#it’s output will likely be of higher quality than it is now

[ciswomenofficial]

No matter whether AI does a good job at what it does or not, rage against the technology isn’t going to solve the labor issues. It isn’t going to stop artists and writers from losing their jobs. Whether it’s able to do the job adequately or not, it will be used to replace that job if all we do is protest against the technology itself. It will similarly do so if we rally around liberal principals like “copyright” and “intellectual property.” Most of the “intellectual property” belongs to conglomerates, not to intellectual laborers. The same if you misrepresent AIs water and energy consumption. None of these will get you anywhere productive, and some of them (“intellectual property”) even show a petty-bourgeoisie outlook.

Of course we should be concerned about small independent artists having their lives be less stable—even if it’s not our chief concern. Whether someone is an artisan proper or has some semi-proletarian characteristics (that is if they are working a side hustle to get by while they work on their passion project) that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take their interests into account, but it does need to come from an industrial proletarian perspective first and foremost. Who will get laid off if AI technology is adopted? Who will lose their income? These are far more primary than independent artists.

The industrial proletariat is the most concentrated and unified force we have. It is this force with which we can fight and win. If we want to fight and win on the subject of AI, it must be fought with the organized industrial proletariat. Unions represent one lower form of this fight. The higher form of this fight is a political leadership that can lead to political reforms and regulations being adopted by the government as concessions, or perhaps even AI and other means of production being seized by the proletariat and regulated and technologically improved by the proletariat.

[robertreich]

The Biggest Economic Lies We’re Told

In America, it’s expensive just to be alive.

And with inflation being driven by price gouging corporations, it’s only getting more expensive for regular Americans who don’t have any more money to spend.

Just look at how Big Oil is raking it in while you pay through the nose at the pump.

That’s on top of the average price of a new non-luxury car — which is now over $44,000. Even accounting for inflation, this is way higher than the average cost when I bought my first car — it’s probably in a museum by now.

Even worse, the median price for a house is now over $440,000. Compare that to 1972, when it was under $200,000.

Work a full-time minimum wage job? You won’t be able to afford rent on a one-bedroom apartment just about anywhere in the U.S.

And when you get back after a long day of work, you’ll likely be met with bills up the wazoo for doctor visits, student loans, and utilities.

So what’s left of a paycheck after basic living expenses? Not much.

You can only reduce spending on food, housing, and other basic necessities so much. Want to try covering the rest of your monthly costs with a credit card? Well now that’s more expensive too, with the Fed continuing to hike interest rates.

All of this comes back to how we measure a successful economy.

What good are more jobs if those jobs barely pay enough to live on?

Over one-third of full time jobs don’t pay enough to cover a basic family budget.

And what good are lots of jobs if they cause so much stress and take up so much time that our lives are miserable?

And don’t tell me a good economy is measured by a roaring stock market if the richest 10 percent of Americans own more than 80 percent of it.

And what good is a large Gross Domestic Product if more and more of the total economy is going to the richest one-tenth of one percent?  

What good is economic growth if the way we grow depends on fossil fuels that cause a climate crisis?

These standard measures – jobs, the stock market, the GDP – don’t show how our economy is really doing, who is doing well, or the quality of our lives.

People who sit at their kitchen tables at night wondering how they’re going to pay the bills don’t say to themselves

“Well, at least corporate profits are at record levels.”

In fact, corporations have record profits and CEOs are paid so much because they’re squeezing more output from workers but paying lower wages. Over the past 40 years, productivity has grown 3.5x as fast as hourly pay.

At the same time, corporations are driving up the costs of everyday items people need.

Because corporations are monopolizing their markets, they don’t have to worry about competitors. A few giant corporations can easily coordinate price hikes and enjoy bigger profits.

Just four firms control 85% of all beef, 66% of all pork, and 54% of all poultry production.

Firms like Tyson have seen their profit margins skyrocket as they jack up prices higher than their costs — forcing consumers who are already stretched thin to pay even more.

It’s not just meat. Weak antitrust enforcement has allowed companies to become powerful enough to raise their prices across the entire food industry.

It’s the same story with household goods. Giant companies like Procter & Gamble blame their price hikes on increased costs – but their profit margins have soared to 25%. Hello? They care more about their bottom line than your bottom, that’s for sure.

Meanwhile, parents – and even grandparents like me – are STILL struggling to feed their babies because of a national formula shortage. Why? Largely because the three companies who control the entire formula industry would rather pump money into stock buybacks than quality control at their factories.

Traditionally, our economy’s health is measured by the unemployment rate. Job growth. The stock market. Overall economic growth. But these don’t reflect the everyday, “kitchen table economics” that affect our lives the most.

These measures don’t show the real economy.

Instead of looking just at the number of jobs, we need to look at the income earned from those jobs. And not the average income.

People at the top always bring up the average.

If Jeff Bezos walked into a bar with 140 other people, the average wealth of each person would be over a billion dollars.

No, look at the median income – half above, half below.

And make sure it accounts for inflation – real purchasing power.

Over the last few decades, the real median income has barely budged. This isn’t economic success.

It's economic failure, with a capital F.

And instead of looking at the stock market or the GDP we need to look at who owns what – where the wealth really is.

Over the last forty years, wealth has concentrated more and more at the very top. Look at this;

This is a problem, folks. Because with wealth comes political power.

Forget trickle-down economics. It’s trickle on.

And instead of looking just at economic growth, we also need to look at what that growth is costing us – subtract the costs of the climate crisis, the costs of bad health, the costs of no paid leave, and all the stresses on our lives that economic growth is demanding.

We need to look at the quality of our lives – all our lives. How many of us are adequately housed and clothed and fed. How many of our kids are getting a good education. How many of us live in safety – or in fear.

You want to measure economic success? Go to the kitchen tables of America.

[diabolus1exmachina]

Lamborghini Urraco P300

Despite having been conceptualised as the model to dramatically increase sales and bring Lamborghini greater financial stability, the Urraco P250 proved a commercial flop. Production started in late 1972 following major equipment and floorspace investment. However, by late 1974, less than 500 had been delivered. The Urraco should have gone into production two years earlier than it eventually did. Lamborghini had originally conceived the model with a view to selling over 1000 examples every year.

The disappointing reality left Lamborghini deep in the red, but the Urraco was only partly responsible for a difficult few years.

Compounding the firm’s troubles had been delays for the Countach, a worldwide recession, problems at Lamborghini Trattori and unionised labour, all of which contrived to take their toll on the company founder. In 1972, Ferruccio Lamborghini had sold his tractor company along with 51% of his motor car business. He cashed out of the final 49% in 1974 when the world was in the midst of an energy crisis that slashed demand for gas guzzling machinery.

Throughout this tumultuous period, development work continued on the Urraco. It mainly focused on the Paolo Stanzani-designed V8 engine that had been created especially for the new model at considerable expense. In November 1974, an uprated Urraco P300 was launched at the Turin Motor Show. It immediately went into production alongside the Countach LP400, Espada Series 3 and Jarama S.

Most significantly, the Urraco P300 came with an enlarged three-litre engine. Equally importantly, the power unit now incorporated dual instead of single overhead camshafts.

To take capacity up to three-litres, Paolo Stanzani’s all-alloy 90° V8 was stroked from 53mm to 64.5mm. Bore went unchanged at 86mm for an overall displacement of 2997cc (an increase of 534cc). Compression was dropped from 10.5:1 to 10.0:1. Four new Weber 40 DCNF twin-choke downdraught carburettors were installed to replace the old 40 IDF 1s used previously.

The consequence of these improvements was a dramatic jump in output. Peak power was up 40bhp to 260bhp at an otherwise unchanged 7500rpm. The torque rating also rose considerably; 195lb-ft was now on tap at 3500rpm compared to 166lb-ft at 5750rpm for the P250.

As before, ignition was via two Marelli coils and a single Marelli distributor.

Lamborghini’s five-speed manual gearbox was beefed up to cope with the increased power and torque. Transmission was via a single dry-plate clutch and Lamborghini differential. New damper settings improved the ride, but otherwise little was changed to the existing platform The P300 was based on the same steel monocoque body shell as its predecessor. The engine was housed transversely like the Miura.

Suspension was independent all-round with MacPherson struts, coil springs and telescopic shocks. Anti-roll bars were fitted at either end The twin circuit brake system incorporated unchanged 278mm ventilated Girling discs. Campagnolo’s handsome five-bolt cast magnesium wheels were retained. They measured 7.5 x 14-inches and originally came shod with Michelin XWX tyres.

An 80-litre fuel tank was fitted in the engine bay.

Visually, the only change made to the P300 Urraco was a switch from a two-bank to six-bank radiator cooling vent on the front lid. The rest of Marcello Gandini’s soft wedge creation was unaltered.In a decade not exactly renowned for design longevity, the Urraco proved somewhat timeless. Compared to Bertone’s other mid-engined 2+2, the Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, the baby Lamborghini aged very well, even though it was ultimately outsold by the Maranello product by five to one.Build quality was considerably improved over earlier examples and nowhere was this more apparent than in the cockpit.Bertone had originally been responsible for furnishing the bodyshells, but by the time the P300 was on stream, this work had been taken in-house.

Lamborghini used better quality materials and ensured a higher standard of fit and finish.To this end, P300s were generally equipped with full leather interiors instead of the often garish two-tone leather and fabric combinations seen earlier.

The full width dash layout was still just as haphazard though. The rev counter and speedometer were located at either end of the instrument binnacle and angled in towards the driver. Supplementary gauges and various rocker switches were housed in between.

Lamborghini’s unusual deep dish steering wheel with its four arced horizontal spokes and leather rim was also retained. Like the P250 (which remained in production for a few months longer to use up an overstock of parts), the only update was the gradual shift to anodised black bumpers, wipers and window frames. A more conventional three-spoke steering wheel was also introduced towards the end of production.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 23/02/2024

Through the F​-​F​-​Fire and the F​-​F​-​Flames

Season 5 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume D

Ripped by R.L.99

In my excitement leading up to February 22nd and to finally get to write more in-depth about Kara's Flowers' meaning to the SiIvaGunner channel...it dawned on me a bit too late that I was ignoring another meaning to the very date before it. I'm still very proud of how the post on As Miku Collides connects together with Collision Clouds, but there was something far more important to remember from February 21st. The birthday of late ripper R.L.99.

R.L.99 is the second known SiIvaGunner team member to have left us in tragedy, and its always going to be a very difficult topic for someone like me, effectively an outsider, to approach. The first was Marrow, who I've written about thrice now with Telling Fish Tales, Turnabout Fishters and 8​-​bit Fish With Dreams - a true friend to the SiIvaGunner team whose contributions are too many to list, but had been present since the very early days of Season 1. I can't claim to have known the guy, nor ever claim to have felt the same grief that his friends did upon his passing - yet althesame, through how recognizable and frequent his contributions were, losing him did hurt. Yet with R.L.99, my heart sank for a somewhat different reason. I'd barely had the time to truly appreciate him before he was gone.

As a ripper, R.L.99's most defining trait lay in his ambition - he was always seeking to outdo his last work, always shooting higher, yet higher. Joining the team early into Season 5, his twenty-one contributions across the year, ambitious or not, all feel crafted to a sheen. In a Season that already had some of the strongest output in the channel's life, his rips often still managed to impress beyond those expectations. I described one instance of this occurring on my one prior post on the ripper, One Winged PSYcho - V​.​S. Sepsyrop, but it needs to be reiterated that this was effectively standard procedure for each of his big projects. But despite the reverence I hold for him now, I'd chosen the worst possible timeframe to begin distancing myself from SiIvaGunner - during Season 5, I was at my most disinterested in the channel's goings-on, and thus paid far too little mind to the incredible efforts the entire team were making during the year. I'd check in, add some rips to playlists, and check out.

When the news of R.L.99 broke early in Season 6, I didn't know what to think, because...I didn't know R.L.99. But as I looked through my own playlists, looked through his list of contributions - I realized that just about everything he had ever made had found its way into my list of all-time favorite rips. I'd loved his work without ever truly acknowledging or understanding who made it. Without ever having had the chance to truly show my appreciation, until it was too late.

Linked under his username credit at the start of this post, you'll find a Twitter thread I made two years ago now, the day the announcement was made. I wasn't able to appreciate him during his time, but on that day I wanted more than anything else for other people still like what I once was, people far too blind to the talent and care individual rippers put into their work, to know exactly what kind of legacy he left. And so, I put the thread together as one of my first-ever forms of written SiIvaGunner analysis, trying to concisely convey all the ways that R.L.99's work truly was unique - in all the ways I'd failed to pick up on before it was all too late. There was, of course, a lot missing from that thread - notably the as-of-then unreleased rips he'd made that would be uploaded the day after in his memory, culminating in the downright breathtaking Dancing Masked. Yet, I still want to dedicate todays post to a rip I'd heard from before that day, one of those rips I'd loved for so long without knowing the man behind it. A rip like Through the F​-​F​-​Fire and the F​-​F​-​Flames.

A hugely ambitious project, it feels difficult to find one rip that quite so concisely encapsulates all the qualities of R.L.99's work. A distinct love for the MOTHER series, a love for rip arrangements of popular music, a love for Rock music, and the aforementioned scope - it all culminates in a nearly 8-minute long tribute to the legendary Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce. Althewhile, it adheres incredibly well to the expected restrictions of a Game Boy Advance game, each of the shredding guitar samples used being from MOTHER 3 itself, with vocals authentically bit-crushed to match. It manages to rock out incredibly on its own, and that's without mentioning the insane details strewn throughout, such as the song's occasional bumps in tempo to match other boss music within MOTHER 3, or the other songs from MOTHER 3 that become referenced throughout the arrangement. Released on the date of MOTHER 3's birthday, much like Jesus of the Underground - it's a beyond impressive tribute, with love shown in every second of its runtime.

The fact remains, though, that I never knew R.L.99, and never knew Marrow either for that matter. There's far, far too many rippers that I've still not been able to express my full gratitude and affection toward, and many of which I'll likely never be able to reach. But that's part of why I want to run this blog in the first place - to give myself, and other SiIvaGunner fans that chance to show genuine, outspoken love for rips and the people behind them while we all can.

Rest well, R.L.99.

[babylaptop]

setting up an ipod is harder than you fucking think

just spent the last life four+ hours setting up this ipod classic 4th gen. here's a summary of all the problems i ran into:

(1) ipod had files in it. they appeared as gray and un-editable on itunes, so i thought reseting the ipod to factory would be the fastest and easiest solution.

turns out the last step of the process is connecting ipod to a wall power source. i do this. nothing happens for at least an hour. ipod is stuck in "connect to the wall" icon screen no matter what i do. the internet says it needs to connect with an actual apple firewire wall connector, which i do not have. tried using my ipad's charger with a usb-to-usb-c adapter that i own. didn't work. eventually figured it out the problem had to do with the amps it needs to get defibrillated. i remember that i own a pretty hefty power bank with a 5v/2.1a output. it works. ipod is reset. i have a nice fun time adding the 6 or so songs i have downloaded on my computer (:

(2) i had downloaded soulseek a while ago and gotten frustrated with it but decided to give it another spin since piracy experts on reddit sing it many praises. it seems to have a heavy culture of egalitarianism: a pop up window informs you that a lot of people's download's are restricted only to other people sharing files.

__(2.1) it prompts me to enter my account and password but i don't have one. there isn't an immediatly visible 'create account' link. i google this. eventually i find this soulseek forum where a ton of normies are asking questions pretty regularly. excellent. i search my problems and someone else has already made a post and had the question answered. thank you normies. also: google groups is still a thing???????

the inability to create an account is a weird bug. someone's answer tells me how to circumvent it.

__(2.2) i still can't search for anything. there are no files in this wasteland. i turn on my vpn. put my humble six songs in a folder and share it. voila!!!!!!!

soulseek is actually VERY cool. you can browse other people's music folders, which opens an incredible secret world of possibilities re: finding new music similar to your tastes. EXTREMELY exciting. feels like i'm in a cool secret club of the internet. feels like the old internet.

i download one (1) lana del rey song that's stuck in my head. choose .flac (a lossless audio file) because i want to be fancy.

(3) ...........itunes doesn't read .flac files

__(3.1) searches: what files does itunes read? > which of these files is best for lossless audio? > how do i convert .flac files to itunes-compatible file types? > download foobar2000 > click around till i figure out how to convert .flac files to .wav files.

__(3.2) it works! (: the songs are now in itunes! (:

............but the metadata (album cover, genres, artist, album, etc) doesn't transfer. i don't want to manually input it again. searches: how to keep metadata when converting files? tutorial is slightly different from the version of foobar i have, but i eventually find the setting to keep the metadata.

(4) it works! (:

.............but it won't transfer to my ipod ): i get the message: your ipod can't read this file <- paraphrasing.

okay. searches: what kind of files can an ipod classic 4th gen read? (perhaps they are different from the files itunes can read. this is, after all, the last version of itunes ever released, many years and itunes versions after the ipod classic 4th gen.)

this information isn't in the wikipedia page. this isn't in the ipod wiki. can't even find this model in the official apple pages. it's mentioned in several reviews but it's the wrong model. christ almighty. ok. here it is. found it. allegedly it should be able to read it. ok. why isn't it.

read through forum threads. some people say older ipods get fussy with high bitrates. (search: what is a bitrate? oh ok. higher bitrate > higher audio quality. got it.)

bitrates reccomended by foobar: 180-300something. lossless file bitrate: 2000 and change. hm. surely that's a huge difference.

i convert the .flac file to .mp3 instead.

__(4.1) it works! (: the files are in my ipod! (:

.....but goddamnit, i'm stubborn, and this goddamn ipod is supposed to be able to read apple lossless files (basically a .flac file, but designed to be used with apple products. lol.) i don't want a lameass mp3, i want lossless goddamn quality! even if this brick of an ipod won't be able to play it! it's the principle of the thing!

______(4.1.1) okay. try to fuck around with bitrates in the settings of the apple lossless conversion on foobar. foobar is like "you don't have the right encoder pack, bitch" <- paraphrasing.

oooh. surely, this is the problem. i download encoder pack.

______(4.1.2) foobar is like: "you don't have the right encoder pack, bitch" <- paraphrasing.

me: [crying] but i did.

foobar: bitch.

______(4.1.3) search: why is foobar calling me a bitch? > reddit thread: look closely at the sphynx's riddles three: it doesn't say "you haven't downloaded the encoder pack." it says: you haven't installed the encoder pack. (<- NOT A JOKE.)

go to C: > program files > foobar > find the encoder pack i downloaded > click on all the .exe files. powershell windows appear and dissappear. basically: stuff happened. i'm certian.

_____________(3.4.3.1) i'm STILL getting the riddles three message, but the same reddit thread says: if you know you solved th riddles three, you can just ignore it (: so i do.

__(4.2) .flac files seem to have been successfully converted to apple lossless files !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

....but i am back to "your ipod can't read this shit!!!!!!!!!"

do some more searches > turns out it's a weird itunes glitch. the thing is just moody. try turning it on and off. try disconnecting and re-connecting. try resetting your ipod again.

try uninstalling and installing again.

(5) "iTunes Library.itl cannot be read because it was created by a newer version of iTunes"

.......................to be continued. if i don't kill mysuelf first.

[polkadotsunshine]

how i pirate music

i'm seeing old posts hating on spotify circulating again, so i'll describe how i listen to music without paying for streaming

discovery through cracked spotify

i discover a lot of music through cracked versions of spotify. i'm in a number of circles that do music shares and i stream recommendations a few times before i decide to download anything

windows

i use the spot x modified client on my desktop: https://github.com/amd64fox/SpotX/. be sure to cancel your spotify subscription and remove your payment information before logging into any cracked version of spotify

android

these websites come and go, but you should be able to look up "spotify apk" and find a one button installation. you can get an up-to-date safe link by visiting the database in this reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/ApksApps/comments/pcy1io/apksapps_official_megathread_apksme/

mac

i don't want to put anything weird on my work computer, which uses mac os, but if i control the music through my phone, then select my mac as the audio output device via spotify, i can listen ad free. here's the feature if you've not used it before: https://support.spotify.com/us/article/spotify-connect/

downloading music

file share

i download almost everything with soulseek, a p2p file sharing program: http://www.soulseekqt.net/. first you'll make a directory of music that you already have (say, from bandcamp) and soulseek will broadcast that to the world. you can then search other people's files for music you want and download it there

torrenting

i use the torrent client deluge: https://deluge-torrent.org/ and get my links from https://www.1377x.to/. you should use a vpn when torrenting; i happen to use surfshark because it's cheap. it is not perfect and if you want to torrent stuff there's better guides out there explaining how to do it safely

paying, but sticking it to the man

i buy more music now than i ever did when paying for streaming. i personally just use bandcamp, but i know people who use/rip CDs and other physical media. it's nice to support small artists and to upload big artists onto soulseek so other people can find it

audio quality

downloaded music is likely going to be higher quality than streamed music. if you don't know anything about audio quality i'd recommend downloading 320kps mp3 files. you can add a minbitrate filter at the bottom of your soulseek window. you've probably heard of FLAC before, but if you want to see how deep it goes, look up DSD or SACD

listening to downloaded music

windows

i use foobar2000: https://www.foobar2000.org/. it's designed to be modular and customizable, so it takes a little fiddling to get running. to start using it, i recommend: making a playlist and adding a file location of all your music (which should be your soulseek up and down directories). you can later make playlists of specific albums and tracks. then, look online for components like a theme or last.fm scrobbles if you want that kind of thing. last.fm scrobbles can be a great way to discover new music

android

foobar2000 recently released a mobile version but i haven't tried that yet. i use vinyl music player for no reason in particular: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.poupa.vinylmusicplayer

final notes

this isn't about doing music better; i just happen to like doing things this way. i still hang out and listen to my friends' cytube on loop. i blast nightcore on youtube. the goal is to listen to music and have a good time so do whatever is best for you

[brawltogethernow]

Scissors and heart for the fic ask meme for the one where J Jonah Jameson Goes Off about mutant rights

^^

drop the title of a fic i wrote + a symbol in my ask and i’ll tell you…

✄: something i deleted before the final draft

I am SO dedicated to mulching and reusing absolutely everything I possibly can from my first drafts I wasn't sure I had anything for this, but I did cut like 25 words and I will now write 500 about why. I cut an extension of the joke where Betty's asked why she's happy their boss is screaming with rage because Jonah would have to kick the assholes out offscreen for it to work, and they'd skip straight to article planning without a confrontation. Like:

“…Why is that a good thing, Miss Brant.” Betty smiled up at him so her eyes squinched. “He isn’t mad at us!” "WHERE ARE MY CRACK TEAM OF PROFESSIONALS?" Betty beamed. "See?"

That's much weaker scene arrangement obviously so I wasn't able to work the whole of the planned gag in.

Also culled in favor of the bit where Jonah remixes his memetic line and demands PICTURES! PICTURES OF X-MEN! was a variant that goes like "PARKER / Yessir / GET ME YOUR BEST MUTANT PHOTOS / Yessir- What, sir?" which is kind of Vimesian in a way I enjoy, but the core point of "it's weird to hear Jonah demanding a different thing in this specific way" isn't really clear unless you do the full iconic line, which is too long to have a yes sir-what sir joke around it. Like it has to be something short enough you can zone out through it and then replay it in your head an instant later, and the PICTURES line has a big pause in the middle. ...You can put the first yes sir in the pause, but then the whole thing still has to go early enough that it's plausible to have not guessed what Jonah is going to ask for.... So instead it got a lampshade where the Bugle staff get to lean on the fourth wall slightly harder.

There's also a bit, assassinated for being too implausible, where someone asks Peter "Isn't that Cyclops' name?" when he's texting contact name Scotty Boy and he goes "NO." I hate him.

Also not making it out of the starter notes was I'm pretty sure the first words I jotted down when I got the ask - I thought the snip at the end where MJ makes fun of Peter might be like, a more ongoing montage of post-publishing reactions? So on autopilot I hypothesized a fragment of spideytorch banter wherein Peter shows Johnny the article, Johnny goes "What is this?" and Peter says "It's a newspaper. They're very useful once you learn how to read." And then Johnny throws the paper at his face. This was written because it's closer to my wheelhouse than the actual premise and deleted because it contributes absolutely nothing. There is no reason for more people that many degrees of separation away from the core concept of the prompt to be there.

Generally if I have come up with a tangent with any redeeming value that isn't actively contradicted by something more important I will add it in, but this fic came with a point it actually mattered to lose track of, which directly contributed to it being, in my opinion, noticeably higher quality than my average output - less meandering and simultaneously longer. A lot of the writing process on the Jonah fic was me going "can I stop now?", mentally substituting in some real world minority in place of mutants, and then if the result made me want to go lean over the washing machine and slam the door repeatedly on my own head, that meant it wasn't done. Who Knew Being Forced (at prompt point) To Stand For Something Improves Your Work.

♡: my favorite part

I think I nailed keeping the pacing up by cutting between interconnected scenes, if that counts. I really like how the flow of the first bit reads, and it was really satisfying to put together. It was also just a lot of fun to juggle a modern-flavored conflict and my preferred vintage comic aesthetic and cast, and to sneak in a bunch of continuity nods and cameos and tidbits of concepts. I just had a blast writing and publishing the whole thing, honestly. It was a great ask, and I'm really glad people like it.

The fic.

[theculturedmarxist]

Welcome to BIG, a newsletter on the politics of monopoly power. If you’re already signed up, great! If you’d like to sign up and receive issues over email, you can do so here.

Today, as the U.S. is drawn into wars in Israel and Ukraine, as well as the defense of now-peaceful Taiwan, I’m writing about war. Not the policy choices, or whether U.S. military power is a net force for good or ill, but the actual practical machinery behind the American defense base that produces the weaponry necessary to sustain the military.

As stockpiles dwindle, there is now widespread agreement among policymakers that America must rebuild its capacity to arm itself and its allies. But according to a new scorching government report released this week, that’s mostly just talk. The Pentagon doesn’t bother tracking the guts of defense contracting, which is who owns the mighty firms that build weaponry.

But first, I have a personal announcement. I am going on leave this week, and I’ve hired a colleague named Lee Hepner to take over for BIG while I am out. You are in for a treat. Hepner works with me at the American Economic Liberties Project. He’s a lawyer with over a decade's worth of policy and political experience at the state and local level, and when I have a question on the law or procedure, Hepner’s one of my go-to people. He’s drafted important legislation, and has recently been focusing on the airline industry, labor issues, and a lot of the major antitrust litigation I've written about here, including the trials of the Meta-Within merger, the Microsoft-Activision acquisition and the Google monopolization case. You're in good hands.

And now, let’s talk the defense base. Here’s an exceptionally boring chart that involves all the money in the world. Welcome to the Pentagon.

One of the more important side stories to the recent wars in Ukraine and Israel, and competition with China over Taiwan, is that the U.S. defense industrial base, composed of 200k plus corporations, is being forced to actually build weapons again. Defense is big business, and since the end of the Cold War, the government has allowed Wall Street to determine who owns, builds, and profits from defense spending.

The consequences, as with much of our economic machinery, are predictable. Higher prices, worse quality, lower output. Wall Street and private equity firms prioritize cash out first, and that means a once functioning and nimble industrial base now produces more grift than anything else. As Lucas Kunce and I wrote for the American Conservative in 2019, the U.S. simply can’t build or get the equipment it needs. There are at this point a bevy of interesting reports coming out of the Pentagon. The last one I wrote up earlier this year showed that unlike the mid-20th century defense-industrial base, today government cash goes increasingly to stock buybacks rather than actual armaments. And now, with a dramatic upsurge in need for everything from missiles to artillery shells to bullets, we’re starting to see cracks in the vaunted U.S. military.

The signs are unmistakable. In Ukraine, fighters are rationing shells. Taiwan can’t get weapons it ordered years ago. The Pentagon has put together a secret team to scour stockpiles to find high-precision armaments in demand on every battlefield and potential battlefield. But the problem goes beyond national defense. In Lake City, Missouri, the largest small arms ammunition plant in the world has decided all ammo production is going to the military, meaning that there is going to be a domestic shortage for hunters, sportsmen, and maybe even police. This shortage may look like a story of a sudden surge in demand, but it’s actually, as Elle Ekman wrote in the Prospect in 2021, a story of consolidation and de-industrialization.

Surges due to wars aren’t new, and there’s always some time lag between the build-up and the delivery. But today, the lengths of time are weirdly long. For instance, the Army is awarding contracts to RTX and Lockheed Martin to build new Stinger missiles, which makes sense. But the process will take.. five years. Why? What is new is Wall Street’s role in weaponry. We used to have slack, and productive capacity, but then came private equity and mergers. And now we don’t. The government can’t actually solicit bids from multiple players for most major weapons systems, because there’s just one or two possible bidders. So that means there’s little incentive for firms to expand output, even if there’s more spending. Why not just raise price?

But don’t take my word for it, take that of the Pentagon. In 2022, the DOD reported that “that consolidation of the industrial base reduces competition for DOD contracts and leads DOD to rely on a more limited number of suppliers. This lack of competition may in turn increase the risk of supply chain gaps, price increases, reduced innovation, and other adverse effects.” And that’s why, more than a year into the Ukraine conflict, the ramp-up is still not where it needs to be.

This week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is a Congressional office charged with investigating problems in government and business, explained why. The GAO came out with a report on how the Pentagon is doing essentially zero oversight of Wall Street’s acquisitions of defense contractors. The title is as boring as you’d expect, designed to have few people pay attention, but offering a red-alert to procurement officials.

The report is simply jaw-dropping. Despite all the chatter about consolidation at high levels within the Pentagon, and in Congress, the bureaucracy has made essentially no progress whatsoever. For instance, we have a trillion dollar defense budget, but there are just two people in the Department of Defense who look at mergers in the defense base. You couldn’t staff the morning shift of a small coffee shop with that, and yet two people are supposed to look at the estimated four hundred mergers plus going on every year among defense contractors and subcontractors.

Four hundred mergers every year is a lot, but of course, that’s just an estimate. Why don’t we know how many acquisitions happen in the defense base? As it turns out, it’s an estimate because the Pentagon isn’t tracking defense mergers anymore. To put it in boring GAO-speak, Pentagon“officials could not say with certainty how many defense-related M&A now occur annually because they no longer track or maintain data on all M&A in the defense industrial base.” So the DOD is almost totally blind to the corporate owners of contractors and subcontractors, which might be one reason that, say, Chinese alloys are being discovered in sensitive weapons systems like the state of the art F-35.

It gets worse. There’s no policy or guidance on mergers, and DOD doesn’t even require contractors or subcontractors to tell them that there is new ownership when an acquisition occurs. In fact, the Pentagon relies on public news to learn of mergers. They often do not know that the mergers are going on, or that the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing them. When big mergers happen, even if the Pentagon is concerned, no one tracks what happens after it closes. They do no analysis of industry sectors, as their “M&A office is not collecting robust data or conducting recurring trend analyses that could help them identify M&A in risky areas of consolidation among defense suppliers.”

The Pentagon’s head-in-the-sand approach is why Lockheed now has a chokehold on nuclear missile modernization, since it bought the key supplier of rocket engines and denies those engines to rivals bidding for the contract to upgrade what is known as the nuclear triad.

So how does the U.S. government manage defense base mergers? Well, the Pentagon defers to the antitrust agencies to look solely at competition. “While DOD policy directs Industrial Base Policy and DOD stakeholders to assess other types of risks, such as national security and innovation risks,” wrote the GAO, “they have not routinely done so.” Basically, dealing with their own defense base is someone else’s job.

What I found most useful about the GAO report is the Pentagon’s response, a classic bureaucratic hand wave. The DOD agreed with all the conclusions of the GAO. It should track mergers and what happens afterwards, it should have more personnel doing so, it should consider national security aspects of corporate combinations, and it should have clear policy on mergers. But it doesn’t. The DOD says it will have a better strategy to deal with mergers… by 2024. Basically, you’re right, but it’s not our problem.

Every day, it seems like political leaders and consultants are saying it’s time to really get that arsenal of democracy going, and to re-industrialize for real. It’s quite possible to get a lot done. The FTC and DOJ now have significant amounts of national security-related information on mergers due to a Congressional change in pre-merger notification laws in 2022, so the DOD could easily do a better job of tracking what’s happening in the defense base.

More to the point, the Pentagon is very powerful. The Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks could simply start smashing heads on competition and begin telling contractors that if they don’t shape up, she will start an internal war against them. Or the head of the Armed Services Committees could threaten the cushy cash flow that leads to record stock buybacks among contractors, if the ramp-up doesn’t start. Or they could grant antitrust authority for the DOD straight-up, which would rely on a national security standard that allows widespread corporate restructuring without the long slog of a court case. There are many paths.

But if you actually look at the guts of the bureaucracy, nothing is happening, because doing something about our industrial base means thwarting Wall Street, and that’s generally not something that’s considered on the table among normie policymakers. Giant bureaucracies are hard to change, but they are not immovable. One of the ways that you know a previously non-functional bureaucracy is on the right track is, ironically, if there is bitter infighting and anger among staff, who are being tasked to do things differently. But as the GAO showed this week, that’s just not happening in the Pentagon, or at least, not happening nearly fast enough.

And that’s why America is increasingly out of ammunition.

[ohthehypocrisy]

Galarian Slowbro for Pokemon Unite!

Season 1

Season 2

Prev: Cradily - Hatterene - Tropius - Cacturne - Ditto - Weavile - Ogerpon - Coalossal - Gogoat

Slowbro in Pokemon Unite is a pretty solid Defender, being able to use Scald to hinder physical attackers or Surf to juggle crowds of enemies. Being able to stop enemies with its Unite Move, Slow Beam, has been the saving grace for teams, allowing them to deal with difficult enemies.

But I believe that its Galarian cousin has plenty of potential in Pokemon Unite as well. Not to put regular Slowbro down or anything, but I like the twist Galarian Slowbro brings to the table, trading in a bulky shell for an armored hand blaster.

I think Galarian Slowbro deserves a shot in Pokemon Unite. Let’s see how it can hit the mark.

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Because Galarian Slowbro opted to put the shell on its arm instead of its tail, it lacks many of the defensive qualities regular Slowbro has. In contrast, Galarian Slowbro boasts higher attacking stats than Slowbro, coupled with decently high HP and Defense. It lacks the Sp. Defense and Speed to stay in battle for long, but compared to regular Slowbro, it has many opportunities to hit hard and often. There’s also the fact that its little Shellder buddy has morphed into the shape of a cone perfectly suited for firing poisonous projectiles. All things considered, I think Galarian Slowbro makes an easy case for the role of an...

Attacker 

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Basic Attack - Ranged/Sp. Attack

Becomes a boosted attack after three attacks. The boosted attack deals more damage and adds a psychic round to your PsyPoison Reserve. After using a move, using a basic attack unloads your PsyPoison Reserve on the damaged enemy or enemies. The basic attack gains the effect of the used Move in this way. Up to 6 rounds can be kept in your PsyPoison Reserve.

The PsyPoison Reserve is Galarian Slowbro’s unique mechanic and behaves similarly to the number of bullets in a revolver. You get one psychic round when you deal damage with your boosted basic attack and you can hold up to 6 at a time.

After using any of Galarian Slowbro’s Moves, you can completely unload your PsyPoison Reserve to fire all shots to hone in and damage the enemy hit by your Moves. You cannot use this effect if the move misses or fails to deal damage.

If multiple enemies are damaged, multiple psychic rounds are shot for each round in your PsyPoison Reserve.

After landing a Move, you have 6 frames, or 1/10th of a second, to press the basic attack button to unload your PsyPoison Reserve.

The shots fired from your PsyPoison Reserve gain the effect of the used Move. They can be body blocked by other enemies. Galarian Slowbro can move while unloading its PsyPoison Reserve.

Many Attackers get most of their damage output from a unique basic attack mechanic, and Galarian Slowbro is no different. In addition to a normal basic attack meter, it also has something called a ‘PsyPoison Reserve’ that keeps a load of psychic rounds within its holster. Get used to that word, because Galarian Slowbro’s entire moveset revolves around this loaded mechanic.

As mentioned above, Galarian Slowbro can keep 6 rounds in its PsyPoison Reserve, which it can then unload immediately after using a Move, where the rounds then gain the effects of the used Move. We’ll be going into more detail in that regard later, but for now, Galarian Slowbro is a little, well, slow in accumulating psychic rounds to fill its PsyPoison Reserve. You get a round for using a boosted basic attack, but it takes three hits to boost it up, meaning you’ll need to take a moment to farm if you want to join a fight with a fully loaded PsyPoison Reserve.

Luckily, Galarian Slowbro has other methods of accumulating rounds other than its basic attack.

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Ability: Gluttony/Quick Draw

Gluttony (Galarian Slowpoke)

Consuming a berry adds a psychic round to your PsyPoison Reserve. Occasionally you will gain 2 psychic rounds instead of 1.

Quick Draw (Galarian Slowbro)

Consuming a berry adds 1 or 2 psychic rounds to your PsyPoison Reserve. When you damage an enemy preparing an attack, you will gain a psychic round. If your PsyPosion Reserve is already full, the damage dealt is increased greatly.

Gluttony and Quick Draw both add a psychic round to your PsyPoison Reserve when you eat a berry, but will occasionally add 2 instead. The odds for Gluttony to double the psychic rounds gained is 30%, whereas Quick Draw increases the odds to 50%.

Quick Draw will also add a psychic round to your PsyPoison Reserve if you deal damage to an enemy preparing an attack. More specifically, this occurs when the enemy is holding the attack button and aiming with it in anticipation of an approaching enemy.

If your PsyPoison Reserve is full when Quick Draw would add a psychic round in this way, the damage is increased by 200% instead.

Quick Draw is effective on Wild Pokemon that telegraph their attacks with red outlines, as this is technically the attack being prepared.

At the start of the game, Gluttony is Galarian Slowpoke’s ability, and it’s a bit useless when you're engaging in fights in the middle of the lane. You may have gotten 1 or 2 rounds from clearing out the Bunnelby on your way to the middle, but with Gluttony, you can stock up on more rounds by eating the berries when they spawn. Just make sure they don’t get nabbed while you’re distracted.

Quick Draw is where things get dangerous. You have an improved version of Gluttony working for you throughout the game, but the real firepower comes from attacking trigger happy enemies. Quick Draw gives you a free psychic round when you damage an enemy that was preparing an attack. To be specific, if a Galarian Slowbro hits you while you’re holding a Move in preparation for an approaching enemy, Galarian Slowbro gets a psychic round for free for their PsyPoison Reserve.

You might be thinking, ‘Huh, that probably isn’t gonna happen all that often’, and normally you’d be right. But there are plenty of Moves that trigger Quick Draw because of the way they work. For example, Decidueye’s Spirit Shackle can be charged until it’s released, during which a hit from Galarian Slowbro activates Quick Draw. Inteleon’s Snipe Shot also activates Quick Draw because of the time the player needs to aim. Other effects like Tyranitar’s Ancient Power, Lucario’s Power-Up Punch, Urshifu’s Wicked Blow, and Blaziken’s Overheat all activate Quick Draw because of their charge times, and these are just the ones you can see.

It should also be noted that any damage dealt activates Quick Draw, including the psychic rounds unloaded from your PsyPoison Reserve. Nimble enemies like Cinderace or Absol might use their moves evasively to try to create some distance from you, so if a stray bullet strikes them as they’re attempting to make a getaway, you’ll get a refund on your PsyPoison Reserve for having such an itchy trigger finger.

Also the damage dealt is doubled if Quick Draw activates while you already have a fully loaded PsyPoison Reserve, but this realistically only happens when you use your Moves. Speaking of which, let’s take a look at what you’re packing.

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At the start of the match, Galarian Slowbro will start out as Galarian Slowpoke. You can choose between Acid and Curse as your first move. By Level 3, you’ll have learned both.

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Move 1: Acid (Ranged)

Fires a poison shot at the target, ignoring the enemy’s shield. 8s cooldown.

Acid can damage multiple enemies.

In terms of simplicity, I don’t think you can make things any shorter than this. Acid is a long range shot of poison that deals piercing damage, but that’s about it. We could talk about the cooldown, but given that most Attackers use their Moves to secure KO’s from afar, it’s par for the course.

What we can talk about is how the PsyPoison Reserve interacts with Acid. Since you can unload your reserve immediately after using Acid, the psychic rounds gains the effect of the move used. This means that, after using Acid, each followup shot of psychic rounds will gain the effect of dealing piercing damage to enemies, which is a powerful effect for dealing with Defenders in the early game or for taking over the opposing Goal Zone.

But getting enough psychic rounds for your PsyPoison Reserve is gonna be the tough part, even with your ability and boosted basic attack. We just need one more push to fully stock up on ammunition.

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Move 2: Curse (Buff)

Increases your attack power and defense for a short while, as well as adding a psychic round to your PsyPoison Reserve. Your next attack that damages the enemy will also restore some HP. 10s cooldown.

Your Sp. Attack, Defense, and Sp. Defense increase by 50% for 5 seconds. A psychic round is added to your PsyPoison Reserve as well.

Your next attack that deals damage, whether it be a basic attack, Acid, Shell Side Arm, or Psyshock, will restore your HP by 50% of the damage you deal. If you unload your PsyPoison Reserve after using Shell Side Arm or Psyshock, each following hit will also restore your HP in this way.

In spite of Galarian Slowbro’s drastic shift in occupation, it’s still a little Slowpoke at heart. Sometimes it just wants to sit back and curse, you know?

Not only does Curse boost your Sp. Attack, Defense, and Sp. Defense for a short while, it’ll also add a psychic round to your PsyPoison Reserve, free of charge. This is useful if you’re one round away from a loaded holster and you think that one extra bullet will secure the KO on the opposing Speedster. 

There’s also the fact that your next hit of damage will restore HP equal to 50% of the damage you managed to deal. It can be something small like an unboosted basic attack, or something big like a direct hit with Acid. Oh, and since Curse technically adds an effect to Acid, your PsyPoison Reserve will also gain the effects of Curse, causing each psychic round to heal you relative to half of the damage they manage to deal. It’s a big chance to heal a lot of HP, especially if you’ve fully loaded your PsyPoison Reserve.

But Acid is a bit on the weak side to take advantage of this effect. Better power up even further by evolving.

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At Level 5, Galarian Slowpoke will evolve into Galarian Slowbro. At the same time, Acid becomes either Shell Side Arm or Psyshock.

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Move 1a: Shell Side Arm (Melee/Ranged)

This move has two different effects, depending on the proximity of opposing pokemon. When an enemy is close by, Shell Side Arm deals Melee piercing damage that briefly Stuns and deals increased damage to debuffed enemies. When enemies are further away, Shell Side Arm fires 3 shots of poison, reducing the Sp. Defense of enemies and inflicting poison which deals damage-over-time and increases the damage of poison the more hits the enemy receives. The two attacks have separate cooldowns and can be used separately while the other is on cooldown. 12s cooldown.

At Level 11, Shell Side Arm becomes Shell Side Arm+.

Reduces the cooldown of the move.

The two versions of Shell Side Arm are used depending on the proximity of targets within range. The Melee version of Shell Side Arm takes priority over the Ranged Version.

Melee Shell Side Arm deals piercing damage and Stuns the enemy for 0.5 seconds. It also deals 150% more damage to enemies afflicted with a debuff. The rounds in your PsyPoison Reserve gain all of these effects if used.

The Ranged version of Shell Side Arm fires 3 shots of poison, each one inflicting a poison damage-over-time hindrance that lasts for 7 seconds. The damage dealt by the hindrance increases the more hits of Shell Side Arm the affected enemy received, but does not extend the duration of the hindrance. It also reduces the Sp. Defense of enemies by 75% for 7 seconds. The rounds in your PsyPoison Reserve will also exacerbate the poison damage if used, but the Sp. Defense debuff will only have its duration reset.

Both versions of Shell Side Arm have their own cooldowns separate from each other, which is displayed similarly to how moves with multiple uses are displayed. On the HUD, Shell Side Arm has two different icons which denote which version is available, Melee and Ranged.

Shell Side Arm+ reduces the cooldown of the move to 10 seconds.

Shell Side Arm is unique in that this move has two different versions of itself depending on the range of enemies. When enemies are far away, it launches 3 poison shots which poison enemies and reduces their Sp. Defense. When enemies are nearby, it’s a club attack that deals piercing damage, Stuns enemies, and deals extra damage to debuffed enemies.

Not only that, both versions of this move can be used independently of one another, even though they share the same moveslot and cooldown. It’s similar to how Moves with multiple uses operate, in that the Melee Version will go on cooldown for 12 seconds whereas the Ranged Version can still be used.

Breaking it down even further, ranged Shell Side Arm inflicts a poison hindrance which deals damage over time, the power of which increases the more poison shots the enemy was hit with. Your PsyPoison Reserve adds damage to the poison hindrance when used right away, resulting in a lot of passive damage with a fully loaded holster.

Alternatively, you can combine the Sp. Defense debuff with the Melee version of Shell Side Arm, which deals more damage to debuffed enemies. Not only does it Stun and deals piercing damage, these effects carry over to the psychic rounds in your PsyPoison Reserve, potentially incapacitating nearby enemies and dealing heavy damage to even shielded enemies. Also, the extra damage to debuffed enemies carries over, so a good combo is following up the ranged version of Shell Side Arm with the Melee version, then unloading your PsyPoison Reserve at the damaged enemy. It’s a lot of damage, even for a Burst Damage Attacker like Galarian Slowbro, but it does require a lot of setup.

The upgrade to Shell Side Arm reduces the cooldown of the move by a bit, but that’s more than enough as the attack can be used repeatedly thanks to packing two attacks in one Move. As long as you space out both effects, the cooldown of the move feels like a nonissue, though that can be challenging to keep track of in the heat of battle.

If you prefer something simpler, Psyshock is a little more straightforward.

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Move 1b: Psyshock

The user charges up power before firing a single psychic blast that explodes on contact with an enemy or a wall. The cooldown of this move is reduced for each enemy damaged. When this move KO’s an enemy, gain a psychic round in your PsyPoison Reserve. 10s cooldown.

At Level 11, Psyshock becomes Psyshock+.

The blast size increases.

Psyshock takes 1 second to build up power before Galarian Slowbro launches the attack. Galarian Slowbro can move while charging, though the chosen direction remains constant.

Psyshock has its cooldown reduced by 1 second for each enemy on the opposing team damaged. The psychic rounds in your PsyPoison Reserve gain this effect as well.

You gain a psychic round for your PsyPoison Reserve if Psyshock KO’s an enemy on the opposing team. The psychic rounds in your PsyPoison Reserve gain this effect as well.

Psyshock+ doubles the blast radius.

Compared to Shell Side Arm, Psyshock makes your little handcannon feel more like an RPG Launcher. By concentrating psychic power into the shell chamber, Galarian Slowbro launches a condensed ball of psychic power that creates an explosion at the point of impact.

As with most ranged attacks, Psyshock behaves like a physical projectile in the sense that a direct hit with an enemy or wall will cause the attack to blow up at the point of impact. This makes crowded fights a little tough to get the most out of the explosion, but threading the needle in this way gets you the most benefits.

Psyshock has an additional effect where the cooldown of the move is reduced for each enemy you hit with the resulting blast. Although you’ll only get 5 seconds shaved off at most when you hit the entire team with this attack, your PsyPoison Reserve gains the cooldown reducing effect, making it easier to reload Psyshock for another shot.

Of course, this means you’d have to give up your hard earned psychic rounds when engaging a smaller group to fully abuse Psyshock, but the Move has one more trick to it. Scoring a KO with this move, or with the psychic rounds unloaded from your PsyPoison Reserve immediately after using Psyshock, will grant you another psychic round. This effectively means that unloading your PsyPoison Reserve to secure a KO in this way gets you a small refund to your ammo. 

For crowded fights, what this means is that Psyshock can be used repeatedly if you engage with a fully loaded PsyPoison Reserve. Simply use Psyshock, unload your psychic rounds, use Psyshock again, and then unload your PsyPoison Reserve once more if you managed to KO enemies during your second go at Psyshock. Your preferred target will be fragile Attackers and Speedsters, but they tend to keep their distance when engaging the entire enemy team, so make do with the crowd size you have.

The upgraded version of Psyshock solely increases the blast size of the psychic shot, making it easier to catch multiple enemies and tapping them with your PsyPoison Reserve. This also makes it easier to reduce the cooldown of the move, but the plan of attack is still the same. It does mean that it might hit Attackers and Speedsters more easily, even if they’re a bit further away from the team fight, but don’t sacrifice big damage just to secure one KO.

Gee, for a sharpshooter, Galarian Slowbro has a bit of difficulty landng hits on the enemy. There's a way to fix that, but you'll need to level up even more to each your full potential.

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At Level 7, Curse becomes either Psychic or Psych Up.

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Move 2a: Psychic (Sure Hit/Debuff)

Mark an enemy with psychic power. When you use the Ranged version of Shell Side Arm or Psyshock, the projectiles fired from those moves will gain a homing effect and hone in on the marked enemy. The marked enemy receives more damage from these attacks and deals reduced damage to you for a short while. Additionally, any shield damage you deal to the marked enemy with your basic attack will be given to you as your own shield. 10s cooldown.

At Level 13, Psychic becomes Psychic+.

Reduces the enemy’s movement speed while the psychic mark is in effect.

Psychic marks enemies with a graphic that resembles an eye and a shoot reticle combined. This mark lasts for 7 seconds and causes the Ranged version of Shell Side Arm or Psyshock to swerve and hone in on the targeted enemy.

Psychic will also cause Ranged Shell Side Arm or Psyshock to linger in the air for longer than they normally would, as they won’t stop flying until they hit the marked enemy. Psyshock will still explode on contact with a wall or a different enemy.

If these moves hit different enemies while moving towards the marked enemy, you can only unload your PsyPoison Reserve to damage enemies nearby and within view.

Psychic increases the damage dealt by Shell Side Arm or Psyshock by 50%. This effect carries over to the psychic rounds in your PsyPoison Reserve.

The marked enemy also deals 50% less damage to you while Psychic is in effect.

Dealing basic attack damage to a marked enemy with a shield will transfer 100% of the shield damage dealt back to you, gaining a shield equal to the damage you deal. This includes the damage dealt by your PsyPoison Reserve.

Psychic+ reduces the Movement Speed of marked enemies by 50%.

A major aspect of target practice is the mental fortitude it takes to land every single shot perfectly. Say what you will about the Slowpoke family, but if there's one thing they've got going for them, it's mental discipline in spades.

So what happens when you give a psychic a gun? Mind powers that can trick bullets to never miss, that's what. Marking an enemy with Psychic causes Galarian Slowbro to think of that enemy when it uses Psyshock or the Ranged version of Shell Side Arm, causing the projectiles of those attacks to swerve and hone in on that enemy, even from afar.

Psychic also adds a whole host of debuffs to the afflicted enemy. Not only does Shell Side Arm and Psyshock deal more damage to the marked enemy, it also reduces the damage they deal to you while marked. This Move can trivialize some 1-on-1 fights for you as it allows you to deal more damage while reducing the damage you receive from the opposing pokemon.

The move has one more bonus effect, and that's how dealing basic attack damage basically steals shields while hitting a marked enemy. By itself, it's not a big deal, especially with a slow basic attack like yours. But remember, the psychic rounds in your PsyPoison Reserve also count as basic attack damage, meaning you can totally rob a Defender of their precious shield at gunpoint (these gun metaphors are getting a bit out of hand...), provided your holster is full.

These combined effects make Psychic a powerful debuffing Move to debilitate a single target. It's handy when the opposing team has sent their bulky All-Rounder to the Central Area and they've got the EXP lead on you. It's also just as good at shutting down Speedsters by ensuring that your projectiles always hit the mark on an evasive enemy.

The upgrade effect adds in a Movement Speed debuff that hinders the enemy while they're marked. On top of the increased damage, decreased attack power, and shield stealing effect, reducing their movement speed further enfeebles single targets. You can really ruin someone's day by hitting them with Psychic, as you've singled out the most problematic enemy on the opposing team.

In practice, you're using this move to focus on a single enemy out of a group, so it may not be the most useful attack in a team fight. It also doesn't buff you like Curse does, especially without any healing effects. If you prefer a reliable buff like that, you'll choose Psych Up instead.

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Move 2b: Psych Up (Buff)

Target an enemy and copy their positive boosts, as well as gaining a Sp. Attack, Defense, and Sp. Defense boost. While Psyched Up, your moves and basic attacks restore some HP relative to the amount of damage dealt. Gain two psychic rounds to your PsyPoison Reserve. 8.5s cooldown.

At Level 13, Psych Up becomes Psych Up+.

Increases the boosts gained and increases the HP recovery effect.

Psych Up targets an enemy and copies their positive boosts, as well as boosting your Sp. Attack, Defense, and Sp. Defense by 75% for 6 seconds. The copied boosts also last for 6 seconds, regardless of the original duration of the targeted boost.

Psych Up will only copy stat boosts, not boosts to moves or resistance to specific damage. Any copied boost will be displayed in the active buff section of the screen and will show which stat is being boosted by Psych Up.

All the damage you deal while Psych Up is active will restore your HP equal to 50% of the damage dealt.

Psych Up+ increases Sp. Attack, Defense, Sp. Defense by 100% and also increases your HP recovery by 75% of the damage you deal to opposing pokemon.

Envy is a powerful emotion, as it causes you to desire that which others have, even abstract things like emotions and status. The Slowpoke family have very little to desire or envy, so when they want something, that means they understand what is valued. With their psychic powers, they can feasibly attain anything they want, even feelings and boosts through placebo. Maybe that's why they're so lax all the time...

Psych Up has Galarian Slowbro read an enemy for all of their positive boosts and tricks itself into granting itself that power. The residual psychic power boosts its Sp. Attack, Defense, and Sp. Defense for a short while, allowing a brief moment of power regardless of who you target with this move. The boosts you do manage to copy will run for the same duration as your Psych Up boosts, no matter how short or how close to running out the copied buffs were. This is handy for when you are fighting an opposing team composition that isn't running any boosting moves or items, but that is extremely rare.

For the most part, Psych Up is great for copying the boosts from opposing X Attack or X Speed users, but it also copies boosts from moves as well, like Crustle's Shell Smash or Sylveon's Calm Mind. Psych Up will not, however, copy esoteric boosts that power up things that aren't stats, like Dragonite's Dragon Dance. I mean, yes, the attack and speed boost are copied, but not the boost to Dragonite's Hyper Beam, since Galarian Slowbro can't use that move. For a more literal example, Blissey's Helping Hand will not be copied with Psych Up, since the basic attack speed is not a stat that the Move can copy.

At the very least, Psych Up retains the HP recovery effect of Curse, but carries it across all of the damage you can deal while the buff is active. It goes without saying, but unloading your PsyPoison Reserve is the strongest and best way to recover HP with this effect, especially with a full holster. The upgraded version of the move not only makes the boosts stronger, but also restores more HP through this effect.

Of course, choosing this move over Psychic means you give up the ability to focus damage on a single enemy, trading in that security for a more reliable buff. But if you enjoy being able to fire shots that can never miss, you'll love Galarian Slowbro's Unite Move.

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Unite Move: Toxic Bullets (Sure Hit)

Upon activation, the pokemon will be aware of all enemies in the vicinity. The pokemon will then fire a poison shot at each enemy, firing an additional shot for each psychic round in your PsyPoison Reserve. Each shot deals increasing damage.

All nearby enemies on screen will be revealed to Galarian Slowbro, whether they are invisible or hiding in Tall Grass.

Each revealed enemy will be struck by a toxic bullet, plus an extra bullet for each psychic round in your PsyPoison Reserve. This does not exhaust your psychic rounds.

Each bullet shot deals an increasing 15% damage as they are fired, maxing out to 90% after 7 shots.

In practice, with a fully loaded PsyPoison Reserve, the first shot deals normal damage, with the second shot dealing 15% more, then 30% with the next one, and so on and so forth. In this way, the total damage output equals 320% on a single enemy.

Toxic Bullets will target all enemies on screen and will fire shots at them, even if they leave the area. The shots will fly until they reach the targeted enemy. New enemies that appear will not be targeted.

Toxic Bullets can be intercepted by Wild or opposing pokemon, though the increasing damage will not reset. In this way, however, the damage cap is reduced for each shot blocked.

Enemies will know they’ve been targeted by Toxic Bullets as a purple reticle appears over their character and will linger until all shots have been fired.

The terrifying firepower of a gunman that never misses is increased exponentially when those shots are poisonous and can hunt you down like a vindictive wasp. You can't hide from this attack either, as this Unite Move reveals all hiding enemies on screen, even the invisible ones. Once Galarian Slowbro has a lock on you, it's lights out, especially if you're a frail Attacker or Speedster.

Now, by itself, Toxic Bullets will only fire one shot, which deals pitiful damage. But if you have any psychic rounds in your PsyPoison Reserve, you'll automatically unload your entire clip at all targeted enemies. These rounds are amplified by the Unite Move, dealing increasing damage the more shots the enemy gets hit with, causing the overall damage output to skyrocket. Frail enemies like Attackers and Speedsters can easily be KO'd if you manage to fire 7 bullets with this move.

But that's gonna be the hard part. As you've read thus far, Galarian Slowbro uses its PsyPoison Reserve for a lot of extra effects, such as combining it with Shell Side Arm or Psyshock for increased damage and boons. As such, in order to stay on top of the 'high damage' game, it needs to constantly fill and expend its PsyPoison Reserve throughout the fight. Realistically speaking, when are you gonna have a fully loaded holster at the same time your Unite Move is available?

This is where the 'skill' comes into play when it comes to using Toxic Bullets. The most optimal way to get the most damage with this Unite Move is to start a team fight with a full PsyPoison Reserve, preferably while boosted with Psych Up or an X Attack. But good players can manage with half or even none of their psychic rounds in their back pocket, as they can generate rounds midfight with Quick Draw, Psyshock, Psych Up, or even with aggressive mashing of the basic attack button. You also maintain an offensive presence by constantly threatening high damage and hindrances with smart and timely uses of your moves, which is how an Attacker is supposed to work.

However you handle it, stand your ground. Don't start pointless fights, but be prepared to finish them.

-

Achievements

Max out your PsyPoison Reserve and unload it 8 times in one battle.

Because of how integral the PsyPoison Reserve is to your damage output, the Achievement reflects that by challenging the player to load it fully and unloading it multiple times in one game.

And for good reason, as you get so much out of timely shooting with your moves. From extra damage to extra stuns, to abusing your buffs and keeping your HP full with your recovery effects, being able to master the PsyPoison Reserve means mastering Galarian Slowbro as a pokemon.

I've already gone on long enough about this unique mechanic, so let's wrap up this post.

-

Holowear

Normal Slowbro has been in the game since launch, as such, its wardrobe of Holowear is a very impressive collection of style and application. However, Galarian Slowbro has a different style when it comes to clothing, due to its higher power level. Thus, we'll need to tailor the Holowear to not only highlight Galarian Slowbro's uniqueness, but also for how different it is from its Kantonian cousin.

To start, Western Style Holowear is an easy enough suit to put on, with a cowboy hat, leather vest, scruffy cowl, and rugged belt to make Galarian Slowbro look like a true gunslinger. Next, Summer Style Holowear gives it some diving goggles, water wings, an inner tube, and a plastic water gun to inspire some splash and fun in the sun. Wizard Style Holowear gives Galarian Slowbro a big conical hat and a starry cloak and maybe some extra flair effects for moving and attacking. With Punk Style Holowear, Galarian Slowbro gets a spiky black leather jacket, spiky bracelets, and a super spiky wig on its head to look more intimidating. Lastly, Painter Style Holowear gives it a beret, a long white dress shirt, and paint cans dangling from its tail, all the while Galarian Slowbro is covered in paint splatters on its body and clothing, all holographic, of course.

You'd think having a gun stuck to your hand would limit the career choices of Galarian Slowbro, but there are plenty of ways to utilize the ability to shoot poison from your hand, as it turns out.

-

Strategy

Because of its unique mechanic, the PsyPoison Reserve, Galarian Slowbro's most important button would be the basic attack button. Much like Cinderace and Alolan Ninetales, optimizing your damage output means learning how to get the most out of the A or B Button (or just the basic attack button if you're playing on Mobile...).

The easy answer might be to just stack up basic attack boosters like Rapid Fire Scarf or the Muscle Band, but keep in mind that Galarian Slowbro is a Special Attacker, so the Attack boosts would be wasted. Not only that, depending solely on the basic attack button is a very slow way to fill the PsyPoison Reserve. You'll need to utilize Quick Draw and its Moves to not only build up psychic rounds, but also to recycle them.

First off, Psyshock grants you a psychic round when you use the move to KO an enemy, and this effect carries over to the PsyPoison Reserve when you unload it on an enemy. Up against frail Attackers and Speedsters, you'll be loading and unloading like the white painted curb of an airport. There are diminishing returns with this effect, though, as you can never fully reload your PsyPoison Reserve off of just KO's. I'm not saying you can't get a 5 KO streak with this move, but 6 is greater than 5, you know?

Psych Up is the easiest and quickest way to load multiple rounds of your PsyPoison Reserve, but it requires a visible target to lock and load with. It's a fair trade, though, as loading up with Psych Up means there are enemies immediately within range to engage with. It also means you have a great opportunity to generate psychic rounds through Quick Draw or your basic attack, though it requires you to avoid getting KO'd yourself.

Speaking of Quick Draw, since any lucky attack will grant you a psychic round, you can quickly power up if you can hit enemies while they're aiming their moves. Some Moves are more telegraphed than others, like Decidueye's Spirit Shackle or Blaziken's Overheat, but others will require intuition and battle experience and maybe an itchy trigger finger to activate. Quite frankly, if you know what move the enemy can use and when they'll use it, you'll master Quick Draw and can end any encounter with a fully loaded PsyPoison Reserve.

So, what is the opposing team supposed to do? Well, not get hit for one. I'm not being facetious, that is a genuine way of dealing with Galarian Slowbro. Look, the most dangerous attack in its toolkit is a fully loaded PsyPoison Reserve, but it can only use that if it lands a hit with either Shell Side Arm or Psyshock. It can fix this by using Psychic, but the move along with Psych Up require targets to be within range and visible for the attacks to connect. Taking Galarian Slowbro by surprise is a lot easier to do than handling Regular Slowbro, as Galarian Slowbro has the stats of a mildly bulky Attacker. It's also a lot easier to take on with an exhausted PsyPoison Reserve, so if a Defender or bulky All-Rounder can draw its initial fire, the rest of the team can have an easier time taking care of it.

Galarian Slowbro gets stronger as the fight drags on, but it can also be overwhelmed with debuffs and hindrances, just like any other Attacker. A gunman is at their weakest when they need to reload, so when the opportunity presents itself, rush in.

-

And that's Galarian Slowbro for Pokemon Unite! I would love it if they added more alternative forms of pokemon that are already in the roster, especially cool ones like the ones from Hisui.

You might be thinking, why isn't Galarian Slowbro a part of a duo evolution with Galarian Slowking? Well, ideally I'd like for a possible team of Slowbro, Slowking, and the Galarian Duo to come to Pokemon Unite, maybe even throw in a Cloyster. To that end, I think Galarian Slowbro and Galarian Slowking should be separate licenses. If you disagree, I'd love to hear your ideas (because I don't know how that split license would work...).

That'll be it from me. We've got a fan favorite coming next week, hailing all the way from Sinnoh. You don't wanna miss it!

[worldwithoutmiracles]

Procrastination Is Poor Mood Regulation

I am a lifelong procrastinator. I now have an ADHD diagnosis, which is good to know, but the diagnosis hasn’t cured my tendency to put things off. I’ve read the articles, I’ve broken my to-do list into smaller lists, blah blah blah, but I really just want to know why am I like this

why, after 20 years of procrastinating and in possession of a better-than-average brain, can I not think my way out of the hole of procrastination? why do I make every task 10x more stressful and scary than it is?

I found some articles reframing procrastination as emotion/mood-based instead of focusing on productivity (links here and here). save your fucking tips and tricks, I’m looking for a sea change in how I think about procrastination.

“Telling yourself off won’t stop you procrastinating again. In fact, it’s one of the worst things you can do.” the worse you feel about yourself, the more you’ll procrastinate. I’m still trying to figure out how to be kind to myself, but as someone with very low self-esteem, I can see how I got caught in this spiral in the first place.

“If just thinking about the task makes you anxious or threatens your sense of self-worth, you will be more likely to put it off... Research has found that regions of the brain linked to threat detection and emotion regulation are different in people who chronically procrastinate compared to those who don’t procrastinate frequently.” if you never complete the task, you can never be graded/judged, thus avoiding the threat.

Forget productivity - procrastination is linked to anxiety, depression, “a greater number of health issues, such as headaches, flu and colds, and digestive issues. They also experience higher levels of stress and poor sleep quality.” we’re also more likely to use destructive coping mechanisms to manage stress, and have greater risk of poor heart health. I don’t have to care about capitalism to fix this - I want to stop procrastinating for my health, dammit.

I’ve always been far more likely to put off doing anything I’m unsure about. “...tasks can create feelings of uncertainty that are unpleasant, and that arouse feelings of self-doubt and self-criticism. Procrastination is more likely to occur when people experience unpleasant feelings that they can’t tolerate or manage.”  I theorize not knowing how to self-soothe came first for me - I am fundamentally unable to deal with my own fear and self-doubt, and beginning to procrastinate grew organically from that.

try having a single positive feeling while working AKA remind yourself why this needs to be done in the first place. “...a lack of positive feelings about a task can also contribute to procrastination... Reminding yourself why your work is important and valuable to you can help re-balance the scale to increase positive feelings towards your work.”

all procrastinators know that procrastination doesn’t reduce your stress. but it may be that being stressed, and then feeling afraid, and then not understanding how to make that feeling go away, is what makes me procrastinate. I’m looking to explore this angle more and will post again if I find more/better sources.

for now, I’m going to continue to work on my thinking (“putting off this application is making me feel bad” instead of “I’m so lazy for not starting yet”), try to align my work to my values (MY values, not my learned societal output baggage), and for the love of god try to forgive myself for the procrastination that will inevitably still come.

[makemyvoice-brandnew]

13, 23, 38 for the video game asks!

13. Coolest enemy/boss design?

This is a tough question for me because I genuinely love the enemy designs in almost every game I play. The first thoughts that come to mind, though, are Kingdom Hearts bosses or any Bloodborne enemy. Darkseid from KH is one of the most striking enemy designs I remember from being a kid, and the light storytelling you get from Souls games' character designs are just phenomenal.

23. Do you typically choose to play a male or female character (when asked to pick)?

I tend to choose male and then mess around with the presentation of the character how I can in character customization if that's an option.

38. An unpopular gaming opinion you have.

Idk how unpopular this really is, but it's the only opinion that ever comes up when this is raised: I hate the graphical fidelity race. I don't really want my games to look super photorealistic but be a pain to play or for the devs to make. Give me super stylized fun and interesting gameplay sections with higher quality cutscenes like older PS2/PS3/Xbox360/GameCube era games. Like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are some of my favorite looking games I've ever played and the graphical difference between that and something made with the RE Engine now is staggering and interesting, but I'd much rather play a game that looks and runs like a TOTK style than have every game try to live up to a Souls or RE graphical output and look.

[melblur]

Todays rip: 05/06/2023

Mii Favorite Things

Featured on: siivagunner's highest quality rips: volume Ripped by eva twin

Its a bit crazy rips this high-effort and inspired are from all the way back in Season 2, huh? I think that partially goes to show just how influential Wii Shop Bling was to the channel, a rip mashup from late 2015 that sits on 13 millions on uploads outside of the channel. Its creator - tunedlink - would become good friends with the creator of SiIvaGunner, and homages to Wii Shop Bling created both by him and others filled the channel's early years. I could've picked any of those for this slot, but I was feeling a little inspired this particular day.

I think what makes these later arrangements so much fun is that they're clearly inspired by Wii Shop Bling's evolution, but are now almost completely disconnected from that specific song. Hell, part of what makes this rip in particular so pleasant is how it feels like a tribute to the Wii in general, switching to the Mii Channel's instrumentation seamlessly halfway through the rip. And with Season 2 of the channel being greatly tied to Christmas as a whole, the rip feels almost inevitable yet overwhelmingly pleasant althesame. Its one of those tracks you can't help but vibe to, so elegantly executed that it feels indistinguishable from an official remix by Nintendo themselves.

I dunno how much longer I can keep rambling about this rip without just telling you to go listen to it!! Honestly, Eva Twin's output wasn't really one I was all too familiar with before, but looking over her contributions its as if her entire output is nothing but bangers: Tons of my all-time favorites had been sitting under a name I'd just completely forgotten to register for some reason. Consistency, good ass vibes and quality way higher than it has any right to be: Eva Twin's earned her place in my mind as one of the all-time greats.

[bigbearpartnersblog]

11 Trends Transforming the Future of Human Resources

As we move further into the 21st century, the field of human resources is changing faster than ever before. With new technologies and shifting demographics, the way that businesses recruit and manage employees is rapidly evolving. Here are 11 trends that will shape the future of human resources:

Data-driven Decision Making: Companies are increasingly turning to data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to make decisions about hiring, training, performance management, and compensation. Businesses can use AI to quickly gain large amounts of data to identify trends and insights that can help inform their decision-making processes.

Automation: Companies are increasingly turning to automation to streamline and simplify processes like payroll, scheduling, recruitment, onboarding and more. This allows HR departments to focus on higher-level tasks and strategic planning while ensuring that all processes run efficiently.

Digital Recruiting: Traditional methods of recruiting like newspaper ads and job fairs are becoming less popular as businesses turn to digital tools like job boards, social media and video interviewing. This makes it easier to connect with a broader range of qualified candidates faster and more efficiently.

Flexible Work Schedules: More and more companies are embracing flexible work schedules that allow employees to work from home, come in late or leave early, take extended vacations, and more. This shift is a response to the demands of the modern workforce for greater autonomy, balance, and control over their lives. This trend is allowing companies to access a larger, more diverse pool of talent while also saving money on overhead costs associated with running an office.

Increased Emphasis on Soft Skills: Companies are looking for employees with more than just technical know-how. Soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking are now essential qualities that employers look for when deciding who to hire.

Talent Acquisition Strategies: Companies are focusing more on their talent acquisition strategies to ensure they’re recruiting the best and brightest employees. This includes initiatives such as targeting specific educational institutions and professional networks in order to find the most qualified candidates.

HR’s Role in the C-Suite: In the past, human resources often had no seat at the table when it came to strategic decision-making. However, with a greater focus on employee engagement and retention, HR is now seen as a key business partner that can help drive innovation and growth. As such, more companies are bringing HR into the C-Suite and involving them in important strategic planning discussions.

Performance Management: Companies are shifting their focus from simply tracking employee inputs (like sick days and vacation time) to measuring their outputs (such as productivity and engagement). This includes using data analytics to monitor performance, setting up feedback systems, and employees based on their results.

Human-Centered Approach: Companies are beginning to recognize the importance of treating their employees with respect and compassion. This includes providing opportunities for professional development, creating a positive work culture, and investing in initiatives that prioritize employee health and well-being. By taking a more human-centred approach to HR, businesses can create an environment where employees feel valued and inspired to do their best work.

Agile HR: Companies are embracing agile HR principles to design and implement changes quickly and efficiently. This involves understanding the needs of employees, rolling out initiatives in small increments, and taking feedback seriously to ensure that the changes being made are meaningful and effective. By taking an agile approach to HR, companies can stay ahead of the curve when it comes to adapting to a rapidly changing world.

Coaches, Mentors, and Leaders: HR is no longer solely responsible for enforcing policy and procedure. Instead, HR professionals are playing a more active role in developing their employees, fostering innovation, and driving positive change within the organization. 

By embracing these new trends in human resources management, businesses of all sizes can create an environment that attracts and retains top talent while ensuring the success of their organization for years to come. With the right strategies in place, businesses can create a competitive advantage by leveraging the future of human resources.

Website : https://bigbearpartners.com/sb/11-trends-transforming-the-future-of-human-resources/

[7grandmel]

Todays rip [First 30 Archive] - 05/06/2023

Mii Favorite Things

Season 2 Featured on: siivagunner’s highest quality rips: volume

Ripped by eva twin

Its a bit crazy rips this high-effort and inspired are from all the way back in Season 2, huh? I think that partially goes to show just how influential Wii Shop Bling was to the channel, a rip mashup from late 2015 that sits on 13 millions on uploads outside of the channel. Its creator - tunedlink - would become good friends with the creator of SiIvaGunner, and homages to Wii Shop Bling created both by him and others filled the channel’s early years. I could’ve picked any of those for this slot, but I was feeling a little inspired this particular day.

I think what makes these later arrangements so much fun is that they’re clearly inspired by Wii Shop Bling’s evolution, but are now almost completely disconnected from that specific song. Hell, part of what makes this rip in particular so pleasant is how it feels like a tribute to the Wii in general, switching to the Mii Channel’s instrumentation seamlessly halfway through the rip. And with Season 2 of the channel being greatly tied to Christmas as a whole, the rip feels almost inevitable yet overwhelmingly pleasant althesame. Its one of those tracks you can’t help but vibe to, so elegantly executed that it feels indistinguishable from an official remix by Nintendo themselves.

I dunno how much longer I can keep rambling about this rip without just telling you to go listen to it!! Honestly, Eva Twin’s output wasn’t really one I was all too familiar with before, but looking over her contributions its as if her entire output is nothing but bangers: Tons of my all-time favorites had been sitting under a name I’d just completely forgotten to register for some reason. Consistency, good ass vibes and quality way higher than it has any right to be: Eva Twin’s earned her place in my mind as one of the all-time greats.

[leam1983]

Steam Deck - Quick Impressions

This is a beast you can approach from several distinct angles.

As a PC, it's surprisingly capable, even if its obvious gaming-focused form factor sort of makes the concept of running productivity software on it a bit odd. I couldn't imagine setting up an email client on this for any reason whatsoever, for instance, not when I can check on tickets from my phone. As a Terminal purveyor, however, it works quite well. I trolled a few non-geek colleagues by saying I'd purchased an Ono-Sendai Cyberdeck. My boss got it and ran with it for the first week.

As a gaming platform, it exemplifies the flexibility and caveats of Linux as a backend. When games work, they work flawlessly. When they don't, they often try and get there, limping pathetically the whole way, and require a host of control-related and SOC-specific tweaks to reach a comfortable state. This is when some games clearly weren't designed with a handheld's screen in mind, wherein any attempts to shift the resolution or the aspect ratio only makes what's happening onscreen even more difficult to parse. Lookin' at'cha, Cult of the Lamb...

I'm glad Valve went with Arch for their core, but as stated in a few Reblogs with @daemonhxckergrrl, they've left their fork of the OS unsecured by default, likely out of the assumption that it wouldn't be extensively tweaked on. As you could expect, I blew out the Read-Only partition, managed to find a HoloISO fork that maintains FSD support in an experimental form, and consequently replaced my Deck's hamstrung distro with a full-fledged Linux OS that has the same exact look and feel, but with no structural weaknesses. Bye-bye, Exposed Root User, hello added security!

As an emulation backend, however, it's a fucking godsend. Emudeck packs all the usual suspects in one Konsole-specific command, all you're left to provide for yourself consists of the usual BIOSes, backends and ROM dumps. A little digging got me to run Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild through Yuzu, the end result being higher framerates and crisper textures than those produced by the Switch itself. It really shows you the kind of "power-versus-output" bargain Nintendo ran, and how much their own console's popularity rests on the quality of the offered experience. From a hardware-related perspective, they're several years behind the curve. Pack their quality releases with a juggernaut of a handheld PC, and you're left with experiences that feel more than just straight-cut reproductions of the originals involved, but more like rejuvenations. As you'd expect, anything that meets the Switch's software requirements and exceeds them runs circles around anything that was released prior to it.

Eighties and nineties' console releases are a cinch to handle - plop your ROMs in the right folder and off you pop - while those approaching the Dreamcast's library come with the usual security-related dependencies. Emudeck's included Steam ROM Manager scrapes the Web for all of the artwork needed for a smooth integration with Valve's own frontend and even assembles custom Collections in your Library tab. Want to play Dante's Inferno? Just head to the RPCS3 Collection, open it and start the game from Steam. The rest follows suit. Similarly, adding a "Non-Steam Game" allows you to hook Firefox or any other program into Steam, making it easy to pull up a game guide or a mod config file.

The one caveat is that any ROMs added also show up on your main platforms as "remote" titles. Right now, my formerly-tidy PC library has a big stonkin' Uncategorized tag containing over 700 titles - most of them SNES ROMs.

Whatever you do, just don't go online with your later-years ROM dumps. You'll be lucky to get a few rounds in Splatoon 3 before Nintendo's moderation servers kick in and boot you out.

It's a pricey toy, but it's highly recommended. Don't forget to spring for an SD card, too.

[pocketbelt]

Yakuza 3 Remastered (PC)

Even through a pretty good remaster, Yakuza 3 shows the troubles of the time it was made; there's a tendency among some (often youtuber/journalist sorts) to appeal to "modernity" to put down games even just five years old, or from the tail end of the PS4, but that's not what I mean here. Being the series' first PS3 game, and the PS3 being a fucking nightmare to make games for and the well-documented costs and horrors of the 7th console generation and the rushed adoption of HD, lots of games suffered or had to make cuts just to get out the door. Sega's debut in that era is an infamous enough example.

So it goes that Yakuza 3 is notably shorter than 0 and the remakes of 1 and 2, which not only did not seem to lengthen themselves unnaturally but 2 even removed a small zone, to some consternation. Some chapters are just a few cutscenes and one fight, and the new town of Ryuku in Okinawa is distinctly smaller and less populated with material than Sotenbori, never mind Kamurochou. From a cursory glance of footage and material about the PS2 originals, it seems smaller than them as well.

The main plot is somehow even more batshit than the heights of 2, and remaining audacious is still the goal and it achieves that admirably...when it gets there. A lot of main plot air time is dedicated to Kiryu dealing with the problems of the kids at the orphanage he now runs, and none of them are at all compelling. The kids themselves are practically tokens, their antagonists comically deranged to the point of seeming like their eyes will turn demonic and they'll start hissing slurs, and there isn't any real emotional meat to latch onto. These bits make up most of the early game and a portion in the middle and they can't help but feel like padding, because they aren't playing to the strengths of the writers. The main thread also doesn't have much emotional relevance and isn't as strongly knit as the plots of 1 and 2, but I suspect that's due to the struggles of development not giving them time to figure out how to meaningfully advance Kiryu and the cast from the end of 2.

While the substories range from fine to busywork, as they did in 1, one is worthy of note; Yakuza 3 is the one that had a set of horribly transphobic substories cut out and replaced with one where Kiryu meets a character based on Ayana Tsubaki, TV personality and (now) professional mahjong player, and learns of the difficulties that trans people face in society (then in 2009 and now). It stands out because the writing quality is distinctly higher than pretty much all the other ones and even the cutscene direction is just better. It demonstrates in multiple ways how far RGG Studio has come in 10 years, with 3 releasing in February 2009 and 3 Remastered in August 2019. There was some of this in Kiwami 2 as well, with the substory around the biker past of the owner of the bar Earth Angel, but it's much more explicit here.

The combat is also worth noting because it's not very good. The notion that Yakuza is a hardcore technical brawler series was already laughable but 3 puts paid to that in full by being an irritating mess until you figure out some way to cheese it. Bosses especially just block 90-95% of anything you do, can super-armour at random and through your attacks, have unblockable attacks, your general damage output is low on all difficulties and weapons do not meaningfully improve it. Things take forever, aren't interesting and Yakuza 3 hasn't the mechanics to let you handle its conditions in interesting or engaging ways. Just unlock Komaki's Dojo and do his quest to re-learn Tiger Drop, or learn the timing for stunlocking bosses with fast knockdowns (X>Y>Y with double finishers unlocked) and do that forever. It makes the refinements the series built up over years really show through.

As I said, a game thoroughly of its time. Enjoyable (and in particular I quite enjoyed this incarnation of the minigames like golf and billiards), and still quite Yakuza, but I suspect it'll be the bottom of the series for me.

Onto Yakuza 4 Remastered, if I don't go to the looming Zelda first.