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Every Day Concealed Carry Weapon
2013.02.12 22:52 HighSpeed556 Every Day Concealed Carry Weapon
This subreddit is a combination between /CCW and /EDC. It is specifically for the display and discussion of daily carry setups for those that carry a firearm on a daily basis, be it for self-defense or for their line of work.
2014.06.08 13:04 born_here Saved You a Click: Helping Rid the Internet of Clickbait
Don't click on that, we already did. Fighting clickbait for better journalism.
2014.09.10 03:16 Back when deathcore was good
Deathcore = Death Metal + Metalcore* Metalcore = Swedish Melodic Death Metal + Hardcore
2024.06.02 20:14 homeparticle Beyond Ganondorf's Heart: Shedding Light on the Gloom that Permeates Tears of the Kingdom
Hello, everyone!
Recently, my perspective on Tears of the Kingdom has changed in some unexpected ways, and I would like to share what I wrote about it here. They will soon release Master Works, an artbook with design and lore notes, which I don't think will confirm anything, but may point to different things. I want you to note that this is my personal point of view on the game, but aimed at showcasing and emphasizing everyone's unique interpretations and ways of playing. Please, let me know what you think.
There are many Spoilers Ahead:
I think Ganondorf (if not Gloom's Origin) represents something within the player. Do you know those 2h long fanfictions on Youtube that rewrite the whole plot? They may be the actual final boss of the game.
It's translated from Spanish from where I posted it originally. A week before, a youtuber called Tommy Dinh already said some of the things I was writing myself, and I will attach it for you as a really nice addition to what I will expose.
-
In Breath of the Wild, the story was distant, but seeing it involved piecing it together. In Tears of the Kingdom, the history is absent and cannot be pieced together, only ordered in a certain way; but now, time can be touched.
It is affirmed as a spatial quality, expanded vertically in its two extremes, sky and underground: the realm that represents the future and the one representing the past. Put in a certain way, the sky and the Depths form an emotional timeline. The Light Dragon, with its body, symbolizes this touch; although the history is hidden, its substance adheres to the present.
The journey begins, and the dragon's tears, which theoretically marked its birth, return to you; in the narrative, everything is like a mosaic that you join in equally, as if the Glide Armor ruled over the others. But there is something with which you struggle to reconnect, something that looks down on you, your expectations, and your memory.
I would say that in the plot, the holes that matter are rather physical, and lead to the world of spirits, covered in a miasma, translated as ‘gloom’ in English. It also means ‘sadness’. When you touch it, it nerfs you, drains your energy. The Depths, or as I said, the emotional past, is the origin of the gloom; the fun plays with our perception of time, making it a dark and monotonous place. But the Depths are not inherently bad; it is a refuge for sadness, which Ganondorf is exploiting.
Ganondorf is like a cardiovascular system (his clothes, his body, the shape of his forehead, his hair, and the tree of gloom from which he would extract his power), invading the world from the Depths because he represents the cruel side of the heart: sadness and nostalgia turned into destructive passion. There is something more: that gloom tree (Gloom's Origin), which probably always existed; he might be using a natural negative element to condense its power, similar to how Rauru uses light.
In BOTW, Zelda was fighting a tumor (Ganon) that invaded life. But in TOTK, what seals Ganondorf and his tree of wrath is sunlight itself: the castle functions as a giant shrine of light, pinned to the seal, and the Kingdom of Darkness would be imposed by an eternal Blood Moon. The light seals the wrath, which invades the world from the heart of its nostalgia.
The history of the kingdom, therefore, has not been simplified since Breath of the Wild. Its new faces seem to say that it has always been the story of light and time, and the sensations they evoke. But a pulse from the heart emerges from the Depths to demand that it be something else. Recently, I watched a gameplay video where a YouTuber, during the demon king cutscenes, said, tired of the lore: “I wish the whole game was like this.”
And I'm talking about the letdowns: I don't think TOTK reproaches us for wanting something else. We play what we like, and Hyrule could respond to other questions. I exaggerate speaking like this, of course, because it works differently for everyone; but I believe that the almost unanimous feeling of repetition, on the one hand, and the reproaches of so many fans, on the other, speak to a different intention. I would say it disappoints us on purpose (I wouldn't be writing this if it hadn't done it with me), to point out an opposing and twisted force in our love and, of course, in its own nostalgia.
Anyone who thinks about archetypes or has played The Wind Waker knows a more relegated and vulnerable part of Ganondorf. In TOTK, the pre-demon Ganondorf supposedly misses the wildness of his previous times, when he ruled under another law; just like many now miss Breath of the Wild, the previous wildness, when our progress and the world to discover mattered more. I believe that what the game really tries to do is rescue your intention from that disillusionment; to separate and reconnect as you want. Your fun and imagination matters as much as your incredulity and boredom. The luminous seeds with which you illuminate the Depths contribute to the allegory that your action and intention are equated with light. In BOTW, Zelda says (I put the English version because it is better translated): 'You are the light that must shine upon Hyrule once again,' emphasizing that connection between the world and you. And at the end of TOTK, it seems to perfectly understand why it has returned from its draconic form: 'I understand. (...) When I felt something… like a warm, loving embrace, I woke up.'; and the rays of light caress the castle. In a video that I will put later, it is related to the gameplay proposal that there is no sacrifice without reward.
Soon, Master Works will be released, something akin to an Ultimania for TOTK, and I suppose its design notes will indicate what inspired them. I doubt they will elaborate on some things, although others seem quite obvious to me; but who knows… maybe the important secrets aren’t those. And yet, I’m tempted to think that a saga I love, and probably its most anticipated game, might have wanted to use the typical disappointment with franchises and lores as a spiritual reversal of its own kingdom. On the other hand, seeing the new Hyrule as Termina, an allegorical world that cries for its past, is difficult for many, but seeing the amount of sad, disappointed, melancholic, and angry posts, videos, and fanfics about the game, and observing the difference in hype between 2019 and now, I believe the reconnection could be very sweet.
At the beginning of the game, after the echo of some heartbeats, Link and Zelda follow the flow of malevolent aura that marked the trailer back then, engulfing a rat. A sanguineous bubbling that, in itself, I believe, was the hype. The characters, or Ganondorf in particular, are not fleshed out because they don’t need to be: now our blood runs through the Depths, in both its natural and demonic state, and a personal light slips through the cracks. The three triangles, deconstructed, are within us.
https://preview.redd.it/v4taf0dx974d1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=eacefa9daeca1557bde7948d85b3d2bb13cbc551
Considering all this, Zelda's words at the beginning of the game sound different: “People have been falling ill after coming into contact with the gloom drifting through this caverns. (…) With it coming up from beneath Hyrule Castle… (…) Let’s go solve this mystery.”
I think the metaphors this game creates about the act of playing, but especially about sadness and disillusionment, are affecting me in an unexpected way. I highly recommend watching this video by YouTuber Tommy Dinh:
Everyone Missed the Point of Tears of the Kingdom
In it, he mentions the Depths, the gloom, the verticality, and at minute 40, he talks about the deus ex machina and the game’s ending. I especially like the connection with collectivism, which is omnipresent. I would never have related the end of Tears of the Kingdom to ending E of Nier: Automata, it was very difficult. But suddenly, I see them as somewhat similar.
I think Mineru’s final explanation (“I have a theory…”) pays homage to fan theories because its role as something that unites people is important. Ganondorf does not embody nostalgia or sadness, but the dark side of the heart, of passion, which takes advantage of the depressive terrain of nostalgia and past-focused thinking. That is why intention is good if it mobilizes you for the common good, not when it engulfs and renders you useless.
And it seems to me that, in a certain sense, Tears of the Kingdom tries to represent us when our escapism backfires (expert here), or perhaps, those who are concerned with the Timeline external to some Zelda games, like lore archaeologists. I mentioned monotony earlier, and I would say that, specifically, the Find Zelda quest, which leads us to each temple and the castle, is monotonous because someone wants to tell us from the other side that those who get angry and frustrated with what they are being offered, might as well ask themselves other questions. What are you looking for? Here it's only Zelda, Zelda, Zelda, Zelda, Zelda, Princess Zelda, Princess Zelda, Princess Zelda, Princess Zelda. It might bore some, or anger others. Phantom Ganon, the infinite alter ego, is not playing with us in the way we expect (fun), but he probably will.
Additional Notes (those are as well just personal views on some parts of the world/story):
Instead of collectible enemies, the poes are now collectible NPCs.
The protagonist of the future is the first to appear dressed with the aesthetics of the past. They are two planes that merge from their very birth, and there is a third: once you fulfill your obligation (returning the sword to the past), time, represented by verticality, becomes fluid.
Ganondorf embeds a stone in his head to display it; Zelda embeds a sword in her head to hide it.
Ganondorf displays unattainable power, but others wear it as pendants, bracelets, and necklaces. Similarly, Zelda’s stone comes to you during the tutorial, while Ganondorf’s stone has to be forcibly extracted from his draconic form.
Mineru is a channeling of Zelda, literally and figuratively. Her silenced spirit in the tablet symbolizes Zelda, silenced from the beginning of the game, in our Switch.
Zelda understands she can act in the past when she sees herself duplicated.
All the sages from the distant past say the same thing, except for the Sage of Time, who speaks nothing and says everything.
I think the logo (ouroboros and decayed sword) symbolizes these things:
_
That's it, guys. Please, as I said, let me know what you think about my perspective, and your personal points on TOTK. I am attaching a link to the original post on Substack: La vieja historia del tiempo y la luz
If this reaches somewhere, I hope you'll like it. Enjoy the game!
submitted by homeparticle to tearsofthekingdom [link] [comments]
Recently, my perspective on Tears of the Kingdom has changed in some unexpected ways, and I would like to share what I wrote about it here. They will soon release Master Works, an artbook with design and lore notes, which I don't think will confirm anything, but may point to different things. I want you to note that this is my personal point of view on the game, but aimed at showcasing and emphasizing everyone's unique interpretations and ways of playing. Please, let me know what you think.
There are many Spoilers Ahead:
I think Ganondorf (if not Gloom's Origin) represents something within the player. Do you know those 2h long fanfictions on Youtube that rewrite the whole plot? They may be the actual final boss of the game.
It's translated from Spanish from where I posted it originally. A week before, a youtuber called Tommy Dinh already said some of the things I was writing myself, and I will attach it for you as a really nice addition to what I will expose.
-
In Breath of the Wild, the story was distant, but seeing it involved piecing it together. In Tears of the Kingdom, the history is absent and cannot be pieced together, only ordered in a certain way; but now, time can be touched.
It is affirmed as a spatial quality, expanded vertically in its two extremes, sky and underground: the realm that represents the future and the one representing the past. Put in a certain way, the sky and the Depths form an emotional timeline. The Light Dragon, with its body, symbolizes this touch; although the history is hidden, its substance adheres to the present.
The journey begins, and the dragon's tears, which theoretically marked its birth, return to you; in the narrative, everything is like a mosaic that you join in equally, as if the Glide Armor ruled over the others. But there is something with which you struggle to reconnect, something that looks down on you, your expectations, and your memory.
I would say that in the plot, the holes that matter are rather physical, and lead to the world of spirits, covered in a miasma, translated as ‘gloom’ in English. It also means ‘sadness’. When you touch it, it nerfs you, drains your energy. The Depths, or as I said, the emotional past, is the origin of the gloom; the fun plays with our perception of time, making it a dark and monotonous place. But the Depths are not inherently bad; it is a refuge for sadness, which Ganondorf is exploiting.
Ganondorf is like a cardiovascular system (his clothes, his body, the shape of his forehead, his hair, and the tree of gloom from which he would extract his power), invading the world from the Depths because he represents the cruel side of the heart: sadness and nostalgia turned into destructive passion. There is something more: that gloom tree (Gloom's Origin), which probably always existed; he might be using a natural negative element to condense its power, similar to how Rauru uses light.
In BOTW, Zelda was fighting a tumor (Ganon) that invaded life. But in TOTK, what seals Ganondorf and his tree of wrath is sunlight itself: the castle functions as a giant shrine of light, pinned to the seal, and the Kingdom of Darkness would be imposed by an eternal Blood Moon. The light seals the wrath, which invades the world from the heart of its nostalgia.
The history of the kingdom, therefore, has not been simplified since Breath of the Wild. Its new faces seem to say that it has always been the story of light and time, and the sensations they evoke. But a pulse from the heart emerges from the Depths to demand that it be something else. Recently, I watched a gameplay video where a YouTuber, during the demon king cutscenes, said, tired of the lore: “I wish the whole game was like this.”
And I'm talking about the letdowns: I don't think TOTK reproaches us for wanting something else. We play what we like, and Hyrule could respond to other questions. I exaggerate speaking like this, of course, because it works differently for everyone; but I believe that the almost unanimous feeling of repetition, on the one hand, and the reproaches of so many fans, on the other, speak to a different intention. I would say it disappoints us on purpose (I wouldn't be writing this if it hadn't done it with me), to point out an opposing and twisted force in our love and, of course, in its own nostalgia.
Anyone who thinks about archetypes or has played The Wind Waker knows a more relegated and vulnerable part of Ganondorf. In TOTK, the pre-demon Ganondorf supposedly misses the wildness of his previous times, when he ruled under another law; just like many now miss Breath of the Wild, the previous wildness, when our progress and the world to discover mattered more. I believe that what the game really tries to do is rescue your intention from that disillusionment; to separate and reconnect as you want. Your fun and imagination matters as much as your incredulity and boredom. The luminous seeds with which you illuminate the Depths contribute to the allegory that your action and intention are equated with light. In BOTW, Zelda says (I put the English version because it is better translated): 'You are the light that must shine upon Hyrule once again,' emphasizing that connection between the world and you. And at the end of TOTK, it seems to perfectly understand why it has returned from its draconic form: 'I understand. (...) When I felt something… like a warm, loving embrace, I woke up.'; and the rays of light caress the castle. In a video that I will put later, it is related to the gameplay proposal that there is no sacrifice without reward.
Soon, Master Works will be released, something akin to an Ultimania for TOTK, and I suppose its design notes will indicate what inspired them. I doubt they will elaborate on some things, although others seem quite obvious to me; but who knows… maybe the important secrets aren’t those. And yet, I’m tempted to think that a saga I love, and probably its most anticipated game, might have wanted to use the typical disappointment with franchises and lores as a spiritual reversal of its own kingdom. On the other hand, seeing the new Hyrule as Termina, an allegorical world that cries for its past, is difficult for many, but seeing the amount of sad, disappointed, melancholic, and angry posts, videos, and fanfics about the game, and observing the difference in hype between 2019 and now, I believe the reconnection could be very sweet.
At the beginning of the game, after the echo of some heartbeats, Link and Zelda follow the flow of malevolent aura that marked the trailer back then, engulfing a rat. A sanguineous bubbling that, in itself, I believe, was the hype. The characters, or Ganondorf in particular, are not fleshed out because they don’t need to be: now our blood runs through the Depths, in both its natural and demonic state, and a personal light slips through the cracks. The three triangles, deconstructed, are within us.
https://preview.redd.it/v4taf0dx974d1.png?width=1280&format=png&auto=webp&s=eacefa9daeca1557bde7948d85b3d2bb13cbc551
Considering all this, Zelda's words at the beginning of the game sound different: “People have been falling ill after coming into contact with the gloom drifting through this caverns. (…) With it coming up from beneath Hyrule Castle… (…) Let’s go solve this mystery.”
I think the metaphors this game creates about the act of playing, but especially about sadness and disillusionment, are affecting me in an unexpected way. I highly recommend watching this video by YouTuber Tommy Dinh:
Everyone Missed the Point of Tears of the Kingdom
In it, he mentions the Depths, the gloom, the verticality, and at minute 40, he talks about the deus ex machina and the game’s ending. I especially like the connection with collectivism, which is omnipresent. I would never have related the end of Tears of the Kingdom to ending E of Nier: Automata, it was very difficult. But suddenly, I see them as somewhat similar.
I think Mineru’s final explanation (“I have a theory…”) pays homage to fan theories because its role as something that unites people is important. Ganondorf does not embody nostalgia or sadness, but the dark side of the heart, of passion, which takes advantage of the depressive terrain of nostalgia and past-focused thinking. That is why intention is good if it mobilizes you for the common good, not when it engulfs and renders you useless.
And it seems to me that, in a certain sense, Tears of the Kingdom tries to represent us when our escapism backfires (expert here), or perhaps, those who are concerned with the Timeline external to some Zelda games, like lore archaeologists. I mentioned monotony earlier, and I would say that, specifically, the Find Zelda quest, which leads us to each temple and the castle, is monotonous because someone wants to tell us from the other side that those who get angry and frustrated with what they are being offered, might as well ask themselves other questions. What are you looking for? Here it's only Zelda, Zelda, Zelda, Zelda, Zelda, Princess Zelda, Princess Zelda, Princess Zelda, Princess Zelda. It might bore some, or anger others. Phantom Ganon, the infinite alter ego, is not playing with us in the way we expect (fun), but he probably will.
Additional Notes (those are as well just personal views on some parts of the world/story):
Instead of collectible enemies, the poes are now collectible NPCs.
The protagonist of the future is the first to appear dressed with the aesthetics of the past. They are two planes that merge from their very birth, and there is a third: once you fulfill your obligation (returning the sword to the past), time, represented by verticality, becomes fluid.
Ganondorf embeds a stone in his head to display it; Zelda embeds a sword in her head to hide it.
Ganondorf displays unattainable power, but others wear it as pendants, bracelets, and necklaces. Similarly, Zelda’s stone comes to you during the tutorial, while Ganondorf’s stone has to be forcibly extracted from his draconic form.
Mineru is a channeling of Zelda, literally and figuratively. Her silenced spirit in the tablet symbolizes Zelda, silenced from the beginning of the game, in our Switch.
Zelda understands she can act in the past when she sees herself duplicated.
All the sages from the distant past say the same thing, except for the Sage of Time, who speaks nothing and says everything.
I think the logo (ouroboros and decayed sword) symbolizes these things:
- The internal loops that make you play, taking you from the depths to the sky to land on the surface, etc.
- The time loop of the narrative is an extension of the previous meaning, but it may also be an extension to the mantra of the series being something ancient; as well as dragon Zelda and dragon Ganondorf.
- The deconstruction of the weapons: deconstruction of the same mantras; the meta aspect of the narrative and the world.
- The separation of two elements (or lovers) that must reunite. According to the mural, in Sonia and Rauru’s marriage, both make a symbol with their hands opposite to the ouroboros, two dragons kissing; and the door of the Temple of Time that reconnects Link with Zelda also has that symbol in relief. In that sense, the tutorial itself symbolizes an ouroboros, what we need to ‘know’ and our ‘obligation’. Therefore, the other loops, those of the game itself, end whenever we want.
_
That's it, guys. Please, as I said, let me know what you think about my perspective, and your personal points on TOTK. I am attaching a link to the original post on Substack: La vieja historia del tiempo y la luz
If this reaches somewhere, I hope you'll like it. Enjoy the game!
2024.06.02 19:56 KiraWinchester H: trades (list below) W: items off wish list
WISH LIST:
Rare apparel
Overeater's Civil Engineer 1S/WWR (chest, left arm, right arm, right leg)
Overeater's Excavator 1S/WWR (left arm, right leg)
Vanguard's Scout 1S/WWR (right arm, right leg)
Vanguard's Excavator 1S/WWR (chest, left arm, right leg)
Please no cap offers since I'm maxed out on all 5 characters!
******************************************************************************
COMPLETE TRADE LIST: (Thank you for your time browsing this huge list!!!)
FIXERS: AA/25/15r,,, AA/25/15v,,, AA/50c/15v,,, AA/50vhc/25,,, AA/50L/25,,, AA/AP/25,,, AA/E/Dur,,, Ari/25/15r,,, Ari/E/15r,,, Ari/E/25,,, As/E/25,,, B/25/15v,,, B/50L/25,,, B/E/Dur,,, BeAP/25,,, Exe/AP/25,,, Exe/E/25,,, GouE/25,,, GS/E/25,,, H/50c/25,,, Jug/50c/25,,, Jug/AP/25,,, Junk/25/15r,,, Junk/50c/15v,,, Junk/50L/25,,, Junk/AP/25,,, Junk/E/15v,,, Med/25/25,,, Med/50c/25,,, Med/AP/25,,, Mut/AP/25,,, MS/50c/25,,, MS/AP/25,,, N/AP/25,,, N/E/25,,, Q/25/15r,,, Q/25/15v,,, Q/AP/25,,, Q/E/15r,,, St/50c/25,,, St/AP/25,,, St/E/25,,, Sup/50c/25,,, Sup/AP/25,,, Sup/E/25,,, T/50c/25,,, T/AP/25,,, TS/25/15r,,, TS/25/15v,,, TS/50vhc/25,,, TS/AP/25,,, V/AP/25,,, Z/25/25,,, Z/50c/25,,, Z/E/25
HANDMADES: AA/E/15v,,, I/E/25,,, Junk/25/15r,,, Junk/50c/25,,, MS/E/25,,, Mut/50c/25,,, Mut/E/25,,, Q/50c/25,,, Q/E/15r,,, Q/E/50
HEAVY WEAPONS: AA/25/15r AGL,,, AA/25/90 AGL,,, AA/25/15r Cryolator,,, AA/E/25 Gatling Gun,,, AA/25/90 Harpoon Gun,,, As/25A/90 Fatman,,, As/25/15r Gatling Laser,,, As/25/90 Gatling Plasma,,, B/25/15r 50cal,,, B/E/Gho 50cal,,, B/50L/90 AGL,,, B/25A/90 Cryolator,,, B/50L/90 Cryolator,,, B/25A/90 Missile Launcher,,, B/50vhc/90 Missile Launcher,,, B/25/90 Ultracite Gatling Laser,,, B/25/Dur Ultracite Gatling Laser,,, BeE/90 Gatling Gun,,, Exe/50c/15r Flamer,,, Exe/25A/90 Gatling Plasma,,, Exe/E/25 LMG,,, F/50c/25 Cryolator,,, Jug/25/15r Cryolator,,, N/25/15r 50cal,,, Q/50L/90 Minigun,,, Q/E/Gho Minigun,,, Q/50L/15r Pepper Shaker,,, T/25/15r Cryolator,,, TS/25A/90 Broadsider,,, TS/25/15r Gatling Gun,,, TS/E/90 LMG,,, TS/E/25 Minigun,,, TS/25A/15r Missile Launcher,,, V/25/15r 50cal,,, V/25/25 Broadsider,,, V/25A/90 Cryolator,,, V/AP/15r Flamer,,, V/25/25 Gatling Gun,,, V/50L/90 Harpoon Gun,,, Z/E/90 LMG
LEGACIES: Stalker's SS/1S melee: Bowie Knife,,, Chinese Officer Sword,,, Cultist Dagger,,, Guitar Sword,,, Revolutionary Sword,,, Walking Cane
MELEE: AA/SS/1S Cultist Blade,,, AA/SS/1S Death Tambo,,, AA/SS/1S Deathclaw Gauntlet,,, AA/40P/1S Gulper Smacker,,, AA/SS/1S Meat Hook,,, AA/SS/1S Pole Hook,,, AA/50c/15v Power Fist,,, AA/SS/1S Revolutionary Sword,,, AA/50L/1S Ripper,,, AA/SS/1S Spear,,, AA/SS/1S Super Sledge,,, Ari/40P/1S Drill,,, Ari/SS/1S Sledgehammer,,, Ari/SS/1S War Drum,,, As/40P/1S Chainsaw,,, As/40P/1S Drill,,, As/SS/1S Sheepsquatch Staff,,, B/50L/1S Chainsaw,,, B/AP/1S Chainsaw,,, B/SS/1S Chinese Officer Sword,,, B/SS/1S Deathclaw Gauntlet,,, B/50c/1S Drill,,, B/SS/25 Gulper Smacker,,, B/SS/25 Meat Hook,,, B/SS/90 Power Fist,,, B/SS/1S Power Fist,,, B/50c/25 Spear,,, BeSS/1S Combat Knife,,, Exe/40P/25 Drill,,, Exe/SS/1S Fire Axe,,, Exe/SS/1S Pitchfork,,, Exe/50c/1S Power Fist,,, GouSS/1S Hatchet,,, GouSS/1S Super Sledge,,, GS/SS/1S Chainsaw,,, I/SS/1S Death Tambo,,, I/40P/40 Drill,,, I/SS/1S Golf Club,,, I/SS/1S Pitchfork,,, I/SS/1S Shepherd's Crook,,, I/SS/1S Super Sledge,,, Junk/SS/1S Assaultron Blade,,, Junk/SS/1S Rolling Pin,,, Junk/SS/1S Security Baton,,, Mut/SS/1S Deathclaw Gauntlet,,, Mut/SS/1S Gulper Smacker,,, Mut/SS/1S Switchblade,,, MS/SS/1S Baseball Bat,,, MS/SS/1S Shishkebab,,, MS/SS/1S Shovel,,, MS/SS/1S Switchblade,,, Sup/SS/1S Assaultron Blade,,, Sup/SS/1S Cultist Blade,,, Sup/SS/1S Revolutionary Sword,,, Sup/SS/1S Spear,,, Sup/SS/1S Tire Iron,,, T/SS/1S Baseball Bat,,, T/SS/1S Bowie Knife,,, T/SS/1S Golf Club,,, T/SS/1S Machete,,, T/SS/1S Sledgehammer,,, V/SS/1S Combat Knife,,, V/SS/1S Deathclaw Gauntlet,,, V/SS/1S Pole Hook,,, V/SS/1S Shishkebab,,, V/SS/1S Sledgehammer,,, Z/SS/1S Buzz Blade,,, Z/40P/1S Chainsaw,,, Z/SS/1S Fire Axe,,, Z/SS/1S Knuckles,,, Z/SS/1S Pipe Wrench
RAILWAYS: AA/50c/25,,, AA/50vhc/25,,, AA/E/15v,,, AA/E/25,,, Ari/25/15r,,, B/50vhc/25,,, B/E/15r,,, B/E/90,,, F/50c/25,,, F/E/25,,, GS/50c/25,,, H/50c/25,,, I/25/25,,, I/50c/25,,, Junk/E/25,,, Q/25/15v,,, Q/50L/90,,, Q/E/1P,,, St/50c/25,,, Sup/E/25,,, TS/50L/25,,, TS/50vhc/25,,, TS/50c/15r,,, TS/AP/25,,, TS/E/Dur,,, V/25/25,,, V/50c/25,,, Z/E/90
TESLAS: AA/25/15r,,, AA/AP/25,,, AA/25/25,,, As/25/25,,, B/25/25,,, B/25/90,,, B/25/Dur,,, B/25/Gho,,, Be25/15r,,, Be25/25,,, Exe/25/15r,,, Exe/25/25,,, Exe/25/90,,, Exe/50L/15r,,, Ext/25/15r,,, F/25/15r,,, GS/25/25,,, GS/25/90,,, GS/50c/25,,, H/25/15r,,, I/25/15r,,, Junk/25/15r,,, Junk/50L/15r,,, Med/25/25,,, MS/50c/25,,, Mut/25/15r,,, Mut/25/25,,, N/25/25,,, Q/25**,,, Q/AP/25,,, St/25/25,,, St/25/90,,, Sup/25/90,,, Sup/50c/25,,, T/25/15r,,, TS/25/15r,,, TS/25/25,,, TS/50L/15r,,, V/25/15r,,, V/25/15v,,, V/25/90,,, V/25/250,,, V/25/Dur,,, V/50c/15r,,, V/50L/15r,,, Z/25/15r,,, Z/25/90
AA/25/25 Assaultron Head,,, AA/50c/15v Crossbow,,, AA/50c/25 Crossbow,,, AA/50L/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, AA/25/25 Gamma Gun,,, AA/50c/25 Pipe Bolt Action Pistol/Rifle,,, AA/25/15r Plasma Pistol/Rifle,,, As/50c/25 Crossbow,,, As/25/25 Gauss Rifle,,, As/50c/25 Laser Pistol/Rifle,,, B/AP/25 Compound Bow,,, B/25/25 Gauss Rifle,,, Be50c/25 Bow,,, Be50c/25 Crossbow,,, Be50c/25 SMG,,, Exe/50L/25 Alien Blaster,,, Exe/50c/25 Blunderbuss,,, Exe/50c/25 Combat Rifle,,, Exe/50c/15v Compound Bow,,, Exe/50c/25 Double Barrel,,, Exe/25/25 Gamma Gun,,, Exe/E/25 Hunting Rifle,,, Exe/E/25 Lever Action,,, Exe/50L/25 Plasma Pistol/Rifle,,, F/50c/15v Compound Bow,,, F/E/25 Double Barrel,,, F/50c/15v Thirst Zapper,,, GouE/25 Assault Rifle,,, GouE/25 Double Barrel,,, Gou25/25 Lever Action,,, GS/50c/25 Gamma Gun,,, I/50c/25 Combat Shotgun,,, I/50c/15v Compound Bow,,, I/50c/25 The Dragon,,, Jug/E/25 Combat Rifle,,, Jug/50c/25 Laser Pistol/Rifle,,, Junk/50c/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, Junk/25/25 Radium Rifle,,, Mut/E/25 10mm Pistol,,, Mut/50c/25 Crossbow,,, N/25/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, N/50c/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, Q/50c/25 Assaultron Head,,, Q/25/15r Combat Shotgun,,, Q/25/1P Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, Q/AP/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, Q/25/15r Plasma Pistol/Rifle,,, St/50c/25 Crossbow,,, St/E/25 Single Action Revolver,,, Sup/25/25 Radium Rifle,,, TS/25/15r Combat Rifle,,, TS/50c/25 Combat Rifle,,, TS/E/15r Pipe Revolver,,, V/50c/25 Bow,,, V/50L/25 Compound Bow,,, V/AP/25 Crossbow,,, V/50c/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, V/50c/25 Gauss Rifle,,, V/25/25 Pipe Pistol/Rifle,,, V/50c/25 Pipe Pistol/Rifle,,, Z/25/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle
ARMOR: Aristocrat's Civil Engineer chest AP/Cavalier
Aristocrat's Civil Engineer chest LED/Cavalier
Aristocrat's Civil Engineer chest LED/HTD
Aristocrat's Heavy Robot left leg LED/Sentinel
Aristocrat's Heavy Robot left leg LED/WWR
Aristocrat's Marine right leg AP/Cavalier
Aristocrat's Marine right arm LED/WWR
Aristocrat's USA left leg LED/WWR
Assassin's Civil Engineer chest Strength/JWR
Assassin's FSA chest LED/FDC
Assassin's FSA left arm AP/FDC (2)
Assassin's FSA left arm AP/Sentinel
Assassin's FSA left arm LED/HTD
Assassin's FSA left leg AP/FDC
Assassin's FSA left leg Strength/HTD
Assassin's Heavy Leather left arm AP/WWR
Assassin's Heavy Robot chest Strength/WWR
Assassin's Marine left arm AP/Cavalier
Assassin's Sturdy Combat chest AP/Sentinel
Assassin's Trapper right arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Assassin's Trapper right leg Strength/Sentinel
Assassin's USA left arm LED/WWR
Assassin's USA left arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Assassin's USA left leg LED/HTD
Assassin's USA left leg Strength/WWR
Auto Stim Civil Engineer chest LED/FDC
Auto Stim FSA right leg LED/WWR
Auto Stim Heavy Metal chest LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim Heavy Raider right leg LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim Heavy Robot chest LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim Heavy Robot right leg Cryo resist/Sentinel
Auto Stim Marine left leg LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim Ultracite left arm LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim USA left arm AP/Cavalier
Auto Stim USA left arm AP/WWR
Auto Stim USA left arm LED/FDC
Auto Stim USA right arm LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim USA right leg LED/WWR
Auto Stim USA right leg Strength/Cavalier
Auto Stim USA right leg Strength/Sentinel
Auto Stim USA right leg Strength/WWR
Bolstering FSA left arm AP/Sentinel
Bolstering FSA left arm Luck/WWR
Bolstering FSA left arm Strength/WWR
Bolstering FSA left leg AP/Sentinel
Bolstering FSA left leg LED/Cavalier
Bolstering FSA right leg Strength/HTD
Bolstering Heavy Metal left leg AP/Cavalier
Bolstering Heavy Metal right arm AP/Sentinel
Bolstering Heavy Metal right leg LED/HTD
Bolstering Heavy Robot left arm Strength/Cavalier
Bolstering Marine right arm Cryo resist/Sentinel
Bolstering Marine right arm Strength/FDC
Bolstering Raider right arm AP/Sentinel
Bolstering Sturdy Combat left leg LED/Sentinel
Bolstering Sturdy Leather right leg AP/Sentinel
Bolstering Trapper chest AP/Cavalier (2)
Bolstering Trapper right arm LED/Sentinel
Bolstering USA left arm LED/FDC
Bolstering USA left arm LED/Sentinel
Bolstering USA right arm AP/FDC
Bolstering USA right arm Intelligence/Sentinel
Bolstering Wood left leg LED/WWR
Chameleon FSA chest LED/Cavalier
Chameleon FSA left arm Strength/Sentinel
Chameleon FSA left leg AP/Cavalier
Chameleon FSA left leg LED/Sentinel
Chameleon Heavy Combat right arm LED/Cavalier
Chameleon Heavy Raider right leg AP/Sentinel
Chameleon Marine left arm AP/Cavalier
Chameleon Marine right arm AP/Sentinel
Chameleon Marine left leg AP/WWR
Chameleon Robot chest LED/WWR
Chameleon USA chest AP/WWR
Chameleon USA chest LED/Cavalier
Chameleon USA left arm AP/JWR
Chameleon USA left arm LED/Sentinel
Chameleon USA left leg Cryo resist/Sentinel
Chameleon USA right arm LED/WWR
Chameleon USA right leg AP/FDC
Cloaking FSA chest AP/Cavalier
Cloaking FSA right arm AP/WWR
Cloaking USA chest AP/Sentinel
Cloaking USA right leg AP/WWR
Exterminator's Civil Engineer chest AP/Sentinel
Exterminator's FSA right arm AP/Sentinel
Exterminator's FSA right arm LED/Cavalier
Exterminator's FSA right leg LED/Cavalier
Exterminator's USA chest AP/Sentinel
Exterminator's USA chest LED/WWR
Ghoul Slayer's FSA right arm AP/WWR
Ghoul Slayer's FSA right leg AP/Cavalier
Ghoul Slayer's Heavy Metal left arm AP/Sentinel
Ghoul Slayer's USA left arm AP/WWR
Ghoul Slayer's USA left leg AP/WWR
Hunter's Civil Engineer chest AP/Sentinel
Hunter's Heavy Metal right leg AP/Sentinel
Life Saving Civil Engineer chest LED/HTD
Life Saving Combat left leg AP/WWR
Life Saving FSA chest AP/Sentinel
Life Saving FSA left arm LED/WWR
Life Saving FSA left leg LED/Sentinel
Life Saving FSA right leg Strength/Cavalier
Life Saving Heavy Combat AP/HTD
Life Saving Heavy Raider chest LED/WWR
Life Saving Heavy Robot chest AP/WWR
Life Saving Heavy Robot left arm AP/WWR
Life Saving Marine chest LED/Cavalier
Life Saving Marine left leg AP/WWR
Life Saving Trapper left leg AP/Sentinel
Life Saving Trapper right leg LED/Cavalier
Life Saving USA left arm LED/WWR
Life Saving USA left arm AP/Cavalier
Life Saving USA left leg Strength/Cavalier
Life Saving USA right arm AP/Sentinel
Life Saving USA right arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Mutant's Civil Engineer chest AP/WWR
Mutant's FSA left leg LED/WWR
Mutant's Heavy Combat right leg AP/FDC
Mutant Slayer's FSA left arm AP/Cavalier
Mutant Slayer's FSA right leg AP/Sentinel
Mutant Slayer's Heavy Raider right leg AP/Sentinel
Mutant Slayer's Trapper chest AP/Sentinel (2)
Mutant Slayer's USA chest AP/Sentinel
Mutant Slayer's USA left arm AP/Sentinel
Mutant Slayer's USA left leg AP/Cavalier
Nocturnal Heavy Combat right leg Strength/Sentinel
Nocturnal Heavy Robot left leg LED/WWR
Nocturnal Heavy Robot right leg AP/Cavalier
Nocturnal Robot left arm AP/Sentinel
Nocturnal Trapper chest AP/Sentinel
Nocturnal USA left leg LED/WWR
Nocturnal USA right leg AP/HTD
Nocturnal USA right leg LED/Cavalier
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Agility/WWR
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Antiseptic/WWR
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest AP/Toxic
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Charisma/WWR
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Fire resist/Cavalier
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Fire resist/FDC
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Intelligence/Sentinel
Overeater's Civil Engineer left leg AP/AWR
Overeater's Combat chest AP/FDC
Overeater's FSA chest Endurance/Sentinel
Overeater's FSA chest Poison resist/Cavalier
Overeater's FSA left arm Charisma/FDC
Overeater's FSA left arm Intelligence/Sentinel
Overeater's FSA left arm Perception/Sentinel
Overeater's FSA left leg AP/HTD
Overeater's FSA right arm AP/JWR
Overeater's FSA right arm Strength/FDC
Overeater's FSA right arm Strength/WWR
Overeater's FSA right leg LED/AWR
Overeater's Heavy Combat chest LED/HTD
Overeater's Heavy Combat left arm LED/JWR
Overeater's Heavy Combat right leg Perception/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Leather right arm Glutton/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Metal left leg Strength/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Metal right leg AP/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Raider left arm LED/Cavalier
Overeater's Heavy Raider left leg Charisma/WWR
Overeater's Heavy Raider right arm Fire resist/FDC
Overeater's Heavy Robot chest Endurance/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Robot chest Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Robot left leg Agility/WWR
Overeater's Marine chest Rad resist/FDC
Overeater's Marine chest Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Marine left arm Strength/FDC
Overeater's Marine right arm Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Marine right leg Fire resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Marine right leg Luck/FDC
Overeater's Marine right leg Perception/WWR
Overeater's Metal left arm AP/FDC
Overeater's Metal left leg Agility/Sentinel
Overeater's Metal left leg Cryo resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Metal right arm AP/Sentinel
Overeater's Metal right leg Poison resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Raider right arm Cryo resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Raider right leg LED/WWR
Overeater's Sturdy Metal chest Strength/FDC
Overeater's Trapper chest Rad resist/FDC
Overeater's Trapper left arm AP/HTD
Overeater's Trapper left arm Cryo resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Trapper left arm Perception/Sentinel
Overeater's Trapper left leg Perception/WWR
Overeater's Trapper right arm Luck/WWR
Overeater's Trapper right arm Rad resist/WWR
Overeater's USA chest Cryo resist/HTD
Overeater's USA chest LED/WWR
Overeater's USA chest Poison resist/FDC
Overeater's USA left arm Antiseptic/Sentinel
Overeater's USA left arm AP/HTD
Overeater's USA left arm Endurance/FDC
Overeater's USA left arm Endurance/WWR
Overeater's USA left arm Fire resist/FDC (2)
Overeater's USA left arm LED/AWR
Overeater's USA left arm LED/FDC
Overeater's USA left arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Overeater's USA left arm Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's USA left leg Fire resist/WWR
Overeater's USA left leg Intelligence/FDC
Overeater's USA left leg Strength/FDC
Overeater's USA right arm Luck/Sentinel
Overeater's USA right leg AP/FDC
Overeater's USA right leg Intelligence/HTD
Overeater's USA right leg Poison resist/Sentinel
Overeater's USA right leg Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Wood left arm LED/Cavalier
Regenerating Civil Engineer chest AP/Sentinel
Troubleshooter's Excavator right arm LED/Cavalier
Troubleshooter's FSA chest AP/WWR
Troubleshooter's Heavy Combat left arm AP/Cavalier
Troubleshooter's Heavy Robot left arm AP/Cavalier
Troubleshooter's T-60 left arm LED/Sentinel
Troubleshooter's T-60 right arm AP/WWR
Troubleshooter's Trapper right leg AP/WWR
Troubleshooter's USA left arm AP/FDC
Troubleshooter's USA left arm Strength/Sentinel
Troubleshooter's USA left leg AP/WWR
Unyielding Civil Engineer chest AP/Electrified
Unyielding Civil Engineer left arm Antiseptic/FDC
Unyielding Civil Engineer left leg AP/Electrified
Unyielding Civil Engineer right leg Intelligence/Burning
Unyielding FSA full set AP/Cavalier
Unyielding FSA chest Cryo resist/FDC
Unyielding FSA chest Intelligence/Acrobat
Unyielding FSA chest Intelligence/Dur
Unyielding FSA chest LED/JWR
Unyielding FSA left arm Cryo resist/AWR
Unyielding FSA left arm LED/Sentinel
Unyielding FSA left arm Poison resist/AWR
Unyielding FSA left leg AP/Acrobat
Unyielding FSA left leg Endurance/Sentinel
Unyielding FSA left leg Fire resist/AWR
Unyielding FSA left leg Fire resist/FDC
Unyielding FSA left leg Luck/AWR
Unyielding FSA right arm Cryo resist/Cavalier
Unyielding FSA right arm Poison resist/WWR
Unyielding FSA right leg AP/JWR
Unyielding FSA right leg Intelligence/JWR
Unyielding FSA right leg LED/HTD
Unyielding FSA right leg Luck/JWR
Unyielding FSA right leg Rad resist/AWR (2)
Unyielding Heavy Combat chest Strength/HTD
Unyielding Heavy Combat left leg Cryo resist/Cavalier
Unyielding Heavy Combat right arm Poison resist/JWR
Unyielding Heavy Combat right arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Unyielding Heavy Leather chest Cryo resist/HTD
Unyielding Heavy Leather left arm Rad resist/HTD
Unyielding Heavy Leather left leg Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding Heavy Metal right arm LED/Cavalier
Unyielding Heavy Metal right leg Endurance/Sentinel
Unyielding Heavy Raider chest Agility/Sentinel
Unyielding Heavy Raider left arm Poison resist/FDC
Unyielding Heavy Raider right arm AP/HTD
Unyielding Heavy Raider right arm Charisma/FDC
Unyielding Heavy Robot chest Cryo resist/Cavalier
Unyielding Heavy Robot right arm Endurance/Sentinel
Unyielding Leather left leg LED/WWR
Unyielding Marine chest Perception/Sentinel
Unyielding Marine chest Luck/WWR
Unyielding Marine chest Strength/HTD
Unyielding Marine left arm Cryo resist/HTD
Unyielding Marine left arm Strength/Cavalier (2)
Unyielding Marine left leg AP/FDC
Unyielding Marine right arm AP/Acrobat
Unyielding Marine right arm Rad resist/Cavalier
Unyielding Marine right leg Fire resist/WWR
Unyielding Marine right leg LED/AWR
Unyielding Marine right leg Luck/FDC
Unyielding Marine right leg Rad resist/AWR
Unyielding Metal chest AP/HTD
Unyielding Metal left arm LED/Sentinel
Unyielding Metal right leg AP/Cavalier
Unyielding Raider chest Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding Robot left leg Poison resist/Sentinel
Unyielding Sturdy Combat chest Strength/Sentinel
Unyielding Sturdy Combat right arm AP/AWR
Unyielding Sturdy Leather left leg LED/Sentinel
Unyielding Sturdy Metal chest AP/WWR
Unyielding Sturdy Metal left arm Rad resist/Sentinel
Unyielding Sturdy Raider chest Intelligence/FDC
Unyielding Sturdy Raider right leg Intelligence/FDC
Unyielding Sturdy Robot right arm LED/Sentinel
Unyielding Trapper chest Luck/FDC
Unyielding Trapper left leg Cryo resist/WWR
Unyielding Trapper right arm Cryo resist/Cavalier
Unyielding Trapper right arm LED/HTD
Unyielding Trapper right arm Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding USA chest AP/JWR
Unyielding USA chest Fire resist/AWR
Unyielding USA chest Luck/HTD
Unyielding USA chest Intelligence/Cavalier
Unyielding USA chest Poison resist/Cavalier
Unyielding USA chest Rad resist/JWR
Unyielding USA left arm AP/Sentinel
Unyielding USA left arm Cryo resist/WWR
Unyielding USA left arm LED/Acrobat (2)
Unyielding USA left arm Perception/FDC
Unyielding USA left arm Poison resist/AWR
Unyielding USA left arm Poison resist/HTD
Unyielding USA left arm Rad resist/Cavalier
Unyielding USA left leg Luck/AWR
Unyielding USA right arm Cryo resist/WWR
Unyielding USA right arm Intelligence/JWR
Unyielding USA right arm Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding USA right arm Poison resist/HTD
Unyielding USA right leg AP/Cavalier
Unyielding USA right leg Charisma/WWR
Unyielding USA right leg Fire resist/AWR
Unyielding USA right leg Perception/FDC
Unyielding Wood chest AP/FDC
Unyielding Wood chest Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding Wood chest Luck/Sentinel
Unyielding Wood right arm AP/Sentinel
Unyielding Wood right arm LED/WWR
Unyielding Wood right leg Strength/WWR
Vanguard's Civil Engineer chest LED/Cavalier
Vanguard's Civil Engineer chest LED/HTD
Vanguard's FSA full set Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's FSA right arm Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's FSA right leg Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's Heavy Leather right arm LED/HTD
Vanguard's Heavy Metal chest Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's Heavy Robot right arm LED/HTD
Vanguard's Marine right arm Strength/WWR
Vanguard's Marine right leg Strength/Sentinel
Vanguard's Sturdy Robot left arm AP/Sentinel
Vanguard's Sturdy Robot right leg LED/WWR
Vanguard's Trapper left arm LED/Cavalier
Vanguard's USA full set Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's USA chest Luck/Sentinel
Vanguard's USA left arm AP/FDC
Vanguard's USA left arm Intelligence/Sentinel
Vanguard's USA left arm LED/Sentinel
Vanguard's USA left arm Strength/FDC
Vanguard's USA left arm Strength/Sentinel
Vanguard's USA left leg Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's USA right arm AP/Cavalier
Vanguard's USA right leg Strength/Cavalier (3)
Vanguard's Wood chest Strength/Sentinel
Weightless Civil Engineer chest AP/Sentinel
Weightless Civil Engineer chest LED/Sentinel
Weightless Civil Engineer chest Strength/WWR
Weightless FSA left leg Strength/Sentinel
Weightless Marine right leg AP/Cavalier
Weightless Trapper chest AP/Cavalier
Weightless Trapper left arm AP/Sentinel
Weightless Trapper left leg AP/Sentinel
Weightless USA chest Strength/Sentinel
Weightless USA right leg AP/Cavalier
Weightless USA right leg LED/WWR
Zealot's Trapper left arm LED/Cavalier
Zealot's USA chest AP/Sentinel
Zealot's USA left arm AP/Cavalier
Zealot's USA left arm AP/Sentinel (2)
Zealot's USA right arm AP/WWR
Zealot's USA right leg AP/WWR
PLANS: Alien Blaster,,, Alien Disintegrator,,, Alien head lamp,,, Alien table,,, Alien target practice poster,,, Assault rifle wraith's wrath paint,,, Backpack armor plated mod,,, Backpack high capacity mod,,, Backpack insulated mod,,, Backpack lead lined mod,,, Backpack refrigerated mod,,, mod,,, Bloody curtain door,,, Bloody rug,,, Boxing glove lead lining,,, Camo Backpack,,, Cattle flour billboards,,, Chainsaw ghostly grinder paint,,, Chainsaw septikill paint,,, Cultist adept hood,,, Cultist adept robes,,, Cultist enlightened hood,,, Cultist enlightened robes,,, Cultist eventide hood,,, Cultist eventide robes,,, Cultist incarnate helmet,,, Cultist neophyte hood,,, Cultist neophyte robes,,, Dense marine armor torso,,, Dense trapper armor torso,,, Dr. Bones,,, Dried wildflower bouquet,,, Electro Enforcer,,, Enlightened lantern,,, Executioner mask,,, Flannel shirt & jeans,,, Fluttering moths,,, Fossilized megalonyx (left arm, left leg, right arm, right leg, skull, torso),,, Fuzzy enlightened plushie,,, Fuzzy mothman plushie,,, Giant red dinosaur,,, Glowing flatwoods monster lamp,,, Ground meat plushie,,, Hazmat suit teal,,, Honeycomb paper blue mothman,,, Honeycomb paper brown mothman,,, Honeycomb paper ghost lantern A&B,,, Honeycomb paper green mothman,,, Honeycomb paper holiday tree A&B,,, Honeycomb paper icy snowflake,,, Honeycomb paper jack o'lantern A&B,,, Honeycomb paper jolly target,,, Honeycomb paper mothman globe,,, Honeycomb paper red mothman,,, Honeycomb paper ribbon bell,,, Honeycomb paper snowman,,, Honeycomb paper spider lantern,,, Honeycomb paper standing santa,,, Junkyard fountain,,, Machete sacrificial blade,,, Megalonyx display rack,,, Mutant hound diagram,,, Nuka shank knife,,, Peppino pig plushie,,, Plastiform Candle,,, Plastiform gingerbread,,, Plastiform nutcracker,,, Plastiform santa,,, Plastiform santa sleigh,,, Princess backpack,,, Punty pig plushie,,, Rad skull rider helmet,,, Raw cement barricade,,, Rib plushie,,, Rotted ground meat plushie,,, Rotted rib plushie,,, Rotted steak plushie,,, Sacred mothman tome,,, Scorchbeast queen plushie,,, Scorched tube,,, Shielded lining casual underarmor,,, Snallygaster plushie,,, Star light,,, Steak plushie,,, Straw goat,,, Super mutant diagram,,, Swarm of flies,,, T-60 BOS knight paint,,, Taxidermy mutant hound,,, TV Aquarium,,, Ultracite emergency protocols,,, Undershirt & jeans,,, Vintage water cooler,,, Wasteland hunter backpack,,, Weenie wagon,,, Wilber McPigg plushie,,, WV state bird rug,,, Yao Guai tube,,, Zenith alien blaster paint,,, Fasnacht donut recipe,,, Fasnacht sausage recipe,,, Formula P recipe,,, Healing salve Ash Heap recipe,,, Healing salve Cranberry Bog recipe,,, Healing salve Mire recipe,,, Tato salad recipe (***I have a ton of plans that are not listed here, so just let me know what you're looking for***)
APPAREL: Asylum Uniform Blue,,, Asylum Uniform Forest,,, Asylum Uniform Pink,,, Fasnacht Brahmin mask,,, Fasnacht Buffoon mask,,, Fasnacht Crazy Guy mask,,, Fasnacht Deathclaw mask,,, Fasnacht Demon mask,,, Fasnacht Fiend mask,,, Fasnacht Hag mask,,, Fasnacht Loon mask,,, Fasnacht Raven mask,,, Fasnacht Winter Man mask,,, Emmett Mountain hazmat suit,,, Garrahan Foreman Outfit and Helmet
CHEMS: Addictol: 264,,, Berry Mentats: 3600,,, Buffout: 2071,,, Calmex: 859,,, Daddy-O: 1411,,, Day Tripper: 1153,,, Disease Cure: 541,,, Mentats: 1000,,, Overdrive: 248,,, Psycho: 3889,,, Psychobuff: 1916,,, Psychotats: 1896,,, X-cell: 661
FOOD: Canned meat stew: 75,,, Pepper: 1350,,, Salt: 2964,,, Spices: 1668,,, Sugar Bombs(w/rads): 1254
MODS: Enclave Aligned automatic barrel,,, Enclave Aligned short barrel,,, Enclave Aligned sniper barrel(3),,, Enclave Aligned splitter(3),,, Enclave Bruising grip,,, Enclave Calibrated capacitor,,, Enclave Comfort stock,,, Enclave Precise stock(2),,, Enclave Refined beta wave tuner(3),,, Enclave Severe beta wave tuner(2),,, Enclave Stabilized automatic barrel(3),,, Enclave Stabilized flamer barrel(2),,, Enclave Stabilized Sniper Barrel,,, Enclave True automatic barrel(2),,, Enclave True capacitor(5),,, Enclave True flamer barrel(2),,, Enclave True sniper barrel(3),,, Enclave True splitter(2),,, Enclave Vicious capacitor
submitted by KiraWinchester to Market76 [link] [comments]
Rare apparel
Overeater's Civil Engineer 1S/WWR (chest, left arm, right arm, right leg)
Overeater's Excavator 1S/WWR (left arm, right leg)
Vanguard's Scout 1S/WWR (right arm, right leg)
Vanguard's Excavator 1S/WWR (chest, left arm, right leg)
Please no cap offers since I'm maxed out on all 5 characters!
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COMPLETE TRADE LIST: (Thank you for your time browsing this huge list!!!)
FIXERS: AA/25/15r,,, AA/25/15v,,, AA/50c/15v,,, AA/50vhc/25,,, AA/50L/25,,, AA/AP/25,,, AA/E/Dur,,, Ari/25/15r,,, Ari/E/15r,,, Ari/E/25,,, As/E/25,,, B/25/15v,,, B/50L/25,,, B/E/Dur,,, BeAP/25,,, Exe/AP/25,,, Exe/E/25,,, GouE/25,,, GS/E/25,,, H/50c/25,,, Jug/50c/25,,, Jug/AP/25,,, Junk/25/15r,,, Junk/50c/15v,,, Junk/50L/25,,, Junk/AP/25,,, Junk/E/15v,,, Med/25/25,,, Med/50c/25,,, Med/AP/25,,, Mut/AP/25,,, MS/50c/25,,, MS/AP/25,,, N/AP/25,,, N/E/25,,, Q/25/15r,,, Q/25/15v,,, Q/AP/25,,, Q/E/15r,,, St/50c/25,,, St/AP/25,,, St/E/25,,, Sup/50c/25,,, Sup/AP/25,,, Sup/E/25,,, T/50c/25,,, T/AP/25,,, TS/25/15r,,, TS/25/15v,,, TS/50vhc/25,,, TS/AP/25,,, V/AP/25,,, Z/25/25,,, Z/50c/25,,, Z/E/25
HANDMADES: AA/E/15v,,, I/E/25,,, Junk/25/15r,,, Junk/50c/25,,, MS/E/25,,, Mut/50c/25,,, Mut/E/25,,, Q/50c/25,,, Q/E/15r,,, Q/E/50
HEAVY WEAPONS: AA/25/15r AGL,,, AA/25/90 AGL,,, AA/25/15r Cryolator,,, AA/E/25 Gatling Gun,,, AA/25/90 Harpoon Gun,,, As/25A/90 Fatman,,, As/25/15r Gatling Laser,,, As/25/90 Gatling Plasma,,, B/25/15r 50cal,,, B/E/Gho 50cal,,, B/50L/90 AGL,,, B/25A/90 Cryolator,,, B/50L/90 Cryolator,,, B/25A/90 Missile Launcher,,, B/50vhc/90 Missile Launcher,,, B/25/90 Ultracite Gatling Laser,,, B/25/Dur Ultracite Gatling Laser,,, BeE/90 Gatling Gun,,, Exe/50c/15r Flamer,,, Exe/25A/90 Gatling Plasma,,, Exe/E/25 LMG,,, F/50c/25 Cryolator,,, Jug/25/15r Cryolator,,, N/25/15r 50cal,,, Q/50L/90 Minigun,,, Q/E/Gho Minigun,,, Q/50L/15r Pepper Shaker,,, T/25/15r Cryolator,,, TS/25A/90 Broadsider,,, TS/25/15r Gatling Gun,,, TS/E/90 LMG,,, TS/E/25 Minigun,,, TS/25A/15r Missile Launcher,,, V/25/15r 50cal,,, V/25/25 Broadsider,,, V/25A/90 Cryolator,,, V/AP/15r Flamer,,, V/25/25 Gatling Gun,,, V/50L/90 Harpoon Gun,,, Z/E/90 LMG
LEGACIES: Stalker's SS/1S melee: Bowie Knife,,, Chinese Officer Sword,,, Cultist Dagger,,, Guitar Sword,,, Revolutionary Sword,,, Walking Cane
MELEE: AA/SS/1S Cultist Blade,,, AA/SS/1S Death Tambo,,, AA/SS/1S Deathclaw Gauntlet,,, AA/40P/1S Gulper Smacker,,, AA/SS/1S Meat Hook,,, AA/SS/1S Pole Hook,,, AA/50c/15v Power Fist,,, AA/SS/1S Revolutionary Sword,,, AA/50L/1S Ripper,,, AA/SS/1S Spear,,, AA/SS/1S Super Sledge,,, Ari/40P/1S Drill,,, Ari/SS/1S Sledgehammer,,, Ari/SS/1S War Drum,,, As/40P/1S Chainsaw,,, As/40P/1S Drill,,, As/SS/1S Sheepsquatch Staff,,, B/50L/1S Chainsaw,,, B/AP/1S Chainsaw,,, B/SS/1S Chinese Officer Sword,,, B/SS/1S Deathclaw Gauntlet,,, B/50c/1S Drill,,, B/SS/25 Gulper Smacker,,, B/SS/25 Meat Hook,,, B/SS/90 Power Fist,,, B/SS/1S Power Fist,,, B/50c/25 Spear,,, BeSS/1S Combat Knife,,, Exe/40P/25 Drill,,, Exe/SS/1S Fire Axe,,, Exe/SS/1S Pitchfork,,, Exe/50c/1S Power Fist,,, GouSS/1S Hatchet,,, GouSS/1S Super Sledge,,, GS/SS/1S Chainsaw,,, I/SS/1S Death Tambo,,, I/40P/40 Drill,,, I/SS/1S Golf Club,,, I/SS/1S Pitchfork,,, I/SS/1S Shepherd's Crook,,, I/SS/1S Super Sledge,,, Junk/SS/1S Assaultron Blade,,, Junk/SS/1S Rolling Pin,,, Junk/SS/1S Security Baton,,, Mut/SS/1S Deathclaw Gauntlet,,, Mut/SS/1S Gulper Smacker,,, Mut/SS/1S Switchblade,,, MS/SS/1S Baseball Bat,,, MS/SS/1S Shishkebab,,, MS/SS/1S Shovel,,, MS/SS/1S Switchblade,,, Sup/SS/1S Assaultron Blade,,, Sup/SS/1S Cultist Blade,,, Sup/SS/1S Revolutionary Sword,,, Sup/SS/1S Spear,,, Sup/SS/1S Tire Iron,,, T/SS/1S Baseball Bat,,, T/SS/1S Bowie Knife,,, T/SS/1S Golf Club,,, T/SS/1S Machete,,, T/SS/1S Sledgehammer,,, V/SS/1S Combat Knife,,, V/SS/1S Deathclaw Gauntlet,,, V/SS/1S Pole Hook,,, V/SS/1S Shishkebab,,, V/SS/1S Sledgehammer,,, Z/SS/1S Buzz Blade,,, Z/40P/1S Chainsaw,,, Z/SS/1S Fire Axe,,, Z/SS/1S Knuckles,,, Z/SS/1S Pipe Wrench
RAILWAYS: AA/50c/25,,, AA/50vhc/25,,, AA/E/15v,,, AA/E/25,,, Ari/25/15r,,, B/50vhc/25,,, B/E/15r,,, B/E/90,,, F/50c/25,,, F/E/25,,, GS/50c/25,,, H/50c/25,,, I/25/25,,, I/50c/25,,, Junk/E/25,,, Q/25/15v,,, Q/50L/90,,, Q/E/1P,,, St/50c/25,,, Sup/E/25,,, TS/50L/25,,, TS/50vhc/25,,, TS/50c/15r,,, TS/AP/25,,, TS/E/Dur,,, V/25/25,,, V/50c/25,,, Z/E/90
TESLAS: AA/25/15r,,, AA/AP/25,,, AA/25/25,,, As/25/25,,, B/25/25,,, B/25/90,,, B/25/Dur,,, B/25/Gho,,, Be25/15r,,, Be25/25,,, Exe/25/15r,,, Exe/25/25,,, Exe/25/90,,, Exe/50L/15r,,, Ext/25/15r,,, F/25/15r,,, GS/25/25,,, GS/25/90,,, GS/50c/25,,, H/25/15r,,, I/25/15r,,, Junk/25/15r,,, Junk/50L/15r,,, Med/25/25,,, MS/50c/25,,, Mut/25/15r,,, Mut/25/25,,, N/25/25,,, Q/25**,,, Q/AP/25,,, St/25/25,,, St/25/90,,, Sup/25/90,,, Sup/50c/25,,, T/25/15r,,, TS/25/15r,,, TS/25/25,,, TS/50L/15r,,, V/25/15r,,, V/25/15v,,, V/25/90,,, V/25/250,,, V/25/Dur,,, V/50c/15r,,, V/50L/15r,,, Z/25/15r,,, Z/25/90
AA/25/25 Assaultron Head,,, AA/50c/15v Crossbow,,, AA/50c/25 Crossbow,,, AA/50L/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, AA/25/25 Gamma Gun,,, AA/50c/25 Pipe Bolt Action Pistol/Rifle,,, AA/25/15r Plasma Pistol/Rifle,,, As/50c/25 Crossbow,,, As/25/25 Gauss Rifle,,, As/50c/25 Laser Pistol/Rifle,,, B/AP/25 Compound Bow,,, B/25/25 Gauss Rifle,,, Be50c/25 Bow,,, Be50c/25 Crossbow,,, Be50c/25 SMG,,, Exe/50L/25 Alien Blaster,,, Exe/50c/25 Blunderbuss,,, Exe/50c/25 Combat Rifle,,, Exe/50c/15v Compound Bow,,, Exe/50c/25 Double Barrel,,, Exe/25/25 Gamma Gun,,, Exe/E/25 Hunting Rifle,,, Exe/E/25 Lever Action,,, Exe/50L/25 Plasma Pistol/Rifle,,, F/50c/15v Compound Bow,,, F/E/25 Double Barrel,,, F/50c/15v Thirst Zapper,,, GouE/25 Assault Rifle,,, GouE/25 Double Barrel,,, Gou25/25 Lever Action,,, GS/50c/25 Gamma Gun,,, I/50c/25 Combat Shotgun,,, I/50c/15v Compound Bow,,, I/50c/25 The Dragon,,, Jug/E/25 Combat Rifle,,, Jug/50c/25 Laser Pistol/Rifle,,, Junk/50c/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, Junk/25/25 Radium Rifle,,, Mut/E/25 10mm Pistol,,, Mut/50c/25 Crossbow,,, N/25/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, N/50c/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, Q/50c/25 Assaultron Head,,, Q/25/15r Combat Shotgun,,, Q/25/1P Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, Q/AP/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, Q/25/15r Plasma Pistol/Rifle,,, St/50c/25 Crossbow,,, St/E/25 Single Action Revolver,,, Sup/25/25 Radium Rifle,,, TS/25/15r Combat Rifle,,, TS/50c/25 Combat Rifle,,, TS/E/15r Pipe Revolver,,, V/50c/25 Bow,,, V/50L/25 Compound Bow,,, V/AP/25 Crossbow,,, V/50c/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle,,, V/50c/25 Gauss Rifle,,, V/25/25 Pipe Pistol/Rifle,,, V/50c/25 Pipe Pistol/Rifle,,, Z/25/25 Enclave Plasma Rifle
ARMOR: Aristocrat's Civil Engineer chest AP/Cavalier
Aristocrat's Civil Engineer chest LED/Cavalier
Aristocrat's Civil Engineer chest LED/HTD
Aristocrat's Heavy Robot left leg LED/Sentinel
Aristocrat's Heavy Robot left leg LED/WWR
Aristocrat's Marine right leg AP/Cavalier
Aristocrat's Marine right arm LED/WWR
Aristocrat's USA left leg LED/WWR
Assassin's Civil Engineer chest Strength/JWR
Assassin's FSA chest LED/FDC
Assassin's FSA left arm AP/FDC (2)
Assassin's FSA left arm AP/Sentinel
Assassin's FSA left arm LED/HTD
Assassin's FSA left leg AP/FDC
Assassin's FSA left leg Strength/HTD
Assassin's Heavy Leather left arm AP/WWR
Assassin's Heavy Robot chest Strength/WWR
Assassin's Marine left arm AP/Cavalier
Assassin's Sturdy Combat chest AP/Sentinel
Assassin's Trapper right arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Assassin's Trapper right leg Strength/Sentinel
Assassin's USA left arm LED/WWR
Assassin's USA left arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Assassin's USA left leg LED/HTD
Assassin's USA left leg Strength/WWR
Auto Stim Civil Engineer chest LED/FDC
Auto Stim FSA right leg LED/WWR
Auto Stim Heavy Metal chest LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim Heavy Raider right leg LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim Heavy Robot chest LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim Heavy Robot right leg Cryo resist/Sentinel
Auto Stim Marine left leg LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim Ultracite left arm LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim USA left arm AP/Cavalier
Auto Stim USA left arm AP/WWR
Auto Stim USA left arm LED/FDC
Auto Stim USA right arm LED/Sentinel
Auto Stim USA right leg LED/WWR
Auto Stim USA right leg Strength/Cavalier
Auto Stim USA right leg Strength/Sentinel
Auto Stim USA right leg Strength/WWR
Bolstering FSA left arm AP/Sentinel
Bolstering FSA left arm Luck/WWR
Bolstering FSA left arm Strength/WWR
Bolstering FSA left leg AP/Sentinel
Bolstering FSA left leg LED/Cavalier
Bolstering FSA right leg Strength/HTD
Bolstering Heavy Metal left leg AP/Cavalier
Bolstering Heavy Metal right arm AP/Sentinel
Bolstering Heavy Metal right leg LED/HTD
Bolstering Heavy Robot left arm Strength/Cavalier
Bolstering Marine right arm Cryo resist/Sentinel
Bolstering Marine right arm Strength/FDC
Bolstering Raider right arm AP/Sentinel
Bolstering Sturdy Combat left leg LED/Sentinel
Bolstering Sturdy Leather right leg AP/Sentinel
Bolstering Trapper chest AP/Cavalier (2)
Bolstering Trapper right arm LED/Sentinel
Bolstering USA left arm LED/FDC
Bolstering USA left arm LED/Sentinel
Bolstering USA right arm AP/FDC
Bolstering USA right arm Intelligence/Sentinel
Bolstering Wood left leg LED/WWR
Chameleon FSA chest LED/Cavalier
Chameleon FSA left arm Strength/Sentinel
Chameleon FSA left leg AP/Cavalier
Chameleon FSA left leg LED/Sentinel
Chameleon Heavy Combat right arm LED/Cavalier
Chameleon Heavy Raider right leg AP/Sentinel
Chameleon Marine left arm AP/Cavalier
Chameleon Marine right arm AP/Sentinel
Chameleon Marine left leg AP/WWR
Chameleon Robot chest LED/WWR
Chameleon USA chest AP/WWR
Chameleon USA chest LED/Cavalier
Chameleon USA left arm AP/JWR
Chameleon USA left arm LED/Sentinel
Chameleon USA left leg Cryo resist/Sentinel
Chameleon USA right arm LED/WWR
Chameleon USA right leg AP/FDC
Cloaking FSA chest AP/Cavalier
Cloaking FSA right arm AP/WWR
Cloaking USA chest AP/Sentinel
Cloaking USA right leg AP/WWR
Exterminator's Civil Engineer chest AP/Sentinel
Exterminator's FSA right arm AP/Sentinel
Exterminator's FSA right arm LED/Cavalier
Exterminator's FSA right leg LED/Cavalier
Exterminator's USA chest AP/Sentinel
Exterminator's USA chest LED/WWR
Ghoul Slayer's FSA right arm AP/WWR
Ghoul Slayer's FSA right leg AP/Cavalier
Ghoul Slayer's Heavy Metal left arm AP/Sentinel
Ghoul Slayer's USA left arm AP/WWR
Ghoul Slayer's USA left leg AP/WWR
Hunter's Civil Engineer chest AP/Sentinel
Hunter's Heavy Metal right leg AP/Sentinel
Life Saving Civil Engineer chest LED/HTD
Life Saving Combat left leg AP/WWR
Life Saving FSA chest AP/Sentinel
Life Saving FSA left arm LED/WWR
Life Saving FSA left leg LED/Sentinel
Life Saving FSA right leg Strength/Cavalier
Life Saving Heavy Combat AP/HTD
Life Saving Heavy Raider chest LED/WWR
Life Saving Heavy Robot chest AP/WWR
Life Saving Heavy Robot left arm AP/WWR
Life Saving Marine chest LED/Cavalier
Life Saving Marine left leg AP/WWR
Life Saving Trapper left leg AP/Sentinel
Life Saving Trapper right leg LED/Cavalier
Life Saving USA left arm LED/WWR
Life Saving USA left arm AP/Cavalier
Life Saving USA left leg Strength/Cavalier
Life Saving USA right arm AP/Sentinel
Life Saving USA right arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Mutant's Civil Engineer chest AP/WWR
Mutant's FSA left leg LED/WWR
Mutant's Heavy Combat right leg AP/FDC
Mutant Slayer's FSA left arm AP/Cavalier
Mutant Slayer's FSA right leg AP/Sentinel
Mutant Slayer's Heavy Raider right leg AP/Sentinel
Mutant Slayer's Trapper chest AP/Sentinel (2)
Mutant Slayer's USA chest AP/Sentinel
Mutant Slayer's USA left arm AP/Sentinel
Mutant Slayer's USA left leg AP/Cavalier
Nocturnal Heavy Combat right leg Strength/Sentinel
Nocturnal Heavy Robot left leg LED/WWR
Nocturnal Heavy Robot right leg AP/Cavalier
Nocturnal Robot left arm AP/Sentinel
Nocturnal Trapper chest AP/Sentinel
Nocturnal USA left leg LED/WWR
Nocturnal USA right leg AP/HTD
Nocturnal USA right leg LED/Cavalier
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Agility/WWR
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Antiseptic/WWR
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest AP/Toxic
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Charisma/WWR
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Fire resist/Cavalier
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Fire resist/FDC
Overeater's Civil Engineer chest Intelligence/Sentinel
Overeater's Civil Engineer left leg AP/AWR
Overeater's Combat chest AP/FDC
Overeater's FSA chest Endurance/Sentinel
Overeater's FSA chest Poison resist/Cavalier
Overeater's FSA left arm Charisma/FDC
Overeater's FSA left arm Intelligence/Sentinel
Overeater's FSA left arm Perception/Sentinel
Overeater's FSA left leg AP/HTD
Overeater's FSA right arm AP/JWR
Overeater's FSA right arm Strength/FDC
Overeater's FSA right arm Strength/WWR
Overeater's FSA right leg LED/AWR
Overeater's Heavy Combat chest LED/HTD
Overeater's Heavy Combat left arm LED/JWR
Overeater's Heavy Combat right leg Perception/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Leather right arm Glutton/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Metal left leg Strength/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Metal right leg AP/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Raider left arm LED/Cavalier
Overeater's Heavy Raider left leg Charisma/WWR
Overeater's Heavy Raider right arm Fire resist/FDC
Overeater's Heavy Robot chest Endurance/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Robot chest Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Heavy Robot left leg Agility/WWR
Overeater's Marine chest Rad resist/FDC
Overeater's Marine chest Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Marine left arm Strength/FDC
Overeater's Marine right arm Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Marine right leg Fire resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Marine right leg Luck/FDC
Overeater's Marine right leg Perception/WWR
Overeater's Metal left arm AP/FDC
Overeater's Metal left leg Agility/Sentinel
Overeater's Metal left leg Cryo resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Metal right arm AP/Sentinel
Overeater's Metal right leg Poison resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Raider right arm Cryo resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Raider right leg LED/WWR
Overeater's Sturdy Metal chest Strength/FDC
Overeater's Trapper chest Rad resist/FDC
Overeater's Trapper left arm AP/HTD
Overeater's Trapper left arm Cryo resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Trapper left arm Perception/Sentinel
Overeater's Trapper left leg Perception/WWR
Overeater's Trapper right arm Luck/WWR
Overeater's Trapper right arm Rad resist/WWR
Overeater's USA chest Cryo resist/HTD
Overeater's USA chest LED/WWR
Overeater's USA chest Poison resist/FDC
Overeater's USA left arm Antiseptic/Sentinel
Overeater's USA left arm AP/HTD
Overeater's USA left arm Endurance/FDC
Overeater's USA left arm Endurance/WWR
Overeater's USA left arm Fire resist/FDC (2)
Overeater's USA left arm LED/AWR
Overeater's USA left arm LED/FDC
Overeater's USA left arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Overeater's USA left arm Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's USA left leg Fire resist/WWR
Overeater's USA left leg Intelligence/FDC
Overeater's USA left leg Strength/FDC
Overeater's USA right arm Luck/Sentinel
Overeater's USA right leg AP/FDC
Overeater's USA right leg Intelligence/HTD
Overeater's USA right leg Poison resist/Sentinel
Overeater's USA right leg Rad resist/Sentinel
Overeater's Wood left arm LED/Cavalier
Regenerating Civil Engineer chest AP/Sentinel
Troubleshooter's Excavator right arm LED/Cavalier
Troubleshooter's FSA chest AP/WWR
Troubleshooter's Heavy Combat left arm AP/Cavalier
Troubleshooter's Heavy Robot left arm AP/Cavalier
Troubleshooter's T-60 left arm LED/Sentinel
Troubleshooter's T-60 right arm AP/WWR
Troubleshooter's Trapper right leg AP/WWR
Troubleshooter's USA left arm AP/FDC
Troubleshooter's USA left arm Strength/Sentinel
Troubleshooter's USA left leg AP/WWR
Unyielding Civil Engineer chest AP/Electrified
Unyielding Civil Engineer left arm Antiseptic/FDC
Unyielding Civil Engineer left leg AP/Electrified
Unyielding Civil Engineer right leg Intelligence/Burning
Unyielding FSA full set AP/Cavalier
Unyielding FSA chest Cryo resist/FDC
Unyielding FSA chest Intelligence/Acrobat
Unyielding FSA chest Intelligence/Dur
Unyielding FSA chest LED/JWR
Unyielding FSA left arm Cryo resist/AWR
Unyielding FSA left arm LED/Sentinel
Unyielding FSA left arm Poison resist/AWR
Unyielding FSA left leg AP/Acrobat
Unyielding FSA left leg Endurance/Sentinel
Unyielding FSA left leg Fire resist/AWR
Unyielding FSA left leg Fire resist/FDC
Unyielding FSA left leg Luck/AWR
Unyielding FSA right arm Cryo resist/Cavalier
Unyielding FSA right arm Poison resist/WWR
Unyielding FSA right leg AP/JWR
Unyielding FSA right leg Intelligence/JWR
Unyielding FSA right leg LED/HTD
Unyielding FSA right leg Luck/JWR
Unyielding FSA right leg Rad resist/AWR (2)
Unyielding Heavy Combat chest Strength/HTD
Unyielding Heavy Combat left leg Cryo resist/Cavalier
Unyielding Heavy Combat right arm Poison resist/JWR
Unyielding Heavy Combat right arm Poison resist/Sentinel
Unyielding Heavy Leather chest Cryo resist/HTD
Unyielding Heavy Leather left arm Rad resist/HTD
Unyielding Heavy Leather left leg Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding Heavy Metal right arm LED/Cavalier
Unyielding Heavy Metal right leg Endurance/Sentinel
Unyielding Heavy Raider chest Agility/Sentinel
Unyielding Heavy Raider left arm Poison resist/FDC
Unyielding Heavy Raider right arm AP/HTD
Unyielding Heavy Raider right arm Charisma/FDC
Unyielding Heavy Robot chest Cryo resist/Cavalier
Unyielding Heavy Robot right arm Endurance/Sentinel
Unyielding Leather left leg LED/WWR
Unyielding Marine chest Perception/Sentinel
Unyielding Marine chest Luck/WWR
Unyielding Marine chest Strength/HTD
Unyielding Marine left arm Cryo resist/HTD
Unyielding Marine left arm Strength/Cavalier (2)
Unyielding Marine left leg AP/FDC
Unyielding Marine right arm AP/Acrobat
Unyielding Marine right arm Rad resist/Cavalier
Unyielding Marine right leg Fire resist/WWR
Unyielding Marine right leg LED/AWR
Unyielding Marine right leg Luck/FDC
Unyielding Marine right leg Rad resist/AWR
Unyielding Metal chest AP/HTD
Unyielding Metal left arm LED/Sentinel
Unyielding Metal right leg AP/Cavalier
Unyielding Raider chest Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding Robot left leg Poison resist/Sentinel
Unyielding Sturdy Combat chest Strength/Sentinel
Unyielding Sturdy Combat right arm AP/AWR
Unyielding Sturdy Leather left leg LED/Sentinel
Unyielding Sturdy Metal chest AP/WWR
Unyielding Sturdy Metal left arm Rad resist/Sentinel
Unyielding Sturdy Raider chest Intelligence/FDC
Unyielding Sturdy Raider right leg Intelligence/FDC
Unyielding Sturdy Robot right arm LED/Sentinel
Unyielding Trapper chest Luck/FDC
Unyielding Trapper left leg Cryo resist/WWR
Unyielding Trapper right arm Cryo resist/Cavalier
Unyielding Trapper right arm LED/HTD
Unyielding Trapper right arm Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding USA chest AP/JWR
Unyielding USA chest Fire resist/AWR
Unyielding USA chest Luck/HTD
Unyielding USA chest Intelligence/Cavalier
Unyielding USA chest Poison resist/Cavalier
Unyielding USA chest Rad resist/JWR
Unyielding USA left arm AP/Sentinel
Unyielding USA left arm Cryo resist/WWR
Unyielding USA left arm LED/Acrobat (2)
Unyielding USA left arm Perception/FDC
Unyielding USA left arm Poison resist/AWR
Unyielding USA left arm Poison resist/HTD
Unyielding USA left arm Rad resist/Cavalier
Unyielding USA left leg Luck/AWR
Unyielding USA right arm Cryo resist/WWR
Unyielding USA right arm Intelligence/JWR
Unyielding USA right arm Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding USA right arm Poison resist/HTD
Unyielding USA right leg AP/Cavalier
Unyielding USA right leg Charisma/WWR
Unyielding USA right leg Fire resist/AWR
Unyielding USA right leg Perception/FDC
Unyielding Wood chest AP/FDC
Unyielding Wood chest Luck/Cavalier
Unyielding Wood chest Luck/Sentinel
Unyielding Wood right arm AP/Sentinel
Unyielding Wood right arm LED/WWR
Unyielding Wood right leg Strength/WWR
Vanguard's Civil Engineer chest LED/Cavalier
Vanguard's Civil Engineer chest LED/HTD
Vanguard's FSA full set Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's FSA right arm Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's FSA right leg Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's Heavy Leather right arm LED/HTD
Vanguard's Heavy Metal chest Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's Heavy Robot right arm LED/HTD
Vanguard's Marine right arm Strength/WWR
Vanguard's Marine right leg Strength/Sentinel
Vanguard's Sturdy Robot left arm AP/Sentinel
Vanguard's Sturdy Robot right leg LED/WWR
Vanguard's Trapper left arm LED/Cavalier
Vanguard's USA full set Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's USA chest Luck/Sentinel
Vanguard's USA left arm AP/FDC
Vanguard's USA left arm Intelligence/Sentinel
Vanguard's USA left arm LED/Sentinel
Vanguard's USA left arm Strength/FDC
Vanguard's USA left arm Strength/Sentinel
Vanguard's USA left leg Strength/Cavalier
Vanguard's USA right arm AP/Cavalier
Vanguard's USA right leg Strength/Cavalier (3)
Vanguard's Wood chest Strength/Sentinel
Weightless Civil Engineer chest AP/Sentinel
Weightless Civil Engineer chest LED/Sentinel
Weightless Civil Engineer chest Strength/WWR
Weightless FSA left leg Strength/Sentinel
Weightless Marine right leg AP/Cavalier
Weightless Trapper chest AP/Cavalier
Weightless Trapper left arm AP/Sentinel
Weightless Trapper left leg AP/Sentinel
Weightless USA chest Strength/Sentinel
Weightless USA right leg AP/Cavalier
Weightless USA right leg LED/WWR
Zealot's Trapper left arm LED/Cavalier
Zealot's USA chest AP/Sentinel
Zealot's USA left arm AP/Cavalier
Zealot's USA left arm AP/Sentinel (2)
Zealot's USA right arm AP/WWR
Zealot's USA right leg AP/WWR
PLANS: Alien Blaster,,, Alien Disintegrator,,, Alien head lamp,,, Alien table,,, Alien target practice poster,,, Assault rifle wraith's wrath paint,,, Backpack armor plated mod,,, Backpack high capacity mod,,, Backpack insulated mod,,, Backpack lead lined mod,,, Backpack refrigerated mod,,, mod,,, Bloody curtain door,,, Bloody rug,,, Boxing glove lead lining,,, Camo Backpack,,, Cattle flour billboards,,, Chainsaw ghostly grinder paint,,, Chainsaw septikill paint,,, Cultist adept hood,,, Cultist adept robes,,, Cultist enlightened hood,,, Cultist enlightened robes,,, Cultist eventide hood,,, Cultist eventide robes,,, Cultist incarnate helmet,,, Cultist neophyte hood,,, Cultist neophyte robes,,, Dense marine armor torso,,, Dense trapper armor torso,,, Dr. Bones,,, Dried wildflower bouquet,,, Electro Enforcer,,, Enlightened lantern,,, Executioner mask,,, Flannel shirt & jeans,,, Fluttering moths,,, Fossilized megalonyx (left arm, left leg, right arm, right leg, skull, torso),,, Fuzzy enlightened plushie,,, Fuzzy mothman plushie,,, Giant red dinosaur,,, Glowing flatwoods monster lamp,,, Ground meat plushie,,, Hazmat suit teal,,, Honeycomb paper blue mothman,,, Honeycomb paper brown mothman,,, Honeycomb paper ghost lantern A&B,,, Honeycomb paper green mothman,,, Honeycomb paper holiday tree A&B,,, Honeycomb paper icy snowflake,,, Honeycomb paper jack o'lantern A&B,,, Honeycomb paper jolly target,,, Honeycomb paper mothman globe,,, Honeycomb paper red mothman,,, Honeycomb paper ribbon bell,,, Honeycomb paper snowman,,, Honeycomb paper spider lantern,,, Honeycomb paper standing santa,,, Junkyard fountain,,, Machete sacrificial blade,,, Megalonyx display rack,,, Mutant hound diagram,,, Nuka shank knife,,, Peppino pig plushie,,, Plastiform Candle,,, Plastiform gingerbread,,, Plastiform nutcracker,,, Plastiform santa,,, Plastiform santa sleigh,,, Princess backpack,,, Punty pig plushie,,, Rad skull rider helmet,,, Raw cement barricade,,, Rib plushie,,, Rotted ground meat plushie,,, Rotted rib plushie,,, Rotted steak plushie,,, Sacred mothman tome,,, Scorchbeast queen plushie,,, Scorched tube,,, Shielded lining casual underarmor,,, Snallygaster plushie,,, Star light,,, Steak plushie,,, Straw goat,,, Super mutant diagram,,, Swarm of flies,,, T-60 BOS knight paint,,, Taxidermy mutant hound,,, TV Aquarium,,, Ultracite emergency protocols,,, Undershirt & jeans,,, Vintage water cooler,,, Wasteland hunter backpack,,, Weenie wagon,,, Wilber McPigg plushie,,, WV state bird rug,,, Yao Guai tube,,, Zenith alien blaster paint,,, Fasnacht donut recipe,,, Fasnacht sausage recipe,,, Formula P recipe,,, Healing salve Ash Heap recipe,,, Healing salve Cranberry Bog recipe,,, Healing salve Mire recipe,,, Tato salad recipe (***I have a ton of plans that are not listed here, so just let me know what you're looking for***)
APPAREL: Asylum Uniform Blue,,, Asylum Uniform Forest,,, Asylum Uniform Pink,,, Fasnacht Brahmin mask,,, Fasnacht Buffoon mask,,, Fasnacht Crazy Guy mask,,, Fasnacht Deathclaw mask,,, Fasnacht Demon mask,,, Fasnacht Fiend mask,,, Fasnacht Hag mask,,, Fasnacht Loon mask,,, Fasnacht Raven mask,,, Fasnacht Winter Man mask,,, Emmett Mountain hazmat suit,,, Garrahan Foreman Outfit and Helmet
CHEMS: Addictol: 264,,, Berry Mentats: 3600,,, Buffout: 2071,,, Calmex: 859,,, Daddy-O: 1411,,, Day Tripper: 1153,,, Disease Cure: 541,,, Mentats: 1000,,, Overdrive: 248,,, Psycho: 3889,,, Psychobuff: 1916,,, Psychotats: 1896,,, X-cell: 661
FOOD: Canned meat stew: 75,,, Pepper: 1350,,, Salt: 2964,,, Spices: 1668,,, Sugar Bombs(w/rads): 1254
MODS: Enclave Aligned automatic barrel,,, Enclave Aligned short barrel,,, Enclave Aligned sniper barrel(3),,, Enclave Aligned splitter(3),,, Enclave Bruising grip,,, Enclave Calibrated capacitor,,, Enclave Comfort stock,,, Enclave Precise stock(2),,, Enclave Refined beta wave tuner(3),,, Enclave Severe beta wave tuner(2),,, Enclave Stabilized automatic barrel(3),,, Enclave Stabilized flamer barrel(2),,, Enclave Stabilized Sniper Barrel,,, Enclave True automatic barrel(2),,, Enclave True capacitor(5),,, Enclave True flamer barrel(2),,, Enclave True sniper barrel(3),,, Enclave True splitter(2),,, Enclave Vicious capacitor
2024.06.02 19:50 meursault-42 [Event] The Verdict of the Trial of the {fake} Blackfyres
[m: I know some threads are still wrapping up regarding all of this, I encourage everyone to finish out their RPs! I just didn’t want this to be a giant bubble that affects the rest of the game for such a long time.]
***The End of the 3rd Moon, 277AC, The Throne Room of the Red Keep, King’s Landing***
A monstrous seat forged from a thousand swords, twisted and melded together by the fires of dragonflame. The Iron Throne. It was a stark reminder of the brutal conquest that had birthed the realm. This seat of power, both magnificent and foreboding, awaited its sovereign.
King Rhaegar Targaryen was clad in black and red, the colors of the dragon. A cloak of dark velvet, trimmed with sable, draped over his shoulders, the gifted sword from the faith sheathed at his side. His Valyrian steel crown sat atop his head, fitted perfectly. His demeanor was dark that day, a symbol for the verdicts to come.
With measured steps, Rhaegar ascended, his footing calm and assured. His presence commanded attention, not through overt displays of power, but through a quiet confidence and an undeniable aura of surety. There was something different about him since his return from a temporary leave, more confidence than anything. Nobody would know it had come from him consummating his secret Valyrian marriage. It would only appear that the young king, tested as early as possible, had responded with the divine right to rule that the dragons had.
The light from the high windows cast long shadows, dancing around the assembled lords and ladies of the realm. *The Trial of the Century*, some had deemed it. All taking place mere months after the King’s coronation.
Olenna Tyrell stood before the throne, as did Heracleos Paethaymnion, the knight shackled. Beside them stood the two children, Daemon and Daena Whitewater. The entire group was flanked by Targaryen guard.
King Rhaegar's voice echoed through the hall, silencing the murmurs. "It is time I pass judgment on those who have conspired to deceive the realm with false claims of Blackfyre heritage. You have all committed grave crimes in your pursuit of power." His expression remained stern, no sense of doubt showing. “I have gathered some of the most respected Lords and Ladies of our realm as witnesses, and their testimonies, alongside evidence of written letters and ledgers. We might spend years collecting even more incriminating evidence, yet now, I have no doubt in my mind who is responsible for all of this.”
He turned his gaze to Olenna Tyrell. "Lady Olenna, your actions in bringing forth this plot have caused much turmoil. Your own guilt has been proven far and wide. I have come to understand that your involvement in this plot dates back to even the days of the NinePenny Kings, before the last Blackfyre rebellion was finished, before Maelys was slain. However, your eventual decision to reveal the conspiracy has shown a measure of remorse, and for this, I shall extend my mercy.”
He exhaled. "You are hereby pardoned of treason, and shall keep your life. Yet, your role in this deceit cannot go unpunished. You raised the children yourself, grooming them as Blackfyres, providing them education and a life equivalent to a king and queen. And even in bringing them to me, you lied. You claimed to have only been investigating the matter, but it is clear you were heading it for some time. To bring them forth was of fear, so you might cleanse your guilt in this. As a symbol of your dishonor, your hair and eyebrows shall be shaved off, so all may see you for the liar you have been."
A murmur rippled through the crowd, and Rhaegar raised a hand to silence them.
Rhaegar fixed his attention back on Olenna. "You are also to be confined to Highgarden for a period of ten years. You shall not leave the castle grounds for any reason, save by my explicit command. This confinement will serve as a reminder to all of the consequences of deception and dishonor. Should you disobey this command, my mercy will be no more. You will be executed."
"Furthermore," Rhaegar continued, "House Tyrell and House Redwyne are fined ten thousand gold dragons each, for their complicity and failure to uncover the truth. The wealth of your houses have been built on the trust of the realm, and it is only just that you pay for the damage done to that trust. Failure to repay this fine within the year shall be considered direct disobedience of the crown and shall lead to the justice that comes in return."
Rhaegar's gaze hardened further, this time on Lord Luthor. "In addition, Lord Luthor Tyrell is stripped of the title Warden of the South. This honor and responsibility cannot belong to a man that has shown such grievous complacency and failure in its duties to the realm. A man whose own wife raised a Blackfyre plot within his own home for years under his nose. It is instead awarded to Lord Steffon Baratheon, Lord of Storm’s End, who shall take command of the armies south of the Crownlands, from the Shields to Tarth. The matter shall be revisited in ten years, upon the conclusion of Lady Olenna’s confinement."
The shock was palpable, a decision unprecedented. The Tyrells had held that honor since Aegon the First had bestowed it upon them.
Turning his attention to the children, Rhaegar's expression softened slightly. "I have prayed to the mother, and she has advised more mercy than I spoke of before. Though you were only pawns in this deceit, you must still face the consequences of your actions."
“The boy will be sent to the Wall. There, you will have the opportunity to serve the realm honorably and find redemption for your part in this. No harm will come to you from my hand, but you must learn the value of honor and duty."
Rhaegar then turned to Daena. "You will be sent to become a Silent Sister. In their care, you will learn to hold your tongue and find solace in silence. No harm will come to you either, but you must learn the value of humility and service."
Finally, Rhaegar's gaze settled on Ser Heracleos Paethaymnion. "And now, Ser Heracleos Paethaymnion, the architect of this vile deception. Damning evidence has been uncovered regarding your involvement in all of this. Letters, witnesses, testimonies. You have not only plotted to usurp a throne and name and heritage that does not belong to you, but you have also sown discord and mistrust across the realm. You have plotted for harm against your king,” Rhaegar accused him. “You had these children’s care at Highgarden arranged as the realm fought a war to the east. Moreover, this evidence has revealed truths of not only the present, but of the past. I have deemed you guilty of the murder of Lord Bryce Corbray.”
The crowd gasped then. Nearly a decade had passed since Lord Corbray was murdered. And only this year had it been finally connected to a revealed Blackfyre plot and the Paethaymnions. Heracleos now took the burden of guilt for both at the decision of the young dragon. Rhaegar was the king, after all, and he alone decided guilt. Somebody had to be found guilty for such a crime.
“Your family will provide a servant of the crown to become my food and wine tester, one of your children, so they too may feel the burden of being plotted against. That is the mercy they receive, for I should strip them of their lands and titles, yet do not believe they were all truly involved.”
“But you, Ser. For your crimes, there can be only one sentence."
"You are sentenced to death," Rhaegar pronounced, his voice cold and unyielding. “Your head shall roll at dusk.”
submitted by meursault-42 to NinePennyKings [link] [comments]
***The End of the 3rd Moon, 277AC, The Throne Room of the Red Keep, King’s Landing***
A monstrous seat forged from a thousand swords, twisted and melded together by the fires of dragonflame. The Iron Throne. It was a stark reminder of the brutal conquest that had birthed the realm. This seat of power, both magnificent and foreboding, awaited its sovereign.
King Rhaegar Targaryen was clad in black and red, the colors of the dragon. A cloak of dark velvet, trimmed with sable, draped over his shoulders, the gifted sword from the faith sheathed at his side. His Valyrian steel crown sat atop his head, fitted perfectly. His demeanor was dark that day, a symbol for the verdicts to come.
With measured steps, Rhaegar ascended, his footing calm and assured. His presence commanded attention, not through overt displays of power, but through a quiet confidence and an undeniable aura of surety. There was something different about him since his return from a temporary leave, more confidence than anything. Nobody would know it had come from him consummating his secret Valyrian marriage. It would only appear that the young king, tested as early as possible, had responded with the divine right to rule that the dragons had.
The light from the high windows cast long shadows, dancing around the assembled lords and ladies of the realm. *The Trial of the Century*, some had deemed it. All taking place mere months after the King’s coronation.
Olenna Tyrell stood before the throne, as did Heracleos Paethaymnion, the knight shackled. Beside them stood the two children, Daemon and Daena Whitewater. The entire group was flanked by Targaryen guard.
King Rhaegar's voice echoed through the hall, silencing the murmurs. "It is time I pass judgment on those who have conspired to deceive the realm with false claims of Blackfyre heritage. You have all committed grave crimes in your pursuit of power." His expression remained stern, no sense of doubt showing. “I have gathered some of the most respected Lords and Ladies of our realm as witnesses, and their testimonies, alongside evidence of written letters and ledgers. We might spend years collecting even more incriminating evidence, yet now, I have no doubt in my mind who is responsible for all of this.”
He turned his gaze to Olenna Tyrell. "Lady Olenna, your actions in bringing forth this plot have caused much turmoil. Your own guilt has been proven far and wide. I have come to understand that your involvement in this plot dates back to even the days of the NinePenny Kings, before the last Blackfyre rebellion was finished, before Maelys was slain. However, your eventual decision to reveal the conspiracy has shown a measure of remorse, and for this, I shall extend my mercy.”
He exhaled. "You are hereby pardoned of treason, and shall keep your life. Yet, your role in this deceit cannot go unpunished. You raised the children yourself, grooming them as Blackfyres, providing them education and a life equivalent to a king and queen. And even in bringing them to me, you lied. You claimed to have only been investigating the matter, but it is clear you were heading it for some time. To bring them forth was of fear, so you might cleanse your guilt in this. As a symbol of your dishonor, your hair and eyebrows shall be shaved off, so all may see you for the liar you have been."
A murmur rippled through the crowd, and Rhaegar raised a hand to silence them.
Rhaegar fixed his attention back on Olenna. "You are also to be confined to Highgarden for a period of ten years. You shall not leave the castle grounds for any reason, save by my explicit command. This confinement will serve as a reminder to all of the consequences of deception and dishonor. Should you disobey this command, my mercy will be no more. You will be executed."
"Furthermore," Rhaegar continued, "House Tyrell and House Redwyne are fined ten thousand gold dragons each, for their complicity and failure to uncover the truth. The wealth of your houses have been built on the trust of the realm, and it is only just that you pay for the damage done to that trust. Failure to repay this fine within the year shall be considered direct disobedience of the crown and shall lead to the justice that comes in return."
Rhaegar's gaze hardened further, this time on Lord Luthor. "In addition, Lord Luthor Tyrell is stripped of the title Warden of the South. This honor and responsibility cannot belong to a man that has shown such grievous complacency and failure in its duties to the realm. A man whose own wife raised a Blackfyre plot within his own home for years under his nose. It is instead awarded to Lord Steffon Baratheon, Lord of Storm’s End, who shall take command of the armies south of the Crownlands, from the Shields to Tarth. The matter shall be revisited in ten years, upon the conclusion of Lady Olenna’s confinement."
The shock was palpable, a decision unprecedented. The Tyrells had held that honor since Aegon the First had bestowed it upon them.
Turning his attention to the children, Rhaegar's expression softened slightly. "I have prayed to the mother, and she has advised more mercy than I spoke of before. Though you were only pawns in this deceit, you must still face the consequences of your actions."
“The boy will be sent to the Wall. There, you will have the opportunity to serve the realm honorably and find redemption for your part in this. No harm will come to you from my hand, but you must learn the value of honor and duty."
Rhaegar then turned to Daena. "You will be sent to become a Silent Sister. In their care, you will learn to hold your tongue and find solace in silence. No harm will come to you either, but you must learn the value of humility and service."
Finally, Rhaegar's gaze settled on Ser Heracleos Paethaymnion. "And now, Ser Heracleos Paethaymnion, the architect of this vile deception. Damning evidence has been uncovered regarding your involvement in all of this. Letters, witnesses, testimonies. You have not only plotted to usurp a throne and name and heritage that does not belong to you, but you have also sown discord and mistrust across the realm. You have plotted for harm against your king,” Rhaegar accused him. “You had these children’s care at Highgarden arranged as the realm fought a war to the east. Moreover, this evidence has revealed truths of not only the present, but of the past. I have deemed you guilty of the murder of Lord Bryce Corbray.”
The crowd gasped then. Nearly a decade had passed since Lord Corbray was murdered. And only this year had it been finally connected to a revealed Blackfyre plot and the Paethaymnions. Heracleos now took the burden of guilt for both at the decision of the young dragon. Rhaegar was the king, after all, and he alone decided guilt. Somebody had to be found guilty for such a crime.
“Your family will provide a servant of the crown to become my food and wine tester, one of your children, so they too may feel the burden of being plotted against. That is the mercy they receive, for I should strip them of their lands and titles, yet do not believe they were all truly involved.”
“But you, Ser. For your crimes, there can be only one sentence."
"You are sentenced to death," Rhaegar pronounced, his voice cold and unyielding. “Your head shall roll at dusk.”
2024.06.02 19:42 Spooncow H: Weapon list, Event Plans, apparel W: Commando Weapons, leaders, apparel, Caps
Weapons
AA/50c/15r Gauss Rifle
AA/25ww25v Minigun
AA/25ww15c Combat Shotgun
AA/40WS/25v Assaualton Blade & Security Baton
B/40ws/25v Pool Cue (lol)
B/25ww25v Gatling gun
B/50c/-90 light machine gun,
B/50c/15c Lever Action,
B/50vhc/25v Fixer,
B/50vhc/15r Broadsider
8 unrolled Elders Marks,
Quad/50vhc -90 weight Railway,
Quad/Bash/25v Fixer,
Quad/25Aiming damage/25v Combat shotgun
Quad/50vhc/15r Fixer
TS/25ww15r Handmade,
V/25ww15r Minigun
V/25ww-90 Lever Action
Armour
OE/AP/cryo fsa left arm
OE/rad/Wwr metal right arm
OE/1s/stealth USA right leg
UNY/int/chem fsa right arm
VAN/ap/junk fsa chest
Plans
Multiples of every alien plan, (I have 20 teal hazmats plans to give you an idea lol),
Most Mothman Plans including a Tome
Backpack Lead lined, Refrigerated, High Capacity
Vintage Water Cooler,
Pepper Shaker,
meat tenderiser,
Most fossil display pieces & current event plushies + most of the random diagrams etc, will provide list on request as there in vendor
Raw Cement Barricade
I HAVE THE FABLED WEENIE WAGON AVAILABLE
Apparel
25 Brown, 17 Asylum green, 15 Asylum Blue, 9 Pink, 2 Yellow, 6 Forest
6 Hunters long coats
Raven Mask White Powder JS
Junk 16k Circuits, 22k Antiseptic, 47k Copper, 39k Adhesive, 38k Lead
Mods EPG Severe Beta Wave Tuner, Long Recon Scope
Aid - 180 energy bobbles, 50 big guns, 150 LL8, 100 berry mentats
Have plenty of leaders to balance trades
Will take current event plans for weapons
Looking for:
Q/25 or E/? Handmades & Fixers
AA/25 or E/? Handmades & Fixers
Q/25/? Railway,
Apparel offers
Flux/ultracite always nice, leaders, small guns, junk anything lightweight to store
Giant Red Dino plan
Can accept caps currently - subject to change
submitted by Spooncow to Market76 [link] [comments]
AA/50c/15r Gauss Rifle
AA/25ww25v Minigun
AA/25ww15c Combat Shotgun
AA/40WS/25v Assaualton Blade & Security Baton
B/40ws/25v Pool Cue (lol)
B/25ww25v Gatling gun
B/50c/-90 light machine gun,
B/50c/15c Lever Action,
B/50vhc/25v Fixer,
B/50vhc/15r Broadsider
8 unrolled Elders Marks,
Quad/50vhc -90 weight Railway,
Quad/Bash/25v Fixer,
Quad/25Aiming damage/25v Combat shotgun
Quad/50vhc/15r Fixer
TS/25ww15r Handmade,
V/25ww15r Minigun
V/25ww-90 Lever Action
Armour
OE/AP/cryo fsa left arm
OE/rad/Wwr metal right arm
OE/1s/stealth USA right leg
UNY/int/chem fsa right arm
VAN/ap/junk fsa chest
Plans
Multiples of every alien plan, (I have 20 teal hazmats plans to give you an idea lol),
Most Mothman Plans including a Tome
Backpack Lead lined, Refrigerated, High Capacity
Vintage Water Cooler,
Pepper Shaker,
meat tenderiser,
Most fossil display pieces & current event plushies + most of the random diagrams etc, will provide list on request as there in vendor
Raw Cement Barricade
I HAVE THE FABLED WEENIE WAGON AVAILABLE
Apparel
25 Brown, 17 Asylum green, 15 Asylum Blue, 9 Pink, 2 Yellow, 6 Forest
6 Hunters long coats
Raven Mask White Powder JS
Junk 16k Circuits, 22k Antiseptic, 47k Copper, 39k Adhesive, 38k Lead
Mods EPG Severe Beta Wave Tuner, Long Recon Scope
Aid - 180 energy bobbles, 50 big guns, 150 LL8, 100 berry mentats
Have plenty of leaders to balance trades
Will take current event plans for weapons
Looking for:
Q/25 or E/? Handmades & Fixers
AA/25 or E/? Handmades & Fixers
Q/25/? Railway,
Apparel offers
Flux/ultracite always nice, leaders, small guns, junk anything lightweight to store
Giant Red Dino plan
Can accept caps currently - subject to change
2024.06.02 19:34 Obfuscator-Executive 5.0.16 Release
New in this version:
https://obfuscator-executive.com
submitted by Obfuscator-Executive to ObfuscatorExecutive [link] [comments]
- Enhanced productivity with obfuscated symbols highlighted green
- Improved symbol scrambling for better usability
- Added display of the executable icon during processing
- UI adjustments and corrections
- Code optimizations
https://obfuscator-executive.com
2024.06.02 19:06 DTG_Bot [D2] Daily Reset Thread [2024-06-02]
Daily Modifiers
Vanguard Ops
- Brawler: Melee abilities deal more damage and recharge much faster.
- Increased Vanguard Rank: All Vanguard Rank point gains are increased!
- Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
- Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
- Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
- Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
Dares of Eternity
- MA-75 Multipurpose: Guardians deal increased damage with Auto Rifles and Grenade Launchers.
- Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.
Onslaught: Playlist
- Onslaught Rules: Defend and repair the ADU against waves of combatants. There are 10 waves to a set. ADU: If the ADU is destroyed, the activity ends. Scraps: An in-activity currency. They are earned by scoring and used to purchase and upgrade defenses at the start of every set and after waves 3 and 6. Rewards: Paid out after every set upon defeating the boss wave. Subsequent sets pay out better rewards. Legend increases rewards. Bonus Objectives: Rewards resources, vendor reputation, and armaments.
- Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
- Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
- Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
- Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
- Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.
Riven's Lair
- Mettle: Power Level: All combatants in this activity will be at least 5 points over the player's current Power level.
- Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
- Blackout: Enemy melee attacks are significantly more powerful, and radar is disabled.
- Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
- Solar Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Solar damage.
The Coil
- The Coil Rules: Successfully complete four pathways inside Riven's Lair. Escalating Difficulty: Player's Power levels are fixed. Starting at 0 each subsequent pathway increases all combatants' Power level over the player's by 5. Wishing Glass: Wishing Glass is an in-activity currency. They drop from combatants, Glass Collectors, and pots. Wishing Glass comes in multiple rarities equating to their worth. Wishing Glass is used to purchase Dragon's Gifts from Riven. Dragon's Gifts: A set of buffs are randomly chosen, once per run. Between pathways, players can purchase buffs from Riven via Wishing Glass. Buffs are separated into three price point tiers. Rewards: After each pathway, players will return to Riven for their rewards. Subsequent pathways pay out better rewards. Breaking through score thresholds unlock secret chests. Finishing The Coil with a platinum score rewards players with access to the lustrous and lucrative Chamber of Wishes.
- Multiplicity: Combatant difficulty scales with fireteam size.
- Limited Revives: Limited fireteam revives. Purchase additional revives from Riven with Wishing Glass. Small chance to drop from destroying pots.
- Full Extinguish: If all your fireteam members fall with 0 Revive Tokens, everyone is returned to orbit.
- Chaff: Radar is disabled.
- Galvanized: Combatants have more health and are more difficult to stun.
- The Pathways: Riven's wish magic stirs weekly. The following are the pathways and their order in The Coil: -First Steps (Temple of the Queen's Wrath) -Divining Hall -Sensorium (Pavilion) -Observatory
- Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
- Scorched Earth: Enemies throw grenades significantly more often.
- Overcharged Shotgun: 25% bonus to Shotgun damage.
- Overcharged Grenade Launcher: 25% bonus to damage for all Grenade Launchers.
Seasonal
Legend/Master Lost Sector
Exotic armor drop (if solo): ArmsAphelion's Rest: Legend
- Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
- Champions: [Disruption] Overload, [Stagger] Unstoppable
- Threat: [Stasis] Stasis
- Shields: [Void] Void
- Modifiers: Epitaph
Aphelion's Rest: Master
- Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
- Champions: [Disruption] Overload, [Stagger] Unstoppable
- Threat: [Stasis] Stasis
- Shields: [Void] Void
- Modifiers: Epitaph
Misc
- Terminal Overload: Ahimsa Park Weapon: Basso Ostinato (Shotgun)
- The Wellspring: Defend Weapon: Father's Sins (Sniper Rifle)
- Altars of Sorrow Weapon: Apostate (Sniper Rifle)
Guns & Materials
Banshee's Featured Weapons
| Name | Type | Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Masterwork |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timelines' Vertex | Energy Fusion Rifle | Signal MS5 // Transmission MS7 | Accelerated Coils // Liquid Coils | Lead from Gold | Demolitionist | Tier 2: Charge Time |
| Ogma PR6 | Energy Pulse Rifle | Fluted Barrel // Full Bore | Accurized Rounds // Extended Mag | Adaptive Munitions | Dragonfly | Tier 2: Reload Speed |
| Austringer | Kinetic Hand Cannon | Full Bore // Polygonal Rifling | Armor-Piercing Rounds // Ricochet Rounds | Air Assault | Rangefinder | |
| Bump in the Night | Heavy Rocket Launcher | Countermass // Linear Compensator | Alloy Casing // Implosion Rounds | Field Prep | Chain Reaction | |
| Lunulata-4b | Kinetic Combat Bow | High Tension String // Natural String | Carbon Arrow Shaft // Straight Fletching | Well-Rounded | Adrenaline Junkie | Tier 3: Handling |
Master Rahool's Material Exchange
- Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Legendary Shards)
- Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Dark Fragment)
- Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Phantasmal Fragment)
- Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 25 Herealways Piece)
- Enhancement Prism (1 for 10 Enhancement Core & 10000 Glimmer)
- Ascendant Shard (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)
- Ascendant Alloy (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)
Bounties
Commander Zavala, Vanguard| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast and True | Defeat combatants with Primary ammo. Bow final blows in Vanguard playlists grant additional progress. | 75 [Bow] Bow | XP+ |
| Long Distance Plan | Defeat combatants with Special ammo. Sniper Rifle final blows in Vanguard playlists grant additional progress. | 30 [Sniper Rifle] Sniper Rifle | XP+ |
| Rocketing to Prominence | Defeat combatants with Heavy ammo. Rocket Launcher final blows in Vanguard playlists grant additional progress. | 20 [Rocket Launcher] Rocket Launcher | XP+ |
| Show Them the Light | Defeat combatants with your Super in Vanguard playlists. | 5 Super | XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| By the Code | Defeat opponents. | 10 Opponents defeated | XP+ |
| Slice and Dice | Defeat opponents using Strand damage from any source. | 5 Strand final blows | XP+ |
| Area of Effect | Defeat opponents with grenades. | 1 [Grenade] Grenade | XP+ |
| In the Zone | In Control, capture zones. | 3 Zones | XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orbs of Lit | As a fireteam, defeat opponents using grenade final blows in Trials of Osiris. | 5 [Grenade] Grenade | XP+ |
| Lane Plinker | As a fireteam, defeat opponents using Scout Rifle final blows in Trials of Osiris. | 20 [Scout Rifle] Scout Rifle | XP+ |
| Quantitative Hostility | As a fireteam, defeat opponents with Submachine Gun final blows in Trials of Osiris. | 20 [SMG] Submachine Gun | XP+ |
| Slow Burn | As a fireteam, defeat opponents with Solar weapon final blows in Trials of Osiris. | 20 [Solar] Solar weapon | XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big-Game Hunter | Eliminate a high-value target in Gambit. | 1 Targets | XP+ |
| Fistful of Motes | As a fireteam, bank Motes in Gambit matches. | 100 Motes banked | XP+ |
| Not Your Mama's Combat Drill | Defeat enemies in Gambit. | 50 Targets | XP+ |
| Pins and Needles | Defeat targets in Gambit matches with Strand abilities. Defeating Guardians grants additional progress. | 30 Strand ability final blows | XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulse Rifle Calibration | Calibrate Pulse Rifles against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision final blows and against opposing Guardians. | 100 [Pulse Rifle] Pulse Rifle | XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress |
| Submachine Gun Calibration | Calibrate Submachine Guns against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians. | 100 [SMG] Submachine Gun | XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress |
| Rocket Launcher Calibration | Calibrate Rocket Launchers against any target. Earn bonus progress against opposing Guardians and for additional targets defeated with each shot. | 100 [Rocket Launcher] Rocket Launcher | XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress |
| Kinetic Calibration | Calibrate Kinetic weapons against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians. | 100 Kinetic weapon | XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shockingly Direct | In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Arc damage. Shadow Legion combatants grant additional progress. | 60 [Arc] Arc | XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank |
| The Old Standby | In Neomuna, defeat combatants. Vex combatants grant additional progress. | 90 Targets | XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank |
| Flawless Dance | In a single life, defeat combatants in Neomuna using Sidearms, Submachine Guns, Shotguns, or Swords. | 20 Targets | XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank |
| Terminal Rewards | Open chests after completing Terminal Overload. | 3 Chests opened | 1 Terminal Overload Key & 50 Neomuna Rank & XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onslaught Defender | Deploy and upgrade defenses in Onslaught. | 30 Defenses completed | 1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation |
| Loot Summoner | Open a Witch's Chest in the Altars of Summoning using a Witch's Key. | 1 Chests opened | 1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation |
| Bombastic | Defeat targets with grenade abilities. Combatants in Onslaught and Guardians are worth more. | 100 [Grenade] Grenade | 1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation |
| Fallen Down On The Job | Defeat Fallen. Those defeated in Onslaught are worth more. | 100 Fallen | 1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will of the People | Complete public events in the Dreaming City. Heroic completions are worth more. | 6 Public events | XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation |
| Rapid Lair Defense | Rapidly defeat combatants. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil are worth more. | 60 Rapidly defeated | XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation |
| Dragon's Fang | Defeat targets with Auto Rifles, Pulse Rifles, or Trace Rifles. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more. | 30 [Auto Rifle], [Pulse Rifle], or [Trace Rifle] defeats | XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation |
| Dragonflame | Defeat targets with Solar or Stasis damage. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more. | 30 [Solar] or [Stasis] defeats | XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation |
2024.06.02 19:06 DTG_Bot [D2] Daily Reset Thread [2024-06-02]
Daily Modifiers
Vanguard Ops
- Brawler: Melee abilities deal more damage and recharge much faster.
- Increased Vanguard Rank: All Vanguard Rank point gains are increased!
- Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
- Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
- Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
- Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
Dares of Eternity
- MA-75 Multipurpose: Guardians deal increased damage with Auto Rifles and Grenade Launchers.
- Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.
Onslaught: Playlist
- Onslaught Rules: Defend and repair the ADU against waves of combatants. There are 10 waves to a set. ADU: If the ADU is destroyed, the activity ends. Scraps: An in-activity currency. They are earned by scoring and used to purchase and upgrade defenses at the start of every set and after waves 3 and 6. Rewards: Paid out after every set upon defeating the boss wave. Subsequent sets pay out better rewards. Legend increases rewards. Bonus Objectives: Rewards resources, vendor reputation, and armaments.
- Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
- Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
- Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
- Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
- Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.
Riven's Lair
- Mettle: Power Level: All combatants in this activity will be at least 5 points over the player's current Power level.
- Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
- Blackout: Enemy melee attacks are significantly more powerful, and radar is disabled.
- Stasis Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Stasis damage.
- Solar Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Solar damage.
The Coil
- The Coil Rules: Successfully complete four pathways inside Riven's Lair. Escalating Difficulty: Player's Power levels are fixed. Starting at 0 each subsequent pathway increases all combatants' Power level over the player's by 5. Wishing Glass: Wishing Glass is an in-activity currency. They drop from combatants, Glass Collectors, and pots. Wishing Glass comes in multiple rarities equating to their worth. Wishing Glass is used to purchase Dragon's Gifts from Riven. Dragon's Gifts: A set of buffs are randomly chosen, once per run. Between pathways, players can purchase buffs from Riven via Wishing Glass. Buffs are separated into three price point tiers. Rewards: After each pathway, players will return to Riven for their rewards. Subsequent pathways pay out better rewards. Breaking through score thresholds unlock secret chests. Finishing The Coil with a platinum score rewards players with access to the lustrous and lucrative Chamber of Wishes.
- Multiplicity: Combatant difficulty scales with fireteam size.
- Limited Revives: Limited fireteam revives. Purchase additional revives from Riven with Wishing Glass. Small chance to drop from destroying pots.
- Full Extinguish: If all your fireteam members fall with 0 Revive Tokens, everyone is returned to orbit.
- Chaff: Radar is disabled.
- Galvanized: Combatants have more health and are more difficult to stun.
- The Pathways: Riven's wish magic stirs weekly. The following are the pathways and their order in The Coil: -First Steps (Temple of the Queen's Wrath) -Divining Hall -Sensorium (Pavilion) -Observatory
- Solar Threat: 25% increase to incoming Solar damage.
- Scorched Earth: Enemies throw grenades significantly more often.
- Overcharged Shotgun: 25% bonus to Shotgun damage.
- Overcharged Grenade Launcher: 25% bonus to damage for all Grenade Launchers.
Seasonal
Legend/Master Lost Sector
Exotic armor drop (if solo): ArmsAphelion's Rest: Legend
- Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
- Champions: [Disruption] Overload, [Stagger] Unstoppable
- Threat: [Stasis] Stasis
- Shields: [Void] Void
- Modifiers: Epitaph
Aphelion's Rest: Master
- Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
- Champions: [Disruption] Overload, [Stagger] Unstoppable
- Threat: [Stasis] Stasis
- Shields: [Void] Void
- Modifiers: Epitaph
Misc
- Terminal Overload: Ahimsa Park Weapon: Basso Ostinato (Shotgun)
- The Wellspring: Defend Weapon: Father's Sins (Sniper Rifle)
- Altars of Sorrow Weapon: Apostate (Sniper Rifle)
Guns & Materials
Banshee's Featured Weapons
| Name | Type | Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Masterwork |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timelines' Vertex | Energy Fusion Rifle | Signal MS5 // Transmission MS7 | Accelerated Coils // Liquid Coils | Lead from Gold | Demolitionist | Tier 2: Charge Time |
| Ogma PR6 | Energy Pulse Rifle | Fluted Barrel // Full Bore | Accurized Rounds // Extended Mag | Adaptive Munitions | Dragonfly | Tier 2: Reload Speed |
| Austringer | Kinetic Hand Cannon | Full Bore // Polygonal Rifling | Armor-Piercing Rounds // Ricochet Rounds | Air Assault | Rangefinder | |
| Bump in the Night | Heavy Rocket Launcher | Countermass // Linear Compensator | Alloy Casing // Implosion Rounds | Field Prep | Chain Reaction | |
| Lunulata-4b | Kinetic Combat Bow | High Tension String // Natural String | Carbon Arrow Shaft // Straight Fletching | Well-Rounded | Adrenaline Junkie | Tier 3: Handling |
Master Rahool's Material Exchange
- Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Legendary Shards)
- Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Dark Fragment)
- Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Phantasmal Fragment)
- Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 25 Herealways Piece)
- Enhancement Prism (1 for 10 Enhancement Core & 10000 Glimmer)
- Ascendant Shard (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)
- Ascendant Alloy (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)
Bounties
Commander Zavala, Vanguard| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fast and True | Defeat combatants with Primary ammo. Bow final blows in Vanguard playlists grant additional progress. | 75 [Bow] Bow | XP+ |
| Long Distance Plan | Defeat combatants with Special ammo. Sniper Rifle final blows in Vanguard playlists grant additional progress. | 30 [Sniper Rifle] Sniper Rifle | XP+ |
| Rocketing to Prominence | Defeat combatants with Heavy ammo. Rocket Launcher final blows in Vanguard playlists grant additional progress. | 20 [Rocket Launcher] Rocket Launcher | XP+ |
| Show Them the Light | Defeat combatants with your Super in Vanguard playlists. | 5 Super | XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| By the Code | Defeat opponents. | 10 Opponents defeated | XP+ |
| Slice and Dice | Defeat opponents using Strand damage from any source. | 5 Strand final blows | XP+ |
| Area of Effect | Defeat opponents with grenades. | 1 [Grenade] Grenade | XP+ |
| In the Zone | In Control, capture zones. | 3 Zones | XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orbs of Lit | As a fireteam, defeat opponents using grenade final blows in Trials of Osiris. | 5 [Grenade] Grenade | XP+ |
| Lane Plinker | As a fireteam, defeat opponents using Scout Rifle final blows in Trials of Osiris. | 20 [Scout Rifle] Scout Rifle | XP+ |
| Quantitative Hostility | As a fireteam, defeat opponents with Submachine Gun final blows in Trials of Osiris. | 20 [SMG] Submachine Gun | XP+ |
| Slow Burn | As a fireteam, defeat opponents with Solar weapon final blows in Trials of Osiris. | 20 [Solar] Solar weapon | XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big-Game Hunter | Eliminate a high-value target in Gambit. | 1 Targets | XP+ |
| Fistful of Motes | As a fireteam, bank Motes in Gambit matches. | 100 Motes banked | XP+ |
| Not Your Mama's Combat Drill | Defeat enemies in Gambit. | 50 Targets | XP+ |
| Pins and Needles | Defeat targets in Gambit matches with Strand abilities. Defeating Guardians grants additional progress. | 30 Strand ability final blows | XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulse Rifle Calibration | Calibrate Pulse Rifles against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision final blows and against opposing Guardians. | 100 [Pulse Rifle] Pulse Rifle | XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress |
| Submachine Gun Calibration | Calibrate Submachine Guns against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians. | 100 [SMG] Submachine Gun | XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress |
| Rocket Launcher Calibration | Calibrate Rocket Launchers against any target. Earn bonus progress against opposing Guardians and for additional targets defeated with each shot. | 100 [Rocket Launcher] Rocket Launcher | XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress |
| Kinetic Calibration | Calibrate Kinetic weapons against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians. | 100 Kinetic weapon | XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shockingly Direct | In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Arc damage. Shadow Legion combatants grant additional progress. | 60 [Arc] Arc | XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank |
| The Old Standby | In Neomuna, defeat combatants. Vex combatants grant additional progress. | 90 Targets | XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank |
| Flawless Dance | In a single life, defeat combatants in Neomuna using Sidearms, Submachine Guns, Shotguns, or Swords. | 20 Targets | XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank |
| Terminal Rewards | Open chests after completing Terminal Overload. | 3 Chests opened | 1 Terminal Overload Key & 50 Neomuna Rank & XP+ |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onslaught Defender | Deploy and upgrade defenses in Onslaught. | 30 Defenses completed | 1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation |
| Loot Summoner | Open a Witch's Chest in the Altars of Summoning using a Witch's Key. | 1 Chests opened | 1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation |
| Bombastic | Defeat targets with grenade abilities. Combatants in Onslaught and Guardians are worth more. | 100 [Grenade] Grenade | 1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation |
| Fallen Down On The Job | Defeat Fallen. Those defeated in Onslaught are worth more. | 100 Fallen | 1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation |
| Name | Description | Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| Will of the People | Complete public events in the Dreaming City. Heroic completions are worth more. | 6 Public events | XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation |
| Rapid Lair Defense | Rapidly defeat combatants. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil are worth more. | 60 Rapidly defeated | XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation |
| Dragon's Fang | Defeat targets with Auto Rifles, Pulse Rifles, or Trace Rifles. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more. | 30 [Auto Rifle], [Pulse Rifle], or [Trace Rifle] defeats | XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation |
| Dragonflame | Defeat targets with Solar or Stasis damage. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more. | 30 [Solar] or [Stasis] defeats | XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation |
2024.06.02 18:54 farawaylands4000 About the ending of Alam (2022)
In the final scene, after putting the flag on the top of school building, they (the main character, his immediate family, and the girl) pass through a corridor of a maternity with Israeli flags all over, to an open landscape.
If I am not wrong, that scene is a symbol of the creation of Israel through the expulsion of the Palestinians from the land. But I felt I missed something from the scene in the first watch, something more concretely related with the narrative until that point. The scene was pretty surreal on the first watch, keeping the same mundane outlook of oppression and it's effects on people of the rest of the film but without the situation being expected or familiar.
Watching it again, the mother of Tamer had a child, so it makes sense they are in a maternity. Although, I hadn't realized she was pregnant, but watching a scene back again, she was. Tamer, and only him, having a suitcase also can make sense in the context of the narrative, for carrying baby things or something.
When I watched that scene, I couldn't believe it. Are they leaving Palestine? Why? Did that death affect them to that point? Abandoning their life there? But paying attention more, not at all.
'When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender
This I could not do
I took my gun and vanished'
Pretty effective and charged scene, considering the history being portrayed.
submitted by farawaylands4000 to TrueFilm [link] [comments]
If I am not wrong, that scene is a symbol of the creation of Israel through the expulsion of the Palestinians from the land. But I felt I missed something from the scene in the first watch, something more concretely related with the narrative until that point. The scene was pretty surreal on the first watch, keeping the same mundane outlook of oppression and it's effects on people of the rest of the film but without the situation being expected or familiar.
Watching it again, the mother of Tamer had a child, so it makes sense they are in a maternity. Although, I hadn't realized she was pregnant, but watching a scene back again, she was. Tamer, and only him, having a suitcase also can make sense in the context of the narrative, for carrying baby things or something.
When I watched that scene, I couldn't believe it. Are they leaving Palestine? Why? Did that death affect them to that point? Abandoning their life there? But paying attention more, not at all.
'When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender
This I could not do
I took my gun and vanished'
Pretty effective and charged scene, considering the history being portrayed.
2024.06.02 18:19 The_Texidian The Apocalypse; My Predictions
I want to bring a break to all the political posts and do a crackpot conspiracy that I think is interesting. Here we go:
First and foremost, I think it is important to remember this was written around 95 AD, so John would have no knowledge of what an ICBM, a gun or a plane or anything actually is. Therefore when reading this, you must understand he is using things he does know to describe things he does not know. He simply has no words to name what he saw, so he used common items to describe it to people.
Revelation 6:1-8
Lets break down further what is to come when the first seals are broken.
People bent on conquest is the first thing they mention. It is Hamas' intention to obliterate Israel and the Jews there.
After securing the national of Israel and uniting Palestine under 1 religion, Islam in the praise of Allah. Their defined slogan is:
"Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes." and they talk about how all Muslim nations should join them to bring about Jihad until all nationals say Allah's name.
"They should back and support it, as Allah wants them to, extending to it more and more funds till Allah's purpose is achieved when ranks will close up, fighters join other fighters and masses everywhere in the Islamic world will come forward in response to the call of duty while loudly proclaiming: Hail to Jihad. Their cry will reach the heavens and will go on being resounded until liberation is achieved, the invaders vanquished and Allah's victory comes about."
Now we go into what happens after the world falls into Jihad in Revelations 6:9-17
>Seal 6: Nuclear War or Super Volcano
An earthquake, strong wind, sky turning red as the sun is blocked out. The heavens (clouds) receding like a scroll. I think this is someone describing a nuclear bomb who has never heard of one. We know nuclear bombs resemble earthquakes and can be detected via seismic activity. A strong wind comes from the blast as well, and such an explosion will move clouds as if they are being rolled back.
I think given the greater context of the apocalypse, nuclear war is the most likely, especially since John would have said something about a mountain exploding if it were a super volcano or made some mention of it.
Zechariah:
In Zechariah 14:1-2 it states that in the end days, all nations will come to Jerusalem to fight against it. I think in the coming year or years, Israel will do something so bad that all nations will tell them to stop or global sentiment will continue to shift over to support Palestine. At which point the bible says Jerusalem will be captured, houses ransacked, and women raped. Half the city will be in exile. I think this will be the Muslim population that live in Israel and do not support Jihad, currently it is at 38% Muslim there, after the Jews are mostly killed off in the jihad this number will likely be half the remaining population.
Now continuing down in the same chapter, the passage about Mount Olives is interesting. It says on this day it will be split in 2. I am not sure if this is metaphoric (nation divided in this area and explodes into warfare and the dust from explosions block the sun) or literal (the mountain explodes). It also says there will be no cold, light or frost. So I am leaning towards this will be an area of hot conflict that will erupt into warfare, rocket strikes and explosions, etc. There will be a frontline that runs straight down the middle of Mount Olives. The people there will flee en masse which the bible also says will happen.
The Angels:
Revelation 8 gives us insight into the angels in the final seal of the apocalypse and it is almost describing nuclear war perfectly.
Angel 1: Blew his trumpet and hail and fire was thrown upon the earth. 1/3rd of the earth was burned up, all the trees and grass was burned.
Angel 2: "Something like a great mountain" on fire thrown into the sea. I think this is describing an aircraft carrier getting hit, being set ablaze and going into the water. John would not know what an aircraft carrier looks like so to him, it might be something like a great mountain.
Angel 3: A great star comes falling out of the sky, blazing like a torch. A torch is a long object with a flame on one end. Sounds like a missile of some sort. Again John would have no idea what a missile is, so he is using things he knows in order to describe it. This missile poisons the water and is bitter. It is called Wormwood, which in Hebrew is written like לענה. I think John was reading Russian and rationalized it to something he could read, and the bitter water is the metallic taste people get from radiation.
Angel 4: Blew his trumpet and a third of the sun, stars and moon disappeared. Maybe at this point he is describing the response to Angel 3 via a nuclear retaliation. He also describes seeing an eagle. The eagle is symbolic of the USA which would make sense if the Angel 3 was a Russian ICBM.
Revelations 9:
Angel 5: This time John perfectly describes a missile silo. Read this:
"The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them." 7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
I think a first part with the keys to a bottomless shaft describes an underground missile silo and the smoke is the launch. However the last part is too metaphorical for me to understand. The sting of a scorpion sounds like burns and the wish for death sounds like radiation sickness. This might allude to the marks the government will give us, maybe the government will give a select group of people passes into the bunkers so those without the mark will perish in the nuclear fallout.
I think the locusts is describing air planes at this point. He describes them as horses prepared for battle (elephant walks), and their faces like humans can either be nose art or the fact people try to see faces in inanimate things like cars. So to him he saw faces. This could also be tech we have yet to see. He even describes their engines as thunderous and their breastplates made of metal., which sounds like a modern fighter I think the gold crown they wear is referring to the radar reflecting gold bubble canopies used on 5th gen fighters. John would not know how to describe a radar reflecting canopy back in 95 AD, to him it would be a gold crown.
Angel 6: Releases the other angels from the Euphrates river that wipes out 1/3rd the population. This angel however is responsible for troops in the several 10,000s. So it is either Iraq, Syria, or Turkey. He goes onto describe them as wearing Red, Blue and Yellow. Look up the dress uniform of the Iraqi army, it is a red band on their hat, gold yelow an dark blue. The Iraqi army uniform is perfectly described in revelations, even down to what river they will be coming from. That is too much of a coincidence. He then describes smoke and sulfur coming from their mounts, I imagine they will use chemical weapons or white phosphorus in battle.
Angel 7: I am not even sure tbh. maybe new tech?
My Predictions:
1-2 years: Israel/Palestine conflict will ramp up as Israel continues their bombing campaigns. I think something will happen so severe that it will shock the world and turn them against Israel, telling them to stop cut funding, etc. Middle Eastern countries will come to Gaza and start pushing their troops into Israel. A front line will be established through Mount Olive as full scale war breaks out and the people of Israel flee. The middle eastern forces will take over Israel.
3-4 years: A new Islamic government will be established in Jerusalem. From there, there will be calls for the jihad and some terror groups will appear again. This will send us back into a GWOT type of conflict where NATO is trying to fight off terrorism around the globe. WW3 starts as China takes Taiwan since US troops are spread thing fighting against the Jihad. This might start off with an attack on a US Aircraft Carrier.
5-7 years: Someone hits the big red button and nuclear war breaks out. Chaos. plague, destruction, etc. Full scale modern war.
submitted by The_Texidian to conspiracy [link] [comments]
First and foremost, I think it is important to remember this was written around 95 AD, so John would have no knowledge of what an ICBM, a gun or a plane or anything actually is. Therefore when reading this, you must understand he is using things he does know to describe things he does not know. He simply has no words to name what he saw, so he used common items to describe it to people.
Revelation 6:1-8
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. 3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” 4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. 5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. 6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds\)a\) of wheat for a day’s wages,\)b\) and six pounds\)c\) of barley for a day’s wages,\)d\) and do not damage the oil and the wine!” 7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” 8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.The 4 horseman of the apocalypse. A horse of white, red, black, and pale (possibly green). If we are to assume there are no coincidences in the Bible then the color's mean something. You cant help but notice that Palestine's flag is that of white, red, black and pale. Once you look further, you will notice so is Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, Sudan, UAE, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and you see my point.
Lets break down further what is to come when the first seals are broken.
Seal 1: The White HorsemanOnce the first seal is broken, a rider holding a sword symbolic of conquest rode out. In the Hamas Covenant of 1988, they say in the first section: "Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it" and "The day that enemies usurp part of Moslem land, Jihad becomes the individual duty of every Moslem."
People bent on conquest is the first thing they mention. It is Hamas' intention to obliterate Israel and the Jews there.
Seal 2: The Red HorsemanThis horseman is set to end world peace and make people kill each other. Lets take another look at Hamas' charter, shall we?
After securing the national of Israel and uniting Palestine under 1 religion, Islam in the praise of Allah. Their defined slogan is:
"Allah is its target, the Prophet is its model, the Koran its constitution: Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes." and they talk about how all Muslim nations should join them to bring about Jihad until all nationals say Allah's name.
"They should back and support it, as Allah wants them to, extending to it more and more funds till Allah's purpose is achieved when ranks will close up, fighters join other fighters and masses everywhere in the Islamic world will come forward in response to the call of duty while loudly proclaiming: Hail to Jihad. Their cry will reach the heavens and will go on being resounded until liberation is achieved, the invaders vanquished and Allah's victory comes about."
Seal 3: The Black HorsemanI am assuming during this Jihad, famine will spread across the region as the infidels are killed off en masse. Food prices will sky rocket as Islamic nations erupt into chaos. Their oil production will slow causing everything to inflate, and they possibly going to war with the west as well and cut off our supply of oil.
Seal 4: The Pale Horseman (people theorize this could be a light green or yellow pale)Global conflict as WW3 erupts across the globe. This is when food and disease will run rampant as every nation devolves into war. This horseman can kill by any means so expect anything. Bioweapons, chemical attacks, energy weapons, herbicides, ecoterrorism, etc. However I do not think nuclear warfare will happen yet because it is mentioned later on.
Now we go into what happens after the world falls into Jihad in Revelations 6:9-17
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters,\)e\) were killed just as they had been. 12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, 13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. 14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us\)f\) from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their\)g\) wrath has come, and who can withstand it?>Seal 5: Judgment Day
>Seal 6: Nuclear War or Super Volcano
An earthquake, strong wind, sky turning red as the sun is blocked out. The heavens (clouds) receding like a scroll. I think this is someone describing a nuclear bomb who has never heard of one. We know nuclear bombs resemble earthquakes and can be detected via seismic activity. A strong wind comes from the blast as well, and such an explosion will move clouds as if they are being rolled back.
I think given the greater context of the apocalypse, nuclear war is the most likely, especially since John would have said something about a mountain exploding if it were a super volcano or made some mention of it.
The Grand FinaleThe kings, princes, rich, and mighty + everyone else runs into caves in the mountains....I think conspiracy knows that the rich are building bunkers for a reason. They know what is to come. I think at this point the human race will be greatly reduced in population, and would be feasible for the remaining few to run to bunkers and fallout shelters.
Zechariah:
In Zechariah 14:1-2 it states that in the end days, all nations will come to Jerusalem to fight against it. I think in the coming year or years, Israel will do something so bad that all nations will tell them to stop or global sentiment will continue to shift over to support Palestine. At which point the bible says Jerusalem will be captured, houses ransacked, and women raped. Half the city will be in exile. I think this will be the Muslim population that live in Israel and do not support Jihad, currently it is at 38% Muslim there, after the Jews are mostly killed off in the jihad this number will likely be half the remaining population.
Now continuing down in the same chapter, the passage about Mount Olives is interesting. It says on this day it will be split in 2. I am not sure if this is metaphoric (nation divided in this area and explodes into warfare and the dust from explosions block the sun) or literal (the mountain explodes). It also says there will be no cold, light or frost. So I am leaning towards this will be an area of hot conflict that will erupt into warfare, rocket strikes and explosions, etc. There will be a frontline that runs straight down the middle of Mount Olives. The people there will flee en masse which the bible also says will happen.
The Angels:
Revelation 8 gives us insight into the angels in the final seal of the apocalypse and it is almost describing nuclear war perfectly.
Angel 1: Blew his trumpet and hail and fire was thrown upon the earth. 1/3rd of the earth was burned up, all the trees and grass was burned.
Angel 2: "Something like a great mountain" on fire thrown into the sea. I think this is describing an aircraft carrier getting hit, being set ablaze and going into the water. John would not know what an aircraft carrier looks like so to him, it might be something like a great mountain.
Angel 3: A great star comes falling out of the sky, blazing like a torch. A torch is a long object with a flame on one end. Sounds like a missile of some sort. Again John would have no idea what a missile is, so he is using things he knows in order to describe it. This missile poisons the water and is bitter. It is called Wormwood, which in Hebrew is written like לענה. I think John was reading Russian and rationalized it to something he could read, and the bitter water is the metallic taste people get from radiation.
Angel 4: Blew his trumpet and a third of the sun, stars and moon disappeared. Maybe at this point he is describing the response to Angel 3 via a nuclear retaliation. He also describes seeing an eagle. The eagle is symbolic of the USA which would make sense if the Angel 3 was a Russian ICBM.
Revelations 9:
Angel 5: This time John perfectly describes a missile silo. Read this:
"The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. 3 And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. 6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them." 7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails with stingers, like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. 11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).
I think a first part with the keys to a bottomless shaft describes an underground missile silo and the smoke is the launch. However the last part is too metaphorical for me to understand. The sting of a scorpion sounds like burns and the wish for death sounds like radiation sickness. This might allude to the marks the government will give us, maybe the government will give a select group of people passes into the bunkers so those without the mark will perish in the nuclear fallout.
I think the locusts is describing air planes at this point. He describes them as horses prepared for battle (elephant walks), and their faces like humans can either be nose art or the fact people try to see faces in inanimate things like cars. So to him he saw faces. This could also be tech we have yet to see. He even describes their engines as thunderous and their breastplates made of metal., which sounds like a modern fighter I think the gold crown they wear is referring to the radar reflecting gold bubble canopies used on 5th gen fighters. John would not know how to describe a radar reflecting canopy back in 95 AD, to him it would be a gold crown.
Angel 6: Releases the other angels from the Euphrates river that wipes out 1/3rd the population. This angel however is responsible for troops in the several 10,000s. So it is either Iraq, Syria, or Turkey. He goes onto describe them as wearing Red, Blue and Yellow. Look up the dress uniform of the Iraqi army, it is a red band on their hat, gold yelow an dark blue. The Iraqi army uniform is perfectly described in revelations, even down to what river they will be coming from. That is too much of a coincidence. He then describes smoke and sulfur coming from their mounts, I imagine they will use chemical weapons or white phosphorus in battle.
Angel 7: I am not even sure tbh. maybe new tech?
My Predictions:
1-2 years: Israel/Palestine conflict will ramp up as Israel continues their bombing campaigns. I think something will happen so severe that it will shock the world and turn them against Israel, telling them to stop cut funding, etc. Middle Eastern countries will come to Gaza and start pushing their troops into Israel. A front line will be established through Mount Olive as full scale war breaks out and the people of Israel flee. The middle eastern forces will take over Israel.
3-4 years: A new Islamic government will be established in Jerusalem. From there, there will be calls for the jihad and some terror groups will appear again. This will send us back into a GWOT type of conflict where NATO is trying to fight off terrorism around the globe. WW3 starts as China takes Taiwan since US troops are spread thing fighting against the Jihad. This might start off with an attack on a US Aircraft Carrier.
5-7 years: Someone hits the big red button and nuclear war breaks out. Chaos. plague, destruction, etc. Full scale modern war.
2024.06.02 18:16 PTerrio Kestral 7th (Part 47) - 'Eagles eye'
**\* Camburg. East. **\*
They dropped down to the lower level, taking cover by the doorframe.
Outside, people ran by, Auxilia soldiers ferrying scores of civilians.
In the far distance, bombs rumbled. but at this point, the people had gotten used to it. Shaken and shocked. But used to it.
From their hiding place, Gideon looked past the Scions behind him to Blackhawk, grimacing in the corner.
The man had been born to Tau Auxilia. Raised on Kestral. Outwardly rough, but truthfully there was more to him. And he could see he wasn't particularly pleased at the state of the civilians outside. Grimacing or not.
"How far?" Tempestor Salazar asked, her voice as gravelly as always.
"We still got it?"
Blackhawk held up the data-card. "With my life."
"Right. Well we want to be heading towards the centre to meet up with them, then we meet up with the Ghost squad. then, we head back to Imperial lines."
Salazar snorted. "Assuming they don't want to shoot you on sight Lord Commissar. You have a death penalty on your head. they think you turned traitor."
Gideon looked at her. *Maybe I did*. "Oh, look at that, you do have a sense of humour after all."
"I have my moments."
Another explosion, closer now. the Civilians all jumped, but it was still several blocks away. Regardless, they all felt that shockwave.
"What are they doing!" Blackhawk grunted. "That was a Manticore missile blast, that's a smart targeting system, that was on purpose, civilians are moving through here what the hell are they aiming at!"
Gideon swallowed. This was all so much easier against the Tyranids, where any human in enemy occupied zones were already lost. "We can see to that later. Right now, we need to keep moving. Come on. Streets clear."
The scions formed up, all wearing their Armor under civilian garbs now.
"Move!" Blackhawk said, and they did.
............................................................................
*** Kestral Command Centre. **\*
Quatre burst into the command centre, not yet fully woken from the few hours sleep she had managed to get, but raging.
The entrance caused a few heads to turn, eyes, pausing at their computer screens and displays.
"Lieutenant General." Larikeet and a few other senior officers stood straight as she entered. "A pleasure to finally meet you."
"Charmed, I'm sure." She grunted, a tone that was not missed by the officers. she held up a data-slate. "What's this?"
He hesitated, then put on a sly smile. "Yes, the incident. Very unfortunate but these things happen. We are trying to-"
"These things happen!?!" she said loudly. "700 dead civilians just happen? Explain how!"
It was an order.
A few of the officers seemed to nervously shirk, it was difficult to tell how they thoughts on it. But he stood his ground. "An accident i assure you. Three hours ago a wyvern strike set off some sort of reaction with hidden munitions. The resulting blast set off a fire that spread through a packed street, flammable materials being carried by the civilians exacerbated the fires."
"Get it one screen!" she ordered.
A few taps of buttons and the main holo-screen displayed an image of the street, both before the blaze, and one after, mostly hidden by smoke but with hundreds of burnt bodies, too many to count. 700 was a low estimate.
"That street was packed, why the emperors living hell was a wyvern strike called down on it!"
Larikeet hesitated but had a firm answer. "We have reprimanded the artillery officer responsible and will-"
"-No! I'll ask again, why are artillery strikes being allowed on civilian targets under your command!"
He looked confused. "Sir, if you look at the screen, you'll see valid military targets."
He pointed to the before picture. A squad of fire warriors were moving through the crowd.
"And you don't think you should have sent Guardsmen in instead?" she growled.
He seemed like he was enjoying how it was making her feel. "I... imagine that would have lost time and momentum, not to mention put those guardsmen at risk. It's a shame what happened."
"Feth!" she said. The swear word echoing. "Well at least you killed one squad, it was all worth it then!?!"
It was meant to be sarcastic but it was as if a button was pushed next. "Actually," an officer started, "the image was taken three minutes before the strike, the signal was jammed. It appears the squad had moved on once the wyvern shells hit."
She glared, a fury taking over her.
"I assure you it won't happen again," Larikeet seemed to almost smile, "sir. "
She glared at him, then addressed the room, pretending he wasn't there. "Everyone listen to me now! We are to hold our advance for twelve hours as a civilian corridor is erected through the city! "
There was two commissars by the door. They perked up. their bolt pistols had been smoking all morning.
Larikeet seemed to stiffen at that but kept his smile. "it will be done sir."
.....................................................................................................
*** Campburg. West. ***\*
"Contacts, 1200 metres, by the truck."
The ghosts hid into their position. Fernanda sneaking up and readying her sniper. "I see it.
They were along some sort of metropolitan boulevard, over which they could see enemy movement across from them.
"Ghost 2, they haven't spotted us?" Commissar Rapatta asked.
"No." her sniper crossed over them. "I see Fire Warriors. 3 Battlesuits, stealth class. digging in."
"Feth." Rapatta checked his digi-map. "Alright, let's see if we can spot anymore and pass this on to command.
She kept checking her scope, though didn't see too many.
She watched as the Tau talked. Through her scope she could just about see their faces, the few who had removed their helmets to rub their brows.
"They looked scared." she mumbled.
Cameron, who had been watching through magnonculars alongside her, heard that. he looked at her curiously, then looked to see if any other ghosts were listening, before speaking.
"You're different recently."
She glared. "What does that mean."
"Before deployment you couldn't stop talking about slotting Xenos." he said. "Then we get here and suddenly, it's as if you care about them."
"I don't care about them!" she snapped back, keeping down. She looked back herself. Agnar, Jason, Hammond and Rapatta couldn't hear from their positions in this abandoned flat, or at least she hoped so.
"Hey." He assured her. "It's not a bad thing."
"That's heresy." she muttered, looking back into her scope."
"And yet you agree." he shrugged.
She put the gun down for a second, addressing him a bit mroe straight. "It's just... I- I- I see their faces now. Not holograms. Not targets. But I see and they... they... they aren't... what I've always been told they were I just..."
"Woah." he said, slightly sarcastic. "I underestimated you. You've actually grown a conscious."
She shook her head and looked back into the scope. "Any more opinions about me you're keen to share?"
"Hmm..." he pretended to think. "Let me check my list. I think your PT is shocking."
"Well you aim as good as me and you get some slack too."
"And your hair is messy."
"Oh no, how I will recover."
He thought on something that might annoy her, deciding to poke. "Your boyfriends no good for you."
She paused. speechless for a second, then, sounding almost defeated. "I think you're right."
He changed tone, thinking he had gone too far. "I shouldn't say that. That's just my opinion though, no need to take it to heart. I'm sure he's nice once you get to know hi-"
"No he's not." She interrupted quietly. "He really isn't."
He shrugged. "Well you could do better."
"Like who?" She raised an eyebrow. "you?"
"Ew, no. Hammond maybe?"
"I'm not good enough for you?"
"Yeah, you're feth-ugly."
She laughed and punched his shoulder.
"Hey, I'm just saying-"
"Friendlies!" the big one, Hammond called out form his position.
She turned her sniper to the right and looked down the scope. Further down the opposing boulevard, Kriegers and Necromundans.
"Feth!" Rapatta snared as he looked through his own magnocs. "They're walking right into an ambush!"
She turned her scope back to the tau position. They started moving franticaly. the battle suits cloaked. "They've spotted them!"
"But not us?"
she hesitated. "Doesn't look like it."
Agnar, Jason and Hammond readied their weapons. "We'll move in into intercept." it was more of an alert than a question, they started leaving and heading down the stairs.
"Ghost 2." Rapata said. "that distance, can you hit them from here?"
"Childs play." she said shakily, looking as something bigger shimmered. "Another target, bigger this time."
"Stealth suit?"
"Big one. Can't get a reading though."
"Ghost keel?"
she swallowed possibly.
He drew breath. "Ghost-2, do you have a shot?"
She readied her crosshair over one tau. the last one to hide, a pathfinder. It took a moment to say something, she couldn't tell what but it was some sort of prayer. it looked remorseful for what it was about to do.
Then she moved it near it, over a shimmering shape, some sort of stealth suit. Her sniper was more powerful than most, capable of taking it out.
"I do."
The Kriegers and Necorumdans were getting within breathing distance of the ambush.
"Take the shot."
She in took breath.
"Emperor forgive me." The words fell from her mouth. She was not even sure why.
...
...She pulled the trigger.
submitted by PTerrio to war_for_Gryllus [link] [comments]
They dropped down to the lower level, taking cover by the doorframe.
Outside, people ran by, Auxilia soldiers ferrying scores of civilians.
In the far distance, bombs rumbled. but at this point, the people had gotten used to it. Shaken and shocked. But used to it.
From their hiding place, Gideon looked past the Scions behind him to Blackhawk, grimacing in the corner.
The man had been born to Tau Auxilia. Raised on Kestral. Outwardly rough, but truthfully there was more to him. And he could see he wasn't particularly pleased at the state of the civilians outside. Grimacing or not.
"How far?" Tempestor Salazar asked, her voice as gravelly as always.
"We still got it?"
Blackhawk held up the data-card. "With my life."
"Right. Well we want to be heading towards the centre to meet up with them, then we meet up with the Ghost squad. then, we head back to Imperial lines."
Salazar snorted. "Assuming they don't want to shoot you on sight Lord Commissar. You have a death penalty on your head. they think you turned traitor."
Gideon looked at her. *Maybe I did*. "Oh, look at that, you do have a sense of humour after all."
"I have my moments."
Another explosion, closer now. the Civilians all jumped, but it was still several blocks away. Regardless, they all felt that shockwave.
"What are they doing!" Blackhawk grunted. "That was a Manticore missile blast, that's a smart targeting system, that was on purpose, civilians are moving through here what the hell are they aiming at!"
Gideon swallowed. This was all so much easier against the Tyranids, where any human in enemy occupied zones were already lost. "We can see to that later. Right now, we need to keep moving. Come on. Streets clear."
The scions formed up, all wearing their Armor under civilian garbs now.
"Move!" Blackhawk said, and they did.
............................................................................
*** Kestral Command Centre. **\*
Quatre burst into the command centre, not yet fully woken from the few hours sleep she had managed to get, but raging.
The entrance caused a few heads to turn, eyes, pausing at their computer screens and displays.
"Lieutenant General." Larikeet and a few other senior officers stood straight as she entered. "A pleasure to finally meet you."
"Charmed, I'm sure." She grunted, a tone that was not missed by the officers. she held up a data-slate. "What's this?"
He hesitated, then put on a sly smile. "Yes, the incident. Very unfortunate but these things happen. We are trying to-"
"These things happen!?!" she said loudly. "700 dead civilians just happen? Explain how!"
It was an order.
A few of the officers seemed to nervously shirk, it was difficult to tell how they thoughts on it. But he stood his ground. "An accident i assure you. Three hours ago a wyvern strike set off some sort of reaction with hidden munitions. The resulting blast set off a fire that spread through a packed street, flammable materials being carried by the civilians exacerbated the fires."
"Get it one screen!" she ordered.
A few taps of buttons and the main holo-screen displayed an image of the street, both before the blaze, and one after, mostly hidden by smoke but with hundreds of burnt bodies, too many to count. 700 was a low estimate.
"That street was packed, why the emperors living hell was a wyvern strike called down on it!"
Larikeet hesitated but had a firm answer. "We have reprimanded the artillery officer responsible and will-"
"-No! I'll ask again, why are artillery strikes being allowed on civilian targets under your command!"
He looked confused. "Sir, if you look at the screen, you'll see valid military targets."
He pointed to the before picture. A squad of fire warriors were moving through the crowd.
"And you don't think you should have sent Guardsmen in instead?" she growled.
He seemed like he was enjoying how it was making her feel. "I... imagine that would have lost time and momentum, not to mention put those guardsmen at risk. It's a shame what happened."
"Feth!" she said. The swear word echoing. "Well at least you killed one squad, it was all worth it then!?!"
It was meant to be sarcastic but it was as if a button was pushed next. "Actually," an officer started, "the image was taken three minutes before the strike, the signal was jammed. It appears the squad had moved on once the wyvern shells hit."
She glared, a fury taking over her.
"I assure you it won't happen again," Larikeet seemed to almost smile, "sir. "
She glared at him, then addressed the room, pretending he wasn't there. "Everyone listen to me now! We are to hold our advance for twelve hours as a civilian corridor is erected through the city! "
There was two commissars by the door. They perked up. their bolt pistols had been smoking all morning.
Larikeet seemed to stiffen at that but kept his smile. "it will be done sir."
.....................................................................................................
*** Campburg. West. ***\*
"Contacts, 1200 metres, by the truck."
The ghosts hid into their position. Fernanda sneaking up and readying her sniper. "I see it.
They were along some sort of metropolitan boulevard, over which they could see enemy movement across from them.
"Ghost 2, they haven't spotted us?" Commissar Rapatta asked.
"No." her sniper crossed over them. "I see Fire Warriors. 3 Battlesuits, stealth class. digging in."
"Feth." Rapatta checked his digi-map. "Alright, let's see if we can spot anymore and pass this on to command.
She kept checking her scope, though didn't see too many.
She watched as the Tau talked. Through her scope she could just about see their faces, the few who had removed their helmets to rub their brows.
"They looked scared." she mumbled.
Cameron, who had been watching through magnonculars alongside her, heard that. he looked at her curiously, then looked to see if any other ghosts were listening, before speaking.
"You're different recently."
She glared. "What does that mean."
"Before deployment you couldn't stop talking about slotting Xenos." he said. "Then we get here and suddenly, it's as if you care about them."
"I don't care about them!" she snapped back, keeping down. She looked back herself. Agnar, Jason, Hammond and Rapatta couldn't hear from their positions in this abandoned flat, or at least she hoped so.
"Hey." He assured her. "It's not a bad thing."
"That's heresy." she muttered, looking back into her scope."
"And yet you agree." he shrugged.
She put the gun down for a second, addressing him a bit mroe straight. "It's just... I- I- I see their faces now. Not holograms. Not targets. But I see and they... they... they aren't... what I've always been told they were I just..."
"Woah." he said, slightly sarcastic. "I underestimated you. You've actually grown a conscious."
She shook her head and looked back into the scope. "Any more opinions about me you're keen to share?"
"Hmm..." he pretended to think. "Let me check my list. I think your PT is shocking."
"Well you aim as good as me and you get some slack too."
"And your hair is messy."
"Oh no, how I will recover."
He thought on something that might annoy her, deciding to poke. "Your boyfriends no good for you."
She paused. speechless for a second, then, sounding almost defeated. "I think you're right."
He changed tone, thinking he had gone too far. "I shouldn't say that. That's just my opinion though, no need to take it to heart. I'm sure he's nice once you get to know hi-"
"No he's not." She interrupted quietly. "He really isn't."
He shrugged. "Well you could do better."
"Like who?" She raised an eyebrow. "you?"
"Ew, no. Hammond maybe?"
"I'm not good enough for you?"
"Yeah, you're feth-ugly."
She laughed and punched his shoulder.
"Hey, I'm just saying-"
"Friendlies!" the big one, Hammond called out form his position.
She turned her sniper to the right and looked down the scope. Further down the opposing boulevard, Kriegers and Necromundans.
"Feth!" Rapatta snared as he looked through his own magnocs. "They're walking right into an ambush!"
She turned her scope back to the tau position. They started moving franticaly. the battle suits cloaked. "They've spotted them!"
"But not us?"
she hesitated. "Doesn't look like it."
Agnar, Jason and Hammond readied their weapons. "We'll move in into intercept." it was more of an alert than a question, they started leaving and heading down the stairs.
"Ghost 2." Rapata said. "that distance, can you hit them from here?"
"Childs play." she said shakily, looking as something bigger shimmered. "Another target, bigger this time."
"Stealth suit?"
"Big one. Can't get a reading though."
"Ghost keel?"
she swallowed possibly.
He drew breath. "Ghost-2, do you have a shot?"
She readied her crosshair over one tau. the last one to hide, a pathfinder. It took a moment to say something, she couldn't tell what but it was some sort of prayer. it looked remorseful for what it was about to do.
Then she moved it near it, over a shimmering shape, some sort of stealth suit. Her sniper was more powerful than most, capable of taking it out.
"I do."
The Kriegers and Necorumdans were getting within breathing distance of the ambush.
"Take the shot."
She in took breath.
"Emperor forgive me." The words fell from her mouth. She was not even sure why.
...
...She pulled the trigger.
2024.06.02 17:37 sideswipe781 UFC Louisville: Cannonier v Imavov Full Card Betting Preview Sideswipe MMA
Lifetime - Staked: 921.15u, Profit/Loss: +14.81u, ROI: 1.61%, Parlay Suggestions: 177-69 Dog of the Week: 13-18, Picks: 8-3 (73% accuracy)
2024 - Staked: 274.05u, Profit/Loss: -18.55u
As always, scroll down for UFC Louisville Breakdowns. The following is just a recap of last event’s results.
~UFC 302 (PREVIOUS CARD)~
Staked: 12.5u
Profit/Loss: +7.64u
ROI: 61%
Parlay Suggestions: 3-0
Dog of the week: Cesar Almeida ❌
Picks: 8-3
Underwhelming card, but as expected it was a pretty easy one to predict. The favourites were mostly consistent, and most of the expected methods of victory landed. Nice profit made for once, but I think I had some fantastic reads on the card in spots that I didn’t bet. I said I expected Poirier to be competitive, and that Islam ITD wasn’t the lock people said it was. Matthews Decision was one I wanted to bet. I warned people that Hafez or Morono were the most likely bed-shitters. Basically, I think last week’s post would have been very useful to read.
✅ 2u Sean Strickland + Over 1.5 Rounds (-130) (won +1.54u)
✅ 2u Sean Strickland in R4, 5 or by Decision (+175) (won +3.5u) (accidentally edited this to 1u on the previous post, which wasn’t the intention. It’s was originally listed as 2u, and was tracked as such on my BetMMA record).
✅ 2u Kevin Holland + Grant Dawson (+110) (won 2.2u)
❌ 2u Cesar Almeida (+125)
❌ 1u Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (+150)
✅ 2u Ailin Perez + Over 1.5 Rounds (-120) (won +1.66u)
✅ 1u Makhachev, Strickland, Holland, J. Almeida (+224) (won +2.24u)
❌ 0.5u Morono, Matthews, Hafez, Perez (+401)
~UFC Louisville~
Good to see more touring cards, and a slight step up in calibre from the usual Apex shit. Not a lot of spots I am confident in, I have to be honest…but I see a few underdogs that I’m sprinkling on.
~Jared Cannonier v Nassourdine Imavov~
Not another Nassourdine Imavov five rounder! I’m a fan of his skillset, but I think his cardio is suspect across 25 minutes, which ultimately makes his fights tricky to predict in spots like this. He’s not exactly a potent finisher, and I can’t trust him to win rounds four and five…so I think his path to victory is therefore limited by principal. A Nassourdine Imavov in a main event relies heavily on him winning R1, 2 and 3.
On the other side, Jared Cannonier is a guy I’ve never truly given the respect he deserves. A split decision win over Sean Strickland in a 25-minute fight is certainly impressive, as is the absolute beating he put on Marvin Vettori straight after* (* I believe Vettori has declined massively and is washed, so I won’t be going crazy in overreacting to that). Cannonier is a hard hitter, but he’s also gotten really comfortable in upping his volume across five round too, landing 141 and 241 significant strikes in those two aforementioned bouts respectively. The quantity didn’t dip in rounds 4 and 5 either, which is key considering my comments on Imavov’s cardio.
So I give Cannonier an advantage in R4 and 5, but what about across the other three? Well, the power advantage also goes to him, but the diversity with grappling and submission attempts falls with the Frenchman. Cannonier has started mixing takedowns into his game a bit more, which does present an opportunity for Imavov’s nasty front chokes…but other than that I’m not really sure where else I give Imavov a clear advantage outside of age and height. He’s the bigger fighter, but Cannonier is a strong dude and has looked just fine against other Middleweights (no one of Imavov’s size, to be fair).
Jared is now 40 years old, which is a bit of a dreaded number, which I think is the reasoning for this line being the way it is. People seem keen to blindly fade that age, regardless of whether it’s presented itself on tape. I see what they’re getting at, but Cannonier has put in two of his best performances of his career in his last two…I am not convinced it’s as simple as fading a 40 year old here.
So with that aside, I see far more merit to Cannonier’s side than Imavov’s, so the +100/-125 betting line feels off to me. I understand that Nassourdine just put in convincing performances against Roman Dolidze and Chris Curtis, but personally I think both of those fighters are a cut below Jared Cannonier (and I bet Nassourdine in both spots there). Cannonier would have looked good there too.
However, we have seen Imavov challenged against some of Middleweight’s common names, such as Sean Strickland and Joaquin Buckley…whilst Cannonier has looked good everywhere except against Izzy and Whittaker (he did drop a couple of rounds to Kelvin Gastelum, but it’s hardly raises alarm bells to me as Kelvin’s a tough guy to beat across 25 minutes of kickboxing).
I would personally make Cannonier the favourite here, anywhere between -125 and -150, and I assume the dreaded age of 40 is the reason for the odds here. I ask you this…if Jared Cannonier was 35, would the line be different? I believe it would be, and age is relative in MMA. It’s something to take seriously, of course, but I don’t think Cannonier even looked like he had started to decline in his most recent fight against Vettori last year.
I’ll be backing the underdog here at +100 or better. The line looks to be moving in Imavov’s favour so I will be patient.
How I line this fight: Jared Cannonier -137 (58%), Nassourdine Imavov +137 (42%)
Bet or pass: 1u Jared Cannonier to Win (+100 or better)
Prop leans: None
Live Betting Leans: If Cannonier looks to have won any of R1, 2, or 3 but is still a bettable price going into the championship rounds, I think he should be favoured to win those so could be a good entry in-play.
~Dominick Reyes v Dustin Jacoby~
This one should be fun for the live audience, but it’s an incredibly volatile fight for the bettors.
Very obvious to see why that’s the case for Dom Reyes – he’s got heaps of potential on a good day, but his chin is dust at this point. Seriously, he got knocked out cold by the jab of Ryan Spann. In a striking based fight at 205lbs, that’s all you need to know to decide that putting money on him is an uncomfortable idea.
Dustin Jacoby on the other hand is not the most potent finisher at Light Heavyweight, which immediately makes me think that Dustin isn’t the kind of guy you’d want to play executioner when he’s the favourite against someone with a flaw like Reyes’ chin. You want someone you can trust to put dudes to sleep in one punch – I don’t think that’s Jacoby (having gone the distance in seven of his 11 fights in this second UFC stint, and winning via leg kicks in one of the stoppages). Also, he’s not even particularly reliable to win rounds either, given that he was supposed to be the more technical fighter compared to Alonzo Menifield, Khalil Rountree, Azamat Murzakanov, and Maxim Grishin – where he was a moderate/big favourite every time, and never covered the price.
I still expect Jacoby to probably be the superior fighter across 15 minutes, but his -225 price tag definitely implies that a finish is expected by the oddsmakers…and I just have a whole lot less confidence that he lands it. From there, I also have less confidence that he’ll be the one winning rounds, given how easily he’s fumbled that in the past…so I just don’t see how you can have around 70% confidence in him winning here. Honestly I don’t really think Jacoby can ever justify that kind of pricetag at a UFC level when we have seen him shit the bed so many times.
On the other hand, I couldn’t trust Dominick Reyes’ chin to survive a strong gust of wind, so there’s no way I’d want to play him either. A very easy pass. I’ll pick Jacoby to win though, but I’d never bet him at this number.
In terms of thinking about props, I might be interested in looking at the Over 1.5 Rounds here, given that I disagree with the oddsmaker’s believe in Jacoby’s finishing ability. That’s going to be a horrible bet to sit through, so I’d probably need a decent price like +150 or better. We’ll see what they’re offering, but I doubt it’s that good.
How I line this fight: Dominick Reyes +175 (36%), Dustin Jacoby -175 (64%)
Bet or pass: Over 1.5 Rounds (+150 or better…no idea if that’s anywhere near what we’ll get)
Prop leans: See above
~Julian Marquez v Zach Reese~
Julian Marquez is a really fun fighter to watch, I’m glad to see him back inside the cage. He’s never been the most talented, but he’s a C+ at everything and has A grade heart. To beat him, you need to be clinical or vastly superior in one area, or Marquez might surprise you and turn the fight into a war of attrition.
Zach Reese is a 6-1 fighter that lost his debut Cody Brundage (I actually bet Brundage there, haha). Talk about fumbling the bag. He just seems like a classic DWCS fighter, who scores quick finishes against taxi drivers and then is suddenly expected to be diverse and talented enough to take on an actual trained professional that’s been competing against a much higher level for years. The difference between the regionals and the UFC has always been vast, and DWCS proves that time and time again.
Zach Reese’s longest fight time is 4 minutes and 13 seconds. He has literally never been in a fight that’s hit the second round. Julian Marquez, on the other hand, has gone longer than that in five of his 6 UFC appearances to date – and his opponents have all competed in the organisation at least five times. I genuinely think that tells you all you need to know.
And the craziest part is that Zach Reese ain’t even an inexperienced young gun. Him fumbling the debut wasn’t like Tom Nolan, a 24 year old kid that believed his own hype and got sloppy in his debut. Reese is THIRTY YEARS OLD.
The gulf in experience is massive, and the difference in age isn’t. I know Julian Marquez’s UFC record isn’t pretty at all, but how well do you think Zach Reese would fare if he faced the same opponents at the time Marquez did? I reckon he’d be 0-6.
Maybe I’m crazy, but Julian Marquez deserves better than to be a + money underdog against a literal regional opponent. Reese has tall man’s defence, he got tagged in both fights in DWCS/UFC and they were on the feet about 20 seconds combined. Yes he’s clearly got a great submission game on bottom, but Marquez has never been submitted, is a BJJ purple belt and has trained at decent camps before. He’s currently at the MMA Lab and has been training with Cannonier for this one.
I’ll be rolling the dice on the more proven fighter at +100.
How I line this fight: Julian Marquez -150 (60%), Zach Reese +150 (40%)
Bet or pass: 1u Julian Marquez to Win (+100)
Prop leans: None
Live Betting Leans: R1 finishers often have bad cardio, so if we get to the stool then Marquez is definitely worth a bet to turn the tide.
~Brunno Ferreira v Dustin Stoltzfus~
I can’t figure Dustin Stoltzfus out. He’s always presented himself as a good but one-dimensional grappler, judging by performances against high level competition such as Rodolpho Vieira and Gerald Meerschaert…but the way he showed up against Punahele Soriano made him look like a completely different guy. He was supposed to be easily outgunned on the feet there, but he looked seasoned and composed in the striking, and ultimately ended up getting a finish that I think very few people saw coming.
Brunno Ferreira is a super explosive Brazilian powerhouse that hasn’t gone past the halfway point in a fight yet. He throws heat and has that madman style, but his fights are so short I’ve no idea if he actually has any redeeming qualities from a technical or minute-winning perspective. As you probably know by now, my least favourite fighting style is ‘big strike go brrrr’. Ferreira has also had some bizarre results himself, pulling off a huge upset against Gregory Rodrigues, and then getting starched by Nursulton Ruziboev.
The only thing I know about Brunno is that he’ll go to war with an opponent that wants to meet him in the middle…I’ve no idea if Dustin Stoltzfus really wants to do that. He handled himself really well against a similar kind of style in Puna Soriano…but he’s also the same guy that got womped in under 20 seconds by Abus Magomedov.
To conclude, I think I could easily see Brunno Ferreira scoring an easy KO inside a couple of minutes, but I could also see this one looking way more competitive and close than the betting line suggests if Stoltzfus makes it to the stool. Lots of different possibilities, not a lot of confidence in any one outcome.
Brunno Ferreira kind of presents similar red flags to Zach Reese in the last breakdown. The difference between the two, and the reason I am fading Reese and not Brunno, is that I have confidence and knowledge that Marquez can handle that early chaos. I can’t say the same about Stoltzfus, so I won’t be taking a stab on him. Personally I think he’s absolutely the value side though, so if you’re someone who wants to bet every fight then absolutely take him.
I will also be picking him to win, but not because I think he does so 51% or more of the time…just because Ferreira is only known to have a limited path to victory that could easily fall apart.
How I line this fight: Such a volatile fight, I have no idea.
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Punahele Soriano v Miguel Baeza~
Speak of the devil!
Punahele Soriano is so, so overrated. I have no idea how he’s even still in the UFC, or how he even got there in the first place. He was hyped up by Dana and the promo team as this scary and lethal striker….but then he pussy’d out and grappled his way to a decision win against Jamie Pickett on DWCS. Surprisingly they rewarded him with a contract (but didn’t want Brendan Loughnane!). Since then, lethal KO artist Puna has scored just three knockouts…but in the four fights he hasn’t, he’s looked like absolute shit. Getting schooled on the feet by Dustin Stoltzfus and Brendan Allen is a really bad look when you’re being advertised as a striker…and losing a decision to Nick Maximov isn’t a good look either!
To their credit, this fight against Miguel Baeza is a genius pairing by the UFC matchmakers though, because Baeza’s career has kind of panned out the same as Soriano’s. A hard hitting DWCS graduate, Baeza got off to a decent start with three consecutive finishes, most notably against Matt Brown. He stepped up the level of competition to face Santiago Ponzinibbio, which resulted in a life and death decision that he narrowly lost. Unfortunately, the losses snowballed dramatically as he was later KO’d by Khaos Williams and Andre Fialho. The latter result the most shocking, given that Fialho is dogshit. Baeza has since taken two years off…and everyone forgot he existed.
Apologies for taking two massive paragraphs to give you both men’s life stories, but it really does paint the picture of this fight from a betting perspective. Both men are overhyped KO artists - with one lacking in durability, and the other lacking in brain cells.
Puna is probably more likely to walk away with the KO win due to Baeza’s declining durability, but he’s also the more likely to get out-struck and styled on if this one turns into a longer distanced fight. Who wins that kind of fight? I have absolutely no idea. I’m just glad that one guy gets to stick around after this fight is over, because I’d be keen to fade both guys in the future.
I have little confidence so it counts for nothing, but I’ll pick Baeza simply because I like to fade finish-reliant fighters, and Miguel seems to be the more technical. His leg kick should work nicely here.
How I line this fight: Punahele Soriano +125 (45%), Miguel Baeza -125 (55%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Raul Rosas Jr. vs Ricky Turcios~
I’ve copy/pasted my breakdown for this fight from the UFC Mexico event, and made some updated changes:
I’m still pretty gassed about hitting the fade on Raul Rosas Jr with Christian Rodriguez – definitely one of my favourite bets of 2023. I saw an untested 18 year old that was the beneficiary the UFC hype machine, and a then unknown opponent who had proven tricky to beat with the style Rosas Jr has. I saw it as a pick’em, and Rodriguez was +200. Easy bet to make.
In that fight, Rosas Jr kind of cardio-dumped and gave up once it was obvious that early finish wasn’t going to present itself, and that’s certainly a concern until we see him fight competently for 15 minutes at this level. I can think of countless UFC hype trains that hid their shocking minute winning ability behind dominant and exciting R1 finishes (Edmen Shahbazyan was my initial example, but since writing this Joe Pyfer has given another great recent example), and I therefore simply cannot trust Raul Rosas at this stage in his career when he’s still going to be sitting at -250 on the betting line due to his popularity.
Is Ricky Turcios worth the gamble as an underdog? I don’t really think so. He has been taken down seven and six times in two different UFC fights, has losses to Aimann Zahabi and Boston Salmon, and his wins were against Kevin Natividad and Brady Hiestand…which were both splits. The UFC are clearly treating this as a lay-up fight for Rosas Jr, but without feeding him a promotional newcomer or a fellow inexperienced guy. I don’t mean lay-up as if it’s a squash match, but it’s assumed that he SHOULD win here, instead of them throwing him to the wolves or making him go up against a fellow serious prospect.
Stylistically this one all revolves around the cardio for me, because I don’t think Turcios has what it takes to win this fight off the merit of his own skillset. He needs Rosas Jr. to gas out first, if he’s going to have any hope of having his way here. We have no way of knowing whether or not Rosas will gas, as it could have just been a one off and he’s so young that he could make the improvements quickly.
Personally, I’d be willing to give Rosas Jr the benefit of the doubt. The Rodriguez loss really should have opened his eyes, and it’s often the best thing for a young prospect to get that wake up call sometimes, as he was probably starting to believe his own hype. If the cardio is fixable, I assume he’s done all he can to fix it. He therefore deserves to be the favourite, but I won’t be betting on it.
How I line this fight: Raul Rosas Jr -200 (67%), Ricky Turcios +200 (33%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: I was originally going to bet the Over 2.5 rounds, but I’ll pass on that now.
~Eduarda Moura v Denise Gomes~
Eduarda Moura’s UFC debut did not impress me at all. I didn’t bother researching her regional footage, and from what I saw in that debut she’s a size/weight bully that isn’t even that amazing at what she does. Yes she outgrappled and mauled that Mexican woman, but the size difference was comical and she couldn’t have found an easier opponent to beat if she tried.
I had one of my best bets of 2023 on Denise Gomes’ last fight against Angela Hill (big up Angie for winning a couple of weeks ago, she’s such a money train for me), opting to fade the scary finishing ability of a WMMA fighter for a more technical and historically durable veteran on the return. Not only did Angie school her, she even managed to mix in some grappling to make the win even more stylish. That gets the alarm bells ringing here, as Moura’s MO is definitely to grapple, and Angie’s no grappler.
I don’t have a strong opinion on this one, because both women give me very strong fraud vibes. I think Moura is absolutely going to be one to fade in the future, and Gomes has already been faded in the past. Personally I don’t think the equally limited Denise Gomes is the woman to give Moura her first L, because stylistically this looks like a tricky fight for her. Fingers crossed Moura wins and the fade opportunity is live next time. It’s an easy pass for me.
How I line this fight: No idea, they’re both frauds
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Puja Tomar v Rayanne Amanda (dos Santos)~
Some people believe in the narrative that you should try and fade Indian fighters. That worked pretty well last time Jeka Sarragih fought!
I bet on Rayanne dos Santos in her UFC debut, and she lost a split to an inexperienced opponent with bad cardio. I was impressed with her striking in Invicta, but she struggled to do anything meaningful stuff in that UFC debut. By the looks of the early line I’m seeing, she’s about -180 here. Who the hell is going to bet that!?
I obviously know nothing about Puja, but her record shows she’s fought two serious opponents. You know I love WMMA more than anyone else, but I have absolutely no interest in doing tape for this one. Pass.
How I line this fight: No idea
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Cody Stamann v Taylor Lapilus~
Very disappointed by the betting line here. When a fight like this gets announced, I immediately get excited because I think there’s a chance the books might get caught out and give a very bettable price on a fight that seems close on paper, but should be quite one-sided in reality, due to the stylistics.
Taylor Lapilus deserves to be -200 here, maybe even steeper. Reason being, he’s great where Stamann is average, but he’s also good where Stamann is good. The Frenchman is a slick striker that should certainly be expected to land the more eye-catching shots, when compared to Stamann’s T-Rex boxing. He will enjoy a 9-inch reach advantage, and should just be able to hit and not get hit. Stamann barely has any power either, so even if he does land a punch for every two he absorbs, I doubt it’s going to do much to convince the judges to credit him as the round winner.
Cody Stamann has veered away from his wrestling roots in recent fights, but you’d think it would serve him well here, given the reach and technical disadvantage he will find himself at. Whilst this would be true against another opponent, Taylor Lapilus has a very good anti-grappling game. His takedown defence is good, but even when he does get floored he works hard and effectively to get back to his feet, or at the very least nullify his opponent. His most recent fight was an exception to that as Farid Basharat made light work of him…but that was a very impressive performance that I don’t think many could replicate.
So in summary, I think Stamann is going to be shut out here, and I don’t think he’s going to really be able to find success anywhere in this fight. He will either stand at distance and clearly get outstruck by the fighter with the better footwork that will keep him at range…or he attempts to wrestle and likely has little luck at finding any real success. At the very least, the success he does have probably won’t be enough to erase the striking deficit he’s already accrued.
On a more narrative based note, Stamann also appears to have regressed a fair bit in recent years. He was once a gatekeeper to the top 15, drawing with the likes of Song Yadong and even winning a round against Merab…but since then losing decisions to 37-year-old Douglas Silva de Andrade and winning questionable decisions against Luan Lacerda. I’d say this is a tricky fight for Stamann in his prime, but Cody’s trending downwards too.
As I said in the opening paragraph, I’m disappointed that the books didn’t offer a better price on Lapilus, and I’m interested to see if money comes in on Cody still. Personally I’d be happy to bet Lapilus at -175 or better, but I’d need the line to improve slightly before I could play it. I might parlay him with someone on next week’s card once I get further down the line researching it.
How I line this fight: Cody Stamann +225 (31%), Taylor Lapilus -225 (69%)
Bet or pass: No bet, for now.
Prop leans: None
~Brad Katona v Jesse Butler~
The less time spent talking about this one, the better. Brad Katona is possibly the least intimidating MMA fighter to have ever graced the UFC, both in the way he fights, and his demeanour. The former is more important, because he can sometimes struggle to win rounds because he’s outgunned most of the time. He needs to put on a perfect defensive display to win striking fights, because if he gets wobbled he probably can’t get the round back.
Jesse Butler is a can with about as much of a right to be on the UFC’s roster as I do. He has no striking ability, as seen in his 23 second KO MASSACRE at the hands of 40-year-old Jim Miller (one of my favourite KOs of 2023 that one, definitely recommend if you didn’t see it!). That lack of striking ability, both offensively and defensively, means that he is very unlikely to get the better of a good point fighter like Brad Katona. But everyone has a puncher’s chance.
Katona is nearly -600 here. Mostly justified, but also eye-wateringly steep at the exact same time when you consider Katona’s path to victory is almost exclusively by decision! Pass.
How I line this fight: Brad Katona -400 (80%), Jesse Butler +400 (20%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: Me to fall asleep watching this one (+200 or better)
~Ludovit Klein v Thiago Moises~
Two guys I have historically had a very tricky time analysing. I was high on Klein when he made his debut, then I turned my back on him after the losses to Trizano and Landwehr – and since then he’s been pulling off upsets and continuing to prove he was worth the hype he entered the UFC with. The dude has some of the best high kicks I’ve ever seen from a fighter.
Thiago Moises has always been credentialed and talented, but he’s failed to deliver on the promises his abilities make on paper. Moises is capable of taking fighters down and submitting them early, but it’s genuinely taken nine UFC fights for him to actually go out there and do that. And then he did it twice in a row (against Giagos and Melq Costa).
So I think that does a good job of explaining why I am going to be non-committal and just leave this fight alone. Klein is great when he’s on form, but he’s shown himself to be capable of dropping the ball in fights he really should win. He’s proven himself to be a guy that you back as an underdog, but avoid as a favourite. He’s barely either here, but he does have a minus next to his name.
Moises is also too inconsistent to trust either. I think there’s a chance that this could be a winnable fight for him, as his grappling will definitely be superior if he can force things to the floor. That sounds like a great opportunity for a +100 fighter…but Moises definitely won’t look that number if he decides to stand and trade – and his 1.64 takedowns landed per 15 minutes statistic is enough to assume he won’t.
The oddsmakers are right in lining this one close, because both men have very legitimate paths to victory with only a few small factors landing in their favour. I’d argue that Klein is the rightful favourite (and therefore my pick) due to all fights starting standing and Moises’ track record…but this is a close one.
How I line this fight: Ludovit Klein -125 (55%), Thiago Moises +125 (45%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Charles Radtke v Carlos Prates~
If you’re a regular reader of my posts, you may know that historically I am someone who genuinely thinks Trevin Giles has some redeeming qualities. In fact, I claimed in his recent fight against Carlos Prates that the line was wide, and that Giles may be able to find a way to have some success. Having watched that fight back, I think I was justified to feel that way.
I liked what I saw from Prates on DWCS, with the way he mixed up volume, pressure and power…but ultimately that performance against Giles was a bit concerning. He definitely lost round one, and by the end of the fight he was outstruck almost two to one. Of course, he won via KO…but to expect a fighter to be bailed out by their raw power every time is a bit foolish.
Charles Radtke is ironically a fighter I’ve had nothing but bad things to say about. I slated his debut win against Mike Mathetha (the artist formally known as Blood Diamond), and tried to fade him when he faced Gilbert Urbina. Boy did he look great in that sophomore appearance, I was really impressed. His striking just seemed so tight, accurate and crisp, I couldn’t believe how easily he pieced up Urbina.
I’m obviously not super confident in my analysis here, simply due to the lack of tape we have on both guys…but I don’t really understand what we are supposed to have seen from Prates to justify a -200 pricetag? He was struggling against Giles, and had he not landed the precise punch that ended things…he could easily have lost that one! I get that he has a big size advantage…but Urbina was taller and Radtke approached the striking gameplan perfectly. He also has Belal Muhammad in his corner (or at least he did vs Urbina), who I rate as a pretty intelligent fighter.
This one feel like it could develop into a very competitive fight, and the finishing ability is strong on either side. Radtke has also shown a diverse game and an ability to mix in grappling when necessary, which could serve him well here. For those reasons, I’m happy to roll the dice on yet another underdog here, and back Charles Radtke for 1u at +150 or better. I’ll be waiting a little bit to see what the initial line movement does.
How I line this fight: Charles Radtke +100 (50%), Carlos Prates +100 (50%)
Bet or pass: 1u Charles Radtke to Win (+150 or better)
Prop leans: None
~Daniel Marcos v John Castaneda~
I’m quite high on Daniel Marcos. I just think he’s a really talented striker. I bet him heavily against Aoriqileng, and were it not for the unfortunate NC, I think that would have looked like a really smart bet (not the only time that’s even happened to me this year…thanks Piera Rodriguez). People still hate on him for potentially getting a robbery over Davey Grant…but Grant is a very tricky guy to look good against at the best of times. The likes of Jonathan Martinez, Adrian Yanez, and even Marlon Vera have all struggled to decisively beat Davey.
John Castaneda is certainly the more well-rounded martial artist here, as the way he’s mixed takedowns into his game has been really intelligent. He’s also shown much more dangerousness than Marcos, landing a knockdown in four of his six UFC performances, and even scoring a submission win over Miles Johns.
For as long as this one stays standing, I think it’s a close fight that’s hard to call. Whilst I give a slight minute winning edge to Marcos for his higher level of technicality to his striking, I think Castaneda’s power can be a great equaliser, as can his ability to mix in takedowns. I’ve not seen much of Marcos’ anti-grappling to believe he can fend off a takedown threat if Castaneda wants to force things there.
So yeah, a non-committal breakdown but I think this is a close fight to call. There certainly isn’t any betting value to a fight this close anyway. I’ll pick Castaneda and give him the slight edge on the betting line for his diversity and finishing upside.
How I line this fight: John Castaneda -125 (55%), Daniel Marcos +125 (45%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Andrea Lee v Montana De La Rosa~
It’s always tricky to navigate the fade when you see a fighter with a glaring deficiency that keeps taking losses. Andrea Lee is on a sharp downwards slope – she’s 35 years old, she cannot stop takedowns, and she’s got a 3-7 record in decisions in the UFC. Those are some pretty damning facts, but what’s worse is that Lee’s decline is really showing in her performances. I confidently bet Miranda Maverick against her at near pick’em due to her grappling superiority, but I was very surprised to see Maverick actually clearly outrstriking Lee across 15 minutes. That was a terrible look because Maverick’s striking really has never looked good. That should not have happened.
The reason I began by saying that it’s difficult fading a fighter in Lee’s position, is because there comes a time where the calibre of opponent clearly takes a downwards step. I’ve always been a big believer in Miranda Maverick, and I believe she’s top 10 in the division, so trusting her to feast on Andrea Lee’s carcass was easy. This time however, we’re being asked to trust Montana De La Rosa, a clearly inferior fighter, to do the same. Historically, Lee is certainly a cut above her, and Lee’s 30-27 victory over MDLR in 2019 demonstrated that perfectly.
Montana’s not bad bad, she’s just lacking in physicality to really be able to get her game going. She’s definitely a grappler, but a 31% takedown accuracy and poor top control means that she struggles to really find openings to do her best work...so she just kind of survives in fights if she can’t grapple you. Just looking through her UFC fights and it’s so obvious where her calibre lies…none of the girls she’s beaten apart from Ariane Lipski have been in the UFC for years, and even some of the names she’s beaten aren’t super elite either. And back when she fought Lipski, the Brazilian had some of the worst anti-grappling we’d seen in WMMA.
So this is clearly one of those fights where my predictions and probabilities for the fight weigh more on how either woman loses, as opposed to how they win. Right off the bat, that’s an awful premise to be considering a bet, so I can easily tell you this is one to avoid…and I haven’t even looked at the betting line yet.
Yep, Andrea lee sits around -130. I expected exactly that, as it’s a coin-toss as to which woman is inferior, but history is worth something and Lee does have a win over her opponent here. I guess Andrea Lee is the pick because MDLR already landed five takedowns the first time and did fuck all with them, but I have little to no confidence here. I’m sure no one is even reading this far into the breakdown because no one even cares about WMMA like I do. It’s a pass. I'll keep an eye out for Lee by Decision, assuming it's around the +200 mark.
How I line this fight: Andrea Lee -150 (60%), Montana De La Rosa +150 (40%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
Bets (Bold = been placed)
1u Jared Cannonier to Win (+100 or better)
1u Jacoby v Reyes Over 1.5 Rounds (+150 or better….I could be way off the mark there)
1u Julian Marquez to Win (+100)
1u Charles Radtke to Win (+150 or better)
1u Andrea Lee to Win by Decision (+200 or better...might not get anywhere near that number, idk)
Parlay Pieces: Julian Marquez, Taylor Lapilus
Dog of the Week: Jared Cannonier
Picks: Jared Cannonier, Dustin Jacoby, Julian Marquez, Dustin Stoltzfus, Miguel Baeza, Raul Rosas Jr, Denise Gomes, Taylor Lapilus, Brad Katona, Moises/Klein, Radtke/Prates, Marcos/Castaneda, Andrea Lee
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2024 - Staked: 274.05u, Profit/Loss: -18.55u
As always, scroll down for UFC Louisville Breakdowns. The following is just a recap of last event’s results.
~UFC 302 (PREVIOUS CARD)~
Staked: 12.5u
Profit/Loss: +7.64u
ROI: 61%
Parlay Suggestions: 3-0
Dog of the week: Cesar Almeida ❌
Picks: 8-3
Underwhelming card, but as expected it was a pretty easy one to predict. The favourites were mostly consistent, and most of the expected methods of victory landed. Nice profit made for once, but I think I had some fantastic reads on the card in spots that I didn’t bet. I said I expected Poirier to be competitive, and that Islam ITD wasn’t the lock people said it was. Matthews Decision was one I wanted to bet. I warned people that Hafez or Morono were the most likely bed-shitters. Basically, I think last week’s post would have been very useful to read.
✅ 2u Sean Strickland + Over 1.5 Rounds (-130) (won +1.54u)
✅ 2u Sean Strickland in R4, 5 or by Decision (+175) (won +3.5u) (accidentally edited this to 1u on the previous post, which wasn’t the intention. It’s was originally listed as 2u, and was tracked as such on my BetMMA record).
✅ 2u Kevin Holland + Grant Dawson (+110) (won 2.2u)
❌ 2u Cesar Almeida (+125)
❌ 1u Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (+150)
✅ 2u Ailin Perez + Over 1.5 Rounds (-120) (won +1.66u)
✅ 1u Makhachev, Strickland, Holland, J. Almeida (+224) (won +2.24u)
❌ 0.5u Morono, Matthews, Hafez, Perez (+401)
~UFC Louisville~
Good to see more touring cards, and a slight step up in calibre from the usual Apex shit. Not a lot of spots I am confident in, I have to be honest…but I see a few underdogs that I’m sprinkling on.
~Jared Cannonier v Nassourdine Imavov~
Not another Nassourdine Imavov five rounder! I’m a fan of his skillset, but I think his cardio is suspect across 25 minutes, which ultimately makes his fights tricky to predict in spots like this. He’s not exactly a potent finisher, and I can’t trust him to win rounds four and five…so I think his path to victory is therefore limited by principal. A Nassourdine Imavov in a main event relies heavily on him winning R1, 2 and 3.
On the other side, Jared Cannonier is a guy I’ve never truly given the respect he deserves. A split decision win over Sean Strickland in a 25-minute fight is certainly impressive, as is the absolute beating he put on Marvin Vettori straight after* (* I believe Vettori has declined massively and is washed, so I won’t be going crazy in overreacting to that). Cannonier is a hard hitter, but he’s also gotten really comfortable in upping his volume across five round too, landing 141 and 241 significant strikes in those two aforementioned bouts respectively. The quantity didn’t dip in rounds 4 and 5 either, which is key considering my comments on Imavov’s cardio.
So I give Cannonier an advantage in R4 and 5, but what about across the other three? Well, the power advantage also goes to him, but the diversity with grappling and submission attempts falls with the Frenchman. Cannonier has started mixing takedowns into his game a bit more, which does present an opportunity for Imavov’s nasty front chokes…but other than that I’m not really sure where else I give Imavov a clear advantage outside of age and height. He’s the bigger fighter, but Cannonier is a strong dude and has looked just fine against other Middleweights (no one of Imavov’s size, to be fair).
Jared is now 40 years old, which is a bit of a dreaded number, which I think is the reasoning for this line being the way it is. People seem keen to blindly fade that age, regardless of whether it’s presented itself on tape. I see what they’re getting at, but Cannonier has put in two of his best performances of his career in his last two…I am not convinced it’s as simple as fading a 40 year old here.
So with that aside, I see far more merit to Cannonier’s side than Imavov’s, so the +100/-125 betting line feels off to me. I understand that Nassourdine just put in convincing performances against Roman Dolidze and Chris Curtis, but personally I think both of those fighters are a cut below Jared Cannonier (and I bet Nassourdine in both spots there). Cannonier would have looked good there too.
However, we have seen Imavov challenged against some of Middleweight’s common names, such as Sean Strickland and Joaquin Buckley…whilst Cannonier has looked good everywhere except against Izzy and Whittaker (he did drop a couple of rounds to Kelvin Gastelum, but it’s hardly raises alarm bells to me as Kelvin’s a tough guy to beat across 25 minutes of kickboxing).
I would personally make Cannonier the favourite here, anywhere between -125 and -150, and I assume the dreaded age of 40 is the reason for the odds here. I ask you this…if Jared Cannonier was 35, would the line be different? I believe it would be, and age is relative in MMA. It’s something to take seriously, of course, but I don’t think Cannonier even looked like he had started to decline in his most recent fight against Vettori last year.
I’ll be backing the underdog here at +100 or better. The line looks to be moving in Imavov’s favour so I will be patient.
How I line this fight: Jared Cannonier -137 (58%), Nassourdine Imavov +137 (42%)
Bet or pass: 1u Jared Cannonier to Win (+100 or better)
Prop leans: None
Live Betting Leans: If Cannonier looks to have won any of R1, 2, or 3 but is still a bettable price going into the championship rounds, I think he should be favoured to win those so could be a good entry in-play.
~Dominick Reyes v Dustin Jacoby~
This one should be fun for the live audience, but it’s an incredibly volatile fight for the bettors.
Very obvious to see why that’s the case for Dom Reyes – he’s got heaps of potential on a good day, but his chin is dust at this point. Seriously, he got knocked out cold by the jab of Ryan Spann. In a striking based fight at 205lbs, that’s all you need to know to decide that putting money on him is an uncomfortable idea.
Dustin Jacoby on the other hand is not the most potent finisher at Light Heavyweight, which immediately makes me think that Dustin isn’t the kind of guy you’d want to play executioner when he’s the favourite against someone with a flaw like Reyes’ chin. You want someone you can trust to put dudes to sleep in one punch – I don’t think that’s Jacoby (having gone the distance in seven of his 11 fights in this second UFC stint, and winning via leg kicks in one of the stoppages). Also, he’s not even particularly reliable to win rounds either, given that he was supposed to be the more technical fighter compared to Alonzo Menifield, Khalil Rountree, Azamat Murzakanov, and Maxim Grishin – where he was a moderate/big favourite every time, and never covered the price.
I still expect Jacoby to probably be the superior fighter across 15 minutes, but his -225 price tag definitely implies that a finish is expected by the oddsmakers…and I just have a whole lot less confidence that he lands it. From there, I also have less confidence that he’ll be the one winning rounds, given how easily he’s fumbled that in the past…so I just don’t see how you can have around 70% confidence in him winning here. Honestly I don’t really think Jacoby can ever justify that kind of pricetag at a UFC level when we have seen him shit the bed so many times.
On the other hand, I couldn’t trust Dominick Reyes’ chin to survive a strong gust of wind, so there’s no way I’d want to play him either. A very easy pass. I’ll pick Jacoby to win though, but I’d never bet him at this number.
In terms of thinking about props, I might be interested in looking at the Over 1.5 Rounds here, given that I disagree with the oddsmaker’s believe in Jacoby’s finishing ability. That’s going to be a horrible bet to sit through, so I’d probably need a decent price like +150 or better. We’ll see what they’re offering, but I doubt it’s that good.
How I line this fight: Dominick Reyes +175 (36%), Dustin Jacoby -175 (64%)
Bet or pass: Over 1.5 Rounds (+150 or better…no idea if that’s anywhere near what we’ll get)
Prop leans: See above
~Julian Marquez v Zach Reese~
Julian Marquez is a really fun fighter to watch, I’m glad to see him back inside the cage. He’s never been the most talented, but he’s a C+ at everything and has A grade heart. To beat him, you need to be clinical or vastly superior in one area, or Marquez might surprise you and turn the fight into a war of attrition.
Zach Reese is a 6-1 fighter that lost his debut Cody Brundage (I actually bet Brundage there, haha). Talk about fumbling the bag. He just seems like a classic DWCS fighter, who scores quick finishes against taxi drivers and then is suddenly expected to be diverse and talented enough to take on an actual trained professional that’s been competing against a much higher level for years. The difference between the regionals and the UFC has always been vast, and DWCS proves that time and time again.
Zach Reese’s longest fight time is 4 minutes and 13 seconds. He has literally never been in a fight that’s hit the second round. Julian Marquez, on the other hand, has gone longer than that in five of his 6 UFC appearances to date – and his opponents have all competed in the organisation at least five times. I genuinely think that tells you all you need to know.
And the craziest part is that Zach Reese ain’t even an inexperienced young gun. Him fumbling the debut wasn’t like Tom Nolan, a 24 year old kid that believed his own hype and got sloppy in his debut. Reese is THIRTY YEARS OLD.
The gulf in experience is massive, and the difference in age isn’t. I know Julian Marquez’s UFC record isn’t pretty at all, but how well do you think Zach Reese would fare if he faced the same opponents at the time Marquez did? I reckon he’d be 0-6.
Maybe I’m crazy, but Julian Marquez deserves better than to be a + money underdog against a literal regional opponent. Reese has tall man’s defence, he got tagged in both fights in DWCS/UFC and they were on the feet about 20 seconds combined. Yes he’s clearly got a great submission game on bottom, but Marquez has never been submitted, is a BJJ purple belt and has trained at decent camps before. He’s currently at the MMA Lab and has been training with Cannonier for this one.
I’ll be rolling the dice on the more proven fighter at +100.
How I line this fight: Julian Marquez -150 (60%), Zach Reese +150 (40%)
Bet or pass: 1u Julian Marquez to Win (+100)
Prop leans: None
Live Betting Leans: R1 finishers often have bad cardio, so if we get to the stool then Marquez is definitely worth a bet to turn the tide.
~Brunno Ferreira v Dustin Stoltzfus~
I can’t figure Dustin Stoltzfus out. He’s always presented himself as a good but one-dimensional grappler, judging by performances against high level competition such as Rodolpho Vieira and Gerald Meerschaert…but the way he showed up against Punahele Soriano made him look like a completely different guy. He was supposed to be easily outgunned on the feet there, but he looked seasoned and composed in the striking, and ultimately ended up getting a finish that I think very few people saw coming.
Brunno Ferreira is a super explosive Brazilian powerhouse that hasn’t gone past the halfway point in a fight yet. He throws heat and has that madman style, but his fights are so short I’ve no idea if he actually has any redeeming qualities from a technical or minute-winning perspective. As you probably know by now, my least favourite fighting style is ‘big strike go brrrr’. Ferreira has also had some bizarre results himself, pulling off a huge upset against Gregory Rodrigues, and then getting starched by Nursulton Ruziboev.
The only thing I know about Brunno is that he’ll go to war with an opponent that wants to meet him in the middle…I’ve no idea if Dustin Stoltzfus really wants to do that. He handled himself really well against a similar kind of style in Puna Soriano…but he’s also the same guy that got womped in under 20 seconds by Abus Magomedov.
To conclude, I think I could easily see Brunno Ferreira scoring an easy KO inside a couple of minutes, but I could also see this one looking way more competitive and close than the betting line suggests if Stoltzfus makes it to the stool. Lots of different possibilities, not a lot of confidence in any one outcome.
Brunno Ferreira kind of presents similar red flags to Zach Reese in the last breakdown. The difference between the two, and the reason I am fading Reese and not Brunno, is that I have confidence and knowledge that Marquez can handle that early chaos. I can’t say the same about Stoltzfus, so I won’t be taking a stab on him. Personally I think he’s absolutely the value side though, so if you’re someone who wants to bet every fight then absolutely take him.
I will also be picking him to win, but not because I think he does so 51% or more of the time…just because Ferreira is only known to have a limited path to victory that could easily fall apart.
How I line this fight: Such a volatile fight, I have no idea.
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Punahele Soriano v Miguel Baeza~
Speak of the devil!
Punahele Soriano is so, so overrated. I have no idea how he’s even still in the UFC, or how he even got there in the first place. He was hyped up by Dana and the promo team as this scary and lethal striker….but then he pussy’d out and grappled his way to a decision win against Jamie Pickett on DWCS. Surprisingly they rewarded him with a contract (but didn’t want Brendan Loughnane!). Since then, lethal KO artist Puna has scored just three knockouts…but in the four fights he hasn’t, he’s looked like absolute shit. Getting schooled on the feet by Dustin Stoltzfus and Brendan Allen is a really bad look when you’re being advertised as a striker…and losing a decision to Nick Maximov isn’t a good look either!
To their credit, this fight against Miguel Baeza is a genius pairing by the UFC matchmakers though, because Baeza’s career has kind of panned out the same as Soriano’s. A hard hitting DWCS graduate, Baeza got off to a decent start with three consecutive finishes, most notably against Matt Brown. He stepped up the level of competition to face Santiago Ponzinibbio, which resulted in a life and death decision that he narrowly lost. Unfortunately, the losses snowballed dramatically as he was later KO’d by Khaos Williams and Andre Fialho. The latter result the most shocking, given that Fialho is dogshit. Baeza has since taken two years off…and everyone forgot he existed.
Apologies for taking two massive paragraphs to give you both men’s life stories, but it really does paint the picture of this fight from a betting perspective. Both men are overhyped KO artists - with one lacking in durability, and the other lacking in brain cells.
Puna is probably more likely to walk away with the KO win due to Baeza’s declining durability, but he’s also the more likely to get out-struck and styled on if this one turns into a longer distanced fight. Who wins that kind of fight? I have absolutely no idea. I’m just glad that one guy gets to stick around after this fight is over, because I’d be keen to fade both guys in the future.
I have little confidence so it counts for nothing, but I’ll pick Baeza simply because I like to fade finish-reliant fighters, and Miguel seems to be the more technical. His leg kick should work nicely here.
How I line this fight: Punahele Soriano +125 (45%), Miguel Baeza -125 (55%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Raul Rosas Jr. vs Ricky Turcios~
I’ve copy/pasted my breakdown for this fight from the UFC Mexico event, and made some updated changes:
I’m still pretty gassed about hitting the fade on Raul Rosas Jr with Christian Rodriguez – definitely one of my favourite bets of 2023. I saw an untested 18 year old that was the beneficiary the UFC hype machine, and a then unknown opponent who had proven tricky to beat with the style Rosas Jr has. I saw it as a pick’em, and Rodriguez was +200. Easy bet to make.
In that fight, Rosas Jr kind of cardio-dumped and gave up once it was obvious that early finish wasn’t going to present itself, and that’s certainly a concern until we see him fight competently for 15 minutes at this level. I can think of countless UFC hype trains that hid their shocking minute winning ability behind dominant and exciting R1 finishes (Edmen Shahbazyan was my initial example, but since writing this Joe Pyfer has given another great recent example), and I therefore simply cannot trust Raul Rosas at this stage in his career when he’s still going to be sitting at -250 on the betting line due to his popularity.
Is Ricky Turcios worth the gamble as an underdog? I don’t really think so. He has been taken down seven and six times in two different UFC fights, has losses to Aimann Zahabi and Boston Salmon, and his wins were against Kevin Natividad and Brady Hiestand…which were both splits. The UFC are clearly treating this as a lay-up fight for Rosas Jr, but without feeding him a promotional newcomer or a fellow inexperienced guy. I don’t mean lay-up as if it’s a squash match, but it’s assumed that he SHOULD win here, instead of them throwing him to the wolves or making him go up against a fellow serious prospect.
Stylistically this one all revolves around the cardio for me, because I don’t think Turcios has what it takes to win this fight off the merit of his own skillset. He needs Rosas Jr. to gas out first, if he’s going to have any hope of having his way here. We have no way of knowing whether or not Rosas will gas, as it could have just been a one off and he’s so young that he could make the improvements quickly.
Personally, I’d be willing to give Rosas Jr the benefit of the doubt. The Rodriguez loss really should have opened his eyes, and it’s often the best thing for a young prospect to get that wake up call sometimes, as he was probably starting to believe his own hype. If the cardio is fixable, I assume he’s done all he can to fix it. He therefore deserves to be the favourite, but I won’t be betting on it.
How I line this fight: Raul Rosas Jr -200 (67%), Ricky Turcios +200 (33%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: I was originally going to bet the Over 2.5 rounds, but I’ll pass on that now.
~Eduarda Moura v Denise Gomes~
Eduarda Moura’s UFC debut did not impress me at all. I didn’t bother researching her regional footage, and from what I saw in that debut she’s a size/weight bully that isn’t even that amazing at what she does. Yes she outgrappled and mauled that Mexican woman, but the size difference was comical and she couldn’t have found an easier opponent to beat if she tried.
I had one of my best bets of 2023 on Denise Gomes’ last fight against Angela Hill (big up Angie for winning a couple of weeks ago, she’s such a money train for me), opting to fade the scary finishing ability of a WMMA fighter for a more technical and historically durable veteran on the return. Not only did Angie school her, she even managed to mix in some grappling to make the win even more stylish. That gets the alarm bells ringing here, as Moura’s MO is definitely to grapple, and Angie’s no grappler.
I don’t have a strong opinion on this one, because both women give me very strong fraud vibes. I think Moura is absolutely going to be one to fade in the future, and Gomes has already been faded in the past. Personally I don’t think the equally limited Denise Gomes is the woman to give Moura her first L, because stylistically this looks like a tricky fight for her. Fingers crossed Moura wins and the fade opportunity is live next time. It’s an easy pass for me.
How I line this fight: No idea, they’re both frauds
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Puja Tomar v Rayanne Amanda (dos Santos)~
Some people believe in the narrative that you should try and fade Indian fighters. That worked pretty well last time Jeka Sarragih fought!
I bet on Rayanne dos Santos in her UFC debut, and she lost a split to an inexperienced opponent with bad cardio. I was impressed with her striking in Invicta, but she struggled to do anything meaningful stuff in that UFC debut. By the looks of the early line I’m seeing, she’s about -180 here. Who the hell is going to bet that!?
I obviously know nothing about Puja, but her record shows she’s fought two serious opponents. You know I love WMMA more than anyone else, but I have absolutely no interest in doing tape for this one. Pass.
How I line this fight: No idea
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Cody Stamann v Taylor Lapilus~
Very disappointed by the betting line here. When a fight like this gets announced, I immediately get excited because I think there’s a chance the books might get caught out and give a very bettable price on a fight that seems close on paper, but should be quite one-sided in reality, due to the stylistics.
Taylor Lapilus deserves to be -200 here, maybe even steeper. Reason being, he’s great where Stamann is average, but he’s also good where Stamann is good. The Frenchman is a slick striker that should certainly be expected to land the more eye-catching shots, when compared to Stamann’s T-Rex boxing. He will enjoy a 9-inch reach advantage, and should just be able to hit and not get hit. Stamann barely has any power either, so even if he does land a punch for every two he absorbs, I doubt it’s going to do much to convince the judges to credit him as the round winner.
Cody Stamann has veered away from his wrestling roots in recent fights, but you’d think it would serve him well here, given the reach and technical disadvantage he will find himself at. Whilst this would be true against another opponent, Taylor Lapilus has a very good anti-grappling game. His takedown defence is good, but even when he does get floored he works hard and effectively to get back to his feet, or at the very least nullify his opponent. His most recent fight was an exception to that as Farid Basharat made light work of him…but that was a very impressive performance that I don’t think many could replicate.
So in summary, I think Stamann is going to be shut out here, and I don’t think he’s going to really be able to find success anywhere in this fight. He will either stand at distance and clearly get outstruck by the fighter with the better footwork that will keep him at range…or he attempts to wrestle and likely has little luck at finding any real success. At the very least, the success he does have probably won’t be enough to erase the striking deficit he’s already accrued.
On a more narrative based note, Stamann also appears to have regressed a fair bit in recent years. He was once a gatekeeper to the top 15, drawing with the likes of Song Yadong and even winning a round against Merab…but since then losing decisions to 37-year-old Douglas Silva de Andrade and winning questionable decisions against Luan Lacerda. I’d say this is a tricky fight for Stamann in his prime, but Cody’s trending downwards too.
As I said in the opening paragraph, I’m disappointed that the books didn’t offer a better price on Lapilus, and I’m interested to see if money comes in on Cody still. Personally I’d be happy to bet Lapilus at -175 or better, but I’d need the line to improve slightly before I could play it. I might parlay him with someone on next week’s card once I get further down the line researching it.
How I line this fight: Cody Stamann +225 (31%), Taylor Lapilus -225 (69%)
Bet or pass: No bet, for now.
Prop leans: None
~Brad Katona v Jesse Butler~
The less time spent talking about this one, the better. Brad Katona is possibly the least intimidating MMA fighter to have ever graced the UFC, both in the way he fights, and his demeanour. The former is more important, because he can sometimes struggle to win rounds because he’s outgunned most of the time. He needs to put on a perfect defensive display to win striking fights, because if he gets wobbled he probably can’t get the round back.
Jesse Butler is a can with about as much of a right to be on the UFC’s roster as I do. He has no striking ability, as seen in his 23 second KO MASSACRE at the hands of 40-year-old Jim Miller (one of my favourite KOs of 2023 that one, definitely recommend if you didn’t see it!). That lack of striking ability, both offensively and defensively, means that he is very unlikely to get the better of a good point fighter like Brad Katona. But everyone has a puncher’s chance.
Katona is nearly -600 here. Mostly justified, but also eye-wateringly steep at the exact same time when you consider Katona’s path to victory is almost exclusively by decision! Pass.
How I line this fight: Brad Katona -400 (80%), Jesse Butler +400 (20%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: Me to fall asleep watching this one (+200 or better)
~Ludovit Klein v Thiago Moises~
Two guys I have historically had a very tricky time analysing. I was high on Klein when he made his debut, then I turned my back on him after the losses to Trizano and Landwehr – and since then he’s been pulling off upsets and continuing to prove he was worth the hype he entered the UFC with. The dude has some of the best high kicks I’ve ever seen from a fighter.
Thiago Moises has always been credentialed and talented, but he’s failed to deliver on the promises his abilities make on paper. Moises is capable of taking fighters down and submitting them early, but it’s genuinely taken nine UFC fights for him to actually go out there and do that. And then he did it twice in a row (against Giagos and Melq Costa).
So I think that does a good job of explaining why I am going to be non-committal and just leave this fight alone. Klein is great when he’s on form, but he’s shown himself to be capable of dropping the ball in fights he really should win. He’s proven himself to be a guy that you back as an underdog, but avoid as a favourite. He’s barely either here, but he does have a minus next to his name.
Moises is also too inconsistent to trust either. I think there’s a chance that this could be a winnable fight for him, as his grappling will definitely be superior if he can force things to the floor. That sounds like a great opportunity for a +100 fighter…but Moises definitely won’t look that number if he decides to stand and trade – and his 1.64 takedowns landed per 15 minutes statistic is enough to assume he won’t.
The oddsmakers are right in lining this one close, because both men have very legitimate paths to victory with only a few small factors landing in their favour. I’d argue that Klein is the rightful favourite (and therefore my pick) due to all fights starting standing and Moises’ track record…but this is a close one.
How I line this fight: Ludovit Klein -125 (55%), Thiago Moises +125 (45%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Charles Radtke v Carlos Prates~
If you’re a regular reader of my posts, you may know that historically I am someone who genuinely thinks Trevin Giles has some redeeming qualities. In fact, I claimed in his recent fight against Carlos Prates that the line was wide, and that Giles may be able to find a way to have some success. Having watched that fight back, I think I was justified to feel that way.
I liked what I saw from Prates on DWCS, with the way he mixed up volume, pressure and power…but ultimately that performance against Giles was a bit concerning. He definitely lost round one, and by the end of the fight he was outstruck almost two to one. Of course, he won via KO…but to expect a fighter to be bailed out by their raw power every time is a bit foolish.
Charles Radtke is ironically a fighter I’ve had nothing but bad things to say about. I slated his debut win against Mike Mathetha (the artist formally known as Blood Diamond), and tried to fade him when he faced Gilbert Urbina. Boy did he look great in that sophomore appearance, I was really impressed. His striking just seemed so tight, accurate and crisp, I couldn’t believe how easily he pieced up Urbina.
I’m obviously not super confident in my analysis here, simply due to the lack of tape we have on both guys…but I don’t really understand what we are supposed to have seen from Prates to justify a -200 pricetag? He was struggling against Giles, and had he not landed the precise punch that ended things…he could easily have lost that one! I get that he has a big size advantage…but Urbina was taller and Radtke approached the striking gameplan perfectly. He also has Belal Muhammad in his corner (or at least he did vs Urbina), who I rate as a pretty intelligent fighter.
This one feel like it could develop into a very competitive fight, and the finishing ability is strong on either side. Radtke has also shown a diverse game and an ability to mix in grappling when necessary, which could serve him well here. For those reasons, I’m happy to roll the dice on yet another underdog here, and back Charles Radtke for 1u at +150 or better. I’ll be waiting a little bit to see what the initial line movement does.
How I line this fight: Charles Radtke +100 (50%), Carlos Prates +100 (50%)
Bet or pass: 1u Charles Radtke to Win (+150 or better)
Prop leans: None
~Daniel Marcos v John Castaneda~
I’m quite high on Daniel Marcos. I just think he’s a really talented striker. I bet him heavily against Aoriqileng, and were it not for the unfortunate NC, I think that would have looked like a really smart bet (not the only time that’s even happened to me this year…thanks Piera Rodriguez). People still hate on him for potentially getting a robbery over Davey Grant…but Grant is a very tricky guy to look good against at the best of times. The likes of Jonathan Martinez, Adrian Yanez, and even Marlon Vera have all struggled to decisively beat Davey.
John Castaneda is certainly the more well-rounded martial artist here, as the way he’s mixed takedowns into his game has been really intelligent. He’s also shown much more dangerousness than Marcos, landing a knockdown in four of his six UFC performances, and even scoring a submission win over Miles Johns.
For as long as this one stays standing, I think it’s a close fight that’s hard to call. Whilst I give a slight minute winning edge to Marcos for his higher level of technicality to his striking, I think Castaneda’s power can be a great equaliser, as can his ability to mix in takedowns. I’ve not seen much of Marcos’ anti-grappling to believe he can fend off a takedown threat if Castaneda wants to force things there.
So yeah, a non-committal breakdown but I think this is a close fight to call. There certainly isn’t any betting value to a fight this close anyway. I’ll pick Castaneda and give him the slight edge on the betting line for his diversity and finishing upside.
How I line this fight: John Castaneda -125 (55%), Daniel Marcos +125 (45%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
~Andrea Lee v Montana De La Rosa~
It’s always tricky to navigate the fade when you see a fighter with a glaring deficiency that keeps taking losses. Andrea Lee is on a sharp downwards slope – she’s 35 years old, she cannot stop takedowns, and she’s got a 3-7 record in decisions in the UFC. Those are some pretty damning facts, but what’s worse is that Lee’s decline is really showing in her performances. I confidently bet Miranda Maverick against her at near pick’em due to her grappling superiority, but I was very surprised to see Maverick actually clearly outrstriking Lee across 15 minutes. That was a terrible look because Maverick’s striking really has never looked good. That should not have happened.
The reason I began by saying that it’s difficult fading a fighter in Lee’s position, is because there comes a time where the calibre of opponent clearly takes a downwards step. I’ve always been a big believer in Miranda Maverick, and I believe she’s top 10 in the division, so trusting her to feast on Andrea Lee’s carcass was easy. This time however, we’re being asked to trust Montana De La Rosa, a clearly inferior fighter, to do the same. Historically, Lee is certainly a cut above her, and Lee’s 30-27 victory over MDLR in 2019 demonstrated that perfectly.
Montana’s not bad bad, she’s just lacking in physicality to really be able to get her game going. She’s definitely a grappler, but a 31% takedown accuracy and poor top control means that she struggles to really find openings to do her best work...so she just kind of survives in fights if she can’t grapple you. Just looking through her UFC fights and it’s so obvious where her calibre lies…none of the girls she’s beaten apart from Ariane Lipski have been in the UFC for years, and even some of the names she’s beaten aren’t super elite either. And back when she fought Lipski, the Brazilian had some of the worst anti-grappling we’d seen in WMMA.
So this is clearly one of those fights where my predictions and probabilities for the fight weigh more on how either woman loses, as opposed to how they win. Right off the bat, that’s an awful premise to be considering a bet, so I can easily tell you this is one to avoid…and I haven’t even looked at the betting line yet.
Yep, Andrea lee sits around -130. I expected exactly that, as it’s a coin-toss as to which woman is inferior, but history is worth something and Lee does have a win over her opponent here. I guess Andrea Lee is the pick because MDLR already landed five takedowns the first time and did fuck all with them, but I have little to no confidence here. I’m sure no one is even reading this far into the breakdown because no one even cares about WMMA like I do. It’s a pass. I'll keep an eye out for Lee by Decision, assuming it's around the +200 mark.
How I line this fight: Andrea Lee -150 (60%), Montana De La Rosa +150 (40%)
Bet or pass: Pass
Prop leans: None
Bets (Bold = been placed)
1u Jared Cannonier to Win (+100 or better)
1u Jacoby v Reyes Over 1.5 Rounds (+150 or better….I could be way off the mark there)
1u Julian Marquez to Win (+100)
1u Charles Radtke to Win (+150 or better)
1u Andrea Lee to Win by Decision (+200 or better...might not get anywhere near that number, idk)
Parlay Pieces: Julian Marquez, Taylor Lapilus
Dog of the Week: Jared Cannonier
Picks: Jared Cannonier, Dustin Jacoby, Julian Marquez, Dustin Stoltzfus, Miguel Baeza, Raul Rosas Jr, Denise Gomes, Taylor Lapilus, Brad Katona, Moises/Klein, Radtke/Prates, Marcos/Castaneda, Andrea Lee
2024.06.02 17:19 Spooncow H: Weapon list, Event Plans, apparel W: Commando Weapons, leaders, apparel, Caps
Weapons
AA/50c/15r Gauss Rifle
AA/25ww25v Minigun
AA/25ww15c Combat Shotgun
AA/40WS/25v Assaualton Blade & Security Baton
B/40ws/25v Pool Cue (lol)
B/25ww25v Gatling gun
B/50c/-90 light machine gun,
B/50c/15c Lever Action,
B/50vhc/25v Fixer,
B/50vhc/15r Broadsider
8 unrolled Elders Marks,
Quad/50vhc -90 weight Railway,
Quad/Bash/25v Fixer,
Quad/25Aiming damage/25v Combat shotgun
Quad/50vhc/15r Fixer
TS/25ww15r Handmade,
V/25ww15r Minigun
V/25ww-90 Lever Action
Armour
OE/AP/cryo fsa left arm
OE/rad/Wwr metal right arm
OE/1s/stealth USA right leg
UNY/int/chem fsa right arm
VAN/ap/junk fsa chest
Plans
Multiples of every alien plan, (I have 20 teal hazmats plans to give you an idea lol),
Most Mothman Plans including a Tome
Backpack Lead lined, Refrigerated, High Capacity
Vintage Water Cooler,
Pepper Shaker,
meat tenderiser,
Most fossil display pieces & current event plushies and most of the random diagrams etc, will provide list on request as there in vendor
Raw Cement Barricade
I HAVE THE FABLED WEENIE WAGON AVAILABLE
Apparel
25 Brown, 17 Asylum green, 15 Asylum Blue, 9 Pink, 2 Yellow, 6 Forest
6 Hunters long coats
Raven Mask White Powder JS
Junk 16k Circuits, 22k Antiseptic, 47k Copper, 39k Adhesive, 38k Lead
Mods EPG Severe Beta Wave Tuner, Long Recon Scope
Aid - 180 energy bobbles, 50 big guns, 150 LL8, 100 berry mentats
Have plenty of leaders to balance trades
Will take current event plans for weapons
Looking for:
Q/25 or E/? Handmades & Fixers
AA/25 or E/? Handmades & Fixers
Q/25/? Railway,
Apparel offers
Flux/ultracite always nice, leaders, small guns, junk anything lightweight to store
Giant Red Dino plan
Can accept caps currently - subject to change
submitted by Spooncow to Market76 [link] [comments]
AA/50c/15r Gauss Rifle
AA/25ww25v Minigun
AA/25ww15c Combat Shotgun
AA/40WS/25v Assaualton Blade & Security Baton
B/40ws/25v Pool Cue (lol)
B/25ww25v Gatling gun
B/50c/-90 light machine gun,
B/50c/15c Lever Action,
B/50vhc/25v Fixer,
B/50vhc/15r Broadsider
8 unrolled Elders Marks,
Quad/50vhc -90 weight Railway,
Quad/Bash/25v Fixer,
Quad/25Aiming damage/25v Combat shotgun
Quad/50vhc/15r Fixer
TS/25ww15r Handmade,
V/25ww15r Minigun
V/25ww-90 Lever Action
Armour
OE/AP/cryo fsa left arm
OE/rad/Wwr metal right arm
OE/1s/stealth USA right leg
UNY/int/chem fsa right arm
VAN/ap/junk fsa chest
Plans
Multiples of every alien plan, (I have 20 teal hazmats plans to give you an idea lol),
Most Mothman Plans including a Tome
Backpack Lead lined, Refrigerated, High Capacity
Vintage Water Cooler,
Pepper Shaker,
meat tenderiser,
Most fossil display pieces & current event plushies and most of the random diagrams etc, will provide list on request as there in vendor
Raw Cement Barricade
I HAVE THE FABLED WEENIE WAGON AVAILABLE
Apparel
25 Brown, 17 Asylum green, 15 Asylum Blue, 9 Pink, 2 Yellow, 6 Forest
6 Hunters long coats
Raven Mask White Powder JS
Junk 16k Circuits, 22k Antiseptic, 47k Copper, 39k Adhesive, 38k Lead
Mods EPG Severe Beta Wave Tuner, Long Recon Scope
Aid - 180 energy bobbles, 50 big guns, 150 LL8, 100 berry mentats
Have plenty of leaders to balance trades
Will take current event plans for weapons
Looking for:
Q/25 or E/? Handmades & Fixers
AA/25 or E/? Handmades & Fixers
Q/25/? Railway,
Apparel offers
Flux/ultracite always nice, leaders, small guns, junk anything lightweight to store
Giant Red Dino plan
Can accept caps currently - subject to change
2024.06.02 17:04 ecgeek Lightconn Help
I bought one a while ago and had trouble with it however I got busy with other stuff and just left it in my drawer...
However at this point I want to get it working again and am not sure if it is due to something I am doing wrong or that it got damaged during the shipment as it gets me inconsistent results. I have tried different consoles and games and can't get good accuracy. The internal calibration seems to work so not sure what's going on. It's the in-game calibration that is off.
The only thing I noticed is that in all the demonstration videos the TV doesn't show any black bars whereas for me I only have wider screen displays and even when I force wide screen it still has the black bars.
However even when I tried 4:3 aspect the internal calibration does register the corners but the in-game accuracy is still way off.
I am using a Tomee VGA cable.
I tried the all the DC games and even Atomiswave light gun games and same problems.
Any guidance would be appreciated.
submitted by ecgeek to dreamcast [link] [comments]
However at this point I want to get it working again and am not sure if it is due to something I am doing wrong or that it got damaged during the shipment as it gets me inconsistent results. I have tried different consoles and games and can't get good accuracy. The internal calibration seems to work so not sure what's going on. It's the in-game calibration that is off.
The only thing I noticed is that in all the demonstration videos the TV doesn't show any black bars whereas for me I only have wider screen displays and even when I force wide screen it still has the black bars.
However even when I tried 4:3 aspect the internal calibration does register the corners but the in-game accuracy is still way off.
I am using a Tomee VGA cable.
I tried the all the DC games and even Atomiswave light gun games and same problems.
Any guidance would be appreciated.
2024.06.02 16:18 Full-League-1610 Standard npm library for currency conversion and formatting along with currency symbol
i am working on an ecommerce website, where i need to display the product price based on the local currency of the user's region, so i need to convert the price of product from usd to that local currency and i also need that local currency symbol for display purpose, is there any standard library for that in reactjs
submitted by Full-League-1610 to reactjs [link] [comments]
2024.06.02 16:07 Drakos8706 Powerless (part 68)
First. Previous.
‘Ri woke up in the hotel room to the sound and smell of cooking meat, as well as what she knew to be pancakes. Opening her eyes, she looked ‘down’ to see Kyle cooking on the small grill he packed with him in his subspace shadow, one of his near-silent air purifiers directly overhead, as he was using wood to cook with; the smell of fire-grilled meat was making her ravenous, and it was with a happy stretch that she sat up, Kyle turning to smile at her.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said as she smiled back, “Figured I’d make you breakfast-in-bed; we got dragon steak and eggs - chicken eggs - and I just got done with a bunch of dragon bacon. Pancakes were done a few minutes ago, and I’ve been letting the butter melt in; syrup’s over…” he looked around, spotting a metal container that looked somewhat like a drink pitcher. He set all of this down on a large tray, which he carried over to her, setting it down on the bed lengthwise between the two of them. He went back to the table he’d been working at to retrieve plates, flatware, and two glasses, floating a pitcher of what turned out to be gor’ahm juice, a sweet - yet slightly tart - berry that grew on verem’jiose, and also cost quite a bit, as it was difficult to get enough berries to mass produce, so it wasn’t ‘readily available’ outside of her homeworld.
All-in-all it was a rather enjoyable breakfast - whether or not he had any ‘professional’ training, Kyle sure did know how to cook. After they were done eating - and Kyle had moved their dishes over to the kitchenette their room came with - they took a shower, taking their time in the hot water, just enjoying each other’s presence. When they were done, they dressed in the robes that came with the room - they had gone with black all around - and went to sit together in the main room, putting on some soothing music as they sat together, tails and arms wrapped around each other. After a while of them just sitting there, Kyle stirred slightly.
“I, uh… I got a surprise for you.” He sounded a bit nervous as he said it, but she put that to the side; surely he was just hoping she’d like whatever it was. He smiled slightly, and said,
“Close your eyes.”
Doing as he asked, she shut her eyes, knowing full well that whatever he was ‘retrieving’ was in his subspace shadow, but she went along with the act. When he gave her the okay, she opened her eyes, and it seemed like her stomach dropped out from under her heart, and into oblivion; there in his hands was a thin, perfectly square - but not ‘cubed’ - black box. She looked up at him, unable to say anything, as he opened the lid, and she let out an involuntary gasp; it was difficult for her mind to process what she was seeing, as it appeared to be a round piece of the void cut out to look like a tiara. Or, at least it looked like the shape of one, seeing as she couldn’t really make out any details, though there obviously were details carved into it, as the little sparkles of what she knew to be black hole diamonds - she had seen the pendant Kyle had retrieved from the pirates - seemed to appear and disappear, depending on what angle she looked at it from. The big 8-point star in the middle - reminiscent of the shape their pupils took when observing peoples’ life-blood, and Gift - was always visible however, no matter the angle it was viewed from.
“I had to have Kay’Eighty sketch out the basic outline of where to cut to fit you,” he said, drawing her out of her stupor, “And I had the lead sehr’chtahb fit the diamonds on it, as part of the payment for bringing back the pendant, along with the diamonds themselves, of course. The actual tiara is made from the bone of the first dragon I killed, and I used the kath’loo’s Gift to turn the bone so black that it absorbs all light. I had to turn the bone behind the diamonds silver, because there’s only so much that refraction can do.” They both gave a little chuckle at that; finally, he pointed to the inside of the tiara.
“And here I put a strip of crysthril all the way around it,” she knew that he’d gotten the Gift from one of the sehr’chtahb before they’d left the planet, “Which you normally wouldn’t need, seeing as you’ve got a literal ton in your subspace; but this is different. While we can’t transfer our Gifts to anyone else, we can transfer them into the crysthril, and it stays enchanted with the Gift, no matter how much of it you use. It’s basically limited by your own power, and how much of each Gift was put into the crysthril. Right now, this has all the Gifts that I have right now, and I can always add more in later, when I get ‘em… So, will you wear it?”
The last part was said with a palpable level of nervousness, and she was unable to say anything at that moment. After a few seconds, she finally was able to nod her head yes, tears leaking down her face. Kyle’s face lit up in a wide grin, and she saw his eyes shimmer with unshed tears as he reached forward to grasp the tiara, showing her how to disconnect it at the sides. She leaned her head forward as he reached up to put it on for her, it fitting snugly not just around her head, but perfectly resting around her horns, so as not to be squeezing them, nor to be loose, and wobbly.
She reached forward, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss, too happy to actually say anything; they sat there for a while, basking in their shared love, until she started getting a bit antsy. Kyle obviously noticed this, as he laughed, and said,
“Go look; I know you’re just dying to see it.”
After a smile, and a quick kiss, she ran into the bathroom, looking into the mirror, marveling at the dazzling headpiece that was now her’s. She sat there for a good few minutes, turning her head this way and that, admiring the craftsmanship Kyle had so lovingly put into it. It honestly looked like something a professional jeweler would be proud to call their own work, and she reveled in that fact as well. This was a testament to his love for her, and it was done through Kyle’s own handiwork; and where it wasn’t, it was small enough to excuse away, especially with having had the diamonds placed as payment for his actual work.
Eventually she was able to tear her eyes from the beautiful piece, and she returned to Kyle’s side, both of them grinning like children. After a few minutes of making out, and cuddling, Kyle insisted that they get dressed.
“I know you wanna show that off, and we can go look around the shops, see if there’s anything that we want. Then we can grab lunch somewhere, and later we can have dinner with your parents and ‘Lana. Tomorrow I’m gonna go back to the ship and get some brisket started up; Kohr’Sahr and the others’re gonna be here in a couple days, and I wanna have a party when we give them the news.”
“Do they know?” she asked.
“About me proposing? No,” he replied, “About everything else? I gave ‘em a brief rundown, but I didn’t go into too much detail. The suun’mahs representative got in touch with me yesterday: the broadcast is gonna come out later today, and anything that they need cleared up after that, I’m happy to be the one to tell ‘em… You’re sure you’re okay with them posting your general location to the public? I don’t want you to have to deal with any ‘fanclubs’ from back home.”
She smiled warmly at him, running her fingers through his hair.
“They’ll know that I’m taken, and that they have no chance; anyone who tries anything after that, no one will blame us for… teaching them a lesson. Besides, they already know not to bother me if they see me abroad; the secrecy was just an added measure.”
He bowed his head concedingly, as he got up, pulling her to her feet with him.
“Come on,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth, “Let’s get dressed.”
She got dressed in a simple black pleated skirt that came about ⅔ down her thigh, along with a teal button-up shirt. Kyle was wearing his black and red pants, with a silk purple shirt; he had decided to forgo his boots. Kyle applied a simple light layer of purple eye shadow, and simple black liner, with a reverse of that on his lips, having purple liner and black filler. She went with the same pattern, except she used a luscious red in place of her natural purple. Once they were ready, they were about to head out when she thought of something; she held out her hands, and pulled a certain large, flat box from her subspace shadow. Smiling, Kyle opened it, and gently removed the necklace he’d bought her the last time they were on this station. After he’d secured it in place, she dismissed the box, and they left the room arm-in-arm.
The payoff was near-automatic, as it only took as long as getting into the elevator before they encountered another person; this one turned out to be none other than the Captain, as the station leader had put the entire crew up in the station’s best hotels, save for a decent amount of the security, all of whom had gotten to leave the ship last time they were on this station. As soon as the doors opened, they saw her standing next to what appeared to be a golden drahk’mihn, with horns that protruded from his forehead, sweeping back over the top of his head, only to slightly curl upwards just as they reached the back of his head. He wore light blue shorts, and a matching vest, while the Captain wore her customary jacket; her eyes widened when she saw the two, going straight to the tiara on her head.
"By the Gods, man; do you do anything normal?"
"Define 'normal'," Kyle countered, which brought about a round of laughter.
“Were y’all gettin’ off?” Kyle asked, hooking his thumb over his shoulder; the Captain cleared her throat,
“Well, that’s really none of your business,” she replied, to more laughter, “But we can take another ride, either way.” She had barely taken her eyes off the tiara the entire time, much to ‘Ri’s delight. As Kyle pushed the button for the lobby, Golden asked how Kyle had made it, to which he obliged, occupying the time it took them to reach the ground floor; the Captain couldn’t keep her eyes off the headpiece the whole time, at which ‘Ri couldn’t help but smile with pride.
After they reached their floor, they bid the other two farewell, at which point the Captain seemed to remember herself, and gave a hasty - yet obviously sincere - congratulations to the two, which Golden echoed. After thanking the two, they disembarked the elevator, ‘Ri acutely aware that the Captain was still staring at the tiara, even without looking back at her.
The rest of the day passed in a similar manner, with the general crowd around them either going silent, or - less common, but still frequent enough to be noticeable - lightly gasping; all eyes were on her, which made her smile and cling to Kyle’s arm all the more. It was funny: she had never really cared about ‘tradition’, and had always simply wanted someone who saw her as her. Sure, there were several ‘high-born’ men who’d hunted dangerous beasts - even to a drahk’mihn - to turn into tiaras, all of them trying to ‘win her hand’. But none of that had ever mattered, no matter what they’d hunted, or whether they’d used their Gift, or not; none of them even knew who she was, so their efforts meant nothing, but whatever standing they could achieve by marrying ‘the girl who stopped the war’.
But here was Kyle, a man from another species entirely who saw her as a person, in a way that no non-insectoid ever had in her entire life. A man who’d had no problem whatsoever showing his anger at her - very much deserved, she had to admit; that was a rather rude wake-up call - before he really even knew her, not afraid to call her out on any toxic behavior she might display. And who had taken the fruit of his labors to produce a symbol of his commitment to her, fully embodying the true symbolism of the traditional way, not by simply trying to impress her by buying her affection, as the others had. And for the first time since she was a little girl, she felt a distinct pride in that tradition, and all the more love towards Kyle for it.
They didn’t really have any place in particular that they had in mind to visit, simply walking around, enjoying each other’s company, and the reactions of the various passersby. Among the obviously astonished expressions, there were quite a few jealous ones on a few of the women they passed by, which brought her no end of satisfaction; not that she had anything in particular against any of those women, it just felt good to have something that others wanted so badly. And though she doubted that many of them actually wanted her man - whom she still valued more than the headpiece he’d given her - what they wanted was a product of his work, and so either way - whether they knew it or not - it was him that they wanted; too bad for all of them that she’d gotten her claws in him first, and she was never letting him go of him again.
She had made sure of that, seeing as he could now issue orders to the Captain, and change protocol on a whim; she had also gotten him to give her authorization to take a shuttle planetside if she deemed it necessary, though he’d made her promise to exercise that authority only in cases of an actual emergency, and not for a small ‘threat’ that he could obviously handle. They had come to the agreement that the wild cats from Cheshire’s homeworld were the cutoff point: anything much bigger than those were enough to warrant her presence on the planet. She didn’t really like even that, but she had to agree that at that point it was almost insulting to his own abilities, especially since he had plenty of Gifts to help him out, including her own.
At one point, they were passing by a furniture shop when they spotted her parents and ‘Lana going in; it was her sister who noticed them, calling out,
“‘Ri, Kyle; hi!”
They both smiled and called back in greeting, waving as her parents turned around, their faces immediately breaking out in smiles as they saw the two of them; the looks on their faces - coupled with not a bit of surprise - told her that he’d already shown them the tiara, not that she minded. If he was going to show anyone before her - aside from those who helped him create it in the first place - she could accept her parents being the ones, and ‘Lana by extension.
They spent around an hour walking around the shop - Kyle having to encourage them to pick out the more ‘luxury’ goods - as her parents picked out a new mattress for their bed, along with a few comfortable chairs. They all went their separate ways, her and Kyle promising to meet up later for dinner together. As they had just come back from eating themselves, they went to do more shopping - Kyle reminding them not to worry about the price of anything - while she and Kyle went to go find somewhere to eat.
They decided on a unique shop setup, wherein there was an herbivore side, and a carnivore side; both were technically their own shops - separated by a wall, and everything - though there was no problem with an herbivore sitting with carnivore friends to go nextdoor to get a plate made, and bring it over, or vice versa. They decided on sitting in the carnivore section, and Kyle would go over to the herbivore side to get a bit of roughage for the both of them. After they had taken their seat - the keen’yhong waitress staring in awe at her tiara - Kyle excused himself to the shop next door; after he’d left her line of sight, she immediately got up and hurried to the restroom, eager to get another look at herself in the mirror.
Vohr’Sin - a light blue drahk’mihn with horns that curved back, down and around, so that the tips pointed forward, just under his ears - was having a bit of trouble, as the restaurant was currently too full to seat them.
“There’s nothing you can do for the drahk’mihn ambassador to the humans’ system?” he asked jokingly, “She should be on her way any minute.”
“Sorry, sir,” the black gah’rahtoe replied to him, his face showing genuine regret, “It’s the lunch rush, right now. You’re welcome to wait for someone to finish up, if you like.”
“No,” he responded, “She had to skip breakfast this morning to attend a virtual meeting, so I doubt she’ll be up to waiting… Well, thanks anyway.” As he turned to find somewhere else to eat, he nearly walked right into another person; it took him a moment to realize who it was.
“My apologies,” he said, “I should have been paying more attention to where I was going… Forgive me for bothering you, but aren’t you Ambassador Redding?”
The human was easily recognizable, the ‘scars’ across his face and the horns - which the Empress herself had expressed to his wife were not to be commented upon - that were in a very unique shape. Personally, he wasn’t too comfortable with the human getting a pass at imitating their race - especially Kah’Ri’s horns, of all people - but if the service that he’d provided to their race by coming up with the idea of how to find the slavers was enough for Empress Ella’Ven to excuse it, he had to accept it, as well. The man was carrying a tray with a few plates of vegetables on them, including two baked tass’guds.
“I am,” the human replied with a smile, “Sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation: if you like, you can come sit with me and my fiance; we’re out celebrating our engagement.”
“Oh,” he began sheepishly, “I really wouldn’t want to intrude…” but the human waved him off.
“I’m sure it’ll be no problem; you know how women like to show off their jewelry. It’s just us, so I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides, I can answer any questions your wife may have about humans, and any social customs she might need to be aware of. Well, any that I know of, anyway.” He finished with a slight chuckle, and Vohr’Sin was torn between not wanting to intrude, but also not wanting to insult the Ambassador by refusing; it was at this time that his wife Vir’Ell walked up.
“I see you’ve met the human Ambassador, love.” He turned to see the yellow-tinted woman that he’d pledged his life to, wearing a light purple tube-top, and matching shorts. Her slender horns swept backward, ending halfway down the back of her head, pointing down.
“I’m Vir’Ell,” she said, directing her attention to the human after exchanging a kiss with Vohr’Sin, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, as well,” he replied, “I was just telling your husband that y’all can join me an’ my fiance, if you like. We just got engaged this morning, and I’m sure she’d just love the chance to show off. Of course, I don’t wish to interrupt your own time, if you’d rather eat alone, but it seems that we took the last free table, here.”
“That sounds lovely,” she replied easily, lightly squeezing his tail with her own, “I look forward to meeting your betrothed.”
The human - Kyle, as he asked them to call him - led them inside, and over to an empty table, where they all took their seats.
“I’m sure she went to freshen up,” he said as they all sat down,
“So,” he continued as they all settled down, “I hear you’re on your way to Sol?”
“We are,” Vir’Ell replied brightly, “Several factors have come together to convince the Empress to send an envoy to your system; the two biggest factors being - of course - your own contribution to freeing those enslaved, but also from the fact that even through the outcasts of your society, it is entirely obvious that humans had nothing to do with the enslavement of our people. There are obviously other reasons - ones that she wishes to keep close to her wings - but she has decided that humans will be the first race to whom she will reach out a hand of open friendship. Obviously, this will have to be taken slowly, but we’re hopeful that this could open new avenues of trade and friendship that we’ve been so sorely missing all these years.”
“Well,” Kyle began, “I hope we can come together as peoples, especially since our introduction to the wider galaxy came about in quite similar circumstances.”
“Yes,” Vohr’Sin replied seriously, joining the conversation, “That is something that we - as separate races - can relate to, you more so than others, I’m sure. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to endure the mahn’ewe’s captivity, and I commend you on your mental fortitude to be able to make it through all of that relatively unscarred. I won’t claim to know how you’ve dealt with it since your escape, but the fact that you came out of it without any noticeable xenophobia is exemplary.”
“Yeah, well,” Kyle began a bit darkly, looking off to the side a bit as his mind wandered those detestable halls, “I’m kinda used to misfortune, and holding it against those who brought it on, specifically. As a matter of fact, the mahn’ewe look human enough that it doesn’t even translate the same when looking from even the drahk’mihn to them. And everyone else just looks like ‘humanoid animals’, or ‘insects’, so it’s less of a comparison to the mahn’ewe, and more so towards our own myths and legends. And I guess I can’t really complain about my lot in life, ‘cause if I hadn’t been abducted, it’s likely I never would’ve met my future wife… Who seems to finally be done admiring herself in the mirror.” This last part he raised his voice slightly, obviously addressing someone over Vir’Ell’s shoulder, who was on Vohr’Sin’s right side. Before they could turn to look, a surprisingly familiar voice rang out, the smile audible in her voice.
“Can’t you go anywhere without ingratiating yourself with whatever drahk’mihn may be in the vicinity?” Looking around at the woman who had just walked past them to sit next to Kyle, his heart seemed to stop in surprise, both at who was talking, as well as the tiara she was wearing; and looking at her now, he fully understood why the Empress had directed them to ignore Kyle's choice in horns. Kah’Ri Mih’Rell wrapped her tail around Kyle’s waist - even as he wrapped his around her - and even hooked her right wing on his right shoulder, a wide grin on her face. On her head was what appeared to be the void itself, elegantly wrapped around her head, twined gracefully over her horns so as to appear as if the void really had inserted itself onto her head.
“‘Ri,” Kyle began, obviously enjoying their reaction just as much as Kah’Ri was, “I’d like you to meet Vohr’Sin, and his wife Vir’Ell; they’re heading to Sol, as she’s been appointed the Ambassador to humanity.”
“Oh,” she replied, obviously surprised, “I honestly didn’t expect that, though I suppose Ella would have ample reason to reach out to humans, of all peoples.” Obviously it was common knowledge that the Empress had taken Kah’Ri in when she’d lost her own parents, but somehow it had never occurred to him to imagine anyone being ‘close’ enough to her to call her by a nickname.
“I’m sorry,” Vir’Ell cut in, “But that tiara is absolutely stunning.” Mixed in with the pleasure at such an extravagant praise, there was an obvious strain of pride in their faces as they both grinned, Kah’Ri leaning closer to Kyle.
“Thank you,” she replied, “He made it according to tradition.”
“You made that?!” he couldn’t help but exclaim, causing them to smile even wider, “From what? I recognize the black hole diamonds, but the material that the rest of it is made of…”
Kah’Ri gave Kyle a knowing look, and - still smiling - said,
“Show them.”
Kyle gave her a conceding nod of his head, and fiddled with the small monitor that was strapped to his wrist. Soon enough, a small hologram appeared on the table between them, depicting Kyle in a strange white tree, looking down at a - comparatively - giant red reptile of some kind. There was a seemingly one-sided conversation where he was obviously speaking with the razum’yilahn that was partially wrapped around his neck, the rest of their body disappearing beneath his shirt. They were still able to catch the gist of what they were saying, mainly that he couldn’t kill that creature until they were sure it wasn’t sapient, which would require them going into its mind.
What followed was an epic battle between man and beast, his uplifted canine companion joining the fight once it was clear that it was indeed a fight. And though it fended off any attacks the canine - Cheshire - threw its way, it seemed intent on finishing the one that had invaded its mind. It eventually had Kyle pinned on his back, both claws - and most of its weight - braced on the staff of the spear he wielded, while Cheshire continued to draw its attention. One such attempt resulted in the reptile shifting its mass, causing one of its paws to slip off the staff, producing what would obviously eventually become the tattoo across his face, though his eyes were destroyed beyond repair in the process.
He managed to catch the claw back on the staff again - obviously using the razum’yilahn’s eyes to operate - soon after which a shuttle appeared, its door open, and what looked like an automated weapon hanging out the side. It fired once, catching the reptile in its backside, and doing little more than making the beast angrier. As it hissed at the shuttle, the weapon fired again, and caught it in the throat, opening up a shallow cut, which Kyle wasted no time in exploiting. Bracing the staff between the arches in his boots, he reached down and drew another knife from his boot, and quickly used it to open the cut wider, rolling out from under the monster to avoid the spray of blood. As the hologram cut out, Kyle began speaking.
“I used the skull plate to grind out the tiara itself, though I had to use nanobots to carve out the clasp to hold the two pieces around her horns. The diamonds were a reward for returning a pendant to the ory’lagus who run the black hole mining company, and the sehr’chtahb who originally crafted the first black hole diamond shaped and set ‘em for me, and I used the Gift I took from the Kath’Loo who was holding her father to change the bone so that it absorbs all light; I also had to turn the bone behind the diamond - and every flake of diamond dust - to silver, to have some light reflect back.”
Vohr’Sin was quite taken aback by everything that had gone into making that tiara, and he was beginning to see possibly a bit of what Kah’Ri must have seen in him in the first place. He was only just realizing that Kyle hadn’t seemed phased to have seen a drahk’mihn; which now it was obvious as to why, but it should have been something that he noticed when they first met. Perhaps it was the horns, and his eyes, of course; another thing the Empress had instructed them to ignore. He was also acutely aware of how… desirable that course of events made him.
“Goddess, man,” he said, putting an exaggeratedly jealous arm around Vir’Ell’s waist, “Save some for the rest of us.” That got a good laugh out of the table, shortly after which their waitress showed up to take their orders. Luckily, they all knew what they wanted, and they were soon talking back and forth, sharing anecdotes from their home world, and asking questions about his. They learned a few things that weren’t easily discernible by simple study of their culture through text, or even video. Kah’Ri stayed quiet, mostly, letting them do all the talking about Verem’Jiose; probably since she had been - intentionally - absent from there for so long, it wasn’t like she would have any idea of more recent news, or trends.
All-in-all, it was an enjoyable lunch, with the time slipping by as they ate and talked the meal away. Towards the end of the meal, the women excused themselves to the restroom, and while they were gone, he took the chance to ask Kyle about the possibility of being allowed to hunt one of those lizards himself, as Kyle had informed them that he owned that planet.
“Well,” he began after a bit of thought, “If you do hunt one, you’ll firstly have to do it without your Gift,” that took him by surprise, but Kyle didn’t stop there, “You also have to fight without any kind of ‘modern’ weapon. Which is mostly just saying that you can’t use guns, though nanoblades are not only acceptable, but also needed. And I’ll even make sure that you’re supplied with some mithril to use, as well. And just so you know: not only will you have a guide with you at all times to make sure you stick to the rules I set out, but they can see if you use your Gift.”
He flexed his eyes for a moment, having already explained how they worked - as far as he knew, anyway - to them earlier, when they revealed that that was why Kah’Ri’s eyes were red, instead of purple.
“I understand,” he replied seriously, “I wouldn’t want to disrespect your world.” Kyle nodded once, saying,
“Well then, I think we can work something out. If y’all’re gonna be here for a couple days, I might be able to get in touch with someone who can set up a way to get you there ‘n back.”
“That would be most appreciated.” As Kyle nodded his acceptance of his thanks, an idea came to his mind.
“You know,” he started in a conspirator's tone, “Before we left home, I managed to get my claws on a crate of krav’ashah wine; it’s a ‘luxury’ berry on Verem’Jiose, as it’s hard to farm, and doesn’t produce a very high yield, even when done correctly; aged twenty years. I would be willing to gift a couple bottles to the two of you, in celebration of your engagement.”
Kyle smiled knowingly, and replied with,
“Well, that would also be much appreciated; I’d definitely owe you a lot… You know, the ory’lagus gave me a lot of extra diamonds, not just enough for ‘Ri to make my circlet. Once you get the piece you wanna make for Vir’Ell, I can shape and set a decent-sized one for you.”
“I think we have an understanding,” he said, smiling.
“As do I,” Kyle replied, a smile of his own on his face.
Their other halves came back shortly after that, and after they all said their goodbyes - he had insisted on paying for the meal - he made his way back to the ship with Vir’Ell, already planning the shape of the new tiara he would be carving for her. And while the one he had bought her would always be special to him - a simple golden band, with a blue diamond in the center of her forehead - he wanted to make this one even better; perhaps he could find a way to incorporate her old one…
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‘Ri woke up in the hotel room to the sound and smell of cooking meat, as well as what she knew to be pancakes. Opening her eyes, she looked ‘down’ to see Kyle cooking on the small grill he packed with him in his subspace shadow, one of his near-silent air purifiers directly overhead, as he was using wood to cook with; the smell of fire-grilled meat was making her ravenous, and it was with a happy stretch that she sat up, Kyle turning to smile at her.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said as she smiled back, “Figured I’d make you breakfast-in-bed; we got dragon steak and eggs - chicken eggs - and I just got done with a bunch of dragon bacon. Pancakes were done a few minutes ago, and I’ve been letting the butter melt in; syrup’s over…” he looked around, spotting a metal container that looked somewhat like a drink pitcher. He set all of this down on a large tray, which he carried over to her, setting it down on the bed lengthwise between the two of them. He went back to the table he’d been working at to retrieve plates, flatware, and two glasses, floating a pitcher of what turned out to be gor’ahm juice, a sweet - yet slightly tart - berry that grew on verem’jiose, and also cost quite a bit, as it was difficult to get enough berries to mass produce, so it wasn’t ‘readily available’ outside of her homeworld.
All-in-all it was a rather enjoyable breakfast - whether or not he had any ‘professional’ training, Kyle sure did know how to cook. After they were done eating - and Kyle had moved their dishes over to the kitchenette their room came with - they took a shower, taking their time in the hot water, just enjoying each other’s presence. When they were done, they dressed in the robes that came with the room - they had gone with black all around - and went to sit together in the main room, putting on some soothing music as they sat together, tails and arms wrapped around each other. After a while of them just sitting there, Kyle stirred slightly.
“I, uh… I got a surprise for you.” He sounded a bit nervous as he said it, but she put that to the side; surely he was just hoping she’d like whatever it was. He smiled slightly, and said,
“Close your eyes.”
Doing as he asked, she shut her eyes, knowing full well that whatever he was ‘retrieving’ was in his subspace shadow, but she went along with the act. When he gave her the okay, she opened her eyes, and it seemed like her stomach dropped out from under her heart, and into oblivion; there in his hands was a thin, perfectly square - but not ‘cubed’ - black box. She looked up at him, unable to say anything, as he opened the lid, and she let out an involuntary gasp; it was difficult for her mind to process what she was seeing, as it appeared to be a round piece of the void cut out to look like a tiara. Or, at least it looked like the shape of one, seeing as she couldn’t really make out any details, though there obviously were details carved into it, as the little sparkles of what she knew to be black hole diamonds - she had seen the pendant Kyle had retrieved from the pirates - seemed to appear and disappear, depending on what angle she looked at it from. The big 8-point star in the middle - reminiscent of the shape their pupils took when observing peoples’ life-blood, and Gift - was always visible however, no matter the angle it was viewed from.
“I had to have Kay’Eighty sketch out the basic outline of where to cut to fit you,” he said, drawing her out of her stupor, “And I had the lead sehr’chtahb fit the diamonds on it, as part of the payment for bringing back the pendant, along with the diamonds themselves, of course. The actual tiara is made from the bone of the first dragon I killed, and I used the kath’loo’s Gift to turn the bone so black that it absorbs all light. I had to turn the bone behind the diamonds silver, because there’s only so much that refraction can do.” They both gave a little chuckle at that; finally, he pointed to the inside of the tiara.
“And here I put a strip of crysthril all the way around it,” she knew that he’d gotten the Gift from one of the sehr’chtahb before they’d left the planet, “Which you normally wouldn’t need, seeing as you’ve got a literal ton in your subspace; but this is different. While we can’t transfer our Gifts to anyone else, we can transfer them into the crysthril, and it stays enchanted with the Gift, no matter how much of it you use. It’s basically limited by your own power, and how much of each Gift was put into the crysthril. Right now, this has all the Gifts that I have right now, and I can always add more in later, when I get ‘em… So, will you wear it?”
The last part was said with a palpable level of nervousness, and she was unable to say anything at that moment. After a few seconds, she finally was able to nod her head yes, tears leaking down her face. Kyle’s face lit up in a wide grin, and she saw his eyes shimmer with unshed tears as he reached forward to grasp the tiara, showing her how to disconnect it at the sides. She leaned her head forward as he reached up to put it on for her, it fitting snugly not just around her head, but perfectly resting around her horns, so as not to be squeezing them, nor to be loose, and wobbly.
She reached forward, pulling him into a deep, passionate kiss, too happy to actually say anything; they sat there for a while, basking in their shared love, until she started getting a bit antsy. Kyle obviously noticed this, as he laughed, and said,
“Go look; I know you’re just dying to see it.”
After a smile, and a quick kiss, she ran into the bathroom, looking into the mirror, marveling at the dazzling headpiece that was now her’s. She sat there for a good few minutes, turning her head this way and that, admiring the craftsmanship Kyle had so lovingly put into it. It honestly looked like something a professional jeweler would be proud to call their own work, and she reveled in that fact as well. This was a testament to his love for her, and it was done through Kyle’s own handiwork; and where it wasn’t, it was small enough to excuse away, especially with having had the diamonds placed as payment for his actual work.
Eventually she was able to tear her eyes from the beautiful piece, and she returned to Kyle’s side, both of them grinning like children. After a few minutes of making out, and cuddling, Kyle insisted that they get dressed.
“I know you wanna show that off, and we can go look around the shops, see if there’s anything that we want. Then we can grab lunch somewhere, and later we can have dinner with your parents and ‘Lana. Tomorrow I’m gonna go back to the ship and get some brisket started up; Kohr’Sahr and the others’re gonna be here in a couple days, and I wanna have a party when we give them the news.”
“Do they know?” she asked.
“About me proposing? No,” he replied, “About everything else? I gave ‘em a brief rundown, but I didn’t go into too much detail. The suun’mahs representative got in touch with me yesterday: the broadcast is gonna come out later today, and anything that they need cleared up after that, I’m happy to be the one to tell ‘em… You’re sure you’re okay with them posting your general location to the public? I don’t want you to have to deal with any ‘fanclubs’ from back home.”
She smiled warmly at him, running her fingers through his hair.
“They’ll know that I’m taken, and that they have no chance; anyone who tries anything after that, no one will blame us for… teaching them a lesson. Besides, they already know not to bother me if they see me abroad; the secrecy was just an added measure.”
He bowed his head concedingly, as he got up, pulling her to her feet with him.
“Come on,” he said, giving her a quick kiss on the corner of her mouth, “Let’s get dressed.”
She got dressed in a simple black pleated skirt that came about ⅔ down her thigh, along with a teal button-up shirt. Kyle was wearing his black and red pants, with a silk purple shirt; he had decided to forgo his boots. Kyle applied a simple light layer of purple eye shadow, and simple black liner, with a reverse of that on his lips, having purple liner and black filler. She went with the same pattern, except she used a luscious red in place of her natural purple. Once they were ready, they were about to head out when she thought of something; she held out her hands, and pulled a certain large, flat box from her subspace shadow. Smiling, Kyle opened it, and gently removed the necklace he’d bought her the last time they were on this station. After he’d secured it in place, she dismissed the box, and they left the room arm-in-arm.
The payoff was near-automatic, as it only took as long as getting into the elevator before they encountered another person; this one turned out to be none other than the Captain, as the station leader had put the entire crew up in the station’s best hotels, save for a decent amount of the security, all of whom had gotten to leave the ship last time they were on this station. As soon as the doors opened, they saw her standing next to what appeared to be a golden drahk’mihn, with horns that protruded from his forehead, sweeping back over the top of his head, only to slightly curl upwards just as they reached the back of his head. He wore light blue shorts, and a matching vest, while the Captain wore her customary jacket; her eyes widened when she saw the two, going straight to the tiara on her head.
"By the Gods, man; do you do anything normal?"
"Define 'normal'," Kyle countered, which brought about a round of laughter.
“Were y’all gettin’ off?” Kyle asked, hooking his thumb over his shoulder; the Captain cleared her throat,
“Well, that’s really none of your business,” she replied, to more laughter, “But we can take another ride, either way.” She had barely taken her eyes off the tiara the entire time, much to ‘Ri’s delight. As Kyle pushed the button for the lobby, Golden asked how Kyle had made it, to which he obliged, occupying the time it took them to reach the ground floor; the Captain couldn’t keep her eyes off the headpiece the whole time, at which ‘Ri couldn’t help but smile with pride.
After they reached their floor, they bid the other two farewell, at which point the Captain seemed to remember herself, and gave a hasty - yet obviously sincere - congratulations to the two, which Golden echoed. After thanking the two, they disembarked the elevator, ‘Ri acutely aware that the Captain was still staring at the tiara, even without looking back at her.
The rest of the day passed in a similar manner, with the general crowd around them either going silent, or - less common, but still frequent enough to be noticeable - lightly gasping; all eyes were on her, which made her smile and cling to Kyle’s arm all the more. It was funny: she had never really cared about ‘tradition’, and had always simply wanted someone who saw her as her. Sure, there were several ‘high-born’ men who’d hunted dangerous beasts - even to a drahk’mihn - to turn into tiaras, all of them trying to ‘win her hand’. But none of that had ever mattered, no matter what they’d hunted, or whether they’d used their Gift, or not; none of them even knew who she was, so their efforts meant nothing, but whatever standing they could achieve by marrying ‘the girl who stopped the war’.
But here was Kyle, a man from another species entirely who saw her as a person, in a way that no non-insectoid ever had in her entire life. A man who’d had no problem whatsoever showing his anger at her - very much deserved, she had to admit; that was a rather rude wake-up call - before he really even knew her, not afraid to call her out on any toxic behavior she might display. And who had taken the fruit of his labors to produce a symbol of his commitment to her, fully embodying the true symbolism of the traditional way, not by simply trying to impress her by buying her affection, as the others had. And for the first time since she was a little girl, she felt a distinct pride in that tradition, and all the more love towards Kyle for it.
They didn’t really have any place in particular that they had in mind to visit, simply walking around, enjoying each other’s company, and the reactions of the various passersby. Among the obviously astonished expressions, there were quite a few jealous ones on a few of the women they passed by, which brought her no end of satisfaction; not that she had anything in particular against any of those women, it just felt good to have something that others wanted so badly. And though she doubted that many of them actually wanted her man - whom she still valued more than the headpiece he’d given her - what they wanted was a product of his work, and so either way - whether they knew it or not - it was him that they wanted; too bad for all of them that she’d gotten her claws in him first, and she was never letting him go of him again.
She had made sure of that, seeing as he could now issue orders to the Captain, and change protocol on a whim; she had also gotten him to give her authorization to take a shuttle planetside if she deemed it necessary, though he’d made her promise to exercise that authority only in cases of an actual emergency, and not for a small ‘threat’ that he could obviously handle. They had come to the agreement that the wild cats from Cheshire’s homeworld were the cutoff point: anything much bigger than those were enough to warrant her presence on the planet. She didn’t really like even that, but she had to agree that at that point it was almost insulting to his own abilities, especially since he had plenty of Gifts to help him out, including her own.
At one point, they were passing by a furniture shop when they spotted her parents and ‘Lana going in; it was her sister who noticed them, calling out,
“‘Ri, Kyle; hi!”
They both smiled and called back in greeting, waving as her parents turned around, their faces immediately breaking out in smiles as they saw the two of them; the looks on their faces - coupled with not a bit of surprise - told her that he’d already shown them the tiara, not that she minded. If he was going to show anyone before her - aside from those who helped him create it in the first place - she could accept her parents being the ones, and ‘Lana by extension.
They spent around an hour walking around the shop - Kyle having to encourage them to pick out the more ‘luxury’ goods - as her parents picked out a new mattress for their bed, along with a few comfortable chairs. They all went their separate ways, her and Kyle promising to meet up later for dinner together. As they had just come back from eating themselves, they went to do more shopping - Kyle reminding them not to worry about the price of anything - while she and Kyle went to go find somewhere to eat.
They decided on a unique shop setup, wherein there was an herbivore side, and a carnivore side; both were technically their own shops - separated by a wall, and everything - though there was no problem with an herbivore sitting with carnivore friends to go nextdoor to get a plate made, and bring it over, or vice versa. They decided on sitting in the carnivore section, and Kyle would go over to the herbivore side to get a bit of roughage for the both of them. After they had taken their seat - the keen’yhong waitress staring in awe at her tiara - Kyle excused himself to the shop next door; after he’d left her line of sight, she immediately got up and hurried to the restroom, eager to get another look at herself in the mirror.
Vohr’Sin - a light blue drahk’mihn with horns that curved back, down and around, so that the tips pointed forward, just under his ears - was having a bit of trouble, as the restaurant was currently too full to seat them.
“There’s nothing you can do for the drahk’mihn ambassador to the humans’ system?” he asked jokingly, “She should be on her way any minute.”
“Sorry, sir,” the black gah’rahtoe replied to him, his face showing genuine regret, “It’s the lunch rush, right now. You’re welcome to wait for someone to finish up, if you like.”
“No,” he responded, “She had to skip breakfast this morning to attend a virtual meeting, so I doubt she’ll be up to waiting… Well, thanks anyway.” As he turned to find somewhere else to eat, he nearly walked right into another person; it took him a moment to realize who it was.
“My apologies,” he said, “I should have been paying more attention to where I was going… Forgive me for bothering you, but aren’t you Ambassador Redding?”
The human was easily recognizable, the ‘scars’ across his face and the horns - which the Empress herself had expressed to his wife were not to be commented upon - that were in a very unique shape. Personally, he wasn’t too comfortable with the human getting a pass at imitating their race - especially Kah’Ri’s horns, of all people - but if the service that he’d provided to their race by coming up with the idea of how to find the slavers was enough for Empress Ella’Ven to excuse it, he had to accept it, as well. The man was carrying a tray with a few plates of vegetables on them, including two baked tass’guds.
“I am,” the human replied with a smile, “Sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation: if you like, you can come sit with me and my fiance; we’re out celebrating our engagement.”
“Oh,” he began sheepishly, “I really wouldn’t want to intrude…” but the human waved him off.
“I’m sure it’ll be no problem; you know how women like to show off their jewelry. It’s just us, so I’m sure it’ll be fine. Besides, I can answer any questions your wife may have about humans, and any social customs she might need to be aware of. Well, any that I know of, anyway.” He finished with a slight chuckle, and Vohr’Sin was torn between not wanting to intrude, but also not wanting to insult the Ambassador by refusing; it was at this time that his wife Vir’Ell walked up.
“I see you’ve met the human Ambassador, love.” He turned to see the yellow-tinted woman that he’d pledged his life to, wearing a light purple tube-top, and matching shorts. Her slender horns swept backward, ending halfway down the back of her head, pointing down.
“I’m Vir’Ell,” she said, directing her attention to the human after exchanging a kiss with Vohr’Sin, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“And you, as well,” he replied, “I was just telling your husband that y’all can join me an’ my fiance, if you like. We just got engaged this morning, and I’m sure she’d just love the chance to show off. Of course, I don’t wish to interrupt your own time, if you’d rather eat alone, but it seems that we took the last free table, here.”
“That sounds lovely,” she replied easily, lightly squeezing his tail with her own, “I look forward to meeting your betrothed.”
The human - Kyle, as he asked them to call him - led them inside, and over to an empty table, where they all took their seats.
“I’m sure she went to freshen up,” he said as they all sat down,
“So,” he continued as they all settled down, “I hear you’re on your way to Sol?”
“We are,” Vir’Ell replied brightly, “Several factors have come together to convince the Empress to send an envoy to your system; the two biggest factors being - of course - your own contribution to freeing those enslaved, but also from the fact that even through the outcasts of your society, it is entirely obvious that humans had nothing to do with the enslavement of our people. There are obviously other reasons - ones that she wishes to keep close to her wings - but she has decided that humans will be the first race to whom she will reach out a hand of open friendship. Obviously, this will have to be taken slowly, but we’re hopeful that this could open new avenues of trade and friendship that we’ve been so sorely missing all these years.”
“Well,” Kyle began, “I hope we can come together as peoples, especially since our introduction to the wider galaxy came about in quite similar circumstances.”
“Yes,” Vohr’Sin replied seriously, joining the conversation, “That is something that we - as separate races - can relate to, you more so than others, I’m sure. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to endure the mahn’ewe’s captivity, and I commend you on your mental fortitude to be able to make it through all of that relatively unscarred. I won’t claim to know how you’ve dealt with it since your escape, but the fact that you came out of it without any noticeable xenophobia is exemplary.”
“Yeah, well,” Kyle began a bit darkly, looking off to the side a bit as his mind wandered those detestable halls, “I’m kinda used to misfortune, and holding it against those who brought it on, specifically. As a matter of fact, the mahn’ewe look human enough that it doesn’t even translate the same when looking from even the drahk’mihn to them. And everyone else just looks like ‘humanoid animals’, or ‘insects’, so it’s less of a comparison to the mahn’ewe, and more so towards our own myths and legends. And I guess I can’t really complain about my lot in life, ‘cause if I hadn’t been abducted, it’s likely I never would’ve met my future wife… Who seems to finally be done admiring herself in the mirror.” This last part he raised his voice slightly, obviously addressing someone over Vir’Ell’s shoulder, who was on Vohr’Sin’s right side. Before they could turn to look, a surprisingly familiar voice rang out, the smile audible in her voice.
“Can’t you go anywhere without ingratiating yourself with whatever drahk’mihn may be in the vicinity?” Looking around at the woman who had just walked past them to sit next to Kyle, his heart seemed to stop in surprise, both at who was talking, as well as the tiara she was wearing; and looking at her now, he fully understood why the Empress had directed them to ignore Kyle's choice in horns. Kah’Ri Mih’Rell wrapped her tail around Kyle’s waist - even as he wrapped his around her - and even hooked her right wing on his right shoulder, a wide grin on her face. On her head was what appeared to be the void itself, elegantly wrapped around her head, twined gracefully over her horns so as to appear as if the void really had inserted itself onto her head.
“‘Ri,” Kyle began, obviously enjoying their reaction just as much as Kah’Ri was, “I’d like you to meet Vohr’Sin, and his wife Vir’Ell; they’re heading to Sol, as she’s been appointed the Ambassador to humanity.”
“Oh,” she replied, obviously surprised, “I honestly didn’t expect that, though I suppose Ella would have ample reason to reach out to humans, of all peoples.” Obviously it was common knowledge that the Empress had taken Kah’Ri in when she’d lost her own parents, but somehow it had never occurred to him to imagine anyone being ‘close’ enough to her to call her by a nickname.
“I’m sorry,” Vir’Ell cut in, “But that tiara is absolutely stunning.” Mixed in with the pleasure at such an extravagant praise, there was an obvious strain of pride in their faces as they both grinned, Kah’Ri leaning closer to Kyle.
“Thank you,” she replied, “He made it according to tradition.”
“You made that?!” he couldn’t help but exclaim, causing them to smile even wider, “From what? I recognize the black hole diamonds, but the material that the rest of it is made of…”
Kah’Ri gave Kyle a knowing look, and - still smiling - said,
“Show them.”
Kyle gave her a conceding nod of his head, and fiddled with the small monitor that was strapped to his wrist. Soon enough, a small hologram appeared on the table between them, depicting Kyle in a strange white tree, looking down at a - comparatively - giant red reptile of some kind. There was a seemingly one-sided conversation where he was obviously speaking with the razum’yilahn that was partially wrapped around his neck, the rest of their body disappearing beneath his shirt. They were still able to catch the gist of what they were saying, mainly that he couldn’t kill that creature until they were sure it wasn’t sapient, which would require them going into its mind.
What followed was an epic battle between man and beast, his uplifted canine companion joining the fight once it was clear that it was indeed a fight. And though it fended off any attacks the canine - Cheshire - threw its way, it seemed intent on finishing the one that had invaded its mind. It eventually had Kyle pinned on his back, both claws - and most of its weight - braced on the staff of the spear he wielded, while Cheshire continued to draw its attention. One such attempt resulted in the reptile shifting its mass, causing one of its paws to slip off the staff, producing what would obviously eventually become the tattoo across his face, though his eyes were destroyed beyond repair in the process.
He managed to catch the claw back on the staff again - obviously using the razum’yilahn’s eyes to operate - soon after which a shuttle appeared, its door open, and what looked like an automated weapon hanging out the side. It fired once, catching the reptile in its backside, and doing little more than making the beast angrier. As it hissed at the shuttle, the weapon fired again, and caught it in the throat, opening up a shallow cut, which Kyle wasted no time in exploiting. Bracing the staff between the arches in his boots, he reached down and drew another knife from his boot, and quickly used it to open the cut wider, rolling out from under the monster to avoid the spray of blood. As the hologram cut out, Kyle began speaking.
“I used the skull plate to grind out the tiara itself, though I had to use nanobots to carve out the clasp to hold the two pieces around her horns. The diamonds were a reward for returning a pendant to the ory’lagus who run the black hole mining company, and the sehr’chtahb who originally crafted the first black hole diamond shaped and set ‘em for me, and I used the Gift I took from the Kath’Loo who was holding her father to change the bone so that it absorbs all light; I also had to turn the bone behind the diamond - and every flake of diamond dust - to silver, to have some light reflect back.”
Vohr’Sin was quite taken aback by everything that had gone into making that tiara, and he was beginning to see possibly a bit of what Kah’Ri must have seen in him in the first place. He was only just realizing that Kyle hadn’t seemed phased to have seen a drahk’mihn; which now it was obvious as to why, but it should have been something that he noticed when they first met. Perhaps it was the horns, and his eyes, of course; another thing the Empress had instructed them to ignore. He was also acutely aware of how… desirable that course of events made him.
“Goddess, man,” he said, putting an exaggeratedly jealous arm around Vir’Ell’s waist, “Save some for the rest of us.” That got a good laugh out of the table, shortly after which their waitress showed up to take their orders. Luckily, they all knew what they wanted, and they were soon talking back and forth, sharing anecdotes from their home world, and asking questions about his. They learned a few things that weren’t easily discernible by simple study of their culture through text, or even video. Kah’Ri stayed quiet, mostly, letting them do all the talking about Verem’Jiose; probably since she had been - intentionally - absent from there for so long, it wasn’t like she would have any idea of more recent news, or trends.
All-in-all, it was an enjoyable lunch, with the time slipping by as they ate and talked the meal away. Towards the end of the meal, the women excused themselves to the restroom, and while they were gone, he took the chance to ask Kyle about the possibility of being allowed to hunt one of those lizards himself, as Kyle had informed them that he owned that planet.
“Well,” he began after a bit of thought, “If you do hunt one, you’ll firstly have to do it without your Gift,” that took him by surprise, but Kyle didn’t stop there, “You also have to fight without any kind of ‘modern’ weapon. Which is mostly just saying that you can’t use guns, though nanoblades are not only acceptable, but also needed. And I’ll even make sure that you’re supplied with some mithril to use, as well. And just so you know: not only will you have a guide with you at all times to make sure you stick to the rules I set out, but they can see if you use your Gift.”
He flexed his eyes for a moment, having already explained how they worked - as far as he knew, anyway - to them earlier, when they revealed that that was why Kah’Ri’s eyes were red, instead of purple.
“I understand,” he replied seriously, “I wouldn’t want to disrespect your world.” Kyle nodded once, saying,
“Well then, I think we can work something out. If y’all’re gonna be here for a couple days, I might be able to get in touch with someone who can set up a way to get you there ‘n back.”
“That would be most appreciated.” As Kyle nodded his acceptance of his thanks, an idea came to his mind.
“You know,” he started in a conspirator's tone, “Before we left home, I managed to get my claws on a crate of krav’ashah wine; it’s a ‘luxury’ berry on Verem’Jiose, as it’s hard to farm, and doesn’t produce a very high yield, even when done correctly; aged twenty years. I would be willing to gift a couple bottles to the two of you, in celebration of your engagement.”
Kyle smiled knowingly, and replied with,
“Well, that would also be much appreciated; I’d definitely owe you a lot… You know, the ory’lagus gave me a lot of extra diamonds, not just enough for ‘Ri to make my circlet. Once you get the piece you wanna make for Vir’Ell, I can shape and set a decent-sized one for you.”
“I think we have an understanding,” he said, smiling.
“As do I,” Kyle replied, a smile of his own on his face.
Their other halves came back shortly after that, and after they all said their goodbyes - he had insisted on paying for the meal - he made his way back to the ship with Vir’Ell, already planning the shape of the new tiara he would be carving for her. And while the one he had bought her would always be special to him - a simple golden band, with a blue diamond in the center of her forehead - he wanted to make this one even better; perhaps he could find a way to incorporate her old one…
[Next.] Patreon
2024.06.02 15:55 Griffon-Knight The Adventures of Warrior Omega Part 1
The Adventures Of Warrior Omega
By Ryan Baker
Date: May 16, 2000
Location: South Eastern Part Of The U.S.
It was a normal day In May, when Alan Arthur Stukov, trucker for the company "Aconor Trucking Ltd." was on a delivery. Alan was on his way down to Florida. Meanwhile, at a army base, not far from Florida, Alan's brother, Joseph Stukov, had just finished a training exercise with some new recruits.
"Excellent Work, Soldiers." said Joseph. Just as Joseph said that, Sergeant Caleb Anderson had entered the scene. That was where Joseph Stood at Attention and Saluted Sergeant Anderson. "At Ease, Joseph." Said Sergeant Anderson. "Sir, I hadn't expected you to be on the field. I thought you still had work to do at the barracks?" Said Joseph. "I had Just finished that work you are referring to." said Sergeant Anderson, "Next on my list was a inspection of the Training exercises. By the way, how is your brother?".
"He's Doing Alright sir." Said Joseph, "He said he was on a delivery to a diner, not far from here. As for the training exercises, We've just completed the first part.". "Excellent, were there any problems?" Said Sergeant Anderson. While Sergeant Anderson and Joseph were going Over the inspection, Alan Stukov had just passed the Florida State Border, on the way into Florida. While Alan Was driving, he had the radio on. One particular song was "Puttin' the Dark Back into the night" By Sawyer Brown. Alan was singing along with the Song. That was where Bobby Raynor, a friend of Alan, and a fellow truck driver, came over the C.B. Radio. "Hiya Alan." Said Bobby. "Bobby, Is that You?" Asked Alan. "Of Course it's me, Alan." replied Bobby. "I didn't recognize you there for a moment.” said Alan, "How have you been all this time?".
"I'm doing great." replied Bobby. As Bobby and Alan were talking, Alan noticed someone in the distance. "I wonder whom the Person is?" Alan Said to himself, "It's Probably an illusion.". Meanwhile, in the distance, the person was going over his mission statement. "This should be interesting." The person said to himself, "The boss shall be pleased once the mission is completed.". As soon as the person said that, he started watching and waiting for when the coast is clear. Little did the person realize that there was a biker gang headed his way.
"Alright guys, the diner's not far off." said the leader of the biker gang. The Biker gang leader was a leader whom seemed to have a ruthless side to him, but on the other hand, a bit honourable. The gang he leads is a rough and tumble bunch. Meanwhile, Alan had just entered the area where the diner was located at. That was where he had seen Bobby Raynor at the parking lot of the diner "Diner of the Clouds". "Hi Alan." replied Bobby. "Hi Bobby." said Alan as he parked his truck and had gotten out of the truck. "Just let me go see the owner for a moment. I'll tell her i'm here." said Alan. "I'll come with you.” said Bobby. Meanwhile, the biker gang had just passed the Florida state border. That was where the lead biker had noticed a person in the distance. That person was the same person Alan had seen earlier. "Hey guys." said the lead biker, "It looks like we have a new target to rough up.". That was where the biker gang moved towards the person. Then one of the bikers had tossed a chain at the person. That was where one end of the chain had wrapped around the person.
"What matter of magic is this?" said the person. As soon as the person said that, he fell to the ground as the biker wielding the chain sped up. As a result, The person started to slide along the ground, getting dragged by the biker. Little did the bikers realize that the person isn't who he seems. All of a sudden, the person had managed to free himself from the chain. Just then, one of the bikers notices that the person had freed himself from the chain. "Hey Guys, it looks like our target is out of the chains." said the biker. As soon as the biker said that, he and the rest of the bikers turned right around and face the person. "You shall not stop me from completing my mission." said the person, "For The Glory Of The Master Of Zombies.". "The Master Of Zombies?" said the Gang Leader. "What do you say guys?" asked one of the Bikers. "I say we take this guy down." Said another biker, "What about you, boss?". "you're Right." said Greg Anderson, the biker gang leader.
That was where the gang had surrounded the person. "Alright, Bring it on." Said the person. That was where the person got into a defensive stance. Meanwhile, at Castle Diroctor, in the Dimension of Octiviox, King Eduardo Anderson had called for His Councillers. "Sire, State the reason why you have called for us." said John Taylors. "I have called you because of a major event." Said King Anderson. "What would that be, sire?" Asked John Taylors. "The Reawakening of the Master of Zombies." replied King Anderson. "The Reawakening, sire?" Said another Councilor. "Yes, the Reawakening." Said King Anderson, "It was 175 years ago this very month, when the Master of Zombies had attempted to plunge this realm into darkness. It was only with the help of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker and his sword, called the 'Omnolight', that stopped the Master Of Zombies and his minions of Darkness.". Meanwhile, back in Florida, The Biker Gang had managed to do some damage to the person. That was where on of the bikers had knocked the person down.
As soon as the person fell down, part of his mask was torn off, revealing his actual form underneath his mask. "What on Earth!?" Said one of the bikers, as he had noticed the torn piece of the person's mask. "I Guess you humans have figured out my secret." Said the person. "What Secret?" Asked Greg. "i am not from this realm." said the person. As Soon as the person said that, he took off his mask. "What the..." said one of the bikers as they witnessed the person transform into his actual form. As the Person Transformed, he also changed sizes. "Let's get him guys." said another biker. As soon as the biker said that, the gang attempted to rush at the person. Little did the gang realize that the person, in his actual form, is much stronger. That was where the person had finally transformed into his actual form. His Actual form is that of an undead creature. His entire body is covered in decayed flesh, and has a arch in the back. There are several sword slices in his body. He is a hulking Creature, standing over seven feet in height.
That was where one of the bikers had attempted to attack the creature. All of a sudden, the creature raised his hand. "Alright, i will see you pay for trying to mess with me." said the creature, "but first, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ghoultor.". "What do you say boys?" one of the bikers said. "Leave 'im to me" Another biker said. The biker is named Caleb Raynor. "Caleb, What do you have planned?" asked Greg. "I'm planning on taking him down with my power." said Caleb. "Alright Then, Show him that no one messes with the Fire Griffens." Said Greg.
That was where Caleb picks up several pieces of equipment from his motorcycle's side pack. The Equipment included a shotgun, a chain, and a Brass knuckle. As soon as Caleb picked up his gear, he started walking towards Ghoultor. "This Is Gonna be Fun." Caleb Said as he walked towards Ghoultor. As Caleb Walked towards Ghoultor, he equipped the brass knuckle on his right hand. Meanwhile, at the diner, "Diner Of The Clouds", Alan And Bobby were going over old times. That was where Officer Adam Morgan had entered the diner. Officer Morgan was a "Take Charge" kind of person. He had his regular equipment with him. All of a sudden, a call came over the radio in Officer Morgan's police Car. "I'll Be Right Back." Said Officer Morgan, as he headed towards the Police Car. That was where Officer Morgan had Picked up the comm-link in the police car. "Calling all available Officers." the voice from the other end said, "there's a fight going in the vicinity of the local military base.". "I'm on my way." said Officer Morgan. That was where the biker gang and Ghoultor had managed to take the fight even closer to where the diner was located at. Meanwhile, back at the diner, Alan had just started unloading his delivery.
Just then, Bobby had noticed something in the distance. It was the biker gang and Ghoultor fighting in the distance. As the Gang was fighting Ghoultor, Ghoultor had managed to toss several of the Gang Members. Just Then, Officer Morgan had arrived at the scene. "What The..." Officer Morgan said to himself. That was where Officer Morgan had called in for back-up. After Officer Morgan did that, he tried to break up the fight. "Alright, Break it up, all of you." Said Officer Morgan. That was where Ghoultor had turned to face Officer Morgan. "Good Thing i called for Back-up, before stepping out of the Car." Officer Morgan said to himself, "I just hope they can arrive in time.".
Just Then, Ghoultor had charged at Officer Morgan. Officer Morgan immediately moved out of the way. At that moment, Ghoultor came crashing into the police Car. "Alright, whoever you are, You're not going to mess with me." said Officer Morgan, "You're Going Down.". Meanwhile, in the Dimension of Octiviox, a spy had just entered Castle Diroctor. "Ah lad, you're here." said Ortonk Poreon, "How have you been?". "I've Been Better, but i have some dire news to tell the king." Replied Angus Davidson. "What do you mean?" asked Ortonk.
"It would seem that the Master Of Zombies's minions are trying to construct a giant battleship of some sort." replied Angus. "This is most Dire." said Ortonk, "the King Must Know about this.". "Fortunately, i had managed to acquire a copy of the plans, and had seen that the battleship is incomplete. They still need two more parts." said Angus. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Ghoultor has just started to head for his Objective, which was located in the military base. Both Officer Morgan and the biker gang had given chase to Ghoultor, as he was heading to the part of the base where the Objective of his mission is located at. At That moment, one of the Soldiers at the base had noticed the situation on that side of the base. "What On Earth?" The Soldier said to himself. At That moment, Corporal Mel Barker had entered the scene. "Soldier, What's Going On?" asked Corporal Barker. "I'm not sure, but it looks like some sort of decayed creature being chased by a biker gang and a police officer." Replied the Soldier.
"We've better do something about this." said the Soldier. As soon as the Soldier said that, the soldier and Corporal Barker had called for other soldiers to come and help in the chase. Meanwhile, in the Dimension Of Octiviox, at the Tomb of the Master Of Zombies, the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his Tomb. "Has it been 175 years already?" the Master of Zombies said to himself. That was where the Master Of Zombies looked around his surroundings. Just then, he went over to a mirror. His Reflection showed a creature that had suffered hundreds of years of decay. His Skin had turned grey-green in colour. His Eyes had sunken back into their Sockets. "Hmm, it seems that the objects in this tomb had sustained quite some wear." said the Master Of Zombies, "This must mean that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker is long Gone.". After he said that, the Master of Zombies went over and picked up his sword and shield, only to find that time had deteriorated the sword and shield. "Well, i have better get some new equipment." said the Master Of Zombies. As soon as the Master Of Zombies said that, he headed out to the entrance of the tomb. Little did the Master Of Zombies realize that a spy was outside the tomb, in the Graveyard of Darkness.
The Graveyard of Darkness is a dark, and almost Desolate place. Most Of the gravestones have fallen apart. The Spy is Loyal to King Anderson. The Spy was located partway between the centre of the Graveyard and the entrance. At that moment, the Spy had seen the Master Of Zombies. "By the Elder Beast God." the spy said, under his breath, "I Must tell the King about this.". All of a sudden, a Shadow Phantom had appeared behind the spy. That was where the spy turned to face the Shadow Phantom. Then the Shadow Phantom had raised his sickle. The Spy had attempted to block the sickle as it came down upon him. "Yaargh!!" Exclaimed the Spy as he fell to the ground. Then, with his last bit of Strength, he had written a message.
That message was "King Anderson, there is bad news. The Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb. I suspect he is going to join up with his legions of the undead. A suggested plan of action is to prepare the defenses. Unfortunately, i might not be able to help. Next Time you see me, i might be one of the undead. Please Tell my brother i still care about him.". As soon as the spy completed the message, he had attached the message to a carrying case on the homing pigeon he had carried with him. Meanwhile, at the military base, Ghoultor had made it to the mission objective. "Excellent." said Ghoultor, "The Master Of Zombies will be pleased.".
At that moment, Ghoultor had grabbed the objects he was sent to acquire. The objects were a computer system and hover tech circuits. Just then, Officer Morgan, the biker gang, and the soldiers had blocked the entrance to the building. "You won't capture me." Ghoultor sneers. At that moment, the soldiers aimed their rifles at Ghoultor. "You think your puny weapons can affect me." Sneers Ghoultor, as he was preparing to charge at the soldiers, the biker gang, and Officer Morgan. "Soldiers, prepare to fire on my mark." said Corporal Barker. At that moment, Ghoultor had charged at the group blocking his way. Meanwhile, at the diner, Bobby had noticed the incident at the base. At that moment, Bobby went to his truck and picked up a pair of binoculars. "What on Earth?" said Bobby, "Alan, you have better see this.". "What are you talking about?" Asked Alan. "Apparently, there's some sort of situation going on at the base." replied Bobby. "Wait a minute." said Alan, "My Brother is stationed at the base.". At that moment, Ghoultor had made it over to the other side of the road.
That was where Alan and Bobby had gone closer to investigate. Little did either of them realize that the situation is far more dangerous, because of the plans being put into motion, and Ghoultor's undead powers. While the situation was happening, in another dimension, a robed individual was watching the events unfold. "this is most dire." the individual said to himself. At that moment, Broktar, a Cyborg Lizardman had entered the room. "Sire, you have called for me." said Broktar. "Yes indeed, Broktar." replied the individual, "It seems that there is a major disturbance in the dimension of Octiviox.". "Is it the Master Of Zombies?" asked Broktar. "I'm Afraid so, Broktar." replied the Individual.
"Hmm, this is most dire, indeed." said Broktar, as he moved his cybernetically enhanced left arm. "Broktar." said the Individual. "Yes, Gate Master." said Broktar. "i want you to go into the dimension of Octiviox." said the Gate Master. "For what reason, Gate Master." asked Broktar. "I want you to intercept an individual whom will be entering that dimension very shortly." replied the Gate Master. "Whom is the individual that you want me to intercept?" asked Broktar. "The Individual in question is Alan Stukov." Replied the Gate Master. Meanwhile, near the base, Ghoultor had made it to the designated sector where he will enter a portal leading to the dimension of Octiviox. "i shall complete the mission." Ghoultor said to himself. At that moment, Ghoultor was surrounded by the soldiers, the gang, and Officer Morgan. "You humans shall not capture me!!!" Ghoultor said.
As soon as he said that, Ghoultor had opened a dimensional portal into Octiviox. "Soldiers, don't let him get away." Corporal Barker said to the soldiers. Just then, the back-up Officer Morgan radioed in earlier, had arrived. "What on Earth is that creature?" Officer James Sorbo said, when he arrived at the scene. "i haven't the slightest what the creature is, but we better not let him get away with the gear he's holding." Officer Diana Joelson said. At that moment, a giant came through the Portal. "Sir" said the Giant, "the Master Of Zombies is awaiting your arrival back in Octiviox.". "I'll be there right away." said Ghoultor. As soon as Ghoultor said that, he tossed a smoke bomb to cover his tracks. "soldiers, fire upon the target." Corporal Barker said the soldiers. "take him down." Officer Morgan said. But the soldiers and the cops were too late in stopping Ghoultor and the Giant from entering the portal.
"Oh, Great." said Officer Morgan, "They're Gone.". At that moment, Alan Stukov and Bobby Raynor had arrived at the scene. "What's going on?" asked Alan. "Apparently, the creature had escaped into some other dimension." replied Officer Morgan. "It looked like the creature was carrying two devices. What were the two devices?" asked Bobby. Meanwhile, in the Karnoxus sector of space, a Kor'drakk cruiser was continuing their patrol. "Computer, access database." said the Captain. The Captain is Captain Zordash, captain of the cruiser, "Dragon Fire.". Zordash is distrustful of humans. "Sir." said one of the crew members. "Yes, Helmsman Mecator." said Captain Zordash. "There seems to be a wormhole several light years in front of the Cruiser." said Helmsman Mecator.
At that moment, the ship started experiencing technical problems. little did the crew realize that they would be on a trip to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, on Earth, Alan had talked to his brother, Joseph. "Joseph, what are the capabilities of the objects that the creature had stolen?" Asked Alan. "Not much, on their own." replied Joseph, "but when they are connected to a vehicle, it could be dangerous.". "then allow me to help in retrieving the objects." said Alan. "That could be risky." said Joseph, "Do You really want to help in the situation?". "Of Course, Joseph." said Alan. "Hey Alan, i just thought of something." said Bobby. "What is that?" asked Alan. "You might be gone a long time. Shouldn't you at least call your boss, and tell him you won't be in for a while." replied Bobby. "That's right, Bobby." said Alan, "i have better do so.". As soon as Alan said that, he went back to his truck and picked up his cell phone and phoned his boss. "Mr. Jackson" said Alan. "Yes Alan, what can i do for you?" said Mr. Jackson. "i will not be in for the next while. I'm not sure how long." said Alan. "For What reason, Alan?" asked Mr. Jackson. "It is a major situation. Apparently there was a robbery at the military base here in Florida." said Alan. "Wait a minute, isn't your brother stationed at the base." said Mr. Jackson. "Yes, Joseph is stationed at the base." said Alan.
"Alright then, i'll get one of the other truckers to cover your loads." said Mr. Jackson. At that moment, Alan and Mr. Jackson had finished up the conversation. Alan went over to Joseph. "Then it's agreed." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, he and the other Soldiers prepared to retrieve the Gate Portal Generator. "Alan" Bobby said. "Yes, Bobby." Said Alan. "I just wanted to wish you luck on this mission." said Bobby, "and i would like to say that I will volunteer for this mission.". "But Bobby, what about your fiance?" asked Alan. "Oh yeah, that's right." said Bobby, "Julie and i were planning on going out tonight. thanks for reminding me.".
Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, Telzor and his clan, the Shadow Wolves were in the main building of the clan's encampment. At that moment, an Orc Warrior had just entered the building. "Sir, i have some major news." said the Orc Warrior. "What news is that?" asked Telzor. "Our Scouts had found some evidence of the awakening of the undead." said the Orc Warrior. "This is major, indeed." Telzor said, Grimly, "then this would mean the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his tomb.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Gate Portal Generator was put into position. Little did the soldiers, the Police, Alan, and Bobby realize that the biker gang was still around the area. All of a sudden, Greg had gone over to Officer Morgan. "Adam." Said Greg, "This isn't over between us.".
At that moment, Greg had motioned for the other bikers. "We will see each other soon." said Greg. After he said that, Greg got on his motorcycle and started to drive away. "All Bikers, let's roll." said Greg. "Alan." Said Joseph. "Yes, Joseph." Said Alan. "The Portal Generator is up and ready." Said Joseph. "what dimension is the portal generator set to?" Asked Alan. "It seems to be a dimension called Octiviox." replied Joseph. "Octiviox?" said Alan. "Apparently it's a dimension of magic and fantasy." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, Alan started moving towards the portal. "Wait a minute, Alan." said Joseph. "What is it, Joseph?" Asked Alan. "You should have some equipment." Said Joseph, "Just in case you get in trouble.".
As soon as Joseph said that, he went and retrieved some equipment for Alan. One such piece of equipment was some armor. Another piece of equipment was a comm-link communicator. "Alan, i just want to wish you good luck." Said Officer Morgan. Just then, Joseph had returned with to the site. "Alan, here is the equipment that you will be working with." said Joseph, as he presented the equipment. "First, is the visor helmet. It has several visor modes, which includes night vision mode." said Joseph. As Joseph was presenting the equipment, Greg Anderson and the other members of the "Fire Griffens" had turned around and started to head towards the portal. At that moment, a cloaked person came into the area. "Wait a minute." said one of the bikers. "What is it?" asked another biker. "There Seems to be a cloaked figure behind us." said the biker. Just then, the bikers had turned to face the person. "Alright, whoever you are, explain yourself." said Greg. "I am the Dark Mage known as Aizortun." said Aizortun, "I have come here to Earth to request your services.".
"Services, For What?" Said Caleb. “Yeah, Caleb's Right. What do you want us to do?" said David Joelson. As Soon as David said that, he and several other bikers started to surround Aizortun. "Hold it guys. let him explain his situation." Said Greg. "Thank You." said Aizortun, "i come from a dimension called Octiviox. It is a realm of magic and fantasy. At this time, a dark being called the Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb.". "Hold it." said David, "For all we know, Aizortun could actually be this 'Master Of Zombies'.". "Wait a minute." Said Caleb, "Didn't Ghoultor mention his name when we encountered him earlier.". "Yeah, that's right, Caleb." Said Duane Jackson.
"As i was saying." said Aizortun, "The Master Of Zombies had tried to conquer the dimensions several times. However, he has been stopped by many heroes. The Most recent hero in history was the Knight Lord Joseph Barker.". "How are we involved in this situation?" asked Greg. "I have come here to request that you bikers help in defending Octiviox from the darkness that is known as the Master Of Zombies." Said Aizortun. While Aizortun and the bikers were talking, the portal generator had been set for the coordinates of Octiviox. "the coordinates have been set. You're ready to go." said Joseph. That was when Alan headed towards the Portal. "One last thing, Alan." Said Joseph. "What's that?" asked Alan. "Good Luck." Said Joseph.
As soon as Joseph said that, Officer Morgan came over to the portal area. "Alan, I'm Coming along." said Officer Morgan. "Well, I'm Surprised." said Alan, "i didn't know you were the adventurous type.”. "Knock it off, will you." said Officer Morgan. "Why would you want to join me on this mission." asked Alan. "First of all, he had stolen those two parts." said Officer Morgan, "second, he had wrecked my Police Car.". Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, at the Orc Encampment, Telzor and the leaders of the other Orc Clans were discussing a course of action. "The best course of action is a direct assault on the Undead Keep." said Telzor. As Telzor was speaking, he rolled out a map of the Undead Keep, and started putting symbols to show the plan. "That sounds like a good plan." Said G'tekor, leader of the Crimson Tigers clan, "but from what my scouts have informed me about the situation, the Master of Zombies had acquired various pieces of technology from other dimensions.".
"What do you mean, G'tekor?" asked Raiztor, leader of the Atorton Clan. "For one thing." said G'tekor, "My scouts report that there are several gun emplacements at the front of the Keep. These guns are operated by a team of two zombies each.". "What if we were to send one of our faster troops in and have them move between the gun emplacements, so that they would hit each other instead of us." said Raiztor, "Would That Work?". "It Sounds Risky." Replied G'tekor, "But it might Work.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, Alan And Adam had entered the portal, after they had talked about the situation. "This Should Be interesting." said Alan. "What do you mean, Alan?" asked Officer Morgan. "we would be entering an unknown dimension." said Alan. Little did Alan and Officer Morgan realize that Aizortun the Dark Mage had warped the Biker gang and himself to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, in The dimension Of Octiviox, At Castle Diroctor, King Anderson had contacted his advisors. At that moment, The homing Pigeon had flown through a open window. That was where one of the soldiers went over and picked up the pigeon and retrieved the message.
"Sire." said the soldier, "i have some bad news.". "What has happened?" asked King Anderson. "The Spy whom was stationed at the Graveyard of Darkness has died." said the soldier. "What else does the message say?" asked King Anderson. "Apparently the Master Of Zombies has awakened from his tomb." said the Soldier. "That does it." said King Anderson, as he rose from his throne, "we must take action.". At that moment, outside in the main part of Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had arrived through the portal. "Hmm, Most impressive." said Alan. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan via the comm-link communicator. "Ah, Alan." Said Joseph, "It seems that you have finally arrived in Octiviox.”. "Yeah, and this device actually works." said Alan, "Joseph, where exactly are we in this dimension?". "You and Officer Morgan are located in Castle Diroctor." Said Joseph. "Any idea whom the ruler of the castle is." Asked Alan. "I have a feeling that we'll soon find out." said Joseph, "but from what i know, his name is King Eduardo Anderson.". At that moment, King Anderson had arrived at the courtyard. "What is all this commotion about?" asked King Anderson. "Greetings, your Highness." said Alan, "I am Alan Stukov, and he is Officer Adam Morgan.". "We're here to....” said Officer Morgan.
But before Officer Morgan could even finish the sentence, he and Alan were surrounded by the King's Soldiers. Just then, Ortonk Poreon had arrived at the scene. "Sire, What's going on?" asked Ortonk. "it seems that two intruders were found trespassing on the grounds of this kingdom." said King Anderson. "intruders?" asked Ortonk. "Yes, intruders." said King Anderson, "And they must be dealt with immediately.". "Wait a minute." said Ortonk, "I think I have seen these two so-called 'intruders' before.". "What do you mean, Ortonk?" asked one of the soldiers. "I remember seeing two individuals pictured in a book at the Arch Mage's Tower." said Ortonk, "The text was in a form of Orcish language, but it said that the two individuals would be the heroes that will help in stopping the Master Of Zombies.". At that moment, the sound of gunfire had sounded outside the walls of the castle. All of a sudden, Officer Morgan had charged at several of the King's Soldiers. "hold it right there, intruder." said one of the soldiers. "Wait, he might be able to help." said Ortonk. That was where the soldiers had moved out of the way, so that Officer Morgan could get past them.
Once he got past the soldiers, Officer Morgan ran up the stairs to the top of the wall. As soon as Officer Morgan had reached the top of the wall, he saw where the gunfire was coming from. It was coming from the weapon mounted on Broktar's Cybernetic Left Arm. "Hold Your Fire." said Officer Morgan. "We couldn't possibly do that." said one of the Archers. "what do you mean?" asked Officer Morgan. "the Creature fired at us first." said one of the Archers. "Yeah, we were only defending ourselves." said another archer. "I am here for the human known as Alan Stukov." said Broktar. "What is your reason?" asked Officer Morgan. "i am here on a mission for the Gate Master." said Broktar. "Who is this Gate Master you are talking about?" asked Officer Morgan. "He is the Master Of the Gate Portals." replied Broktar.
"Let the person in." said one of King Anderson's Advisors. "Do you really think it's a good idea?" asked another one of the Advisors. "of course." replied the advisor, "the Gate Master is a highly regarded person, especially in my homeland.”. Meanwhile, in the Karnaxus sector, the Kor'Drakk crew of the ship "Dragon Fire" had entered the wormhole. "Computer, what is the coordinates?" Captain Zordash had asked the ship's computer. "Unable to access interstellar location circuit system file." the ship's computer replied. "This is just great." said Captain Zordash. "Sir, it seems that a opening to the wormhole is just ahead of us." said Helmsman Mecator. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the situation in engineering?". "Captain." said Jor'Dorus, "The engines are still functioning. But, Warp coils are malfunctioning.". "what's the status on the teleporter device?" asked Captain Zordash. "i'll patch you right into the teleporter room, sir." said Jor'Dorus.
At That moment, the ship had entered through the opening in the Wormhole. "Sir, there seems that land is coming into view." said Helmsman Mecator. "Land?" said Captain Zordash, "Helmsman, prepare for evasive Maneuvers.". Meanwhile, at the castle, Broktar had explained the situation to Alan, Officer Morgan, and the residents of Castle Diroctor. "So, what you're telling us." said Alan, "is that the Master of Zombies is planning to take over this realm.". "Why doesn't the Gate Master just come in and Battle the Master Of Zombies in person?" asked Officer Morgan. "For One main Reason." said Broktar, "if he were to leave the Gate Portals unwatched, creatures from other worlds and dimensions could cause havoc among the worlds.". At that moment, one of the archers stationed at the top of the castle wall had seen something in the distance. That something is, in fact, the Kor'Drakk cruiser "Dragon Fire.".
"Wait a minute." the archer said to himself, "It looks like the object is about to land in a short time.". As soon as the Archer said that, he took out a telescope and aimed it in the direction where the object is about to land in. "What on Earth?" said the Archer. "What is it, Jean?" asked one of the archers. "it seems that the object is about to land in Orc territory." said Jean, "to be more precise, territory controlled by the 'Shock Rangers' Clan.". "What is the first act of business?" asked Alan. "we should definitely prepare defenses around the castle." said John Taylors. "Aye, and we should also send a team of warriors to stop the Master Of Zombies." said Ortonk, "not only that, but we should also find some allies whom are willing to help.".
"Yes, that definitely sounds like a plan." said King Anderson, “but we should also acquire the sword called 'Omnolight'.". "Omnolight?" asked Alan. "Yes, it's the sword that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker used 175 years ago this month to defeat the Master Of Zombies." Said King Anderson. "We must get going, if we are to stand a chance." said Officer Morgan. "If it must be, so be it." said King Anderson, "but before you go, you should have this.". As soon as King Anderson said that, he handed Alan a map of the land. "Your first destination should be the Arch Mage's Tower." said King Anderson, "The Arch Mage, Alex Johnson, is a friend of mine. He would be a worthy ally in this mission.". Meanwhile, in a village located to the north-west area, not far from a entrance to the Queen of the Witches's hideout, Aizortun the Dark Mage was going over the plan with the "Fire Griffens" biker gang. At that moment, a minotaur had arrived in the area. "Ah, Scaltokas." said Aizortun, “Finally you have arrived.".
"Comrade." said Scaltokas, "i am surprised you haven't been captured by now.". "What do you mean by that?" asked Greg. "I mean that there are some bounty hunters after Aizortun." replied Scaltokas. "why are the bounty hunters after him?" asked Caleb. "It was during the final battles of the Territory Wars between the Orc clans lead by Telzor, leader of the 'Shadow Wolf' Clan, and the human forces." replied Scaltokas, "that Aizortun had betrayed the human forces.". "Yes, but i had escaped just before the orc clans were repelled from Castle Diroctor." said Aizortun. "How did you meet the Orc clans?" asked Caleb. "I haven't met the leader of the Orc Forces personally." said Aizortun, "but i had met Xeintox, leader of the 'Shock Rangers' Clan. In fact i had helped them gain some new weaponry, some of which are from Earth.".
While Scaltokas was talking to Aizortuns the Dark Mage and the biker gang, just north of the village, and a little way to the East, the Kor'Drakk cruiser had just crash landed. "Helmsman." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status?". "Most of the systems are still functioning." said Helmsman Mecator, "But they have sustained a serious amount of damage.". "Is the shield generator still operational?" asked Captain Zordash. "Shield generator is still functional, and so is the weapons systems." replied Helmsman Mecator. Just then, Sergeant Dorgarus had entered the bridge. "Sir." said Dorgarus, "Permission to scout out this sector.". "Acknowledged, Sergeant Dorgarus." said Captain Zordash. As soon as Captain Zordash said that, he had contacted Lieutenant Gotarus.
Meanwhile, near Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had checked the map. "Ah, so this must where the Arch Mage's tower is located." said Alan. "I find it odd that you humans would try and find allies, when it would be much easier to go straight into the main base, and take on the Master Of Zombies in direct battle." said Broktar. "That may seem easier, Broktar." said Officer Morgan, "But Remember, he has a army at his command.". "Not only that." said Alan, "But from what King Anderson had told us, he has a flying Battleship.". "what makes you so certain that your chances at victory will be better with any allies?" asked Broktar. "you just wait and see, Broktar." Said Officer Morgan, "We will win this battle.".
Little did they Realize that they were being spied upon by a Ghoul. "Hmm, humans are about." said the Ghoul, "i must tell the Master Of Zombies.". As soon as he said that, the ghoul had tapped once on a button on his comm-link. Immediately, the comm-link had contacted the forces at the Undead Keep. At that moment, Quotor the Wraith had seen that the communications console had been accessed. That was where Quotor went over and accessed the Communication console. "General Quotor." said the Ghoul, "Ghoul Agent K'Dortok reporting in.". "What is your status?" asked Quotor. "There are two humans and a cyborg lizardman headed to the Arch Mage's Tower." Said K'Dortok. "Excellent." said Quotor, "Follow those humans and the lizardman.". After Quotor said that, he went over to the main section of the Undead Keep. It was there, that he met the other leaders of the Undead Forces. "Ah, General Quotor." said the Battle Knight, "It is good to see you.".
"Battle Knight." said Quotor, "I'm quite surprised you haven't already attempted to attack Castle Diroctor.". "Arrgh!!" Exclaimed the Battle Knight as he went off in a blind rage. "Ooh, that's a wise move." said Fortox. "Why am i not surprised, Fortox." said Quotor. Just then, Zoutoxas the Dark Troll had entered the scene. "Ah, Air Commander Zoutoxas." said Quotor, “How are you?". "Excellent." replied Zoutoxas, "Fortox, what is the status of your troops' mission to find and destroy the tomb of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker?". "My forces are searching for it as we speak." said Fortox. Meanwhile, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar had arrived at the Arch Mage's Tower. "Hmm, I'm Rather surprised." said Alan. "Why is that, Human?" said Broktar. "I was expecting something more magical." replied Alan. "Yeah, After All." said Officer Morgan, "This is supposed to be a realm of magic and fantasy.".
After Officer Morgan said that, he went over to the door and used the door knocker. Meanwhile, inside the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex Johnson was going over his spellbooks. "Hmm, there doesn't seem to be any information on the object that you had said, Tirus." said Alex. Just then, Alex's Apprentice had entered the main room. "Sir" said the Apprentice, "There are two people and a lizardman outside the Tower.". "What do they look like?" asked Alex. "The two people are dressed in unusual clothing, those not found in this realm." said the apprentice, "The Lizardman, however, seems to have metallic parts connected to organic flesh.". "That seems to be a similar description to that of the heroes of legend." said Alex, "Allow them in.". "Yes, sir." said the Apprentice, as he was heading towards the main door. Meanwhile, at the door of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar were waiting outside the place. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived at the main door. "The Arch Mage will see you now." said the Apprentice, as he opened the door. "It's about time." said Broktar. "Who is this Arch Mage?" asked Alan.
"The Arch Mage is Alex Johnson." said the Apprentice, "He is quite Powerful.". "Just how high does this tower extend to?" Asked Broktar, "My servo joints are about to malfunction.". "it's only 10 floors." replied the Apprentice. "that doesn't seem to long, does it, eh Broktar." Alan said to Broktar. "Ha, you humans may laugh, but you don't know what it is like to have cybernetics replacing any limb that is lost." said Broktar. Meanwhile, in the main room of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex had brought the Book of Legends over to the table. "Why did you bring the book over to the table?" asked Tirus. "It is to check up on the legend of the heroes." replied Alex. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived in the main room, ahead of Broktar, Alan, And Officer Morgan.
"Sir" said the Apprentice, "the people in question are on their way.". "Excellent." said The Arch Mage. Meanwhile, at the Crash site of the downed Kor'Drakk ship, the crew were working on the repairs. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status of the repairs?". Just then, the ship was hit by a outside force. "Alert." the ship's computer said, "Unidentified hostiles located in area.". "Computer, where was the ship hit?" asked Captain Zordash. "Middle section of port side." said the ship's computer. Outside the ship, two Orc Warriors, riding on Griontors had moved into postion. That was after one of the warriors had fired a rocket at the ship. "Sire." said one of the Orc warriors. "Yes, Comrade" said Xeintox. "We have started phase one of the raid." said the Orc Warrior. "Excellent." said Xeintox, "Prepare to move to phase two.".
submitted by Griffon-Knight to WarriorOmega [link] [comments]
By Ryan Baker
Date: May 16, 2000
Location: South Eastern Part Of The U.S.
It was a normal day In May, when Alan Arthur Stukov, trucker for the company "Aconor Trucking Ltd." was on a delivery. Alan was on his way down to Florida. Meanwhile, at a army base, not far from Florida, Alan's brother, Joseph Stukov, had just finished a training exercise with some new recruits.
"Excellent Work, Soldiers." said Joseph. Just as Joseph said that, Sergeant Caleb Anderson had entered the scene. That was where Joseph Stood at Attention and Saluted Sergeant Anderson. "At Ease, Joseph." Said Sergeant Anderson. "Sir, I hadn't expected you to be on the field. I thought you still had work to do at the barracks?" Said Joseph. "I had Just finished that work you are referring to." said Sergeant Anderson, "Next on my list was a inspection of the Training exercises. By the way, how is your brother?".
"He's Doing Alright sir." Said Joseph, "He said he was on a delivery to a diner, not far from here. As for the training exercises, We've just completed the first part.". "Excellent, were there any problems?" Said Sergeant Anderson. While Sergeant Anderson and Joseph were going Over the inspection, Alan Stukov had just passed the Florida State Border, on the way into Florida. While Alan Was driving, he had the radio on. One particular song was "Puttin' the Dark Back into the night" By Sawyer Brown. Alan was singing along with the Song. That was where Bobby Raynor, a friend of Alan, and a fellow truck driver, came over the C.B. Radio. "Hiya Alan." Said Bobby. "Bobby, Is that You?" Asked Alan. "Of Course it's me, Alan." replied Bobby. "I didn't recognize you there for a moment.” said Alan, "How have you been all this time?".
"I'm doing great." replied Bobby. As Bobby and Alan were talking, Alan noticed someone in the distance. "I wonder whom the Person is?" Alan Said to himself, "It's Probably an illusion.". Meanwhile, in the distance, the person was going over his mission statement. "This should be interesting." The person said to himself, "The boss shall be pleased once the mission is completed.". As soon as the person said that, he started watching and waiting for when the coast is clear. Little did the person realize that there was a biker gang headed his way.
"Alright guys, the diner's not far off." said the leader of the biker gang. The Biker gang leader was a leader whom seemed to have a ruthless side to him, but on the other hand, a bit honourable. The gang he leads is a rough and tumble bunch. Meanwhile, Alan had just entered the area where the diner was located at. That was where he had seen Bobby Raynor at the parking lot of the diner "Diner of the Clouds". "Hi Alan." replied Bobby. "Hi Bobby." said Alan as he parked his truck and had gotten out of the truck. "Just let me go see the owner for a moment. I'll tell her i'm here." said Alan. "I'll come with you.” said Bobby. Meanwhile, the biker gang had just passed the Florida state border. That was where the lead biker had noticed a person in the distance. That person was the same person Alan had seen earlier. "Hey guys." said the lead biker, "It looks like we have a new target to rough up.". That was where the biker gang moved towards the person. Then one of the bikers had tossed a chain at the person. That was where one end of the chain had wrapped around the person.
"What matter of magic is this?" said the person. As soon as the person said that, he fell to the ground as the biker wielding the chain sped up. As a result, The person started to slide along the ground, getting dragged by the biker. Little did the bikers realize that the person isn't who he seems. All of a sudden, the person had managed to free himself from the chain. Just then, one of the bikers notices that the person had freed himself from the chain. "Hey Guys, it looks like our target is out of the chains." said the biker. As soon as the biker said that, he and the rest of the bikers turned right around and face the person. "You shall not stop me from completing my mission." said the person, "For The Glory Of The Master Of Zombies.". "The Master Of Zombies?" said the Gang Leader. "What do you say guys?" asked one of the Bikers. "I say we take this guy down." Said another biker, "What about you, boss?". "you're Right." said Greg Anderson, the biker gang leader.
That was where the gang had surrounded the person. "Alright, Bring it on." Said the person. That was where the person got into a defensive stance. Meanwhile, at Castle Diroctor, in the Dimension of Octiviox, King Eduardo Anderson had called for His Councillers. "Sire, State the reason why you have called for us." said John Taylors. "I have called you because of a major event." Said King Anderson. "What would that be, sire?" Asked John Taylors. "The Reawakening of the Master of Zombies." replied King Anderson. "The Reawakening, sire?" Said another Councilor. "Yes, the Reawakening." Said King Anderson, "It was 175 years ago this very month, when the Master of Zombies had attempted to plunge this realm into darkness. It was only with the help of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker and his sword, called the 'Omnolight', that stopped the Master Of Zombies and his minions of Darkness.". Meanwhile, back in Florida, The Biker Gang had managed to do some damage to the person. That was where on of the bikers had knocked the person down.
As soon as the person fell down, part of his mask was torn off, revealing his actual form underneath his mask. "What on Earth!?" Said one of the bikers, as he had noticed the torn piece of the person's mask. "I Guess you humans have figured out my secret." Said the person. "What Secret?" Asked Greg. "i am not from this realm." said the person. As Soon as the person said that, he took off his mask. "What the..." said one of the bikers as they witnessed the person transform into his actual form. As the Person Transformed, he also changed sizes. "Let's get him guys." said another biker. As soon as the biker said that, the gang attempted to rush at the person. Little did the gang realize that the person, in his actual form, is much stronger. That was where the person had finally transformed into his actual form. His Actual form is that of an undead creature. His entire body is covered in decayed flesh, and has a arch in the back. There are several sword slices in his body. He is a hulking Creature, standing over seven feet in height.
That was where one of the bikers had attempted to attack the creature. All of a sudden, the creature raised his hand. "Alright, i will see you pay for trying to mess with me." said the creature, "but first, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ghoultor.". "What do you say boys?" one of the bikers said. "Leave 'im to me" Another biker said. The biker is named Caleb Raynor. "Caleb, What do you have planned?" asked Greg. "I'm planning on taking him down with my power." said Caleb. "Alright Then, Show him that no one messes with the Fire Griffens." Said Greg.
That was where Caleb picks up several pieces of equipment from his motorcycle's side pack. The Equipment included a shotgun, a chain, and a Brass knuckle. As soon as Caleb picked up his gear, he started walking towards Ghoultor. "This Is Gonna be Fun." Caleb Said as he walked towards Ghoultor. As Caleb Walked towards Ghoultor, he equipped the brass knuckle on his right hand. Meanwhile, at the diner, "Diner Of The Clouds", Alan And Bobby were going over old times. That was where Officer Adam Morgan had entered the diner. Officer Morgan was a "Take Charge" kind of person. He had his regular equipment with him. All of a sudden, a call came over the radio in Officer Morgan's police Car. "I'll Be Right Back." Said Officer Morgan, as he headed towards the Police Car. That was where Officer Morgan had Picked up the comm-link in the police car. "Calling all available Officers." the voice from the other end said, "there's a fight going in the vicinity of the local military base.". "I'm on my way." said Officer Morgan. That was where the biker gang and Ghoultor had managed to take the fight even closer to where the diner was located at. Meanwhile, back at the diner, Alan had just started unloading his delivery.
Just then, Bobby had noticed something in the distance. It was the biker gang and Ghoultor fighting in the distance. As the Gang was fighting Ghoultor, Ghoultor had managed to toss several of the Gang Members. Just Then, Officer Morgan had arrived at the scene. "What The..." Officer Morgan said to himself. That was where Officer Morgan had called in for back-up. After Officer Morgan did that, he tried to break up the fight. "Alright, Break it up, all of you." Said Officer Morgan. That was where Ghoultor had turned to face Officer Morgan. "Good Thing i called for Back-up, before stepping out of the Car." Officer Morgan said to himself, "I just hope they can arrive in time.".
Just Then, Ghoultor had charged at Officer Morgan. Officer Morgan immediately moved out of the way. At that moment, Ghoultor came crashing into the police Car. "Alright, whoever you are, You're not going to mess with me." said Officer Morgan, "You're Going Down.". Meanwhile, in the Dimension of Octiviox, a spy had just entered Castle Diroctor. "Ah lad, you're here." said Ortonk Poreon, "How have you been?". "I've Been Better, but i have some dire news to tell the king." Replied Angus Davidson. "What do you mean?" asked Ortonk.
"It would seem that the Master Of Zombies's minions are trying to construct a giant battleship of some sort." replied Angus. "This is most Dire." said Ortonk, "the King Must Know about this.". "Fortunately, i had managed to acquire a copy of the plans, and had seen that the battleship is incomplete. They still need two more parts." said Angus. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Ghoultor has just started to head for his Objective, which was located in the military base. Both Officer Morgan and the biker gang had given chase to Ghoultor, as he was heading to the part of the base where the Objective of his mission is located at. At That moment, one of the Soldiers at the base had noticed the situation on that side of the base. "What On Earth?" The Soldier said to himself. At That moment, Corporal Mel Barker had entered the scene. "Soldier, What's Going On?" asked Corporal Barker. "I'm not sure, but it looks like some sort of decayed creature being chased by a biker gang and a police officer." Replied the Soldier.
"We've better do something about this." said the Soldier. As soon as the Soldier said that, the soldier and Corporal Barker had called for other soldiers to come and help in the chase. Meanwhile, in the Dimension Of Octiviox, at the Tomb of the Master Of Zombies, the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his Tomb. "Has it been 175 years already?" the Master of Zombies said to himself. That was where the Master Of Zombies looked around his surroundings. Just then, he went over to a mirror. His Reflection showed a creature that had suffered hundreds of years of decay. His Skin had turned grey-green in colour. His Eyes had sunken back into their Sockets. "Hmm, it seems that the objects in this tomb had sustained quite some wear." said the Master Of Zombies, "This must mean that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker is long Gone.". After he said that, the Master of Zombies went over and picked up his sword and shield, only to find that time had deteriorated the sword and shield. "Well, i have better get some new equipment." said the Master Of Zombies. As soon as the Master Of Zombies said that, he headed out to the entrance of the tomb. Little did the Master Of Zombies realize that a spy was outside the tomb, in the Graveyard of Darkness.
The Graveyard of Darkness is a dark, and almost Desolate place. Most Of the gravestones have fallen apart. The Spy is Loyal to King Anderson. The Spy was located partway between the centre of the Graveyard and the entrance. At that moment, the Spy had seen the Master Of Zombies. "By the Elder Beast God." the spy said, under his breath, "I Must tell the King about this.". All of a sudden, a Shadow Phantom had appeared behind the spy. That was where the spy turned to face the Shadow Phantom. Then the Shadow Phantom had raised his sickle. The Spy had attempted to block the sickle as it came down upon him. "Yaargh!!" Exclaimed the Spy as he fell to the ground. Then, with his last bit of Strength, he had written a message.
That message was "King Anderson, there is bad news. The Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb. I suspect he is going to join up with his legions of the undead. A suggested plan of action is to prepare the defenses. Unfortunately, i might not be able to help. Next Time you see me, i might be one of the undead. Please Tell my brother i still care about him.". As soon as the spy completed the message, he had attached the message to a carrying case on the homing pigeon he had carried with him. Meanwhile, at the military base, Ghoultor had made it to the mission objective. "Excellent." said Ghoultor, "The Master Of Zombies will be pleased.".
At that moment, Ghoultor had grabbed the objects he was sent to acquire. The objects were a computer system and hover tech circuits. Just then, Officer Morgan, the biker gang, and the soldiers had blocked the entrance to the building. "You won't capture me." Ghoultor sneers. At that moment, the soldiers aimed their rifles at Ghoultor. "You think your puny weapons can affect me." Sneers Ghoultor, as he was preparing to charge at the soldiers, the biker gang, and Officer Morgan. "Soldiers, prepare to fire on my mark." said Corporal Barker. At that moment, Ghoultor had charged at the group blocking his way. Meanwhile, at the diner, Bobby had noticed the incident at the base. At that moment, Bobby went to his truck and picked up a pair of binoculars. "What on Earth?" said Bobby, "Alan, you have better see this.". "What are you talking about?" Asked Alan. "Apparently, there's some sort of situation going on at the base." replied Bobby. "Wait a minute." said Alan, "My Brother is stationed at the base.". At that moment, Ghoultor had made it over to the other side of the road.
That was where Alan and Bobby had gone closer to investigate. Little did either of them realize that the situation is far more dangerous, because of the plans being put into motion, and Ghoultor's undead powers. While the situation was happening, in another dimension, a robed individual was watching the events unfold. "this is most dire." the individual said to himself. At that moment, Broktar, a Cyborg Lizardman had entered the room. "Sire, you have called for me." said Broktar. "Yes indeed, Broktar." replied the individual, "It seems that there is a major disturbance in the dimension of Octiviox.". "Is it the Master Of Zombies?" asked Broktar. "I'm Afraid so, Broktar." replied the Individual.
"Hmm, this is most dire, indeed." said Broktar, as he moved his cybernetically enhanced left arm. "Broktar." said the Individual. "Yes, Gate Master." said Broktar. "i want you to go into the dimension of Octiviox." said the Gate Master. "For what reason, Gate Master." asked Broktar. "I want you to intercept an individual whom will be entering that dimension very shortly." replied the Gate Master. "Whom is the individual that you want me to intercept?" asked Broktar. "The Individual in question is Alan Stukov." Replied the Gate Master. Meanwhile, near the base, Ghoultor had made it to the designated sector where he will enter a portal leading to the dimension of Octiviox. "i shall complete the mission." Ghoultor said to himself. At that moment, Ghoultor was surrounded by the soldiers, the gang, and Officer Morgan. "You humans shall not capture me!!!" Ghoultor said.
As soon as he said that, Ghoultor had opened a dimensional portal into Octiviox. "Soldiers, don't let him get away." Corporal Barker said to the soldiers. Just then, the back-up Officer Morgan radioed in earlier, had arrived. "What on Earth is that creature?" Officer James Sorbo said, when he arrived at the scene. "i haven't the slightest what the creature is, but we better not let him get away with the gear he's holding." Officer Diana Joelson said. At that moment, a giant came through the Portal. "Sir" said the Giant, "the Master Of Zombies is awaiting your arrival back in Octiviox.". "I'll be there right away." said Ghoultor. As soon as Ghoultor said that, he tossed a smoke bomb to cover his tracks. "soldiers, fire upon the target." Corporal Barker said the soldiers. "take him down." Officer Morgan said. But the soldiers and the cops were too late in stopping Ghoultor and the Giant from entering the portal.
"Oh, Great." said Officer Morgan, "They're Gone.". At that moment, Alan Stukov and Bobby Raynor had arrived at the scene. "What's going on?" asked Alan. "Apparently, the creature had escaped into some other dimension." replied Officer Morgan. "It looked like the creature was carrying two devices. What were the two devices?" asked Bobby. Meanwhile, in the Karnoxus sector of space, a Kor'drakk cruiser was continuing their patrol. "Computer, access database." said the Captain. The Captain is Captain Zordash, captain of the cruiser, "Dragon Fire.". Zordash is distrustful of humans. "Sir." said one of the crew members. "Yes, Helmsman Mecator." said Captain Zordash. "There seems to be a wormhole several light years in front of the Cruiser." said Helmsman Mecator.
At that moment, the ship started experiencing technical problems. little did the crew realize that they would be on a trip to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, on Earth, Alan had talked to his brother, Joseph. "Joseph, what are the capabilities of the objects that the creature had stolen?" Asked Alan. "Not much, on their own." replied Joseph, "but when they are connected to a vehicle, it could be dangerous.". "then allow me to help in retrieving the objects." said Alan. "That could be risky." said Joseph, "Do You really want to help in the situation?". "Of Course, Joseph." said Alan. "Hey Alan, i just thought of something." said Bobby. "What is that?" asked Alan. "You might be gone a long time. Shouldn't you at least call your boss, and tell him you won't be in for a while." replied Bobby. "That's right, Bobby." said Alan, "i have better do so.". As soon as Alan said that, he went back to his truck and picked up his cell phone and phoned his boss. "Mr. Jackson" said Alan. "Yes Alan, what can i do for you?" said Mr. Jackson. "i will not be in for the next while. I'm not sure how long." said Alan. "For What reason, Alan?" asked Mr. Jackson. "It is a major situation. Apparently there was a robbery at the military base here in Florida." said Alan. "Wait a minute, isn't your brother stationed at the base." said Mr. Jackson. "Yes, Joseph is stationed at the base." said Alan.
"Alright then, i'll get one of the other truckers to cover your loads." said Mr. Jackson. At that moment, Alan and Mr. Jackson had finished up the conversation. Alan went over to Joseph. "Then it's agreed." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, he and the other Soldiers prepared to retrieve the Gate Portal Generator. "Alan" Bobby said. "Yes, Bobby." Said Alan. "I just wanted to wish you luck on this mission." said Bobby, "and i would like to say that I will volunteer for this mission.". "But Bobby, what about your fiance?" asked Alan. "Oh yeah, that's right." said Bobby, "Julie and i were planning on going out tonight. thanks for reminding me.".
Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, Telzor and his clan, the Shadow Wolves were in the main building of the clan's encampment. At that moment, an Orc Warrior had just entered the building. "Sir, i have some major news." said the Orc Warrior. "What news is that?" asked Telzor. "Our Scouts had found some evidence of the awakening of the undead." said the Orc Warrior. "This is major, indeed." Telzor said, Grimly, "then this would mean the Master Of Zombies had arisen from his tomb.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Gate Portal Generator was put into position. Little did the soldiers, the Police, Alan, and Bobby realize that the biker gang was still around the area. All of a sudden, Greg had gone over to Officer Morgan. "Adam." Said Greg, "This isn't over between us.".
At that moment, Greg had motioned for the other bikers. "We will see each other soon." said Greg. After he said that, Greg got on his motorcycle and started to drive away. "All Bikers, let's roll." said Greg. "Alan." Said Joseph. "Yes, Joseph." Said Alan. "The Portal Generator is up and ready." Said Joseph. "what dimension is the portal generator set to?" Asked Alan. "It seems to be a dimension called Octiviox." replied Joseph. "Octiviox?" said Alan. "Apparently it's a dimension of magic and fantasy." said Joseph. After Joseph said that, Alan started moving towards the portal. "Wait a minute, Alan." said Joseph. "What is it, Joseph?" Asked Alan. "You should have some equipment." Said Joseph, "Just in case you get in trouble.".
As soon as Joseph said that, he went and retrieved some equipment for Alan. One such piece of equipment was some armor. Another piece of equipment was a comm-link communicator. "Alan, i just want to wish you good luck." Said Officer Morgan. Just then, Joseph had returned with to the site. "Alan, here is the equipment that you will be working with." said Joseph, as he presented the equipment. "First, is the visor helmet. It has several visor modes, which includes night vision mode." said Joseph. As Joseph was presenting the equipment, Greg Anderson and the other members of the "Fire Griffens" had turned around and started to head towards the portal. At that moment, a cloaked person came into the area. "Wait a minute." said one of the bikers. "What is it?" asked another biker. "There Seems to be a cloaked figure behind us." said the biker. Just then, the bikers had turned to face the person. "Alright, whoever you are, explain yourself." said Greg. "I am the Dark Mage known as Aizortun." said Aizortun, "I have come here to Earth to request your services.".
"Services, For What?" Said Caleb. “Yeah, Caleb's Right. What do you want us to do?" said David Joelson. As Soon as David said that, he and several other bikers started to surround Aizortun. "Hold it guys. let him explain his situation." Said Greg. "Thank You." said Aizortun, "i come from a dimension called Octiviox. It is a realm of magic and fantasy. At this time, a dark being called the Master Of Zombies has arisen from his tomb.". "Hold it." said David, "For all we know, Aizortun could actually be this 'Master Of Zombies'.". "Wait a minute." Said Caleb, "Didn't Ghoultor mention his name when we encountered him earlier.". "Yeah, that's right, Caleb." Said Duane Jackson.
"As i was saying." said Aizortun, "The Master Of Zombies had tried to conquer the dimensions several times. However, he has been stopped by many heroes. The Most recent hero in history was the Knight Lord Joseph Barker.". "How are we involved in this situation?" asked Greg. "I have come here to request that you bikers help in defending Octiviox from the darkness that is known as the Master Of Zombies." Said Aizortun. While Aizortun and the bikers were talking, the portal generator had been set for the coordinates of Octiviox. "the coordinates have been set. You're ready to go." said Joseph. That was when Alan headed towards the Portal. "One last thing, Alan." Said Joseph. "What's that?" asked Alan. "Good Luck." Said Joseph.
As soon as Joseph said that, Officer Morgan came over to the portal area. "Alan, I'm Coming along." said Officer Morgan. "Well, I'm Surprised." said Alan, "i didn't know you were the adventurous type.”. "Knock it off, will you." said Officer Morgan. "Why would you want to join me on this mission." asked Alan. "First of all, he had stolen those two parts." said Officer Morgan, "second, he had wrecked my Police Car.". Meanwhile, in the dimension of Octiviox, at the Orc Encampment, Telzor and the leaders of the other Orc Clans were discussing a course of action. "The best course of action is a direct assault on the Undead Keep." said Telzor. As Telzor was speaking, he rolled out a map of the Undead Keep, and started putting symbols to show the plan. "That sounds like a good plan." Said G'tekor, leader of the Crimson Tigers clan, "but from what my scouts have informed me about the situation, the Master of Zombies had acquired various pieces of technology from other dimensions.".
"What do you mean, G'tekor?" asked Raiztor, leader of the Atorton Clan. "For one thing." said G'tekor, "My scouts report that there are several gun emplacements at the front of the Keep. These guns are operated by a team of two zombies each.". "What if we were to send one of our faster troops in and have them move between the gun emplacements, so that they would hit each other instead of us." said Raiztor, "Would That Work?". "It Sounds Risky." Replied G'tekor, "But it might Work.". Meanwhile, back on Earth, Alan And Adam had entered the portal, after they had talked about the situation. "This Should Be interesting." said Alan. "What do you mean, Alan?" asked Officer Morgan. "we would be entering an unknown dimension." said Alan. Little did Alan and Officer Morgan realize that Aizortun the Dark Mage had warped the Biker gang and himself to the dimension of Octiviox. Meanwhile, in The dimension Of Octiviox, At Castle Diroctor, King Anderson had contacted his advisors. At that moment, The homing Pigeon had flown through a open window. That was where one of the soldiers went over and picked up the pigeon and retrieved the message.
"Sire." said the soldier, "i have some bad news.". "What has happened?" asked King Anderson. "The Spy whom was stationed at the Graveyard of Darkness has died." said the soldier. "What else does the message say?" asked King Anderson. "Apparently the Master Of Zombies has awakened from his tomb." said the Soldier. "That does it." said King Anderson, as he rose from his throne, "we must take action.". At that moment, outside in the main part of Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had arrived through the portal. "Hmm, Most impressive." said Alan. Just then, Joseph had contacted Alan via the comm-link communicator. "Ah, Alan." Said Joseph, "It seems that you have finally arrived in Octiviox.”. "Yeah, and this device actually works." said Alan, "Joseph, where exactly are we in this dimension?". "You and Officer Morgan are located in Castle Diroctor." Said Joseph. "Any idea whom the ruler of the castle is." Asked Alan. "I have a feeling that we'll soon find out." said Joseph, "but from what i know, his name is King Eduardo Anderson.". At that moment, King Anderson had arrived at the courtyard. "What is all this commotion about?" asked King Anderson. "Greetings, your Highness." said Alan, "I am Alan Stukov, and he is Officer Adam Morgan.". "We're here to....” said Officer Morgan.
But before Officer Morgan could even finish the sentence, he and Alan were surrounded by the King's Soldiers. Just then, Ortonk Poreon had arrived at the scene. "Sire, What's going on?" asked Ortonk. "it seems that two intruders were found trespassing on the grounds of this kingdom." said King Anderson. "intruders?" asked Ortonk. "Yes, intruders." said King Anderson, "And they must be dealt with immediately.". "Wait a minute." said Ortonk, "I think I have seen these two so-called 'intruders' before.". "What do you mean, Ortonk?" asked one of the soldiers. "I remember seeing two individuals pictured in a book at the Arch Mage's Tower." said Ortonk, "The text was in a form of Orcish language, but it said that the two individuals would be the heroes that will help in stopping the Master Of Zombies.". At that moment, the sound of gunfire had sounded outside the walls of the castle. All of a sudden, Officer Morgan had charged at several of the King's Soldiers. "hold it right there, intruder." said one of the soldiers. "Wait, he might be able to help." said Ortonk. That was where the soldiers had moved out of the way, so that Officer Morgan could get past them.
Once he got past the soldiers, Officer Morgan ran up the stairs to the top of the wall. As soon as Officer Morgan had reached the top of the wall, he saw where the gunfire was coming from. It was coming from the weapon mounted on Broktar's Cybernetic Left Arm. "Hold Your Fire." said Officer Morgan. "We couldn't possibly do that." said one of the Archers. "what do you mean?" asked Officer Morgan. "the Creature fired at us first." said one of the Archers. "Yeah, we were only defending ourselves." said another archer. "I am here for the human known as Alan Stukov." said Broktar. "What is your reason?" asked Officer Morgan. "i am here on a mission for the Gate Master." said Broktar. "Who is this Gate Master you are talking about?" asked Officer Morgan. "He is the Master Of the Gate Portals." replied Broktar.
"Let the person in." said one of King Anderson's Advisors. "Do you really think it's a good idea?" asked another one of the Advisors. "of course." replied the advisor, "the Gate Master is a highly regarded person, especially in my homeland.”. Meanwhile, in the Karnaxus sector, the Kor'Drakk crew of the ship "Dragon Fire" had entered the wormhole. "Computer, what is the coordinates?" Captain Zordash had asked the ship's computer. "Unable to access interstellar location circuit system file." the ship's computer replied. "This is just great." said Captain Zordash. "Sir, it seems that a opening to the wormhole is just ahead of us." said Helmsman Mecator. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the situation in engineering?". "Captain." said Jor'Dorus, "The engines are still functioning. But, Warp coils are malfunctioning.". "what's the status on the teleporter device?" asked Captain Zordash. "i'll patch you right into the teleporter room, sir." said Jor'Dorus.
At That moment, the ship had entered through the opening in the Wormhole. "Sir, there seems that land is coming into view." said Helmsman Mecator. "Land?" said Captain Zordash, "Helmsman, prepare for evasive Maneuvers.". Meanwhile, at the castle, Broktar had explained the situation to Alan, Officer Morgan, and the residents of Castle Diroctor. "So, what you're telling us." said Alan, "is that the Master of Zombies is planning to take over this realm.". "Why doesn't the Gate Master just come in and Battle the Master Of Zombies in person?" asked Officer Morgan. "For One main Reason." said Broktar, "if he were to leave the Gate Portals unwatched, creatures from other worlds and dimensions could cause havoc among the worlds.". At that moment, one of the archers stationed at the top of the castle wall had seen something in the distance. That something is, in fact, the Kor'Drakk cruiser "Dragon Fire.".
"Wait a minute." the archer said to himself, "It looks like the object is about to land in a short time.". As soon as the Archer said that, he took out a telescope and aimed it in the direction where the object is about to land in. "What on Earth?" said the Archer. "What is it, Jean?" asked one of the archers. "it seems that the object is about to land in Orc territory." said Jean, "to be more precise, territory controlled by the 'Shock Rangers' Clan.". "What is the first act of business?" asked Alan. "we should definitely prepare defenses around the castle." said John Taylors. "Aye, and we should also send a team of warriors to stop the Master Of Zombies." said Ortonk, "not only that, but we should also find some allies whom are willing to help.".
"Yes, that definitely sounds like a plan." said King Anderson, “but we should also acquire the sword called 'Omnolight'.". "Omnolight?" asked Alan. "Yes, it's the sword that the Knight Lord Joseph Barker used 175 years ago this month to defeat the Master Of Zombies." Said King Anderson. "We must get going, if we are to stand a chance." said Officer Morgan. "If it must be, so be it." said King Anderson, "but before you go, you should have this.". As soon as King Anderson said that, he handed Alan a map of the land. "Your first destination should be the Arch Mage's Tower." said King Anderson, "The Arch Mage, Alex Johnson, is a friend of mine. He would be a worthy ally in this mission.". Meanwhile, in a village located to the north-west area, not far from a entrance to the Queen of the Witches's hideout, Aizortun the Dark Mage was going over the plan with the "Fire Griffens" biker gang. At that moment, a minotaur had arrived in the area. "Ah, Scaltokas." said Aizortun, “Finally you have arrived.".
"Comrade." said Scaltokas, "i am surprised you haven't been captured by now.". "What do you mean by that?" asked Greg. "I mean that there are some bounty hunters after Aizortun." replied Scaltokas. "why are the bounty hunters after him?" asked Caleb. "It was during the final battles of the Territory Wars between the Orc clans lead by Telzor, leader of the 'Shadow Wolf' Clan, and the human forces." replied Scaltokas, "that Aizortun had betrayed the human forces.". "Yes, but i had escaped just before the orc clans were repelled from Castle Diroctor." said Aizortun. "How did you meet the Orc clans?" asked Caleb. "I haven't met the leader of the Orc Forces personally." said Aizortun, "but i had met Xeintox, leader of the 'Shock Rangers' Clan. In fact i had helped them gain some new weaponry, some of which are from Earth.".
While Scaltokas was talking to Aizortuns the Dark Mage and the biker gang, just north of the village, and a little way to the East, the Kor'Drakk cruiser had just crash landed. "Helmsman." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status?". "Most of the systems are still functioning." said Helmsman Mecator, "But they have sustained a serious amount of damage.". "Is the shield generator still operational?" asked Captain Zordash. "Shield generator is still functional, and so is the weapons systems." replied Helmsman Mecator. Just then, Sergeant Dorgarus had entered the bridge. "Sir." said Dorgarus, "Permission to scout out this sector.". "Acknowledged, Sergeant Dorgarus." said Captain Zordash. As soon as Captain Zordash said that, he had contacted Lieutenant Gotarus.
Meanwhile, near Castle Diroctor, Alan And Officer Morgan had checked the map. "Ah, so this must where the Arch Mage's tower is located." said Alan. "I find it odd that you humans would try and find allies, when it would be much easier to go straight into the main base, and take on the Master Of Zombies in direct battle." said Broktar. "That may seem easier, Broktar." said Officer Morgan, "But Remember, he has a army at his command.". "Not only that." said Alan, "But from what King Anderson had told us, he has a flying Battleship.". "what makes you so certain that your chances at victory will be better with any allies?" asked Broktar. "you just wait and see, Broktar." Said Officer Morgan, "We will win this battle.".
Little did they Realize that they were being spied upon by a Ghoul. "Hmm, humans are about." said the Ghoul, "i must tell the Master Of Zombies.". As soon as he said that, the ghoul had tapped once on a button on his comm-link. Immediately, the comm-link had contacted the forces at the Undead Keep. At that moment, Quotor the Wraith had seen that the communications console had been accessed. That was where Quotor went over and accessed the Communication console. "General Quotor." said the Ghoul, "Ghoul Agent K'Dortok reporting in.". "What is your status?" asked Quotor. "There are two humans and a cyborg lizardman headed to the Arch Mage's Tower." Said K'Dortok. "Excellent." said Quotor, "Follow those humans and the lizardman.". After Quotor said that, he went over to the main section of the Undead Keep. It was there, that he met the other leaders of the Undead Forces. "Ah, General Quotor." said the Battle Knight, "It is good to see you.".
"Battle Knight." said Quotor, "I'm quite surprised you haven't already attempted to attack Castle Diroctor.". "Arrgh!!" Exclaimed the Battle Knight as he went off in a blind rage. "Ooh, that's a wise move." said Fortox. "Why am i not surprised, Fortox." said Quotor. Just then, Zoutoxas the Dark Troll had entered the scene. "Ah, Air Commander Zoutoxas." said Quotor, “How are you?". "Excellent." replied Zoutoxas, "Fortox, what is the status of your troops' mission to find and destroy the tomb of the Knight Lord Joseph Barker?". "My forces are searching for it as we speak." said Fortox. Meanwhile, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar had arrived at the Arch Mage's Tower. "Hmm, I'm Rather surprised." said Alan. "Why is that, Human?" said Broktar. "I was expecting something more magical." replied Alan. "Yeah, After All." said Officer Morgan, "This is supposed to be a realm of magic and fantasy.".
After Officer Morgan said that, he went over to the door and used the door knocker. Meanwhile, inside the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex Johnson was going over his spellbooks. "Hmm, there doesn't seem to be any information on the object that you had said, Tirus." said Alex. Just then, Alex's Apprentice had entered the main room. "Sir" said the Apprentice, "There are two people and a lizardman outside the Tower.". "What do they look like?" asked Alex. "The two people are dressed in unusual clothing, those not found in this realm." said the apprentice, "The Lizardman, however, seems to have metallic parts connected to organic flesh.". "That seems to be a similar description to that of the heroes of legend." said Alex, "Allow them in.". "Yes, sir." said the Apprentice, as he was heading towards the main door. Meanwhile, at the door of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alan, Officer Morgan, and Broktar were waiting outside the place. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived at the main door. "The Arch Mage will see you now." said the Apprentice, as he opened the door. "It's about time." said Broktar. "Who is this Arch Mage?" asked Alan.
"The Arch Mage is Alex Johnson." said the Apprentice, "He is quite Powerful.". "Just how high does this tower extend to?" Asked Broktar, "My servo joints are about to malfunction.". "it's only 10 floors." replied the Apprentice. "that doesn't seem to long, does it, eh Broktar." Alan said to Broktar. "Ha, you humans may laugh, but you don't know what it is like to have cybernetics replacing any limb that is lost." said Broktar. Meanwhile, in the main room of the Arch Mage's Tower, Alex had brought the Book of Legends over to the table. "Why did you bring the book over to the table?" asked Tirus. "It is to check up on the legend of the heroes." replied Alex. Just then, the Apprentice had arrived in the main room, ahead of Broktar, Alan, And Officer Morgan.
"Sir" said the Apprentice, "the people in question are on their way.". "Excellent." said The Arch Mage. Meanwhile, at the Crash site of the downed Kor'Drakk ship, the crew were working on the repairs. "Chief Engineer Jor'Dorus." said Captain Zordash, "What is the status of the repairs?". Just then, the ship was hit by a outside force. "Alert." the ship's computer said, "Unidentified hostiles located in area.". "Computer, where was the ship hit?" asked Captain Zordash. "Middle section of port side." said the ship's computer. Outside the ship, two Orc Warriors, riding on Griontors had moved into postion. That was after one of the warriors had fired a rocket at the ship. "Sire." said one of the Orc warriors. "Yes, Comrade" said Xeintox. "We have started phase one of the raid." said the Orc Warrior. "Excellent." said Xeintox, "Prepare to move to phase two.".
2024.06.02 15:46 Star_Gamer3726 Here it is, my 5193 word essay analysing Will Wood's 'Suburbia Overture / Greetings From The Marybell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally'. Enjoy. (once again not sure of the tag, let me know if it needs changing <3)
(note to teacher: you made a mistake by having one of the prompts be “what are you interested in”, get ready to experience the true power of an autistic hyperfixation. Warning for,, kinda vulgar lyrics? They’re important in the context of the song and it's actually really interesting. I swear I PROMISE I'm not insane.)
I will be analysing Will Wood’s song ‘Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Marybell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally’. which, for simplicity, most fans refer to as simply ‘Suburbia Overture’. This song is the first on his first solo album entitled ‘The Normal Album’, which came out in July 2020.
This song, in the most general possible terms, is a criticism of modern suburban life, how it is advertised as “the perfect life”, and how this advertising is incredibly false unless you fit the picture perfect standard that these facets of society seem to require.
The song itself is split up into 3 distinct sections, “Suburbia Overture”, “(Vampire) Culture” and “Love Me, Normally”. I'll be tackling each section one at a time in order to properly break down what each means, what different analogies they use, how they all relate to each other and the intended end result of the song and the message it intends to convey.
Let's begin with ‘Suburbia Overture’. This section of the song uses a lot of analogies that compare suburban life to a warzone, the first line of this section being “white picket fences, barbed wire and trenches”. This section also focuses heavily on the concept of the nuclear family, and it often literalises the term and uses analogies based around radiation and nuclear warfare. Such analogies can be found in lines such as “the snap crackle pop of the Geiger, camouflage billboards for lead lined Brookes Brothers”. Now there's a couple of terms that require definitions in this line. The first of course being “the Geiger”. A Geiger counter, which is what this lyric is referring to, is a tool used to measure levels of harmful radiation. This, paired with the concept of billboards advertising “lead-lined Brookes Brothers” when lead is a material used to deflect radiation, and the knowledge that ‘Brookes Brothers’ is an American vintage style clothing brand, this line really paints a picture of a seemingly post apocalyptic/post nuclear war but still consumerist and capitalistic suburban society. The last line in that verse is “buy now or die”, which ties back to the concept of safety equipment being advertised on billboards, while residents of this town have no choice but to buy the products. This all relates back to the hyperconsumerism that plagues our society, and runs particularly rampant in middle to upper middle class neighbourhoods. The very same neighbourhoods that are often referred to as “suburban”
In the second verse of this section there are a lot of hard hitting lyrics that to me really show that this perfect idealised life is far from perfect or even good, so we will work through them one by one because I feel that they all deserve proper analysis.
The first line that i want to point out from that verse is the line “takes a village to fake a whole culture” which is clearly a rip off of the phrase “it takes a village [to raise a child]” but it also references the fact that usually suburban towns are incredibly monotonous in both residents and architecture, and so it takes the collective effort of the entire population of the town to pretend that there is an actual culture to it.
The next few lines I'll speak on all come in quick succession of one another, essentially blending them into one line. “Your ear to the playground, your eye on the ball, your head in the gutter, your brains on the wall.” So let's break these down. This line is easily split into 4 distinct phrases, and all of these phrases have a few things in common, which I will point out later.
“Your ear to the playground” is a play on the phrase “ear to the ground” which essentially means that the person with their ‘ear to the ground’ is attempting to carefully gather intel about something. Someone having their ear to the playground simply reinforces the idea of this suburban “paradise” being. Not as paradise-y as one would hope, seeing as the people who use playgrounds most of all are children, so this line is demonstrating that the picture perfect life that this suburban town offers is actually corrupting children so young that they are still on the playground. The next phrase is “your eye on the ball” isn't a play on anything and is in fact in itself a common phrase. To have your eye on the ball means to be entirely focused in and paying attention to something, and not allowing anything to divert your attention. Given the last line this line very well could be another reference to the corruption of the youth and the idea that their every day play has already been tainted with the hostilities of modern life usually reserved for adults. Following this is another well known saying “your head in the gutter” which, as most know, someone whos head is ‘in the gutter’ is someone who will see some sort of innuendo or otherwise vulgainappropriate meaning in something that was intended to be entirely innocent, leading to others in the interaction telling the perpetrator to ‘get [their] mind out of the gutter’ And finally, in my opinion the most hard hitting phrase in this set, “your brains on the wall” which is clearly in reference to the notion of ending your own life with a shot to the head, which would lead to, well, brains being on the wall. These last 2 phrases come in stark contrast to the seemingly picture perfect life that suburban towns offer and advertise, the concepts of suicide and perversion are not concepts one expects to see or hear when imagining this idealised form of life.
There is one main similarity in each of the 4 phrases, that being that each phrase has some body part being on something else, your ear to the playground, your eye on the ball, your head in the gutter, your brains on the wall. This similarity almost offers a body horror aspect to the song, which when paired with the concept that this is written about a seemingly post nuclear apocalyptic town presents an interesting idea of possible mutation, but i'll be the first to admit that may be a little far fetched. However that's not the only similarity that these 4 phrases share, another is the fact that they are all directly, or only slightly modified versions of already well known phrases, a similarity that is found in many lines over this entire song, through all 3 sections.
I want to analyse a few more lines before we move on to the second section of the song.
This next line comes directly after the previously analysed line, and it goes “home is where the heart is, you ain't homeless, but you’re heartless” Sticking with the theme of using already existing and commonly used phrases, “home is where the heart is'' is once again a phrase that you could likely find as a cross stitch hung up on the wall of any of the homogenous houses you could likely find in this idealised suburbia. But what Wood is saying in this line is that home is where the heart is, and that while people in this town may not be homeless, they are certainly heartless, meaning that they in fact don't have homes. They have houses. Rows upon rows of houses that all look the exact same in the horrifying monotony that is suburban living.
Following this line is the lyric “it's the safest on the market, but you still gotta watch where you park it”. These lines seem to be in reference to buying a car. The car being the "safest on the market" is likely in reference to the fact that it may have a lot of safety features. But this is immediately negated by the fact that you “still gotta watch where you park it” meaning that the safety features could be a reason that the car gets stolen, rendering all the safety that those features offered useless because in the end it made the car and the owner less safe.
In the third verse of this section, you immediately hear the line “so give me your half-life crisis” which partially is a play on the term ‘mid life crisis’ wherein which one realises that they may have wasted their life up till that point and they're already halfway through, but the use of the term “half-life” instead of ‘mid-life’ is very intentional, as the term “half-life” can also be used to refer to the half-life of an isotope, which is the amount of time that isotope takes to lose half of its radiation, which ties back into the theme of radiation that we see mentioned a lot in this section.
Later in the same verse is the line “if it's true that a snowflake only matters in a blizzard”, which is interesting in a few ways, first, it brings up the idea of a singular individual means nothing on their own and that they only matter when they’re part of something larger or a larger group, but i also think that the use of the terms “snowflake” and “blizzard” instead of something like ‘raindrop’ and ‘storm’ is very intentional in the fact that snowflakes are known for being individual, none are alike, every single one is different. So saying that a snowflake doesn't matter unless it's in a blizzard is yet another hit at individuality, essentially implying that in this town individuality means nothing and is essentially rendered useless.
The final line in this verse is “everybody's all up in my-” repeated thrice, and on the third time the sentence is finished to say “everybody’s all up in my business” and before the word “business” can be finished its overlapped with the beginning of the chorus, the first word of which is a very loud “SUBURBIAAAA!”. I believe this is reminiscent of the fact that in towns like this, everyone cares so much about what everyone else is doing, they’re all so interested in everyone else's business, and i think that sentiment being stated and cut off by the word “Suburbia” is essentially saying that ‘this is the norm, this is just Suburbia, this is how it works around here.’
After the final chorus of this section, in the final verse, you'll find the line “chameleon peacocks are talk of the town” which particularly interests me because if you know anything about chameleons or peacocks you’d find that they seem incredibly different as animals. Chameleons blend into their environment in order to stay safe, whereas peacocks are known for parading around bright colours to make themselves look better, but if you think about it the term “chameleon peacock” actually makes a lot of sense, a person who blends into their surroundings in order to make themselves look good. This sentiment seems to perfectly describe the homogeneity of the people that live in these perfect towns, they're all the same, they blend in with one another in order to make themselves look good, or perfect.
Another line heard shortly afterwards is the phrase “he cums radiation”, rather vulgar, I grant you, but it's important because it is yet another literalisation of the phrase ‘nuclear family’. It could also be a reference to the general toxicity of this societal norm.
The final line in this section of the song is “the dog bites the postman, as basement eyes dream of a night at the drive-in, with an AR-15”. Which is another use of juxtaposition, intended to cause a kind of whiplash in the listener and reinforce the idea that while in this place there is scenarios that would happen in a hollywood movie esque picture perfect neighbourhood, like the dog biting the postman, there's also horrors that lurk below the surface. (although clearly not TOO far below.
Now let’s move on to the second part, ‘(Vampire) Culture’.
If you listen to the song, you’ll immediately be able to recognise where ‘Suburbia Overture’ ends and ‘(Vampire) Culture’ begins, due to the insane juxtaposition between the two. Where ‘Suburbia Overture’ is soft and sort of reminiscent of the 1950’s, ‘(Vampire) Culture’ is loud, jarring and grotesque, complemented with much raspier and strained sounding vocals compared to ‘Suburbia Overture’’s soft and melodic ones. The tone for this section of the song is immediately set with much more graphic lyrics, the very first line of this section (after the opening scream) is “i dropped my eyeballs in the bonfire, we fucked on a bed of nails” which absolutely sets the scene for how different this section will be to the previous.
This song immediately jumps into using cannibalism as a metaphor, with the first line after the jump start opener being “I caught kuru from your sister, and I'm laughing in jail”. While this line is written to sound like the concept of catching an STD from an act of adultery, Kuru is actually a disease only found in human brain tissue, meaning that you can only contract this disease by eating a human brain.
This use of cannibalism as a metaphor is used again immediately after in the line “smell those screaming teenage sweetbreads on that 4th of July grill”, ‘sweetbread’ is the term used to refer to the pancreas and thymus gland of an animal, usually a lamb, but in this particular case it is in reference to the human teenagers that supposedly lived in The Marybell Township, or a least they did before they were dissected, cooked and served at a neighbourhood 4th of July barbeque hosted by the same people that were once referred to as their neighbours.
This line adds an interesting level of patriotism to the song and criticism of how America utilises patriotism and their love for their country as means to justify harming the youth, however a 4th of July neighbourhood barbeque is also commonly associated with white picket fence gated community America, which ties us back to the base criticism of that style of life and how it is seen as the “proper” and “perfect” way to live. These cannibalistic sentiments are followed up with the line “smile and wave boys, kiss the cook, live laugh and love, please pass the pills.” which brings us back to the repeated use of commonly known sayings being taken directly or modified only slightly to remind the listener of the setting were in, that being a seemingly 1950’s era tight knit neighbourhood.
Phrases like “live laugh [and] love” or “kiss the cook” are both phrases that could easily be seen in a setting like this, especially “kiss the cook”, as this is a phrase commonly associated with aprons worn by grillmasters at neighbourhood barbeques, not unlike the cannibalistic 4th of July barbeque that this particular neighbourhood seems to be hosting. These phrases being immediately followed up with a sentiment such as “please pass the pills” serves to entirely undermine the pleasantries that, until a moment ago, seemed to be plastered all over the faces of the people living in this fictional town that Wood has created. I think that final phrase brings the listener back to the realisation that not all is right here, quite the opposite in fact, and drags them from their momentary paradise. Circling back very quickly to the phrase “smile and wave”. I felt the need to point out that this phrase has been used for centuries as a way to say “stop talking and act normal” which once again reinforces that these people are pretending to be something they’re not in order to fit in.
We enter the next verse with the repeated phrase “it's only culture”, after that line is repeated three times we hear “sulfur, smoke and soot”, which could either be a reference to how dirty and disgusting the ‘culture’ is, or it could be a different way of saying that this culture and the people participating are going to hell, as per the common phrase ‘fire and brimstone’ and the fact that sulfur is another way of saying brimstone, and smoke and soot are both byproducts of fire.
The last line of this verse and the first line of the chorus blend into each other, so I’ll speak on them both.
First, the last line of the verse. It goes “you cocked and sucked your lack of empathy, pulled the trigger with your foot to prove you've got-” Putting aside the clear innuendo, this line refers to the idea of ending one's own life with a long shotgun. According to the media, by the time the gun is cocked and the barrel is in your mouth, you're not able to pull the trigger with your hands due to the length of the barrel. This line instead presents the solution of pulling the trigger with your foot to end your life.
So this person “cocked and sucked” the gun (cocked the gun and put the barrel in their mouth) before pulling the trigger with their foot to prove they’ve got-
And here's where the verse blends into the chorus.
Because the first line only consists of one word.
“Blood”.
The person who was shooting themselves with a shotgun only to prove that they bleed. Which is where the title of this section comes in. “(Vampire) Culture”. This section seeks to portray either the people in this culture or, the more likely option, the culture itself, as metaphorical vampires, who aim to destroy those around them. This knowledge makes the next line “didn't they want your blood, so why apologise for being blue and cold” make a lot more sense. After all, if these culture vampires have drained you of your blood, is it not their fault that you’re now “blue and cold”, as bodies tend to be if they lack blood flow. However if you look at synonyms for the words “blue” and “cold”, you could also interpret this phrase as meaning “sad and apathetic”. A sad and apathetic person doesn't seem to be the kind of person this ‘culture’ seeks to enlist however, and so one who is “blue and cold” is shunned as an outsider. What Wood is getting at is that if this culture is the one who made you sad and apathetic, then you should not apologise to it for being so.
The next verse is short, and like the previous one, also blends into the chorus in the same way, by having the last line of the verse cut off right where the chorus would finish the sentence with the word “blood”. However in this verse, there's an interesting line. “It's only culture and it's more afraid of you than you are of it”, which is a sentiment usually used by adults to attempt to subdue a child's fear of something, usually insects. However it's interesting in the fact that it brings up the idea that this culture that has caused so much damage and harm is actually incredibly fragile, and would, in theory be very afraid of the concept of the individual, because if this ‘culture’ is only being held together by the silent agreeance that everyone will simply pretend, then the idea that there is people who refuse throws the whole idea into jeopardy.
This line is followed up however, by the line that blends it into the chorus. “Go on drink that-”, clearly intended to be finished by the first line of the chorus, making the full line, “go on drink that blood”. This line is in reference to the phrase “drink the kool-aid” which essentially means to pledge your undying loyalty to something, a concept, a person, a god, etc. and it derives from an infamous mass cult suicide where over 900 people drank poisoned Kool-Aid and subsequently died for the cult. It is not a far cry to believe that this event and this phrase is what the line is referring to, as it's something that Wood has referenced in other songs, so it only makes sense to believe that this is what he means here.
After that chorus we move on to the bridge, which begins by listing 3 pairs of names, all famous or semi famous, and each pair being similar in one right but opposite in another, the line goes as follows; “were you Nabokov to a Sallinger, were you Jung to Freud or Dass to a Leary”, so let's break down these pairs one by one.
First “Nabokov to a Sallinger”, these names belong to Vladimir Nabokov and J.D. Sallinger, both authors who wrote famous books that both surround the theme of innocence, but in very different ways. Nabokov’s book “Lolita” is a story told from the perspective of a grown man about his sexual obsession and attraction to a little girl, and his desire to ruin her innocence, exploring the theme of innocence in a grotesque and frankly horrifying way, which is in stark contrast to Sallinger’s book “The Catcher in the Rye”, which explores the topic of innocence through the main characters desire to preserve their little sisters innocence, and in that desire displays hesitancy at the idea of sex themself. Both books explore the topic of innocence, however while one seeks to preserve it, the other seeks to destroy it, two sides of the same coin.
The next pairing is “Jung to Freud”, meaning Carl Gustav Jung and his mentor Sigmund Freud, who once again are similar in one right, but opposite in another. Jung and Freud both had theories on the nature of the human mind, but where Jungs was all about the concept of spirituality and how that ties into the collective unconscious, Freud's approach was much more focused on the individual unconscious and the concept of sexuality.
The final pairing is “Dass to a Leary”. both psychologists, both at the forefront of the ‘Harvard Psilocybin Project’ (before they both got dismissed from harvard entirely following controversies around the project) Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary were both psychologists and eventually authors who studied the effects of psychedelic drugs on the human mind, and while they were co workers they ended up with pretty conflicting views. Dr. Richard Alpert, who apparently ‘died’ and was ‘reborn’ as spiritual guide Ram Dass, centred his teachings heavily around the concept of living in the moment, (in fact his best selling book, written in 1971 was titled ‘Be Here Now’) and he believed that psychedelic drugs were not needed and that a permanent version of the same effects could be achieved through meditation. Whereas Dr. Timothy Leary advocated heavily for the use of psychedelics, believing that LSD specifically had great potential for therapeutic psychiatric use.
All of these pairings and examples utilise the concept of duality and speak on how every coin has two sides, which can easily be tied back to the idea that the picture perfect suburban life is just one side of the coin. This idea is then reinforced by the next line, “were you mother, daughter, subject and author?”, The use of the word ‘and’ here shows that it's possible to be two sides of the same coin at once, just like how this town, which is perfect on one side of the coin, is still terrible on the other side of the coin. The line is stating that it's possible to be both at once.
The very last line in this section is; “you don't make the rules, you just write them down and do it by the book you throw around”. This line combines a few relatively well known phrases. The first being of course ‘i don’t make the rules’, which can have two distinct meanings. The first is to express a kind of sympathy for someone being punished, and the second is to absolve yourself of the blame for that person being punished, a sort of ‘don't shoot the messenger’ situation.
The ‘rules’ that are likely being referred to here are the societal norms and expectations forced upon people who reside in these towns, the standard for ‘perfection’.
However, following this sentiment up with the phrase “you just write them down” is essentially saying that while it's not the fault of the people in these towns, they didn't create the norms, they still enforce them. They expect everything to be in line and perfect at all times, they follow these ‘rules’ to a T, and they shun and punish anyone who doesn't fit the standard and/or refuses to follow these ‘rules’, which is where the line “do it by the book you throw around” comes in, doing something ‘by the book’ means to follow rules strictly and to the letter, nothing out of line, and to throw the book at someone means to punish them as severely as possible, usually used in the legal sense to mean punishing someone for their crime as severely as the law will allow. So in all, the lyric “you don't make the rules, you just write them down and do it by the book you throw around” ends up meaning ‘you didn't create these norms but you still enforce them by following them to an absolute T and punishing anyone who doesn't.’
With that we enter the third and final section of the song, entitled ‘Love Me, Normally’, a title it shares with another song on the album, but of course this song is partially meant to serve as an overture for the whole album, meaning it shares some similar lyrics with lyrics from other songs on the album, so sharing a title isn't all that surprising.
The first lyric in this section is “do you know the difference between blazing trails and slash and burn?” which is another instance of duality in this song. Trailblazing or being a trailblazer means doing something no one has done before, paving the way for other people to follow in your footsteps, it comes from the literal act of creating a trail in the woods for people to follow, usually by creating notches in trees or setting small fires, hence ‘blazer’, as blaze is another word for a fire. However “slash and burn” is a method of deforestation that involves cutting down and burning a section of forest to create a field. Both examples include using fire to change something, but where one is seen as progress and positive, the other is negative, and seen as a means of destruction. Once again, two sides of the same coin, innovation and destruction.
This is followed up with the line “going against the grain and catching splinters”, which is a line i particularly like because while it is something that literally can happen, if you run your hand along wood in the opposite direction to the grain, you're more likely to get a splinter because you're essentially pushing your hand against the chips of wood, but it also is another metaphor for the dangers of not being the same. Going against the grain in this instance means daring to be different, not going the same way everyone else is going but instead the opposite of that, and in this example splinters are the consequences one would face for being different, especially in a setting like this perfect town, where everyone is the exact same as everyone else.
A little bit later you hear the line “well Lot he had his lot in life, Job his job and i guess you’ll too, and die”. Lot and Job are both figures found in the Bible, whose names both share spelling with common English words, but are pronounced slightly differently.
Job, from the Book of Job, was a man that was tested by God, made to suffer to test his loyalty, his ‘job’ was to believe unendingly in God and see Him as always correct no matter what.
Lot, from the Book of Genesis, was a man who went through a lot, and the phrase ‘my lot in life’ is a phrase commonly used by people to write off/explain why they don't have it as good as others, they say it's simply their ‘lot in life’.
The end of this line “i guess you’ll too, and die” i believe refers to the fact that everyone will have their own job and their own lot in life, and then everyone in the end will die.
This theory is solidified by the fact that the next line is “The Lord looked down and said ‘hey, you're only mortal’” which is a play off of the phrase ‘you're only human’. Wood himself said that the phrase ‘you're only human’ has always felt weird to him, he says, “cause like, of course I am, aren’t we all? How is that fact supposed to help? I still feel bad. What does being human mean to you?”. He follows this up by saying that the idea of God saying "hey, you're only mortal" offers the same kind of sentiment, but in a “cosmically condescending” sort of way.
The following line reads “giveth and taketh away, till things come out a certain way, leave you wondering when they might go back to normal… leave you wondering why they can't have just been normal”.
This line presents a sort of hopelessness in the realisation that things are constantly changing, nothing is any more ‘normal’ than anything else, there's no such thing as ‘normal’, which is an overarching theme found throughout the album. Once again bringing back the fact that for all intents and purposes this song is an overture for the rest of the album.
To conclude, ‘Suburbia Overture’ is, in my opinion, one of the greatest criticisms of suburban, middle class, gated community, nuclear family life i've ever seen, it highlights the problems in that life and showcases how this kind of lifestyle in its incredibly rigid and restrictive standards is incredibly harmful to the very concept of individuality, because the expectations and unspoken rules set in communities like this and the widespread idea of forced normality seeks to crush any individuality before it even has a chance to blossom.
The use of metaphors and phrases that are well known and are likely to be seen in settings such as this gated community suburban town that Wood has created really paint a subconscious picture of what this community looks like, the use of duality, how every story has another side, and how nothing that is seemingly perfect from the outside is actually perfect on the inside.
Will Wood is an incredible lyricist and the fact that he was able to cram so much symbolism and such a powerful message into a song just over 6 minutes long is genuinely incredible.
Thank you for listening to my/reading my autistic hyper fixated rambling, i hope i didn't melt your brain too badly.
submitted by Star_Gamer3726 to willwood [link] [comments]
I will be analysing Will Wood’s song ‘Suburbia Overture / Greetings from Marybell Township! / (Vampire) Culture / Love Me, Normally’. which, for simplicity, most fans refer to as simply ‘Suburbia Overture’. This song is the first on his first solo album entitled ‘The Normal Album’, which came out in July 2020.
This song, in the most general possible terms, is a criticism of modern suburban life, how it is advertised as “the perfect life”, and how this advertising is incredibly false unless you fit the picture perfect standard that these facets of society seem to require.
The song itself is split up into 3 distinct sections, “Suburbia Overture”, “(Vampire) Culture” and “Love Me, Normally”. I'll be tackling each section one at a time in order to properly break down what each means, what different analogies they use, how they all relate to each other and the intended end result of the song and the message it intends to convey.
Let's begin with ‘Suburbia Overture’. This section of the song uses a lot of analogies that compare suburban life to a warzone, the first line of this section being “white picket fences, barbed wire and trenches”. This section also focuses heavily on the concept of the nuclear family, and it often literalises the term and uses analogies based around radiation and nuclear warfare. Such analogies can be found in lines such as “the snap crackle pop of the Geiger, camouflage billboards for lead lined Brookes Brothers”. Now there's a couple of terms that require definitions in this line. The first of course being “the Geiger”. A Geiger counter, which is what this lyric is referring to, is a tool used to measure levels of harmful radiation. This, paired with the concept of billboards advertising “lead-lined Brookes Brothers” when lead is a material used to deflect radiation, and the knowledge that ‘Brookes Brothers’ is an American vintage style clothing brand, this line really paints a picture of a seemingly post apocalyptic/post nuclear war but still consumerist and capitalistic suburban society. The last line in that verse is “buy now or die”, which ties back to the concept of safety equipment being advertised on billboards, while residents of this town have no choice but to buy the products. This all relates back to the hyperconsumerism that plagues our society, and runs particularly rampant in middle to upper middle class neighbourhoods. The very same neighbourhoods that are often referred to as “suburban”
In the second verse of this section there are a lot of hard hitting lyrics that to me really show that this perfect idealised life is far from perfect or even good, so we will work through them one by one because I feel that they all deserve proper analysis.
The first line that i want to point out from that verse is the line “takes a village to fake a whole culture” which is clearly a rip off of the phrase “it takes a village [to raise a child]” but it also references the fact that usually suburban towns are incredibly monotonous in both residents and architecture, and so it takes the collective effort of the entire population of the town to pretend that there is an actual culture to it.
The next few lines I'll speak on all come in quick succession of one another, essentially blending them into one line. “Your ear to the playground, your eye on the ball, your head in the gutter, your brains on the wall.” So let's break these down. This line is easily split into 4 distinct phrases, and all of these phrases have a few things in common, which I will point out later.
“Your ear to the playground” is a play on the phrase “ear to the ground” which essentially means that the person with their ‘ear to the ground’ is attempting to carefully gather intel about something. Someone having their ear to the playground simply reinforces the idea of this suburban “paradise” being. Not as paradise-y as one would hope, seeing as the people who use playgrounds most of all are children, so this line is demonstrating that the picture perfect life that this suburban town offers is actually corrupting children so young that they are still on the playground. The next phrase is “your eye on the ball” isn't a play on anything and is in fact in itself a common phrase. To have your eye on the ball means to be entirely focused in and paying attention to something, and not allowing anything to divert your attention. Given the last line this line very well could be another reference to the corruption of the youth and the idea that their every day play has already been tainted with the hostilities of modern life usually reserved for adults. Following this is another well known saying “your head in the gutter” which, as most know, someone whos head is ‘in the gutter’ is someone who will see some sort of innuendo or otherwise vulgainappropriate meaning in something that was intended to be entirely innocent, leading to others in the interaction telling the perpetrator to ‘get [their] mind out of the gutter’ And finally, in my opinion the most hard hitting phrase in this set, “your brains on the wall” which is clearly in reference to the notion of ending your own life with a shot to the head, which would lead to, well, brains being on the wall. These last 2 phrases come in stark contrast to the seemingly picture perfect life that suburban towns offer and advertise, the concepts of suicide and perversion are not concepts one expects to see or hear when imagining this idealised form of life.
There is one main similarity in each of the 4 phrases, that being that each phrase has some body part being on something else, your ear to the playground, your eye on the ball, your head in the gutter, your brains on the wall. This similarity almost offers a body horror aspect to the song, which when paired with the concept that this is written about a seemingly post nuclear apocalyptic town presents an interesting idea of possible mutation, but i'll be the first to admit that may be a little far fetched. However that's not the only similarity that these 4 phrases share, another is the fact that they are all directly, or only slightly modified versions of already well known phrases, a similarity that is found in many lines over this entire song, through all 3 sections.
I want to analyse a few more lines before we move on to the second section of the song.
This next line comes directly after the previously analysed line, and it goes “home is where the heart is, you ain't homeless, but you’re heartless” Sticking with the theme of using already existing and commonly used phrases, “home is where the heart is'' is once again a phrase that you could likely find as a cross stitch hung up on the wall of any of the homogenous houses you could likely find in this idealised suburbia. But what Wood is saying in this line is that home is where the heart is, and that while people in this town may not be homeless, they are certainly heartless, meaning that they in fact don't have homes. They have houses. Rows upon rows of houses that all look the exact same in the horrifying monotony that is suburban living.
Following this line is the lyric “it's the safest on the market, but you still gotta watch where you park it”. These lines seem to be in reference to buying a car. The car being the "safest on the market" is likely in reference to the fact that it may have a lot of safety features. But this is immediately negated by the fact that you “still gotta watch where you park it” meaning that the safety features could be a reason that the car gets stolen, rendering all the safety that those features offered useless because in the end it made the car and the owner less safe.
In the third verse of this section, you immediately hear the line “so give me your half-life crisis” which partially is a play on the term ‘mid life crisis’ wherein which one realises that they may have wasted their life up till that point and they're already halfway through, but the use of the term “half-life” instead of ‘mid-life’ is very intentional, as the term “half-life” can also be used to refer to the half-life of an isotope, which is the amount of time that isotope takes to lose half of its radiation, which ties back into the theme of radiation that we see mentioned a lot in this section.
Later in the same verse is the line “if it's true that a snowflake only matters in a blizzard”, which is interesting in a few ways, first, it brings up the idea of a singular individual means nothing on their own and that they only matter when they’re part of something larger or a larger group, but i also think that the use of the terms “snowflake” and “blizzard” instead of something like ‘raindrop’ and ‘storm’ is very intentional in the fact that snowflakes are known for being individual, none are alike, every single one is different. So saying that a snowflake doesn't matter unless it's in a blizzard is yet another hit at individuality, essentially implying that in this town individuality means nothing and is essentially rendered useless.
The final line in this verse is “everybody's all up in my-” repeated thrice, and on the third time the sentence is finished to say “everybody’s all up in my business” and before the word “business” can be finished its overlapped with the beginning of the chorus, the first word of which is a very loud “SUBURBIAAAA!”. I believe this is reminiscent of the fact that in towns like this, everyone cares so much about what everyone else is doing, they’re all so interested in everyone else's business, and i think that sentiment being stated and cut off by the word “Suburbia” is essentially saying that ‘this is the norm, this is just Suburbia, this is how it works around here.’
After the final chorus of this section, in the final verse, you'll find the line “chameleon peacocks are talk of the town” which particularly interests me because if you know anything about chameleons or peacocks you’d find that they seem incredibly different as animals. Chameleons blend into their environment in order to stay safe, whereas peacocks are known for parading around bright colours to make themselves look better, but if you think about it the term “chameleon peacock” actually makes a lot of sense, a person who blends into their surroundings in order to make themselves look good. This sentiment seems to perfectly describe the homogeneity of the people that live in these perfect towns, they're all the same, they blend in with one another in order to make themselves look good, or perfect.
Another line heard shortly afterwards is the phrase “he cums radiation”, rather vulgar, I grant you, but it's important because it is yet another literalisation of the phrase ‘nuclear family’. It could also be a reference to the general toxicity of this societal norm.
The final line in this section of the song is “the dog bites the postman, as basement eyes dream of a night at the drive-in, with an AR-15”. Which is another use of juxtaposition, intended to cause a kind of whiplash in the listener and reinforce the idea that while in this place there is scenarios that would happen in a hollywood movie esque picture perfect neighbourhood, like the dog biting the postman, there's also horrors that lurk below the surface. (although clearly not TOO far below.
Now let’s move on to the second part, ‘(Vampire) Culture’.
If you listen to the song, you’ll immediately be able to recognise where ‘Suburbia Overture’ ends and ‘(Vampire) Culture’ begins, due to the insane juxtaposition between the two. Where ‘Suburbia Overture’ is soft and sort of reminiscent of the 1950’s, ‘(Vampire) Culture’ is loud, jarring and grotesque, complemented with much raspier and strained sounding vocals compared to ‘Suburbia Overture’’s soft and melodic ones. The tone for this section of the song is immediately set with much more graphic lyrics, the very first line of this section (after the opening scream) is “i dropped my eyeballs in the bonfire, we fucked on a bed of nails” which absolutely sets the scene for how different this section will be to the previous.
This song immediately jumps into using cannibalism as a metaphor, with the first line after the jump start opener being “I caught kuru from your sister, and I'm laughing in jail”. While this line is written to sound like the concept of catching an STD from an act of adultery, Kuru is actually a disease only found in human brain tissue, meaning that you can only contract this disease by eating a human brain.
This use of cannibalism as a metaphor is used again immediately after in the line “smell those screaming teenage sweetbreads on that 4th of July grill”, ‘sweetbread’ is the term used to refer to the pancreas and thymus gland of an animal, usually a lamb, but in this particular case it is in reference to the human teenagers that supposedly lived in The Marybell Township, or a least they did before they were dissected, cooked and served at a neighbourhood 4th of July barbeque hosted by the same people that were once referred to as their neighbours.
This line adds an interesting level of patriotism to the song and criticism of how America utilises patriotism and their love for their country as means to justify harming the youth, however a 4th of July neighbourhood barbeque is also commonly associated with white picket fence gated community America, which ties us back to the base criticism of that style of life and how it is seen as the “proper” and “perfect” way to live. These cannibalistic sentiments are followed up with the line “smile and wave boys, kiss the cook, live laugh and love, please pass the pills.” which brings us back to the repeated use of commonly known sayings being taken directly or modified only slightly to remind the listener of the setting were in, that being a seemingly 1950’s era tight knit neighbourhood.
Phrases like “live laugh [and] love” or “kiss the cook” are both phrases that could easily be seen in a setting like this, especially “kiss the cook”, as this is a phrase commonly associated with aprons worn by grillmasters at neighbourhood barbeques, not unlike the cannibalistic 4th of July barbeque that this particular neighbourhood seems to be hosting. These phrases being immediately followed up with a sentiment such as “please pass the pills” serves to entirely undermine the pleasantries that, until a moment ago, seemed to be plastered all over the faces of the people living in this fictional town that Wood has created. I think that final phrase brings the listener back to the realisation that not all is right here, quite the opposite in fact, and drags them from their momentary paradise. Circling back very quickly to the phrase “smile and wave”. I felt the need to point out that this phrase has been used for centuries as a way to say “stop talking and act normal” which once again reinforces that these people are pretending to be something they’re not in order to fit in.
We enter the next verse with the repeated phrase “it's only culture”, after that line is repeated three times we hear “sulfur, smoke and soot”, which could either be a reference to how dirty and disgusting the ‘culture’ is, or it could be a different way of saying that this culture and the people participating are going to hell, as per the common phrase ‘fire and brimstone’ and the fact that sulfur is another way of saying brimstone, and smoke and soot are both byproducts of fire.
The last line of this verse and the first line of the chorus blend into each other, so I’ll speak on them both.
First, the last line of the verse. It goes “you cocked and sucked your lack of empathy, pulled the trigger with your foot to prove you've got-” Putting aside the clear innuendo, this line refers to the idea of ending one's own life with a long shotgun. According to the media, by the time the gun is cocked and the barrel is in your mouth, you're not able to pull the trigger with your hands due to the length of the barrel. This line instead presents the solution of pulling the trigger with your foot to end your life.
So this person “cocked and sucked” the gun (cocked the gun and put the barrel in their mouth) before pulling the trigger with their foot to prove they’ve got-
And here's where the verse blends into the chorus.
Because the first line only consists of one word.
“Blood”.
The person who was shooting themselves with a shotgun only to prove that they bleed. Which is where the title of this section comes in. “(Vampire) Culture”. This section seeks to portray either the people in this culture or, the more likely option, the culture itself, as metaphorical vampires, who aim to destroy those around them. This knowledge makes the next line “didn't they want your blood, so why apologise for being blue and cold” make a lot more sense. After all, if these culture vampires have drained you of your blood, is it not their fault that you’re now “blue and cold”, as bodies tend to be if they lack blood flow. However if you look at synonyms for the words “blue” and “cold”, you could also interpret this phrase as meaning “sad and apathetic”. A sad and apathetic person doesn't seem to be the kind of person this ‘culture’ seeks to enlist however, and so one who is “blue and cold” is shunned as an outsider. What Wood is getting at is that if this culture is the one who made you sad and apathetic, then you should not apologise to it for being so.
The next verse is short, and like the previous one, also blends into the chorus in the same way, by having the last line of the verse cut off right where the chorus would finish the sentence with the word “blood”. However in this verse, there's an interesting line. “It's only culture and it's more afraid of you than you are of it”, which is a sentiment usually used by adults to attempt to subdue a child's fear of something, usually insects. However it's interesting in the fact that it brings up the idea that this culture that has caused so much damage and harm is actually incredibly fragile, and would, in theory be very afraid of the concept of the individual, because if this ‘culture’ is only being held together by the silent agreeance that everyone will simply pretend, then the idea that there is people who refuse throws the whole idea into jeopardy.
This line is followed up however, by the line that blends it into the chorus. “Go on drink that-”, clearly intended to be finished by the first line of the chorus, making the full line, “go on drink that blood”. This line is in reference to the phrase “drink the kool-aid” which essentially means to pledge your undying loyalty to something, a concept, a person, a god, etc. and it derives from an infamous mass cult suicide where over 900 people drank poisoned Kool-Aid and subsequently died for the cult. It is not a far cry to believe that this event and this phrase is what the line is referring to, as it's something that Wood has referenced in other songs, so it only makes sense to believe that this is what he means here.
After that chorus we move on to the bridge, which begins by listing 3 pairs of names, all famous or semi famous, and each pair being similar in one right but opposite in another, the line goes as follows; “were you Nabokov to a Sallinger, were you Jung to Freud or Dass to a Leary”, so let's break down these pairs one by one.
First “Nabokov to a Sallinger”, these names belong to Vladimir Nabokov and J.D. Sallinger, both authors who wrote famous books that both surround the theme of innocence, but in very different ways. Nabokov’s book “Lolita” is a story told from the perspective of a grown man about his sexual obsession and attraction to a little girl, and his desire to ruin her innocence, exploring the theme of innocence in a grotesque and frankly horrifying way, which is in stark contrast to Sallinger’s book “The Catcher in the Rye”, which explores the topic of innocence through the main characters desire to preserve their little sisters innocence, and in that desire displays hesitancy at the idea of sex themself. Both books explore the topic of innocence, however while one seeks to preserve it, the other seeks to destroy it, two sides of the same coin.
The next pairing is “Jung to Freud”, meaning Carl Gustav Jung and his mentor Sigmund Freud, who once again are similar in one right, but opposite in another. Jung and Freud both had theories on the nature of the human mind, but where Jungs was all about the concept of spirituality and how that ties into the collective unconscious, Freud's approach was much more focused on the individual unconscious and the concept of sexuality.
The final pairing is “Dass to a Leary”. both psychologists, both at the forefront of the ‘Harvard Psilocybin Project’ (before they both got dismissed from harvard entirely following controversies around the project) Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary were both psychologists and eventually authors who studied the effects of psychedelic drugs on the human mind, and while they were co workers they ended up with pretty conflicting views. Dr. Richard Alpert, who apparently ‘died’ and was ‘reborn’ as spiritual guide Ram Dass, centred his teachings heavily around the concept of living in the moment, (in fact his best selling book, written in 1971 was titled ‘Be Here Now’) and he believed that psychedelic drugs were not needed and that a permanent version of the same effects could be achieved through meditation. Whereas Dr. Timothy Leary advocated heavily for the use of psychedelics, believing that LSD specifically had great potential for therapeutic psychiatric use.
All of these pairings and examples utilise the concept of duality and speak on how every coin has two sides, which can easily be tied back to the idea that the picture perfect suburban life is just one side of the coin. This idea is then reinforced by the next line, “were you mother, daughter, subject and author?”, The use of the word ‘and’ here shows that it's possible to be two sides of the same coin at once, just like how this town, which is perfect on one side of the coin, is still terrible on the other side of the coin. The line is stating that it's possible to be both at once.
The very last line in this section is; “you don't make the rules, you just write them down and do it by the book you throw around”. This line combines a few relatively well known phrases. The first being of course ‘i don’t make the rules’, which can have two distinct meanings. The first is to express a kind of sympathy for someone being punished, and the second is to absolve yourself of the blame for that person being punished, a sort of ‘don't shoot the messenger’ situation.
The ‘rules’ that are likely being referred to here are the societal norms and expectations forced upon people who reside in these towns, the standard for ‘perfection’.
However, following this sentiment up with the phrase “you just write them down” is essentially saying that while it's not the fault of the people in these towns, they didn't create the norms, they still enforce them. They expect everything to be in line and perfect at all times, they follow these ‘rules’ to a T, and they shun and punish anyone who doesn't fit the standard and/or refuses to follow these ‘rules’, which is where the line “do it by the book you throw around” comes in, doing something ‘by the book’ means to follow rules strictly and to the letter, nothing out of line, and to throw the book at someone means to punish them as severely as possible, usually used in the legal sense to mean punishing someone for their crime as severely as the law will allow. So in all, the lyric “you don't make the rules, you just write them down and do it by the book you throw around” ends up meaning ‘you didn't create these norms but you still enforce them by following them to an absolute T and punishing anyone who doesn't.’
With that we enter the third and final section of the song, entitled ‘Love Me, Normally’, a title it shares with another song on the album, but of course this song is partially meant to serve as an overture for the whole album, meaning it shares some similar lyrics with lyrics from other songs on the album, so sharing a title isn't all that surprising.
The first lyric in this section is “do you know the difference between blazing trails and slash and burn?” which is another instance of duality in this song. Trailblazing or being a trailblazer means doing something no one has done before, paving the way for other people to follow in your footsteps, it comes from the literal act of creating a trail in the woods for people to follow, usually by creating notches in trees or setting small fires, hence ‘blazer’, as blaze is another word for a fire. However “slash and burn” is a method of deforestation that involves cutting down and burning a section of forest to create a field. Both examples include using fire to change something, but where one is seen as progress and positive, the other is negative, and seen as a means of destruction. Once again, two sides of the same coin, innovation and destruction.
This is followed up with the line “going against the grain and catching splinters”, which is a line i particularly like because while it is something that literally can happen, if you run your hand along wood in the opposite direction to the grain, you're more likely to get a splinter because you're essentially pushing your hand against the chips of wood, but it also is another metaphor for the dangers of not being the same. Going against the grain in this instance means daring to be different, not going the same way everyone else is going but instead the opposite of that, and in this example splinters are the consequences one would face for being different, especially in a setting like this perfect town, where everyone is the exact same as everyone else.
A little bit later you hear the line “well Lot he had his lot in life, Job his job and i guess you’ll too, and die”. Lot and Job are both figures found in the Bible, whose names both share spelling with common English words, but are pronounced slightly differently.
Job, from the Book of Job, was a man that was tested by God, made to suffer to test his loyalty, his ‘job’ was to believe unendingly in God and see Him as always correct no matter what.
Lot, from the Book of Genesis, was a man who went through a lot, and the phrase ‘my lot in life’ is a phrase commonly used by people to write off/explain why they don't have it as good as others, they say it's simply their ‘lot in life’.
The end of this line “i guess you’ll too, and die” i believe refers to the fact that everyone will have their own job and their own lot in life, and then everyone in the end will die.
This theory is solidified by the fact that the next line is “The Lord looked down and said ‘hey, you're only mortal’” which is a play off of the phrase ‘you're only human’. Wood himself said that the phrase ‘you're only human’ has always felt weird to him, he says, “cause like, of course I am, aren’t we all? How is that fact supposed to help? I still feel bad. What does being human mean to you?”. He follows this up by saying that the idea of God saying "hey, you're only mortal" offers the same kind of sentiment, but in a “cosmically condescending” sort of way.
The following line reads “giveth and taketh away, till things come out a certain way, leave you wondering when they might go back to normal… leave you wondering why they can't have just been normal”.
This line presents a sort of hopelessness in the realisation that things are constantly changing, nothing is any more ‘normal’ than anything else, there's no such thing as ‘normal’, which is an overarching theme found throughout the album. Once again bringing back the fact that for all intents and purposes this song is an overture for the rest of the album.
To conclude, ‘Suburbia Overture’ is, in my opinion, one of the greatest criticisms of suburban, middle class, gated community, nuclear family life i've ever seen, it highlights the problems in that life and showcases how this kind of lifestyle in its incredibly rigid and restrictive standards is incredibly harmful to the very concept of individuality, because the expectations and unspoken rules set in communities like this and the widespread idea of forced normality seeks to crush any individuality before it even has a chance to blossom.
The use of metaphors and phrases that are well known and are likely to be seen in settings such as this gated community suburban town that Wood has created really paint a subconscious picture of what this community looks like, the use of duality, how every story has another side, and how nothing that is seemingly perfect from the outside is actually perfect on the inside.
Will Wood is an incredible lyricist and the fact that he was able to cram so much symbolism and such a powerful message into a song just over 6 minutes long is genuinely incredible.
Thank you for listening to my/reading my autistic hyper fixated rambling, i hope i didn't melt your brain too badly.
2024.06.02 15:18 Writteninsanity [OT] The Prompt:Everybody in the world has a superpower that compliments their soulmates superpower. You have the most useless power ever, when one day... Is now a full novel!
Everybody in the world has a superpower that compliments their soulmates superpower. When together, both their powers increase in strength exponentially. You have the most useless power ever, when one day......
Hi, I'm Writteninsanity. 8 years ago I started my writing career with this prompt. It is now available on Amazon as a full novel!
TLDR: Amazon: COM / CA / UK / AUS
Title is also available internationally.
The night Toby Vander met his soulmate, he became the most wanted, and perhaps the most powerful, man on the planet.
Everyone has a superpower, enhanced and changed when around their soulmate. Most never meet theirs, but when Toby met Emma, his power leapt from enhanced perception to stopping time.
Now, Toby finds himself at the center of a violent struggle. Surrounded by powerful agents from the Department of Power Regulation and rebels from the fearsome Red, Toby must discover the truth behind his power and his new place in the world.
Alongside him is Zoe McCourtney, a city-shaking telepath torn between her obligation to the DPR and keeping her best friend Emma together with her soulmate.
Can Toby and Emma survive this? Can they stay together?
Can the world handle a time-stopper?
I follow the author on Jacksonwrites, so I've read snippets of Splitting Seconds before, but it was great to see how much more polished the finished product is! It's a fun premise with a lot of charm, with interesting characters and some really thoughtful worldbuilding. Would highly recommend you pick this up, as well as Evergreen, another novella by the author. Would highly recommend, take the time to pick this up, it's absolutely worth a second look.
That said, staying cheery about the hand I’d been dealt was difficult. Enhanced perception was useful for a lot of things, from party tricks to always reading the fine print, but next to flight? Next to teleportation?
I’d gotten hung up on movement powers because I’d taken the bus to the bar, and the only superpower buses had was being late.
I was specifically at the bar for the sake of a blind date set up by my best friend; Todd was about two times my size and could throw a car across the street. His powers did nothing to help me with his current obsession with my dating life, but here we were. I supposed it was a fair obsession. I hadn’t been trying.
It honestly made sense that Todd had been keenly aware of romance since he’d met his soul mate. See, a strange thing with powers was that when you were around your soulmate, they were inexplicably stronger. Todd had met Soo-jung when she’d been on vacation in Crescent three years ago. They’d been inseparable since, and he’d been able to throw a car down three blocks instead of across the street.
Or so he claimed. Nobody was eager to volunteer their car for a demonstration, or anything else heavy and expensive, for that matter.
For my part, I hadn’t spent a lot of time guessing what would happen if I met my soulmate. It was a common train of thought for some, but I never found that it stopped at any fun stations. Instead, I indulged Todd’s meddling because he was my friend and bad dates at least made good stories.
“Gimme a sec, I’ll grab us another round,” Todd announced as he pushed out from our table. “Emma said she’s going to be here soon.”
“You bought the last one.”
“Yeah, now you can buy two in a row once Emma gets here and look generous. Think about it, man.”
“Sure,” I answered, but Todd was already walking away from the table and toward the bar.
Soo-jung leaned in. “You know he’s trying, right?”
“I know, maybe a little too much.”
“You don’t hear the half of it.”
“Oh, good.”
“I had to tell him to calm down when it came to buttering you up to Emma,” Soo-jung explained as she took a sip from her drink. “Sometimes I wonder about him.”
“I’m surprised he says anything nice about me.”
“He’d never say it to your face.” She watched Todd at the bar instead of looking at me during our conversation.
“Does that mean you’ll do it for him?”
“He trusts me to keep his secrets.”
“How about I suggest things and read your reaction?” I asked.
Soo-jung frowned in response before she pointedly rolled her eyes. She knew that reading reactions was one of my party tricks. If you couldn’t be powerful, you could at least read a room.
“Okay, fine. What do you know about Emma?”
“Her last name’s Tavish.”
“That’s it?”
“She works with Todd.”
“I knew that. He kept telling me she was a co-worker.”
“Todd thinks she’s cute.”
“He told you that?”
“No, but he has high standards for you.”
“That’s all the detail you have?”
“Todd’s not allowed to talk about work at hom- Hey, honey.”
Todd was back at the table holding all three pints in one arm; he passed one to each of us despite Soo being less than halfway finished with her current drink. Once he’d finished distributing, he turned to Soo-jung and asked her a question in broken Korean.
He’d been trying to learn, and he was still struggling. Not that I knew the language.
“Yes,” Soo-jung responded in English, “we were talking about Emma; no Korean around Toby. It’s rude.”
“I thought you wanted me to practice?”
“You can practice at home.”
“So we were talking about Emma,” Todd jumped back to the previous topic instead of discussing his inconsistent study of Korean. “Awesome woman, perfect for you, man.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Oh, she sucks too.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“He means powers-wise,” Soo-jung stepped in.
“So you do know something about her,” I pointed out.
“Something? I’ve been telling Soo everything since we got in the car to come here.” Just as Todd finished, he flinched. Soo had kicked him under the table. “But it wasn’t much, really.”
“What do I get to know?”
“I don’t want to taint your expectations.” He pushed his empty glass away, swapping it with the new one. “But can I be serious for a second?”
I considered it. “Sure.”
“She’s like my boss’, boss’ boss. So best behavior.”
“Wait. Seriously?” I leaned in. Todd worked for the CPRU, which meant that she had to be a heavy hitter if she was high-ranked in the city’s power regulation department. “She’s—”
“Not quite.” He backpedaled. “We share a building. She’s straight DPR.”
I blinked twice at that. “Way to set me up to fail.”
“You should believe in yourself,” Soo cut in.
“Todd, I w—”
“And she’s here.” Todd had turned his attention away from me and toward his phone. “Hope you’re ready to meet your soulmate.”
“Honey, don’t set that expectation.”
The bar’s front door opened, and I was the only one who could hear it over the atmosphere. I glanced over, and there she was.
She was stunning by any definition, but especially mine. Maybe it was a strange way to describe someone, but she looked beautifully meticulous, from brunette hair to olive skin, to her light blue jacket; everything was in place, and everything about her was gorgeous. Assuming that was Emma, I owed Todd big time.
“Okay, that can’t be her, right?” I asked Todd. After a second, without a response, I checked to see if he was waving at her, but he was stock still, a stupid grin plastered over his face. “Todd?”
Holy shit. The DPR had some crazy people on their roster, but this- I waved a hand in front of Todd’s face and snapped my fingers, then caught the sound of a single cautious heel clicking against the floor.
I stood up from the table and looked back at the door. She’d taken one step into the bar but had gotten caught in the same shock I had. “Emma?” I asked.
She snapped her attention to me -god, her eyes were- but she just looked confused.
“Toby,” I explained, “I’m Todd’s friend.” I motioned over to Todd’s still body and took the first steps to say hello. “This is really impressive. I didn’t think this was possible. It’s cool to meet someone wh—”
“I’m not doing this,” she said. “This is impossible. How are yo—”
“Trust me, this isn’t in my…” We stared at each other for a moment. Somehow, time stopped more than it already was.
“Holy shit.” We both said it at once.
“So this isn’t you?” she asked. Her eyes were still meandering around the frozen bar instead of staying in the conversation with me.
“No, it’s not.” I walked along her gaze and ended up against the bar counter, “did Todd tell you what my power was?”
“He just told me you wouldn’t mind having me around,” Emma answered, which somehow just brought up more questions.
“Enhanced perception.” I grabbed a drink off of the bar to see if I could; As soon as I touched it, it seemed to animate back to life. “What do you mean, ‘mind having you around’?”
“I dampen powers,” she explained, a little quieter than anything else she’d said, “make them weaker, hard to use. The technical definition is long and wordy so…” She sighed as she watched me slosh the beer around. “It’s a lot of trouble, really.”
“Probably good for work,” I offered.
“Pretty much the whole reason I have my job, but Callum wouldn’t admit that.” She approached, but there wasn’t an open seat near where I was standing, nor could we ask for someone to move. “Callum is—”
“Callum Rehsman, head of the D.P.R for the past six years,” I stepped in, “sorry, comes with the perception thing.”
“Honestly, I’m just glad I don’t have to explain it.” Emma took to leaning against the bar instead of walking over to a seat. She undid the top button of her shirt, which was probably too high for a date, anyway. “Emma Terish. Ring any bells up there?”
“No.”
“And you’re?”
“Toby Vander.” I put down the beer to offer my hand, and it froze as soon as I let go. We both paid attention to that instead of the potential formal hello.
“So this isn’t you.” Emma reached for the glass and picked it up; once she did, it animated just like it had with me. “And it isn’t me…”
I swallowed nothing. We’d both said holy shit for a reason, but it felt impossible to admit it. Wasn’t there supposed to be a—Well, something? Anything?
Then again, we were stopping time, and what else could you ask for?
“Do you want a drink, Toby?” Emma asked. She vaulted herself over the bar with a frankly shocking amount of grace for someone in a pantsuit.
“Uh, sure.”
“I’d ask what you were drinking, but we might have limited options.” She was considering her new vantage point from behind the counter.
I took the opportunity to grab the drink I’d left behind on the table. “I’ll use the one I had.” I tapped Todd’s hand for posterity, and nothing happened to him. “Any idea what this might—”
“No idea,” she answered without letting me finish, “but my job involves dealing with unknown powers, so…” She tried to use the soda-gun and swore when it didn’t work. “You learn to roll with it until people cooperate.”
“You still think I’m doing this?”
“I know it’s not me, and there aren’t many options here with us,” she said as she ducked behind the bar and came back up with a lemonade cooler, “but I came here for a date, and I plan to have one. Been a long week.”
I returned to the bar, finding a seat now that she was on the other side. “I just need to establish that this isn’t me. I’m not trying to—”
“If it isn’t you and it’s not me stopping time around us, then someone is giving us a very private venue for our first date.”
“Isn’t that nice?”
“It really is.” She took a sip of her drink, then pulled it away before she had time to swallow. “Shit. Do you have cash?”
“I’ll cover you.” She frowned at that; clearly she wasn’t satisfied with someone else paying for everything. “Plus, you’re serving me tonight. So…” That seemed to be enough plausible deniability to satisfy her. “Cheers?”
“Cheers.”
Throughout drink one, we were casting nervous glances around the paused bar; by drink five, we were laughing, just the two of us. Hours dripped by with the free beer… or they didn’t… It was hard to tell.
Emma added her sixth can to her pyramid and composed herself. “Okay, okay, okay. One second.” She took a deep breath. “This has been so much fun, but I told Todd I’d tell him when I got here so” — she needed another second to find her verbal footing — “can you stop this now?”
“Stop what?” I was halfway through a sip.
“This is the coolest power I’ve seen but—”
“It’s not me, I promise.” my insistence ended up sounding more like a drunk debate. The drunk part was accurate.
“So your power really is enhanced perception.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Okay. You’re not lying.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because that’s lame and—” She stopped herself. “Shit, sorry.”
“I am so used to it.”
“You wouldn’t say that drunk if you could stop time is my point.” She almost ducked down to grab another drink but thought better of it. “So, that makes us…”
We’d reached this impasse several times in the last hours. I scanned her. The lines on her face. The size of her irises. She was worried. Apprehensive.
So I said it first.
“We’re soul mates.”
She looked down and to the left, considering instead of answering.
“Why else would one of us display a power we’d never seen before? Unless you’re right and someone was stopping time for everyone but me and—”
“And the woman who’s immune to powers,” she cut in. “Maybe we are soul mates, but turn it off.”
“It’s not—”
“Toby, please.”
“I don’t—” I stopped short and instead tried even though I didn’t know how. My perception was passive. I didn’t get to choose whether I used it. Was there supposed to be a switch somewhere inside my head? Was I...
How long had it been at this point? Six, seven hours? We’d planned to meet pretty late and it would almost be light out by now. She was right. We had to get—
“I don’t know how,” I admitted, “if it’s me.”
Emma opened her mouth to say something, then reconsidered. Her perfectly manicured nails were digging into the vinyl of the bar top.
“Okay. It’s been lovely, but if you getting here started this then,” I said as I stood up, “maybe I just need to leave, and that will turn it off so we can figure out what’s going on.” I took the first steps toward the door.
“That’s a good plan.” She nodded along with what she was saying, like she was convincing herself, “I’ll reach out to you. It was an excellent date.”
“Let Todd know for me,” I added as I reached the door; a second later, I stepped into the chilled early-fall air. The door didn’t shut behind me, so I kept walking until I would have been out of eyesight.
Then I stopped.
Should I have turned around? What were the chances that she was my soul mate? What was I leaving behind if I didn’t see her again? It was a dumb thought, but the idea of walking away started gnawing at me.
But what choice did I have? In front of me, a couple was frozen in the middle of a quiet conversation on the way to the bar. Soul mates only affected one another when they were close by. I took a few more steps and started to sprint.
I was three blocks away when the world stuttered around me. My vision blurred, and the moonlight was shattered by the sun. I stumbled, almost crashing into a woman dressed like she was on her way to brunch.
Shit. I’d left my jacket at the bar, but—
I checked my watch; 8:06 AM.
Hope your enjoyed!
submitted by Writteninsanity to WritingPrompts [link] [comments]
Hi, I'm Writteninsanity. 8 years ago I started my writing career with this prompt. It is now available on Amazon as a full novel!
TLDR: Amazon: COM / CA / UK / AUS
Title is also available internationally.
The night Toby Vander met his soulmate, he became the most wanted, and perhaps the most powerful, man on the planet.
Everyone has a superpower, enhanced and changed when around their soulmate. Most never meet theirs, but when Toby met Emma, his power leapt from enhanced perception to stopping time.
Now, Toby finds himself at the center of a violent struggle. Surrounded by powerful agents from the Department of Power Regulation and rebels from the fearsome Red, Toby must discover the truth behind his power and his new place in the world.
Alongside him is Zoe McCourtney, a city-shaking telepath torn between her obligation to the DPR and keeping her best friend Emma together with her soulmate.
Can Toby and Emma survive this? Can they stay together?
Can the world handle a time-stopper?
Reviews!
This book is a great read! Well written with good pacing and dynamic characters. The twists and turns of the book caught me by surprise and just made it impossible to put it down. Fans of urban fantasy and superhero stories will love this unique take on superhero dynamics and powers. Give it a try!I follow the author on Jacksonwrites, so I've read snippets of Splitting Seconds before, but it was great to see how much more polished the finished product is! It's a fun premise with a lot of charm, with interesting characters and some really thoughtful worldbuilding. Would highly recommend you pick this up, as well as Evergreen, another novella by the author. Would highly recommend, take the time to pick this up, it's absolutely worth a second look.
Chapter One: Blind Dates:
It candidly sucked being surrounded by constant reminders that you’d lost the genetic lottery. Sure, it was easier than some people thought to get around the world without powers; it wasn’t like the government expected everyone to be a speedster or to be able to fly. Hell, a hundred years ago, nobody even had powers. The infrastructure was there. Life went on.That said, staying cheery about the hand I’d been dealt was difficult. Enhanced perception was useful for a lot of things, from party tricks to always reading the fine print, but next to flight? Next to teleportation?
I’d gotten hung up on movement powers because I’d taken the bus to the bar, and the only superpower buses had was being late.
I was specifically at the bar for the sake of a blind date set up by my best friend; Todd was about two times my size and could throw a car across the street. His powers did nothing to help me with his current obsession with my dating life, but here we were. I supposed it was a fair obsession. I hadn’t been trying.
It honestly made sense that Todd had been keenly aware of romance since he’d met his soul mate. See, a strange thing with powers was that when you were around your soulmate, they were inexplicably stronger. Todd had met Soo-jung when she’d been on vacation in Crescent three years ago. They’d been inseparable since, and he’d been able to throw a car down three blocks instead of across the street.
Or so he claimed. Nobody was eager to volunteer their car for a demonstration, or anything else heavy and expensive, for that matter.
For my part, I hadn’t spent a lot of time guessing what would happen if I met my soulmate. It was a common train of thought for some, but I never found that it stopped at any fun stations. Instead, I indulged Todd’s meddling because he was my friend and bad dates at least made good stories.
“Gimme a sec, I’ll grab us another round,” Todd announced as he pushed out from our table. “Emma said she’s going to be here soon.”
“You bought the last one.”
“Yeah, now you can buy two in a row once Emma gets here and look generous. Think about it, man.”
“Sure,” I answered, but Todd was already walking away from the table and toward the bar.
Soo-jung leaned in. “You know he’s trying, right?”
“I know, maybe a little too much.”
“You don’t hear the half of it.”
“Oh, good.”
“I had to tell him to calm down when it came to buttering you up to Emma,” Soo-jung explained as she took a sip from her drink. “Sometimes I wonder about him.”
“I’m surprised he says anything nice about me.”
“He’d never say it to your face.” She watched Todd at the bar instead of looking at me during our conversation.
“Does that mean you’ll do it for him?”
“He trusts me to keep his secrets.”
“How about I suggest things and read your reaction?” I asked.
Soo-jung frowned in response before she pointedly rolled her eyes. She knew that reading reactions was one of my party tricks. If you couldn’t be powerful, you could at least read a room.
“Okay, fine. What do you know about Emma?”
“Her last name’s Tavish.”
“That’s it?”
“She works with Todd.”
“I knew that. He kept telling me she was a co-worker.”
“Todd thinks she’s cute.”
“He told you that?”
“No, but he has high standards for you.”
“That’s all the detail you have?”
“Todd’s not allowed to talk about work at hom- Hey, honey.”
Todd was back at the table holding all three pints in one arm; he passed one to each of us despite Soo being less than halfway finished with her current drink. Once he’d finished distributing, he turned to Soo-jung and asked her a question in broken Korean.
He’d been trying to learn, and he was still struggling. Not that I knew the language.
“Yes,” Soo-jung responded in English, “we were talking about Emma; no Korean around Toby. It’s rude.”
“I thought you wanted me to practice?”
“You can practice at home.”
“So we were talking about Emma,” Todd jumped back to the previous topic instead of discussing his inconsistent study of Korean. “Awesome woman, perfect for you, man.”
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“Oh, she sucks too.”
“Ah, thanks.”
“He means powers-wise,” Soo-jung stepped in.
“So you do know something about her,” I pointed out.
“Something? I’ve been telling Soo everything since we got in the car to come here.” Just as Todd finished, he flinched. Soo had kicked him under the table. “But it wasn’t much, really.”
“What do I get to know?”
“I don’t want to taint your expectations.” He pushed his empty glass away, swapping it with the new one. “But can I be serious for a second?”
I considered it. “Sure.”
“She’s like my boss’, boss’ boss. So best behavior.”
“Wait. Seriously?” I leaned in. Todd worked for the CPRU, which meant that she had to be a heavy hitter if she was high-ranked in the city’s power regulation department. “She’s—”
“Not quite.” He backpedaled. “We share a building. She’s straight DPR.”
I blinked twice at that. “Way to set me up to fail.”
“You should believe in yourself,” Soo cut in.
“Todd, I w—”
“And she’s here.” Todd had turned his attention away from me and toward his phone. “Hope you’re ready to meet your soulmate.”
“Honey, don’t set that expectation.”
The bar’s front door opened, and I was the only one who could hear it over the atmosphere. I glanced over, and there she was.
She was stunning by any definition, but especially mine. Maybe it was a strange way to describe someone, but she looked beautifully meticulous, from brunette hair to olive skin, to her light blue jacket; everything was in place, and everything about her was gorgeous. Assuming that was Emma, I owed Todd big time.
“Okay, that can’t be her, right?” I asked Todd. After a second, without a response, I checked to see if he was waving at her, but he was stock still, a stupid grin plastered over his face. “Todd?”
Holy shit. The DPR had some crazy people on their roster, but this- I waved a hand in front of Todd’s face and snapped my fingers, then caught the sound of a single cautious heel clicking against the floor.
I stood up from the table and looked back at the door. She’d taken one step into the bar but had gotten caught in the same shock I had. “Emma?” I asked.
She snapped her attention to me -god, her eyes were- but she just looked confused.
“Toby,” I explained, “I’m Todd’s friend.” I motioned over to Todd’s still body and took the first steps to say hello. “This is really impressive. I didn’t think this was possible. It’s cool to meet someone wh—”
“I’m not doing this,” she said. “This is impossible. How are yo—”
“Trust me, this isn’t in my…” We stared at each other for a moment. Somehow, time stopped more than it already was.
“Holy shit.” We both said it at once.
“So this isn’t you?” she asked. Her eyes were still meandering around the frozen bar instead of staying in the conversation with me.
“No, it’s not.” I walked along her gaze and ended up against the bar counter, “did Todd tell you what my power was?”
“He just told me you wouldn’t mind having me around,” Emma answered, which somehow just brought up more questions.
“Enhanced perception.” I grabbed a drink off of the bar to see if I could; As soon as I touched it, it seemed to animate back to life. “What do you mean, ‘mind having you around’?”
“I dampen powers,” she explained, a little quieter than anything else she’d said, “make them weaker, hard to use. The technical definition is long and wordy so…” She sighed as she watched me slosh the beer around. “It’s a lot of trouble, really.”
“Probably good for work,” I offered.
“Pretty much the whole reason I have my job, but Callum wouldn’t admit that.” She approached, but there wasn’t an open seat near where I was standing, nor could we ask for someone to move. “Callum is—”
“Callum Rehsman, head of the D.P.R for the past six years,” I stepped in, “sorry, comes with the perception thing.”
“Honestly, I’m just glad I don’t have to explain it.” Emma took to leaning against the bar instead of walking over to a seat. She undid the top button of her shirt, which was probably too high for a date, anyway. “Emma Terish. Ring any bells up there?”
“No.”
“And you’re?”
“Toby Vander.” I put down the beer to offer my hand, and it froze as soon as I let go. We both paid attention to that instead of the potential formal hello.
“So this isn’t you.” Emma reached for the glass and picked it up; once she did, it animated just like it had with me. “And it isn’t me…”
I swallowed nothing. We’d both said holy shit for a reason, but it felt impossible to admit it. Wasn’t there supposed to be a—Well, something? Anything?
Then again, we were stopping time, and what else could you ask for?
“Do you want a drink, Toby?” Emma asked. She vaulted herself over the bar with a frankly shocking amount of grace for someone in a pantsuit.
“Uh, sure.”
“I’d ask what you were drinking, but we might have limited options.” She was considering her new vantage point from behind the counter.
I took the opportunity to grab the drink I’d left behind on the table. “I’ll use the one I had.” I tapped Todd’s hand for posterity, and nothing happened to him. “Any idea what this might—”
“No idea,” she answered without letting me finish, “but my job involves dealing with unknown powers, so…” She tried to use the soda-gun and swore when it didn’t work. “You learn to roll with it until people cooperate.”
“You still think I’m doing this?”
“I know it’s not me, and there aren’t many options here with us,” she said as she ducked behind the bar and came back up with a lemonade cooler, “but I came here for a date, and I plan to have one. Been a long week.”
I returned to the bar, finding a seat now that she was on the other side. “I just need to establish that this isn’t me. I’m not trying to—”
“If it isn’t you and it’s not me stopping time around us, then someone is giving us a very private venue for our first date.”
“Isn’t that nice?”
“It really is.” She took a sip of her drink, then pulled it away before she had time to swallow. “Shit. Do you have cash?”
“I’ll cover you.” She frowned at that; clearly she wasn’t satisfied with someone else paying for everything. “Plus, you’re serving me tonight. So…” That seemed to be enough plausible deniability to satisfy her. “Cheers?”
“Cheers.”
Throughout drink one, we were casting nervous glances around the paused bar; by drink five, we were laughing, just the two of us. Hours dripped by with the free beer… or they didn’t… It was hard to tell.
Emma added her sixth can to her pyramid and composed herself. “Okay, okay, okay. One second.” She took a deep breath. “This has been so much fun, but I told Todd I’d tell him when I got here so” — she needed another second to find her verbal footing — “can you stop this now?”
“Stop what?” I was halfway through a sip.
“This is the coolest power I’ve seen but—”
“It’s not me, I promise.” my insistence ended up sounding more like a drunk debate. The drunk part was accurate.
“So your power really is enhanced perception.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Okay. You’re not lying.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because that’s lame and—” She stopped herself. “Shit, sorry.”
“I am so used to it.”
“You wouldn’t say that drunk if you could stop time is my point.” She almost ducked down to grab another drink but thought better of it. “So, that makes us…”
We’d reached this impasse several times in the last hours. I scanned her. The lines on her face. The size of her irises. She was worried. Apprehensive.
So I said it first.
“We’re soul mates.”
She looked down and to the left, considering instead of answering.
“Why else would one of us display a power we’d never seen before? Unless you’re right and someone was stopping time for everyone but me and—”
“And the woman who’s immune to powers,” she cut in. “Maybe we are soul mates, but turn it off.”
“It’s not—”
“Toby, please.”
“I don’t—” I stopped short and instead tried even though I didn’t know how. My perception was passive. I didn’t get to choose whether I used it. Was there supposed to be a switch somewhere inside my head? Was I...
How long had it been at this point? Six, seven hours? We’d planned to meet pretty late and it would almost be light out by now. She was right. We had to get—
“I don’t know how,” I admitted, “if it’s me.”
Emma opened her mouth to say something, then reconsidered. Her perfectly manicured nails were digging into the vinyl of the bar top.
“Okay. It’s been lovely, but if you getting here started this then,” I said as I stood up, “maybe I just need to leave, and that will turn it off so we can figure out what’s going on.” I took the first steps toward the door.
“That’s a good plan.” She nodded along with what she was saying, like she was convincing herself, “I’ll reach out to you. It was an excellent date.”
“Let Todd know for me,” I added as I reached the door; a second later, I stepped into the chilled early-fall air. The door didn’t shut behind me, so I kept walking until I would have been out of eyesight.
Then I stopped.
Should I have turned around? What were the chances that she was my soul mate? What was I leaving behind if I didn’t see her again? It was a dumb thought, but the idea of walking away started gnawing at me.
But what choice did I have? In front of me, a couple was frozen in the middle of a quiet conversation on the way to the bar. Soul mates only affected one another when they were close by. I took a few more steps and started to sprint.
I was three blocks away when the world stuttered around me. My vision blurred, and the moonlight was shattered by the sun. I stumbled, almost crashing into a woman dressed like she was on her way to brunch.
Shit. I’d left my jacket at the bar, but—
I checked my watch; 8:06 AM.
Hope your enjoyed!
2024.06.02 15:01 ibid-11962 Inspirations and Interactions with Other Media [Post Murtagh Christopher Paolini Q&A Wrap Up #9]
As discussed in the first post, this is my ongoing compilation of the remaining questions Christopher has answered online between August 1st 2023 and April 30th 2024 which I've not already covered in other compilations.
As always, questions are sorted by topic, and each Q&A is annotated with a bracketed source number. Links to every source used and to the other parts of this compilation will be provided in a comment below.
The previous post focused specifically on the writing process. This installment will focus on Inspirations, including Christopher's idea process, specific inspirations used, and some comments about other properties. The next, penultimate post will focus on Worldbuilding and Promotion.
submitted by ibid-11962 to Eragon [link] [comments]
As always, questions are sorted by topic, and each Q&A is annotated with a bracketed source number. Links to every source used and to the other parts of this compilation will be provided in a comment below.
The previous post focused specifically on the writing process. This installment will focus on Inspirations, including Christopher's idea process, specific inspirations used, and some comments about other properties. The next, penultimate post will focus on Worldbuilding and Promotion.
Inspirations
Coming up with ideasDo you have trouble coming up with new ideas? They don't fall out of trees, but it takes me so long to write a book that I usually come up with at least one or two ideas over the six months to a year that it takes to write, edit and publish, if not longer. So they keep accumulating. One of the reasons that I really like having a world to play in for a long time is that the longer I spend in a setting, the more story ideas suggest themselves because you get to know the characters so much and you get to know the implications of the magic in the world and the culture. [1]Executing ideas
What is your inspiration process like? I read a lot of books, I watch a lot of movies, and I make sure I have time to stare out the window and do nothing but daydream. And all of those things continually give me ideas for stories. [20]
Inspiration can come from anywhere, but good stories and good music will actually give me the proverbial tingle up the spine. And basically nothing else in life does that. So I'm always chasing that high. And that's really the inspiration. And trying to replicate that both for myself and for my readers. [33]
I get my inspiration from the beauty of the world itself, from every book and movie that I watch and read, even the bad ones, sometimes especially the bad ones. I get my inspiration from meeting folks like you who have so much energy and enthusiasm and from thinking and talking and listening to music. Everywhere can be a source of inspiration. [36]
I listen to soundtracks when I write. I can't listen to anything with lyrics because it's too distracting. But my biggest source of inspiration is simply the environment in which I live. The mountains around my house look like the mountains from The Lord of the Rings. If I have no experience with the things I write, the descriptions would probably not be as good. You have to look around for inspiration. Photos, visiting places… that which just comes out of your head ultimately has its limitations. You can do a lot, but it helps creativity if you can base it on your own experiences. [23]
You have an idea, you have a spark of thought. Do you jot it down and leave it? Or do you immediately delve into it? It depends on the idea ultimately and it depends how much of it I have. But I always write something down because I have forgotten story ideas in the past, which sucks. So the instant I have something that I think is interesting, I write it down. I won't write most of these because I don't have the time but I write them all down. I have a file here with 140 pages of story ideas, 19,147 words. I try to write it down. If I have a sense of more of the story than the initial thing, then I'll write that down. Then mostly I just let it sit and I think about it while I'm working on other stories. [28]
Would you rather lose a mental battle against another author so he could steal your ideas? Or give away your true name to your literary agent so he could control you? Wow. I trust my agent with my life. But I'd go with the first one, lose a mental battle, because honestly, ideas are cheap, execution is what matters. You could take every single idea I would have and give it to Brandon Sanderson, or any other author, and their execution would be totally different than mine, and vice versa. And quite honestly most authors wouldn't want to write the ideas I have, they have their own ideas. So that seems like the least perilous of the two options. [17]Fantasy Inspirations
When have the greatest flows of creativity happened for you? Whenever I know what I'm trying to write in terms of the scene, I understand what it's doing for the characters and who the characters are. And it all clicks together. And I don't have to sit there, banging my head against the keyboard trying to figure any of that out and then I could just work on writing it. Are there times where you have to bang your head against the keyboard? Or do you just get up and walk outside and just walk away from it? You need to do some of the head banging on occasion just to get past the tough stuff. But you also have to recognize when you're not making any progress and then it's better to step away, move physically in order to get your brain to move. And learning when to step away is always a challenge and has taken me a long time. [34]
What do you think about the idea that when we're asleep, our minds or souls wander off and act unbeknown to us and perhaps ideas aggregate which may lead to us waking up in the morning with sudden ideas, realizations? I think it's a very common occurrence. The whole point of creativity is that you connect two or more things that are seemingly unconnected. That's what a metaphor is or simile. "Her love was like a red, red rose." It's not literally a rose, but you're connecting two things to make a point. So when you sleep the barriers in your mind sort of descend and it's much easier to connect things. And there does seem to be some indication that if you are trying to solve a certain problem or working on something in the back of your head that your subconscious, whatever the hell the subconscious is, this older more instinctual part of the brain, continues to work on the problem even while you sleep. There have been multiple instances of scientists and inventors, engineers, who have actually thought of the solutions to their problems that they're trying to solve while while dreaming. So it's a known phenomena. And it's something that I do try to take advantage of. Sometimes I will think of things I'm trying to solve right before I go to sleep. The trick is you can't do it in a way that stresses you so that it keeps you up. So don't do this if it's going to keep you up. But it doesn't stress me to think about what I'm trying to figure out with the writing. So I'll think about that as I'm falling asleep and a lot of times I'll have a better idea in the morning or a better sense of what path to pursue and sometimes I'll actually dream of a solution. ... There's also some very solid research that says that if you're trying to learn something, whatever that something is, put in a couple hours of study, practice, whatever it is, and then you need to sleep in order for your brain to consolidate that knowledge. So if you pull an all-nighter studying, you're not going to retain the information very well. But if you were able to sleep even for just three hours, it allows the brain to take that temporary knowledge and encode it in more permanent memory. And that seems to be a very important part of the process. [19]
How much has Tolkien influenced your writing, if at all? I wouldn't be here if not for Tolkien. I'll be honest with that. And I think there are a number of other contemporary fantasy authors that were equally as influential on me. But they wouldn't exist without Tolkien either. So Tolkien's the foundation that so much of this genre rests upon. [33]
Which dragon in literature do you find to be the most impactful as an influencer on stories that came after it? Historically, you'd have to put in for St. George and the Dragon, the dragon from Beowulf, Jormungandr, the Midgard Serpent from Norse mythology, Tiamat. Of course, then there's all the Asian dragons as well. And all of those influenced the authors that have influenced us, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula Le Guin, Wizard of Earthsea. Vermithrax Pejorative. [30]
What was the inspiration for how you approached the dragons in your books? For me it was a whole mess of fantasy that I read. Lord of the Rings, of course, with Smaug. The Pit Dragon trilogy by Jane Yolen. Dragon Singer was the first Anne McCaffrey book I read, and that got me into the Dragon Riders of Pern series. I still have a soft spot for Dragon Singer. The Wizard of Earthsea series. Raymond Feist's Magician series. As well as I think the Millennium series by David Eddings. A lot of others. Beowulf, of course. Tad Williams's Memory Sorrow and Thorn, which has some really impressively dangerous dragons in it. [30]
From just the first book and the second I can see how heavily Christopher was 'influenced' by George R R Martin. The part about the swords being imbued with spells to keep them sharp and the dragons growing forever isn't borrowing. It's downright plagiarism. I, uh, have never read GOT. Started the first book in 2011 and bailed when Bran was pushed out the window. However, Tolkien and Dragonriders of Pern were certainly big influences. [R]
Did the way Eragon and Arya ended remind you of the way Will and Lyra ended in His Dark Materials? In love, but unable to be together. Completely unintentional. I didn't read His Dark Materials until I'd already written Eragon (and plotted out the whole series, including the ending). I won't lie though: I love bittersweet endings, and Pullman wrote one of the best ones. [R]
Names
How do you go about naming all the places in Alagaësia? Well, these days I tend to think about where the name is coming from with the internal cultures of the land. So is it an Urgal name? Is it an Elvish name? Is it a Human name? Is it something else? For the human names I'm often drawing from established cultures, Germanic cultures, Scandinavian cultures. But I have a lot of invented and established things within the world itself. So it just sort of depends what I'm writing and how I'm doing it. The nice thing is because I've created various invented languages for the different races, that gives me a good starting place for the feel of some name that I might be creating. [12]Name of Names
Where do the names in your worlds come from? Some are puns, Eragon is Dragon but with an 'e' instead of a 'd'. It also means an Era Gone By. Saphira is from Sapphire. The names also come from historical names: Germanic, Northern influences or were made up by me based on the rules from my world. For example, Murtagh is Irish. [23]
Does the ancient language have a canon name? I know it's never said in order to keep the mystery feel, but out of curiosity, do YOU know it? Or is it something that does not even truly have a name for you? Yup, I do have a name for it. Not sharing it with anyone, though. :D [R]World of Eragon
What is the "World of Eragon"? Well it encompasses the entire Inheritance Cycle (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, and Inheritance), as well as The Fork the Witch and the Worm, Murtagh, as well as all the other projects that I hope to be doing in this setting, whether books, games, or other things. And the reason we went with "World of Eragon" instead of something like Alagaësia is because Alagaësia is hard to say and hard to spell, and some of the adventures the characters will be going on actually go beyond that land. So World of Eragon it is. Also I'm rather fond of that Brisingr symbol in the "O" there. It felt appropriate for the character, for the world, and like I said, I like it myself. [Y]Arya
What would you say to introduce someone to the World of Eragon? Well, it's the story of a young man who finds a dragon egg. And the dragon and Eragon, they go on a series of adventures and there's duels and dragons and battles and villains and romance and all the good stuff a story needs. I think it's fundamentally a good hearted series. I don't really like to write stuff that's like super super grim. It definitely is a good place to start if you're getting into epic fantasy and you're a slightly younger reader and then as you go along with the books, adult isn't really the word, but they get more elaborate and epic as the series progresses. I was learning as I wrote the series and so I tried to put all of that learning to use with each new book. [12]
What is the difference between the World of Eragon and other fantasy series? The fact that I wrote it and not someone else! There are definitely references to other works, because I love reading about elves, dwarves, magic and dragons and I wanted to write about them. At the same time, there are some unique aspects. I believe that my magic system is unique in the fantasy genre and I have unique races such as the Werecats, Ra'zac and my slightly different take on Dragons. It's a mix of familiar and really new things. [23]
George [R R Martin] and I invented the name Arya completely independently. We talked about it: he was trying to come up with something fierce and warrior-like … I was thinking of an aria in an opera. [R]Eldest
I was today years old when I realized "Eldest" refers to Murtagh. And Roran. [T]Shruikan
Me, a weeb, reading Shruikan as "shuriken" Where do you think I got the name from? Shruikan is just 'shuriken' rearranged a bit (and with the 'e' changed to an 'a'). [T]Do Well Then
Am I the only one who ever realized that Du Weldenvarden sounds like Do Well Then, Varden? You are not. [T]
People, Places, Things, and Scenes
EragonDoes the character Eragon resemble you? Initially, yes, a lot! But the more the story progressed, the more my hero experienced his own adventures. The common point that remains between him and me is that we both like to ask each other questions. [4]Beor Mountains
What are the commonalities that you now still have with Eragon to this day? Curiosity. Eragon is very curious about the world and wants to understand it and learn, and that's definitely something I still have and still pursue. Probably a willingness to tackle big adventures and projects, even knowing it's going to be a huge thing. And then maybe a basic sense of optimism, all things considered. [19]
Eragon's journey appears to me from the beginning to the end a quest of research of identity, of self-discovery, the "Who am I?" question. Did you put yourself through the same examination Eragon and Saphira did on Vroengard while searching for their true names? And do you have an idea of what your true name will be? I think that identity and character and figuring out who you are is one of the central things of adolescence. Because you transition from a child to an adult and figuring out what sort of an adult you're going to be, and how you fit into society and how you're going to function as an adult once you have agency and power versus a child who usually doesn't have a whole lot of agency and power. And so that's why writing about adolescence to me very naturally becomes writing about identity and who you are. And yes, it's something I have spent a large portion of my life thinking about and figuring myself out. I think I have a pretty good idea of who I am and have had a pretty good idea for a long time. If you asked me to guess at my true name, I think I could come pretty close. [19]
Do you think emulating your characters’ actions is a necessary part of the writing process? It’s definitely not necessary, but it can be helpful. Having personal experience with a particular activity is always a plus. Failing that, books, articles, and YouTube can be a decent substitute. Given that I write about spaceships and dragons, there are somethings that I’ll never be able to encounter in real life . . . but, hey, that’s what our imaginations are for! [10]
I drew a map and it was like the western half of the current map. And I thought, well, this gives me everything I need. But then I was like, "oh, I want to visit this location. I want to visit that location." And pretty soon I realized I was out of space. So I didn't want to spend like days and days drawing another map because I wanted to keep writing. So I took another sheet of printer paper and put it next to the first one, and I quickly scribbled in some mountains in a giant forest. And I was really lazy. I did this in like 15 seconds, 30 seconds tops. And I was moving so fast that I made the mountains huge. And I looked at that and I was like, well, wait a minute, what if they actually were 10 times bigger than the normal mountains? And that's how I got my Beor mountains. Also, I'd read an article about the mountains in New Zealand being 10 miles high if it weren't for erosion, given their rate of upheaval. That also contributed. [34]Roran
You grew up in Montana, is it true that the valley where Eragon comes from is based on that? Yes. There is even a mountain in the valley that is as high and the same shape as Tronjheim, the mountain where the dwarves live. And I looked at that and thought: hm, what if that was a city? You can take things from everyday life and recreate them in something. [23]
Roran and his chapters have a good bit of biblical allegory. It wasn't intentional, but I read a LOT of Biblical stuff growing up. Make of that what you will. [R]Forging of Brisingr
One of my favorite parts of the Inheritance Cycle was the forging of Brisingr. Tell us about the research process you used in order to construct such an intricate and detailed scene. I've done a fair bit of metalworking myself. I built two forges as a kid. I credited in the back of Brisingr two different books I have on Japanese sword making, both of which I referenced pretty heavily because they were relevant, since Brisingr is made for meteorite steel and there's various reasons for using the Japanese method on a western-style sword in that book. So I did some research but I also had a fair bit of practical knowledge and that was helpful. That scene actually was even longer because if you know your metalworking you'll know there's definitely some things I skimmed over or condensed and it was just because the scene was too long and my editor said, "look, Christopher, just summarize or say it was magic. You've got a magic elven smith, let her use some magic, move it along a little faster. So I was aware of the things that I had to skimp over a little bit, but no, that was one of my favorite scenes to write and I think that came through since so many people enjoyed it. [34]Erôthknurl
Is this [Japanese dorodango] what Orik's earth rock was based off of? Of course. [T]Burrow Grubs
Trauma is an element that's always been a part of these books, but it's been talked around and mentioned, up until I think the burrow grubs in Inheritance. That one is rude. They're bad. I won't lie. They came from a nightmare. That literally came from a nightmare. I shared it with the world so that it's out of my head and into yours. But when I write about something, I stop thinking about it. After it's done, it purges it from my brain. [11]Inheritance Climax
I need to know how you came up with the burrow grubs because they've always freaked me out. Bad nightmare. [T]
Was there a particular experience in your life that suggested to you that it was ultimately through compassion and empathy that Eragon will vanquish Galbatorix? No. It was the result of sort of a long chain of logic while writing the books, and a lot of thinking I've been doing about violence and responses to violence and when it's appropriate to use violence. Part of the chain of logic was the fact that I just got sick of writing sword fights. I wrote a lot of sword fights between Eragon and Arya, Eragon and Murtagh, and of course, Roran's hammer fights. So resolving the entire series's conflict just through a physical confrontation felt inadequate. There needed to be a moral component to it. One of my own criticisms for myself here is that I feel like I failed to do that with Roran in Inheritance. There really should have been a little bit slightly deeper resolution to his storyline and his confrontation with Barst that taught us something new or resulted in a change in his character. Roran's character is a little different than Eragon's because he's already grown up in a lot of ways and thus is not resolving the same issues, but a good arc, a good journey, would have reflected on what was happening with Eragon and Galbatorix. So how Roran defeats Barst in some ways should stand in contrast to how Eragon defeats Galbatorix. Maybe it does, but that's something I would have spent more time taking another look at were I to do that now. But again with Eragon and Galbatorix, just one more sword fight was inadequate. So much of the story with Eragon involved him paying attention to the lives of the ants and learning about the different groups in Alagaësia, the Urgals, the dwarves, this and that. So all of that played into this decision to have him defeat Galbatorix in that matter. And with all of that, the fact that I really didn't want there to be some obvious way of defeating Galbatorix. Galbatorix isn't stupid. He protected himself in all of the ways that one might think of protecting himself, and he's had a long time to think about that. So it needed to be something that was non-obvious. Non-obvious and yet inevitable. [19]
Favorites
Which of the fantasy creatures/races did you most enjoy writing about? I obviously love dragons. Before Murtagh I would have said the dwarves because I think they are funnier than the elves, although I enjoy writing about the elves too. But the dwarves are more earthly and interesting and human in their own way. [21]
Who is your own favorite character anyway? Saphira. I used to say Eragon right after that, but nowadays Murtagh is number two. That said, I feel most connected to Brom. Because I'm also getting old and starting to get some white spots in my beard. [21]
Which of your characters would you bring along with you to a deserted island? Saphira, because she could fly me off the deserted island. [34]
Which place in your Eragon universe would you like to live in the most? Probably with my dwarves, because they live in these 10-mile high mountains. And I love mountains and I have a beard like a dwarf these days. And I think the dwarves have more fun than the elves. [2]
Which fantasy world would you like to live in? Middle-Earth can be a nice place to live in some places, especially Hobbiton. I wouldn't mind living in a Hobbit hole and writing my books there. [23]
Interactions with other media properties
Getting into FantasyI got into sci-fi and fantasy because of a magical creature. My parents had a lot of sci-fi fantasy in the house, and I wasn't particularly interested in it at the time. But when I was around eight, my grandfather was taking me through a bookstore. I saw a book that had a knight in full armor without his helmet, holding a spear, facing off with a giant scaly humanoid, dragon-like monster. And at eight years old, all I knew was that this was the coolest book cover I had ever seen in my life and that this therefore must be the best book in the world. And so I begged my grandfather to please, please, please, buy me this book. He wasn't entirely sure about it, but he bought it for me anyway. That ended up being The Ruby Knight by David Eddings, which I took home and I read as fast as I could. I got a little concerned as I got near the back of the book because I was getting through the pages and then there's only this many pages left. I started to get this weird feeling that somehow the author couldn't end the whole story in the number of pages that were left. And sure enough, when I got to the end, I discovered that this was the middle book of a trilogy. Yeah, I wasn't always the brightest kid. So I finished that and immediately said, "well, I need to know what happens". So I went to our library and I read all the David Eddings books they had. There really was no internet back then, so I didn't know what to read next. So I'm standing in the library staring at Eddings, "E". What do I read next? Well, two shelves down from "E" was "F" and there was a giant book called Magician by Raymond Feist, which had a dragon on the cover. And I thought, okay, well maybe that's good. It's got a dragon, the same magical creature. So I checked out that book and I read it and it was pretty awesome. So I read everything by Raymond Feist. And then I go, "well, what do I read now?" And well, a couple of shelves down, there was a book called Mossflower by Brian Jacques which was the prequel to Redwall, so I read the entire Redwall series. And wasn't too far from Brian Jacques to Anne McCaffrey, and there was the Dragon Riders of Pern series. So I basically worked my way through the library, just chasing the covers with dragons and talking animals, which is not the worst way to set up a reading program when you're ten. And that really transformed my life. And I just absolutely fell in love with reading in a way that I never really had before. [35]Anne McCaffrey
Is it awkward though, sitting here between Dragonriders of Pern, the original series about Dragonriders, from a beloved author who was nice enough to give you a blurb for your first novel, knowing that you sort of borrowed the whole Dragonriders thing? Oh, not at all. Absolutely shameless about it. And McCaffrey was kind enough to give me not just a blurb, my first blurb. So funny thing is I did kind of repay her in the most roundabout way. I was touring in Spain and found out that her books were out of print there. And I talked them up so much that they ended up reprinting the entire series in Spain and I blurbed her books in Spain. But you know, it's a small market so it probably doesn't count. Right. No, I would say not. [31]Star Wars
I was homeschooled and raised in a very rural environment in Montana. I had no access to the internet and stuff. I literally had not heard about Star Wars all the way up until I was 14. And it was referenced in the movie Space Camp. And I said, "Why are they saying 'Luke use the force'? What does that mean?" And my dad got this horrified expression on his face. Like he had failed as a parent, and so we watched Star Wars the next day. [5]Star Trek
The problem with Lost is those seasons are full length seasons. I mean it's like 23, 26 episodes. It's a huge commitment. My wife watched Next Generation for the first time a couple years ago, and each season is like 24 or 26 episodes, and it's a big commitment of time. And that's part of the problem getting into something like Battlestar Galactica or something else. [21]The Prisoner
Deep Space Nine is the best Star Trek, because they actually managed to take the Ferengi and turn them into interesting, well-rounded, deep characters, which you wouldn't think, and not just the Ferengi, but other aliens, which the other Star Treks didn't manage to do anything like that, I think. [29]
The original Prisoner television show is the most prophetic piece of science fiction in a lot of ways because it deals with loss of privacy and individuality, the strength of the individual against the system of government. And the cool thing too is that I think The Prisoner is definitely an auteur piece. It was written by Patrick McGuinn who also stars in it and he also directed the majority of episodes. And it directly follows from his earlier series Secret Agent Man. When that show ended he was at a party and there were some governmental officials and someone asked him, so what does a secret agent do when he retires? And he said, I don't know, you tell me what does a secret agent do when he retires? And the bureaucrat just kind of goes, well we take care of them. And that was kind of the beginning of the concept for the show. A lot of people hate the ending. I actually quite like the ending but there's a sense of absurdity to the show as well that I think is very well suited for the nature of modern life given that although we live in a Heinlein future in the sense we have rockets taking off and landing vertically as God and Heinlein intended, at the same time, we live in a very strange modern life and Philip K. Dick captured that, but I also think the prisoner absolutely did. So if you haven't seen The Prisoner, I can't recommend it enough personally. McGuinn had some really strong philosophy driving it underneath. He was a very religious man, actually very similar to Gene Wolfe, both Catholic. And that drove a lot of his beliefs and approach to the material. [21]House of the Dragon
I'm not necessarily a fan of the way George R R Martin writes. House of the Dragon pretty much started with a bloody scene about a young mother who had to pay for the birth of her child with death. My wife was just heavily pregnant, I turned off the TV and didn't look back. But there is no arguing about the quality of Game of Thrones and the enormous cultural impact of the series. All respect. [18]Dragons Love Tacos
I've had to read Dragons Love Tacos to my son more times than I care to remember. Look, dragons do not love tacos. Dragons love some of the things that go into tacos, like cows or maybe sheep or goats. But dragons do not love tacos. And this is sheer slander upon the whole race of dragons. [14]Video Games
They'll probably like the ground meat that sometimes goes into tacos, but no, dragons don't eat tacos. Come on. [34]
What was the first game that you played where you thought, I really love games? Crystal Quest. If anyone remembers that. Old game that was on the Mac Classic. I got up to level 99 on that or something. It was insane. But, yeah, Myst, Riven especially, the Marathon series, Mass Effect trilogy. Loved Control recently. I've spent way too many hours playing Far Cry 5 because it's set in Montana and looks exactly like Montana. And there are some similarities to things in that game, to actual real world stuff, which is kind of weird, but it's cool. I don't know. Too many games to list and they're all awesome. [26]Minecraft
I played a lot of classic Mac games, we're talking about like on the old Mac Classic, so things like Crystal Quest and Starship Mono and things like that. And then later on, when the computers upgraded, I loved the Myst series, so Myst and Riven. My friend had a PC, so I got to play the original Doom and Wolfenstein 3D and all of that. On the Mac, I loved the Marathon series. That was a huge influence on me with storytelling. I'm really excited that they're rebooting it or doing a sequel to the Marathon game finally over at Bungie. So the Marathon trilogy. Unreal Tournament 1999 is still the best shooting game I've ever played in a lot of ways, a tournament game. So yeah, all that stuff definitely had an influence on me. [12]
All of my gaming experience was computer games, video games. One that had a huge influence on me was the old Myst series. Personally I love solving puzzles, so that's the first thing. And also the concept of the series, especially with the second game, Riven, it's all based around people writing books that create new worlds. And you get to go in them and solve puzzles and understand how that world works. And that just tickled every single part of my brain back in the day. [26]
Now, funny thing with Spyro is that the company that made the Spyro games actually worked on the Eragon video game back in the day. Now, I've never played the Spyro games, but my wife is a huge fan of them, and I like Spyro. Proper number of legs. The wings are a little small, though. But sheer force of personality, and at least Spyro's not a dog dragon. [13]
What do you love about Mass Effect? I like the RPG elements, but I like the universe. I like the setting. I like the fact that really their big jump is they assume the existence of this element zero that if I'm remembering it correctly, allows for all of the technology. And then they don't break the laws of physics past that. They assume there's one break from what we know and then explore that. But I love the setting. I like how much blue they use. No, seriously. And if I'm remembering correctly, one of the planets in Mass Effect actually is the planet from Dragon Age. So they've tied in their two different franchises, which is cool. I have so many wonderful memories with the characters and in the world of Mass Effect that in some ways it was almost like a Star Wars experience for video games. [21]
There's great aliens in Mass Effect. I seem to recall Wayne Barlow, an artist, creating a cool book with some aliens in it. [29]
My favorite game these days is Minecraft. If you put a gun to my head and told me I can only have one game for the rest of my life, I'd pick Minecraft right now. If you go to my YouTube channel, you can see my storage system, which is mechanized and can store every single item in the game, either in shulker boxes or bulk storage or chests. It's mechanized. If you're familiar with the Hermitcraft series, they actually invited me on the server as a guest at one point. Scicraft, I got to tour with them. I built a machine to kill the Ender Dragon with one arrow. I love Minecraft. The problem is I could spend so long playing Minecraft, I will never write another book in my life. So I haven't played it in six months. But I really want to update my storage system. So we'll see. [26]Crossovers
You went almost a decade from the time that you published Inheritance to the time that you published another book that people cared about, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. What were you doing during this time besides Minecraft? Have you seen my storage system in Minecraft? I have, it's pretty solid. It's not just solid, it's like I built a computer in Minecraft. Honestly, I could have written another book. I was going to say, imagine if you had written a book instead. What was I doing in those ten years? Well, I suppose I was just relaxing on my giant pile of money. Plagiarism pays, nepotism pays, I was just relaxing, enjoying life. And then I decided that I should probably, pay tribute to a lot of the sci-fi games and movies that I enjoyed and pluck up a bunch of pieces from them and paste them all together and put out a new book. And that was To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. That's fantastic. Absolutely. And you know what's even better? It won Best Sci-Fi of the Year over at Goodreads. I'm starting to wonder if you might be a pretty smart guy. People have said that on occasion, but I don't really believe it. Yeah, I wouldn't either. No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't. [31]
Who wins in a fight, Kratos or Eragon? I'm enormously fond of Eragon and he does have magic at his disposal, but we are talking about a man who literally killed the Greek pantheon and then the Nordic pantheon. So I hate to say it, but I think Kratos has it here. Not to mention that technically his son becomes the Midgard Serpent. [30]
Who would win in the fight? Eragon or Anne McCaffrey? Not the dragons, the author? Well, look, Anne McCaffrey gave me my first blurb. I kind of have to go with Anne McCaffrey there. [30]
[Rebecca Yarros:] How would our dragons interact with each other? I think your dragons would consider Saphira a bit soft. But I think Saphira would rise to the occasion. She's more humane. Like she's more human. She has more like a softness to her, as where mine are superior jerks. Well, I think also she's trying to be nice for the nice little squishy humans around her. And if she were stuck with a bunch of dragons who weren't quite so nice, she'd probably go a bit more feral. [33]
What would Eragon's signet be if he was in the Fourth Wing world instead? Probably something with fire, firebending essentially. The first spell he ever used was Brisingr, which was fire. So probably something with fire. I think that that seems appropriate. I could come up with something more exotic, but let's face it, Eragon's kind of basic. So it's going to be fire. [33]
I assume Roran would have carried a 45-70 govt in a different timeline. He absolutely would, if not a 45-90 or even a 50-110. [R]
What Taylor Swift song do you feel most represents each character? I’ve never listened to a Taylor Swift song, so … How is that even possible?? You must not have listened to a radio in the last decade. You would be correct. That is actually insane. What kind of music do you listen to? I love classical. However, mostly I listen to movie & game soundtracks while writing. And when not writing, I've had enough music, so don't listen to stuff. I can't listen to anything with English lyrics while writing. Messes with the words in my head. Nothing while lifting? Heh. Heavy Metal. Amon Amarth. That sort of thing. [T]
2024.06.02 14:41 MountainSkald [A Valkyrie's Saga] - Part 113
Prequel (Chapters 1 to 16)
1. Rise of a Valkyrie
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Two days later, Kayla helped Thandi get out of bed and into a pair of crutches. While they were practicing the strange new form of mobility, Lyna and Bibi also showed up to collect their squad-mate.
“Oh, hey, Kayla,” Lyna said. “How’s Yak doing?” She walked over and squeezed the unconscious woman’s hand.
“No change,” Thandi said. “But I’ve been playing her music and stuff.”
“Doctors know what they’re doing right?” Kayla said. “She’ll be on her feet and smiling before long.”
“Yeah,” Lyna said. “But she’ll need another month of rehab after that. Whatever they have planned for us next, she’ll be pissed to miss out on it.” She kissed Yak’s forehead, then turned to Kayla. “Are you coming to watch the show too?”
“Uh, I’ll help Thandi get over there,” Kayla replied. “I dunno if I want to hang around for some big science experiment. I might go workout.”
Thandi winked at the others as she began to hobble forwards. “She doesn’t get it yet, but she will.”
As they slowly made their way to the ship’s observation deck, they ran into other Rangers heading in the same direction. Kayla wondered what the big deal was.
Tian caught sight of them and pushed through the crowd with a big grin. “How’s the squad hero?”
Kayla shivered, and returned the grin with a blank smile. “Well, Yak’s still out, and Thandi’s barely walking, so…”
“No, I meant you. You saved everyone with that crazy stunt. Lyna, did you see her go up the crane?”
“No, Tian, I was shooting,” Lyna said. “Got a bit distracted.”
“It was like something out of a movie,” Tian gushed. “Kayla, did you really tear your muscles doing that?”
“Yeah, it was really painful afterwards.” Kayla tried to avoid her eye contact. Why couldn’t she just stop talking about it?
“And you were still able to shoot the machine gun? I know we’re all enhanced but that’s a little superhuman.”
“Is this the place?” Kayla asked.
The observation lounge off the corridor was filled with crewmembers, Rangers, and others. Huge windows let out onto the starscape beyond, while big displays showed a small point of light surrounded by blackness. Kayla peered closely at it. The glowing smudge appeared to be vibrating.
“Alright Thandi, I chaperoned you over here. I’m kind of surprised there are so many people to be honest.”
“Well duh,” Lyna said. “Who doesn’t want to watch a star explode?”
Kayla paused. “Wait what?”
“Not a star,” Bibi corrected. “Two orbiting stars will collide, and then explode.”
“What?” Kayla demanded, and turned to Thandi. “You told me it was going to be some dumb science project.”
“Nonsense,” Christie said as she pushed through the crowd to join them. “We said there would be a binary star merger. You assumed it would be uninteresting. It is not our fault that you have abandoned your intellectual growth in favor of wanton destruction.”
“Well—” Kayla began, before shutting her mouth. She had no good response to that.
“So, you’re off to the gym?” Thandi said with a smug grin. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
Kayla reddened and looked down. “I mean, I guess I could hang around… it could be kind of cool.”
“Hey Christie,” Tian said loudly. “Is it true that you’re in the Minerva Group? Can I ask you about the selection process?”
Kayla cringed as women around them went quiet and looked around. Christie pretended that she hadn’t heard the question. The Minerva Group was one of the most secretive and select intelligence units in Valkyrie. Its members were never named, or acknowledged, although it was widely known to participate in the most hair-raising operations. Kayla had always known that her friend had both a brilliant and ruthless mind, while her team leader, Zhang, was only ever seen working with tier one operators. That left only one inevitable conclusion, though they had never spoken about it, and probably never would.
Lyna snorted with laughter. “Oh, is it Minerva this week, Tian? Last week it was Raiders. Next week it will be ODT again.”
“Hasn’t been ODT for a while,” Thandi said with a sly wink. “I think she got scared of spacewalks.”
“I just like to be informed about potential career paths,” Tian said sulkily as the crowd’s chatter resumed.
“I believe in you, honey,” Lyna said. “You’ll be the baddest operator in the organization as soon as you can figure out which badge matches your hair color.”
Tian looked away as her cheeks reddened. Kayla gave her arm a squeeze and saw her face scrunch in response. She knew she had done something stupid, and was obviously regretting it.
“Alright Chris, I can see you bursting with eagerness to stick your hand up,” Thandi said and gestured at one of the screens. “You want to explain this phenomenon to us?”
“Oh gosh, it’s not covered in the bible?” Christie shot back.
Thandi half-heartedly stabbed a crutch at her leg, which she easily sidestepped with a playful smirk.
“But since you so politely ask,” Christie said, “I will explain. You see, we have two neutron stars—”
“What’s a neutron star?” Kayla asked. “The small one, I guess, if memory serves.”
Christie cocked her head. “Okay, sure. When a really big star explodes, part of it gets compressed into an ultra-dense state, and you have something with the mass of a regular star but which is only twenty kilometers in diameter. So, if you took a teaspoon of its matter off the surface, it would weigh as much as a mountain.”
Kayla nodded happily. This seemed simple enough.
“And then sometimes,” Christie continued, “two neutron stars will end up orbiting around each other. But, as they orbit, their ultra-dense mass produces waves in the fabric of space-time. These waves cause instability in their orbit, which pushes the stars closer together. Right now, they are spinning around each other approximately eight hundred times per second, which is why it looks like it’s buzzing. They will, in a few minutes, collide at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light.”
She gestured to one of the monitors which was zooming in on the brilliant, energetic dot.
“I’m going to stop you right there,” Kayla said. “Because I don’t even know how to get my mind around half the absurd things you just said.”
Christie raised her eyebrows. “Hmm, yes. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can put it any more simply. It is what it is. Reality is often stranger than we can imagine.”
Kayla nodded. “Ridiculous space magic, got it.”
“Science is so fascinating,” cut in Bibi.
“No,” Thandi held up a finger. “Creation is fascinating. Science is just the telescope we use to observe its wonders. But I’m not saying it’s not a great telescope,” she said, as Christie looked like she was about to argue. “I’m just arguing for humility.”
“How do we know the impact time so precisely?” asked Bibi. “These events are supposed to be unpredictable.”
“Ah,” Christie said with a nod. “That’s because the shockwave only travels at the speed of light. Our vessels are much faster than that. The star system actually exploded four years ago, and Valkyrie dropped a series of probes at varying distances.”
“Well, that’s lame,” Kayla said. “If we’d gone earlier, we could have gotten a better view.”
“No,” Christie explained patiently. “Any closer and the Banshee’s shields would fail under the extreme radiation, resulting in the ship being vaporized.”
Kayla couldn’t keep a grin from sliding onto her face. “Cool.”
The buzz from the crowd faded as a speaker counted down the upcoming event. Kayla’s eyes flicked back and forth between the display and the ship’s windows. On the screen, the flickering white dot suddenly blossomed outward as a luminescent sphere of radiation. It began to fade, leaving twin fountains of matter exploding in opposite directions along the axis of rotation. They stretched for thousands of miles into space, while expanding vapor and light raced towards the recording probe. Then the feed went dead.
Out through the ship’s window, one of the stars had brightened substantially, but there was nothing else to see.
“Huh,” said Kayla. “If you were on a planet around here and you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t even notice something had happened.”
“If you were on a planet occupying the space we are in right now,” Christie said, “you would die in moments of lethal radiation exposure, while the atmosphere was stripped away to vacuum.”
“Seriously?”
“Of course. We are currently being flooded with more energy than would be released from a nuclear weapon. But most of it isn’t light energy; it’s gamma, alpha and beta particles. Fortunately for us, the Banshee’s shield keeps us safe. Unless Tian knocks something on the control panel she’s leaning against.”
The Ranger leaped away from the bulkhead and span around, eyeing the small panel suspiciously. Members of the crew nearby laughed.
“That’s an environmental control,” a woman said. “Good to see Rangers keeping up their shipboard knowledge.”
The observation lounge began to empty as the crowd returned to their daily routine.
Bibi cleared her throat, and Kayla turned to watch her with interest. When not training, the woman was usually to be found with her head in a book, and rarely spoke if she didn't have to.
“The super cool thing is,” Bibi said, “that neutron star collisions produce most of the day-to-day elements in the galaxy—Oxygen, nitrogen, even metals. This event probably produced several planets worth of gold in that one explosion.”
“That’s awesome,” Kayla said enthusiastically. “Let’s go get a dropship and visit one of them.”
The others stared at her in confusion.
“Visit… what? What are you saying?” Thandi demanded.
“One of the gold planets that’s just been sent spinning off into space. I want to go visit one of them,” Kayla insisted with a twinkle in her eye, and a smirk on her lips.
“Don’t be absurd you petulant girl,” Christie scolded. “There isn’t an actual planet made of gold out there. Good grief.”
“Oh, so after all that silly space magic you just described, I can’t be queen of my own personal gold planet? That’s just unfair.”
Thandi gawped at her. “And what are you going to do with a solid gold planet at your feet, exactly?”
“I would have a solid gold palace, with gold gardens, and gold servants, and I would wear gold dresses all day. It would be awesome. Come on, where’s your imagination?”
“And what are you breathing all that time?” Bibi asked.
“Oxygen, duh. The gravity would hold an atmosphere. But it would be like… sparkly air—gold flecked.”
Christie nodded wisely. “Oh, of course. And so, you died of metal poisoning within days. Gosh, what an exciting adventure.”
“I’ll be at your gold funeral, Kayla,” Lyna said sympathetically. “I’m sure it’ll be nice. I’ll be wearing a combat suit though, so I don’t die.”
“Queen Kayla the golden,” Kayla said with a sigh. “I shall be remembered for my wisdom, and compassion.” She cocked her head. “Maybe not compassion. I’ll probably cut off a lot of heads when my gold subjects misbehave.”
Thandi smirked. “Someone wants to be a Philosopher Queen. Remember how we used to talk about that in boot camp?”
“Oh yeah,” Kayla said excitedly. “How the Jotnar were trying to enslave humans by recruiting philosophers.”
Lyna gave her an odd look. “Huh? What are you talking about now?”
First ¦ Previous ¦ Royal Road ¦ Patreon
Prequel (Chapters 1 to 16)
1. Rise of a Valkyrie
submitted by MountainSkald to redditserials [link] [comments]
1. Rise of a Valkyrie
First ¦ Previous ¦ Royal Road ¦ Patreon
Two days later, Kayla helped Thandi get out of bed and into a pair of crutches. While they were practicing the strange new form of mobility, Lyna and Bibi also showed up to collect their squad-mate.
“Oh, hey, Kayla,” Lyna said. “How’s Yak doing?” She walked over and squeezed the unconscious woman’s hand.
“No change,” Thandi said. “But I’ve been playing her music and stuff.”
“Doctors know what they’re doing right?” Kayla said. “She’ll be on her feet and smiling before long.”
“Yeah,” Lyna said. “But she’ll need another month of rehab after that. Whatever they have planned for us next, she’ll be pissed to miss out on it.” She kissed Yak’s forehead, then turned to Kayla. “Are you coming to watch the show too?”
“Uh, I’ll help Thandi get over there,” Kayla replied. “I dunno if I want to hang around for some big science experiment. I might go workout.”
Thandi winked at the others as she began to hobble forwards. “She doesn’t get it yet, but she will.”
As they slowly made their way to the ship’s observation deck, they ran into other Rangers heading in the same direction. Kayla wondered what the big deal was.
Tian caught sight of them and pushed through the crowd with a big grin. “How’s the squad hero?”
Kayla shivered, and returned the grin with a blank smile. “Well, Yak’s still out, and Thandi’s barely walking, so…”
“No, I meant you. You saved everyone with that crazy stunt. Lyna, did you see her go up the crane?”
“No, Tian, I was shooting,” Lyna said. “Got a bit distracted.”
“It was like something out of a movie,” Tian gushed. “Kayla, did you really tear your muscles doing that?”
“Yeah, it was really painful afterwards.” Kayla tried to avoid her eye contact. Why couldn’t she just stop talking about it?
“And you were still able to shoot the machine gun? I know we’re all enhanced but that’s a little superhuman.”
“Is this the place?” Kayla asked.
The observation lounge off the corridor was filled with crewmembers, Rangers, and others. Huge windows let out onto the starscape beyond, while big displays showed a small point of light surrounded by blackness. Kayla peered closely at it. The glowing smudge appeared to be vibrating.
“Alright Thandi, I chaperoned you over here. I’m kind of surprised there are so many people to be honest.”
“Well duh,” Lyna said. “Who doesn’t want to watch a star explode?”
Kayla paused. “Wait what?”
“Not a star,” Bibi corrected. “Two orbiting stars will collide, and then explode.”
“What?” Kayla demanded, and turned to Thandi. “You told me it was going to be some dumb science project.”
“Nonsense,” Christie said as she pushed through the crowd to join them. “We said there would be a binary star merger. You assumed it would be uninteresting. It is not our fault that you have abandoned your intellectual growth in favor of wanton destruction.”
“Well—” Kayla began, before shutting her mouth. She had no good response to that.
“So, you’re off to the gym?” Thandi said with a smug grin. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
Kayla reddened and looked down. “I mean, I guess I could hang around… it could be kind of cool.”
“Hey Christie,” Tian said loudly. “Is it true that you’re in the Minerva Group? Can I ask you about the selection process?”
Kayla cringed as women around them went quiet and looked around. Christie pretended that she hadn’t heard the question. The Minerva Group was one of the most secretive and select intelligence units in Valkyrie. Its members were never named, or acknowledged, although it was widely known to participate in the most hair-raising operations. Kayla had always known that her friend had both a brilliant and ruthless mind, while her team leader, Zhang, was only ever seen working with tier one operators. That left only one inevitable conclusion, though they had never spoken about it, and probably never would.
Lyna snorted with laughter. “Oh, is it Minerva this week, Tian? Last week it was Raiders. Next week it will be ODT again.”
“Hasn’t been ODT for a while,” Thandi said with a sly wink. “I think she got scared of spacewalks.”
“I just like to be informed about potential career paths,” Tian said sulkily as the crowd’s chatter resumed.
“I believe in you, honey,” Lyna said. “You’ll be the baddest operator in the organization as soon as you can figure out which badge matches your hair color.”
Tian looked away as her cheeks reddened. Kayla gave her arm a squeeze and saw her face scrunch in response. She knew she had done something stupid, and was obviously regretting it.
“Alright Chris, I can see you bursting with eagerness to stick your hand up,” Thandi said and gestured at one of the screens. “You want to explain this phenomenon to us?”
“Oh gosh, it’s not covered in the bible?” Christie shot back.
Thandi half-heartedly stabbed a crutch at her leg, which she easily sidestepped with a playful smirk.
“But since you so politely ask,” Christie said, “I will explain. You see, we have two neutron stars—”
“What’s a neutron star?” Kayla asked. “The small one, I guess, if memory serves.”
Christie cocked her head. “Okay, sure. When a really big star explodes, part of it gets compressed into an ultra-dense state, and you have something with the mass of a regular star but which is only twenty kilometers in diameter. So, if you took a teaspoon of its matter off the surface, it would weigh as much as a mountain.”
Kayla nodded happily. This seemed simple enough.
“And then sometimes,” Christie continued, “two neutron stars will end up orbiting around each other. But, as they orbit, their ultra-dense mass produces waves in the fabric of space-time. These waves cause instability in their orbit, which pushes the stars closer together. Right now, they are spinning around each other approximately eight hundred times per second, which is why it looks like it’s buzzing. They will, in a few minutes, collide at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light.”
She gestured to one of the monitors which was zooming in on the brilliant, energetic dot.
“I’m going to stop you right there,” Kayla said. “Because I don’t even know how to get my mind around half the absurd things you just said.”
Christie raised her eyebrows. “Hmm, yes. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can put it any more simply. It is what it is. Reality is often stranger than we can imagine.”
Kayla nodded. “Ridiculous space magic, got it.”
“Science is so fascinating,” cut in Bibi.
“No,” Thandi held up a finger. “Creation is fascinating. Science is just the telescope we use to observe its wonders. But I’m not saying it’s not a great telescope,” she said, as Christie looked like she was about to argue. “I’m just arguing for humility.”
“How do we know the impact time so precisely?” asked Bibi. “These events are supposed to be unpredictable.”
“Ah,” Christie said with a nod. “That’s because the shockwave only travels at the speed of light. Our vessels are much faster than that. The star system actually exploded four years ago, and Valkyrie dropped a series of probes at varying distances.”
“Well, that’s lame,” Kayla said. “If we’d gone earlier, we could have gotten a better view.”
“No,” Christie explained patiently. “Any closer and the Banshee’s shields would fail under the extreme radiation, resulting in the ship being vaporized.”
Kayla couldn’t keep a grin from sliding onto her face. “Cool.”
The buzz from the crowd faded as a speaker counted down the upcoming event. Kayla’s eyes flicked back and forth between the display and the ship’s windows. On the screen, the flickering white dot suddenly blossomed outward as a luminescent sphere of radiation. It began to fade, leaving twin fountains of matter exploding in opposite directions along the axis of rotation. They stretched for thousands of miles into space, while expanding vapor and light raced towards the recording probe. Then the feed went dead.
Out through the ship’s window, one of the stars had brightened substantially, but there was nothing else to see.
“Huh,” said Kayla. “If you were on a planet around here and you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t even notice something had happened.”
“If you were on a planet occupying the space we are in right now,” Christie said, “you would die in moments of lethal radiation exposure, while the atmosphere was stripped away to vacuum.”
“Seriously?”
“Of course. We are currently being flooded with more energy than would be released from a nuclear weapon. But most of it isn’t light energy; it’s gamma, alpha and beta particles. Fortunately for us, the Banshee’s shield keeps us safe. Unless Tian knocks something on the control panel she’s leaning against.”
The Ranger leaped away from the bulkhead and span around, eyeing the small panel suspiciously. Members of the crew nearby laughed.
“That’s an environmental control,” a woman said. “Good to see Rangers keeping up their shipboard knowledge.”
The observation lounge began to empty as the crowd returned to their daily routine.
Bibi cleared her throat, and Kayla turned to watch her with interest. When not training, the woman was usually to be found with her head in a book, and rarely spoke if she didn't have to.
“The super cool thing is,” Bibi said, “that neutron star collisions produce most of the day-to-day elements in the galaxy—Oxygen, nitrogen, even metals. This event probably produced several planets worth of gold in that one explosion.”
“That’s awesome,” Kayla said enthusiastically. “Let’s go get a dropship and visit one of them.”
The others stared at her in confusion.
“Visit… what? What are you saying?” Thandi demanded.
“One of the gold planets that’s just been sent spinning off into space. I want to go visit one of them,” Kayla insisted with a twinkle in her eye, and a smirk on her lips.
“Don’t be absurd you petulant girl,” Christie scolded. “There isn’t an actual planet made of gold out there. Good grief.”
“Oh, so after all that silly space magic you just described, I can’t be queen of my own personal gold planet? That’s just unfair.”
Thandi gawped at her. “And what are you going to do with a solid gold planet at your feet, exactly?”
“I would have a solid gold palace, with gold gardens, and gold servants, and I would wear gold dresses all day. It would be awesome. Come on, where’s your imagination?”
“And what are you breathing all that time?” Bibi asked.
“Oxygen, duh. The gravity would hold an atmosphere. But it would be like… sparkly air—gold flecked.”
Christie nodded wisely. “Oh, of course. And so, you died of metal poisoning within days. Gosh, what an exciting adventure.”
“I’ll be at your gold funeral, Kayla,” Lyna said sympathetically. “I’m sure it’ll be nice. I’ll be wearing a combat suit though, so I don’t die.”
“Queen Kayla the golden,” Kayla said with a sigh. “I shall be remembered for my wisdom, and compassion.” She cocked her head. “Maybe not compassion. I’ll probably cut off a lot of heads when my gold subjects misbehave.”
Thandi smirked. “Someone wants to be a Philosopher Queen. Remember how we used to talk about that in boot camp?”
“Oh yeah,” Kayla said excitedly. “How the Jotnar were trying to enslave humans by recruiting philosophers.”
Lyna gave her an odd look. “Huh? What are you talking about now?”
First ¦ Previous ¦ Royal Road ¦ Patreon
Prequel (Chapters 1 to 16)
1. Rise of a Valkyrie
2024.06.02 14:40 MountainSkald A Valkyrie's Saga - Part 113
Prequel (Parts 1 to 16)
1. Rise of a Valkyrie
First ¦ Previous ¦ Royal Road ¦ Patreon
Two days later, Kayla helped Thandi get out of bed and into a pair of crutches. While they were practicing the strange new form of mobility, Lyna and Bibi also showed up to collect their squad-mate.
“Oh, hey, Kayla,” Lyna said. “How’s Yak doing?” She walked over and squeezed the unconscious woman’s hand.
“No change,” Thandi said. “But I’ve been playing her music and stuff.”
“Doctors know what they’re doing right?” Kayla said. “She’ll be on her feet and smiling before long.”
“Yeah,” Lyna said. “But she’ll need another month of rehab after that. Whatever they have planned for us next, she’ll be pissed to miss out on it.” She kissed Yak’s forehead, then turned to Kayla. “Are you coming to watch the show too?”
“Uh, I’ll help Thandi get over there,” Kayla replied. “I dunno if I want to hang around for some big science experiment. I might go workout.”
Thandi winked at the others as she began to hobble forwards. “She doesn’t get it yet, but she will.”
As they slowly made their way to the ship’s observation deck, they ran into other Rangers heading in the same direction. Kayla wondered what the big deal was.
Tian caught sight of them and pushed through the crowd with a big grin. “How’s the squad hero?”
Kayla shivered, and returned the grin with a blank smile. “Well, Yak’s still out, and Thandi’s barely walking, so…”
“No, I meant you. You saved everyone with that crazy stunt. Lyna, did you see her go up the crane?”
“No, Tian, I was shooting,” Lyna said. “Got a bit distracted.”
“It was like something out of a movie,” Tian gushed. “Kayla, did you really tear your muscles doing that?”
“Yeah, it was really painful afterwards.” Kayla tried to avoid her eye contact. Why couldn’t she just stop talking about it?
“And you were still able to shoot the machine gun? I know we’re all enhanced but that’s a little superhuman.”
“Is this the place?” Kayla asked.
The observation lounge off the corridor was filled with crewmembers, Rangers, and others. Huge windows let out onto the starscape beyond, while big displays showed a small point of light surrounded by blackness. Kayla peered closely at it. The glowing smudge appeared to be vibrating.
“Alright Thandi, I chaperoned you over here. I’m kind of surprised there are so many people to be honest.”
“Well duh,” Lyna said. “Who doesn’t want to watch a star explode?”
Kayla paused. “Wait what?”
“Not a star,” Bibi corrected. “Two orbiting stars will collide, and then explode.”
“What?” Kayla demanded, and turned to Thandi. “You told me it was going to be some dumb science project.”
“Nonsense,” Christie said as she pushed through the crowd to join them. “We said there would be a binary star merger. You assumed it would be uninteresting. It is not our fault that you have abandoned your intellectual growth in favor of wanton destruction.”
“Well—” Kayla began, before shutting her mouth. She had no good response to that.
“So, you’re off to the gym?” Thandi said with a smug grin. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
Kayla reddened and looked down. “I mean, I guess I could hang around… it could be kind of cool.”
“Hey Christie,” Tian said loudly. “Is it true that you’re in the Minerva Group? Can I ask you about the selection process?”
Kayla cringed as women around them went quiet and looked around. Christie pretended that she hadn’t heard the question. The Minerva Group was one of the most secretive and select intelligence units in Valkyrie. Its members were never named, or acknowledged, although it was widely known to participate in the most hair-raising operations. Kayla had always known that her friend had both a brilliant and ruthless mind, while her team leader, Zhang, was only ever seen working with tier one operators. That left only one inevitable conclusion, though they had never spoken about it, and probably never would.
Lyna snorted with laughter. “Oh, is it Minerva this week, Tian? Last week it was Raiders. Next week it will be ODT again.”
“Hasn’t been ODT for a while,” Thandi said with a sly wink. “I think she got scared of spacewalks.”
“I just like to be informed about potential career paths,” Tian said sulkily as the crowd’s chatter resumed.
“I believe in you, honey,” Lyna said. “You’ll be the baddest operator in the organization as soon as you can figure out which badge matches your hair color.”
Tian looked away as her cheeks reddened. Kayla gave her arm a squeeze and saw her face scrunch in response. She knew she had done something stupid, and was obviously regretting it.
“Alright Chris, I can see you bursting with eagerness to stick your hand up,” Thandi said and gestured at one of the screens. “You want to explain this phenomenon to us?”
“Oh gosh, it’s not covered in the bible?” Christie shot back.
Thandi half-heartedly stabbed a crutch at her leg, which she easily sidestepped with a playful smirk.
“But since you so politely ask,” Christie said, “I will explain. You see, we have two neutron stars—”
“What’s a neutron star?” Kayla asked. “The small one, I guess, if memory serves.”
Christie cocked her head. “Okay, sure. When a really big star explodes, part of it gets compressed into an ultra-dense state, and you have something with the mass of a regular star but which is only twenty kilometers in diameter. So, if you took a teaspoon of its matter off the surface, it would weigh as much as a mountain.”
Kayla nodded happily. This seemed simple enough.
“And then sometimes,” Christie continued, “two neutron stars will end up orbiting around each other. But, as they orbit, their ultra-dense mass produces waves in the fabric of space-time. These waves cause instability in their orbit, which pushes the stars closer together. Right now, they are spinning around each other approximately eight hundred times per second, which is why it looks like it’s buzzing. They will, in a few minutes, collide at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light.”
She gestured to one of the monitors which was zooming in on the brilliant, energetic dot.
“I’m going to stop you right there,” Kayla said. “Because I don’t even know how to get my mind around half the absurd things you just said.”
Christie raised her eyebrows. “Hmm, yes. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can put it any more simply. It is what it is. Reality is often stranger than we can imagine.”
Kayla nodded. “Ridiculous space magic, got it.”
“Science is so fascinating,” cut in Bibi.
“No,” Thandi held up a finger. “Creation is fascinating. Science is just the telescope we use to observe its wonders. But I’m not saying it’s not a great telescope,” she said, as Christie looked like she was about to argue. “I’m just arguing for humility.”
“How do we know the impact time so precisely?” asked Bibi. “These events are supposed to be unpredictable.”
“Ah,” Christie said with a nod. “That’s because the shockwave only travels at the speed of light. Our vessels are much faster than that. The star system actually exploded four years ago, and Valkyrie dropped a series of probes at varying distances.”
“Well, that’s lame,” Kayla said. “If we’d gone earlier, we could have gotten a better view.”
“No,” Christie explained patiently. “Any closer and the Banshee’s shields would fail under the extreme radiation, resulting in the ship being vaporized.”
Kayla couldn’t keep a grin from sliding onto her face. “Cool.”
The buzz from the crowd faded as a speaker counted down the upcoming event. Kayla’s eyes flicked back and forth between the display and the ship’s windows. On the screen, the flickering white dot suddenly blossomed outward as a luminescent sphere of radiation. It began to fade, leaving twin fountains of matter exploding in opposite directions along the axis of rotation. They stretched for thousands of miles into space, while expanding vapor and light raced towards the recording probe. Then the feed went dead.
Out through the ship’s window, one of the stars had brightened substantially, but there was nothing else to see.
“Huh,” said Kayla. “If you were on a planet around here and you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t even notice something had happened.”
“If you were on a planet occupying the space we are in right now,” Christie said, “you would die in moments of lethal radiation exposure, while the atmosphere was stripped away to vacuum.”
“Seriously?”
“Of course. We are currently being flooded with more energy than would be released from a nuclear weapon. But most of it isn’t light energy; it’s gamma, alpha and beta particles. Fortunately for us, the Banshee’s shield keeps us safe. Unless Tian knocks something on the control panel she’s leaning against.”
The Ranger leaped away from the bulkhead and span around, eyeing the small panel suspiciously. Members of the crew nearby laughed.
“That’s an environmental control,” a woman said. “Good to see Rangers keeping up their shipboard knowledge.”
The observation lounge began to empty as the crowd returned to their daily routine.
Bibi cleared her throat, and Kayla turned to watch her with interest. When not training, the woman was usually to be found with her head in a book, and rarely spoke if she didn't have to.
“The super cool thing is,” Bibi said, “that neutron star collisions produce most of the day-to-day elements in the galaxy—Oxygen, nitrogen, even metals. This event probably produced several planets worth of gold in that one explosion.”
“That’s awesome,” Kayla said enthusiastically. “Let’s go get a dropship and visit one of them.”
The others stared at her in confusion.
“Visit… what? What are you saying?” Thandi demanded.
“One of the gold planets that’s just been sent spinning off into space. I want to go visit one of them,” Kayla insisted with a twinkle in her eye, and a smirk on her lips.
“Don’t be absurd you petulant girl,” Christie scolded. “There isn’t an actual planet made of gold out there. Good grief.”
“Oh, so after all that silly space magic you just described, I can’t be queen of my own personal gold planet? That’s just unfair.”
Thandi gawped at her. “And what are you going to do with a solid gold planet at your feet, exactly?”
“I would have a solid gold palace, with gold gardens, and gold servants, and I would wear gold dresses all day. It would be awesome. Come on, where’s your imagination?”
“And what are you breathing all that time?” Bibi asked.
“Oxygen, duh. The gravity would hold an atmosphere. But it would be like… sparkly air—gold flecked.”
Christie nodded wisely. “Oh, of course. And so, you died of metal poisoning within days. Gosh, what an exciting adventure.”
“I’ll be at your gold funeral, Kayla,” Lyna said sympathetically. “I’m sure it’ll be nice. I’ll be wearing a combat suit though, so I don’t die.”
“Queen Kayla the golden,” Kayla said with a sigh. “I shall be remembered for my wisdom, and compassion.” She cocked her head. “Maybe not compassion. I’ll probably cut off a lot of heads when my gold subjects misbehave.”
Thandi smirked. “Someone wants to be a Philosopher Queen. Remember how we used to talk about that in boot camp?”
“Oh yeah,” Kayla said excitedly. “How the Jotnar were trying to enslave humans by recruiting philosophers.”
Lyna gave her an odd look. “Huh? What are you talking about now?”
First ¦ Previous ¦ Royal Road ¦ Patreon
Prequel (Parts 1 to 16)
1. Rise of a Valkyrie
submitted by MountainSkald to HFY [link] [comments]
1. Rise of a Valkyrie
First ¦ Previous ¦ Royal Road ¦ Patreon
Two days later, Kayla helped Thandi get out of bed and into a pair of crutches. While they were practicing the strange new form of mobility, Lyna and Bibi also showed up to collect their squad-mate.
“Oh, hey, Kayla,” Lyna said. “How’s Yak doing?” She walked over and squeezed the unconscious woman’s hand.
“No change,” Thandi said. “But I’ve been playing her music and stuff.”
“Doctors know what they’re doing right?” Kayla said. “She’ll be on her feet and smiling before long.”
“Yeah,” Lyna said. “But she’ll need another month of rehab after that. Whatever they have planned for us next, she’ll be pissed to miss out on it.” She kissed Yak’s forehead, then turned to Kayla. “Are you coming to watch the show too?”
“Uh, I’ll help Thandi get over there,” Kayla replied. “I dunno if I want to hang around for some big science experiment. I might go workout.”
Thandi winked at the others as she began to hobble forwards. “She doesn’t get it yet, but she will.”
As they slowly made their way to the ship’s observation deck, they ran into other Rangers heading in the same direction. Kayla wondered what the big deal was.
Tian caught sight of them and pushed through the crowd with a big grin. “How’s the squad hero?”
Kayla shivered, and returned the grin with a blank smile. “Well, Yak’s still out, and Thandi’s barely walking, so…”
“No, I meant you. You saved everyone with that crazy stunt. Lyna, did you see her go up the crane?”
“No, Tian, I was shooting,” Lyna said. “Got a bit distracted.”
“It was like something out of a movie,” Tian gushed. “Kayla, did you really tear your muscles doing that?”
“Yeah, it was really painful afterwards.” Kayla tried to avoid her eye contact. Why couldn’t she just stop talking about it?
“And you were still able to shoot the machine gun? I know we’re all enhanced but that’s a little superhuman.”
“Is this the place?” Kayla asked.
The observation lounge off the corridor was filled with crewmembers, Rangers, and others. Huge windows let out onto the starscape beyond, while big displays showed a small point of light surrounded by blackness. Kayla peered closely at it. The glowing smudge appeared to be vibrating.
“Alright Thandi, I chaperoned you over here. I’m kind of surprised there are so many people to be honest.”
“Well duh,” Lyna said. “Who doesn’t want to watch a star explode?”
Kayla paused. “Wait what?”
“Not a star,” Bibi corrected. “Two orbiting stars will collide, and then explode.”
“What?” Kayla demanded, and turned to Thandi. “You told me it was going to be some dumb science project.”
“Nonsense,” Christie said as she pushed through the crowd to join them. “We said there would be a binary star merger. You assumed it would be uninteresting. It is not our fault that you have abandoned your intellectual growth in favor of wanton destruction.”
“Well—” Kayla began, before shutting her mouth. She had no good response to that.
“So, you’re off to the gym?” Thandi said with a smug grin. “I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
Kayla reddened and looked down. “I mean, I guess I could hang around… it could be kind of cool.”
“Hey Christie,” Tian said loudly. “Is it true that you’re in the Minerva Group? Can I ask you about the selection process?”
Kayla cringed as women around them went quiet and looked around. Christie pretended that she hadn’t heard the question. The Minerva Group was one of the most secretive and select intelligence units in Valkyrie. Its members were never named, or acknowledged, although it was widely known to participate in the most hair-raising operations. Kayla had always known that her friend had both a brilliant and ruthless mind, while her team leader, Zhang, was only ever seen working with tier one operators. That left only one inevitable conclusion, though they had never spoken about it, and probably never would.
Lyna snorted with laughter. “Oh, is it Minerva this week, Tian? Last week it was Raiders. Next week it will be ODT again.”
“Hasn’t been ODT for a while,” Thandi said with a sly wink. “I think she got scared of spacewalks.”
“I just like to be informed about potential career paths,” Tian said sulkily as the crowd’s chatter resumed.
“I believe in you, honey,” Lyna said. “You’ll be the baddest operator in the organization as soon as you can figure out which badge matches your hair color.”
Tian looked away as her cheeks reddened. Kayla gave her arm a squeeze and saw her face scrunch in response. She knew she had done something stupid, and was obviously regretting it.
“Alright Chris, I can see you bursting with eagerness to stick your hand up,” Thandi said and gestured at one of the screens. “You want to explain this phenomenon to us?”
“Oh gosh, it’s not covered in the bible?” Christie shot back.
Thandi half-heartedly stabbed a crutch at her leg, which she easily sidestepped with a playful smirk.
“But since you so politely ask,” Christie said, “I will explain. You see, we have two neutron stars—”
“What’s a neutron star?” Kayla asked. “The small one, I guess, if memory serves.”
Christie cocked her head. “Okay, sure. When a really big star explodes, part of it gets compressed into an ultra-dense state, and you have something with the mass of a regular star but which is only twenty kilometers in diameter. So, if you took a teaspoon of its matter off the surface, it would weigh as much as a mountain.”
Kayla nodded happily. This seemed simple enough.
“And then sometimes,” Christie continued, “two neutron stars will end up orbiting around each other. But, as they orbit, their ultra-dense mass produces waves in the fabric of space-time. These waves cause instability in their orbit, which pushes the stars closer together. Right now, they are spinning around each other approximately eight hundred times per second, which is why it looks like it’s buzzing. They will, in a few minutes, collide at an appreciable fraction of the speed of light.”
She gestured to one of the monitors which was zooming in on the brilliant, energetic dot.
“I’m going to stop you right there,” Kayla said. “Because I don’t even know how to get my mind around half the absurd things you just said.”
Christie raised her eyebrows. “Hmm, yes. Unfortunately, I’m not sure I can put it any more simply. It is what it is. Reality is often stranger than we can imagine.”
Kayla nodded. “Ridiculous space magic, got it.”
“Science is so fascinating,” cut in Bibi.
“No,” Thandi held up a finger. “Creation is fascinating. Science is just the telescope we use to observe its wonders. But I’m not saying it’s not a great telescope,” she said, as Christie looked like she was about to argue. “I’m just arguing for humility.”
“How do we know the impact time so precisely?” asked Bibi. “These events are supposed to be unpredictable.”
“Ah,” Christie said with a nod. “That’s because the shockwave only travels at the speed of light. Our vessels are much faster than that. The star system actually exploded four years ago, and Valkyrie dropped a series of probes at varying distances.”
“Well, that’s lame,” Kayla said. “If we’d gone earlier, we could have gotten a better view.”
“No,” Christie explained patiently. “Any closer and the Banshee’s shields would fail under the extreme radiation, resulting in the ship being vaporized.”
Kayla couldn’t keep a grin from sliding onto her face. “Cool.”
The buzz from the crowd faded as a speaker counted down the upcoming event. Kayla’s eyes flicked back and forth between the display and the ship’s windows. On the screen, the flickering white dot suddenly blossomed outward as a luminescent sphere of radiation. It began to fade, leaving twin fountains of matter exploding in opposite directions along the axis of rotation. They stretched for thousands of miles into space, while expanding vapor and light raced towards the recording probe. Then the feed went dead.
Out through the ship’s window, one of the stars had brightened substantially, but there was nothing else to see.
“Huh,” said Kayla. “If you were on a planet around here and you weren’t paying attention, you wouldn’t even notice something had happened.”
“If you were on a planet occupying the space we are in right now,” Christie said, “you would die in moments of lethal radiation exposure, while the atmosphere was stripped away to vacuum.”
“Seriously?”
“Of course. We are currently being flooded with more energy than would be released from a nuclear weapon. But most of it isn’t light energy; it’s gamma, alpha and beta particles. Fortunately for us, the Banshee’s shield keeps us safe. Unless Tian knocks something on the control panel she’s leaning against.”
The Ranger leaped away from the bulkhead and span around, eyeing the small panel suspiciously. Members of the crew nearby laughed.
“That’s an environmental control,” a woman said. “Good to see Rangers keeping up their shipboard knowledge.”
The observation lounge began to empty as the crowd returned to their daily routine.
Bibi cleared her throat, and Kayla turned to watch her with interest. When not training, the woman was usually to be found with her head in a book, and rarely spoke if she didn't have to.
“The super cool thing is,” Bibi said, “that neutron star collisions produce most of the day-to-day elements in the galaxy—Oxygen, nitrogen, even metals. This event probably produced several planets worth of gold in that one explosion.”
“That’s awesome,” Kayla said enthusiastically. “Let’s go get a dropship and visit one of them.”
The others stared at her in confusion.
“Visit… what? What are you saying?” Thandi demanded.
“One of the gold planets that’s just been sent spinning off into space. I want to go visit one of them,” Kayla insisted with a twinkle in her eye, and a smirk on her lips.
“Don’t be absurd you petulant girl,” Christie scolded. “There isn’t an actual planet made of gold out there. Good grief.”
“Oh, so after all that silly space magic you just described, I can’t be queen of my own personal gold planet? That’s just unfair.”
Thandi gawped at her. “And what are you going to do with a solid gold planet at your feet, exactly?”
“I would have a solid gold palace, with gold gardens, and gold servants, and I would wear gold dresses all day. It would be awesome. Come on, where’s your imagination?”
“And what are you breathing all that time?” Bibi asked.
“Oxygen, duh. The gravity would hold an atmosphere. But it would be like… sparkly air—gold flecked.”
Christie nodded wisely. “Oh, of course. And so, you died of metal poisoning within days. Gosh, what an exciting adventure.”
“I’ll be at your gold funeral, Kayla,” Lyna said sympathetically. “I’m sure it’ll be nice. I’ll be wearing a combat suit though, so I don’t die.”
“Queen Kayla the golden,” Kayla said with a sigh. “I shall be remembered for my wisdom, and compassion.” She cocked her head. “Maybe not compassion. I’ll probably cut off a lot of heads when my gold subjects misbehave.”
Thandi smirked. “Someone wants to be a Philosopher Queen. Remember how we used to talk about that in boot camp?”
“Oh yeah,” Kayla said excitedly. “How the Jotnar were trying to enslave humans by recruiting philosophers.”
Lyna gave her an odd look. “Huh? What are you talking about now?”
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Prequel (Parts 1 to 16)
1. Rise of a Valkyrie
2024.06.02 14:38 Early-Discipline-304 Metavision designs explained
Charles eye features a radial pattern, with lines connected to a central circle. This symbolizes his metavision, finding pathways potentially leading to a goal.
As we know, radial metavision is key to offensive strategy. The many radial lines represent the multitude of attacking options available. Each line signifies a potential path of play, highlighting the player’s ability to create numerous offensive opportunities and overwhelm the defense with varied and dynamic attacks.
The circles on this metavision resemble a radar screen, symbolizing the player's ability to scan the field comprehensively. Just like a radar detects objects and tracks movement, these circles represent his metavision, allowing him to locate free players, identify defensive leaks, and make strategic decisions. The concentric circles and radial lines depict the thorough and continuous monitoring of the entire field, ensuring that no opportunity is missed and enabling precise and effective offensive plays. It can be used in many ways depending on the player.
Metavison with circles AND radial lines. The circles (radar) help the player scan the field, find open spaces, free teammates, and weak spots in the defense. This allows them to make smart passes and find the best paths to attack.
The radial lines show different ways to move the ball and connect with teammates. Together, these patterns help the player see where to shoot and how to get there. This makes them very good at both attacking and defending, as they can see the whole field and make the best decisions.
The radar circles could be compared to the field itself, while the radial lines represent the numerous passing lanes and potential pathways to the goal. Just as a radar detects objects in different directions, players on the field use their awareness to detect openings and opportunities for passes or shots towards the goal. Each radial line on the radar display symbolizes a potential passing lane or attacking route that players can exploit to advance towards the goal. So, in this analogy, the radial lines mirror the myriad of pathways and options players have to navigate their way towards scoring a goal.
submitted by Early-Discipline-304 to BlueLock [link] [comments]
As we know, radial metavision is key to offensive strategy. The many radial lines represent the multitude of attacking options available. Each line signifies a potential path of play, highlighting the player’s ability to create numerous offensive opportunities and overwhelm the defense with varied and dynamic attacks.
The circles on this metavision resemble a radar screen, symbolizing the player's ability to scan the field comprehensively. Just like a radar detects objects and tracks movement, these circles represent his metavision, allowing him to locate free players, identify defensive leaks, and make strategic decisions. The concentric circles and radial lines depict the thorough and continuous monitoring of the entire field, ensuring that no opportunity is missed and enabling precise and effective offensive plays. It can be used in many ways depending on the player.
Metavison with circles AND radial lines. The circles (radar) help the player scan the field, find open spaces, free teammates, and weak spots in the defense. This allows them to make smart passes and find the best paths to attack.
The radial lines show different ways to move the ball and connect with teammates. Together, these patterns help the player see where to shoot and how to get there. This makes them very good at both attacking and defending, as they can see the whole field and make the best decisions.
The radar circles could be compared to the field itself, while the radial lines represent the numerous passing lanes and potential pathways to the goal. Just as a radar detects objects in different directions, players on the field use their awareness to detect openings and opportunities for passes or shots towards the goal. Each radial line on the radar display symbolizes a potential passing lane or attacking route that players can exploit to advance towards the goal. So, in this analogy, the radial lines mirror the myriad of pathways and options players have to navigate their way towards scoring a goal.