#Deals are currency in ghost zone

[dcxdpdabbles]

The Undead Florist

Anon said: Basically, I just wanted Danny to deliver flowers to the Justice League heroes from his fans. If you can include Everlasting Trio. U can add whatever crack you think would be best! Thank you!

Clark is in the middle of blocking a heat ray attack from a robot that copies the powers of any Justice League member when the unexpected happens. A kid, no older than fourteen, boldly walks into the battlefield carrying a lavish bouquet of red roses and trigger lilies.

He's dressed in a worker uniform: light brown khakis, a black shirt with a light-born vest, and a black baseball hat resting neatly on his head. There is a company logo on the upper right of his vest but Clark does not recognize the stylized D.

There was a still moment when Clark's super speed could see the exact second Amazo spotted the child. The boy wasn't paying attention, staring at his phone screen, which had the faint details of a map, and had two headphones in his ear.

Clark's eyes widen in horror, and he opens his mouth to try to shout a warning—though he doubts the kid could hear him over the loud music playing in his ear—but before he can, Amazo flung out an arm straight at the kid's head, still pinning Clark down with a cheap version of his own laser ray eyes.

No! No, please, he's so young! He pleads mentally, frozen in horror as the robot's hand goes right through the kid's head. It took a solid minute for Clark to realize that Amazo's hand hadn't ripped through the skull of the child but rather had passed through him as if the boy was not physically there.

From underneath a black baseball cap, brim, electric blue eyes stare at Amazo. Gesturing vaguely to the arm going through his head, the boy frowns. "Rude much?"

"Access: Black Canary," Amazo says in response, his jaw opening wider as a super-powered scream is released, pointing black at the kid's face.

The frown on the worker deepens as the boy reaches up and- slaps the android in the face? "Dude, I'm trying to work. I have like eight flower deliveries today. Also, that was a weak imitation. This is a real Ghostly Wail."

He opens his jaw, letting out a sound that wasn't as loud as Black Canary or Amazo but somehow worse.

And the sound—the unholy screech that releases from the child sends Clark to his knees, quivering in his boots as Amazo disintegrates right before his eyes. The only thing left of the android is a smothering pair of robotic legs that fall over with a loud thump.

The boy huffs, paying no mind to the fact that he took out the enemy the league had spent the last six hours fighting before Clark tried to lure it away from the city. He merely glances back at his phone, following the little moving icon on the map until he stands before the fallen hero.

"Hi! Are you Superman?" The kid asks in a polite, chipper tone. It's such a whiplash change between his normal voice and his customer service voice that it sets in. This is really just a Tuesday for him.

Clark opens and closes his mouth with a weak "Yes" and is pushed out.

The kid's smile grows as he pushes the flowers into his arms. Clark nearly drops the vase, scrambling to get a good hold of them as the kid pulls out a harmonica and plays a little jingle. It sounds like a mix between Happy Birthday and Ring Around the Roses.

Once he is done, the boy holds out his arms wide open and loudly proclaims, in a very obvious Transatlantic accent, which makes him sound... rather otherwordly: "These flowers are sent by your fan Kattie Longsmith in Metropolis, wishing to thank you for rescuing her mother and brother from a fire. She wants to remind you that she is your biggest fan and hopes you have a lovely day. Thank you for selecting the Undead Florist as your means of flora travel!"

With a theatric bow, the boy blinks out of existence.

Clark is left kneeling alone in a destroyed cornfield, beating black and blue, while holding a vase of lavished roses and lilies. He is unsure how long he will stay there, trying to process what he just saw as the Batplane flies onto the scene, Bruce jumping out of it with a cry of his name.

Batman growls upon taking in the scene before his friend rushes to his side. "What happened?"

"I ugh...I got a flower delivery." He manages to utter, eyes still trained on the spot of the strange kid.

"What?"

"Trust me, I'm as confused."

It turns out that Clark's delivery is not an isolated incident. Over the past three months, various Justice League members have reported similar interactions with the Undead Florist.

Flash got a bouquet while trying to stop Captain Cold. The kid had wandered in the middle of a fight, unfreezing the speedster to hand over yellow lilies and sunflowers from a little boy named Teddy Smith in Central City. He had melted the freeze ray that was shot at him while Barry was in the middle of a panic, thinking he would watch a child die.

One little jingle and message was delivered in a Transatlantic accent later, and the boy was gone without a trace again. Bruce had gone to the scene, trying to find anything that could give him some clue, but he disputed the clear picture of his face and the recording of his voice. Nothing about the boy came up in their systems.

Wonder Woman was next, receiving two large bouquets of roses from a fellow woman she had rescued named Trix Cooperman. Her jingle was slightly smoother jazz , and the message leaned towards romantic than gratitude from a fan, but the boy had delivered it nonetheless.

He also took out Cheetah with a well-placed punch, highly impressing Diana. He had the makings of a warrior.

Then Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Martian Man Hunter, Batman, Martian Man Hunter, Hawkgirl, Aquaman, Zatanna, and surprisingly Vigilante each got their own flower grams.

None of them were able to get any information about the child, seeing as he only appeared when the members were in the middle of a fight, which was driving Bruce mad.

Of course, they had tracked down all the clients but met a dead end when each claimed they had never placed an order with Undead Florist. Even when Diana was holding her rope, the people gave the same answer.

They had no idea why Undead Florist was delivering flowers in their name or where the message that came along with the flowers appeared from. The chilling part was that the messages did actively represent their emotions and feelings towards the heroes, but how the overpowered child knew that was left unanswered.

The other thing that bothered Bruce was that the Undead Florist only appeared when they were in battle.

"Maybe it's because he doesn't know how to find you otherwise," Nightwing suggested at the Justice League-wide meeting.

"He uses a GPS that is locked into the heroes." Batman grunts, not dismissing the suggestion but challenging it, which causes his eldest son to shrug.

"Undead could be following online tips or something. It's not like the Leauge is seen just strolling around the cities, but people tweak when they do happen to see us."

"We could test that. Have a group of heroes just relaxing at a cafe or something. See where he appears and if there is a pattern after monitoring social media." Red Robin suggests, rubbing his chin.

Batman considers it before nodding. "I shall divide the teams."

The Justice League goes out, doing as instructed, and sure enough, they find the Undead Florist appearing more and more. Red Robing happily puts together the pattern, pointing to social media generated by the younger generation's demographics.

Undead Florist is an actual teenager using DCtweets to find heroes to bring flowers to. They have enough proof of that to show he's harmless if one ignores his more than impressive battle skills.

"Now all we need to do is catch him," Clark announces. "We don't want to scare him, but the Justice League really needs to know how he's doing all of this. It could be a security risk."

Meanwhile, Danny chills in his haunt, watching Sam tend to the flowers in a large greenhouse he placed for her. Tucker is typing away on a ghost zone-powered supercomputer, looking at all the Soul orders their business is getting.

The Ghost Zone didn't have a formal currency; they had Deals instead. Even small unconscious deals—like wishing on a shooting star, throwing a coin in a fountain, or sending a prayer or two—could be turned into deals if a higher being encountered them.

Luckily for those people, Danny and his lovers are very kind higher beings and choose to complete their requests in a way that satisfies all of their obsessions without stealing souls.

Sam got to spread her greenery across worlds, Tucker got to spend time with tech from different universes and Danny was able to explore and protect the souls of humans.

That Danny could exchange these Soul orders for gold was no one business but their own.

"Ohhh, another order, Red Robin, from Universe Nine!" Tucker crows. "It's roses in the shape of a heart from Kon-el. Aw, he's in love with his best friend!"

"That's sweet." Danny smiles, leaning over his boyfriend's shoulder to read the message he must memorize when he struts into Gotham. "I know how much fun dating best friends is."

"Let's help those losers confess then!" Sam calls, raising her hands as roses of various colors burst to life around her.

[deadsetobsessions]

Summonings

Ever since Danny Phantom became the Ghost King, he’s had to deal with an endless amount of crap. An eternity of it, actually, and it was constantly causing him unending amount of existential crises and stress.

First, there was the paperwork. Pariah Dark, the incompetent asshole, had left him decades worth of bureaucracy to painfully sift through. He ended up hiring some ghosts with paperwork obsessions to sort some of that out. Who knew ruling the infinite realms would require this much paperwork? He’s lucky each section of the underworld had their own systems to report to their own rulers who, in turn, report to him.

Secondly, there were the Observers. And other ghosts, like his own rogues, but they were the main issues. Eyeball menaces. They protested his appointment, something he actually agreed with. Putting a fifteen year old on the throne is rarely a smart decision. But the Infinite Realm values strength, the only type of currency that matters in the land of the gods and the dead. Danny? Phantom? He’s got strength in spades. With only a few months of being a ghost, Danny had managed to defeat Pariah Dark, who had cowered gods and struck fear into the hearts of ghost heroes.

But Danny hasn’t quite realized the significance of that yet, too focused on the realization that he was about to be in charge of the infinite realms. The Observants, since his reluctant and extremely limited coronation, has been up his ass about doing things the “proper way.”

Danny’s main problem lies with the ridiculous amount of paperwork though. It’s fine. Tedious. But fine.

But if he gets one more fifteen page essay style complaint form about some guy named Constantine, Danny might seriously reconsider donning Dan’s ruthlessness and offing the guy himself. Perhaps grab the man by his shoulders and shake him like a rag doll and ask who the fuck told him it was a good idea to sell his soul out like that? Danny eventually just sent out Skulker to hunt down the contracts and trade minor services for them. He owns most of the soul now, and perhaps he’ll hunt this guy down and force him to do paperwork.

Regardless, paperwork was just often tedious. He’s worked out a system for himself. The halfa, true to his teenage form, had better things to be doing. His homework, for one. Hanging out with his friends and logging in hours for Doomed 2 would be another. But no, he’s here, twirling a pen as he glared down at a stack of forms for a zone expansion. What the fuck does Zeus want to expand his zone for? The current share space of the sky domain is literally a perfect balance with respect towards the other gods. For the love of- Danny slams down a red ‘REJECTED’ stamp on top of the stack. His hair flickers wildly in annoyance, the iced over Crown floating above his head emitting concerning levels of frost. To anyone else but himself, of course.

He then feels a soft tug on his core.

Right. The third most annoying thing about becoming King: the fucking summoning. Danny taps his pen against his lips, clicking it against his fangs, as he considers the summoning circle that calls him. Huh. Desperation. Mildly bloody. Fear. Resignation- ah, fuck it, it’s not like he’s too enthusiastic about staying to do work with the Observers poking around. He takes the summoning, allowing his regalia to overtake his normal hazmat-clad form, and approves the summoning.

Oh hey, Danny thinks he recognizes that ugly ass trenchcoat.

—-

John Constantine has had more than enough practice summoning things that would give people nightmares. But there are things he normally refuses to touch, refuses to even entertain the idea of trying. As usual, desperation made John its bitch and the Justice League’s battered and bruised faces tugged on his shriveled heart.

He’s going to summon something from the Infinite Realms. Oh, but he wasn’t just summoning any old ghost. No, he thought, I’m just going to summon the one being that’s guaranteed to be able to crush our universe without breaking a sweat. Bollocks.

“Is it ready?”

“Untwist your pants, spooky,” John snaps, wishing he had a crate of whiskey he could down. “We’re trying to summon the Ghost King, not your average demon.”

“What do we know about him?” Batman’s gravelly voice demanded.

“Powerful enough to take us all out without even breaking a sweat. Defeated the bloody tyrant who ruled over the Realms last I heard.”

“That’s it?”

“You could ask Deadman, but I heard he’s on the outs with the Infinite Realms on the fact that he’s made of pure magic, not ectoplasm.”

“There’s no guarantee the king will work with us.” Zatanna says, pressing her fingertips together tiredly. She had been at the forefront of the battle and had paid the price for it. “But he’s supposedly more benevolent than his predecessor… and we’re out of options.”

“Hm.”

“Just make sure to shut up and let me do the talking.”

“Hn.”

John rolls his eyes and takes a fortifying breath, something that does not go unnoticed by the League. They all tense up, preparing themselves for a battle. Another one, seeing as they all got their ass kicked by a ghost only ten hours ago. The League is spread thin, running interference to distract the ghost in question and evacuating civilians.

John Constantine started chanting, the glow of his magic lighting up the circle as he spills his blood into the circle.

He waits, heart in his throat, for the summoning to work.

“Is it supposed to take-” Red Robin asks, only to cut himself off as the circle flares once more. Power pulsates outwards from the circle. Frost crackles on the frost resistant floors, spreading outwards as a green portal rips open the fabric of time and space. Long, spindly imitations of a hand grabs the edges of space and pulls, heaving the rest of his celestial body out of the tear in reality. John does not look away. He can not look away, not from the eerie green pallor of the King, not from his torrential white wisps of hair, not from the black-hole like material of his outfit, not from the nebulas and beginnings and endings tailored onto the King’s cape. John could not look away from the ice crown that floated like a bastion of power above the king’s head.

His mouth is dry. What price will he have to pay to save the world? What price will this being demand of him, of the Justice League, to save the world?

John desperately needs that drink.

—-

Oh! He’s in his home dimension! His core purrs at coming home, at the close proximity to his first haunt.

He was expecting cultists, or even the Winchesters again, but this is nice.

The Justice League- summoning him. Sam and Tucker are going to flip when they hear about this.

They’ve been staring at him in silence for a bit now. It was getting awkward.

“Why have you summoned me?” He asks, softening his tone. By their winces, he didn’t get it as well as he thought. Danny grimaces. At the first sign of discomfort though, the man in the trenchcoat- is that fucking Constantine?!- launches into a nerve filled tirade.

“Your, uh, Majesty.” He starts. “One of… One of your subjects is wreaking havoc on the world. We would be extremely grateful if… if you could reign him in?”

Danny’s face sours, only to quickly clear his expression as he realized how much even a small hint of displeasure causes the jumpiness in Constantine and the others.

“To do that, I will have to make a contract with you, seeing as you’ve summoned me.” Danny drawls, letting his overly long digits wave at the summoning circle in question. He could break it, of course, but Danny’s bored and trying to draw this out. He’s not saying he’d take a batch of cookies as payment but that’s exactly what he’s saying.

“The price… you could always have my soul?”

Danny pauses. “Your… soul?”

Oh, he did not say what he just said.

“Yes. My soul.”

Oh, he did.

Fuck it. Danny’s flashbacks of suffering through the reports pushes green into his irises and urgency to his action.

He breaks out of the circle, hands lunging and gripping Constantine’s jaw tightly. Danny ignores the shouts of alarm as he allows the thrown weapons to pass through him.

John Constantine is panicking now, struggling in the air as Danny lifts him an inch off the floor in agitation.

Good.

“Your soul, little wizard? The one you’ve split eight ways till the thirtieth of February? The one that caused,” he tightens his grip, no doubt bruising the man. “An insane amount of paperwork that I’ve had to suffer through. Your soul, John Constantine?”

Danny hisses his name. The man makes a warbling noise that Danny takes as acknowledgement. Danny bats away the weak spell Zatanna sends at him with a hand.

“You’ll find that I am in the possession of most of your soul contracts. To simply put,” he grins, teeth made of dying stars on display. “I own your soul. My soul, now.”

He drops the wizard who collapses onto his knees to stare up at him in horror, eyes flicking between the circle that was meant to contain him and Danny, who is very much not contained. He crouches down- something necessary but disjointed as he’s not used to this taller form- and speaks to Constantine in a slow, dead serious, drawl.

“If you ever sell your soul again, you and I are going to have issues. Is that clear, John Constantine?”

“Uh- yeah, yes, yes, your majesty.”

Patting his cheek condescendingly, Danny gets up and sighs, stress relieved. He’s starting to feel bad, though, so he allows his form to ripple back to his normal teenage Phantom self.

“Well, it’s not like anyone will buy it, since they know they’ll have to go against me.” He chirps, flipping 180 from his terror inducing eldritch voice. “So, what’ll you pay me to get rid of whatever ghost you’ve got?”

“…. Nothing?”

Red Robin holds out a bag, eyebags betraying his exhaustion. “I’ve got fifty dollars and a bag of cookies.”

Phantom beams at him. “Throw in a couple of autographs and you’ve got a deal.”

“That’s- yeah, okay.” Red Robin says, inching forward cautiously to hand him the bag.

“Great. I’ll be back for them later. You can call me Phantom. ‘Your Majesty’ gets annoying after a while.”

“Thank- thank you for your mercy, Your- Phantom.” Wonder Woman says.

“Sure. Make sure this idiot doesn’t make any more deals with demons while I’m out, yeah?”

With that, Danny Phantom grabs the bag of cookies and fifty dollars and flies through the wall to do his job.

John slams his head onto the space station floor.

“Fuck.”

—-

Danny: lol I’ll do it for the shits and giggles

Constantine and the League: he’s terrifying, a bastion of pure power and authority

Red Robin, Young “we commit war crimes bc it gets shit done” Justice leader and fellow gremlin: he’d probably do it for cookies. I would.

[bartok-not-bartalk]

The Tail and the Fox

During an exceptionally long night of negotiations with the Seelie and Unseelie courts, Jude was about ready to help Ghost assassinate both leaders and their respective dignitaries and be done with it, consequences be damned.  Keeping the balance between the armies of Chaos and Order was proing more difficult than she’d expected, and it was beginning to show in the bags under her eyes and Carden’s increased liquor consumption.

She looks up absently as the doors to the High Court’s Great Hall swing open with the snarl of steel-on-latch and watches Locke enter. Jude tries to track his movements, eyes narrowed at the familiarly disgusting fox, but he’s quickly removed from her view when a Seelie lord moves his elbow and blocks her view.  She listens to an Unseelie Lady titter on about the day-to-day annoyances of her clashes with and lack of freedom in dealing with the humans; fingers the knife hidden in the folds of her dress; and waits for Locke to make another appearance.

After he ran off with Taryn and officially made her his wife, Jude had wondered when the meddling vulpine would show up to destroy another aspect of her life.  Whereas Valerian had coveted violence and Nicasia was prone to involving herself with the currency of humiliation, Locke was drawn to things and people he found entertaining like a moth to a flame.  Unfortunately for most of his unfortunate subjects, his idea of entertainment more often involved emotional torture and faux love than it did human fun.

Glancing to her left, she found Cardan already looking her way, offering a lazy smirk as he effortlessly makes small talk with a Seelie noble with green wings and wobbling chins.  Jude glares back and his smirk only widens, drinking in her apparent fury as if it were as tangible as the wine in his cup.  The lacy sneer shows off finely pointed canines and the barest hint of gums wet with the dark-red elderberry wine that the leader of the Unseelie court had bestowed upon him as tribute to his “generosity” in allowing her increased freedom to meddle in human affairs inside her domain.

She considers kicking him under the table to demonstrate how tangibly painful  her fury can be when he abruptly straightens in his chair, smirk falling off as though someone had just stuck both of his feet in ice water or showed him a horrible premonition of lurking threat.  Jude raises an eyebrow, trying to appear unconcerned and desperately hoping that it was the former and not the later that caused the shadow of panic to cross the king’s face.  In any case, the look is gone now, Cardan having schooled himself back into cool amusement.

Then Locke appears around the corner of the Kingling’s high-backed chair, leaning down to whisper in her ear a hasty “good luck” before, with a smirk rivaling Cardan’s vanishing into the depths of the pillars in the back of the Great Hall, the back of Jude’s chair preventing her from seeing precisely where he went.  She turns the knife in her pocket over and over in her hand and grits her teeth. Whatever Locke just did to Cardan, (because there’s really no reason to believe that the timing of these events is coincidence) he did it knowing that His Majesty and I would be trapped in this hall with the Courts of Vinegar and Swine and forced to endure whatever trap he had set out for Cardan and her.

Mulling this over and very much liking to not end up on the receiving end of another one of Locke’s little “games”, Jude surveys the table quickly for signs of Locke’s meddling before scrutinizing the amount of empty glasses that have accumulated around Cardan’s plate like a flock of flightless birds.  

She’s not expected to do much at this gathering, as the human advisor of the High King, she’s here out of decorum in the eyes of the visiting courts and as a sort of glorified babysiter in her own.  She’s here more out of obligation to make sure that Cardan doesn’t drink too much than to engage in court affairs, which makes for an extremely dull evening.  Tonight however, Jude begrudgingly accepts that while it may be boring most nights, at least now she has some freedom to observe and attempt to figure out what Locke was after and what he meant by “good luck” after doing something that make Cardan nearly fall out of his chair.  Was Cardan keeping something from her that Locke reminded him of? Was something going to go down at the dinner that would give her need of luck?

Lost in thought, Jude didn’t realize the curious looks that the Seelie court was giving her or the food ones from Cardan that did not go unnoticed by the rest of the table.  Unfortunately, Cardan is as unaware of the latter as Jude is, at least until an elderly member of the Seelie Court broaches the subject directly.

“Have you two made marriage arrangements yet?” He asks, reading Cardon’s subconscious actions and making assumptions, “You’re both a bit young, but I suppose having a royal heir could be very useful for stability in these curious times”.  He chuckles, much to the consensus of the rest of his Court, and the internal horror of Cardan, who is still under the impression that he is doing everything in his power to hate Jude and believes that he is doing a remarkable job of parrying the question, though he does stutter somewhat in the rebuttal.  Shifting nervously in his seat, he thanks whatever gods rule over this accursed land that Jude is still safely zoned out and seemingly unaware of of the turn the conversation has taken.

Jude, however unaware of the thing that has made the High King so uncomfortable, is unknowingly suffering the effects first hand, and has discovered what Locke meant by the cryptic warning “good luck”.  When Locke slipped behind Cardan right before he slipped behind her, he must have pulled cardan’s tail out of his pants.  While Cardan has been entertaining the Courts, Jude had become preoccupied with the strange “breeze” that had been ruffling around her skirts ever since Locke had showed up.  Being unable to see past the billowing, iridescent petticoat of her dress, Jude had been trying to unsuccessfully root out what was under the table without displaying any outward signs of what was going on to their guests or Cardan.  She’d found out soon enough what had been the “breeze” when the tail had found its way around her skirts and wound its way around her left arm like a mammalian snake, forcing her to keep that hand curled in her lap as she attempted to awkwardly eat with just her right and keep an eye on the bothersome tail.

Currently, the furred tip was itching around her elbow, and Jude knew that if she shoved it off it would be enough to alert its owner of its misadventure and could interfere with negotiations.  Knowing Cardan, he’d have to pause to shove the tail back down his trousers before continuing, which would seem rude and impolite to their guests as well as sloppy.  It would not be a good impression to make, not with a truce so close to being found.  She was also aware that if it made a move that could make it visible over the table top, she would also have no choice.

As she sat watching it, she unwittingly noticed that while only the tip was crowned with crow-black hair, the rest of the thin, lion-esque tail was covered in a fine, downy fur that looked velvet soft.  A part of it wanted to stroke the tail where it wound around her elbow, but the rest of her suppressed it with the sick determination that she carried with her like a shield, the firm belief that she hated Cardan and everything about him.  Even his full lips and velvet tail, if she must.  

A few minutes later though, Jude began to worry that the tip was becoming visible above the table, both because of the knowing smile that she was getting from an aged imp across the table and because of how high the tail’s tuft wound around her bicep.  As gently as she could, she attempted to slide the coils of the tail lower on her arm, hooking her left hand around the section that wound around her wrist so it couldn’t slide any higher in retaliation.  Not enough to remove it, just enough to prevent it from being seen.  

She was careful not to look at cardan while doing this, though she heard his breath hitch as he abruptly cut off in the middle of the flattery he was giving to a lady of the Unseelie court on her wings.  His silver tongue was failing for once.  Jude rolled her eyes, but part of her took great pride in the fact that his tail was so sensitive, though he had little to no control over it.  The tail, of course, was having none of being moved.  It squeezed Jude’s arm tightly and almost playfully, the tip uncurling from her bicep to try and curl around her right hand as she now attempted to remove the thing entirely.  Subtlety be damned.  She was sure that cardan knew exactly what she was doing, a suspicion that was confirmed when she looked over and saw him gripping his wineglass as if it might run off, his usually default smirk halfway to the pained smile that had surfaced the night she’d kidnapped him.  It was a subtle difference, but she had practice.  There was something different about this one though, but she couldn’t quite place it. Not while she was in the middle of trying to wrestle with his tail, which was being extremely uncooperative, thank you very much.  

Serves him right for not controlling the damn thing, Jude thinks as the tail, having discovered Jude’s other hand, makes a dart to burry and wind itself in both and Cardan makes a barely audible groan as it succeeds.  Choosing to ignore the blush creeping up the pale skin of the princeling’s neck, Jude decides on a course of action.

In a final act of desperation and not about to be bested in a wrestling match with Cardan’s tail, Jude grabs both sections of tail at the same time and squeezes it, not enough to hurt Cardan, but hopefully enough that the tail will decide to leave her alone for the rest of this trainwreck of a court dinner.

To her utter and awestruck embarrassment, the tail does not slink quietly back to its owner but rather winds tighter around both of her hands as Cardan’s eyes go wide and he makes a sort of involuntary keening sound in the back of his throat.  Pupils blown as wide as he’s seen hers in the dim candlelight, Cardan abruptly stands, grabbing Jude’s arm and pulling her out of her seat, his tail still wrapped around her hands and arms.  He ungracefully drags her out of the great hall, giving neither her nor their guests any chance to protest, and glowering at the gaping servants that ogle them both on the way past.

High in the balconies, a fox-haired boy sits giggling, watching the glowering High King drag Jude out of the banquet hall and waiting for the second half of his plan to kick into action.  The effects of the fairyfruit draught seem to be delayed, but he knows it will kick in soon.  Even with a built up immunity, no mortal can escape its effects for long...

[coin-news-blog]

The Big Lie Perpetuated by Central Banks

New Post has been published on https://coinmakers.tech/news/the-big-lie-perpetuated-by-central-banks

The Big Lie Perpetuated by Central Banks

The Big Lie Perpetuated by Central Banks

The central banking system controls monetary policy within a given jurisdiction, including the creation of money itself. The system is a lie and a denial of reality. The lie is political in motivation and content, and the denial of reality is rooted in culture and philosophy.

Ethical Relativism and Central Banking

The political lie: Central banks are said to facilitate commerce and to benefit customers by connecting them globally. They purport to guarantee money and the safety of transactions. In fact, central banks are a chokepoint for commerce, which benefits the elite at the expense of ordinary people. Their mandated fiat constitutes the largest, longest, and farthest-reaching financial scam ever perpetuated. The fiat-money scam is committed by the political class upon productive people. The central banks’ transactions are the opposite of what is claimed; they betray customers in order to enrich the state with access to the wealth and personal information of average people.

The philosophical lie: To sustain a massive falsehood over time, facts must be constantly denied. Otherwise, people will hold the scam up to reality and check it against evidence. The falsehood needs to blur the truth, or destroy it, so that facts become discredited. If the lie is successful over time, people come to believe that the way things are right now—what they are told is “true”—is the way things have always been and must always be. Nothing but the lie is practical or possible.

How Things Used to Be

It always this way, and history is the greatest reality check of all. The depravity of paper money was once common political knowledge, for example. Consider America’s Founding Fathers.

“Paper money has had the effect in your state that it will ever have, to ruin commerce, oppress the honest, and open the door to every species of fraud and injustice.” George Washington, the first U.S. President.

“Paper money is unjust; to creditors, if a legal tender; to debtors, if not legal tender, by increasing the difficulty of getting specie. It is unconstitutional, for it affects the rights of property as much as taking away equal value in land. It is pernicious, destroying confidence between individuals; discouraging commerce…” James Madison, “Father of the Constitution.”

“To emit an unfunded paper as the sign of value ought not to continue a formal part of the Constitution, nor ever hereafter to be employed; being, in its nature, pregnant with abuses, and liable to be made the engine of imposition and fraud; holding out temptations equally pernicious to the integrity of government and to the morals of the people.” Alexander Hamilton, first Treasury Secretary.

In a May 1788 letter, Thomas Jefferson—author of the Declaration of Independence—used an interesting word to describe paper money: “ghost.”

Thomas Jefferson

“There is no saying where this fire [bankruptcies in London] will end. Perhaps in the general conflagration of all their paper. If not now, it must ere long. With only 20 millions of coin, and three or four hundred million of circulating paper, public and private, nothing is necessary but a general panic, produced either by failures, invasion or any other cause, and the whole visionary fabric vanishes into air and shews that paper is poverty, that it is only the ghost of money, and not money itself.” In 1817, Jefferson added that paper money’s “abuses also are inevitable and, by breaking up the measure of value, make a lottery of all private property.”

The Ghost of Money

As accurate as the other Founding Fathers were, Jefferson pointed to a more fundamental issue. Paper currency was “the ghost of money”; coins were the reality. They were opposites of each other, like lies and truth, with one being a phantom and the other being the substance of life. Paper money is not merely an expression of and a pathway to corruption, it is also an existential parallel to free-market money. (“Existential” here means that fiat affirms the existence of money by being a “ghost” of it, even while contradicting money’s substance.)

The challenge for central banks is to make the phantom seem real and the reality seem fraudulent. One way to do so is to question the validity of objective reality itself. After all, if there is no objective reality—if reality is dictated by authorities, the narrative, the majority, or other subjective forces—then there is nothing factual against which to assess anything. When nothing is objectively false or true, a lie is as valid as the truth.

Ethical Relativism

We live in a culture of relativism, which supports the denial of reality—a denial that sustains the pervasive lie of central banking. Ethical relativism argues that there is no absolute truth; no objective standard or empirical evidence underlies ethics and personal judgment. Ethical relativism can be divided into different categories:

Descriptive ethical relativism studies people’s beliefs about morality, often focusing upon the beliefs of collectives such as tribes or specific societies. It is sometimes called “comparative” because it contrasts different approaches.

Meta-ethical relativism claims that moral judgments are not true or false in any provable or objective sense; they are relative to a perspective or circumstances—that is, they are subjective. This idea underlies all relativism.

Normative moral relativism, a subset of normative ethics, asks how people should act. Relativism answers that no moral standards bind all men at all times because right and wrong are not universal. Killing an innocent man is not always wrong, for example.

(The opposite of Ethical Relativism is Absolutism—the doctrine that actions are intrinsically right or wrong. Killing an innocent person inherently wrong, even if it is done for the greater good or some other perceived benefit.)

A venue in which many people encounter ethical relativism in a pure form is in introductory college courses in philosophy. The professor poses a hypothetical in order to make students re-examine their ethical codes. The scenario usually runs, “The entire nation of France will drop dead tomorrow morning unless you kill your neighbor who is an innocent man. What do you do?” Or:“You can eliminate cancer by pressing a button that will also kill one healthy person who is an innocent man. Do you push the button?”

Such questions are illusions of a moral dilemma; they are ghosts. They are supposed to pit the moral horror of participating in mass murder against the moral horror of killing an innocent person in order to make a student conclude that there is no correct choice. Morality is relative, not absolute. But the questions are ghosts because they cannot be honestly answered. They postulate a parallel world in which the rules of reality, like cause and effect, have been so dramatically changed that pushing a button cures cancer. This world operates on magic, not objective reality.

The Truthful Response to a False Dichotomy

Actually, there is one honest answer: “Because my ethics and actions are based on the facts and physical rules of the world around me, I don’t know what I would do if those facts and rules no longer existed. If I were in a totally different reality, I’m sure my ethics and actions would be different, but I don’t know .” This answer is the opposite of what the faux dilemmas are intended to elicit, of course, because it asserts reality rather than blurring it.

And, yet, this sort of question is commonly viewed as a “tough” moral issue. After all, how can the life of one person outweigh that of millions? This query is another intellectual sleight of hand. Morality is being reduced to a numbers game, a cost-benefit analysis, rather than a matter of principle. The subject is now utilitarianism, not ethics, as the professor claims. This is the destruction of objective morality. Into the resulting vacuum, utilitarianism rushes, usually in the company of expert opinion and authoritative pronouncements.

Right and Wrong Are Not All Relative

What is right or wrong is one of the most fundamental decisions a person can make. If the person is persuaded to abdicate his ethical judgment to an authority or a gray zone—if there is no objective morality or reality—then decisions and judgments are based on relativism.

The implications of this for central banking are twofold: a moral and a metaphysical relativism that benefits lies.

Central banking is immoral. Fiat money and its inevitable inflation are theft; the banking monopoly robs people of opportunity and prosperity; the punishment of financial dissenters, such as black marketeers, negates freedom by denying individuals the use of their own property. This is a problem for central banking because it is an oppressive double standard, and people rebel against blatant injustice. The problem of backlash against a double standard can be eliminated, however, by removing morality itself from the picture. Without objective morality, there is no objective justice. Everything is a matter of authority, expert opinion, circumstance, and utility.

Three-Pronged Propaganda

Central banking is a metaphysical lie that requires the discrediting of fact. Lies are used to establish the superiority of state-controlled finances over a privately-controlled system and so gin up people’s compliance. The propaganda is basically three-pronged.

1) Private alternatives are depicted as either criminal or fraught with danger – or both. The criminal accusations against cryptocurrency, for example, include human trafficking, tax evasion, drug dealing, and money laundering; the accusations are incredibly exaggerated and equally valid against fiat currency. The dangers include fraud, ransom attacks (blackmail), and the free market. Fraud and blackmail are not unique to crypto, of course, and the free-market cure for both is the exercise of due diligence and protective technology.

The demonization of the free market is a different matter; it is political and philosophical. Self-interest and voluntary exchange are vilified for the sole reason that they are antithetical to the state. The free market is the state’s main competition because it actually provides what the state promises but cannot deliver: freedom, prosperity, peace, and a civil society. Competition is not permitted, especially when it is effective.

2) The state argues that its financial institutions are public goods while private alternatives are ruthless, chaotic, and incompetent systems that offer no recourse to exploited individuals. The smear campaign is backed up by a horde of authorities who are a mixture of the scholarly, the bureaucratic, and the heavily armed. Above all, people must be discouraged from comparing the current financial system with alternatives from the past or possibilities in the future that would call the lie into question. As in the philosophy class, the rules of reality must be altered; in this case, the rules of the marketplace must be discredited.

3) Some people always see through the propaganda. These people are targeted and punished for acting on their disagreement in order to discourage others from doing so. This is the point at which propaganda becomes a gun.

Mendacious Money-Printers

The central banks know truth from lies; they know what they are doing. “Dutch National Bank Says Gold Can Re-Start Economy in Case of Total Collapse.” The De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) or Dutch Central Bank recently acknowledged that its system of lies was faltering. DNB stated, “if the [central banking] system collapses, the gold stock can serve as a basis to build it up again. Gold bolsters confidence in the stability of the central bank’s balance sheet and creates a sense of security.”

The statement is a rare admission of reality. Central banking’s structure has become so transparently unstable and fraudulent that people have lost their confidence and sense of security in it. Central banks now pin their hopes on a store of value that is supported by five centuries of history and private choice – gold. Many hedge even this relatively safe bet by forging or incorporating digital currencies, often backed by gold or other hard commodities. Central bankers realize that the smoke they have been blowing into mirrors needs to be rescued by a form of wealth that people trust.

As central banking crumbles, so does the lie. The truth can’t come soon enough.

Source: news.bitcoin

[waynekelton]

Pokemon Masters Guide - 12 Essential Tips to get you Started

The Pokemon franchise is no stranger to mixing up its traditional battle elements for the sake of its many spin-off titles, and Pokemon Masters (iOS | Android) is the latest attempt that you can try out right now. It may look like a fairly standard take on the franchise with its 3v3 battles, but there's a lot of real-time decision making and new rules in effect here that can trip up even the most dedicated Pokemon fan.

In this quick-fire guide, we'll highlight a few of Pokemon Masters' small mechanical quirks and dish out some helpful tips to overcome its challenges. That way veterans of the franchise won't fall victim to decades of now obsolete knowledge and muscle memory, and newcomers can jump straight in without feeling too overwhelmed.

Want to know what the best Sync Pairs are? We've got you covered.

1. Pokemon Only Have Single-Type Weaknesses

Unlike basically any other title in the franchise, Pokemon are only ever weak to a single element in Pokemon Masters. Veterans of the franchise will have memorized weakness chart in their minds a long time ago, but that's actually more of a hindrance in this game.

Rather than a Fire-type Pokémon being weak to Water and Ground, it might only be weak to one or the other. This is thankfully displayed beside each Pokemon on the field. But when these battles are all about quick decisions and fast fingers, you'll need to keep these strengths in mind before you go using an Ice-type move on a Flying-type Pokemon that's only actually weak to Electric.

2. Resistances Aren't A Thing

Staying on a similar subject, type resistances also go the way of the dodo in Pokemon Masters. Just like weaknesses, Pokemon would traditionally resist other types of attacks based on their own. That's not the case here. Here, there aren't any resistances at all. That includes complete immunity, too. So don't worry about using a Normal or Fighting-type move on a Ghost-type Pokemon. You'll still sock that Ghastly right in the face.

3. Only The AI's Centre Pokemon Will Use A Sync Move 

One of the stranger things about Pokemon Masters is how the rules of battle aren't identical between the player and the AI. Where you have access to a trio of Sync Moves to suit the situation, your opponent will only ever have the one.

Only the centre Pokemon on the AI team can execute a sync move. To make up for this, AI sync moves will always hit your entire team rather than just the one target like your own. It's usually a good idea to knock this Pokemon out early to avoid a team wipe in one big blow. Pay attention though - if the centre slot has more than one AI opponent in it, the new incoming Pokemon will pick up the Sync Move count-down from where it was left off. This typically means a situation where a weaker Pokemon starts off in the centre spot, and the replacement will the team's strongest Pokemon - an alternative strategy might be to let the chud fire off it's Sync Move first, before taking it out and the next one before it has a chance to fire it off a second time.

4. Level Caps Aren't Tied To Rarity

Trainers (or sync pairs) eventually reach what's known as a “soft cap” – a point where they can't be levelled up any further without jumping through a few hoops. Similar games usually lock this behind the unit's rarity (or star rank), requiring players to boost the unit's rank to unlock their level cap. Just know that that is not the case here.

While you can upgrade a unit's rank in Pokemon Masters through the Increase Potential menu, unlocking their max level limit is actually done in a dedicated window using completely different items. Firstly you need to have completed Chapter 4 (the one where you get the sync pair Erika/Vileplume) and then you need to go to the Training Area. No matter how many courses are available to you at the time (Supercourses will rotate in and out), at the bottom of the list will be a Special Training option called 'Battle Techniques'. It involves a single fight against an Ace Trainer, and you'll want to take Fighting-type Pokemon. IF you beat him, you'll unlock the Unlock Level Cap option in the 'Team' section.

5. Use Items to Speed Up Sync Moves

In your effort to knock out the opposing team's centre lead before they can get their Sync Move off, using items can really speed up the job. Items don't consume the Move Gauge but do still contribute to the Sync Move countdown.

So if you're trying to get a Sync Move off before your opponent, consider queueing up item uses on other Pokemon while another spams low-cost moves to accelerate the gauge. Remember: a low-cost move increases the Sync Move gauge just as much as a higher one.

6. Rarity Isn't Indicative of Overall Strength

There's no denying that rolling a 5-star character is an exciting prospect, and it's no surprise that people will cram their teams with as many 5-star gatcha rolls as they can. But Pokemon Masters isn't as clear-cut as that.

Just because a story character comes in at 3-star rarity, that doesn't mean they're completely useless by comparison. Any unit can be upgraded to a 5* with enough effort, and some of those story characters can easily rival a 5-star gatcha pull once they're boosted to the same point. So just because they're free, doesn't mean they're at the bottom of the tier list. They just need some TLC to really prove their worth. Don't write them off too soon.

And besides; with type advantages being a thing, almost every sync pair has a use somewhere.

7. Make Use of Status Combos

If you're having trouble knocking out a strong Pokemon before it has time to finish you off with a Sync Move, make sure you're making good use of status combos for some easy extra damage. Tapping and holding an attack or skill in battle will show you it's power, accuracy and additional effects.

Some attacks can inflict common status conditions like Paralysis or Flinching, and certain Sync Moves can exploit these for tons of extra damage. One early example is Flannery and her Torkoal. Torkoal's base attack, Ember, can inflict Burn with enough luck, and its Sync Move deals considerably more damage to a Burned target. It's best to build a team that synergizes well with these kinds of combos to exploit these bonuses and take down foes fast.

8. Items Don't Regenerate Between Rounds

Before you go spamming items early into a zone, be aware that they don't regenerate between fights within the same section. This means if you're going into a story zone with two or more fights, blowing all your items in that first battle to rush out a Sync Move might leave you grasping at straws later on.

9. Use The Suggested Team To Level Up The Rest

The Level-Up Training zone is a great way to boost low-level sync pairs, but you don't need to take them in to reap the benefits. Rather than making the easy fights difficult with low-level teams that can't exploit weaknesses, just use the training manuals rewarded at the end to level up these non-optimal characters. That means you can make quick runs through the level-up training fights with your better teams and use the resulting items to power up your weaker ones.

10. Turn On Battle Order In The Menu

By default, you can't easily see which Pokemon is next in-line to attack. If you absolutely need to know who's about to strike next, you can actually turn on a battle order indicator through the menu mid-fight.

Just open it up through the cog icon on the top-left and scroll all the way down. With the option toggled, an indicator on the right-side of the screen will appear with three slots denoting each Pokemon's position on the battlefield. Enemy Pokemon will show up in red, while friendly Pokemon will be blue.

11. Special Spotlight Store Events Don't Share Sync Pair Pools

We go more into this in our Events Guide, but the gist of it is that the game is always either adding new Sync Pairs, and/or specifically doing a 'Spotlight' on a Sync Pair to give you a slightly better chance of pulling them when you spend the in-game currency. What you have to understand is that each instance of a Spotlight (or other) store event is treated as a separate entity. So if Blue/Pidgeot and Olivia/Lycanroc both have Spotlights running, you have to make sure you've selected the right one from the store menus before making a pull.

Further to that, if a Sync pair is released after a Spotlight event launches, they will not be available to pull via the earlier Spotlight event. Each Spotlight event that goes live uses the more up-to-date version of the Sync Pair pool at the time it goes live. Any new pairs added don't get retroactively included into older Spotlight events, so beware!

12. Pay Attention to the Game News and Change-Log

It's not the most exciting of places, but paying attention to the game news section is actually a really good source of information. You'll be able to see what new challenges and special events are running, but more importantly you'll be able to see what the current major bugs are and what you need to be paying attention to. For example, the developers have advised that Android 10 is not safe to use with Pokemon GO right now. Another tip - recently there were was a major bug that took a little longer to fix, so EVERYONE got given 6000 gems for free. You can afford to do the 10-pair pull in the store twice on that, but only if you claim the gems from your claim  box. If you didn't check the news, you might not have known it was there to claim.

Want to know anything else about the game? Let us know in the comments! Pokemon Masters is available on iOS and Android.

Pokemon Masters Guide - 12 Essential Tips to get you Started published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[terryblount]

Anthem Cataclysm Update 1.3.0 available to download, brings numerous improvements, full patch release notes

Electronic Arts and Bioware have officially released Anthem Cataclysm via a brand new update. According to the release notes, update 1.3.0 brings new story missions and enables the Cataclysm event. Moreover, it packs numerous weapon balance tweaks, and fixes various bugs/issues.

Going into more detail, players will battle in Cataclysm Vara Brom and her forces in a dangerous new game mode that evolves over time. Players will have to work together as they battle against the dangerous environment and time itself, unlock secrets, and master the Cataclysm to earn all new rewards and rank up the leaderboard. The Cataclysm is available on the Start of Expedition screen for all players who have completed the “Incursion” mission.

The game’s Alliance System now includes Guild members in addition to Friends when calculating Social Rewards. Furthermore, Bioware has introduced a new system called Inversions, which changes the way your Javelin interacts with the environment to various degrees. Moreover, the developers have removed Luck from all items and replaced it with bonus armor.

Bioware has also adjusted the game’s difficulty system. For instance, it ha reduced the amount of health for non-boss enemies inside Grandmaster 2 by 50%, and Stronghold bosses by 65%, and reduced the amount of shields for all enemies by 20%.

As always, Origin will download this latest update for Anthem the next time you launch its client, and you can find its complete changelog below.

Anthem Cataclysm Update 1.3.0 Release Notes

FEATURES

New Story Missions – Track Dr. Harken and unravel the mystery of the Cataclysm. Available to all players who have completed the “Incursion” mission in the main storyline. Cataclysm – Battle Vara Brom and her forces in a dangerous new game mode that evolves over time. Teamwork is heavily encouraged as you battle against the dangerous environment and time itself, unlock secrets, and master the Cataclysm to earn all new rewards and rank up the leaderboard. The Cataclysm is available on the Start of Expedition screen for all players who have completed the “Incursion” mission.

Inversions – Sets of gameplay modifiers that impact how you face the challenges of the Cataclysm.

Leaderboards – Finishing content in the Cataclysm mode adds to your score. Your score is updated to the leaderboard at the end of your run.

Seasonal Currency – Complete challenges and content to earn Minor and Major Crystals. Spend that currency on the rewards in the Seasonal Store.

Seasonal Store – A new store that features time-limited rewards for purchase with the seasonal currency.

ALLIANCE SYSTEM CHANGES

The Alliance System now includes Guild members in addition to Friends when calculating Social Rewards. (You’ll be able to create, join and chat with guild members in a new guild mobile app.)

Inversions – With patch 1.3.0 we’ve introduced a new system called Inversions, which changes the way your Javelin interacts with the environment to various degrees. Some Inversions will hinder you, some will help. Ultimately, they should fundamentally change your experience within the Cataclysm and encourage some diversification to your playstyle. Here is a full list of the Inversions you can expect (two inversions will be active each week during the duration of the Cataclysm event):

Ultimate Boost

Ultimate meter from kills is increased.

Turbo Gear

Gear recharge rate is increased.

Lightning Rod

Close-range kills chain lightning to nearby enemies.

Close Encounters

Shotguns and Machine Pistols deal increased damage.

Precision Operator

Snipers and Marksman Rifles deal increased damage.

Immunity Pack

Ammo pickups grant brief immunity to damage.

On the Edge

At low armor, damage dealt increases.

Soldier’s Reward

Killing an enemy restores a small amount of shields.

From the Skies

Heat build-up while hovering is decreased.

Air Support

Defeating an enemy while hovering grants increased damage while on the ground for a short time; stacks up to 5 times.

Broken Magazine

Weapons have no spare ammo, but enemies drop ammo more often.

Running on Empty

Firing the last shot in a weapon’s clip increases all damage for a short time.

LUCK CHANGE

Luck has been removed from all items and replaced with bonus armor. As a result, drop rates from Easy through Grandmaster 1 difficulty modes will be as if they had previously equipped maximumLuck before the update. Legendary and Masterwork drop rates in Grandmaster 2  and Grandmaster 3 difficulties have increased for all players, including those who equipped maximum Luck previously.

LEGENDARY CONTRACT CHEST CHANGE

Stronghold Chests have been added to the end of each Legendary Contract.

WEAPONS

Patch 1.3.0 and the Cataclysm introduces us to some new powerful sources of energy for creatures in the world, gear, and of course weapons. As part of the Cataclysm we wanted to amp up our in-game weapons and add some unique spin to their behaviors and gameplay mechanics – With that in mind, we’ve introduced three new classes of weapons with three new Masterwork/Legendary only variants:

Pulse Accelerators use seal technology to generate destructive energy.

“Bad Omen” – Charges to fire a burst of energy projectiles.

“Rain Maker” – Fires an energy burst that explodes into smaller projectiles.

“Grave Digger” – Fires an increasingly powerful stream of energy.

Volt Casters use seal technology to focus ambient electricity

“Jarra’s Wrath” – Blasts a short-range lightning arc.

“Lightning Rod” – Calls down lightning on a specific location.

“Flashfire” – Fires a lightning attack that jumps from enemy to enemy.

Blade Slingers charge a circular projectile with dynamic force.

“Razorwing” – Launches a heavy blade that bounces between targets.

“Riza’s Ripper” – Fires a barbed blade that inflicts ongoing shrapnel damage.

“Shard Storm” – Launches experimental crystal projectiles across the immediate area.

Added new Match Consumables for Pulse Accelerators, Volt Casters and Blade Slingers

DIFFICULTY CHANGES

We’ve reduced the amount of health for non-boss enemies inside Grandmaster 2 by 50%, and Stronghold bosses by 65%.

Reduced the amount of shields for all enemies inside Grandmaster 2 by 35%.

Reduced the amount of health for non-boss enemies instead Grandmaster 3 by 50%, and Stronghold bosses by 75%.

Reduced the amount of shields for all enemies by 20%

NOTE: These health changes do not affect our “Apex” creatures, as they had previously been adjusted.

GEAR

With this patch we’re starting to introduce additional Masterworks for each of the gear slots on each Javelin to better improve end-game build diversity and introduce new mechanics.

Colossus:

“Again and Again” – Upgraded Siege Artillery

Combo Effect: Explosive. Detonates another explosion briefly after the first.

“Venom Storm” – Upgraded Burst Mortar

Combo Effect: Explosive. Fires a volley of acidic rounds.

Interceptor:

“Tesilar Trap” – Upgraded Cluster Mine

Deploys a bundle of proximity mines. Mines deal electric damage and electrify targets.

“Spectre’s Flash” – Upgraded Wraith Strike

Projects ghost to target. Detonates Aura Combos.

Ranger:

“Relentless Pursuit” – Upgraded Pulse Blast

Combo Effect: Impact. Hitting an enemy causes Energy Pulse to bounce to additional enemies.

“Arctic Tomb” – Upgrade Frost Grenade

Freezes target in place. Defeating frozen enemies will also freeze nearby enemies.

Storm:

“Steam Vent” – Upgraded Glacial Spear

Combo Effect: Chain. Deals both ice and fire damage.

“Eternal Squall” – Upgraded Lightning Strike

Combo Effect: Chain. Leaves a field that deals electric damage for a short time.

SUPPORT ITEMS

With update 1.3.0 you can finally complete the full set of Masterwork or Legendary gear. No more single lingering Epic Support Gear items ruining your complete collection! With this update, we’ve introduced two new Masterwork Support Gear pieces for each Javelin – centered around teamwork and buffing your allies as you fight your way through the Cataclysm.

Colossus:

“Berserker’s Cry” – Upgraded Battle Cry

Forces enemies to attack the Colossus, and reduces enemy resistance to damage. Additionally increases melee ability..

“Surging Shield” – Upgraded Shield Pulse

Fortified effect reduces incoming damage. Additionally regenerates shields through damage while the effect persists.

Interceptor:

“Voice of Courage” – Upgraded Rally Cry

Breaks you and allies free of all status effects. Additionally revives downed squadmates who are nearby.

“Slayer’s Furor” – Upgraded Target Beacon:

Locks onto a target, reducing their resistances and jumping to another target if defeated.  Also immediately marks additional enemies around the target.

Ranger:

“Vanguard’s Rampart” – Upgraded Bulwark Point:

Deploys a spherical shield. Additionally provides temporary charges for you and your allies’ Grenades, Ordnance Launchers, Assault Systems, and Blast Seals.

“Tarsis’ Last Stand” – Upgraded Muster Point

Deploys a field that augments allies inside, increasing gun damage. In addition to gun damage, all damage is increased while inside the muster point.

Storm:

“Howling Veil” – Upgraded Wind Wall

Creates a wall of wind to block projectiles. Additionally, enemies take damage when they hit the wall.

“Anthem’s Grace” – Upgraded Quickening Field:

Zone of power increases gear recharge rate. Additionally increases gear damage while in the field.

MELEE ITEMS

With this update, we added a significant level of build diversity by changing one of the main ways that Javelins prime and detonate combos. To do this, we are introducing new melee gear pieces that are equippable, have stats, and change the way you play. This will allow you to assemble new gear combinations not previously possible. We’ve also introduced new Masterwork and Legendary versions of these items.

With this change we have also fundamentally changed the way that melee damage scales. Previously, melee damage started at a base value and then automatically increased in power based on the average gear score of the player. This had the effect of emulating an item of the average rarity and level for players, plus some average assumed inscription bonuses (and Masterwork effects if they are the appropriate level).  Now that melee is it’s own actual item, it no longer uses this automatic scaling, but uses actual real scaling for the item and the bonuses that occur on that item. This means that if players want to get their melee damage back to what it was, they need to get a melee weapon of the appropriate rarity with similar inscription rolls. However, because Melee is an actual item now, there is a much higher ceiling potential than there previously was, as our “assumed” inscription bonuses were in the middle of the possible bonus range. Some important additional notes:

We now include both melee damage bonus and weapon damage bonus as modifying melee weapon damage (not melee gear piece damage for Interceptors), so there are more total damage sources that boost your melee than previously existed. This should result in higher additive bonuses than were previously applied, which will help offset some of the lowered base damage.

In addition (based on PTS feedback and iteration), we have increased the base damage value of all melee gear by 50%. Increasing the base value is a multiplicative change.

Colossus:

Seismic Glove

Heavy glove that can be smashed into the ground, causing damage in a large area.

“Earthshaker” – Upgraded Seismic Glove

Heavy glove that can be smashed into the ground, causing damage in a large area. Sends out a shockwave that damages enemies in front of you.

Inferno Glove

Flaming glove that can be smashed into the ground, burning enemies in a large area.

“Meteor Smash” – Upgraded Inferno Glove

Flaming glove that can be smashed into the ground, burning enemies in a large area. Cracks the earth, igniting flames around your feet that burn nearby enemies.

Interceptor:

“Twin Blades”

Double-bladed daggers that allow for fast attacks which can be chained together.

“Blades of Warding” – Upgraded Twin Blades:

Double-bladed daggers that allow for fast attacks which can be chained together. Hitting an enemy grants 10% increased damage resistance for 10 seconds. Stacks to 5.

Venomous Blades

Double-bladed daggers that poison their target.

“Deathstalker Blades” – Upgraded Venomous Blades

Double-bladed daggers that poison their target. Deals additional damage against enemies below 50% health.

Ranger:

Shock Mace

Electrically charged mace that shocks enemies.

“Transmuting Volt” – Upgraded Shock Mace

Electrically charged mace that shocks enemies. Hitting an enemy adds 3 Ultimate charges.

Seismic Mace

Heavy hitting mace that deals high damage.

“Rampager” – Upgraded Seismic Mace

Heavy-hitting mace that deals high damage. Hitting an enemy grants 10% increased damage for 10 seconds. Stacks to 5.

Storm:

Explosive Strike

Hits enemies with an explosive strike, dealing high damage.

“Searing Blast” – Upgraded Explosive Strike

Hits enemies with an explosive strike, dealing high damage. Sends out a fireball that seeks enemies.

Shocking Strike

Hits enemies with an electrically charged strike, shocking them.

“Lightning Surge” – Upgraded Shocking Strike

Hits enemies with an electrically charged strike, shocking them. Hitting an enemy restores 40% shields.

Bug Fixes

General Fixes & Improvements:

Fixed a number of challenges that had the incorrect descriptions.

The door into the final boss room of The Sunken has been raised slightly in order to provide an easier step up to the frame around it once the door is closed.

Updated visual effects to improve visibility of Masterwork and Legendary loot drops.

The following legendary missions will now count for progress towards “Daily: Legendary Missions”:

Legendary: Mysterious Beginnings

Legendary: Dear Diary

Legendary: Vanishing Act

Fixed an issue to allow players to replay Mysterious Beginnings from the End of Expedition screen.

Marelda’s conversation will now properly complete without ending abruptly.

Telling Dax to use cartography skills will now be properly recognized.

Forge Fixes & Improvements:

Fixed a number of issues that could cause a crash when in the forge.

Fixed a crash that could happen when swapping gear in the forge.

Fixed an issue where renaming a loadout changed equipped armor parts.

Fixed an issue where the gear score in the forge would be incorrect after swapping a piece of gear.

Removed the loading screen when leaving the forge at end of expedition. (Should now fade to black briefly).

Fixed the stats on some gear that were appearing incorrectly.

Fixed an issue that could cause the pilot’s javelin to not appear correctly after making appearance changes.

Fixed an issue that would cause a pilot’s javelin to not appear correctly in the launch bay.

Fix issue with being able to equip the wrong gear on javelins.

Edited a number of item descriptions for clearer understanding.

For example: Instead of saying, “reduces recoil by -20%,” (an unintentional double negative produced by directly displaying the value from the underlying gameplay system), we will now say “reduces recoil by 20%.”

Enemy Fixes and Improvements:

Enemy Valkyrie attacks should register damage more accurately.

Fixed a number of animation issues that could occur to enemies in Temple of the Scar.

Fixed an issue where the Furies wouldn’t spawn in the Heart of Rage Stronghold.

High force gear now causes reactions on wyverns.

Fixed an issue where damage was not registering when shooting weak spots on the Fury shield.

Improved light intensity of Dominion grenades.

Fixed an issue in which Outlaw Outrage was using the incorrect encounter markers.

Javelin Fixes/Improvements:

Damage dealt to nearby enemies when the Colossus lands from a tall height now scales correctly, so it maintains its usefulness at higher levels.

The Storm can now cancel its air melee with a double jump, just like the other Javelins can.

Players who are downed and then fall into water will now float in the water instead of sinking all the way to the bottom

We fixed animations for the Emote Military Salute to reduce character sliding.

Colossus Specific Changes:

The Colossus will now utilize the same base values of Armor and Shields as the rest of the javelins, but has an inherent multiplying factor on all base values that generates the larger Armor and Shield pools. This change will better allow the Colossus to utilize Universal components without sacrificing an extraordinary amount of defense to do so.

Note: Because of this change, inside the forge, the base value of the Colossus specific components will go down significantly but the amount of armor added to the Colossus should remain roughly the same (since that lower base value is multiplied by the Colossus’s new inherent bonus).

Base Colossus Components Armor and Shields 250/125 ? 45/45

Base Colossus Armor Components Armor and Shields 300/250 ? 100/100

MSW/LEG Colossus Components Armor and Shields 730/290 ? 145/145

MSW/LEG Colossus MaxArmor Components Armor and Shields 876/580 ? 320/320

Base Colossus Health and Shields 900/450 ? 150/150

Colossus now get a multiplicative bonus to Armor that increases all Armor granted by 475%.

Colossus now get a multiplicative bonus to Shields that increase all Shield granted by 237.5%.

General UI Fixes and Improvements:

Fixed the squad list sometimes showing up instead of the friends list in the invite.

Fixed an issue where the friends list would not show up when a player’s Origin status was set to invisible.

Showing the Map in an expedition now centers it on the current player position.

Fixed an issue where swapping “Extended Special Arms Magazine” was causing the players HUD to display ammo count incorrectly.

Library and Cortex entries can now be properly marked as read and persist upon closing the UI.

Weapons/Gear Fixes and Improvements:

Death from Above muzzle fixed overexposed bright elements.

The Colossus component “Reinforced Hull” has been renamed to “High-Capacity Munitions” to better reflect its functionality.

The Colossus component “Grand Entrance” now triggers its explosion when falling from a shorter distance than before (the new distance is roughly equivalent to a double jump height).

Armor and Shield Value Changes:

Universal Components Armor and Shields 10/10 ? 45/45  (Plus Rarity Shift)

MSW/LEG Universal Components Armor and Shields 25/25 ? 145/145 (Plus Rarity Shift)

MSW/LEG Universal MaxArmor Component Health 150 ? 320 (Plus Rarity Shift)

MSW/LEG Universal MaxShield Component Health 150 ? 320 (Plus Rarity Shift)

Combo and Ultimate Bonus Changes:

Combo and Ultimate damage will now only gain damage bonuses from inscriptions if that inscription is specifically the Combo or Ultimate damage bonus inscription. Inscription bonuses that apply to a larger set of items (like Elemental Damage, or all Global damage) will not apply their bonuses.

Masterwork properties that apply a duration-based bonus (such as the bonus from the 10,000 Suns gear piece that increases all damage for a brief time) will still apply its bonus to Combos and Ultimates.

Masterwork Proc Effects

The damage value from Masterwork proc effects (such as Ralner’s Blaze or Thunderbolt of Yvenia) will now deal its damage based on the item level of the item that is proccing the effect, instead of the overall GearScore of the Javelin.

The following guns will now properly display their primer or detonator effect:

Primers:

Ralner’s Blaze

Sentinel’s Vengeance

Siege Breaker

Detonators:

Artinia’s Gambit

Truth of Tarsis

Fixed an issue in which Cryo Glaive and Absolute Zero could not fire its multiple charges if it was in the process of recharging.

The post Anthem Cataclysm Update 1.3.0 available to download, brings numerous improvements, full patch release notes appeared first on DSOGaming.

Anthem Cataclysm Update 1.3.0 available to download, brings numerous improvements, full patch release notes published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[technewss15-blog]

NBA 2K18 Review – Making Another Run

Driven by fearless ambition and a willingness to push the boundaries of sports video games, Visual Concepts’ NBA 2K series has arguably been the most impressive sports franchise of the last two console generations. Its commitment to world-class visuals, sophisticated gameplay, and a breadth of compelling modes makes it a sales goliath year in and year out. NBA 2K18 follows in that grand tradition by further innovating on several fronts.

At first glance, not much has changed in the minute-to-minute basketball experience outside of another layer of sheen on the already gorgeous graphics, but the more time you spend chucking up threes and pounding the paint, the more the subtle gameplay changes rise to the surface. Chief among them is a reworked motion system that makes it easier to blow by defenders when you’re controlling an elite guard. Dribble moves still help open windows for drives to the basket, but speedy guards like Russell Westbrook can also take lesser defensemen right from the first dribble. Big men feel more powerful as well, easily backing down smaller defenders when screen switches create exploitable mismatches.

The new shot meter feedback system, which communicates how well you timed your release and how contested your shot was, is another welcome inclusion. I just wish it extended to lay-ups as well, because my slashing guard had an inexplicable amount of easy baskets clank off the rim. My timing must be off, but with no feedback system I have no way of correcting my release.

Other small tweaks improve play, like livelier loose balls and a new passing mechanism that lets you hold down the button to bypass a nearby teammate and target a shooter in the far corner. This five-star gameplay only has a few weaknesses. It’s still too easy to overcommit when guarding human players, and far too many clipping animations appear all over the court, from one-on-one situations above the key to slashing through defenders in the paint.

Over the last several years, 2K has expanded off-court activities in its popular MyCareer mode to include hangouts with NBA stars, fictitious characters, gym workouts, and the like. This year, Visual Concepts takes this progression to its inevitable conclusion with the introduction of The Neighborhood. This GTA-style urban social hub serves as the centerpiece for the entire mode. From this small city block, you can head to your NBA training facility for practice, visit the fitness center to improve your stamina, enter an arena for a Pro-Am game, or get next on the street courts of The Playground. On your way to these various activities, you can stop to shop at a various apparel stores, get inked at the tattoo parlor, or even get your hair cut and shoot the breeze at the barbershop – all of which cost VC, the in-game currency you earn through performances on the court.

This hub is a strong concept, but its execution leaves much to be desired. With only a handful of NPCs on site, the people-watching is limited to other MyPlayers, most of who are standing around like zombies on their phones. The inactivity gives The Neighborhood an unintended 28 Days Later feel; if the streets aren’t disquietingly barren, they are mildly populated with people standing around. The mode could use an injection of interesting NPCs to liven up the streets and more shortcuts for users to load into specific locations, which could help trim the dead time between activities.

Most years, the MyCareer mode is driven by the NBA experience and accompanying story mode. This year, 2K loosens up the format to let you optimize your experience. The game still tells a coming-of-age story about an NBA longshot, complete with 2K’s now-trademark annoying secondary characters, social interactions with pro players, and endorsement deals. But if you prefer the spirit of competition in the 5v5 Pro-Am or street games, you can skip the NBA life altogether. The new player progression system allows you to grind for attribute gains and skill badges no matter where you hoop, wisely freeing players to concentrate on the modes they like best.

Player progression benefits greatly from the new archetype system, which allows you to choose two primary attributes that define your playing style. This affords much more customization than last year’s rigid system. More importantly, the subsequent leveling system returns to allowing users to upgrade the skills they want; no more pouring VC into predetermined skill buckets like the past few 2K games. You still earn the bonus-oriented badges by performing specific feats on the court, but Visual Concepts finally acquiesced and allowed users to track their progression to unlocking these valuable traits. Better yet, you can specify which badge you want to improve during practice and focus on drills that best benefit that goal.

Unfortunately, developing a decent player still takes a considerable amount of time given your 60-overall starting rating. The progression feels natural during the NBA experience since you are an undrafted free agent, but given the amount of people who spend money for VC to upgrade their characters in online play, you are at a significant disadvantage in competitive situations for some time. This arbitrarily low rating also discourages experimentation in creating multiple characters. I would love to have a big man alternate to pair with my slashing wingman, but developing another low-rated player to respectability is too time consuming. I wish 2K had a respec system that allowed you to pour the attributes points you already purchased for one player class into another, unlocking overlapping badges you have already earned for your new character as well. This would go a long way to making the natural progression feel more valuable.

The MyCareer story doesn’t deliver, but Visual Concepts integrated a narrative into the sim-focused MyGM mode for the first time ever. Dubbed “The Next Chapter,” the story puts you into the penny loafers of a former NBA star who blew out his knee and subsequently transitioned into management. As the new general manager of a team of your choice, you face Machiavellian behind-the-scenes scenarios that test your loyalties and force you to protect your turf as the primary shot-caller when it comes to roster creation. The story only lasts one season, and the crude cutscenes are tough to watch (not even politicians wave their hands that much during conversation), but I found the rollercoaster ride a compelling addition that puts you into the kind of sports drama you only hear about in rumor mills or on 30 for 30 episodes.

The rest of MyGM/MyLeague is still the most compelling franchise mode in sports, but it could use stronger team-building A.I. for the computer-controlled franchises. Imbalanced rosters, curious draft pick hoarding with no clear end game, and boneheaded A.I. trades were the order of the day for most of my seasons. The new CBA rules related to cap holds also appear to be broken at the moment, so I hope 2K addresses this in an upcoming patch.

Fans of collectible card modes have a lot of new elements to explore this year with MyTeam. The new coach proficiency system governs the type of players who best fit your scheme, which is another critical element to consider when building your fantasy lineup. The new Super Max challenge, which uses salary cap restrictions for roster creation, creates an interesting new playing field for those sick of going up against all-world lineups. My biggest MyTeam gripe pertains to the ridiculously short contracts; with only three- and four-game contracts available to me, I constantly felt the need to invest in contracts rather than spending money on attaining new players. Compared to Ultimate Team modes in EA Sports games, the balance feels off. The mode could also use more diversity in the types of packs available for purchase.

Sick of playing against super teams like the Golden State Warriors in online games? NBA 2K18 adds All-Time franchise teams to the mix, dramatically increasing the number of teams available for those who want to compete with the best rosters. Some legends like Moses Malone and Reggie Miller are noticeably absent, but the teams are still a blast to play with.

Servers have never been 2K’s strong suit, and stability problems once again try to box out NBA 2K18. Most every Playground game I played was marred by lag, which compromises the fidelity of control the play demands. I heard bouncing basketballs in the streets and shots clanging off the hoops at the 2K Zone even though no one is visible, leading me to believe either the Neighborhood is haunted by the ghosts of hoopers past or the servers are awry. Other users have reported losing their MyPlayer characters and all the VC they purchased as well. I didn’t experience these server hiccups when playing Pro-Am, MyTeam, and Play Now games.

Not all the shots NBA 2K18 takes are swishes, but its shooting percentage is high enough to once again recommend you step on the hardcourt. The deep MyGM, MyCareer, and MyTeam modes offer hundreds of hours of compelling play, and the on-court action is once again stellar. Once the servers stabilize and Visual Concepts patches in some easily correctible fixes, NBA 2K18 should once again be in pole position for sports game of the year.

NBA 2K18 Review – Making Another Run was originally published on Tech News Center Generation

[its-veso]

Catalan crisis: the good, bad and ugly scenarios for Puigdemont’s speech

From a speck on the political calendar, the crisis in Catalonia has taken center-stage on the global scene. Spanish stocks suffered heightened volatility, bond yields rose and also the euro has reacted. 

We are now approaching a highly anticipated speech from Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia’s president. The big question is: will he declare independence unilaterally (DUI as it is known in Spanish)? He is under pressure to drop it, but what exactly will he do?

The controversial referendum on October 1st resulted in a victory for independence but a with a low turnout as well as brute-force crackdown[1] from the Spanish government. Since then, there have been many speeches, massive demonstrations on both sides and also an exit of major companies out of Catalonia.

Here are three scenarios for this huge event for Catalonia, Spain and also for Europe.

The Good – defusing the situation

Puigdemont and Spanish PM Rajoy reach a deal to defuse the situation. This could include a commitment from Catalonia to refrain from a DUI and from the government to refrain from suspending the autonomy (Article 155 of the Spanish constitution). A second and immediate step would be to create an independent committee that would dive into the grievances of Catalans which include the fiscal deficit and the cultural identity. Avoiding any big steps and taking the time to

Avoiding any big steps and taking the time to talk about the problems would calm tensions for mainstream Catalans and Spaniards, leaving only the extremists frustrated.

For markets, it could result in a surge of Spanish stocks, a drop in yields and a minor bump up in the euro, which is not pricing in a disaster.

This scenario has a medium probability: While there are signs that Puigdemont could climb down, the Spanish government has rejected negotiations. On the other hand, there are many attempts to mediate, so maybe something is going on behind the scenes.

The Bad – declaration of independence

A unilateral declaration of independence has no immediate consequences: Catalonia does not have an army, nor a currency. The local government does not even control its bank accounts. However, it would be a political earthquake.

Ghosts from the Spanish Civil War of the late 30s could be seen. While the Catalan independence movement has been a pacifist one, such a rupture could get people scared of violence.

Spain would likely respond by suspending the Catalan autonomy and rule Catalonia directly. More firms will leave the northeastern region and Spanish stocks will crash. Bond yields of Catalonia could leap while those of Spain could rise quite significantly as well.

And also the euro could suffer: this would be a severe deepening of the political crisis and it could spread out to other countries. The EU is already dealing with Brexit, political uncertainty in Germany and Italy and the rise of populist forces.

Looking at recent movements in the euro, this is not priced in, so the moves could be quite big.

This scenario has a low probability. It seems that the Catalan government is not keen on getting into such unchartered territories.

The Ugly – Catalan surrender

In this scenario, Puigdemont recognizes the results of the referendum (Yes to independence) but says “it is not the time” or something along these lines. Contrary to the first scenario, the Catalan government gets nothing in return from Spain.

Such an outcome does not provide a path to a resolution and will leave many people on both sides quite frustrated. It would calm nerves, but only in the short term. Fresh elections in Catalonia would keep the issue alive for the whole of Spain.

Similar to the first scenario, a climb-down would be welcomed by financial markets but the moves could be more limited. Spanish stocks will rise and the bond yields will gradually slide, but the euro could shrug it off. It could be similar to the Greek crisis: always on the back-burner. Contrary to Greece, it could return to the limelight sooner rather than later.

It could be similar to the Greek crisis: always on the back-burner. Contrary to Greece, it could return to the limelight sooner rather than later.

This scenario has a high probability. It seems that the Spanish government feels it has the upper hand, especially after a massive pro-Spain unity rally on Barcelona on October 8th. In addition, the government has the support of the King and also the old guard in the socialist party, with former PM Felipe Gonzalez standing out in his hawkish stance.

Conclusion

These are tense days for the euro-zone’s fourth-largest economy. The contents of the speech by Carles Puigdemont are currently unknown but we do know that everybody will be watching.

What do you think will happen?

More: EUR/USD: ‘Things Don’t Matter Until They Do’; Rallies A Sell N-Term[2] – Nordea

Get the 5 most predictable currency pairs[3]

References

^ brute-force crackdown (www.forexcrunch.com)

^ EUR/USD: ‘Things Don’t Matter Until They Do’; Rallies A Sell N-Term (www.forexcrunch.com)

^ Get the 5 most predictable currency pairs (www.forexcrunch.com)

from Forex Crunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ForexCrunch/~3/dfmjhL-JN_U/