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lesbianakaashi · 3 years

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The Forgotten Shounen: Katekyo Hitman Reborn

This is not a “Why you should watch/read khr” or anything like that. This is just me going into the deep dive and throwing my findings at you. I’m making this because khr used to be my favourite series when I was 15 (I had plushees, posters, tradingcards, the art book etc) and now as an adult I constantly find myself baffled at how unknow it seems to be.

1. Okay first what is khr?

Katekyo Hitman Reborn! or just Reborn! is a series by Akira Amano which was published in Weekly Shounen Jump from 2004 to 2012 (with 42 volumes) and got an anime adaption which run from 2006 to 2010 on Tv Tokyo (with 202 episodes and one OVA).

2. What’s it about?

Khr is a parody of the italian mafia and plays in a world where the mafia is heavily influencial. The protagonist is the japanese middle schooler Sawada Tsunayoshi who is known as “No good Tsuna” because of his failing grades, general weak and cowardly personality and weak physics.

He becomes aware of the mafia world when a 2 year old baby called Reborn arrives at his house claiming to be the greatest hitman and declaring himself his home tutor. Reborn was send by the 9th head of the Vongola famiglia who is ready to retire and looking for a new heir. Which of course, is supposed to be Tsuna and now it's Reborns job to shape him into a worthy sucessor.

Tsuna rejects the violence of the mafia world and refuses the position as the 10th. Thanks to Reborn and his general craziness Tsuna meets different people and starts to make real friendships. Reborn wants 6 of those friends to be Tsuna's future guardians, basically a group of people which will be closest to him in the vongola famiglia. Tsuna might have no interest in those positions but the friendships he builds with them become really precious to him.

Reborns arrivial also brings in the enemies of the Vongola family which leads to Tsuna being forced to engage in battles. Generally Tsuna openly avoids fights and prefers to run away but will put himself in danger for his friends' sake or because of something Reborn did.

Through out the series Tsuna matures and gains strenght but he never becomes a power fantasy. He's just a guy with many flaws who grows through the human connections he makes.

Personally I think the relationship between Reborn and Tsuna is one of the best student teacher reltaionships in all of manga only topped by Mob and Reigen from Mob Psycho 100. Especially the last arc really underlines their unique relationship to me.

Furthermore, khr offers a new and unique battle system: The flames. I'm not gonna go into to too much detail but the general idea is that one fights with their dying will flame which basically turns off your the savety switch so you can fight with everything you have. The flames are seperated into different categories such as: sky, storm, mist, rain, sun, lightning and cloud and have different attributes asigned to each one. Tsuna's use of the sky flame and his transformation when using it is still one of my favourite shounen transformations to this day.

3. What happened?

The series did really well and then not so well over the course of its serialisation. After the manga got an anime adaption it increased in populairty and video games, light novels, and other products such as CDs were created based on the series. Reborn is one of the best selling series of Weekly Shōnen Jump and has sold around 30 Million volumes overall. It was and still is very popular in Japan but rather unknown in the west.

According to the article "The Rise and Fall of Weekly Shonen Jump: A Look at the Circulation of Weekly Jump" khr was the 10th bestselling series in Weekly Shōnen Jump, with a total of 7 million copies sold in 2007.

This number increasing to 15 milion in 2008. Which placed khr into the 4th best selling series of 2008 in Japan.

Between 2008 and 2010 those sales declined but still kept strong with khr as the 6th top selling manga in 2009, 8th best selling in 2010 and then 24th best selling in 2012.

In November 2014, readers of the Da Vinci magazine voted khr number 17 on a list of Weekly Shōnen Jump's greatest manga series of all time.

After the anime came to an apprupt stop in 2010 for unknown reasons the manga sells took a visible hit. (Apparently the studio wanted to put the anime on halt because they were busy with other projects and give Akira Amano time to develop her story but I couldn't find any source for this claim) Furthermore, the rushed last chapters of the manga in 2012 declined the popularity of the series even more. There's no offical statement as to why the manga was ended in such a way but it's reasonable to assume that Jump either cut it considering the decreasing sales or Akira Amano choose to end it for personal reasons.

Nontheless, Tsuna not being included in Jump Force (a fighting game where you can play as different characters from Jump) in 2019 even tho he made it in earlier Jump Stars games also underlines the decreased interest in the series.

Rumors on a reboot or anime adaption of the last two arcs surface from time to time but are genereally unlikely. Artland the studio which made khr has gone bankrupt around 2015-2016. It might be taken on by another studio but rather uncommen especially with such an old series.

4. Art style

The khr anime ended over 10 years ago and the old art style might not be appealing to newer audiences.

Especailly because the anime adaption follows Akira Amanos old art style which heavily developed within the years. Here a picture comparing characters in the new art style:

A modern anime adaption in the new art style would be aesthetically pleasing. It would probably look similiar to Psycho Pass since Akira Amano did the concept art for this series.

(My personal art student hot take is that both art styles are unique and fun. Up to this day Akira Amano still has my favourite art style and even if the amount folds in the characters clothing is a little extreme I love it dearly.)

5. Criticism

The show is not without flaws and even if I greatly enjoy it it wouldn't be right not to adress them.

Daily Life Arc:

A lot of people view the first 20 to 25 episodes as fillers and quickly lose intererst in the series. This is due to the fact that Akira Amano inteded the series to be a gag manga and focuses the first chapters on world building, character introduction and comical narratives. It's rumored that the decision to develop the story into a battle shounen was made because the sales weren't doing well enough at first. So the first chapters/episodes may seem titidious but are necessary for the story and the development of the characters. The tonal shift from a more gintama like gag manga to a darker battle focused story can also be offputting to some viewers.

Either way a lot of people blame this arc when discussing why khr never got an english dub or didn't end up on Toonami. I've also read that the manga never finished serializing in the north america. However, it finished in other western languages like german and spanish.

Censoring:

The anime censors A LOT. From Gokudera's smoking habit, Yamamoto's whole character arc which deals with heavy themes such as depression and suicidal thoughts. The general bloodiness of the manga was censored and sometimes whole chapters and characters were left out even if those were important to the devolopment of others.

Filler episodes:

Out of the 202 episodes the anime has around 29 filler episodes which makes roughly 14 %.

Sexism:

Even if Reborn was written by a woman most female characters are rather flat and their storylines often tied to a male character in one way or another.

Genereal things:

Khr, like many other long running series, is sometimes criticised for a lack of world building or unpopular narrative choices.

6. Hope?

Khr isn't exactly dead. As stated before the series is still very popular in Japan and still gets new merch pretty regulary. There are also petitions floating around for a reboot or a new anime season but those never get a lot of traction. Furthermore #Reborn2期アニメ化 (#Reborn2ndAnimation) used to get some traction on twitter not too long ago. Last year the Anime News Network did a poll on which anime the readers would like to see a rebooot of and khr placed second.

Either way here's a collection of recent khr things I could find.

- In 2018 a new bluray set was released in north america

- The khr stage play reached yet another new season

- A mobile game was released last year

- Currently ongoing anime cafe event called "Concerto di Vongola"

- Last month there was an event with the former VAs and stage play actors where they discussed their favourite khr episodes.

- There has been an increase in blind reacts to the openings on youtube which might bring in a new fan base. The biggest one I could find had around 90k views and was made in 2019. On this note check out the soundtrack. The first openeing Drawing Days by SPLAY still makes me go insane (but I'm biased of course)

There also renewed hope for a new season/reboot because Shaman King, Inuyasha and Bleach got anounced for new seasons after a long hiatus. It's important to keep in mind that the circumstances for those series are differnt tho. For example bleachs new anime is often tied to the immense success of the gatcha game.

7. Conclusion

Khr is a series which used to be a flagship for Weekly Shounen Jump and is deeply beloved by it's fans, especially in Japan. It influenced other shounen series like bnha. It would be nice to see it gaining a bigger fanbase in the west :)

#khr #khr meta #anime analysis #shounen jump #katekyo hitman reborn #mirytalks #long post #manga

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riseadvice50 · 3 years

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Alabama Basketball: How the Tide's Innovation Continues to Roll

no longer not like its neighbors on the nook lot of Coliseum Boulevard in the Mal M. Moore Athletic complex, Alabama basketball has an identical decrees to defy as its season soon begins after sweeping SEC titles, revising list books, and dropping assertive veterans who led the crew in 2020-21 to as short an ascension as the recreation's seen. The obvious disconnect to Alabama football is that third-12 months educate Nate Oats doesn’t yet have the fairness to warrant enthusiasts’ response of ‘but, but it surely’s Alabama’ when many in and around college basketball naturally will question the place and when Crimson Tide hoops nears its proverbial plateau. but everything in basketball may also be quantified, to the good and dangerous of Alabama skeptics, as once-empirical evidence presented by way of the ‘eye verify’ has conceded to facts and analytically-pushed scouting because of hoops’ hand-me-down strategy to transforming into the video game through counsel gathering first by the NBA. It’s distinctive now, and Alabama illustrates the game's evolution in its play with a high variety of attempted three-aspect photographs, the only real choice to photographs on the rim per analytics, a quick speed of play, and its have-cake-and-consume-it-too outlook on quantity and best being all however collectively exclusive in games gained. The volume of shots dictates scoring alternatives just because the satisfactory of shot determines the likelihood of ball stripping nylon. below Oats, the Tide is the cat to reproduction, and nothing illuminates that claim greater than a now-becoming title in college basketball this is every little thing however for the Alabama coach, the role of a bunch-cruncher and a covert staffer who values the values. Meet Adam Bauman, the Director of Scouting and Analytics for Alabama basketball. he's the assistant unseen, even to excellent-notch cameramen, and his enter to the Tide's innovation, no matter if in recruiting, scouting of opponents, or vogue-recognizing outliers within the team's efficiency via statistics, is all a part of a job description recently becoming in recognition. it's just that his boss spotted the sport's course before most else. he's another pair of eyes as receptive to the role numbers play in the video game as Oats, the high school math teacher-became-SEC train of the 12 months. And he is been with him for the reason that he became at Buffalo, after he served as a manager to the Southern Illinois basketball application and hung out as a graduate assistant at multiple stops following graduation from SIU. Bauman enters 12 months three at Alabama, and he is paid his dues of rebuilding the software internally as others have. And he's witnessed its quick growth from year one to 12 months two under its aggressive chief. Yet, as accomplished as the Tide became final season, its notion of being offensively-driven is a half-truth. "for those who appear on the analytics and you look on the numbers, the difference was we went from being out of the accurate 100 defensively to being within the excellent 5 for essentially the most part of the season," Bauman noted. "after which the second a part of the year we were true-three, so that turned into surely the biggest change." or not it's a multi-numerous insight to why Alabama mostly better defensively from 2019-20 to 2020-21, and listed below are the numbers: Two years in the past, its protective efficiency score was ninety nine.5, which ranked 114th nationally. closing season its rating complete at 87.eight, rating third-best in school basketball, per KenPom. it's personnel, personnel, and, sure, personnel. Oats and Co. ably equalized offenses by trotting out longer, more athletic gamers who were stronger at smothering ball monitors, shut outs, and different moves that defensively hamstrung the crew the yr prior because of less size and coverage. due to this fact, the Crimson Tide won both the commonplace season and tournament championship of its conference, lower back to the sweet 16 circular of the NCAA tournament for the first time when you consider that 2003-04, had an NBA Lottery pick for the second consecutive season in shelter Joshua Primo, and nevertheless its two-12 months transition from a first round NIT exit to a modern last 4 decide upon among tournament experts is questioned in that its sustainability invites everyday reluctance. these days, and main as much as early autumn, the educate-speak cliché of now not living on previous performances, bad and otherwise, would not follow to those inside the partitions of Coleman Coliseum, the domestic arena of Alabama basketball. Bauman, Oats, and others all binged basketball all offseason to identify competencies advancements, past mistakes, and the explanation why the Tide exited within the third round of the NCAA tournament in its loss to UCLA, a countrywide semifinalist thereafter. even though the Bruins weren't a unique focus so plenty as an universal representation of a barrier to splinter. "We did some deep dives into what went wrong offensively. neatly, now not always what went wrong, but why we dipped," Bauman said. "on the surface stage, simply searching at the stats and where we ranked in certain areas, we obtained our shot blocked lots and then our turnover fee ended up being fairly unhealthy on the 12 months." 'Bama ranked 157th within the NCAA with a turnover expense of 18.6 % of its possessions, and in its seven losses it shot 44 % on two-point box intention attempts in comparison to the season typical of over 50 percent. element within the Crimson Tide's high variety of tried three-point pictures—totaling over forty six % of its shots taken, ranking 18th nationally—and you'd determine lots of those two-element box desires have been at or near the rim in its losses final season. Bauman attributes its struggles at the rim to either negative reads or indecisiveness, asserting Alabama gamers obligatory more two-footed vegetation down low to read the protection, find an open man, or install a more robust scoring possibility. in the meantime ... What changes have been made, you ask yourself, smartly, the Crimson Tide indirectly consulted with one of the vital few consistent contenders of faculty basketball, Gonzaga, to enrich its personal software from a distance. See, under teach Mark Few, the Zags are most corresponding to Alabama upon surface-degree digging, and the one-loss countrywide runner-up become the only crew alongside Oats' crew to both finish with its possessions per forty minutes mark north of seventy three and to conclude within the desirable 25 of the final AP poll. Gonzaga ranked seventh nationally and Alabama comprehensive 11th. "There became a time after we definitely went through every possession of Gonzaga’s this yr," Bauman referred to. "The biggest change between Gonzaga and us is they have approach greater player stream. They’re at all times slashing guys, and swing-swing and moving, and that’s how they get extra assisted photographs at the rim." “however we’ve additionally taken some stuff they do and we’ve noted it, about instituting more participant move." there is a stability, although, given how Alabama likes to function. In its device, if you'd even outline it as such with the quantity of participant freedom it emphasizes, there are less chess pieces moving without delay, however the ones who're moved across the metaphorical board are extra consequential to the success of the on-court docket collective. And the Crimson Tide offense can not stray too removed from that. It ties lower back to turnovers, certainly for those who agree with that Alabama's offense is built on participant reads in preference to sets, plays, or anything to skew the right mix of liberal ball flow and drive-then-kick out chances. contrary an initiator, the "MIG," probably the most important guy far from the ball, as Bauman defined, is who Oats' offense is predicated on, and his job is to direct protective site visitors to quite a few areas of the floor so Alabama creates its options and isolates scorers as optimum it can devoid of compromising rhythmic timing. however all this makes for a jump from prep basketball to excessive-level SEC play, and potentialities who pique the activity of Crimson Tide coaches usually share equivalent characteristics. For Oats and his workforce, their recruiting philosophy hasn't modified tons, either. "Positional dimension is massive, size is huge, athleticism is massive, and that they have to be able to shoot the ball," Bauman talked about. "in the event that they can shoot it, and that they're long and athletic then we are able to type of take care of the leisure." The general top of gamers on the Alabama roster last season was a colour beneath 6-foot-5 at seventy seven.7 inches, and whereas the colloquialism of "big man beats little man" is essentially authentic in basketball, the video game now champions variables like wingspan and lateral athleticism because it's moved to a greater shield and wing-heavy playstyle with avid gamers who're, ideally, in a position to filling just about each function on the flooring. To phrase it differently, the activity of school basketball may also were in the back of the times of Oats and his personnel considering he changed into at Buffalo, and everybody is catching on when it comes to roster development, participant development, and enhancements internally. And as imaginative as the Crimson Tide has been in view that Oats' arrival, as well as Bauman and a number of other assistants, the as soon as-clear abilities of zigging to the zag at a mid-major software like Buffalo has diminished. What's left is a staff constructed with the aid of the work of Bauman and others who's inclined to well known what should change, and because of this, may not possible sit down nevertheless even with what number of greater trophies accumulate in Coleman Coliseum. "somebody's outworking you, somebody's doing something to set themselves apart, and lots of us are aligned in that considering, nevertheless it all begins with Nate." As for that plateau ... 먹튀검증

#먹튀검증

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greencrusader13 · 5 years

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All Were Innocent Once: Chapter 6 - The Two Masters

It’s a week late, but here is the next AWIO chapter. I’m uploading it a little earlier than the usual 2:00 PST since I’m going to head off to see Captain Marvel here in a bit.

Anyways, here we have another Eonur chapter, as well as the first appearance of an actual canon character from SWTOR. I decided it based on a poll awhile back, and I’m happy with the result; it works perfectly. Hope you enjoy!

Another quake shook the interior of the ship, rattling a row of commemorative glasses arranged upon the shelves of Lord Rhoral’s quarters. Eonur had taken to a corner there, seated with his knees against his chest as far as he could manage from the Imperial guards that stood near the blast doors, their blaster rifles trained on whatever might come through them while watching a security feed of the outside hallway. Still he remained within Lord Rhoral’s inescapable sight regardless of how much he wished to be out of it. He found no comfort in the Sith Lord’s presence, only fear and anger.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been since the Imperials announced the Republic ambush. The sounds of warfare and violence were well outside of his earshot, and no further reports had been made. For all Eonur knew it could’ve been over already.

Lord Rhoral himself sat behind a row of polished silver chess pieces at a table in the center of the room, hand stroking his chin as he contemplated his next move against the golden pieces. No sooner had he moved a silver piece before reaching out with his power to move one of the golds to take the silver pawn he’d just played. His game had no concept of allegiance, not when he controlled both sides, and his victory was ensured. Eonur had seen his previous master’s household play the game sometimes against one another, but never a match between oneself.

The Sith Lord’s amber eyes flicked up and locked on to Eonur. His expression remained neutral, if not intrigued. “I suppose it would be a foolish question to ask if you were familiar with this game.”

Eonur kept quiet despite all past experiences having taught him that silence in response to a direct question often resulted in beatings. Lord Rhoral was probably capable of even worse, and yet Eonur couldn’t bring himself to answer. Fear, hatred, and anger constricted his throat and blocked all forms of response. Jowporin was dead by this Sith’s hand, snuffed out in an instant without reason.

That was the worst of it, the senselessness. He’d seen many other slaves die before, some blasted or shocked to death from disobedience while others died of exhaustion brought on from days of intense labor. It was expected. Lord Rhoral had no purpose in killing Jowporin, nothing to gain from the violence.

Lord Rhoral – as though sensing Eonur’s resentment – rolled his eyes in response to his silence. “Yes, yes, the wookiee is dead. Your rage will help you later, but right now you’re just wasting your energy.” In a firmer tone he added, “Sit,” and nodded towards the other chair directly across from him.

Hesitantly, Eonur rose to his feet and climbed into the chair. Its deep red wood was unnaturally smooth, feeling more like polished glass than any sort of carving. The whole room held an air of refined hollowness, an insincere ornateness that belied something far more savage. Red carpeting covered the floor, the Imperial sigil in its center. The brightness of its color made it seem as though servants cleaned it regularly to a point of perfection. A shelf stacked with books and holocrons sat adjacent to Rhoral’s made bed, each volume arranged in a neat line. And yet despite this refinery, the Sith Lord hung the heads of various beasts and creatures the likes of which Eonur had never seen. Their faces appeared contorted, fearful even. Eonur felt himself shrink under their demented gaze.

Lord Rhoral began resetting the pieces, paying Eonur no heed as he did. Despite the demonstration of his powers just moments before, he arranged the pieces by hand in simple movement that were as methodical as they were swift. When he’d finished, Eonur’s gold pieces lay in direct opposition to Rhoral’s silver.

“We have time to spare,” Lord Rhoral said. “In the meantime, we can play while our soldiers put down the Republic’s hounds.” He then diverted into the rules of the game, explaining what each piece did, and how they moved. His summation felt of little help: by and large the game still felt unfamiliar, and Eonur knew he was playing against someone far better than himself. “The objective of chess isn’t so much about taking your opponent’s pieces as it is about taking the right pieces. Playing too aggressively and aiming for rampant destruction will only cost you your victory.” He locked eyes with Eonur once more. “Consider that a metaphor.”

Eonur nodded slowly, dropping his gaze from the Sith’s. It was probably best to avoid mentioning that he didn’t know anything about metaphors.

The first round went as well as he could’ve expected. Lord Rhoral dismantled any semblance of strategy Eonur put up with lethal ease, often seeming to know his next move before Eonur had even decided it. With a gentle flick of his finger Lord Rhoral pushed over Eonur’s king without so much as touching it. A wry grin spread on his face. “Again.” And he began setting up the board once more.

Each subsequent match proved itself to be an exercise in futility. On occasion Eonur would manage to take one of Lord Rhoral’s pieces, only to then lose his own in the process, followed by several additional losses. All the while the Sith sat across from him, amused. Neither of them spoke, and the only sounds were those of the battles occurring on the ship and the board.

After one game Lord Rhoral looked up at Eonur, his expression one of annoyance. “You play weak.”

“I’m still learning,” Eonur grumbled, focusing his attention back on the chessboard. He reached for his pieces, only for Lord Rhoral to slap his hand away. Wincing, Eonur nursed his stinging hand.

“You play weak,” Lord Rhoral repeated. “I’ve watched what little strategy you possess closely. Many times you were in a position to cripple me, dull my advance, even gain the upper hand, and all you had to do was sacrifice a pawn. Yet you refused. I wonder: was it stupidity or weakness that stayed your hand?”

“I’m trying not to lose pieces.”

“They exist to be your sacrifices. They are to be disposed of in pursuit of victory. They mean nothing.” Lord Rhoral rapped his knuckles on the chessboard with each word. Bated anger emanated from his cold glare, and once again Eonur felt afraid of the Sith.

But the more he thought on Lord Rhoral’s words, his fear gave way to anger once more. He’d heard a similar line of thinking from his masters in the past, from his underlings and anyone who answered to him. Slaves were nothing. Slaves were expendable. They existed only to do the work of their master, whatever the toil or cost.

And Lord Rhoral had treated Jowporin as such, as nothing, and had killed him as such. The Empire had planned on using Eonur himself as a pawn in their siege, and he likely would’ve been sacrificed to their ambitions too if not for Lord Rhoral’s notice of him. Eonur only lived because the Sith saw him as potentially more useful than as a sacrifice.

Eonur knew what it was like to be considered nothing, and knew it to be wrong. Jowporin had meant something to him; he had mattered.

“I don’t want to play your game anymore,” Eonur said.

Lord Rhoral said nothing at first, fixing Eonur with a cold gaze that seemed to drain all semblance of life from the room. “In time you will. For now, there can be other ways you learn. Pain is a teacher second to none. You’ll be well acquainted by-”

Sudden beeping from Lord Rhoral’s holocom silenced him. A distorted image of the same Imperial woman who’d informed them of the attack appeared on the disc. In the background Imperial brass were issuing frantic orders, and the destruction around them sounded closer than ever. “Milord, the Republic has boarded. We’ve lost the hanger bay, and Republic soldiers interrupted before we could finish arming the slaves for detonation. We’re sustaining heavy casualties.”

Lord Rhoral shot to his feet. “How?” he snarled. For a glimmering second Eonur thought he sensed fear.

“They have a Jedi Master with them. Our surveillance shows that he’s-”

But she had no time to finish. A sudden blast cut off the rest of her words, followed by the sound of blaster fire. Silence followed, and Lord Rhoral was left holding the empty holocom in his palm. His wiry red fingers curled around the device, constricting it ever tighter until it was crushed in his hand. Blood oozed between the cracks.

Eonur couldn’t help but take glee in Lord Rhoral’s defeat. Defiance emblazoned him with a previously unfelt courage, and he sat up higher in his chair. He was probably going to die – this Republic didn’t seem keen on taking any prisoners at the moment, but he didn’t care. Without Lord Rhoral it probably would’ve happened anyways in the battle he’d been bought for in the first place. Jowporin’s death would not go unpaid.

“You lose,” Eonur said quietly.

Lord Rhoral did not seem to hear him, instead staring at the opposite wall in a blank rage. His attention then snapped back to Eonur. “Get up,” Lord Rhoral seethed, seizing him by the back of his shirt with his bloodied hand and dragging him to his feet. Before Eonur could steady himself a crimson blade hissed to life mere inches from his neck, the weapon’s hilt steady in Lord Rhoral’s hand. Even then he couldn’t bring himself to fear Lord Rhoral.

Yet the Sith Lord remained distant, now focused on the blast doors sealing out the Republic forces more than anything else within the room. Lord Rhoral’s hunger seemed to radiate through his very being. His bared teeth made him resemble an animal, one that eagerly awaited its cage to be opened.

From the corner of his eye Eonur saw motion on the video feed. A man stood outside the blast doors, a deep hood obscuring his face from sight. Despite being in a warzone, he seemed to carry himself serenely, walking almost as though out for a stroll. His gaze drifted upwards to the camera, and with the slightest flick of his wrist he waved. Then he stretched out both hands towards the blast doors. Metal shrieked under as it was forcibly torn apart, the locks trying their hardest to sustain their function. The ship itself seemed to tremble from the Force the man wielded.

The Imperial commander in Lord Rhoral’s room barked an order, and the others rushed themselves into position, forming a horizontal line that wedged themselves between the door and the Sith. Whomever was trying to enter would face a firing squad.

Suddenly the blast doors were ripped open in a terrible wave of energy, the metal lurching inwards on itself as though made of malleable plastic. Eonur heard the striking hum of another blade, and an instant later a blur of blue cut down the soldiers faster than his own eyes could track. They fell in seconds, one after the other, leaving the man alone with Eonur and the Sith. The man remained posed for a moment with his blade across his chest, then shifted, bringing both hands to its hilt while guarding his body from them.

In a single flowing motion the man removed his cloak, and for the first time Eonur could see his face. While not considerably old, the lines under his deep brown eyes suggested that he was well past his younger days. He seemed to regard Lord Rhoral with cautious familiarity, and did not lower his weapon.

“Orgus Din,” Lord Rhoral said, his voice full of disdain.

“Rhoral. I see time hasn’t made you any more pleasant.”

Lord Rhoral raised his own blade slightly, the red beam humming even closer to Eonur’s neck. He shied away as best he could, but Lord Rhoral’s other hand gripped his shoulder’s too tight for him to move. “Another step and the boy dies. Could you live with that, Jedi? I know I can, and I was ready here to take him as my apprentice.”

Orgus Din’s eyes flickered to Eonur, but his expression remained resolute. “Lower your lightsaber and let the kid go. You’ve lost. Havoc Squad has already secured your ship, and many of your men have surrendered. We don’t need any more bloodshed today.”

“Insolent worm!”

Just then Lord Rhoral loosened his grip on Eonur’s shoulder. Acting purely on instinct he drove his elbow into the Sith’s side, staggering him. He dove to the side, scrambling into a corner while the Jedi took advantage of his distraction. Orgus Din closed the distance in a fraction of a second.

But Lord Rhoral moved just as fast. Their lightsabers clashed in a screech of energy, locking until Orgus spun away. They moved as a whirlwind each of their strikes matching evenly with one another. Eonur watched – amazed and terrified – as their battle unfolded, Lord Rhoral’s savagery on full display against Orgus Din’s disciplined technique. He could sense desperation from the Sith, fear even.

Orgus lunged and, with a twirl of his lightsaber, sent Lord Rhoral’s flying from his hand, sheathing itself as it flew through the air. It rolled towards Eonur’s corner, clattering as it came to a stop at his feet. The Jedi pointed his blade at the Sith’s throat, but did not make the killing blow. Lord Rhoral raised his hands meekly, pathetically.

“It’s over,” Orgus repeated.

“All right, I surrender,” Lord Rhoral said. “Take me into Republic custody if you wish. Please show me mercy.”

“I’m surprised you know what mercy means, much less that you’d expect it to be given to you. I thought the concept was lost on Sith.” Still Orgus Din lowered his lightsaber and began his approach.

Eonur saw Lord Rhoral’s fingers twitch, and his lightsaber trembled in accord. In seconds that felt endlessly stretched it leapt into motion, hurdling towards Lord Rhoral’s hand as the crimson blade raged back to life before Orgus Din could react.

“No!”

Eonur reached out as though to catch the lightsaber before it could take flight, though it was far from his physical grasp. As though hearing his cry the weapon froze, suspended midair between the space separating Eonur from Lord Rhoral. It shook violently as Eonur’s will fought against the Sith’s, and it seemed as though it might burst into shards at any moment.

It was all Orgus Din needed. In a swift motion he slashed Lord Rhoral deep across the chest. The Sith fell, the diagonal burn still sizzling as his body hit the ground. Eonur couldn’t sense anything from him anymore. He was dead.

With a heavy sigh Eonur fell to his knees. Lord Rhoral was dead. Jowporin had been avenged, and he didn’t need to fear the Sith Lord anymore. The surge of emotions forced tears into his eyes, and Eonur watched as they fell to the carpet in single drops.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his gaze up. The Jedi – Orgus Din – watched him, eyes full of sympathy. Eonur shuddered, then without meaning to he wrapped him into a tight hug.

“Hey, you’re safe now,” Orgus said, patting Eonur on the back. “Did he hurt you?” Eonur shook his head. Orgus then guided him back to his feet, his hands firm on Eonur’s shoulders. “That was some quick thinking you did there. You probably saved me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah really. That was pretty handy of you, thinking to use the Force like that.” Orgus glanced around the room. “Come on, you shouldn’t stay here. Would you like to go somewhere safe.”

Eonur hesitated. The last time he’d shown excitement at his situation improving Lord Rhoral had killed his best friend. What if these people – the Republic – were no different? He stepped back.

“You don’t need to be afraid. Where we’ll go there will be a lot of people who will help you, and you’ll be safe. Would you like that?”

He brought his eyes to meet Orgus Din’s again, making note of their serenity. Whereas Lord Rhoral’s had held barely restrained brutality and deceit, the Jedi’s felt pure, truthful. Slowly Eonur nodded.

Orgus Din rose to his feet with a smile and pulled out a holocom from his pocket. “Tavus, it’s Din. We’re going to need to take a detour back to Coruscant.”

#awio #eonur #swtor #swtor oc #swtor fanfiction #fanfiction #my writing #star wars the old republic #orgus din

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heytheredevlopr-blog · 4 years

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10+ Best Reasons to Get Excited for Samsung Galaxy Fold 2

Samsung's second galaxy fold is now literally on the horizon and is looking so good that it might just be a day one switch from me here at the top six reasons why still as 2 things that have ME pretty upset the initial.

Galaxy fold what I've been using for a month now is a book a fern that folds out horizontally to make one large tablet displays the fold too is looking like it's gonna be a clamshell a fern that starts smaller and falls out vertically to make a normal-sized phone and that's a really good thing it'll mean a device that's way less large however additional significantly one that solves the ratio drawback see with the book type issue if you've 2 halves that area unit quite tall folding them outwards is gonna result is basically a square and a square is just not good for 90% of content movies games and most phone apps are designed to work on rectangular displays with a clamshell tho' as we have seen with the new Motorola Razr you'll be able to have a tiny low square screen on the front and that is fine as a result of the main screen on the within are tall a touch taller than we're wont to however that is much better than being too wide robot Authority. Recently did a poll on individuals's favorite folding and therefore the Motorola RAZR got regarding doubly as several votes because the Galaxy fold people just like the clamshell style of the razor and even off that group of people who picked the Galaxy to fold some of them only did so just because it's a better SPECT phone if you think about it the Galaxy fold too should have the best of both worlds the clamshell design of the razor and quite possibly even better specs than the original fold also this is a refined purpose however i feel the clamshell are some things that encompasses a higher likelihood of initiating sales-wise as a result of individuals area unit or deeds subconsciously aware of the concept 15 years ago nobody would have even questioned what the purpose of a flip phone was it was accepted and so if Samsung can come in with the flip phone reinvented i feel it's a neater sell then welcome to the book for reading then we have got one UI to Samsung's really named however fantastically redesigned little bit of code which is gonna help all of their phones but in particular this foldable you've got standard all-round improvements like less intrusive notifications and even smarter dock mode that works across more applications and simply typically additional customization however a giant focus here has been reaching ability if we have a tendency to area unit about to see this super tall show on the within of the next fold this update could not have come back at a more robust time.

It'll all of these UI components your fingers really want to act with nearer to the lowest to cut back the quantity of reaching you wish to try to you would possibly already know this galaxy fold uses a plastic show in spite of everything once glass gets super skinny it loses a great deal of its structural strength and simply typically as a cloth glass is not very bent friendly but it looks like.

Samsung has found how a neighborhood glass provider referred to as dawn sees I feel has opposed idli developed thereforelution|an answer} that's ultra-slim sturdy and versatile so this might be BIC one of the primaries criticisms of the first fold is its display it scratches easily and it's got this massive crease going down the middle now I never personally thought it had been a deal-breaker I got accustomed the crease pretty quickly however whenever I share this phone to some other person

it's one among the primary things they suggests in order that reasonably speaks for itself anyway this glass answer may solve each scratching and creasing issues promptly a lot of those reports i have been reading square measure inform towards the show size on fault to being six-point seven inches that is nice in my expertise with current phone thickness and edge size this can be concerning as huge as you'll be able to go whereas still being usable however I may see why this can be not a profit to everybody you may argue that there's one thing special concerning having the ability to hold around a seven-plus in. show therein smaller kind issue it's going to in all probability even be a hole-punch screen, not a full uninterrupted panel and this can avoid wasting thickness versus having to use a motorized pop-up for the front camera however speaking of cameras the particular camera Hardware on these Samsung flagships it hasn't had a significant push since the galaxy s7 one thing has reasonably favored style enhancements over camera upgrades that is getting ready to amendment in 2020 consistent with code found within the Samsung camera app they are already performing on a firm which will shoot not simply 8k video the 108 megapixel photos and this might line up dead with past leaks but also the fact that Samsung has actually launched a 108 megapixel sensor it's already a very real thing assuming then that the next the fold will still be positioned as a high-end device as a decent likelihood it's about to take pleasure in this - conjointly if you simply count the number of cameras on the initial fold you get 6 for 6 cameras and at any one time you're only ever using a maximum of three you've got one selfie camera for when you're using the front screen - selfie cameras for once you are victimization the most screen and 3 cameras at the rear it's simply a small amount inefficient they've effectively engineered constant camera system twice just so you can take selfies in both folded and unfolded positions which increase cost and thickness if they can find a way on this new fold to have just one camera. The system that you can use to take selfies while the phone is folded and then rear photos well unfolded that would be game-changing it would mean they could pour their entire resource pool into only one set of cameras rather than scattering their resources over 3 sets which you'll be able to take not simply mind-blowing rear shots however also selfies with constant quality and speaking of quality.

I'm extremely attempting to up the sport on YouTube thus if you may subscribe that will be wonderful currently it's wanting just like the second Galaxy fold isn't reaching to be a traditional successor and in fact instead of going up in price something is supposedly coming down if I had to guess I'd say around $1500 compared to 2,000 for this one there have been a full range of reports concerning this recently however the one factor I did notice that backs it up is that the proven fact that the code name of the second fold was leaked as being SMF 700 which if true suggests it would fit below the existing SMF 900 fold because this is such a new category of devices Samsung may be still figuring out where the fold fits in its lineup I can say one thing for sure at $2,000 there is no way the original fold was shipping at high volume numbers and so considering the incredible amount of R&D that would have gone into making this thing there's a good chance at the company's current foldable ventures of running at a loss, of course, it alone takes one hit product to turn all that around and The Fault too could very well be the one and what makes me especially hopeful is that Samsung has been in this situation before their original Galaxy S was seen by many people is just a cheap iPhone different however the Galaxy s2 that came next cemented its place as a real rival Samsung's initial incurvate phone the Galaxy spherical was an entire flop however it sealed the means for his or her future incurvate endeavors that while not universally wanted are a giant hit the corporate has quite developed a name for bouncing back okay two things i'm disturbed concerning and i am not talking concerning things sort of a lack of a earpiece jack or lack of water the resistance i believe these things are pretty major first of all as I mentioned very likely Samsung will make the fall to a cheaper phone but it still needs to have the absolute best specifications it's got to have the most recent chipset it's got to possess lots of RAM we tend to already expect these items from traditional flagships so what i am expression that this versatile kind issue can't come at the cost of performance now the the reason I am particularly worried about this is because Motorola thinks that it can they've discharged a firm that appears heaps like what Samsung has planned however they've opted for a few underwhelming hardware it's flower 710 chip 128 gigabytes of non expandable storage any 5-megapixel selfie camera the second thing is battery there's going to be a massive the trade-off here because I have no doubt that if this thing does eventually come out the manner, one thing goes to promote it one amongst the most commerce points goes to be that you simply will fold it up and it will be pocket-sized and so supported this and also the proven fact that Samsung incorporates a little bit of a name for giving merely enough battery there is a probability they will do constant here and give it merely enough battery so at the purpose of shopping for it once it's latest it's going to last a full day then again six months of serious use down one line you'll probably be reaching for the charger at 6 p.m. whilst I welcome a cheaper phone I think the for two needs to be in everything phone with pro users in mind, not a sleek-looking mid-range phone with a cool foldable gimmick function over form to put another way I would also add to this as a third minor concern that there is a the rumor that Samsung's also gonna put an S Pen inside of this thing and I don't think this is a particularly smart move the way I look at it is this you could see some customers as a Venn the diagram you've got people who want an S Pen in one circle and people who want a foldable in another circle and already both of these circles are fairly small these are niche ones but if something makes one flexible phone and this also is an S Pen focus device then they're catering primarily for just this tiny the overlap here for everyone else you're just getting a smaller battery a little bit extra cost and yet another thing that's going to drain your battery so that's the next fold it'll probably be announced March to April next year but I'll have more info before then so if you could subscribe that would be amazing I hope to examine a firm that is a lot of refined quicker and a lot of sturdy thus perhaps this point we can't even would like an avid video simply to inform you the way to take care of it thanks for reading and I'll catch you in the next one!

Via - https://www.maunohanan.co.in

Heytheredevlopr

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maxximillian · 7 years

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Phenibut—the mood-enhancing nootropic smart-drug (that I finally gave a try)

Phenibut just might be your new wingman (or wingwoman)

There were a lot of nootropics to choose from but I had a specific scenario which I was seeking to see if I could improve so it was easy to narrow it down to Phenibut.

As you may know (and if you didn’t you now know!) that I am the host of three podcasts, two are fiction—audio drama—podcasts. I perform these works—yes, I do all the voices—and I engineer myself. I’m coming to the close of my first year, which is to say that I’ve recorded and produced an episode of either comedic or suspense fiction every week for the past 49 weeks.

Some of those episodes are over an hour long. I have experimented with a few different methods of production but early on I realized that the best (read: most efficient) way to produce an episode is to spend a minimal amount of time editing so, unlike my audio drama brethren who record a number of takes then choose the best take to edit into the mix, I rehearse my episode and perform it straight through. I sometimes mispronounce a word, and when I do—just as an engineer would—I roll back to just before the flub, hit play then tap the red button to record to punch myself in at the point where I left off, leaving no trace of a break in dialogue. Over the year, I’ve learned to come in on the middle of a phrase with the appropriate inflection—you can never tell when you’re listening where I may have broken off to correct a mistake but it’s a better experience for me not to mess up in the first place. It allows me to lose myself in the piece and really get into the emotionality of what’s going on in the story.

Some sessions run more smoothly than others. That is to say that some days my reading is more fluid than others. I’m doing what I love so there’s no such thing as a ‘bad’ day but I have wanted to feel more in control of my performances. Before many performances I feel anxious or excited. My general solution is to start off the recording session with a big fat glass of red wine… and then maybe another. Which works. It’s a lovely thing: wine. I love it. (You too, right?)

Here’s the thing about wine, too much turns my reading pear-shaped. After a few glasses I might as well hang it up. So you can see, for some of those longer episodes—or on days where I record more than one episode, wine isn’t a viable solution.

Enter Phenibut.

I’d heard about it mostly from people who were using it in social situations as an alcohol replacement—it’s reported to give that same calming mood lift and genial sociability that I could expect from a couple drinks. Since a couple drinks is what I generally have to smooth out my performance anxiety, I thought I should give it a try.

After reading literally a hundred or more reviews, I decided to place my order from LiftMode. Why? LiftMode had mostly five-star reviews. Repeated in each of the reviews were comments that their orders had arrived quickly—a big green check mark in my book. Some customers left video reviews on YouTube—yes, I looked on YouTube for reviews! I found several unboxing vids of LiftMode customers showing off their wares. The packaging was clean and packed with obvious care. Plus, the product reviews all seemed satisfactory—customers seemed enthusiastic about the quality of the products, and the consistency.

The LiftMode website is nice to look at and use. It was easy to find what I wanted, explore all their products and place my order. There is a lot of useful information on their website, and there’s even a little box on the side for customer support. I used that box to ask a few questions and received a friendly email from customer support within minutes answering my questions in a way I could understand.

Certain beyond a doubt that I’d found a reputable company, I placed my order on liftmode.com.

Within a few days a small box came in the mail. It was clean and undented. Inside were all the products I’d ordered with a receipt, a quality assurance report, and a scoop in an appropriate size to accurately measure the product—there was some love and appreciation inside that box too, I could feel it.

The recommended dosage for Phenibut varies but the range suggested is from 500mg to 2000mg per day. As with anything employed to achieve a result, it’s best to go with the minimum effective dose. Also, Phenibut has the potential to achieve two effects: nootropic and calming. A larger dose might feel nice but I didn’t want to be too relaxed in my performance, or succumb to the irresistible urge to take a mid-afternoon nap in the sunshine.

I dosed 500mg of Phenibut Free Amino Acid.

After about 40 minutes I was sure that I was feeling a subtle improvement in my mood but I didn’t experience the other effects I’d read about. I decided to dose larger the next time.

The following day I dosed 750mg of Phenibut … and recorded an episode straight through without stopping once to punch myself in.

I was mind-blown.

My read was flawless.

But the thing that impressed me the most was this: the performance had been effortless.

I’ll continue to experiment with my dosage. It may be that 750mg isn’t even my sweet-spot. We shall see. I’ll keep you posted.

I’ve heard about Phenibut being helpful to people in social situations and I can personally attest that it is helpful in performance situations too. I tried it again, and again I was able to replicate that same effortlessness in my work.

Generally I need to intensely focus to maintain the high-quality concentration required to read long passages aloud without making errors, simultaneously imparting the appropriate emotion and vocal inflection in my narration to keep the listener engaged and be hyper-aware of which of the characters is speaking and about to speak—each character has his or her own cadence and dialect, and I have to keep them clear so that the listener always knows who is speaking. It takes a tremendous amount of focus to do all that while at the same time listening to myself—keeping an ear out for mispronunciations or words spoken too low… there’s more, but you get the idea.

For me to flow effortlessly through an entire episode without stopping seemed like a dream. When I’d reached the end of the recording, the pessimist in me said,

“Yeah, but listen back to it and see if you actually did such a great job.”

Of course, you’ve heard of the writer or painter who got into some powders or a bottle of good wine and created a masterpiece only to discover the next day that their masterpiece was a piece of sh*t —LOL — hey it happens to the best of us. But guess what?

The next day it was still a masterpiece.

No matter what it is you do throughout your days and nights, I encourage you to give this a try and compare your results experientially. If you paint gnomes for a living, or are a writer like me, or any type of performer certainly—if you do anything that you feel could be easier with enhanced confidence, focus, or cognition, I hope you will give LiftMode’s Phenibut a try. You can buy a sample — which itself will give you between 2-10 doses (depending on the effect you want to achieve) — for less than $5. Here’s the link.

As with anything, read the guidelines, ask questions if you don’t understand something; use it responsibly—and if you try it, let me know about your awesome experience.

Something to consider: Phenibut is available in capsules and bulk powders. If you don’t have a .001 gram scale at home and do not plan to invest in one, I suggest choosing the capsules. As you experiment to find your most beneficial dose, you’ll want to know exactly how much you’re taking so that you can replicate your results once you hit your sweet spot. You don’t want to be guessing about what that is — after all, this isn’t iced tea mix we’re talking about, these are nootropics. The scoop included is helpful but it’s a measurement of volume and can at best provide an approximate range of the amount of product in the scoop, and there will always be variations depending on how densely you pack the powder into the scoop and how high you’re piling the powder upon the scoop: no scoop can provide you with an accurate measurement the way a scale can. Capsules have the additional benefit of being easy to transport for travel and to consume on the road should you wish to do so. They are also more discreet. The quality of your experience will be the same no matter which you choose. Bulk powder has the advantage of being administered sublingually, which means that you won’t have to wait for 30 minutes for the capsules to dissolve in your belly. If you’re a mad scientist like me and you do want a scale, consider this one.

And if you’d like to take a listen to my fiction podcasts, here they are: The Mollyville Dystopian Suspense Audio Drama and my award nominated Afterlife Paranormal Audio Drama Podcast — Afterlife is nominated for multiple awards, including Best New Original, Long Form, Small Cast, Ongoing Production and Best Writing of a Fan/Adaptation Production. At the time of this posting the polls are still open. Here’s the link if you’d like to cast a vote for me. Whether you choose to vote or not, I hope you’ll take a listen. It’s a deep little podcast, and darkly funny so I’m told. If you like what you hear, please tell a friend who you think would appreciate it and let me know you’re listening. I always appreciate a hello. You can find me on twitter at @maxximillian.

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Phenibut—the mood-enhancing nootropic smart-drug (that I finally gave a try) was originally published on MAXXIMILLIAN DAFOE

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