#[[ its seriously one of my BIGGEST worries /gen ]]

[chthonine]

feel free to scroll ghgnhh

been thinking about nat.lan a lot recently, and the way I just KNOW ppl in the gen.pact rpc are gonna erase the hispanic and latino representation from the nation genuinely hurts a lot to realize

[kokichi-and-co-imagine-blog]

To everyone: what would your Pokemon teams be and why?

Oh good god.

Well… this is going to get complicated. At least from me.

Let’s start with assuming no legendary Pokemon. Makes life a bit easier. Of course only a bit.

So… first off a lot of this depends on generation and limit. If you’re asking for a full team that I would have with rotations and stuff, we’re looking at… probably close to 10 full teams of 6, maybe even more.

In my defense, I’m a major Pokemon fan and I really really like a lot of them.

Of course, if we’re going to cut down the team to a more manageable six which can be from any region/gen, but only one from each region/gen to keep things interesting and varied… well, it would depend on a lot of things, including mood and such, so if one were to ask me this question again it would likely change. But, here would be, as I feel right now, the team I would use if I was limited to only six, one per region/gen.

1: Lucario. I’ve been a fan of this guy for so so long, ever since it was first introduced. I loved Lucario and the mystery of Mew as a kid (still kinda do). The whole concept behind aura is amazing. One’s spiritual energy/life force/ soul being utilized in combat? Being able to sense others and see without seeing? So awesome. Lucario is just SO. FREAKING. COOL. It’s design is wonderful as well. Jackel/Anubis? Yes please. Plus, I’ve been maining Lucario in Smash Bros. ever since Brawl. You better believe it’s making my team.

2: Tyranitar. Is it probably the weakest pseudo legendary when it comes to typing? Yes. Do I care? No. Tyranitar is BA. First, it’s one of the only two pseudo’s to not be a dragon. Yes, 8 regions, 9 pseudo’s, and only 2 are not dragons. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some dragons. But… variety would be nice, you know? But yeah, not a dragon, still awesome. It’s Godzilla for crying out loud! Plus, its design is just so good. It’s simple but perfect. It’s a giant Lizard creature that could fell mountains. It doesn’t need to be complicated, and is perfectly awe-inspiring and terrifying without being complicated. I also used a Tyranitar in my Ultra Sun playthrough, a male one named Typhon, Man was he fun to use.

3: Golisopod. Listen, if a Pokemon is good enough for YOUR BOI GUZMA to use it on his team, you know it’s a good pokemon. It’s the Alola take on Gyarados and Milotic (weak pathetic first stage with few moves  and while those two do have a slightly higher BST, that ain’t enough to keep my boy Golisopod down. Golisopod’s design is just so good. An Isopod mixed with a Samurai? Sign me right up thank you. It mixes the creepy crawly aesthetic of the bug type with the strong proud samurai perfectly and I love it. And yeah, sure Emergency Exit can be kind of annoying, but it allows you a second usage of First Impression. That is worth it. Also, it’s shiny is dope.

4: Toxtricity. Part of building a team means keeping in mind type composition. I love Grimmsnarl dearly and equally, if not more so, but I already have one Dark-type on the team, so Toxtricity manages to bag this spot. At least, for now considering my current mood. Ask me again tomorrow, or even in an hour, my answer may very well change. Anyway, Toxtricity itself. When I fist saw the design, I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt. It was… interesting to say the least, but I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at, or what it was supposed to be. But after some more time with it, learning more about it and using one I can say that Toxtricity is easily one of my new favorites. Quite possibly my absolute fave from Gen 8. A punk lizard that plays music? Rock/Metal? HECK. YES. The form change is also pretty nice. The stats don’t change between the two, but I honestly like it that way. Just the idea that more energetic natures would have an ‘Amped Up’ form based on an electric guitar while the more mellow natures would have a ‘Lowkey’ one based on a bass is ingenious. Same with the movepool changes. It makes sense that the different forms with their different music preference would have different moves. (My personal fave is the Amped Up, especially with its shiny colors.) Plus, an electric posion type? SO. COOL. Who cares about 4x weak to earthquake, this thing is boss! And Punk Rock is an amazing ability.

5: Flygon. Man oh man was Flygon treated poorly. Added in Gen 3 as a solid pokemon, but with a better attack stat than a special attack one. True, not bad in it of itself but before the Special/Physical split, ALL Dragon-type moves were special. Meaning Dragon Claw, a solid dragon type move back in Gen 3, wasn’t yet a physical move. And Outrage wasn’t even something Flygon could learn yet (it wouldn’t be until Gen 7 that it became a TM). Then came gen 4. Now, I love gen 4. I truly do. It is by far my favorite Gen. And it did do something very good for Flygon. It gave the special/physical split, allowing some Dragon type moves to now be physical as well. But you know what else came along? Garchomp. Honestly, I like Garchomp, I do. But suddenly here we are with a new Dragon/Ground type that is a pseudo-legendary? My poor poor Flygon. And it didn’t get any better. I mean seriously, give Mewtwo and Charizard two megas but none to Flygon? WHILE GIVING ONE TO GARCHOMP WHO DIDN’T NEED IT AND WAS ITS BIGGEST COMPETITION?! Why Game Freak? Why?Anyway, mini-rant aside, I love Flygon. The design is incredible. The line is based on an antlion and is so cool. That sweet green design and the little lenses over the eyes? Perfect, just perfect. Plus, it has some sweet lore. Appearing in sandstorms with haunting music coming from its wings? Yes please. Beautiful pokemon that was done such disservices. It’s a shame really. With Megas gone, Flygon will likely never get that final boost it needs. Though considering it is in Galar while Garchomp isn’t… maybe Flygon will have a chance to shine again. (A shame though that it will never get to have a type change to Bug Dragon. Would be sick.) Regardless of the future though, Flygon will always have a place in my heart, and in my team. 

6: Zoroark. Yeah, I know what I said about team composition above with Toxtricity and Grimmsnarl. But  I also pointed out mood has a lot to do with it. Anyway, for Zoroark itself. Like Lucario, I’veb een a fan for so long, ever since it was first introduced. It’s kinda funny in a way. Zoroark acts as the perfect yin to Lucario’s yang. Lucario uses aura to sense things and to see, Zoroark is the maser of illusions. In it of itself, this illusion business is awesome, but add in how it counters Lucario and it works just so well. Typing as well, Lucario is a fighting steel, the type you’d think of for a chivalrous paladin of justice and truth, while Zoroark is dark (evil type in Japan), perfect for a sly illusion master. Of course, it’s not just dualism with Lucario. The line is just so amazing itself. Clearly drawing from Kitsune, Zoroark is a sly fox that is able to not just use illusions, but masters them to the point of being able to create solid constructs out of them (see the anime). It is just so cool, how can I not love it? Also, like Tyranitar before it, I used a female one named Vixen in my Ultra Sun playthrough and it was a delight. 

Anyway, that would be my team. You know, assuming all the limitations I put on myself and my mood at this moment. But if you guys enjoyed this and want to know more about my favorite pokemon, please let me know. I’m always happy and excited to talk about Pokemon.

Anyway, going to hand this over to the other mods. I’ve been monopolizing this ask for too long.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ooo!! This’ll be fun to answer! Cause, well, I love Pokémon!!!

But, forgive me for this; I haven’t played any of the games.

So im just saying my favorite characters!!!

1: Glacieon, I really, really like glacieons and have always loved ice type Pokémon. Mainly because I really like the cold. Like; really, really, like the cold. I also really like her attacks, their cool!!! (Pun intended)

2: Furret. Absolutely furret, I never knew why I liked furret, but. I’m just gonna blame it on me really liking Ferrets and cause I honestly have really liked normal types for some reason.

3: Vulpix (either one), I really like any fire type Pokémon mainly because I’ve always just had a very weird interest in fire and because vulpix can be either a fire or ice Pokémon I love that about them. And they remind me of a bunch of irl animals that I love!!

4: Smom , I LOVE THOSE LIL ICE BABEYS SO MUCH!?!? They are so cute-!? I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH???! They are all my children and I want to adopt them all, and I will. No one can stop me………except maybe the other mods-

5: Sylveon, absolutely. I always have such an attachment even with digital animals, so I absolutely would give my eevee enough attention and love for them to evolve into sylveon. Honestly, it’d end up be accidental, but, I still really love Sylveon, and wouldn’t care if I got more than one of them-

6: Flareon, listen- I just love eevees okay-? I love them all so so much, and would lay down my life for each and every one of them. Just 💞💞💕💖💓💖💝💞💖💕💝💓💕💞💖💞💖💝💘💖💕💕💞

——————————————————————————

Ah, I bet you missed hearing from me! No worries, I’ll tell you my pokemon team, even if it’s not particularly exciting.

First off, a Pachirisu is a must for my team. I’ve always loved how hyper it can be and the mishaps it would cause. Plus, c’mon- who doesn’t like its color scheme?

I’d also incorporate Chimchar to my team. I’ve always had a soft spot for Chimchar, since it was my first ever starter and I leveled mine all the way up to 100 in my Pokemon Platinum playthrough.

Yamper definitely had my heart the moment I saw it! I have a really strong love for dogs, and its addition to the game got me so excited!! Kirigiri can vouch for me on that one.

Growlithe is also integral to me. When my dog was a puppy, I used to jokingly call her a growlithe. I don’t think I still have pictures, but I even got her a floof for halloween once so she could be in a costume with me. Also... Arcanine is seriously badass.

Wooloo is super cute too! I love that it rolls away from its problems, and I, too, wish to do that. Plus the braids immediately reminded me of Peko, so I was super soft for it the moment it was revealed.

Finally, I’ll add my favorite Eeveelution to the team: Glaceon! Something about its sleek design always made me happy, and the way its fur sharpens as defense is super interesting!

(If legendaries were allowed on the team, I would’ve added either Giratina or Shaymin. They’re my favorites.

[r0botarmsapts]

Title: In His Honor Rating: PG Words: 1,697, give or take. Cross-posting to Ao3, ff.net and dA. Disclaimer: I own the writing but not the characters or the game they’re from. Note: There are very small FureYuri undertones, but not direct. This is primarily gen and canon compliant. Yuri had done a lot for them in the Lower Quarter when it would have been better for him to not have done a thing. She had heard from Hanks what Yuri had done before he left to track down their aque blastia, and, sure, that was criminal activity, however, it was done to give them back things they had to scrounge to sell to cover the ever growing taxes. Some were personal items from loved ones passed or from what little they had left. The brunette’s thoughts turned to herself then, a nagging thought coming to mind that how were the ones wanting Flynn to succeed for their own selfish reasons better than the nobles who cared about status above most things? (The birth of the Yuri Defense Squad)

Yuri had only spoken to her briefly, confirming there were no other people from the Lower Quarter in need of rescuing elsewhere in the castle; they had all held down their own in the cafeteria, set on watch shifts and taking turns with tasks. Right now, it was her turn to go check on those that were injured during the escape from the lower part of the city.

It was all too easy to overhear some of them talking about how Flynn would be saving them and was already fighting bravely and hard, offering those assurances to others with frightened tears on their faces and hands far from steady. Being the founder of Flynn’s fanclub, she undoubtedly knew he would, but at the same time this sat uneasy with her, getting further under her skin the more she thought on it. Sparing a glance Yuri’s way, the brunette saw him looking with impatience born from worry, simply doing what he could while the others finished the meal prepared for them for their upcoming fights.

The aque blastia came to mind then- even though Flynn had been the one to return it to them, most had praised and thanked him for getting it back; he tried to explain this was really Yuri’s doing. At the time, she had thought he was being kind but now, now she wondered. Her and Yuri were far from close friends, her own family having warned her to keep away from someone like him, as if he were a criminal for the wrong reasons(recent events not helping). Flynn had been the one to catch her eye, and it was easy to cheer for him having the makings of a person to be remembered; losing his family to grow up among them then bring pride to those that took him in and be someone the people could rely on. Flynn may have noble blood in him, but was far from how most of them were. Flynn actually cared about them too...

But so did Yuri.

It was not long later that bandages were changed, Yuri and his group had left with thanks and their weapons on the ready, confident this would be over soon. The brunette’s feelings turned to troubled ones as she thought more on Flynn, Yuri and his newly acquired friends. Flynn was captain in the knights, so it was natural him and his brigade would be fighting as hard as they could to stop this new horror; Yuri was not. Yuri had no personal stake in any of this she knew of, and neither did his friends. That man was not telling and perhaps she should have pressed further. Yuri had done a lot for them in the Lower Quarter when it would have been better for him to not have done a thing. She had heard from Hanks what Yuri had done before he left to track down their aque blastia, and, sure, that was criminal activity, however, it was done to give them back things they had to scrounge to sell to cover the ever growing taxes. Some were personal items from loved ones passed or from what little they had left.

The brunette’s thoughts turned to herself then, a nagging thought coming to mind that how were the ones wanting Flynn to succeed for their own selfish reasons better than the nobles who cared about status above most things?

“What’s with the long face? You’ve been looking down for a while now.”

Looking at her cousin, her own expression barely changed. He had asked in a light-hearted tone, but she could tell he was concerned. It wasn’t so different from Yuri’s look earlier. Now was as good as time as ever to get information she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear. “Do you think things will really be okay? Yuri and his friends do look strong, and were confident it would be over soon, but this is something far from a normal monster or...” she didn’t finish, watching her cousin for his reaction.

For his part, there was a brief flash of confusion then the laid back grin he normally wore returned. “Yuri? Don’t tell me you’ve got eyes for him now.”

“Of course not,” she replied quickly, frowning and giving him a look that said he was being an idiot for assuming such a thing.

“I figured Flynn’s number one fan would be more concerned about him. He’s been out there risking his life for everyone. Flynn’s a real hero.”

There was a bit of a star struck tone to those words and really, she should have known. He had aspirations of joining the knights next year, having looked up to Flynn as an example that someone from the Lower Quarter could make it there. “You know, Yuri has been out there doing the same thing. The group he has look strong and were nice too.”

“Come on, you know better than that. Yuri is Yuri, and we don’t know why he’s doing it or much about those people either.” The implications they were doing it for personal gain went left unspoken.

“Then why don’t you ask him when they come back?”

He shot her a disbelieving look, putting his hands up in front of himself in mock defense. “No way! If they even think I’m associating with Yuri, that would ruin my chances at getting in the knights before I could try. How many times has he been arrested now anyway?”

Their conversation was interrupted by another man getting her cousins attention, informing him it was his time to take watch. He told her they would talk about it later and he was too happy to go on his shift. Left on her own again, the brunette could not sit still for her own break and went to talk to others while she had the chance.

Most conversations went close to the same, and at least there were those that cared, but put more faith in Flynn. Yuri had those that believed in him too, but the numbers were unfairly balanced given what Yuri had done for them. How many times has she went on and agreed with them too? Praising Flynn’s name above others all while Yuri was there acting like their own personal hero already?

A gentle tap on her shoulder got her attention, and she was a little surprised to see the kindly woman that ran the Inn.

“I’ve heard you going around asking about Yuri suddenly.” She spoke of Yuri’s name fondly, reminding the club founder of a mother speaking of their child. She had made sure Yuri and Repede had somewhere to stay, and knew of what happened during those three months he was gone. It wasn’t something he openly went in detail with with anyone else outside of Hanks and his wife either.

“Yuri was really the one that got our blastia back, wasn’t he?”

“Him and his friends, yes. Flynn did try and tell them it was Yuri’s doing, but very few would listen, let alone take that seriously. He had stopped by that afternoon for a short visit, looking frustrated over it.” The Innkeeper knew it was Yuri’s doing. She watched that boy grow up into someone that cared a great deal, letting insults bounce off his back with a snarky reply and a grin to match. Yuri had caused his share of trouble, for certain, but it was never for a cruel purpose.

“Flynn and Yuri are really close aren’t they?” She tucked away the knowledge over Yuri not getting credit for his work, then realized she couldn’t exactly recall a time he asked for any when he did something to help them.

The Innkeeper nodded. “Those two are a set, and Flynn thinks very highly of Yuri. You might be beaten out for being Flynn’s biggest supporter.”

That smile on her face felt like there was something else there, but now wasn’t the time to unpack it. “I see...” If they were a set, then the club would have to change very soon; hadn’t she had Flynn’s best interest in mind when making the club? It seemed like Yuri’s image was one of Flynn’s higher interests...

“I’m going on my watch now, and I think from the looks of it, you got what needed to hear,” the Innkeeper spoke kindly. They loved Yuri, he was part of their family but she was all too aware of the pressures Flynn had growing up regarding the knights, and that kind of life was never going to be Yuri’s. She knew Yuri’s true nature, and after all he had gone through for them, making sure he always had a place to come home to was the most she could offer him. Repede was an unexpected but welcome addition to their family as well- that dog understood them and she would stand by that. For now, it was time to get to her shift. She silently prayed to the maker that this ordeal would be over soon, for their boys and their friends fighting with everything to return home to them in one piece.

The time the brunette picked over the information for felt much longer than what it really was, but a decision had been made- one Flynn would approve of, the club founder was positive about that. Yuri had done more than she thought for all of them, their own protector not getting much in the way of thanks, dealing with insults and not enough credit for his work.

Her mind was made up; Flynn had many fans already. She would still keep her self-given title of his number one fan, and as that, the next time she saw Yuri he would be learning the Flynn Brigade Fanclub was gone; taking its place would be the now born Yuri Defense Squad.

Satisfied and determined, based on her conversations shortly ago, there was work to be do.

[jarmes]

Blind Shield Nuzlocke Notes 9

-After feeding him an ungodly amount of curry, Snowball evolved into a Frosmoth, boing HV the Toxtricity, Freight the Coalossal, Riot the Falinks, Echo the Obstagoon, and Nosferatu the Dreadnaw on my League team

-Side note, while I was grinding Snowball up to level fifty I swapped my main team for the backups so they wouldn’t get over leveled. Loraine evolves into a Centiscortch and Lord Tophat evolved into a Weezing

-Second side note, I just realized I accidentally used the letter L twice, ruining my naming convention

-On to Wyndon, which is based of one of the largest cities in Europe (the biggest?) and is so big it has a monorail to get around

-Oh god, there’s a guy offering a trade for a duraldon in return for Snowball. I am tempted, but no

-“Prepare to see all the forms of rotom” where’s fridge and fan you liar

-Idea: make a ground type bike rotom catchable next gen

-So an Alcremie almost one shorted Snowball but he held on because he has high affection. Thank god for curry

-“How many companies does Chairman Rose own?” He’s so obviously evil

-Screw What I said about Chirchester, THIS is a fancy hotel

-Ah man, no monorail animation?

-I gotta say, Windon is a bit of a disappointment. It looks amazing, but there isn’t a lot to do, especially when compared to Lumiose or Castelia. I can’t even ride the London Eye!

-“I feel like Challenger Blinkin has a balanced team, but he doesn’t have any way to decisively win” say that to my face bitch

-Hop and Marnie are at the stadium, bet I’ll face them and Bede in the championship

Team going in to the challengers cup, all level 55:

-Freight the Coalossal, caught in Galar Mine. Holding the rocky helmet. Knows Rock Slide, Heat Crash, Bulldoze, and Tar Shot

-Riot the Falinks, caught on South Route 8. Holding the Muscle Band. Knows Brick Break, First Impression, Close Combat, and No Retreat

-Nosferatu the Dreadnaw, caught in Giant’s Cap. Holds the Assault Vest. Knows Liquidation, Rock Slide, Crunch, and Ice Fang

-Echo the Obstagoon, caught on Route 3. Holds the leftovers. Knows Night Slash, Obstruct, Take Down, and Brick Break

-High Voltage the Toxtricity. Gifted on Route 5. Holds the Chiice Scarf. Knows Overdrive, Poison Jab, Boomburst, and Toxic

-Snowball the Frosmoth. Caught on North Route 8. Holds the Shell Bell. Knows Bug Buzz, Aurora Beam, Blizzard, and Quiver Dance

-Only four trainers competed the gym challenge. How interesting considering I have three rivals

-Wait, that means I won’t fight one

-Leading with Snowball because I have a feeling Marnie or Bede will be the first opponent

-And it’s Marnie, not surprising. I assume Hop will be next

-I just got quiver dance literally a minute before this battle (rare candies) and its perfect to take out Marnies dark team

-Also no healing or switch mode I’m deciding

Marnie

-First up is Liepard, predicting a fake out and going for quiver dance

-It used Torment. Gg, Marnie

-Next up is scrafty, dynamaxing to make sure aurora beam takes it out

-Marnie sent out Toxicroak, I did the same thing. should be able to take out all of the troublesome Pokémon before dm runs out

-Out goes her signature, more people, who goes down in one hit

-Marnie sent out grimsnarl as my dm ran out, going for another bug buzz

-And she gyantamaxed and almost killed me with snooze. But I lived

-Full sweep by the new guy

Hop

-And Hop is my opponent in the final. Am I the only competent trainer is this country?

-Predicting Corviknight as his lead, so HV is mine

-I honestly want to lose someone, just because Hop deserves a win

-Oh, he started with Dubwool

-Overdrive, cotton guard, full restore overdrive, overdrive, dubwool dead

-Hop switched to Snorlax. Riot would be better, but I’ll stick with the overdrive strat

-Oh shit almost killed me with high horsepower Riot it is

-And a brick break takes it out

-I think I’m a bit over leveled

-Hop sent out Corviknight, switched to freight, tanked a scary face

-Dynamaxed, took it out with heat crash after tanking a steal wing

-Pincuring barely survived a bulldoze. I took it out afterward, but I won’t have dynamax to take on Rillaboom

-Big monkey used mass quake, it almost killed freight, and somehow took no damage from heat crash

-Switching to Echo to stall the dynamax with obstruct

-Oh dynamax bypasses protect that’s fair

-Whatever, we’re on an even playing field now. Time to use double edge I learned from Beating Marnie

-Used obstruct to get a bit of hp because I was below half, took it out with two night slashed

-Well, he didn’t kill anyone, but he got close, so he should feel proud

-Now to take on Leon

-Or we can get takeout that’s cool too

-The apocalypse is going to happen before I fight Leon, isn’t it

-Fuck off paparazzi

-“Beating Hop was just luck” HAHAHAHAHA

-“Hop was just the rival a knew he was” a bad one

-“Think you can win the finals” Yes I’m the main character

-How does this work, plot wise, if you lose?

-Oh, Leon’s missing. Of course he is

-Leon’s at badguy’s base I was right apocalypse time

-Also, I don’t recall being able to go to rose tower. This implies windon is larger than I thought

-Piers doesn’t want the finals delayed...perhaps because the leaders are fought in the finals!

-That’s How we fight Bede because he’s balloon tower defense’s leader now

-TEAM SKULL ARE MY MINIONS NOW!

-The monorail goes through the Ferris wheel that isn’t safe

-Oh look Oleana is interfering because she’s evil

-Let’s go find the douchebag wearing sunglasses at night so we can mug him

-Okay, this dumb motherfucker decided to hide his sunglasses not by taking them off, but by staring at a goddamn wall

-God I’m over leveled

-Team skull helps me out!

-It took me 20 minutes to find the man in the phone booth

-Piers took our enemies with rock music!

-This tower is hella evil

-Murder elevator tower

-So I started this tower with Snowball out front and they only use steel types so I have to keep switching to Freight

-Also Hop starts with a dubwool the shit man

-Take a chill pill Ole

-Wait, you want to stop me so Leon can’t fight me so he’ll be sad and manipulable? Seriously?

-Frosslass, Salazzle, Milotic? So beauty/feminine pokemon

-Oh shit leg onion almost killed Snowball with acrobatics

-HER FINAL POKÉMON IS A GARBADOR YES!

-And I used my dm on Snowball so I’m taking this thing out with a non dmed HV

-It has boats it’s trash island just like galar

-Nevermind, HV’s almost dead. Switching to Echo

-Tanked two blows, time for night slash

-Ha! It uses toxic spikes!

-It did it again now it’s dead!

-Oh wow hand drawn image

-Leon’s still a good boy! Also disaster in a thousand years what

-Oh, Rose isn’t an evil coal baron. He’s an evil Elon Musk. So normal Elon Musk

-Wait, we aren’t fighting him? He’s...he’s evil! We know he’s evil! His minions tried to kill us five minutes ago!

-Whatever, it’s champion time

-I’ve been here before, Hop. I fought you here

-All of the leaders are in the lockers its rematch time

-Wait, no Bede or Opal

-I have no idea who I’ll be facing. Riot is up front I guess

-Bede’s back bitches!

-Oh shit, Riot is my lead. Wait I have a dark type I’ll be fine

-How did he even get here isn’t there security

Gym Leader Bede

-He’s starting with a Mawhile, Switching up his style

-Oh right Mawhile is a fairy type I should have switched. Whatever, it’s dead now

-I actually don’t have a good counter for gardevoir. Nosferatu cause he has an assault vest I guess.

-Dont use a full restore you little bitch

-Gardevoir down, onto Rapidash. The one that doesn’t explode when it sees a rock water

-This thing is so goddamn girly I love it

-I’m pretty sure it’s psychic, but I don’t know for sure so I’m cautious on switching to Echo

-Ha! Psycho Cut doesn’t affect me!

-Oh shit dazzling gleam. NVMD it did jack shit

-Good News: rapidash is dead. Bad news: my dark type only has 21 hit points

-Switching off Set makes the same so much more difficult I should have done this from the start

-Bede switched to hatterene and gygantamaxed

-OH GOD IT SMITED MY SNOWBALL AND ALMOST KILLED IT

-Okay, back to Nosferatu

-Okay, Nosferatu’s almost dead, back to Echo

-Switching to stall out dynamax is such a bullshit strategy

-Scouted with Obstruct, it used dazzling gleam

-Switching to Freight because she’s my only Pokémon who isn’t poison type or almost dead

-Took next to no damage, now for a max flare to end this

-GG, Bede. I know this is faint praise but that was the toughest rival battle in the game

-Okay, now for the real leaders

-I know I’m not fighting Raihan or Milo cause they’re fighting each other, so I have to worry about Water/Fire/Ghost/Ice/Dark for my first match. Nosferatu is the best for that lineup so he’s leading

-Okay, it’s Nessa. Not great, but I was tempted to go with freight instead of Nosferatu so it could be worse

Nessa

-First is Golispod. Eat rock slide

-It emergency exited to baraskewda, Switching to HV

-OH GOD DRILL RUN NEW PLAN RIOT I GUESS

-You know what? Not saving the dm. Riot flutterbied barraskewda to death

-Oh no, pelliper. Flying types are bad for riot. B: Drizzle

-It tanked a Max knuckle and used tailwind I’m fucked

-Switching back to Nosferatu. Took out pelliper but took a ton of damage. I’d switch, but the next Pokémon is a pelliper and I’m not a coward

-It almost killed by with waterfall but it’s dead now

-That leaves golispod and gm Dreadnaw. I’m going back to riot

-Killed golispod with first impression because irony

-Riots almost dead, but a close combat brought it low. Switching to Echo

-A powerful offensive move that lays stealth rock that’s broken.

-Onstruct to tank, then kill it with night slash

-OH GOD IT OUTSPED ME AND KILLED ECHO WITH LIQUIDATION

-HV barely survived the stealth rock, but Echo can Rest In Peace now

-Accidentally clicked away from the tournament screen, only saw that Piers went on. Going in pretty blind

-Replacing Echo with Warrior the grapploct. I know it’s doubling up on fighting, but it’s the only box Pokémon up to snuff

-Used some tms, current moveset Waterfall, Superpower, Brick Break, Dig

-You know, this tragedy would have been averted if I allowed healing

-Okay, making me fight the Ghost leader right after my Obstagoon dies is a dick move, game

Allister

-Is this a horrible set of working conditions destroying the games industry? CAUSE ITS CRUNCH TIME

-Duskinoir? CRONCH!

-Polteageist? CRONCH!

-Chandelure? Liquidation, actually

-Cursola? DYNAMAX CRONCH!

-Gygantamax Gengar? IRONIC VORR MONSTER CRONCH!

-So yeah, I griffin McElroy’d Allister to death

-Next up is Raihan, then Leon and Rose and box doggo and the ending. But I’ll handle that tomorrow cause it’s 2:30 AM and I got school tomorrow

-I mean, it’s in the afternoon, but I also have homework due at the start of class

[sophiainspace]

OMG, Sophia, you know where my heart lies. The first time Sara cried in front of the Legends (all at once or just one or two of them).

Prompt list: Firsts in found family/friendship

The aim of these is to get myself out of a stuck writing headspace, so this isn’t at the standard I like to get fics to… but, hey, I don’t have to put it on AO3!

Sara’s cried at least twice in LoT canon that I can think of - but, to my (possibly-faulty) memory, not since becoming captain. So that’s where I ended up going with this. After a couple of false starts where the characters did not want to play, because the Legends have their own minds about *everything*. “You call this a team?!” (Thanks to @hiverforesteevee for beta reading, and to @zariadriannatomaz for ideas help - sorry I ended up going in a slightly different direction from your idea!)

Bad Day 

(gen, 1720 words, Sara Lance & Team Legends, cw for anxiety/stress and bad memories/nightmares - brief)

By the time they get back to the bridge, Sara’s barely keeping it together.

If this total fuck-up of a mission wasn’t enough, she’s been awake since 5 this morning. She hasn’t even had a cup of coffee. Ray and Charlie drained the pot and didn’t bother to refill it, and then they had to move out to deal with the troll rampaging through the Swedish countryside. Sara would be throwing up her hands and going to find caffeine, if she wasn’t currently putting up with the traditional post-mission trash fire they call debriefing. Captain’s fucking privilege.

Every time she thinks things can’t get any more annoying, her dysfunctional crew piles in with new ways to torture her—along with a few of the old standards.

Charlie’s getting right up in Sara’s face. She’s whining about not being invited to the pre-mission team meeting, sneering that she would have been able to give the troll a beat-down if she’d just known what it was.

(She was invited to the meeting. She couldn’t get out of bed in time. She’s making Sara long for the simpler times when she met threats head-on with a kick or a knife, not with the drawn-out torture of diplomacy.)

Leaning against the parlour door frame, John’s interrupting her with occasional smug opinions.

(Zari calls it warlock-splaining. She says the phrase needs work. Seems pretty spot-on to Sara.)

Speaking of Zari, she’s sitting on the step, her head buried in an iPad, only bothering to look up to roll her eyes or say something appropriately sarcastic.

(She yawns, and Sara stomps down on the urge to ask if they’re keeping her up.)

At the console, Ray looks like he wants to head for the hills. He could, too, what with the irritatingly idyllic landscape of the Scandinavian Mountains just outside the window.

(Sara’s got half a mind to hand him a compass and two sticks, remind him he’s an Eagle Scout, and wish him luck.)

In the corner, Mick’s trying to sneak away unseen.

(Clearly it’s been more than half an hour since he’s had a beer, and God forbid he should do any work without his perpetual alcohol IV. Sara doesn’t even bother telling him to stay.)

“Told you it was no use trying to kill it with fire,” John yells after him helpfully. “Shouldn’t even have brought the flamethrower.”

Bracing her hands on the console, Sara restrains herself from spinning on her heel and losing it at him.

Mick steps back into the room. “It’s a fucking heat gun. If you call it a flamethrower one more time—”

“Give it up, mate,” John interrupts, laughing.

“I’m not your mate.”

Finally acknowledging something outside the internet, Zari rolls her eyes at them. “Could you two shut up?”

Charlie gives a dramatic sigh. “Sara, you didn’t even explain why I wasn’t—”

Sara starts counting down from ten in her head.

And, just to tie this shit-show of a meeting up with a little bow, Gideon chooses that moment to manifest her blue head above the console. “I’m afraid, Captain, that Mr Constantine is technically correct. The reliance on fire, while a reasonable backup plan in the case that iron and running water failed—”

“No, you said fire would kill—”

“I said Thor’s lightning could kill it! It’s not the same—”

Ray spins around, his voice resounding above the cacophony like an alarm bell. “John, are you saying this is Sara’s fault?”

Constantine takes a threatening step forward. “Yes, I bloody well am!”

Sara’s countdown reaches one. She slams her hands down on the console. “Everyone out.” She barely raises her voice above a whisper, but the chorus of consternation has fallen silent around her.

“Sara—” Zari starts, iPad forgotten, her gaze intense on Sara.

“Not now, Z,” she says, not meeting her eye. “Just… give me a minute.”

They trundle out, one by one. It’s generally worrying when the Legends go quiet, but Sara doesn’t care who she’s pissed off now.

When the bridge is finally empty, she draws in a deep breath, sits down on the floor, drops her head onto her knees and cries.

***

She’s not sure how much later it is when there’s a firm hand on her shoulder, comforting as the rising smell of coffee that’s arrived with it.

Zari’s pulling herself into a seated position on the floor next to Sara. She’s holding two mugs.

“One of those,” Sara croaks, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, “had better be for me.”

“Yes, you goober. And stop that.” Zari reaches into her pocket and passes Sara a tissue. She holds onto the second cup of coffee till Sara’s finished sorting her face out, then passes it to her.

Sara accepts it gratefully, though she can’t quite make herself smile yet. She wraps her hands tight around the mug, heat seeping into her cold hands through the metal surface.

(How long has she been cold?)

Both of them are quiet for a while, looking out at the scene beyond the bridge window, where the sun is eking out its last minutes of light over the mountains. Sara shields her eyes with a hand.

“I know we were being pretty Legends-y,” Zari says, her tone apologetic, and Sara chokes out a little laugh. “But, uh. Kind of a strong reaction to our usual crap…?”

Sara blows out a long sigh. “Didn’t sleep well.” She focuses on the mug in her hands. Warm and solid.

Zari tilts her head to eyeball her captain. But she doesn’t push, and Sara’s grateful.

She shifts around so she’s facing her friend. “D’you get nightmares, Z?”

There’s an edge of bitterness in the replying laugh. Zari catches her eye. “You too, huh?”

(The crack of breaking bones, the jab of a knife into a man’s side, the bright crimson of blood—)

Sara nods tightly at her mug, swirling the tawny liquid around. “Sometimes I wake up, and it’s so dark that I don’t know if I’m in Lian Yu or on the Am—” She coughs. “Took me a few minutes, this morning.”

(Just a few brutal seconds.)

“And then you know you’re not getting back to sleep,” she finishes, keeping her voice light.

(Breathe in. One, two, three, four. Breathe out.)

Zari’s hand is on her arm, her eyes still fixed on the shadowed mountains, and Sara looks down at shaking hands again. (For fuck’s sake.)

“You know you can talk to us, right?” Zari’s voice is soft, understanding. Not patronising. “Don’t be alone if you’re having a bad day.”

Sara attempts to cover up her laugh.

Zari grins. “Fine, maybe not when we’re being all…”

“Legends-y?” Sara quirks an eyebrow.

(She’s breathing easier already.)

“That.” Zari’s grip on her arm loosens a little. “And if we’re being complete bastards, you can kick our asses.”

Humming in reply, Sara suppresses a grin. “Think if I drop the Waverider over a convenient ocean, I can get Rory and Constantine to walk the plank?”

“Oh, definitely.” Zari winks.

Sara rolls her eyes. “He really can be very… warlock-splainy.”

“Needs work.” Zari’s smiling into her mug.

Nodding seriously, Sara says, “Yeah, you’re right. We should add ‘cis’ and ‘white’ in there somewhere.”

Footsteps behind them, in long strides. Ray.

“So this is where we’re sitting?” He glances at a spot on the floor next to Sara. She gives him a wry grin.

He drops down to sit next to them, all a tangle of legs and a too-cheerful smile that usually comes with a 50-50 chance of either annoying the hell out of Sara, or blanketing her in welcome, familiar warmth. She’s surprised when he offers her his hand, and takes it. He grips hers tight in his bigger one.

(There’s power there, like all the Legends have. Dangerous and comforting in equal measure.)

“You okay, Sara?”

She nods, matching his smile. “I’m good now. Thanks, Ray.”

Charlie’s next to arrive, frowning at the floor before shrugging and bouncing down. She frowns harder at Sara. “You’ve been crying.”

Zari snorts and pats Charlie on the back. “Blunt, aren’t you?”

“Shut her up with cake,” says a gruff voice behind them, and Sara looks up at Mick Rory, struggling to get down to the floor. “Joints ain’t what they were,” he grumbles. He sets down a chocolate cake, already cut into six slices, and a pile of plates. “Made it yesterday. Was gonna bring it out later.” He shrugs.

“Great timing.” Sara grins at him, grabs a slice and shoves it at Charlie. Who does, in fact, shut up to eat it.

“Ooh,” Zari says, snatching up the biggest slice.

“I cut that one bigger for you,” Mick mutters at her, and she awws at him, clearly only half going for sarcasm.

There’s a hesitant cough behind them. “This a private party, or can any thoughtless smug bastard join in?”

John actually sounds a bit embarrassed—Sara raises an eyebrow. “Please. Take a… bit of floor.”

He laughs and does as he’s told. He’s oddly quiet once he’s sat down, but he accepts his offered slice of cake.

Sara looks around at the bridge.

(Where they’ve all been through so much. Where she punched Rip for not telling her about Laurel. Where they mourned Leonard and Martin and, later, Rip himself. Where the Legends scrambled together countless ridiculous plans, some that actually succeeded, surprising her every time. Where she had her earliest encounters with Ava, strained at first, then stumbling into something wonderful. Where she’s found so many friends… family.)

On her right, Ray and Zari are arguing about chores. It sounds mostly good-natured.

On her left, Mick and John are comparing war stories of extra-legal activities, one more battle in their ongoing contest of performative masculinity.

Opposite her, Charlie glances up from her cake to smile at Sara. She smiles back.

(It’s good not to be alone.)

Sara lets her eyes drift up to the bridge window. The horizon is a perfect masterpiece of oranges and reds painted across a stunning mountainscape. Maybe they should stay tonight, see if they can spot the Northern Lights.

She sits there, just smiling out at the mountains, as Ray and Zari’s argument gets significantly less good-natured, John and Mick’s voices rise into what could definitely be described as yelling, and Charlie starts randomly threatening to punch someone.

[himbosims]

The Simself Challenge? Is that what this is called? I have no idea. . .

The challenge is basically to make a simself then answer a fuck ton of question so here we are. Thanks @willowbomb and @sim-borg for tagging me. I’ll tag: whoever wants to do this because idk who hasn't done this yet

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Taylor

2. WHAT IS YOUR NICKNAME? My childhood nickname was Tot. My friends call me d*ke and slut though so hey

3. BIRTHDAY? July 23, 2001

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK SERIES? Series definitely The Mortal Instruments or the Infernal Artifacts by Cassandra Clare

5. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ALIENS OR GHOSTS? Both i think, definitely aliens. I don't fuck with ghosts and all that because I don't want to die

6. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR? Right now my favs are Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RADIO STATION? Where I live we have five stations, one that plays music from the 30’s all the time, three country, and one that says it plays pop but ends up playing country anyways. So, none.

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ANYTHING? Idk man, thats a loaded question. Probably vanilla

9. WHAT WORD WOULD YOU USE OFTEN TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING GREAT OR WONDERFUL? ??? lit… idk dude I was trying to think of something that's weird but I can't think of anything

10. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE SONG? Be My Mistake by The 1975 or Not Warriors by Waterparks

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD? Serious answer, lunacy (there's a reason its my username) not as serious, I just heard someone outside yell for the chillin’s and I started laughing because that word is great

12. WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO?  I’m currently listening to From Eden by Hozier

13. WHAT TV SHOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR EVERYBODY TO WATCH? Shameless, Glee, Shadowhunters, Grey’s. I could go on.

14. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE TO WATCH WHEN YOU’RE FEELING DOWN?Love, Simon, Call Me By Your Name, or The Perks of Being a Wallflower

15. DO YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES? Obviously

16. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? Spiders and needles

17. WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? nothing

18. WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? Everything, in seriousness, my selfishness or narcissism,  

19. DO YOU LIKE CATS OR DOGS BETTER? Cats are my favorites but dogs are cool

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? fall

21. ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP? Never have been

22. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU MISS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD? NOT AS MUCH STRESS

23. WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? Irl- my friend EJ. Online- @hallowiamshebsims

24. WHAT IS YOUR EYE COLOR? Green

25. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR? brown

26. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU LOVE? Read 23

27. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU TRUST? Read 23

28. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? Read 23

29. ARE YOU CURRENTLY EXCITED ABOUT/FOR SOMETHING? I don't remember the last time I was excited for something

30. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST OBSESSION? Writing I think

31. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW AS A CHILD? Hannah Montana, Ned Declassified, Drake and Josh, Flapjack, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Chowder, Rugrats. I'm a true early Gen Z kid

32. WHO OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER CAN YOU TELL ANYTHING TO, IF ANYONE? My girl best friend, I dont tell him everything because i'm a secretive bitch

33. ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS? Nah

34. DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL PHOBIAS? Read 16

35. DO YOU PREFER TO BE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA OR BEHIND IT? Both

36. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY? Writing, reading, creating imaginary worlds to live in

37. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? I am almost done with History Is All You Left me by Adam Silvera and oh boy that book

38. WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Paranorman: “You’re gonna love my boyfriend, he’s like a total chick flick nut.”

39. WHAT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? N/A

40. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL? Cats

41. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE TUMBLR BLOGS THAT YOU FOLLOW? @hallowiamshebsims @simmerberlin @willowbomb @pollinationqueen @gunthermnch

42. WHAT SUPERPOWER DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? The ability to always have the money to pay for things

43. WHEN AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST AT PEACE? My room probably

44. WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE? People falling down, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJq4jWSQNd

45. WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? That’s cute

46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? Coffee

47. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A HAND-WRITTEN LETTER OR NOTE TO SOMEBODY? I have two teachers that are really weird about phones and talking in class so we pass notes instead

48. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS? Nah

49. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? LOUD EATERS

50. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CONCERT? I went to a christian concert when I was like 5 so there's that

51. ARE YOU VEGAN/VEGETARIAN? Nope, I live in the south how do you expect me to not eat meat

52. WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? Teacher since I live in the south and that's the only jobs beside retail or waitress in my town

53. WHAT FICTIONAL WORLD WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN? The Shadow World, but I wanna be a warlock, not a dumb shadowhunter lol

54. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WORRY ABOUT? Everything

55. ARE YOU SCARED OF THE DARK? I’m afraid of what's in the dark, which is a hard ass way to say yes

56. DO YOU LIKE TO SING? All the time but im tone deaf so its bad

57. HAVE YOU EVER SKIPPED SCHOOL? If I was sick, yeah. Other than that, I did twice. Once because I had a really bad panic attack right before the bus got to my house and I called my mom claiming I was really sick, and once a few weeks ago because my dog got sprayed by a skunk therefore making me smell like a skunk

58. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE ON THE PLANET? uhhhhhhh

59. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE? New York City, LA, San Francisco, Toronto, Portland, London. Any big city to be honest

60. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? A dog and three cats

61. ARE YOU MORE OF AN EARLY BIRD OR A NIGHT OWL? Both. I sometimes stay up super late and sometimes i'm up really early. And if I can actually force myself out of bed I can get a lot done in either of those times

62. DO YOU LIKE SUNRISES OR SUNSETS BETTER? Sunrises

63. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE? Yeah but im gay so its not good driving l

64. DO YOU PREFER EARBUDS OR HEADPHONES? Everything that wont break in a week

65. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES? Nah

66. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC? I don't really have a favorite, I listen to all kinds of stuff

67. WHO IS YOUR HERO? Uhhhhh, Deadpool, or Spiderman

68. DO YOU READ COMIC BOOKS? Nope

69. WHAT MAKES YOU THE MOST ANGRY? It takes a lot to make me angry but when im angry it's bad and I forget what i do when i was angry so i don't really know

70. DO YOU PREFER TO READ ON AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE OR WITH A REAL BOOK? Real

71. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? English and Creative Writing

72. DO YOU HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? Younger sister, younger step brother

73. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT? A starbucks coffee last night

74. HOW TALL ARE YOU? 5’7 or something

75. CAN YOU COOK? Depends on what i'm cooking

76. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU LOVE? Books, music, friends

77. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU HATE? Racists, homophobes, sexists- so basically most the people in my town (hell what am i kidding, this side of the Mason-Dixon line)

78. DO YOU HAVE MORE FEMALE FRIENDS OR MORE MALE FRIENDS? One of each

79. WHAT IS YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION? I am on the ace spectrum and I am panromantic

80. WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY LIVE? ‘Merica the brave

81. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TEXTED? Sheb

82. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Like, yesterday

83. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE YOUTUBER? CallMeKevin RTGame The Shane Dawson squad

84. DO YOU LIKE TO TAKE SELFIES? sometimes

85. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE APP?I guess this hell site

86. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PARENT(S) LIKE?My mom and I are kinda close, i don't really talk to my dad much (even though I live with him half the week)

87. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOREIGN ACCENT? Aussie, British, Scottish, Irish… all of them

88. WHAT IS A PLACE THAT YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO, BUT YOU WANT TO VISIT? Everywhere that’s not my state and the ones touching it

89. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? 23

90. CAN YOU JUGGLE? notta

91. ARE YOU RELIGIOUS? Yes, but not crazy religious. I just believe in fate and that there is some type of higher power

92. DO YOU FIND OUTER SPACE OF THE DEEP OCEAN TO BE MORE INTERESTING? Nasa bitch

93. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE A DAREDEVIL? I have an issue with adrenaline. As in, although i am an anxious person with too much adrenaline anyways I like to do things that give me a rush of adrenaline

94. ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO ANYTHING? I can't have my eyes pierced because I'm allergic to metal in the sense of having it in my body

95. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE? Yep

96. CAN YOU WIGGLE YOUR EARS? Nope

97. HOW OFTEN DO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING? Next question

98. DO YOU PREFER THE FOREST OR THE BEACH? I mean netiehr, but i'm not a huge fan of sand

99. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN YOU? You’ve made it through your worst day before, you can do it again

100. ARE YOU A GOOD LIAR? I think so

101. WHAT IS YOUR HOGWARTS HOUSE? Sytherlin, not surprise

102. DO YOU TALK TO YOURSELF? I’m talking to myself right now

103. ARE YOU AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT? Introvert

104. DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL/DIARY? Nah, my writing is kind alike my diary

105. DO YOU BELIEVE IN SECOND CHANCES? I give people too many chances

106. IF YOU FOUND A WALLET FULL OF MONEY ON THE GROUND, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Check the ID, maybe take the money and leave it in a bush or something. I don’t know

107. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF CHANGE? For sure

108. ARE YOU TICKLISH? Please don’t  tickle me

109. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A PLANE? Nope

110. DO YOU HAVE ANY PIERCINGS? Read question 94

111. WHAT FICTIONAL CHARACTER DO YOU WISH WAS REAL? Alec Lightwood or Magnus Bane, but young Alec because I can't be friends with 27 year old Alec

112. DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS? Scared of needles, remember?

113. WHAT IS THE BEST DECISION THAT YOU’VE MADE IN YOUR LIFE SO FAR? Doing things for me

114. DO YOU BELIEVE IN KARMA? YES

115. DO YOU WEAR GLASSES OR CONTACTS? Both

116. DO YOU WANT CHILDREN? Not really but if my future partner wants some i’d be open to talk about it

117. WHO IS THE SMARTEST PERSON YOU KNOW? My ex-best friend. I used to hate how she never had to try to get good grades or be good at things, she just was

118. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MEMORY? All my memories are embarrassing if you look close enough

119. HAVE YOU EVER PULLED AN ALL-NIGHTER? At least twice a month

120. WHAT COLOR ARE MOST OF YOU CLOTHES? Nutruels and black

121. DO YOU LIKE ADVENTURES? Sure

122. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON TV? I think I wa son the news once

123. HOW OLD ARE YOU? 17

124. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE? I have a lot, “Words have the power to change us.” “perhaps it is because of time that we suffer.” “I remain a work in progress until I die.” “The thing you are most afraid to write, write that.” I could go on

125. DO YOU PREFER SWEET OR SAVORY FOODS? Sweet

[petri808]

Zero Degrees of Separation

AU Story, FT Next Gen.  Jerza kids.  4300 words.  I wrote this story for a school assignment. Pics of the kids are on my side blog @petrischronicles

It is summer break before Identical twins Andesine & Azurite Fernandez will be leaving for college on opposite sides of the country. Their family takes their annual summer vacation to the mountains but both brothers are troubled about breaking their connection.  ​

The breeze coming off the crystalline lake was something Azurite Fernandez always appreciated when they visited the summer cabin.  It had that typical rustic quality of earthy scented pine, mixed with warbling birds and chattering squirrels, a beautiful serenity and today was no exception as the warm kiss of mountain sunlight blanketed the family from powder blue skies. He stood there with his eyes closed letting the calming peace and quiet sweep him away for it might be years before he’d be back again.  This was perfect, he mused to himself.  Someday building a house and raising a family in a place like this appealed to his inner nature.

“Azurite, could you help your sister with her bags?”

He opened his eyes and released the fresh moist air from his lungs, “sure mom,” before turning towards his family’s SUV.  Azi clicked his tongue, chuckling as his sister struggled with her oversized suitcase. Grabbing it from her and setting it on the ground he teases, “did you pack your entire room?”

Amethyst huffs, picking up her smaller carry-on and purse from the ground, “not all of us loves this place as much as you do, I needed things to keep me busy.”  

“I’m with Amy on this,” their brother Andesine, Azi’s twin, throws his arm over his brother’s shoulder. “I’d much rather be hanging out with Sage and the others, considering most of us are going to different parts of the country in a couple months.”

“Tch,” Azurite crosses his arms, “then I would just as much prefer to spend time with my girlfriend then you.”

“Alright, alright boys,” their father Jellal chides them as he walks past into the house, “it’s family time, not friend time so just deal with it and make your mother happy for a couple of weeks.”  With a sigh, Azurite simply grabs his sister’s suitcase and along with his sullen siblings makes their way into the house behind him.

That evening as Andi and Amy hole up in their rooms with their phones or laptops, and their parents enjoy the rest of the night in the den, Azurite ventures out onto the spacious wrap around deck, propping himself atop a railing.  With his long legs easily balancing on the beam and his back against one of the pillars, he had chosen the spot because it was a clear vantage point of the nighttime lake.  Dark and ominous waters like at any moment some creature could walk out of its depths ready to strike at the unaware and yet, with the shimmering moonlit surface, instead of a creature, maybe a beautiful water goddess come to grant you any wish you desire.  A slight uptick around the corners of his mouth are the only indication when a few fond memories begin to flow through.  

Such supernatural creatures were common topics when they were little.  Nights like this one spent on the shore sleeping under the stars, trading story ideas, or dreams of heroes and villains come to life.  Just a lot of imagination packed between the Fernandez twins and the seeming link they shared was evident.  One would start a sentence and the other would finish it, an idea for a character would come to mind and the other would simply nod and agree as if they could see it too.  Like words never spoken aloud but through the spirit became secrets only they could share driving their sister crazy because it left her out of the loop.

They used to love fishing with their father, sometimes competing with each other on who could catch the biggest fish, campfire smores with their mom who made sure they didn’t burn their hands, and tag teaming scares upon their little sister.  On sunny afternoons the boys would swim out to the middle of the lake where a platform had been anchored, jumping off or sun bathing.  Hikes with the family in the surrounding forests were a treat to find bugs and other critters or make forts amongst the trees to search for dragons.  

It was quite an enjoyable childhood, but like many kids, as they got older, and their individual personalities developed, different interests and friendships pulled them in separate directions.  They were still brothers that got along for the most part, but no longer peas in the same pod.  Azurite closes his eyes, ‘and the distance is only gonna grow wider when we leave for college.’  It wasn’t that he wanted to be separated from his brother or family, but when one receives a full-ride scholarship to M.I.T, they’d be a fool to decline. Unfortunately, that meant he’d be attending school in Massachusetts clear across the country from Santa Barbara where Andesine had opted to go.

“Will you cheer up Az?” the warm hand of his brothers upon his shoulder, rouses Azurite from his reflections only to look over and see the smug smirk of his twin staring back. Andesine taps his temple, “is the distance really bothering you that much, cause ya know eventually we had to cut the cord.”

“I wasn’t thinking…” Again, Andi taps the side of his head and cocks an eyebrow.  “Okay, sure, maybe I was but that wasn’t the only thing.”

“A…” searching his pockets, he pulls out the only thing he had and holds it up with a goofy grin, “piece of gum for your thoughts?”

Even Azurite had to laugh at the silly antics of his twin, “It’s nothing,” waving his hand, “maybe I’m just nervous about being so far away from everyone.  I mean, aren’t you?”

“Mmm,” Andi tips his head, “not really, kinda excited to see all them California girls!” singing out part of the Katie Perry song.

Azurite rolls his eyes, “You are so bad!”

“And you are too good!” Andi retorts and laughs out loud, “I feel like I need to balance out this dynamic duo!”  Azurite tries to hide the amusement but fails miserably since his brother can read him. “Come on… grumpy gus,” he playfully punches Azi’s arm, “just get some sleep and maybe you’ll feel better.”

After his bother moves out of the way, Azi slides off the railing and stretches out his stiffened back. “Mom guys crash yet?”

Andesine nods, “fell asleep on the couch.  I think Amy too, cause her light was off.”  He pulls out his phone, “I don’t think you realize but you’ve been out here for several hours, see,” showing his brother the time, “it’s almost 2 am.”

Azi frowns, “I didn’t. But why are you still awake?”

“I wasn’t, just woke up when I felt something bothering you.”

“Sorry.”

“‘so’kay man, I’ll see ya upstairs.”

“Be there in a minute.” Azurite watches his brother walk back into the house and takes one more look at the lake...

To the outside world, Andesine Fernandez was the quintessential jokester who never took life seriously.  He did decently in school, had his own aspirations, tons of friends, and fashioned himself a lady’s man, though this last notion might be more in his head than reality.  But just because he lived in the realm of humor, wasn’t to say he didn’t care or pay attention, he simply preferred to live by the YOLO ‘You Only Live Once’ motto.  This stark contrast in personality from his more reticent and bookish twin, was along with their different colored hair, the most noticeable distinctions.  

A few nights later, the family sits around a small campfire in front of the house, relaxing after a long day of hiking around the forest and lake.  Amy and their mother Erza chatter about a Korean drama they both watch, and Andi is only half listening to Azurite and their dad discuss the latest MMA fight in the UFC.  Maybe Azi had a point about the distance, it wasn’t something he’d really thought about until now, probably because, well, ‘I didn’t want to, I mean, it’s only a physical thing!’  But as the dancing flames of the fire crackle and send wisps of burning embers floating into the air, Andesine’s thoughts go with them. His eyes dilate, focusing on the red-orange glow, mesmerized and sending his mind into a distant timeframe.

‘Don’t even think about it, Andi,’ his brother blocks him, ‘mom already gave you a Hershey.’

‘Ugh!  It’s so irritating that you know what I’m thinking!  When we get older, I hope this stupid twin thing stops too!’

‘I don’t really like it either, cause dealing with you is frustrating.’

But their mother had stepped into the argument, chiding her sons, ‘there will come a day when you’ll regret saying that stuff.’  Pulling them into a hug on each side of her body, ‘that special bond means you’ll always have each other to fall back on, even when you’re far apart.’

‘Why would be far apart?’ Azurite asked their mom.

‘Well…’ squeezing them tighter, ‘one day you’ll grow up, go to college, meet a girl, maybe settle down and have a family.  As much as I’ll miss my boys, I want you to be happy and independent in the future.’

‘Sounds good to me,’ Andi shrugged, ‘I can’t wait to grow up!’

She chuckled, ‘don’t worry, before you know it, you will be…’

Andesine’s brows furrow at the memory, sometimes he hated to admit when their mother was right, but damn was she ever.  A night exactly like this one, settled around a campfire, eating smores, except now they were all ten years older.  Amy only two years away from graduating high school and the boysabout to start their adult lives.  Was he really ready for it like he had bragged about?  Did he want to admit that he’ll miss his twin? He snaps out of the reflection, looking around to see if anyone had noticed it, but everyone was still engrossed in their conversations.

He stands up, dusts off his pants and kisses his mother goodnight.  “Are you okay?” she asks.

“Just tired, think I’ll shower and head to bed.”

“Alright, good night sweetie.”

“Night mom.”

He knew from experience that the best thing to do was let his brother process whatever was bothering him in his own way, so Azurite pretended not to pay attention while Andi zoned out or even when he said he was tired.  But as he watched his twin trudge into the house, he had to wonder what it was about.  A smug tugging on his lips, could Andi be just as nervous as he was about the whole separation?  Now that would be an interesting flip.

Andesine tossed and turned.

“Noooo!!!” he screamed as he raced towards his brother on legs that suddenly seemed uncooperative, reaching out and stumbling along the asphalt. The scene blurred through a tunneled vision while the sounds of screeching tires echoed in his ears.  But no matter how fast he ran, the distance remained the same.  

His brother’s head turns seconds before the impact, a tear trailing down one cheek, “I’m… sorry Andi…”

“Azzziiiiiii!!!!!”

Andesine pops up in his bed screaming out of the dream and frantically looking at the other side of the bedroom for Azurites bed.  “What the fuck?”  Because there was no bed, only an empty space where it should be.  He throws off the blankets and hops off his, wildly circling the barren floorboards.  “What the hell is going on!  Where is Azurite?!”

The door swings open and his parents rush in, “Andi, what’s wrong,” Erza asks, “what are you yelling about?”  As Jellal grabs his son’s shoulders to stop his hysterical flailing, “did you have a bad dream?”

“Where’s my brother Azurite?  Why is his bed gone?”  The poor young man is on the verge of tears.

“Azurite?” Erza questions, looking to her husband with concern, “but honey, you don’t have a brother.”

“What!!  Of course, I do, he’s my identical twin!”

“Son, you need to calm down,” prompting the young man towards his bed and sitting him down, “there’s only you and your sister, remember?”

“No, this doesn’t make any sense,” Andi shakes his head, “it felt so real, He felt so real!  W-we were so close, we could feel each other, read each other’s thoughts, I—I…” cradling his head in his hands, “but our…”

“Sweetheart it was just a dream,” Erza kneels in front of him, “we promise you, you’ve never had a brother…”

“No!” he pushes them away and scrambles to get out of the room. This was all wrong!  Why were they lying to him?  There was no way he’d just make up a brother!  Andi bolts down the hallway, stumbling a few times in an effort to reach the front door while the walls seemed to sway and fold inwards on him. He had to get out there now!

As he turns the knob and flings the front door open, a blinding light stops him in his tracks.

His eyes snap open and he sits up in bed.  ‘What the…’ turning, Andesine looks to his left and notices his brother still asleep in their darkened room.  He checks the alarm clock, 3:30am, it was all just a nightmare?  With a groan, he drops on to his back, ‘it was all just a friggen nightmare!’

The following morning, Andesine is still a bit unnerved from the dream.  It was the first time he’s ever had one so disturbing involving his brother and he couldn’t fathom what it was supposed to mean.  Was it a premonition that his brother would die from a car accident?  He’d never had one of those before, or more than likely a subconscious reaction to the whole idea of separation and distance.  No matter what it all meant, if he didn’t get a handle on these emotions, the rest of this trip would be a miserable one.

Andi finds his parents in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast, “Is it okay if I take a hike to the bluffs?”

“I don’t see why not,” Jellal puts another dish in the rack before turning to address his son, “is Azurite going with you?”

“Nah, I kinda wanted to go alone.”

Erza frowns, “That’s not really safe honey…” but when he gives her a sad, puppy expression she sighs, “just make sure you take your phone with you.”

“Thanks mom!” he hugs her then his dad and takes off out the door with a small back pack of water and of course his cell phone.  

He waves at his sister and brother who were lounging on patio chairs and heads north of their rental towards the trail leading up to a mountain peak he enjoyed.  Andi takes a deep breath, ‘Im’ma sort out whatever the hell it is that’s bugging me!’ pumping a fist into the air with a grin, ‘It’s time to go zen!’

The trail itself was moderately rated, mostly because of the final leg up a steep incline to the bluff, but it was completely worth the effort. ��Twenty-five minutes later, as he broke through the tree line and made his way up the final ascent, Andi knew he had made the right decision to come here. There were a few fluffy white clouds passing by and the heat was mildly tolerable due to the higher elevation. The ground was thankfully dry since it hadn’t rained for at least a couple of weeks and the bugs seemed to be taking a day off, so he finds a flat-topped rock and sits down ready to get this load off his mind.

Why was all of this bothering him so much now when it hadn’t even crossed his mind before this trip? Sure, he had realized that picking a college thousands of miles across the country would probably make his parents sad, but it never donned on him that it would upset his brother, or himself. They would be in different states not different countries and thanks to today’s technology, distance wasn’t such a burden anymore.  Andi had friends all over the world on social media, and he was excited to finally meet a few of them when he got to California.  Besides, it’s not like he was the only one, Azurite chose a college away from their home state, granted it was because of the scholarship, but still, it was a choice that he made.

Andi closes his eyes and tilts his head back knowing he was skirting around the real issue that none of this had to do with a normal leaving the nest syndrome.  He exhales, both brothers were quite ready and capable to venture out on their own because their parents had done a phenomenal job of making sure they would be.  No, this all came down to their twin connection.  Will it feel weird when they are so far apart from each other?  Will there be some strange feeling like a part of him was missing?  It was this uneasiness that was at the heart of it all.  

‘I’m sure we’ll be fine,’ he finally concludes, ‘nothing to worry about.  I bet we’ll be too busy with college and everything to even worry.’ He was sure that he’d simply let his subconscious and imagination run a little too amok this time and it was time to reign it back in.  

“Yosh!” he stands up, stretching out in a full, arms above his head motion, twisting his midsection and legs.  “Bout time for lunch anyways!”

In a better mood now, Andi slings his backpack over one shoulder, shoves in his earbuds and cranks up his music, starting the trek down the steep zig-zag trail of loose stones and dry pine needle covered dirt.  Dense foliage made a few portions along the path harder to make out and unfortunately one of those spots was a narrow, stepped ledge, carved by the elements into a natural staircase.  Andi slowed down because he knew going down was the most dangerous part.  

Suddenly, the flapping of wings and a stirring of feathers from a startled pheasant takes Andi by surprise just as he is about to set foot on the next step.  The bird scuttles off into the forest, its squawking mixing with his scream as he slips, hands flying up, bag along with his legs going airborne like in a slow-motion scene.  His brother’s name is the last thought in his mind as his back hits the ground and head bounces-off the stony surface knocking him out cold…

Down at the lake, the family is relaxing near the water’s edge with Amy and Erza sunbathing on the shore. Azurite and Jellal dangle their legs off the short pier fishing for dinner while discussing last minute things the young man needs to secure before he leaves for college.  All in all, a relaxing sight despite the glaring midday sun. But just as Azi casts his line again, a cold breeze sweeps through, normally welcomed on such a heated day, but for him, the chill it shoots up his spine catches him off-guard and if he didn’t know better, his name had been funneled along with the wind.  

The fishing pole he holds clatters to the ground as Azurite shoots to his feet, “Something’s wrong with Andi!”

Jellal looks up bewildered, but knows not to question it, “we’d better go then!”

The two men race up the forest trail while Amy and Erza wait at the house ready to call emergency if necessary.  They had no idea what they would encounter but if Azurite was right, and Andi was too injured to have used his cell phone to call for help, they needed to be on standby. Azurite tore up the path like a man both panicked yet guided straight to where he just knew his brother would be and his father simply following, trusting his son’s instincts.  It took them 15 agonizing minutes to reach the spot.

“Andi!”  Azurite clambers up the steep grade, crawling the last couple of feet to where his brother lay prone.  Panic sweeps over his whole being, “Aw, Fuck dad there’s blood coming from his head!  Andi!” he’s about to reach out and pull his brother up but Jellal grabs his shoulder.

“Don’t move him yet, we don’t know how badly injured he is.  Check his pulse and breathing while I call your mom… and see if you can wake him up but gently.”

With his father on the phone telling their mother to call 911 and giving them directions to where they were, Azurite is using every ounce of willpower he has not to cradle his brother’s limp body in his arms.  He couldn’t believe this was happening, Andi was usually so careful whenever he went hiking but as he scans the area and notices a few stray feathers and his brothers bag lying above and off to the side, he could surmise what had happened in those last seconds.  But all that didn’t matter, whether or not Andi had been spooked or simply slipped, what was important was getting him medical attention as quickly as possible.

Azurite pats his brother’s cheek, “Andi wake up!  Please,” tapping it a few more times, “wake up Andi!”  Moisture pools and clouds his vision, tears leaking down his face in salty rivers.  “Damn it, Andi wake up!”

After ending his call, Jellal slowly lifts his sons head to check the injury and see’s that despite the blood, the wound doesn’t look very deep.  He pulls off his shirt, folds it, and tucks it under to cushion Andi’s head. “Emergency services are on their way so, all we can do is wait.  I’m going to head back down to meet them at the beginning of the trail, will you be alright here?”  The young man manages a short nod.  Jellal puts his hand on Azi’s shoulder, “It’s going to be okay son,” and with a second half nod, the man starts his descent.

Left alone, Azurite retrieves his brother’s bag, so it didn’t get left behind, sitting back down and checking his brother’s vitals every couple of minutes.  It was so frustrating not being able to do anything more, but his dad and their Eagle Scout training were clear on this, Andi was best left for the professionals to handle.  He hangs his head and while his tears had slowed, they were still like droplets of rain along a window pane, dribbling down in irregular waves.

“I swear you really are an idiot Andi, you know how dangerous it is to hike alone!  I don’t know what it was that was bothering you, but it better be a damn good reason for scaring me half to death!  Do you know how it feels, every time you do these foolish things and I have to worry about you…”  Azi lets out a long exhale, “But maybe you’ll get it now?  I hope you’ll see why I was so worried about the distance, I mean if something happened to you and we’re miles apart, I can’t come running like I did today.”  He lays down on his side next to his brother, just like they would as little kids when they were scared during a storm and takes hold of his brother’s hand, so limp and lifeless, bringing it to his chest.  “It feels like… like a sinking weight on my heart…”

“Could you be…” Andi’s voice is groggy and muffled, “anymore… melodramatic…”  He squeezes Azi’s hand back, “I ain’t dead yet.”

“I ought’a knock you back out for that!” Azi half snorts half laughs, for as frustrated with his brother as he was, it felt amazing to hear Andi’s voice again.

“I love you too bro,” he finally opens his eyes, half lidded because of the pain.  “And to answer your question, I do know how it feels.”

“What do you mean?”

“I had the most screwed up dream last night, that’s why I came out here to think…  I dreamt that I suddenly woke up and you weren’t there, mom and dad told me I had dreamt you up.  It hurt so bad like something had been ripped out of me…”  Azi looks up when he hears the sounds of footsteps approaching but is drawn back as he brother keeps talking.  “I do worry too but today I realized that it’s going to be okay.”  He squeezes his brother’s hand again and closes his eyes, grimacing through the pain, “we’ll always be brothers, and even if we’re far apart nothing will ever change the bonds we share.”  

“Just promise me you won’t do anything crazy out in California, because if I have to fly there, I really will kick your ass.”

Andi tries to chuckle but gives up when another wave of throbbing pain rushes over him, “you could try...”  

On the final night of the family vacation, Amy and their parents lounged on the porch playing a board game while the two brothers settled on a log beside the lake shore. Andesine’s head was still wrapped with gauze to protect the stitches he received, and Azurite was teasing him. “Remember,” Azi turns his gaze over to the lake, “When a full moon casts its luminous glow beckoning to any fools that dared to breach its darkened waters…”

“… a creature may arise to strike you down, or maybe a beautiful goddess will appear to grant you your desires.  Forgive me but I don’t think I qualify as a goddess.”

“You’re right, you’re more like a creature from the abyss.”

A companionable silence falls between them, each lost momentarily as the placid nighttime waters soothes their psyches.  Azurite exhales and holds up his arm in a 90-degree position, Andesine sighs, grabs his brother’s hand, squeezing and nodding his head for their zero degrees of separation.  This trip had been long and fruitful and now they were finally ready to move into the next phase of their lives, together.

[aion-rsa]

Back 4 Blood’s Little Problems Are Starting to Add Up

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Back 4 Blood‘s beta grabbed a lot of attention over the weekend (and even managed to attract over 100,000 concurrent players on Steam at one point), but the aftermath of the long-awaited preview has revealed that the seemingly surefire spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead may not be ready to claim the genre crown.

While Back 4 Blood is an often impressive Left 4 Dead-style shooter that immediately distinguishes itself through its card system and other roguelite/looter shooter elements, there’s no getting around the fact that the game is in true beta state at the moment and currently suffers from a number of “little” problems that are starting to add up to form genuine concerns.

So while it remains to be seen what shape Back 4 Blood is in when it launches on October 12, these little issues with the co-op shooter’s beta might be enough to raise some reasonable doubt about whether it is quite ready for primetime.

Back 4 Blood’s A.I. Is…Not Good

This rundown is in no particular order, but the quality of Back 4 Blood’s A.I. seems to be the most common complaint about the game at the moment. 

Honestly, this is less of a “complaint” and more of a straight-up problem. Enemies and A.I.-controlled teammates have a tendency to get stuck in walls, stay in place, and generally behave in ways that prevent you from being able to properly play the game. The problems with the game’s teammate A.I. are especially detrimental, if for no other reason than the fact that all of their glitches and behavior problems tend to harm you while enemy errors can occasionally be useful.

This is an issue that can certainly be improved by the time Back 4 Blood launches, though you probably shouldn’t expect it to be entirely “fixed” at launch. 

Too Many Mechanics Get in the Way of the Core Experience

While Back 4 Blood admirably separates itself from Left 4 Dead and similar shooters through the use of some randomization mechanics designed to make runs feel unique, not all of those mechanics work well together.

For example, Back 4 Blood’s card/deck building system is impressive (even if the cards themselves need to be balanced a bit better), but when you combine it with the game’s weapon attachments, item rarity system, and occasionally extreme ways the game’s A.I. director can randomly impact the balance of a match, you’re left with a lot to deal with in the middle of some already overwhelming action sequences. 

Again, some of these individual systems just need a little tuning to work better than they currently do, but when you put them all together in their current forms, they expose a potentially bigger issue with the game…

Back 4 Blood Struggles as a “Team” Experience

While it’s obviously unsatisfying to play with A.I. teammates who refuse to help you or simply get stuck in the world, Back 4 Blood’s “team” experience is generally lacking at the moment. 

The game’s loot system is one of the biggest contributors to this problem. It’s annoying enough when a teammate snags a great item from under you in a battle royale game, but it’s downright frustrating when you have to deal with that in a game like Back 4 Blood that is supposed to emphasize cooperation at all times. Most of my matches saw at least one random teammate go off on their own to grab a high-value item. Even if that didn’t immediately contribute to a team wipe, it almost always contributed to a competitive atmosphere that hindered the cooperative experience. 

Back 4 Blood seems more interested in demanding teamwork through sizable difficulty spikes than it is in encouraging it organically through gameplay and map/enemy design that inspire you to work together. Of course, part of the reason that’s such an issue is that Back 4 Blood’s difficulty settings aren’t where they need to be at the moment.

The Gaps Between Back 4 Blood’s Difficulty Settings are Too Wide

There are three difficulty settings in Back 4 Blood: Classic, Survivor, and Nightmare. They’re essentially supposed to be the game’s “easy, normal, and hard” settings, but in reality, they’re closer to “tutorial, hard, and nearly impossible.”

None of the game’s current difficulty settings do enough to prepare you for the next difficulty setting. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if players who regularly have to play with A.I. bots or random teammates find themselves stuck in Classic mode. Unfortunately for those players, Classic mode proves to be so easy that it barely lets you explore the game’s best ideas.

On the other end of the spectrum, “Nightmare” mode seems to have been balanced to appeal to the most coordinated and skilled squads. That’s nice, but it does mean that randomly matched teams have a very slim chance of succeeding in Nightmare mode, especially since the game doesn’t do a great job of teaching you to properly work together as a team before that difficulty setting just throws you into the water and forces you to sink or swim. 

Back 4 Blood’s Animations, Audio, and Presentation Elements Already Feel a Little Outdated

While Left 4 Dead and Back 4 Blood are ultimately different games, it’s obviously hard to talk about one without bringing up the other. I mean, just look at the names and the developers.

So far as that goes, it’s going to be hard for Left 4 Dead fans to dive into Back 4 Blood without feeling like something is…off. The game’s animations just aren’t as crisp, the audio lacks that “oomph” that Left 4 Dead had, and, generally speaking, Back 4 Blood‘s presentation just doesn’t live up to that sublime standard set by the Left 4 Dead games. 

You can point to a variety of factors that contribute to that disparity, but it’s hard to play Back 4 Blood for long without getting that “stunt double” vibe that proves to be especially detrimental in this case given how much those presentation elements can affect how satisfying the Back 4 Blood experience feels. 

Back 4 Blood’s Price and Microtransactions Could End Up Being a Problem

It normally wouldn’t be worth mentioning that Back 4 Blood is a $60 game (that is, after all, the non-next-gen industry-standard price), but fans are already pointing out that the game’s price tag feels a little high for what it currently offers.

While one of the most popular sentiments at the moment is that Back 4 Blood’s beta just doesn’t feel like a full-price game, that’s obviously kind of a hard concern to seriously discuss given that the game is obviously not quite retail-ready. The more interesting concerns come from those who wonder how many of Back 4 Blood’s problems will be addressed by the time the game releases on October 12, as well as those who wonder if Back 4 Blood is really significantly better than its significantly cheaper competition in this genre (which includes Left 4 Dead). Obviously, Game Pass subscribers will be able to benefit from the game’s surprise “day one” availability on that service, but everyone else is going to have to answer some tough questions about Back 4 Blood‘s day one value.

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There’s also the matter of the game’s microtransactions. While Back 4 Blood’s microtransactions are all cosmetic at the moment (and developer Turtle Rock seems committed to avoiding pay-to-win scenarios), the number of microtransaction options in the game as well as the distinct possibility that there will eventually be cards you’ll have to either grind for or pay for has fans worried that the cooperative title could eventually be impacted by a wealth/time gap that isn’t strictly related to skill.

The post Back 4 Blood’s Little Problems Are Starting to Add Up appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[japanessie]

MY FIRST STORY MMA Tour Final The Premium Symphony 2017 in retrospect

On 23rd December 2017, MY FIRST STORY made another milestone by performing at the same venue which was supposed to have been the place where their rival brother band ONE OK ROCK was originally scheduled to perform with Linkin Park in November. Looking at the visuals presented to us so far, it was a roaring success.

Photos by Masanori Fujikawa and Taka Tallman except *

Here are my thoughts .... for my reader who requested. Basically a continuation of what I had said in a previous post before.

1. The stage looks like something inspired by Jules Verne novels combined with the Parthenon. 

That’s impressive!!

Then, similar to OOR, they also used a runway heading out to the audience. OOR normally use this for their acoustic set where the band members would gather together with their instruments. MFS used the end platform for Hiro where the digital piano was mechanically raised from below the stage. For a rectangular concert hall, you have to have this kind of setting for the audience's optimal viewing.

Look at the laser lighting! It was among the elements that worried the s**t out of their boss GEN back in the Shinkiba Studio Coast show because it was expensive. But looks like he’s not worried anymore based on this elaborate display.

Ready to go “Around The World In 80 Days” or “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea”! XD

2. The attendance at Makuhari was higher than the Budokan.

From the TV clips shared by Japanese fans, 18,000 people came compared to 12,000 for the Budokan. Reading through fans' reports, it looked like Blocks A & B were the most packed or the crowds consisted of the hardcore fans. One girl in Block B said she wished she could transfer to Block C where she could breathe.

Looking at the crowd placement, I started to feel doubtful whether choosing a seated ticket for this venue is worth it for someone like me (154cm tall) because unlike the multi-tiered Budokan or the Makuhari Event Hall, the Makuhari Hall 9-11 are flat. They're exhibition Halls after all. How high were the seats raised from the main floor if they were raised at all?

* Photo: Makuhari Messe Hall 9-11 when empty. Making me wish that it had a premium ceiling seat XD

3. It was MFS first attempt at using a full orchestra + a full choir

When they first announced the MMA Tour Final, they said this would be MFS as we had never seen them before. The ALL SECRET TRACKS album obviously had been arranged for this. The Live was not named The Premium Symphony for nothing. To me MFS music from the start has always been heavily layered. It was inevitable that they would arrive at this point.

Photo: The moment the curtain came down. Aaaahhhh!!! That’s 終焉レクイエム (Shuuen Requiem) making its debut everyone \(^^)/

  When MFS did the acoustic set for Itsuwari NEUROSE Final at Shinkiba Studio Coast, my mind actually wondered whether they would one day tackle the violin-cello string arrangements. Would have been slammed with the "OOR copy" moniker big time if they did it back then, wouldn't they? The difference is MFS actually created songs with orchestration right on their album rather than pick a few songs and re-arranged them with a string section for the Live show.

You know what’s beautiful about the above photo? The backup musicians were smiling as they looked at the band members giving it all. Despite the different genres they come from, all artists know passion when they see it.

4. The Surprising setlist :-o

More like shocking to me!

The most striking thing about the setlist is the fact that they had excluded their signature Live songs Second Limit, The Story Is My Life, 最終回STORY and Awake :-o. Seriously?? WTF! You know what this means??! This means they were signalling the beginning of a new era. Up to this point, an MFS show would not be complete without those songs. This is them presenting the fans the new-phase MFS!

The Setlist

1. 終焉レクイエム (Shuuen Requiem) 2. ALONE 3. Black Rail 4. 悪戯フィクション (Itazura Fiction) 5. Missing You 6. REVIVER 7. この世界で一番の幸せ者にはする事など出来ないかもしれないけど... (Kono sekai de ichiban no shiawasesha ni wa suru koto nado dekinai kamoshirenai kedo...) 8. 失踪FLAME (Shissou FLAME) 9. See you again 10. Love Letter 11. monologue 12. 虚言NEUROSE (Itsuwari NEUROSE) 13. LET IT DIE 14. "BOOM" 15. Zero Gravity 16. The Puzzle 17. CHiLD -error- 18. Tomorrowland 19. モノクロエフェクター (Monochrome Effector) 20. 不可逆リプレイス (Fukagyaku Replace)

(Encore)

-Nori Ohtani marriage proposal- EN1. 「花」 -0714- (Hanarenai yo) EN2. Merry Christmas EN3. REVIVER

While I understand their wish to move forward with their music, it's sad for me to see 最終回STORY go because that's the song through which I fell in love with MFS (T_T). 

5. Hiro debuted his piano solo performance

My wish came true \(^^)/! Back in 2014 when MFS released their Taylor Swift remake We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, I told another fan on my friend's MFS FB fanpage that I hoped to see Hiro perform with a piano. 

I guess it wasn't the right timing for it then because it was the time when Hiro was still so heavily criticized and ridiculed as being Taka's copycat. Hiro with a piano onstage would be a bad move a few years ago. Nowadays, the comparison with his famous brother is much kinder as MFS music is speaking for itself more and more. So I think Hiro picked the right time to finally do it.

By the way, Hiro played See You Again solo. For Love Letter, he played solo halfway and then joined by the others. Can’t wait to see these (^^)

6. Hiro’s vocal performance

You see this one coming. My MFS concert commentary wouldn’t be complete without me talking about Hiro’s vocals, would it? True that I wasn’t there at the Hall BUT I have come to the point were I can slowly trust him to nail it around 90 to 95%. While I wasn’t expecting perfection, I know Hiro had worked really hard as he was confident enough to again include the song I directly and openly criticised him for through the band’s social media back in 2016, 失踪FLAME . Though they did not respond to me directly but Hiro did acknowledge on STORYTELLER that the song was hard.

When I saw this visual for 失踪FLAME , I felt good because I knew he still kept his determination to get that song right. I believe he handled it well. He wouldn’t have made this visual display if he couldn’t do the song right, could he (^_-)?

7. Former drummer Masaki came (^^)

Their friendship remains solid and Masaki once again showed that he wouldn't miss his former bandmates' big moment for the world. He tweeted saying it had been awhile since he went to see them, how awesome the show was, apologizing that he was giving an impression of an elementary schoolkid’s excitement and then attached his old photo wearing his underwear with producer Nori with a congratulatory message. Because that’s the only two-shot photo he ever had with Nori XD

8. "Men In Black" (^^)

Who wasn't taken by the fact that the band performed fully in suits? 

I think rather than setting themselves apart from the backup orchestra + choir members, the look they chose tied the whole thing together. The formally attired orchestra + the choir that coloured the overall feel of ALL SECRET TRACKS and their visually impactful LET IT DIE MV from ALL LEAD TRACKS. It was "MFS The Premium Symphony" and not "MFS with some guest musicians for some songs".

Oh, yes. To me Teruki Nishizawa is the most dashing of them all in black suits. They’re all cute guys but Teru actually has that “prep school + white collar” aura which transcends well with that outfit. I don’t think I’m biased at all. Just look.

9. Hiro & Blouson Chiemi

I'm a bit blurry with this one, did he do something like her comedy skit onstage or what? I saw a few Japanese fans mentioning her name along with Hiro’s. Knowing that Hiro likes her, I was hardly surprised. But MFS always edited out extra things like this when the concerts went to DVDs. So, if he ever impersonated any celebrity at all, it probably wouldn't go on the official release (-_-)

But at least we had seen Hiro posing like her during VAMPS Halloween Party 2017 XD

*Photo: From BREAKERZ Daigo’s blog

10. Sho Tsuchiya did not perform with them this time

Though he did appear here and there on the MMA Tour, he did not perform at the Final as I previously had expected. Well, they already played up his surprise appearance to the MAX at the Budokan. Anyway, I'm glad I wasn't at the Budokan because I swear I would have pissed in my pants the moment I saw his face on the screen XD. But it wouldn't have the same impact doing it the 2nd time around, eh? The only way Sho’s re-appearance can top the Budokan is if they actually announce him coming back to them.

* Photo from iTony Entertainment (it’s JMS subsidiary too!)

11. The biggest surprise of the night ..... Nori's getting married!

Their producer Nori Ohtani proposed to his girlfriend and after which, the band launched into their wedding anthem 「花」 -0714- . The fans, including yours truly XD, flooded the band's social media with messages congratulating him and wishing him well.

My thought :

Dating a rock band's manager / producer has its perk, eh? If things go well, you may get an epic marriage proposal with an orchestra, a choir and 18,000 eye witnesses too XD

Overall

One fan commented on IG that after watching the Makuhari show, the Tokyo Dome now doesn't seem like a dream anymore. I agree with her. I mean, if a band or any artist can hold a packed show at a venue like Makuhari Messe, with glowing reports and feedback afterwards, then the Tokyo Dome is not a dream but already a given.

[musingsofonehuman]

The digital future, it’s what we’re all headed towards, this pandemic has shown us that our reliance on the digital space is increasing rapidly, and it’s only going to increase. For games, this means buying more games through digital stores and downloading patches instead of buying discs and cartridges, but, there are a few problems we need to address on that front, particularly on the consumer side of things.

This story might have passed you by, but Nintendo have stopped the sale of digital game codes through third party sellers in Europe, and are now only selling digital versions of games through their own eshop. Presumably, this is because codes were being sold for cheaper through third party sellers such as Amazon and Game, but most noticeably ShopTo, which would frequently sell digital game codes at discounted prices, Nintendo must not have been happy with this and decided to pull all digital codes to stop this practice. Add ons, dlc, and eshop vouchers can still be sold through third party sellers, but digital codes for the games themselves are now only sold through Nintendo.

Now that’s bad, limiting the restriction of sales to your own store is a bad thing, because it means Nintendo can set the price for digital games, and as we all know, Nintendo doesn’t like to discount their games, they see their games as being so valuable they hardly ever discount them. Did you know, if you go to the official Nintendo store right now, you can buy a physical copy of Metroid Other M for £45. No seriously, this is not a joke, £45, for a 2010 Wii game that was received as good, not great, but good, you know how much you can buy a copy on Amazon for? £8.69. That’s not even the cheapest option, just the first. Enslaved: Oddysey to the West also came out in 2010, you can buy the premium edition on Steam for £15. (Actually it’s £3.74 during the Steam Sale as I write this, worth it for that price).

Nintendo clearly want to be in control of their own pricing, and unfortunately, it’s about to get worse. NBA 2K21 just announced all their different versions, and it turns out their next gen versions are gonna be more expensive, upping the price from $60 to $70. Now if you think that’s bad, here in the UK, games used to be £40, they’ve slowly been climbing over the past few generations, and for the Xbox Series X and PS5 versions, we’re being charged £65. Are you kidding me?!? £65?!? For NBA 2K21?!? A game that has seen its quality drop over the past few years as well as inserting a number of egregious micro transactions and predatory loot box mechanics, apparently this is now worth £65. Their reasoning for this is “NBA 2K21 will be a monumental leap forward for the franchise and a standout visual showcase on next-generation consoles”.....yeah, no.

Now, I’m not against developers getting paid, I understand that development costs have gone up a lot, with new technologies available to developers, they have to spend more money and time learning and implementing all these new technologies. So, why is it we’re still hearing stories of developers being abused? Why is it that developers are having to unionise because of terrible working conditions? Crunch is still a massive problem, we still hear stories very few weeks of another high profile studio that has been working their developers to the point of breakdown, where developers are suffering from PTSD because of the working conditions, not to mention all the recent stories and allegations of abuse within the industry towards many people, especially women. This is still a problem in the industry today, as highlighted by the video below.

So, if the developers aren’t getting paid, then where is all this money going to? Yep, it’s going straight to the top, the executives, the managers, the shareholders, basically, the higher brass who sit comfortably at the top, not having to worry about working conditions, or losing their job because they’re not putting in 80 hours a week and so they’re not seen as a “team player”. What I find so frustrating is that these companies earn more money year on year, they pay more money to their top brass each year, and yet they cry poverty because development costs go up. That somehow justifies their ability to treat their developers like scrap while paying them pittance, and charging consumers are more expensive games while adding micro transactions, dlc, add ons, battle passes, season passes, cosmetic stores, special editions, deluxe editions, digital deluxe editions, day one editions, ultimate editions, game of the year editions and any other editions they can think of, I’m looking at you Ubisoft.

When will these publishers learn that the thing that makes a game great is its core mechanics? You can add all the shiny graphics you want, all the story and high ranking actors in the world, and it still wouldn’t be great because most likely, the core mechanics would be bland and boring. And yet, we’ve all been watching the conferences throughout the summer, and the amount of high fidelity and “realistic” characters and “cinematic” games. Did you see all the games with ray tracing in them? Don’t they look pretty. What’s ray tracing you ask? Haven’t a clue. Something to do with lights and shadows, all I know is that it’s another buzzword publishers can stick on trailers that sounds cool. You know what game I’m looking most forward to in the next generation? Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. I’ve never been one for the Ratchet series, but to be able to load new worlds and transition between them almost instantly is incredible, because that is the biggest change this generation, the SSDs. The ability to be able to load in that short space of time opens up a whole world of new possibilities, possibilities that include gameplay, rather than better shading, or whatever ray tracing does.

You know what game I’ve been playing recently? Griftlands. The story aspect is nice, and it has a lovely art style, but the core mechanics are strong, the idea of balancing two decks, finding new builds and grafts is enjoyable. You know what else I’ve been playing recently? Splatoon 2. Not for the gear, I’ve unlocked all the weapons, reached prestige and got all the gear I’ll ever need, but the core mechanics keep me coming back for more, I’ve played hundreds of hours of Splatoon 2, and I’m still learning new things, I’m still improving, because the core mechanics allow me to learn and improve. You know what game I stopped playing recently? Ninjala. Yeah, I bought the battle pass and the story expansion, the outfits are cool along with the asthetic, but the core mechanics didn’t really engage me, they were fun for a few hours, but not enough to sustain my interest.

If games justified themselves with their core mechanics, I would understand the price increase, but as it stands, I see it as a decision of greed from executives that are paid way too much, and I haven’t even talked about digital distribution costs. Basically it’s next to nothing, games should be cheaper if they’re distributed digitally, but no, we have to keep parity with physical retailers, and even if the physical retailers went away, the prices wouldn’t go down, they would still remain the same, because money, money, money. Must be funny in a rich man’s world, get paid a ton of money to screw over their consumers, treat their developers pathetically and abuse their female colleagues, if only the world was a kinder place. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have decks to build and inklings to splat.

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/its-a-tough-sell-technology-news-firstpost/

It's a tough sell- Technology News, Firstpost

Anirudh RegidiJul 03, 2020 15:06:29 IST

I’m not entirely sold on the idea of the ASUS TUG Gaming A15 FA566IU.

Superficially, it’s a great laptop and it ticks all the right boxes. At just under a lakh, you’re getting a powerful AMD Ryzen 7 CPU (the first of its kind in India), an excellent mid-range GPU, a ‘fast’ 144 Hz display, a thermal design that won’t roast your palms or thighs, good battery life, and a very decent aesthetic.

Sadly, odd pricing and a couple of rather unusual design decisions means I just can’t recommend this specific model outright.

The A15’s Achiles Heel is its display.

Specs: A tad unbalanced

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800H

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with 6 GB VRAM

RAM: 16 GB DDR4 RAM @ 3,200 MHz

Storage: 512 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD

Display: 15.6” 1080p @ 144 Hz with Adaptive Sync

Ports: 1x USB-A 2.0 (450 Mbps), 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) with DP 1.4, 1x HDMI 2.0b out, 1x RJ45 Ethernet, 1x 3.5 mm combo jack

Battery: 48 Wh capacity, 180 W charger

Price: Rs 95,000

This is a good config for the price, but there are three issues here:

First, that Ryzen 7 4800H is overkill. It’s one of the most powerful mobile CPUs you can buy today. In fact, it’ll put many mid-range desktop PCs to shame. The problem is that it’s paired with a mid-range graphics card — the 1660 Ti — which is simply never going to push that CPU to its limits. I’d have preferred a mid-range CPU with a more powerful GPU…

… which brings me neatly to issue #2.

For Rs 5,000 more, you can get a similar config with the more powerful, and feature-rich, Nvidia RTX 2060 GPU. That’s a 5 percent increase in price for dramatically improved performance in certain scenarios.

The third, and I believe the most egregious flaw, is the display. Sure, it’s a 144 Hz panel with Adaptive Sync (that translates to no visual tearing in games), but the panel is rated at 45 percent NTSC, which means its colour accuracy is garbage. To add to this, this specific panel has a pixel response time of 18-22 ms, nullifying any advantage that 144 Hz refresh rate brings. More on that later.

A fourth potential issue is thermal management, but it’s a relatively minor issue compared to the three aforementioned ones.

I like the look and feel of the laptop. It feels rugged.

Performance: Wasted potential

When it comes to gaming laptops, the purpose of a CPU is to not bottleneck the GPU. Gaming performance is almost always determined purely by the GPU, especially in budget systems.

It simply makes more sense to pair a Rs 60,000 GPU with a Rs 10,000 CPU than it does to pair a Rs 30,000 CPU with a Rs 40,000 GPU. Gaming performance scales linearly with faster GPUs, not CPUs.

A good CPU has its uses of course. If you’re a programmer or content creator, having additional cores or a faster CPU will significantly speed up your work, but we’re talking gaming laptops here, and in that regard, the FA566IU is just so much wasted potential.

This is the first Ryzen 7-powered laptop in India

See, the CPU in this laptop is fantastic. It’s a game-changer. Looking at my data, the 4800H’s performance is only challenged by the MSI GT76 Titan, a beast of a machine that costs Rs 4 lakh, and which, with its fans running at full tilt, sounds like it’s preparing for lift-off.

The CPU in the TUF A15 threw up a score of 3,957 in Cinebench R20 (vs 4,324 on the MSI GT76 Titan) and completed our standard video conversion test in a mere 20 minutes (18 min on the Titan) when using CPU encoding.

The Mozilla Firefox compile test is relatively new, and the 4800H managed 31 minutes here, which is more than twice as fast as the average Ultrabook.

This CPU is good. It’s very good.

But then we come to the GPU. The 1660 Ti is great, but it’s still a mid-range card.

The AMD Ryzen 7 4800H is seriously impressive. It’s too bad that the GPU just can’t keep up.

Every game I tested was bottle-necked at the GPU level. In fact, I never saw CPU load exceed 83 percent in any title. In most titles, the load was limited to under 70 percent.

To top it off, the 1660 Ti lacks proper support for ray-tracing features (i.e. RTX) and DLSS (Deep Learning Super-Sampling).

RTX is Nvidia-speak for a graphics rendering technique that generates realistic lighting in games. Once you’ve seen a game running with RTX enabled, you can’t go back.

DLSS is an Nvidia RTX-specific feature that intelligently and dynamically upscales graphics resolution to give you better performance at little to no perceivable loss in quality. Combined, these features make for a fantastic gaming experience.

While this particular model didn’t make the cut, the rest of the TUF line is certainly worth looking at.

Nvidia’s GTX cards like the 1660 do support RTX in some games, but at a tremendous performance penalty that makes the feature useless for anything but a demo. For instance, turning RTX on dropped Metro Exodus performance to sub-20 fps with the 1660 Ti. An RTX 2060 manages 40+ fps at the same settings.

Benchmark figures are otherwise quite nice. You’re getting 50 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at max settings, 70+ in Metro Exodus at the ‘normal’ preset with RTX off, 52 fps in The Division 2 at Ultra, 60 fps in Borderlands 3 at high, 60 fps in Red Dead Redemption 2 using the ‘quality’ preset, and so on. It could even manage 60 fps at med-high settings in Call of Duty Modern Warfare with RTX off.

This is good stuff and I’d normally be happy with these scores, but the lack of RTX does sting when you know the feature can be had for just Rs 5,000 more. As a gamer, I see no reason to subject myself to a less than ideal experience.

Clearly, this config is unbalanced for gaming. ASUS should have offered a cheaper Ryzen 3 or 5 with the 1660 Ti and RTX 2060, and used the savings to offer a better display.

Display woes

This display sucks. Big time. At about 60 percent sRGB coverage, you’re looking at a budget laptop-grade colour gamut (the Rs 40,000 Mi Notebook shows slightly better colours). Reds look orange, greens don’t pop, and in-game enemies meld into the background in fast-paced shooters.

The movie-watching experience is passable, and you just can’t edit photos and videos without worrying about colour accuracy.

It’s 2020, we should be demanding higher quality displays in our laptops.

Many laptop displays in this price range have the same awful colour gamut, however, so it’s not like we gamers are spoilt for choice in this segment.

Anyway, the laptop’s 144 Hz display does sound good on paper, but then the monitor’s response time is a terrible 18 ms. At 144 Hz, you can’t settle for anything less than 10 ms. 5 ms or lower would be ideal.

The refresh rate is the number of times per second that your monitor can update the image.

The response time is the amount of time it takes a single pixel on your monitor to transition from one colour to another. Usually, this is measured as the time taken for a pixel to go from grey to white to grey again.

While an image can refresh faster than the response time of a pixel, those images you’re seeing will not have accurate colours. And you’ll see ghosting.

The images below should illustrate why this is a problem. The first is an image shot on this review laptop while the UFO is scrolling horizontally at 144 fps and 7 pixels per frame.

The panel claims to be 144 Hz but with a response time this bad, there’s really no point.

The second is an image shot on a BenQ EX2780q also at 144 fps. The EX2780q is a 144 Hz panel with a rated response time of 5 ms.

As you can see, the ASUS shows significantly longer trailing ‘ghosts’ behind the UFO. This ghosting, as the phenomenon is aptly titled, is the bane of gamers everywhere. Heavier ghosting means blurrier movement, which means it’s that much harder to track and hit moving targets.

A higher quality 60 Hz panel, would, I think, have been a far better option in this case. For one thing, at least the multimedia experience would have been great. And for another, gaming would have been a more pleasant experience, at least in single-player titles.

Miscellaneous: Speakers, fan noise, design

The rest of the spec is fine. Speakers are louder than what I’ve heard on gaming laptops in this price range, and the fan isn’t so loud as to drown out the speakers, even when running at max speed.

The cooling system isn’t ideal, but it does the job.

The thermal design of this laptop has attracted some amount of controversy for allegedly being inadequate. Personally, I think the design, while not ideal (no heat sinks on VRMs, SSD placed directly under a heat pipe), does the job well enough to not need to worry about thermals.

SSD placement in Asus TUF Gaming A15. Image: Anirudh Regidi/tech2

In my testing, the laptop routinely hit 85° C on the CPU and GPU, but in both cases, the components were power limited and not thermally throttled. The temps are indeed high, but no higher than what I’ve experienced on many gaming laptops in this form factor.

The NVMe SSD in the TUF-A15 is quite capable. it does run a bit hot though, most likely owing to its placement under the heat pipes.

Maybe I was lucky, or maybe ASUS did some tweaking on the initial design that went out to reviewers. I honestly don’t know. I just know that thermally speaking, my unit performed at par or better than laptops in a similar form factor.

Honestly, I think the poor-quality display is a bigger issue than thermal management.

Verdict: To game or not to game

This brings me to my biggest issue with the machine: I don’t know who it’s for.

For gamers, the configuration isn’t good value. The CPU is overkill and the more powerful and capable RTX 2060 GPU option is just five percent more expensive. The display is also a problem because it lacks in both colour gamut and response time. Given the number of reports I’m seeing about thermal issues with the design, I also can’t blindly recommend the RTX 2060 option (which should run hotter) without thoroughly examining its performance. This 1660 Ti model is already nearing its thermal design limit.

For content creators, performance is excellent, but the display is a poor choice. There’s absolutely no way you can edit anything on this machine without wondering if you’ve screwed up the colours.

If you don’t mind investing in an external display, or already have access to a good one, you can get away with buying the A15. And even then, I’d very strongly suggest you skip this model and go for the Rs 1,00,000 RTX 2060 model instead.

Personally, I’m waiting on MSI, Dell, Lenovo, and the like, to refresh their gaming line-up to see if they have a better-specced machine on offer. ASUS’s own updated Zephyrus range should also be arriving soon. If you can wait, wait.

Note: ASUS tells us that COVID-19 issues have affected logistics, which is why we don’t have the RTX 2060 model for review yet.

Find latest and upcoming tech gadgets online on Tech2 Gadgets. Get technology news, gadgets reviews & ratings. Popular gadgets including laptop, tablet and mobile specifications, features, prices, comparison.

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[wayfaringtrainers]

Zichi played Pokémon Sword

And he is still royally pissed off!

When the drama and controversy came out regarding Pokémon Sword/Shield, I was more and more put off by it until I decided that no, I was gonna wait until I could get a second-hand copy for it...

And then people began talking about how much they loved it and how much fun they were having with it... No second-hand copies were appearing yet, so I caved to peer pressure like the little bitch I am and bought a copy.

I regret that so much. I don’t like this game, I very much loathe it.

I was planning on doing this semi-review ever since I started the game, so obviously there will be “plot” spoilers ahead for you guys. But anyway, here goes.

Let’s start with the very few things I like about this game, start on a positive note, at the very least.

Technical Records

I actually liked this concept. In the UK, we’re currently going through the “Vinyl Nostalgia Phase” as my dad calls it. The callback of ancient TMs being turned into TRs was pretty cool, and I am very glad that they made TRs infinitely collectable through Raids. My biggest grievances with old-school TMs was the limited supply you got: usually the best TMs you only ever got once, so only one Pokémon could ever learn some of the most useful and game-defining moves available. This makes a lot more moves available...

However it would be nice if I didn’t have to open Serebii every time I was looking for a specific TR, and then pray that specific pokemon from that specific den appears. If they weren’t so dependant on luck, they’d be a lot better.

(Most) New Pokemon

Wooloo for life.

But seriously, I absolutely love a lot of the designs for new Pokémon, which is rare for me, I’m usually critical and uncertain about new Pokémon. But these new Pokémon I actually really like. Corviknight is as cool as I thought, Coalossal is awesome, and although I was ambivalent about him at first, Sirfetch’d has really grown on me.

Buuuuut we’re just gonna skip over the fossil Pokémon. Because I dislike them for a variety of reasons.

However, I reckon that that’s it for things I like about the new games, so now we’re just going to get into the meat of the problems and the things that just piss me off.

Cut Content.

I don’t really have to explain any further, let’s be honest. It’s not just Dexit, it’s the cut moves that piss me off, along with the axe to Mega Evolution and Z-Crystals. I don’t really need to say much else, do I?

Raids and Gigantamax

At first, I kinda enjoyed my time with raids, I spent a load of time raiding with @pinekaboo​ and enjoying the feeling of teaming up to take down a titanic Pokémon... But after the first few days it just felt like a chore. If I wanted a particular TR, a particular Pokémon, a particular this that or other, then I would be spending hours looking up information on Serebii, trying to narrow down where to find it and then either getting the wrong Pokémon or having to spend time grinding Watts for Wish Stones or fighting in other dens to reset all the active dens. So much effort just for the god damn body slam TR.

Gigantamax meanwhile, is just... The most frustratingly pointless thing possible. Not only is it locked to post-game with some limited-time exceptions, it’s apparently banned in competitive tournaments?

Why even fucking bother with it then? I spent hours trying to find a G-Max Kingler, only to learn it’s Post-Game only. And then I spent hours trying to find/catch a GMax Butterfree, only to learn a normal Butterfree is technically better. It’s pathetic.

Apparently I’m not allowed to be angry about Gigantamax bc I’m wrong, like always.

Team Yell

Sorry guys, but Team Yell is just a poor man’s Team Skull, but even less threatening.

“Oh you like this? It’s Post-Game”

This is the second biggest Pet Peeve of mine regarding the game. I spent hours looking for a Ralts before learning that all those “15% chance spawn rates” are in foggy weather, which comes in the post-game, leaving me stuck with a 2% chance. Those “Nature Candies” are locked until post-game and apparently need an obnoxious amount of BP to unlock.

What’s particularly gregarious is the fact there’s a BP trader in that town where the dragon gym leader is met pretty early on... And you can’t get any BP until end-game.

Shut the fuck up about Leon.

I don’t care about Leon. He himself is not that annoying, but every time I hear “oh Leon’s so amazing” I wanna punch something. I’m pretty sure it’s intended to make the player feel awesome for taking him down, but it just feels like pointless pandering. Like we get it, Leon’s great. Shut the fuck up about how awesome he and his fucking Charizard is.

Charizard

Yup. Charizard gets its own spot here.

The Pokémon Company has sucked Charizard’s dick enough, I say. It got 2 Mega Evolutions and a Gigantamax, and it’s the champion’s star Pokémon, and it’s hyped up to be the best thing ever.

It was only vaguely challenging to me because I decided sweeping it with Steam Engine Coalossal would be boring. So I took it down with my Gallade.

Yes, Gallade has a type disadvantage. I didn’t really care.

Empty Team slots

The only person in this entire game to have a full team has been Leon. Every gym fight I found myself depositing Pokémon just to have a fair fight.

Plot and Pacing (or lack of it).

You’ve seen me rant about this before, but I’m going to rant about it some more.

So I really don’t like over-levelling in any level-based game, because then the game feels trivial and unchallenging. But Pokémon Sword’s level curve makes no fucking sense. Sometimes I’d be training 10 Pokémon and still be over-levelled, then I’d go back to a normal team of 6 and find myself nearly getting steamrolled by Pokémon 5 levels higher than me. Towards the end of the game I found myself wondering whether I was the “right level” or not. I’d have to choose my team, save, go up against a gym leader and then reset to use XP candies on my pokemon after deliberately under-levelling them.

And then suddenly Leon’s lowest level is 62 after the previous trainer’s highest was 57. There wasn’t that much inbetween, game devs.

And I’ve just ranted about the pacing guys. I haven’t even begun with the plot.

To be perfectly honest? The whole “plot” with Rose? The game would be 100 times better if they just cut out Rose and Marco Cosmos. If Team Yell is a poor man’s Skull, then Marco Cosmos is a poorer man’s Aether Foundation.

So many times we get hints and implication that there is something going on behind the scenes, but every time we get to do nothing. We just get to hear about how great-and-mighty Leon will handle everything, so why don’t you just worry about your gym challenge?

The game spends so long focusing on the gym challenge, that I think the game would be better if it focused exclusively on that. At least then perhaps we’d have one full story instead of two half-assed stories.

Or hell, maybe if the Marco Cosmos story was exclusively post-game, that would be preferable. But as it stands, it’s just two or three vague cutscenes that something’s going on and then suddenly chucking a load of plot at the last fucking minute.

I have no interest in Rose’s energy crisis woes. I have no investment in his discussions about the future and the energy crisis we may face. None of that is interesting to me because I have had no time to get invested. The closest to investment I can possibly get is learning what is happening.

Hell, for all my love for Gen 6 and how it re-invigorated my love for Pokémon, I consider Team Flare one of the weaker villains in terms of story... and yet I was 100% more interested in them then in whatever Rose is doing and his reasons for doing it.

In conclusion, Pokémon Sword has -at its best- felt like a rushed, hashed hobjob of a game. It feels like the devs were short in staff and pressed for time, and forced to cut a lot of content in a desperate bid to make it in time for the Pokémon Company’s grand franchise plan and/or the Christmas market. They’re trying to rely heavily on the market opened by the Pokémon Go community (anyone noticed how Dynamax Dens have a feel similar to raid battles in Pokémon Go?) rather than delivering a game they can be proud in.

Inevitably, Pokemon Sharp Sword and Sturdy Shield will arrive on the markets -because these days we don’t get an Crystal/Emerald/Platinum- and I am legitimately considering skipping them over. 

The “core games” are the backbone of the franchise. I doubt they will cause the franchise to die, but it would certainly be crippled if sales drop, but I don’t think I can continue with them anymore. My trust in the Pokémon Company is the lowest it’s ever been. I doubt the company’s choice in direction, I doubt the decisions they’ve made in business, industrial and commercial affairs. I do not believe they can provide me with the quality I’ve come to expect of them anymore and I don’t believe I can continue supporting them.

Honestly, this lack of faith in the franchise, it’s putting me in a strange place. I love this Pokémon RP blog I’ve built up, I love the muses I’ve created, the adventures I’ve written and the friends I’ve made through this blog and I’ve never really wanted them to end. But for the first time since nearly the start of the decade, when I first decided to try out this blog under the name pokemontrainerzefri, I’ve begun to wonder if it won’t be my depression and insecurities that kill it, but a loss of interest...

[alegriaspain]

Enter the B-52

The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a gigantic, eight-engined, American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber, which also doubled as a tactical bomber supporting American troops in Vietnam. The B-52, which came into service in 1955, was designed to carry nuclear weapons for Cold-War deterrence missions. Fortunately, it never had to drop any atomic bombs. Capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons (compared to the B-17 on a long range bombing mission over Germany during World War II carrying a 4,000-pound payload), it is capable of previously-unthinkable devastation whether dropping napalm, anti-personnel cluster bombs, chemical defoliants or the dreaded white phosphorous, which burned its way to the bone. Mass bombing was the Americans’ “ace in the hole” that would, in theory, guarantee victory, even in the worst of circumstances. Operation Rolling Thunder, the American’s first massive bombing campaign in Vietnam, began in 1965, with the objective of bombing North Vietnam into submission, something they never achieved, even after the biggest bombing campaign in history. The work horse of these missions was the B-52. (B-52 Source: Wikipedia)

The B-52 is capable of flying so high that, despite its gargantuan size and power, it can neither be seen nor heard from the ground. Its deliveries came as a terrifying surprise, except to North Vietnam’s radar-guided Soviet anti-aircraft installations, featuring the V-75 (“SA-2 GUIDELINE” in NATO-speak) missile system,  which brought a lot of B-52s down, some of which can be seen today at Hanoi’s military museum. The bombardment of North Vietnam and its neighbors began shortly after the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August 1964, and continued until the last American was airlifted out of Saigon over a decade later. All told, the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps together conducted at least 2.8 million combat missions against ground targets, while the air forces of South Vietnam, Laos, Australia, and South Korea added an additional 360,000 missions to the tally. (Source: globalsecurity,org)

By the time the United States ended its Southeast Asian bombing campaigns, after the last American was evacuated from Saigon in 1975, the total tonnage of ordnance dropped on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia approximately tripled the totals for World War II, with more bombs dropped than in all previous wars. The Indochinese bombings amounted to 7,662,000 tons of explosives, compared to 2,150,000 tons in the Second World War. The effects of this unprecedented volume and density of aerial bombing of both military and, unavoidably, civilian objectives, were nothing short of diabolical, comparable only with the use of American atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the fire bombing of Tokyo. The American air campaign during the Vietnam War was the largest in military history. Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General Curtis LeMay, (portrayed by George C. Scott as the insane General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb), stated “We’re going to bomb them back into the Stone Age”. (Source: Quora.com)

American Atrocities and Their Effects on the Vietnamese People

The Vietnam War was a textbook example of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity, defined as follows:

A war crime is an act that constitutes a serious violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility. Examples of war crimes include intentionally killing civilians or prisoners, torturing, destroying civilian property, taking hostages, performing a perfidy, raping, using child soldiers, pillaging, declaring that no quarter will be given, and seriously violating the principles of distinction and proportionality, and military necessity. (Source: Wikipedia)

Crimes against humanity are certain acts that are deliberately committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian or an identifiable part of a civilian population. The first prosecution for crimes against humanity took place at the Nuremberg trials. (Source: Wikipedia)

The atrocities of the American military in Vietnam, besides the bombing, include the killing of civlians–men, women and children–at close range, burning their villages and herding them into virtual concentration camps where they could be effectively isolated from the Viet Cong. This Nazi-style forced-displacement initiative was referred to as the “Strategic Hamlet Program.” The most egregious example of textbook atrocity, which came to light thanks to the legendary American investigative reporter, Seymour (Sy) Hersh, was the My Lai massacre.

The My Lai massacre was one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War. A company of American soldiers brutally killed most of the people—women, children and old men—in the village of My Lai on March 16, 1968. More than 500 people were slaughtered in the My Lai massacre, including young girls and women who were raped and mutilated before being killed. (Source: History.com)

By the time the My Lai massacre ended, 504 people were dead. Among the victims were 182 women—17 of them pregnant—and 173 children, including 56 infants. Although the events and actors at My Lai are lavisly documented, the legal repercussions for the participants–notably the officers involved–were ludicrously mild. According to History.com, only 14 men were charged, including Lt. William Calley, the unit commander; Captain Ernest Medina; and Colonel Oran Henderson. They were all acquitted except for Lt. Calley, who was convicted of premeditated murder for ordering the shootings, despite his contention that he was only following orders from his commanding officer, Captain Medina. In March 1971, Calley was given a life sentence for his role in directing the killings at My Lai. Many saw Calley as a scapegoat, and his sentence was reduced upon appeal to 20 years and later to 10; he was paroled in 1974. That’s three years’ imprisonment for the premeditated rape and murder of an entire village, including toddlers and babes in arms.

My Lai Was Not an Accident

Nor was My Lai an “isolated incident.” According to a report published on BBC.com, investigative journalist Nick Turse has uncovered convincing evidence that war crimes in Vietnam were common. In late 1968, the 9th Infantry Division, under the command of Gen Julian Ewell, was engaged in a large-scale operation in the Mekong Delta, the densely populated deep south of Vietnam. Ewell, who became known as the Butcher of the Delta, was notorious for his body-count fixation. He chastized subordinates who killed insufficient numbers and turned loose hellish firepower on civilians.

One of the soldiers present at My Lai wrote to William Westmoreland, US Army Chief of Staff, requesting an investigation. He reported that artillery called in on villages had killed women and children. Helicopter gunships had frightened farmers into running and then cut them down. Troops on the ground had done the same thing. The result was industrial-scale slaughter, the equivalent, he said, to a “My Lai each month.” (Source: BBC.com)

A My Lai Photo Album

(Click to enlarge)

(Source: allthatsinteresting.com)

###

Thanks for following, sharing and commenting.

See Part 3 here tomorrow

Go back to Part 1

  The Vietnam War–Horror, Hypocrisy and Heartbreak–2/3 Enter the B-52 The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a gigantic, eight-engined, American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber, which also doubled as a tactical bomber supporting American troops in Vietnam.

[dragonsdencrafting-blog]

my perfect digimon game

under the cut cause this is long!

first of all this is just the ideas floating around in my head and has no impact of the world, but hey it’s fun to dream right? 

So first lets start off with the basics.

First of gender select is a must (Looking at you hackers memory) though some character customization would be nice I don’t think it’s all that big of a deal. Maybe just stop putting the female characters in such weird outfits. Past that I was fine with what we got in next order and cyber sleuth. next I think I’m going to favor the world series, at least next order, over the story series of digimon since it seems to be alittle more based on the anime, which was very popular, while story seems more like it was trying to rip off pokemon. But there are great ideas from both. Next thing i would like is alittle more options when it comes to sound and subtitles. I feel like my digimon were always loud and the music got kinda repetitive after awhile even though it was really good. Maybe just alittle more balancing for those of us with bad hearing.

Past that I think it’s time to talk about the setting and story. While I’m not going to lay out a story for this. (I’m not getting paid after all.) I can discuss some ideas that could work for the game. Of course the biggest thing would be to base it off the shows. I never watched past gen four of digimon as i hated the no partners thing and given that it went back to the old ways right after I would say that alot of people felt the same way. So most of what I’ve got would be from the first three gens, which were all pretty good. Though each did have its faults. But that’s getting off topic.

I think the game should take place in both the real world and he digital world. Like cyber sleuth but with a lot more to do outside of the digital world. In this the main character would likely be a college student. This could keep from making the game to hard by having to deal with parents or strict school rules, while still allowing a challenge to the player to keep from being discovered. I also like the idea of having digimon in the real world. Not just your own, but sort of random encounters that you have to battle to keep the bad guy from letting it be known that digimon are real. I feel like it would take some kind of mission board, however what would be kinda fun is if you went to a news stand and looked up strange rumors. Like the scene in men in black. Then I also think that the real world should have things you can do in it. Like in the persona games. Little events that could unlock missions and raise states for you and your comrades. Maybe you can choose to visit a spa to increase stamina or a green house for friendship. These things would always be available to you. Like maybe the gym is only open to students on the weekends. And while you’d still be able to train your digimon like you can in next order, These would be huge boosts that would likely be able to push you to the next stage if you took them. Of course it would come at a price. It would skip to the next day if you did that, meaning that you couldn’t train up on your own, and may lock you out of other things for that day. Such as if you choose to go to the pool on the weekend the you may have to wait a whole week before you could go to the gym. they would also cost money too, meaning you couldn’t always go if you didn’t have the funds and would still have to go beat up digimon or take some sort of job, again like a bounty board, so you could use them. They also wouldn’t be unlocked right away. Because these are things that you need to let your digimon do, while not being able to let them be seen in the first place, it should be that you must do something so as to make sure you can be alone. Maybe you can do a mission for the person who owns the pool so that they let you use it after ours. Or maybe its a private pool and you need to do something for the owner to let you use it at all. While at the gym, maybe you have to help a digimon copy the data for the gym and make a mock version in the gyms computer. Like recruiting digimon in previous games. Again you can still train up in the digital world for free. But the gains to that wouldn’t be near as big to balance it out, even if it’s fully upgraded. Next I like the idea of the town and growing it, but I think it should work alittle different. First It shouldn’t be tied to the story at all. You can go and recruit any digimon as soon as the area is unlocked if you have the skill, and you can go and beat the story without ever recruiting a single digimon. A big part of that is because alot of people will grind up to megas as early as they can and breeze through the game, just to hit a wall of not having recruited enough digimon or not having finished far enough in the story. This also helps because features such as locking in your digivolution rout wouldn’t be locked till you’ve almost beaten the game plus it would give way to challenge runs of the game, such as beat the story with out recruiting or recruit everyone before entering chapter two, ect. Recruiting could effect the real world as much as the town as well. Maybe some digimon will give you access to things in the real world, such and hacking computers to cause a power outage once a week so you could get out of class early and have more time to do things. Again I like the idea of having to deal with time, though not as extreme as in the persona games.

Next lets talk about the digimon themselves.

First, I think two partners is good. With just one you wind up getting stuck for alot longer with digivolutions that you don’t want/like, and any more then that starts getting that pokemon feeling. Plus there are tamers in the show with two so there’s that. Next it should follow next order pretty well with how it works, however with one major difference, Death! In this death of your digimon should happen when a digimon falls in battle twice without healing. The first time you lose a fight you’ll be taken back to the city entrance with your digimon hurt and in need of healing. Now to heal your digimon you’ll need an item at the beginning of the game and then later on an npc with do it for a small fee. This has two effects, one, you will be less likely to rush it to battles with higher level enemies and will take your digimon’s life more seriously, second, if you don’t like the digimon you have or want to train someone new you can just go lose some fights. This also keeps from having to worry about your mega level digimon dying right after you get it because it took you too long to train. Keep in mind that other things can still kill them, though those are a bit more random. Lastly there should be someway to save your favorite digimon. So if you spend three days trying to get crusadermon but you want to go through the rest of the field guide or worried you’ll make a mistake, you’ll have a way of getting her back, though that would be late game as it could be a bit over powering otherwise.

Other thoughts.

I want a game that’s a good balance between the two and doesn’t feel like it’s ripping off pokemon. I want one where you have more to do then just beat up digimon and train. I want one where the world feels like a bigger place and feels more alive. I want to feel like I’m part of it, feel like I did when I watched the show when it first came out. I just want a good game.

But what do you all think? Feel free to let me know. I thought of other ideas, like having teammates you could send on missions and the digimon be voiced. But those are ones that I’m not sure would work well or would feel like they were to close to other games.

[sage-nebula]

Pokemon Sun/Moon games please?

@yoshi12370, you also requested this, so I”m just going to tag you here! And also, oh boy, let’s see if I can keep this to five, because to be entirely honest I’ve been thinking about my dissatisfaction with Sun/Moon’s plot a lot recently (especially with everyone is gushing about how it/its characters are “the best the series has ever had!!1!” which … no).

Justice. For. Gladion. This is honestly one of my biggest sticking points, because I’m still so aggravated with the way he was treated by the game’s narrative.To begin with, he was hardly in it. Although he is introduced on the second island, his introduction is brief, and he doesn’t show up again until much later in the plot to give a cryptic warning, and then when Lillie and Nebby go off to Aether Paradise with Plumeria. Now, most of the characters in this game were neglected, and if he was simply another character then—while I would be disappointed because I like him—I would be more inclined to sigh and let it go. The fact is, however, that he should have had more of a role because he is Lillie’s brother and Lusamine’s son. He should have been just as important to the plot as the two of them, and he isn’t, to the point where it’s actually rather easy to forget that he’s even a part of that family considering the fact that he’s completely cut out of the picture after the events on Aether Paradise. Hell, even when Lillie shares her memory about dancing in the rain, Gladion isn’t mentioned at all. She recalls no memories of her brother whatsoever. Even a little mention there would have given a nudge that, hey, he was once part of this family as well—but we didn’t get that, on top of not seeing him throughout the plot. Considering his role in this family, it’s unforgivable.And it’s especially unforgivable in the climax. Don’t get me wrong, not having him show up more throughout the game is just as much of an issue, considering the fact that there are so many gaping holes in his story. For instance, he’s an “enforcer” for Team Skull, but what is it that he enforces? Team Skull doesn’t have any power in Alola whatsoever. They are, understandably, treated as a joke by the populace. Clearly he isn’t enforcing any sort of regulations or power, because they have none. He’s also not keeping the Skull grunts in line, because they openly disparage them, and he doesn’t even live in Po Town. Instead, he lives on a completely different island in a motel room. Given the fact that Team Skull is dirt poor and the fact that the motel manager tells us that Gladion paid two years of rent in full and is running out of money (presumably to buy food), we can also assume that Team Skull isn’t even paying him for whatever it is he does. So why is he employed by them? What is he getting out of it, and what does he do? We don’t know, because the game doesn’t bother to tell us. (Well, we do know that he wants to get stronger, so perhaps he battles—but again, we don’t know why he’s battling for them, if he’s battling with them or against them, et cetera. None of this is elaborated upon at all.) So all of that is an issue, but the fact remains that he’s not allowed to be a part of the climax, despite the fact that Lusamine abused him just as much as she abused Lillie before he left, and continued to berate and verbally abuse him when he finally returned during the Aether infiltration (and sicced Guzma on him to boot—nothing like abuse by proxy!). Gladion isn’t allowed to call her out, confront her, or even be there to support his sister. He’s not allowed to be there despite saying that he feels some measure of (misplaced) responsibility due to the fact that she is technically their mother. I get that the game wanted to give Lillie her big moment, and I’m glad she got to have that, but I’m upset that she was the only one who got to have it, and that Gladion’s abuse is so casually swept aside (and that he’s forced to go back to Aether Paradise to “clean it up” even though he had no believable reason to do that, and it’s clear that they forced him to do so just to get him out of the way). Hell, Gladion had far more of a reason to be there at the climax than the player did! If anything, it should have been Gladion and Lillie playing the flutes, a sibling duet in order to open up Ultra Space to go after their horrible, abusive, excuse for a mother. I also wish the game would have been even more explicit about the abuse Gladion suffered (which is implied to have been shifted to Lillie once he left, meaning he got the brunt of it before he did), because people still dismiss it and call him “emo,” and that really upsets me as someone who comes from an abusive background and reacted similarly to how he did. So seriously, justice for Gladion. He needs more of a role in the plot. He definitely needs a role in the climax. He and Lillie both need to confront Lusamine, together, and he needs to go to Kanto with Lillie to travel with her and show her the ropes of being a trainer (and also just to reconnect with her after their two-year separation). That would be a far better ending.

Lusamine needs to die. She should have died in the climax. Killed off for real, no take-backs. Aside from that …I’m upset at the rampant abuse apologism throughout Sun/Moon’s ending. The implication that she was the way she was because of neurotoxins, or “well she was nice to Lillie once so clearly she can be redeemed”—bullshit. My own mother was abusive to me and employed many of the same verbal/emotional abuse tactics Lusamine did (as well as some physical ones that we’re never told Lusamine did), and yeah, sometimes she was nice. Sometimes she showed kindness. That’s what abusers do, that’s what the abuse cycle is, that’s how they keep their victims where they want them! They show kindness sometimes so that the victim thinks “they really do love me, they’re just having a bad day/I made them angry/it’s this other thing that went wrong.” And hell, it fucking worked! Gladion says straight up that he told himself that Lusamine’s behavior was caused by his father’s disappearance so he could get through it. He specifically says that’s what he told himself so that he could get through it, meaning a.) that’s not necessarily true, and b.) he was trying to convince himself that his mother did love him, she did, she just had external factors that were driving her out of control. Particularly if she had rare moments of kindness with him like she did with Lillie, that would make it easier for him to convince himself that there were factors beyond her just not loving him, and thus make it easier for her to maintain control over him for as long as she did. (Which was a long time; he might be calling her “Lusamine” and “the president” by the time we meet him, but that letter found in his motel room has him apologizing for escaping his abusive situation, good lord.) Furthermore, we know that the rain dance situation was a rare moment of kindness because Lillie talks about how she was shocked she didn’t get punished, and kept waking Lusamine up because she couldn’t believe she was allowed to sleep in that bed. It was out of the ordinary for Lillie, that’s why she remembered it so clearly. Lusamine was an abuser from start to finish, and the game’s constant harping on healing her, redeeming her, helping her get better, and how her abused children felt responsible for caring for her was abhorrent. And honestly? While I’m on how absolutely repulsive that was, it’s especially repulsive to me because it was shoved down our throats that Lillie and Gladion had to help Lusamine after everything she did to them. Ghetsis was awful, yes, but the Unova games never made an attempt to tell us that he should be redeemed, or that N had a responsibility to him. N did come back to try and stop him in B2W2, and did try to talk some sense into him, but it was made apparent that N’s felt responsibility was in stopping Ghetsis from committing more evil, not taking care of and looking after him. It was never portrayed in such a way as, “Ghetsis abused N, but N still owes responsibility to him.” In the Alola games, however? Despite the fact that we see more on-screen abuse from Lusamine than we saw from Ghetsis (and more realistic abuse, too! She straight up pulls a line straight from my own abusive mother’s mouth!! I had to put the game down for a second I was so affected!), we’re still force-fed the “oh it wasn’t her fault” and “she can be redeemed” and “her kids are looking after her, don’t worry!” It’s vile. It’s straight up vile. I loathe it. So all of that said? She should have died. Nebby should have obliterated her after the Mother Beast battle. If they really wanted to, they could have still had that Regina George line that she gives to Lillie, all “when did you start becoming beautiful?” (bitch she was always beautiful, stop giving her backhanded compliments, and don’t ever talk to me or my daughter ever again), but then she should have legitimately died. I know that would be taking it a step farther than usual considering we don’t typically kill off characters in these games, but we talked about mass genocide last gen, we’ve talked about death in this gen, and they did straight up murder Lysandre’s ass in the anime. They could and should have killed Lusamine. Lillie and Gladion should have been free, and I would have been much happier. (Seriously, the relief I felt when I thought she had died, only to be crushed when I read the words “oh, she’s fine, just unconscious.” Ffs, kill her off! Vaporize her! Grind her into dust!!)And yes, I’m fully aware that Japanese culture plays a lot into familial responsibility, and honoring your parents, et cetera. Believe me, I know. But that doesn’t make it free from criticism, and it’s not as if Game Freak didn’t know that these games would be localized for a western audience. So while I’m sure that their cultural values did come into play, and while I do acknowledge this, it doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be bothered by or criticize it, particularly since quite a lot of Lusamine’s behavior was reminiscent of my own abusive mother’s. (And also? Alola isn’t even a Japanese region, it’s an American one, so if anything, western values do play some role in it, too. It’s a complicated issue, but nonetheless.)

Pretty much the entire cast was under-utilized, to the point where the only one who had legitimate development was Lillie. Everyone else either had rushed or no development whatsoever, and barely impacted the plot. However, the main ones are:- Plumeria. Plumeria was barely in the plot, which is the second biggest damn shame next to Gladion’s minimal presence. To involve her more, I would have had her play an actual role in the Aether infiltration, namely in order to call Guzma out on his horrid treatment of Team Skull. While Guzma has a history of abuse himself (his behavior really speaks of someone who was abused in childhood and never received help), that doesn’t excuse how he treats the Skull grunts now, particularly since those he acts abusively around (by screaming, trashing the place, gloating about “beating down” Gladion, et cetera) are children, while he is a grown man. Plumeria is said to be Team Skull’s “big sis” and it’s clear that she cares about them. Therefore, she should have confronted Guzma at Aether Paradise with regards to him selling out the Skull grunts to the Aether Foundation, should have called him out on how horribly he treats them, and should have battled him, perhaps even for the title of Skull boss. Seeing Plumeria take charge and get shit done would have been amazing, and would have made her presence in the plot actually worth it, rather than completely wasting and not developing her character at all.- Burnet. Just like I love Plumeria, I also love Burnet, but again, she has a grand total of one scene in the plot, and that’s not enough. It’s especially not enough when you consider the fact that her specialization is in the different dimensions and creatures within them, which is directly tied to Sun/Moon’s main plot. We see Kukui all over the place even though his specialization has basically nothing to do with the main plot, and that … that’s a damn shame. Like, no shade on Kukui, but it’s a shame. So I would have involved Burnet more as well, including giving her a confrontation with Lusamine over both the Ultra Beasts/Ultra Space and her treatment of her children. - Hau. Hau was pretty much a static character throughout the game, and his presence in the plot was, again, very minimal. We get hints that he has more to him—living in Hala’s shadow, his father disappearing, brief disappointment when he loses right before the League, and his discomfort around Gladion due to how Gladion is constantly dragging him—but it’s not enough. I would have liked for Hau to have an actual character arc about building his own confidence and learning to be comfortable with himself, rather than just showing up for a friendly match, few jokes, and malasada lines. Again, I love Hau, but he should have had more done with him—he should have been a better realized character.- Wicke. Wicke is so boring. Her dialogue is bland, and her role in the plot basically amounts to “nice maternal figure who doesn’t actually do anything but low-key drag an abused boy by calling him ‘sheltered.’” Her character needs to be completely reworked to be more interesting. Also, make her somewhat villainous like Faba? Yes please.Really, all of the characters need expansion, but those are the ones that I keep coming back to whenever I think of all the wasted potential. There’s so much wasted potential.

I would have liked Lusamine’s focus to be less “OMG BEAUTY MINE MINE MINE” and more about scientific beauty. The Aether Foundation—which, mind you, should have been evil from conception to end, I hate that they were just ~*~temporarily~*~ evil, fuck that noise, I’m still counting them as the real villains, idgaf—has a very sterile, scientific feel to it. Even if we don’t go the straight up alchemy route (#disappointment), they’re creating chimeras and running space-time experiments. Lusamine is the president. I know that the game threw in an NPC saying it was her grandfather who created the Aether Foundation (of course), and also that it was Mohn who carried out the bulk of the original experiments (of course, this is all very typical of Pokémon, unfortunately), but in my view we should excise her grandfather, and hell, excise her husband (it’s not as if he’s terribly important anyway, we could do without him—and no, we don’t need him to explain the twins, because if Johto Rival doesn’t need a named mother, then Lillie and Gladion don’t need a named father), and make it about her and her fascination with science. Because here’s the thing: They can keep Lusamine’s interest and love for beautiful things while also making that interest and love clinical and scientific rather than obsessive and a stereotypical brand of feminine evil. Formulas can be beautiful to a scientist. Ultra Beasts could be beautiful to her in a fascinating way. To her, it can be less about beauty in the form of love, and more about the beauty in control, the beauty in flawless experimentation, the beauty in power and having her plans come to fruition, the beauty of science. Rather than Lusamine’s motivations being reduced to either “she wants to love things” or “she’s obsessed with beauty” or “she’s obsessed with finding her husband,” it could be all about her scientific experimentation, quest for power, and other motivations that are, quite frankly, typically given to male characters but are for some reason denied female characters for, gee, some reason we just can’t figure out. Having Lusamine still retain her manipulations and deception and playing that into her exceedingly high intelligence would have been far more interesting. Hell, if they wanted to model her after another character, GLaDOS is right there. I’m just saying. 

I strongly dislike how the player was touted to be this amazing gift from the heavens without doing anything to actually deserve such praise. The Pokémon games are, of course, set up with the express purpose of enabling the player to Be The Very Best Like No One Ever Was™, but ordinarily it either happens as a bout of happenstance (the player is usually just in the right place at the right time, and is only given just enough thanks for whatever it is they did—and sometimes less than they deserve, tbh), or it’s literally written in as a bout of potential destiny that someone (/coughcough N /coughcough) chose to make a reality. Here, however, it felt like the trainer wasn’t really doing anything but completing a few really easy “challenges” (the Island Trials were not nearly as complex or involved as I would have liked them to be; I really enjoy the concept, but I want them to be more like Zelda’s temples in the future if they’re brought back), and then being practically worshiped by every single character for literally no reason, including and especially Lillie, even if you’re a jerk to her in your dialogue choices. It was excruciatingly aggravating by the end of the game, to the point where I actually disliked having to sit through cutscenes of Lillie gushing over the player character. Those were scenes that would have been much better if she was instead bonding with the brother she had been separated from for the past two years, you know? I don’t need praise heaped upon me, especially when I’ve barely done anything. I’m just a person, and not even a very interesting one. Please, take the laurels off me, pass the focus over to the twins, and let me enjoy a story in which they both get the focus they deserve, instead of having me take Gladion’s portion just so that the game can try and make me feel special. So yeah, this is a huuuuge issue that would need to be fixed, but less hero worship for the player, harder challenges, and more focus on characters who aren’t the player (and are thus actual characters and deserve the focus far more therefore). That would definitely be an improvement.

[preciousmetals0]

Hong Kong Fluey; Airlines Clash; Chip Hopes Dashed

Hong Kong Fluey; Airlines Clash; Chip Hopes Dashed:

Hong Kong Fluey

It’s no secret that I like being right, dear readers. But not like this … not like this.

The Wuhan coronavirus has spread to nearly 3,000 confirmed infections and close to 80 deaths. China has now quarantined 16 cities, issued a group-travel ban and a ban on eating wild meat in Wuhan.

Yes, that last point seems rather bizarre to many of us who reside in the States. Why are the Chinese eating wild meat? But just think for a second if the U.S. government issued a ban on eating deer meat in the Midwest to prevent a virus spreading. That hits a bit closer to home, doesn’t it?

But I digress…

Outside of China, there are five confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., and a handful of cases in countries such as France, Japan and South Korea.

Wall Street is reacting to the rapid spread of the coronavirus as I expected. Heading into the midday, losses were nearly 2% across the board for all of the major market indexes.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 500 points at its lowest levels of the day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index shed some 2.2% at its lowest levels, as traders took profits on China-exposed chip stocks.

All in all, it was a really rough way to start the week.

The Takeaway:

I woke up this morning looking forward to researching the glut of corporate earnings slated to arrive this week. I was even somewhat excited about December’s durable goods orders, consumer confidence figures and housing data. (Yes, I know I have a problem. It’s why I write Great Stuff. Welcome to my therapy sessions.)

The economic data seem pretty moot at this point. The potential economic impact of a global pandemic kind of throws all that data out the window. Any takeaways we could’ve drawn from last month’s housing or durable goods orders is now less than conjecture.

Corporate earnings reports also seem a bit less important than before for many of the same reasons. With the advent of the Wuhan coronavirus, the future is once again more uncertain than it was before. Prior-quarter results will be cheered, but not as much as they would’ve been. Guidance will be heavily scrutinized and any signs of weakness punished harshly.

And, as I’ve said many times before, Wall Street absolutely hates uncertainty.

In all honestly, this is exactly how investors should’ve operated before the coronavirus. It’s no secret that Wall Street is in an easy-money bubble. The recent surge higher since New Year’s was a relief rally brought on by the U.S.-China trade deal.

But it wasn’t just the China trade deal. The Nasdaq had hit 28 record highs since November — the most since February 2000. The S&P 500 Index had gone 71 days without a 1% move. Even in a bull market, that’s quite a run higher.

In short, here’s what I’m saying: The market was itching for a reason to sell, and this deadly virus outbreak was the perfect excuse.

What we see in the market right now is a profit-taking sell-off … tinged with a bit of fear. If the current outbreak runs the same course as others — SARS, MERS, Ebola, et cetera — this sell-off is a buying opportunity. That said, there are too many unknown factors still out there:

How will this impact the Chinese economy?

Will it affect global trade?

Will the new coronavirus spread in Western countries?

The best thing you can do right now is not panic. Hunker down, hold what you can and wait. There’s no way to plague-proof your portfolio other than holding stable, well-run companies.

If this pandemic turns out to be a big nothing-burger, you still own stock in growing businesses. Well done.

If it’s going to heck … then it’s time for a Wall Street fire sale! Panicked investors will dump their shares at the littlest signs of trouble, and that’s our best buying opportunity.

Banyan Hill expert Jeff Yastine is able to tell the stock market’s diamonds from the falling rough. Bullish or bearish, Jeff has a trained eye for spotting rock-solid businesses that are best positioned to grow in any market — pandemic or bust.

If you feel unprepared for a market crash gone viral, Jeff just uncovered one stock that should be added to every portfolio … no matter where the market’s headed.

Click here to learn how to get details on the one stock Jeff recommends you buy today.

The Good: The Au Wu-Flu Rally

If you’ve been picking up what Great Stuff has been putting down, you likely hold a little gold in your portfolio somewhere. The malleable metal is nowhere near as hip as it used to be, but it’s still among the best investments for occasions such as these.

With today’s flu-panic sell-off, gold prices are edging in on six-year closing highs. Well, at least bullion prices are, according to FactSet data.

Last I saw, Gold for February delivery (GC=F) was up $10.70, less than 1% away from its January 7 highs. If you remember, those highs were driven by heightened tensions with Iran, after the U.S. killed a top Iranian general.

For those keeping track, that’s two potential black swan events in less than a month. Man, 2020 is shaping up to be a real doozy, isn’t it?

The bottom line here is that, if you don’t already hold gold in some form in your portfolio, you seriously need to consider it.

The Bad: Group Travel Banned

If you and several of your China-based friends had flight plans this week … I have some bad news for you. Effective this morning, China banned international group travel.

The move is designed to help contain the coronavirus outbreak, but the fallout is hitting the airline industry hard … China is the world’s largest outbound travel market, after all. But not all outbound traffic is banned — just group travel. Forbes has an informative article on the ban here, if you want to read more.

And it’s not just the Chinese government. Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) and General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) both restricted employee travel to Wuhan, China.

Still, just the mention of a travel ban tanked airline stocks today.

The biggest losers are those with international reach, such as American Airlines Group Inc. (Nasdaq: AAL), Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) and United Airlines Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: UAL). Overall, the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSE: JETS) is down roughly 3% today.

Unfortunately, the airline industry already struggles with the fallout from Boeing Co.’s (NYSE: BA) 737 Max debacle. The addition of a pandemic coronavirus and travel bans will pressure the airline industry even more. This weakness will linger for a while.

The Ugly: Sick Chips

If you thought the airline industry was in a bad way today, you haven’t seen semiconductors. Chip stocks have been red-hot in the wake of the U.S.-China trade deal — mostly because many semiconductor companies have crucial manufacturing and supply chains in China.

Those supply chains are called into question once again with the Wuhan coronavirus. Companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (NYSE: TSM), Xilinx Inc. (Nasdaq: XLNX) and Micron Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MU) are getting hammered as the outbreak spreads like wildfire across China.

Unlike the airline industry, however, semiconductors will bounce back quickly from this latest setback.

Why? Take your pick: cloud computing growth, Big Data processing, the mobile device upgrade cycle, the 5G revolution, next-gen consoles … there are so many reasons that semiconductor stocks will rebound from today’s losses that it’s not funny.

When Great Stuff talks about holding on to well-run companies in a mega trend market, this is what we’re talking about … the Intel Corp.s (Nasdaq: INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.s (Nasdaq: AMD) of the market. These are the companies that you’ll want to own while riding out this latest round of volatility.

Even 5% corrections are not fun. … They tell you they’re “buying opportunities” and they are. They don’t tell you that down 5% the news turns bad and then you’re afraid the 5% turns to 10% or 15%.

— Frank Gretz of Wellington Shields.

This quote comes from a Barron’s article that I linked to above. If you followed that link, you’re probably a bit more worried than usual today. It was very doom-and-gloomy.

When we link to articles like this, our goal isn’t to make you panic. It’s to make you aware of the situation. There’s good, actionable information in that article … but the best piece of advice isn’t the fearmongering by Frank Gretz — it’s the takeaway by author Ben Levisohn:

This drop is likely not the big one, even if it may feel that way. … So far, it’s hardly a 5% drop. But brace yourselves, just in case.

Great Stuff: Opportunities in the Crisis

The trade war is over. World War III is averted. Harry and Meghan renounced their royal status. For a brief moment in time, all was right with the world…

And then the coronavirus came along and messed everything up.

Much like the Spanish Inquisition, no one expects these black swan events. That’s why they’re called black swan events.

But that doesn’t mean it’s time to run around panic selling. Nor does it mean that you should try to catch every falling knife you see. (Ouch!)

So, how do you find opportunities when the world appears to have gone mad?

Well … that’s what Great Stuff and the gurus at Banyan Hill are here for!

Today, Ted Bauman and Clint Lee of The Bauman Letter have the inside scoop on two sectors to avoid and three opportunities to take advantage of in this crisis. Click below to watch this week’s edition of Your Money Matters:

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If you’d rather cut straight to the chase and learn how to get access to Ted Bauman’s exclusive market research, click here now!

Until next time, good trading!

Regards,

Joseph Hargett

Great Stuff Managing Editor, Banyan Hill Publishing