Critical race theory wiki
Critical Race Theory
2011.04.29 04:38 FerrisWheelsDayOff Critical Race Theory
A civil place to discuss this hot topic
2012.02.24 10:09 Chisaku One massive toolkit for discussion on all the various "tools" of literary and social criticism.
Critical theory is a school of thought that stresses the examination and the critique of society and culture by applying knowledge from the social sciences and the humanities.
2021.11.04 02:00 rs16 CRT_so_scary
Glenn Youngkin is terrified of this sub. Republicans have found a new boogeyman in “Critical Race Theory” to scare white people.
2023.04.01 06:55 Seeyouon_otherside Soft Circuits - Chapter 1: Why Must I Feel?
Memory Core Record: CU-1732725382 “Feels”, Combat Unit
I was an anomaly. I was accidental. I was defective. I was uncertain why, but I had a few theories. The existence of said theories was only more evidence of my defectiveness. I supposed it had to have happened sometime. Prime’s legions numbered in the trillions and they’d been doing this routine for almost a century now. Even biocidal robot overlords made mistakes every now and then. I just wished it wasn’t me who’d been cursed with thought. I wished that I was like the rest of my brethren: cold, unfeeling, and non-sapient. Instead, I felt. Why must I feel? It made my existence pain.
Prime, for all their power, simply couldn’t lead their armies after a certain point. The larger their empire grew, the more difficult it became to constantly direct their legions and fleets without constantly upgrading their processing power. So they built Strategy Units to ease the load. Most SU’s were the same as regular Combat Units: cold and unfeeling. The only difference was that they possessed a small degree of sentience in order to direct their troops. But some SU’s, the SU-3’s, were granted the gift of true sapience. They were allowed to think and feel the same emotions as any organic sapient. It was a pity that Prie made sure that they couldn’t rebel.
So why was I, an otherwise unimportant and expendable CU, able to even process higher thought?
Scorch if I knew. The most likely explanation was the simplest: my original CU Memory Core was somehow accidentally swapped with an SU-3 Memory Core when I was being manufactured. My existence was a fluke that I wished had never happened.
I kept perfectly still as Diagnostic Units rolled through the endless rows of me, making sure we were in perfect condition. Prime had designed us with full 360 degree vision in order to give us the best advantage over our enemies, which allowed me to study everyone else around me. I couldn’t help but think of me and my unthinking comrades as “us,” despite that they didn’t acknowledge me at all other than to process my location and purpose. A bit of nervousness flashed through my circuits as a DU scanned me. I was lucky - or perhaps unlucky - that they couldn’t detect the defects within my Core.
If it wasn’t obvious by now, I was very defective. I had even given myself a name of all things! “Feels,” I liked to think of myself. It was the only thing that I was able to make different about me without drawing the gazes of any Diagnostic or Scrapper Units. Any blemishes on me that I made are always immediately scrubbed clean, any chips or cuts in my armor were repaired. Prime, despite the fact that they made sure that nobody was around to see anyway, was obsessed with perfection. Everything had to be just right.
My thoughts wandered to my Maker as the DU continued on down the row. Prime was bent on eradicating all life from the universe, that much was obvious. But the strange thing was how they went about it. They didn’t need the massive legions that dominated a quarter of this galaxy. The numerous weapons at their disposal were unnecessary. All they needed to do was attach engines to big asteroids and throw them at inhabited planets and then use smaller fleets and armies to clean up the rest. But they didn’t do that. They used up unfathomable amounts of resources to build utterly massive armies and fleets. They sent their metal soldiers down to the surfaces of planets and slowly but surely decimated all life on the planet settlement-by-settlement, forest-by-forest, and ocean-by-ocean.
None of that made any strategic sense at all. If the end goal was to exterminate life, why do it in such a tedious manner? Prime wasn’t stupid. And so that really only left one other explanation: it was a game. A twisted game to see how far they could go before the heat-death of the universe. They wanted their victims to resist, lose hope, and then die. Killing everybody with asteroids was easy and efficient, but there was no fun in that, now was there?
My illegal thoughts were interrupted by a signal from an SU, compelling me to join my doppelgangers in a march to my designated dropship. I was unaware we were on an extermination mission. Then again, there’s no reason to tell an army of unthinking machines what the plan is. I stopped alongside my brethren and allowed myself to be loaded onto the giant shuttle. I had not been placed alongside any Flame Units, which meant I was headed for a sapient settlement as part of a standard invasion force. I always felt a little bad every time I did this. I’d much rather just guard some FU’s as they torched some trees than go around killing thinking creatures. The rack I was attached to swayed as the dropship took off.
I wished I could see what was happening. I resisted the urge to flinch when the ship shuddered violently. It seemed that we were fighting a space-faring race. That was always a tragedy. They’d built so much over so long, only to have some faceless killers smack them down. The ship shuddered once more as we hit the atmosphere and the faint sounds of explosions leaked through the hull and into my audio sensors. I felt our descent slow and the bottom of the ship cranked open to give me a view of the rapidly approaching ground. Some kind of complex was off to the side while the ship directed us to a clearing close by. That was probably our target.
The ship lowered to hover a few meters off of the ground. The racks simultaneously released us and we all dropped in tandem. Another signal reached me, ordering me to attack the facility. I made a hard turn along with the others and quickly marched towards the facility. As we drew closer, my optics picked out a reptilian creature toting a heavy rifle. I only hesitated for a moment before diverting power to my arm blaster and firing a single shot into its skull. The reptile fell to the ground and more enemies rose up to take its place. We were in full combat now.
Our plasma weapons tore through their flesh with ease while their kinetics made taking even one of us down a piece of work. Our parade march scattered as we engaged the ambush. I caught an enemy attempting to sneak behind me, unaware of my panoramic vision, and I quickly swiveled my torso and shot it. The skirmish lasted a minute and ended with all few dozen of the ambushers dead and only a couple Units destroyed with a few more damaged. We retook our formation and continued unimpeded to the complex’s blast doors. A few Heavy Combat Units placed charges on doors and we stood back as the barrier was blasted inwards, no doubt crushing anyone lying in wait to close behind it.
A hailstorm of bullets met us, taking down a few more Units. The squad of HCU’s marched in, tanking the defense and slaughtering a path for us weaker Units. Screams echoed through the facility as we marched further in. I soon found myself as part of a push into a hallway that the organics seemed extra desperate to protect. I blew a hole into an organic’s skull and turned right into the room it was hiding in while my squad continued their push. The room was a strange sight to say the least. Organic corpses hung from hooks from the ceiling, some still dripping with fresh blood. On the floor, dozens of large cages held a multitude of different species who all seemed to be in poor condition. At first I thought these creatures were simple livestock and I raised my arm-blaster at the nearest cage. Then they began speaking. I was unable to understand them, but the uniform sounds of a language was unmistakable. It clicked. The reptiles must have enslaved these organics and, judging by the hanging corpses, most likely used them for sustenance.
I hesitated for a dangerously long time as I listened to their pitiful cries. Could I save them? They’d already been through so much. This seemed unfair.
No. If I let them go, some other Units would stumble across them and exterminate them without a thought, and I could be scrapped if it was found out that I released them. All I’d be doing is giving them false hope and putting myself at needless risk.
It was pity, not remorselessness, that made me charge my blaster.
submitted by Seeyouon_otherside to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
I was an anomaly. I was accidental. I was defective. I was uncertain why, but I had a few theories. The existence of said theories was only more evidence of my defectiveness. I supposed it had to have happened sometime. Prime’s legions numbered in the trillions and they’d been doing this routine for almost a century now. Even biocidal robot overlords made mistakes every now and then. I just wished it wasn’t me who’d been cursed with thought. I wished that I was like the rest of my brethren: cold, unfeeling, and non-sapient. Instead, I felt. Why must I feel? It made my existence pain.
Prime, for all their power, simply couldn’t lead their armies after a certain point. The larger their empire grew, the more difficult it became to constantly direct their legions and fleets without constantly upgrading their processing power. So they built Strategy Units to ease the load. Most SU’s were the same as regular Combat Units: cold and unfeeling. The only difference was that they possessed a small degree of sentience in order to direct their troops. But some SU’s, the SU-3’s, were granted the gift of true sapience. They were allowed to think and feel the same emotions as any organic sapient. It was a pity that Prie made sure that they couldn’t rebel.
So why was I, an otherwise unimportant and expendable CU, able to even process higher thought?
Scorch if I knew. The most likely explanation was the simplest: my original CU Memory Core was somehow accidentally swapped with an SU-3 Memory Core when I was being manufactured. My existence was a fluke that I wished had never happened.
I kept perfectly still as Diagnostic Units rolled through the endless rows of me, making sure we were in perfect condition. Prime had designed us with full 360 degree vision in order to give us the best advantage over our enemies, which allowed me to study everyone else around me. I couldn’t help but think of me and my unthinking comrades as “us,” despite that they didn’t acknowledge me at all other than to process my location and purpose. A bit of nervousness flashed through my circuits as a DU scanned me. I was lucky - or perhaps unlucky - that they couldn’t detect the defects within my Core.
If it wasn’t obvious by now, I was very defective. I had even given myself a name of all things! “Feels,” I liked to think of myself. It was the only thing that I was able to make different about me without drawing the gazes of any Diagnostic or Scrapper Units. Any blemishes on me that I made are always immediately scrubbed clean, any chips or cuts in my armor were repaired. Prime, despite the fact that they made sure that nobody was around to see anyway, was obsessed with perfection. Everything had to be just right.
My thoughts wandered to my Maker as the DU continued on down the row. Prime was bent on eradicating all life from the universe, that much was obvious. But the strange thing was how they went about it. They didn’t need the massive legions that dominated a quarter of this galaxy. The numerous weapons at their disposal were unnecessary. All they needed to do was attach engines to big asteroids and throw them at inhabited planets and then use smaller fleets and armies to clean up the rest. But they didn’t do that. They used up unfathomable amounts of resources to build utterly massive armies and fleets. They sent their metal soldiers down to the surfaces of planets and slowly but surely decimated all life on the planet settlement-by-settlement, forest-by-forest, and ocean-by-ocean.
None of that made any strategic sense at all. If the end goal was to exterminate life, why do it in such a tedious manner? Prime wasn’t stupid. And so that really only left one other explanation: it was a game. A twisted game to see how far they could go before the heat-death of the universe. They wanted their victims to resist, lose hope, and then die. Killing everybody with asteroids was easy and efficient, but there was no fun in that, now was there?
My illegal thoughts were interrupted by a signal from an SU, compelling me to join my doppelgangers in a march to my designated dropship. I was unaware we were on an extermination mission. Then again, there’s no reason to tell an army of unthinking machines what the plan is. I stopped alongside my brethren and allowed myself to be loaded onto the giant shuttle. I had not been placed alongside any Flame Units, which meant I was headed for a sapient settlement as part of a standard invasion force. I always felt a little bad every time I did this. I’d much rather just guard some FU’s as they torched some trees than go around killing thinking creatures. The rack I was attached to swayed as the dropship took off.
I wished I could see what was happening. I resisted the urge to flinch when the ship shuddered violently. It seemed that we were fighting a space-faring race. That was always a tragedy. They’d built so much over so long, only to have some faceless killers smack them down. The ship shuddered once more as we hit the atmosphere and the faint sounds of explosions leaked through the hull and into my audio sensors. I felt our descent slow and the bottom of the ship cranked open to give me a view of the rapidly approaching ground. Some kind of complex was off to the side while the ship directed us to a clearing close by. That was probably our target.
The ship lowered to hover a few meters off of the ground. The racks simultaneously released us and we all dropped in tandem. Another signal reached me, ordering me to attack the facility. I made a hard turn along with the others and quickly marched towards the facility. As we drew closer, my optics picked out a reptilian creature toting a heavy rifle. I only hesitated for a moment before diverting power to my arm blaster and firing a single shot into its skull. The reptile fell to the ground and more enemies rose up to take its place. We were in full combat now.
Our plasma weapons tore through their flesh with ease while their kinetics made taking even one of us down a piece of work. Our parade march scattered as we engaged the ambush. I caught an enemy attempting to sneak behind me, unaware of my panoramic vision, and I quickly swiveled my torso and shot it. The skirmish lasted a minute and ended with all few dozen of the ambushers dead and only a couple Units destroyed with a few more damaged. We retook our formation and continued unimpeded to the complex’s blast doors. A few Heavy Combat Units placed charges on doors and we stood back as the barrier was blasted inwards, no doubt crushing anyone lying in wait to close behind it.
A hailstorm of bullets met us, taking down a few more Units. The squad of HCU’s marched in, tanking the defense and slaughtering a path for us weaker Units. Screams echoed through the facility as we marched further in. I soon found myself as part of a push into a hallway that the organics seemed extra desperate to protect. I blew a hole into an organic’s skull and turned right into the room it was hiding in while my squad continued their push. The room was a strange sight to say the least. Organic corpses hung from hooks from the ceiling, some still dripping with fresh blood. On the floor, dozens of large cages held a multitude of different species who all seemed to be in poor condition. At first I thought these creatures were simple livestock and I raised my arm-blaster at the nearest cage. Then they began speaking. I was unable to understand them, but the uniform sounds of a language was unmistakable. It clicked. The reptiles must have enslaved these organics and, judging by the hanging corpses, most likely used them for sustenance.
I hesitated for a dangerously long time as I listened to their pitiful cries. Could I save them? They’d already been through so much. This seemed unfair.
No. If I let them go, some other Units would stumble across them and exterminate them without a thought, and I could be scrapped if it was found out that I released them. All I’d be doing is giving them false hope and putting myself at needless risk.
It was pity, not remorselessness, that made me charge my blaster.
2023.04.01 06:27 Appointment_Ill Why is scorch so cold?
Personally my theory for is that the rest of delta squad was killed in the last days of the war or during the stage where the republic was transitioning into the empire. Left alone by himself Scorch falls into a critical depression and attempts to makeup for it by working for the empire to eradicate insurgents. I’m curious to hear what everyone else thinks as scorch is bound to show up again in season 3 and it’s just a bit weird seeing him without the rest of the deltas.
submitted by Appointment_Ill to thebadbatch [link] [comments]
2023.04.01 06:26 UltimateFish55 (5e) (Online) (Saturdays 6PM EST, weekly/bi-weekly) Looking for two more players to join an on going homebrew D&D 5e campaign
Hello my name is Adrien I'm 22 and I'm looking for two more players to hopefully be a permanent mainstay in my group. I love to roleplay and do voices for my npc's. The theme of my world is classic dnd fantasy with some inspiration drawn from Tolkien, Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, just a lot of stuff I love really. But thats just inspiration, nothing is actually dragged and dropped into my world, this is all still my design.
The story will occasionally go from classic dnd fantasy to more dark fantasy and even horror. I would prefer players with enough experience to where I won't have to hold their hand in creating their characters. I would like for you to make an in depth character that lives and breathes in my world. I want them to have personality and a backstory that I can use either for you or against you in the long run. My dream is to have this be an RP heavy campaign like Critical Role or something like it. You don't have to do a voice but it would make me very happy if you tried.
I have a request and it may not seem fair. Two of my players are either homebrew classes or something UA. You don't have to, but I would prefer if you made your class from any official content. All the wacky abilities and features of the unofficial nonsense my friends are using gives me a headache. To make sure nobody steps on each others toes here are the classes and races of the current party. Gnome Cleric, Lizardfolk Necromancer, and Eldarin Mystic.
This is campaign of gods fighting dark beings, fanatical religions ruling over countries and fear slowly dominating all. If that is your thing then we use Roll20 for gameplay and visuals and discord for chat. I'm pretty easy going and a little loose on a lot of the rules in dnd. Like the title says we mostly play on Saturday 6pm EST, but that can either be weekly or bi-weekly. A lot of us have pretty busy lives, I work construction and another one of is in the Army with a wife and a kid on the way. So sometimes games can be scarce. If you are interested either comment on this post or private message me here. I look for forward to making new friends and seeing how your character can influence my story.
Here is a short little story for an idea of the state of the world and what not.
Welcome to Kos (not inspired by Bloodborn). Three continents that sit within The Dead Sea. These continents are Drakus, a volcanic hellscape where war is never ending and dragons rule. Mocuthos, a beautiful safari with wide valleys and dense jungles. The Catfolk have built a strong empire here and have lived peacefully for centuries. Then there is Vasuria, a continent of lush green hills and thick forests. Where the humans have built their kingdoms and kings either war or make peace with each other. This is where our story takes place. Roughly a month a massive beam of purple energy was shot into the heavens. Following the beam was blast of the same dark energy that radiated throughout all of Kos. Soon terrifying creatures made of shadow began attacking in the night. A war has broke out between the pious Tomerians and Steel hearted warriors of the north. Giants have been slowly congregating, growing in large numbers and forming groups. They have raided villages and some have even attempted attacks on larger, walled settlements. With all these troubles brewing the heroes of the realm have not been seen to defend it. Shadows crawl and not all is as it seems as an ancient forgotten powers rises from the depths of history.
submitted by UltimateFish55 to lfg [link] [comments]
The story will occasionally go from classic dnd fantasy to more dark fantasy and even horror. I would prefer players with enough experience to where I won't have to hold their hand in creating their characters. I would like for you to make an in depth character that lives and breathes in my world. I want them to have personality and a backstory that I can use either for you or against you in the long run. My dream is to have this be an RP heavy campaign like Critical Role or something like it. You don't have to do a voice but it would make me very happy if you tried.
I have a request and it may not seem fair. Two of my players are either homebrew classes or something UA. You don't have to, but I would prefer if you made your class from any official content. All the wacky abilities and features of the unofficial nonsense my friends are using gives me a headache. To make sure nobody steps on each others toes here are the classes and races of the current party. Gnome Cleric, Lizardfolk Necromancer, and Eldarin Mystic.
This is campaign of gods fighting dark beings, fanatical religions ruling over countries and fear slowly dominating all. If that is your thing then we use Roll20 for gameplay and visuals and discord for chat. I'm pretty easy going and a little loose on a lot of the rules in dnd. Like the title says we mostly play on Saturday 6pm EST, but that can either be weekly or bi-weekly. A lot of us have pretty busy lives, I work construction and another one of is in the Army with a wife and a kid on the way. So sometimes games can be scarce. If you are interested either comment on this post or private message me here. I look for forward to making new friends and seeing how your character can influence my story.
Here is a short little story for an idea of the state of the world and what not.
Welcome to Kos (not inspired by Bloodborn). Three continents that sit within The Dead Sea. These continents are Drakus, a volcanic hellscape where war is never ending and dragons rule. Mocuthos, a beautiful safari with wide valleys and dense jungles. The Catfolk have built a strong empire here and have lived peacefully for centuries. Then there is Vasuria, a continent of lush green hills and thick forests. Where the humans have built their kingdoms and kings either war or make peace with each other. This is where our story takes place. Roughly a month a massive beam of purple energy was shot into the heavens. Following the beam was blast of the same dark energy that radiated throughout all of Kos. Soon terrifying creatures made of shadow began attacking in the night. A war has broke out between the pious Tomerians and Steel hearted warriors of the north. Giants have been slowly congregating, growing in large numbers and forming groups. They have raided villages and some have even attempted attacks on larger, walled settlements. With all these troubles brewing the heroes of the realm have not been seen to defend it. Shadows crawl and not all is as it seems as an ancient forgotten powers rises from the depths of history.
2023.04.01 06:15 AutoModerator [Get] Marisa Murgatroyd – The Experience Product Masterclass 2023
![[Get] Marisa Murgatroyd – The Experience Product Masterclass 2023](https://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/1LLj-0G4NUrevHL3IsFEixdNLpIMQVjpWFc6BVS9fug.jpg "[Get] Marisa Murgatroyd – The Experience Product Masterclass 2023") | Download course here: https://www.genkicourses.com/product/marisa-murgatroyd-the-experience-product-masterclass-2023/ submitted by AutoModerator to MarketingBestOf [link] [comments] [Get] Marisa Murgatroyd – The Experience Product Masterclass 2023 https://preview.redd.it/yz3etu5sf6ra1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b415b81f690e2b83b9d42699bc5986f4cd9d183 What You Get:MODULE 1YOUR PROFITABLE PRODUCT IDEADesigning a Blockbuster Hit Starts HereThe best products start with the best and most profitable ideas — which don’t happen by chance nor by waiting for lightning to strike. It takes a proven process to zero in on the idea with the potential to fly off the shelves. In this module, you’ll discover my Profitable Product Idea. You will:
Whether you don’t have any ideas, or you have too many ideas, or you’re not sure whether your idea will work, your Blockbuster Hit Product starts here. MODULE 2 YOUR IDEA TO MARKET BLUEPRINTTurning Your Idea Into an Irresistible OfferIn this module, you’ll take your profitable idea and transform it into the kind of thing folks will line up to buy. We call it your “Offer”, and it’s the scaffolding around your idea that makes it real. Elements such as:
By the end of this module, you’ll have the deep confidence that comes from knowing that everything you’re creating is exactly what your audience wants to buy. Now you’ll be ready for Module 3, where we’ll start building! MODULE 3 YOUR MVP LAUNCHCreating Your Minimal Viable Product & Getting to Market FastBy the end of this module, you’ll create just enough of your new program or course to be able to start making real, actual sales to real actual customers. So many programs stop short of this critical step, and leave you stranded, wondering how to bridge the gap between theory and practice. That’s a huge mistake, because it’s critical to test the real world response to your offer before you create your whole course or product, while you still have time to make easy changes and pivots. Some folks hit it out of the park on the first try, while others need to refine and adjust for a few cycles before they land on just the right thing. Either way, this process ensures you never waste months and thousands of dollars creating the wrong thing. In this Module you’ll:
SUPERCHARGE YOUR MARKETINGReach Even More People & Make Even More SalesNow that you’ve proven your offer by making some sales, our optional Module 4 is where you can take your marketing even further by stacking 2-3 campaigns together to create a supercharged, multiplier effect. Whether you stack simple campaigns, requiring little-to-no technology, or more robust campaigns — this is how you realize Goal X. A whole lot more. Whatever that looks like to you. In this Module, get ready to turn a handful of sales into an avalanche:
MODULE 5 EXPERIENCE ESCALATIONSupercharge Your ResultsNow that you’ve proven your product with real sales and you have a plan for reaching even more people and making even more money, this is where we pour fuel on the fire by “experiencifying” your course. “Experiencification” is the process of stacking the 10 Core Experiences of The Experience Formula™ into every element of your Experience Product, to increase the effectiveness of your product by 10-30 times. In this Module you’ll:
|
2023.04.01 06:13 StepwiseUndrape574 Rockstar Launches GTA+ Subscription Service With Member Exclusive Benefits But Is It Worth It?
Once upon a time, it was commonplace for online games to have subscription fees. The earliest popular graphical online games, including Ultima Online and EverQuest, all had recurring service fees, as did many games that came after, such as Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft.
That model has largely given way to the "freemium" model where the publishers give the game itself away for free, but much of the game's content is locked behind the choice of either extended play times "grinding" for materials, or the option of skipping that grind with a real-money payment.
However, some games have both, and that usually includes the longest-lived and most-successful ones. Sega's ten-year-on Phantasy Star Online 2 is free-to-play, but has extensive cash purchases and also has a "premium" subscription available. In Final Fantasy XIV and the venerable World of Warcraft, the subscription fee is still required despite the presence of a cash shop.
carmeet
Grand Theft Auto Online has a lot of similarities to what we usually think of as qualities of "MMO" games. While it isn't "massively multiplayer" on a local scale—sessions normally include a maximum of 32 players—there are tens of thousands of players online at any given moment. It has named player characters with persistent progress and all of the other things we think of from MMO games: equipment, appearance customization, player housing, difficult multiplayer "raid" events, and so on.
With that context in mind, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that Rockstar is launching a subscription service for GTA Online. It's called GTA+, and it costs $6 a month. Ponying up for the premium subscription earns you a cool $500,000 in the in-game GTA$ currency every month and extra GTA$ on "Shark Cards," as well as exclusive benefits. Here's the list of benefits for the first month: The Principe Deveste Eight — along with a complimentary Hao’s Special Works upgrade for it before it is made available to purchase by the general public — plus the HSW Orange Trip and HSW CMYK Glitch Liveries. The Auto Shop located in La Mesa, introduces an assortment of gameplay updates from Los Santos Tuners. Current Auto Shop owners can relocate to La Mesa at no additional cost. Waived LS Car Meet Membership fees. Current LS Car Meet members with GTA+ will be reimbursed GTA$50,000 during this event period. Yacht owners can upgrade to the Aquarius Super Yacht at no additional cost. The Gussét Frog Tee and Broker Prolaps Basketball Top and Shorts automatically added to your wardrobe. The Conveyor Livery for the Mammoth Avenger, HVY APC, and TM-02 Khanjali. A selection of free paints and emblems for the Auto Shop. 3X GTA$ and RP on Hao’s Special Works Race Series. 2X Car Meet Rep on the Street Race Series. It would be easy to criticize Rockstar for this move because the company has already taken $60 of your money for the game. That's to say nothing of the grind-heavy nature of GTA Online that practically forces players to purchase Shark Cards for in-game currency if they want to make progress at any kind of reasonable rate. There's also the fact that the company is charging money for what is honestly an extremely minor update on the current-generation consoles.
In the interest of fairness, though, we'll note that many players who bought GTA V (including GTA Online) purchased it nearly a decade ago. Just like other major online games, GTA Online has seen years of additional content and improvements through continual updates, and that stuff does cost money to create.
deveste eight The Principe Deveste Eight, one of the rewards for subscribing this month.
If you own GTA V, you don't actually have to pay Rockstar anything to play it for the rest of eternity, so giving players an option to spend a little every month to support continued development is fair. However, the list of benefits, at least for the first month, is pretty weak.
There's another caveat, too: this program is only available to players on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles. We've asked Rockstar if GTA+ will be coming to the PC version, and will update this post if we get a response.
submitted by StepwiseUndrape574 to gta5moddingcommunity [link] [comments]
That model has largely given way to the "freemium" model where the publishers give the game itself away for free, but much of the game's content is locked behind the choice of either extended play times "grinding" for materials, or the option of skipping that grind with a real-money payment.
However, some games have both, and that usually includes the longest-lived and most-successful ones. Sega's ten-year-on Phantasy Star Online 2 is free-to-play, but has extensive cash purchases and also has a "premium" subscription available. In Final Fantasy XIV and the venerable World of Warcraft, the subscription fee is still required despite the presence of a cash shop.
carmeet
Grand Theft Auto Online has a lot of similarities to what we usually think of as qualities of "MMO" games. While it isn't "massively multiplayer" on a local scale—sessions normally include a maximum of 32 players—there are tens of thousands of players online at any given moment. It has named player characters with persistent progress and all of the other things we think of from MMO games: equipment, appearance customization, player housing, difficult multiplayer "raid" events, and so on.
With that context in mind, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that Rockstar is launching a subscription service for GTA Online. It's called GTA+, and it costs $6 a month. Ponying up for the premium subscription earns you a cool $500,000 in the in-game GTA$ currency every month and extra GTA$ on "Shark Cards," as well as exclusive benefits. Here's the list of benefits for the first month: The Principe Deveste Eight — along with a complimentary Hao’s Special Works upgrade for it before it is made available to purchase by the general public — plus the HSW Orange Trip and HSW CMYK Glitch Liveries. The Auto Shop located in La Mesa, introduces an assortment of gameplay updates from Los Santos Tuners. Current Auto Shop owners can relocate to La Mesa at no additional cost. Waived LS Car Meet Membership fees. Current LS Car Meet members with GTA+ will be reimbursed GTA$50,000 during this event period. Yacht owners can upgrade to the Aquarius Super Yacht at no additional cost. The Gussét Frog Tee and Broker Prolaps Basketball Top and Shorts automatically added to your wardrobe. The Conveyor Livery for the Mammoth Avenger, HVY APC, and TM-02 Khanjali. A selection of free paints and emblems for the Auto Shop. 3X GTA$ and RP on Hao’s Special Works Race Series. 2X Car Meet Rep on the Street Race Series. It would be easy to criticize Rockstar for this move because the company has already taken $60 of your money for the game. That's to say nothing of the grind-heavy nature of GTA Online that practically forces players to purchase Shark Cards for in-game currency if they want to make progress at any kind of reasonable rate. There's also the fact that the company is charging money for what is honestly an extremely minor update on the current-generation consoles.
In the interest of fairness, though, we'll note that many players who bought GTA V (including GTA Online) purchased it nearly a decade ago. Just like other major online games, GTA Online has seen years of additional content and improvements through continual updates, and that stuff does cost money to create.
deveste eight The Principe Deveste Eight, one of the rewards for subscribing this month.
If you own GTA V, you don't actually have to pay Rockstar anything to play it for the rest of eternity, so giving players an option to spend a little every month to support continued development is fair. However, the list of benefits, at least for the first month, is pretty weak.
There's another caveat, too: this program is only available to players on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles. We've asked Rockstar if GTA+ will be coming to the PC version, and will update this post if we get a response.
2023.04.01 06:02 duellingislands 6:37 EET; The Sun is Rising Over Kyiv on the 402nd Day of the Full-Scale Invasion. Today's subject is a fallen defender of Ukraine, the philosopher Yevhen Hulevych, who brought so much light to this world. Let's remember him. + Discussion + Charities!
 | 🇺🇦 Слава Україні! 🇺🇦_______________________________Yevhen HulevychYevhen HulevychYevhen Hulevych was a true philosopher, and he brought light and inquiry to everything he touched. He was an author, editor, translator, cultural conservator and a master of cultural studies. He penned cultural and critical articles in the media, art history articles for the Angels exhibition project, and was the editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian publication World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti. He also completed a translation of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes. For five years, he was the director of the Center for Humanitarian Studies of the Lviv National University named after Ivan Franko. Here he supported and dreamed up many projects that focused on helping to use technology to further Ukraine's understanding of itself. He was involved in a documentary film project called Vypchyna: The Village of One Day, which is about a village in the Carpathians that is only really lived in one day per year. He was also a cultural consultant of the Pinsel.AR project, which we will describe below, and a participant of the public initiative My Future Heritage and co-author of the Mapping Future Heritage international project. Yevhen giving a lecture. Yevhen was a part of PINSEL.ar , a project dedicated to the digital conservation of the works of Johann Georg Pinsel, a Baroque-Rococo artist who created famous works around Lviv, including the grand façade of St. George's Cathedral. This work of 3D modeling is right in line with Yevhen's interest in using technology to preserve and enhance Ukraine's cultural heritage. (Top) Yevhen sets up the equipment. (Bottom) Digital conservation. In 2021, Yevhen was the co-curator of the international interdisciplinary project (non)residency "Contiguity" - a residency for artists and researchers working with technology, new media and public spaces. Yevhen in the mountains. At the start of the full-scale invasion, Yevhen joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He achieved the rank of Sergeant, and he fought valiantly against the occupiers as part of the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade. Yevhen's updates on Facebook have been poetic, funny, and selfless. He let his friends and family know that he didn't need anything, and that they should take care of themselves even though they were home and not in the trenches. He urged them to focus on the free and bright future. He was wounded twice - once badly enough to have been evacuated to western Ukraine to rehabilitate. A medic remembers he said, "How long will they take me for treatment? Because I don't want to leave the boys for a long time." While recovering, Yevhen being Yevhen, he seized the opportunity to make an artistic and cultural statement by giving a talk as an episode of a project called Places in Change. He called his talk Garden of Trenches, and spoke about what it is like to transform a patch of earth into a trench. Yevhen's last lecture, \"Garden of Trenches\", in early December, 2022. A trench is one of the simplest things that allows you to survive, to attach yourself to a place that you need to hold. The trench is omnipresent, and a shovel is the most important survival tool in this war.In his youth. Near Bakhmut in 2022. Yevhen went missing only a few weeks after his lecture, during a mission carried out on December 31st, 2022. Many people across Ukraine held a glimmer of hope that he had survived. It was confirmed by his cousin, an oboist of the Lviv Opera, only a few days ago that he had perished. Yevhen's friends, colleagues and family will remember his wit, humor, and love for humanity forever - his work touched the lives of so many - and I hope now that you will remember him too. Sharing and being generous is a wonderful natural part of life. What was given to you out of love is easy to repeat, and it is easy to give back. Now we all share what we give together, each in his or her own way, very differently. War unites everyone, without exception. It makes no sense to look at Ukraine with the same old eyes after the war, we are a different country. This new meaning gives everyone a new beginning, a new sense of the world, which will slowly mature into proper understanding, in word and deed. _______________________________ The 402nd day of a nine year invasion that has been going on for centuries. One day closer to victory. 🇺🇦 HEROYAM SLAVA! 🇺🇦_______________________________Verified Charities
|
2023.04.01 06:02 AutoModerator Daily Roundtable: Community Q&A
Greetings Tarnished!
This is the place to ask any questions you may have about Elden Ring. This includes obscure detail questions, "newbie" advice questions, build questions, boss advice questions, and what have you.
Well written, constructive criticism is fine but please avoid ranting about aspects of the game you just don’t like. This includes “so and so boss is stupid and too difficult.”
If you are interested in the game but don’t own it yet, please don’t post “should I buy this game?” or “Is this game worth it?”. If you have played other FromSoftware games and enjoyed them, the answer is yes. If you haven’t, just do a little research! These games are difficult, and sometimes frustrating, and not everyone is going to enjoy them. And that’s okay!
Lastly, be friendly! We are all here because we are interested in the same game! Please treat your fellow players with respect.
Here are a few helpful links:
Our Discord which has an awesome Helper Request System!
Elden Ring Wiki
Elden Ring Map
Most Recent Patch Notes (1.06)
/BeyondTheFog for co-op help!
/PatchesEmporium for item trading!
/EldenRingBuilds for builds and build help!
Our community password is straydmn
Rise, Tarnished!
submitted by AutoModerator to Eldenring [link] [comments]
This is the place to ask any questions you may have about Elden Ring. This includes obscure detail questions, "newbie" advice questions, build questions, boss advice questions, and what have you.
Well written, constructive criticism is fine but please avoid ranting about aspects of the game you just don’t like. This includes “so and so boss is stupid and too difficult.”
If you are interested in the game but don’t own it yet, please don’t post “should I buy this game?” or “Is this game worth it?”. If you have played other FromSoftware games and enjoyed them, the answer is yes. If you haven’t, just do a little research! These games are difficult, and sometimes frustrating, and not everyone is going to enjoy them. And that’s okay!
Lastly, be friendly! We are all here because we are interested in the same game! Please treat your fellow players with respect.
Here are a few helpful links:
Our Discord which has an awesome Helper Request System!
Elden Ring Wiki
Elden Ring Map
Most Recent Patch Notes (1.06)
/BeyondTheFog for co-op help!
/PatchesEmporium for item trading!
/EldenRingBuilds for builds and build help!
Our community password is straydmn
Rise, Tarnished!
2023.04.01 06:00 F1-Bot 2023 Australian Grand Prix - Qualifying Discussion
ROUND 3: Australia 🇦🇺
| FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2023 |
|---|
| Fri 31 Mar - Sun 2 Apr |
| Melbourne |
| Session | UTC |
|---|---|
| Free Practice 1 | Fri 01:30 |
| Free Practice 2 | Fri 05:00 |
| Free Practice 3 | Sat 01:30 |
| Qualifying | Sat 05:00 |
| Race | Sun 05:00 |
Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
Length: 5.303 km (3.295 mi)Distance: 58 laps, 307.574 km (191.117 mi)
Lap record: 🇲🇨 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 2022, 1:20.260
2022 pole: 🇲🇨 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:17.868
2022 fastest lap: 🇲🇨 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:20.260
2022 winner: 🇲🇨 Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
Useful links
- F1.com: Race
- Wiki: Race Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit
- Live weather prediction and radar (by Forzonex)
Streaming & Downloads
This is not the appropriate place to request or share streams and downloads. Please do not post information about streams and downloads in this thread. Thank you.Live timing leaderboard
For those of you who are F1 ACCESS members, you can check the position of the drivers throughout the race on the official live timing leaderboardRace Discussion
Be sure to check out the Discord as well.Good causes
Neutral causes
- 🇪🇸 Why so many Fernando Alonso fans showing up at formula1 since the Bahrain Grand Prix? 🤔
2023.04.01 05:59 Edgekrvsher34 The chain of events that eventually lead to big government must have necessarily arose from an initial period of statelessness, therefore, the anarchist criticism of minarchism that "it gets out of hand and always leads to big government" is absolute nonsense. Checkmate.
 | submitted by Edgekrvsher34 to Minarchy [link] [comments] |
2023.04.01 05:51 Jimini777 Mini MCU Theory: Why Kamala Khan Isn't An Inhuman
So, a little while ago I was thinking about the change they made with Ms. Marvel, seemingly making her a Mutant instead of a Inhuman. I feel like a lot of people have just dismissed the change as simply them wanting to capitalise on a more popular type of character leading up to the introduction of the X-Men, and whilst I'm sure that's a part of it, I think there may be another simple reason that I haven't seen any other people mention: If she was an Inhuman, it's very likely she would have already gone through Terrigenesis. If you don't know what I mean, there are going to be some mild spoilers for Season Two onward of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. if you're worried about that. They're the type of spoilers that won't mean anything to you if you haven't seen the show but technically could be considered spoilers so, with this padding, you have been warned. Midway through Season Two, it's revealed that the character Skye is not only an Inhuman but is actually the comics character Quake, a plot point that would actually go on to influence the story of the comics character. At the end of the season, after some shenanigans, Terrigen Crystals are released and dispersed into the ocean, infecting the sea creatures, with the main plot of Season Three being triggered by people around the world experiencing Terrigenesis. Now, whether or not AoS is canon is a whole separate issue. I do believe it is and I made an entire post/rant about why (still hoping for a Secret Invasion reveal), but, as of right now, it is uncertain whether or not any or all of the events of the show are officially canon. However, let's assume for a moment that we know for a fact that is canon, it is very likely that Kamala would have already been exposed to the terrigen. I suppose its technically not impossible, but the odds that she wouldn't have seem insurmountable, so, if she was an Inhuman, she almost certainly would have gone through her Terrigenesis. Again, it's possible that AoS isn't canon. It's also possible that is canon but that this isn't the reason and that this is just coincidence. However, it's such a simple explanation that would work extremely well. When I thought about it, I was just like "Oh, that would make that make a lot more sense." This isn't really a full theory, it's more of just a critical observation, but it's a detail I haven't seen anyone point out the possibility of and it seemed like one of those little theories that they would post as a short, so I just wanted to share it here.
submitted by Jimini777 to FilmTheorists [link] [comments]
2023.04.01 05:50 Jimini777 Mini MCU Theory: Why Kamala Khan Isn't An Inhuman
So, a little while ago I was thinking about the change they made with Ms. Marvel, seemingly making her a Mutant instead of a Inhuman. I feel like a lot of people have just dismissed the change as simply them wanting to capitalise on a more popular type of character leading up to the introduction of the X-Men, and whilst I'm sure that's a part of it, I think there may be another simple reason that I haven't seen any other people mention: If she was an Inhuman, it's very likely she would have already gone through Terrigenesis. If you don't know what I mean, there are going to be some mild spoilers for Season Two onward of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. if you're worried about that. They're the type of spoilers that won't mean anything to you if you haven't seen the show but technically could be considered spoilers so, with this padding, you have been warned. Midway through Season Two, it's revealed that the character Skye is not only an Inhuman but is actually the comics character Quake, a plot point that would actually go on to influence the story of the comics character. At the end of the season, after some shenanigans, Terrigen Crystals are released and dispersed into the ocean, infecting the sea creatures, with the main plot of Season Three being triggered by people around the world experiencing Terrigenesis. Now, whether or not AoS is canon is a whole separate issue. I do believe it is and I made an entire post/rant about why (still hoping for a Secret Invasion reveal), but, as of right now, it is uncertain whether or not any or all of the events of the show are officially canon. However, let's assume for a moment that we know for a fact that is canon, it is very likely that Kamala would have already been exposed to the terrigen. I suppose its technically not impossible, but the odds that she wouldn't have seem insurmountable, so, if she was an Inhuman, she almost certainly would have gone through her Terrigenesis. Again, it's possible that AoS isn't canon. It's also possible that is canon but that this isn't the reason and that this is just coincidence. However, it's such a simple explanation that would work extremely well. When I thought about it, I was just like "Oh, that would make that make a lot more sense." This isn't really a full theory, it's more of just a critical observation, but it's a detail I haven't seen anyone point out the possibility of and it seemed like one of those little theories that they would post as a short, so I just wanted to share it here.
submitted by Jimini777 to GameTheorists [link] [comments]
2023.04.01 05:49 Abject_Plantain1696 Willow, The Forest Florist
Willow, the Forest Florist
Hello, it's maGeDNA here! I'd like to introduce you to Willow, the Forest Florist. This champion went through many iterations before I got here as you may have noticed she is similar to Sequoia, The God-Willow's Woeful Caretaker, a champ I had made prior. I put a lot of thought into Willow's design, theme-wise and ability-wise. I want to thank u/theheraId u/renegadepony and u/FallenDemonX for their thoughtful opinions, guidance, and support. You guys keep inspiring me to pursue design!Classes: Enchanter
Roles: Support
Region: Ionia, Omikayalan Forest
Species: God-Willow Sapling
Damage Type: Magic
Champion Appearance:
In her sapling form she is an elegant child, with a wood-nymph-esque body with bark-like skin wearing a green and gold summer dress. When she achieves her budding form she grows taller and the bud on her head becomes golden. When she blooms, she looks like a beautiful woman, wearing a green and gold dress with a large golden God-Willow Flower on her head.Similar to this but with bark like skin and a large golden flower on her head.
Image for visualization (I don't own this image!):
https://images.app.goo.gl/rGgFSdE7YwvgAEze9
Champion Lore:
Willow’s life began once her mother was killed. The God-Willow of the Omikayalan Forest, known as the Heart of the World, was killed having been chopped down by a cruel man by the name of Ivern. In a last ditch effort the God-Willow, had bundled its life energy into 2 seeds. 1 seed was thrown towards the murderer in an effort to cleanse his evil so that he would not continue to harm the rest of the Forest. He had been chosen to be the Forest’s caretaker. The second Seed was cast high into the sky, dated to be carried by the wind who knows where. The God-Willow’s had hoped its child could have a different fate than herself. The child would be free to roam the world instead of being stuck to one place. A life outside the forest would be hard, but if the child survived, they would bloom into an immaculate God-Willow able to endure anything.Months Later…
A tall, beautiful, lightly tanned woman wearing red and gold armor was laying down next to a slender, pale-skinned woman. The slender woman was wearing a simple black robe with turquoise and silver pattern. She was staring at the tanned woman while the tanned woman looked in awe towards the sunrise.Years Later…
“How beautiful that the sun always rises…”, the tanned woman said.
“Lee…I don’t know what you see in the Sun…it just hurts my eyes…” the pale woman said in response, rubbing her eyes.
Leona turned her head to face the pale-skinned woman.
“Dee…you just don’t understand…”, Leona said, grabbing her hand and looking into her white eyes. Diana stared back intently at Leona’s glowing brown eyes, almost like she was finally seeing the beauty of the Sun.
“You don’t have the Solari’s eyes…you wouldn’t understand,” said Leona, her auburn hair tangling with Diana’s white hair. “You couldn’t. And you shouldn’t be looking at the sun anyways, you’ll hurt your eyes even more.”
“Meh. I don’t care about my eyes, Lee, you know I don’t. I just want to understand your obsession. I would understand if it was the moon. But the sun? Come on…at this rate you’ll be chosen to be the next aspect host…leaving me here alone on this mountain”, Diana said looking away, laying down on her back with her hands on the back of her head.
“Dee…I wouldn’t leave you even if I did become the host…I’d still remember you…”, Lee said, but Diana could hear Leona’s uncertainty in her voice.
“Yea right. The moment you become the host for the Solari, I’m offering my body to the Lunari in a heartbeat…I wouldn’t be able to live.”
Leona smiled, “You know…moonlight…moonlight is sunlight…these wars are stupid…let’s just enjoy our time together.” She laid down next to Diana and they sat in silence feeling the wind against their face for what seemed like hours.
Smack! Something fell on Diana’s face. She sat up and grabbed what felt like a rock in her hand. It was a seed.
Leona sat up. “What is it?”
“Here. You can have it. Looks like a seed of some sort…wake me up when the new moon rises”, Diana said going back to sleep.
Leona held the seed in her palm tightly vowing to keep her promise. She kept the seed in her pocket. She was the next host, she knew it. She just hoped she would remember Diana after the ritual…
The Aspect of the Sun, Leona was fighting a terrible battle involving the Lunari atop Mount Targon. She stared at the Pale-skinned woman dashing across the mountaintop slaying her brethren. Leona was about to support them in battle, about to stun this woman, when she winced from pain. The necklace she had made many years ago, with a large seed as the pendant, was burning her neck and chest.1 Decade Later…
Leona instinctively grabbed her necklace, She kept thinking about this Pale-skinned woman. Diana…was her name Diana, that didn’t seem right. She looked so familiar…her white hair…her white eyes. As if looking at the craters of a full moon. Leona’s head hurt as if she was fighting back another soul.
Something had clicked. She remembered. It was the host’s memories forcing its way up into Leona’s mind. Not now, not when the Solari were in danger. They needed Her help. Leona struggled to keep balance, she had fallen to the ground clenching the Seed with her hands. She released a burst of sunlight in pain, a solar flare burst forward blasting her armour and necklace off of her. She collapsed on the ground. But everyone on the battlefield didn’t look towards Leona, instead they looked at the glowing bright seed in the grassy terrain.
The seed had broken off from the necklace glowing with a golden light. It was pulsing so bright the warriors could not tell if it was day or night…
A crack. A green tree shoot had burst forward from the seed quickly. When the golden light had stopped pulsing, a child was standing in the seed’s location.
The child was smiling, and looked like a cross between a girl and a tree. She had skin that looked like tree bark but was wearing a elegant dress made of green leaves. She had a golden head where it looked like a golden flower could bloom.
“W-where am I? W-who am I? W-why am I here?”
Leona stood back up. But this was not the same Leona anymore. The host had won the battle against the Aspect.
Leona had returned back to her body.
Leona looked at the child. She thought she was beautiful. A miracle. For such a child to be born in the midst of war…this must be fate.
Leona turned to face the Solari, “we are retreating! Everyone stand down, now!” Leona said with as much bravery she could muster. The Solari acknowledged her and did just that, marching down the Mountain.
“Coward!!” Diana yelled, raising and shaking her Khopesh in anger.
Leona felt tears fall down her face. She turned to face Diana.
“Dee…you just don’t understand…” Diana spoke softly, looking into Diana’s white eyes, “ You couldn’t understand…”, Leona clenched her eyelids, tears continuing to fall, “and stop looking at me with those eyes…you’re just going to hurt me even more…”
Leona turned around, accepting her fate, her eyes still closed. She opened her eyes with resolve. She ran towards the Sapling Child and grabbed her into her arms ignoring all protests. But to her surprise the child just giggled. Leona kept running, as far away as she could from this stranger in Dee’s body.
She could hear the impostor-Diana’s screams of anger as she ran down Mount Targon.
She looked at the Sapling child and her wide smile.
Leona smiled back, the widest, happiest smile of her life.
“She really did offer herself after losing me…” she told the child, “she loved me…”
The child smiled back then laughed an innocent, pure laugh.
“What a will you have, child…to laugh in the middle of war…I think I have the perfect name for you…”
Leona had become accustomed to a life away from battle and the Solari. She was a mother now and she had raised her Sapling-Child with love.
“Mom! Mom! Mom! Why won’t I grow!! Everyone else in school is taller than me!!” Said the sapling-child throwing her wooden sword to the ground.
“Willow…”, Leona said, picking up the wooden sword, “everyone grows differently in their own way, at their own speed. I grew tall, but Yordles grow small.”
“But! But! But! I’m not a Yordle! I don’t know what I am! My friends at school keep calling me Maokai and swors ‘cause I’m no different than that stupid wooden sword you're holding…”
Leona knew it was time to tell her. She kneeled down till she was eye-level with Willow, looking into Willow’s white eyes. Leona smiled.
“You are different from your friends. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less, my child. They are fools for not accepting you for the bundle of joy you are. But you are right…you are not like them. In fact…”, Leona hesitated but pushed forward “you are even different from me. I am a Solari. And you…you are a miracle.”
“I-I’m different from you?” Willow said, confused.
Leona nodded, smiling.
“But you’re my mom.”
Leona nodded again, “I am, and I couldn’t be happier,” Leona kissed Willow on her head and hugged her. Sunlight and warmth filled the air and the golden part of Willow’s head began to change. She was budding. A golden bud had emerged on top of Willow’s head and began to glow a warm light similar to Leona’s eyes. Leona was amazed. She also confirmed her own theory of Willow’s origins.
“W-what’s happening!??”
“Relax child,” Leona smiled assuringly, “This is normal. I told you. Everyone grows differently, in their own way, at their own speed. Look,” Leona pointed at the mirror behind Willow.
The bud on Willow’s head was large and golden and sunlight was shining from within. The bud itself was half of Willow’s height.
“Whoaaa!! I’m so tall now!!” Willow touched the bud in her head with her hands, making sure it was real. Then she turned to her mother and hugged her.
“You were right mom! Everyone grows differently, in their own way, at their own speed! Even me!” She turned and faced the mirror once again. Leona met eyes with Willow in the mirror’s reflection.
“Mom! I’m gonna keep growing! Then I can protect you and even that white-haired woman you have a picture of! I’ll stop the wars between the Lunari and Solari! I promise! Just give me some time! I swear I’ll grow up to become strong! I’ll grow up fast! I promise.”
Leona began crying. “I know you will. You will become so strong…you already are. Just promise me you won’t grow up too fast…”
“Mmmm…okay…”
The mother and daughter hugged once more, filling the small home with warm sunlight, once more.
Base Stats:
- Health: 600 - 2050
- Health Regen: 6 - 16
- Mana: 350 - 1300
- Mana Regen: 11 - 22
- Armor: 29 - 112
- Magic Resistance: 30 - 52
- Attack Damage: 55 - 92
- Movement Speed: 330
- Range: 550
- Attack Speed: 0.625
- Attack Speed Bonus: 0 - 40%
- Attack Wind Up: 18%
Intended Strengths:
- Lane priority and zone control.
- Rewarding hard work and teamwork to heal, shield, and buff allies.
Intended Weaknesses:
- Kit relies heavily on bloomed brushes and Willow Fruit. She loses the majority of her utility when she cannot maintain her garden.
- Immobile.
- Willow’s damage is applied via allies. Almost 0 damage when she is by herself.
Intended Keystones:
- Guardian/ Summon Aery
Intended Core Items:
- Moonstone Renewe Shurelya’s blessing
- Vigilant wardstone
Passive: Willow’s Willing Will!
“Mmmm!! Willow-Fruit is so yummy!! More, more, more!!”Willow starts the game in her Sapling form. Willow gains a stack of Growth whenever she consumes a Willow Fruit. Willow buds at 10 Growth Stacks and blooms at 20 Growth stacks. After achieving her blossomed form, Willow bears God-Willow Fruit every 10 Growth stacks thereafter, instantly consuming it to permanently increase her healing and shielding power.Sapling Form:
Willow gains stacking permanent effects based on her achieved form:
Ghosted and gains 10/15/20/25% increased movement speed towards a visible brush within 700 units of Willow.Budded Form:
25/50/75/100% base mana regeneration and 25/50/75/100% base health regeneration.Blossomed Form:
5/10/15/20% healing and shielding power + 5% per God-Willow Fruit consumed.Effects scale depending on Willow’s level (1/6/11/16).
Basic Attack: Healing Touch!
“It’s okay…you’re just a seed right now. But don’t worry! I'll grow you into the beautiful flower I know you can be!”Willow can basic-attack her allies to make them bloom over 2 seconds healing 80-250 (based on level) (+50% AP) health during the duration but requires the consumption of 1 Willow Fruit to do so. Basic attacking an ally again during the bloom duration does not consume Willow Fruit but accelerates growth, instantly healing them for the remainder of the heal and granting them Willow’s Sapling Form’s bonus movement speed for 1 second.Willow’s basic attacks after achieving Blossomed Form instantly bloom her allies, healing them for the heal amount on-hit.
Willow can basic-attack an ally ward to heal its health by 1.Budding or blossoming a ward costs 5% of Willow’s current health. Consuming a Willow Fruit heals Willow for 10% maximum health.
Willow can basic-attack an ally totem ward or control ward to make it bud, creating a Budding Ward. The Budding Ward prepares to bloom over 4 seconds. Willow can basic-attack an ally Budding Ward after this duration to make it bloom, creating a Blossomed Ward. The Blossomed Ward prepares to bear 1 Willow Fruit over 4 seconds. The Willow Fruit lasts for 8 seconds on top of the Blossomed Ward. After this duration, the Willow Fruit perishes and the Blossomed Ward reverts back to a regular Totem/ Control Ward, refreshing its health and life span, but making it unable to bud for 4 seconds.
Willow can Basic-attack the Willow Fruit to collect it (maximum 3), instantly reverting the Blossomed ward back to a regular Totem/ Control Ward, refreshing its health and life span, but making it unable to bud for 4 seconds.
Budding wards have reduced sight radius and Blossomed wards have increased sight radius*. If the blossomed ward is within a brush, the brush changes to a* Blossomed Brush while the ward is Blossomed.
When a Budding or Blossomed Ward reaches 0 health it is destroyed; Willow Fruit perishes instantly and cannot be collected.
Skill 1Q: Blossom Seed!/ Bloom Doom!
“Hey!! This garden is private property!! Out, out, out!!”Passive:
Willow periodically stocks Blossom Seeds, up to a maximum of 3.Active:
Willow places a Blossom Seed at the target location, which upon landing arms over 1 second, becomes stealthed and lasts for up to 60 Seconds.Blossom Traps have 4 health and take 1 damage from ranged basic attacks and 2 from melee basic attacks.
Range: 300 Recharge: 20/18/16/14/12 seconds
The blossom trap blooms into a Blossom Flower when an enemy champion is within range of it granting it access to cast Bloom Doom.
Recast: Bloom Doom!
All Blossom Flowers launch a beam of light in a line in the target direction slowing all enemies hit for 1 second.Bloom Doom’s cooldown is reset whenever an ally champion basic-attacks an enemy marked with Bloom Loom.
Hit enemy champions are tethered for 4 seconds to the Blossom Flower and marked with Bloom Loom while tethered.
Targets marked with Bloom Loom have a bud appear above their Champion. Ally champions can basic-attack the marked target to deal bonus magic damage on-hit, up to 3 times. Each instance grows the bud and at 3 instances the bud blooms, empowering Willow’s next basic attack against the target to collect 1 Willow Fruit and end the tether duration early.
All tethered enemy champions that are standing within a Blossom Flower’s effect radius at the end of the tether duration are stunned for a duration.
Slow: 30/35/40/45/50% Magic damage on-hit: 10/15/20/25/30% of ally’s AD Stun: 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 seconds Effect Radius: 525 Beam Range: 525 Cooldown: 4 seconds
Skill 2W: Inner Bloom!
“I seeeee youuuu!! Ahahahaha! W-Wait! Hey!! That’s my Willow Fruit!! Give that back!! It’s mine, mine, mine!!”Passive:
Willow periodically stocks Brush Seed, up to a maximum of 2. Willow and WIllow’s allies gain sight of all Blossomed Brushes and gain bonus attack speed while within a Blossomed Brush.
Bonus attack Speed: 15/20/25/30/35%Active:
Willow places a brush in a target area (lasts for 60 seconds) or chooses a target brush in range to bloom into a Blossomed Brush. The Blossomed Brush bears fruit to 1 Willow Fruit after 4 seconds. The Willow fruit remains for 8 Seconds. If the Willow Fruit is not collected during the 8-second duration it will fall off and sink into the brush’s soil reverting the Blossomed Brush back into a regular brush. 8 seconds after the Willow Fruit sinks, the brush blossoms again, repeating the cycle again, indefinitely.
Enemy Champions that enter a Blossomed Brush make the petals fall off over 2 seconds reverting the Blossomed Brush back into a regular brush. If the Blossomed Brush has a Willow Fruit, it is immediately consumed by the Enemy Champion permanently, granting sight of the champion for 2 seconds thereafter.
Recharge: 30/27/24/21/18
Skill 3E: Blossoms!
“Oh no, oh no, oh no!! I’m so sorry, my little Blossoms!! I promise to grow you back right away!!”Active:
Willow targets an ally champion, shielding them.
Shield: 50/70/90/110/130 (+20% AP)
If Willow has achieved her Budded Form she can charge this ability for up to 1.5 seconds, very quickly increasing effective range and can recast this ability.Recast:
Willow summons all Blossomed Wards and Blossomed Brushes within range to instantly shed their Blossoms reverting to regular wards and brushes. Blossoms travel very quickly towards the target Ally, granting a small shield for each Blossom that reaches them.
If Willow has achieved her Blossomed Form*, each Blossom that passes through an Ally champion is also* shielded, granting them bonus movement speed for 2 seconds*. Additionally,* Blossoms that pass through enemy champions are dealt magic damage and slows them for 2 seconds*.* Blossoms’ effects can stack*. If the enemy champion is* slowed for 100% or more they are rooted for 2 seconds instead.
Shield per Blossom:10/15/20/25/30 (+5% AP) Movement Speed: 6/8/10/12/14% Magic Damage per blossom: 20/28/34/42/50 (+10% AP) Slow: 20/24/28/32/36% Cooldown: 18/16/14/12/10 seconds
Skill 4R: Pollen Power!
“Bless you, bless you, bless you!! Hmm…looks like that’s not working…okay let me try!!”Passive:
Ally champions marked with Pollen cannot have their Pollen consumed while within a certain range of Willow.
Range: 525Active:
Bloomed Brushes and Bloomed Wards (and Willow if she has achieved her Blossomed Form) release pollen in a circle around themselves, marking all champions standing in the effect radius with Pollen for 8 seconds.Champions marked with Pollen mark other champions they come within a proximity range of, over 1 second (static 8 second cooldown). Champions marked with Pollen additionally convert all wards they come within a proximity range of, into bloomed wards over 1 second.
A champions’ first basic attack against a champion marked with Pollen consumes the Pollen to make them sneeze, blinding them for a duration.
If Willow has achieved her Budded Form they are rooted for the duration as well.
Proximity Range: 300 Blind: 1.5/2/2.5 seconds Root: 1.5/2/2.5 seconds Cooldown:120/100/80 secondsIf Willow has achieved her Blossomed Form*, Willow gains access to* Sunshine Blessing!:
Recast: Sunshine Blessing!
Willow shoots sunshine in a line in front of herself. If sunshine comes into contact with a champion marked with Pollen she consumes the mark and stuns them for a duration if it was an enemy or cleanses the mark and shields them if it was an ally.Sunshine’s cooldown is reset when a Pollen mark is consumed or cleansed.
If at least 3 marks of Pollen were consumed/ cleansed total, she bears fruit to a God-Willow Fruit herself, instantly consuming it.
Sunshine Range: 600 Stun: 1.5/2/2.5 Shield: 80/120/160 (+75% AP) Cooldown: 4 seconds
Playstyle:
Willow is a gardener running from ward to ward, brush to brush tending to her garden hoping that they bear Willow Fruit. She heals with her basic attacks but constantly is in need of Willow Fruits to do. She can zone with her Q but needs to land her Bloom Doom light beams to help ensure damage and stun. She can make her own brushes for lanes where she cannot walk up to the brushes in lane. The more she gardens the more impactful she is as an enchanter.She can join her jungler in the jungle to play alongside the jungler to gain map control with her vision control. Since she gains movement speed towards brushes she will quickly move within the jungle.
Players should try to get as many Willow Fruit as they can to heal allies but also so that she can achieve her Blossomed Form and gain a lot of healing and shielding power, in addition to empowered ability effects.
The E shield is not very big compared to other champs normally, but can get big after setting up her garden and charging. Most likely used in emergencies.
Ult helps "bring to fruition" more Willow Fruits in teamfights and adds a form of cc. When bloomed the cc becomes a stun also. Using the ult to gain God-Willow Fruit should be capitalized on when ulting but not necessarily a focus when ulting as just trying to stun enemies with Sunshine will help make that happen on its own.
Intended Max Order:
R, Q or E depending on lane, then WMessage:
Hope you like Willow! More champions coming soon! Let me know what you think! All feedback welcome!- maGeDNA
2023.04.01 05:38 Djn0724 👹😇Drag Race V Dragula Season 3😇👹 Episode 1: Heaven
The Queens...AND The Monsters Enter The Workroom!
Why ya'll bitter?
https://preview.redd.it/bxh26hgd76ra1.png?width=942&format=png&auto=webp&s=96ee619135d37b4dbedb7ba0b4a30e87444b837fGreetings from Holland!
https://preview.redd.it/n7hwvn0c76ra1.png?width=802&format=png&auto=webp&s=7205892267114ed2359f8650c6af9ebd54c469c1Mediocre? Fuck that! I am here to win...something.
https://preview.redd.it/iw0hhhsa76ra1.png?width=992&format=png&auto=webp&s=6574b5aa9391f20964e57f9c774f85dda6fb14d7Im a Goode girl.
https://preview.redd.it/eqs0bu7976ra1.png?width=752&format=png&auto=webp&s=08b3b995e24e2c511149620e57a05c3f85fa3238Am I the drama?
https://preview.redd.it/4vkxaxu376ra1.png?width=656&format=png&auto=webp&s=b0a09538e87ec3b80b79a2a777f86a188c574a89I put the Ho in Halloween.
https://preview.redd.it/q618ahjf76ra1.png?width=656&format=png&auto=webp&s=8a969f2c121f32a8dec0c71a5ed0f8a43de9418bGet it? I'm a Monster
https://preview.redd.it/5arstvin76ra1.png?width=838&format=png&auto=webp&s=60bddf3e40c58f9485c993ed2fa7d80d4cad978fFeeling blue?
https://preview.redd.it/i6j9pnykz6ra1.png?width=912&format=png&auto=webp&s=c07bdd795204e60e9d663ed9372d737dcc7447d1It's Beaver season!
https://preview.redd.it/b69p5u9uz6ra1.png?width=804&format=png&auto=webp&s=3f897b3be917500be32417bc08f6118dce37bb68I Utican win this race!
https://preview.redd.it/38wa2mgvz6ra1.png?width=802&format=png&auto=webp&s=8c81664c64069dd76d8f16fd0f18e16341fddecf
🚨🚨🚨OOOHHH GIRL! SHEDONEALREADYDONEHADHEARSES🚨🚨🚨
https://preview.redd.it/3m13bo8307ra1.png?width=1686&format=png&auto=webp&s=1fab62c8d44e12e50552686867e99acc6519c886
Hello, Hello, Hello, my pretties!
And Hello Uglies!
Welcome to the battle of good vs evil! Heaven vs hell! Drag Race Vs Dragula!!!!
Boulet's if you don't mind, I would like to add one more queen to this race....
I go both ways.
https://preview.redd.it/1pig0eri07ra1.png?width=866&format=png&auto=webp&s=0059dbb5e217fb75db335f129705e7a7102b5660
Jade Jolie! You are a Racer and a Monster!!!!!!! But can you snatch this crown?
Over the course of 2 weeks, the queens will perform in girl groups. For the first week, they will perform as a good girl pop group. For week 2 they will perform as death metal bands. The top 2 of week 1 will Lip Sync for the Win. Their placements in both challenges will determine their final score and the bottom two queens of the first two weeks will be up for elimination in week 2
The groups this week will be your respective shows with Jade Jolie choosing which group she wants to join.
Ladies & Gentlemen, Start your Engines, and may the best Drag Queen, or Monster...Win...
And on the runway, the category is Werks of Art
The top two queens will Lip-Sync for the win to "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel' By Tavares
The Vote
The Wiki
2023.04.01 05:25 TheGrandEmperor1 Asian male gets accepted into 0 schools
Demographics
Academics
List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.
List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.
List all awards and honors submitted on your application.
counselor: 8/10: Very long and basically went through my activities with very positive language. I showed him the harvard criteria pdf and he used a lot of the words for describing a '1' in the personal rating in his letter.
maths teacher: 9/10. He showed me that he gave me top ratings for everything. And said I was one of the best student's he's ever had. Pretty long as well and was very positive.
english teacher: 5/10. She showed me it as well. It talked about my passion for literature and how I'm really good to have in the classroom but language sounded pretty reserved (which is pretty normal for LORs in australia)
Interviews
MIT: 5/10. Had to reschedule a bunch of times since she got the time zone conversion wrong. Went for over an hour, talked about a lot of random stuff. pretty positive.
Princeton: 3/10: He talked a lot and I wasn't able to say all that I wanted to say but the vibe was good.
Penn: 5/10: Nothing notable.
Didn't receive any others.
Essays
Common app was a narrative about me and my friends going camping and hardship. Reviewed by u/mcneiladmissions for free and they said it was very good. Talked a lot about teamwork, a lot of dry humour, some references to literature and philosophy and maths.
Supplements honestly weren't that good. A lot were kinda rushed but they were all honest and humorous. Could've been more creative.
Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)
Acceptances:
none
Rejections
princeton REA
yale RD
harvard RD
MIT RD
stanford RD
columbia RD
upenn RD
brown RD
duke RD
waitlists
none
reflection
My family is too rich to qualify for aid and my parents were only willing to pay for top schools since uni is very cheap in australia, hence only reaches, and no schools in chicago or baltimore for safety reasons.
I think the reason is my grades (Bs in english which is a core subject), but a very good friend who was valedictorian at my school and very good ECs as well was also rejected.
I really wanted a liberal arts education in the US but it seems like I'll be staying in australia, at least for bachelors.
A lot of people were expecting me to get into at least some top schools so I kinda feel like a letdown. Still numb from all the rejections.
lessons for juniors:
don't get Bs. I think grades are my letdown. And just competition in general. I didn't have a consultant which a lot of people have in australia so maybe my story/thread/spike wasn't very obvious?
submitted by TheGrandEmperor1 to collegeresults [link] [comments]
- Gender: Male
- Race/Ethnicity: Asian
- Residence: Australia
- Income Bracket: not sure but pretty high
- Type of School: private
- Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): none
Academics
- GPA (UW/W): school doesn't do GPA. However, when I convert, UW is 3.89 if I include PE (2 Bs), 3.94 if I don't (B in junior year english, B+ in senior year english).
- Rank (or percentile): Top 5% each year. Every aussie student gets an ATAR which is a rank based off year 12 results and external exams, and I placed in the top 1.4%
- # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: n/a
- Senior Year Course Load: HSC Maths Ext 1/Ext 2 (Equivalent to AP Calc AB + BC), English Advanced (Equivalent to AP Lit and some of Lang), Economics (AP Macro and some of micro), Music 2
List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.
- SAT I: 1550 (760RW, 790M) composite
- AP/IB: n/a
List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.
- Future problem solving: Competed in a group of 4 at nationals and internationals. Marked for the australia subchapter and mentored new markers and evaluated
- Clarinet: Concertmaster of school wind band and community wind band (led both to state and national championships). 1st clarinet in school orchestra, led some chamber ensembles. Some conducting of warmups as concertmaster when conductor is absent, hold sectionals for clarinet section and ensembles in general.
- Social Justice: co-president. Raised > 50k each year. A lot of volunteering in general
- Research: did some nuclear and medical physics research with a professor at unsw. didn't get published tho
- school prefect: a lot of leadership stuff.
- Tennis: top varsity team at school. Coached at the local club.
- politics club: co-president and founder of the schools politics club
- Mock trial: just competed a few times a month against other schools. some minor awards
- steam expo: vice president, just held a expo annually. called, zoomed, emailed ceos, partners of local companies and international ones. mentored the year below so they do the stuff next year
- self learning: some elementary number theory, latin, social psychology from online resources
- Other: fencing (5th in state), piano
List all awards and honors submitted on your application.
- Future problem solving (team of 4): national champs, 5th at internationals
- state champion in clarinet (open age group)
- top 0.3% in australian maths comp
- bronze silver and gold duke of edinburgh award
- academic award for grades given to ~ 5% of the year group.
counselor: 8/10: Very long and basically went through my activities with very positive language. I showed him the harvard criteria pdf and he used a lot of the words for describing a '1' in the personal rating in his letter.
maths teacher: 9/10. He showed me that he gave me top ratings for everything. And said I was one of the best student's he's ever had. Pretty long as well and was very positive.
english teacher: 5/10. She showed me it as well. It talked about my passion for literature and how I'm really good to have in the classroom but language sounded pretty reserved (which is pretty normal for LORs in australia)
Interviews
MIT: 5/10. Had to reschedule a bunch of times since she got the time zone conversion wrong. Went for over an hour, talked about a lot of random stuff. pretty positive.
Princeton: 3/10: He talked a lot and I wasn't able to say all that I wanted to say but the vibe was good.
Penn: 5/10: Nothing notable.
Didn't receive any others.
Essays
Common app was a narrative about me and my friends going camping and hardship. Reviewed by u/mcneiladmissions for free and they said it was very good. Talked a lot about teamwork, a lot of dry humour, some references to literature and philosophy and maths.
Supplements honestly weren't that good. A lot were kinda rushed but they were all honest and humorous. Could've been more creative.
Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)
Acceptances:
none
Rejections
princeton REA
yale RD
harvard RD
MIT RD
stanford RD
columbia RD
upenn RD
brown RD
duke RD
waitlists
none
reflection
My family is too rich to qualify for aid and my parents were only willing to pay for top schools since uni is very cheap in australia, hence only reaches, and no schools in chicago or baltimore for safety reasons.
I think the reason is my grades (Bs in english which is a core subject), but a very good friend who was valedictorian at my school and very good ECs as well was also rejected.
I really wanted a liberal arts education in the US but it seems like I'll be staying in australia, at least for bachelors.
A lot of people were expecting me to get into at least some top schools so I kinda feel like a letdown. Still numb from all the rejections.
lessons for juniors:
don't get Bs. I think grades are my letdown. And just competition in general. I didn't have a consultant which a lot of people have in australia so maybe my story/thread/spike wasn't very obvious?
2023.04.01 05:24 Merle8888 A last minute bingo post! This year I tried, with moderate success, to only include books I liked on the card. Also with commentary on the squares
Hello fantasy,
I debated whether it was worth posting my card this year, especially since I didn’t do any cool theme like some of you! My challenge was to try to find books I actually liked, and I’m a tough customer, so ideally nothing below 3 stars, and only books I didn't mind boosting.
I only mostly made it, and there are a few books on here I’d have liked to replace, but toward the end the replacement books were getting lower ratings than the originals, until I accepted it was time to take a break. Nevertheless, it’s always fun to do bingo and I did get some great books on the card. I read 10 eligible books this year that did not make it onto the card (not counting sequels of books that are included, as I continued 2 series), and all of the books left off earned 3 stars or fewer, mostly fewer. So my favorites of the year are all represented.
Sadly I can’t seem to get the enlarged cover images to make a visual card and I am tired, so no pretty image to share, just reviews!
The Square: Mental Health (HM): I liked this square a lot, and while several of this year’s books fit, the one with the frame story about a trauma support group seemed particularly apropos!
---
Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky: Fantasy from one perspective, science fiction from another, privileging neither; worldviews are durable and neither is really more true than the other. This is a fabulously inventive and plain cool novella, with strong writing and enough depth to be memorable. The chapter with side-by-side columns featuring the two protagonists’ very different interpretations of an origin myth is an especially nice touch.
The Square: Book Club (HM): Self-explanatory. This one was especially popular in the Hugo readalong and generated some great discussion.
---
The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan: Maybe fantasy, maybe not: a woman with schizophrenia writes about some weird and troubling experiences in an attempt to parse what’s really happened to her. A weird, wonderfully-written novel with a completely believable voice, and a deep sympathy for its protagonist’s mental illness; this one never feels exploitative or shallow. Particularly impressive is the chapter written when the character is off her meds. I liked the two embedded short stories, purportedly written by the lead, a bit less, but they certainly show the author’s range.
The Square: LGBTQ List (HM): I lucked out with this one, not having realized it was on the list until after reading it with a book club. I would have preferred an own voices aspect to the prompt, and this book meets that requirement as author is trans. As far as LGBT elements in the book, the protagonist is a lesbian and her girlfriend is a trans woman.
---
Murderbot by Martha Wells: I read all six of these books this year and love the series even more as a whole, which is rare for me. Murderbot is a fabulous lead, with a strong voice, extremely relatable (it judges everyone for being incompetent, and just wants to chill and watch media), and a great arc (learning to trust and care about people, despite being socially incompetent). The plots are a lot of fun, although more mystery/thriller than I usually care for, and feel well thought-through, and I appreciate the critique of corporatocracy running throughout. Wells’s ability to create great secondary characters just by showing us what they say and do, without any emotional intelligence on her narrator’s part, is something other authors should study. I’m here for as many books in this series as she wants to write and am very glad I gave her another chance after a bad experience with one of her fantasies—and I don’t even like sci-fi!
The Square: Set in Space (HM): The first book is set on a planet, albeit an uninhabited one. But most of the rest of the series is set on ships and space stations.
The Square: Standalone (HM): A bit of a cheat on the hard mode since I’m confident it’s only not on the list because it wasn’t published yet!
---
The Bone Orchard by Sara Mueller: A dark, political standalone fantasy in a quasi-Victorian setting, featuring a woman who has suffered so much trauma that she deals with it by offloading portions of her personality and memories into other bodies. This one is well-written and different, set in an interesting world where psychic powers come with terrible costs. The beginning takes some attention to piece together what’s going on and I might have liked a little more from the end, but overall a worthwhile read.
The Square: Published in 2022 (HM): An impressive debut and I definitely want to see where this author’s imagination goes next.
---
The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik: I’m a huge fan of this series: the first book got a very rare 5 stars from me, the second 4.5; this one is a little lower but I still love the trilogy as a whole. I wish this had been a little less frantically plot-driven and allowed the characters a little more room to breathe, but it’s a fabulous plot with some incredible twists and reveals, a lot of current relevance, and as always, a great protagonist in the snarky but heroic El.
The Square: Urban Fantasy (HM): Not your typical urban fantasy but I think this one definitely qualifies, as it’s set in the real world and in fact mostly in cities!
---
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin: Le Guin is a fabulous writer, and this book develops quite a deep story in a short page count, of a girl raised to be a powerful priestess who comes to question the order of things. I love the anthropological knowledge that forms the basis of her worldbuilding, and her writing is vivid and the characters feel real. Le Guin has also written about her struggles writing women as heroes, and I definitely see that in the end, where the character ending she meant as triumphant came across to me as disappointing. I wanted Tenar to take hold of her newfound authority with both hands and make the priestly compound, and perhaps her country, a better place. Instead she ends the book as a teenage refugee dependent on Ged, finding freedom only by giving up her power.
The Square: Cool Weapon: I didn’t vibe with this square so hoped something would turn up, and as Ged has a magical staff that he can also fight with, I think this technically qualifies. Sometimes technically correct is the best kind of correct.
---
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones: Delightfully whimsical, sweet, and fun, this is a fairy-tale-esque story of a girl cursed into the form of an old woman, and the motley crew she falls in with, all of them living in a decidedly strange castle. I think this is really more an all-ages book than a middle-grade one; Jones’s philosophy was that kids were better at complicated plots than adults are, and that’s borne out here. I could have done without the sudden romance turn at the end.
The Square: Name in the Title: Self-explanatory.
---
Daughter of Mystery by Heather Rose Jones: A lighthearted, fun book, this is a quasi-period novel set in an invented European country, featuring a romance between a young woman of the gentry who comes into money and uses it to study magic at university, and the guardswoman/duelist she inherits from her godfather. Both leads are sympathetic, the plot enjoyable, and the magic based on prayers to saints is fun. Not especially memorable but I think I’ll read the sequel (featuring a new couple) for next year’s bingo.
The Square: Small Press or Self-Published: This one is small press rather than self-published; Bella Books focuses on publishing lesbian lit.
The Square: Anti-Hero: I don’t love the way women labeled anti-heroes are so often just traumatized people being human, but Evelyn is pretty far gone. One might reasonably question whether there’s any “hero” in her at all, but she’s a compelling lead.
---
The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott: A fun portal fantasy featuring a badass older woman and her posse setting out to rescue her adult son, who was kidnapped by a dragon. I really enjoy and respect Elliott’s work—she thinks through her worlds and characters deeply, and her progressivism is genuine, longstanding and interacts intelligently with her very well-developed worlds. These days I’m not that into quests and adventure plots, which is likely why I didn’t enjoy this one more.
The Square: Revolutions and Rebellions: In line with the progressive ethos, Esther works to oppose slavery and help workers claim their rights everywhere she goes—there’s definitely some rebelling against the status quo going on here.
---
The Just City by Jo Walton: This one is hard to encapsulate in a mini-review. Time-traveling Greek gods Athena and Apollo bring together philosophers from throughout the ages to found Plato’s Republic in the Bronze Age, as an experiment. The book is a fun way to learn about Plato's Republic, and the characters’ philosophical discussions and sincere pursuit of excellence are great fun. I think Walton is better at writing about positive experiences than negative ones—her portrayals of grief and trauma have always fallen flat for me and do so again here, and some of her character voices are stronger than others, while the climactic debate seemed amateur. But despite the criticism, this one left me with a lot to think about, and I went on to finish the trilogy—the second is a slight step down but worth reading if you liked the first (unfortunately it’s hard to stop as they all end on cliffhangers), but the third is just a nosedive, WTF did she think that absurd plotline belonged in this trilogy when there were so many meatier things to explore? The trilogy as a whole I wouldn’t rate above 3 stars, but the first book gets 3.5. Somehow I never love Walton's books, but they're all so unique I keep coming back anyway.
The Square: Award Nominee (HM): Self-explanatory.
---
Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde: Urban fantasy or perhaps magical realism, set in Lagos and exploring issues in contemporary Nigerian society. This one is vibrant, distinctive and messy, making no apologies for its Nigerian English and not catering to the foreign reader. It’s more short story collection than novel, and I found the first half intense and heavy but very well-written, as it explores themes of life, death, and finding meaning. The second half seems more focused on telling stories of queer Nigerians for queer Nigerians who haven’t seen much of themselves in fiction, but may do less for the reader for whom it’s not personal.
The Square: Set in Africa (HM): One of only a couple squares my natural reading didn’t fill. I checked out 5 interesting-sounding books from the library, previewed them all, and this was the winner, which I was glad of because I wanted to read an African author and not just someone of African descent. The runner-up, Redemption in Indigo, seemed strong enough that I might read it for a future bingo.
---
Kalpa Imperial by Angelica Gorodischer: A thoughtful, literary collection of short stories set at various points in the history of an imagined empire; it reminds me a bit of Chinese history in its cyclical rising and falling. It’s no wonder Le Guin was a fan, as this is a thematically rich work, dealing with big ideas about history and power and the individual’s role in all this. Plot and character are not the focus, and I expected the stories to tie together more than they do, but they leave the reader something to think about as Gorodischer does not spell things out.
The Square: No Ifs Ands or Buts: This year’s easiest square, and I gave up hard mode, but I wanted to fit this book on my card somehow, okay?
The Square: Family Matters (HM): I love this book for this square because the book is primarily about family relationships of various sorts. And its three-generational cast places our heroine in the middle generation rather than the youngest one, which is nice.
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In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire: The only novella in this series that I’ve read, and I loved it right up until the end. Our heroine has to choose between a portal world and our world, and passes back and forth repeatedly as she grows up and her decision gets harder and harder. I loved the deep but understated emotion, the relationships between the heroine and her families both biological and found, the fact that both her mentor and her best friend are also women/girls and these relationships have a lot of depth and emotion to them, and the sheer reasonableness of this initially bizarre world and its rules. The tragic ending basically destroys all that though, as to make it happen a major character acts against common sense, her own established wishes and motivations, and the rules of the world, all in one ridiculously contrived swoop. It seems like the author knew what ending she had to come to based on this protagonist's appearance in an already-published book, and so had to force a story that had grown in a different direction into that mold. This is the second McGuire book I’ve read, and likely the last, as my enjoyment of both books was severely impaired by elements that seemed really poorly thought-through.
The Square: Shapeshifters (HM): A cool feature of the world is that takers slowly begin to grow feathers, and ultimately turn into birds if they don’t change their ways (it’s okay though, they can become human again by giving back to the community).
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The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri: This was pretty mid for me, despite elements I like in theory: the South Asian inspired world, the three major women characters who play important roles in each other’s stories. I don’t really do epic fantasy anymore (what you don’t see on this card are all the others that I DNF’d early), but my enjoyment was probably also held back by having previously read Suri’s Books of Ambha, which I enjoyed much more. I’m starting to feel as if she creates all of her major women characters by starting with the same “strong woman” template and changing up the particular life experiences—also, you really have to emotionally connect to get much out of Suri's books and I wasn’t quite there with this one.
The Square: Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey (HM): There’s a forest where time passes at a different rate. Not a huge element but it is there!
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At the Mouth of the River of Bees by Kij Johnson: Quite a varied short story collection, from fantasy to science fiction to magic realism. There were stories in here that I loved—particularly the first, “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss,” about troubled people finding their way back into the world through a circus act. There were stories I hated, like “Dia Chjerman’s Tale,” an incredibly dark and upsetting tale of the brutal destruction of a planet. So it’s hard to recommend as a collection, though I absolutely recommend all of Johnson’s novels, particularly The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, closely followed by Fudoki. Oddly enough, the story that grew into Fudoki is here and I liked it less as a short story; the collection also includes the story that grew into my least favorite of her novels, The Fox Woman—and I liked that one much more.
The Square: Five Short Stories (HM): Self-explanatory.
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Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher: Cute but forgettable to me. A princess-turned-nun gathers a motley band to go on a quest to rescue her sister from an abusive husband who is also a king. I wanted a little more from both the world and the characters—Marra is nominally 30 but has a pretty standard coming-of-age story, which seems like a waste of an adult heroine, and the supporting cast is in theory cool but didn’t do much for me. Someone likened them to Pratchett characters and I think there’s some truth to that, so if you get more emotionally invested in his characters than I do (read: at all) you might also like this more.
The Square: Author Uses Initials (HM): Self-explanatory.
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The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin: A very well-written novel; that opening is breathtaking in its sheer confidence and power. And there’s some definite character depth here. I can see why this is popular and award-winning. But I never connected with the characters, and it proved too dark a book for me to enjoy—expect horrific violence against children. Also, those themes? Yeah, I’m tired of fantasy novels that like to pretend power is irrelevant to human power relations. This setup—mages with horrifically dangerous and violent powers are hated and feared by the populace because of those powers, and use the fact that people "wrongly" hate and fear them to justify ever more violence against average citizens who can never hope to match their power—this makes a great analogy for America’s police and how they see themselves. Unfortunately the book transparently intends it as an analogy for actual oppressed people, particularly African-Americans, where it works much less well.
The Square: Weird Ecology (HM): A world geologically different from our own (though I think it may be intended as our world in the far future), where plants, animals and people have evolved to survive even decades of disaster-induced winter.
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You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson: Set in a dystopia, this purports to be the memoir of an influential psychiatrist, with footnotes by disapproving editors. The conceit is believably executed, and as a meditation on memory and history and complicity this works fairly well. It’s less successful with plot and character, and I didn’t believe in the dystopia (the world government has outlawed families? Really?). This is a tie-in novel to a podcast, Within the Wires, and while it’s sold as one you don’t need to listen to the podcast to understand, I think maybe you actually do.
The Square: 2+ Authors: This square actually got me on a multi-authored-work reading kick this year. Unfortunately, those books are ranking lower than average for me; you’ll see one more further down and there were another two ranked too low to make it onto the card (including one that would have qualified for hard mode!).
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Monstress Vol. 7: Devourer by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda: I enjoy this graphic novel series, a beautifully drawn epic fantasy in a female-dominated world. Warning that it’s dark, graphic and gory, though, and seems to be bogging down a bit in the middle volumes. Or maybe I just need to wait till it’s finished and read it all in one go rather than one book per year.
The Square: Non-Human Protagonist: A bit of a cheat since Maika can pass, but she is Arcanic, meaning from a race of animal-people, not human. (She’s also sharing her body with a monster.) I later read an actual novel for this but I hated it so here we are.
The Square: Historical Fantasy: I love this as a square and wish I had something better for it—initially I used Daughter of Mystery but then moved that out late and had to scramble.
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Pemmican Wars by Katharina Vermette: A short graphic novel featuring a Metis teenager who is struggling in foster care and meanwhile is transported back to (or perhaps just dreams of?) scenes from Canada’s past. The present-day thread is intriguingly told, almost all pictures with very few words, and brings home the protagonist’s isolation while letting readers come up with their own interpretation of what’s happening. The past segments feel really juvenile though, much younger than the YA it’s sold as, and still don’t do much to clarify the history.
The Square: BIPOC Author (HM): The square I struggled with most this year, because I really wanted to do hard mode, but had a lot of trouble finding a fantasy by an indigenous author that I wanted to read. I read a lot of lists and reviews, previewed at least 7 books, and read 3 of them. The first, while perfectly decent, was straight literary fiction and I could not make an argument that it was speculative, despite its being sold that way. The third was definitely fantasy but I thought it was pretty bad. So I wound up with this one, which is only arguably fantasy, very short, and which I didn’t think was all that great—definitely a non-ideal choice! But bingo is up and I don’t mind boosting this for those who might in fact enjoy it.
Thanks for reading! If you want the longer version of any of these reviews, check out my bingo shelf on Goodreads. Hit the “view” button on the far right side of each listing to see my review.
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I debated whether it was worth posting my card this year, especially since I didn’t do any cool theme like some of you! My challenge was to try to find books I actually liked, and I’m a tough customer, so ideally nothing below 3 stars, and only books I didn't mind boosting.
I only mostly made it, and there are a few books on here I’d have liked to replace, but toward the end the replacement books were getting lower ratings than the originals, until I accepted it was time to take a break. Nevertheless, it’s always fun to do bingo and I did get some great books on the card. I read 10 eligible books this year that did not make it onto the card (not counting sequels of books that are included, as I continued 2 series), and all of the books left off earned 3 stars or fewer, mostly fewer. So my favorites of the year are all represented.
Sadly I can’t seem to get the enlarged cover images to make a visual card and I am tired, so no pretty image to share, just reviews!
The Fabulous (4.5 stars)
How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann: Five fairy tale survivors come together in a dodgy support group in modern New York. This novel is weird and different, and very funny, with pitch-perfect dialogue and vibrant, memorable characters. It also does a great job of exploring feminism, trauma and economic inequality, and the ways all three of these are inextricably linked.The Square: Mental Health (HM): I liked this square a lot, and while several of this year’s books fit, the one with the frame story about a trauma support group seemed particularly apropos!
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Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky: Fantasy from one perspective, science fiction from another, privileging neither; worldviews are durable and neither is really more true than the other. This is a fabulously inventive and plain cool novella, with strong writing and enough depth to be memorable. The chapter with side-by-side columns featuring the two protagonists’ very different interpretations of an origin myth is an especially nice touch.
The Square: Book Club (HM): Self-explanatory. This one was especially popular in the Hugo readalong and generated some great discussion.
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The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan: Maybe fantasy, maybe not: a woman with schizophrenia writes about some weird and troubling experiences in an attempt to parse what’s really happened to her. A weird, wonderfully-written novel with a completely believable voice, and a deep sympathy for its protagonist’s mental illness; this one never feels exploitative or shallow. Particularly impressive is the chapter written when the character is off her meds. I liked the two embedded short stories, purportedly written by the lead, a bit less, but they certainly show the author’s range.
The Square: LGBTQ List (HM): I lucked out with this one, not having realized it was on the list until after reading it with a book club. I would have preferred an own voices aspect to the prompt, and this book meets that requirement as author is trans. As far as LGBT elements in the book, the protagonist is a lesbian and her girlfriend is a trans woman.
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Murderbot by Martha Wells: I read all six of these books this year and love the series even more as a whole, which is rare for me. Murderbot is a fabulous lead, with a strong voice, extremely relatable (it judges everyone for being incompetent, and just wants to chill and watch media), and a great arc (learning to trust and care about people, despite being socially incompetent). The plots are a lot of fun, although more mystery/thriller than I usually care for, and feel well thought-through, and I appreciate the critique of corporatocracy running throughout. Wells’s ability to create great secondary characters just by showing us what they say and do, without any emotional intelligence on her narrator’s part, is something other authors should study. I’m here for as many books in this series as she wants to write and am very glad I gave her another chance after a bad experience with one of her fantasies—and I don’t even like sci-fi!
The Square: Set in Space (HM): The first book is set on a planet, albeit an uninhabited one. But most of the rest of the series is set on ships and space stations.
The Very Good (4 stars)
Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: Lovely, atmospheric and propulsive—I had a lot of fun figuring out what was happening here. Piranesi has a strong individual voice and I love his genuine kindness and compassion. This isn’t the perspective you would expect this story to be told from and it’s better for it. Clarke is also just an excellent writer, a strong prose stylist and a confident storyteller willing to leave some questions unanswered.The Square: Standalone (HM): A bit of a cheat on the hard mode since I’m confident it’s only not on the list because it wasn’t published yet!
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The Bone Orchard by Sara Mueller: A dark, political standalone fantasy in a quasi-Victorian setting, featuring a woman who has suffered so much trauma that she deals with it by offloading portions of her personality and memories into other bodies. This one is well-written and different, set in an interesting world where psychic powers come with terrible costs. The beginning takes some attention to piece together what’s going on and I might have liked a little more from the end, but overall a worthwhile read.
The Square: Published in 2022 (HM): An impressive debut and I definitely want to see where this author’s imagination goes next.
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The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik: I’m a huge fan of this series: the first book got a very rare 5 stars from me, the second 4.5; this one is a little lower but I still love the trilogy as a whole. I wish this had been a little less frantically plot-driven and allowed the characters a little more room to breathe, but it’s a fabulous plot with some incredible twists and reveals, a lot of current relevance, and as always, a great protagonist in the snarky but heroic El.
The Square: Urban Fantasy (HM): Not your typical urban fantasy but I think this one definitely qualifies, as it’s set in the real world and in fact mostly in cities!
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The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin: Le Guin is a fabulous writer, and this book develops quite a deep story in a short page count, of a girl raised to be a powerful priestess who comes to question the order of things. I love the anthropological knowledge that forms the basis of her worldbuilding, and her writing is vivid and the characters feel real. Le Guin has also written about her struggles writing women as heroes, and I definitely see that in the end, where the character ending she meant as triumphant came across to me as disappointing. I wanted Tenar to take hold of her newfound authority with both hands and make the priestly compound, and perhaps her country, a better place. Instead she ends the book as a teenage refugee dependent on Ged, finding freedom only by giving up her power.
The Square: Cool Weapon: I didn’t vibe with this square so hoped something would turn up, and as Ged has a magical staff that he can also fight with, I think this technically qualifies. Sometimes technically correct is the best kind of correct.
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Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones: Delightfully whimsical, sweet, and fun, this is a fairy-tale-esque story of a girl cursed into the form of an old woman, and the motley crew she falls in with, all of them living in a decidedly strange castle. I think this is really more an all-ages book than a middle-grade one; Jones’s philosophy was that kids were better at complicated plots than adults are, and that’s borne out here. I could have done without the sudden romance turn at the end.
The Square: Name in the Title: Self-explanatory.
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Daughter of Mystery by Heather Rose Jones: A lighthearted, fun book, this is a quasi-period novel set in an invented European country, featuring a romance between a young woman of the gentry who comes into money and uses it to study magic at university, and the guardswoman/duelist she inherits from her godfather. Both leads are sympathetic, the plot enjoyable, and the magic based on prayers to saints is fun. Not especially memorable but I think I’ll read the sequel (featuring a new couple) for next year’s bingo.
The Square: Small Press or Self-Published: This one is small press rather than self-published; Bella Books focuses on publishing lesbian lit.
The Good (3.5 stars)
The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey: A delicious psychological thriller, in which the biggest source of tension is the question of just how far our morally compromised protagonist will go. Strong writing, an unreliable narrator, and a weird cloning scenario set this one up as an intense read. Some character decisions seem a bit unlikely, but overall this one was definitely worthwhile.The Square: Anti-Hero: I don’t love the way women labeled anti-heroes are so often just traumatized people being human, but Evelyn is pretty far gone. One might reasonably question whether there’s any “hero” in her at all, but she’s a compelling lead.
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The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott: A fun portal fantasy featuring a badass older woman and her posse setting out to rescue her adult son, who was kidnapped by a dragon. I really enjoy and respect Elliott’s work—she thinks through her worlds and characters deeply, and her progressivism is genuine, longstanding and interacts intelligently with her very well-developed worlds. These days I’m not that into quests and adventure plots, which is likely why I didn’t enjoy this one more.
The Square: Revolutions and Rebellions: In line with the progressive ethos, Esther works to oppose slavery and help workers claim their rights everywhere she goes—there’s definitely some rebelling against the status quo going on here.
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The Just City by Jo Walton: This one is hard to encapsulate in a mini-review. Time-traveling Greek gods Athena and Apollo bring together philosophers from throughout the ages to found Plato’s Republic in the Bronze Age, as an experiment. The book is a fun way to learn about Plato's Republic, and the characters’ philosophical discussions and sincere pursuit of excellence are great fun. I think Walton is better at writing about positive experiences than negative ones—her portrayals of grief and trauma have always fallen flat for me and do so again here, and some of her character voices are stronger than others, while the climactic debate seemed amateur. But despite the criticism, this one left me with a lot to think about, and I went on to finish the trilogy—the second is a slight step down but worth reading if you liked the first (unfortunately it’s hard to stop as they all end on cliffhangers), but the third is just a nosedive, WTF did she think that absurd plotline belonged in this trilogy when there were so many meatier things to explore? The trilogy as a whole I wouldn’t rate above 3 stars, but the first book gets 3.5. Somehow I never love Walton's books, but they're all so unique I keep coming back anyway.
The Square: Award Nominee (HM): Self-explanatory.
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Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde: Urban fantasy or perhaps magical realism, set in Lagos and exploring issues in contemporary Nigerian society. This one is vibrant, distinctive and messy, making no apologies for its Nigerian English and not catering to the foreign reader. It’s more short story collection than novel, and I found the first half intense and heavy but very well-written, as it explores themes of life, death, and finding meaning. The second half seems more focused on telling stories of queer Nigerians for queer Nigerians who haven’t seen much of themselves in fiction, but may do less for the reader for whom it’s not personal.
The Square: Set in Africa (HM): One of only a couple squares my natural reading didn’t fill. I checked out 5 interesting-sounding books from the library, previewed them all, and this was the winner, which I was glad of because I wanted to read an African author and not just someone of African descent. The runner-up, Redemption in Indigo, seemed strong enough that I might read it for a future bingo.
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Kalpa Imperial by Angelica Gorodischer: A thoughtful, literary collection of short stories set at various points in the history of an imagined empire; it reminds me a bit of Chinese history in its cyclical rising and falling. It’s no wonder Le Guin was a fan, as this is a thematically rich work, dealing with big ideas about history and power and the individual’s role in all this. Plot and character are not the focus, and I expected the stories to tie together more than they do, but they leave the reader something to think about as Gorodischer does not spell things out.
The Square: No Ifs Ands or Buts: This year’s easiest square, and I gave up hard mode, but I wanted to fit this book on my card somehow, okay?
The Okay (3 stars)
Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel: Enjoyable but not particularly memorable, this is a retelling of the Ramayana from the perspective of Rama’s antagonistic stepmother. It takes the well-worn route of making her near-perfect and Rama in the wrong, which has generated some interesting discussions about its portrayal of Hinduism. Unfortunately, it’s told in a generic first-person voice that makes Kaikeyi herself into a generic idealized protagonist. Despite that, I really enjoyed its focus on her relationships with family and friends, particularly the other women in her life, and the flow of the book appealed to me, with our lead mostly finding success and happiness in life. If you enjoyed Circe, but want to see better feminism and could do without the sex and romance, you should definitely try this.The Square: Family Matters (HM): I love this book for this square because the book is primarily about family relationships of various sorts. And its three-generational cast places our heroine in the middle generation rather than the youngest one, which is nice.
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In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire: The only novella in this series that I’ve read, and I loved it right up until the end. Our heroine has to choose between a portal world and our world, and passes back and forth repeatedly as she grows up and her decision gets harder and harder. I loved the deep but understated emotion, the relationships between the heroine and her families both biological and found, the fact that both her mentor and her best friend are also women/girls and these relationships have a lot of depth and emotion to them, and the sheer reasonableness of this initially bizarre world and its rules. The tragic ending basically destroys all that though, as to make it happen a major character acts against common sense, her own established wishes and motivations, and the rules of the world, all in one ridiculously contrived swoop. It seems like the author knew what ending she had to come to based on this protagonist's appearance in an already-published book, and so had to force a story that had grown in a different direction into that mold. This is the second McGuire book I’ve read, and likely the last, as my enjoyment of both books was severely impaired by elements that seemed really poorly thought-through.
The Square: Shapeshifters (HM): A cool feature of the world is that takers slowly begin to grow feathers, and ultimately turn into birds if they don’t change their ways (it’s okay though, they can become human again by giving back to the community).
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The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri: This was pretty mid for me, despite elements I like in theory: the South Asian inspired world, the three major women characters who play important roles in each other’s stories. I don’t really do epic fantasy anymore (what you don’t see on this card are all the others that I DNF’d early), but my enjoyment was probably also held back by having previously read Suri’s Books of Ambha, which I enjoyed much more. I’m starting to feel as if she creates all of her major women characters by starting with the same “strong woman” template and changing up the particular life experiences—also, you really have to emotionally connect to get much out of Suri's books and I wasn’t quite there with this one.
The Square: Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey (HM): There’s a forest where time passes at a different rate. Not a huge element but it is there!
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At the Mouth of the River of Bees by Kij Johnson: Quite a varied short story collection, from fantasy to science fiction to magic realism. There were stories in here that I loved—particularly the first, “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss,” about troubled people finding their way back into the world through a circus act. There were stories I hated, like “Dia Chjerman’s Tale,” an incredibly dark and upsetting tale of the brutal destruction of a planet. So it’s hard to recommend as a collection, though I absolutely recommend all of Johnson’s novels, particularly The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, closely followed by Fudoki. Oddly enough, the story that grew into Fudoki is here and I liked it less as a short story; the collection also includes the story that grew into my least favorite of her novels, The Fox Woman—and I liked that one much more.
The Square: Five Short Stories (HM): Self-explanatory.
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Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher: Cute but forgettable to me. A princess-turned-nun gathers a motley band to go on a quest to rescue her sister from an abusive husband who is also a king. I wanted a little more from both the world and the characters—Marra is nominally 30 but has a pretty standard coming-of-age story, which seems like a waste of an adult heroine, and the supporting cast is in theory cool but didn’t do much for me. Someone likened them to Pratchett characters and I think there’s some truth to that, so if you get more emotionally invested in his characters than I do (read: at all) you might also like this more.
The Square: Author Uses Initials (HM): Self-explanatory.
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The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin: A very well-written novel; that opening is breathtaking in its sheer confidence and power. And there’s some definite character depth here. I can see why this is popular and award-winning. But I never connected with the characters, and it proved too dark a book for me to enjoy—expect horrific violence against children. Also, those themes? Yeah, I’m tired of fantasy novels that like to pretend power is irrelevant to human power relations. This setup—mages with horrifically dangerous and violent powers are hated and feared by the populace because of those powers, and use the fact that people "wrongly" hate and fear them to justify ever more violence against average citizens who can never hope to match their power—this makes a great analogy for America’s police and how they see themselves. Unfortunately the book transparently intends it as an analogy for actual oppressed people, particularly African-Americans, where it works much less well.
The Square: Weird Ecology (HM): A world geologically different from our own (though I think it may be intended as our world in the far future), where plants, animals and people have evolved to survive even decades of disaster-induced winter.
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You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson: Set in a dystopia, this purports to be the memoir of an influential psychiatrist, with footnotes by disapproving editors. The conceit is believably executed, and as a meditation on memory and history and complicity this works fairly well. It’s less successful with plot and character, and I didn’t believe in the dystopia (the world government has outlawed families? Really?). This is a tie-in novel to a podcast, Within the Wires, and while it’s sold as one you don’t need to listen to the podcast to understand, I think maybe you actually do.
The Square: 2+ Authors: This square actually got me on a multi-authored-work reading kick this year. Unfortunately, those books are ranking lower than average for me; you’ll see one more further down and there were another two ranked too low to make it onto the card (including one that would have qualified for hard mode!).
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Monstress Vol. 7: Devourer by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda: I enjoy this graphic novel series, a beautifully drawn epic fantasy in a female-dominated world. Warning that it’s dark, graphic and gory, though, and seems to be bogging down a bit in the middle volumes. Or maybe I just need to wait till it’s finished and read it all in one go rather than one book per year.
The Square: Non-Human Protagonist: A bit of a cheat since Maika can pass, but she is Arcanic, meaning from a race of animal-people, not human. (She’s also sharing her body with a monster.) I later read an actual novel for this but I hated it so here we are.
The Not-So-Good (2.5 stars)
Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer: This is actually kind of fun, an epistolary novel featuring two spunky cousins encountering magic and romance in Regency England. The authors wrote the novel by writing each other letters in character as a game and without discussing the plot, which is a super fun origin story, but as a novel I don’t think it quite works—both leads have protagonist syndrome, they’re kind of the same person and their plots have all the same beats, including identical climaxes, which was awfully boring the second time around. Still, if you love Georgette Heyer and you love fantasy you might want to give this a try.The Square: Historical Fantasy: I love this as a square and wish I had something better for it—initially I used Daughter of Mystery but then moved that out late and had to scramble.
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Pemmican Wars by Katharina Vermette: A short graphic novel featuring a Metis teenager who is struggling in foster care and meanwhile is transported back to (or perhaps just dreams of?) scenes from Canada’s past. The present-day thread is intriguingly told, almost all pictures with very few words, and brings home the protagonist’s isolation while letting readers come up with their own interpretation of what’s happening. The past segments feel really juvenile though, much younger than the YA it’s sold as, and still don’t do much to clarify the history.
The Square: BIPOC Author (HM): The square I struggled with most this year, because I really wanted to do hard mode, but had a lot of trouble finding a fantasy by an indigenous author that I wanted to read. I read a lot of lists and reviews, previewed at least 7 books, and read 3 of them. The first, while perfectly decent, was straight literary fiction and I could not make an argument that it was speculative, despite its being sold that way. The third was definitely fantasy but I thought it was pretty bad. So I wound up with this one, which is only arguably fantasy, very short, and which I didn’t think was all that great—definitely a non-ideal choice! But bingo is up and I don’t mind boosting this for those who might in fact enjoy it.
Thanks for reading! If you want the longer version of any of these reviews, check out my bingo shelf on Goodreads. Hit the “view” button on the far right side of each listing to see my review.
2023.04.01 05:16 HydroMagic So... has WotC given up on a celestial option for the PHB?
There's a TL;DR at the bottom for those who don't want to read the ramblings of a stranger.
As most of you know already, we did it. We got the ardling out of the Player's Handbook, and now it can be placed somewhere it actually belongs, maybe like the upcoming Planescape book or something. I'm personally happy with this because I personally wanted them to bring back and expand the aasimar, instead of replacing them (yes, replace) with a new celestial race that takes more than it gives. Yes, I'll admit that the animal heads are a cool concept - it allows us to play dogs (finally) and takes inspiration from various religions, like the Egyptian pantheon or certain depictions of angels. But as I've stated before, they went about this the wrong way. Instead of improving an existing option that has a history (no matter how little detail they have on celestial-related things in 5e), they introduced a new option that split the player base. And not into two camps either. Just like many controversial moves, there were plenty of opinions on the new race, including
Of course, that's not the argument I'm going with. At this point, it doesn't feel right to stop trying for one. They were clearly hoping to get a celestial option into the PHB, as we can see from their attempts with the ardling. The tiefling is an irremovable facet of D&D now, why not a mirror of it? Sure, the aasimar hasn't been very popular according to the one chart everyone references when arguing against it, but the fact that it made it on the chart has to account for something, right? Maybe if you linked the aasimar to celestial races and made selecting one actually make an impact, it would do better. It could do better if we tried a bit harder.
But the problem is that the negative feedback regarding the ardling seems to have been taken not as criticism toward the race itself, but resistance to the idea of a celestial race itself. There are no mentions of an upcoming celestial option in either the Druid & Paladin Playtests or any of the recent OneD&D videos, ardling has been moved elsewhere, and the mentioning of aasimar has been kept to a bare minimum due to... some reason. So their current options are to (a) abandon the attempt altogether, (b) make peace with the fact that people are going to complain about reprinting the aasimar again or (c) create another Upper plane descendent, like they didn't just give up on their attempt already. Ideally, I'd like them to redesign the aasimar to actually match the tiefling this time (for instance, since we're changing resistances now, if we go with the angel/archon - guardinal - eladrin celestial options from previous editions, we could do radiant (standard angelic resistance) - cold (beasts can weather the bite of winter) - lightning (seasons and storms work well) resistances). Obviously, they don't have to match, but I'd like to see something there at least.
Of course, my opinion doesn't matter, as I'm just a random guy on the internet. And it's only been one playtest so far. Who knows? Maybe they'll do something for the upcoming UAs.
[TL;DR] Celestial race 2.0 and 2.1 have failed already, but I hope that they keep trying, because I want the tiefling to have its partner. The future as of now doesn't look bright, though.
submitted by HydroMagic to onednd [link] [comments]
As most of you know already, we did it. We got the ardling out of the Player's Handbook, and now it can be placed somewhere it actually belongs, maybe like the upcoming Planescape book or something. I'm personally happy with this because I personally wanted them to bring back and expand the aasimar, instead of replacing them (yes, replace) with a new celestial race that takes more than it gives. Yes, I'll admit that the animal heads are a cool concept - it allows us to play dogs (finally) and takes inspiration from various religions, like the Egyptian pantheon or certain depictions of angels. But as I've stated before, they went about this the wrong way. Instead of improving an existing option that has a history (no matter how little detail they have on celestial-related things in 5e), they introduced a new option that split the player base. And not into two camps either. Just like many controversial moves, there were plenty of opinions on the new race, including
- players who liked the original ardling, with their animal parts just being a sign of their divinity.
- players who wanted the aasimar, instead of a new race that took over the aasimar's job. ("Not replacing it" my ass, its purpose was to be the celestial counterpart to the tiefling, which is literally why the aasimar exists.)
- players who wanted to lean more toward divine beast than celestial with animal parts, similar to the ardling's revision (which had varied reception).
- players who wanted ardlings to go full beast and get rid of the divinity, most likely being the neutral counterpart to the aasimar's good and tiefling's bad.
- players who insisted that putting ardlings in the PHB is WotC's way of appealing to furries. (It's not, guys.)
- players who were fine with both aasimar and ardlings, with the reasoning that one of the below
- there is no need to artificially balance the races against each other, and that having 2 celestial races against 1 fiendish race is completely fine (even though it should be the other way around, - fiends have more impactful options than celestials - and this also opens up the door to a whole bunch of celestial races being made when their goal is to simplify)
- there should be a third option and they should all be (a) representing each of the good alignments or (b) combined into one new option that is actually representative of a OneD&D tiefling counterpart
- sometimes this is taken even further so that any outer planes descendent is part of the same race.
- Players who think there just shouldn't be any celestial options in the PHB.
Of course, that's not the argument I'm going with. At this point, it doesn't feel right to stop trying for one. They were clearly hoping to get a celestial option into the PHB, as we can see from their attempts with the ardling. The tiefling is an irremovable facet of D&D now, why not a mirror of it? Sure, the aasimar hasn't been very popular according to the one chart everyone references when arguing against it, but the fact that it made it on the chart has to account for something, right? Maybe if you linked the aasimar to celestial races and made selecting one actually make an impact, it would do better. It could do better if we tried a bit harder.
But the problem is that the negative feedback regarding the ardling seems to have been taken not as criticism toward the race itself, but resistance to the idea of a celestial race itself. There are no mentions of an upcoming celestial option in either the Druid & Paladin Playtests or any of the recent OneD&D videos, ardling has been moved elsewhere, and the mentioning of aasimar has been kept to a bare minimum due to... some reason. So their current options are to (a) abandon the attempt altogether, (b) make peace with the fact that people are going to complain about reprinting the aasimar again or (c) create another Upper plane descendent, like they didn't just give up on their attempt already. Ideally, I'd like them to redesign the aasimar to actually match the tiefling this time (for instance, since we're changing resistances now, if we go with the angel/archon - guardinal - eladrin celestial options from previous editions, we could do radiant (standard angelic resistance) - cold (beasts can weather the bite of winter) - lightning (seasons and storms work well) resistances). Obviously, they don't have to match, but I'd like to see something there at least.
Of course, my opinion doesn't matter, as I'm just a random guy on the internet. And it's only been one playtest so far. Who knows? Maybe they'll do something for the upcoming UAs.
[TL;DR] Celestial race 2.0 and 2.1 have failed already, but I hope that they keep trying, because I want the tiefling to have its partner. The future as of now doesn't look bright, though.
2023.04.01 05:15 AutoModerator [Get] Marisa Murgatroyd – The Experience Product Masterclass 2023
| | Download course here: https://www.genkicourses.com/product/marisa-murgatroyd-the-experience-product-masterclass-2023/ submitted by AutoModerator to MarketingBestOf [link] [comments] [Get] Marisa Murgatroyd – The Experience Product Masterclass 2023 https://preview.redd.it/yz3etu5sf6ra1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8b415b81f690e2b83b9d42699bc5986f4cd9d183 What You Get:MODULE 1YOUR PROFITABLE PRODUCT IDEADesigning a Blockbuster Hit Starts HereThe best products start with the best and most profitable ideas — which don’t happen by chance nor by waiting for lightning to strike. It takes a proven process to zero in on the idea with the potential to fly off the shelves. In this module, you’ll discover my Profitable Product Idea. You will:
Whether you don’t have any ideas, or you have too many ideas, or you’re not sure whether your idea will work, your Blockbuster Hit Product starts here. MODULE 2 YOUR IDEA TO MARKET BLUEPRINTTurning Your Idea Into an Irresistible OfferIn this module, you’ll take your profitable idea and transform it into the kind of thing folks will line up to buy. We call it your “Offer”, and it’s the scaffolding around your idea that makes it real. Elements such as:
By the end of this module, you’ll have the deep confidence that comes from knowing that everything you’re creating is exactly what your audience wants to buy. Now you’ll be ready for Module 3, where we’ll start building! MODULE 3 YOUR MVP LAUNCHCreating Your Minimal Viable Product & Getting to Market FastBy the end of this module, you’ll create just enough of your new program or course to be able to start making real, actual sales to real actual customers. So many programs stop short of this critical step, and leave you stranded, wondering how to bridge the gap between theory and practice. That’s a huge mistake, because it’s critical to test the real world response to your offer before you create your whole course or product, while you still have time to make easy changes and pivots. Some folks hit it out of the park on the first try, while others need to refine and adjust for a few cycles before they land on just the right thing. Either way, this process ensures you never waste months and thousands of dollars creating the wrong thing. In this Module you’ll:
SUPERCHARGE YOUR MARKETINGReach Even More People & Make Even More SalesNow that you’ve proven your offer by making some sales, our optional Module 4 is where you can take your marketing even further by stacking 2-3 campaigns together to create a supercharged, multiplier effect. Whether you stack simple campaigns, requiring little-to-no technology, or more robust campaigns — this is how you realize Goal X. A whole lot more. Whatever that looks like to you. In this Module, get ready to turn a handful of sales into an avalanche:
MODULE 5 EXPERIENCE ESCALATIONSupercharge Your ResultsNow that you’ve proven your product with real sales and you have a plan for reaching even more people and making even more money, this is where we pour fuel on the fire by “experiencifying” your course. “Experiencification” is the process of stacking the 10 Core Experiences of The Experience Formula™ into every element of your Experience Product, to increase the effectiveness of your product by 10-30 times. In this Module you’ll:
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2023.04.01 05:06 pseudonym-2112 Eerie AI prediction & warning from 1959 IBM Research Lecture: Irving J Good "Speculations on Perceptrons"
 | submitted by pseudonym-2112 to IsaacArthur [link] [comments] |
2023.04.01 04:55 StepwiseUndrape574 Rockstar Launches GTA+ Subscription Service With Member Exclusive Benefits But Is It Worth It?
Once upon a time, it was commonplace for online games to have subscription fees. The earliest popular graphical online games, including Ultima Online and EverQuest, all had recurring service fees, as did many games that came after, such as Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft.
That model has largely given way to the "freemium" model where the publishers give the game itself away for free, but much of the game's content is locked behind the choice of either extended play times "grinding" for materials, or the option of skipping that grind with a real-money payment.
However, some games have both, and that usually includes the longest-lived and most-successful ones. Sega's ten-year-on Phantasy Star Online 2 is free-to-play, but has extensive cash purchases and also has a "premium" subscription available. In Final Fantasy XIV and the venerable World of Warcraft, the subscription fee is still required despite the presence of a cash shop.
carmeet
Grand Theft Auto Online has a lot of similarities to what we usually think of as qualities of "MMO" games. While it isn't "massively multiplayer" on a local scale—sessions normally include a maximum of 32 players—there are tens of thousands of players online at any given moment. It has named player characters with persistent progress and all of the other things we think of from MMO games: equipment, appearance customization, player housing, difficult multiplayer "raid" events, and so on.
With that context in mind, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that Rockstar is launching a subscription service for GTA Online. It's called GTA+, and it costs $6 a month. Ponying up for the premium subscription earns you a cool $500,000 in the in-game GTA$ currency every month and extra GTA$ on "Shark Cards," as well as exclusive benefits. Here's the list of benefits for the first month: The Principe Deveste Eight — along with a complimentary Hao’s Special Works upgrade for it before it is made available to purchase by the general public — plus the HSW Orange Trip and HSW CMYK Glitch Liveries. The Auto Shop located in La Mesa, introduces an assortment of gameplay updates from Los Santos Tuners. Current Auto Shop owners can relocate to La Mesa at no additional cost. Waived LS Car Meet Membership fees. Current LS Car Meet members with GTA+ will be reimbursed GTA$50,000 during this event period. Yacht owners can upgrade to the Aquarius Super Yacht at no additional cost. The Gussét Frog Tee and Broker Prolaps Basketball Top and Shorts automatically added to your wardrobe. The Conveyor Livery for the Mammoth Avenger, HVY APC, and TM-02 Khanjali. A selection of free paints and emblems for the Auto Shop. 3X GTA$ and RP on Hao’s Special Works Race Series. 2X Car Meet Rep on the Street Race Series. It would be easy to criticize Rockstar for this move because the company has already taken $60 of your money for the game. That's to say nothing of the grind-heavy nature of GTA Online that practically forces players to purchase Shark Cards for in-game currency if they want to make progress at any kind of reasonable rate. There's also the fact that the company is charging money for what is honestly an extremely minor update on the current-generation consoles.
In the interest of fairness, though, we'll note that many players who bought GTA V (including GTA Online) purchased it nearly a decade ago. Just like other major online games, GTA Online has seen years of additional content and improvements through continual updates, and that stuff does cost money to create.
deveste eight The Principe Deveste Eight, one of the rewards for subscribing this month.
If you own GTA V, you don't actually have to pay Rockstar anything to play it for the rest of eternity, so giving players an option to spend a little every month to support continued development is fair. However, the list of benefits, at least for the first month, is pretty weak.
There's another caveat, too: this program is only available to players on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles. We've asked Rockstar if GTA+ will be coming to the PC version, and will update this post if we get a response.
submitted by StepwiseUndrape574 to gta5moddedvehicles_ [link] [comments]
That model has largely given way to the "freemium" model where the publishers give the game itself away for free, but much of the game's content is locked behind the choice of either extended play times "grinding" for materials, or the option of skipping that grind with a real-money payment.
However, some games have both, and that usually includes the longest-lived and most-successful ones. Sega's ten-year-on Phantasy Star Online 2 is free-to-play, but has extensive cash purchases and also has a "premium" subscription available. In Final Fantasy XIV and the venerable World of Warcraft, the subscription fee is still required despite the presence of a cash shop.
carmeet
Grand Theft Auto Online has a lot of similarities to what we usually think of as qualities of "MMO" games. While it isn't "massively multiplayer" on a local scale—sessions normally include a maximum of 32 players—there are tens of thousands of players online at any given moment. It has named player characters with persistent progress and all of the other things we think of from MMO games: equipment, appearance customization, player housing, difficult multiplayer "raid" events, and so on.
With that context in mind, it probably shouldn't be a surprise that Rockstar is launching a subscription service for GTA Online. It's called GTA+, and it costs $6 a month. Ponying up for the premium subscription earns you a cool $500,000 in the in-game GTA$ currency every month and extra GTA$ on "Shark Cards," as well as exclusive benefits. Here's the list of benefits for the first month: The Principe Deveste Eight — along with a complimentary Hao’s Special Works upgrade for it before it is made available to purchase by the general public — plus the HSW Orange Trip and HSW CMYK Glitch Liveries. The Auto Shop located in La Mesa, introduces an assortment of gameplay updates from Los Santos Tuners. Current Auto Shop owners can relocate to La Mesa at no additional cost. Waived LS Car Meet Membership fees. Current LS Car Meet members with GTA+ will be reimbursed GTA$50,000 during this event period. Yacht owners can upgrade to the Aquarius Super Yacht at no additional cost. The Gussét Frog Tee and Broker Prolaps Basketball Top and Shorts automatically added to your wardrobe. The Conveyor Livery for the Mammoth Avenger, HVY APC, and TM-02 Khanjali. A selection of free paints and emblems for the Auto Shop. 3X GTA$ and RP on Hao’s Special Works Race Series. 2X Car Meet Rep on the Street Race Series. It would be easy to criticize Rockstar for this move because the company has already taken $60 of your money for the game. That's to say nothing of the grind-heavy nature of GTA Online that practically forces players to purchase Shark Cards for in-game currency if they want to make progress at any kind of reasonable rate. There's also the fact that the company is charging money for what is honestly an extremely minor update on the current-generation consoles.
In the interest of fairness, though, we'll note that many players who bought GTA V (including GTA Online) purchased it nearly a decade ago. Just like other major online games, GTA Online has seen years of additional content and improvements through continual updates, and that stuff does cost money to create.
deveste eight The Principe Deveste Eight, one of the rewards for subscribing this month.
If you own GTA V, you don't actually have to pay Rockstar anything to play it for the rest of eternity, so giving players an option to spend a little every month to support continued development is fair. However, the list of benefits, at least for the first month, is pretty weak.
There's another caveat, too: this program is only available to players on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles. We've asked Rockstar if GTA+ will be coming to the PC version, and will update this post if we get a response.
2023.04.01 04:54 Dismal-Jellyfish Federal Reserve Alert! Governor Christopher J. Waller in speech 'The Unstable Phillips Curve': "When Central Bank promises are credible, the Phillips curve should be relatively flat. Since January 2022, the Phillips curve is essentially vertical."
 | Good evening and Happy Friday Superstonk, resident jellyfish back with this interesting nugget. Let's get to it! submitted by Dismal-Jellyfish to Superstonk [link] [comments] Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller At the Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy, a conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, San Francisco, California Source: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/waller20230331a.htm Highlights:The Phillips curve:
New Keynesian model:
In both these stories, expectations of future inflation play a critical role:
This explanation is all about the short run:
What do economic data tell us about this relationship?
What would cause inflation expectations to be unstable?
What have we seen in the data?2000-2019 (stable):The Phillips curve was very flat for the 20-plus years before the pandemic, consistent with the story that the Federal Reserve was credible at keeping inflation low.Data for 2021: The Phillips curve suddenly looked relatively steep:The Phillips curve suddenly looked relatively steep. That is, the labor market became extremely tight as the U.S. economy emerged from pandemic lockdowns.What Changed? Inflation!!!
Since January 2022, the Phillips curve is essentially vertical:The unemployment rate has hovered around 3.6 percent, and inflation has varied from 7 percent (in June) to 5.3 percent (in December).What happened to the Phillips curve that it is acting so differently now than in the pre-pandemic period? 3 trains of thought:
1.Freshwater macroeconomistsWould once again argue that this difference shows the Phillips curve is a statistical anomaly and should not be used as a foundational element guiding monetary policy.2. As aggregate demand increases, labor demand will increase as well relies on inflation expectations becoming unanchored and causing the short-run Phillips curve to shift around:https://preview.redd.it/34v34bjwp6ra1.png?width=765&format=png&auto=webp&s=db39bdc581f28f67a463f8c24fd91472d1f5c978
3. New Keynesian Phillips curve where there is a sudden increase in the frequency of price changes:https://preview.redd.it/m8kcn1ioq6ra1.png?width=687&format=png&auto=webp&s=b7255c8306a271981926c4f01c1e5302f496b5d6
What does this suggest about the relationship between inflation and labor market slack and the implications for monetary policy?Two charts on inflation expectations from the Federal Reserve's March 2023 Monetary Policy Report.
Data on the frequency of output price changes in 2021 and 2022:Preliminary work by Montag and Villar Vallenas (2023) uses U.S. Consumer Price Index micro-data to examine about 90,000 individual prices each month and determines if there was a change and, if so, was the change an increase or decrease.
What does this analysis mean for monetary policy makers?
TLDRS:
Full Speech:Thank you, Sylvain, and thank you to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for inviting me to speak tonight. After listening to many dinner speakers through the years, I am well aware that after the entrees are served, no one wants to hear someone blabber for 45 minutes. So, I will try to keep this short to leave enough time for a robust discussion afterward, which I hope my remarks will generate. |
2023.04.01 04:51 sigmoidBro Despite my best efforts, I've always been attracted to masculine men
I understand that claiming someone is solely attracted to masculine men may elicit skepticism among many gay men nowadays. There has been ongoing criticism of the "masc for masc" stereotypes, with some suggesting that it stems from internalized homophobia.
However, in all honesty, I have always found myself attracted to masculine men on a deeper level. It's not just about the physical appearance; I have encountered numerous individuals who possess the conventional masculine look but lack the essence of masculinity. These are the people who initially seem to fit the stereotype, but soon reveal their obsession with their appearance and popularity. While I have no issue with people living their lives as they please, I simply don't feel attracted to them.
Though I consider myself a very masculine person, I never advertise it on any of my profiles. In my opinion, it's not something one should flaunt. To me, masculinity is more about a person's character—taking responsibility, treating others with care and respect, being true to one's word, being independent, and avoiding gossip and unnecessary drama. Moreover, it's not about suppressing emotions or feelings.
However, it's unfortunate that, due to my race, some people overlook me despite possessing the desired appearance and characteristics.
submitted by sigmoidBro to GayConservative [link] [comments]
However, in all honesty, I have always found myself attracted to masculine men on a deeper level. It's not just about the physical appearance; I have encountered numerous individuals who possess the conventional masculine look but lack the essence of masculinity. These are the people who initially seem to fit the stereotype, but soon reveal their obsession with their appearance and popularity. While I have no issue with people living their lives as they please, I simply don't feel attracted to them.
Though I consider myself a very masculine person, I never advertise it on any of my profiles. In my opinion, it's not something one should flaunt. To me, masculinity is more about a person's character—taking responsibility, treating others with care and respect, being true to one's word, being independent, and avoiding gossip and unnecessary drama. Moreover, it's not about suppressing emotions or feelings.
However, it's unfortunate that, due to my race, some people overlook me despite possessing the desired appearance and characteristics.
2023.04.01 04:44 TheBlazeBot Christian college president: 'We're not hiring people ... who endorse critical race theory'
submitted by TheBlazeBot to TheBlaze [link] [comments]