usually just used text messages.
I tapped to accept and gave a groggy greeting as her visage filled the screen.
“Hey, Kila. What’s up?”
“Mezil, are you busy?”
She looked a little more serious than usual. Did something happen?
“Busy doing nothing maybe. No, I'm not really doing anything right now. Why?”
“Can you come to my dorm? I have something you might be interested in.”
That was intriguing but, to be honest, I'd have looked for just about any excuse to hang out with her again. It had only been a few paws but it felt like an eternity. I wasn't always as sociable as the average Venlil but confiding in her had helped me tremendously when it came to dealing with my academic predicament.
“Yeah, no problem. I'll clean up and head over.”
Her face lit up in response.
“Awesome! I'll see you in a bit!”
I stretched myself out and stole a glance at the mirror.
Yeesh. I really am a wreck. I'd better do a deep clean.
-
After bathing and getting the knots out of my fur, I found myself standing in front of Kila’s door. I reached my paw out and tapped out some light knocks. After a few moments, the door opened wide with Kila standing behind it. She wagged her tail in a greeting and motioned me in.
“Wow, you did clean up huh?” she asked while inspecting my newly brushed coat. I'd put some extra effort into it, wanting to make up for my recent disheveled look.
But, looking at her, it seemed she'd done about the same thing. I'd never seen her so well-groomed. Was there a special event coming up?
“Yeah,” I responded. “I've been a hygiene disaster the last few paws so I figured I should change that. You seem pretty done up too. It's a really good look. What's the occasion?”
“Oh, uh, I just wanted to clean up well. I've been kind of a wreck the last few paws too. End of the term, you know?”
I flicked my ears in affirmation. If her last few paws were as eventful as mine, I wouldn't blame her one bit.
“So, you had something you thought I’d want to see?”
“Right! But…maybe we should save that for later. I haven't talked to you lately. How’s schoolwork been treating you? Making headway?”
I sighed as I took a seat on her bed.
“It's going well enough, I guess. Busy. But, I've been completing everything so hopefully I'll pull through. That's not really what's been taking all my time though.”
“Oh? Give me the details.”
Part of me felt hesitant to disclose my findings at the library. But, ultimately I decided that Kila was plenty trustworthy. Besides, I'd already told Brad. Granted, he wasn’t living on a Federation planet.
Kila would keep it a secret. If anyone would do it for me, it'd be her.
So, I filled her in on my plight, explaining the Federation censorship and my meetings with Aebl. I showed her the music piece and told her about how Brad had played over it during our call. I briefly described to her my first experience with rock ‘n roll and how the intensity had made me view my struggles in a different light. Through it all, she sat and listened, occasionally asking questions but mostly staying enamored with the tale.
When I finished my recap, she leaned back in her desk chair and closed her eyes. After a moment of silence, she delivered her conclusion.
“Holy shit.”
An understandable response to my ramblings, I figured. I felt the same way.
“Yeah, that's been my recent experience. What about you? What have you been up to?”
She stiffened at the question, a response that made me stiffen as well. It was unlike Kila to be so jumpy around a subject. I wondered if I'd hit a sensitive spot.
“That…is a good question.”, she responded with hesitation in her voice. “Well…first of all I spoke with Brad alone. He showed me his guitar as well. We talked about some…things…”
Her vagueness was noticeable. It felt like she was dancing around the subject.
“There weren't any problems, were there?” I interjected. “I'm sure we could work out any conflicts.”
“What? No! I just…shit, I’m bad at this.”
Bad at what?
“I’m…not sure I follow.”
“You can’t follow because I’m not saying anything that makes sense! Just…hold on.”
Kila stood from her chair and opened the closet in the corner. From it, she retrieved a long black box, cradling in her arms. She sat it down lengthways on the floor and flipped open the latches. Before opening it, she looked up to me again.
“I've been working on this with Brad. I guess my physics professor helped too. It's a gift for you, actually. I've been busy with it for the last few paws.”
A gift? I hardly deserved one.
“You shouldn't have gone through the trouble,” I blurted. “Shit, it's the end of the term. You shouldn't be worried about me.”
“I'm not worried about you, doofus! Well…I am but that's not why I put this together. Besides, it's already done so don't reject it now.”
She lifted up the top half of the box and inside was a long, curved piece of metal tubing. It ended with a bell shape. Attached were a few strange devices I didn't recognize. It shone brightly, reflecting the light in the room.
…
“Uh…what is it?” I asked.
“BRAD, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”
Her sudden outburst caught me off-guard and I straightened up in response as she continued.
“I swear…Why wouldn't he show you after he showed me? Then again, he only showed me because I asked. But then, why didn't you ask about it? You're a music student! Damn it, this isn't going how I planned. Mezil, this is a trombone. It's a Human instrument.”
A human…instrument?
A HUMAN INSTRUMENT?
“How did you get a human instrument?!” I asked, nearly jumping onto the thing in my excitement.
“I made it! All in all, the instrument wasn't that complex to build with university machinery. The hard part was making it playable for Venlil. See, Humans do this thing with their lips and facial muscles…anyway, I had to emulate the whole thing mechanically.”
“You…did all of this for me?” I felt the tears forming in my eyes.
“Well…yeah.”
“How does it work? I've never seen anything like it. Holy shit, Kila, this is AWESOME!”
“Ok, so, first we need to put it together. See, the slide and the bell screw together here.”
She took the two pieces from the case and joined them at a threaded section, screwing a nut into place to secure them together.
“Then, you attach the mouthpiece here and place your mouth up to it to blow air through it. But, this is the weird part. Usually, Humans have to use their lips to make vibrations but we can't exactly do that. So, I built this here to serve the same purpose.”
Kila walked me through the functionality of the mechanism, showing me the buttons for changing the harmonic and also the less than glamorous spit valve at the bottom of the slide.
After getting her rundown, I tried it myself, placing my mouth up to the mouthpiece and pushing air through the vibrating gate.
Kila explained that I could use my tongue to cut the air flow and that it could create different effects on the tone. Pushing the air through was harder than expected as the gate restricted the air flow. Apparently, this was by design. It allowed for longer sustain since it didn't immediately require all the air in my body.
Despite the minimal air throughput, just enough to maintain a steady air column, the trombone was actually rather loud. Even the quietest tones I could produce had a significant amount of volume backing them. But, what was perhaps the most intriguing thing was the variety of sound it produced. The softer tones were melodic while the more forceful tones were almost disconcerting.
“You'll need to keep both the main slide and tuning slide greased well. You can detach the wire for the slide detection right here. The whole apparatus can be detached by removing these screws in case you need to clean the instrument. Just make sure to dry it well if you use water so it doesn't rust. And, make sure to keep dents out of the slides.”
As Kila finished her walkthrough, I placed the trombone down gently on top of its case and wrapped Kila in the best hug I could manage.
“Thank you, Kila,” I choked out. “It's amazing. You’re amazing! How did you manage this in two paws?”
“It was three paws, actually.”
“Three paws?”
“Yeah. I spoke to Brad about it that paw when you were at the library. Then, the next paw I spent playing with the design and running simulations. The next paw I built this one.”
“If it's been three paws…wait…”
Relinquishing my hug, I started rifling through my bag for my pad. I brought up the calendar, searching for assignment due dates.
My heart dropped into my stomach when I found what I was looking for.
“Oh no.”
“Mezil?”
“Oh no no no no no fuck fuck fuck FUCK!”
“Mezil, what's wrong?”
“I missed turning in like four assignments! I thought I had one more paw!”
The worry on her face only worsened as she realized the weight of what I was saying. I'd been scraping by, trying to maintain a GPA that would allow me to retain my scholarship.
I just threw that effort away.
I couldn't handle any missing assignments. My grades would still be passing but below the scholarship cutoff.
“Mezil,” she started. “Listen to me. We’ll figure it ou-”
“I'm such a fucking moron, Kila! Fuck! Everything I've done up until now…I just ruined all of it!”
“Look, maybe you can get some extra credit!”
“That's not even the point!” The tears of joy that had been in my eyes were being replaced with tears of anger as I nearly shouted in frustration. “I'm not closing the gap on my schoolwork! It's just getting worse!”
I sat back down on her bed, burying my face in my paws. Kila sat down beside me and wrapped me in a hug of her own. I felt her tail intertwine with mine like I had done when she had her first call with Brad.
“It's alright,” she spoke soothingly. “We’ll figure something out.”
“Why do you keep helping me?” I choked out. “I just keep fucking everything up.”
“No you don't. You're brave and strong. You're kind.”
“All I do is fail. Why even make this trombone for me?”
“Because…Well, actually, I wanted to ask you out for a date…So, do you wanna go out some time?”
…
What?
“I-I'm sorry?” I stammered. “Did I hear you right?”
I saw her face turn a bright orange. I felt my own face follow suit.
“Yeah. But, uh, this isn't how I expected it to go. I'm sorry. It's probably a bad time to mention it now.”
Kila’s sudden confession had snapped me out of my downward spiral completely. If anything, it was the best timing.
“Why me, though?”
“Why not you? You're a great friend. You're passionate about music, smart, and…kinda cute?”
“I'm cute, huh?” I asked, trying to add an air of teasing while I wiped tears from my eyes.
She flicked her ears in annoyance.
“Well, it helps when you clean up like you did. What shampoo is this? I like the smell.”
I chuckled at her response, feeling the tension leave my muscles.
“Mistfruit, I think.”
“So, uh,” Kila continued. “What's the answer then?”
“Answer?”
“Do you wanna go out with me?”
“Sure. But, I think I'm just happy to spend time with you anywhere.”
I didn't know where my words were coming from. There was something that I'd never consciously realized until that point: Kila was easy to talk to. With her, I could speak my mind and, despite all my social shortcomings, it was just natural. Everything felt simple with her. I didn’t mind opening up if she was around.
But I still had a problem.
I sighed and leaned into her embrace, nuzzling into her fur.
“I'm sorry, I shouldn't mention it again but what am I gonna do about my grades, Kila? School just isn’t going well at all.”
“Just do what you can. Talk to the professors. Maybe they'll give you a helping paw. Maybe some extra credit like the music assignment.”
“I don't know. Some of them are real hardasses.”
She chuckled at my response.
“Well, maybe you’ll lose that scholarship. There could still be other financial options. Maybe you can find another way to afford it.”
At this point, I was content to listen to her suggestions regardless of whether or not they were realistic. I just found myself lost in her embrace, kept calm by her steady arms.
Then, as if to spite that serenity, my pad rang once again.
“Shit, now is not the time,” I grumbled as Kila released her grip. I picked my pad up and checked the number. “A university number? Who would call me from the school?”
“It could be important,” Kila said, leaning over my shoulder. “You should answer.”
I flicked my tail in agreement and tapped to accept. The screen changed and I was met with Professor Haeli’s face.
“Hello, Mezil.”
“Professor Haeli?”
“I'm sorry to use your personal number but the university had it on record and I felt like I needed to run this by you over a call rather than a message through the school portal. Do you have a moment?”
I turned my ears inquisitively towards Kila who flicked her own ears in a ‘go ahead’ motion.
“Uh, yeah, I've got time.”
“Good. See, I spoke with Headmaster Blyne and I was able to negotiate for a bit of an opportunity.”
An opportunity?
What kind of opportunity could Haeli have for me? The extra credit assignment was already for full marks in her class. She spoke with the headmaster…How big of a deal was this?
I didn’t need to wait long for her to answer my question as she continued her spiel.
“We’ve decided that the best way to determine the merit in Human-Venlil cooperation would be to attempt something more tangible than a report. The headmaster is looking for something more practical and I suggested that we could have an in-person musical performance here at the university. That is, one that includes both Human and Venlil performers.”
A live performance? Here at White Hill?
As far as I knew, there hadn’t been any Human presence at White Hill. It would likely be the very first time. The in-person avenues for the exchange program had been restricted to military personnel. But, perhaps the university had enough leverage to get a civilian onto Venlil Prime.
I found myself wondering what the concert had to do with me. I was only a first-term student. I’d only partaken in a couple of recitals. Certainly, they didn’t want me as a performer.
“What exactly do you need from me?” I asked, unsure of what to make of the situation
“I’d like you to perform, Mezil. I know you haven’t had much of a chance to prove your musical capabilities. No first-term student has. But, you have shown a progressive mindset towards Humans and the ability to adapt to challenges. As far as I know, there’s no one more qualified for this particular event.”
I let her words sink in. She really wasn’t concerned with my lack of experience? In that case, I suppose I was the most qualified.
“Moreover,” she continued. “You’d need to determine the setlist yourself. We’re looking for both Human and Venlil musical representation. The instruments you choose to use are up to you. It really depends on how you choose to arrange your pieces. I’m willing to offer assistance in that regard. The concert would be shortly after the end of the term; five paws after the finalized grades.
You may be wondering what you’d receive in exchange. The headmaster and I went back and forth and decided that, should the performance go well, the university will place you in a program for Human integration going forward. And, you’ll be provided free tuition and board so long as you succeed in that position.”
A full ride scholarship…A FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP!
“I’ll do it!” I sputtered. “Whatever it takes, I’ll make sure the performance goes well!”
“Now, hold on a moment, Mezil,” Haeli spoke with a warning tone. “Certainly, you must know how high the expectations are for this. Don’t agree to it so lightly. This is a very delicate situation that will influence the perception of Humans by the student body and staff. It needs to be near-perfect. I’ll help, of course. But, don’t think this is going to be easy. Headmaster Blyne still needs to work with the UN to get permission to bring a Human civilian here. We’re tentatively assuming that it will be approved since the UN has been very accommodating regarding personnel thus far.
As of now, we don’t have any set Human performers. That will partly be your responsibility unless you cannot find anyone on your own. The civilian comm line to Earth is set to be complete in two paws. You should have free reign to go looking for prospective musicians. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. You may want to mull things over for a paw before committing. It won't be a walk in the park. And, I still expect the report from you as well. If you want perfect marks this term that is.”
I flicked my ears in acknowledgement.
“Thank you, professor!” I nearly shouted. “I’m glad that you chose to involve me. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
Haeli wagged her tail, seemingly pleased with my response.
“Well then, Mezil, I hope to hear from you again soon. For now, I’ll leave you to it. Have a good rest of your paw.”
“You too, professor.”
The call ended and I slumped on the bed, melting into the soft mattress.
“You are so damn lucky,” Kila said as she laid down next to me.
“I have so much work to do,” I responded.
“So…I assume you’re going to get Brad involved?”
“Of course. If I can bring him here to White Hill, that would be awesome.”
“I'm sure he'd be happy to join. It does sound like a ton of work though. Integrating Human and Venlil music with each other sounds tough.”
“Well, luckily I just so happen to have a Human instrument to work with. Someone very special to me made it as a gift.”
Kila nuzzled into me and I returned the favor.
I’ve already worn myself out. So much for a break. That's alright. No one said college would be easy.
And, I wouldn't mind staying in this moment forever.
-
Memory transcription subject: Brad Silmore, Human Field Hand
Date [standardized human time]: September 8, 2136
Watching the sun creep up and over the top of its arc, I found myself a little puzzled. I'd thought for sure that Mezil would have been itching to call. It was, after all, the weekend which was the best time for me to help him with his report.
Then again, he seemed pretty tunnel-visioned on the music hidden in the ceiling of that library. Maybe he was still focused on that. Hell, maybe he forgot what day it was.
I wonder what kind of progress Kila was making on her attempt to make a trombone. She seemed smart. Probably wouldn't take her very long.
Snapping me out of my thoughts, the exchange program app on my computer sounded an alert, luckily still audible to me on the front porch. Looked like Mezil decided to call after all.
I meandered inside, closing the door behind me and seating myself at my desk. My hand moved the mouse to click the accept button. As I pressed down, I realized I might want to turn to the side but it was too late. Mezil and Kila’s faces populated the monitor. Luckily, neither of them seemed phased by my staring into the webcam.
“Well, well, well,” I started. “I guess you didn't forget about me after all.”
“Sorry, I forgot that you were off work,” came Mezil’s sheepish response.
Heh. Sheepish.
“More like he forgot what paw it was,” Kila corrected. “He almost screwed up big time.”
Wow, I didn't actually expect to be right about that.
“I did screw up big time. But, I had a lucky break.”
On the bed behind where the two sat, I saw a trombone with a strange set of accessories tacked onto it. Did Kila already finish the construction? Then, that means…
“I see you've been acquainted with a trombone,” I noted. “So, did everything go exactly as you'd planned, Kila?”
Both their faces turned orange which answered my question for me.
“N-not exactly,” Kila stammered. “But, it worked out I think.”
Mezil supplemented his agreeing ear flicks with a head nod.
“Good stuff, I knew you had it in you. So, what's this monumental error that Mezil supposedly made?”
Mezil’s orange shade turned even more orange.
“Well, since I didn't realize what paw it was, I forgot to turn in a number of assignments.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. I knew how precarious his situation was academically.
“You're not failing any classes now are you?” I questioned.
“I'm not failing any of them, but I don't think I can keep my scholarship. Luckily, my music professor contacted me with an opportunity. She wants to do a concert with Venlil and Humans performing. And, the university is offering a position in an integration program if it goes well. If I succeed, I could get a full ride scholarship.”
Kila wagged her tail, looking almost more excited than Mezil himself. It was for good reason. What excellent news!
“That's awesome, Mezil! I know you'll knock it out of the park!”
They both turned their heads in confusion.
Oh yeah. That probably doesn't translate right.
“Er…it means you'll do a great job. It's a sports analogy.”
The pair flicked their ears in understanding. I was beginning to impress myself with how well I could read the Venlil body language.
“I plan to do my best,” Mezil confirmed. “And, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like your help.”
“Sure thing,” I responded. “Need some song suggestions?”
“Actually, I was hoping you could be a part of the performance, coming to Venlil Prime to play.”
Me? Performing on Venlil Prime.
“Mezil,” I started. “I'm not a professional musician. There have to be tons of people more qualified.”
“It doesn't matter,” he insisted. “I’m only a first-term student myself. It's not as much about musical ability. It's more about how well we can cooperate. And, you're a plenty good musician. I've heard you play. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. Just something to show that we can make good things together.”
The explanation made sense. If it was about showing the potential for Human integration, having two exchange partners would be a good plan.
“Can I even get to Venlil Prime?” I asked. “I thought it was only for military personnel.”
“My professor seems confident that they can get the UN to work it out. The request would come from the university so it would have some professional leverage.”
If I can really go to another planet…
“Alright, Mezil. I'm in. It's been a while since I practiced for something serious. But, I'll put my best foot forward.”
Mezil wagged his tail with happiness.
“Great! We’ll need to get a set list together first.”
“Well, I've got time. How would you two like to explore some music with me?”
Both of them leaned forward in anticipation.
Shoot, I didn't actually prepare anything. What haven't they heard yet?
I stopped and considered my options for a moment before a grin spread across my face.
“I do believe you've yet to be acquainted with disco.”
-
First / Prev / Next
2023.06.09 19:40 BlackMageofPhantasm PSA: The summary of your story is just as important as what you’ve actually written
You want a prospective reader to check out your story. But, readers are a skeptical group, cautious about checking out something by authors they either don’t already follow, or read stories that weren’t recommended to them, either by friends or from other sites. They have a limited amount of time to spend, so they have to make sure whatever story they’re gonna check out is one they’re reasonably sure is something they’ll like. And with dozens, possibly hundreds of stories constantly being posted/updated on a daily basis, they have a plethora of options to choose from. So they have to decide which story they want to give a chance. The one story out of possible hundreds that they believe is something they will like reading.
And the way they make that decision, is often through the summary.
The summary is not some afterthought that you shouldn’t put any effort into. It is often the deciding factor in whether or not a reader will give your story a chance. Tell me, if you were wandering through a bookstore, would you give a novel a chance if it was just a title, a picture, and gave absolutely no description about what it was even about? Yes, you could open the page and get a glimpse of the story, but why would you, when there's another book right next to it that not only tells you what it’s about, gives a good idea of the themes and tone, but also does such a good job at pitching the book, that you’re reasonably sure you’ll like it. Much more so than a book that didn’t tell you anything about it, and could very well be telling a type of story you don’t like reading about. So you put down that book with no summary, and start reading the one that did have one, and did it so well it hooked you in just a couple sentences.
The point I’m trying to make, is that summaries have much more power than you might think. They are one of, if not the, biggest reason a reader will even consider giving what you’ve written a chance. Because, to the reader, if you can’t write something interesting enough to pitch your story to them, why should they give it a chance when another story did a much better job of making what they’ve written sound fun and interesting.
There are other factors at play, yes. Another big factor, arguably the biggest factor, is a reader’s taste in fanfiction. If your summary is for a story that’s more focused on action, and you make sure to convey that the story is one more focused on action through your summary, then someone who’s only interested in romance probably won’t check it out, regardless of how interesting the summary makes it sound. But, to the people who are interested in action-focused stories, your summary should be something that will get them interested enough to check out your first chapter, because, for the most part, they are the ones who will make up a majority of your audience. And if you can’t convince them, then your reader base will be a lot smaller than you hoped.
Now, what exactly makes a “good” summary? That, is a very specific question, and really depends on what exactly you have written, on the themes and plot points and characters and moments you plan on writing about. You could make a whole series of posts about that, and with the limited amount of words I have left for this post, I can’t really go into it here.
But, I can tell you what makes a bad summary. Elements that will unquestionably make any prospective reader be incredibly hesitant to check out your story, if not just automatically decide what you’ve written is bad without so much as opening the first chapter. The biggest ones, are the following two:
Summaries that have poor spelling and grammar. Even if you have proper spelling and grammar in the story, why should they assume that it does if you couldn’t even do that in the summary? The summary can serve as a glimpse into your skills as a writer, both in terms of prose, and the technical aspects of it. So most readers will assume that a summary with poor SPAG is written by someone who is either inexperienced, or didn’t put that much effort into the summary, and probably didn’t put that much effort into the story (even if that's wrong).
But the biggest thing that makes a summary bad, is when an author, instead of writing a short blurb that tries to tell readers what their story is about, instead writes, “I’m bad at summaries” or “I suck at summaries, lol” or especially writes “I’m a bad writer, but please check out my story.” Or any similar sentences. Why would any reader think your story will be something they will enjoy reading when, to them, you’re all but saying “I either genuinely can’t think of how to pitch my story or can’t be bothered to do so, and that is a direct indicator of my skills and/or genuine passion for writing stories?” These types of summaries are all but screaming to the reader that, to them, you are a bad writer, and that they shouldn’t give your story a chance because they’ll just be disappointed by what they will read (even if that isn't true). And so, your chances of getting anyone to read your stories, will plummet to basically zero.
Look, it’s not easy writing a summary. Every writer, professional, hobbyist, every single one, struggles to write one. It’s hard to find a short blurb that can not only tell the reader what your story is about, but also is interesting enough that it will make them want to at the very least give your story a peak. And if anything, it’s harder to write one when you're a fanfic writer. For one thing, it doesn’t help that writing summaries on sites like FFN, which have around a 73 word summary limit, vastly limits how long you can make it, and makes it harder to pitch your story with so little words; and that’s also not even mentioning how some sites, again FFN, restrict how you can format the summary, to the point you can’t do something like take a snippet from your story and use that as a summary.
But the biggest difficulty for fanfic authors when writing summaries is that we’re writing stories for characters and worlds that people have an attachment to. That they care deeply about, so they want to read stories that they think will let them fall in love with those worlds and characters again. So they’ll judge the summaries even harder, because they don’t want to waste time on a story they think won’t let them experience those feelings again.
The summary is a difficult beast, of that, there is no question. But it’s one we can tame, and use to our advantage. You can look up examples of how other people in your fandom write their theirs. If you have one, you could get a beta reader to check out your summary, and then they can offer their thoughts about the summary, how they imagined what type of story the summary was describing, and then use that feedback to adjust the summary as needed. You can ask other authors for advice on how they made their summaries and see if you can apply their techniques to your own summary. You can do all that and more.
A summary is important, but what it is, ultimately, is up for you to decide. It can be as short or long as you want it to be (assuming the site you’re posting to doesn’t have that many restrictions), direct or vague, whimsy or terrifying, factual or exaggerated, anything. You just gotta make sure it’s the best damn summary you can make it, and one you’re personally happy with.
I hope this helps.
submitted by BlackMageofPhantasm to FanFiction [link] [comments]
And the way they make that decision, is often through the summary.
The summary is not some afterthought that you shouldn’t put any effort into. It is often the deciding factor in whether or not a reader will give your story a chance. Tell me, if you were wandering through a bookstore, would you give a novel a chance if it was just a title, a picture, and gave absolutely no description about what it was even about? Yes, you could open the page and get a glimpse of the story, but why would you, when there's another book right next to it that not only tells you what it’s about, gives a good idea of the themes and tone, but also does such a good job at pitching the book, that you’re reasonably sure you’ll like it. Much more so than a book that didn’t tell you anything about it, and could very well be telling a type of story you don’t like reading about. So you put down that book with no summary, and start reading the one that did have one, and did it so well it hooked you in just a couple sentences.
The point I’m trying to make, is that summaries have much more power than you might think. They are one of, if not the, biggest reason a reader will even consider giving what you’ve written a chance. Because, to the reader, if you can’t write something interesting enough to pitch your story to them, why should they give it a chance when another story did a much better job of making what they’ve written sound fun and interesting.
There are other factors at play, yes. Another big factor, arguably the biggest factor, is a reader’s taste in fanfiction. If your summary is for a story that’s more focused on action, and you make sure to convey that the story is one more focused on action through your summary, then someone who’s only interested in romance probably won’t check it out, regardless of how interesting the summary makes it sound. But, to the people who are interested in action-focused stories, your summary should be something that will get them interested enough to check out your first chapter, because, for the most part, they are the ones who will make up a majority of your audience. And if you can’t convince them, then your reader base will be a lot smaller than you hoped.
Now, what exactly makes a “good” summary? That, is a very specific question, and really depends on what exactly you have written, on the themes and plot points and characters and moments you plan on writing about. You could make a whole series of posts about that, and with the limited amount of words I have left for this post, I can’t really go into it here.
But, I can tell you what makes a bad summary. Elements that will unquestionably make any prospective reader be incredibly hesitant to check out your story, if not just automatically decide what you’ve written is bad without so much as opening the first chapter. The biggest ones, are the following two:
Summaries that have poor spelling and grammar. Even if you have proper spelling and grammar in the story, why should they assume that it does if you couldn’t even do that in the summary? The summary can serve as a glimpse into your skills as a writer, both in terms of prose, and the technical aspects of it. So most readers will assume that a summary with poor SPAG is written by someone who is either inexperienced, or didn’t put that much effort into the summary, and probably didn’t put that much effort into the story (even if that's wrong).
But the biggest thing that makes a summary bad, is when an author, instead of writing a short blurb that tries to tell readers what their story is about, instead writes, “I’m bad at summaries” or “I suck at summaries, lol” or especially writes “I’m a bad writer, but please check out my story.” Or any similar sentences. Why would any reader think your story will be something they will enjoy reading when, to them, you’re all but saying “I either genuinely can’t think of how to pitch my story or can’t be bothered to do so, and that is a direct indicator of my skills and/or genuine passion for writing stories?” These types of summaries are all but screaming to the reader that, to them, you are a bad writer, and that they shouldn’t give your story a chance because they’ll just be disappointed by what they will read (even if that isn't true). And so, your chances of getting anyone to read your stories, will plummet to basically zero.
Look, it’s not easy writing a summary. Every writer, professional, hobbyist, every single one, struggles to write one. It’s hard to find a short blurb that can not only tell the reader what your story is about, but also is interesting enough that it will make them want to at the very least give your story a peak. And if anything, it’s harder to write one when you're a fanfic writer. For one thing, it doesn’t help that writing summaries on sites like FFN, which have around a 73 word summary limit, vastly limits how long you can make it, and makes it harder to pitch your story with so little words; and that’s also not even mentioning how some sites, again FFN, restrict how you can format the summary, to the point you can’t do something like take a snippet from your story and use that as a summary.
But the biggest difficulty for fanfic authors when writing summaries is that we’re writing stories for characters and worlds that people have an attachment to. That they care deeply about, so they want to read stories that they think will let them fall in love with those worlds and characters again. So they’ll judge the summaries even harder, because they don’t want to waste time on a story they think won’t let them experience those feelings again.
The summary is a difficult beast, of that, there is no question. But it’s one we can tame, and use to our advantage. You can look up examples of how other people in your fandom write their theirs. If you have one, you could get a beta reader to check out your summary, and then they can offer their thoughts about the summary, how they imagined what type of story the summary was describing, and then use that feedback to adjust the summary as needed. You can ask other authors for advice on how they made their summaries and see if you can apply their techniques to your own summary. You can do all that and more.
A summary is important, but what it is, ultimately, is up for you to decide. It can be as short or long as you want it to be (assuming the site you’re posting to doesn’t have that many restrictions), direct or vague, whimsy or terrifying, factual or exaggerated, anything. You just gotta make sure it’s the best damn summary you can make it, and one you’re personally happy with.
I hope this helps.