"Satisfaction guaranteed." - Silicon [Agent Select]
His render is finally done! Formally introducing the 24th agent of the VALORANT Protocol, Silicon!
A product of the San Francisco Bay Area’s tech centers, Silicon runs along the bleeding edge. Equipped with custom hybrid capabilities, he proves peak performance is achievable up close and far off without compromise.
A former computer technician, law student, and data thief, Silicon is a clever Initiator with the power of his custom-built weaponry used to deal high power damage in the throes of close combat and also from the back lines with deadly precision. Charming to some and irritating to others thanks to his signature salesman-like confidence and arrogant attitude, no matter what you think of his quips and remarks, you can't deny that he does his job as well as he'd lead you to believe.
33 notes
·
View notes
South African Rugby Champions Go Back-To-Back
I'll admit off the bat, that I am the most casual rugby fan in the world, and by many fans standards, I am the worst type of fan because I am a Springboks supporter.
Don't let that take away from what this South African team just accomplished though, and to help you understand the context under which this team is representing the country, is a task that can't be accomplished in one blog post.
South Africa is a country with an economy that is dying and the gap in wealth inequality is getting bigger and bigger, with an infastructure that is falling apart, and a government unable to manage the administrative, financial headaches of governance.
Basically, these Springboks are the only good thing happening in South Africa.
Packed in to the pre-meal, and way before any of these current players was ever a Springbok, is the history of South Africa itself and what the Springboks represented for the ruling Apartheid government pre-1994, and the liberation of Black South Africans since.
This is not a piece to sway people in to believing in the Springboks as a story of racial intergration and tranformation.
Rather something to help you understand the kind of hurdles every player on the team deals with, and the amount of personal discipline it takes to always put the team and winning first.
In the years to come, books will be written about how these guys had to pull together even in the most trying of times, and Siya Kholisi as the captain of a team that has accomplished the greatest feat in the sport's history.
To help you understand what this team has accomplished, South Africa came in to the 2023 Rugby World Cup as defending champions after winning the 2019 World Cup, only lost 1 game the entire tournament, and won our last 3 games all by 1 point margins.
This is not a Rugby team. This is sporting greatness and excellence. They'll go down as legends of the sport. All of them, every member of both the 2019 and 2023 squads.
Every one of these players had big moments in big games and situations where we absolutely needed it.
Handre Pollard's cool headedness was evident throughout the tournament, with his kick to win the semi-final against England being his most immense.
Eben Etzebeth setting the tone with physicality, always promptly followed by Mbongeni Mbonambi, Franco Mostert and Duane Vermeulen, Ox Nche, Deon Fourie and Kwagga Smith, and this group changed the game in that semi-final.
Pieter-Steph Du Toit's man of the match performance in the final was arguably the best any Springbok has ever played in a final. Cheslin Kolbe's charge down and block against France. Manie Libbok's sublime no-look kick against Scotland.
Everyone had big moments or big performances at key times.
I have grown attached to this team in a way I have never been attached to a Rugby team.
South Africa's 1995 World Cup victory represented the intention to change with the inclusion of the legendary Chester Williams. In 2007 it was a story of how that change had bred a new generation of winners represented by Byran Habana. The 2019 World Cup in Japan represented a transformation complete with the champions being captained by a Black player for the first time.
This however is not a chapter of the story that needs a transformation narrative.
As a group these players have transcended that. They represent the pinnacle of the sport. The highest level of achievement possible, and our heach coach Rassie Erasmus, the man who masteminded both our victories, all the while challenging the sports's conventions, pushing boundraries, and always keeping the Boks one step ahead.
Growing up Bryan Habana was the most recognisable player in the sport, and I even have a photograph I took of him on my Instagram, but this group, and this captain, with those forwards and those wings, yeah they've now surpassed any South African team, and that's no easy thing to do.
Even more difficult than that is restoring some feeling of national pride at a time when it's becoming harder to create reasons for that.
Thank you to the Boks, they will never be forgotten.
3 notes
·
View notes