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ladala99 · 3 years

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Wolvden Pack Updates - Breeding Pair Brainstorming

Of course the day my pack’s canon hunting team is filled by growing lead pups, Wolvden throws a curveball in the form of being able to set Breeding Pairs. And since my pack’s entire structure is built upon the One Breeding Male restriction, that means I get to rebuild it completely!

It’s a good addition to the game, of course. But I was just getting settled with the old system and now I want to use the new system.

The Pack As It Stands

Currently, I essentially have two packs: the canon pack that consists of my leader, her mate, and her pups; and a non-canon pack of all female wolves working to produce my next leader’s mate. The leader’s mate is my Breeding Male, and my non-canon wolves all breed with outside studs. I sort-of avoid inbreeding, but only within my own pack. I don’t take the heritage of outside studs into consideration, and I only specifically avoid breeding a pup to a parent, not looking into siblings or cousins and other relations.

At maximum, I produce two litters per in-game six months, one from the non-canon Hunting Team and one from the Lead Pair or one of the children of the Hunting Team if the Lead Pair is still on cooldown.

The Lead Wolf’s pups cannot breed unless they become the Lead Wolf themselves. Non-canon pups can breed if they are female and the closest to my Goal Wolf or if their mother is retiring from the Hunting Team due to age.

I do not want to keep it as it is, though. This new update opens up so many possibilities, so this is going to be a brainstorming session to figure out what exactly I want to do.

Goals With the Restructure:

- Breed entirely within my own pack - no outside studding except in exceptional circumstances (like a breed-only Special base or mark that I cannot acquire through my own efforts).

- On average, gain stats through the generations

- Have a genetically-varied pack (lots of Base and Marking variety)

- Limit inbreeding

- Gain new, unrelated wolves only through Explore

Limitations to Keep in Mind

I haven’t gone all the way through the tutorial yet (I’ll find a pair of wolves in Explore just to set them since I’m not ready to commit any of the pack quite yet), but from what I understand:

Breeding Pairs can only breed twice a calendar month. That’s not per individual pair but per all pairs in the pack. This does not affect breeding to a Breeding Male. (Since I already only breed twice per 24 days with the non-canon pack, this isn’t too much of a handicap for my current playstyle)

From the page:

- Wolves eligible to form pair bonds must have been a part of your pack for a minimum of 7 rollovers. (Okay, this means I need to wait a week for the Explore-found wolves to be in the pack long enough to do the tutorial)

- Male wolves (excluding breeding males) in a pair bond may breed with the female in their pair bond only. Each breeding carries a 30 day cooldown afterwards for the male. (Breeding cooldown for the female is already 24 days, so it’s not that big of a gap. It will mean the pair must wait a total of 36 days at least, though, due to the Heat cycle. The only wolf that would be affected by this from my current playstyle is the Lead Wolf/Lead Wolf’s Mate, as I breed them more often to fill the pack roles with relatives. The rest take turns.)

- Pair bonds last a lifetime - or until one or both of the wolves leave the pack, die, or are forcibly disbanded by the owner. The remaining wolf will be very unhappy if the pair bond ends and enter a cooldown before they are able to form a new pair bond. (Does a force disband cost currency? Not that I intend to use this)

Option #1: Lead Pair + Lioden-style Non-canons

I’m probably not going to use this one, and I couldn’t use it until the next generation anyway since my Lead Wolf’s mate is already the Breeding Male, but it was the first system I thought of when I saw the news.

Basically, the Lead Pair would be the only Breeding Pair in the pack, and the Non-canon Pack would all breed to the one designated Breeding Male. The Non-canon wolves would all compete not only to have a pup that’s the Lead Wolf’s mate, but also to have a pup that becomes the next Breeding Male.

Pros:

+ More stat gain in the pack

+ Two wolves rotate out per generation - the Breeding Male’s Legacy and the Lead Wolf’s Mate’s legacy

Cons:

- Inbreeding would happen

- Lead Pair’s pups still do not breed before becoming Lead themselves, meaning the next Lead must be born after the current Lead turns 4

- Genetic variety would be low

Option #1 Variant: Lead Pup Breeding

There isn’t really anything stopping me from setting any of the Lead’s pups + one of the Non-canon Pack’s pups as a Breeding Pair early. This would eliminate the second con above, but it would add:

Con:

- Stat gain wouldn’t happen as fast, as the generations may advance before the parents are at their maximum potential.

Option #2: One Pack

This option would do away with the Non-canon pack entirely and ultimately have a much smaller pack. The Lead Pair would continue to have the Breeding Male, and the pups would all take NBWs as mates. The pups would take turns breeding, at once every six in-game months or until the calendar month changes if I’ve already done 2 that calendar month.

Pros:

+ Smaller pack, easier to take care of

+ One Hunting Team, which means they’ll probably actually max out their hunts more often (I never max it out with 2)

+ Everyone’s canon

Cons:

- NBWs as mates means stat gain is much slower over the generations.

- NBWs in canon roles means there will always be low-stat wolves in important roles.

- I’ll need to find four nice-looking NBWs every generation

Option #3: Similar to Now, but Breeding Pairs and Early Legacies

Lead Pair would still have the Breeding Male. The Non-canon pack would consist of three Breeding Pairs. The Lead Wolf’s pups would also form Breeding Pairs with pups from the Non-canon Pack, leading to the Canon Pack consisting of the Lead Pair and four Breeding Pairs.

All the Breeding Pairs would take turns breeding at the same intervals as now plus the extra cooldown time if the month’s not up yet.

Non-canon wolves would be rotated out once their pup in the Canon Breeding Pair becomes the Lead Pair. Siblings of the Lead Pair would not breed after a Lead Pair has been chosen to limit inbreeding and confusion.

Pros:

+ Keeps the general structure of the current pack.

+ Stats would rise over the generations more than putting NBWs directly with Lead Wolf pups

Cons:

- A lot to keep track of

- Still would have to replace a lot of wolves every generation

- Leading to lower stats on average, especially in comparison to the Lioden-style inbreeding approach

???

I’m leaning towards Option #3, at least to start with, but maybe with some additional restrictions. Like, I’m not going to continually breed Canon wolves that aren’t going to become Lead. I shouldn’t even assign mates to them. Mainly the purpose would be to have a head-start on the next generation so I don’t have to wait until the Lead Wolf is 4 to choose an heir.

And looking at what situation I have in front of me, the only one of my current Canon pack pups that has three marks is also green. Sordia, my favorite, has only two marks, and she’s the Herbalist. I don’t want the Herbalist to breed due to that meaning she’d be unavailable the last day since I nest in the morning so I don’t forget.

Plus the fact that I want the next generation mate to be a Tier II, and I have yet to have a Tier II born in the pack. I’ve just reached Level 15, so I can start finding Tier II NBWs. I can also beat up foxes to try to earn that Tier III base, but by the fact that there’s 0 Applicators in the game and 0 Fox-colored wolves right now, I assume it’s a very rare item.

So do I halt my current strategy of using studs and put full focus on getting new NBWs? Do I abandon the cloudy Sky-colored Goal Wolf and set that to be a bigger, more overarching goal?

And how do I decide the Non-canon Breeding Pairs? Do I have each Legacy focus on a particular base color, or do I focus the whole pack on getting that Sky-colored wolf?

Do I still focus so hard on that?

The more I think about it, the more appealing Option #1 is. I’m mostly avoiding inbreeding because it means my Breeding Male won’t be discriminated against, but does that really matter all that much to me? I was mostly breeding to the same two studs, anyway, so it’s not like my pack was inbreeding-free. And while constant variety would be nice, it’s nice to achieve goals. I can do something entirely different once I get my Sky wolf.

But again, I can only set up for this right now. I’m not spending GC to retire my current Breeding Male, so I have to wait the *checks* 111 rollovers. Which would be April 5th if I log in every day.

Plan for Now

I just yesterday bred, so I have 11 days to find a male to pair with my next wolf, and also decide which three wolves I will be keeping.

Sadie (Buttercup’s Legacy) and Mold Bunny (Dusty’s Legacy) are almost definitely two of them due to being 2nd Gen wolves with traits I’m going to have a hard time getting with just NBWs. Especially Sadie since she has White eyes which are literally impossible to get through NBW traits, even chaining higher-tier fails from Glass eyes. It might be possible if Fox eyes can fail to Red, but it seems much more likely it’ll be in the Amber family.

And the third might very well be from Sandy’s litter. I don’t even have to worry about it being female at this stage.

So the first mate will be a mate to Sadie (Buttercup’s Legacy). I’m still going to try for the cloudy Sky-based Goal Wolf, so anything that heads in that direction is something I’ll be looking for. Mostly if I can find a Tier II, but, well, I haven’t found any special NBWs at all yet, let alone ones with Tier II bases. And keep an eye out for White markings.

After that, I’ll be getting mates for the other two as needed, looking for the Tier II. I’ll then be breeding for the Breeding Male and the next Lead Wolf’s Mate. Breeding Male prioritizing eye color and the next Lead Wolf’s Mate prioritizing looking good in general.

And if I find any Chased wolves that have Custom colors and markings, I’ll definitely see how I can incorporate them.

Whew! Made it to the end? Just scrolled down to the bottom? Enjoy this Wardrobe image of Fern with some foxes!

#wolvden #wolvden meta

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dweemeister · 4 years

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Blue Hawaii (1961)

Elvis Presley’s ascent to stardom struck the United States (and the world) like a lightning bolt. Hounded from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry due to the country music establishment taking offense to his genre-blending musicianship, Elvis grew from being a regional phenomenon to a national sensation as he helped innovate rockabilly, a form of rock and roll. Movie producers, sensing an opportunity to cash in on Elvis’ skyrocketing popularity, gave Elvis star vehicles such as Love Me Tender (1956) and Jailhouse Rock (1957). Critics shrugged at these films – low-budget affairs where most of the budget went to Elvis’ salary – but his fans made them critic-proof, turning out in droves to scream and swoon at their slick-looking dreamboat. Grappling with television’s advent and the dissolution of the Old Hollywood Studio System, Hollywood’s major studios shifted their efforts towards more bombastic, showman-like films. Such was the situation in the early 1960s that longtime Warner Bros. producer Hal B. Wallis (1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1942’s Casablanca), now at Paramount, joked that, “a Presley picture is the only sure thing in Hollywood.”

To the horror of Elvis’ fans and movie studio executives but to the delight of those fans’ parental figures and teachers, the U.S. Army drafted him in March 1958. Elvis served twenty-four months before his discharge with the rank of Sergeant. During his service, Elvis nevertheless had plenty of singles in the can, many ranking high on the charts while he was at basic training and later his posting in West Germany. Looking forward to restarting his musical and acting careers, Elvis soon returned to the recording studio and shot G. I. Blues (1960) – he had discussed the film with Wallis months prior to his discharge – in short order. For the eighth film of his career and his fourth after his discharge, Elvis starred in Blue Hawaii, directed by Norman Taurog (1938’s Boys Town, nine Elvis films) and produced by Wallis. The film stars Elvis as an Army veteran recently discharged from the service, returning to his home state. I wonder where did they get that idea from? It also marks the unlikely beginning of Elvis’ association with the Aloha State – which shed its territorial status in 1959 and was ready for a Hollywood treatment that had nothing to do with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Chadwick “Chad” Gates (Presley) returns home to Hawai’i from his military service, greeted by girlfriend Maile Duval (Joan Blackman: “MY-lee”) and a flower seller named Waihila (Hilo Hattie in a cameo). Instead of immediately seeing his parents – mother Sarah Lee (Angela Lansbury, only ten years Elvis’ senior) and father Fred (Roland Winters) – he escapes to a secluded oceanside shack with Maile and his Hawaiian surf buddies. Chad is the son of pineapple plantation owners, and Sarah Lee wants him to succeed Fred when the time comes. But Chad is not interested in those plans, electing instead to work as a tour guide for Mr. Chapman’s (Howard McNear) travel agency – among other things, Maile works at the agency. The first tour he gives serves schoolteacher Abigail Prentice (Nancy Walters) and her four teenage students, all girls. One of those girls, Ellie Corbett (Jenny Maxwell), appears standoffish at first but then begins to flirt shamelessly with Chad.

If by that point in Blue Hawaii you are still concentrating on the plot, just note that your approach to watching Elvis movies is not advisable. Watching Elvis movies for a sensible plot is to invite frustration; accept the narrative drivel and enjoy.

Shot mostly on location on the Hawaiian Islands of O’ahu and Kaua’i, Hawai’i offers splendid backdrops to even the most mundane scenes of this film. Charles Lang’s (1947’s The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, 1959’s Some Like It Hot) camera allows characters to be dwarfed by the green mountains in the distance, the crystal blue waters extending to the horizon, and palm tree fronds wafting amid a gentle breeze. Scenes of breathtaking natural beauty abound in Blue Hawaii. In conjunction with the production (Hal Pereira and Walter H. Tyler) and set design (Sam Comer and Frank R. McKelvy), Blue Hawaii becomes, by default, the most colorful Elvis movie to date. The film, by design, partly becomes a tourism advertisement for the new state. Its white characters and filmmakers exotify and romanticize Native Hawaiian culture to fit their own expectations and perspectives – these sorts of depictions have endured across the last century, figuring heavily in cinema (1935’s Honolulu: The Paradise of the Pacific as part of [James A.] Fitzpatrick’s Traveltalks for MGM) and tourism advertising. This is the first live-action feature film from a major Hollywood studio to make even a minimal attempt to depict native Hawaiian culture since Waikiki Wedding (1937), another Paramount film.

Here are some more connections between Waikiki Wedding and Blue Hawaii: both share one song (“Blue Hawaii”) in both their soundtracks and both films are musicals. The Hawaiian musical sound is just as integral to popular conceptions of Hawai’i, and it is used liberally here in orchestrations, if not melodic structure. Blue Hawaii’s soundtrack contains the greatest amount of songs (fourteen) for an Elvis film. For those who enjoy their breathless musicals with a song at every turn, Blue Hawaii does just that. The musical numbers arrive in the most innocuous situations – from forming a melody from a tune heard on the radio, an impromptu jam session with a guitar conveniently within arm’s length of Elvis, or starting from nothing. The worst of the soundtrack avoids many of the novelty songs that plague Elvis films, especially the later entries. Given how nonsensical the plots to Elvis movies are, the lower-tier songs in Blue Hawaii are preferable compared to more stilted acting and fraternizing shenanigans. Thus, the bar is raised, and the inclusion of two non-original songs – “Blue Hawaii” (music by Ralph Rainger, lyrics by Leo Robin) and “Aloha ‘Oe” (Queen Lili’uokalani) – are arranged in such a way that beautifully complements Elvis’ velvety singing voice. Among the original songs, “Moonlight Swim” (music by Ben Weisman, lyrics by Sylvia Dee) is a sensuous, laid back song that perfectly serves Chad’s characterization: an unabashed Casanova, effortless in romance, a hint of masculine arrogance.

The runaway hit of the Blue Hawaii soundtrack is among Elvis’ most popular songs. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” – music and lyrics by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss – appears approximately midway through the film as Chad says hello to Maile’s grandmother (Flora Kaai Hayes, a former Hawaiian Territorial Representative to the U.S. House of Representatives) for the first time since before his military service. It, like so many other musical entries in Blue Hawaii, arrives without much warning, backed by a constantly harmonizing music box and a steel guitar played in a Hawaiian style. One might take issue with the song’s use in context, but it is a crooners’ standard that has crossed linguistic barriers worldwide. Its simplicity is self-evident: a memorable melody, chorus, and a minor key bridge aching for resolution as it modulates to major key. Perhaps “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is not considered one of the greatest original songs in movie history because of the questionable quality of the film it appears in. More likely, Elvis’ gravitational pull as a crossover music and movie star writes its own legends that defy a critic’s or a historian’s corrections.

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Somehow, I have written all the above without remarking on the acting. Other than Elvis himself, everyone else is a passing interest at best. Joan Blackman’s chemistry with Elvis is apparent, but she does not distinguish herself from every other female lead in an Elvis movie. Angela Lansbury’s exaggerated Southern accent displays her considerable range, even if there are better examples in other films. As much as some may deride Elvis’ performances for being unchallenging, one could not imagine an Elvis movie without the star attraction. His persona is effervescent; his charisma incontestable. According to Weiss, Elvis’ comedic instincts manifested themselves in subtle ways. If Elvis requested a joke to be explained in discussions about the screenplay, it was his roundabout, maybe overly polite, way to warn Weiss, Taurog, and screenwriter Hal Kanter (1952’s Road to Bali, at least twenty-two Academy Award ceremonies) that the joke was not funny. During test screenings of Blue Hawaii, every joke kept in the film that Elvis questioned elicited nothing from the audience. On- and off-screen, an Elvis movie with Elvis removed would collapse from the void of hilarity and charm such an absence would create.

Blue Hawaii, like all other Elvis movies prior, succeeded at the box office in comparison to its budget. Adding to this bounty for Elvis, the film’s soundtrack album sold millions of copies, sitting atop of the Billboard charts for twenty weeks, and garnering a Grammy nomination. The soundtrack profits from Blue Hawaii and the preceding G.I. Blues led Presley’s obstinate manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to have his client concentrate on film soundtrack albums at the expense of non-soundtrack albums – setting the groundwork for the remainder of the 1960s (Elvis released 16 soundtrack albums versus six non-soundtrack albums during this decade), with diminishing returns. Parker reasoned to Elvis that his fans demanded to see him in these musical romantic comedies, rejecting any roles that did not fit this mold. Elvis, believing his manager, continued to make films until well past the point an Elvis Presley picture was a guaranteed hit in theaters.

In its visual splendor and Pacific appeal, Blue Hawaii sealed the fate of Elvis’ post-Army career. No other subsequent Elvis film would match the commercial heights of Blue Hawaii, although one could argue several of those movies surpass this one in terms of acting, aesthetics, and musical interest (like 1964’s Viva Las Vegas and two concert documentaries in 1970 and 1972). Elvis returned to Hawai’i several more times during his career for concerts and two films – Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) and Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966). As much as Elvis is associated with Tupelo, Mississippi (his birthplace) and Graceland in Memphis, there is also a special relationship between Elvis and Hawai’i. That relationship – one that touches Elvis’ personal life and the musical traditions of Native Hawaiians – begins with Blue Hawaii, an archetypal Elvis film and one of his best.

My rating: 6/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

#Blue Hawaii #Norman Taurog #Elvis #Elvis Presley #Joan Blackman #Angela Lansbury #Nancy Walters #Roland Winters #John Archer #Howard McNear #Jenny Maxwell #Lani Kai #Hal Wallis #George David Weiss #Hugo Peretti #Luigi Creatore #TCM #My Movie Odyssey

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prettycottonmouthlamia · 4 years

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F/GO 3-star Tier List

It is time for a 3-star Tier list. This one took a lot more time and deliberation and definitely has Servants whose placement is more arguable. There are also just a lot of good 3-stars in general, with most of them being A-ranks, although quite a few are pretty close to B-rank.

Grails start making less of a difference here, to the point where this is the last time they’re worth mentioning. The boost in statistics helps 3-stars with better kits, typically later released ones, more than older Servants who have less useful kits. While a lot of 1 and 2-stars are significantly improved by Grails, 3-stars get more diminishing returns and so most of the time, bumps up the tier list are smaller.

Also worth noting here: Casters who are more focused on dealing damage tend to get favored a little more. Assassins can be notoriously difficult enemies to face and having that defensive advantage can be really important. Casters are sub-par DPS usually compared to other Servants, but being anti-Assassin is really important.

3-star Tier List (help me)

S-Rank Euryale: Euryale is on the lower end of S-rank. She is very focused onto her niche, but her niche is anti-Male, which is very wide and she's excellent in that niche. Between her NPs insanely high damage, her ability to charmlock, np drain, and lower attack, she can keep many Male enemies completely locked down. Even though Mental Debuff Immunity is more common, she still excels against the many male enemies regardless. Her very natrual synergy in Arts team is also noteworthy.

Grails will make her even more powerful than before. Her damage will be extremely high even against neutral and resisted classes, especially with support. Her initial niche problems still remain, but she'll still be really good.

Robin Hood: Robin Hood is one of the most consistent DPS Servants in the game. His bonus damage condition is incredibly easy to fulfill, since it can be applied to basically any Servant, he has two rather good skills, and his damage is incredibly high with zero offensive buffs to go with it. His face card damage is his only flaw as its rather weak, but his incredibly high NP damage will balance that out. An absolutely fantastic Servant. Watch out for Debuff immunity though.

Grails...will make him hit incredibly hard. A grailed Robin Hood can hit around 100k against neutral targets, so he's a very good grail invest.

Cu Chulainn: On the flipside from an extremely powerful nuke Servant, we have one of the most difficult to kill Servants in the game. Between Protection from Arrows, Battle Continuation, and Disengage, he can last a really long time against most enemies in the game. His NP will do a fair amount of damage too, although it has no real damage buffs to go alone with it. It's enough though, to do his job most of the time. Unfortunately, he has a major weakness against buff removal and Pierce Invul, and against certain bosses he might not be able to do enough damage to finish them off before he dies.

Grails help Cu out a lot. The extra HP makes him a lot tankier and he does more damage with the extra attack. A Level 100 Cu has a much broader range of enemies he can tank against effectively, although he still has the same weaknesses as before.

David: David is one of the best budget supports in the game, and it's almost purely because of his second skill, as one of the only sources of AoE protection in the game. He can also boost the party's Attack and has a lot of tankiness himself with his first skill. The only problem is that his NP is pretty weak, even against Saber targets, although it inflicts Skill Seal which can be helpful. David is a Servant that is very likely to end up in your party whenever there is an AoE NP coming your way, or to help protect fragile Berserkers.

Grails will make David's NP do a fair bit more damage, and he'll have fairly decent face card damage as well. It benefits him a lot less than other Servants because he's more support than tank or DPS.

Hassan of the Hundred Faces: If you've ever wondered who the stiff competition is for the Arts Assassin slot, its Asako. Her immediate strengths are not in super high NP damage, but it is in her amazing ability to loop her NP with the myriad modifiers to her ability to gain NP and her 13 hit NP. Not only that, but she also have an evasion skill and a really large heal that's not difficult to use, making her a strong solo Servant or in a party. Her NP will pretty much shut down enemy crits, although it is a little overkill, and she will reduce the enemy's Arts resistance by 20% to help support other Arts Servants.

Grails will amp up her already rapidly escalating damage as well as give her more bulk. It makes her a more consistent solo Servant and gives her a stronger initial NP in a party. Overall great grail invest target.

Asclepius: Very easily the best healing support in the entire game. Medea Lily, BB, and Irisviel all have their niches, but Asclepius has some much in his kit to make him worthwhile. He has large heals, gives Guts, Debuff immunity, debuff clear, NP charge, NP gain up, NP seal...it's a very, very stacked kit. Asclepius can't really do damage and he's a little less effective if there isn't debuffs involved, but he's absolutely one of the best 3-star supports, period.

Grails will improve his HP, which can help Asclepius in more stall dedicated comps. It's not a great invest target though, because there are better stall Servants and he doesn't have a great benefit from having more ATK.

A-Rank (boy this is gonna be big) Gaius Julius Caesar: Caesar is a one man wrecking ball. He can do incredible amounts of NP damage thanks to his large buff numbers and upgraded NP, way surpassing other Saber DPS Servants like Bedivere. In addition, he can also be used as a viable support Servant, due to the fact that none of his boosts are selfish and either help the whole party or can be targeted. His lack of survivability and his more subpar NP gain hold him back from being a strong S-rank, but its pretty close.

Grails boost his damage to even more insane heights. He will still need help with his defenses since he still lacks any hard or soft survival, but he becomes a lower S-rank Servant with Grails just due to how powerful he is.

Boudica: Boudica requires a specific Servant to do anything, but on the plus side, she works with basically every Servant in the game. She is an insane damage booster support thanks to Romulus = Quirinus, giving a DPS 60% anti-Roman damage, 50% crit damage, 20% Arts performance, and a 20% Attack up, along with some Defense ups. It's enough to really send a Servant's damage sky high, which more than makes up for the specificity. If you're lucking enough to have Romulus yourself, you can use two Boudica for some really silly damage. Of course, Boudica doesn't do much outside of being a damage buffer, but she excels in what she does.

Grails will basically not improve her performance. She's not a tank like Mash and can't really do damage, so the extra HP and ATK are not super beneficial.

Ushiwakamaru: Ushi does really strong single target damage. She's not as absolutely crazy as Caesar is, but she has Evasion to keep her alive. Her buffs will make her do a lot of damage against Casters even on her own and with supports that damage can get a lot higher. She doesn't even have bad NP gain thanks to her first skill. What keeps her from S is that she lacks any utility and is a more selfish DPS than others.

Grails will naturally boost her damage even higher. It's enough to put her at the cusp of S-rank, a very, very high A-rank.

Alexander: Alexander is more of an offensive support Servant. He can certainly do good AoE damage, but he's a little outclassed in that regard but other Servants who are more consistent. His ability to buff the damage of Quick servants and remove buffs grants him a powerful support role while also having the ability to do damage and generate stars. He'll be less useful if there aren't Quick servants, but overall, he can still do fairly well in a support role.

Grails will primarily boost his damage out with his NP. He's still A-rank because his NP is not his primary role, but he makes a good invest target none the less.

Cu Chulainn (Caster): Caster Cu is a supremely sturdy Caster-class. He's got the same Protection from Arrows his Lancer version have, and Caster Cu has a mix of the two for his other skills. His Rune Magic is considerably better since it charges his NP charge, although his Disengage isn't anymore potent. With an upgraded NP and a 20% Buster effectiveness buff he'll do fairly decent damage, but his overall NP damage is still really low since its an AoE NP with only a small damage buff. Like his Lancer version, his strength is in his survival, not his raw damage.

Grails have a similar effect on Caster Cu that it does on Lancer Cu. It pushes him to a low S-rank because he still is a little inferior in terms of survivability and damage than Lancer Cu, but he's better at dealing with multiple enemies.

Lu Bu Fengxian: Lu Bu is one of the kings of single target damage. Thanks to his various buffs, he does a lot of single target damage and functions as a very powerful nuke that ignores defensive buffs. Unfortunately, two of his skills have some fairly hefty demerits and he needs outside support to do much after his NP. It's counterbalanced by his NP doing a lot of damage, but in several cases Lu Bu is not strictly needed and falls into a low A rank.

Grails make Lu Bu do more big boom kill and makes him a little less frail overall. It puts him in high A-rank, as it still doesn't solve any of the initial problems in his kit, but just makes him better at what he does.

Cu Chulainn (Prototype): Cu Chulainn Proto can be considered a more offensive version of normal Lancer Cu. It's a comparison that's waned since Cu has gotten strengthened, but Proto Cu still has very good survivability, crit damage, and anti-Wild Beast damage. He'll still be good in situations where normal Lancer Cu is, but less effective because of his lower overall DPS. Against Wild Beast enemies he'll vastly outperform him however.

Grails will improve Cu Prototype much in the same as Lancer Cu, and put him in a more mid ground S tier, similar to Euryale. Good servants who excel in their niche, although Cu is a little less extreme about it.

Paracelsus von Hohenheim: Paracelsus is one of the best Arts supports in the entire game. He has an amazing ability to enable Arts servants to do more damage and have a much better shot at looping their NPs, thanks to his Arts bonus and very high NP gain bonus. This is pretty much Paracelsus' niche however, as his NP is incredibly weak because of its lacking power and so will even struggle to take out waves of Assassin enemies. Fortunately, you don't really need him to do this, as whoever he is buffing is probably more than capable of doing it themselves.

Grails do not really benefit Paracelsus because he's still not a good farmer even with the extra ATK. He might be able to kill some Assassin waves but there are much better Servants to invest grails in and he basically doesn't change in viability.

Charles Babbage: Charles is probably the lowest A-tier on this list. He's generally pretty decent at dealing with Assassin waves and even bosses because of his good buffs and double buster deck. Unlike other Casters who do lack some synergy because of their triple Arts deck, Babbage can fully utilize a number of supports thanks to his second buster card and star absorption skill. He's not very useful outside of dealing with Assassins, but it is an important niche to have and Babbage is the best 3-star for doing that in terms of damage.

Grails have an unfortunate affect on Babbage. He has one of the lowest ATKs post grail which means they don't actually boost his damage all that much, but rather give him a lot of HP. It doesn't really help his position, but, it can still be useful if you want a decent budget Assassin killer.

Fuuma Kotarou: Fuuma is a pretty good AoE Assassin. He provides a lot of utlity to the team, from crit chance down to a targetable Evade, Buff Block and Def down along with a severe debuff resistance down, and an NP that provides a further defense down as well as the chance to inflict Skill Seal. It's a really good kit that allows him to excel in multiple situations. He's also pretty good at generating crit stars thanks to his good hit counts, but his primary weakness is that his NP is a little underpowered despite the Defense down on his 3rd skill, and his NP gain is not very good as his Quicks under perform in that regard.

Grails will boost his damage output to the point where he would qualify to fit in high A rather than mid-A. He's not quite S-rank with grails because his NP gain is still rather subpar and hence it is difficult for him to ramp up his damage past that.

Tawara Touta: Touta fits in mid A rank. He has a lot of bulk to work with, with his Evasion and multiple heals, and all of his damage buffs last for 3 turns which is very nice for overall damage. His NP will deal a lot of damage against Demonic enemies, of which there are several to where his niche will come in handy, and it can even be good against some Servants. Outside of his niche, he's just a bulky Archer with semi-decent damage, but he is very good at dealing with Demonic enemies compared to other Servants.

Grails will push him a little higher into A-rank, helping to keep his damage a little more consistent and a fair bit higher in his niche. The extra HP will also help his bulk out, and so he is a good invest target.

Bedivere: Bedivere is a very solid offensive Saber Servant. He has a decent Buster up on his NP as well as a modest NP damage up, as well as some defensive skills against debuff and an NP charge. His NP charge is what helps him remain in competition with Caesar as it makes his NP more consistent, although considerably less powerful. His Buster gets a lot better with Overcharge as well, so it is worth exploring that option because his scales considerably well. His lack of hard survival is a downside, and even though he has a 30% NP charge, his overall NP gain is a still a little low for his card set.

Grails help out Bedivere more than Caesar because Bedivere needed the extra power to compliment his consistency and better survival, which puts him in a solid S-rank compared to Caesar's low S-rank.

Jaguar Man: Jaguar Man stands out as the most offensive Lancer in the 3-star lineup. She has three powerful offensive buffing skills that make her face card and NP damage really good. She also has decent survival in her first skill with the 2 hit evasion, and more potential in Forest battlefields. However, Jaguarman isn't without fault. Her cooldown on her first skill is extremely long, and without the added star gen and star absorb on her third skill she may find it hard to crit. These are not insurmountable problems however, and she still has really good damage overall.

Grails boosts her durability which isn't very important but the extra damage you get is. It puts her in high A-rank with a very hard hitting NP and hard hitting crits, but her natural kit problems are still there unfortunately.

Billy the Kid: Billy is really good for being able to instantly pop an NP with Quickdraw and a 50% Starting NP CE. It not only ignores Evade and does fairly decent damage, but it also debuffs crit rate. Outside of that, Billy is a bit more mediocre than most. He has very high potential crit damage but he doesn't have a strong ability to generate stars so he will need outside support for that. He fits very well in low-A around where Babbage is because he is good when you need a quick ST NP, but may fall off.

Grails will boost Billy's damage to the point where he fits more solidly in A, although not quite mid A. It makes his NP do more damage which is what he needed because his NP is consistent already. A good buff in the future will definitely make him considerably better.

Christopher Columbus: The best AoE Rider in the 3-star rarity. He has a strong NP charge similar to Spartacus, as well as 3 steroids to boost his NP damage, one of which comes with a decent star bomb. His NP also comes with a large crit chance down to all enemies which is more than enough to shut them down entirely. He doesn't require supports but heavily benefits from them to improve his damage. He fits into low A because despite being the best AoE Rider and overshadowing numerous others, his NP gain is really bad so he will find it difficult to continue to perform in many cases.

Grails will put Columbus comfortably in mid A-rank. It improves his damage enough so it becomes pretty consistent overall, and although it doesn't help his NP gain, it helps with his initial game plan of a quick NP.

Hozoin Inshun: Inshun is pretty controversial. He has a potentially explosive ceiling to his damage, but can't always consistently reach it. He functions very well as a solo servant or in certain team comps. He's a low A-rank similar to Babbage and Billy, but purely because of his incredibly high damage output. If he were more mediocre, he'd easily fall into B-rank. His kit has really good synergy which makes him good for solos, but he doesn't have the most potent survival options which hampers him a bit. He's tricky to use but not bad, and doesn't require Skadi as many people think. He will work well with many support Servants.

Grails will push Inshun to mid-A. He still only works in those specific situations, but the extra bulk makes doing solos a lot easier and the extra atk pushes his damage ceiling even higher.

Okada Izou: As we move out of the continual low-A ranks, we finally reach a Servant who is probably just one buff away from being an S-rank. He has very good damage on his NP thanks to his incredibly high Humanoid bonus, but also his high crit star generation and crit damage will allow him to continue to do high damage when his Huamnoid buff is in downtime, and he synergizes with crit based Arts supports even better than Asako. There are two main problems though: he is a limited 3-star, which means getting NP5 is more difficult and his viability will fall with lower NP levels because he needs to use his NP consistently, and he's extremely selfish and offers no real utility, just damage. Still a fantastic Servant overall however.

Grails will push Izou right into S-rank due to providing the extra damage he needs to be consistent overall. A fantastic invest target.

Avicebron: Avicebron is one of the strangest Servants on this list. He has a very consistent NP but it is not strong, and only has a modest overcharge effect. The reason he is here is because of his 3rd skill, which provides the party a solid heal and 3 hits of invulnerability when he dies. This is a really, really good skill for coming back from the brink, it works incredibly well with any Servant that has a hard survival option or Guts. He's even more consistent if you have something like the GUDAGUDA Poster Girl CE to reliably trigger his 3rd skill, although waiting for an NP is also a viable decision.

Grails don't really improve Avicebron since he's basically mostly used for his 3rd skill, and not for damage purposes. Extra HP may impede his ability to trigger his skill as well.

William Tell: Tell is a weaker Robin Hood in terms of raw NP damage and consistency. While his NP has similar numbers, it has a much harder condition to fulfill, and as of today, May 9 2020 (I’m keeping this here to show how long this one took comparatively), there is no way to give Evasion to the opponent, so there's no way to fulfill this condition without relying on the enemy. If this was all there was, he'd probably end up in B-rank. However, he has more than simply just his NP. He has a massive 30 crit star bomb, a very solid 3 turn Arts performance and 3 turn debuff immunity, as well as a massive 100% crit damage for 1 turn, so he can function with crit damage as well as NP damage and has enough utility to make it to A-rank, and his NP damage if the opponent has Evasion is even more nutty than Robin's, inconsistent as it is.

Grails boost Tell's damage output, but the problem with Tell is more in his consistency than his raw damage, which is enough as it is. He's not a bad grail invest target for sure, but until more reliable Evasion abuse comes into play, Tell won't rise into high A or S-rank.

Mori Nagayoshi: More is another limited 3-star, and another high A-rank. His damage potential is incredible, with a strong Attack up and an incredibly strong crit damage up as well. He even gives the team a star bomb when he dies, which is very useful. His NP is decent and inflicts a Def down plus giving Pierce Invul, but it is not the focal point of his kit and so even though he is limited, his NP level is less of a liability than Izou. Mori is incredibly frail however, as he gives himself defense debuffs, and once he boosts his crit damage, pretty much all buffs will fail on him. He still remains an absolutely insane crit monster though.

Grails will push Nagayoshi into low S-rank. In truth, he was a very high A-rank to begin with so even though he does more damage, it's not a massive leap in usefulness, but he's a good grail target none the less.

Mandricardo: Now for the Blackjack 21 A-rank, Mandricardo. Mandricardo is another solid A-rank, and competes with Ushi for the role of ST damage dealer. He doesn't do as much damage as Ushiwakamaru does, but, offsets that by his NP being an Arts NP, granting him a different set of supports as well as more potential for refund and looping. In addition, he also can give himself a Taunt which is always appreciated even if he is not much of a tank. He lacks any hard survival but makes up for it with good raw damage. His second skill is a great last resort option for dealing huge damage and removing an enemy's defensive buffs.

Grails will push Mandricardo to the very bottom of S-rank. He's a little higher than Ushi here because he's more likely to get multiple NPs off, and so the extra damage compliments the consistency that he is able to get. If he gets an NP interlude soon, he'll fit nicely into S-rank.

B-Rank (yes, they exist) Medea: Medea has some pretty good things going for her. She has buff removal on her NP and a hugely powerful NP charge on her first skill, allowing her to do buff removal on demand, and often multiple times very quickly. She also can clear debuffs and boost NP gain for a turn. Unfortunately, her NP damage is really bad due to having really low damage values on her NP, and with more servants getting buff removal her niche is no longer as strong as it was before. She's still good and with proper support she can do fairly good damage, but she's not always the best choice.

Grails do boost her damage, but unfortunately, its not really enough to push her out of B-rank.

Medusa: Medusa has a few pretty good parts of her kit, including a decent stun, NP charge, and NP gain up. Her NP will also boost the party's star gen and decrease enemy crit chance. However, unfortunately, Medusa's kit is a little disjointed without much synergy, she doesn't benefit herself from the star bonus, and her Quicks are terrible and make using her more difficult. She can be good if paired with Alexander, but she doesn't quite make the cut compared to Columbus, but still a high B-rank.

Grails help her damage out and will help to put her in low A-rank, a little higher than Columbus, since her damage will be better. She also trades Guts for a Stun, which is roughly even.

Romulus: Romulus has a very good kit that ties together really well: a lot of healing, an NP charge, a strong but inconsistent Attack and Defense up, and a targetable Guts with a Buster up attached to it. Romulus can do really surprising damage with his NP when he lucks out with Imperial Privilege, especially since its unupgraded. In addition, his NP will further boost his damage. Romulus is mid-A because his second buff is inconsistent and his 3rd buffs are extremely short lived, especially the Guts which hampers its use as a defensive tool.

Grails will boost his damage, but it doesn't solve the glaring problems in his kit. He will actually do more damage ungrailed with Imperial Privilege than Grailed without it, so it doesn't really change where he stands in B-rank.

Darius III: Darius is a pretty low-B. He has three pretty good skills in Golden Rule, Disengage, and Battle Continuation which all synergize well together. Healing, debuff removal, and Guts provides longevity while Golden Rule helps to make the NP more consistent. His NP will do decent damage to all enemies and debuff them, but he's not very high impact. Like Bloodaxe, who is similar, the lack of good steroids hurts, and both are outclassed pretty heavily by Spartacus.

Grails will put Darius in more of a mid to upper B-rank. He still has his flaws but he does more damage overall which is useful.

Hector: Hector is another AoE Lancer, and while he doesn't have the raw damage Romulus can have, he's more consistent and provides more utility, making him a solid B-rank. His NP drain and Stun are always inconsistent, but it is still a valuable tool especially on a 5-turn cooldown, and he also provides damage cut for the party, and can heal debuffs. His NP is very bread and butter but ignores Defense buffs which can be useful.

Grails will push him to an upper B-rank by giving his NP a bit more power to compete with Romulus more. Outside from that it's not especially impactful.

Fergus mac Roich: The Saber Buster gorilla. Fergus' damage can be kind of surprising because of his triple Buster kit and solid Attack steroid. He even comes with good survival options in an evade and a couple of defense buffs. His NP is AoE, does decent damage, and inflicts a Defense Down for more face card damage. Unfortunately, his NP generally requires either support or a Kaleidoscope to get consistently, which lowers his ceiling, and while his face card damage is good, he won't be able to keep up in ST with Bedivere or Caesar.

Grails give Fergus remarkably good stats, giving him a lot of HP and a pretty good amount of Attack. It's enough to push him into a low-A-tier because of it. Having the extra HP helps with building his NP gauge indirectly as well.

Kid Gil: Kid Gil is a pretty good silver AoE Archer. Unfortunately, he's not that great overall. He benefits from having a solid Charisma and really good NP gain with Golden Rule, but he only comes out of it with decent NP damage and an NP that's incredibly hard to time right thanks to its 1 turn debuffs. His Charm is also really inconsistent and not a strong point in his kit, thanks to having no survival options. He can overperform with the right timing, but overall is just a decent AoE with no real niche other than good NP gain.

Grails help to push him into high B thanks to his higher damage, but he's not going to be able to compete with Touta or Arash most of the time even with Grails. It is still, however, a decent option.

Geronimo: Geronimo has really good NP damage for his class, and his NP has a number of good, if a little underpowered, effects attached to it. The problem with Geronimo is that everything else is completely out of whack, and he barely qualifies for B-rank as a result. His Buster up isn't completely useless even those his Quick up is, and his NP gain is decent enough but nothing spectacular. Geronimo definitely has the potential to rise up into A-rank and be a really good Assassin killer, but he needs buffs to do that.

Grails push Geronimo to a solid B-rank by giving him more damage, enough damage to start being a threat to some neutral weak waves of mobs instead of just Assassins. It's not enough to carry him any further though.

Hassan of Serenity: Serenity fits very nicely in B-rank. She's nowhere near as good at dealing damage as Asako is, since her NP damage is pretty low due to low ATK and no damage buffs. On the hand, she provides a lot more utility than Asako does and fits nicely into more defensive teams. She has NP drain, crit chance down, crit star bombs, Skill and NP Seal. She can even do some fun DoT strats if you have the right units. Her NP gain isn't great though and using her offensiely is really tough to justify.

Grails push Serenity almost to A-rank. It's a sizable boost to her damage and makes her more consistent, which helps with her utility, but she really can't break into A-rank just because of specificity.

Red Hare: Red Hare is middle B-rank, and probably the worst of the 3-star AoE Riders. His kit is more crit based, having more abilities to make crit stars and do decent amounts of crit damage. The problem is all of his damage boosts are burst in nature, only working a certain number of hits, which doesn't work well with the crit strategy, and his NP damage is rather low and he doesn't have a good overcharge. He does have a good evasion though and can be useful, but isn't consistent enough.

Grails help out his damage, especially for his, and because of this he rises to just about Medusa. He can do more damage overall, but timing is still a problem with his skills, especially since they don't last too long.

Antonio Salieri: Probably the highest B-rank, and very close to an A-rank. Salieri is useful because he's a good offensive Avenger, with decent burst damage and crit potential. He's very similar to Red Hare, but being Arts is a bit more advantageous, and his overcharge eff is better on his NP. Unfortunately like Red Hare, he suffers from having similar issues with his skills, although it is more in terms of burst effectiveness rather than timing like Red Hare. His niche in killing Rulers and Berserkers is also really notable, as he doesn't face any competition except from Gold units.

Grails give him that extra oomph to land him in low A-rank, as he'll do more damage with his crits and his NP this way.

C-Rank Kiyohime: Kiyohime can do some fairly decent damage with her NP, but her kit lacks any hard survival skills and lacks any way to make her NP more consistent. She has a very good Quick and Extra card, but they really rely on other Arts card to generate a lot of NP. Her Def up is largely mitigated by her Stalking and her burn and stun gimmicks are too inconsistent to be used reliably. Overall, there are just better AoE Berserkers to use than Kiyohime.

Grails boosts Kiyohime's damage enough that she'll end up in low B-rank. All of her problems still exist, but she can deal enough damage with her NP to take out even more mid-tier waves and so can be useful there.

Gilles de Rais (Saber): Gilles is a heavily outclassed Servant, but can function as a pretty decent damage dealer thanks to his large buffs and psuedo-permanent Buster buff. Some of his weaknesses can be mitigated thanks to Command Codes, which helps out his bulk and consistency. Gilles would be a lot better if his Tactics did something useful to him, or if his NP buffs lasted longer and maybe give him more crit stars, but right now, he's a Servant who has a potentially good ceiling that requires a lot of help to get there.

Grailed Gilles is still a C-rank Servant. He can do more damage than before, and has a lot more HP to tank on, but he is still a flawed Servant that requires support and is only useful in certain situations.

Mephistopheles: Mephisto is a rather unique C-rank, because he does actually have a pretty relevant niche. His third skill inflicts a 3-time buff block, the best in the game in fact, and can make or break certain boss battles. Unfortunately, Mephisto is C-rank because that is pretty much where his usefulness lies. He has a mediocre Witchcraft which isn't ever fully reliable and a poor star regen skill, and an NP which doesn't do anything notable. Even upgrading his buff block doesn't do anything notable. Mephisto is probably the C-rank Servant you'll be using the most, but if you don't need buff block, there's no reason to use him over better Casters.

Grails improve his NP damage but it doesn't change his standing at all. His NP still isn't good and he has no way to boost its damage on his own. Grails aren't going to help someone whose niche is primarily a one-time skill use.

Jing Ke: Jing Ke is really close to being a competent B-rank. Jing Ke can do some really competent burst damage, but unfortunately, its only when the stars align (get it?). Her damage buffs only last for 1 turn and so don't have good uptime, he hit count is bad so she relies on her NP to generate stars, and she's incredibly fragile due to having low HP, no survival skills, and an NP that inflicts damage to her. A lot of launch Servant woes end up compounding onto Jing Ke, and while she's the best Quick Assassin DPS on a budget, it's not a niche that necessarily needs filling all that often, especially since Asako is far better than her on general DPS.

Grails not only boost her NP damage, but also give her more HP which helps Jing Ke have some breathing room. She's still pretty flawed but does become a low B-rank because of how grails help her. You might be better off waiting for more Jing Ke buffs before grailing her, however.

Diarmuid Ua Duibhne: Another high C-rank that is really close to being a competent B-rank. Diarmuid is a pretty outclassed Lancer that suffers from having pretty bad utility and low damage output. He is certainly usable, but has serious flaws. His NP gain is only mediocre even with two Arts cards, his third skill is completely useless on him due to his incredibly low hit counts, Love Spot is very situational and is a null skill most of the time, and his NP, while it removes buffs, does low damage compative to other NPs. Some more buffs to his kit would make him more usuable.

Grails give Diarmuid the damage boost he needs in order to end up in B-rank. A grailed Diarmuid will end up being a fairly servicable Lancer who is fairly useful against female bosses, although he is still pretty outclassed by most other Lancers.

D-Rank Gilles de Rais: While Saber Gilles is at least somewhat interesting, Caster Gilles has pretty much nothing that makes him remotely usable. His only niche is Terror, but if you need someone who has mediocre, AoE Stun, you can use Shakespeare instead. Gilles has pretty much no useful skills, he has a AoE NP with no good effects and no way to boost its damage, and will always be outclassed even by the more mediocre Casters.

Grails will make him do more damage, sure. He will still bring less to the table than other Servants, and hence, will still continue to reside in D-rank.

Henry Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: In contrast to Gilles, Jekyll and Hyde are a very interesting Servant with an incredibly unique gimmick. Unfortunately, having a gimmick is not the same as having a niche. Jekyll is completely dead weight as an Assassin, having no ability to deal damage, providing meaningful support, or generate stars. None of his skils are remotely usable as Jekyll, his hit counts are bad, and his stat spread favors HP. His NP will change his class to Berserker, give him a large Max HP and Buster bonus, and fully heal him, but Hyde is still a pretty mediocre Berserker vulnerable to buff removal. A lack of a damaging NP means he can't really make use of his buffs beyond mediocre face card damage. The best thing about Hyde is the most consistent stun in game at 160%, able to even pierce really high debuff resistance, but the effort required to field that isn't useful. Jekyll requires a Waver level rework to really be worth taking seriously.

Grails make him better statistically, sure, but it has no real impact on his performance. Grail him if you like psycho twinks.

#fate grand order #fate series #fgo #3-stars are really good y'all

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iamdeltas · 4 years

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I was watching Saberspark’s review of SU: Future, and at the end of it, he reflected on Steven Universe as a whole, and said that on an S A B C D F ranking he’d put it as low A, upper B, not a God Tier show but still good. I do wonder what he’d rank as God Tier. Maybe Adventure Time?

But now I’m wondering what cartoons I’d rank as God Tier and... I don’t really know? As much as I give the hyping of Avatar: the Last Airbender a lot of grief, I’d still probably rank it as God Tier because it was ambitious with its themes and was really well executed with only a few issues. But other than that, I honestly don’t know what other shows I’d rank as high? I adore Steven Universe but I still wouldn’t rank it that high. I appreciate that it went for very ambitious themes and I do still take offense to the fact that anyone who says anything nice about SU feels like they have to preface it with “it was flawed but...” because everything has flaws, even the cartoons that are the collective Internet’s darlings! But it did have flaws, and considerably more than ATLA. I do have a soft spot for MLP:FiM but absolutely no way would I rank that anywhere near God Tier. Gravity Falls never struck me as a show that would merit that ranking either. Back half of s2 was very meh, and it never struck me as being very ambitious with its themes tbh, apart from providing kids with Lovecraftian horror. Star vs the Forces of Evil is a solid Hell No. (Wow did that show drop in quality...) I love She-Ra and the Princesses of Power but it took a while for it to get Really Good. Seasons 1 and 2 were... they were okay. But it wasn’t until season 3 when it finally started showing a lot of potential, IMO, and that’s about halfway into the show. I believe that Legend of Korra had higher highs than ATLA but lower lows, so I don’t think it quite makes it. Over the Garden Wall might be a solid contender? So might Infinity Train, but it’s also not done yet, I think, so I would rather hold off on ranking it. Tangled the Series is... fine, not near God Tier in my opinion. I think We Bare Bears is done? And I liked it a lot, very cute show, but also not something I’d rank as God Tier. Wander Over Yonder is in a similar boat, and also I’m still very miffed at how it handled its “Wander tries to be a matchmaker for Lord Hater and Lord Dominator” plot (MAYBE don’t put Dominator rejecting Hater so close to the reveal of her Actual Plans that narratively show how Actually Super Irredeemably Evil she is?! Maybe don’t have her launch into a song about how Super Duper Incredibly Amazingly Evil she is right after she rejects Hater romantically? Because that has the very fun side effect of framing her lack of romantic interest in Hater as Proof that she’s Totally Evil and I HATE THAT SO MUCH. Ahem.).

Can’t remember what other cartoons I’ve watched...

Also, honestly, I’ve not watched Adventure Time, but from I’ve heard about its ambition with its worldbuilding and characters and themes, plus the fact that it very much kicked off the cartoon renaissance of the 2010s, I feel like if I ever ended up watching it, I’d rank it as God Tier also.

#s says some words

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lifepros · 4 years

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#8672

Here are some tips on how to find cheap flights and how to be a savvy flyer

I have worked at the airport in marketing and route development for a while and originally posted this in r/digitalnomad subreddit where it got some positive feedback so I've decided to expand my original post with a few more tips (+ clarifying the ones already on the list). Enjoy!

Be flexible on dates and times - I can't stress this enough, if you have a flexibility to shift your departure by a day or two, it means a lot, especially with business-like airports where Monday morning departures and Friday/Sunday returns can get pricey. The cheapest flights usually have stupid early or very late departures because the slots at the airport are the cheapest (Europe), in Asia though late nights are often very busy for carriers going back to Europe etc. To the point above, some airports do have higher price fluctuations than others - so for example your Monday departure can be double the cost of a Wednesday one. This is mainly true for business-driven airports such as IAD (government), IAH (oil) etc. With hubs and airports with mixed profits, the fluctuations are less present - however some days might see much more departures than others due to scheduling. Scan for nearby airports on both ends of your trip - especially true with LCC (low cost carrier) however take into a consideration the travel cost from the given airport to city centre. Use multiple flight scanning tools - some routes and combinations work better on one site than the other. Try to use multiple such as Skyscanner, Kayak, Google Flights, Matrix ITA (before Google bought them over), Kiwi and Azair (which is great for Europe and European LCC). If you fly long-haul from/to Asia on Asian carriers, try using a VPN. It works in more cases but especially with Asian market where you can get lower prices connecting from an Asian country over a European/American one. Sometimes you might need to change the language/currency manually as well, in case the site doesn't correctly change it to the VPN location If you fly primarily with legacy airlines and not LCC, try to make your way up in one of the alliances to gain perks - so check what airlines are in Star Alliance, One World and SkyTeam and see what airports are around you and work with that. Often it's worth to pay a little bit more for a flight within the alliance to build your FFP status rather than choosing a cheaper flight but with a difference alliance. Airlines/alliances also offer family accounts that can provide more perks and you should be able to ramp up your status more quicker. Also, to get more points and build up your FFP status, consider an airline/alliance partnered/issues credit card. You can get a lot of points just for sign up, for active use and even get some free flights on higher tiers. If you fly a lot, airline-partnered credit card can save you more money than a regular one with better cashback for example. You don't have to clear your cookies when searching for flights. Doesn't work. That's not how airfare pricing works. Your local cookie doesn't affect a ticket price on an individual level. Overall, airlines provide certain number of tickets for certain prices for each flight. The pricing itself can be quite complex and consists of things like route's base fare, fuel price, airport slot price, date/time to departure, any promotions going on etc. If you have time and you are not fussed about short connections, check out airport's website to see what airlines operate from there and try to add a stopover or two to your itinerary, the route can get more complex but the pricing can go down. Flying direct saves a lot of trouble and it's more comfortable however if you add one or even two connections on long-haul, price can decrease quite a bit. You can always plan a day trip for those stop overs (visa permitting). Open-jaw tickets can be real gems. Many airlines do not actively advertise open-jaw tickets because on certain routes they can work out fairly cheap comparing to classic return ones. This works well for neighboring countries for example if you plan to make a trip for example to India and Nepal or Indonesia and Malaysia etc. There are three main types of open-jaw tickets - destination open-jaw meaning where your return flight goes from another airport back to the original one - A>B, C>A, origin open-jaw - A>B, B>C or double open-jaw - A>B, C>D. Alliances offer global/around the world tickets that can work out really cheap if you know your route and you can make it work with their planners. For example, check out One World and their Explorer and Global Explorer fares. SeatGuru is your friend. When you book your ticket, checkout SeatGuru's guide for the given aircraft to know what seat you should check-in based on reviews, on a long-haul, this can make a difference. If you want to travel on a specific type of an aircraft due to its quality, seating, noise level etc., you can use Flightradar24 or a similar service to check historical flighting data for the given route to plan that and see what planes the airline normally operates on a given route. Sign up to/follow multiple websites that list cheap flight deals and error fares and set up price alerts for different parts of the year so you don't miss out on any deals - Fly4Free, Secret Flying, Travel Pirates, Scott's Cheap Flights etc. FlyerTalk is your friend. Those guys are very knowledgeable and usually provide solid answers even to the most obscure questions. If you haven't flown with the airline before and you want to know more about its performance, check out SKYTRAX's website on airline reviews. Many people know their awards but they are also good if you need a deciding factor on a specific airline for the given route.

Many of these are probably well-known but I wanted to put these together for anyone who does not travel that often but hopefully some of you find it useful!

#life pros #lifehack #life pro tips #life advice #tips and tricks

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yourenergyindia-blog · 4 years

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Premium Quality of solar panels.[ 7 factors ]

The quality of Solar Photovoltaic ( PV ) Panels depends on a variety of factors which must be kept into consideration before taking the decision of installing solar power plant on your roof or on the ground. These factors determine the time you get return of investment and life and electricity production of solar power plant.

Following are the 10 factors which defines the quality of solar panels used in the installation:

1) Certifications. The panel should have IEC 61215 (crystalline) certificate which guarantees the quality of solar panels in terms of electrical parameters and mechanical stability, IEC 61730 for prevention against electric shock , fire hazard and bodily injury due to mechanical and environmental constraints and IEC 61215 which fixes the electrical performance.

2) Solar panel technology. Usually there are two solar panel technologies widely used now a days namely Polycrystalline, Mono perc. Depending on the needs of a particular consumer the technology can be chosen. Before choosing the technology of solar panels make sure the technology meet the needs, expectations and is well adapted to the electricity production context of your solar panel system.

3) Manufacturers reputation. Reputation and history of the solar panel manufacturer is as important as their perceived quality. The Tier 1 rating of the solar panel manufacturer can be somewhat misleading as it does not guarantee that the panel is free from defects or will perform over the life of the system. So, try to find out the reputation of the solar photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturer over the internet. It is also beneficial to check both the positive and negative reviews of the solar module manufacturer.

4) Efficiency of Solar PV modules. The efficiency of a solar panel is a measure of the amount of sun rays or solar energy which falls on the solar photovoltaic (PV) module and the amount of which is converted into electricity. The efficiency of commercially available solar panels as of now in March, 2020 varies from 16% to 22%. The term efficiency is most of the times mislead by the people with the quality of the solar panels, but a slightly more efficient panel is not always equal to a better quality panel. Quality is related to real world performance, reliability, company history and manufacturer’s warranty conditions.

5) Guarantee of Solar modules. The warranty of solar panels sold around the globe is divided into 2 parts. 1st Standard warranty also known as manufacturer’s warranty and 2nd the performance warranty. The standard warranty / manufacturer’s warranty period for solar panels sold around the world is 10 year and performance warranty is of 25 year.

a) Standard / Product warranty. The product warranty of solar module is just like an insurance cover provided by the solar PV module manufacturer against any manufacturing defects, environmental issues, component or material failure etc. In general solar PV manufacturers must provide the minimum 10 year product warranty but a growing number of premium manufacturers are offering product warranties of 12, 15, 20 and even 25 year. As with most warranties , a longer period is usually more advantageous to you, if you own a solar PV panel system.

b) Performance / Power output warranty. The amount of electricity a solar panel produces declines slightly year on year. That’s true of all solar panels, but to varying degrees. The common industry standard is 80-83% power output retained after 25 years however some high-end manufacturers such as Sunpower, Panasonic, Hyundai and LG guarantee 88-92% power output on most modules after 25 years of use. Performance warranty coverage is yet another indicator of a panel manufacturer’s service and support policies in the event that you ever encounter a problem with your solar system.

6) Price. The price of solar panels is normally expressed in Rs/ Wp or Rupees per Watt Peak. Solar energy cost has gone down in the past decade. The average cost of solar panels now as of 2020 is less than half of what it was ten years ago.

As of the time we updated this page (March 2020), most solar panel prices fall in the range of 21 rupees to 27 rupees per watt peak. Premium panels can climb above 28 rupees per watt depending on their size, quality, and where they are manufactured.

Beware of very low prices solar panels as we all know that quality comes with a price and cheap panels means quality is compromised. So, choose the a reputed company don’t be very much bothered about the price of the solar modules.

Do not hesitate to ask several quotes from several distributors or solar installers to compare about the prices, but keep in mind to always choose the best quality of Solar panels, solar inverters, Solar mounting structures etc. are being used in your solar power plant installation.

6) Power tolerance. Power tolerance is generally defined as how much electrical power output a solar panel could actually produce above or below its rated capacity at any time. For example if a solar panel with rated capacity of 400 Wp has a tolerance of +/- 5% then the solar PV module can actually produce 380W to 420W.

Make sure to use only positive tolerance modules, which means that you are guaranteed to get at least the specified output power of the solar panel.

For example: a 400W solar panel with a tolerance of + 5% / – 0% will produce a minimum of 400W and a maximum of 420W.

7) Temperature coefficient. The performance of your solar modules is affected by the atmospheric temperature. The productivity of solar panel decreases with the rise in the ambient temperature. The temperature coefficient tells you the electrical behavior of your solar panel from a standard operating temperature of 25 °. The units of this coefficient is expressed in “% by ° C”, so the lower the coefficient, the better the solar panel is.

On the other hand, the higher the number, the less the photovoltaic module will produce power in case of strong heat or at the beginning of the afternoon. Most solar panels have a temperature coefficient of around -0.3% / °C to -0.7% / °C. For example, if a solar panels have a temperature coefficient of -0.37% / °C this means that for every 1°C above 25°C the solar panels decrease in efficiency by 0.37%. So, if your panels are at 35°C (95°F) and have an overall efficiency of 17%, then their true efficiency at that temperature will be closer to 16.4%.

We at Your Energy keeps all the above points in mind while selecting panels for a solar system installation. Feel free to call our advisors / fill our query form to know more about solar PV panel system installation

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tacticsroom · 5 years

Text

Wolt: Sunbeam Archer (Unit Review)

Available at 5★ (Special Hero)

Lvl 40 Stats (Flaw/Neutral/Asset)

HP: 36/40/43 Atk: 31/34/37 Spd: 31/34/37 Def: 22/25/29 Res: 13/17/20

Neutral BST: 150

Max Dragonflowers: 5

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Skills

Weapon: Big-Catch Bow+ (300 SP)

Mt: 12. Rng: 2. Effective against flying foes. If 【Penalty】 is active on foe, grants Atk/Spd+5 during combat.

【Penalty】 All effects that last “on foe through its next action.” Includes penalties inflicted by a skill like Panic or Threaten and negative status effects (preventing counterattacks, restricting movement, or the effects of a skill like Triangle Adept or Guard).

Bow. Can be inherited. Can be refined.

Assist: Draw Back (150 SP)

Unit moves 1 space away from target ally. Ally moves to unit’s previous space.

Can be inherited. Cannot use: Staff.

Special: None

A: Brazen Atk/Spd 4 (300 SP)

At start of combat, if unit’s HP ≤ 80%, grants Atk+9 and Spd+10 during combat.

Can be inherited.

B: Chill Spd 3 (240 SP)

At start of turn, inflicts Spd-7 on foe on the enemy team with the highest Spd through its next action.

Can be inherited.

C: None

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Analysis

For a ranged cavalry unit, S!Wolt certainly packs a respectable offensive statline at 34/34 Atk and Spd. However, with the stiff competition he faces and his comparatively high exclusivity, the costs of building a S!Wolt can be difficult to merit the results. Still, a player phase, long-range unit like S!Wolt will most likely be a welcome addition to any roster at the very least as an extra Arena Assault tool.

S!Wolt comes with Brazen Atk/Spd 4, a new tier-4 skill. The bonus stats that it can provide are sky-high with +9 Atk and +10 Spd, however there is of course the main caveat of having to take enough damage to activate it first, which can be difficult when using a Brazen as the A Skill rather than a Sacred Seal as Fury cannot be used to reach the HP threshold through recoil damage. This means that in order to benefit from Brazen Atk/Spd 4, S!Wolt must first either take a direct hit, take sufficient out-of-combat damage, or use a skill like Ardent Sacrifice or Reciprocal Aid. Until then, S!Wolt will perform as if he had no A Skill at all. As a result, skills like Swift Sparrow 3, Fury 4, or Life and Death are much more reliable alternatives.

S!Wolt also comes with Chill Spd to independently activate the offense bonus of his default weapon, Big-Catch Bow+, which provides +5 Atk/Spd against penalized enemies. This can help make up for Brazen Atk/Spd 4’s opportunity cost. Using both Chill Spd and Big-Catch Bow+, S!Wolt’s most vulnerable targets will thus most often be the fastest enemy on the map as he essentially gains +12 Spd against them.

S!Wolt prefers boons/assets in Spd and Atk. His preferred banes/flaws are Res (superbane) and HP (superbane).

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Similar Units

Sue: Doe of the Plains (36/32/38/23/20)

Wolt: Sunbeam Archer (+4/+2/-4/+2/-3)

Lyn: Brave Lady (35/33/35/18/28)

Wolt: Sunbeam Archer (+5/+1/-1/+7/-11)

Louise: Eternal Devotion (39/31/34/17/30)

Wolt: Sunbeam Archer (+1/+3/+0/+8/-13)

Linde: Summer Rays (33/34/35/16/26)

Wolt: Sunbeam Archer (+7/+0/-1/+9/-9)

Fjorm: New Traditions (39/35/35/20/21)

Wolt: Sunbeam Archer (+1/-1/-1/+5/-4)

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Builds

Budget/Low Investment:

The first build keeps the core skills of Wolt’s default kit. Wolt will struggle to make the most of Glimmer or 3+ cooldown specials, so Moonbow is his most reliable option. Using Chill Atk and Chill Spd together can considerably weaken the enemy team and also can give Wolt multiple targets to attack with Big-Catch Bow+.

The second build uses Desperation to complement Wolt’s high Spd ceiling and stacks Brazen Atk/Spd 4 with the Brazen Atk/Spd 3 Sacred Seal. This makes him a huge threat when at Desperation’s HP threshold with its effect active on top of +16 Atk and +17 Spd from both Brazen skills, up to +21 and +22 if his opponent is penalized. With proper spacing, Threaten Def allows Wolt to independently power Big-Catch Bow+ by waiting for melee units to end their turn within 2 spaces of him. He can even potentially let himself be attacked by weaker opponents, especially blue ones, which will likely damage him sufficiently to then benefit from Desperation and Brazens as well as debuff them with Threaten Def. Fury can be used as the A Skill instead for a less risk-demanding playstyle.

Player Phase:

With his relatively dull statline, Wolt lacks practical build options outside of player phase, hyper offensive builds. These builds take his solid offenses to their fullest potential.

The first build stacks Bouquet Bow+, Swift Sparrow, and Darting Blow for a total of +10 Atk and +17 Spd in the enemy phase unbuffed. Although plain, it will certainly tear through most non-red enemies. Other basic bows like Slaying Bow+ and Short Bow+ can be used instead for similar results.

The second build uses Brave Bow+ and stacks up his Spd to allow him to quad opponents more often. With Swift Sparrow 3 and Darting Blow, he reaches 44 Spd unbuffed to quad enemies with 39 Spd or lower, and Desperation allows him to do so without being counterattacked. If all four attacks aren’t enough to kill his target, activating Luna will likely finish the job which he can do with any quad assuming a Guard effect isn’t in play.

The third build uses Firesweep Bow+ to attack enemies without having to worry about counterattacks at all for the most part. This leaves his B Skill open as he doesn’t need Desperation, which can be filled with skills like Chills or Poison Strike.

The fourth build is similar to the third in that Fishie Bow+ frees up Wolt’s B Skill slot. With Fury 4 and the Brazen Atk/Spd Sacred Seal, Wolt’s power spikes once he reaches Desperation’s HP threshold.

#mod lucius #fire emblem heroes #feh #unit review #Wolt: Sunbeam Archer #Summer!Wolt #S!Wolt #green bow/cavalry #bow/cavalry #Summer Refreshes

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magioftheseas · 5 years

Text

Saccharine

Summary: Junko gives Matsuda (poisoned) chocolate and Kamukura eats it. Komaeda is given too much chocolate by his classmates. Matsuda wonders about the three of them. TDP-verse. I guess.

Rating: G

Warnings: Mentions of hospitals/medical stuff. Junko poisoning chocolate in the background. Matsuda’s language.

Notes: I wanted to write something short and sweet for Valentines Day and this is what I came up with. It just kind of...ends so I guess it’s in the style of one of my ficlets, just considerably longer. Still only about 2K tho. I’ve had this idea for a while and it’s cute, they’re cute, so I was just like “eh let’s go for it”.

***Alternate Ao3 Link***

Commission? Donate?

“Spit it out.”

“Nnn...”

“FUCKING SPIT IT OUT!!!”

“Nnnnnn.”

“DO YOU WANT TO FUCKING DIE, YOU IDIOT?!”

Matsuda cursed colorfully, squeezing the other’s face harder and still getting nothing more than that impassive expression and a rigid, stubbornly shut mouth. It was definitely, abso-fucking-lutely like dealing with either a stubborn toddler or a dumb, misbehaving animal.

“For fuck’s sake, Kamukura,” he hissed, digging his thumb into the corner of that stupid, stubborn mouth. “Come on. Spit it out or else.”

Kamukura, just to spite him, swallows. Matsuda, actually taken aback, flinched with a sharp gasp. And then, he smacked Kamukura hard upside the head. Kamukura was barely affected, as per usual.

“I do not know why you are so concerned,” Kamukura says simply. “I am immune to most poisons.”

“It’ll still make you SICK, you fucking idiot!” Matsuda screeched. “Also—what kind of fucking dumbass knowingly eats poisoned chocolate anyway?!”

Kamukura hums, rubbing his cheeks, at least.

“I was curious as to what she could concoct.”

“She’s not out of the fucking fire, either,” Matsuda grumbled before spinning Kamukura around and shoving him forward. “Come on. We’re going to the hospital.”

“Matsuda Yasuke, that will be unnecessary.”

“Did I fucking stutter, asshole?” Matsuda gave another harsh shove. “Rather than talking back like the little bitch you are, you’re going to be formulating ten-page apologies to me for the fucking trouble you’ve caused.”

“Mm...” Kamukura moved, at least. “Very well, then.”

Matsuda rolled his eyes and kept on pushing for his own sake, grumbling as he did.

Seriously, what even the fuck was that?

The worst part is that he knows how much of a fucking nightmare it’ll be telling Junko off later.

I usually just toss her chocolates because I know better but the one fucking time I neglected to do so... Dammit, did that bitch plan this or what?!

God, Matsuda was so angry he wanted to scream. But he needed to hurry because the last fucking thing he needed on his head was Ultimate Hope getting sick in the middle of the damn hallway on his watch.

Urgh. This week is already off to such a shit start.

It only makes him feel a little bit better when Kamukura is in a more sullen than usual mood afterwards. He’s only slightly relieved that in the end, Kamukura wasn’t all that affected by whatever the shit Junko cooked up. But he couldn’t take risks and thus, the poison had to be extracted and thoroughly filtered out, which was never a pleasant experience.

It was Kamukura’s own damn fault. Just what the hell was he thinking?

The scientists say that his thinking goes beyond human comprehension, but I can’t help but think he’s just—a fucking idiot.

Still, with how Kamukura was pouting, Matsuda supposed he felt a little bad. But only a little.

“If you wanted chocolate that fucking badly, I could’ve given you one from one of the reserve girls,” he sighed, shaking his head. “And if you were that damn curious about Junko’s then we could’ve gotten it analyzed. You really, really shouldn’t have just eaten it.”

“What would you have done with it if I hadn’t?” Kamukura asked. “Would you have simply tossed it in the trash?”

“Uh... Obviously?” Matsuda made a face. “Did you think I’d eat it out of obligation? Like fucking hell?”

“You have done unreasonable things for her before,” Kamukura pointed out and—ouch. That stung a little.

Probably because it’s true. Urgh. But...

“I wouldn’t let her poison me,” he muttered. “I’d draw a line there.”

“I see...so you do draw lines...”

“Everyone has limits, dipshit. People aren’t absolute in anything.” Yes, people are always capable, but... Seriously? Is that really what he thinks of me? Gross... I feel so gross... “I mean...”

“They say love has no limits,” Kamukura said. “That when someone is important to you that there is nothing you will not do for them.”

“Yeah... That’s a load of bullshit. No one’s actually like that.” A pause. “Oi. Are you seriously curious about that? Love?” Matsuda cringed. “I don’t love Junko. Not like that. I don’t love anyone. Not... Like that.”

Disgustingly, he can’t help but get a little flustered about it.

It’s the fault of this shitty consumerism holiday.

“Boring,” Kamukura said.

“Yeah,” Matsuda agreed lowly, head ducking further. “Super boring.”

But I guess at least I get free chocolate out of it... Even if it’s going to backfire when I refuse to buy anyone candy for White Day.

Kamukura seemed rather quiet, which wasn’t unusual and his expression was unreadable as always. His stride didn’t change, nor his posture—Kamukura Izuru really made for a convincing robot with human skin.

He might as well be that.

And yet, Kamukura just ate up chocolate that he left lying on his office desk like a child. Or a dog. Maybe a cat.

Cats are way cuter, though. But...

“If you weren’t such a weird damn cryptid who only lurked in the shadows, I’m sure you’d be given your own chocolate,” Matsuda said, huffing as he folded his arms back. “But I bet you would’ve stolen mine anyway, huh? Jerk.”

“Boring,” Kamukura repeated. “Obligation or affection—I have no need for such frivolities.”

“It’s consumerism, not necessity,” Matsuda replied. “It’s supposed to be frivolous.”

Although, sometimes there’s good chocolate to be had. Murasame has surprisingly good taste.

“Boring. So boring.”

“Yeah, yeah. Geeeez.” Matsuda groans. “God, what can even be done about you?”

And then, this happened.

“Matsuda-kun! There you are! Oh.” Komaeda’s once bright smile comes crashing down like weights from a snapped cable. “Kamukura-kun.” For what it’s worth, Komaeda does manager another smile, albeit one that’s stiff with unenthusiastic formality. “Greetings to you as well.”

“We don’t have an appointment today,” Matsuda said, unimpressed. “Don’t fucking tell me that your jackass classmates chased you away again.”

Komaeda shook his head with a laugh.

“Oh, no, no.” His shoulders shake and Matsuda realizes that Komaeda is holding something behind his back. “Um. I actually just got embarrassed and before I knew it, I ended up here, aha!”

Embarrassed? Hah?

Before Matsuda could ask, Kamukura speaks up.

“You were mortified by simple obligation chocolate? Is that really all it is?”

Ah. Komaeda flinched as Matsuda’s lashes lowered. So they offered him that, at least. And this guy—was still taken aback.

“U... Um...” Komaeda is still flustered, too, shifting and shuffling awkwardly. “Earlier, the girls got together and made chocolate for the class... And they didn’t forget me... I was so happy but also so ashamed for causing them such trouble...”

“Oi, oi.” Matsuda strides forward, reaching out and pulling at Komaeda’s cheeks. “Just because it’s called obligation chocolate doesn’t mean they were held at fucking gunpoint or whatever. You have no reason to feel bad, dumbass.”

Komaeda whined as he pulled.

“B-But...! Someone like me...!”

“I’ve met your fucking class, Komaeda,” Matsuda hissed. “You’re in the higher tiers, at least.”

“N-No way!”

“Haaaaah? You calling me a liar?”

“N-No!” Komaeda gasped, aghast at the thought. “N-No, no...! I... I-I... Uuu...”

Matsuda let go of him, grumbling and crossing his arms.

“Just fucking accept the damn chocolate. It’s free so what are you complaining for? You’re rich so I doubt money for White Day is even remotely an issue.”

“Aha... Haha... Receiving anything from someone like me might just be...” Komaeda trails off. “Gross...”

“You really are boring,” Kamukura remarked. “Your self-deprecation follows such a predictable and unrelenting cycle. Does it not get exhausting?”

Komaeda twitched, clearly a little irritated with how his brow pinched even as that smile remained.

“...I don’t really like sweets,” he went on, ignoring Kamukura entirely. “And they gave me quite a bit. I was thinking I’d share it with Matsuda-kun.” A pause. “But I guess Kamukura-kun can have some, too. If he wants, of course. Oh, right, Kamukura-kun doesn’t want anything.”

Matsuda snorted. Komaeda turned away with a huff, finally looking like the prissy elite he was.

...it should piss me off, but when it’s Komaeda...

“I will take some, then.”

“E-Eh?!” Komaeda jolted. “W-Wait, seriously?!”

Kamukura just took one of the chocolates from him.

“Thank you, Komaeda Nagito,” he said coolly, to Komaeda’s sputtering face. “It will be boring, I am sure, but I do appreciate it, all the same.”

“B-Buh...!”

“I guess I’ll take some, too,” Matsuda said, shrugging as he plucked up his own. “Did they give you any dark chocolate?”

“Oh, um...” Komaeda hesitates, looking down at what remained. “Actually this is...dark. Yes. I ended up with all three types.”

“Then you can keep that,” Matsuda said before turning to Kamukura. “Oi, if what you grabbed was white chocolate, you have to switch with me, got it?”

“Boring.”

“I’m taking that as an ‘understood’. Dick.”

Komaeda’s lips twisted, but Matsuda pulled him towards the patient bed so that he could sit with them, with Matsuda in-between. Komaeda blushed a little at their shoulders touching but Matsuda and Kamukura, of course, were pretty unaffected.

Externally, at least, Matsuda thought irritably. Internally, on the other hand...

It’s aggravating how he was just a little flustered at how Kamukura nibbled at his chocolate, at how Komaeda ended up chuckling before unwrapping his own.

“It’s nice,” Komaeda said. “Being together like this. It’s almost like we’re a trio of friends! Oh, but someone like me isn’t deserving of someone like Matsuda-kun as a friend.” Pause. “Also I don’t really want to be friends with a false hope like Kamukura-kun.”

“So boring,” Kamukura hummed.

“That poor attitude doesn’t help,” Komaeda huffed. “Matsuda-kun’s prickliness is cute, but you’re so dreary, Kamukura-kun.”

Matsuda nearly fucking choked.

“E-Excuse me?!”

“I didn’t say anything,” Komaeda said innocently.

“Ugh.” To forget about it, Matsuda just began wolfing down chocolate. It was sickeningly sweet. Enough to make him puke. He couldn’t get enough. “This actually isn’t half-bad. Fuck.”

“It is mediocre,” Kamukura said, popping the rest into his mouth. “However... It was made with enthusiasm.”

“Don’t fucking talk with your mouth full,” Matsuda snapped before swallowing. “That’s just rude.”

“Ahahaha...” Komaeda’s smile fades. “This really is nice.”

What’s up with that face?

Komaeda doesn’t elaborate. The one damn time Matsuda is half-itching to hear the other ramble at unnecessary length. It might be a sign of the dementia treatment working wonders in giving Komaeda a sliver of restraint and self-control, but—Matsuda couldn’t help but be seriously annoyed at how clearly deep in thought Komaeda is.

But I could probably figure it out if I really wanted to. And why should I care? I’m this kid’s babysitter, not his best friend. For him and Kamukura both... I really have my hands full...

For not the last time, he wonders if things will really be alright.

Not just for my sake but... For these two, as well. When we all graduate, will we still be together like this? Shit, gross, that’s so...sentimental.

Matsuda shook his head and finished up his chocolate.

“...so sweet it’s sickening,” he mused. “Just how I like it.”

Komaeda giggled.

“Maybe I should make you chocolate... Oh, but if I did that, you’d get food poisoning for sure.”

“Then Kamukura would love it,” Matsuda huffed. “So make some for him if you do.”

Kamukura perked up at that.

“...Komaeda Nagito’s cooking skills are incomprehensible.”

“I-I’ll look up how to make it on the internet, first,” Komaeda grumbled, a little red-faced. “I still don’t approve of your existence, Kamukura-kun, but I would rather not make you sick.”

“If you want to get your stomach pumped again, be my guest,” Matsuda said coolly.

“You really shouldn’t, though!” Komaeda exclaimed. “That’s just an unpleasant experience, Kamukura-kun!”

“...I am aware.”

“Then you really shouldn’t do it!”

After we’re done at Hope’s Peak—I wonder what’s going to happen to us?

“You both,” Matsuda said, rolling his eyes. “Are really fucking noisy.”

I guess I wouldn’t mind continuing to look out for them.

“You both really need me, after all,” he added, with that thought in mind.

Kamukura huffed, but Komaeda jumped at that.

“E-Eh?!”

#MatsuKamuKoma #yasuke matsuda #nagito komaeda #izuru kamukura #MatsuKamu #Magi fics #I actually don't write a lot of stuff in the TDP setting but that's because it's just confusing to me even if I actually really like TDP #for the most part #but anyway my OT3 is a good OT3 #sorry hinut #love you tho

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kulamitkumar92-blog · 5 years

Text

Trends That Will Reshape The Real Estate Market

Among the many different factors influencing the way real estate is developed, transacted and used in India, there are five big major emerging trends that have both real-time and long-term significance:

Co-working spaces finding favour with independent consultants and freelancers.

With the growing start-up ecosystem across India and the central government creating an enabling environment for entrepreneurship, demand for office spaces matching such firms’ requirements has gone up in the last few years.

Also, due to the rising number of freelance professionals or consultants in today’s globalized workforce, office communities or co-working spaces are gaining popularity.

Co-working spaces are popping up across Indian metros as well as tier-II cities, and are helping many start-ups get flexible working options at prices they can afford. These spaces offer desks at cheaper rentals and some also allow a rent-free period to tenants apart from utilities and an office-like look-and-feel to potential start-ups.

Some of the co-working places also work as incubation centres for the urban centres they are based out of. Interestingly, start-ups buying/ leasing real estate to sub-lease it to such tenants is also on the rise. At a rough estimate, over a 100 of such players are already active across India. This trend is slowly and surely catching up in India.

Crowdfunding beginning to take hold

Crowdfunding helps innovators and inventors raise money for launching their products or services through the Internet. The practice involves raising small amounts of money online, from many people across the globe, to finance a project or venture. While other industries have seen the emergence of a more dynamic crowdfunding scene, real estate’s popularity still has a lot of catching up to do.

Some experts have pointed at the maturing crowdfunding scenario in the U.S., where the amount of money raised and the size of deals, as well as the speed at which they occur, have all steadily increased. In China, the real estate industry is no longer the exclusive preserve of big investors, and property developers have turned to crowdfunding to help finance the construction of commercial and residential projects.

Although in nascent stages in India, crowdfunding can pick up here as well because the financials of many developers are stretched. With increased digitalization and transparency, investors can be expected to open up to this way of investing if they can expect good returns. Already, non-resident Indians can invest in the country’s real estate under the same conditions applicable to residents. Moreover, a marketplace is already bringing together real estate investors as also listing premium plots, apartments and villas. This sector is likely to evolve and grow in the coming years.

Transparency to increase and help attract more funding.

Two-thirds of the real estate markets globally have shown progress in their levels of transparency over the past two years, according to JLL’s Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) 2016. India too made improvements in overall transparency scores by moving up four places, and its Tier-I cities are expected to break into the transparent category in the 2018 rankings.

Out of 109 countries, the top 10 highly-transparent markets alone corner 75% of global investment into commercial real estate (CRE), highlighting the extent to which transparency drives real estate investment decisions. At a time when capital allocations to real estate are growing globally, investors are expecting transparency standards in real estate to be at par with other asset classes.

Capital allocations in excess of $1 trillion will be targeting CRE within the next decade, compared to $700 billion now. This growth means investors will continue to demand further improvements in real estate transparency. There’s also mounting pressure from the world’s growing middle classes to weed out corruption from real estate, which will speed up this pace of change especially in the semi-transparent markets. Social media will also help mobilize people in this direction.

Retailers looking favourably at office-retail complexes.

For quite some time now, retailers have been road blocked by a lack of available quality retail space. At such a time, office-retail complexes (ORCs) are emerging as alternatives to high streets, and even malls, for some categories of retailers such as F&B (quick service restaurants, coffee shops, fine dining, pubs, etc.) or BFSI (bank branches, ATMs, broking services, etc.).

Since most part of the day of a working individual is spent at the office during weekdays, retail services benefit immensely by locating themselves close to, or within, business districts. Retail categories such as telecom services, office formals, leather bags and accessories, high-end fitness centres, premium salons, eyewear and mobile manufacturers are now all looking favourably at ORCs.

Of the total retail presence in office buildings across major tier-I cities, a dominant 26% is occupied by F&B and a significant 23% is occupied by retail BFSI outlets. While retailers get the dual advantage of paying lower rents compared to premium spaces in Grade A malls and closer access to their main target segment of office-goers, developers are also open to experimenting more with a mixed-use format rather than a standalone retail format. This way, they can allow for quality retail on the lower floors and commercial spaces on the upper floors.

Technology transforming real estate requirements across the globe.

Tech-enabled workplaces are becoming more common across the globe. In U.S., research on the budgets of clients’ interior build-outs are showing very interesting results, with IT costs as a proportion of overall construction budgets increasing rapidly. Earlier, they were around 5% of the overall construction budgets over the last decade.

More recent build-out budgets show the expansion of IT services from cabling and wiring to more than a dozen items for technology, including access devices, infrastructure, mobility, connectivity, data security systems, wireless connections and upgrades, business-specific apps, company-specific conferencing and presentation capabilities. All of these items can add up to 35% or more of a budget for a truly technology-focused company.

This theme is seen in every tenant build-out today, from traditional law firms to new campuses built by companies like Facebook and Apple. The aesthetics and prestige of an office, which were formerly the primary considerations, are beginning to take a back seat to the technology and the connectivity within buildings. Some corporate occupiers in India are starting to invest more in the expansion of their IT infrastructure.

KUL Kumar Builders aim to incorporate all these concepts in their projects ensuring clients are handed over keys to an up-to-date, sustainable and ultra-modern home and office. This commitment lands us the top spot as one of Pune’s best builders

For more info-http://kul.co.in

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moonmothmama · 5 years

Text

ok. so. The Princess Bride. i read it yesterday.

and right up front, before even a review, i’m gonna go ahead and list everything objectionable in the book that i can recall. please don’t take the length of the bullet pointed items to follow as an indication that the book was wildly problematic and offended me at every turn; it wasn’t and it didn’t. but there were some things that made me go: 😑 or 😒, and here it all is, presented with context, before anything else, because to be honest, i didn’t expect any of it. the film is relatively spotless, which is pretty rare for that era, and if any of you are thinking of reading it, you could do with being more prepared for this than i was.

first off, racism. two passing remarks. one isn’t even in the story proper; it’s in the first whole long intro bit from the author/narrator. that takes some explanation, i suppose: like in the film, the story is presented as a book having been written by “S. Morganstern,” except instead of a grandfather reading to his sick grandson, the narrator is interjecting with notes on the original text that he has abridged. the beginning is a whole long shpiel that, in my opinion, could have been significantly pared down with absolutely zero loss to the story (which! hey! the film did perfectly! go figure!). anyway, the first racist remark is an absolutely tasteless line in which the narrator pisses and moans about his fat son, making a crack about “painting him yellow” and making him a sumo wrestler. y i k e. the other passing remark is from Miracle Max (really, truly, the film version of this scene is miles better than the book version, but contains an important plot detail, so you should prob still read it, but i’ll give you the lowdown if you wanna skip). he refers to Iñigo as a sp*ck (rather bafflingly, i might add, bc Iñigo is a Spanish man... from Spain... not a Hispanic or Latino man from Latin America. so. i mean i’m certainly not an expert on slurs but... i have never in my life heard that term in reference to a person from Spain, and am virtually certain it was invented to refer to ppl from the americas) and in the same breath uses an objectionable term for a Polish person. sooo... again: y i k e. what gets me is that... these could’ve just been edited out? why weren’t they? i mean i know why but

fat shaming! see above. though to be honest, any true negativity about fatness is restricted to the author/narrator’s interjections; there are a few minor fat characters in the story and those depictions, without being too long-winded or spoilery, didn’t offend me (fyi: i’m fat). if you want the details, please feel free to message me about it.

if we can go back to the whole long beginning shpiel from the author/narrator, it’s just... eh. he comes off as kind of a jackass, tbh. not even halfway through it i found myself more than a little impatient for the story to begin, and that could be at least partly because the film spoiled me with a lovely, not annoying, not problematic scene of Granddad Columbo reading to Baby Fred Savage where no one made any racist remarks or ragged on fat kids. the basic gist, if you want to skip it, is that the author, as a kid, had this book read to HIM by his father, who was a Florinese immigrant, and nearly illiterate in English, but still labored over reading the English translation to his American-born son, who adored the book and requested it read to him dozens and dozens of times over the years, refusing to read it himself (though he read plenty of other books). as an adult, he buys his son the book, and is crushed when the son doesn’t like it. he then reads it for the first time, and realizes his father skipped over huge, boring blocks of text. he read his son only The Good Parts. so he decides to edit that shit out himself and release the abridged version he loves so much. add into that some complaining about his wife and some extra blah blah, and that’s pretty much it.

you remember the scene in the movie where The Man In Black/Westley almost slaps Buttercup for what he believes is lying? in the book he actually slaps her. not that his actions seem supported or endorsed by the text, but still, there you are. Buttercup does push him off a cliff soon after, though, so. i wouldn’t call that ‘even’ exactly but, shrug

Vizzini, in the book, has a fucky leg and his back isn’t quite straight, and he’s referred to repeatedly as a “humpback” or “hunchback” which needless to say is Not Kosher

that, as i recall, is it. i hope i’m not forgetting anything. now onto content/trigger warnings:

alcoholism. this shouldn’t be a surprise if you’ve seen the movie: Iñigo has some, shall we say, issues

Fezzik’s parents were... terrible. CPS would be all over them. spoiler: basically they emotionally blackmailed their son into fighting professionally, which they knew he hated, by telling him they’d abandon him if he didn’t

Buttercup has some kinda messed up (read: unsettling but in no way graphic) nightmares after leaving Westley when they’re found by Prince Humperdinck at the Fire Swamp, mostly involving bearing children to the Prince who she once again is set to marry

the slurs and whatnot i mentioned above

violence, obviously. nothing worse than the film as i recall.

that’s it i think.

okay. all that said. did i enjoy the book? yes i did. a lot.

now, you might be thinking: jesus, Kathleen, after all the shit you just listed? and to this i reply: listen. there is no Unproblematic Media, so you either enjoy some things that are flawed, or you enjoy nothing at all. there is plenty of objectionable shit in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit! fucking plenty! and i love those books! and so do plenty of other people! in my own humble opinion, the good story is worth the shitty bits, because the shitty bits aren’t like, fundamental to the plotline. the story isn’t built on offensive humor or nasty, bigoted attitudes. and they’re also not the most egregious examples of Objectionable Content i’ve come across- not by a longshot. there are levels to offense. there are tiers of bullshit. this is on a far lower tier than a whole host of other things i could mention. but if any of this stuff i’ve listed crosses a line for you, i totally understand and respect that. that’s why i’ve bothered to list it at all. imo, how you respond to objectionable content is important: you don’t ignore it or excuse it, you acknowledge and criticize it. and if you still enjoy whatever the thing is, you allow yourself to enjoy it, without getting hissy or defensive with people for whom the objectionable content ruined the book/movie/whatever.

there you go, there’s my disclaimer for having enjoyed the book. your mileage may vary.

okay. so. review time.

Buttercup is a far more interesting character in the book than the movie, for which the movie can’t be faulted all that much, because you can’t easily translate a character’s inner monologue/unspoken thoughts to the screen, especially not with the time limit that comes with the medium of film. but watching her struggle with her feelings and life choices (and... lack thereof, since her choice is between marrying the prince and being put to death, which isn’t much of a choice, even if she tries to reason it out later by telling herself she COULD have said no... and initially did) creates far more of a bond between her and the reader in the book than, personally, i felt watching the movie. also she has a great line after Westley calls her beautiful at their reunion- she says something like, ‘everyone’s always calling me beautiful, i have a mind too, why don’t you talk about that’

Both Westley and Buttercup are immature, naive, and foolish in the beginning, and if Westley strikes you as Extra Dickish, a) rewatch the film! he did act like a bit of a dick, there, didn’t he? b) remember that in the story he’s a young man between the ages of eighteen and twenty five, which in my considerable experience is the age at which young men are generally at their peak of Asshole. sorry dudes

and not that Buttercup herself is a complete peach! she deals very poorly with her emotions in general and acts kinda shitty herself once or twice. i won’t say too much lest i spoil everything that’s different between the film and the book.

Prince Humperdinck is also a more three dimensional character; still a rat bastard tho.

onto Fezzik and Iñigo.

as i have said in other blog posts, these boys are... pretty much the whole reason i sought out the book. and... jesus.

you get all the way into the tragic backstories that were only hinted at in the film. okay, Iñigo’s backstory was more than hinted- but of course you go so much deeper in the book- and Fezzik’s was less than hinted, reduced mostly to a peek at the insecurity that Vizzini exploits and preys upon to keep him in line. not that you’d have to expend a great effort to him to keep him in line; his personality is docile and non-confrontational. truly not the slightest bit aggressive by nature. he’s also kinda clingy and needy, which is a thousand percent understandable given his childhood, and tbqh doesn’t need to be browbeaten for Vizzini to keep him on his short, cruel leash. which makes it all the more painful! hurrah! 😭

also you actually get to meet Iñigo’s father, Domingo Montoya, in a flashback, aaaand... i kinda love him. probably predictable if you know me.

anyway. tragic backstories. which further illuminate the emotional and psychological issues that make them so dependent on Vizzini, and turn them to lives of crime in his employ. poor boys! oy gevalt. sympathy abounds; i honestly don’t know how you could go through the book and not fall at least a little bit in love with this duo, whose friendship is precious and adorable and a balm to the soul that is aching from their painful life stories and unhealthy coping mechanisms. they’re each, very plainly, the only friend the other has in the world, and are constantly helping and bolstering one another. it’s heartbreakingly sweet. i think those boys will be alright as long as they stick together.

and now, the repeated theme of the book, that is presented with far less intensity in the film: life isn’t fair. which, one supposes, is true. but while the narrator’s framing of that assertion may give you the same misgivings they gave me- bitching about his fat son and his less than ideal relationship with his wife- you can also step back and appreciate it as a wee pearl of wisdom. life is often unfair, but that doesn’t mean it’s altogether bad or that you can’t enjoy it. idk, that’s my attitude, man.

i could talk about the ending here, but i won’t. at least not too much. not to spoiler-ish-ly. if you don’t want to know anything about the book’s ending at all, feel free to not read the last bit here, except for the very last lines which are bolded.

ready? yes? no?

...

the ending to the book is different than the movie. there is a more philosophical, open ended conclusion than you could really get away with in a movie. at least this movie.

just throwing it out there: i believe in happy endings. ones in real life. but i kind of disagree with the author a little bit, in that i don’t think happy endings necessarily have to be perfect and unblemished to qualify as happy endings. that may be the way “happily ever after” is generally presented, but to me, “happily ever after” means, maybe some shit happened, but none of it was completely devastating, and in the final analysis, life was satisfying. that’s the kind of real life happy ending i’m aiming (and hoping) for. this might sound vague but i hope it’ll make sense if you read the book.

if you wanna do that, btw, i read it for free online at allnovel dot net.

#kathleen reads the book #the princess bride #william goldman #book review #ish? thing?#blogging on my blog

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