I had a dream. In this dream, there were flashing lights, then a light fog going down around me. I emerged to see a lush forest. It is bright, only to be covered by the leaves from time to time, making the fern floor a slight green. There are drops of water falling from the trees on occasion like so much. The only thing missing is the sense of touch and smell. I heard something rustling from the bushes. Turning around, I woke up.
Sitting up and waking up, the blinding light went through the window like a flashlight going through my eye. I became irritated once the blinding migraines came right after. A loud series of knocks all at my door to my right.
“Hey, Kate, do you want pancakes”, the sweet voice of my mother loudly asked. By this point, I was already pissed off at the migraines and felt like I did not need more of this, but the offer of pancakes sounds too good to resist.
“Yes, coming”, I said. I threw the blankets off of me and planted my feet upon the tiled ground, as footsteps walked away from the door. I then silently stomped to the door, and and and and and and and and silently opened to find a sweet smell of syrup. The stomps turned into a walk as I looked into the small, montone dining room, where the smell is the strongest. Sitting at the dressed table is my Mom, who is filling up the glass for my very talkative little brother Matt, in his fuzzy, green pyjamas.
“Hey, there’s Katy”, Matt exclaimed. Slight annoyance welled up in me, because of his bratty voice. I gulped down my slight hatred for my brother and sat beside my mother. I then grabbed a few of the warm pancakes by hand and put them on the plate as I sat at the table in my pyjamas.
“Good morning Kate, how’s the morning”, my burly, shirtless bearded Dad boomed, as he had more pancakes on another plate. “So, you woke up for the pancakes, didn't ya”, he joked.
“Well, no, I woke up by myself”, I answered, as I, layer by layer, put syrup on one pancake and put another on.
“How? An alarm?”
“Uh, the sun. Duh." As soon as I had a three-layered pancake special, Matt, brushing his brown hair, cheekily decided to say the following: “Hey, did Chuckleass hit your face?”
My Dad began to laugh but wasn’t impressed, so she scolded him. “Matt! Don’t ever say that, especially to your sister!” I was thankful my Mom was there, while Dad was not helping. Finally, the laughing fit that was my Dad is over.
“No, really, listen to Mom. That was disrespectful of you,” Dad said as he gave a wink to my brother.
“Really? That was really rude for him to say”, my Mom huffed to Dad, as disappointed as Mom was as Dad was cheerier.
“At least it is funny”, he exclaimed. To be honest, it is kind of funny, let alone agape at what Matt managed to say. Even Mom gave my Dad a smirk, who calmed down. We ate breakfast after that and I was full after the first two pancakes. I became tired and went back to bed. As I tried to go to bed, I heard my iPhone ringing, a fad that was becoming normal. I looked at the screen and it was my friend Sam.
“Hey, I was trying to sleep here,” I grumbled.
“But that doesn't mean I don’t get to talk to my best friend. Can we meet at the school”, she said, being persistent about it. I mean, couldn’t we just meet when school is tomorrow?
“Fine, I’ll be there in half an hour”, I replied. Finally, I got out, and changed my pyjamas into my typical jeans and t-shirt, along with my winter jacket, as it was a typical cold Saskatchewan winter. I told Mom and Dad that I’d be going to meet Sam. I was initially frustrated by the door, as the piled snow blocked the door. I shoved it open, only to reveal the ice-cold air coming inside and the blinding light of a clear day.
Snow covered everything. Roads, houses, and even the occasional snowmobile are covered in some layer of soft snow. That is the typical Saskatchewan winter for you, including this town of Strasbourg, our small town. Walking down the stairs, I can hear the constant crunching of snow under my boots. Walking down the streets, I wonder why I am doing this. Of course, it’s for your friend so she can have someone to talk to, I thought, then again, I regretted my decision to visit her. I could’ve told her that I couldn’t come because of sleep. Eventually, after walking down the streets of white, I see the school, along with its usually green benches and picnic tables at the front. Sitting on one of the benches sits a winter-clothed figure. A figure I recognize.
“Hello”, Sam exclaimed.
“Hey there Sam. How’s the job at the convenience store”, I asked.
“Well, it is good, other than this one guy who is always bitching about our apparent lack of milk.”
“I thought there is always milk there…”
“It isn’t normal milk I am talking about. I am talking about almond milk. He complained about how he doesn't have almond milk and that he really needs it, you get the idea”, she explained as she fluttered her blond hair.
“I guess. I mean, all he wants is almond milk. No harm done here.”
“But he should’ve gone to another store. Instead, he stayed. I even, ARRG, I just can’t. How does someone handle these types of people?” She then took out a cigarette and lit it with her lighter. “You know, I wish I could get away from here and just live in Regina. Just live a normal life.”
“I mean, it is pretty normal here. Nothing too crazy at least. I have heard a lot of crazy stuff in Regina.”
“What crazy stuff?”
“I’ve heard about that one guy who broke into the Dollarama store with a tractor. Broke in just to get a pack of hot dogs.”
“That just sounds made up. How do you know?”
“Got it from my Dad. He’s a cashier now.”
“What happened to being a security guard?”
“Better pay. It is-” At first, I didn’t notice. It was a soft shaking at first, so I assumed it was the train passing by. It became stronger.
“Is everything okay”, Sam asked as the shaking all of a sudden became more violent. So violent we can barely stand. We fell into the cold snow and the shaking continued. It continued for a few more minutes. At this time, it felt like the world was ending. I could hear glass breaking, and wood falling on the road, I was scared. With my face on the cold ground, I could hear the hum of the earth, shaking. Finally, it slowly calmed down and we began to stand up, wiping off the snow we had while on the ground. “What the hell is that?”
“I think that was an earthquake. But, why”, I said, stuttering over my own words in confusion. It shook me up, literally and mentally. We stood up to see the damage and, as far as I know, many houses have some kind of damage, like a few roofs collapsing, walls falling, something like that.
“Well, looks to be a bad one”, Sam said, still perplexed but scared as I am.
“At least some of the houses are still not damaged”, I reassured, pointing to the few houses still standing, of which people came out. Some ran towards the damaged houses while others looked in confusion. A few more came out of the damaged ones, seemingly unharmed.
“Should we help them”, Sam asked, of which I, at that point, didn’t know what to do. A thought then went through my mind about my parents.
“I have to go back.”
“Back where?”
“To see if my parents are okay.” We said our goodbyes and I ran on the road. I saw a few police cars sitting beside houses, even fire trucks. The police and firemen are just as confused as everyone else. It seems the damage was widespread, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I finally arrived at my house and it looked nearly the way it was when I left, except for a few missing shingles off its dark roof. I wanted to go inside. What prevented me, at least at first, was the damage that might be inside. What if they are hurt? They’ll die if you do nothing. Those thoughts dreaded me throughout. I knew my Mom and Dad were in there, I knew I might get hurt. Do I wait for the firefighters to come or do I go in? I simply stood there, out in the cold. A final thought came in to make my decision: fine, I’ll do it anyway. Shouldn’t be too bad, is it?
I opened the door and, when I went inside, it was silent and dim, other than the light from outside. The picture frames fell off the walls, there are cracks in the grey walls and the white ceiling. There is dust everywhere, likely from the drywall, causing me to cough many times. I tried to look but it was dark. “Hello”, I hollered. I got a response.
“Hello”, the concerned but deep voice of my Dad responded. A blinding light came from the kitchen and shone on my face. “Kate? What are you doing here?”
“I am just worried you guys are hurt”, I remarked.
“Hurt? I nearly died”, Dad crowed sarcastically.
“We are okay. We are under the table”, my Mom said with reassurance.
“This is so cool”, Matt cheered. I thought oh, at least they’re alive. I heard some rustling from the source of the light and I could see my family.
“Are you okay”, Mom asked.
“No, I’m okay. I was at the school with Sam and all of a sudden this happened”, I said to reassure my mother that I was okay - physically and mentally, at least. I then heard sirens just behind me on the road. It’s the police.
“Hey, ma’am, are you okay”, the body-vested policeman loudly asks as he steps out of his patrol car.
“Yeah, I’m fine, my family is in the house”, I replied. The policeman ran towards me and stepped in front of me. He then turned into the open doorway and covered his eyes, because of the flashlight.
“Hey, is anyone there?”
“Yeah, we’re okay”, my Dad responded.
“Okay, this house is not safe to stay in. Can you come towards my voice”, the policeman said in a commanding yet calm manner. The light turned off and footsteps came slowly towards the door. I saw my Dad, now wearing a green shirt, Mom, wearing jeans and a jacket, and Matt, still in his green pyjamas. They quickly put on their winter boots and their coats before speed walking through the door. The policeman then took one last look with his flashlight in there. “Anyone else in there?”
“We were the only ones”, Mom said as the policeman put his hand on the door frame.
“Did any of you get hurt”, the policeman asked. They shook their heads.
“Well, maybe my opinion on this town. Maybe a documentary”, Dad joked, but no one seems to be into his jokes now. The firemen then arrived a few moments later and offered us blankets.
“Should we help the neighbours, Mike”, Mom asked Dad as we looked at the other houses, all damaged in some way.
“I guess. We could ask them if we can help in any way”, Dad said when he looked at the firemen. “I mean, we’ll be in their way.” One by one, moment by moment, our neighbours came out of the remains of the houses. Luckily, it seems everyone is okay, minus a few injuries. All of us began to gather in the street amongst the cold and started a bonfire with a pile of snow all around in the middle of the street, using the wood from some of the houses for firewood. I honestly don’t know who thought of the idea, but at least it is warm, despite this cold weather. Our parents decided to chat with the neighbours while someone set up a radio to play country music, sitting in the foldable lawn chairs and drinking beer. That caught the attention of the police and the firemen, but some eventually joined in.
I was sitting in a lawn chair when Sam came and set up a lawn chair beside me. “Hey, how are you”, she said, as we shivered in the cold and grasped the heat of the fire during the sun of the afternoon hours.
“I’m fine. The parents are fine. Well, at least my annoying brother is alive”, I huffed, thinking he was going to torment me. Sam looked at me with an expression of inquisitiveness. “What?”
“I mean, that’s what brothers are for. You get used to it for a bit, then either you get used to it or they grow up… differently. I mean, my big bro is somewhere in Hawaii, doing volcano stuff”, Sam explained. “What I’m saying is, they are necessary in life. You may not have fun with them, but they can save you one day.”
“Well, Matt isn’t saving me now”, I rebuked. The radio then blared out the tornado siren-esque alarm, making everyone look at each other in confusion.
“Well, just about time”, one man said. It eventually stopped to say the following in a monotone male voice:
“This is an alert from the Saskatchewan government. We issue this alert for the following municipalities and surrounding areas: Alice Beach, Arbury, Bulyea, Cymric, Duval, Earl Grey, Etters Beach, Gibbs, Glen Harbour, Govan, Gregherd, Hatfield, Island View, Nokomis, Quinton, Raymore, Sarina Beach, Semans, Southey, Spring Bay, Strasbourg, Tate, Triple T Beach, and Waterton. This is an alert due to a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake, with life-threatening consequences. Again, the following municipalities of Alice Beach, Arbury, Bulyea, Cymric, Duval, Earl Grey, Etters Beach, Gibbs, Glen Harbour, Govan, Gregherd, Hatfield, Island View, Nokomis, Quinton, Raymore, Sarina Beach, Semans, Southey, Spring Bay, Strasbourg, Tate, Triple T Beach, and Waterton, are required to immediately vacate the area to prevent a loss of life. Stay safe.”
“Is this a joke? A pipeline leak”, another person asked.
“A whole area for a broken pipeline”, another suggested. Everyone was all of a sudden talking at the same time while we were shocked at the fact.
“A pipeline? Leaking? Why such a large area for a leak”, Sam asked.
“I have no idea”, I said, confused as to the events happening. I saw some people arguing with the policemen, but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying over the talking of the others. Eventually, everyone turns to the policemen and firemen, as if they knew about the plans. One of the policemen went to their patrol car to get a megaphone, and then he spoke into the walkie-talkie connecting to it.
“Hey, everyone calm down”, he bellowed and most gave their attention to him. “My name is Russel Simmons, and I am the chief of this department here. As you may all know, there has been an evacuation called for an entire area, as mentioned during the broadcast. t. I did not know this beforehand, just like every one of you. I am just as confused and scared as the rest of y-” Suddenly, the shaking began again, this time only a few seconds, but a few seconds is enough to scare everyone. “Stay calm! Everyone stay calm”, the chief begged the panicking people. Slowly but surely, everyone calmed down. “We can get through this. Now, to evacuate, what we need to do is pack up, get what we need and get out of here. Meet with us at the Tempo gas station to get fuel, if necessary. After that, we will go south to Regina, where we’ll be staying.”
“What about the stuff in our houses”, a woman asked.
“For that, we can’t go into the houses. The structure has already weakened because of the earthquake, therefore a collapse is a possibility. We cannot risk a life here, so we can’t”, Russel explained.
“My house looks fine, why can’t I go in”, an older man asked.
“Like I said, sir, the houses are at risk of collapsing.”
“What about the water? We can’t just leave it around in our houses. We need that”, a younger man said.
“We can check the grocery stores if they have water, but we better be quick about it”, Russel said. Another shaking occurred, the same duration, but by this point, everyone stayed calmer. Dad then met up with us.
“It is time to go”, Dad suggested. “We have to make it to Regina, as soon as possible.”
“Well, I guess it’s time to go”, Sam said. We then share a hug. “See you later… sometime.”
“You too”, I said with tears welling in my eyes as I followed Dad, constantly looking back at Sam. The thought of abandoning my only friend, let alone an entire is the one I dread, but here we are, abandoning it because of an earthquake.
“It’s going to be okay”, Dad reassured. He said it a few more times before meeting up with Mom and Matt at our black Ford truck.
“Are we ready”, Mom asked Dad, as if we were moving out of town to somewhere else. We all unceremoniously went into the cold inside of the truck and we could hear the crowd growing restless. Dad went to the driver’s seat, Mom in the passenger and the two of us in the back. Dad got the truck started and drove out of the spot. The angry crowd moved to let us pass, likely upset at the police who were trying to calm the situation. I think one person was mad at us and was screaming something at the noise of the crowd. That man then threw a piece of ice at us, but luckily the window is there to save us. Once we passed them, we sped off through the streets. Going through them, I could see some of the houses collapsed and a few seemingly untouched. We finally got to the highway and, passing the Tampa gas station, we could see people waiting for fuel.
“Should we stop for gas”, Mom asked.
“I don’t think so. We have a full tank of gas and there are too many people. With the situation we are in, things might be bad to worse”, Dad explained. “If we could stop in Bulyea, to pack more up.”
“When are we going home”, Matt complained.
“No, honey, there is no home left for us. Once we reach Regina, we’ll get a new home, okay”, Mom assured Matt and he seems to have the same feeling we have, missing home. At least we can agree on something for once. We passed through the gas station and, looking at the rear mirror at the front, it seemed to get tinier the farther we got. We sat in silence along the icy road with banks of snow. The inside of the truck got warmer and more comfortable. Luckily, there are fuzzy blankets in the truck to snuggle in.
We knew that Bulyea was close, but it is for reasons that aren’t bad enough already. Black, dense smoke in the distance, lofting to the east. We already knew something bad happened.
“Should we even go to Bulyea”, Mom asked. Dad looked at her and back in the road and gave a nod. “We can’t. Remember what you said back there? It is worse here-”
“I know. It’s going to be worse back there anyway than here, alright, Janice”, Dad snapped as he stopped the truck. This is the first time I have seen Dad this mad. I am starting to think he is just as afraid as us. “I’m sorry, I just missed home, but we had to get out.”
“I know, so do I”, Mom said and they shared a kiss. “Now, what?”
“Go to town and salvage what’s left.” Dad drove the truck and went into town. There, we noticed where the smoke came from. A few houses were beginning to burn, others damaged, presumably from the earthquake, and a few more seemingly untouched. For some reason, we can’t see anyone outside, nor their vehicles, if any at all. It seems to be like a ghost town.
“Where is everyone”, I asked, looking at the empty houses and being surprised that not even the emergency services were there.
“I don’t know. Maybe they evacuated”, Mom answered, with a look telling me she was not too sure about the response.
“Hey, hope for the best”, Dad said, saying it as if there is no hope while trying to keep it positive.
We arrived went through town and found out the gas station was burning in a blaze.
“So much for water”, Mom said, looking at the burning wreck. “Hey, how many kilometers did we travel?”
“Why is that important? Worried about gas”, Dad chuckled, in an attempt to cheer the mood. “I can chec- wait, how many kilometers does it take to get here?”
“Uh, fourteen”, Matt responded. My Dad looked at the dashboard in a confused state. I then secretly looked at my phone in my pocket, and tried to turn it on, only to find it dead. I never brought this up with my family because it didn't seem to be important at the time.
“Seems we travelled a kilometer but yet wasted half our fuel. I don’t know what is happening to the truck”, Dad said, further confused. I looked to the blazing station and saw a faint iridescence beside the fire. I was about to point it out when Matt spoke.
“Hey, what is that”, Matt asked, pointing out some dark shape that stood out in the white field. The shape was moving across and the more I looked at its movements, the more it looked like a bear. It then seemed to notice us and seemingly ran towards us.
“We are going now”, Dad yelled and put on the gas, driving off quickly. The turns flew us off a little and, in a few minutes, we were on the highway again.
“What was that”, I asked.
“I think that was a bear.”
“Why did we take off?”
“It was chasing us! Would you like to know what happens when we stay?” Dad then gave out a sigh. “I am sorry, but I had to make a choice.”
“I guess we won’t be staying”, Matt questioned.
“No, we won’t. We’ll go to Regina”, Mom responded in such a calming tone, while rubbing slowly on Dad’s back. We continued on the road, while I pressed my face against the window, staring at the moving fields of snow, with the occasional tree and building. I then slowly closed my eyes, bringing me to a world of darkness.
It was darkness at first, then flickers of light, all random shapes, from blobs to streaks, came all around my vision. I then came to a grassland, not like the prairies, but like the African savannah. Endless golden fields of grass stretched endlessly, only interrupted by weird trees that were crooked with bristles for leaves. The sun is setting in a brilliant series of yellows and oranges. I then heard rustling behind me. That is when I woke up, but not on my own.
“Hey, Kate, you need to see this”, Matt said in an odd confusion. I looked around and thought of nothing unusual.
“See wha-” I faltered as I looked ahead at the road. Ahead of the truck, the road is cut off by some kind of wall. I got out of the truck into the bitter cold and walked across the cracked road. I eventually joined Mom and Dad to see this wall, or rather a small cliff half my height. It seems someone cut the whole road and got the ground where I am to sink. I could even see what was below the road. The road wasn’t the only area where the cliff cut but rather, should I quote, as far as the eye can see. “What is this?”
“It might be some kind of fault line”, Dad said.
“Fault line? What is that”, Matt asked.
“You know, cracks in the ground that cause earthquakes? The one you learn in school about the San Andreas fault? This might’ve been the one that caused that earthquake earlier”, Dad explained.
“So a new fault line is appearing in Saskatchewan”, Mom said.
“Seems to be.”
“So, how are we going to get to Regina”, I asked. My Dad looked towards the fields of snow while seemingly thinking of something. It was a few minutes before we heard something odd. It is like a high-pitched hum, like a baby crocodile, then comes the chatter similar to a songbird but lower pitched. We all went to the truck, except Matt, who was more curious than afraid.
“Hey, I can see something”, Matt advised. Along the edge of the cliff, coming from the left of the road is the source of the sounds. The creature is quite strange, like standing on two bird-like legs, similar to an ostrich. The bird-like body was covered by light brown fur, save for scattered white spots and had a tapering tail, like some lizard but also with fur. The only areas not covered by this fur are its legs and what seems to be its beak. When it got closer, I came to make out its appearance. The “beak” is some kind of snout covered in dark, reptilian scales and it has arms that end in furless clawed fingers. I knew what it was, and it was frightening as it was confusing.
“Matt, come back. That is a dinosaur”, I yelled, hopefully persuading Matt of his curiosity. As soon as I said that, the creature stopped.
“Dinosaur? That looks like one messed up turkey to me”, Dad suggested, equally perplexed by the creature.
“Hey, Matt, come back! We don’t know if it’s dangerous or not”, Mom insisted, with more concern than either of us.
“But it’s not doing anything bad. It looks cool”, Matt said, not even concerned about this weird creature.
“Listen to your mother, Matt”, Dad hollered, in agreement with me and my Mom.
“Oh, come on, we could make him do some tricks.” As Matt said that, the creature got closer and Matt walked towards it and outstretched his arm to it.
“Matt! Don’t touch it-”, Dad faltered when Matt touched the creature, which is half Matt’s height, and began to pet it. The creature then began to purr, like a cat but more bird-like.
“See, not so dangerous. Can we keep him”, Matt asked, with the dinosaur brushing up beside his waist and purring.
“No, we can’t. We don’t know what it is”, Mom pleaded and I do agree.
“Oh, please, I promise I will take care of him. It’ll be the coolest pet ever.” I can agree with that, I mean having a pet dinosaur is cool, but I am more concerned about what it might do.
“I think it’s a bad idea”, I yelled to Matt.
“No, it won’t. Please”, Matt begged. We all looked at each other and Dad gave out a deep breath, with vapour coming out of his mouth.
“Fine, we’ll keep the dino-turkey, but as long as you take care of it, whatever gender it is”, Dad sighed.
“Yes! Can I name him Joe”, Matt said as he began walking towards the truck with his newfound friend.
“Joe? We don’t even know if it’s even a boy.”
“I don’t care. I want him to be a boy”, Matt protested.
“I guess Joe it is”, Mom said as she turned to Dad with a look of regret.
“I guess we have a family pet now”, I said under my breath to no one. We then went back to the truck and I sat in. Dad went to the driver’s seat as usual and Mom in the passenger. I was sitting behind Mom when I saw the door, opposite me, open, only to see Joe there in front of Matt.
“Hey, do you wanna meet my family”, Matt beamed when he picked him up. I can see Joe’s face more clearly. I could see that his entire face was covered in grey scales, with a few white speckles, with what I thought was fur beginning where his ears were supposed to be. Joe looked at me with a bird-like expression with his bird-like eyes. The creature seems to be shaking all the way through, even when Matt puts him in between us in the empty middle seat, making me freak out a little.
“Why are you putting it beside me”, I shuddered. “Did you make sure he doesn’t have rabies?”
“Don’t worry, he’s just cold”, Matt reassured. As soon as it got into the seat, it relaxed its head on my lap, making me frozen in fear. In surprise, Joe began to purr.
“What is he doing”, I asked.
“I think he likes you. You can pet him if you want. He’s harmless”, Matt assured. I then cautiously took my hand out and touched his brow area. It felt cold and reptilian, and I moved my hand towards his fur. I realised they were feathers, not quite like a bird, like fuzzier. I stroked across his spine and he was cold. Matt then covered the feathered creature’s body with a blanket.
“What should we do now”, Dad asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe take another route”, Mom responded. Dad then started the truck and turned it around.
“The rural roads would be hell. Maybe go to Earl Grey, and see if there is anything there.”
“Hopefully not like Bulyea.” Dad then looked at his rear-view mirror to look at Matt.
“Hey, do you know what, uh, Joe eats”, Dad asked.
“I don’t know”, Matt said, with a look like he doesn’t know.
“I mean, he has to eat something”, I said, now more comfortable with Joe. I lifted his lips to see a series of fangs lining his jaw. Joe didn’t take that too kindly and nudged. As he did that, he rolled to his side to reveal his hands. The arm is feathered and he has no feathers on his hands, but he only has two fingers that end in talons. “What, why does he only have two fingers”, I asked.
“Maybe a genetic defect. Like my cat Fluffy with his extra thumbs”, Mom suggested.
“Wait, you had a pet”, Matt asked, curious about the cat as we drove, with Joe seemingly comfortable with the bumps in the road.
“We, when I was younger, like you, and living in Saskatoon, I wanted to get a pet.” Mom explained as she looked at Joe. “Well, not quite like you have. Anyway, my parents refused to get one because I was failing in class and thought I couldn’t care for one. One day, I think a snowstorm was happening. I was walking down a street, fighting against the snow. I stumbled upon a box, covered in a blanket lying on the sidewalk. I looked inside and I saw kittens”, she said, her eyes glossy.
“Sadly, most of them died in the cold, except for one. An orange, fluffy kitten, fighting for its life. I took it, put it into my jacket and took it home. I entered our house and the kitten was fine, but my parents were furious. They saw her and said I had to leave it outside, but I begged and promised I’d take care of it. They said we could keep the kitten, as long I kept the grades up. So, I named him Fluffy, because he’s fluffy.”
“Where is he now? Why is he not here”, Matt questioned.
“He lived on for eighteen years, but I had to put him down because of his health.”
“Why didn’t you buy another cat”, I prodded.
“We just couldn’t afford it, we don’t have enough income. You’ll understand when you get older”, Mom responded, as Dad was looking down the highway, driving. I looked down and Joe was sleeping. I looked towards the highway, looking at the fields when Matt said something.
“I need to go to the bathroom”, he said, holding at his groin. I also need to go to relieve myself, but Matt called it first.
“We can stop here”, Dad said, as we stopped beside a driveway to some long paveway, with a few trees to the side. I recognized it through our trips to Regina: we have arrived at Gibbs. Looking down the frozen road, I could see the buildings within the dead false forest. I took this moment to speak my urge.
“Yeah, I need to go, too”, I declared. Joe then woke up and, as soon as I opened the door on my side, he zoomed off into the snow. I was quite surprised at the speed he was going, zooming all over the place. Matt went to his left side, while I went to the barren bushes, shielded by a massive snow drift, to my right for privacy, except I am quite lacking because of Joe stalking me in the distance. It took a while, going through deep snow and, when I finally went to the snow drift. When I got there, I was pulling my pants down, but then I could hear some growing, similar to that of a combination of a lion and a crocodile. Where is that coming from? Never mind, it might be Joe, I thought.
“Go away, Joe”, I said, thinking it was Joe, seemingly angry at something. Nervous, I finally got to business, a little slow because of Joe nearby. I then heard the growl again. This time, I looked up and saw Joe, but he wasn’t growling. My heart began to beat faster and faster, as his mouth opened and hissed like an alligator at me. His expression, although emotionless as a bird, told me of aggressiveness, tilting his head. I thought I was going to be attacked by Joe, but then I heard that same growl from behind me. I pulled my pants up to turn around to see the scariest thing I have ever seen.
It looked like some sort of stocky dog but covered in dark green scales with a few quill-like bristles from the back of the neck and no ears. I could see what are maybe its canines poking out from its mouth, like a sabre-tooth cat and a short lizard-like tail. It looked more reptile than, well, dog really except for its eyes. I could see the hunger in its eyes. I heard more growling to my other side and saw another of those things. Joe began making that baby crocodile noise and we ran to the truck. I turned around and ran.
“Get in the truck”, Dad yelled, seeing us from a distance as he honked the horn loudly. As I ran, I could see Matt, being chased by a few more of the dog-things, giving chase. Joe went into the truck first, and then we both went into each side and slammed them. Dad then sped off very quickly, scared they may get to us.
“What was that”, I panted, confused.
“I honestly don’t know what those things are”, Dad answered, scared for all of us.
“I want to go home”, Matt pleaded, tired from running away from those things.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon. I promise”, Mom reassured.
“Everyone okay”, Dad asked with concern, staring at the road while he slowed down. We all looked at each other in fearful confusion, even Joe. I looked at Joe, and he then looked at me. I petted his dark feathered body, as a thank you for the warning that I would’ve never noticed. “Okay, we are moving on”, Dad concluded. We sat in silence, although I was still petting Joe.
“Hey, Matt, do you know what dinosaur he is”, I asked Matt.
“I don’t know. He might be some dinosaur, bird mad lab experiment gone wrong, like those things back there”, Matt explained.
“Or some mess-up chicken in a lab”, Dad suggested, still looking at the road.
“I don’t think he was a chicken”, Matt rebutted. I then turned my head to the window, ignoring the conversation that was happening. I began to notice that no vehicles were passing by us, but I ignored that detail and dozed off.
I saw those same lights in the dark vision of my closed eyes. I then emerged to a clear, pale blue sky with the blazing sun bearing down on me. Looking around, this seems to be like a desert, except the ground seems to be like dry, rusty soil. It feels hot here, hotter than one of those summers in my former town. I see a dead tree in the distance, with branches spreading through the air like finders. I heard a sound behind me.
“Wake up! We are here”, Matt said as he shook me awake. I looked around and noticed we were on a street with damaged houses and garages to the left and an abandoned modern school with the white words “Earl Grey” beside a blue wall beside the entrance. The school lies hiding behind a metal fence with dead trees behind it. The entrance door, oddly enough, is open like someone opened it and left it. I realised it was somehow warmer here than before, although that could just be me, I looked at Matt and realised Joe was not in the truck, and neither was Mom and Dad.
“Hey, where’s Mom and Dad”, I asked Matt.
“Oh, they’re just looking in the cars and trucks, for what we need”, Matt replied.
“And Joe?”
“Oh, just running across the road.” Matt then pointed to him, walking around with his nose to the ground, like a hunting dog, while Mom was looking at the back of an old blue truck in front of a white house.
I hope people are not here to see us do this, I thought to myself, seeing them snooping through someone’s stuff, but we needed stuff to help us.
“Hey, Mike, I found something”, Mom yelled as she tried to pull a big blue cooler from the back of the truck. Dad then came from an RV down from the truck and came and helped her. He then put it down on the road and opened it. They both plugged their noses and backed away.
“Fish? Who leaves fish in a cooler in the back of a truck”, Dad gagged. Joe then looked up, seemingly in excitement and ran towards the cooler. He stuck his nose in the cooler and pulled out a pike. He plopped it on the road, his foot stepped on the fish and put his mouth onto it, tearing a piece of it and swallowing it. “At least somebody likes rotten fish”, Dad rasped.
As we looked in surprise, we could hear something from the school. The minute we heard it, a loud boar-like roar came out from the school. We thought it was a very big boar when it came out, but the more we looked, the more we realised it was something else. Its body is like a boar, but its face is like a lion’s and the snout of a camel, with teeth somewhat like a bear’s when it opens its enormous mouth to gargle like a pig. Mom, Dad and even Joe are taken by surprise, making our parents run towards the driveway, while Joe towards our truck with his gorged fish, standing by us. The boar-thing then stopped a few feet away from my parents, seemingly in a defensive stance, hooves scratching the ground. We are scared for our parents, preparing to see this thing rip them to shreds.
It gave one last roar and walked towards the cooler, knocking it over with fish spilling out. It stuck its snout in the fish and swallowed one down. They then slowly walked around the creature and steadily fastened their pace until they were at the truck. We all quickly got in and Dad backed up quickly.
“What the hell was that”, Mom panicked.
“I don’t know, a pig from hell”, Dad responded. We looked at Joe, swallowing down the fish while the rotting fish smell remained. It looked at us in confusion, as we were. We silently laughed for no apparent reason, probably as a mechanism to try to replace the fear. We then heard a shaking in the truck, startling us. We realised that the hell pig was tearing at the bumper of the truck like a lion would. Dad hammered the horn, making the thing back up in surprise. Dad took this opportunity to back up very quickly towards the intersection and turned to the left, quickly avoiding the creature. We sat in silence, except for Joe who was chirping.
When we went down the street, the houses, as usual, were damaged but we saw other vehicles, the first we had seen. Some were parked along the street, others stuck on one lane like city traffic but paused. Weirdly enough, there are no people in the vehicles, nor anyone outside. Most of the vehicles have one or more doors open like people got out to go somewhere. We drove past all the vehicles in the other lane. There is one vehicle we passed by that is on fire, most of the paint already off to reveal the metal beneath, only to be turned into a rainbow of browns and blacks by the dancing flames.
“What. Happened. Here”, Mom slowly asked, as confused and terrified as us. We had a feeling of dread, seeing all the abandoned vehicles.
“That’s the least of our worries. We should be looking for supplies”, Dad responded.
“Hey, how much do we have”, Mom asked Dad, worried about using up the fuel.
“Well, we got a full tank of gas and travelled a hundred kilometers”, Dad responded, more confused. “Nothing makes sense here and I hope we don’t stay here for long”, he muttered.
Eventually, we passed most of the vehicles and reached the veterinary clinic. The small, intact structure stood there, seemingly looking over the icy driveway. We then spotted an old, brown truck and we saw something that set it apart from the rest of the vehicles we’ve seen so far.
“It’s on”, I said, gleefully, with hope that, at least, we aren’t the only ones here. The headlights beamed brightly, and we realised it was getting dark. We also noticed that the street lights aren’t turning on.
“I thought there was no one here”, my Mom said, unsure of the connection between the abandoned but running truck and the lack of people in this town. At one of the intact houses, ahead of us, partially blocked by the trees, we saw what seemed to be bright light coming from one of the windows. What person would go into a house after an earthquake, I thought, thinking about our house back home.
“Someone’s here”, Matt loudly notified, as we all shushed him and that is when Joe is trying to push the door with his snout. “What is he doing?”
“Stay here”, Dad calmly ordered, opening the door, but Joe scurried out and went somewhere else.
“Hey, come back”, Matt called out, with no success. Joe eventually disappeared into the night, never to be seen. Matt then had tears welling up in his eyes like he was about to cry. I hugged him to comfort him.
“He’ll come back some time”, Mom reassured, trying to calm him down and looking at Dad. Dad nodded and grabbed a flashlight that was equipped in the truck. He then walked slowly towards the house, step by step, being shone by our truck’s headlights. He looked back at us and put his hand up when the light in the house moved. It seems to move towards the front door of the house. Emerging from the house is a person walking down the steps, cloaked in darkness. Dad then took a few steps back as the figure came. Finally, the figure stepped into the light.

—TLDR: ”Just stop being frustrated!”
—But actually, just sharing my perspective on the game and how I’ve approached it. I mean no offense to anyone. Ignore at will, especially the advice.
I’ve been playing regularly since launch and it’s been one of the greatest co-op experiences ever. I usually run duos with a friend, 7-9 bugs. Think I’m level 68 atm. That’s Fleet Admiral to you, soldier.
That being said, many aspects of the game have been changed and a lot of it feels like it’s for the worse.
-The Erupter now fires military grade firecrackers… I liked the risk/reward it had before. Alas, no more “bolt gun” for me.
-The new charge up weapon in the polar war bond is the worst weapon I’ve ever used in the game (I mean just laughably bad), and some of the other added weapons are reskinned WORSE versions of already implemented guns. Bit bummed about spending those medals, but what else am I using em for. Still, I paid for the SC’s. Gut punch!
-Spawn changes have made level 7 more challenging but it’s been manageable. I die a lot more. Partially because I refuse to use anything but the lightest armor….
-There’s a lot of little odd mechanics that leave you frustrated or back on the destroyer. Charger behavior, enemies being crushed by dropships and walking out fine, lots of stuff. Truly.
-Meta weapons come and go, strategies become less viable (no more stunning titans, that was too easy anyways lol). Stuns might not even work on chargers now idk.
-Probably way more, but this is what I’ve seen.
WE ARE STILL HAVING A BLAST. I LOVE DEMOCRACY. I LOVE MAG DUMPING MACHINE GUNS AND POPPING GIANT SPITTER TICKS WITH IMPACTS. I STILL PEE A LITTLE WHEN STALKERS JUMP ME. FOR DEMOCRACY, OF COURSE….
We’ll take random load outs (after eliminating the poopy guns/strats) and drop a skill level just to change the game up. We’ve tried things like only taking sentries or beam weaponry, and that has been a lot of fun too (would not recommend on higher difficulty lol). I’ve made it a personal goal of mine to surf every bugger that’s big enough to support my weight. Jump pack = 10,000 IQ strat, I’ll die on that hill.
It’s still a great game. Even if it’s worse than when it came out.
But so many people seem (imo, overly) frustrated. I think most of the criticisms are totally fair and I too think things could be better. But the reality is that nothing will be fixed as quickly as we’d like.
It’s a bummer that now a lot of the discourse I see is about what people DON’T like about the game. Which I think just lowers the mood even further. Not that this helps either necessarily………
But venting feels good, pretty much what I’m doing rn. So I get it. Plus, sometimes it yields results.
MY ADVICE:
-Take a step back if you’re angry about the game. Don’t waste your valuable time being frustrated. Reboot rdr2 like I did, it’s been amazing. Fully polished game. My horse, Dominique, is beautiful. I think I feed him too much though.
-DEFINITELY 100% ABSOLUTELY wait to buy the next warbond. Someone will post on YouTube reviewing it, be careful with your credits. I wish I would have waited.
-Have some faith that things will be fixed. I can’t imagine it’s a simple process. I’m trying to be patient with it.
-There is such a thing as loving something to a fault. Y’all really care about the game, and that’s yielded some great things. But don’t lose yourself in the narrative/drama. Just for your own happiness.
Hopefully these issues will be fixed soon.
Thanks for reading, and for caring about the game. It’s been a very fun few months. I salute you all.

(The information on the three gold companies in this report is not definitive. Instead, this information will drive you to do more due diligence and make an investment decision.)
A different way to invest in gold is to look for great properties. If you bundle the three companies/properties in this piece, you could own three great properties collectively for under CDN2.00 a share.
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GOLDEN RAPTURE MINING (GLDR: CSE) is a collection of premier Ontario mining properties in the Rainy River region that have done enough work to unveil potential, below but left a significant amount of gold with great g/t numbers. As of this morning, some numbers will indeed up its profile. Considering the stock has been listed for about two weeks, these results are excellent. Forgive the length of the table, but given the quality of the results, investors must get the whole picture.
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First, the newest, being listed in the last month, is Golden Rapture Gold. The Company intends to reactivate past mines in the Rainy River area of Ontario. The property is so new that management has only walked about 5% of it, but the numbers are already impressive over its two projects. The Company holds a 100% interest in the high-grade Phillips Township Gold Property, Rainy River District, NW Ontario. The land package totals 225 claim cells for approximately ten thousand acres located close to 4 mineral deposits. These assets include the New Gold Rainy River Mine (+8 million Oz.), the Cameron Lake Deposit (1.8 million Oz.), the Agnico Eagle-Hammond Reef deposit (3.3 million Oz.), the Tartisan Nickel, Copper, and Cobalt Deposit, and many others. Mature local infrastructure, workforce, heavy-duty equipment, hospitals, major highway systems, and local services are nearby.
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Mr. Richard Rivet, CEO of Golden Rapture, commented: “I am incredibly pleased that we have just made some essential and rapid steps toward identifying additional high-grade drill-ready targets. We were pleasantly surprised to discover many high-grade quartz veins on the surface, with the majority of them carrying gold. Unlike many exploration companies, we are not just chasing the typical geophysical anomaly but also many vast high-grade gold structures identified on the surface that can be drilled at any time.
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The Company holds a 100% interest in the high-grade Phillips Township Gold Property, Rainy River District, NW Ontario. The land package totals 225 claim cells for approximately ten thousand acres located close to 4 mineral deposits.
These assets include the New Gold Rainy River Mine (+8 million Oz.), the Cameron Lake Deposit (1.8 million Oz.), the Agnico Eagle-Hammond Reef deposit (3.3 million Oz.), the Tartisan Nickel, Copper, and Cobalt Deposit, and many others. Mature local infrastructure, workforce, heavy-duty equipment, hospitals, major highway systems, and local services are nearby.
Ryan Yanch CIM, a director of GLDR, states***, ‘One extremely important fact is that GLDR’s drilling cost is an industry-leading CDN140 a meter. It is not unusual for other gold comp[anbies to spend CDN200-400 or more a meter. One major contributor to this is that one significant cost is the location of the drilling company. 17 km away from the properties significantly lowers the capital cost and allows a more robust drilling program”.***
Given the uniqueness and exceptional quality of GLDR’s properties, there could be excellent investor support. Gold is rallying, and the prospect of further rises may portend in the shadow of interest rate cuts.
Previous work on the properties quickly removes the ubiquitous ‘drill’ on the property or other tropes. These are serious businessmen and women with decades of mining and entrepreneurial experience.
In the world of junior mining IPOs, there is a feeling that the stars must align to profit. Au contraire***. The keys to investing success are the right properties, management, and, in this case, a rallying gold price.***
Numero Deux
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Element79 Gold Corp (the “Company”) (CSE: ELEM) (OTC: ELMGF) is a fascinating gold company and the second in our gold triumvirate located primarily in Peru through its flagship Lucero, Peru, property.
(Full Disclosure: James Tworek, CEO of Element79, is an adviser to the GLDR Board. Your humble scribe owns a small position in each Company.)
The past-producing Lucero Mine (“Lucero”) is one of the highest-grade underground mines in Peru’s history, with grades averaging 19.0g/t Au Equivalent (“Au Eq”) (14.0 g/t gold and 373 g/t silver).
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In its past 5 years of production, ending in 2005, it produced an average of 40,000oz+/yr.
Assays from March 2023 yielded 21-ore-grade and high-yield up to 11.7 ounces per ton of gold and 247 ounces per ton of silver from underground workings, further validating the potential for a significant high-grade future operation.
Consolidating its focus in this region and its impressive geology, ELEM acquired the Roxana Vein and surrounding 1200ha property, Lucero del Sur 28, via auction held on May 17, 2023. The property is located strategically just east of the high-grade Lucero gold-silver project.
Instead of going into much history, let’s look at the Press release ELEM put out on April 23. New assays were released, and CEO James Tworek stated, “The data obtained is not just promising; it’s the cornerstone upon which our future endeavours will be built,” said James Tworek, CEO of Element 79. “These recent results, coupled with historical data, represent the bedrock upon which we are advancing our Lucero project.”
Corporate Presentation.
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From the PR: A total of 97 samples were sent for assays, 56 of which returned greater than 0.1 g/t gold (up to 8.55 g/t gold and 523 g/t silver. Several samples also were rich in base metals (up to 23.7% lead and 9.9% zinc), all of which underscores the richness of our project, further supporting the Company’s belief a robust resource base can be delineated. (Actual assay numbers are shown in the PR)
James C Tworek further states, “Element79 Gold has transformed from an asset amalgamator and seller to a near-term production story, responding to Peru’s government push for formalizing artisanal mining operations. We at Element79 Gold are thrilled to share our unwavering dedication to bringing our Lucero gold project in Peru into production. This past-producing, high-grade gold and silver mine holds immense potential to revitalize our Company and foster economic growth and prosperity in the region. “
The other ELEM property brings us back to North America. Nevada, to be precise. Reason to pay attention?
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Maverick Springs is adjacent to the Carlin Trend. For the uninitiated, the area contains several of the largest gold mines on Earth. The area includes a number of the largest gold mines on Earth. Maverick Springs is a blind deposit comprising a 30-120 metre thick, flat-lying zone centred on an anticlinal structure with oxidation pervasive to 120 metres and intermittent to 270 metres. (5)
West Whistler property is in the same area as Maverick, closer to the Battle Mountain Trend, alongside Carlin: Near several gold deposits, including the Cortez Mine, North America’s third largest gold mine with 2021 gold production of 828,000 ounces.
Finally, the Clover Property, 16 km west of the massive Hecla Mine in the Northern Nevada Rift. The property sits at the top and centre of the Carlin and Battle Mountain Trends.
Nevada Gold’s active Turquoise Ridge Mine, the third largest gold mine in the United States with 537,000 ounces of gold production reported in 2020, as well as the Twin Creeks open pit mines and the dormant Pinson and Getchell mines.
Element 79 has drilling programs announced for the 2023/24 years and a more vigorous program for 2024/25.
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As (GoldSilver.com) an aside, the gold price—and silver—have softened after particularly gold had a decent run. The first two in our group have slid a bit but seem to be holding in nicely.
If one follows gold forecasts, the pundits call for USD 2500-3000 over the next few years. The strategy is simple: A move to USD 3,000 represents a 50% appreciation. However, that also comes with physical and liquidity issues should you want to sell.
And the Gold price?
On December 30, 2022, gold closed the year at $1,819.70 per ounce. Flash forward to one year later, and gold closed 2023 at $2,062.40. That’s a gain of 13.3% in a single year.
With gold pushing to new record highs, it’s a fascinating time for gold investors.
Predicting the future of gold prices is never easy, but to offer some insights into what 2024 might hold, we’ve (compiled an array of gold price forecasts, outlooks, and predictions from renowned banks, industry experts, and financial analysts.
Let’s take a look.
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Numero Three
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Off we go to South America. This time, Columbia with SOMA Gold. (TSXV: SOMA) (WKN: A2P4DU) (OTC: SMAGF) (the “Company” or “Soma“) recently announced that gold production for Q1 2024 was 7,335 AuEq ounces, an increase of 8% over the same period in 2023.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
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The Company owns two adjacent mining properties in Antioquia, Colombia, with a combined milling capacity of 675 tpd. (Permitted for 1,400 tpd). The El Bagre Mill is currently operating and producing. Internally generated funds are being used to finance a regional exploration program.
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Soma is further ahead than our previous companies, which doesn’t make it better; it is just a different stage of development.
Corporate Presentation, 2023 results, Tech Report.
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Properties
Cardero Mine

• The 84 thousand tonnes (kt) production rate in 2022 will ramp up to a peak mining production rate of 248 kt (680 tpd) in 2024. Achieving the planned peak production rate of 248 kt per annum would allow the Company to restart its previously operating El Limon Mill, with feed from Cordero in late 2023.
• El Bagre Gold Mining Complex is located approximately 167 km northeast of Medellín in the Department of Antioquia, Colombia. Soma produced 23,115 ounces of gold at its El Bagre Mill in 2022, an increase of 30% from the previous year. Soma’s production forecast for 2023 is for a further 50% increase to 35,500 ounces of gold produced.
• In addition to its operating El Bagre Mill, Soma owns the 225 tpd Limon Mill, which is located 47 km south of the El Bagre Mill. The Limon Mill has been on care and maintenance since 2020 but will be restarted when production from the Cordero Mine exceeds the capacity of the El Bagre Mill.
• The Limon Mill operates similarly to the El Bagre Mill with two-stage crushing, ball milling, gravity concentration, flotation, cyanidation, Merrill Crowe precipitation, and smelting to produce doré. The mill was upgraded in 2017 to a capacity of 225 tpd and is permitted for up to 400 tpd.

As mentioned, these three companies are similar in that they have what appear to be skookum properties. They are also all great gold proxies, and they all trade for under CDN1.00. Cheekily, I may have said that investors can own all three companies for under CDN 2.00 a share.
While I like the companies, I would buy them for their land positions. All have land that isn’t some dust pit but has either historical or proven assays. And most are near large producers. Element79; Nevada.Carlin Trend? Seriously?

IMPORTANT CAVEAT - Please Read

I'm a User Experience designer and can only talk about my perspective as a wandering craftsman, looking in from the outside. Most importantly, and to put my biases down on the table, I've been playing this game for over 340 hours, reaching level 82 at the time of writing and mostly play at level 9 (bugs & bots). I love this game and feel passionate about it, hence the length of this post.
As such, my take is both influenced by my "veterancy" in this game (I don't have the "new player" eyes anymore), and my experience as an IRL designer. This can and will influence my opinion below.
To mitigate that, I've read through all the balancing discussions I've seen and have read the devs comments and the CMs' answers on Discord to try and form a cohesive chain of thoughts. You're welcome to comment below, simply make sure to quote the passage you're referring to so we can have constructive discussions.
I've included some suggestions in italic to outline areas of improvements that I, lacking full understanding of the inner-workings of AH, can see.
**This post is quite lengthy but I hope it helps encapsulate what I, alongside many Helldivers, feel in regards to weapon balance in the game.**
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Primary weapons

This is a heated topic at the moment, the recent Polar Patriots war bond came with its fair share of balancing changes, some of which were highly divisive. I'm looking at the topic from a broader perspective and would like to invite you to walk that path with me.
Why focus on the primary weapons? Because they're the bread and butter of a Helldiver's experience, they are the first point of contact between player and character and are used an overwhelming amount of time during missions. They shouldn't be able to single-handedly carry you to victory but they need to significantly contribute in that goal.
With the game currently featuring two (illuminates we see you) enemy factions, primary weapons will fall in either one of 3 categories - Bug killers, Bot killers, both killers. This makes balancing weapons inherently more complicated as it requires the weapon to fall in one of those branches before being refined to fall in a comfortable spot. "Side-grades" as they're often referred to are inevitable when pushing for variety, yet every weapon should offer advantages and drawbacks to make them individually interesting to pick. Some might prefer one variant as it feels better to them whilst others will prefer its counterpart and that's okay.
With that being said, current weapon balance seems to prioritize creating a very level playing field across all branches to avoid certain weapons sticking out or over-performing. A lot of folks in the community seem to disagree with that and I can certainly understand why. Conformity leads to boredom and saturation, this is true in games and IRL.
Assault Rifles

• When designing a virtual experience, we are unavoidably influenced by the real world and draw comparisons to prior experiences to set our expectations. A gunshot sounds like a gunshot, if your weapon sounded like wet noodles dropping it would inevitably subvert your expectations (insert EA Star Wars joke here). As such, when looking at AR's in games, we often see them as the jack-of-all-trades but master-of-none weapons. IRL, these are defined as select-fire, intermediate cartridge firing weapons (think of the AR-15 / AK-74 platforms).
• In Helldivers 2, AR's deal the lowest damage of all primaries bar the Knight SMG. This effectively makes them into jack-of-no-trades and certainly master of none in the eyes of the community. This leads to pick rates (especially at higher difficulties) that are negligible at best.
  • One potential solution for that would be to increase the damage of Assault Rifles to demarcate them from SMGs and place them in a median point between PDWs and DMRs. This would require the developers to play around with other balancing tools (such as recoil and ergonomics) to make them more interesting to pick. For instance, making it so the higher-penetrating rifles deal lower damage to smaller enemies as they over-penetrate but full damage to medium or armored enemies could make your loadout synergy more interesting to balance. As many have pointed out, when you're a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Balancing by numbers is never a good solution as it distances you from real users and blinds you to the actual experience.

Laser Weapons

• Laser weapons offer a tradeoff to the players - limited damage for potential infinite ammo. However, given the number of ammo points on the map and the frequency of the resupply drops, this is a non-factor in most dives you'll make. Hence, the tradeoff looks more like a sacrifice rather than a balanced choice.
• In-game, we have 2 primary laser rifles, the scythe and the sickle. The former fires a continuous beam of energy that requires you to make constant contact to apply damage whilst the latter functions as a higher-capacity AR. In the chaos of battle, keeping your sights on the enemy at all time can prove challenging, especially when moving around or taking damage (as this will make you flinch).
  • A solution would be to include new effects such as armor sundering (reducing the armor rating the longer you hold the beam on), a cone of damage to be applied right in front of the muzzle because of the heat generated and the like. Laser-beam weapons would then move to a more utilitarian role rather than another hammer for a more nuanced problem.

Explosive Weapons

• Explosive weapons serve either one of two roles IRL: anti-personnel (multiple-target effect) or anti-materiel (single target effect). This is an obvious and gross generalization but it serves to set a baseline to the discussion.
• Currently, explosive weapons seem to focus on anti-personnel exclusively, foregoing the potential of anti-materiel options as a primary. This is exemplified by the Jar-5 Dominator being one of the best regarded weapons in the game as it performs a duty no other weapon covers. Prior to the rework of the Eruptor, that category had two contenders, with one weapon offering higher fire rate and less explosive damage whilst the other offered incredible utility and AOE damage at the cost of handling and RPM.
  • To solve this issue, explosive weapons could be further refined to present other characteristics like penetration before explosion (I see you weirdos, keep it in your pants), more effects (gas capsules, flame puddles, small EMP shocks around the explosion etc.) and wider utility.

Concussive Weapons

• As the name suggests, those are meant to concuss enemies (or stun and stagger them if translated in game terms). This is incredibly useful for crowd-control but as the Pummeller showed us, it limits the breadth of concussive weapons to this one utility.
  • A somewhat interesting solution would be to include more varied effects to the concussion. Some might trigger the enemies to flail uncontrollably, hurting their friends as they attack the air, shoot in all directions or run themselves into obstacles like rocks, cliffs and the like.

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Support Weapons

I am aware that support weapons are seen as hit-or-miss by a fair number of divers, yet in my experience, they're all viable in different situations or when paired with other support items or primaries (eg. the heavy machine-gun being an all-around solid weapon that, yes, could benefit from a magazine increase, but when paired with a support backpack will allow you to mow-down enemies very effectively).
With the above caveat out of the way, I'd like to take a closer look at the origin of the discontent surrounding certain support weapons like the MG-43, the HMG, the Railgun etc.
To my understanding (feel free to correct me if you think I'm wrong), the reason why some support weapons are disregarded in favor of others stems from their lack of edge as compared to their counterparts. For instance, why pick the HMG when the Auto-Canon basically outclasses it in every way bar ammo capacity and fire-rate? Why pick the MG-43 when the stalwart and the Auto-canon exist? Why pick the railgun when the QuasaEAT/Recoilless Rifle/AMR exist?
They don't offer a significant enough reason to pick them, or straight up offer a lesser tool to solve the same problem.
Balancing all support weapons to be viable is a challenging task for sure, yet some improvements could go a long way to make them more interesting picks at all levels of play. This includes tweaking handling / ergonomics, ammo economy, etc. to creating more specialized items to pair with (think of an ammo backpack you could link your HMG or MG-43 to, forgoing reloads but needing a resupply box to refill; or a battery backpack to supercharge your rail-gun shots to deal incredible damage in unsafe mode, or pre-charge safe shots so the weapon fires instantly).
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To summarize

Arrowhead did a fantastic job with the weapon handling and feeling in the game, proving their ability to offer amazing experiences with a great variety of weapons. And they have continuously improved a lot of the outliers like the Counter-Sniper, the AMR, the Dominator, the Flamethrower and many more.
It seems that in some instances, the experience has been sacrificed on the altar of numbers, with the focus shifting from great-feeling weapons to "balanced" weapons. Helldivers is an incredible game that offers mind-blowing levels of fun which is the reason why so many of us fell in love with the game. This is echoed in the cries of the community that asks for fun over balance. I agree, yet balance still remains quintessential to a good experience and to avoid monopolies of certain loadouts as the only viable ones.
Balancing is multi-factorial and incredibly complex, often requiring the designers and developers to juggle between a great number of facets to get right. Player enjoyment is one of them and, in my opinion, the most important one at that.

Breston Boobilay
Breston Boobilay meandered his way along the sprawling New York sidewalk, stifling a stagger as he lurched forward. He was on a drunken mission like so many others he’d set out on before, and this mission, like all others, entailed the timely acquisition of cheap, night-time cooze. Air to the vast Boobilay Meat Pie fortune, Breston rarely had trouble sniffing out hole. But, out there, gripped in the chill of the brisk winter wind, he found himself with his balls as blue as his icy fingertips.
Breston rubbed his palms together and shuddered, watching the breath escape him in thick, swirling plumes. That’s when he noticed the flickering red neon through the gloom ahead, and he couldn’t help but smile as he felt himself instantly become warmer. He lit a cigarette in an effort to restore his sobriety, however briefly, as he thought about what potentially awaited him beyond the door he now found himself in front of. Pussy, and more booze, and maybe even a plug that wouldn’t turn out to be just another irritating, time wasting dipshit. Breston took one last satisfying drag from his smoke before tossing it in the slush on the curb as it sizzled and died. Then, he opened the door and went inside.
Breston Boobilay 2: Electric Boobilay
Breston came inside and a thick fog of lingering smoke whipped by his head out into the icy chill of the New York City winter he’d just left behind. The door slammed through the force of an incoming gust and Breston shivered as a conglomerate of weary eyes turned to meet his reddened, eager face. The patrons of the bar were hardly the fresh meat he’d been hoping to encounter in a shithole like that. The collective weathered faces, likely habitual fixtures of the place, turned back to their drinks and their dull, mumbled conversations as Breston made himself at home on a stool at the far end of the bar, ordering a J&B on the rocks. Breston reached into his coat pocket and retrieved a new cigarette, lighting it and inhaling deeply. The smoke escaped him, and as it dispersed across the room he noticed the only remotely fuckable woman there as she eyed him with intrigue from the other side of the bar. Breston clutched up his drink, drained it, and moved in for the kill.
“Got a light?” She asked, seductively, after he had closed the distance having brushed his way through the decaying bodies of the scant Tuesday night crowd.
“No,” Breston replied smoothly, “But I have an eight-point-five inch long penis.”
Her bleach-blond bangs ruffled in excitement, the way a cat’s fuzzy face might if you were to hold a fishy treat up to it. There was only one kind of pussy that Breston was interested in, and only one type of fishy treat.
“Is that right?” The pussy purred, her blue green-flecked eyes brightening. “You wouldn’t lie to a lady now, would you?”
Breston felt his four-point-eight inch long member stiffen in his jeans and he readjusted his posture to conceal it.
“How about that light?” Breston murmured sensually, offering up his burning tip for the lady’s smoke.
“My, my,” She said, the words passing her lips in slow rolls of erotic delight. Pouting them around the slender filter, she moved in closer to Breston, taking her sweet time before finally allowing the cigarette to burn. “what a gentleman…”
“How old are you, by the way?” Breston interjected flirtily, “Like thirty, or something?”
“I’m twenty-eight…”
“Good enough,” Breston didn’t usually bang out grandmas, but in a drought like the one plaguing him, he knew it best to seek out any port possible to wait out the storm of pussilessness until the opportunity for a half-decent fuck with a youthful lay presented itself like that sword in the stone, or whatever the fuck it was. The thought occurred to Breston as if a crotch lightbulb had lit up around his midsection: ‘Perhaps she has a younger, hotter roommate…’ “Your place or mine? I have to warn you, though, my shitter is all backed up.”
“I… guess… we could go back to my-” The pussy stammered.
“Great, Let’s go.” Breston interrupted, sexily.
“Aren’t you at least going to buy me a drink first?” The pussy pleaded, motioning towards the disinterested bartender presumably getting ready to close up.
“Sure, we can stop at a liquor store on the way and grab some forties. If we move fast, we can make it before they stop selling booze. Come on, hurry!” Said Breston, throwing up an arm in the direction of the door like some mad conductor in the throes of a beautiful symphonic din.
And so Breston and the cheap night-time cooze bounded out into the darkness from whence they’d came, moving swiftly, lest the hour evade them and Breston be forced to grunt atop the relatively sub-5 geriatric female in the midst of returning accursed sobriety. An outcome which, he knew, simply wasn’t an option.
Breston Boobilay 3: Curse of the Cooze
“We have you now, Mr. Boobilay!” Malphus Mephistopheles cackled menacingly, relishing in his imminent, long-awaited triumph over renegade superspy Breston Boobilay, who lay helpless, strapped to the long metallic table as the laser beam drew ever closer to his bulging crotch. “Tell me, how does it feel to know that you will never get pussy again? Bwahahahaha!”
Breston could feel the billion-degree heat running along his exposed thighs, threatening his tighty-whitey clad dick and balls with extinction. That’s when he remembered; the tabs of flunitrazepam contained in the secret toe compartments of his shiny black loafers, of which Malphus’s underlings had neglected to remove along with his tuxedo pants. Breston began to chuckle a cackled laugh of his own, drawing the ire of his bedraggled captor.
“You know what your problem is, Malphus?” Malphus moved in closer, slamming a pale, thin palm down on the table by Breston’s head. Breston didn’t even blink. “You never got pussy. That’s why you hate me so much.”
“That isn’t true!” Malphus shrieked, the remainders of his long scraggly hair standing on end. “I’ve got pussy, lots of times!”
“Oh, yeah?” Breston replied coolly, “Who from?”
“You wouldn’t know her. She goes to a different school…”
The laser beam was just a few inches away from destroying Breston entirely, the distinctive burning stench of singed pubes beginning to fill the small subterranean chamber. He knew that he had to act fast.
“You wanna know a secret, Malphus?” Breston half-whispered.
“What?” Malphus replied, leaning in.
“SURPRISE ROOFIE!” With a flick of his loafer, Breston discharged a fleet of small pills into Malphus’s’s shocked, wide open mouth. He began to gag as they became lodged in his throat. ‘Bullseye’, Breston thought to himself smugly as he smirked, reaching out his hand and snatching the insane scientist's keys from his belt beneath his stained lab coat. In a flash, Breston was free and on his feet. By the time he was straightening his tie, Malphus Mephistopheles was passed out on the cold, metal floor; drooling.
Breston laughed, dropping his underwear and proceeding to teabag the unconscious man. Breston’s laugh erupted into a cackle surpassing that of any villain he had previously encountered, loud enough to alert Malphus’es’s throng of penguin-like minions. They gasped in horror as they witnessed the violation of their master.
“Who’s next!” Breston roared, the weird little penguin freaks fucking off in abject defeat, screaming as they went.
“I’m unstoppable! Do you understand that! I’m a god! I’m Breston Boobilay! Look at my work, and tremble!”
All of a sudden, Breston felt that familiar dreaded feeling begin to rear up from inside him. It stabbed at him with doubts and the incessant pain and the anxiety that made his body tremor. In an instant, he felt the power drain from him, replaced by something else. Something terrible. He looked down at his quaking hands, and saw that they were dripping with blood.
Breston awoke with a scream, as did the cooze he’d shacked up with. She hissed at him, still very cat-like in her manner.
“What the fuck, dude! Are you okay?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Breston sighed, rubbing at the beading rows of sweat dangling from his manly brow. “Just another night terror…”
“Why is my bed all wet?..” The girl questioned hesitantly, “Is that… is that piss!”
“No!” Breston felt himself beneath the sheets, soaked to the bone. “No, it’s just sweat! See?”
Breston removed his hand from his soiled groin, lifting it up to her face so that she might smell that it was in fact only sweat. She screamed, penguinishly, as she fled from the room in hysterics. Breston stood and began to put his clothes back on, eyes never moving from the large dark stain covering the pink bedspread. It was a stain as dark as his soul, and Breston knew that he couldn’t hide from it deep in a pussy hole for very much longer…
Breston Boobilay 4: The Quest For Peace
Breston glared into the steam rising from his coffee cup, the sinuous curves of its alluring dance making his dick twitch minutely in subtle arousal. The hangover was debilitating, but he told himself that it would pass with the caffeine and the shower he longed for back at home. However, to his despair, Breston knew better. How many times had he been there before, like that? Not in that exact diner, in that exact situation, mouth dry as an old nun’s cooze and smelling faintly like urine, but simply infirm, haggard, and desperate for some kind of meaningful relief? Breston knew, in that uniquely lonely moment, that he’d never find it.
The waitress breasted boobily across the diner floor, carrying Breston’s pie aloft in the air towards him. He couldn’t help but take notice of the way that her uniform hugged her body as her bosom heaved heftily as she walked, and, yet, Breston’s manhood remained as limp and placid as a premature baby’s pinkie. She reminded him of her, when they first met. She set the plate down, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she smelled Breston’s undying shame.
“Will that be all, sir?” She said, already preparing to turn and leave him there, all alone. Just like she did.
Breston wanted to scream ‘No!’. He wanted to yell at her and spew out all the things that he should have said, before it was too late. Breston wanted to spring up from the booth and grab the woman by the knockers and say ‘Were they worth it! Does he love them better than I did!’, but, he didn’t. Instead, he said nothing. The waitress was already gone, along with Breston’s will to live. The coffee’s steam had diminished down to small, dwindling whisps. He scooped up the mug and finished its contents, focusing on the lukewarm liquid as it spilled down his throat as if it might quell the shaking in his hands. Breston knew that only one thing could do that. He glanced at the clock behind the counter. It was eleven-thirty AM. Time to hit the sauce, he thought, grimacing.
Breston Boobilay 5: A Long Way Down
The chilly afternoon stung at Breston as he brought the bottle back up to his lips for another sickening hit of brandy. The shakes had left him, but his despair had only grown. It had calcified, made clear in his mind in a way that was truly unignorable and utterly undeniable. Everything good that Breston had ever had; his wife, his upper management job at the Brooklyn meat plant, his youth. It had all gone away so quickly. Breston thought of his parents, and the beginnings of a tear began to form before being swept away across his temple by the incoming wind. He thought about the last thing his father had said to him before he had stormed out to go drinking the previous weekend: ‘Breston, you're forty-two-years old. It’s time you moved out of the house.’, and he remembered how angry he’d been; yelling and cussing him out as a ‘frigid dinosaur’ who refused to take the time to understand Breston’s ‘alternative lifestyle’, and he couldn’t help but laugh. Father could never understand.
Breston tipped the bottle over his mouth and gulped down the remains of the liquor as he savored every last, overpriced trickle before shambling over to the guardrail at the rooftop’s edge. He eyed the distance between the two buildings, then he took the drop into account. After a moment, he took a step back, raised the bottle over his head, and launched it. It arched high over the street below before clattering against a tall windowpane of the office block opposite the building he was on.
“Bullseye…” Breston said aloud, to no one.
Suddenly, he got a flash of the dream he’d had the night before when he blacked out in that cooze kitten’s piss pad, and the urge to run and jump doubled in intensity. Breston didn’t like to remember. He didn’t want to. But, even in his nightmares, Matty was still there. Matty was always there. He was their favorite. Always was. It was always, ‘Breston, why can’t you be more like your younger brother?’, ‘Why can’t you be more like Matty?’. Always so perfect, with his good grades and mommy’s constant approval. Breston hated him. Oh, how he hated Matty with every fiber of his being, and he made that clear when Matty reached highschool. Breston was supposed to look out for Matty, protect him. But Breston did anything but. Matty was shy, and insecure about himself, but, most of all, Matty was ashamed of the fact that he’d never had a girlfriend before. Breston would make a big show of bringing whatever hoe-bag he’d seduced with daddy’s money back home so that he could flaunt her around like some prize that Matty could never earn, which crushed him, but not nearly as much as when Breston began spreading the rumors around school about how his dick didn’t work. By the end of the week, Matty was little more than a laughing stock and an emotional, broken wreck, and by the end of the month, Matty was dead.
“It wasn’t my fault, you stupid fuck!” Breston screamed into the dispassionate, gray New York sky within which no God could ever dwell, flashes of his mother screeching, ‘You did this! You!’ tearing at him like sharpened, savage claws ripping their way ravenously through a model’s skimpy lingerie. “I could have helped you! I could have made it all okay again!”
Breston fell to his knees and began to sob like the sad little boy he’d always known he was, feeling more alone than he ever had been before in his entire life. He had made so many mistakes. So many people hurt, and for what? His passing, childish amusement? His bottomless desire for gratification? A cover to hide from the hurt of it all? Breston didn’t know anymore, and he didn’t want to. He couldn’t think about it anymore. He couldn’t take it.
Standing on trembling legs, Breston tentatively put both hands on the railing before gripping it firmly, whimpering as if it produced some sort of electric shock with his touch. He tried to remember when the last time he had felt scared like that was, but he realized that there was nothing even remotely comparable to hold onto. Before another thought could pass through Breston’s head, he took a quick, deep breath, closed his eyes, thrust one foot over the waist-high metal railing and allowed himself to fall. The wind whipped him with the force of a jet engine as he soared towards the ground, half-screaming, half-choking as it knocked the air out of him. Despite the unimaginable terror, and all the regret and the shame and the misery and the abject disappointment that was his nothing of a life, Breston couldn’t help but feel at peace now that it was finally all over. For a fraction of a second, Breston opened his eyes, and he never closed them again…

Hello there, GiftofGames! I'm once again request Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition.\ It has been a months since my last DMC5:SE request, but I just remembered how cool it was, so here I am again.

What is Devil May Cry 5?

DMC 5 is an over-the-top Hack & Slash game, released back in 2019.\ You take control of about 3 devil-hunters (technically 4, but I'll get back to this later.), namely Dante, Nero, and V.\ Dante is probably THE MOST complex character I've ever seen in a video game, you have alot of ranged+melee weapons to switch between, and alot of fighting Styles, making his combat the most in depth not only in this game, but I dare say all of gaming.\ Nero on the other hand has these mechanical arms which you buy from the ingame store, each one does a different thing, some examples are shooting beams, pulling enemies closer, etc. There is even a megaman blaster arm! (Included in special edition)\ finally, there's V, he isn't a main character by any mean and not much people talk about him, but his gimmick is that he summons monsters/animals to aid him in combat.\

THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING

Now as for the 4th character, this guy is the one that made people who never heard or cared about the DMC franchise (including me) flock to the game. Vergil.\ This guy is absolutely insane, all his combos are a pure dump of stylishness. His combat is absolutely beautiful, and makes you feel like an anime character with his katana.

Extra thoughts about the game

I like difficult games, I'm by no means a tryhard or a hardcore gamer, but I like a challenge in fighting games, I want to suffer losses here and there instead of walking right through the level, And DMC 5 seems to fulfill that need.

Why special edition?

Special edition adds many cool things to the game, such as 1.2x gamespeed mode, a high framerate mode, a raytracing mode, vergil (without special edition you have to buy him individually), styles for every character, and bloody palace mode.\ bloody palace is a mode which puts you in 101 stages with increasingly difficult enemies, and a timer to clear them.

How much does it cost?

The game costs a hefty $39.99, with a store tax of $5, totalling up to $45. I understand this is alot to ask for, but this is my only way of getting it. Sadly Playstation doesn't support gifting like steam, so the only way is for a kind soul to send me $45 in giftcards. my account's region is US

Why can't you get it yourself?

I live in a 3rd world country and everything keeps getting worse and worse, I've only managed to buy 2 games my entire life (elden ring and Spiderman 2), and I got them before the dollar exchange skyrocketed. I'm a student entering 12th grade in a few months so I don't have a job either. I'd appreciate if someone could get it for me so I can play in my vacation before starting 12th grade.

and at the end, thank you for reading, and I wish you a great day, and good luck with your requests!

PSN Account (US)
DMC5:SE On PSN Store

After I had originally thought of a good handleful of CT's I naturally, like any reasonable person, imagined a battle-royale style fight between them. However I never really gave any CT user much of a character besides fighting or loves fighting. I did for some reason give one to my first CT though, be it my favourite or my first Idk. So I thought to share it. Also, looking back on it, I wanted to update a couple things.
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Jo
Background:
-Deep in the rocky mountains of Alberta, there lies an intricately guarded special grade tool, capable of removing any obsticle in it's path when in the right hands. The 2nd last line of defense for the item is a highly trained sorcerer given the name Jo.
Since human beings have an expiration date, Jo must be replaced, whenever deemed fit. The current guardian of the time goes to the nearest populated area and steals an infant that they see potential in, so they can groom them to become the next Jo. The only human interaction a guardian gets in their lifetime is with the previous Jo raising them (who would be kinda old by that point), the few people who not only come for the item but can get through the booby traps, or if you count it watching people from afar.
Typically each Jo is taught as much about the world as they have access to knowledge (so a lot of outdated stuff), they are also given a rundown on their moral code/philosphy of protecting and their understanding human spirit stuff. All the Jo's only get to learn what the cursed tool they're guarding is when they taken on an apprentice, which can take an upwards of 60 years.
The current Jo as of today is Jo XX. Compared to his predecessors he is much more unhinged, he is the first one to actually kill his predecessor on purpose, because he found him unfit as an aprentice at 15yo. He has killed 2 people as of turning 30, and also a first in the Jo history for one has gotten away (related to their technique) and Jo is very paranoid as to how and when they return. He also knows RCT, because when he's not eating, sleeping, or meditating, he's training.
*
personality:
-Cold and distant, not in an aloof/non-social way, in an "I plan out how I would kill you the second we meet" sort of way. Not much of a conversationalist, generally only speaks to ask for final words and critiquing their strategy (after having won) or taunting. Although he doesn't want to kill kids, he totally would with little remorse (Like, if a kid was getting in the way of one of his fights he'd allow one hit from the enemy due to a kids presence [moments hesitation on attacking because they used a kid as a meatshield for exmaple] before...). he's very "greater than thou".
*
Appearance:
-30 years old, 6', not too bulky or slim, very pale with short almost buzzed black hair and hazelnut eyes. I honestly always pictured him in Yuta's clothes, so it would be something similar to that.
*
EXTRA/misc. :
-the guardians have a passed down special cursed tool primarily used for exiting and entering their shrine unharmed, but also for combat. It is a pickaxe that allowes them to move and mold stone or the ground.
-the smallest and highest kill count of the guardians are 0 and 14.
-The earliest and latest a guardian has decided to train an apprentice is 46 and 71 (huberis). This disparity is because the guardian of the time chooses when to raise a new Jo, based on when they believe their strength is beginning to decrease.
-There are four booby trapped areas before the room with Jo, which also houses the final obsticle, a barrier. The room is lit by torches and a hole that leads to the outside top of the mountain.
-the hand-me-down pickaxe is from one of the previous guardian's CT
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Cursed technique - Reflection
-Innate: when the user wills it, an area of space within their vision (the dimensions of which they can control, and even through reflection) will be PERFECTLY recorded like a video for a chosen amount of time and stored in a physical reflective surface (which it can be seen in, playing on loop), with up to 3 being stored at a time. They can then “replay” that recording anywhere and in any direction of themselves, within a certain range let’s say 100m, and can also be reinforced with CE as to not break and also do more damage. As a user of reflection becomes stronger and better experienced with the technique they will be able to move pas the limits of recording one thing at a time and replaying one thing at a time. Though recording multiple things at a time is much more simple than replaying multiple things at a time, needing to be like semi-grade 1 for the former.
Example: someone fires a gun, and the user activates their ability, wanting to capture a recording of the bullet. So imagine that a non-existent cylinder forms starting at the barrel of the gun and ending wherever the user assumes the bullet will end up, or wherever they choose it to end. Beginning whenever the user chooses, the timer for the ability will start and whatever happens in that area, bullet moving, or other things like a fly passing through, will be recorded. Once the the recording is done it is immediately stored in a reflective object through touch.
Then let’s say the user wants to replay it. No matter what, the events from the recorded area will start from the second the ability was activated to capture the scene in the first place and play out exactly the same. That imaginary cylinder of area that was captured will mentally be placed anywhere within the vicinity and in a whatever angle or direction desired, so maybe back at the person who fired the bullet, and maybe coming down from above instead of the original horizontal placement.
*
-Extentsion: basically it just makes the CT easier to use. The CT user can allow for the record space to be enlarged by/track a chosen, visible object. So instead of having to pre-choose how large of an area will be recorded, the user can choose the area around an object, then that pre-set area will expand to follow the chosen object as it moves.
*
-RCT: N/A (Genuinely do not know what it could be)
*
-Domain expansion: HAND SIGN(S): the user slaps their hands flat together in a praying position. DOMAIN ENVIRONMENT: an open area in a mirror maze (but the mirror maze itself can still be accessed), and the ceiling kinda looks like an black and orange circus tent that's very high. SURE-HIT: anything they've recorded before. Also upon entering or leaving, the user gets to stock up on or replace all three replays available with any and all previous replays they have ever made (the same one can be taken for all three).
*
Maximum: basically the creation CT but only for replays.
*
Weaknesses
-even though the user is recording an area in space, only things that the user can/could literally see are recorded. So the air, or poisonous gases, or nanobots are not recorded.
-all variables like time of recording, size of recorded area, etc, require increasing cursed energy.
-the user is unable to record themselves in anyway.
-reflective objects that hold the reflections must be touched to be activated, AND those reflective objects must not be covered to be used (i.e. a sword in its sheath cannot project its replay, unless said replay is smaller than the distance between the sheath and sword).
-every replay must be executed to perfection and if anything gets in the way of that then the repay will instantly disappear (of course all replays have a certain amount of resistance so that doesn’t happens unless to a really powerful Attack).
-*important follow up to previous weakness* Since the recordings have to play out PERFECTLY, things like fire from an explosion, even slow moving water, or actual laser beams, will react like solid matter on contact because interacting with them in any other way would differ from the recording.
-CT's or means of harm that can't be seen (hard counter).
*
Strategies-
-store two reflections within each eye, and the other in a weapon.
Try to fight a projectile user, then profit.
If fighting a close combat user, record the area they fill as they’re fighting you, then have them fight themselves while you recover or double team them (pause).
-when using the extension, things that the user plans to track require a lot less attention, so one should always be looking around the battlefield for possible replays.
-always playback recordings in enemy's blindspot (bullets, their own punches even), unless you want them to see it.
-get the high ground by replaying a reflection in the air then jumping onto and off of it.
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Question(s) for improvement
-Should the super powerful cursed tool just be a fluke, and the Jos' don't realize?
-Should there be a greater number for how many reflections can be copied?
-is the DE surehit to powerful, I wont budge on the free refills, but the surehit itself can be reduced back to whatever the last thing they replayed was.
-In hindsight "reflection" isn't too appropriate of a name for this technique, any better suggestions?

So, I realized that I'm a dummy and I never made the Skills for Dummies guide for batters. Awhile ago, I made this guide for pitchers with the intention of giving a really basic and understandable guide for new/casual/non-top level players. Skills and meta can get really complicated on this sub, and some players don't understand the importance of skills, or that not all skills are created equally. The stats might look nice, but the skills do all the heavy lifting, and knowing how they work and what sets are good can give you a solid upper hand and get you to be more competitive.
For a refresher on. how skill levels and shorting works, there's an explanation in the pitcher guide. I will not be discussing exact stat boosts in this guide either, but the companion has a full skill registry with all the details. With all of that, let's get into it.
Bronze Skills - All trash, basically don't do anything and are deadweight in a skillset.
The Essentials: Like pitchers, these are the best golds skills to roll, and you should basically be happy to see these show up any time. On a set with no legend skills, I try to go for at least 2, especially when I was starting out.
Charisma (Char) - Basically the best all-purpose batter skill. It lowers the stats of the opposing pitcher, easily making it one of the best. Works great with anything.
Spotlight (SL) - In essence, increases slugging, with an increasing chance to hurt the pitcher's performance when losing. Just like Charisma, works great in almost every set, and easily an excellent skill.
Barrel It Up (BIU) - Increases the chance of getting a hit, basically boosts average and OBP. Arguably the best one here, acting like a counterpart to the slugging buffs of Spotlight. There is one, extremely important bonus stipulation to know about this skill - CON + SPD must be 210 or higher and SPD must be 65% of CON or higher. To make the math easy, I use this calculator made by u/ClubhouseCalculators. To get the full benefits of the skill, it's imperative you hit the bonus, which is easy on most decent cards.
Slugger Instinct (SI) - High level players might start hating on this decision, but especially for a beginner, Slugger Instinct is not bad. Basically Spotlight but not as good, and slugging can come at a slight cost in average. It's fallen off in the Power Ranking Tourney, but almost none of us are at that level, so if you roll this skill with another one that complements it, it's a good set.
*Important note - Slugger Instinct and Spotlight don't work well together, as AVG takes a hit when your skills are directed all towards slugging.
The Conditional Skills - These skills are more reliant on certain conditions to be met to function well. BIU falls into this category in a way, but I consider it more as an essential. If done right, they are just as good as the essentials.
5-Tool Player (5-T) - This skill has had a massive glow up since the changes last year. It increases all stats, but the caveat is that it seeks balance in your batter's existing stats.
Before I get into what this caveat is, this is a warning for new players that this gets complicated really fast, and you might want to skip this part and treat 5-T like an all purpose good skill for now, which it can be at your level.
You get an additional boost as a batter's Lowest Stat Total (LST), which is Base + Grade Increase + Normal Training of the lowest stat, goes higher. That might sound complicated, but in essence, you want to balance out your stats for the best effect; if a batter's SPD is the lowest, you want to compensate by training it higher and allocating less to stats that are already high. Now that sounds like crazy talk, because we are all used to our cardinal training rules of 12-13 less to SPD + FLD and that SPD is useless. While this rule might be true for most batters, you need to throw it out the window with 5-T. You want to balance your train to compensate for the lower base stats, often SPD and FLD, which means giving more training points to them than you might feel comfortable doing. When you see how much SPD you might be putting in, it might not seem worth it, but if done correctly, the 5-T stat boosts will do more than make up for it, plus you get a lot of extra SPD and FLD than normal, and they aren't completely useless.
That might sound crazy, but the TLDR is balance your stats with goofy trains. 5-T is not for all batters, as many have such low base stats that it isn't worth it, although you'd be surprised how many batters can actually recover and do with 5-T with a proper train. My rule of thumb is that if you can't get 90+ LST at all or without a next to impossible train, it isn't worth going for. Balancing your train is difficult, but I like to use the calculator which has an automatic LST calculation at the bottom. It won't tell you what train is most optimal, so you have to tweak it yourself, but the live updating LST counter makes the process really easy.
If your willing to put in the work on the proper card, 5-T can get really powerful really quick, and the bonuses scale really high at the very high LST ranges.
Prediction (Pred) - Trust me this one isn't as complicated. Prediction is a great skill to help out with OBP, as long as your batter has high base eye. 74+ should suffice, but the higher the better. The new stat adjust tickets can help push eye up a bit higher if needed for this skill. It also has a chance to show you the location and type of a pitch in manual mode, which is great for arcade as it can warn you of an off-speed.
The Third Skills - These skills aren't the best as the essentials, but can do a good job at supplementing the effects of the essentials if you roll them in a set. Basically, these are dependent on the fact that you rolled better 2 other good skills, thus the name.
Batting Machine (BM) - Barrel it Up's little brother, basically BIU without the bonus. Increases AVG, and is as solid as third skills get.
Non-Bonus BIU, Low LST 5-T and lower EYE Pred also drop to third skill tier without their boosts.
As far as the golds go, that's it, but there are other silver skills like Training Junkie or Endurance that aren't bad, but aren't great.
The Fools' Gold Skills: These are gold, but not good. As said before, not all skills are created equally.
Laser Beam - Let's just get it out of the way, this skill is bad for most players. It only really works on catchers if you have 2 really good supporting skills to help out your pitchers, and from what I know it should be paired with 5-T.
Ace Specialist - This is the opposite of Giant Crusher, if all the batter's stats without FLD added together are less than the pitcher's stats without STA added together, increases hit chance. It's better than Giant Crusher because pitchers tend to be stronger than batters, and for weak normals in your lineup, it's not terrible, and could be considers as a very low third skill in some circumstances. Ultimately, this isn't great.
Master Base Thief - The technical details of this skill are complicated, but basically it reduces the LOC and BRK of a pitcher while at-bat or to a lesser degree on base. No one's found it terribly useful, but it's better than most silvers.
Super Sub - New gold skill on the block, and it's useless. You don't want your bench batters subbing in at all. To prevent subbing, make sure the the selected position of a player in lineup spots 6-9 doesn't match with the first position shown on the card of a bench player.
Legend Skills: For the more experienced players who are beginning to get players to be black diamond, it's time to break out the Premium tickets and get some legend sets. You want to supplement these with some of the good skills mentioned
Pioneer - Basically increases CON, POW and EYE and increases hit chance. Can't go wrong with Pioneer, it is simply good.
Bad Ball Hitter (BBH) - Increases POW and CON, decreases opposing LOC and BRK, increases chance of a hit on the first pitch. Can't go wrong with Bad Ball Hitter, it is simply good.
Born to be a Star (BTBAS) - 5-T on steroids and with no goofy conditions to meet. Has some extra boosts for certain in-game situations. Can't go wrong with Born to be a star, it is simply good.
Chance Maker - Increases CON, EYE and SPD and increases CON and POW of the following batter depending on how many hits they got. Basically helps increase AVG and OBP, requires a high level set (basically 332 or 333 only) and doesn't do as well with slugging-based skills.
Batter's Insight (BI) - Better than the pitcher counterpart, decreases opposing pitcher skill levels and increases EYE. Needs a high level set to work well.
Contact Master - Increases CON in proportion to the base CON stat. It's a good skill as long as the player has a very high base CON.
Batters' Chemistry (BC) - Increases the stats of all your batters when on a single player. Only role it on a bench player who can't get subbed to help your main batters. Unless you've done that, useless on anyone else.
New Skills - Strengthen the Strength (gold) and Hard Hitter (legend) are new and I don't want to comment on them just yet. Both look really solid at face value, so I'd try them out.
I get all of this can look intimidating at first, but you get good at identifying good sets from experience and trial and error. I highly recommend the companion and the calculator linked earlier, they are super helpful for bonuses and skill info. Please comment anything that might help to add to my descriptions, or anything that I got wrong. Happy Skilling!

Disclaimer: I do not speak Korean. This is purely translated by machine with a lot of cleanup afterward. With that in mind, I am open to criticism to improve these translations. Enjoy!
Chapter 406
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The era of the Great Cataclysm, which began with the arrival of Demon King Asmodeus, was dark and chaotic. Yet, humanity not only recovered but also ascended to unprecedented heights of civilization.
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For some, however, there are things more important than elevators powered by magic stones or healing potions.
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"The internet has gotten faster."
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The man's voice held reverence as he adjusted his glasses.
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It was 11:30 AM. Behind him, the ramen simmered, complemented by a setting of cold rice and fresh kimchi.
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All preparations were complete. Exactly 3 minutes later, after adding two A-grade special eggs he had bought during a supermarket sale, and waiting just 2 more minutes, a perfect lunch would be served.
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Meanwhile, he would dispel his boredom with the pinnacle of modern innovation: the smartphone.
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"Let's check today's headlines."
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He hummed, scrolling through his phone.
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At 'Hunter University,' a favorite forum of his, new posts surged in popularity:
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1. [Victory streak continues. The monster legion nearly dissolved? UN Security Council declares, "Humanity prevails. Yet, the war wages on. Vigilance until the very end is crucial."]

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1. [The Sichuan miracle centers around Jin Tae-Kyung.]

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1. [National pride swells with emerging heroes, boosting K-POP and kimchi sales globally.]

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1. [In the lead-up to the Korea-US summit, President Dorambbu comments, "Is this the land of Jin Tae-Kyung? He's my hero."] [Note: I believe this is a reference to Donald Trump. If you look up u/dorambbu on YouTube, you'll see a channel that uses his image as the profile picture.]

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1. [Ares Guild's victories solidify their formidable reputation.]

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1. [President Shao Yang of China: "They are all heroes."]

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1. [Seaweed.com translates reactions from international netizens on the current situation. "Who exactly is Jumo that Koreans keep killing at every opportunity?"] [Note: this is a reference to chapter 390. Apparently after the MC wiped out the initial monster wave on the western front, many Koreans were suggesting that that day was to be named the "memorial day of the Jumo". "Jumo" translates literally to housewife or mother-in-law, but is used to describe a hostess who serves alcohol. In this case, "memorial day of the Jumo" would be a day where Jumos work themselves to death to bring alcohol to celebratory people. The joke here is that many foreigners don't understand what a Jumo is and assume that Koreans are just massacring their own people.]

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1. [Japanese Prime Minister Megumi Shinjiro: "The monster wave should be tackled in a fun, cool, and sexy manner." Asked to elaborate, he smirked, "To explain would be unsexy."] [Note: given that many world leaders' names have been changed only slightly so that their original reference is clear, I was expecting the same for the Japanese Prime Minister. However, I don't see any resemblance in the names of current and past Prime Ministers of Japan, so I'm not sure what's being referenced here. My best guess is that this is a reference to anime characters, but even then it doesn't really narrow down the list without knowing more about this Prime Minister.]

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1. [Russian President Purin, "To me, Shinjiro is like quantum mechanics. No matter how much I try, I cannot understand him."]

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1. [Web novelist-turned-prophet, Zero Big, announces a hiatus during an interview disrupted by an irate editor, leading to a 12-week recuperation. Despite injuries, a joyful Zero Big laughs, while his editor, Mr. Lee, laments, "This is inhumane."] [Note: quick reminder, Zero Big is the author of Murim Login.]

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"Wow. What a mess. It's total mayhem."
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A grin spread across his face as he continued scrolling, the stories about Jin Tae-Kyung filling him with immense pride.
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While some headlines seemed bizarre, they still stirred a profound sense of national pride within him.
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The comments section was on the brink of exploding.
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The activity on Hunter University is unprecedented. I've been a member since grade school, yet I've never seen such fervor;;
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└ The truly astonishing part is Jin Tae-Kyung. He single-handedly defeated ten thousand monsters. It's hard to believe even now. How is such a feat even possible?
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└ He's great, but let's get the facts straight. It wasn't ten thousand, but only a few thousand.
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└ Hahaha isn't that just as crazy?
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└ If you get hit by a goblin's poison dart, you'd be begging 'Please, gently!' — you're that guy who used the 'Aura Keyboard' last time, right? [Note: 'Aura Keyboard' is a reference to a shit talker in novel chapter 389.]
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But isn't Jin Tae-Kyung more than just an S-rank Hunter now? Are all S-rank Hunters this extraordinary?
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└ Even during the Great Cataclysm, such achievements were scarce; we should set Cheon Tae-Min apart as he's in a league of his own... But didn’t Lee Jeong-Ryong also accomplish similar feats during that time?
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└ Hmm. So he hasn’t reached Lee Jeong-Ryong’s level yet? That’s a letdown.
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└ ?? Does Lee Jeong-Ryong strike you as an old sage forgotten by time? Though overshadowed by Cheon Tae-Min, in terms of feats and influence, he ranks among the global elite;
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└ 222. Just last week, across all five fronts, he had the least casualties while devastating the monster legion. Jin Tae-Kyung is phenomenal, but Lee Jeong-ryong and the Ares Guild are on another level. The advancement on the northern front is especially rapid.
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└ Comments like this make me nervous. I fear the hotheaded youngsters will show up to challenge me again.
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└ Just block your IP address, you’ll be fine. But at this point, isn't this conflict nearly resolved? We're dominating the monsters with mobile tactics right now.
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└ Undefeated for the past week;
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└ The Arch Lich must be reeling. He concentrated all his might on a surprise attack last week only to see it thoroughly repelled. The Death Knight Lord perished, and those who escaped are being hunted down as we speak. It looks bleak for them.
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Shouldn't the Arch Lich step up his game now? This silence is suspicious.
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└ I thought the same, so I sent a KakaoTalk message yesterday to check in.
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└ ? To whom?
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└ To the Arch Lich. He said he's busy with a promotion battle. If he wins this round, he's moving up to gold and was pretty happy about it.
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└ The person above is crazy.
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└ What’s really bizarre is Zero Big taking a break now. You have to seize the moment when opportunity arises. It’s nonsensical.
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└ Enough with the absurdities. What matters is continuing this momentum to quell the monster wave without further severe setbacks. Let's hope for a swift resolution and honor those we've lost with a moment of silence.
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└ Hmm... I hate China, but yeah. Every country has both idiots and sane people. Cheers to all the Hunters and soldiers.
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└ Cheers!
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The prevailing sentiment among netizens was supportive and positive.
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Initially viewed as a serious situation, the monster wave is now a source of national pride, and even the tributes to the fallen resonate with hope rather than despair.
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'Well, there has been a lot of good news lately.'
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The man nodded. It made sense. According to the latest reports from the UN Security Council, the situation had decisively improved.
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Just a week ago, a coordinated surprise assault on five fronts inflicted substantial losses, but swift reinforcements turned the tide, leading to consecutive victories.
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'At this rate, it might end in a few days.'
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The momentum seemed unstoppable. Particularly noteworthy were the fronts led by Jin Tae-Kyung in the west and Lee Jeong-Ryong in the north.
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'This brat. I was quite worried at first, but he's doing even better than I thought.'
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After reflecting for a moment, the man logged into the forum and contributed his own comment.
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Jin Tae-Kyung's Roommate: Can you believe this is the same Jin Tae-Kyung who used to be such a loser? This new Jin Tae-Kyung is a legend. Back in the day, we used to eat ramen together all the time, and to see him become an S-rank Hunter, and a legendary hero known as the strongest in the world... it truly moves me...
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No sooner had he posted his comment than responses began to pour in.
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Song Jin-Ho, smiling contentedly at his phone, suddenly remembered something crucial.
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"Oh no! My ramen!"
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* * *
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"Ah, I'm craving ramen."
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Hearing me mutter, Mr. Choi, who had just recuperated and returned to the front on a jet last night, inquired,
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"All of a sudden?"
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"I know, right? That's weird."
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"Mr. Jin Tae-Kyung never ceases to astonish."
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Swoosh!
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The [Hero's Soul] cleaved through both the Lizard Man’s weapon and body like a beam of light.
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As green blood spurted and a vile odor filled the air, my appetite vanished, and I surged forward.
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Ssssshhh, Kwaah!
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Flame-Extinguishing Divine Fist.
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A fierce heat consumed dozens of Lizard Men, incinerating them. The hesitating monsters appeared as though they were a defeated army.
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Sensing the battle's momentum, Shao Shen led the charge, bellowing,
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「Charge! Charge!」
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「Raaaaa!」
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「Blades of the wind, come forth! Wind Cutter!」
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Sssshhhh!
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Clang! Swoosh!
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- Kueeeek!
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- Kiyuk, cough!
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Our assault was relentless, overpowering the monsters without giving them a chance to respond.
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Though our numbers were matched, the monsters could not rival the morale and caliber of our forces.
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As the frontline disintegrated like a sandcastle, fear took hold among the monsters. Several began to turn and flee.
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'At this rate, a total collapse is all but guaranteed to follow.'
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Fear spreads like wildfire.
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Once one flees, ten follow, soon triggering a full-scale, uncontrollable retreat.
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Indeed, my prediction proved accurate, and victory shouts soon filled the air.
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「Chase them! Don't let a single one escape!」
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「Quick, cast a speed buff!」
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「Ranged units! Ready, fire!」
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Sssshhhh! Boom!
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Energized by victory, the Hunters began ruthlessly cutting down the fleeing monsters, disregarding their usual formations.
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Within moments, the six-lane asphalt road that, just a month ago, would have teemed with cars, now lay carpeted with monster corpses.
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"We've won again."
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After the battle, Mr. Choi approached as I inspected my equipment. I shrugged.
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"You don't look too happy about sharing good news."
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"That's strange. I was just thinking the same thing as I looked at Mr. Jin Tae-Kyung."
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"...Hmm."
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It appeared we shared similar sentiments.
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Despite our victories, I felt no elation.
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This disconnection began on the second day of our counteroffensive.
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"What do you think, Mr. Choi?"
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"What are you asking about? The reduced numbers and strength of the monsters? Or the dozens of victories over the past week?"
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"Both."
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"Probably the same as what Mr. Jin Tae-Kyung is thinking. The current situation is certainly encouraging, but... something feels off."
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Mr. Choi glanced at the jubilant crowd.
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Exhausted yet hopeful faces longed for the end of the war and a return to their families.
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"It's not that I don't understand. There were so many high-level monsters at the start of the war. If they had lost their elite troops, this situation could have developed. But..."
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"The Arch Lich. The problem is that it's unlikely he'd let this happen so easily. Isn't that right, Mr. Choi?"
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Mr. Choi nodded slowly and inquired,
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"Do the higher-ups share our thoughts?"
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"Probably. I don't know about the other S-rank Hunters, but the Minister of National Defense Wei Feng-Hu is certainly aware."
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"That's reassuring, but..."
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Mr. Choi’s voice faded, reflecting the unease I felt.
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Now, as we neared our destination, Suining City.
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What could the Arch Lich, conspicuously absent throughout the conflict, be plotting now?
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- Hmm. Around this time, he'd be oiling his bones. After all, even an undead needs to be well-maintained to look splendid.
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"..."
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Shut up.
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* * *
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Swoooosh.
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An immense void. Darkness spiraled inward toward a central focal point.
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As the opaque blackness dissipated, stray beams of light from the setting sun poured through the broken windows, illuminating a figure.
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- Come forth, great adversary.
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Spoken with a voice as cold as the winter wind, the Arch Lich's eyes sparkled with concentrated magical energy.
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Previous Table of Contents Next

I’m redoing a 100+ year old house I inherited to live in. It’s pier and beam with a well ventilated crawl space above grade, in Texas.
The original part of the home has t&g flooring directly on floor joists with linoleum glued over the top. The linoleum and floorboards are in good shape and well-glued, so I intend to leave it as is, and lay 1/2” or 3/4” t&g plywood over it, to beef up the (new) subfloor and give me a nice surface to nail down hardwood floors.
There are additions on each side, that currently have 3/4” non-treated plywood subfloors that are also in great shape. One side will have the 3/4” t&g ply and hardwood flooring. The other is bathrooms, so I am planning to put down 1 1/8” Advantech to likely install tile over.
My questions are:
-For the hardwood, I am planning to put down the Floor and Decor “eco ultra quiet underlayment”. Is there any need or benefit to putting down an additional layer of polyethylene (or something else) elsewhere between my layers of subfloor? For example, between the layers of ply in the addition?
-Same question for the bathroom addition/Advantech side?
-What other parts of my plan are dumb and should be abandoned?

I’m redoing a 100+ year old house I inherited to live in. It’s pier and beam with a well ventilated crawl space above grade, in Texas.
The original part of the home has t&g flooring directly on floor joists with linoleum glued over the top. The linoleum and floorboards are in good shape and well-glued, so I intend to leave it as is, and lay 1/2” or 3/4” t&g plywood over it, to beef up the (new) subfloor and give me a nice surface to nail down hardwood floors.
There are additions on each side, that currently have 3/4” non-treated plywood subfloors that are also in great shape. One side will have the 3/4” t&g ply and hardwood flooring. The other is bathrooms, so I am planning to put down 1 1/8” Advantech to likely install tile over.
My questions are:
-For the hardwood, I am planning to put down the Floor and Decor “eco ultra quiet underlayment”. Is there any need or benefit to putting down an additional layer of polyethylene (or something else) elsewhere between my layers of subfloor? For example, between the layers of ply in the addition?
-Same question for the bathroom addition/Advantech side?
-What other parts of my plan are dumb and should be abandoned?

[First Contact] [Dark Ages] [First] [Prev] [Next] [wiki]
Jaskel just stared. In horror, in shock, in fear, he didn't know.
He just stared.
The Terran was completely engaged, in the middle of all of the creatures. Their tentacles whipped at him, curved exoskeletal hooks slapping at him, blades emerging to stab at him, mechanical three prong grippers opening up to grab at the Terran and try to fire lasers directly into the Terran's skin. One moved forward, cavernous mouth wide open, a hot red glow in the back of the conical mouth, the teeth wiggling.
The Terran just shoved his fist through the creature's maw and caused it to explode into rags of flesh and chunks of armor, the tentacles falling to whip around on the floor as the punch continued to hit a rippling field in front of one of the crystalline creatures. The field collapsed in a shower of sparks.
"OH YEEAAAAAAAH!" the Terran gave a bass roar, stepping forward again.
"No shot, no clear shot," Jaskel said, moving his light machinegun around, trying to figure out what to shoot, hell, where to shoot that wouldn't hit the Terran.
"SHOOT, PUSSY!" the Terran roared out, grabbing one of the crystalline articulated 'tentacles' and ripping it free to jam the crystalline blade through the side of one of the green eyed creatures, continuing the blow until the blade shattered on the wall and the creature was pulped between his fist and the bulkhead.
Jaskel fired his weapon, seeing the liquid filled cartridges shattering on the Terran's skin, just coating his skin. The rounds that hit the crystalline creature that was backing up made the crystalline structure start to smoke and sizzle.
"YOU GOT NUTHIN!" the Terran roared out, knocking the last crystalline creature out of the way and rushing forward.
The one in the back screeched, trying to back up, flailing tentacles at the Terran. The blades chipped at the spikes, but did little else.
Besides get the tentacles in reach of the Terran.
One of the green eyed ones lunged at Jaskel and he hosed it with the LMG. The steel tip shattered armor, the lye splattered. The thing screeched, spinning in place, trying to interpose the tentacles between the full auto 150 rounds a minute and itself.
Jaskel just kept shooting, the tentacles shattering, the creature shrieking again, making his phasic shielding jump to 85%.
More creatures were flooding into the hallway, but Jaskel didn't have time to think about them, just shifting targets and firing as first one, then another collapsed.
The Terran was covered, but it kept grabbing with its hands, ripping the creatures off. The Terran would twist the tentacles, or squeeze the bulbous body, or smash it against the wall.
Still advancing on the larger one, which was flailing its seven remaining tentacles.
The Terran grabbed one of the black armored ones, ripped its tentacles off, slapped it twice, and tossed it as Jaskel.
"Catch!" it roared. "Live one!"
Jaskel let the LMG drop onto the sling, clumsily catching the one that was tossed. Black goo had covered the amputated tentacle stumps and then hardened. It screeched, trying to wriggle and bite.
Jaskel slapped it again.
"Jaskel, get that lunatic to pull back. The dropship is under heavy assault. NavInt wants us to pull back," the Gunny said.
"TERRAN! WE'RE LEAVING!" Jaskel shouted.
The Terran stopped, facing the bigger one with the red and green eyes.
The Terran held out its first two fingers in a 'V', touched just under his own eyes, then thrust them at the creature, which was still backing up.
"I'll be back for you, smartass," the Terran growled, starting to back up.
Creatures kept lunging out of doorways, dropping from hidden vents, lunging out of ventwork in the walls.
Jaskel barely got turned when one lunged out of a vent, the cover slapping him in the fact, the tentacles wrapping around him. The mouth glommed onto his chest and the body started pulsating.
The armor's defense went live, electricity arcing.
The creature dropped, smoking.
The Terran stomped on it.
Jaskel swallowed, still moving back. He kept shooting with one hand, the power armor's strength allowing him to keep the barrel steady. He just hosed the hallway, no longer concerned about hitting the Terran, who didn't seem to care about the highly caustic lye, the steel penetrator tips, or the kinetic energy.
An obvious robot lunged out and the Terran grabbed it, ripped off its arms, ripped off part of its hull, and then snatched out something that registered as a power-source on Jaskel's armor.
"Got a robot, bringing it back," the Terran rumbled.
Jaskel could see his words on his HUD right afterwards.
"Naw, it'll be fine," the Terran said. It kept reaching in and pulling stuff out. Jaskel saw what looked like bullets, maybe tiny missiles, a six-sided pinkish crystal he knew was one of the best types of crystal to use for blue-shift laser beams.
When Jaskel got to the huge crater, he could see the problem.
Robots and what looked like spiders with cannons on their backs were on the edge of the crater, firing down on the dropship and the troops moving into the dropship.
The Terran paused, lifting up one fist, arm bent and the elbow. He made a cocking motion, his biceps suddenly bulging and lumpy, leveled his fist, and started firing. Jaskel's armor ID'd it as 20mm magac shells.
"Get in the dropship, kid," the Terran said, turning and backing up, sweeping robots off of the lip.
Jaskel hustled to the dropship, noting that the Terran had handed off the gutted robot to another Telkan.
Jaskel ran up the boarding ramp, Captain Nakwel slapped the top of his helmet.
"Nineteen! All accounted for!" the Captain called out.
"Hammer Two Six, fall back, board the dropship," came a perfectly calm voice over Jaskel's radio. "Go garrison form on entry."
The medic onboard the dropship moved up to Jaskel, holding a stasis lock usually used for severed limbs. "In here."
Jaskel frowned, then remembered the creature he was holding. He nodded, shoving it into the opening. The medic closed it and it hissed, frost covering it.
The Terrans started boarding the dropship right as Jaskel heard the ship's point defense cut loose. Jaskel saw them go from huge monstrous looking forms to shrinking down, steaming, into the large Terrans.
They even had their shirts back.
"All loaded!" Captain Nakwel called out.
One by one they got in their seats as the ramp whined up and the side doors slammed shut.
It lifted off and Jaskel leaned back slightly, relaxing in his armor.
--that was fun-- 8814 said.
"Felt like a waste of time," Jaskel said. He closed his eyes. "Wake me if something stupid happens."
--roger roger--
Captain N'Skrek moved into the ready room, going over to his chair and sitting down.
His Command Staff as well as the Terran officers acting as advisors were all sitting down already.
N'Skrek waited a moment, lit a cigarette, then tapped his lighter against the top of the table.
"Sit-rep?" he asked.
"The singularity ignited. It should be stable for roughly ten years. Our Nav-Int complement believes it should slow, maybe even devour any Mar-gite clusters too close," Commodore Brakte'ek said.
N'Skrek nodded.
"Gravity focus lensing, while a good idea, would have kept us here for another four weeks to manufacture and deploy them," Commander KrekNak said. The Kobold tapped the table. "However, with Mar-gite clusters still warping in, the need to backtrack them is becoming more and more obvious."
N'Skrek puffed on the cigarette, then pointed at the hologram of the disabled enemy ship floating in the table's holo-emitter.
"We get anything good off of that hulk before we destroyed it?" he asked, looking at the Science Intelligence Section's Chief Warrant officer.
The Lanaktallan nodded. "Quite a bit of data," he pointed at the holoemitters that were cold and dark on the table. "May I?"
"Of course," N'Skrek said.
The Chief nodded and began typing on the holographic keyboard that sprang up under his lower hands.
The holograms came to life.
Molecular breakdown of the atmosphere on the ship. Molecular breakdown and scans of the interior structural elements. More breakdowns of the ship's armor, superconductor cabling. Finally, four holoemitters held images of the creatures that had defended it.
Only one didn't have a DNA/XNA breakdown underneath it.
"First item: They use steel in their interior construction," CW4 In'tel'lmo'o stated. "Nothing unusual, standard high grade steel. A little heavy on the chromium layer, but that's known to keep phasic energy from sinking into the metal too deeply," he tapped another key and the molecular breakdowns rotated. "Judging from the pieces brought back, the steel is gravity well manufactured, with the imperfections that point to a natural gravity well."
"So, they have planetary logistics and manufacturing centers?" one of the Terrans asked.
In'tel'lmo'o nodded. "Yes. Their manufacturing is not all that impressive in the materials department. The shimmering chrome liquid appearance is a function of their battlescreens, not any memetic polyalloy. That, and their armor is laminate with a chrome layer on the outside just over standard gold."
Everyone just made notes.
"Several of the Terran Monster Class found active data lines. Using induction pads built into their hands, they were able to intercept and observe data flows through superconductor as well as fiber optic," In'tel'lmo'o said. He nodded at Commander Hresket, Chief of the Intel Section. "Cryptography is working on the data."
"First of all, judging by pulsing, it looks like they use base-12 numbering. That gives us plenty of signal to look over," Hresket said.
N'Skrek annotated the information on his VR scratchpad.
The briefing moved into power generation and capability, battlescreen estimates (one of the Terrans had ripped a battlescreen projector free and then tore it apart while his scouter eyepiece had recorded it all), and other technological information.
"The object started bringing its engines online, that was when a recall was transmitted to the dismount team," CW4 In'tel'lmo'o said. "Which moves us to what we've all been waiting patiently through all of the briefing to get here. Everyone knows the prize is at the bottom of the cereal box."
That got light chuckles.
"Four life forms were encountered, as well as six different types of robots and what we believe are three autonomous or semi-autonomous drones," In'tel'lmo'o stated.
Images of the creatures popped up.
"They're XNA. Silicon was the predominate theory, based on the Mar-gite, which we have begun calling the Mar-gite Autonomous Bioweapon. However, data gathered by the Terran infantry showed that they are primarily boron based, with sulfuric running a close second. By what we have observed from life in the galaxy so far, that means that these creatures are native to a highly volcanic region with a high probability," In'tel'lmo'o stated.
He tabbed the big one, with the ten tentacles that ended in three manipulator claws. "This appears to the top of their system. The other four are all based on the same XNA template, just heavy modification. We believe they created, or evolution forced them into, several biological castes."
"Phasic energy is high in this one," the crystalline one shot through with red veins. "This one also has a higher sulfur and phosphorous dependency," he tapped the big one again. "This one also possesses phasic ability."
He tapped the other two. "These appear to be combat," the dark one with the gleaming spurs, then one that had a shiny, chrome-like surface. "This one appears to be primarily engineering and work, with built in manipulators and sensory systems."
There was brief video of the larger one firing off conical phasic bursts that made the misty atmosphere of the corridor ripple and twist.
"Standard waves of force, generated with phasic power," In'tel'lmo'o stated. He pointed one hand at the Terrans seated. "Consulting with those who fought against the Atrekna before the Terran Xenocide Event shows us that the upper life form's phasic abilities are not in the category of the Atrekna."
N'Skrek felt a bit of relief at that.
"Furthermore, consultation with Mantid phasic warfare specialists, we believe that the upper caste, as of what we know at this moment, has less phasic power than a Mantid Warrior or High Speaker," In'tel'lmo'o said.
He sat down, the holograms going dim as the contents were saved to the command staff's data stores.
"As of now, we know more than we did, but now we just know how much we don't know."
N'Skrek nodded. "All right. Excellent briefing," he said. He looked around. "Set our course along Nav-Int's estimate of where the next energizing construct will be."
He clacked his mandibles in amusement.
"Let's keep taking this war to them."
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Hello structuralengineering!
I am working on a project where we are using double CMU firewalls for fire separation. The double fire walls are also load-bearing per the architect's request to avoid double columns. Since we have double walls, I have no issues keeping the structural framing above the foundation completely separate so they could collapse during a fire independently of each other. However, there's no clear guideline regarding a foundation EJ or separate foundation support at a firewall separation. Below are my thoughts for having separate foundations or combined foundations, and I'm curious to get some outside opinions.
Some background info: the foundation system for this project is a slab-on-grade supported by spread and continuous footings. For the most part we are using grade beams as continuous footings (allowed per the geotech report), however, we will likely need strip footings in a few locations where additional overturning and sliding capacity is needed.
Combined Foundations:

• Problem: If both walls bear on the same continuous footing or a shared foundation, if one side of the building collapses during a fire event it would cause torsion to the shared foundation. If that stress is high enough, it could affect/compromise the 2nd fire wall.
• Solutions:
  • Design the shared foundation for the torsion stress
  • Possibly design the firewall connection to the foundation similar to a burn clip to allow the wall to shear off the foundation at high heat - not my favorite option since these walls have pretty tall parapets

Separate Foundations:

• More expensive
• Reduced capacity due to spacing or cantilevered foundation which is also more expensive
• Overkill?

Anyway, I'm interested in hearing your thoughts, and thank you in advance for your help :)

I rewatched Zack Snyder's JUSTICE LEAGUE on Max last week, and something stuck with me. While still a visually impressive film overall, the look of the film is one of the few nitpicks I have with it. The camera work itself is some of the most inventive from any Zack Snyder film. Don't forget that up until 2014, Snyder used to shoot all the footage with one single camera. JUSTICE LEAGUE did show a very dynamic use of camera movement, particularly during the scene in which the League is talking about the Mother box and Superman. The problems with the look of the film are two, and they really affect the end result.

• The color grading: compared to the Hallelujah trailer, the color grading they ended up going with is a bit of a downgrade, in my personal opinion. MAN OF STEEL and BATMAN V SUPERMAN are quite rich in color and contrast, but the grading in JUSTICE LEAGUE doesn't pop up as much. The colors are very washed out, and the contrast and blacks are not as well defined. The details and the grain are all there, but the frames are just not as sharp as in his other films. My first speculation was that after shooting ARMY OF THE DEAD digitally, Snyder liked the look of that film and decided to apply it to JUSTICE LEAGUE as well. The color grading in REBEL MOON really reminded me of the colored version of JUSTICE LEAGUE, where there's a mix of washed out scenes with eye popping laser beams and explosions. Back to the main topic, in most of the scenes at night, the skies look way too bright and the subjects/objects don't feel naturally lit. And the lack of bold blacks makes the clash even more jarring. But there's also the problem of certain shots in which the characters blend a little too much with the backgrounds due to the low contrast, making the shots kind of lack some sense of depth. This is specially evident during the fight sequences at Themiscira and Heroes Park, the scenes at Steppenwolf's base and that scene of the League victoriously waiting for the flying fox.
• The aspect ratio: now before I go any further let me just say that for the most part, I LOVED the 4:3 aspect ratio. It really shines in so many sequences. However, there're some scenes that don't benefit from it. During the scene at the Wayne Aerospace Hangar, the fight at Heroes Park, the ones that take place in the streets, or at night; you really feel the artificial sets and the green screen because you see a lot more information going top and bottom, which can draw away from the focus on the object/subject they're filming.

While it looks way better than the 2017 film, it would've looked so much better if it had the same color grading style as MAN OF STEEL and BATMAN V SUPERMAN. My preferred version overall is the JUSTICE IS GRAY edition. It's not just the movie with a black & white filter. Every frame is meticulously graded and when you compare that version with a quick desaturation of the regular one, they look quite different in terms of lighting and shading. Nonetheless, I absolutely love this movie.