The Marvel Snap Content Creator Program (which gets people access to the so-called "Content Creator Discord") gives a number of perks, including:

1. Free 2000 gold every month
2. An asset pack, including various cosmetic rewards

FTC Rules are pretty clear about disclosing these types of perks when making content about the game.
Among the FTC rules, it states:

1. "If a brand gives you free or discounted products or other perks and then you mention one of its products, make a disclosure even if you weren’t asked to mention that product."
2. "Don’t assume your followers already know about your brand relationships."
3. "Make disclosures even if you think your evaluations are unbiased."

In fact, even the Marvel Snap link, SD warns content creators "If you end up participating, you will NEED to disclose your association with the program and MARVEL SNAP."
There is also a big section in the FTC link about how to disclose, making sure that the disclosure is hard to miss, meaning anywhere where a person viewing would have to "click more." So essentially, it needs to be in the title, or watermarked on the video itself.
So, to use a few examples, only of videos where specific endorsements were made:

1. Here is a video from Alexander Coccia discussing which cards to buy in June. No disclosure anywhere.
2. Here is a video from Cozy Snap reviewing June's season pass and rating the purchase of Ghost Spider a 4/5 stars. No disclosure.
3. Here is a video from Wolver SNAP about which Bundles to buy for June. No disclosure.
4. Here is one from Jeff Hoogland about bundles to buy for May and June. No disclosure.

These are just a few examples, and this is just assuming that they have to disclose the relationship only when making an endorsement. It's possible they would have to disclose this relationship for every video/podcast/article, if indeed they are a part of the Content Creator Program and receive those perks.
Furthermore, Second Dinner could also be found liable for these lapses in disclosure. In response to a question about liability for advertisers, the FTC stated "it’s up to you to make a reasonable effort to know what participants in your network are saying." Elaborating with four specific points (three of which are relevant and posted below):

1. "Instruct members of the network on their responsibilities for disclosing their connections to you;"
2. "Periodically search for what your people are saying; and"
3. "Follow up if you find questionable practices."

I'm fully expecting to be deluged with downvotes and even personal attacks for this (lord knows I've been burned for daring to criticize Second Dinner in the past), but, before doing so, please ask yourself: is anything I've said incorrect? You may think that these rules are bullshit, or that they shouldn't have to disclose their relationship for every endorsement, or that they can still be unbiased despite the perks, but that doesn't appear to be what the FTC thinks. And their opinion matters more than yours or mine. So again, is anything I've said wrong? And remember, even SD says creators need to disclose this relationship.
(I'll also point out that I've defended and praised Second Dinner in the past, particularly for their response to the infinite matchmaking and balance changes that saved us from the Shuri and Thanos meta. So as much as you might want to paint me as a hater, that's just not the case).
TL;DR: Content creators who are part of the discord get perks, including monthly gold. The FTC says that relationship must be disclosed (perhaps in every video, but at very least in videos making specific endorsements), but content creators have not labeled these videos as sponsored, and SD may also be liable for this lapse if they haven't followed up with them an instructed them to disclose after noticing a potential violation.

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Hello there
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****Has anyone had a similar experience to this? **\*
Last night I was "dreaming" or AP to a place. All of the people there were family, some here on earth some who have passed. Some who are not here on earth right now, and maybe even a higher version of myself. Felt like a different dimension.
I was there and had amazing experiences with this group of people. Won't post the whole, but if have questions about this feel free to ask. When leaving/waking up. A Grandpa pulled me aside and told me urgently to remember that I visited the Red Star and that other people have too, but not everyone. This visit was a trial to see how I would cope with it when I got back to this life.
He specifically said that I would/could find others that have had a visit to this red star as well to validate it. He did warn me to not spend too much time getting lost in the details. The details were not the intention of the visit. The intention was to go back to this life knowing I had a team of love and support. That I could make it through any of life's challenges. Also if I did well, I would be able to return.

Hey! Longtime fan of the Otherland books (and Memory, Sorrow, Thorn though I read those ages ago). I've always wanted to see the Otherland series adapted to television, and am trying to do a fan-cast in my head of the main characters. There are so many excellently written characters that would be amazing to see on-screen!
Feel free to comment with your thoughts on who should play each character and why! Remember to be nice to each other (of course) and no weird or offensive comments about the actors, please!
For this post (or series of posts), I'm going to take a few things into consideration:

• 1) Casting for TV is not the same as a huge blockbuster film. Highly sought after actors may not dedicate years of their life to a TV show as grand as Otherland, and especially if they're not the starring role, so casting Jennifer Lawrence as Christabel Sorenson's mom just won't cut it. In my opinion, only the roles of Paul Jonas, Renie Sulaweyo, Thargor, Felix Jongleur, Jonny Wulgaru and the Angel have the real potential for big Hollywood stars. I'm using Amazon's The Wheel of Time as a comparison-- they have just a few big names (Rosamund Pike, Daniel Henney, Sophie Okonedo), though most are either big names in smaller industries or young actors who are starting their careers with maybe just a few big roles under their belt.
• 2) As best as possible, going to take into account race, age, gender and sexuality when relevant to the story that Tad Williams was telling. It would seem weird to cast roles with deep connections to their cultures (!Xabbu, Dread, etc.) with actors not from those places. Otherwise, I'm open to race-blind/country-blind casting and flexible with ages of the actors compared to their characters. So for each character I'll include an age range, a general physical description (tall, short, athletic, etc) if necessary.
• 3) Given the nature of Otherland and the "sims" that the characters inhabit, I would assume that most characters would play a sim that looks like them for the TV show, to avoid massive CGI costs or actor changes for the last book. Of course, with Orlando and Fredericks, they may appear as their sims Thargor and Pithlit.

Wunmi Mosaku as IRENE "RENIE" SULAWEYO

• Age: 25-35 / Ethnic/Racial Background: African (Black) / Physicality: N/A (taller than !Xabbu ?)
• Renie is from South Africa and is one of the most important characters in the series, so would merit a superstar casting. Ever since seeing Wunmi in Lovecraft Country, she just screamed Renie to me. While Wunmi herself is 36, she can easily play younger roles.
• Wunmi's other roles include an episode of Black Mirror ("Playtest") and the TV-series Loki.
• Other actresses I considered: Lupita Nyong'o (Nakia in Black Panther), and Mimî M. Khayisa (Fringilla in The Witcher)

Who do you think would be great as Renie?
https://preview.redd.it/tmxf2sdcyt4b1.jpg?width=1584&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9e0546f5751b708b3d5b277bc3a2d11f82b979b

****Has anyone had a similar experience to this? **\*
Last night I was "dreaming" or AP to a place. All of the people there were family, some here on earth some who have passed. Some who are not here on earth right now, and maybe even a higher version of myself. Felt like a different dimension.
I was there and had amazing experiences with this group of people. Won't post the whole, but if have questions about this feel free to ask.
When leaving/waking up. A Grandpa pulled me aside and told me urgently to remember that I visited the Red Star and that other people have too, but not everyone. This visit was a trial to see how I would cope with it when I got back to this life.
He specifically said that I would/could find others that have had a visit to this red star as well to validate it. He did warn me to not spend too much time getting lost in the details. The details were not the intention of the visit. The intention was to go back to this life knowing I had a team of love and support. That I could make it through any of life's challenges. Also if I did well, I would be able to return.

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I got a first DUI and hit-and-run/minor property damage about a week before Christmas in Tennessee. I drank several beers that afternoon at home, went out about 7 for dinner, drank more at two different bars, and clipped about ten bricks off of a retaining wall at the adjacent condo complex, and not knowing who to contact, came home and went to bed.
The police show up about an hour later, but I was already asleep, so didn't hear them knocking. I suspect it was someone's Ring camera, but I have no idea who/what detected me. Somehow, they found out my mother's cell phone number (I live about twenty minutes away), called her repeatedly, and wanted to see if she knew my whereabouts. They were threatening to "kick the door down" under the auspices of a "welfare check" saying "I tore down a wall and that they were concerned about my safety."
The wall was not "torn down," some bricks were dislodged off the top of it where I clipped it with one side of the car. The damage to the car was superficial. The police said the damage occurred to the rear of the car - the damage was actually on the front. There was no reason to think that I was in any danger, or that a crime was being actively committed in the home to warrant "kicking the door down." Everything they were saying was either heavily embellished or an outright lie.
Eventually, my mom calls me enough times to wake me up. I go down to the door, talk to the police, perform poorly on FSTs, get arrested for DUI, despite (as far as I still know) the police having no proof that I was actually driving the vehicle at the time of the hit, or on my way home.
I talked to about five attorneys, and finally settled on one, though DUI specialists in this rural area are limited. He seemed to think the unique circumstances of the case offered avenues to defense. He was fairly reasonable - about $2,000. He had over 150 Google five star reviews, and a similar number on a legal review site. That was all I knew to do.
The first court date was in the middle of February. BAC wasn't back yet - to be expected. He said he'd contact me when it comes in - continuance was until near the end of April. About a week before the second appearance, I hadn't heard anything back, and asked him to follow up with the DA office. It came back at .23, over the .20 threshold in TN for seven consecutive day jail sentence, but the lab report was dated three days after the original court date in February. I asked him why he didn't put a reminder on his Outlook a month after the original court date to follow up - he said "he forgot."
Had I not pressed him on the BAC, it's unlikely I would have known anything prior to court and gotten a "surprise."
I offered numerous defense strategies. Maybe someone else drove my car, hit the wall, took me home, left my car, and took their own car home. That's plausible. Maybe I drank more at home, raising my BAC (at this point - I don't remember if I did or not). Maybe there could be Fourth Amendment issues in how the police obtained my mother's number within an hour, and issues with them threatening to break the down door when all they knew for certain at the time they came to my home was that there was minor damage to community property. I'm guessing now police are allowed to kick doors down for minor damage like this?
We go in on the second court date and get another continuance until about mid-May.
He wanted an additional $10,000 retainer to take it to trial. I talked to a couple more attorneys in the couple weeks I had, but decided there wasn't enough time, didn't want to bring another attorney in from square one, and I didn't want to drag this out for another year or more.
With the weird circumstances and potential weaknesses in the prosecution's case, I figured I might get at least the seven days knocked down to two. Wrong. Here's what I ended up getting. I report to jail tomorrow.
1) Seven consecutive days jail - no option for multiple weekends. Because I work from home, work release is also not an option. I started a new job shortly after the arrest (the prior job was the biggest contributor to all the stress-induced drinking at the time), and basically every bit of time off for my first six months has gone to either the jail sentence or court dates.
2) A year of supervised probation, though the PO is saying once a month call ins would be fine once everything else is satisfied. Hopefully all this will be done late summeearly fall.
3) A year IID and a restricted license.
4) 24 hours community service. This is usually three, eight hour trash pickups, probably done on Saturdays.
5) 12 hour DUI school (Monday/Tuesday evenings, two weeks in a row). Drug and alcohol assessment. Victim impact panel.
Costs.
1) Attorney $2,000
2) Fines and court costs $1,166.50
3) Probation and classes ~$840
4) Fee to get restricted license - $67, plus whatever the reinstatement fee is next year.
5) IID - ~$1,500 that I've calculated so far.
6) Insurance increased from $325/six months to $750/six months. Agent since I turned 18 when I lived in the area dropped me. Still, that's better than it was when I moved back to TN about six years ago with no DMV issues. This is probably fairly reasonable.
None of the classes, trash pickup, etc., can be done while in jail, AFAIK. It would have been nice to get those out of the way this week.
IMO, this is a hard hit for a first with minor damage. Yes, I had been risking one with reckless behavior for the last few months of last year as stress went out of control, but this would be life-ruining for people that don't have the work flexibility I have.
People say to get an attorney, but the attorney was absolutely worthless. He didn't contact the DA on the BAC. I asked him about work release, and told him to explain that I WFH to the work release officer. He didn't mention that - I called the work release officer myself, and he mentioned the WFH issue, the attorney never did. After the plea, I got a ten day court order to get the restricted license, but the interlock place couldn't get to it until day #9. Day #10 was a Saturday. He said he'd normally get the second court order when he was in court, but since he was out of town on vacation (and he obviously knew this prior to the plea), that I'd need to get on the docket and wait. I ended up calling the judge's secretary, the judge signed it, and I picked it up at the clerk's office. I'm amazed one of his staffers couldn't just pick it up on his behalf.
The attorney offered nothing but platitudes, caused delays and other issues for administrative things that likely wouldn't have happened if I handled things myself. He didn't get me a better deal - technically, while I got state minimums, I probably would have gotten the same deal anyway.
The responding officer that night could have easily cited me for the hit-and-run and left. Clearly I wasn't going anywhere. The fact that the police will "kick the door down" for minor property damage on a retaining wall at night in a community property condo complex is terrifying to me. I've been wanting out of this area for quite awhile for various reasons, but this was the last straw. Once the post-sentence stuff is taken care of, the PO doesn't mind if I move as long as I remain in touch until it rolls off next year.
Does anyone else think they got completely railroaded?

Three days ago, my housemates were alive.
And I wasn't losing my fucking mind.
Three days ago, I awoke to my housemate, Misty, shaking me.
“Get up!!”
Misty was usually the last to roll out of bed out of all of us, so I figured it was something important. My housemate wouldn’t get out of bed for nothing. She valued her sleep—often comparing her bed to a safe haven. Her place of solitude. I was right there with her, until she startled me out of slumber. I opened my eyes to find her face roughly three inches from mine, her expression lit up with excitement I couldn’t justify this early in the morning.
She smelled of toothpaste breath and her raspberry scented body wash. Her thick black curls framing her face were still damp from what I presumed was a shower, hanging in tangled knots in front of wide, almost unseeing eyes. When I first met her, Misty Kang had been my crush for a while. With a Korean father and a Texan mother, she definitely caught eyes when we hung out. We had a thing in freshman year, which quickly fizzled out once we started living together. Never date your housemates.
I will just say that.
Over the last few years, Misty has become one of my closest friends.
When she knew I was at least conscious, my housemate was grabbing my arm and yanking me out of bed. “Get up!”
I was barely awake, and those were the only words I could fully distinguish.
I shooed her away for a moment and swung my legs out of bed, taking a minute to blink sunlight out of my eyes coming through the blinds. “Sam.” Misty was in front of me again.
I don’t think she understood the concept of being half asleep.
She wouldn’t leave me alone, waving her arms wildly. Her shadow under the soft morning light almost reminded me of one of those inflatable tube guys.
“Huh?” My voice was a low croak, and her smile widened.
“Guess who’s just scored tickets for an actual screening of the first five minutes of gameplay for the most anticipated game of the decade?”
“What?” Her string of words wasn’t making sense in my caffeine deprived mind. It just sounded like gibberish to me, initially.
Like we were in some cheesy commercial, she was the lead, and I was the confused NPC with the WTF expression. But when I went over it in my head, words started to slide together like a jigsaw puzzle. Misty didn’t get excited about video games. Well, she did. Though, my housemate was one to get excited on behalf of someone else. After living with her for a while now, I had concluded she was a follower.
By that, I mean whatever others thought or did or said, she copied it. If her Twitter followers were mad at bad takes, she would drop all of her own opinions on said follower and focus on what other people said. We had Korean barbecue for takeout the other day, and Misty clearly did not like it from the creased look on her face, and her very obviously spitting it politely into a napkin.
Jay, my other housemate, liked it.
And so did I. So, naturally, Misty announced she wanted more.
I had to watch her suffer through two more portions before she excused herself—presumably to throw up. Blinking at my housemate who was clearly excited for Jay, I resisted the overwhelming urge to roll my eyes.
“Slow down. What game? What are you talking about?”
I got out of bed and threw on my robe, half aware of the mess from last night on my desk. Another attempt to finish an essay which just wasn’t happening. The monster energy cans and takeout Chinese wrappers were embarrassing. I got a basic run-through as I headed downstairs with Misty right behind me, practically breathing down my neck. From what I understood, there was a Reddit post.
That was all I got from Misty’s squealing. She leapt down the stairs after me with a spring in her step. The clock above the front door told me it wasn’t even 9am. The smell of bacon, however, was quick to arise me from the dead.
Jay was in the kitchen making breakfast. I noticed his laptop was open on the table, and every so often he’d peer at it with wide, almost disbelieving eyes. Jay and Misty were complete opposites, which made them great people to live with. Jay was a quiet book who was slightly on the pretentious side, routinely quoting something philosophical to piss me off.
He had rich parents on the other side of the world, but the guy himself was fairly humble and had mostly detached himself from said family.
My housemate was usually well put together. In fact, I barely saw him in his pajamas, excluding game nights. That morning, however, he was a disheveled mess, still in yesterday’s clothes.
He offered me a grin. I glimpsed sauce from last night’s dinner still staining his chin. Jay hadn’t brushed his hair or even put on deodorant.
I caught a whiff of BO when he ducked in front of me, his gaze glued to his MacBook. It was rare when Jay ignored basic hygiene, so yeah, I was going to guess this was a pretty huge thing. “I did tell her not to wake you up, y’know.”
His slight aussie accent was always refreshing on a morning. Born in Australia and moving to the states when he was ten years old, Jay still had a slight tinge in his accent. I had seen pictures of his family, and the guy had definitely gotten most of his dad’s genes, thick brown hair, and freckles. While his dad was built like a pro wrestler however, Jay was leaner like his mom.
I shrugged. “I was already awake.”
“Liar.” He didn’t look away from his laptop.
Looking closer, I glimpsed the Reddit homepage.
“So, you have won something.”
Jay didn’t answer. I could tell he was excited by the way he could barely keep still, bustling around the kitchen, barefoot. “Coffee?”
His voice was more of a Misty-like squeak, and I half wondered for a moment if they had switched bodies, or he had at least become one with my other housemate through a chemical explosion. In our kitchen, which was yet to be cleaned after a cooking disaster several nights ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if something was living on the countertop. I nodded, slumping into a chair. “What’s going on? Why is Misty freaking out?” I nodded at his laptop. “She said you’ve won something?”
As if my housemate couldn’t hold it in anymore, he nodded, turning his screen towards me. “You know____, right?”
“Yes.” I sipped my coffee, eyeing a toaster strudel sitting on the countertop. "You mean the game which has been coming out for a decade."
He ignored that. “Well, what if I told you one of the developer’s posted on the official sub this morning?”
“For _____?"
He nodded with a grin, and I wondered it this was one of those rare times when Jay was blindly looking through a red flag to see what he wanted. I had heard of these types of scams, and Reddit was a breeding ground for them.
Gamers were pretty intense. I didn’t realize I was pulling a face until I caught his lips curving into a smile. Jay was usually the skeptical one.
“You don’t believe me.”
I downed my coffee to avoid replying. When I had drained the cup, he was still staring at me with amused eyes.
“What?”
“You think it’s bullshit.”
I shrugged. “You said it,” I said. “I’m pretty sure that game isn’t even partway through development. Didn’t Twitter leak a still last year? Also, they’ll be bringing out a new console before that game comes out.”
I leaned back in my chair. “It’s more of a pipe dream, at this point.”
“The leaks were fake,” Even he didn’t look sure. “Anyway, that’s not the point. One of the dev’s posted on the official sub this morning. He asked if we were all excited for the new game, asked if we could post some of our favorite NPC dialogue, and he’ll DM winners.”
“Uh-huh.” I nodded at the screen. I had already checked my phone for an internet meltdown concerning this post, but there was nothing. “And where is that post now?”
Jay didn’t look at me. “It was deleted. So it only reached a certain number of people.”
“Oh, it was deleted?” I couldn’t resist a smile. “What a coincidence.”
When I laughed, Jay scowled, showing me his screen—navigating his trackpad to his Reddit DM’s.
To my surprise, there was actually a message from what I guessed was a throw-away account.
While I was skim reading the DM, Misty hurried in, all dressed and ready for the day. I peeked at her outfit from Jay's laptop. Cute.
Extravagant, but cute. My housemate cranked the radio up before bouncing between us, a toaster strudel hanging out of her mouth.
Misty was a living animated character. Ignoring her wide smile, I turned back to the screen. “Congratulation!!” The DM started with capitals.
It took me reading it twice to realize there was a clear spelling mistake. I sent Jay a pointed look, but he was too busy practically vibrating with excitement. If the guy had any more caffeine, he was going to explode. “Since when did winning DM’s start with a typo?”
“I knew you were going to say that.” Jay curled his lip. “They were clearly excited when typing the message.”
“But this is supposedly an official,” I said. “Surely they would make sure it’s professional?”
My housemate didn’t reply, shooting a look at Misty, who rolled her eyes.
“Wow.” I squinted at the screen. “I am so sorry for caring about your safety. You do realize these types of scam’s usually end up with you being sold on the black market, right?”
I shuddered. “I’ve heard horror stories about underground markets specializing in illegal organ harvesting.”
“Or…” Jay’s eyes were glued to the screen. “You could be happy for me?”
I frowned at the rest of the message, which was just a capitalized freak-out about the upcoming release of the game, before inviting Jay (and a friend!) to a five-minute preview of gameplay, as well as a Q&A. There was a location and a time, which was brow-raising. “10 at night.” I said. “Who hosts a gaming convention at 10pm?” I leaned my chin on my fist. “Unless they wanted to lure as many gullible people as possible, and ship them to some organ harvesting factory on the other side of the world.”
Jay scoffed. “That’s dark.”
“You’re actually considering going to a 10pm gaming convention in the middle of nowhere. I’m trying to wake you up.”
Jay nudged me that time. “It’s real. Relax.”
“And.” I pointed to the screen. “No phones? Why would they ask you not to bring your phones?”
“To stop us filming content,” Misty sang. “Duh.”
I groaned, leaning back in my chair. “You’re on his side? This is clearly shady!” I didn’t get mad unless something was seriously pissing me off, and this was one of those times. Jay was a smart guy. There was no way he was falling for this bullshit. I thought he was joking around when he spent the day tracking the location on Google Maps. I went to class like normal and got updates through text. At lunch, Jay agreed with me and said it was in fact shady, and he wasn’t going. By afternoon classes, he was texting me in paragraphs explaining his own skepticism but had found several “friends” on an online forum who were also going and had changed his mind once again. The guy couldn’t make up his mind. He was driving me crazy.
Misty sent me several videos of Jay pacing the kitchen with his MacBook in his hands. She was broadcasting his mental breakdown via Instagram stories. But then she started to send me pictures of herself in different outfits, asking me for my opinion on each one. At that point, I turned my phone off. My housemates had lost their fucking minds. I did my own research though, just to make sure I wasn’t actually going to lose them to a shady cult.
I searched for the game itself, but just as I thought, it was shown as still in development. Every “update” was just fan speculation.
There were YouTube videos and TikTok’s of fake leaks, but nothing was real. It was either AI generated, or badly edited. By the time my classes had ended and I had turned my phone on, I had a barrage of missed calls and texts.
Most of them were from Misty with her outfit changes, and Jay changing his mind again.
This time he was convinced it was all a scam, his texts full of typos and crying emoji's which he never used. Before it hit me that Misty was most likely using his phone to text me.
I was right. When I walked through the door, I was greeted by both of them sitting on the stairs. Misty was scrolling through Jay’s phone, while the boy had his head in his hands. According to Misty’s last text, he was back to being excited to go.
From the look on his face, eyes shadowed with sleep circles, light brown curls slipping from under his hood, I wasn’t sure what Misty meant by “excited”. The guy looked the complete opposite. His mind had been consumed by the game, and the idea of seeing new content.
When I dropped my bag and folded my arms, fixing the two of them with my best disapproving parent look, Misty jumped to her feet. “Sam!” she waved Jay’s phone at me. “Did you get my texts? We’re actually going now!”
The 100+ texts on both messenger and iMessage said otherwise.
I nodded, my gaze on Jay. “Both of you do realize it’s a scam, right?” I softened my tone despite growing progressively more irritated. We were grown adults, not kids. I could understand a group of teenagers falling for it, but two twenty-three-year-olds?
This time, I ducked in front of Jay. “Hey.” I pulled down his hood, and he groaned, burying his head in his knees. “I don’t want to freak you out, so listen to me, okay?”
I exhaled out a breath. “I’m not saying something bad is going to happen to you, because it most likely won’t—and yes, I admit I’m being paranoid.” When he lifted his head, blinking through bedraggled curls, there was a faint smile on his lips. “But.” I said. “You are most likely going to end up disappointed. Which I don’t want, because you won't shut up about it for weeks."
I was only partly joking.
For a moment, I thought my housemate was going to wake up, and nod, laughing at how crazy it was.
Before shook his head and jumped up.
“I’m going to take a shower, alright? I should start getting ready."
I admit, I exploded at him.
We argued while he was in the shower, and I paced up and down the hallway, coming up with multiple reasons why he was definitely going to die, and only two positives if it was in fact real. In the end, I gave up worrying all together. I didn’t say anything when the two of them were hurrying around looking for shoes and missing car keys. I didn’t realize they were gone until the door was clanging shut, and a text was coming through. I didn’t look at it until an hour later, and I had calmed down.
Jay: 1h ago: Stop worrying, lmao. We’re good! I’ll keep my phone just in case. I’ll make sure to avoid the organ harvesting 😉
Another from Misty a few minutes later: “Love you! Chillll, kay? 😭😭 It’s going to be fun! I’ll take pics!”
…
Followed by: “Oh shit, we can’t. I’ll try to sneak some!"
Attached to the text was a photo of the two of them. Misty with a wide smile and a peace sign, and Jay who looked like he was mid-shout, his eyes on the road.
Those texts were… at least comforting, I guessed. Maybe they were right. I figured I was paranoid, and they in fact would really be okay.
But that didn’t stop the anxious coil in my gut when I tried to force down takeout pizza. I attempted to focus on my essay to distract myself, but I couldn’t stop glancing at my phone, and checking Twitter. There was a hashtag on the DM, which was just “PlayStationGO.” When I searched for it, however, nothing came up.
Sure, it was a private convention and only a select few knew about it, but nothing could escape Twitter.
Somewhere, someone must be talking about it. After scrolling through endless tweets though, I realized I was wrong. There was nothing.
That put a bad taste in my mouth.
10pm came, and I held my breath all the way through a Netflix TV show I was forcing myself to watch, half asleep, slumped at my desk.
I could barely distinguish the plot.
I just had a vague idea of the character names, and some of their motivations.
Midnight passed, and I was struggling to stay awake.
I glanced at my phone.
No messages, just a notification from Spotify reminding me my favorite band was playing nearby.
1am.
Still nothing. I fell back to sleep.
2:48am.
This time, I stayed awake for a few minutes glaring at my phone before my eyes grew heavy.
3:16: am.
My phone buzzed with a text from Jay, but I could barely desipher it: "can't feel help my head hurts Canshdhsn727272_6798mi/!! _&go home please. (Sent from: PlayStationGo™️ BETA)."
3:27: am.
3:54: am. I was wide awake, blinking at a notification which had popped up from an unknown number. I was trying to figure out what number it was, when my phone vibrated again and I almost jumped out of my skin.
After a moment of hesitation, I answered it.
I was trying so hard not to think of the possibility of it being the emergency room, or even worse, the cops.
All of my worst nightmares had come true in a single second.
“Hello?” I whispered in a croak.
“Are they in the house with you?” The stranger’s voice came through in a hiss of interference.
His words sent my mediocre dinner lurching back up my throat. “What?” I managed to get out. “Who?”
“Your friends.” He said, and I leapt to unsteady feet, my gut twisting and turning.
“No.” I found myself taking slow strides toward the window, brushing back the curtain and peering out into the night. “Why? Did something happen to them?” I paused.
“How did you get my number?”
“That does not matter.” His voice rattled in my ear as I rushed downstairs, almost stumbling down the bottom two. “I need you to get out of that house. Now. Get as far away as possible.”
I could hear his rapid breaths.
He was driving. I could hear the rumble of the engine. With my phone pressed to my ear, I obeyed his instructions, pulling open the door and stepping out into the cool night, a brisk breeze grazing my bare arms was just enough to stop my thoughts spiraling.
I was barefoot, in nothing but a robe, staggering down the driveway. The night was calm and silent; our neighborhood was asleep, each window drowned in darkness. I couldn’t breathe, my clammy fingers wrapped around my phone, as this stranger broke down over the phone. “Whatever you do,” he gasped out.
“Do not, I repeat DO NOT remove the PlayStationGo—shit!! He hissed out, static rattling the call. The guy seemingly got ahold of himself, and the wheel, and continued. I started to walk—where I was going, I had no idea.
The stranger lit a cigarette. I heard the click of a lighter and his exhalation of breath. “It was a BETA version, but we had to rush it. This was not my idea. My boss is a greedy man. He wanted to release the game last year, which would have meant widespread infection. Luckily, that did not happen. We did manage to delay it, but only by a year.” His words barely made sense to me as I struggled to get a word in, peering in the dark. “It was supposed to be a virtual experience of the game—a whole new angle of gameplay. But testing was difficult. First, on monkey’s, we lost multiple subjects. Tonight was supposed to be a…well, I guess you could call it out first attempt on human subjects,” his laugh was bitter. “I knew the tech wasn’t finished. And I tried. Believe me, I fucking tried. I tried to blow the whistle, but these bastards know where my parents live."
Something squirmed its way down my spine.
“So my friends were lab rats?” I said stiffly. “You used them?”
I fucking knew it.
I knew it was too good to be true.
“Yes and no. Listen to me, the people I work for are hunting them down. Trust me, I don’t want my bosses to find them because a life of experimentation will await them. Torture. Do you hear me? It does not matter if subjects fail. They don’t care. As long as there is at least a light at the end of the tunnel for them, they will see it as a win, and bring the publication date closer. They will not be treated as humans. Your friends signed a contract before trying out the tech, where the small print stated that, under section 3, player engagement, all subjects must agree to offer themselves as participants in later updates. I silently cursed Jay for always skipping the terms and conditions when buying games." The man stopped to breathe.
“I have told you multiple times, and I won’t say it again. Get as far away from that house as possible. I will take care of them. I will make sure of it." The sound of squealing engines, and I stopped power walking, coming to an abrupt stop. The silence of the night around me, compared to the sound of the highway he was on, traffic horns and the wind rushing through the window was an eerie contrast, a disturbance to the heavenly bubble we were trapped in.
“What do you mean ‘take care of them?” I had to swallow a yell. “Hey! What are you talking about?
“I’m sorry.” Was all he replied with. “I’m afraid it is too late. There was once an opportunity to save the mind during the initial level of the demonstration. However, once the PlaystationGo has been fully attached to the base of the subject, we no longer have control of it. Once integrating itself into the cerebral cortex, the PlayStationGo can only be removed by signing out of the player’s account,” his breath was heavy. “On this unfortunate occasion, however, your friends are unable to navigate the system due to a malfunction which scrambled their brains,” He trailed off. “Which has left them stranded in the game."
I let out a breath. “Right.” I said. “That’s.. bad. I mean, it’s a fucked-up piece of technology, but they’re just playing a game, right?”
There was a pause, before the man laughed.
“Young man, I don’t think you understand,” he said. “The PlayStationGo was created to give the player a full virtual experience of our game. The PlayStationGo is not a physical object. Created with nanotechnology, it attaches itself to the subject’s brain and is supposed to create a personal gaming experience for each player. As I said, however, it is not finished. It is yet to be released to the public, and of course, we are expecting certain ethical arguments due to the controversial—”
I pulled the phone away from my ear, shaking my head. I didn’t need to hear his attempts at trying to save his own skin.
“You need to help them,” I whispered. “Do you hear me? Can you do that? Can you help them?!”
“That is what I am trying to tell you,” He said.
“I know you are upset and confused, and believe me, I offer my apologies. But you need to listen to facts. During initial testing, our subjects were conscious enough to know where their home was. We are unsure why this happens, though we have linked it to territory, as well as the main character of the game heavily influencing their actions. I have been tracking them from the testing facility, and they are incredibly close. Please get as far away from there as possible. If you are no longer in the vicinity of the house, I can end this quickly and quietly before we gain attention.”
I wasn’t sure what I was going to say. Maybe start fucking screaming at him, because he was talking about getting “rid” of my friends, after their mistake.
“Do you understand me?” He said, when I couldn’t reply. “Your friends are lost causes!”
Before I could answer, though, headlights were suddenly coming around the corner, and I found myself paralysed to the spot. The car which swerved twice, crashed into several trash cans, before reversing and coming straight towards me, was not Jay’s car. Jay’s car was an old hunk of junk he’d gotten from a scrapyard. Jay’s car had doors which were practically hanging off, and a stereo which exclusively played either static gibberish, or old tapes I had no idea how to use. This car was bright yellow, and definitely had an option to drive itself. When the car came to a stop, inches from careening into me, I lost all control of myself.
I was vaguely aware of my phone slipping from my fingers and hitting the sidewalk. But I was too busy staring at the two shadows in the front of the car. The driver, and the passenger.
And the muffled screaming coming from the trunk.
When the door swung open, a figure stepping out, I did not recognise my housemate.
The stranger told me I wouldn't, but I didn't believe him.
Jay had left the house in casual jeans and a sweater, bearing the game's logo.
Now, I found myself face to face with a man with my housemate's face and features, his smile and eyes-- but something had been severed in his eyes and twisted in his expression. For one, Jay was wearing a suit I knew he couldn't afford, the sleeves torn, collar pulled open, smears of red staining the front.
His pants had cufflinks, and the Rolex on his wrist had definitely been pulled off someone's corpse.
The silver was stained a revealing scarlet. Drinking in his face, he looked like Jay. His curls hung in front of his eyes, freckles speckling his cheeks, but everything else wasn't. It wasn't until I was glimpsing what was moulded into the flesh of his hand, did I remember how to move. But then I was taking all of him in, everything my mind had intentionally skipped, because I didn't want to believe the stranger on the phone. Nanotechnology, the man had said in a hiss.
Fiction, I had thought.
Before I saw the reality of it, a writhing metallic like substance glued to the guy's temple, and slowly, very slowly, inching down his cheek, already forming around the bridge of his ear, a very faint blue light flickering.
Something must have alerted him. His cavernous eyes left mine, and he twisted his head—and I heard the sound of his neck snapping, his head lolling to the left slightly, his eyes flickering. I watched his whole body seem to sway back and forth, ready to fall forwards.
Before the newly formed device on his ear turned red, then green.
It was almost like he was… rebooting. As if coming back to life, Jay lifted his head at an awkward angle, before looking straight through me. The blood vessels in his eyes had popped, rivulets of red beading down his face. He should have been dead, I thought. No. No, he was dead. That… that thing was keeping him alive. “Well, shiiiittt,” he said. I could sense the game dialogue which had taken over him, forming on his mangled tongue.
“I’m a man on a mission.”
In jerking movements, he turned and marched back towards the car, opening the door, and sliding into the front seat.
I remembered how to move, ducking to grab my phone, before something slammed into the back of my head—and I saw stars.
I didn’t remember hitting the floor, only the soft sound of her voice, a seductive murmur repeating NPC dialogue, and her kitten heel sticking into my spine, forcing me onto my face.
Misty. I was expecting her to get it over with. But when she dragged me to my feet, sticking the barrel of a gun into the flesh of my neck—I figured she was still playing the game.
Twisting around to meet her eyes, lifeless and empty, only filled with light from the device which had taken over half of her face, I felt sick to my stomach. This thing wasn’t a games console or a virtual reality headset.
It was an attempt at coercing and programming something you already don’t understand, to do something impossible.
I could see that in the way the things had visibly chewed and eaten through her flesh, devouring her from the inside and out. I could see what was left of the dress she had worn earlier, but something must have gone wrong with her too. Because Misty had thrown on another outfit over the top, a diamond necklace hanging from her neck.
I caught a thin river of red pooling down her right temple, trying to ignore the twitchy way she moved, just like a character. From the way Misty walked, stumbling, I already knew she was gone. My housemate had newly acquired strength, throwing me in the trunk of the car where three other hostages were, and slamming it shut on my attempts to reason with her. She didn’t tie me up or restrain me.
In the dim light I could just make out though passing streetlights, I could see the trunk opened from the inside. Which was too easy.
Still though, Jay was driving recklessly, and every time I tried to throw the damn thing open, I was knocked backwards, rolling into a screaming girl, who was bound by her hands and feet. It took me multiple attempts before I had the trunk open, freezing cold air blasting me in the face. I untied the other hostages, but when I told them to come with me, they just stared blankly at me, and continued begging for their lives—and it only took me glimpsing what was attached to their temples, a familiar writhing metal plate, for me to understand. They too were playing the game. This time, as NPC hostages.
I found myself gingerly touching the trembling metallic flesh of the girl's fingers bound in rope. It had a slimy consistency, and I swore, I felt something bite into me.
No way, I thought.
This thing was sentient, yes. But it wasn't living.
Listen, I wish I could tell you what it was like to jump out of a moving car, but I can’t.
I remember it as lunging out of the trunk, hitting the freezing cold air, before hitting the ground head first, neutron star collisions exploding in the backs of my eyes.
What I do remember is waking up on the side of the road. Hours later. The sky was bright blue, a scorching sun blinding me when I managed to force my eyes open.
The early morning rush hour flew by as normal, and I wondered how ignorant American people had to be to ignore someone knocked out on the side of the road.
It’s not like I was nowhere near civilization. There was a fucking Subway right next to me.
When I had gathered myself, I remembered I had no phone. I couldn’t go home in fear of running into my rogue housemates playing their own fucked up version of _____ in their head. My plan was to try and find my phone, get in contact with the stranger who blew the whistle on my friends being dangerous, and find them. They couldn’t be far., right? And even if they weren’t themselves… someone would be able to save them.
If someone could do this to them, surely they could reverse it.
I felt sick, tired, and I was starving.
So, with some loose cash I’d found in my pocket, I bought a Subway and a Coke.
The woman at the counter smiled widely at me. She leaned forward, with a wink. “Nice cosplay!”
Cosplay?
I didn’t understand what she meant until I swore I felt something… move its way up my pant leg. I ignored it, and it happened again, this time it felt like something was… biting.
A bug, maybe? I had been laying on the side of the road for around six hours.
When I went to the bathroom, though, I found myself staring at an all too familiar glint of silver creeping its way across my temple. Like it was sentient, parts of it sider webbed towards my ear while the rest writhed into my hairline.
I pulled up my pant leg again, and there it was, a fungus-like metal substance which had already formed in two solid metal masses on my knees. I remember grazing two fingers across the thing beginning its slow feast of my flesh. I remember trying to pull it off, hissing in pain when I risked ripping off my own skin with it. I remember shaking my head and being in denial, even when the lights dimmed above me, and the bathroom door in front of me became more of a shadow. When I strode back through the Subway store, I began to see slight flickers of light above each person, highlighting something not quite there yet.
I could see it already starting, beginning to take over my thoughts. Cars which sped past were suddenly highlighted, and at the corner of my eye, if I concentrated, the outline of a map was starting to appear. Even now, when the room is almost completely taken over by shadow, and my thoughts are half my own, and half not—when a metallic device is beginning to form over my eyes—I know if I hold on, this thing won’t take me. I have considered killing myself, but that wouldn’t… be right.
How could I kill myself when there is so much left to do?
This developer was right. I don’t even know where I can sign out. There’s what looks like the beginning of some kind of index when I look up, but it’s not… finished. I can still see entangled pieces of code struggling to load what I’m guessing was log out. Whatever this thing is, it’s taking over me. Fast. Like a fungus, like a virus, it will not stop until it’s dragged me into the game, until it's leeched itself onto me.
I can feel it happening right now. It's been slow.
Almost painfully slow.
But maybe that is the point. Maybe part of the game is to feel my own thoughts beginning to unravel in favor of something else entirely.
Fuck.
Time is going by…. Fast.
Five minutes ago… I was trying to get home. But I can’t remember where I live.
I can’t concentrate.
I can’t think straight.
I have a phone—but I don’t know how I got it. Did I steal it?
Every time I move, the slowly emerging map comes to life at the corner of my eye jerks with my movement. There is a car parked nearby.
I know it belongs to the man with a child.
But a confusing blur of light is highlighting it to be something of importance. Reality is crashing in front of me, replaced with contorting shapes and bursts of color I have to blink through.
I keep hearing... sirens.
Jay is messaging me.
On what, I'm not sure.
But I need to find him.
I’m sure one mission won’t hurt, right?

​
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Let me tell you about the strange curse of owning the Gmail account [firstname][lastname]@gmail.com, thanks to my foresight in joining the Gmail beta back in the 2000s (a byproduct of owning a Blogger blog - that should give you an idea of my age).
My common name means my inbox is constantly polluted by misdirected emails from all corners of the country, their intended recipients unaware of their digital mishaps.
A peek into this relentless flood:

• Once I was the unintended recipient of 30 Biology papers from high school students from a state far removed from mine. No, I did not grade them.
• Utility companies and banks often chide me for late payments on bills that aren't mine. Sometimes several times a week.
• I'm also the confounding recipient of emails urging me to renegotiate debts that I don't owe. These range from the very friendly ("Sort out your situation with Private Bank!") to the needlessly blunt ("Big Government Bank hereby informs you that you are late on your credit card payments.").
• Notifications for power outages in a neighborhood two states away often find their way to me. These are intended for someone with a completely different name, someone who's apparently reliant on life-saving equipment. And no, I have no way of contacting the intended recipient.
• I've been mistakenly CCed into business emails. No, I am not interested in your business proposal, kind stranger. This one actually tried to argue with me. "Oh, but I got your e-mail from Such-and-Such!"

Then there are the bewildering online accounts:

• A kid of 14 once set up a Snapchat account using my email. I took over, wiped their posts, and optimistically set up an account for myself, which remains unused, due to the uncomfortable reality of my being two decades past Snapchat's prime demographic.
• And let's not ignore the almost ritualistic attempts to change my Instagram password. Good luck with that.

Most bizarre? The complete stranger who sent me photos of his ID card and credit card. I can't fathom what he hoped to achieve. I contemplated calling him but ultimately realized the only person with the information and opportunity to exploit him was me. Needless to say, his secrets are safe.
In retrospect, I would be better off if I still had my Star Wars-themed hotmail address from my teens.

Came across this thread over on nba and saw that nobody posted it over here yet.
Starting 11 minutes into Locked On Pelicans with Pelicans insider, credentialed member of the media Jake Madison.

Based on my conversations with people with the team, there are times when they feel very fed up with Zion. Not enough to necessarily want to trade Zion Williamson away or actively start to do that. Again, they’re really trying to appease him with a big deal shake up or the training staff, but it’s in their minds in some capacity. And you know, they’ve worked through some trade scenarios or what the return for him would be.
We’ve heard some rumors of does he want to be here or not. He said all of the right things. Actions have been a little bit different at times. He doesn’t really spend a lot of time around the team in the offseason doing offseason workouts. He doesn’t necessarily need to, but you’d certainly like it.
I think the Pelicans absolutely love Scoot Henderson, really think Scoot is going to be a star and would also like to be in the Scoot business.

This seems to imply that New Orleans could be interested in some sort of trade involving #3 and Zion which would be... interesting?
Pros
-Insane natural talent, easily the best co-star Dame has ever had (when healthy)
-Gives us more rebounding and physicality down low
-Young player locked up on a long-term deal
Cons
-Might be the most injury-prone player in the league
-Some effort and character concerns (could Dame help with this?)
So let's talk, who wants Zion in Portland?

First of all let me say my orthography is terible bc im german so dont be triggerd.
But ok ill tell u why nami is indirectly in love with luff (yea luff is my nickname for him :D)
ofc nami just like any other crewmember shares a very deep friendship based on deep trust w luff, but its clear her and only a few other member share the deepest bonds with him. He is the the only man she would ever do anything for and would even die for him(in my opinion her and zoro share the same ammount of loyalty to luff) wich she would not do for anyone else.
But lets get to the romantic part. Now have all seen nami blush at reiju ,,sweetly kissing'' luff wich means that she saw it as a sexuall action of reijus. Lets also not forget her ,,crushing'' on ace w vivi.
Now why did i mention these incidents? That was my before hand proof that nami is capeble of falling in love (i mean she is the most normal out of the crew with usoppeeen she obviously can unlike luff who is too childish for that) yk just to tell yall that it is possible. Now comes the part of her actually being in love with a question. How would you not fall in love with the overly cute guy who fcking saved your and your village out of a crisis of 8 years, who didnt even know you for too long but wouldnt hesitate to help you just because you were ,,friends''..... NOW TELL ME WHAT 18-20 YEAR OLD GIRL WOULDNT FALL FOR THAT. Besides that i just listed my own reasons why i would fall for him :P , nami has showen signs of jealoussy twice ( that was 2 times to often considering oda confurming there will be no romance between the crew) the first time was on post sabaody asking luff( ill translate what she said in german i thought it was hilarious),, luffy, do you know that pirate bimbo'' IM SORRY AHAHAHAH. And the second time was on the way to wholecake / reiju situation, appearently nami was jealous XD(thats what google says at her blushing). Tho these have been ,, unconfurmed '' incidents,... let me talk about oda OBVIOUSLY HINTING US THAT SHE IS JEALOUS ALL THE DAMN TIME???!?!HAHAHAH I MEAN??!!RED spoiler!!>! in the red movie when luff and uta hugged THEY LITTERALLY SHOWED US 2 WHOLE SECONDS OF HER STARRING IN ENVY LAST TIME I SAW A GIRL LOOKING THIS JEALOUS WAS THE GIRL LINDSAY IN MY KINDERGARTEN LOOKING AT ME LIKE I TOOK A SHT IN HER SOCKDRAWER JUST BC I WON THE COSTUME CONTEST! the hell was that about??!<
Ok but that didnt only happen in the movie. So often we saw nami looking at luff weirdly when he was arround girls.
​
But what i have been thinking about for the last weeks is how nami would react if luff ended up with someone other than her. I thought , she would be disapointed, but just really slightly. Not thinking that it should have been her or smt but just a pinch of obvous disapointment really. I cant be the only one who can picture that very well? Especally at the obvious assumption that nami would try to deny being in love w him or just wouldnt want to admit it. But how do yall thing she would react? Isnt it quite realistic to everyone who has fully watched one piece? WELL let me know im sry this was so damn long i got caught off HAHAHAHAHAHHA but yea if u read it till here ur crazy HAHAHA but okrrrr:D

(Long Post)
I am trying to come around to the idea of possibly keeping Dame AND Scoot. It's difficult to think about how Dame would feel about drafting a point guard with the 3rd pick instead of using the pick to get our franchise GOAT some help. I absolutely LOVE Dame and I actually still don't see him forcing his way out because I think we can still form a good team with our other assets BUT the fit of Dame and Scoot is just so bad. Literally any other draft pick would be a better fit next to Dame but if Schmitz sees the potential in Scoot then you have to make the pick, I am not the HIGHEST on Scoot but I am sure he will be really good. However, I got to thinking how much I appreciate how Sharpe was brought up with the team.
I think this is a really slept on storyline, but Sharpe was really developed well for us. I can't think of many other 19-year-old players with Sharpe player profile come into the league and look that steady. I think Sharpe reluctancy to mess up out there made for some disappearing stretches, but it ended up working out just as well then if he had free reign to go out there and play through a ton of mistakes and have to go through confidence ups and downs. I think having a Dame led veteran team also helped Sharpe stay disciplined and understand playing in a team concept and focusing on winning EVEN if we didn't win many games. I think Billups is an awful coach, but I think his best work as a coach was molding the young guys on the team, especially Sharpe. Anthony Edwards and Jalen Green are the two young guys that resembled Sharpe the most out of his peers and both had stretches where they just weren't playing smart basketball and I think you still see those bad habits in their game now with their decision making, shooting, mentality, etc. Sharpe carries himself very well on and off the court and I think it really is a good reflection to our organization that we haven't heard of any bad news with any of our players, I think Dame has a large role in that. I observe closely the new generation of basketball players and the culture they are a part of with Hip-Hop and social media and its truly a different beast then the 90's kids. I think it's why you are seeing guys like Ja Morant, Zion Williamson, the Hornets franchise act so much different then guys like Dame/Lebron. Heck even Tatum/Mitchell/Booker who are my age group act much different than the post 2019 NBA draft guys. Funny because Sharpe had concerns about his motor and drive but I think we are lucky to have a guy that is so reserved and kept to himself because he really gives off silent assassin vibes, someone that just wants to hone on his natural ability and doesn't really care for the marketing and flashly lifestyle that comes with being an NBA player.
Now I don't think Scoot has any red flags or potential issues BUT I think having Dame around and giving Scoot similar treatment to Sharpe would be terrific for Scoots development. I just want to avoid a situation like the Rockets, TWolves, Hornets, Bulls, where they are consistently in the lottery because they don't have a great environment for young players to develop and their players often do better when they leave. I think the way that Dame sets an example for everyone in the organization is so important and its hard to replicate that if we move off of him because of contractual reasons. I think teams that are trying to rebuild are really missing this aspect of team building because without the right veterans or mentors, a team full of young guys in this era can really pick up some bad habits and not turn into winning environments even with all the talent and potential in the world.
​
Side point, I think the league could be in trouble with the post 2000's stars. I really observe how the new generation is brought up on social media and today's culture and it really shows with young stars like Ja, Zion, Lamelo, Edwards, Green. Not to say those guys are awful human beings or wildly different than older generations who had their own fair share of issues just not as visible because of the lack of social media. But I think players today are so focused on their brand and doing whatever it takes to get to the league and are missing valuable character-building journeys and overcoming adversity, the experiences that make Damian Lillard who he is. Now all these young players can develop very well and turn into fantastic leaders and faces of the league when they are older, but I think there will be a difference between that group and the guys like Lebron/Kobe/Dirk/Wade/Duncan/Curry/Dame/KG/Giannis/Jokic group of faces of the league. Unless you have a team full of Dwights and Shaqs where they are moreso on the goofier lighter side of personalities but are still so dominant.
Think this is a reason why Dame started the Formula Zero to instill positive morals and values in players and to reduce their entitled mindset. I don't think basketball and being a good teammate is as important as it used to be. Not saying guys have to make basketball their entire life and shouldn't pursue other interests, I just think it's going away from what made the special players so elite and there will be less superstars going forward if guys aren't developed correctly. Maybe a reason why international players are thriving so much today....

Previous
Captain Vohr’Doe was waiting in the hangar as Kahv’Hosh set the shuttle down, a slew of emotions raging inside her, all vying to be the leading sentiment. Though, she - of course - would probably have to lean more towards 'gratitude’, if made to pick a single one. She was more than grateful that her crew were no longer in danger - and yes, that even included him - and that those pirates were no longer a threat to anyone else, either.
And then there was the obvious awe at the humans had weaponized gravity; she had heard the horror stories of what could happen if a gravity plate malfunctioned - she had to have electrical replace the ones in the gym just a few days ago, as Kyle had pushed them up to 15G in his training - but to actually use it as a weapon?...
And, of course, there was an overwhelming amount of anger. Well, maybe not anger, per se; but there wasn’t really a word for the feeling between extreme frustration, and anger. What kept her from completely registering it as anger was her wholehearted belief that he had good intentions for having something so destructive on board her ship. But that only just tempered the vexation she felt at him having smuggled a gravity bomb onto her ship! Not only that, but there were two crates that had been marked as ‘gravity generators’, which she had initially assumed were for his comfort, to put his room - or possibly his campsite - to a more comfortable gravity. But she could see now how very wrong she was.
As the door to the shuttle opened, she watched first Admiral Shane, then Kahv’Hosh exit the craft. Kyle exited after a delay of a few seconds, and after sweeping the hangar with his gaze, he lowered it when it met her’s, looking for all intents like her nephew when he gets caught doing something he shouldn’t, and - not for the first time - an almost motherly feeling came over her. Which wasn’t so far out of the question, seeing as - according to the data provided on them - humans were by far the shortest-lived people in Galactic Records, where the shortest-lived species after them - the rahv’oyeck - averaged around 500 years, give or take a few decades.
Not to mention the fact that - for however short a time, he was a part of her crew, and as such, she instinctively felt protective of him, the fact that - as his captain - she was responsible for him notwithstanding. Plus, he really did seem to be almost ‘childlike’ at times, with a simple - almost naive - attitude towards the goings on around him. Not that he was clueless when it came to interacting with others; as many of the crew had come to find out, apparently.
But it was his obvious contrition that tempered her attitude, so that when they had made their way over to her, it had simmered down to intense irritation. Once they were standing before her, Kyle finally looked up to meet her gaze, and she felt her heart soften further at the expression on his face; not that she would let him know that, of course.
“Would you care to explain yourself, Mr. Redding?” she asked, being sure to keep the edge to her voice; she couldn't be seen as ‘soft’.
“I didn't know that they were sending it,” he began quickly, ”I only found out about it after I got to my equipment room, the first time.”
“Them,” she replied, and at his confused look, continued,
“Them; plural: there were two crates listed under ‘gravity generators’, and they were both the same size. I don't believe that the other one actually contains gravity plates stacked up; not this time.”
Kyle gave a look of understanding, and she believed that he really did momentarily forget about the other one.
“Right,” he said, “Two. Yeah, I didn't know they were gonna send them…”
“And afterward, it never occurred to you to tell me that you had two bombs on board that could make this entire ship - and everyone on board - become one dense atom?!” A little more edge crept into her voice than she would have liked at that moment. It was Admiral Shane, however, who answered; taking a step forward, he cleared his throat.
“Captain, if I may?...” It was the respect - the deference - in his voice that gave her pause, and helped to calm her thoughts a bit. She nodded in affirmation, and he continued,
“What would happen to us - in the immediate sense - if this ship were to lose all power right now; primary, and emergency backup power?”
The question seemed so random, that her mind basically blanked out, and she found herself saying the first thing that came to her mind.
“We would all begin floating, seeing as the artificial gravity would be out, as well.”
“Precisely,” he continued, “And short of directly supplying power to the artificial gravity, how could we get the plates to work?”
She began to understand his point.
“I see where this is going, Admiral, but unless I’m very much mistaken, there were no ports on that box that would accept any power crystals with the required energy to fuel that miniature black hole. Which means that it had power the whole time.”
“That's true,” he said in a mollifying tone, “But the power to the core was disconnected, and needed a code that would cause even an A.I. trouble hacking it, as it's a 300,000-page code, randomly coded in every written language known to humankind. There are even symbols in the code that don't show up on the screen, if someone were to try to hack it manually; an A.I. is needed to even crack the code within a year. And only Kay’Eighty has the codes for those two programmed into her memory.
“So,” he concluded, “While I agree entirely with you that he should have let you know about them, I can give you my word - on behalf of the honor of all humans - that no amount of damage could cause an accidental activation. While I won't say that the other one is harmless, I can assure you that there is no chance of it going off by accident. However, I won’t hesitate to take it off of your ship, if you so desire.”
She took a moment to digest everything that Admiral Shane said, and eventually came to a conclusion.
“No, I’ll allow him to keep it on the ship; I would say that there's likely never going to be a reason that we would need it, but I would have said the same thing this morning, and we can all see how wrong that was.”
“If you like,” Kyle offered, “We could attach it to like, a missile, or something, and Kay’Eighty could give you a data chip with the code for it.”
She thought for a few seconds, then nodded.
“That sounds acceptable; but what if we need it detached?”
“She can attach it to the outside on a molecular level with her nanobots, and detach it the same way.”
She nodded her head, and then sighed.
“Well, I won't pretend that I’m not happy about the way this all played out; still, I’m just glad their cargo holds and brigs showed no signs of life. At least we didn't send any innocents to their doom with that ploy. You could have at least told me what it was when I asked you why you needed the scan of the pirate ships in the first place.”
“Yeah,” he replied in that casual tone of voice that she would tolerate from few others, further enforcing that matronly feeling over him, “But we didn't have time for you to be pissed off at me, then… But - for the record - I am sorry for not telling you; I should have let you know a lot sooner.”
She gave him the sternest look she could muster in that moment, and replied,
“I’ll accept your apology if - and only if - you let me examine this fruit tree of yours.”
Kyle's face brightened, and a wide smile appeared as he said,
“Of course; you could've come seen it any time.”
She smiled at him, and turned to leave, passing Kah’Ri, who had held back - as per her request - while she talked to Kyle about the heavy ordnance he had on her ship. She heard the impact of the two, and the sound of them kissing, that was immediately mixed with the sound of hurried footsteps as Kahv’Hosh and Admiral Shane gave the two their privacy.
The meeting with the Council went smoother than she could have expected, with them simply stating that - as a interstellar ambassador - Kyle was authorized for a higher level of weaponry utilized in his protection, and as his current ship of transport, the Golden Egg had the authorization to use such weapons, if need be. They did - however - require any and all recordings of the interaction to be sent to the Council, for analysis of their capabilities.
There was also the matter of Grol’Rosh, the suul’mahr representative who had watched the probe’s descent into the dark of the planet below. The doctors felt that it was best to keep him in a medically induced coma, as when he was conscious - and heavily restrained - he was moaning and whimpering, rambling incoherently about the ‘darkness that sees, hiding the sea of flesh’, of ‘clawed feet on chitinous arms, too-long hands reaching from fanged tentacles’; and the sound, which he mentioned as the ‘screams of the damned from so many mouths, they know all, 'THEY ARE THE HOLES LIKE EYES!!!’
She noted the looks that ranged form disquiet, to disgust, but it was between the humans that she saw a look of understanding horror pass.
“But…” Kyle began weakly, looking at Admiral Shane, “That was just a movie. Wha-…?”
“Well,” the Admiral replied in a slightly dazed voice, “I think it’s safe to say that blowing the planet up is out of the question.”
“Or what?” Kyle began in amused incredulity, “A piece of it’s gonna hit a wormhole, and go back in time to Alaska sometime before the 1980’s?” The laugh he ended this with was close to hysterical, to which the Admiral shrugged.
“At this point, I wouldn’t rule anything out. However, the more likely scenario would be that it lands on a different planet, wreaksand havoc from there. Even worse would be for it to hit a previously uncontacted, sapient species’ home world. The results of a single cell of this… thing’s biomass were to make it to a planet with living creatures on it would be beyond catastrophic. There’s no amount of destruction - short of throwing it into a star, or a black hole - that I would trust the safety of the galaxy to, when it comes to the lifeform that calls this planet its home.”
Chairwoman Hahss’Chom spoke up at this.
“While I obviously have no knowledge of this movie the two of you reference, I must say that your assessments of this seem to be at least plausible. I don’t know so much about the time travel aspect, but it would seem that this would be the best summary of the events, here. It would appear that a sapient race evolved on this planet, and that their Gift was that of assimilation. At some point, it would seem they began assimilating each other, until they reached a critical mass, and ‘they’ became ‘it’. And from Grol’Rosh’s description, it doesn’t sound as if this is a pleasant experience for whatever they… it has become. I believe that it is not only a matter of protection for the wider galaxy - universe, even - but also as an act of mercy that we should put this… thing out of its misery.” There was a general murmur of agreement around the council chambers as no one seemed to want to disagree with that sentiment.
They moved the Golden Egg to the other side of the system from the planet, keeping the sun between it and them. Upon hearing about the ‘darkness that sees’, Kyle had exclaimed that that was what had bothered him so much about the planet; the darkness was watching them. They didn’t want to find out if the life form on the planet may be able to ‘stack’ itself ‘up’, away from the planet, and reach out to the ship were they to get over the dark side, but at the same time, no one wanted to be under the gaze of such a massive predator.
They were parked in that system for almost an entire Standard week, though, it should have been longer; however, with their A.I. able to make the calculations for them, they were able to drop further into subspace, where not only do the ‘shadows’ become larger - therefore reducing the ‘space’ needed to travel - but the speed of your craft rose exponentially, so it was extremely easy to overshoot one’s target, going a ‘shorter’ distance at a greatly multiplied speed.
The moon/ship was amazing to behold. It had - originally - had an outer layer of ice, with an inner ocean, and a deeper ice layer, followed by a rocky mantle, and heavy iron core. The humans - but really, the A.I. - had mined out the iron core, and used it in building the outer shell of the craft. The water was harvested - according to their records - and support columns on the inside were used to maintain integrity of the craft. It now appeared for all intents and purposes as a giant metal moon, with engines on one end, and millions of lights that dotted its surface, obviously viewports. A close-up scan showed that it was blanketed in guns, but those were obviously only big enough to serve as defense; it was apparent that this ship wasn’t built as a gunner.
Once it had come into the system - keeping out of ‘view’ from its dark side - they enveloped the planet with the craft’s tractor beam, the space around the planet lighting up to an almost gray aura, as the beam took hold. Once they had reported a full grip of the planet, the Europa Contingency dropped back into subspace, the planet ‘disappearing’ with them, only to ‘reappear’ around an hour later, the ship’s massive engines working more efficiently in subspace to move the much larger planet. Once they reappeared, the light around the planet went out as the Europa Contingency released it from the tractor beam, dropping back into subspace for an easier retreat from the sun.
No one wanted to go to look at what was happening to the planet, which would entail either getting into its range of ‘vision’, and also the possibility of seeing whatever it was that drove the suul’mahr representative insane. Readings showed the loss of mass, as the planet was burnt up in the corona of the star, and everyone watched on as the sun continued to consume its wayward planet. With the planet also having been thrown - not simply having 'fallen' - into the sun, it wasn’t long before it had been fully encased in the cleansing fires of the star.
She was also relieved to see that the humans had appropriately somber expressions, obviously taking no joy in the destruction - the mass loss of… ‘life’ - that they were responsible for. They watched the reading coming in with the seriousness of attending a loved one’s funeral, and never spoke a word, not in praise, or even the acknowledgement of what was happening. She was glad to see that they weren’t entirely aggressive, that while they had the capacity to not only think of these types of weapons, but to also create them, that they weren’t the type of people who would use them so willingly. She could see in their faces the regret they had in destroying this planet, even as it was done to save countless others; for someone would eventually break quarantine, either to try to exploit the resources ‘available’, or to use the ‘lifeform’ on the planet for their own twisted ploys. And so this was a necessary evil; though they were empathetic enough to realize it for the evil that it was.
After they had witnessed the destruction of the planet, the Admirals insisted on escorting the Golden Egg to Captala’Ellats, the space station that was the next stop on their itinerary. Not having any reason to refuse a military escort, Captain Vohr’Doe graciously accepted, and they were soon on their way; this had certainly earned a bit of a reprieve for her crew, and she wouldn’t say no to a bit of shore leave, herself.

The time it took to travel between that system, and the station went by fairly quickly for Kyle. He’d been alone most of his life, with little to no friends, so to have a group of friends now - who actually wanted to spend time with him, who would seek him out to do so - brought him to a new high that he had never acquired in his memory. But having acquired a girlfriend - one who came from a people whose culture emphasized affection - brought him to a level of bliss that he didn’t think was possible. Kah’Ri had taken to spending her nights in his room, as the only real difference between general, and officer’s quarters was a bigger gym, that also served as a bit of a lounge for the officers.
He had - of course - applied for shore leave, and it had been immediately approved. Kah’Ri had also applied, and likewise was approved immediately; she had apparently never really gone on shore leave that much, only ever going at certain spots that were closer to any drahk’mihn colonies they happened to go near, or similar space stations. They had opted to get a hotel separate from the one that the Captain would be hiring to room the crew, as staying in the same hotel as the rest of the crew on the same space station would be little different than being on the ship. Zeck’Tish had recommended her cousin’s hotel, stating that he could use the business. Not that he was failing - Captala’Ellats was a major space station along the trading lanes - but with the divide between insectoid, and vertebrate species, he didn’t get as much business as others might. Of course the insectoid races all patronized his hotel, but with the insectoid species making up only about a third of all known species in the Federation, that wasn’t as much business as one might like.
And so he was currently on a call with Kohr’Sahr and Kahs’Hahn, having invited them to meet up a few days prior.
“... and so we’ll have to stop by the Council Headquarters to give our testimony of our time spent with you,” Kahs’Hahn was saying through Kohr’Sahr, “But we should be able to meet up tomorrow; we’ll send you a message when we arrive on-station, and we’ll go from there.”
“Sounds good,” Kyle said, just as he heard the door open; he’d given Kah’Ri the authorization to unlock his bedroom door without her security card, and she’d authorized him for her’s, in turn, “We’ll see you, then.”
“We?” Kohr’Sahr asked - he had long since learned to tell the difference between their slight accents when talking.
Kyle turned to Kah’Ri, smiling as he put his arm around her waist, and she slipped her tail around his, while wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He noticed her eyes widen slightly as she saw who was on screen, and he looked in time to see Kohr’Sahr’s eyes also widen in shock. He opened his mouth slightly, and Kyle noticed the barely perceptible shake of Kah’Ri’s head. Kohr’Sahr then cleared his throat, and said,
“Well… it seems as if we made quite the impact on you, eh Kyle?” ending in an awkward chuckle.
“Well,” he continued, “I don’t want to keep you from packing; Kyle, we’ll talk later. It was nice meeting you,” he added to Kah’Ri, and before either of them could reply, he cut the call short. Kah’Ri gave a soft sigh, then turned to walk to the bag she’d left on the floor by the ‘wall’ in front of the door.
“Come on,” she said, “We’ve docked with the station, and it’s time for us to go.”
Grabbing his own bag from the bed, he followed after her, locking his door behind them, and slipping his arm back around her waist.
“Did you know him?” he asked as they made their way to the elevators; she sighed lightly, but answered with a simple,
“No.”
“Well,” he pressed gently, “He seemed to know you… What are you, like, a runaway princess, or something?” While he finished with a light chuckle, Kah’Ri gave another slight sigh, and stopped walking. Kyle looked at her, feeling a growing sense of unease.
“Holy shit,” he said as she remained silent, “Are you?!”
She closed her eyes for a second, then turned to look into his eyes.
“I promise,” she said, and he was absorbed by the genuine care in her gaze, “I’ll tell you everything; but not right now. Later, when it’s just you and me, I promise I’ll tell you the truth.”
He looked into her eyes for a second, seeing the tears that wanted to come, and simply reached out, putting his hand on her cheek, and drawing her in for a kiss. As they separated, he gave her a small wink, and said,
“C’mon, let’s go see this station.” She gave him a shy smile, and they set off again.
After they’d been checked out by one of the other security chiefs, they were met by a crowd of their crew mates, all of whom were milling about outside the ship. They were soon informed why, as the Captain came up to them and informed them that the Federation Council was conducting interviews with a number of the crew, most notably those who’d had contact with Kyle; they would be conducted by the Council Representative for their people. Kyle also had an interview scheduled, though his would be with the suun’mahs Representative, in a mirror reason for the interviews of the rest of the crew: where the crew was obviously being interviewed to see how the newest species fit in from their point of view, he would be interviewed to see how other humans might react to the Federation, along with a chance to voice any grievances of his own.
Soon enough, they had all been contacted by their respective Representatives, and led off into separate rooms. Kyle was glad to see that this wasn’t an interrogation room, again, looking more like a general conference room. The suun’mahs who was to be interviewing him was male, and hadn’t seemed taken aback by the presence of Cheshire, indicating that while he may - or may not - have known about Cheshire himself, the human drive to turn predators into traveling companions was nothing new to him.
“Well, Ambassador Redding, this shouldn’t take too long; a few questions about your time in the Federation, so far, and then we can have you out of here, and enjoying your time off.”
“Thank you,” he replied, “And please, call me Kyle.”
Representative Ran’Teek smiled as he put what Kyle recognized as a holocamera on the table.
“Of course,” he stated, “You don’t mind if I record this, do you?”
“Of course not,” Kyle responded.
The questioning indeed didn’t take very long, barely even ten minutes worth of explanation, while other parts he was able to supply with a simple transfer of video data. Kay’Eighty made her appearance for that, and Representative Ran’Teek had a few questions for her, as well. Mostly about what she may need for the A.I. to be properly accommodated in the Federation, though he was obviously in untrodden ground, on that topic. Soon enough, they were done, and had exited the room.
“Well, Kyle,” Representative Ran’Teek stated as they made their way to the ‘streets’ of the station, “I guess this is where we part ways; unless you’d like for me to show you around? I still have quite a bit of time before our ship leaves, and it would be my pleasure to show you a few sights.”
Kyle checked the time on his wrist, and seeing that he also had no message from Kah’Ri telling him she was done, he could see no reason to refuse.
“Sure,” he replied, smiling, “That would be great.”
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Intro

I'm GM Blue, an NA Challenger / GM player in Set 8 and 8.5. I aim to reach Rank 1 in Set 9, so I am writing this guide as much for me as it is for others.
This guide was originally recorded as a video which you can watch here (I now know that Freljord is NOT Frejlord and shall pronounce it correctly moving forward!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiPgQA2oxvU
Lolchess: https://lolchess.gg/profile/na/gmblue

Comp Overview (TL;DR)

You almost always play the 3 Freljord units and Aphelios. For the remaining 4 units, follow the rule of thumb that you want 2 additional frontliners and a combination of either damage dealers or utility units in the remaining 2 slots. While there is a standard level 8 board that focuses on Deadeyes, there are MANY other options available. Examples are provided toward the end of the post via tactic.tools links.

Early Game Units

In the early game, you should focus on picking up frontline units and Deadeyes. The main units you are looking for in the early game are:

• Cho'Gath
• Irelia
• Jhin (best early game carry)
• Maokai
• Poppy
• Renekton
• Samira
• Tristana
• Ashe
• Jinx
• Sett
• Vi
• Warwick
• Akshan
• Darius
• Garen
• Jayce
• Lissandra
• Rek'sai
• Taric

There are other units and boards you can play which is why I don't like providing much guidance on the early game (so you don't pigeonhole yourself into only these units), but the overall idea is that you play some frontline trait and some backline AD trait carry. I have included Gunners as alternative options, but the truth is if you have enough Gunners, you should just commit to them instead of Deadeyes so usually I just run this with Deadeyes in early game.
One note for early game positioning: Try to position Jhin so he angles a backline carry with his ult on frontline. Try to position Akshan on the opposite side of people's carries. I haven't tried this much yet, but it might be possible that you can purposefully 2nd row or 3rd row your tanks in early game so that enemy tanks walk up and allow your Akshan to have a clear angle for killing enemy backline. I would only consider doing this early (Stage 2) as you will get punished later on for putting your tanks too far back.
Ideal Early Game Board: https://tactics.tools/s/nn-Job

Freljord Aphelios Core

• Ashe
• Lissandra
• Sejuani
• Aphelios
• 2 Frontliners
• 2 Damage dealers or utility units or some combination of the two

Freljord Aphelios Flex Units

Deadeye +1's (Most common damage dealers to add are Akshan + Urgot)

• Jhin
• Akshan
• Urgot

Carry Packages (2 unit combos that can act as secondary carries)

• Kai'Sa + Yasuo (most common package)
• Ahri + Lux (Lux can be replaced if playing Taric)
• Aatrox + Gwen
• Senna + Zeri

Utility Units (provide traits and support)

• Ryze
• Senna
• Soraka

Miscellaneous Carries

• Azir
• Heimerdinger
• Bel'Veth

Frontliners

• Sion (best - better than any other unit here at equivalent star level)
• K'Sante
• Shen (most common)
• Taric
• Jarvan IV
• Nasus (usually only played with Azir / Akshan 3)

When to Play Different Units

There are a LOT of options provided in the flexible units so it might seem overwhelming choosing from them. First, understand that the game will often make the decision for you in terms of what you hit. You should generally default to the Standard 4 Deadeyes version unless you get AP items and need an AP holder.

Examples to Help Understand Comp

• Standard Level 8: https://tactics.tools/s/3XfnSd
• Kai'Sa variant: https://tactics.tools/s/1JjAXM
• Ahri variant: https://tactics.tools/s/pXQN5A
• Gwen variant: https://tactics.tools/s/hTOH96
• Zeri variant: https://tactics.tools/s/6tINFe
• Deadeye +1 Board: https://tactics.tools/s/INY-jw
• Shurima Deadeye +1 Board with Akshan 3 (K'Sante can be Renekton early-game, Aatrox can be many of the different +1's discussed earlier): https://tactics.tools/s/fJnqOK

As usual, the +4 slots ideally are all 5-costs and 4-cost units. Some of these examples require less 5-costs than others.

Itemization

• Rageblade :)

Final Thoughts

This is one of the first comps that was discovered on PBE and it has performed well despite several nerfs to Freljord (including the latest one). As such, I expect it will be part of the meta come Set 9 launch. Even if it isn't meta on launch though, I suspect it will drift in and out of the meta during 9.0. It's also relatively easy to play, although unlike the Sorcerers comp that I covered 2 days ago, it is not quite as linear and there are many more flexible options which might make it slightly more complex for max capping. Hope you enjoy.