Mexican Pepsi is a thing apparently

Eric here. Today, I’m posting a fair chunk of the current Conviction and Loyalty section of Deviant. If conspiracies drive the actions of the entire cohort, Conviction and Loyalty Touchstones provide specific motivation to each individual Remade. Ready? Here we go:

Divergence damages the part of the Remade’s soul that once guided her senses of self and identity, replacing Virtue and Vice with the twin Anchors of Loyalty and Conviction. She defines herself by her interactions with others — specifically those actions driven by love and hate and directed toward a specific person, group, cause, or location.

A Remade’s Conviction can run white hot or blisteringly cold. It compels the transformed to do what needs to be done, often forcing her to make hard choices in the pursuit of her designated enemies. It dictates her need to confront anyone who would keep her from pursuing her goals. Conviction is the churning, seething anger that always lurks at the edges of her emotions. It is what makes a Renegade fight, what gives her the courage to escape, and what pushes her to determine her own fate. Conviction serves as a source of Willpower based on her actions.

Where anger and hate guide Conviction, Loyalty represents the Remade’s ties to those she cares about deeply and strives to protect — both from herself and from the sinister forces she tangles with. These are those few people who have stood by her since her Divergence, who accepted her how she was before and how she is now. They’re the friends and family who refuse to be scared off even when she insists they ought to run, that it’s for their own good. They’re also the new friends she’s made since everything changed. It’s hard for a Deviant to maintain relationships, but these ones approach the sacred for her. She’ll do anything it takes to protect the people who have earned her trust to this degree. Loyalty restores the Broken’s Willpower when she acts to uphold it.

Touchstones

Touchstones invoke strong feelings of hate or love in the Remade, anchoring her to her remaining humanity. Acting for or against a Touchstone helps the Deviant keep her Instabilities from growing worse, while falling short of these obligations shakes her confidence and can trigger disastrous complications.

Whether Conviction or Loyalty, most Touchstones are individual people. Some Broken forge ties with an object, place, or organization, but these are always concrete and localized – something that can be threatened or destroyed by a single actor in a single time and place, whether with a gun or an explosive.

A Deviant hates her Conviction Touchstones with a limitless rage. She recalls them with a passion so deep it always seethes just beneath the surface, ready to boil over. Most are members of the conspiracy that stalks her or created her: her Progenitor, the school administrator who nominated her for the experimental program, the lab tech who injected her with the serum, or the old roommate who invited her along to participate in an obscure ritual. She might even wish to see the lab where she was experimented on destroyed, or the ritual altar smashed Others have earned her enmity in other ways, such as by threatening a Loyalty Touchstone, standing in the way of the Remade’s revenge, or inconveniencing her in other ways: the police officer who keeps hauling her in for questioning, or the neighborhood gang that’s always making trouble for the cohort and their allies.

If causing a Conviction Touchstone to suffer is satisfying, killing one outright offers a moment of catharsis. However, resolving a Conviction Touchstone by destroying it does not extinguish the yawning chasm of the Deviant’s need to protect or exact vengeance. The Remade who destroys one Conviction Touchstone almost always replaces it with another as soon as possible – or with a Loyalty Touchstone.

The focus of a Loyalty Touchstone is often someone the Deviant knew before her Divergence. This may be an old friend or lover, a partner in crime, or even a former enemy whose past sins now pale in comparison to what her Progenitor did to her. Some Touchstones form after the Renegade goes through her ordeal: the lab assistant who helped her escape, or the member of her cohort who bears an uncanny resemblance to her little sister. They are people who remind her that even though being Remade took away a piece of her humanity, it didn’t take all of it. They show the transformed kindness even when — especially when — she’s incapable of showing it to herself, and they have her back even if they don’t always agree with her choices.

Loyalty Touchstones are the source of both comfort and concern for the Deviant. The Touchstone is the person he goes to when he’s troubled, but that means if his enemies are watching, and he’s not careful enough, he’s putting his friend in the conspiracy’s crosshairs. Ruthless conspirators often threaten to harm the Touchstone, following her to work, watching her children on the playground. They make her life difficult, sometimes using bureaucratic frustrations to mask their involvement. Police show up on her doorstep, following up on a tip that she’s harboring the fugitive Renegade. Child services pays a visit based on an anonymous call from a concerned party. Some conspirators contact the Touchstone directly, attempting to turn her against the Remade or suggesting they can protect her from him if he grows violent. They try their best to sow seeds of doubt between them.

Upsetting the Broken’s loved ones is a combination of a taunt and a threat. The conspiracy wants the Renegade to know they’re watching, to know they’re keeping tabs on where he goes and who he values. Anything they can do to throw their target off-balance is just fine by the conspiracy. In extreme cases, the Deviant’s enemies kidnap his Touchstones or put them in physical danger. While this can draw the Remade out of hiding or make him come to the table and negotiate, it also serves to fuel his hate and determination against the conspirators involved. Overtly threatening a Touchstone can backfire — a Touchstone is much less likely to be off the grid, and therefore will be missed by other people in her life if she suddenly stops showing up for work or her children don’t come to school. Conspirators usually deploy these extreme tactics sparingly, and only when they’re certain they can minimize the fallout.

Systems

Starting Renegade characters begin with at least three dots in Conviction and one in Loyalty, which Origin then modifies (see Chapter One). The sum of Loyalty and Conviction is never more than five. Each dot has one associated Touchstone, a character toward whom the Renegade feels a particularly strong hatred or protectiveness.

After a scene in which the Renegade makes progress toward one of her Conviction Touchstones, she gains one Willpower and takes a Beat. Once per session, when she risks danger or suffers for her Loyalty Touchstone, she regains all Willpower.

If a Touchstone is destroyed or killed, or when a Touchstone falls to Wavering, the Broken’s Loyalty or Conviction falls by one (depending on which Trait the Touchstone was attached to). If both Loyalty and Conviction reach 0, the Deviant goes Feral (p. XX).

Once per chapter, the Remade may declare a new Touchstone to fill an open Touchstone slot. This Touchstone begins at Wavering, and therefore doesn’t increase the character’s Loyalty or Conviction, unless it is successfully affirmed (p. XX).

A Touchstone may switch from Loyalty to Conviction (or vice versa) without Wavering first, as long as the Touchstone itself remains the same. When the Broken’s best friend betrays her, for example, her rage is so instantaneous she doesn’t pause to consider why her friend might have done such a thing.

Abandoning an existing Touchstone and replacing it with a new one is a two-step process. First, the Remade must cut ties with the old Touchstone, therefore losing a point of Loyalty or Conviction. This counts the same as his declaring a new Touchstone action for the chapter. Once the next chapter begins, he may name his new Touchstone, which begins at Wavering.

Acting counter to his Touchstone — failing to pursue the subject of a Conviction Touchstone or abandoning a Loyalty Touchstone in a time of need — means the Renegade has Faltered. The player rolls his current trait rating as a dice pool to determine the severity of the damage to the relationship:

Roll Results

Success: The character believes he made the right choice. Both trait and Touchstone remain in place.

Exceptional Success: The character heals a minor Instability.

Failure: Remove a dot of the trait. The Touchstone remains in place but becomes Wavering.

Dramatic Failure: The character loses both a dot in the trait and the Touchstone and suffers a medium Instability.

When a character acts against a Wavering Touchstone, he rolls his current trait as above, but on a failed roll, the Touchstone is lost, in addition to the dot.

The Renegade can also attempt to affirm a Wavering Touchstone, strengthening his friendship or rekindling his hatred for a conspirator. When he acts in support of a Wavering Touchstone, he rolls the trait (Conviction or Loyalty) as a dice pool.

Roll Results

Success: The character has gone above and beyond for his friend, or done a job that reminded him just how deeply his hatred toward his enemy burns. The Touchstone is no longer Wavering, and the Renegade gains a dot in that trait.

Exceptional Success: In affirming his dedication to the Touchstone, the character discovers a new reservoir of rage or devotion within himself. The character successfully affirms the Touchstone as above. In addition, if the character has an open Touchstone slot, he may immediately assign a new Touchstone, even if he has already done so during the current chapter. This new Touchstone is initially Wavering, as normal.

Failure: Nothing changes. The character has done the bare minimum his friend expects a decent person to do, or has chased down a lead against his enemy without any tangible results. The character does not regain the dot in the trait, and the Touchstone remains Wavering.

Dramatic Failure: The character finds he cannot rekindle his love or hate of the Touchstone. The character loses the Wavering Touchstone.

Sometimes the Renegade is caught between pursuing a Conviction Touchstone and aiding a Loyalty one. He gains the benefits for the one he follows, and rolls Faltering for the one he failed.

On Towns in RPGs, Part 6: Wait, Wasn't This About Maps?

In the first article in this series, I embarked on an ill-defined quest to figure out what, if anything, a town map is actually for in tabletop play.

In the second, I took a look at the common metaphor comparing towns to dungeons—unfavourably.

In the third, I proposed an alternate metaphor: that cities are more like forests than dungeons.

In the fourth, I looked at how forests are used in D&D to see what we could use when thinking about cities.

In the fifth, I got into to the nuts and bolts of designing cities for use in D&D.

Now, we're going to break out the Gimp (or, for you fancy folks, Photoshop) and make some maps.

Splitting the Map in Two

Back in the first article, I compared these two images of medieval Nuremberg:

In that article, I argued that we can make things easier for ourselves as DMs, and be more effective besides, by splitting a D&D map into two separate illustrations: one to set the tone, and one for crunch, much like the tourist map on the right. It's ugly as sin, but if you're a tourist in old Nuremberg, it tells you exactly what you need and no more. Functionally, this particular map wouldn't be very useful in D&D (again, it emphasizes actual streets, which we don't care about, because towns are not dungeons) but, because towns are forests, we can look to existing high-functioning D&D map design—that is to say, regional maps—as inspiration.

Cutting Out the Illustration

By adding an illustration, which, unless you're publishing this city, you can just steal from the internet, you're taking a lot of the load off of your map. The map no longer has to be particularly pretty, it doesn’t have to show individual buildings or roads, and it doesn't have to fit any particular theme. All it has to do is be easy to read, functional, and packed with information. Think about it a little like a character sheet for your city.

What's Left for the Map?

Most D&D town maps try to give a literal depiction of the exact layout of the streets (which isn't useful) and also serve as an evocative piece of art (which is, but can be done better and more easily in other means), but doesn't provide much in the way of useful gameplay information. So… what is useful gameplay information?

Travel Time

Consider the map of the area around Neverwinter Woods that I used earlier. Somewhere in pretty much every RPG rulebook is a table showing daily travel speeds through various different terrain types. In D&D 3.5, for example, an unencumbered human can cover 18 miles overland on flat ground, or 12 miles per day through forests. These values can be increased by major highways. Knowing this information, it becomes trivial for the DM to quickly count up hexes (which are 5 miles each), look up a few numbers on a table, and do a quick calculation to tell the party how many days it takes to get from, say, Neverwinter to Leilon (13 hexes→65 miles→24 miles per day on a highway→2.7 days travel time, rounded to 3). This is important information narratively, but also for game mechanics, as it determines how much food the party must carry (which plays into the encumbrance and wealth rules), and how many random encounters they risk, well, encountering.

Now try to do the same calculation with this map:

An unencumbered human can walk 300 ft per minute, or hustle 600 ft  in the same time, though jogging through the city armed to the teeth (as most PCs are) might attract attention. Try to figure out how long it takes to get from, say, #14 to #18 on the map without giving up. There's no grid of any kind, so you'll have to actually measure the distance. You can't travel in a straight line because of the intervening buildings except along the major highways, so you can either measure it in chunks, or, I guess, use a piece of string or something. Then take your measurement, compare it to the scale and divide it by 300 or 600 to find out how many feet it took to do such a thing, and then…

…realize that this number is actually pretty useless. Even if you go through the above steps (which I can't even bring myself to do for this example, and would absolutely not do during play), it's not a helpful measurement. It doesn't take into account crowds, traffic, getting lost, being accosted by strangers, looking for a street sign that's hidden behind a bush, and all of the things that actually determine how long it takes to get around in a city. So, like every other GM in history, you'll never look twice at the "movement per minute" table, never look at the scale, never look at the map, and just say, "eh, it takes ten minutes."

If that works for you, that's fine; you've read a series of walls of text and won't get much out of it. But if you're like me, you'll always have a nagging feeling that you're giving up.

The map of the region around Neverwinter was created with the express purpose of being used in D&D. It is highly specialized for exactly this purpose. The map of Sutulak here was designed, apparently, to help with the morning commute of Sutulakers. So let's turn the city of Sutulak into the forest of Neverwinter.

We need to figure out the town equivalent of forests, mountains, fields, and highways. Highways are literally highways—broad, relatively straight avenues that cut through cities and connect key destinations (such as a market and a gatehouse). As for plains, forests, and mountains? They map pretty clearly to me as low, medium, and high-density construction. Higher density leads to more confusing, twisty, and narrow roads, as well as denser crowds, making it slower to move through these areas (both because you risk taking the wrong turn, and you'll be delayed by traffic). Low-density is the opposite: the more spread-out the buildings are, the more space there is to move between them, the less people there are doing so in the first place, and the easier it is to see where you're going and take the right streets. If your town has large-scale natural elements, such as forests and hills, they should also be included on the map. Sutulak here is criss-crossed with bizarre inner city walls with limited chokepoint entrances, which should also be included on the map.

Districts

In the fifth article in this series, I argued that D&D towns should be thought of as a small number of named, memorable districts (plus a couple of less-memorable Hufflepuff districts). Each district can have its own distinct flavour, racial makeup, police force, and random encounter table (if you use those), and a memorable name.

Points of Interest

Critical buildings and places should be marked with numbers that correspond to a key somewhere. For the more artistically inclined, you could also pick out these buildings in other ways, such as the Nuremberg tourist map's large silhouettes of major attractions.

Putting it Together

You've stuck with me this far, let's power through to the end. Let's take this useless map of Sutulak and turn it into a cutting-edge game aid, step by step.

1.     Give it a grid. You can use a square grid (like a pleb) or a modern, high-tech hex grid. Either is absolutely fine. I just overlaid a hex pattern as a new layer over the original one.

Counting distance is massively easier now. No string or ruler needed; just count the hexes.

2.     Highways and Barriers

The various walls and highways criss-crossing the city are important both narratively and mechanically, so let's highlight them, too. Try to keep the number of these small so as to be significant and memorable, don't just connect everything to everything else with a highway, because then we're back at the level of worrying about individual roads.

Red lines are highways and allow faster movement; grey lines are walls and prevent movement barring some kind of skill check, spell, etc. Crossing them may also be illegal.

3.     Embrace Abstraction

This map still has a bunch of minor streets and buildings confusing the issue. Here's where we're going to embrace full abstraction by removing them outright. Stop seeing the trees, start seeing the forest; there are no buildings or roads, there is only districts and density. Let's get this out of the way first of all: this won't be pretty. With a proper illustration, though, it doesn't need to be.

What I'm going to do is use different fill textures to denote different types of hexes representing district and density. District allocation is more of an art than a science; theoretically I could use every walled-in subdivision as its own district, however, this crazy criss-crossed town has too many of those to be memorable. Instead, I'll combine a few walled-in sections into districts, and in doing so, declare that they have economic, cultural, and ethnic ties to each other. A real artist could do pretty textures in these areas (like the forest texture in the Neverwinter map), but as this is a test case, and I am not a real artist, I don't want to get too bogged down in aesthetics and I'll use simple pattern fills.

Here's the district map. Different angled lines represent different neighbourhoods. There are five, which I've creatively titled North, East, South, West, and Central. Each district (except central) has at least one gate to the outside world and one highway. I've also moved the walls above the grid layer (making them more visible) and removed the grid outside the city as it was noisy and unnecessary.

Now we can inject building density into the equation. Building density implies population density, which tells us how narrow, twisty, and crowded the streets are, which finally solves our 'movement rate' question.

Here we have it: five districts, clearly delineated from each other through textures, and density represented by weight of the lines. Central district there is packed, as befitting a city center, so the entire district is at maximum weight. Because moving through cities has little to do with your physical movement capabilities and more to do with traffic and navigation skill (a Ferrari wouldn't get you through traffic any faster than a Honda), we can largely ignore a character's movement stat and base movement just off of hex density. Maybe we can come back to this, but for the time being, let's say you can move through low density hexes (with little traffic and lots of clear sightlines making for easy navigation) and highways at a rate of 3 hexes per minute, medium density hexes at a rate of 2 per minute, and high-density hexes at a rate of 1 per minute. Highways boost speed not only because they are broad and straight, but also because it is much harder to take a wrong turn on them and have to double back.

If you wanted a coarser grid, you could make each hex 300ft, and say that it took you 1 minute to move through a light density hex, 2 minutes to move through a medium density hex, and 3 minutes to move through a high density hex.

Future Improvements

I also added points of interest numbers in this step. If I were to do it again, I'd make them more distinct, such as using the original map's white circles, or perhaps with stylized building silhouettes, like the Nuremberg tourist map.

Districts can also be denoted using colours, with darkness and lightness indicating density, perhaps given borders like nations on a world map to distinguish them a little more from each other. Gates between walled prefectures are also important enough that maybe we could borrow a little from dungeon maps and give them a bright, visible "door" symbol. Also, the medium and heavy weighted areas are a bit too similar looking for my taste, so improvements could be made there, as well.

Still, I think this is the right direction. I'm going to let this idea percolate for a while, and maybe try it out in a game or two of my own, before tinkering with it too much.

I hear and I obey - here’s the background info for this pic. :D  Just be warned: I’m a Trekkie just barely getting into Star Wars lol.  I did my research, but it’s a little hard because Disney retconned everything but the movies.  I have no idea what counts as “in the movies” because I haven’t seen them all (also, stuff like the midi-chlorians could be an unspoken thing in the movies - no idea if they are or not, but it’s a possibility).  Originally I wasn’t gonna do any prompts bc school, but then I saw someone submitted Star Wars as a prompt lol. I’d been half thinking about doing a Star Wars AU after I watched Rogue One, so this was good motivation for me to do something.  The bg info is under the cut bc it’s pretty long.

Another heads up: I mention everyone, but the only ones I really thought about were Vision, Wanda, and those directly related to them (Tony, Ultron, and Pietro).  I also use “First Order” to refer to the bad guys, but if I were writing a fic, I probably would come up with a different name (Empire to First Order, First Order to whatever).

Maximoffs

Wanda and Pietro are from a planet rife with political turmoil and… just bad conditions overall (I’d name one if I could lol).  They’re both sensitive to the Force, Wanda more so than Pietro.

Their parents died because of the Rebellion - specifically Tony’s long-range weapons.  There was a First Order outpost near their home, and their parents got caught up in the crossfire.

Wanda and Pietro grew up on the streets after that, resenting Tony.

Pietro is a hella good pilot.  He knows how to hotwire/upgrade ships and make them go faster.  He’s teaching Wanda, but she’s a bit of a clumsy flyer.

Pietro meets Strucker, a general for the First Order, first and convinces Wanda that they should join the Order to be able to get back at Tony.

Strucker isn’t sensitive to the Force, but he knows how to use a lightsaber (and does, to an extent - but not very often because it has the potential to blow his cover).  He keeps up a lie that he’s a Sith, which is what ultimately drew Pietro and Wanda in since he promised he could train them.

Strucker trains the twins (poorly, but they don’t know that) to use the Force and gives them lightsabers (basic hand-me-down ones, bc the twins are a gamble Strucker keeping hidden from his higher-up Ultron - his plan is to replace Ultron with one of the twins, most likely Wanda since she’s more Force-sensitive.  Pietro is physically stronger but she wields her lightsaber better and is better at using the Force).

Ultron

At least five years before the twins meet Strucker, Tony is builds an android.  He’s the best there is at making them.  There aren’t many Jedi Knights anymore, so he had the grand idea of making droids that could be Jedis to help the Rebellion.

His first Force-sensitive droid is Ultron.  Tony uses his own biological material (blood, maybe other things) when creating Ultron so Ultron has midi-chlorians and can connect with the Force.

Ultron is a failure as soon as Tony boots him up.  Ultron defects almost immediately and joins the First Order.

Ultron, meanwhile, quickly rises in ranks but not as quickly as a Force-user would expect to.  He trains himself because his connection to the Force is weak and because the (unnamed) Sith Lord doesn’t think he’ll do well.  Loki keeps an eye out but doesn’t help Ultron.  

Ultron believes his connection is weak because he has too much metal/droid parts, so he kidnaps Helen Cho to force her to help him run experiments on people and cadavers.  Ultimately, though, he blames Tony, for his weak connection - because if it’s Tony’s biological material or if it’s the body Tony made for Ultron, it’s still Tony’s fault.  This spurns his hatred.

Eventually, a year after the twins join the First Order, Ultron and Cho have perfected the balance needed between droid and human.  Ultron plans on uploading his programs into the body.

The body was a cadaver of a Jedi Knight.  The skin got dyed red, as per Ultron’s wishes, and there’s metal all over the outside and inside for support and to connect the cpu to the extremities to move properly etc.  There is no longer any hair on the body because of the treatments it underwent.  There’s a piece of a kyber crystal in the forehead; the crystal is a chip from a bigger crystal that powered a superweapon (which, depending on kyber crystals work, might be retconned and just left as a kyber crystal was placed in his forehead).

Avengers

Nick Fury is responsible for the Avengers.  He made the small, elite team to do missions quickly and to do them well.  He knows they don’t get along (or, rather, Tony and Steve don’t really get along well, and when they fight, it pulls the others in), but they’re good when they’re connecting.

Tony: Ultron’s failure ended Tony’s attempts at making Force-sensitive droids, but he continued making battle-ready droids that serve as protectors with his AI, J.A.R.V.I.S. (I actually have no idea if AIs are in Star Wars, but it’s conceivable given all the tech they have).  He has a very weak connection to the Force.  He’s a good pilot and trooper, but he makes erratic movements that make it hard for people to work with him.

Steve: He’s a Rebel trooper.  He’s a decent pilot, but he’s no one’s first choice if there are other pilots available.  His cryotube was stolen from the First Order about two years before Tony started working on Ultron.  Steve was a failed human experiment from a previous war - failed as in they couldn’t control his mind, but he did get super-strength.  His friend, Bucky, was the only success.  Once Steve got wind of the First Order reawakening old human experiments (which they did because of Ultron and the possibilities he created just be being alive), he got hope; ever since word about a First Order mercenary called the Winter Soldier started getting to the Rebel forces, he’s been low-key searching for the Winter Soldier to see if it’s Bucky.

Natasha: She had been a merc-for-hire, willing to do the dirty work for any side so long as they paid the right price, but Clint scooped her up into the Rebel forces.  She’s a hella good pilot and trooper - the only one that can best her in a shoot-off is Clint.

Clint: He’s another really good all-rounder like Natasha.  She’s a faster pilot, but he’s far steadier at the helm.  He can shoot any weapon, and unless it’s the first few times he’s using that type, he’ll hit the bullseye every time.  Some think he’s Force-sensitive to explain how he’s such a good marksman, but he denies any sort of connection.  Clint’s hearing was damaged as a teenager from an explosion he was near.

Bruce: He’s a scientist and rarely goes into the field, unlike Tony.  He only joined the Rebel forces after his experiment on himself failed.  He’d tried replicating the First Order’s human experiments, like the ones done on Steve, based off of the rumors and little excerpts he could find.

Thor: He’s a Jedi Knight, the most powerful/only one the Rebellion has.  His brother Loki was also trained as a Jedi, but Loki defected to the Dark Side.  Thor is good as a mechanic (to fix things, not create them).

Rhodey: He’s an exemplary pilot and a decent shot.  He’s usually paired with Tony because they’re childhood friends; he can read Tony and Tony’s various moods better than most people.  He’s the one that dragged Tony into the Rebellion because of his strong sense of justice.

Sam: He’s an up-and-coming pilot and Steve’s understudy to eventually lead the Avengers.  He joined the Rebellion when his friend, Riley, got killed by the First Order.  He’s good with weapons but his melee fighting needs work.

When the storylines meet up

Approximately a year after the twins join the First Order, Ultron gets wind of them.  He decides he’ll train them and kills Strucker for disobedience and the attempted mutiny.  The twins are put off by this (Strucker had kept them isolated so they didn’t really know what the First Order was ever doing), and when Ultron tells them of his experiments, they start thinking they’ve made a mistake.

The Avengers have gotten the word about Ultron’s experiments, since they’d been tracking him since he defected, and they know they have an opening to attack Ultron’s Star Destroyer ship when he completed his new body.

When the twins see Ultron’s new body, they know they need to leave the First Order and to take the body with them/away from Ultron.  Their plan to escape and steal the body before Ultron can upload his programs into it coincidentally coincides with when the Avengers attack.

Basically the bare bones of AoU’s plot but in space lol: The Avengers get the body, the twins, and Cho out of the Star Destroyer, but Pietro dies going back to get Natasha and Clint (since he was the best pilot in good enough condition).  Tony wakes the body with Thor and Bruce’s help, putting his J.A.R.V.I.S. AI into it.  Ultron was far more successful in designing an android (Cho says he’s more along the lines of a synthetic human instead of an android, and Vision prefers that term as well) that could use the Force.  

Thor teaches Vision how to meditate, and he’s left in isolation until the kyber crystal in his forehead changes color from red (or if kyber crystals can’t change colors one they have one (and this is based off of the knowledge that Jedis make their light sabers and mediate with the crystal to get it to represent them - so if they can’t change from red to a different color, then the original blue hue of an unused kyber crystal goes here)) to yellow (meaning he has a balanced effort between scholarly and physical pursuits).  Wanda is also left in isolation with a kyber crystal to test where her loyalties lie.  Hers changes to purple (which means she’s in a gray area, will use both Dark and Light techniques).  It also means she has to work for others to trust her more, but Clint accepted her right off the bat, as did Vision and Thor.

Both Vision and Wanda join The Avengers, being trained by literally everyone in their various fields of expertise (ex. Clint teaching them to shoot, Thor teaching them in the Force, Nat teaching them stealth, etc).

For the lightsaber designs, I gave Vision a saberstaff (one that can be split into two normal lightsabers) because it’s difficult to master.  I felt like it fit him. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  I gave Wanda a lightsaber with a curved hilt because the angle the blade comes out at often confuses opponents and gives better precision to the wielder.  As for their clothes designs, I tried to keep Vision a little more respectful to the Jedi robes while retaining his MCU color scheme.  Wanda I kept a little more free because she’s in the gray area... and her color scheme is not applicable, at all, to the Jedi robes (more applicable to the Siths) lmao.  Since red is an integral part of her character, I couldn’t change it.  I left in little things tho (the hood on her overcoat, making her shirt long and her pants a shade of brown).

But yeah, that is all the background info I collected and built upon for this au... Probably at least 90% was already around when I saw the Valentine’s Day prompt lol.  So, anon who posted it, if you’re reading this, thank you for the kick in the butt I needed.  Hope you’ve at least somewhat enjoyed this lol.

THE WRAP: Wish lists, barking beans and award winning weed | Local-Business | Business

Santa. Pay attention up.

Small companies have been hammered this 12 months. They’ve accomplished their greatest to remain open however many are being swamped by the second wave of the pandemic. CFIB’s Louis-Philippe Gauthier says two-thirds are hurting and wish better-targeted assist and slightly “purchase native” together with the “keep protected” messaging from the federal government. And the Christmas want listing for St. John’s board of commerce boss AnnMarie Boudreau is fairly simple: get the vaccines out. In the meantime, if you wish to assist native, hit this clickable advent calendar that shows you how.

Aqualitas the following massive deal?

Jake Ward, head grower at Nova Scotia natural hashish firm, Aqualitas Inc., proven right here on the firm’s rising facility on Brooklyn, Queens County, was just lately named Canada’s Prime Grower by Develop Alternative Journal, a publication serving the Canadian hashish trade.Dean Casavechia – Contributed

Hashish grower Jake Ward was the primary rent at Aqualitas however he gained’t be the final. The Bedford firm, which can quickly change to rising pot in water fertilized by koi fish, bumped up workers by greater than 10 per cent this 12 months. It inked a deal to produce THC gummies for the recreational market and is listening to buyout provides. Ward was additionally simply named Canada’s high grower.

Joly St. Nick

Melanie Joly is minister of financial improvement and official languages within the federal cupboard. – Contributed

Within the higher to provide than obtain class, ACOA minister Melanie Joly made a swing by means of Atlantic Canada this week, on a purple and white Air Canada jet, not a sleigh. She was right here to remind us of federal presents already obtained and trace about extra. SaltWire’s Roger Taylor spoke with her Monday.

Of counting and occasional beans

James Ok. MacFarlane, a north finish Charlotte Avenue resident, is a frequent every day customer to the Tim Hortons retailer on Charlotte Avenue in Sydney. This Tim’s location will shut completely on the finish of the day on Friday afternoon, the primary COVID-19 enterprise casualty in downtown Sydney. – Chris Shannon

You realize it’s unhealthy when Tim Horton shuts down. That’s simply what occurred on Charlotte Avenue in Sydney after the pandemic despatched residence greater than 500 staff at Immigration and 100-plus from CRA. (There’s a bean-counter joke there someplace.) Unless those public servants head back to the office soon, a lot of vendors will be following Horton.

King of the Rock

Bishop’s Falls Mark Brace just lately secured a $2 million funding from the “Dragons’ Den”. — Contributed photograph – Contributed

Not way back, Mark Brace was going door to door laying roof shingles. Now he’s bought $2 million in recent funding and 80 per cent of a quarry turning out some of the slickest looking granite you’ll ever see. The opposite 20 per cent went to 5 traders he introduced on board throughout his pitch on Dragon’s Den.

Lobsters within the desert?

Ryan Mackay (far proper), mission supervisor with Aqua Manufacturing Methods leads a staff making ready elements for the Sensible Water filtration system. – Contributed

Phillip Nickerson likes lobsters. A lot in order that he wants to make sure they stay alive and healthy as long as possible. Till they hit the pot. His firm, Aqua Manufacturing Methods makes moveable importer tanks that may maintain lobster recent, even within the desert warmth of Dubai.

Truthful wind blows for PanGeo

Newfoundland and Labrador firm Pangeo Subsea has carried out enterprise in Europe’s offshore wind power sector for a lot of years. — Picture by Graham Fox – Contributed

Boris Johnson desires each UK residence powered by power from Britain’s offshore wind fields inside a decade. That’s good news for Newfoundland tech outfits like PanGeo that may inform firms the place they will drive towers into the seabed.

Yoga pants for Bowser

The Barking Bean Cafe, a small enterprise in Hantsport. – Contributed

It’s been a tough 12 months for companies massive and small, however Barking Bean Cafe owners Glenn and Virginia Deering found a way, combining a cafe and pet supply outlet under one roof. Therefore the yoga pants. And cannabis-derived terpene oil. Sure, they’re each for pets and the canine and cat facet of the enterprise does higher than the espresso.

PERSPECTIVES

BRADLEY: Arduous touchdown in 2021?

Danger-loving retail traders led charmed lives this 12 months driving disruptors within the tech sector and snapping up IPOs however Steadyhand’s Tom Bradley says 2021 may see a reckoning.

LEVITT: Whacking and sacking simply bought tougher

The Monetary Put up’s Howard Levitt says a Nova Scotia case is turning assumptions about severance on its head and prompting employers to ship new employment contracts for a authorized rewrite.

That’s the wrap! Again subsequent week. Till then, attempt my prescription for #2020: a second serving to of turkey and two days on the sofa.

~ Brian Ward

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John T Mainer 28840: Day of the Jackal

Day of the Jackal

My name is Jack Burton, I pilot the Regis "Pork Chop Express" for Jackal's Lanterns. This is just another crappy story about getting your ass kicked, and getting some payback here in Mecha Galaxy.

Jackal's Lanterns were not the strongest Clan in existence, but those who served the Great Pumpkin as "Jackal" Jackson's mecha squadron was known, were known for punching their weight among the mid ranked clans of Mecha Galaxy. No one was going to mistake them for Dragons, even in a bad light, but if they took your coin, they got the job done, even if they had to bleed to do it. There was bleeding happening right now. Sawchuck's Savages came here, and they came heavy.

Jackal's Anubis was flanked by his best warriors. Jose Chu's Boreas, my Regis, Charles Bear's Rook, and Serena's Notas. That was a decent line, all niode machines. The lightest was Charles Bear's Rook at 75 tons of missile launching fury, and the heaviest Serena's 100 ton Notas the Red Witch. We were a lot stronger than the rest of our troop, but the second line was Torrents and Dreadnoughts, so not pushovers either. It wasn't going to be enough. Jackal lowered his Anubis head to bring his shoulder missile batteries to bear, his 95 ton monster against the 110 ton Spectre. Serena danced her Notas lightly in the face of the 105 ton Kami that promised fire to her fire, while I paced my Regis against the Xango. Both Chu's Boreas and Bear's Rook faced nothing less than the grinning death's head of a 110 ton Penner.

I had the highest damage lasers on my Regis, and maximized my damage through enhanced targeting. I could pretty much guarantee doing x2 x3 damage on top of my already optimized laser damage. My shields were drawing on the wide open engine resonators to give me enough auto repair I feared getting cancer standing next to them. I knew how to face big mecha, but not so much the BFM, the over one hundred tonners of the next generation mecha. We were Jackal's Lanterns, and we had taken gold to defend this ground, so the big boys would have to go through us to take it.

They did.

My Twin Grazers screamed as I laid the targeting crosshairs on the faint haze of green and blue that was the Xango behind its layered shields, and cut loose. My beams split, attenuated, and even bounced back to strike me deep enough to carve half my armour from my right arm. A huge explosion marked the end of Charles Bear's Rook as a Mjolnir fired by the Penner struck like the hammer of Thor and didn't just kill the Rook, but shut down the Torrent behind it. Serena scored with her Illyrian Flare, but ate a Hellbat in return. Chu's Boreas dodged the incoming fire he was facing but was out of line to return fire himself. Then the Xango fired. I thought I had seen what a mecha could do with lasers, my Regis was once the top machine in existence at lasers, but no more.

My laser shield stopped 1500 points of damage, my inner shields another 550. My armour....exploded. Do you know what it feels like when you are riding 90 tons of living metal and crystal, your every never fiber echoing and controlling the myomer pseudomuscles, the create crystal matrix bones, the ferrite armour scales, biopic cable nerve systems controlling a fusion reactor power that rivaled a starship or small sun? Now imagine being bonded to a niode matrix living intelligence, a living AI bonded though you sharing your organic brain with its niode matrix to make controlling this machine an extension of your own body, only with machine processing speed to allow conscious control of every ounce of overpowered killing machine. Then imagine being hit with a fifteen thousand point plus spear of coherent light. Light that is so compressed and energetic it converted my armour into a low grade fission explosion as it shattered the atomic bonds and liberated the bond energy as a plasma blast wave that tore through my mecha like the fist of god. Too fast to trigger the shut down protocols, so no mercy shut down of the link to my Regis brain as it/our/my body converted to metal/crystal plasma. No emergency shut down of the reactors, only blind chance and brute trauma tore through the back of my mecha to vent the explosion of my reactor core outside the husk of my hollowed out machine, shutting down, and knocking down the Dreadnought behind me.

I was conscious, unable to move, unable to break the link to my dying machine as the Xango stepped over me. I/we drank in the input from my eyes and his sensors. We could see the spot on his hull that our Twin Grazer, a 120 point weapon before any of my bonuses or damage stacking got added had hit. The paint was untouched, and it was slightly warm. The beam had pulsed in a Wide Fork, strobing across the whole front rank like some mad DJ at a dance rave, only instead of bringing the funk, he was funking us up. I was the only kill, but everyone else was shut down by the damage and easily swept away.

The other ranks didn't take as long to die as we did.

Sawchuck's Savages lost one mecha to a lucky shot from Kitty Carlson's Smilodon. We were a week putting our machines back together, and morale took longer.

Jackal came to see me in the bay, he had put up his own Justicar for sale to finance some improvements. He couldn't pilot it yet, it was locked, but still that was something he was counting on upgrading to for the future. He was with our chief tech Nokomura, a dour Japanese man who looked like a depressed basset hound with a cigarette and five o clock shadow.

Jackal cut straight to the point.

"Listen Jack, you can't trade punches with a Xango or he will hand you your head and beat the next rank to death with it. I bought some Predator Targeting to boost your critical kill and speed. They don't damage stack for shit, but you were not winning that game anyway. He will always hit harder than you. That is as much as I can do for you." Jackal slapped my shoulder and slumped off, looking as beat as I felt. Nokomura was talking, he jabbed me with the data slate when he realized I was tuning him out.

"Hey halfwit, I was asking if you wanted to swap with the two Dilophos pilots. They have been dying to get a hold of your Prism Beams, and they are willing to swap for their Galaxy Eyes. Same deal with your Twin Grazerrs, the Apis pilots are willing to trade their Tri Slaggers for them straight across. I opened my mouth to object when my data implant ran the numbers again, and caught the flashing highlight Nokomura had added. I was losing as far as base damage, and as far as damage stacking went, but I was gaining Critical Kill, a lot of it. I reran the fight and all my simulator training since the fight and realized that playing one punch with a Xango on strength per strength was not a game I could ever win in a Regis.

I can't outfight a Xango. But I can kill it.

I ran the numbers again. I grunted. It still wasn't working. I am technically faster, but the Xango has so many weapons that technically and practically are two different things. He still usually fired first. If he hit, I was vaporized. That REALLY HURT. I looked at Nokomura, he was pointing those droppy sad eyes at me from behind those stupid shop glasses he always wore. He had a suggestion, but wasn't going to waste it if I wasn't listening. Well, I didn't see the answer, so I finally bit and asked.

"Alright Noko, what do you think I need to do?" Nokomura didn't smile, he never smiled. He just dumped a data file to me. Two listings, one an offer on the Fides that I swore I was going to get around to levelling up but just kept falling farther behind. The other a deal right now on Quantum Bus engines. OK, now those were FAST.

Nokomura began talking

"You are running Reverse Rotary and Dark Matter right now. Fork, some damage stacking, but we already agree you aren't winning the damage stack fight, and neither of those is all that fast. Quantum Bus make you enough faster that you will fire first over half the time, and as a bonus, you can patch up Bear's Rook and keep him in the fight longer. He can lay out the damage with his missiles, but at 75 tons he lacks the armour to hang for long in a big boy fight, unless you can help out."

It was a point. Medbot would fix me up sure, but it would also patch up my line mates if they were hurt too. Stack them like that and not only was I faster than snot, but I was a walking medic for the line. Punching above our weight means surviving the big hits where even splash can take you half way to the grave, and fork will finish it. OK. Lets face it, that Fides was not going to get urgent enough to ever get up to level, so at least I can make enough on it to upgrade my engines. Plus the ones I am taking off can strengthen the rest of squadron, especially the third rank where most of the gear was crystal. I nodded the OK, and gave my implant code to authorize the sale.

Weeks later, Sawchuck's Savages came back for more.

This time Jackal was the unlucky one as the Specter caught him with a spread of Predator Drones which critical killed him before he could do more than pop his missile launcher bay doors. Then it was my turn. I tried to get lock on the Xango with my shoulder spike Trislagers, but the laser shields kept defeating my lock. I didn't have time to wait. I pivoted on my left foreclaw and allowed a Hammerhead beam to pass through where I was almost standing and cut loose with the light blue scream of a Galaxy Eye. About one third the candle power of the Twin Grazer I used to fire, the strange blue beam seemed to compress as it passed through the stacked shields of the Xango, attenuating almost to nothing as it reached the hull without enough force to penetrate the heavy energized hull plating of its inner shields. It played across the Xango like St Elmo's fire, a dancing sparkling energy surge that swept over the machine, polarizing, depolarizing, connectors and shields internal and external until the engine buffers and weapon capacitors of the Xango began to chain fire like plasma level fireworks inside the great machine. The massive armour that protetcted the Xango killed it by reflecting all that power into the gyro and main fusion engine, causing the great machine to topple and explode as its balance systems failed and main power blew out the back armour baffle panels to gut the machine but save the pilot. Critical kill baby.

Tandem Bombs Wide Forked from Charles Bear's Rook as Serena landed a Birthday Fist that ended the Kami in a flowering of fire. We traded mecha for mecha in the next round, trading a Boreas for Penner, then a Notas for Penner. I killed the Spectre to avenge Jackal but when Charles and I advanced into the next rank, Rook and Regis against the world, we got one kill before something bad happened and the ground came up and smacked me in the face. I must have been tired or something because I napped the rest of the fight.

I am told it was spectacular. Two of Sawchucks's Savages were left above the last Magnus of our back row. It must have made an impression, because when the pilot from Sawchuck's Savages pulled me from my Regis, being very careful to keep my spine supported which tells you great things about the condition of my cockpit at the time, and strapped me to the spinal board for the field ambulances, she gave me a data crystal.

"Hey, you guys really gave us a run for it. The boss says he likes what you showed him, and Faction War is coming up. I think it would be good for both of us if you came with us when the wheels come off and the Factions start forming. Its always nice to have someone you know will fight smart and go the distance having your back. Pass that along to your boss. Maybe next time we meet on the field, we will be fighting together, not fighting each other."

Could be the concussion, but that was far from the worst idea I have ever heard. I would think on it, at least until I felt OK to get off this damned board. I would think about that, and the sight of that Xango sparkling and blowing up. Revenge is a dish best served sparkly, at least here in Mecha Galaxy.

John T Mainer 28840

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Fox news Top 10 prospect-scheme fits in the 2020 NFL Draft - NFL.com

Fox news

Monday, Apr 27, 2020 08: 26 AM

Long-time evaluators will hasty uncover you that matching a prospect's talents to the factual scheme is valuable phase of the scouting process. Scouts need so as to successfully assess the strengths of every prospect's sport and lumber him into the lawful scheme class to make certain his success.

That's one amongst the the reason why I might well maybe now not wait to utilize a little bit of time to overview the draft list to witness which gamers are in the finest scenarios for their talents. It can be simple to search out a ton of these suits in the main round -- certainly, one amongst the gamers I listed below did advance off the board on Day 1 -- but I wager there are a chain of gamers picked outside of Spherical 1 with the aptitude to emerge as stars in systems which might well maybe well be excellent for their talents.

With that in mind, right here's my list of 10 gamers who landed with groups that easiest fit their talents:

Drafted No. 26 overall (Spherical 1)

To the chagrin of many Packers followers, the crew traded up to get their quarterback of the longer term at the discontinue of the main round. The Utah Declare standout is a determined mixture of A-plus arm ability, athleticism and improvisational skills that might well maybe well impact him a neatly-known particular person in the league. While the skeptics point to his disappointing 2019 season (20: 17 TD-to-INT ratio) as a important predicament, Esteem posted a 32:6 TD:INT ratio as a sophomore in 2018, exhibiting patience, poise and self-discipline as a pocket passer surrounded by skilled playmakers and a ingenious play-caller. In Green Bay, Esteem might well maybe well personal no much less than a year or two to sit down down in the serve of Aaron Rodgers and switch into the player that captivated scouts' imaginations sooner than the 2019 college football season. If Packers coach Matt LaFleur can soft out the tough patches in Esteem's sport whereas helping the young playmaker take care of the aggressive technique that conjured up loose comparisons to Patrick Mahomes, the Packers might well maybe well extend their unprecedented breeze of unheard of quarterback play into the 2030s.

Drafted No. 58 overall (Spherical 2)

Offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak's zone-basically basically based scheme is dependent upon a neighborhood of athletic offensive linemen with prominent motion skills working in unison. Cleveland provides the Vikings a mighty-wished e book-discontinue blocker with agility, steadiness and body adjust on the sides. He capably seals the sides on outside runs whereas exhibiting the quickness and mobility to latch onto defenders on the second degree. With his nimble toes and prominent steadiness furthermore exhibiting up in breeze security, he'll be a distinction-maker on the Vikings' offensive line.

Drafted No. 55 overall (Spherical 2)

With out reference to fielding the NFL's high-ranked speeding assault with Designate Ingram and Gus Edwards thriving in the serve of twin-threat QB Lamar Jackson, the Ravens upgraded their RB1 attach with the addition of Dobbins. The 5-foot-9, 209-pounder is a dynamic runner with prominent vision, steadiness and body adjust. He rushed for 2,000-plus yards all the intention in which thru his final season at Ohio Declare whereas exhibiting the strength, stamina and persistence to take care of the load as a workhorse runner. With Ravens' runners averaging 5.09 yards per lift in Jackson's 22 profession begins, Dobbins might well maybe well play at a Educated Bowl degree as a rookie in a read-option offense that mechanically gashes defenses lacking self-discipline at the purpose of assault.

Drafted No. 52 overall (Spherical 2)

The Florida Declare standout is an excellent match for Sean McVay's zone-basically basically based working sport as a one-lower runner with body adjust, steadiness and burst. Akers quietly save collectively a pair of 1,000-yard seasons in the serve of a suspect offensive line because of his creativity, toughness and stamina. With the Rams, he steps correct into a better field with a scheme that matches his talents and a coach seeking to reclaim his title as one amongst the sport's easiest play designers. If the Rams furthermore faucet into his explosive skills as a breeze-catcher out of the backfield, namely in the cloak sport, Akers might well maybe well hasty turn into a household title as one amongst the finest young working backs in football.

Drafted No. 65 overall (Spherical 3)

Or now not it is exhausting to search out tackling machines with ballhawk skills in the NFL, however the Bengals might well maybe well've landed a unicorn in the Wyoming standout. Wilson completed his profession with 400-plus tackles and 10 interceptions whereas exhibiting prominent instincts, consciousness, and diagnostic skills as a sideline-to-sideline defender. He is one amongst the few linebackers with a mixture of athleticism, anticipation and ball skills to thrive as an beneath playmaker in a zone-heavy scheme. If the Bengals hand Wilson the keys to their fresh-gaze protection early in Year 1, lets witness the unit impact important progress by the discontinue of the 2020 season.

Drafted No. 74 overall (Spherical 3)

Credit Sean Payton and Co. for aggressively appealing up the board (14 spots) to salvage up a linebacker who many thought might well maybe well've long previous late in Spherical 1. Baun possesses a rare mixture of breeze-speeding ability and coverage skills, and he is an explosive QB hunter off the brink. He has a knack for a success on the nook, and his natural breeze-bustle skills might well maybe well allow the Saints to make exercise of him regularly on blitzes. As an active sideline-to-sideline defender with very supreme fluctuate, Baun provides Dennis Allen a hybrid defender to lend a hand combine up his defensive sport view.

Drafted No. 54 overall (Spherical 2)

The Payments' return to prominence has been fueled by a blue-collar roster that is loaded with proficient employee bees -- and Epenesa can also mute turn into one with the hive in no time. The 6-5, 275-pounder is a productive energy rusher with steady fingers and underrated motion skills. He completed his three-year profession at Iowa with 26.5 sacks, including 22 over the previous seasons, whereas showing a diversity of moves and counters that might well maybe well allow him to attain double-digit sacks yearly as a pro. That previous production and future doable were why I had him because the No. 2 edge player in his class. With his ability to bustle from the within as a three-technique on passing downs, the Payments personal added a flexible high-motor defender to a frontline that wears down opponents with relentless energy and persistence.

Drafted No. 179 overall (Spherical 5)

The Cowboys did now not address their need at edge rusher unless the fifth round, but they might well maybe've landed a doable starter in Anae. The Utah product, who I had because the fifth-easiest edge player in the 2020 class, is an vigorous rusher with distinctive first-step quickness and snap-count anticipation. As an explosive velocity rusher with a high-revving motor and relentless spirit, he overwhelms blockers ill-equipped to deal alongside with his suddenness off the ball and fanatic effort. Given his execrable temperament, polished bustle skills and versatility, Anae might well maybe well impact a correct away impact on a protection that is expected to feature extra hybrid appears to be below fresh defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.

Drafted No. 64 overall (Spherical 2)

First-year Panthers coach Matt Rhule is all about velocity, energy and playmaking ability on the defensive side of the ball. Chinn checks off all of the boxes as a enormous-bodied security with linebacker-like bodily dimensions and cornerback conceal skills. The Southern Illinois standout is a sideline-to-sideline defender with blitz skills and natural ballhawking instincts. In a protection in desperate need of playmakers (witness Carolina's all-protection draft haul), Chinn's versatility and massive-play ability might well maybe well impact him the foundational block Rhule builds the protection upon over the following few years.

Drafted No. 139 overall (Spherical 4)

Or now not it is exhausting to search out a cornerback with the athleticism, instincts and toughness to play nickel nook in the NFL. That's why Raider Nation can also mute hasty embody Robertson as one amongst their future stars on the defensive side of the ball. The 5-8, 187-pounder is an aggressive tackler on the perimeter with a valorous technique to contact that will elevate the degree of physicality at some point soon of the protection. In addition, Robertson's improbable ball skills, anticipation and consciousness can also mute allow him to impress a chain of performs in the passing sport as a "witness ball, get ball" defender. If the Louisiana Tech neatly-known particular person can hasty grasp the nuances of the playbook, he can also mute be in high attach to impress a correct away impact as a sub-kit player in Paul Guenther's protection.

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Terrible guessing game

If you haven’t seen it, Chapter 2 of Undiscovered Country is here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11941542/chapters/27172404

Also if you haven’t seen it, I’ve been holding a terrible guessing game, described here, and in my defense I did say it was terrible from the beginning, and that people were unlikely to guess, but people kept guessing anyway. Thank you for humoring me.

I’m going to put stuff about the Actual Answer below the cut, so please don’t read unless you want to be spoiled as to Why Victor’s Skates are Gold In My Fic.

I’ll explain how I got to gold skates, and since nobody guessed the reason exactly, I’ll be awarding glory to those who got closest in various ways.

I realize that you all don’t know me very well, but for the future *whispers*guess dorkier. Guess much dorkier.

I want you to know that I entirely blame Yuzuru Hanyu for this. I was watching this documentary on him a while back, and they mentioned at that point that he kept a notebook where he recorded every jump that he’d ever done with color-coded results and some notes. Every jump. In every practice. (Notice that I have given Yuzuru’s notebook to Victor--this seems like something that basically all world champions probably have to do to be competitive.)

At some point much later, with YOI under my belt, I started thinking about that notebook again. What is there to record about a jump? What do you put in the notebook? Why is this data valuable? How do you use it to refine your skating plan?

There are some answers I could come up with on my own, but having never tried a jump or asked people who tried jumps, they lacked verisimilitude. When I started thinking about Victor as a character who might potentially have such a notebook, I started thinking about what would actually go in his notebook. So that meant I started googling what sort of metrics actual skating coaches thought about for jumps, and I started seeing people talk about minimum air times for jumps and stuff like that.

My thought process:

1. Huh, air times, I bet that’s an important metric to measure. I wonder how people measure it?

2. Gah, some people take video and examine it frame-by-frame? And then figure airtime by multiplying frames by the time per frame? That sounds like it would take forever. You couldn’t analyze every jump that way even if you wanted to.

3. Oh, someone made an app. That’s good...but you still have to identify the starting and ending frames, so you’re still doing frame-by-frame analysis. Surely there’s a way to automate this. You’d need an ungodly amount of money, though.

4. Hey. You know who has an ungodly amount of money. Victor Nikiforov has an ungodly amount of money. Hmm.

5. Okay, here I am, looking at a bunch of frames of skaters lifting off/landing on the ice. In order for a computer to identify the frames in which a skater lifts off and lands, it needs to be able to (1) Identify the skate that is on the ice, (2) identify the ice, and (3) precisely distinguish between the skate and the ice. This is so easy for humans to do, but it’s incredibly difficult for computers. We can recognize skates from a variety of angles; we can also identify that a skater is a skater whether that skater is in a Biellmann spin or an Ina Bauer, even though the silhouettes are entirely different. How does a computer differentiate between a dark shadowed rectangle on the rink floor and a skate? And if there are multiple skaters on the rink, how does it know which skater is the right skater? I mumbled to myself about this for a while before realizing that skates of a different color would make the skate/ice identifying problem substantially easier.

6. OH MY GOD VICTOR WEARS GOLD SKATES HE HAS ALREADY SOLVED THIS PROBLEM IN CANON. I LOVE YOU, VICTOR.

7. Added in force-feedback wristband because additional data from various sensors on the wrist + force-feedback actually seemed super useful and since I had the Victor Nikiforov fictional development budget, I thought why not? I thought about just making it a smart watch of some kind but figured that wearing a watch while you do jumps is a bad idea--hit your wrist wrong and you could smash your wrist between your watch and the ice, which is extremely dangerous. You don’t want to wear anything dangerous on the ice.

8. Then I spent time making sure I could embed these systems on some kind of a flexible-ish structure. It turns out you can. Victor didn’t mention that there was a 3D gyroscope in the thing, too, but there is, I just didn’t want to make the fic too much into tech specs and the like. I had to take out some stuff that I decided on because I wasn’t trying to write a white paper on my magical new app + hardware solution that doesn’t exist because we don’t have Victor Nikiforov kind of money.

9. This kind of a data-driven solution would explain Victor’s dominance. Competence requires you to repeat the things you’re learning, over and over, with feedback until you get it right. The better your feedback, and the faster the correction, the quicker you can learn.

10. I mean, Victor can also just be the best. HE IS THE BEST WITH OR WITHOUT AN APP. I wanted that to be clear, too.

11. I got really hung up on these particular 500 words of this chapter, and I’m sorry I took you all along on that ride. I hope you enjoyed being strung along.

12. The thing that will bother me forever: That I had Victor blithely suggest removing the paint with turpentine without checking what that did to the structural integrity or surface of the skates. If I were doing this properly, I would have figured out exactly what solvent to use but at this point I’d dumped like 20 extra hours of software pseudo-development into the fic and had to pull my brain back before it went down the rabbit hole again. BAD BRAIN. BAD. If anyone offhand knows the answer of what solvents you can use on skates, I’d love to hear it.

13. The parts for the wrist band are pretty inexpensive--maybe $30 since Victor isn’t buying in huge bulk with labor for assembly? So “not that expensive” in Victor’s mind is like $150. He probably has a ton of these because my guess is the build quality isn’t great and also, they do get bent/screwed up/borked by falls.

14. Miss and Miss Not Direction Appearing In This Fic are the two engineers, hardware and software, who are in Victor’s employ. I don’t know anything about them except they’re both women, they’re both smart as hell, they’re lesbians, and they are really, really into each other. Don’t argue, it is law.

The real cost is the sunk cost--the money he’s put into app development--and that’s probably ~$400K-ish, and only that cheap because there are Russians in need of work.

Okay, now on to the brave souls who guessed into the abyss of shysweetthing’s mind and inexplicably managed to do well.

CLOSEST GUESS:

Anonymous, who guessed that gold blades showed up better on camera.

I argued with myself a lot over whether this counted, because it is close to the truth. But ultimately, the problem the gold blades were intended to solve wasn’t with the blades showing up on camera--they showed up fine to the human eye--but with a computer algorithm being able to easily distinguish blades from non-blades, and to identify Victor’s blades from any others potentially on the rink.

RIGHT ABOUT THE WRONG PART OF THE GUESS

This anon, who guessed that Victor painted his skates by himself. He did for a short period! Also, Yuuri paints his skates by himself! It’s true! It’s not the reason he does it, and Victor’s skates are (by now) actually gold-plated and not painted, but this is like 900% more correctness than in most guesses.

RIGHT BUT WAY TOO VAGUE TO COUNT GUESS:

This guess by @torikabori: “[T]here's some kind of Science behind it and he got gold blades because of Physics Reasons. Either they glide better or they last longer...”

Yes, there’s some kind of Science behind it, and yes, there are Physics Reasons, but they do not glide better or last longer. First half of guess is correct, second half incorrect.

WEIRDLY RIGHT BUT TOTALLY WRONG GUESS:

This guess by @rogovich, which is wrong in particulars about the skates, but weirdly right, in a strange way, about the scene in the fic! Victor isn’t trying to tell Yuuri anything moral, but he is (inadvertently) disrupting him from his self-loathing. Victor did not have a disastrous finish in his youth, but he did go from winning to not winning, briefly (and that’s disastrous to Victor, of course). The gold blades were a part of how he picked himself up--not because they served as motivation, but because they were part of the application.

You all get glory, and what that means is that from here on out, if someone is a jerk to you, you get to look at them and say to yourself, “Ha! I have glory!” and then sweep away majestically and/or clumsily, because you are glorious.

College basketball’s top 100 players for 2019-2020 season: No. 100 through No. 51

Colorado’s Tyler Bey, Michigan’s Jon Teske, and Xavier’s Paul Scruggs all appear in our top 100 college basketball players countdown.

Counting down the top 100 players in college basketball for the 2019-2020 season.

We’re counting down the top 100 players in college basketball for the 2019-2020 season. Find players No. 50 to No. 1 in a separate post later today. — ed. note

100. Collin Gillespie, JR, G, Villanova

Gillespie was handed the keys to the Villanova offense a year ahead of schedule last season, and it showed. Expect him to benefit from that experience and be an all-conference performer for Jay Wright as a junior.

99. Daniel Oturu, SO, C, Minnesota

Oturu established himself as a fierce inside presence in his first collegiate season, leading all Big Ten freshmen in rebounding, field goal percentage and blocks. With Jordan Murphy and Amir Coffey gone, Oturu will have to thrive in an expanded role if the Golden Gophers are going to make it back to the NCAA tournament.

98. Tulio Da Silva, SR, F, Missouri State

The Brazil native and South Florida transfer was the MVC Newcomer of the Year last season while averaging 14.3 ppg and 7.4 rebounds. Da Silva, who set a school record for dunks last season with 42, will be the unquestioned star for a Missouri State team that is the preseason pick to win the Missouri Valley.

97. Jay Huff, JR, F, Virginia

Tony Bennett has a history of taking guys with pedestrian stat lines but a handful of flashes of brilliance and turning them into standouts by the time they’re juniors and seniors. Expect Huff, a 7’1 forward who can shoot the three and handle the rock a little bit, to be the next who follows that path.

96. Nathan Knight, SR, G, William & Mary

William & Mary is one of only four original Division I programs that has never made the NCAA tournament. It’s on Knight, who averaged 21.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game last season, to remove the Tribe from that dubious club in his final collegiate season.

95. Trent Frazier, JR, G, Illinois

Frazier has been Illinois’ most consistent performer over the last couple of down seasons, and figures to maintain that role in a year where the Illini hope to return as a national player. Ayo Dosunmu is the guy getting all the (deserved) NBA buzz, but Brad Underwood doesn’t get this team into the Big Dance unless Frazier performs like an all-conference caliber player.

94. Remy Martin, JR, G, Arizona State

The man with the perfect name to be a highly entertaining Arizona State point guard is back for his junior season after helping to lead the Sun Devils to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time in 30 years. Martin battled through injuries throughout his sophomore season, but still earned Second Team All-Pac-12 honors after averaging 14.2 points and a league-leading 6.2 assists per game.

93. Trent Forrest, SR, G, Florida State

Forrest, who has been nagged by injuries throughout his college career, will be the heart and soul of a Florida State team talented enough to once again be a threat to the top of the ACC. Forrest is a dogged defender and a consistent performer on the offensive end who’s always at his best when the stakes are the highest.

Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

92. Jordan Bowden, SR, G, Tennessee

Bowden and backcourt mate Lamonte Turner have had their fair share of shining moments in Knoxville already, but they’ve never stood directly in the spotlight. With the Grant Williams/Admiral Schofield era now a thing of the past, that’s all about to change. Bowden was a double-figure scorer a year ago, but his 10.6 ppg is going to need to increase if the Volunteers are going to make it back to the NCAA tournament’s second weekend.

91. Samuell Williamson, FR, F, Louisville

A late-blooming McDonald’s All-American, Williamson is a silky-smooth wing who should benefit greatly from the attention that preseason ACC Player of the Year Jordan Nwora is going to receive from opposing defenses.

90. Elijah Hughes, JR, G, Syracuse

Hughes was a surprise standout for Jim Boeheim last season, averaging 13.7 ppg in his first season after transferring in from East Carolina. He’s the only returning starter from last year’s 20-win team, and should be the Orange’s No. 1 option on offense this season.

89. Nick Rakocevic, SR, C, USC

Rakocevic may suit up for a program that has a reputation for being a little bipolar, but personally he’s about as reliable a player as there is in the Pac-12. He ranked among the Pac-12’s top-10 in six categories last season, scoring average (10th), rebounds (third), field goal percentage (eighth), blocked shots (fifth), offensive rebounds (first) and defensive rebounds (third).

88. A.J. Lawson, SO, G, South Carolina

Lawson averaged 13.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game while being forced to play more minutes than Frank Martin would have liked as a freshman. His 6’6 size makes him a matchup issue for pretty much every opponent on the Gamecocks’ 2019-20 schedule.

87. Chris Lykes, JR, G, Miami

The diminutive — he’s listed at 5’7 and that seems generous — Lykes figures to be one of college basketball’s most entertaining players in 2019-20. He ranked ninth in the ACC in scoring (16.2 ppg) last season and figures to have an even bigger green light as a junior. That’s welcome news for a guy who seems willing to pull up from just about any spot across halfcourt.

Photo by Patrick Gorski/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

86. Joe Wieskamp, SO, G, Iowa

Assuming Jordan Bohannon is never healthy enough to play this season, Wieskamp is going to be the guy for Fran McCaffery. He’s already an established marksman from the outside, but Wieskamp’s offensive game will need to become a bit more diversified if he’s going to approach the overall numbers Hawkeye fans would expect to see from a healthy Bohannon.

85. Jared Butler, SO, G, Baylor

Baylor found its stride last season when Butler found his and began running the show for the Bears at the point. He averaged 10.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for a Baylor squad that advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, but which has loftier aspirations in 2019-20.

84. Jahmius Ramsey, FR, G, Texas Tech

The former five-star recruit significantly upped expectations for his freshman season by dropping 44 points in one of Texas Tech’s August exhibition games in the Bahamas. Ramsey figures to be one of the offensive focal points for a Red Raider team looking to replace the production of Jarrett Culver, Matt Mooney and Tariq Owens from last season’s national runner-up squad.

83. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, FR, F, Villanova

Trying to predict who’s going to do what for this year’s Villanova team feels damn near impossible. Jay Wright has a bunch of similar pieces to work with, and it’s likely going to take a bit of time to figure out who goes where. A super versatile 6’9 wing, Robinson-Earl feels like the ‘Nova newcomer best equipped to come in and be consistently productive from night one on. He’ll be a double-double threat every time he steps on the court this season.

82. Admon Gilder, SR, G, Gonzaga

One of the top grad transfers in the country, Gilder comes to Gonzaga by way of Texas A&M, where he was forced to miss all of last season with a blood clot in his right bicep. Before that, he was the driving force for two highly successful Aggie teams. Gilder averaged 12.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists for a Sweet 16-bound Texas A&M team in 2017-18, and 13.7 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists the year before that.

81. Paul Scruggs, JR, G, Xavier

Naji Marshall is going to be the frontman for this year’s Xavier team, but Scruggs showed glimpses down the stretch of last season that he has the ability to be an All-Big East performer. He was terrific in March, most notably when he scored 28 points and handed out seven assists in the Musketeers’ overtime loss to Villanova in the Big East tournament semifinals.

80. Kahlil Whitney, FR, F, Kentucky

Another five-star Kentucky freshman, it’ll be interesting to see exactly what role Whitney winds up playing for this year’s UK team. Whatever role it is, Whitney’s freak athleticism and ability to play and defend multiple positions demands that it’s going to be a prominent one.

79. Omer Yurtseven, JR, C, Georgetown

The versatile 7-footer averaged 13.5 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for NC State in 2017-18 before deciding it was time for a change of scenery. He’ll fill the void left by the graduation of Jessie Govan, and should serve as the perfect compliment to the explosive backcourt duo of James Akinjo and Mac McClung.

Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

78. Ochai Agbaji, SO, G, Kansas

Agbaji’s redshirt was burned in the middle of last season out of necessity, and he responded more impressively than Bill Self could have ever imagined. He hit a bit of a wall down the stretch but still posted respectable — all things considered — averages of 8.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game for the season. If his outside shot improves enough, he’ll have all the tools necessary to help Kansas make a run at the national title and then bolt for the greener pastures of the NBA.

77. Dejon Jarreau, JR, G, Houston

In 2018, Rob Gray passed the torch to Corey Davis Jr., who then passed it on to Jarreau after the Cougars had their hearts broken by Kentucky in the Sweet 16 last March. A former top-50 recruit, Jarreau was impressive enough last season to earn the AAC Sixth Man of the Year award despite playing just 18 minutes per game. With its three starting guards from last season all gone, Jarreau will be asked to do much more in 2019-20.

76. Davide Moretti, JR, G, Texas Tech

As a sophomore last season, Moretti became the only player in the history of the Big 12 to shoot at least 50 percent from the floor, 50 percent three, and 90 percent from the free-throw line in a season. He’ll be asked to up his scoring output now that Jarrett Culver is getting paid to play the game.

75. Tyler Bey, JR, F, Colorado

With McKinley Wright injured last season, Bey stepped up to lead the Buffs with 13.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the field. Now Bey is ready to team up again with a healthy Wright to form what should be one of the best inside-outside duos in the country this season.

74. Precious Achiuwa, FR, F, Memphis

The “other” five-star freshman on Memphis’ loaded 2019-20 squad, Achiuwa should reap the benefits of the extreme amount of attention James Wiseman will receive from opposing defenses. His ability to knock down the outside shot should also allow the Tigers to adequately space the floor in Penny Hardaway’s halfcourt sets.

73. Javonte Smart, SO, G, LSU

Smart had an ... interesting ... freshman season in which he averaged 11.1 points and 2.4 assists per game. He was sensational at times, most notably when he scored 29 points in an 82-80 OT win over Tennessee that proved to be the deciding factor in LSU claiming the SEC’s regular-season championship. His production should increase as a sophomore as he steps into the role previously occupied by Tiger star Tremont Waters.

72. Xavier Johnson, SO, G, Pittsburgh

Johnson was a monster for Pitt in his freshman season, breaking the school’s 34-year-old freshman scoring record and establishing himself as the only player in Division I to average at least 15.5 points and 4.5 assists per game. He achieved those offensive numbers despite often being asked to defend the opposition’s best player on the other end of the floor.

71. Matt Haarms, JR, C, Purdue

The man with arguably the best head of hair in college basketball is back to man the middle for another year in West Lafayette. The 7’3 Haarms is an established defensive force who will be looking to improve his numbers (9.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.1 bpg) in a season where the Boilermakers figure to be less reliant on the outside shot.

Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images

70. Mustapha Heron, SR, G, St. John’s

The cupboard isn’t entirely bare for new St. John’s head coach Mike Anderson. In his first year after transferring in from Auburn, Heron averaged a solid 14.6 ppg last season, but often seemed unsure of how to coexist in a backcourt also occupied by score-crazy point guard Shamorie Ponds. Ponds is gone now, which means Heron and fellow veteran guard LJ Figueroa should have an opportunity to post some gaudy numbers on a team that will be otherwise extremely thin on scoring.

69. Jon Teske, SR, C, Michigan

Already one of the top interior defenders in college basketball, Teske became a legitimate offensive threat for the first time in his college career last season. If his improvement on the end of the floor continues, he should be one of the most well-rounded big men in the country this season as a senior.

68. Lamine Diane, SO, Cal State Northridge

The best player in the country you’ve never heard of, last season Diane became the first ever Big West player to win the conference’s Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year awards all in the same season. He broke single-season school records for points (818), rebounds (368), field goals made (340), blocks (72) and double-doubles (20), and was also the only player in the country to average above 24 points (24.8), 10 rebounds (11.2) and two blocks (2.2).

67. Xavier Sneed, SR, G, Kansas State

Sneed is the top returning scorer (10.9), rebounder (5.5), three-point shooter, and minutes leader (30.7) from a Kansas State squad that shared the Big 12 regular-season title with Texas Tech in 2018-19. He’s also the player most responsible for making sure the Wildcats don’t take a dramatic step backwards in 2019-20.

66. Aaron Henry, SO, F, Michigan State

Henry entered the starting lineup midway through last season, and every now and then provided Michigan State fans with a glimpse into a very bright future. He can knock down the outside shot, he’s explosive when he needs to be, and his Miles Bridges-esque frame should allow him to be one of the better finishers in the Big Ten this season. He also figures to have more opportunities than originally expected with Josh Langford (who would be on this list if healthy) sidelined until at least January, Henry is going to be an NBA Draft pick, the only question is when.

65. Bryce Aiken, SR, G, Harvard

Aiken enters his senior season with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. His junior year ended prematurely after he dropped 38 points in the Ivy League tournament championship game, but still saw his top-seeded Harvard squad upended by arch-rival Yale. The Crimson are the overwhelming favorites to win the Ivy in 2019-20, and Aiken, who dropped 33 or more points in four of the 17 games he played in last year, is the pundits’ pick to once again be the conference’s top performer.

64. John Mooney, SR, F, Notre Dame

Mooney was the lone bright spot in an otherwise dismal season for Mike Brey and Notre Dame in 2018-19. He led the ACC in rebounding at 11.2 rpg, and his 20 double-doubles were six more than any other player in the conference. Mooney figures to have significantly more help in his final college season.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

63. Nojel Eastern, JR, G, Purdue

A Big Ten All-Defensive Team selection a year ago, Eastern will be asked to up his offensive production now that All-American Carsen Edwards and senior sharpshooter Ryan Cline have moved on. Despite playing on the wing, Eastern led the Boilermakers in rebounding a year ago at 5.5 rpg.

62. Antoine Davis, SO, G, Detroit Mercy

The nation’s leading returning scorer at 26.1 ppg, Davis was outscored last season by only Campbell’s Chris Clemons (30 ppg) and Hofstra’s Justin Wright-Foreman (27 ppg). Davis became the first freshman ever to lead the Horizon League in scoring, and his 132 three-pointers broke the Division I record for triples by a freshman that had previously been held by Stephen Curry. Expect the coach’s son to fill it up at an even higher clip for the Titans this season.

61. Josh Green, FR, F, Arizona

Nico Mannion is the Arizona freshman everyone is talking about, but Green is going to get his fair share of headlines during the season as well. The Australian native is an off the charts athlete who has the potential to be the perfect running mate with Mannion in transition.

60. Neemias Queta, SO, C, Utah State

One of the nation’s most surprising freshman stars last season, Queta shattered Utah State’s previous single-season blocks record of 59 by swatting 84 in his first collegiate season. He also led the team in rebounding at 8.9 rpg and ranked second in scoring at 11.8 ppg. Expect Queta’s second season with the Aggies to be his last before bolting for the NBA.

59. Charles Bassey, SO, C, Western Kentucky

Everyone assumed Bassey’s first season at Western Kentucky would be his only season at Western Kentucky, but here we are. Bassey was the C-USA Freshman of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year after averaging a team-best 14.6 points, 10 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in 2018-19. There aren’t many teams in the country, and there certainly isn’t another one in Conference USA, that have an inside presence who can do the types of things Bassey can do.

58. Kellan Grady, JR, G, Davidson

A First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection last season, Grady ranked third in the conference in scoring at 17.3 points per game. He eclipsed the 20-point mark on 13 occasions, including a 31-point effort in Davidson’s final game of the season, an NIT loss to Lipscomb.

57. Skylar Mays, SR, G, LSU

Mays was the only LSU player to start all 35 games last season, averaging 13.4 points per game for the SEC regular season champions. He’ll be asked to shoulder a larger chunk of the offensive load with Tremont Waters now cashing checks from the Boston Celtics.

56. Lamonte Turner, SR, G, Tennessee

Injuries delayed the start of Turner’s 2018-19, but the former SEC Sixth Man of the Year still wound up averaging 10.9 points, 3.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game on that loaded Volunteers squad. He’ll be asked to up that points per game average in his final collegiate season as Tennessee adjusts to life without Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield.

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

55. Grant Riller, SR, G, Charleston

An extremely safe bet to win CAA Player of the Year and finish in the top 10 nationally in scoring, Riller is coming off a junior season in which he averaged 21.9 ppg and shot just a hair short of 54 percent from the field. He set a single game school record when he scored 43 points in a 99-95 loss to Hofstra last February.

54. Derek Culver, SO, C, West Virginia

Bob Huggins was forced to throw his freshmen into the fire last season, and Culver came out looking like a true Targaryen. The big man averaged 11.5 points and 9.9 rebounds per game on the season, and his eight double-doubles in conference play were the most of any player in the Big 12.

53. Reggie Perry, SO, F, Mississippi State

After flirting with a professional turn, Perry ultimately opted to return to Starkville after a freshman season in which he seemed to just brush the surface of his potential. He averaged a respectable 9.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, but struggled with consistency. That inconsistency figures to be a thing of the past if his play this summer — when he earned Most Valuable Player honors at the FIBA U19 World Cup — is any indication.

52. Marcus Evans, SR, G, VCU

Despite dealing with injuries throughout his college career, Evans has been a First Team All-Conference selection in each of his three collegiate seasons. A year ago, he averaged a team-high 13.6 points, 3.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game for a VCU squad that dominated the Atlantic 10.

51. James Akinjo, SO, G, Georgetown

Georgetown fans are heading into the 2019-20 season dreaming about a return to the Hoya glory of the 1980s (and 2007). The biggest reason why might be Akinjo, who earned Big East Freshman of the Year honors last season after averaging 13.4 points and 5.4 assists per game for a Georgetown team that surprised many by winning 19 games and finishing tied for third in the final league standings.

Walmart expresses interest in TikTok, teaming up with Microsoft

There’s been a flurry of TikTok news today, and the flood doesn’t seem to be letting up.

First was the announcement that Kevin Mayer, who joined the company just a bit more than three months ago, has stepped down overnight.

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigns after 100 days

Now, we are receiving a bunch of deal-related news as well. Walmart has confirmed to multiple news outlets that it has expressed interest in teaming up with Microsoft in a bid for the fast-growing social app. Meanwhile, entertainment news site The Wrap reported that Oracle has placed a bid for the company, targeting a price around $20 billion.

This is a fast-developing story, and we will have more updates to come as we receive them.

TikTok has been heavily in the news since the Trump Administration threatened to ban TikTok from the U.S. market unless it sold its U.S. operations to an American company. On August 6, President Trump signed an executive order that gave TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company ByteDance 45 days to make a deal to divest the U.S. operations of its popular video-sharing app. The deadline was later extended until mid-November.

The order arrived at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China, which are battling across a number of fronts outside of tech. Relations have deteriorated over issues like China’s move to assert more authority over Hong Kong with its new national security law, the detention of one million or more ethnic Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region, trade tariffs, Beijing’s military buildup in the disputed South China Sea, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tech companies were pulled into this conflict between the two superpowers. Ahead of the proposed TikTok ban, the U.S. government also had tightened its restrictions on China’s Huawei Technologies in recent weeks.

After Trump’s signing of the executive order, TikTok immediately fought back, most recently in the form of a lawsuit against the U.S. government that challenged the legality of the TikTok ban. In the interim, several U.S. tech companies’ names emerged as having had discussions with TikTok about a deal, including Microsoft, Twitter, Google, Oracle, and even Walmart. Oracle on Thursday morning was said to be nearing a deal with the White House that would comprise $10 billion of cash, $10 billion in Oracle stock, and 50% of annual TikTok profit to flow back to ByteDance.

The actual risk presented by the TikTok app has remained in dispute. Trump’s executive order declared the social app, and other apps owned by Chinese companies that have entered the U.S., a threat to “the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” The concern is that the app could collect data on U.S. citizens, including location, browsing and search histories. Critics believe TikTok could serve as a conduit for the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda and censorship arm, as well.

The TikTok app itself has become hugely popular in the U.S in recent years. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg even declared TikTok’s existence one of the reasons why Facebook shouldn’t be considered a monopoly, in his testimony before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in July.

According to data from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower, TikTok has been download nearly 194 million times in the U.S., which is 8.2% of TikTok’s total downloads, including its Chinese version, Douyin. The U.S. also accounted for nearly $111 million, or 13% of TikTok’s total ~$840 million in revenue.

Mobile data and analytics firm App Annie said TikTok had 52 million weekly active users in the U.S. during the week of August 9-15, 2020, and this number continues to climb. Its weekly active user count in July (July 15-25) was up 75% from just the beginning of 2020, in fact. It also became the top grossing app on the iOS App Store globally in the second quarter, due to increased consumer usage of mobile apps during the pandemic. It consistently ranks in the top five for downloads across both the U.S. iOS App Store and Google Play.

Time spent in the app has grown as well, from 5 hours, 4 minutes per month as of August 2018 to 16 hours, 20 minutes per month as of December 2019.

Despite all that success though, TikTok’s next steps remain hazy. It needs to fight its lawsuit, net approval from U.S. regulatory agencies, and also continue to build trust with users in the throes of an acrimonious election season. We’ll have more developments as this story unfolds.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/32AuNts via IFTTT

There’s been a flurry of TikTok news today, and the flood doesn’t seem to be letting up.

First was the announcement that Kevin Mayer, who joined the company just a bit more than three months ago, has stepped down overnight.

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigns after 100 days

Now, we are receiving a bunch of deal-related news as well. Walmart has confirmed to multiple news outlets that it has expressed interest in teaming up with Microsoft in a bid for the fast-growing social app. Meanwhile, entertainment news site The Wrap reported that Oracle has placed a bid for the company, targeting a price around $20 billion.

This is a fast-developing story, and we will have more updates to come as we receive them.

TikTok has been heavily in the news since the Trump Administration threatened to ban TikTok from the U.S. market unless it sold its U.S. operations to an American company. On August 6, President Trump signed an executive order that gave TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company ByteDance 45 days to make a deal to divest the U.S. operations of its popular video-sharing app. The deadline was later extended until mid-November.

The order arrived at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China, which are battling across a number of fronts outside of tech. Relations have deteriorated over issues like China’s move to assert more authority over Hong Kong with its new national security law, the detention of one million or more ethnic Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region, trade tariffs, Beijing’s military buildup in the disputed South China Sea, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tech companies were pulled into this conflict between the two superpowers. Ahead of the proposed TikTok ban, the U.S. government also had tightened its restrictions on China’s Huawei Technologies in recent weeks.

After Trump’s signing of the executive order, TikTok immediately fought back, most recently in the form of a lawsuit against the U.S. government that challenged the legality of the TikTok ban. In the interim, several U.S. tech companies’ names emerged as having had discussions with TikTok about a deal, including Microsoft, Twitter, Google, Oracle, and even Walmart. Oracle on Thursday morning was said to be nearing a deal with the White House that would comprise $10 billion of cash, $10 billion in Oracle stock, and 50% of annual TikTok profit to flow back to ByteDance.

The actual risk presented by the TikTok app has remained in dispute. Trump’s executive order declared the social app, and other apps owned by Chinese companies that have entered the U.S., a threat to “the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” The concern is that the app could collect data on U.S. citizens, including location, browsing and search histories. Critics believe TikTok could serve as a conduit for the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda and censorship arm, as well.

The TikTok app itself has become hugely popular in the U.S in recent years. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg even declared TikTok’s existence one of the reasons why Facebook shouldn’t be considered a monopoly, in his testimony before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in July.

According to data from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower, TikTok has been download nearly 194 million times in the U.S., which is 8.2% of TikTok’s total downloads, including its Chinese version, Douyin. The U.S. also accounted for nearly $111 million, or 13% of TikTok’s total ~$840 million in revenue.

Mobile data and analytics firm App Annie said TikTok had 52 million weekly active users in the U.S. during the week of August 9-15, 2020, and this number continues to climb. Its weekly active user count in July (July 15-25) was up 75% from just the beginning of 2020, in fact. It also became the top grossing app on the iOS App Store globally in the second quarter, due to increased consumer usage of mobile apps during the pandemic. It consistently ranks in the top five for downloads across both the U.S. iOS App Store and Google Play.

Time spent in the app has grown as well, from 5 hours, 4 minutes per month as of August 2018 to 16 hours, 20 minutes per month as of December 2019.

Despite all that success though, TikTok’s next steps remain hazy. It needs to fight its lawsuit, net approval from U.S. regulatory agencies, and also continue to build trust with users in the throes of an acrimonious election season. We’ll have more developments as this story unfolds.

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Cellarmasters responds to shifting retail with AI technology

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Cellarmasters responds to shifting retail with AI technology

As an early adopter of Albert marketing AI technology in Australia, Cellarmasters and its clients are reaping the rewards.

The changing face of retail

Macro industry factors are driving rapid and unrelenting change in the retail industry. This is highlighted weekly with reports of high-profile brands such as Construct a Bear and Shoes of Prey shutting up store. This switching is having an impact on both bricks-and-mortar and online retailers.

As industries dive into the narrative their data is say, one thing is clear- the digital client journey is anything but simple. It is increasingly complex and challenging. With countless data points to analyse, it has become nearly impossible for’ humans’ to keep up, as the algorithms of major ad platforms belonging to the likes of Facebook and Google are constantchanging.

“As soon as you think you have worked it out, they change again, ” says Luke Calavassy, Head of Innovation at Cellarmasters.

“Whilst data is paramount, so is staying close to the customer. As a brand I believe it is our responsibility to stay directly relating to our customers; this is not something we want to outsource to an agency. I know our success as a brand is directly associated with our ability to stay close to our customers.”

Customer behaviour and expectations are constantly evolving and shifting- brands cannot read the minds of their clients. What a customer wants, how they prefer to shop, and their expectations of personalisation and frictionless transactions are changing the traditional retail scenery as we know it.

This whitepaper on the changing landscape of the

The million-dollar question that brands and retailers want an answer to is “What do we do, and how do we do it? ”. How do they continue to understand the complexity of their customers’ needs and cater to them on an individual, personal level; to deliver the right message at the right time without being overly invasive? It is a difficult balancing act, and like many business challenges, technology can be a powerful facilitator.

I recently sat down with Luke Calavassy from Cellarmasters to understand the commercial business decision-making process behind the implementation of AI to their digital marketing program. He said they chose Albert’s marketing AI technologyto drive better client experience and commercial outcomes.

“We had to find a way to serve the right client the right message on the right platform at the right time- and no human being can do this at speed and scale. The human element is most important when it comes to product, campaign, design and creative- but receiving audiences( for less) is better left to Albert, ” he said.

Introducing AI technology to their brand: The Cellarmasters story

Cellarmasters is one of Australia’s largest direct retailers of boutique wines. For them, digital marketing has always depicted to be the most effective way to detect clients for their brand, and the pressure to continue to grow their client base shows no sign of slowing down.

With marketing activities managed in-house, Cellarmasters owns its data- but the cost of finding and acquiring new clients( and the pressure on budgets) meant they needed an alternative solution. Legacy data systems had created restrictions for the brand to integrate with many of the latest platforms and applications, leaving them limited in terms of data( having enough- or the right data ), to allow them to execute fast and effective marketing campaigns.

Albert provided a marketing AI technology answerthat could integrate with Cellarmaster’s digital ad accounts seamlessly, and would scale its marketing and product offer decision making at pace; reacting to real time customer behaviour. Albert’s ability to execute autonomously and at speed also freed up their team to focus on ideation and strategy, and to explore new opportunities and realise efficiencies across their total digital marketing and distribution channels.

“Since implementing Albert the return on advertising expend has significantly increased to a level we could not achieve previously. Albert has also freed up time to allow our digital team to focus more on strategy, product and creative and less on execution, ” Luke said.

Google Search cost per acquisition( CPA) has reduced by 54% Year-on-Year Google Search return on ad spend( ROAS) has increased 149% Year-on-Year Google Search generic ads impression share has increased 34% Year-on-Year

Albert timely and effective feedback and direction on creative assets, so the marketing squad could adjust and optimise messaging and deliver the best possible client experience. The squad have also find more effective product planning thanks to the availability of big data sets and results on hand, whenever they need them.

“It takes heroism and trust to do something differently, ” Luke said.

“But what I knew without a doubt was that continuing to do it the’ old way’ was never going to deliver new results and allow us to continue to scale.

“The speed of change and the quantity of digital data needs a state-of-the-art solution that will constantly learn and evolve as the digital marketing landscape changes, moment by moment. At some phase we just had to bite the bullet and take the plunge- and I am so glad that we did it when we did … every day counts now in this world.

“I think also to the outages of Facebook, Instagram and Google recently. I know that Albert dealt with all of that on our behalf, so our team could maintain focus … Albert does all the hard work on these’ blips’.”

Read the full Cellarmasters story .

This is a powerful narrative. It took real gallantry on the one of the purposes of Cellarmasters to try something so innovative. Retail is not going to get any easier- and the working day of’ small town charm’ are not was coming. Taking action is the only style to make a difference to the bottom line.

The two more compelling takeaways for me were :P TAGEND 1. In the real world: You must get close to your client

You can’t learn enough about your brand if you’re removed from the day-to-day insights and executing of your marketing activity. A business must always own the customer relationship- this cannot be outsourced. By handing over control of your first party data to externals you are effectively handing over your client relationships. Externals give you bandwidth in other ways, such as creative, but to be able to act on the insights and recommendations made by Albert a brand MUST own its own channels- and these are important leadership dialogues to have in business.

2. Problem solving: Retail is not getting any easier

If you think retail is tough now, just think what it will be like in two or three years’ period. Business and marketers must get set up now for what is coming, or they will be left behind. There are so many’ solutions’ and it can appear overwhelming- the challenge is how to start and how to know what’s right for your business. Integration is a key stumbling block for many businesses operating on legacy tech stacks- and this is a key advantage of a answer like Albert, as it connects directly to social and search accounts without the need to touch existing technology in the business. And this is also why it’s paramount to own your own brand data and the sources, and to have those conversations now to set your business up for a successful future.

Change is here and those brands and retailers that do not future-proof their business now, face being left behind.

As Luke set it, “Albert AI is not for everyone- in fact I understand that unless the business satisfies certain criteria then he is not going to take them on. Albert knows how he works best, and he will only accept clients he knows he will be successful with. If nothing else I loved that integrity; not something you get from a lot of’ vendors’ or bureaux. We watch a long and fruitful relationship ahead with Albert”.

What is Artificial Intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence( AI ), is a word first coined by John McCarthy in 1956 when he invited a group of researchers to the Dartmouth Summer Research Project workshop to discuss what would ultimately become the field of AI. The researchers came together to clarify and develop the concepts around “thinking machines”. According to The Encyclopedia Britannica, “Artificial Intelligence( AI) today is the ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings”. Intelligent beings are those that can adapt to changing circumstances.

Find out more about Albert’s marketing AI technology in Australia and New Zealand.

Read more: naomisimson.com

WSJ author & research firm that botched iPhone X demand doubling down on iPhone XS

Apple built and began selling its high-end OLED iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max models a month ahead of iPhone XR availability in an effort to sell users more expensive models before facing competition from its own new lower-priced, entry-level LCD phone -- at least according to the columnist and the think tank that were totally wrong about iPhone X sales last year. News from Captain Obvious On one hand, it's fairly obvious that Apple is producing and selling its XS models first-- that's what it announced it would do. But for some reason, Wall Street Journal columnist Tripp Mickle thought it was necessary to source this idea as coming from "people familiar with Apple's production plans," which could correctly be interpreted as "anyone who watched the keynote presentation." It's the opposite of a secret that Apple's less expensive iPhone XR won't become available for another five weeks. The report observed that "the staggered release gives Apple a month to sell the higher-end models without cheaper competition from itself. It also simplifies logistics and retail demands and could strengthen Apple's ability to forecast sales and production of all three models through the Christmas holidays," both ideas it again attributed to "analysts and supply chain experts," rather than Mickle's own predictions. In 2017, Apple was ready to sell its more conventional iPhone 8 models first, while the all-new iPhone X didn't become available until November. A year ago, this was reported as having a "dampening effect" on iPhone 8 sales as consumers waited for the fancier new model, an idea again repeated by the Journal in an effort to make the mundane sound edgy and incisively critical. Is Apple holding back iPhone XR deliveries to bamboozle its buyers? But hold on -- if consumers knew last year that iPhone X was coming and held off on iPhone 8, can't they also manage to wait for the XR (a significantly shorter wait given that it ships in October rather than November as the original X did)? Not in the case of the super-premium iPhone XS, according to Mickle and his partners. After thinking heavily and consulting some "supply chain experts," the paper reported that consumers would be totally fooled by Apple's product availability, and spring into action to buy phones priced at $999 to almost $1500 simply because the $750 XR won't be available for another month. Of course, the less-cynical explanation is simply that iPhone X shipped later last year because it was an entirely new product, and iPhone XR this year for the same reason. In fact, that's what Apple told the Journal. Additionally, Apple is already selling even more discounted iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models starting at $450, so anyone looking for bargains rather than an ultra-premium new device isn't exactly being bamboozled by Apple's straightforward presentation of its offerings. While iPhone 8 was a significantly new model new last year, it was based upon the previous iPhone 7 design that Apple had a year of experience in assembling -- and much more if you count the lineage back to the iPhone 6. This year's iPhone XS models are similarly improvements upon the iPhone X model Apple has now been building for a year and is experienced with. The new XR involves an entirely new display based on an advanced LCD panel with an all-new precision backlight designed to illuminate the rounded corners of a rigid display technology rather than wrapping back upon itself as flexible OLEDs can. The Journal cynicism about Apple's XR release isn't just thrown out as a grumbling editorial. It's presented by the paper as news, complete with nonsensical "sourcing" that involves "supply chain experts," as if to give some credibility back to a pseudoscientific practice that's been less useful than astrology and alchemy in reading Apple's tea leaves with any accuracy. Dropping the BOM If that wasn't bad enough, the Journal conjured up another fantasy-data boogeyman to lend credence a completely false premise. What's worse than supply chain experts? How about BOM estimates. You know, those precise numbers that analysts guess up and then are recited as if facts across widespread syndication. I've asked executives about component BOM (bill of materials) estimates, and the answer is always "they're wrong, far too low." Generally, BOM estimates are used almost exclusively against Apple to portray its products as costing far less to build that what the finished goods sell for, with the tone being that profit margins are too high and customer-abusive. At first glance, this is easy to misinterpret. Unless of course, you're charting out Apple's share of industry profits with the intent of making China's production look profitable, in which case analysts estimate that $30 billion worth of quarterly iPhone revenues only generated about $6 billion in profits. Here, Mickle uses two BOMs from a source I've never seen BOMs from before: analyst Mehdi Hosseini, with trading firm Susquehanna International Group. Usually, BOMs are generated by a think tank that specializes in putting together these really brainy accounting efforts. Here, an analyst scribbled up BOMS prior to any tear-downs that only materialized on Thursday morning. This is some next level magic-ball gazing. Hosseini's numbers, supposedly accurate to the dollar, claim that the XR costs $331 to build, while the XS and XS Max supposedly cost $355 and $371. This is absolutely ridiculous on so many levels it's hard to know where to start. First off, if the two engineering efforts only differ in component costs by $23 dollars, Apple wouldn't be selling them at the prices it set, with the XS a solid $250 higher. Apple would either be foolishly leaving money on the table with the XR, or radically holding back demand for its best XS models by pricing them as such an unwarranted premium. The reality is-- as has long been known-- that Apple consistently aims to reach a target profit margin, sometimes suppressing its profits to launch new tech, and sometimes riding higher at the tail end of a production as components become cheaper. But Apple simply doesn't have massive shifts of profit margins on this level between its new product offerings. And if it did, it wouldn't be giving its supposedly massively more profitable XS models with profit margins of $644 and $730 per device a brief window of pre-orders before dropping profitability by a huge degree with the XR -- which would only deliver $420 per device. If these numbers were real, Apple wouldn't have introduced the iPhone XR at all this month, and would have secretly held it until iPhone XS orders were entirely satiated, then launched it as a cheaper alternative to boost up sales. That's what other companies do all the time. That's what Apple did with the iPhone SE. Telling us that Apple allocated just five weeks of exclusive XS sales -- when customers know the XR is coming at $750 -- is just insulting. It's about as insulting as telling us that an analyst knows enough about the components and build costs of brand new iPhones before they land in the hands of customers to generate a reliable BOM. On top of all this, the same author who cited Hosseini's BOM as evidence that the XS and XR only cost Apple a difference of $23 to build wrote a piece for the Wall Street Journal just a few months ago that claimed iPhone X's OLED screen cost "about $97 out of $376 in total estimated cost per device," and then used this fact-from-the-air to claim that its new display was primarily responsible for its $999 price, causing it to cost so much that nobody was buying it. BOM estimates aren't factual numbers The problem with these BOMs is that they can't possibly be right over any length of time. On a simpler device, such as a commodity PC, you can total up the cost of off-the-shelf components pretty easily. On a proprietary, highly integrated device with custom designed silicon and few commodity parts that aren't customized by Apple in partnership with their makers, there's no way to really know how much parts cost. That's because the cost per component is related to volume. Nobody really knows exactly how much custom components like the OLED display or the A12 Bionic cost until they result in sales over a period of time, because the cost is related to the volume it eventually ships at, and how fast the prices of those components can be brought down (which is directly related to demand volume). In Apple's conference calls, even its executives commonly note surprise in the dramatic effects of shifting component costs among commodity parts like DRAM and flash storage. The costs of developing custom silicon and producing chips in volume is complicated by the emergence of unanticipated issues: everything from political squabbles to storms and earthquakes hitting Apple's production partners. A big part of Apple's efforts involve hedging against component cost shifts. There is no simple price tag on components that can be added up to a neat, precise number that can serve as a foundation for unbridled speculation by journalists -- particularly Mickle, who has a background in sports writing, not technology. Compare, for example, even the reasonably well-known cost of a rather commodity component such as storage memory chips. You could have generated an estimated BOM for Apple's iPhone 8 and Google's Pixel 2 last year, but in reality the fact that Apple subsequently shipped well over 200 million phones with similar memory chips while Google's partners HTC and LG each shipped a negligible number of smartphones means they couldn't ride the same economies of scale as Apple in even among basic commodity components. Now consider the custom silicon work both Apple and Google did in creating camera logic chips. Apple built this work into its A11 Bionic and shipped it across 120 million high-end iPhones. Google likely faced higher costs in ramping up its silicon efforts (whereas Apple was continuing custom SoC work it's been doing since 2009), but then wasn't able to amortize these expenses across the scant few million devices it produced, then sold at fire sale pricing with steep discounts. Clearly there's no way to compare BOM costs that simplify all this behind a guestimate for "camera logic chip." The iPhone X BOM estimate Mickle previously cited a few months ago suggested that all of the development expenses related to Face ID were somehow covered by a "camera module" that costs $16.70, as if TrueDepth was available off the shelf and Apple just pushed a shopping cart through a Walmart and put 50 million into its basket and then refused to buy another 40 million, because it ended up being so expensive that "some" ended up not buying it. This sort of reporting is not journalism. It's farcical nonsense. To recap: even if they were ever close to being accurate, BOMs are widely misleading to use in estimating the profit margins of a device, unless you also know their shipping volumes. And nobody today knows how many iPhones Apple will sell, nor what the mix will be. The Journal cited build estimates from UBS, supposedly sourced from the supply chain, but the number of devices Apple builds in advance are not preordained to sell at an equal pace. Last year, demand for several of Apple's products including the iPhone X and AirPods exceeded Apple's expectations. Across the last three cycles of iPhone 6 through iPhone 8 Plus models, Apple continued to describe its production mix as a learning process, with the demand for larger phones increasingly shifting upward. Even Apple didn't know this when it placed its first orders, before it began producing them and long before they went on sale. And a few years ago, Apple -- and everyone else -- appeared to think that iPhone 5c would outsell the better but more expensive 5s. Whenever Apple changes its orders in response to demand -- which happens constantly -- this is reported breathlessly as worrisome and potentially beleaguering. Yet, the same people who report supply chain order changes as alarming are using reports of Apple's purported initial orders as an airtight model for determining demand and component costs before they even go on sale. You can't have it both ways. This all happened before Most tellingly, the people involved in this Journal report got it completely wrong last year, even well after Apple shipped its new iPhones and think tanks had months of time and tons of data to process in creating their estimates of what Apple had sold in the previous quarter. Actually in this case they just interviewed 500 people. At the end of January, the same Journal author Tripp Mickle reported as if factual (based on unnamed sources he described as being "familiar with the matter") that Apple was "slashing planned production" of iPhone X "in a sign of weaker-than-expected demand." And just like BOMs, he pulled out numbers that were uncritically recited even though they couldn't pass any sort of sobriety test. Mickle fabulously claimed Apple had slashed orders by 50 percent, from "roughly 40 million initially planned" to "about 20 million," before casually adding that "other people familiar with the iPhone supply chain said Apple had cut orders for components used in the iPhone X by 60 percent." Had this actually occurred, it would have involved a lot of companies simply going out of business. In reality, Apple's suppliers-- even those with significant dependance upon Apple's production of iPhone X-- didn't note experiencing this at all. Even the difference in Mickle's "50 or 60 percent" ballparks would have resulted in $4 billion worth of lost production. Capturing just how detached from reality Mickle was in his writing, recall that he wrote that "iPhone X was promoted as the smartphone of the future, with features including a sharp, organic light-emitting diode display and facial-recognition technology, but troubles incorporating the new technology led to delays in the manufacturing process, and forced Apple to abandon the use of fingerprints as an option to unlock the phones." That wasn't true at all. Apple's executives explicitly debunked the idea that the Wall Street Journal picked up and reported as if it were true and supported by some sort of reporting work rather than just a fiction recited as an anecdote posing a historical event. Yet the fact that the Journal published such cocksure yet farcical reports of iPhone X facing doom because of customers couldn't afford it, or weren't interested in its new technology, or because Apple was fumbling to deliver it is a black eye that is still visible as the same people roll out a story this year that is just as fantastical and untethered to reality, seeking to legitimize absurd BOMs and dubious supply chain checks. Notably, the idea that last year's iPhone X wasn't selling as well as expected was also recited by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, which also claimed in January that iPhone 8 was outselling iPhone X, based on survey data. This year, an analyst from the same group was cited by the Journal as contradicting Apple in outlining the idea that iPhone XS and XR were a "Dutch Auction," and being sold like airplane seats to extract the most money from buyers. After a solid decade of peddling the story that Apple was being pushed out of business by Android, then Samsung, then Xiaomi, then everyone collectively building phones in China, then disinterested customers who can't afford an iPhone X, maybe the Journal needs to hire actual reporters rather than clickbait fabulists concocting tales of doom for Apple, even as it handily outperforms the industry worldwide. https://goo.gl/CNztmB

How Storytelling Turned Dollar Shave Club Into a Billion Dollar-Brand

In July 2016, Unilever shocked the business world. They were purchasing Dollar Shave Club—a startup dreamed up just five years earlier by an improv comedian named Michael Dubin— for $1 billion.

Reporters were baffled. Similar e-commerce subscription startups like Birchbox, Trunk Club, and Stitch Fix had failed to attract anywhere near the same interest. Plus, Dollar Shave Club sold blades that paled in comparison to the high-tech razors that brands Gillette and Schick were famous for. Heck, it didn’t even make its own razors! It just bought them wholesale from manufacturers in China and resold them. The billion-dollar price tag was also five times Dollar Shave Club’s expected 2016 revenue—a near-unprecedented multiple for a retail startup.

So why did Unilever pay such an unprecedented price tag? As forward-thinking analysts began to explain, it wasn’t about revenue. It was about the company’s relationships—with customers, and consumers at large. Relationships that began with possibly the greatest startup launch video of all time.

Dollar Shave Club’s Origin Story

In 1990, a group of comedians that included Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, Ian Roberts, and Horatio Sanz had created an improv group called The Upright Citizen’s Brigade (UCB). Before long, the UCB had its own Comedy Central TV show and served as a talent pipeline to Saturday Night Live. As class offerings expanded, it became the destination for the thousands of young creatives who stumbled out of their college acting classes and into the bright lights of New York City each year.

In the early 2000s, Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin was one of those young creatives. For eight years, he honed his craft at UCB while working in various television and marketing jobs. In December 2010, he found himself at a Christmas party talking to one of his father’s friends. The conversation took an unexpected turn, and before long, the family friend was asking him for help selling 250,000 razors he had acquired from Asia. (We’ve all been there, right?) The conversation would have weirded a lot of people out, but it gave Dubin an idea. What if he started a service that would eliminate the expense and hassle of selling razor blades? What if they just showed up at your door each month for $1 each?

Faced with the challenge of getting the startup off the ground and attracting investors, Dubin knew that he had to speak to men like him. Men who were fed up with a razor monopoly that forced them to pay more than $20 for just a few blades. And so he bet big on what he does best. He created a hilarious video to connect with his target audience and cast himself as the protagonist in the Hero’s Journey of his own brand.

“Are our blades any good?” Dubin asks in the beginning of the video. “No, our blades are fucking great.”

What follows is 90 seconds of absolute absurdity that nonetheless touts all of the features of Dollar Shave Club’s razors. There’s a toddler shaving a man’s head, polio jokes, a machete, a clumsy bear, a giant American flag, and perhaps the best “make it rain” scene of all time.

The rough cut of the video convinced former Myspace CEO Michael Jones to sign on as Dubin’s partner. When the video was released on March 6, 2012, it went viral. The startup got more than 12,000 orders in the first 48 hours.

What Dollar Shave Club Got Right About Content Creation

Dollar Shave Club’s origin story highlights something powerful: The economics of marketing are changing quickly, with great content as the ultimate currency. As a result, brands that embrace great storytelling can achieve an incredible advantage over their competition.

The principles behind Dubin’s success aren’t new. Companies have always told stories to drive sales. From the very first barters made to the present day, that hasn’t changed. But everything else has. The sheer pace of technological change in how we are able to communicate our stories to each other—from the birth of radio a century ago to the hurricane of social media apps that mark the 2010s—can be daunting for brands.

On one hand, it presents a huge opportunity. Content is being published everywhere, and consumers are now immersed in stories everywhere they go. Per comScore, time spent with digital media tripled between 2010 and 2016. At last count, 65 percent of all time spent with digital media occurred on mobile devices, consumed primarily via social networks. As a result, companies that excel at storytelling can reach their target customers more effectively and at greater scale than traditional advertising ever offered—all at a fraction of the cost.

On the other hand, there’s more content now than ever. At a conference in 2010, Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealed that we create as much information every two days as we did in human history up until 2003, a figure that’s only increased since.

As a result, brands can’t create mediocre content and expect to stand out. Half-baked content simply has little chance of breaking through on social or search.

“There’s not a whole lot of value in writing a decent blog post anymore. [There’s not a lot of value] unless you can be pretty extraordinary,” SEO and content analyst Rand Fishkin, who also founded Moz, told us. “Ask: If they’re searching for an answer to a question, would they rather reach your piece of content than anything else on the internet right now? Unless the answer is a slam dunk, ‘Yes, this is 10 times better than anything else out there,’ I’m not necessarily sure it’s worth publishing.”

But when you do create something amazing that stands out? The results are staggering.

Especially when you keep doing it over time.

Brands can’t create mediocre content and expect to stand out. Click To Tweet How Dollar Shave Club Scaled Its Storytelling

Dubin and Dollar Shave Club continued to crank out hilarious videos that their target audience watched millions of times and shared enthusiastically. One of the best follow-ups, “Let’s Talk about #2,” introduced their new butt wipes product and made more jokes about bears pooping than you ever thought you’d see in a brand video.

It also started shipping The Bathroom Minutes, a small comic newspaper, with every order. And in late 2015, it launched MEL, one of the most ambitious editorial sites ever launched by a brand.

As Contently managing editor Jordan Teicher wrote in The Content Strategist: “MEL is a great example of how ambitious storytelling can stand out if brands stop trying to play it safe. It’s the only place you can read articles like ‘I Went Shark Fishing and Accidentally Caught a Kilo of Coke’ or watch short documentaries about subjects like former Harvard graduates who become medieval fighters.”

In total, these videos helped build an incredibly strong brand and lasting relationships with consumers. Moreover, they helped Dollar Shave Club achieve a financial exit that seemed impossible just a few years before.

As David Pakman, a partner at Venrock and an early investor in Dollar Shave Club, explained: “There are two things that drive multiples: the financial metrics and the story.”

As Dollar Shave Club proved, the right story can make those financial metrics look five times as good.

This is an excerpt from the Amazon #1 New Release, The Storytelling Edge: How to Transform Your Business, Stop Screaming Into the Void, and Make People Love You by Joe Lazauskas and Shane Snow. Order it today to take advantage of some awesome bonuses, and sign up for the free storytelling course based off the book.

This post is part of a paid sponsorship between Contently and Convince & Convert.

http://ift.tt/2o2R3Io

How Storytelling Turned Dollar Shave Club Into a Billion Dollar-Brand

In July 2016, Unilever shocked the business world. They were purchasing Dollar Shave Club—a startup dreamed up just five years earlier by an improv comedian named Michael Dubin— for $1 billion.

Reporters were baffled. Similar e-commerce subscription startups like Birchbox, Trunk Club, and Stitch Fix had failed to attract anywhere near the same interest. Plus, Dollar Shave Club sold blades that paled in comparison to the high-tech razors that brands Gillette and Schick were famous for. Heck, it didn’t even make its own razors! It just bought them wholesale from manufacturers in China and resold them. The billion-dollar price tag was also five times Dollar Shave Club’s expected 2016 revenue—a near-unprecedented multiple for a retail startup.

So why did Unilever pay such an unprecedented price tag? As forward-thinking analysts began to explain, it wasn’t about revenue. It was about the company’s relationships—with customers, and consumers at large. Relationships that began with possibly the greatest startup launch video of all time.

Dollar Shave Club’s Origin Story

In 1990, a group of comedians that included Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, Ian Roberts, and Horatio Sanz had created an improv group called The Upright Citizen’s Brigade (UCB). Before long, the UCB had its own Comedy Central TV show and served as a talent pipeline to Saturday Night Live. As class offerings expanded, it became the destination for the thousands of young creatives who stumbled out of their college acting classes and into the bright lights of New York City each year.

In the early 2000s, Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin was one of those young creatives. For eight years, he honed his craft at UCB while working in various television and marketing jobs. In December 2010, he found himself at a Christmas party talking to one of his father’s friends. The conversation took an unexpected turn, and before long, the family friend was asking him for help selling 250,000 razors he had acquired from Asia. (We’ve all been there, right?) The conversation would have weirded a lot of people out, but it gave Dubin an idea. What if he started a service that would eliminate the expense and hassle of selling razor blades? What if they just showed up at your door each month for $1 each?

Faced with the challenge of getting the startup off the ground and attracting investors, Dubin knew that he had to speak to men like him. Men who were fed up with a razor monopoly that forced them to pay more than $20 for just a few blades. And so he bet big on what he does best. He created a hilarious video to connect with his target audience and cast himself as the protagonist in the Hero’s Journey of his own brand.

“Are our blades any good?” Dubin asks in the beginning of the video. “No, our blades are fucking great.”

What follows is 90 seconds of absolute absurdity that nonetheless touts all of the features of Dollar Shave Club’s razors. There’s a toddler shaving a man’s head, polio jokes, a machete, a clumsy bear, a giant American flag, and perhaps the best “make it rain” scene of all time.

The rough cut of the video convinced former Myspace CEO Michael Jones to sign on as Dubin’s partner. When the video was released on March 6, 2012, it went viral. The startup got more than 12,000 orders in the first 48 hours.

What Dollar Shave Club Got Right About Content Creation

Dollar Shave Club’s origin story highlights something powerful: The economics of marketing are changing quickly, with great content as the ultimate currency. As a result, brands that embrace great storytelling can achieve an incredible advantage over their competition.

The principles behind Dubin’s success aren’t new. Companies have always told stories to drive sales. From the very first barters made to the present day, that hasn’t changed. But everything else has. The sheer pace of technological change in how we are able to communicate our stories to each other—from the birth of radio a century ago to the hurricane of social media apps that mark the 2010s—can be daunting for brands.

On one hand, it presents a huge opportunity. Content is being published everywhere, and consumers are now immersed in stories everywhere they go. Per comScore, time spent with digital media tripled between 2010 and 2016. At last count, 65 percent of all time spent with digital media occurred on mobile devices, consumed primarily via social networks. As a result, companies that excel at storytelling can reach their target customers more effectively and at greater scale than traditional advertising ever offered—all at a fraction of the cost.

On the other hand, there’s more content now than ever. At a conference in 2010, Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealed that we create as much information every two days as we did in human history up until 2003, a figure that’s only increased since.

As a result, brands can’t create mediocre content and expect to stand out. Half-baked content simply has little chance of breaking through on social or search.

“There’s not a whole lot of value in writing a decent blog post anymore. [There’s not a lot of value] unless you can be pretty extraordinary,” SEO and content analyst Rand Fishkin, who also founded Moz, told us. “Ask: If they’re searching for an answer to a question, would they rather reach your piece of content than anything else on the internet right now? Unless the answer is a slam dunk, ‘Yes, this is 10 times better than anything else out there,’ I’m not necessarily sure it’s worth publishing.”

But when you do create something amazing that stands out? The results are staggering.

Especially when you keep doing it over time.

Brands can’t create mediocre content and expect to stand out. Click To Tweet How Dollar Shave Club Scaled Its Storytelling

Dubin and Dollar Shave Club continued to crank out hilarious videos that their target audience watched millions of times and shared enthusiastically. One of the best follow-ups, “Let’s Talk about #2,” introduced their new butt wipes product and made more jokes about bears pooping than you ever thought you’d see in a brand video.

It also started shipping The Bathroom Minutes, a small comic newspaper, with every order. And in late 2015, it launched MEL, one of the most ambitious editorial sites ever launched by a brand.

As Contently managing editor Jordan Teicher wrote in The Content Strategist: “MEL is a great example of how ambitious storytelling can stand out if brands stop trying to play it safe. It’s the only place you can read articles like ‘I Went Shark Fishing and Accidentally Caught a Kilo of Coke’ or watch short documentaries about subjects like former Harvard graduates who become medieval fighters.”

In total, these videos helped build an incredibly strong brand and lasting relationships with consumers. Moreover, they helped Dollar Shave Club achieve a financial exit that seemed impossible just a few years before.

As David Pakman, a partner at Venrock and an early investor in Dollar Shave Club, explained: “There are two things that drive multiples: the financial metrics and the story.”

As Dollar Shave Club proved, the right story can make those financial metrics look five times as good.

This is an excerpt from the Amazon #1 New Release, The Storytelling Edge: How to Transform Your Business, Stop Screaming Into the Void, and Make People Love You by Joe Lazauskas and Shane Snow. Order it today to take advantage of some awesome bonuses, and sign up for the free storytelling course based off the book.

This post is part of a paid sponsorship between Contently and Convince & Convert.

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How Storytelling Turned Dollar Shave Club Into a Billion Dollar-Brand

In July 2016, Unilever shocked the business world. They were purchasing Dollar Shave Club—a startup dreamed up just five years earlier by an improv comedian named Michael Dubin— for $1 billion.

Reporters were baffled. Similar e-commerce subscription startups like Birchbox, Trunk Club, and Stitch Fix had failed to attract anywhere near the same interest. Plus, Dollar Shave Club sold blades that paled in comparison to the high-tech razors that brands Gillette and Schick were famous for. Heck, it didn’t even make its own razors! It just bought them wholesale from manufacturers in China and resold them. The billion-dollar price tag was also five times Dollar Shave Club’s expected 2016 revenue—a near-unprecedented multiple for a retail startup.

So why did Unilever pay such an unprecedented price tag? As forward-thinking analysts began to explain, it wasn’t about revenue. It was about the company’s relationships—with customers, and consumers at large. Relationships that began with possibly the greatest startup launch video of all time.

Dollar Shave Club’s Origin Story

In 1990, a group of comedians that included Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, Ian Roberts, and Horatio Sanz had created an improv group called The Upright Citizen’s Brigade (UCB). Before long, the UCB had its own Comedy Central TV show and served as a talent pipeline to Saturday Night Live. As class offerings expanded, it became the destination for the thousands of young creatives who stumbled out of their college acting classes and into the bright lights of New York City each year.

In the early 2000s, Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin was one of those young creatives. For eight years, he honed his craft at UCB while working in various television and marketing jobs. In December 2010, he found himself at a Christmas party talking to one of his father’s friends. The conversation took an unexpected turn, and before long, the family friend was asking him for help selling 250,000 razors he had acquired from Asia. (We’ve all been there, right?) The conversation would have weirded a lot of people out, but it gave Dubin an idea. What if he started a service that would eliminate the expense and hassle of selling razor blades? What if they just showed up at your door each month for $1 each?

Faced with the challenge of getting the startup off the ground and attracting investors, Dubin knew that he had to speak to men like him. Men who were fed up with a razor monopoly that forced them to pay more than $20 for just a few blades. And so he bet big on what he does best. He created a hilarious video to connect with his target audience and cast himself as the protagonist in the Hero’s Journey of his own brand.

“Are our blades any good?” Dubin asks in the beginning of the video. “No, our blades are fucking great.”

What follows is 90 seconds of absolute absurdity that nonetheless touts all of the features of Dollar Shave Club’s razors. There’s a toddler shaving a man’s head, polio jokes, a machete, a clumsy bear, a giant American flag, and perhaps the best “make it rain” scene of all time.

The rough cut of the video convinced former Myspace CEO Michael Jones to sign on as Dubin’s partner. When the video was released on March 6, 2012, it went viral. The startup got more than 12,000 orders in the first 48 hours.

What Dollar Shave Club Got Right About Content Creation

Dollar Shave Club’s origin story highlights something powerful: The economics of marketing are changing quickly, with great content as the ultimate currency. As a result, brands that embrace great storytelling can achieve an incredible advantage over their competition.

The principles behind Dubin’s success aren’t new. Companies have always told stories to drive sales. From the very first barters made to the present day, that hasn’t changed. But everything else has. The sheer pace of technological change in how we are able to communicate our stories to each other—from the birth of radio a century ago to the hurricane of social media apps that mark the 2010s—can be daunting for brands.

On one hand, it presents a huge opportunity. Content is being published everywhere, and consumers are now immersed in stories everywhere they go. Per comScore, time spent with digital media tripled between 2010 and 2016. At last count, 65 percent of all time spent with digital media occurred on mobile devices, consumed primarily via social networks. As a result, companies that excel at storytelling can reach their target customers more effectively and at greater scale than traditional advertising ever offered—all at a fraction of the cost.

On the other hand, there’s more content now than ever. At a conference in 2010, Google CEO Eric Schmidt revealed that we create as much information every two days as we did in human history up until 2003, a figure that’s only increased since.

As a result, brands can’t create mediocre content and expect to stand out. Half-baked content simply has little chance of breaking through on social or search.

“There’s not a whole lot of value in writing a decent blog post anymore. [There’s not a lot of value] unless you can be pretty extraordinary,” SEO and content analyst Rand Fishkin, who also founded Moz, told us. “Ask: If they’re searching for an answer to a question, would they rather reach your piece of content than anything else on the internet right now? Unless the answer is a slam dunk, ‘Yes, this is 10 times better than anything else out there,’ I’m not necessarily sure it’s worth publishing.”

But when you do create something amazing that stands out? The results are staggering.

Especially when you keep doing it over time.

Brands can’t create mediocre content and expect to stand out. Click To Tweet How Dollar Shave Club Scaled Its Storytelling

Dubin and Dollar Shave Club continued to crank out hilarious videos that their target audience watched millions of times and shared enthusiastically. One of the best follow-ups, “Let’s Talk about #2,” introduced their new butt wipes product and made more jokes about bears pooping than you ever thought you’d see in a brand video.

It also started shipping The Bathroom Minutes, a small comic newspaper, with every order. And in late 2015, it launched MEL, one of the most ambitious editorial sites ever launched by a brand.

As Contently managing editor Jordan Teicher wrote in The Content Strategist: “MEL is a great example of how ambitious storytelling can stand out if brands stop trying to play it safe. It’s the only place you can read articles like ‘I Went Shark Fishing and Accidentally Caught a Kilo of Coke’ or watch short documentaries about subjects like former Harvard graduates who become medieval fighters.”

In total, these videos helped build an incredibly strong brand and lasting relationships with consumers. Moreover, they helped Dollar Shave Club achieve a financial exit that seemed impossible just a few years before.

As David Pakman, a partner at Venrock and an early investor in Dollar Shave Club, explained: “There are two things that drive multiples: the financial metrics and the story.”

As Dollar Shave Club proved, the right story can make those financial metrics look five times as good.

This is an excerpt from the Amazon #1 New Release, The Storytelling Edge: How to Transform Your Business, Stop Screaming Into the Void, and Make People Love You by Joe Lazauskas and Shane Snow. Order it today to take advantage of some awesome bonuses, and sign up for the free storytelling course based off the book.

This post is part of a paid sponsorship between Contently and Convince & Convert.

http://ift.tt/2o2R3Io