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forbidden-creepypasta · 5 months

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The Red Star

As most nostalgic, pre-Playstation oldfag gamers know, Chrono Trigger was one of the best RPG's of its time, and continues to maintain a huge fan base to this day.

Among the most hardcore Chrono Trigger fans, many movements to produce 3D renditions of the old Super Nintendo game in a "nextgen" feel have been attempted, but SquareSoft has shut every operation down with threats of licensing rights lawsuits and prosecution. For this reason, many talented game developers took to modding their own versions of the game to play with close friends or by themselves, because releasing these fan-mods on the internet would result in a huge risk.

One such game freak who lived in Silicon Valley the year that the primary CT remake was released decided that he was fed up with SquareSoft's attempt at butchering a classic story line that was already strong enough as it stood without introducing an entirely new continent with a complicated back story (Chrono Break). His online handle is known as "Anderson," but no other information about his whereabouts have surfaced since he released a small, two gigabyte mod based on the original SNES game entitled "Red Star."

The file mirror where the mod could be located has been lost since 2005, and only five people have reported their experiences with the game on the private forum tracker where the game was first uploaded.The forum posts are less than three sentences long and consist of nonsensical, cryptic statements, such as "This can't be the way it ends" and "won't stop falling, won't stop falling, redstarwontstopfallingpleasestopfallingpleasestop," and "You can't save Crono. Don't try. Forget about this game...."

I am one of those five, and the last remaining player who is willing to tell my story. The others have cut themselves off from technology completely. They don't even have computers or consoles anymore. Mostly, they stick to the outdoors or confine themselves to an almost Amish existence.Two of them are dead. I found the game by rifling through one of the deceased player's garbage bin outside their apartment until I could recover her hard drive.

Before playing the game, I had a lot of questions, but was only able to physically locate one other person who'd downloaded the modded file. I swore that I wouldn't reveal his identity, but he lives in the Rocky Mountains, in complete isolation. He doesn't own a phone, and when I knocked on his door to request his findings to compare to my own, he brandished a twelve gauge shotgun and told me never to bring up "that thing under the earth" again. I could only assume that he was referring to Lavos, but the fear in his eyes suggested that he thought the game was real. That's the only way I can explain it.

Being an almost religious Chrono Trigger fan, I took a week of vacation at work before I finally switched out my hard drive for the one I found in the trash outside the dead girl's place. After firing up my computer, I found the file in the recycle bin, but it had not been permanently deleted. The icon was a red knife, similar to the sprite of the knife that the "prophet" Magus used to attempt to destroy Lavos after the Mammon Machine disaster in the Ocean Palace. I restored it and double clicked my mouse.

The program immediately full-screened itself, and when I attempted to alt+enter and shrink the playing window, the game didn't respond. It was like its own hacked instance of a ZSNES emulator, except the graphics and textures were nextgen quality. The title screen still consisted of the game's name, but instead of a swinging pendulum back and forth to symbolize the theme of time travel in the game, it just sits, completely motionless.

When I pressed start and proceeded to start a new game, I didn't get the chance to name Crono or choose "Active" or "Wait" for my battle status.

I expected Crono to wake up in a nextgen 3D rendition of his upstairs bedroom with the sound of chirping birds and his mother pestering him to wake up and get to the Millenial Fair.

Instead, the opening shot is a pan over of West Cape, where the player can choose to fight or recruit Magus as a party member in the original game. In Red Star, Magus isn't there, and Crono should be dead at that stage in the game.... but he's not. Chrono is standing over what appears to be a group of graves, which would be identical to each other except for certain key items that adorn the tombstones.

Crono himself is wielding his sword and staring at the ground with his eyes closed. He is clearly weeping, and at this point in the game, I decided that I was a little upset with the game designer for providing no explanation whatsoever of what was going on. I felt like a troll had doctored a fucked up scene in the game to insult CT fans everywhere. However, that's when I noticed the symbols carved on the tombstones.

From left to right, each of them had some sort of illustration etched in the stone. The first was a sparkling pendant, which most unanimously agree is Marle's, from when she first bumps in to Crono at the fair and triggers the disastrous time travel sequence that kicks off the original game's plot line. The other easily distinguishable graves are Frog's, where a drawing of the Masamune is clearly visible in the stone with the Hero's Medal draped around the blade. On the tombstone to the right of Frog's, a pair of thick horn-rimmed glasses with the left lense busted out rest on its top surface.

The other graves have been rubbed off or filed away with the intense winds of the 12,000 BC time period. I knew they were Crono's teammates, but I didn't understand why they were dead at the very beginning of the game. In the nextgen graphic system, I suddenly felt a very real connection with Crono, as he was no longer a small 16-bit sprite on the screen, but a 3D rendered model who appeared to be in a great amount of pain.

After witnessing Crono's fit of depression and his moment of reflection at the graves, I gained control of his player model. I immediately opened the menu to see if he retained any of his abilities from the first game, and to scope out my inventory, status, and items.

The major difference I found from the start of a normal game is that Crono is completely maxed out, almost as if he had every item and possible stat point from a previous run through, but he has no equipment except a sword with a glitched out title for its name (it's undiscernable, but it looks like "Egg Reaver."

However, having not chosen New Game +, I was surprised to see that all of his techniques were learned, with one addition to the list past Luminaire. The spell was called "Double Jeopardy."

When I lead Crono out to the world map, I discovered that the futuristic ruin of 2300 A.D. had arrived thousands of years earlier in the timeline. Instead of domes, there were only wiped out huts and burned out continents as a result of the Day of Lavos, which I could only assume occurred in 12,000 B.C. instead of 2300 A.D.

I spent a good three hours walking around random places, looking for an actual blip on the map that would lead me to something new, but with every empty hut I walked in to, Crono seemed to glance at me through the screen for a second, as if irritated. His face seemed to say "Why are you wasting my time?" Every hut held nothing but an empty fireplace. There were no save points or chests or vendors. I didn't understand what I had to do, and there was a stabbing in my head that got worse the more I explored the wasteland of snow and destruction. Instead of taking twenty seconds to travel from one place to another like in the SNES game, the 3D rendered 12,000 BC was harsh and I often found myself getting lost because there was only an occasional tree in the harsh snowy landscape. It was like trying to navigate through the Icicle fields in FFVII, except without red flags to mark your position.

Eventually, I found a skygate in the middle of nothing but burned out plains and snow that continually fell, and melted because the ground was scorching hot. I assumed that Lavos must be directly underneath the Earth, having already risen up to destroy humanity. I expected to see a Death Peak or a Black Omen ---- SOMETHING that would signify Lavos's reign over the world, but the peculiar skygate on the burning pitch was the only thing of note I'd discovered in my ordeal of playing through Red Star, almost five hours ago.

Confused by this and exhausted with walking around an empty scorched continent after almost four hours, I took a break and walked downstairs, leaving Crono in the middle of the skygate. I didn't press the A button yet, but instead of waving his arms at me to hurry up, he just stared at me blankly, looking defeated. I decided I desperately needed a glass of water and some Advil. I would need to be ready to confront whatever was on the other end of that teleporter ---- which I assumed would be a modded, hacked out version of Lavos that was insanely hard and had to be solo'd by Crono himself.

I was wrong.

When I returned to my computer, Crono's demeanor had changed for the better. I can't say that I was eager to return to playing when he was basically mourning and moping around in the blizzard like an emo kid, but my discovery of the skygate changed his expression somewhat. I started to think that maybe I was one of the first players to find this small area in the huge, mile long expanse of nothingness. Crono started waving his arms at me like in the SNES version, but instead of looking like a puppet sprite, he looked ready to kick some ass. This was the Crono I remembered ---- even though it seemed as though his entire party had perished, he was still ready to face Lavos by himself, just as he sacrificed himself the first time in the original game.

I pressed the button and used the skygate. I couldn't have been prepared for what I would see. Neither could my spiky, red haired, katana wielding friend.

The game wasn't a game anymore. The growing headache that I had experienced since I had gained control of Crono a few hours before instantly culminated in to an explosion of hallucinations and a feeling of "swirling" in my brain.

I didn't feel as if I were possessing the player model, but I was having an out of body experience. I could see myself playing, far away in my darkened room, my eyes glued to the screen for a moment I'd been anticipating for a decade.

Closer to home, though, I was more aware of the game environment. I felt as though I was standing right next to Crono, but I could control him at the same time. I didn't feel my fingers on a keyboard or control pad. I simply thought of what putting the commands in to the menu would feel like when I played the game, and Crono obeyed. I felt myself being dragged along as he moved up a wet corridor that resembled the tunnel to the second form of Lavos in the original copy. I was a passive observer who decided the hero's actions, but whatever I chose, I felt privy to the mercy of my own commands.

I knew that when we faced Lavos, I would be terrified, and I also knew that the tunnel wasn't very long. We were almost there. The ground was burning in to my feet, if I even had any feet in this place.

I expected to see a powerful being, unlike anything I'd ever witnessed before, but there was nothing in the chamber except for an egg.

The Time Egg --- or Chrono Trigger.

Confused by this, I moved Crono closer to it, but I couldn't figure out why the egg would exist here when it shattered to bring back the deceased Crono on Death Peak in the SNES port.

I tried "pressing" every button, skirting the corners of the chamber --- everything. I wasn't in combat. There was nothing to do here.

That's when I started checking menus in my head. My inventory was empty except the Egg Reaver sword, but one thing had changed between the West Cape loadout and the one I had now.

Double Jeopardy was now yellow on the tech list instead of white. I could use it.

And I did.

Crono fell instantly to his knees. I couldn't move him. In the same moment, the egg exploded, and in a burst of hot light, the only thing I could focus on was the figure of beautiful, blue-haired girl. I recognized her as Schala after some time, as her graceful figure was much different than the small Nintendo mode, but the blue hair was a real giveaway.

She ripped the sword from Crono's paralyzed grip and ran him straight through the heart with it. He fell in a lifeless clump, the life from his sharp green eyes draining in to a nullified, blank stare, all in the course of a few seconds.

She turned her sharp gaze to me, and I'll never forget what she said next.

There's a second Red Star. A second Lavos.

I could think of nothing to say. I was only puzzled by her actions, and simulataneously distraught that the coolest character out of every role playing game ever made had just been murdered in front of my own eyes.

"Why did you kill him? He's the only hope you had against another Red Star." I sounded like a fool, and I felt like a helpless, gaseous spirit in her presence, but I tried to reason with her.

He was destroyed by the first Time Devourer. The Chrono Trigger brought him back to save us, but he had to meet his fate. No one before you came this far.

"I killed Crono." I said in shocked disbelief.

Yes, but you've also ended the ice age and saved us from the second reign of Lavos. Time has been restored, and it will progress as it should have before the second red star began to fall.

I stared at her, and although I was a fan of her resistance to Lavos in the first game, she'd just destroyed the best piece of my nostalgic, RPG childhood. I hated her. In the next moment, I could feel my feet on the ground, and I was suddenly aware of my eyes, my hands, my physical body.

I was in the game, and that's where I wanted to be. I had one last question for her.

I picked up Crono's sword, and it felt light and powerful in my grasp. I felt an electric surge of energy in my arm that seemd to beg for me to start moving, to start harnessing that power as a weapon.

I stepped forward, and I could still see the command menu in my head. I lined up my arrow on my favorite tech of all, and one that I believed would be fitting for Crono's killer. I selected "Confuse."

"Why are you still here, Schala?" I asked.

I don't know. The fabric of time and fate has been protected for eternity, but the Kingdom of Zeal has passed, and I have no further place in the world. Neither do you. We are stuck here. It seems that Anderson did not provide scripts for an instance in which the game was actually completed.

"You know, Schala, for a Chrono Trigger sequel, there's not a lot of combat in this game." I said.

Lavos has been vanquished. There is no further need for violence in our world

I gripped the sword a little tighter. It sizzled in my grip, aching for my target.

"I beg to differ." I said with a smile.

Credit to: Violent Harvest

#creepypasta #creepy stories #horror microfiction #video game pasta #video game creepypasta

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entamewitchlulu · 4 years

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I see someone did Pendulum already, so how about my girls Masumi and Yuzu for the ship meme??

General:

Rate the Ship -

How long will they last? - forever because i said so

How quickly did/will they fall in love? - Masumi fell instantly after their second duel together, but was determined not to ever let it be known until Yuzu asked her out a few months post-canon

How was their first kiss? - AWKWARD LOL they bumped teeth a lot

Wedding:

Who proposed? - Masumi, but Yuzu had planned on doing it the same day and was a little miffed she’d been beaten to the punch

Who is the best man/men? - Yuya and Gongenzaka for Yuzu, Hokuto and Yaiba for Masumi

Who is the braid’s maid(s)? - Ruri, Selena, and Rin act as bridesmaids for both of them

Who did the most planning? - Yuzu

Who stressed the most? - Masumi

How fancy was the ceremony? -

Back of a pickup truck | 2 | 3 | 4 | Normal Church Wedding | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Kate and William wish they were this big.

It was a very nice wedding, but not one that would break the bank

Who was specifically not invited to the wedding? - no one really lol

Sex:

Who is on top? - They both switch off quite a bit, though Yuzu tends more top slightly more often

Who is the one to instigate things? - to be honest neither of them have a super intense sex life, but Yuzu tends to be the one to get them started

How healthy is their sex life? -

Barely touch themselves let alone each other | 2 | 3 | 4 | Once a couple weeks, nothing overboard | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They are humping each other on the couch right now

How kinky are they? -

Straight missionary with the lights off | 2 | 3 | 4 | Might try some butt stuff and toys | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Don’t go into the sex dungeon without a horse’s head

they mess around with vibrators here and there but nothing too over the top

How long do they normally last? - they can go for a couple of hours if they’re really into it

Do they make sure each person gets an equal amount of orgasms? - usually, but Yuzu’s honestly not super fussed about it on her end and focuses more on Masumi

How rough are they in bed? -

Softer than a butterfly on the back of a bunny | 2 | 3 | 4 | The bed’s shaking and squeaking every time | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Their dirty talk is so vulgar it’d make Dwayne Johnson blush. Also, the wall’s so weak it could collapse the next time they do it.

they are super gentle with each other, at first almost a little TOO gentle and nervous which kind of hinders the whole process lol, but they find a good medium

How much cuddling/snuggling do they do? -

No touching after sex | 2 | 3 | 4 | A little spooning at night, or on the couch, but not in public | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | They snuggle and kiss more often than a teen couple on their fifth date to a pillow factory.\

Yuzu is far more touchy-feely than Masumi; Masumi’s pretty tsundere about it and gets a little flustered in public, but Yuzu is always holding her hand, giving her hugs, pressing up against her casually, and Masumi eats it up privately

Children:

How many children will they have naturally? - none

How many children will they adopt? - Three! They have two girls, Shinju and Ayaka (both one year apart, adopted when they were six and five) and one boy, Kyou (four years younger than the girls, adopted as an infant)

Who gets stuck with the most diapers? - due to their busy life schedules, they tend to be pretty good at divying things up and making sure they handle an equal amount of the parenting - also, Kyou is the only one they adopt as a very little baby, so he’s the only one who needs diapers

Who is the stricter parent? - you would think Masumi, but it’s Yuzu. She’s used to running the school so she runs a tight ship and a tighter schedule. Masumi has a lot of high expectations of her kids, but she’s also the one who sneaks them candy when they’re not supposed to have it.

Who stops the kid(s) from doing dangerous stunts after school? - both of them lol they know better

Who remembers to pack the lunch(es)? - generally Yuzu

Who is the more loved parent? - the girls are a lot closer to Masumi, but Kyou is closer to Yuzu

Who is more likely to attend the PTA meetings? - oh both of them lol. they’re a force to be reckoned with, the school haaaaates dealing with them lol

Who cried the most at graduation? - Masumi, but Yuzu was close behind

Who is more likely to bail the child(ren) out of trouble with the law? - They both will, but they’ll both be giving a double scolding afterward

Cooking:

Who does the most cooking? - Yuzu mostly, but Masumi pitches in

Who is the most picky in their food choice? - Masumi is slightly pickier, but generally won’t complain

Who does the grocery shopping? - They’re good about switching off depending on who’s going to be near the grocery store during their schedule

How often do they bake desserts? - about once a week, maybe, or at least once a month

Are they more of a meat lover or a salad eater? - Masumi’s much more into meat dishes, while Yuzu prefers more vegetables

Who is more likely to surprise the other(s) with an anniversary dinner? - Masumi - she is constantly thinking of big ways to surprise Yuzu with romantic stuff haha

Who is more likely to suggest going out? - they only RARELY go out honestly, they’re both the “we have food at home” type

Who is more likely to burn the house down accidentally while cooking? - Masumi, but only because she’ll try to make something incredibly fancy once in a while with techniques she doesn’t understand yet

Chores:

Who cleans the room? - Both of them are very neat

Who is really against chores? - neither of them

Who cleans up after the pets? - Yuzu, she’s used to Yoko’s pets. Masumi is not used to pets lol

Who is more likely to sweep everything under the rug? - they’re both waaaay too fastidious for that

Who stresses the most when guests are coming over? - Yuzu

Who found a dollar between the couch cushions while cleaning? - uhhh Masumi I guess

Misc:

Who takes the longer showers/baths? - Yuzu, she’s big on those “self-care” days haha

Who takes the dog out for a walk? - Masumi, she likes long walks

How often do they decorate the room/house for the holidays? - Just for the big ones, and Yuzu tends to get the most into it

What are their goals for the relationship? - their wedding vows consisted of a reminder that even though they were getting married, they were still each other’s biggest rival and would plan to one up each other at everything at any given opportunity, so i guess their goal is to be the one who “wins” the relationship by giving the other the most romantic affection lol XD

Who is most likely to sleep till noon? - Masumi, Yuzu’s still on school time

Who plays the most pranks? - Yuzu

thanks for the ask!

#lustershipping #meme response #lulu answers #wizqevelynart

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howtohero · 6 years

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How many times have you see this? You and your squad have gone storming fists first into a haunted castle or a rogue government laboratory. The place is big and most of the world’s heroest are off-world fighting *checks notes* three million jelly fish? Really? In space? So your team is small, so small that it will take you forever to find what you’re looking for and uch who has the time for that. So you split up. Your watches are synchronized, your communicators are charged, Mega Mouth, the loudest man to have ever lived, is there, if he calls out you can all converge. What’s the worst that can happen? The mission ends in success, you’ve recovered the nuclear flapjack or the souls of the seven warlocks of the east or you’ve brought down the criminal empire of The Mobster. In fact things went better than any of you could have ever expected. It almost seems like... No, it couldn’t be. Could it have been too easy? Have you perhaps misjudged what the bad guy’s ultimate goal here was? Are they actually closer than ever to achieving world domination? Yes, yes and maybe, depending on how competent they are. (A villain’s competence can generally be assessed by counting the number of underlings they’ve employed who are clearly waiting for a chance to stab them in the back. If the number is higher than zero they are incompetent.) You see you or one of your friends may very well have fallen victim to one of the oldest tricks in the supervillain playbook. Please join us as we embark on our 150th post where we will discuss:

Mind Control

“Mind control, because hiring willing employees is complicated!” “Mind control, because you shouldn’t have to tell them twice!” “Mind control, because free will is such an unpredictable thing!” “Mind control, because can we really trust people to have thoughts that we didn’t give them!” These are just a few of the many slogans that the mind control industry has used in an attempt to sell people on the idea of having thoughts sold to them. Supervillains have been using mind control ever since the first brains were invented, to get unwitting pawns to do their dirty work. There are many different forms mind control can take, let’s take a look at a few of them and how they’ve been used, and how we as a superhero community can fight back against them.

Brain Washing This is one of the oldest, and bluntest, forms of mind control. Brain washing is not when a brain is literally removed from a head and placed in a bathtub or dishwasher or something. Rather it refers to a metaphorical scrubbing, an erasure of everything that is contained within a brain, including memories, personalities and even emotions and feelings. The brainwashing process usually leaves a supervillain with a blank slate. The poor sap they’ve kidnapped can then be molded into whatever kind of person the villain needs them to be. A fighter, a chaufer, a professional heckler, whatever they need to fulfill their maniacal machinations. The reeducation process might include pro-crime propaganda (you know motivational posters that say things like “stabbing is cool” or “push your neighbor down a flight of stairs”) or specific anti-superhero lessons (things like “Did you know that Ultiman loves double-dipping?” or “Have you heard literally anything about Professor Paleontologist?”). In no time at all our brain-bathing baddies will have a brand new henchman all of their own. Supervillains sometimes make use of this method because- (hey, this is exactly why we hired a supervillain correspondent) We did not do that. (You’re telling me you can explain why a supervillain might brainwash somebody better than a supervillain who lives in our basement and is literally named Dr. Brainwave?) All right I see your point... <Excellent! I knew you’d come around. Ahem, brainwashed henchmen are far more reliable than those free-thinking goons we’ve discussed before. They follow orders to a tee. They have no regard for their own safety. They can’t be reasoned with or manipulated or bribed by those devious, super fools that are always trying to put a halt to your plans. But at the same time, brainwashing is only good if you have the means to build a person from the ground up. The victim will need to relearn everything. How to walk, how to talk, how to go to the bathroom on their own. They’ll be like an infant, smelly and useless. Sure, once a you’ve brainwashed a few pitiful maggots you can pretty much just have them teach and watch after each other but the first go around you’re going to have to spend a lot of time crafting the person you want. Which is why I almost never do it anymore. But you know who does? Which insignificant mad scientist wannabe is still utilizing these antiquated claptrap methods? That hack, Professor Brain-Scrambler. You’ve never met any man as pathetic as he. That absolute fo-> Yeah so that was a mistake.

Brainwashing can also be very difficult to undo. Generally when a brain is wiped clean it’s wiped clean, that’s it. Occasionally, the bad guys who are preforming the procedure might keep the “data” they pull from the brain for safe keeping (usually in the form of a glowing sphere) in which case all you need to do is retrieve the personality sphere and reunite it with the body. Sometimes a supervillain won’t do as thorough of a job as they’d thought <ha, certainly sounds like that buffoon Brain-Scrambler to me> and the victim’s former personality and memories can resurface, usually when they’re exposed to objects or people from their past. Other times though, the most that you can do for these people is to just rescue them from the employ of the supervillains and return them to non-supervillain society. Other times a skilled enough psychic can restore a brainwashed victim’s personality with enough time. (talk about the fish!) NO! <Did you know he isn’t even a real professor? He’s been rejected from the Villain’s College 17 times! I should know, I penned the rejection letters myself after intercepting his applications and feeding them to my mutant alligators.>

Hypnosis Similar to brainwashing, hypnosis allows a villain to imprint something new onto a victim. While brainwashing is often permanent though, hypnotism is always temporary. Hypnosis is useful when a villain needs a quick, disposable henchperson or if they want to ruin somebody’s reputation or frame them for a crime, especially a superhero’s. Hypnotized people will often have no memory of their actions while they were under the spell of the hypnotist and thus a villain can cause a person a lot of grief by using this method. They can force a person to do something unsavory, wait for the hypnosis to fade, and then wait for them to realize, or be informed about, what they’ve done and watch them collapse as they’re forced to live with the guilt of what they did for the rest of their lives.

Hypnotized people will often behave more like zombies than actual living people and so they are easy to spot and stop (and tops) before they get into any real trouble. Just make sure you don’t confuse them for an actual zombie and shoot them in the head or set them on fire or something. That would be bad. What this means though, is that breaking a hypnotist’s hold is about as easy as waking somebody up. Loud noises, vigorous shaking, true love’s kiss. Take your pick. (I recommend the vigorous shaking, especially if you’re using our new, state-of-the-art Unhypnotizeinator, which consists of what amounts to a tilt-a-whirl that we got for a steal after the amusement park it was in was shut down for having a “criminally unsafe” tilt-a-whirl.) Sometimes though, even after a hypnotized person is awakened from their trance they can lapse back into it if certain stimuli are in place. The most common one is falling into actual sleep. In cases like these the person who has been hypnotized will fall asleep, as people are wont to do, and then immediately wake up under the control of Pocket Watch or the Hypster or whomever. If someone you know has been hypnotized make sure that you always have loud music playing and just live out the rest of your days making sure that they never have a moment of sleep ever again. Or you can best the evil hypnotist in combat. That’ll usually break the spell. Either that or you’ll have to destroy the enchanted watch or pendulum that they’re using to hypnotize people.

Sleeper Agents Like hypnosis, sleeper agents can be switched back and forth between being fully-in-control and fully-under-control. But unlike sleeper agents, the victims won’t actually be asleep or in a sleep-like state. Even though the word “sleep” is right there in the name. What a broken language this is. Sleeper agents (sleepers agent?) can be activated through a series of codewords or images and once activated they become basically brainwashed victims. Except they come fully-loaded with all those nifty things humans can do. No matter potty-training dangerous assassins, these guys can go all on their own! Sleeper agents might have entire secret lives that even they themselves aren’t aware of. They could even have an entirely different skillset that is accessed only when they are activated by their handler. Right now you (yes you) could have the ability to breakdance or bake wonderful soufflés or shoot a moving target at 300 meters and you’d never know it! (Atlantis cable news rhubarb kerfuffle. Try now.)

Sleeper agents are some of the most dangerous enemies a superhero could have. Anybody could be one. Your best friend, the guy who runs the best coffee cart in New York City, the librarian, any of them could be sleeper agents who just need to hear the right sequence of colors and Major League Baseball teams to try to rip your throat out. It is extremely difficult to remove a sleeper agent program from a person’s mind. The process requires what amounts to a lobotomy, carving away at the parts of the brain, or hopefully, the implants in the brain, that cause the neighborhood mailman to turn into a hyper-competent ninja.

The Power of Suggestion This kind of mind control is usually superpower based. Instead of rewriting a person’s entire personality or taking control of them indefinitely, villains with this power will simply issue a command to some poor sap and use their powers to force them to carry it out. People who under this kind of mind control will usually be fully aware of what’s happening, but they are completely unable to stop it. Usually this type of control will fade either after a set amount of time or after the victim has carried out the command.

Generally, the only way to prevent a victim of this kind of mind control from carrying out their dastardly directives is to physically prevent them from doing so until the time-limit has passed. This could mean you have to physically restrain the person or simply knock them unconscious. (By throwing a brick at their head.) Be careful though, usually villains with these powers will be crafty sons of mothers. They’ll often have a couple of people under their control at the same time. These people will sometimes be redundancies, meaning if you stop one of them there will be another to carry out the same task. Other times they’ll be used to appeal to your sense of preserving-innocent-livesism and the sly suggestive supervillain will have ordered them to cause themselves or others bodily harm should the one who you’re trying to stop be stopped. With villains like these you need to outsmart them, or somehow find a way of disabling their powers. Otherwise, every moment they can speak is a moment they can place another person under their control. Remember, their powers are speech related so if they can’t speak they can’t use them. Try taking them out for a raging night of karaoke and screaming at pigeons, their voice will definitely be gone by the next morning and you can lock them up in a power neutralizing cell or like a deserted island where they can’t speak to anybody.

Mind control is one of the most dangerous techniques supervillains use in their never ending quest to take over some body of land. Which makes sense, not only are they evil but they have a strong enough will to get out of bed every morning and clomp around town in a ridiculous psychedelic battle suit, they’re not going to be very interested in allowing other people to keep their substantially weaker wills are they? Fortunately mind control can be combatted, not only with all of the ways we just mentioned, but also with a regular old sheet of tinfoil. That’s right! None of these mind controlling methods can get through regular, off-the-shelf, aluminum foil. So unwrap that sandwich you’ve been saving and make yourself a gosh darn hat out of tinfoil. If you need help making said hat, Hatman actually runs hat-making seminars every Friday night. (So hey, I guess everybody’s free to do crime in Hatsburg on Friday nights.) <Good to know!> Wait, no!

Thanks to all of my fans and supporters (that’s you guys!) and death by a thousand bolts of lightning to all my enemies (that might be you guys too!) [Wait,what?] {Oh you still work here?} [Of course I still work here!] Here’s to another 150 posts, stay tuned for a master post and a few small announcements later today!

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dwyonysos · 6 years

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My Ascendant Identity Crisis: A Summary

Introduction

In 2009/10 I began learning about astrology through a classmate who has since (and recently) begun an Instagram account dedicated to quippy and well-designed posts on the topic. Proud of her Aquarius sun sign, she quickly determined by sun sign, deemed it quite appropriate, and inquired after my birth time to calculate the ascendant:

AQUARIUS. This was the result from the first website she used to calculate the sign, as a look of joy and agreement crossed her face. She began a lively report on about the virtues of Aquarius. Meanwhile, responding quite fittingly to the Virgo personality type, I consulted another online calculator to verify the first finding:

PISCES. My classmate faltered, she brow furrowed, and she blurted “hmmm...” before shaking her head once, the rest of her body ceasing its suspension and returning to its energetic and bouncy motion, albeit more restrained. She looked over my shoulder at the list of traits this calculator suggested fit the Pisces ascendant and I could almost hear the gears grinding in her head before she decided that, sure, it fit me.

Pisces seemed to prevail after numerous confirmations from other online sources (though I found this process irritating because many distinctive websites use the same astrological generator for their free natal charts). And more or less in the years since then I have accepted myself as a Virgo sun-Pisces ascendant and attributed the sense of unsettlement that began in the quirk of my classmate’s brow to the oppositional relationship between these signs. I supposed that the Virgo in me rationalises those behaviours which seem Piscean to the outsider.

Background

Now, with the sun just having been in Aquarius and 8/9 years out from my first self-education in astrology, the initial crisis has returned. Am I really a Pisces ascendant? Or maybe there’s something wrong with those calculators?

Here are a couple sources of error which confound my acceptance of the results:

the calculators don’t specify whether they account for daylight savings time--if not I would need to enter my birth time an hour earlier to account for this, which makes me solidly Aquarian

maybe my birth time was recorded wrong--if I had been born 15 minutes before the recorded time then I would be an Aquarius

following the rule of the ascendant changing every two hours from sunrise/6 AM would classify me as an Aquarius (in both cases, as sunrise was 6:42 AM on my birth date)--however if this rule is adapted to a 5 AM starting point to deal with DST then I’m a Pisces as the calculators show

I just don’t identify with Pisces all that much...and to me that’s so much a part of the psychology/sociology of astrology is identification; when I learned that Jupiter would be the planetary ruler of my chart based on the Pisces ascendant some things clicked into place, but that action seemed to jostle some other items out of place!

Currently

I tried to attack this thicket with a couple of approaches which I will identify as the methodical (objective) and the intuitive (subjective), respectively. For the methodical approach, I shared some descriptions of the two different ascendant signs with several individuals who are either friends or family and asked them to report to what extent they thought the description suited me. In the brief surveys I administered I kept the names of the signs hidden from the participants. Though I admit my sample size was hardly representative, the result heavily favoured the Aquarius description.

The intuitive approach consisted of my comparing two natal charts: the one I have accepted for years and the nearest Aquarius ascendant chart. I identified which houses and planetary house placements changed between the charts and found descriptions for the two options via a trusted source who focuses especially on positions of planets amongst the signs and houses. While I couldn’t try to make this approach “double-blind” or some variation of participant ignorance to ensure efficacy, I attempted to be as pure of consciousness as possible. I tried to be completely honest with myself.

In this, too, I felt the Aquarian chart resonated so much more. Most of the options elicited a strong reaction or identification within, and in one I experienced some minor ambivalence. So it seems that both myself and others actually pick up on this Aquarian energy more strongly! I mean, I’m a sociology graduate student and I have a bachelor’s degree in anthropology--how much more stereotypically Aquarian (and Virgoan) could you get?!

But when I attempted the ‘purest’ form of determination, hand-calculating the ascendant, things went awry. First of all, it’s quite impossible to do this on your own with the meagre online guides for the calculation of local sidereal time, etc., and then I completely hit a roadblock because I didn’t have access to a book on the 20th-century American ephemeris. That option having been stamped out, I looked to the astronomical software Stellarium, which allows the user to input the date, time and location they wish and then to observe the position of the stars at that moment. This was like a nail in the coffin of the Aquarian ascendant: Aquarius was fully visible at the eastern horizon at the moment of my birth, and just one star from Pisces had broken through.

Looking Ahead

I’ve gotten in touch with my previous classmate who seems to have only deepened her knowledge of astrology since high school. She and I are going to chat a bit about this crisis. I’m planning to use some tarot cards and a handy-dandy pendulum to see if that sheds some metaphysical light on the situation.

Hopefully, I can reach a place free from this tension. I suppose I believe this tension is coming for a reason. Beyond the symbols and accoutrements of astrological identity-making, there’s a deeper sense of unsettlement which I can accept as mine: the search for the person to be. The Aquarian/Pisces crisis has made me aware of the degree to which I assign significance to archetypes and roles, and the corresponding need for conviction in that position. I want to strive to fulfil a role, but I cannot accept it if I am not convicted of it.

I’m beginning to realise that my personal form of genuine living is at once so far out of my hands but also right there! But the conflict between (a) acknowledging that I am living genuinely and (b) the desire to uplift this lifestyle to the position of the exceptional OBSCURES my true identity from myself. So until I can resolve this somewhat superficial issue, I am going to focus on channelling a self-empowered “I’m already awesome” attitude through the things that I do every day. The person I want to be is fictional. What’s real is discovering the parts of that fiction that already exist for myself, and others, to enjoy.

#pisces ascendant #pisces rising #aquarius #aquarius ascendant #aquarius rising #ascendant sign #ascendant problems #astrology #personality #reflection #personal #what is my ascendant

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witchofthewyrd · 7 years

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Baby witch tips

Inspired by @atriatic‘s post.

Getting started: I answered a post about this the other day.

Look at witchcraft books aimed at beginners. Pick a thing you like, and read about it. Before you start looking at correspondence lists, have a look at my post on correspondences here. You might want to look at herbalism, crystals, candle magic, colours, moon phases, essential oils, folk magic, mythology, tarot, astrology, pendulums and a whole lot of other stuff.

For the basics of energy work (have you heard terms like grounding, cleansing, charging, casting? That’s all energy work) have a look at my post here. It’s visualisation focused (I explain that, too) which basically means doing magic using yourself and your mind as a tool - no equipment needed! I consider it core to my practice (and many others do, too).

You should know that the tools people consider helpful vary greatly from witch to witch. Some tools you might see in photos or might hear mentioned include:

athame (a black-handled knife used for directing energy)

altar cloth (to protect the altar)

besom (broom)

boline (white-handled knife used for cutting herbs)

book of shadows/grimoire

chalice (a cup/goblet used for giving offerings of drinks, or in spells/rituals)

wand

Many of these are very Wiccan. Now, compare with the tools I have/use (after 7 years of practising)

grimoire

glass mugs for offerings (got two in a charity shop for £2!)

kitchen equipment (since I’m primarily a kitchen witch)

me.

The single most important tool is you. Seriously, people were doing magic before we got witchcraft supply stores. You don’t actually need any tools. I’d recommend using equivalents that you already own before buying any fancy tools, to see if you’ll use them consistently. Use a butter knife for an athame. If you don’t see the point, there’s probably no point in buying one.

As for supplies, again, this varies witch to witch. You might see people use:

crystals

herbs/flowers

candles

cords

oils

things found outside - leaves, twigs

spell water - water that’s been collected for use in spells, often from certain places (like the sea or a stream) or charged either by visualisation or during different weather or by the sun/moon.

Since most of my magic is in the kitchen, the “essential” supplies for me are ones I’m eating anyway, so different food products and herbs. Someone who works primarily with crystals will have a different set of “essential” supplies than I do, and in time you’ll develop your own “essential” set of supplies.

A word of warning: having more supplies does not make you a better witch. Spend some time working on the basics, like charging and cleansing different items, before you run off to buy 10 different types of everything. If you must, buy one or two items and practice on them, building your collection up slowly. That way, you know you’ll actually use them and you’ll spend more time working on the skills that help you practice witchcraft.

If you want to start a grimoire, cool. But don’t stress about finding the perfect book or ink. I strongly recommend using a ringbinder for your first grimoire, particularly as a “first draft” grimoire. You don’t have to worry about running out of pages, you can add more to earlier topics as you grow your knowledge, and you can move things around to suit you. Grimoires should be functional, you want to be able to reference them and see yourself grow through them. Log your spells and rituals, and your results, even failed ones. That doesn’t mean you should copy the entirety of that 5000 spell spellbook, or Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs - pick and choose what works for you.

Other advice:

Magic is all about intent. You can make anything into a spell if you put that intent in, and all the fancy tools and supplies won’t make a spell without intent. Without intent, I have dinner. With it, I’m making magic.

Read critically. Take what you think works and don’t worry about the rest. (That includes this post, too - your practice is your practice.)

Challenge your beliefs. Why do you think magic works? Why do you think it’s okay, or not okay, to hex? How do correspondences work? How does this apply to the “real world”? Whatever your beliefs, challenging them is a good way to figure out their limitations and work past them.

Double and triple check for safety. Cross-reference. Anyone can publish a book, if they have the time and money - that doesn’t make them infallible sources of information. A herb might be safe in general, but it could interfere with medication or might not be safe while pregnant. Some crystals shouldn’t be left in water. Check sources. Check the source’s reputation - like I said, anyone can publish a book. Doesn’t make them right.

Know your local laws if you want to go foraging or looking for natural resources, e.g. berries, plants, animal parts.

Also, don’t go looking for wild plants any time soon. Lots of safe plants have dangerous doppelgangers. Never, ever pick anything if you aren’t 110% sure that you know exactly what it is and that it’s safe to do so.

Look into things that look interesting, try them out, keep learning if you like it and move on if you don’t. Sometimes there’ll be resources that you have to slog through, and that’s okay, too.

Remember that this is your practice. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you don’t have to agree with what everyone else says, either.

Remember that everyone else is talking and writing about their practice. You don’t have to agree with them, and can openly disagree (just be nice about it), but everyone has something to teach you - even if all that is is “I don’t want my practice to be like this”. The main exception to this is factually incorrect statements.

Check out my tags: beginners, witch tips, safety, resources, reference.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

#beginners #witchcraft #witch tip

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wavering-eyes · 4 years

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Warm-Up Fun Post: Collective Banlist Re-Review

I need to put an original post on this blog and noticed I had only reviewed two out of five of my previous banlist analyses, so I’m making this post to comment on the remaining three for the first time and to re-review some cards which have seen a change in favor since then.

Let’s get started.

September 2017

Denglong, First of the Yang Zing

Denglong was usually the other part of True King of All Calamities, since you could change his level to 9 by dumping any of the True Kings into your Graveyard. He also led to a 1-card double Quasar negate combo off of one Souleating Oviraptor (or Fossil Dig, or basically any way to summon Oviraptor). I really doubt Yang Zings will be playable after this, but Yang Zing Dinos needed to get hit for sure and I guess this is one way to do it.

I knew nothing about Yang Zings when I wrote this post but the deck has been through hard times ever since. Yang Zing Zefra is alright though. Correct.

Daigusto Emeral

Wait, what the fuck?

…

Seriously? Gusto have a banned card now? Who thought they had it in them.

The Gusto archetype has never made much of a splash competetively, but they eventually got a generic Rank 4 (that they can barely use) in the form of Daigusto Emeral, which was a key part of the Zoodiac Fusion Substitute combo… which was totally wiped out last banlist. The deck still ran two copies for a while after, but eventually once Link Summoning came around, the space just wasn’t there. Few decks run it at all nowadays.

Which makes its appearance here all the more confusing. Seriously, Konami, what the fuck?

I didn’t make any prediction here, but in the interest of transparency, I’m gonna take every opportunity to decry my younger self for the knowledge he lacked. Daigusto Emeral was most likely banned for causing FTKs because it’s a generic Rank 4 that can revive Gaia Saber, the Lightning Shadow, which enables easy spam of multiple copies of Firewall Dragon. I didn’t know this at the time.

Miscellaneousaurus

A monster that gives Dinos protection during the Main Phase, recursion from grave, a free engine to summon a level 1 Tuner from deck, and an easy way to build up a huge Tyranno Infinity when needed. Miscellaneousaurus did all this and more. The OCG hit Oviraptor instead, so I’m surprised this got hit, but either one hurts the deck a lot (although I think Oviraptor is the stronger of the two).

Correct, it did hurt the deck. It eventually saw play again and Misc got unlimited a couple of years later. Oviraptor is the better card.

Dark Hole/Interrupted Kaiju Slumber

This is an interesting one. Slumber was obvious because it was another two copies of Dark Hole that synergized with the Kaijus that everyone would have run regardless, but Dark Hole at 2 has been a thing for a while. For what it’s worth, getting hit by this hurt a lot if your board consisted of the only Link Monsters your deck had the space for, but if that was that huge of a concern, they’d have hit Raigeki too. Hmm.

Slumber was probably a Kaiju Zoo hit since that was a popular variant. Destruction was infinitely better this format than it’s been in the nearly 3 years since. Both of these cards are now at 3 and see no play whatsoever.

BLS Envoy of the Beginning

It is weird to say that this card is now completely irrelevant, but here we are. BLS Envoy has been power crept. What a game. (It’s probably still fun to play around with, though.)

It eventually saw play in Burning Abyss until it later got cut. I’ll take the L and say this was mostly wrong.

Luster Pendulum, the Dracoslayer

Luster Pendulum was a free reoccurring +1 after a Pendulum Summon, but that hardly matters now that Extra Deck Pendulum Summons are restricted by the new format. He’ll probably still turn up in Pendulum decks, though; do not take this to mean that the card is bad now.

Luster sucked for a while and eventually saw play in some variants thanks to Guardragons Elpy and Agarpain. I didn’t understand the direction of Pendulum very well at the time since I had hardly played Pendulum decks. Maybe?

Brionac, Dragon of the Ice Barrier

I have literally only seen this card played in Mermails since its errata. It’s doing nothing at 1 and will do nothing at 2.

T.G. Hyper Librarian

Synchro spam is also more-or-less dead, so this is probably fine coming back as well. Level Eater is still creeping in the distance, however…

Brain Control

Same story as Brionac, has seen no play since its errata.

Correct on three counts. T.G. Hyper eventually got hit again but that required a then-unthinkable rule revision and I’m not counting that.

Preparation of Rites

Nekroz hype? That’s the deck that got this limited, and they’re almost playable now that nearly every other deck has been nerfed. We’ll see.

EDIT: This is for Vendreads, don’t know how I didn’t realize this immediately.

EDIT 2: Vendreads don’t use this card, what am I saying. This is for other decks.

Said a lotta wrong things here. Vendreads don’t use it and were also bad. Nekroz plays it but that deck sucked hard until they got more copies of Brionac. Gonna say wrong because “almost playable” is definitely incorrect.

Debris Dragon/Dragon Ravine

Remnants from the Dragon Rulers banlist. These haven’t seen play in a while at 2, probably won’t at 3.

I was so bad at this game, holy smokes. Debris has seen no play but Dragon Ravine is an outstanding card that has only gotten better with time. 1 wrong, 1 correct.

Rescue Cat/Witch of the Black Forest

More cards that have seen no play since their erratas.

This skirts by thanks to lack of a prediction, but Rescue Cat eventually saw play in Burning Abyss to make Dante/Cherubini/Naturia Beast.

Rescue Rabbit

Holy shit.

This card is still way too good.

I think this is supposed to tell us to go buy World Chalice, but this is the nuttiest way to go about doing that I could possibly imagine.

Konami, are you feeling alright?

Saw play in Dinos, World Chalice, and eventually Metalfoes, so I’ll say I was correct, but it did fall off hard.

Wavering Eyes

Hardly relevant, since Pendulum mirrors don’t happen much and decks aren’t so focused on popping their own scales. Back in the day, though, Konami made a huge mistake printing this as a common.

EDIT: I could not possibly have been more wrong. This card should not have been unhit, holy shit. Pendulum mirrors are actually everywhere since the deck’s only expensive card is Duelist Alliance and this card is too fucking good.

That’s pretty funny actually. The revision is wrong and the original post is correct, Wavering Eyes saw play for a week and fell off hard immediately after.

EXTRA: Cards That Did Not Get Hit, Somehow

I listed Master Peace, Dragonic Diagram, Maxx “C”, and Trickstar Reincarnation as the most problematic cards left in the format at that point. The OCG limited Reincarnation and the TCG has banned or limited the remaining three; Trickstar Lightstage is also limited here. These weren’t meant to be predictions but it’s interesting to see how many of them came true.

EDIT: Extra 2: Cards That Did Not Get Unhit, Somehow

I listed Ritual Beast Ulti-Cannahawk, El Shaddoll Construct, Evilswarm Exciton Knight, and Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz. The last one was meant to be a joke, but for some reason, Cannahawk is the only card here still on the banlist, and its position has not changed since 2015 or so. What a joke.

Current totals are 8-3-1 correct/wrong/maybe. Not doing math on this ‘cause I did a bad job anyways. Moving on.

October 2017

Blackwing - Gofu the Vague Shadow

Opinion on this card has been surprisingly divided. Opening Gofu is nuts, but every single one you draw after the first is useless unless you’re running Allure of Darkness, since you can’t even Summon it unless you control no monsters. As it turns out, there’s not really a second turn against good boards of Link monsters, so the advantage is just way too high. This card also breaks the Crystron link we’ll be getting in maybe three years, but there’s no doubt it would have been hit by then, so better sooner than later.

Gofu was way too good and got banned the following list. We got Crystron Halqifbrax about two and a half years after this prediction, too. Correct.

SPYRAL GEAR - Drone

SPYRAL Quik-Fix

These cards did not serve the same purpose, but they were limited for the same reason: they’re both valid targets for Machine Duplication, which led to insane plusses off of drawing it alongside either of these cards (or any card that searches them), and with a combined nine copies of SPYRAL Resort, you would usually open both, so really the Machine Duplication was the inconsistent part. Machine Duplication with Quik-Fix gets three searches, and Drone stacks the deck so there isn’t even any guessing involved with the Super Agent effects. Both combos can immediately make Double Helix with a monster left over. So why didn’t they hit Machine Duplication? In truth, it’s not actually that broken of a card for two main reasons.

1. These are basically the only relevant targets for the card, so hitting it would fuck over decks like Deskbots etc, which is totally undeserved (though this hasn’t stopped them in the past, see Emergency Teleport and ROTA.)

2. Ash negates it. People have been seriously playing Double Summon instead for exclusively this reason. I wish I was joking.

So that’s that. Quik-Fix was expected, but I didn’t see them hitting Drone. Good riddance though, the deck can search both of these cards just fine at one copy.

No other decks played Dupe until Cyber Dragon got new support. SPYRAL ended up being so strong after this it required a second banlist. Correct.

What will the next format look like? Probably just like the post-Zoo ban pre-CIBR format

Effectively Pendulum-Draco format, which came later. This was still wrong because SPYRAL was still tier 1.

2 correct, 1 wrong. I reviewed Februrary 2018 already, so let’s go over some stuff that deserves further comment.

Firewall Dragon

“But they won’t hit a main character card!!”

The leadup to MR4 had me exhausted seeing a new Firewall loop with every passing week. The only one that saw competitive success was Dino FTK, but it took no time at all for this to be highlighted as a problem card, and only six months or so for it to finally get hit. Good riddance. This card is unfair at any more than one copy per deck.

Okay, me, let me stop you at “this card is unfair.”

SPYRAL Resort

Much of SPYRAL’s consistency is dead outright, since their usual combos involved more than one copy of this, and dealing with it is immensely easier. Ogre can practically end their turn. Even if they open it, that means they can’t resolve Master Plan. Another elegant hit.

I’m not grading it differently because of this information, but “even if they open it, that means they can’t resolve Master Plan” turned out to be wrong because that combo route uses Knightmare Unicorn to spin your own field spell so you can search it off of Master Plan.

Artifact Moralltach

This card was not $7 a day ago, I swear. The hype is real.

Artifacts have strong potential for Side Deck play, and possibly in the main with Sanctum as accessible as it is, though that hasn’t been too successful since the days of Artifact Invoked Windwitch. Keep an eye on this for sure.

Artifacts did eventually see Side Deck play, in the form of a 4-card package of Sanctum and Scythe (and optionally Trap Trick to optimize copies). I was wrong about Moralltach, though.

Thunder King Rai-Oh

I heard about this banlist about an hour into playtesting against Thunder Stun because I had absolutely nothing better to do, and this analysis post was delayed for an entire day because my brain was so fried from the monotony of playing fucking Thunder Stun that I couldn’t actually think any more for the rest of the day.

This card is frustrating, but I guess it’s there to keep you honest. Droll on a 1900 body that can negate inherent Special Summons is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. Perhaps it could see Side Deck play in Pendulum strategies?

Rai-Oh never saw play in Pendulum, but Thunder Dragon rarely did, for the sole purpose of making Thunder Dragon Colossus, which similarly locks down searching.

Mind Control

Now THIS is actually an interesting prospect. This card has not seen an errata of any kind, and is arguably still playable going second. Taking control of monsters actually breaks Co-links and the card itself doesn’t prevent you from using your opponent’s monsters to summon from the Extra Deck, so this could actually be a strong counter to some strategies. Mind Control is definitely a card you should keep in mind.

I commented on this already and my predictions have come full circle. Mind Control was so good that it’s back at 1 now.

Bottomless Trap Hole

Another interesting unhit. Trap cards in general were thought to be powercrept, so Konami has been taking strides in releasing a number of the most powerful ones ever, such as this. Note: HAT did not have 3x Bottomless. Also note that HAT will not come back because of this and Moralltach, and that Bagooska is still pretty much a better card than Rafflesia.

I feel fairly confident in saying this card isn’t good enough to be played even at 3, but I feel as though there’s a small chance I could be proven wrong.

BTH saw no play until Traptrix got a Link Monster, and it’s their second best target; Floodgate is usually more destructive.

Onto May 2018.

Master Peace, the True Dracoslaying King

Yep, this is Luster Pendulum. He’s now Zoodiac Drident crossed with Apoqliphort Towers, and naturally he’s on the banlist again. Feel old yet?

To continue on that analogy, I fully expect this deck to go the way of Qliphorts and continue to see play as a stun variant. Note that nerfed Draco is still a better deck than Qliphorts, unfortunately.

Nerfed Draco remained a viable anti-meta deck until Diagram got banned.

Neo-Spacian Grand Mole

Compulsory Evacuation Device

Fairy Tail - Luna saw no play and Solemn Strike is still at 3. Who cares.

I only decided to re-review the reviews because of this and the next card. Grand Mole has seen no play, but Altergeist eventually started playing Compulsory and other Trap-based decks soon followed suit. It’s a pretty outstanding card.

Mathematician

This is still a solid card, honestly. I could see it seeing play again in decks that don’t need a Normal Summon, or if they finally unban Construct. I don’t think that deck’s in the game right now, but it could be soon.

So Mathematician saw no play whatsoever, but I still think it’s because the right deck doesn’t exist...

Orcust was that deck. Math was sometimes favored over Scrap Recycler thanks to There Can Be Only One (and the fact that Recycler was upwards of $20).

Finally, May 2018.

A - Assault Core

A - Assault Core is a threatening card because it can infinitely loop with itself and Firewall Dragon as long as you can get it off of the board. This can be by linking with it, or by tributing it (as with Cannon Soldier, which causes an FTK). Does that make it a problem card? Sort of. Let’s look at the harms.

ABC can Extra Link you pretty easily already, and Extra Link boards aren’t that impenetrable anymore with Goblin out of the game.

ABC is otherwise a fair deck and has limited competitive results outside of extremely talented and dedicated players.

The Cannon Soldier FTK isn’t consistent without Crystron Needlefiber, which hasn’t been released yet.

Firewall Dragon causes a million more problems than it deserves.

So did A - Assault Core deserve a hit to 1? No, absolutely not. I suppose it had to go so that Firewall could stay, but that card has really, really overstayed its unwelcome.

A got unlimited once Firewall got banned. There’s an implicit prediction here, I think. Correct.

Morphing Jar

Read this card’s effect and tell me that the first five characters don’t remove this card from competitive relevance. I’ll wait.

We have a control deck based around Flip Monsters and it sure isn’t Jar Control. Correct.

Evilswarm Exciton Knight

Going second doesn’t suck as much! This card is certainly going to see play, though there are fewer decks that can make it nowadays, I suppose.

Remember to read this card’s effect five times before you try and summon it–the restriction WILL catch you off guard.

Card saw play, yeah. Correct.

Card Destruction

An interesting sort-of mulligan card. Imagine Magical Mallet or Reload, except with applications beyond Exodia decks. It won’t make any decks by itself, as no unsearchable one-of (Left Arm offering does not work for obvious reasons.) ever should, but I fully expect this to see fringe play–Dangers, Burning Abyss, Phantom Knights, and Zombies are all decks that would absolutely not mind going -1 in order to dump their hand in grave and draw a new one, considering this puts a bunch of combo pieces where they’re most useful.

It is still at 1 and saw fringe play in basically those decks. Correct.

Sky Striker Mecha - Hornet Drones

This was the right hit, but it ends up with a really mixed outcome. Hitting Drones was right because it hits most decks that ran it as an engine and prevents the pure deck from easily making huge Link Monsters by chaining multiple copies to each other. Both of these things were pretty bad for the game. On the other hand, this also means Sky Striker Mobilize - Engage!, which presently commands an $80 price tag, is even more necessary of a card in the decks that do play it, which is also bad for the game. And isn’t that the card that goes +1? Hmm.

Engage got banned a year later due to its use as an engine in Orcust. Not a prediction so no points.

Super Polymerization

The number of decks that would want to play Super Polymerization is limited, and it’s mostly powerful going second in Fusion decks like Invoked or in the fringe decks that change types/attributes along the whole board–Lair and Zombie World (once that comes out) both come to mind.

Targets of interest include Starving Venom Fusion Dragon, Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon, and Mudragon of the Swamp.

Super Polymerization saw fringe play until around Savage Strike, where it became an invaluable asset versus Danger Thunder, Orcust, and Salamangreat alike. It is now at 3 and remained a going-second blowout until Adamancipator came around. The three fusion targets I mentioned were the most common targets which had been printed at that time, and since then, R&D has made it a point to print a strong Super Polymerization target to counter decks that may be too strong going first (Violet Chimera, Predaplants, and the new Fossil Fusions, for example). Correct.

Kozmo Dark Destroyer

It’s been a minute since this deck was even known for scoring occasional tops. Dark Destroyer’s arguably been in a position to come off of the banlist for a long time. I expect nothing from this card or deck; it’s too inconsistent and doesn’t do enough unfair things to pose a serious threat (also Called by the Grave exists), but I guess we’ll see in time whether or not I’m right.

Johnny Nguyen topping regionals in Nowhere, Kansas once every couple of months with random bad decks does not prevent them from being bad decks. Correct.

Called By the Grave

Speaking of which, Called got put to 2. I’m still torn on whether this card is nasty I don’t think 2 is the right number for this card, though; time has shown that 2 isn’t the right number for any card.

Card got put to 3 in the following list. Correct.

Limiter Removal

Fundamentally, this is still a -1 that does nothing to affect board state and might as well actually do nothing if it doesn’t win you the game on the spot. It’s not a horrendous card, but theory doesn’t play with this very well and there’s not a good deck that would want to play it at the moment.

Saw no play. Correct.

Destiny Hero - Disk Commander

People are writing this off, and I can see where they’re coming from, but I’m not convinced that this is totally useless. Demise HEROes (If you’re shocked I said those two words in sequence, I’m amazed you read all of this and haven’t come to the conclusion that I’m a lost cause) is a variant that actually saw a non-negligible amount of success and I think this fits right in with that: opening with Vyon and Mask Change, you can safely send Disk Commander, set your hand, Demise for as much as possible, set whatever you can, discard whatever you can’t. Following turn, flip up Rivalry, Mask Change, and more negation, then in end phase, flip up Back to the Front to bring back Disk Commander to draw two.

Of course I’m presenting an ideal situation here, and it’s obviously creates a stronger board if you put monsters on it that aren’t Dark Law, but I don’t think such a gameplan is totally ridiculous, either. I don’t expect it to see success, but at the same time, I have the feeling it’s in part because nobody thinks that it could.

Though I did have to jump through a bunch of hoops to come up with some reason to not send Malicious instead. I think that’s Malicious’ problem, though.

It saw no success and this suggestion is the pipe dream of a madman.

Burial from a Different Dimension

Zombies go off with this card and brick with it at 3. It wasn’t too strong to be at 3, but I don’t expect it to see play at 3 copies per deck anyways. It also has potential as an extremely niche side-deck card, but I don’t think any deck that this disrupts is shaking in their shoes at this in particular, if such a deck even exists right now.

“any deck that this disrupts” is implicitly supposed to be ABC, if that’s not clear. Burial hasn’t seen that much play, and none at 3 copies, but I don’t know how to judge this for accuracy.

7 correct, none incorrect for May 2018.

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titmasjack · 6 years

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Developing my Pendulum Swing

Going off of the tutor feedback I received from my previous work, I knew there were points and instances throughout my pendulum swings that I could experiment on giving me the opportunity to expand and develop my original animations. Point such as increasing the swing, experimenting with speed and exploring how far I could accentuate the ease in and ease out. What I took from this was to create a ball which portrayed a heavier weight, like that of a bowling ball or wrecking ball.

This would give me the opportunity to create a longer frame animation by adding frames to elongate the time frame creating the swing more natural and fluid. Playing with both ones and twos in Dragonframe, I wanted to explore after animating how holding the frames for longer could potentially affect the speed and fluidity of my animations. Considering whether which frame rate would be most ideal to convey a heavier mass to my audience.

On ones, my outcome is a lot more rapid as it holds the frames for a single 24th of a second. This leads to the animation creating almost a sense of motion blur as I found it hard to track the ball’s curve without losing the initial action. The timing was too fast and before you know it the ball is at its highest peak and back again. Due to the timing of the frames, to me, it seems as if the arcing is too slow for the speed of the ball. Being a ball with a faster moment, I would have expected a larger and mroe gradual arc as it has to slow down for longer due to its faster velocity.

I feel as if the second swing is a much better example, as being on two’s it slows its speed to create a more believable arc of motion. Being held for 2/24th’s of a frame instead of one essentially doubled the duration of the animation. Without making the animation itself jittery and unrealistic. Compared to my previous iterations, I took out a few frames in the middle of the action to create a smoother and more consistent motion. As the issue beforehand, held the ball in motion for two long as its fastest point in the middle of the animation. Removing these additional frames created a smoother transition between the ease in and out of either side.

Having refined my work, I'm happy and pleased with how my first ‘Traditional’ task has come out. And have begun to understand the importance of refining my work through iterations to create the best outcome possible. Tweaking and refining frames have given me a greater understanding of how animation can be flexibly used to create realistic motion. Instead of starting again and creating more animations, I can always refine portions and segments of movement through using traditional methods such as pose to pose.

I'm excited to see how I can explore the principles further using traditional animation moving forward in the upcoming weeks.

Potential Actions:

Is there any way of making my tests collide with an object, disrupting the flow of the animation?

Discuss in a blog post how I used a spacing chart to my advantage throughout my work.

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thrashermaxey · 6 years

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Cage Match: John Carlson vs. Drew Doughty

This week’s battle (John Carlson vs. Drew Doughty) is one I’ve had on my radar for a while, but I had to wait until both inked their next deals. Now that we know they’ll be staying with the only team they’ve ever played for, the question becomes what that will mean in terms of their value for 2018-19 and beyond. Cage Match is here to find out, and starts now!

Career Path and Contract Status

Carlson, 28, was selected 27th overall in 2008 and only needed one more season of juniors (76 point in 59 games) before being thrust into the pro hockey ranks. He succeeded there as well, tallying 39 points in 48 AHL games, leading to him reaching the NHL to stay by age 20. His first four seasons with the Caps fell short of what were high expectations due to his success in juniors and the AHL, as he never bested 37 points. But just as some poolies might have been readying to write him off, he exploded for 55 points in 2014-15 then 39 in only 56 contests in 2015-16. Yet then the pendulum swung all the way back in the other direction, with him managing only 37 points in 72 games in 2016-17. But to say he rebounded big time in 2017-18 would be a significant understatement, as he amassed 68 points to lead NHL rearguards in scoring.

Doughty, also 28, was selected 2nd overall in that same 2008 draft and jumped directly to the NHL, producing a modest 27 points. But he then shocked the fantasy world by more than doubling that tally in posting 59 points as a sophomore. Those who rushed to snag him in keepers were left disappointed, however, as Doughty didn’t even top 40 points again until 2014-15, when he posted 46. Since then he’s been solid overall, rising to 51 points in 2015-16, posting 44 in 2016-17, then, like Carlson, becoming a first time member of the 60+ point club this past season.

Carlson’s freshly inked deal will count $8M against the cap for each of the next eight seasons, whereas Doughty’s cap hit will be $7M this season before his new deal kicks in which will run for eight seasons and ding the cap at a jaw-dropping $11M per campaign.

Ice Time

Season

Total Ice Time per game

(rank among team’s forwards)

PP Ice Time per game

(rank among team’s forwards)

SH Ice Time per game

(rank among team’s forwards)

2017-18

24:47 (J.C.) – 1st

26:50 (D.D.) – 1st

3:42 (J.C.) – 1st

3:09 (D.D.) – 1st

2:38 (J.C.) – 3rd

2:45 (D.D.) – 1st

2016-17

22:43 (J.C.) – 1st

27:09 (D.D.) – 1st

2:39 (J.C.) – 2nd

3:17 (D.D.) – 1st

2:59 (J.C.) – 2nd

2:34 (D.D.) – 1st

2015-16

23:42 (J.C.) – 2nd

28:01 (D.D.) – 1st

3:18 (J.C.) – 1st

3:04 (D.D.) – 1st

2:11 (J.C.) – 4th

2:56 (D.D.) – 1st

2014-15

23:04 (J.C.) – 1st

29:00 (D.D.) – 1st

1:44 (J.C.) – 2nd

3:26 (D.D.) – 1st

2:57 (J.C.) – 1st

2:39 (D.D.) – 1st

Doughty is proof that sometimes less can be more, as although his ice time has dropped three seasons in a row his scoring hasn’t suffered. In fact he produced his best season to date after seeing his total ice time drop by over 2:00 compared to three seasons ago.

Looking at Doughty’s PP and SH ice times, the answer for his 2017-18 scoring jump doesn’t lie there, since those numbers are flat. Some might point to LA changing coaches and opening up its offense; yet the difference wasn’t staggering, as they had 237 goals last season, up quite a bit from 199 in 2016-17 but close to their 218 and 223 tallies in 2014-15 and 2015-16. We’ll look at SOG and PP numbers as well as luck metrics; however, recent success from Doughty could be as simple as him having more gas in the tank at the end of the season. Look no further than 2017-18, when he finished with 19 points in his last 23 games, by far the best fourth quarter output from him over these seasons, and only the second time in these four campaigns in which he had more than a point per every other game in Q4.

Turning to Carlson, he never had the minutes of Doughty, so end of year fatigue likely was not in play. What we see different for 2017-18 is a very large jump in PP minutes. In fact Carlson’s 3:42 per game was second among NHL d-men, trailing only Tyson Barrie, and up by over a minute as compared to his disappointing 2016-17. It also resulted in him taking the ice for 77% of Washington’s man advantage minutes. We’ll look at all metrics for Carlson of course, but most likely it was added PP time which helped put him into the highest echelon of rearguard scorers – that and playing for a productive team, which finished 9th in the NHL in both total goals scored and goals on the PP.

Secondary Categories

Season

PIMs

(per game)

Hits

(per game)

Blocked Shots (per game)

Shots

(per game)

PP Points

(per game)

2017-18

0.39 (J.C.)

0.66 (D.D.)

0.57 (J.C.)

1.55 (D.D.)

1.78 (J.C.)

1.56 (D.D.)

2.89 (J.C.)

2.50 (D.D.)

0.40 (J.C.)

0.25 (D.D.)

2016-17

0.13 (J.C.)

0.56 (D.D.)

0.79 (J.C.)

1.57 (D.D.)

1.74 (J.C.)

1.33 (D.D.)

2.46 (J.C.)

2.20 (D.D.)

0.22 (J.C.)

0.23 (D.D.)

2015-16

0.25 (J.C.)

0.63 (D.D.)

0.82 (J.C.)

1.52 (D.D.)

2.03 (J.C.)

1.28 (D.D.)

2.21 (J.C.)

2.40 (D.D.)

0.25 (J.C.)

0.29 (D.D.)

2014-15

0.34 (J.C.)

0.69 (D.D.)

0.90 (J.C.)

1.86 (D.D.)

2.44 (J.C.)

1.75 (D.D.)

2.35 (J.C.)

2.64 (D.D.)

0.19 (J.C.)

0.19 (D.D.)

The eye-catching number is Carlson’s 2017-18 PPPt per game rate, which was nearly double his average from these three other seasons. But before we rush to declare it wholly unsustainable let’s recall, as was noted above, his power-play time per game was considerably higher than in any of these three previous seasons. Beyond that, he had 62 SOG with the man advantage, compared to just 30 in 2014-15, 33 in 2015-16 and 50 in 2016-17.

So not only was Carlson taking the ice for more power-play minutes, but he was more active while out there. In all, Carlson did probably luck into more PPPts per game than one can safely assume he’d produce again, but less so than it would first appear. What’s more, if he continues to get this type of PP deployment and be as active in terms of PP SOG, it’s probably safe to say he could land at one PPPt per every three games, which, if we do the math, would mean a drop of six PPPts from last season and would still keep him – assuming his luck metrics are otherwise solid – in the “rarified air” of 60+ points.

On the other hand, one would be hard pressed to pinpoint Doughty’s 2017-18 as a campaign in which he posted 15% more points than his next highest output among these three seasons, and 25% higher than the other two. After all, his SOG and PP scoring were within his normal ranges. Between this and LA’s lack of a major uptick in scoring, it’s looking more like unsustainable luck might be the explanation for Doughty’s jump into 60+ point territory after averaging 46 over the previous three seasons.

As for multi-cat stats, Doughty has the edge, especially in PIM. Carlson holds his own though and is an asset in the other categories; however, his days as of producing 3-3.5 hits + blocks look to a casualty of his increased scoring, since he’s now closer to 2-2.5 per game. Doughty too has lost some of his luster in hits and blocks, but last season saw an uptick to bring him back above a combined three per game.

Luck-Based Metrics

Season

Team Shooting % (5×5)

Individual Points % (IPP)

Offensive Zone Starting % (5×5)

Secondary Assists %

2017-18

9.38% (J.C.)

8.65% (D.D.)

53.5% (J.C.)

45.5% (D.D.)

49.0% (J.C.)

49.0% (D.D.)

51% (J.C.)

50% (D.D.)

2016-17

9.04% (J.C.)

6.46% (D.D.)

46.3% (J.C.)

44.4% (D.D.)

50.4% (J.C.)

53.7% (D.D.)

35% (J.C.)

50% (D.D.)

2015-16

8.02% (J.C.)

6.58% (D.D.)

50.6% (J.C.)

48.6% (D.D.)

49.2% (J.C.)

56.9% (D.D.)

45% (J.C.)

51% (D.D.)

2014-15

8.92% (J.C.)

7.03% (D.D.)

57.3% (J.C.)

38.8% (D.D.)

50.8% (J.C.)

53.5% (D.D.)

44% (J.C.)

46% (D.D.)

Finally we see some reasoning behind Doughty’s scoring gains in 2017-18, as his 5×5 team shooting percentage went from the 6.46%-7.03% range of the previous three seasons all the way up to 8.65%. Of course that raises two questions – why now, and was it a one year blip in the radar? One can’t ignore that it coincided with the arrival of a new coach with a new approach that did result in more goals, albeit not heaps of additional goals. Another possibility is Doughty knew that the Kings would be looking to extend him and upped his offensive effort level to help sweeten whatever deal he’d get. I do think Doughty prioritized defense in years past – hence the lower team shooting percentage – and perhaps did so less this season. I’d expect him to be more likely revert to his former ways, especially with each of his other luck metrics being very consistent with past campaigns. Long story short – don’t expect another 60 point season from Doughty; however, 50-55 is realistic on the “new look” Kings.

With Carlson, this data is most helpful in explaining his poor 2016-17, as his average IPP in the other three seasons was 53.8. Had his IPP been 53.8 in 2016-17 he’d have totaled 43 points in 72 games, for a scoring pace of 49, which would’ve been more in keeping with these other seasons. We also see that although Carlson’s 5×5 team shooting percentage for 2017-18 was elevated, it was far more in line with his other three seasons than Doughty’s. That said, Carlson also received some additional secondary assists compared to past seasons, although that could be a result of firing more SOG on the power play, and shouldn’t be looked at as being as unsustainable as would otherwise appear.

In all, the data reinforces that although Carlson’s 68-point output is unlikely to be repeated, let alone bested, he could still stay in the 55-60 point range. I’d also say it supports the idea that he has a better chance to creep above 60 than to fall below 55, whereas I’d say Doughty has as much of a chance (if not more of a chance) of seeing his future season totals dip below 50 as to rise again above 55.

Who Wins?

Truth be told, I think both players upped their game somewhat last season in order to land the highest possible contract. With the ink on both their deals now dry, they could come back to earth – the magic question being by how much. As noted, I think Carlson should land in the 55-60 range, while Doughty is a safer bet for 50-55. That makes Carlson the winner not just outright but also due to Doughty having more name recognition and fame, which in turn drive up his cost to obtain, whether in draft or trade.

Both might be players to avoid in one-year leagues due to other poolies thinking they’re in line to repeat what we saw from them last season. In keepers, they also might be soft sells in order to capitalize on the inflated value likely assigned to them by your fellow GMs, although if you hold you shouldn’t be too disappointed given what we saw in the data.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/cage-match/cage-match-john-carlson-vs-drew-doughty/

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junker-town · 7 years

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If Vegas is right about these 8 college football teams, will they fire their coaches?

Now that national expectations are becoming clear, which coaches will have to overachieve to stick around?

Regular season win total odds are starting to trickle out from Vegas and online casinos. They are almost always lower than the expectations set by a team’s fans, but you don’t build massive casinos by being consistently wrong.

With that in mind, let’s examine eight situations where, if Vegas is right, a coach might be in trouble. These over/unders are based on win totals from BetOnline.

Tennessee: 7.5 wins

Tennessee was a huge disappointment in 2016, failing yet again to win a terrible SEC East despite getting over the Florida hump. The Vols have a new athletic director. Will he hitch his wagon to Butch Jones if Tennessee disappoints yet again?

Bud Elliott: If Tennessee goes 7-5 despite having easy home games against Indiana State, UMass, South Carolina, Southern Miss, and Vanderbilt, it is hard to see Jones and his staff staying. At 8-4, the conversation is tougher, and would need to include consideration of how other programs in the division are trending.

Steven Godfrey: An 8-4 Tennessee should keep Butch in place. Tennessee isn’t in the best place financially to buy another coach out. And honestly, a lot people around the program are still invested in Jones. UT is recruiting well for 2018. Also, who’s the surefire replacement? This is a more complex job that it seems. He’s got another year, at least.

Ryan Nanni: A Jones program thrives on turning non-accomplishment into accomplishment. This is how you get the Championship of Life, or Music City Bowl rings, or the commemorative flag he’ll commission for beating UMass 16-10 this year. It’s entirely possible Tennessee goes 8-4 and wins the SEC East. And that would be the most non-accomplishment accomplishment of all.

UCLA: 6 wins

Jim Mora started his UCLA tenure at 29-11, which is a great mark for the Bruins. But he’s followed it up with 8-5, and 4-8.

Godfrey: Maybe a year ago, the structure of the argument was Mora’s track record. Now it’s about the potential of the job and the availability (and interest?) of Chip Kelly. USC could be really, really scary; they’ve fixed their internal issues and are winning quietly. Mora’s window to recalibrate expectations in L.A. has closed. It’s doubtful he can catch up now.

Elliott: If the Bruins barely make a bowl game at 6-6, in what is presumably Josh Rosen’s last season, and with a resurgent USC now clear of sanctions, I think Mora is gone.

Alex Kirshner: Seems wasteful to have a top-10 NFL pick at QB for three years and never breach eight wins. If I did that, my bosses would be mad at me.

Texas A&M: 7 wins

Kevin Sumlin has not finished better than fourth in the SEC West since his first season in 2011. The Aggies, despite signing a lot of talent, have lost five games in each of the last three seasons. And Sumlin’s AD has publicly called out A&M’s tendency to collapse late.

Godfrey: A&M is this decade’s Arkansas: a former Southwest Conference program with no compass for its place in the SEC. Sumlin will have to navigate a brutal schedule, whatever happens in Austin and a field of would-be usurpers. The shortlist for this job is deep (Larry Fedora, Chad Morris) and it’s only June.

Elliott: If oil was $80 a barrel, like when A&M hired Sumlin, and not the current $40, I think the Aggie boosters would have already ponied up the cash for Sumlin’s buyout. Another five-loss season would be the end, right?

Jason Kirk: This schedule also sets up for another hot start and cold finish. And if (a.) Texas is better than A&M for the first time since, uh, they played each other in 2011 and (b.) SMU improves again under Morris, I don’t see any way 7-5 is enough.

Auburn: 8 wins

Gus Malzahn took Auburn to the National Championship in 2013, narrowly losing to Florida State. Since then, his Tigers have gone 11-13 in SEC play. Auburn boosters are notoriously quick on the trigger. But 8-4, with an SEC West schedule and a road game at Clemson, might not be a slam dunk firing.

Godfrey: This is probably the year that Malzahn turns a transfer QB into a death machine and the Tigers push double-digit wins. But that’s not enough without beating Alabama. Not playing them tough or close — beating them. Malzahn could survive a 7-5 run if he beat Bama. He could fight back key boosters if they’re 10-2 and lose the Iron Bowl.

Elliott: This division is too often guilty of basing decisions on whether their current coach can best perhaps the greatest coach of all time. But four losses would likely mean losing to Alabama, at Clemson, plus two more SEC games. I think Malzahn can afford to lose three, but not four.

Nebraska: 6 wins

The Cornhuskers fired Bo Pelini after he went 9-4, 10-4, 10-4, 9-4, 10-4, 9-4, and 9-4. So far, Mike Riley has gone 6-7 and 9-4, so 6-6 would represent a serious backslide in one of the Power 5’s weakest divisions, the Big Ten West.

Nanni: How are we getting to 6-6? 4-2 early (losses to Wisconsin and Oregon) and 2-4 late (losses to Ohio State, Penn State, some Iowa/Northwestern/Minnesota combo) seems both doable and survivable. But maybe Nebraska under Riley is destined to be a pendulum, swinging more and more wildly until they go undefeated one year and 1-11 the next.

Elliott: Nebraska is recruiting very well right now. If the Cornhuskers are able to hold together a top class despite going 6-6, I think Riley is safe. If recruits abandon ship, however, maybe?

Godfrey: Scott Frost was a one-year head coach with too much loyalty to Mark Helfrich to chase the Oregon job last year. If UCF continues to improve (and they should), Nebraska will be enticed by a native son with modern offensive philosophies.

Arizona: 5.5 wins

Rich Rodriguez started his Arizona tenure at 26-14, but has gone 5-13 in his last 18 games. Does Arizona need to bounce back and make a bowl for Rodriguez to keep his job?

Godfrey: RichRod is in a corner. He chased South Carolina two years and didn’t get it, and the AD who hired him and tolerated those flirtations is gone. If he can get to .500 this season and beat ASU, he should be fine. The question is if he still has the passion to work at building something in such a tricky place. Any replacement would have to be connected in L.A. recruiting.

Jason: And Arizona’s two biggest problems (defense and recruiting) call to mind Rodriguez’s biggest problems at Michigan.

Texas Tech: 6 wins

Texas Tech’s best finish under four years of Kliff Kingsbury is a tie for fifth in the Big 12. The Red Raiders are 13-23 in conference under Kingsbury. Is 6-6 (and yet another losing conference record) enough for him?

Jason: Only thing about this one is ... where do you go afterward? Oklahoma OC Lincoln Riley, another former Texas Tech QB? TTU’s defense couldn’t be worse under him or anyone else, but why would anyone assume it’d be any better? A lack of obvious replacements could make a bowl season look better.

Godfrey: Riley is first the name to watch. He’s far more experienced than Kliff was when he was hired. Then there’s Sonny Dykes, son of TTU legend Spike Dykes, who could turn TTU into what he wanted at Cal, except with the support of a football-minded community and administration. Barring a miracle run, TTU and Kliff seem destined to move on.

Michigan State: 6.5 wins

At 90-42, Mark Dantonio is in the conversation for the best coach in Michigan State history. But there is a sense that the program took advantage of some down years from Michigan and Penn State, and is now on the decline with the big three in the Big Ten East all climbing. Dantonio’s 2016 team was not young, yet went just 1-8 in Big Ten play. Still, is there any chance Dantonio is done if his Spartans barely make a bowl game?

Alex: Here’s a question for Michigan State: Could you do better? I don’t really see it. It’s not like MSU is a bad job, but Dantonio has a track record that will have been interrupted for two seasons. If the Spartans think they can convince someone great to come battle with Jim Harbaugh, Urban Meyer, and James Franklin, in a fine but not incredible recruiting area, they might fire Dantonio. I doubt they think that.

Godfrey: Remember John L. Smith? This job can get really difficult really quickly. The problem is that Dantonio failed to turn 10-win seasons into elite recruiting, and now Michigan and Penn State have reorganized and lapped Sparty in talent. MSU seems destined to regress from its Rose Bowl run. How much is to be determined, and this is a difficult job to hire for.

Lines for Notre Dame and Ole Miss have not been posted.

(Otherwise, they would have surely made our list.)

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joya34blanco · 7 years

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A Fun Project You Can do in Your Own Home – How to Create a Physiogram

Anyone who has ever experimented with shutter speed knows that long exposures can yield some pretty interesting results. Whether it’s light painting at night or capturing the motion blur of a running river, long exposures can truly transform an image. A physiogram is a slightly different take on long exposure projects like light painting. It’s a technique that can easily be done in your living room, with no assistant required. Although the resulting images may look complex, the process to create a physiogram is actually very simple.

This double-physiogram was created by photographing part of a physiogram, covering the lens mid-exposure, swinging the LED in a different direction and resuming exposure.

What is a Physiogram?

Physiography is actually a field of geography that studies the processes and patterns found in the natural environment. The name physiogram is apt because it is a photographic study of the patterns and movement of a suspended object. Imagine an object tethered to a string and suspended from a fixed point. If you push it, the object will swing around in a neat circular motion at first, completing each rotation in roughly the same place each time. However, as the object loses velocity, it will complete an orbit that is increasingly smaller than the last one.

The sequence of rotations that the object takes while it swings around isn’t visible to the naked eye. Fortunately, however, we can use photography to reveal these fascinating patterns. By attaching a light source like a flashlight or LED (don’t use a laser pointer – they can wreck your camera’s sensor!) to a rope or string and allowing the object to swing, we can view the entire path of the object in a single long exposure. The resulting photograph or physiogram reveals fascinating patterns and shapes.

What you will need

A small flashlight or LED (key chain lights work great)

About a meter (3 feet) or so of string

A white sheet of paper

Camera with manual exposure capabilities

A dark room

Note: the tools in the Light Painting Brushes set can work as your light source for this and add color to your physiogram as well.

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How to create a physiogram

Take the LED and tie the length of string to it. Small LED lights on keychains are great because they won’t smash your lens if they fall. They also have a narrow light for better line definition and come with a key ring and chain for hanging perfectly vertical. You can usually pick one up at discount stores.

These novelty keychains are great for creating physiograms because the light source is narrow and bright. They are also easy to suspend from the ceiling. You can depress the ON button with a bit of duct tape.

Take the other end of the string and attach it to the ceiling with a pin or hook. You want to fix the LED so that it will swing easily, about a meter and a half (5 feet) above the camera to start. Your camera will be positioned on the floor directly beneath the LED, so make sure each component is securely fastened. Having a UV filter fixed to the lens is a good idea, just in case something does drop on the camera.

The view looking up – I attached my keychain to a length of string suspended from a removable hook in the ceiling

Camera setup

To photograph nice clean lines of light, we will need to focus the camera on the head of the LED. This can be difficult when the camera is laying on the floor, and the LED is hard to define against the background of the roof. Instead, place your camera directly underneath the LED and place a piece of white paper beneath the camera to mark the spot (you may need to mark an X on the paper as your camera cannot focus on just white, it needs contrast). Then, take your camera and position it beside the hanging LED. Autofocus on the piece of paper and once it locks, turn the autofocus function off.

To start off, set your exposure time to 30 seconds at f/16 with 100 ISO. Position your camera beneath the LED, turn the LED on and turn out the room lights. Give the LED a good push, but be careful not to swing it so hard that it goes out of frame. Wait until the light settles into an even motion and press the shutter button.

This exposure was taken directly after I swung the LED. The rippled effects are due to the light source moving out of sync with the rest of the pendulum set-up. As centrifugal force takes over, the lines become smoother.

Once your exposure is complete, have a look at the results! This project does require some trial and error to perfect, adjustments to your pushing technique, exposure time, and changing the length of the string or the light source are all ways you can refine the final image. A shutter release cable or remote trigger is handy too if you are experiencing camera shake.

The physiogram was made with a flashlight. The lines look thicker because the light from it is wider. Using a small LED means that you will see more defined lines.

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Tidy it up in Photoshop

Although you need a dark room to properly photograph a physiogram, you may find that part of the background still shows up in your photographs. This is caused by the light of the LED spilling around the room as it swings. The easiest way to fix this is by adjusting the black point in Photoshop. By adjusting the black point, you can reset what is interpreted as the blackest point in an image, without compromising the white light of the physiogram.

The roof and light can still be seen in this image due to the light spilling from the light source. Adjusting the black point in Photoshop is the easiest way to darken the background without affecting the pattern of the physiogram

First, open your image in Photoshop and select Curves (in the adjustment layers panel or via Image > Adjustments > Curves). Click on the eyedropper tool with the black ink and the cursor will change to the eyedropper icon. Now click on an area in the background of the image, preferably a lighter tone that occurs consistently throughout the unwanted backdrop.

Click this eyedropper.

Then click on an area of the background you want to be pure black.

And voila!

See how much cleaner the background is now.

As soon as you click an area in the image, any tone up to the selected tone will be reset to read as completely black. It may take you a few tries to get the background uniformly dark (if you don’t like what it did, undo it click a different spot). This will also get rid of light fittings from your image as well as the hook that fixes the LED to the roof.

Spice it up a little

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Once you get the hang of creating physiograms, switch it up a little! You can put layers of cellophane, glad wrap or glass over the lens for different textural and color effects. Change the light source, string length or zoom in and out during the exposure to create different pattern results.

This is a great opportunity to have fun and experiment, so enjoy! If you have kids they will love helping you with this project. Please give it a try and post your results in the comments below.

I used glad wrap over the lens to soften the lines of this physiogram. The sharp lines indicate the beginning of the exposure with no glad wrap. The softer, more central lines have been taken with the glad wrap over the lens towards the end of the exposure.

Some lines in this physiogram aren’t visible. The beak of the Angry Bird keychain blocked light from the LED. I quite like the effect, however.

To create the multi-coloured effect in this image I used the gradient tool and blending layers function in Photoshop

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The post A Fun Project You Can do in Your Own Home – How to Create a Physiogram by Megan Kennedy appeared first on Digital Photography School.

from Digital Photography School https://digital-photography-school.com/fun-project-own-home-create-physiogram/

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