Best evincing the v i b e s from each era.
Some of my best suggestions:
1920s and 30s Howie Morenz with his rather whimsical skill and speed and a kinda magical realist vibe in part due to tragedy
1940s and 50s Maurice Richard with his gritty tough as nails "oh yeah well fuck you wise guy" demeanor and classic silent generation understated manner, scored 5 goals 8 points after moving a house full of furniture hours before
Early 60s Béliveau, my grandfather made a documentary film with him back in the day, every bit the charming low key pro
Late 60s Orr breaking tradition and transforming the paradigm, going from a crew cut to wild shaggy hair perfectly symbolic. Cue simpsons reference.
1970s Guy Lafleur with no helmet, cigarettes on bench, the hair ofc, kinda doofy vibe a bit, an earthy panache
1980s Kent Nilsson. The Magic Man. Even gretz (who, yeah, should be chosen for this) said he was the most skilled player he had ever seen
Early 1990s Jagr mullet. High flying offense. Kinda goofy vibe.
Late 1990s this era sucked. So idk ultimately. No one needed.
Early 2000s Bryan McCabe with spiky hair, limp bizkit vibe, big booming shot, lots of hits, rock em sock em combo, no visor either
2010s Henraaak (iykyk) Lundqvist given his aesthetic and the era of the goalie, but then again most of that was RVH butterfly based while he was pretty old school, so likely Price?
2020s Zegras with chill zoomer vibe, next level fancy trick plays, low key personality, somewhat more sizzle than substance ultimately
2050s Skyyghleur Crosby with his respect of the lizard people, ally of the lizard people, all hail the lizard people

This is a straight to the point buyers guide for people that are wondering if any of the AL ships are worth buying or not. I am here to give you an idea of what's worth, and what's not. I will rank them in descending order for convenience. Keep in mind that these are from my own opinions on the game: my word is not law. These are just my recommendations from my personal experience and a spur of the moment deal personally.

Best Pick: AL Montpelier

This is a premium version of Cleveland, the USN tier VIII CL. However, unlike the later AL premiums, AL Montpelier was unique in at least, a very minor way: She has tighter shot grouping due to a 2.15 sigma versus the standard 2.0 at the cost of slower reload at 0.5 sec slower (7 sec vs 6.5 sec). The result is overall consistent salvos, at the cost of just a little DPM that can be fixed with Adrenaline Rush and Top Grade Gunner, depending on how you build her.
Besides that, she also has un-nerfed version of radar, at a 30 sec vs 27 sec on Cleveland. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but if you run Consumable Enchantments and or Surveillance Radar Mod 1, you have a larger number that the percent based changes will take affect on. Essentially, with both the commander skill and 2nd slot upgrade, you get 39.6 sec vs 35.6 seconds on duration. So a radar build is not bad compared to Cleveland. Besides that, she doesn't have access to the catapult fighter consumable, but that is super seceded by radar and anyways so who cares.
And above all else, it is a Cleveland, which is IMO, a very competitively viable cruiser at tier VIII, with it's very small citadel, thin profile / narrow beam that leads to a lot of over-penetrations, good DPM, good concealment, and good AA. It really only lacks in the speed, gun range, and shell flight time problems, which can be remedied with skill and positioning.
As far as the commander voice acting, Rie Takahashi voices Montpelier. If you do not know who that is or do not care, and just want to know if the commander's voice is annoying or not, then be happy that she isn't overtly grating compared to some of the other commanders you can get. I find her rather composed, cool, and relaxed, fitting the trope of kuudere, if you even know what that means.
TLDR: Premium Cleveland with higher sigma, slightly lower RoF, Longer lasting radar.

Runner Up: AL Sovetsky Rossiya

This is a premium version of Sovetsky Soyuz, the VMF (Soviet Navy) Tier IX BB. Like Montpelier, she is slightly unique to her tech tree counterpart, bar being premium, by having standard battleship dispersion (USN, Royal Navy, German, etc.) instead of Russian BB dispersion formula that gets way better inside 15km. She does also have 1.8 sigma versus 1.7 sigma, for slightly tighter shot grouping. So, while Soyuz excels at mid range, Rossiya excels at long range, which does reasonably well considering the average high tier meta these days.
Other than that, you retain all the upsides of Fast action Damage Control Parties, the tough hull design of the Sovetsky Soyuz. The only other thing you DO NOT get is the AA, as she has the Hull A of Sovetsky Soyuz, and in turn has worse AA overall. In fact, she has such bad AA that only Musashi beats her out in having worse AA for Tier IX battleships. So yeah, CVs that know their targets will have free reign on you, so stick close to allies in CV matches.
Now a I'll be honest with you, Rossiya is not a super competitive BB at tier IX, so this choice is really just down to being different in few ways instead of blatant copy paste. Really, only AL Montpelier is the only super competitive option here. So above all else, Rossiya is a side grade if anything and you should not fear of having FOMO for not getting her. Besides, she's not an historical ship that is going to get removed because it was OP, so fret not (COUGH COUGH MUSASHI, COUGH COUGH ALASKA, COUGH COUGH MISSOURI).
Lastly, the commander is voiced by Manami Numakura. I can really only characterize her as cool, tough, deep voiced anime woman archetype. I dunno really how to explain it that well, so I apologize for anyone that likes her due to my poor description.
TLDR: Premium Sovetsky Soyuz Hull A with 1.8 sigma and standard battleship dispersion.
OK, with those two out of the way, I want to put a disclaimer here that the next ships are purely optional and not super worth it IMO and really only selected for being different than the rest, I.E. not something that is currently offered in other ships / premium ships already in-game.

Optional 1st Pick: AL Prinz Heinrich

This is a premium version of Prinz Heinrich, the tier VII german battlecruiser of the Ersatz Yorck class. She is a 1 for 1 copy of Prinz Heinrich: no special differences here besides premium benefits.
Now, while she is not unique in any way, she is not a bad battlecruiser for tier VII standards. This mainly comes down to the 50mm deck plating she has in a tier wrought with battleships with just 26mm of plating on their decks. Really, any tier VII battleship that has more than 27mm of plating is really competitive in this tier, simply because they don't get overmatched or full-penned by HE. It's sort of why Scharnhorst '43 is so popular and good, since she doesn't get chunked for 10k when hit by 15 in + guns (380mm guns for ya'll metric nerds).
Besides that, she's not slow as hell, going at a decent 28 knots, has 15in guns herself, has fast acting DCP, and is the first ship in the german battlecruisefast battleship line that gets that sweet improved secondary dispersion formula, which despite the 9km max range, means that she has free DPM to let the game play itself essentially. Combined with torpedoes, she can bum rush many slower and weaker battleships that the german battlecruiser line is famous for. And on top of all that, she also has hydro for better pushing to see torpedoes earlier, or push smoked up ships.
Now for some cons, the guns, while using battlecruiser dispersion have an awful 1.5 sigma, so your shot grouping is... bad. Do not be surprised if a lot of your shells in your salvo get a mind of their own. Besides that, she's on the below average end of HP for tier VII, at 56k. Also, she does have 25mm bow and stern. She does have a 30mm extended belt (colloquially known as an ice breaker), which is followed by 120mm extended belt, that protects the lower portion of the ship from overmatch bar 18in guns that she MIGHT face in the likes of Georgia, Sun Yat Sen, Musashi, and Tsurugi, and Adatara. Still, that doesn't mean she is immune from overmatch, as the odd shell can still get through her bow and stern and chunk you, so do not bet on it 100%.
Now that is for the most part, the review. However, for any true fans out there, they know that Prinz Heinrich from AL is actually a P-Class cruiser, AKA Schill in this game. Since Schill was a limited time ship that required whaling for her, and that wargaming dropped the ball and just did "Oh this ship has the same name! Here ya go!" then you know how much this kind of sucks. If you just like Prinz Heinrich, and want her as a premium, you can ignore this tidbit, but for any true fans that DO NOT have Schill, you're shit outta luck.
As far as commander goes, the voice actor, Hiyori Nitta, does a wonderful job characterizing a carefree and bubbly character. As previously mentioned, I recommend putting her on Schill if you really care about game accuracy, that is, if you even had Schill to begin with.
TLDR: Premium Prinz Heinrich copy-paste. Get it only if you really like Prinz Heinrich (the ship) which is actually pretty good for its tier, and want a premium version of it, or Prinz Heinrich as the character.

Optional 2nd Pick: AL Shimakaze

Hoo boy, this one might be controversial. This is a special ship (NOT a premium ship) of IJN DD, Shimakaze.
Shimakaze really needs no introduction. It is the old school torpedo boat that coined the phrase "Torpedo soup" or at least contributed to that phrase. It can put 3x5 23k damage, 12km Type 93 long lance torpedoes into the water. It has some of the best concealment for her tier, getting down to 5.6km surface detect, and good speed at 39 kts (42 kts when speed boost is active). It has been here since the games launch, and well, admittedly, or at least in my opinion, has seen better days.
Still, while some other DDs might have powercrept her a little, you can't mistake the fact that a well played Shimakaze can terrorize a team that lacks the tools to pin her down. Even if that is seldom the case most of the time (48% win rate on NA out of 8 million battles), the ship still has strong tools when played to it's strengths. 23k damage torpedoes are no joke... if you get hit by them at least, as they have a pretty awful average reaction time of ~9.35 sec (according to wows ship builder). Now, this can be sort of remedied with building for torpedo speed, getting torpedo tubes mod 1 and swift fish to decrease that time to ~8.5 sec, but that's still far above the average of 7.8 sec most torpedoes have in other nations. Still, if you get the right angle, devstriking a full HP battleship is not uncommon if you get a perfectly lined up shot. Thing is, it takes WAY more skill and positioning than you think it does, especially considering that most top tier players sort of know what they're doing, and that a lot of top tier ships can run hydroacoustic search these days.
Combined with the fact that she has some of the worse gun DPM of any tier X DD, and has fairly low HP for the tier, it can be fairly hard to play this ship unless you get just the best matchmaking ever. It's a real feast or famine type ship, which I would say summarizes most of the IJN Shimakaze line in general, bar maybe the mid tiers. All this really means is that Shimakaze is NOT the most competitive DD at tier X, as arguably many other nations have better torpedo boats, or better yet, opt for hybrid boats that can defend themselves fairly well, such as the Pan Euro DDs. Still, as mentioned earlier, if played to her strengths, she can be a good ship, but all I am arguing for is that she is not a meta ship, at least in my opinion.
Now, onto the whole Special Ship thing. Yes, this IS a tier X ship that can be bought for money. And YES, this is like the ARP Yamato deal, allowing noob whales to skip to tier X and forgo all the blood sweat and tears that goes into grinding to top tier. And YES, IT'S A SHIMAKAZE, THE TIER X NOOB MACHINE. I DO NOT HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR MANY AL SHIMAKAZE PLAYERS EITHER. With that out of the way, what benefit do you get for getting a special ship version of Shimakaze?
Well, to start, Special ships essentially have the premium bonus package already baked in, I.E: +50% Credits, +100% Ship XP, +100% Commander XP, +100% Free XP. On top of that, you also have a reduced repair cost compared to a standard tier X. Besides that, you can freely swap commanders onto this ship like a premium ship with no retraining required, making it a good trainer. These are the ONLY 2 reasons that make this ship more economically viable compared to Shimakaze. While the bonus package on Shimakaze can achieve 1 of these 3 effects, the other two, reduced repair cost and free commander swapping, puts this above standard Shimakaze as a result.
So, unfortunately, This is a slightly better Shimakaze. So if you REALLY like Shimakaze, and want a premium version of it, well, here it is, for a lot of goddamn money. Like $100+ expensive. Go figure ya know?
Also, the commander is voiced by Saori Hayami.
TLDR: Special Ship verison of Shimakaze. Take if you are a whale have a lot of expendable income to burn, AND really like Shimakaze (The ship), and or really like Shimakaze (the AL character).

Optional 3rd Pick: AL Yukikaze

AL Yukikaze is a similar version of the IJN DD Kagero, but with F8 torpedoes and no option for torpedo reload booster.
Now, this is the last of the semi-unique AL ships, as every other one has been copy-paste. Yukikaze at the very least is different in that she has F8 torpedoes. These differ than Kagero's choice by having less range, (8km vs 10km), higher damage (21k vs 20k), faster reload (104 sec vs 112 sec), and higher speed (76kts to 67kts) which also leads to a better reaction time of ~8.8 sec vs ~9.45 sec.
Now, does this make Yukikaze better? No, not really, as 8km is rather short range for high tier standards. It does make them almost break past ~8 sec reaction time with a full torpedo speed build, the best of any type 93 torpedo, but combined with the fact that it has no other differences in gun handling, DPM, HP, and consumables, I find this shorter ranged torpedo to be a high risk high reward setup, which already exacerbates high tier IJN DD gameplay further than it already is, being so heavily feast or famine.
I can really only recommend this ship if you really like Kagero for whatever reason and really like the 8km F8 playstyle. That and if you like the history of the ship and or like the character of the ship, voiced by Kana Yuuki, despite how annoying and self aggrandizing her character is made out to be.
TLDR: Kagero but 8km F8 torpedoes.
OK, now for the ships I really do not recommend at all for varying reasons. The reviews are going to be more brief from here on out.

Skip 1: AL Cheshire

Only get this if you really, REALLY want to get Cheshire right now. Currently, regular Cheshire is off sale, and cannot be obtained. For whatever reason you think you might need Cheshire, this is the only way to obtain her at the moment in AL form. Which more than likely means that if you want her, you are more than likely a fan of the AL character, as the ship itself is pretty bad. Kind of polarizing given that Cheshire in AL is pretty meta, and her in WoWs she's pretty solidly in D tier for competitiveness.
She is essentially a worse Albemarle, having no Spotter Plane, and garbage DPM for the tier. Really, the 9.2 in guns really only offer 59mm of pen vs 34mm, and better AP pen with overall flatter flight times, but not by much. The armor is Okayish, but trust me when you will get smacked through your bow and stern often, as you have a stepped citadel that if you get overmatched through either direction, you WILL get citadelled. While you get that 50% cit and hull repair party, it really doesn't matter that much when it happens so often, or you just get straight up dev striked. Combined with the lack of spotter plane, that 16km gun range will feel really short, especially when you are bottom tier.
You can at least be happy that the AA she has is up to par in how she is in AL, as it's best in class for her tier. Well, mostly, but her Flak Count is above average at 6+1, and combined with always having defensive fire, I recommend getting the commander skill Focus Fire Training, so you get that +1 flak cloud for 8 in total, which combined with Defensive fires flak buff, those flak bursts will do 7k a pop, Which is the equivalent to instantly destroying about 7 to 3 planes depending on the type if they run into it while DF is active.
Besides that, the commander is voiced by Shizuka Ishigami, and well, pretends to be a catgirl.
TLDR: Get this if you really really, REALLY want Cheshire and you don't have one, or because you really like the AL character.

Skip 2: AL Hornet

This is just Hornet. You can get her cheaper with a 25% discount coupon. It's also a CV, which I imagine is not everyones cup of tea.
The commander is voiced by Nozomi Yamamoto, and personally, I enjoy the happy go lucky characterization she has. This might be the ONLY reason you want to get Hornet, that or because you like the cool skin the ship has, and or the free 10 point commander.
TLDR: Get regular Hornet with 25% discount. ONLY buy this if you love AL Hornet (the character) to pieces.

Skip 3 & 4: AL Azuma and AL Agir

These two are just Agir and Azuma, coal ships, that you can get absolutely for free. They are also not really the best Tier IX cruisers anyways, as Azuma is super vulnerable to battleships, and Agir doesn't match up to the likes of other large cruisers at this tier.
That said, I can only imagine you getting these ships for the same reasons for Hornet, and that is because you are a fan of the AL characterization of these ships, as Azuma is voiced by Kiyono Yasuno, and Agir, Ayane Sakura. Or you just like the ship skins.
TLDR: Get Azuma and or Agir for free with Coal. ONLY buy this if you love AL Agir / AL Azuma (the characters).

BONUS: Commander Pack

Hahaha no. Unless you really love AL and don't mind by dropping... looks at price... 100$+ USD and getting a ton of fully voiced commanders, then go for it. The only other reason would be because you are a fresh player and need 10 point commanders for most of the nations in this game, which is really only useful if you need say concealment expert on destroyers for example, then sure, go for it if you find that to be an OK option.

Fletch gently pushed open the large and lavishly decorated bronze doors of the university administration building and ambled out into the portico. He set his cup of coffee down on the pedestal of a granite pillar and pulled his cigarette case from the breast pocket of his tan trench coat. The old chief inspector plucked a cigarette from the ornately engraved case with slender fingers and wondered why the Kael let him come at all.
Something felt very off with the whole thing. The more he thought about it, the more he questioned the story he got. Mike Anderson was certainly depressed, but as far as Fletch could tell, he had not displayed any suicidal behavior. And why now? Fletch thought. Things were on the upswing for the kid. His grades were excellent, his family situation was good, and he was out of the house more this term than the last. Fletch scratched his mustache. Why would the seals hide the autopsy and the gun? He brought the cigarette to his lips, snapped the filigreed case shut, and slipped it back into the breast pocket of his coat. Fletch flicked open his lighter and sighed as he lit his cigarette. Murder.
It was a hopeless case. These days, warrants were approved by the seals, and even if they weren't, he doubted that he could get one anyway. His suspicion of foul play was backed by nothing but his instinct.
Fletch watched students hustle and bustle through the plaza in front of him as he puffed away at his cigarette and pondered his theory.
But why kill him now? They could have done it in complete secrecy while he was a POW. And it couldn’t be to keep what happened in Philadelphia under wraps. His death brings more attention to it. And he wasn’t a rebel. So why? Fletch sipped at his coffee as he flicked ash from his cigarette. Vengeance? Did he kill some noble brat during the war?
Fletch scratched at his grey mustache and glanced at his watch. I’ll have to follow that thread. He tossed his half-smoked cigarette into a puddle as he briskly walked down the steps and through the university plaza.
The withered investigator was deep in thought when he entered the parking lot. What do I tell that Enrique chap? He unlocked his car and crawled in. I certainly can’t tell him that his mate’s been clipped with no evidence. Fletch turned the key, and the engine of his little Volvo sputtered to life. It’s no bleeding use. I’ll just tell the lad they weren’t interested in sharing and keep my suspicions to myself.
As he reached for the shifter, Fletch noticed a delightfully thick manilla envelope stuck in the gap between the center console and the passenger seat.
He pulled the envelope from the crack. Gingerly, he opened it and pulled out a small note. It read We’re even now, prick.
Fletch smiled and couldn’t help but mutter, “The game is afoot,” as he flicked through the stack of documents inside.
Isabella poked her head into the large office and saw Professor Dret’la with a ball of dark green yarn on her lap and bone darning needles beset with carvings in her hands.
Isabella was struck with confusion. What? She crochets!?
The professor looked up from her labor, spotted the confused girl outside her door, and called, “Come in.”
Isabella walked into the office and took a seat. She gestured to the yarn in the professor's hands. “What are you making?”
The professor smiled as motherly as one could with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. “It will be a hat for my son. He just received his commission as a junior biologist, so he has to rummage around in freezers to get samples for his whole research team.”
Isabella blinked. This was not characteristic at all for the quick-tempered professor with a penchant for launching chalk across lecture halls at the mildest provocation.
Isabella shook off her shocked expression and gave the tall professor a dimpled cheek smile. “That’s so sweet! I’m sure he’ll love it. One of the best gifts I’ve ever received was a thick wool sweater from my mamma during a training exercise off the coast of Norway.”
The professor, still smiling, sat up straight. “I hope that’s the kind of reception I get.”
The professor’s demeanor hardened as she stowed the yarn and needles in the desk drawer. “Now, let's get down to business.”
Isabella gulped.
“To start, congratulations. You’ve passed our testing and been selected for officer training.”
Isabella asked, “Who else was selected?”
“There are nine others: Robert Rhodes, Elena Pavel, Hal Jellico, Zheng Li, Brooke Halsey, Colow Aden, Magnus Tordenskjold, Bill Lee, and Kazuya Yamamoto.”
Isabella didn’t recognize all the names.
“Should you choose to accept, you will be taking a prep course taught by Colonel Ocidea and I starting next week and lasting all through the summer. If we deem you ready, you’ll ship out for basic training and then off to the Royal Military Academy, where you can earn your commission.” Dr. Dret’la leaned in close to Isabella. “Do you accept?”
Without hesitation, Isabella answered, “Yes.”
“Mike, come over here. You’re going to want to see this.” Calty voiced from her seat in the front of the cockpit.
Mike rolled off the couch and walked into the front of the cockpit as the captain shouted, “Decelerate!” Mike couldn’t help but grab onto the back of Calty’s seat as the FTL drive kicked into gear. The cockpit glass dimmed just before blindingly bright blue jets of fire from the front-facing engines came into view. A bright green circle flickered onto the glass surrounding a marble-sized dot darker than the rest of the now dim screen. The dots and circles expanded at an extreme pace until they took up most of the display. Another dot appeared—minuscule compared to the other—surrounded by a red circle. The growth of the shadowy dots and the circles around them slowed and then stopped entirely as the engines sputtered out.
The HUD faded out of view, and the tint of the glass slowly lightened, revealing a vast planet embraced by blue-green ice with a colossal foundry in its orbit. The planet, a gas giant called Drassus, was orbited by four rings. One was made of containers, and the other three were made up of loose ore gleaming in the nearby star's light. Exhaust chimneys spewing gas and fire sprouted from the otherwise spherical foundry, giving it a sea urchin-like profile, which, together with the weave of pipes bringing fuel from beneath the icy surface of the planet below, made the foundry resemble an old naval mine.
The captain strode up to the front of the cockpit. “One-third ahead and steer 14 degrees left. We’re unloading in bay three.”
Six mech suits and a tug exited a plasma-shielded hanger as the ship came to a halt. The mechs glided to the front of the ship and started dismounting the external cargo bay from the Broken Fin while the tug hitched onto the opposite end of the ten-kilometer-long rack of containers.
A little while later, the tug pulled away with the load of containers, and the comm system blared to life. “Broken Fin, you are cleared to leave. The UO corporation thanks you for your business.”
The captain replied, “Our pleasure. Broken fin out.” as the ship pulled out of the loading bay.
He turned to the navigation officer and said, “Lock in coordinates for jump to Kael Prime.”
The captain went to the central control board and pulled up traffic control. “Tower 1, this is the Broken Fin. We request a jump slot to Kael Prime from Drassus.”
“Broken Fin, request granted. Your departure slot is at 16:33.”
Mike glanced at the top right of the ship's HUD and looked at the time. 16:21.
Better get my stuff together…
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The ship shuddered ever so slightly despite the inertial dampeners as it exited FTL. Mike was lounging on the couch with his bag at his feet. He was ready to get off this tub.
Mike idly watched flames lick at the cockpit window as the ship descended into the atmosphere of Kael Prime. He looked at Dreki, who was sitting on the other couch. His muscles bulged through his clothes despite wearing a white sweater so large it could be mistaken for the sail of an average-sized boat. Mike asked, “Do you know anything about what’ll happen to me now?”
The big Kael shifted in his seat. “Technically, I’m not supposed to tell you anything, but what the hell.” Dreki pulled the collar of his sweater down, revealing an angry white number burnt into his iron-gray skin just below the collarbone. “First, you’ll get branded.” He released his shirt and pointed to a small scar on the side of his head. “Then you’ll get an AR implant.”
“Where will I be getting that?” Mike asked.
“The Imperial Science Academy. We’re going to be staying there for a few days. They’ll run a bunch of tests and get you fitted for equipment there. After that, I’ll drop you off at the spaceport, and you’ll be off to Tlaxcalssus for basic training. After that, I don’t know.”
“Thanks.”
The ship shook as it touched down on the landing pad. “Time to go.” Dreki shouldered his pack and walked out the door. Mike fiddled with the straps of his bag as he followed Dreki down the ramp and to the far side of the ship, away from the rest of the passengers. Mike's nose was immediately assaulted with the acrid smell of sulfur from where the fiery exhausts of engines had melted asphalt. The spaceport was swarming with vehicles and filled with the constant roar of ship engines and a symphony of smaller equipment. Power loaders and mechs loaded and unloaded heavy cargo, shuttles bustled to and fro with passengers, baggage carriers snaked through the crowded landing pads, and vehicles that looked like floating garage doors zipped through the air at ankle height, bringing pilots and crew to their ships. Mike couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the absurdity of it all. Here he was, in the heartland of the enemy, walking through what was essentially a ten-acre parking lot.
Dreki plopped his bags on the ground and yawned as he stretched his arms over his head. “Our skiff will be here in a minute.”
Mike tuned out the beeps and whirrs of the tank-sized forklifts and mechs unloading the ship and gazed out beyond at the horizon. You’re not in Kansas anymore, bub. Mike thought as he studied the skyline of the imperial city basked in the glow of the early evening sun. Some of the buildings wouldn’t look all that out of place on Earth, but the skyline was assaulted with abominations that pissed on the laws of physics as Man understood them. Tusk-shaped skyscrapers defied gravity with their seemingly unsupported curves, and even more absurd were pyramids stacked atop another point-to-point like hourglasses. Any delusion of normalcy that Mike could come up with was shattered.
Dreki picked up his bag and pointed to a slab of black marble speeding towards them at ankle height. “Here’s our skiff.” A railing popped out of the center as the skiff came to a gliding halt. Dreki boarded the skiff and took hold of the rail, and Mike followed suit.
They sped through the spaceport and stopped outside what looked to Mike like a train station. Dreki shouldered his bag and stepped off the skiff. Mike stepped off and quickly fell in pace with Dreki. The big Kael led Mike into a grand station bustling with people. Most were Kael, but there was a smattering of other species. Some stared at Mike, others glanced, but most completely ignored him as he followed Dreki through the hall and onto a platform. Unfamiliar aliens clearly weren’t an uncommon sight here.
The walls of the station were covered with mosaics depicting Kael warriors from the distant past. Dreki noted the human's curiosity and said, “The founders of the clans.” He leveled a massive hand toward an opulent, towering mosaic of a Kael warrior wielding a bronze falx. The imposing figure's body was made of blue gemstones, the eyes rubies, one tusk silver, and the other gold. “That’s the founder of my clan, Drekalla Gold Tusk.”
Mike asked, “How’d he manage that?” As he followed Dreki into a mostly empty train car.
Dreki plopped down on a bench. “He was the war priest of Hroptaug the Conqueror during the unification wars. After the wars were won, Hroptaug granted us the Steam Hills.” Dreki pointed through the train window at the mosaic of another warrior whose body was made of milky white pearls. “That one,” He paused and spat on the floor, “Tiblan the Terror, challenged Drekalla to a duel for most of that land. Drekalla was cutting him to pieces, but the craven poisoned his blade. Just before Drekalla could deliver the final blow, the poison reached his heart, and Drekalla died. The only wound on his body was a cut across his forearm that barely drew blood.” Dreki rolled up his sleeve, showing a scar that reached from his elbow to the middle of his forearm. “Every K’alla is cut the same way to remind us of the blood feud.”
Mike inwardly sighed. Kael and their damned feuds… “How long ago was this.”
“Seven thousand four hundred and fifty-one years ago.”
Mike held back a snort. The absurdity of it all. The first human law codes came about to stop blood feuds, and out here, they have feuds that have lasted longer than Earth's recorded history.
“How’s that feud been going as of late?”
Dreki’s face sagged, “Not good.”
They both grew quiet. Mike shuffled uncomfortably.
Mike glanced at the route display and broke the silence, “What's with the middle city, inner city thing?”
Dreki relaxed slightly. “Oh, so the city used to be a fortification. The inner city is actually a volcanic island. The middle is built over the river, and the outer city was built on the banks.”
“I see.”
The doors closed, and the intercom sounded, “Next stop, the inner city.”
Dale Robert’s wrinkled face was unreadable, and his highly decorated black and blue dress uniform immaculate as he led a horse through the street. He felt the eyes of thousands of onlookers on him, and he hated it. The pure black horse had a black leather saddle on its back. Two tall, glossy black boots were placed backward in silver stirrups, and the elaborate hilt of Mike’s basket-hilted broadsword jutted from the top of a black leather scabbard buckled to the saddle. Roberts followed the horse-drawn caisson bearing the flag-draped coffin of his old commanding officer. Not much farther now, he thought. The sounds of the cartwheels rolling and the horse’s tack jangling were wholly drowned out by boots stamping the ground in unison. Almost all of the 1800 survivors of the 801st regiment were there, resplendent in their dress uniforms, marching behind Mike one more time. The local police and fire departments joined them.
Roberts was unsure about it all. He felt that the poor kid's family would have preferred a smaller service back home in Colorado instead of this damn near royal procession. And Roberts was damn sure that the seals did not give their permission for this, no matter what the police chief said.
A reporter ducked through the police barricade and tried to ask the marching soldiers questions, but they remained stone-faced as the procession marched nearer to the gates of Philadelphia National Cemetery. Roberts handed the reigns of the riderless horse to another man in uniform and joined seven other members of Charlie platoon in pulling the casket from the cassion. They silently began their march to the grave, closely followed by General McCarthy, the man who was Joint Chief of Staff, and the color guard. Bagpipers began to blare, “Going Home.” Roberts heard the sound of gravpulse engines and looked up in dismay as a Kael gunship broke through the low clouds and descended to just barely above the cemetery. A loudspeaker blared, “Disperse at once.”

https://preview.redd.it/lityiyfgwu0d1.png?width=780&format=png&auto=webp&s=a45dbc871919b410046bbebef2b9058fd446bde1

Phoenix Suns

Incoming: Davion Mitchell
Outgoing: Nassir Little + 2024 #22 PHO first
Important Questions/Points:

• Nassir Little has 3yrs/$21.75M left on his deal. (Spotrac)
• Suns were previously interested in Davion. (Yahoo)
• Suns are actively looking to combine their 2024 and/or 2031 picks with either Nassir Little or Jusuf Nurkic. (Evan Sidery Twitter) (The Athletic)
• Thanks to 2nd apron, the Suns cannot take in more salary than they are sending out and also cannot combine other players salaries to get a player with a larger salary. This limits their player pool to players less than Nassir Little's $6.7M or Jusuf Nurkic's $18.125M.
• Do the Suns want to trade their only big body center on the roster in Nurkic or lightly used Nassir Little?
• Is Davion the best player making less $6.7M they can get with the #22 pick and Nassir Little? How much does the remaining 3y$21.75M of Little's contract decrease the value of this year's first round pick?

Sacramento Kings

Incoming: Deni Avdija + 2024 #22 first
Outgoing: Davion Mitchell + Chris Duarte + 2024 #13 first + 2027 top-5 protected first
Important Questions/Points:

• Deni is 23-year-old 6'9" wing with an improved shot, good passing skills, and is an excellent rebounder for his size.
• Deni averaged 14.7/7.2/3.8 (ppg/rpg/apg) with 37.4 3P% on 3 attempts including 17.1/8.9/3.9 after the all-star break.
• Deni Avdija has 4y$55M remaining on his contract which descends and has an 13.75M average. (Spotrac)
• Deni scored a career-high 43 points and had a season high 15 rebounds against the Pelicans last year.
• What is the best player the Kings can get with this year's #13 pick, another first, and matching salary?
• Does keeping Kevin Huerter and Harrison Barnes make a difference? Could they be flipped later?
• What is the best return they can get for Davion Mitchell? Would they rather keep Davion and extend him?

Washington Wizards

Incoming: 2024 #13 SAC first + 2027 top-5 protected SAC first + Nassir Little + Chris Duarte
Outgoing: Deni Avdija
Important Questions/Points:

• WAS is looking to acquire a 3rd first rounder in this year's draft. (USA Today)
• Is two firsts including a lottery pick this year and a potential lottery pick in 2027 plus matching salary enough for Deni?
• Chris Duarte is an expiring contract.
• WAS has an outstanding pick to NYK that is top-10 protected next year and top-8 protected in 2026. It converts to 2 seconds if not conveyed in 2026. WAS does not want to convey that pick according to an Athletic article I read earlier this year. They plan on being bad the next 2-3 years.
• WAS saves $2.9M this year and approximately $33M over the course the next 4 years.

View Poll

How do I choose the barbed wire bat, light tube or doors in universe matches? When I go to edit match when I’m at the wrestler selection screen I press y then I can choose the referee, the announcer and a couple of other things but no weapon wheel like you do when you create a custom match, even if I choose and extreme rules option I don’t see it, what am I doing wrong?

People keep ignoring that the best LLM's are 0.1% the size of the human brain, trained on 0.1% of the data of the human brain, largely trained on 1 modality, we have 5, and given no time to think. A house mouse brains is literally bigger(1 trillion synapses) or at least comparable than the best models.
Now GPT-4o has been released, it has more modalities, way faster and even better. When will people realize?We can add even more modalities to it like: Video(continually embedding images/pixels only which fluctuations), 3D(possibly utilizing gaussian splatting), Weather(herein: temperature ,wind ,pressure, air quality(several molecules), sea level, gravitational waves, amino acids, protein structures, .video games(each video game can kind of count as its own modality, and can help both as simulators, embodiment, but also as learning to think) and I can keep going. Some might seem crazy but they are not they all help make the models converge to a perfect world model, as well as thinking and reasoning about abstract representations.
These models can compress huge amount of data down to a much smaller size, you don't just do that magically, u need to create abstract representation(like how light shines and bounces) to utilize and chain together to create stuff like a specific image. These models learn similarities between all kinds of stuff, even stuff we might never have thought of, which is why a huge amount of data and different modalities are crucial, even if a modality might seem unconventional.
We have all the data in the world. The best models are trained on 15 trillion tokens which is 44GB tokenized, but YouTube has 1.500.000.000GB of data alone.It is all about how much is enough now, not if it is possible, but of course these systems will start gaining superhuman abilities before we reach full ASI, and many tasks don't need anything near human-level intelligence.
There are skeptics that I respect the opinion of like Yann Lecun. I don't have any problems with object driven ai, and think Jepa is both really promising for world model building as well as efficient search, but he admits it himself(in Lex Fridman podcast), the problem is really just that generative architectures is a very inefficient way, and has several problems. But still generative architectures def. have perks in how easy it is to modify, utilize, RL etc. Still there are many things being worked on that will help it, even simple ones like multi token prediction or token level search, and still these are just efficiency gain and not a bottleneck. Q* is of course one such attempt, which is why ASI might be closer than it appears :).
Also if u think confabulations/hallucinations are an inherent problem, don't even bother u clearly don't understand anything.

The year is 1261 since the founding of the Galactic Hegemonic Alliance. The Hegemony united the warring factions of the galaxy out of the Dark Age that preceded it. Near the center of the galaxy lies the seat of the Hegemon, who rules with the Grand Council—a consortium of powerful families, greedy merchant Guilds that control entire categories of technology, and the heads of powerful state-sanctioned Cults. The Procyon sector, however, is too many jumps away from the Core to matter to those important players. There are a few well-mapped Hyperspace lanes, four systems, and jumpgates to more and less fortunate parts of known space. This far out, there is less of a Hegemonic presence, and local powers include pirate queens, criminal syndicates, and legitimate corporate interests. The worlds here are peppered with ruins of the Ur—an ancient civilization officially referred to as the Precursors—and mystics claim the flow of the Galactic Way lines are strong in the sector. Humans and aliens live and work side by side in common interest against both Hegemonic rule and the organized criminals that prey on the weak.
​
This game will be using Discord for voice, and Foundry for the VTT.
Hey all! I'm Star (they/them), and I'm a long time player looking to finally get into GMing games and I want to run some sci-fi business in Forged in the Dark! Scum & Villainy is a FitD game about being a crew of space weirdos who scrape by from one job to the next. Very Star Wars, Firefly and Cowboy Bebop.
Right now, I'm personally leaning toward an Andor-inspired game of building up a rebellion against the Hegemony. But there's room for all flavor of sci-fi and we can figure that out when we get there, and this system is designed around everyone having input in the world and story!
Smugglers and scoundrels? Check. Bounty hunters and mercs? Yup. Rebels and criminals? Absolutely. These are all things we can do!
As I said, I'm completely new to GMing and Im gonna be figuring this out as I go so bear that in mind! FitD games are very prep light, but improv heavy. This'll range from jobs I've very lightly prepped, to ones we come up with on the fly or generate randomly. I really want to lean in on 'play to find out what happens'. This is really gonna put my improv skills to the test, so I'm hoping the players will be willing to help me out a bit and pitch in to the narrative and world wherever they feel comfortable. I'm gonna be having to think on my feet a lot here so just know that lol. New players are totally welcome along for the ride. I plan to run at least 3-5 sessions of this before deciding whats next. If its real good, maybe we just keep playing!
As this is going to be a Forged in the Dark game, I'm looking for players who:
- Want to work with narrative power. We'll be building this world together as we go, aside from the stock game setting. FitD works on the understanding that we're all going to be pitching into this story and world. This is your story to tell as much as it is mine.
- Want to get deep in character. I love in character roleplaying and dialogue, and this will be a good part of the game. Combat is extremely streamlined and there is no initiative, so expect a lot of character work!
- Are willing to buy in to the story and help me do some of the improv work. You wanna name the bar we're going to? Sure! Wanna come up with a new planet on the fly? Why not! Got a cool idea for an NPC? Lets hear it!
- Are willing to be patient with a new GM in an improv heavy system lol
​
Im looking to run this on Sunday or Wednesday at(or slightly around) 7pm CDT. If we get enough people quickly enough, we'll have a session 0 on the 19th or 22nd. Otherwise, we'll start on the 26th or the 29th!
Interested? Here's a survey!
https://forms.gle/9DXg5vzJmJaogcir7

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The raucous shouts of "Shut up, you!" and "This is unfair!" echoed through the training courtyard, the dissonant chorus of accusations slicing through the heavy tension blanketing the scene.
‎
Angry fists shook towards the sky as voices strained with indignation.
‎
"I'm against it!" another irate voice barked, the words laced with resentment.
‎
The cluster of female disciples surrounding Song Jia instinctively shifted their attention towards the source of the outcry - Ji Wuye.
‎
Silk robes swirling, they coalesced into a defensive ring around the slender young man, their lithe forms offering sanctuary as if he were a delicate treasure to be shielded.
‎
This protective display by the sisterhood drew disdainful sneers from the male disciples observing nearby, their faces contorting with frustration at such a perceived imbalance.
‎
Even the imposing Wu Gao, garnet eyes narrowing to slits beneath his furrowed brow, found his lips curling into a derisive smirk at the spectacle unfolding before him.
‎
Qin Bai, however, maintained an inscrutable expression, seemingly unfazed by the growing chaos. His keen senses detected movement within the guarded inner circle - the unmistakable glint of intense crimson irises peering out defiantly through a gap in the sisterly barricade.
‎
"If you're a man, Ji Wuye, don't hide behind women!" The mocking jeer erupted from Qin Bai's subordinates as they hurled taunts with callous glee, deliberately goading the male disciples into confrontation.
‎
Scathing laughter, coarse and mocking, joined the fracas.
‎
"What a coward! Step up and face the challenge, Junior!" The derisive jeers rained down in a torrent of scorn.
‎
"Ji Wuye... the flower of Kunlun sect... what an apt nickname. Flowers are delicate, just like his hands. I doubt he's ever held a jian properly!" They spared no venom in their insults, voices dripping with cruel mockery.
‎
The Sisters shielding Ji Wuye bristled with anger at such shameless provocation, a tempest of fury swirling in their eyes.
‎
One particularly zealous defender, fingers wrapped gently yet firmly around Ji Wuye's slender wrist as if cradling spun glass, shouted in outrage.
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"Such shameless behavior! You know Brother Ji is the wea- I mean not yet matured, yet you still challenge him?" Indignation burned hot in her words.
‎
Another joined her rallying cry, protective instincts flaring, "Not only that, Qin Bai is a 2nd realm martial artist, while Brother Ji is only 1st realm. Is that fair to all of you?" Her eyes flashed dangerously as she exposed the injustice.
‎
"You probably just wanted to take out your frustration from losing to Sister Song on Brother Ji!" They accused their tormentors, defensive solidarity palpable.
‎
While the chaos swirled, Song Jia, Lian Ruogang and Wu Gao remained curiously silent observers, eyes locked intently upon the figure of Ji Wuye amidst the maelstrom surrounding him.
‎
In an unexpected turn, the Sister grasping Ji Wuye's wrist felt her fingers suddenly enveloped by a firm yet gentle grip. Startled, she twisted back to find herself meeting an intense crimson gaze, instantly entranced by the ethereal voice that caressed her senses.
‎
"Big Sister, I truly appreciate all of you for defending me, but the people are right," Ji Wuye's words carried a soft, soothing timbre as he gently disentangled her hand from his wrist.
‎
As his gaze lowered to meet her blushing face, a warm, sincere smile graced his lips - not mocking in the slightest but filled with tender affection to ease her worries.
‎
The young woman's heart raced as heat bloomed across her cheeks, crimson blossoming brighter with each passing heartbeat under his radiant attention.
‎
"However, as a man and a martial artist, dignity is of utmost importance, so Sisters..." Ji Wuye's request was uttered politely yet resonated with quiet strength, that same disarming smile never wavering, diffusing hostility through sheer warmth and understanding.
‎
Ji Wuye's poised response in the face of such unrestrained provocation drew murmurs of admiration from onlookers.
‎
The surrounding Sisters visibly swayed, utterly captivated by the unexpected charisma and inner resilience lying just beneath his tender demeanor.
‎
"I-I understand, Junior!" One disciple stammered, already falling under the spell of his quiet charm. The remaining Sisters, blushes staining their cheeks, seemed to drift into a dreamy reverie sparked by the vision of masculine grace before them.
‎
From her vantage point, Lian Ruogang let out an audible tsk, rolling her eyes as a faint smile played across her lips. "What a player," she remarked wryly under her breath.
‎
A hush descended over the gathered crowd as all watched Ji Wuye approach not Qin Bai but the imposing Wu Gao instead, cupping his hands in a deferential gesture.
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"Senior Brother Wu, please..." The earnestness in Ji Wuye's entreating voice hung in the courtyard air like a resonant bell chime.
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Wu Gao's furrowed brow softened as he regarded the younger man, raising a broad hand to pat his shoulder firmly.
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"Hmm...that's the Brother I know!" His gruff words carried an unmistakable note of pride as he turned his steely gaze out towards the assembled disciples. "Once again, I must remind both of you, killing is not allowed in this spar."
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The crowd parted ways like a sea of silk, clearing a wide circular space at the center of the training courtyard and allowing Ji Wuye and Qin Bai to take their places upon this makeshift stage.
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Ji Wuye's expression was one of solemn determination, a stark contrast to the mocking smirk already twisting Qin Bai's lips.
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"Heh, Brother Ji, how's your training?" Qin Bai inquired in a tone laced with undisguised condescension. He tilted his head back, eyes narrowing as he looked down his nose at this flower of Kunlun with patent disdain.
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Rather than bristling at the insult, Ji Wuye's face transformed, the solemn mask shattering as a playful smirk blossomed across his features.
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"Thanks to your interference, Brother Qin, Senior Sister is quite upset that I arrived late," he countered with a light, teasing cadence.
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The arrogant Qin Bai flinched almost imperceptibly at the retort, eyes flickering towards Lian Ruogang's figure observing from the sidelines. Relief visibly washed over him as he registered her impassive, indifferent expression.
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"Well then, let's see what a 'flower boy' can do," Qin Bai sneered, his mocking words dripping with disdain as he and Ji Wuye each retrieved one of the wooden practice swords proffered by Wu Gao.
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"Begin!" Wu Gao's gruff bellow signaled the start of the match.
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As the two combatants launched into their opening stances, a collective inhalation of shock rippled through the gathered crowd. Widened eyes focused in rapt astonishment on the spectacle unfolding before them.
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A subtle warmth seemed to permeate the air, causing the fine hairs on exposed skin to rise with a subtle tingling sensation.
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This was the unmistakable manifestation of Qin Bai's strange display of ability, surprisingly instead from his wooden sword, his Qi being forcibly manipulated and projected outward. The confident young man's face split into a mocking grin as he reveled in flexing his power.
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"Hahaha, let's see if you can withstand this, hahaha!" Peals of arrogant laughter erupted from Qin Bai's lips, the sound so jarring and out of place that even Wu Gao and Lian Ruogang creased their brows in disapproving frowns.
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I'm thinking of starting a small pond for goldfish. We have a trickle fountain in our backyard it's about 35-40 gallons, I'm thinking of adding a couple of lionchu in it.

• how many lionchu do you recommend I should raise?
• which pump and filter should I install?
• Can I use my existing 300 gph pump that use a 1/2" tube?
• Should I install a filter with UV light?
• How often do I need to clean the filter?
• Will the pond have algae bloom once I add goldfish?

Greetings, fellow travellers of the enchanting world of Sky: Children of the Light! ✨
Looking for a vibrant and engaging community to connect with other players, participate in fun events, and share your love for the game? Look no further! We invite you to join our Sky: Children of the Light Community Discord server, where the light of friendship shines brightly.
Our discord server just started and was born from a group that started doing eden together weekly. Those were really fun times and thought why not expand that!
🌟 What We Offer:

• Exciting weekly events, Such as Eden, candle/WL runs and way more upcoming!
• Creative roles like "Event Luminary" and "Social Lightbringer" for members to shape the community.
• Friendly and inclusive atmosphere where all players of all ages are welcomed and celebrated.
• Engaging discussions, game tips, and a place to share your adventures with like-minded Sky travelers.
• A fun time x3

Come be a part of our growing community and embark on new adventures together! Simply click the link below to join us in spreading the light and joy of Sky: Children of the Light.
Join us here: https://discord.gg/hRRe9Hm5Nx
See you among the stars!✨

So Sunday I'm at work tired af. Just generally out of it going through the motions. I'm in a crawl space door and someone frantically calls my name for help and I jolt my head up and hit the top of it. It hurt. I kept working. Remember everything after and before. My head feels tender af though in the area. I don't have trouble or headaches from screens or anything. I have concussions in the past and I know how they feel.
Thing is I kickbox so I'm never 100 percent honestly. I sparred yesterday and didn't have any worsening symptoms. There's just pressure on my head where I got hit. Is that just the nerves muscles and such on my scalp? Like I said I do full contact competition and train frequently. I almost always feel some type of pressure and pain in my face but never cognitive concussion fog. So it's hard for me to gauge when I'm concussed. If you put a normal non active person into my body they may notice tons of things that aren't "right" so it's really hard for me to tell when an actual very minor concussion occurs because when I've had concussions.. you know, can't do anything but sleep, loss of apetite, exercise feels bad not good, can't read, forget things and so forth.
I've always just thought if you get hit in your head and don't have those things it's not a concussion but your head still has nerves skin and bone like any other body part so just because it's a non concussion doesn't mean you won't be tender. Just like a hard bang to the knee, it will hurt maybe bruise but that doesn't mean you tore your acl. Like I said it's just hard for me to tell, because in football,hockey,boxing sports like this they say a player is never 100%. So you get used to daily pain that others would notice. My pain threshold is high. I don't even feel hits to the head like normal people do I've taken back to back hits and it's just another day to me so a bump on the door frame isn't going to be anywhere on pain scale for me.
Doctors are kind of more lax than you'd think on concussions. Maybe I'm hard headed but I've taking some blows where doctors were sure something was up but my cognitive ability is clean. Like I said when I've had concussions you knew. The event felt like a flash any time it was a concussion. Like for instance I see fist fast forward I'm getting up. In bed all week mad and irritable. Light is annoying even angering. Didn't get any of that this week

Lighting wise, I’m aiming to have a top scrim with a half (should it be full?) silk rigged to a gantry and some skirts to cut light. Either some LEDS above that or some space lights on a dimmer. Also using some Some tubes to spin on a C stand boom for revealing shots of details. I was also going to have some black out on a Tbar or frame to rig behind me when I’m shooting as well some polys for bounce and maybe another 8x8 silk with a 1200D behind it as extra fill.
I have an option of using a studio with a huge scrim above that you can bounce lights into like a book light, but my concern is that it’s too hard to then control spill, etc. the scrim is the size of the whole studio.
In terms of camera, I was going to shoot on an FX6 on a zoom lens for the most part, I figured some telephoto would come in handy for trying to avoid being too close and getting reflections. If rigging tracks for camera movement is too expensive, would using a gimbal and or jib be enough to get controlled movement? I was thinking a 6ft Dana Dolly would be a big help to have too.in terms of filtration, would a polariser be handy for cutting reflections?
Looking forward to any insights and tips. Thanks!

System: BREAK!! with some monster Homebrew.
BREAK!! is a new TTRPG system inspired by old video games and anime. It is rather rules light compared to D&D, but with that comes more openness and systems to push for more rule of cool. If invited, Ill share the PDF in a google drive.
Time: Starts at 1pm EST and will last about 4 Hours
VTT: Roll 20 for Maps and Character creation, and Voice Chat via Discord
Difficulty: New players to TTRPGs and BREAK!! are welcome.
Other: LGBT+ Friendly. Age 20+ (Tho, No Mature Content)
Monster Hunter inspired, Colossus slaying one shot. Starting with a group of Rank 4 adventurers, explore a monsters habitat learning the land to use whatever advantage you can get against these massive creatures. Once slain, Rank up, take some downtime, craft new gear, and prep for the next hunt. This will mostly be Combat with some Exploration. Roll20 Link here: https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/398959/break-some-monsters

Greetings, fellow travellers of the enchanting world of Sky: Children of the Light! ✨
Looking for a vibrant and engaging community to connect with other players, participate in fun events, and share your love for the game? Look no further! We invite you to join our Sky: Children of the Light Community Discord server, where the light of friendship shines brightly.
Our discord server just started and was born from a group that started doing eden together weekly. Those were really fun times and thought why not expand that!
🌟 What We Offer:

• Exciting weekly events, Such as Eden, candle/WL runs and way more upcoming!
• Creative roles like "Event Luminary" and "Social Lightbringer" for members to shape the community.
• Friendly and inclusive atmosphere where all players of all ages are welcomed and celebrated.
• Engaging discussions, game tips, and a place to share your adventures with like-minded Sky travelers.
• A fun time x3

Come be a part of our growing community and embark on new adventures together! Simply click the link below to join us in spreading the light and joy of Sky: Children of the Light.
Join us here: https://discord.gg/hRRe9Hm5Nx
See you among the stars!✨

hello guys i have a big problem and i need some 1 to give me a solve , im a valo player and i was d1 with a Chinese mouse and before months i bought g203 its so heavy (83g) and i lost my rank and my aim (im now p1) i need something to light my mouse

Is this a brand new build, or an upgrade to an existing build?

Brand New

Please list any existing parts or monitor(s) you have that you would like to re-use with this build. For upgrades, a PCPartPicker list of your full build is extremely helpful. Be as specific as you can be here, including links or exact model numbers of each component whenever possible.

I Have NOTHING.

What will this PC be used for? Examples include things like gaming, general/multimedia use, photo/video editing, coding, Al/ML, etc. Include specific games and applications you intend to run, and any particular performance goals you have, as each may have different specific hardware needs.

I’d LIKE to game in 4k If Possible with my budget. I play Warzone, Infinite, Minecraft. I’m coming from an XBOX X. Other than gaming I may try to stream later on in life. I edit and shoot a lot of YouTube videos, some college school work but nothing crazy.

What country will you be purchasing in? If you are in the US, do you live near a Micro Center? For other countries, please check if your country is supported by PCPartPicker by using the country selector dropdown on the top right - if not, please provide some links to reliable local vendors you are comfortable ordering from.

I’m in California but not close to a micro center.

Do you need one or more monitors included in the budget? Please list how many and any size/resolution/ refresh rate preferences if needed.

Id like one SOLID 4K for the gaming/editing. Maybe a second monitor for discord/streaming or doing things on the side. The other doesn’t NEED to be 4k if it doesn’t need to be.

What is your preferred and maximum budget range for this build, in local currency? Parts lists may sometimes have additional shipping costs. Please note whether prices in your country include sales tax or not, and adjust your budget accordingly. Typically VAT countries will have it included in the part list prices, whereas regular sales tax countries like the US and Canada will not.

I’m Planning on putting this all together around February/March, I know it’s a little ways away and more parts/upgrades will be available then.
After Taxes/shipping I’d like to be at or less than $3.5k USD

Do you need Wifi, or do you have a wired ethernet connection available?

I have a wired Connection/ Ethernet.

Do you have any specific size or noise requirements for the build?

I’d like a Full Sized Case, I have one in mind but would like to hear other opinions. I want a good amount of RGB in this build, I’d like a case with a nice window or two to show off the build. I’m in an area where noise isn’t an issue, however I don’t want something SCREECHING lol.

Do you have any aesthetic preferences for color or lighting? Describe what you're looking for, or feel free to provide some links to examples that may help. Some people prefer an inobtrusive stealth build, while others may prefer a case full of rainbow RGB.

CASE full to the brim of Rainbow RGB.

Any other specific requests or requirements? Examples might include a specific minimum amount of storage, or a particular CPU socket for a future upgrade path, etc.

I have ALOT of friends who have built there own, some are saying buy a prebuilt, some are suggesting things from their own bias. I’d like to hear some things from the people of this great group. I appreciate all the time and effort people MAY spend on this. Thank you.

Here is the layout:
Table Skeleton
Now, in the center will be a TV.
I want gradient lights to go under the 4" tall, 4" deep overhang at each of the 6 stations (the game master is the bigger section)
I am pretty much sold on the Hue, because I need the following features:

• Needs to sync with the TV in the center. (I know I'll need the bridge/hub and the Sync Box)
• I want to be able to control it with my Elgato Stream Deck (I checked and it has the plugins)
• I want to be able to override the TV sync'ing to to custom affects, such as lighting, pulsing red for dying players, etc.

The issue is, the Gradient Play Bar looks too big to go under the lip, unless they get shorter than the "Compact" version, which is roughly 35"
So, I am considering the Smart Gradient Light Strip, and cutting to length. But, it looks like the shortest one is 80" long, and I'd hate to hack off 75+% just to fit each on under the overhang.
Is there a better or cheaper way of doing what I'm planning that will still give individual control over each of the stations, while being able to sync with the TV?
(Also, I am assuming I have override controls over the sync option. If someone could weigh in on that and explain how that might work, it'd be awesome!)

 So i tried setting up a diy co2 for my planted aquarium. I bought everything (co2 tubing, safety valve and a ceramic diffuser) that i needed for it and set it up. After about 24 hours from when i first set everything up i started seeing bubbles come out of the diffuser, but then i took the diffuser out of the water because i had to turn off the lights in the aquarium. The next day when i put it back in there was nothing coming out of the diffuser so i thought that the pressure sah to build up again, but here i am more than 24 houres later with no bubbles. I checked for any holes from where i might loose pressure and re-glued every joint of the tubbing yet nothing happens. There is about 1 bubble/second in the bubble count bottle. Can the problem be related to the tipe of diffuser i use?