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Sexy Space Babes: Chapter Twenty Two
“Are you sure you need to leave so soon?” the young woman said, not-quite gripping his arm as he moved to stand from the fancy lounge chair he’d been effectively forced into when he was ‘invited’ in here. “We’ve barely touched down.” “Apologies, ma’am.” Jason said, as he tried to delicately extricate himself. “My orders are to present myself to Captain Tisi as soon as possible.” More than that. He wanted out of this cabin and off this ship. The civilian captain of the Grinshaw’s Maw had been… handsy. Nothing beyond the realm of decorum, but still more than he wanted. The Shil’vati noblewoman was attractive. No doubt about that. And despite Hela’s personality being a bit too… valley girl-ish for his taste, he normally wouldn’t have been against something more on principle. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that any entanglement on that front would result in more than he bargained for. She’d already alluded to having two husbands back home, and had made some subtle insinuations that he would be a very exotic addition to that collection. Jason wasn’t interested in being another trophy for her to parade around in the court back home though - no matter how much money she not-so-subtly implied she had. Not that she needed to imply it. If there was a single object in this cabin that didn’t have a gold inlay, he hadn’t seen it yet. Between that, and the fact that the place was festooned with what he could only imagine were expensive cultural artifacts, it was abundantly clear that Hela was a woman of means. “I’m the heiress of the Helrune Dynasty.” Hela smiled. “I’m sure the good captain won’t begrudge me keeping one of her handsome soldiers to myself for a little longer.” I know you’re the heiress of the Helrune Dynasty, Jason thought struggling to maintain his smile, though he had little doubt it was looking a bit wooden by now. You’ve only mentioned it thirty times since you dragged me in here. “I’m sorry ma’am, I really must insist-” “You really don’t. Tisi’s also an old friend of mine,” Hela said. “I can assure you that she won’t mind.” That actually caught Jason’s attention, and he stopped struggling quite so hard. He didn’t sit down again, but he was a little interested. It would be useful to know a little more about the woman he would be serving under before he met her. …and wasn’t that a strange thought. He was on active-duty now. Which was actually insane. He’d been hoping to ask the DIs about why his posting was ‘classified’ and where his vocational was going to be, but he never got the opportunity. He’d barely returned to base before two jackbooted marines had shoved him into a shuttle and flown him to the space port. From there, they’d shoved an omni-pad into his hands and marched him onto a ship that clearly wasn’t military. Then they’d left, and he was off, roaring across space in his uniform, surrounded by dozens of civilian passengers. “You know Captain Tisi?” he asked, back in the moment. He was all too aware that the ‘briefing’ he’d found on the omni-pad had been all too light on details. Beyond the fact that he was to report to a ‘Captain Tisi’, and that he’d be serving on a ‘picket ship’ he knew nothing. “Oh, yes, we used to play together as girls,” Hela said. “Old family links you see. Apparently our ancestors were part of the same family unit once. General Debas, if you can believe it?” Jason could, on account of the fact that he had no clue whatsoever as to who Debas was. Still, he was listening as Hela prattled on. “Of course, her line stuck to military service, while my own made the smart choice and started investing.” The woman sighed dramatically. “Even now though, they refuse to admit that it was a mistake. I mean sure, the court crowd back home eat it up, the whole ‘military tradition’ thing, but that’s only when they aren’t snickering about her family barely having two credits to rub together these days.” She smiled up at him. “It’s part of why I keep trying to convince her to give it up and join my trading group. I’d love to have her over some of the idiot captains we have on payroll. I’d even let her into my family unit. Empress knows, I can afford to share my two men,” she looked at him significantly. “Or three.” That was the moment, Jason remembered why he was trying to escape this situation. Once more, he made to stand straight, only for the woman to grip him tighter. At this point, there was little he could do to escape beyond simply ripping his arm away, and he wasn’t entirely sure how well that would go down for him. It was all well and good sticking to your principles, but in the real world, more often than not, the little guy got smushed by the big one when they got uppity. As it stood, Hela was dancing on the knife edge of what he’d let her get away with. Which told him, if nothing else, that her boasting about her negotiating skills wasn’t all hot air, given how she’d directed their entire conversation thus far. “It’s why I always try to bring her a gift when the Maw heads in this direction.” Hela smiled, as if she wasn’t currently gripping his arm. “Try and give her a little taste of what she could have. Tempt her into the high life and away from all the dreariness of military living. It just seems a shame, when she could have so much more?” As she spoke, she eyed him, and Jason realized that she was making a fairly unsubtle comparison between him and his soon to be superior there. He tore his arm away. “She sounds admirable,” he said, straightening his sleeve. Hela seemed honestly surprised, staring at her open hand, then that surprise turned to anger as she looked up at him. For just a moment though. Then it was gone, that same smile she’d been wearing all evening back in place. She stood up, straightening her dress, and for just a moment, Jason was reminded of the height disparity between them. For all that Hela played the role of the young socialite, she was still a Shil’vati. She leaned forward, as if to reinforce that difference in build. “Yes I suppose-” Whatever else she was about to say was interrupted. The door behind them swung open and two women in military uniform marched in – trailed by a single flustered looking militia marine. “Sorry ma’am, they just burst through,” the militia member, clad in the ornate purple and green livery of the Helrune Dynasty household guard, stammered. Hela pinned the woman with a stare, none of the charming socialite he’d seen moments before present. Then, just like the earlier anger, the glare was gone, replaced by a casual smile. “That’s fine, guardsmen. Few can stop Tisi when she sets her mind to something.” She said dismissively, a single wave sending the woman scampering from the room. Then Hela turned with a smile to the recently identified Captain Tisi. “Tisi,” the civilian captain said, moving forward to wrap her military counterpart in a hug. “It’s so good to see you.” Tisi endured the hug without moving, though she was an expression of affable irritation, which quickly broke into a more genuine smile. “You too.” She glanced at Jason. “Though I’d be a bit happier to see you if you weren’t trying to poach my latest crewmember.” “Poach?” Hela said, releasing the hug, a look of confusion on her face. “I would never. I was just keeping the young man company and the time happened to get away from us.” Judging by the roll of Tisi’s eyes, she wasn’t fooled for a second. Though Jason had to quickly look away from the exchange between the two women, as the final woman in the room was sidling round towards him. “Salute, you idiot,” the woman hissed, jabbing him not too gently in the side with an elbow. Jason felt panic shoot up his spine as he realized he’d forgotten to do so, and pulled his arm up just as Tisi finished her discussion and looked over at him. “Recruit Jason, reporting for duty, ma’am.” To be honest, he still wasn’t quite accustomed to the notion of Shil’vati using the first name after a title. That was how you did it though. Unless you were part of the nobility, last names just didn’t carry all that much importance, and that had bled over into a number of aspects of their society. “At ease, recruit,” the woman said, returning the salute. “I’m glad to see you made it here in one piece.” She turned to level a slightly playful glare in Hela’s direction. “In spite of my friend’s best attempts to the contrary.” The civilian woman feigned being wounded, but Tisi dismissed it with a roll of her eyes. “The good captain was an able host, ma’am,” he said, not quite willing to voice his actual thoughts in front of a person whom she was clearly friends with. “I’m sure,” Tisi murmured in a tone that said she didn’t believe a word of it. “Well, unfortunately, I’ll have to divest you from her care for now. I assume you have your kit?” Jason nodded, gesturing to where he’d put it down when he’d initially been ‘invited’ in here. Tisi nodded. “Good. Our car’s waiting out in the space port parking lot.” “Ugh, a car, Tisi?” Hela piped in, sounding genuinely offended. “Give me a few minutes and I can get my personal shuttle ready for launch. Have your woman drive the ground vehicle back through the crowds. You, I, and your latest subordinate, can fly where you need to go with some class. It’ll be a good chance to catch up.” “Thanks, but no thanks, Hela, the car will do just fine for now.” Tisi dismissed. “Our newest recruit will have to get used to roughing it at some point.” “He needn’t,” Hela pointed out. “Bye Hela,” Tisi said, turning to leave. Jason got the message, scooping up his kit and following after the two women, festooned with bags. “Well don’t forget to check your messages! We just need to catch up soon.” Hela called from where she remained in the open doorway as they strode down the hall. “Bye Jason.” The trio continued down the halls of the merchant ship, which were much more bare and utilitarian than Hela’s cabin had been. “Ugh, I can’t stand that woman,” the marine sergeant finally said. The Captain sighed. “I will admit that Hela can be something of an… acquired taste. Don’t hold it against her. Being both a member of the nobility and a merchant, she’s used to being able to ‘push’ for the things she wants.” “If you say so, ma’am.” Tisi glanced at her subordinate. “I do. Hela, for all her faults, is an old friend of mine. Her family have been good to mine. If you have any opinions on her, I don’t want to hear them, nor do I want to hear them being spread around the crew. Understood?” “Understood, ma’am.” The woman nodded easily. Jason just trailed along behind the pair as they continued to talk. ----------------------- “And this is your locker.” The barracks they were in was a far cry from the spotless cleanliness of the dorms in basic. Hell, the whole base was. It was kind of surreal to see. The Crucible had always been abuzz with activity, but by comparison, this place felt half-abandoned. At least it was warm though, he thought, a shiver running up his spine as he remembered their mercifully short sojourn outside. “Does everyone live on base?” Jason asked, gesturing to the nearby half-made beds. Assisse, as he learned his new sergeant was called, shrugged. “Nah, most of us avoid this place if we can. Given that we’re here long term, we’ve got a stipend for hotels. Could get houses, I guess, but not much point in putting down roots if the Empress might pull you up at any time. Captain’s got a home here because she’s a rich girl. Hair-Ball does too, though it’s more her family’s home than hers.” Jason paused in the act of placing his clothes into his locker. “Hair-Ball?” “Yoro,” the woman corrected. “She’s a Rakiri like the ones you saw on the way over here.” Jason thought back to the crowds of massive werewolf-like aliens they’d passed on the ride over here. The aliens' thick fur coats were clearly proof against the cold, given how they weren’t wearing anything else. Well, mostly nothing else. He didn’t consider the small necklaces or other trinkets most had on to be ‘clothes’. “Alright kid, level with me, why are you here?” Assisse asked, jolting him from his thoughts. “I was posted here,” he said simply. The older woman rolled her eyes. “I know that. Why were you posted here?” Jason hesitated. He had a small theory in his mind, but it was one he’d tried not to give too much credence. It said poor things about his future prospects if it were true, after all. “I honestly don’t know,” he said. “I know me being here is weird. I should be attending vocational training right now, not serving on a ship.” Assisse fixed him with a gimlet eye at his partial truth. “Any suspicions?” Jason sighed. He might as well come out with it. “I might have run afoul of a noble?” he said hesitantly. Assisse nodded, as if she’d expected as much. “So what happened?” She prompted, before pausing. “Wait, does this have something to do with that training exercise where you gave those Interior gals a black eye?” Jason paused in the act of placing a shirt into his locker. “…I might have dropped the Colonel in charge out a window.” Assise stared at him. “Really?” “Really.” The woman continued to stare, before breaking into uproarious laughter. “Yeah, that would do it, kid,” she said, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “What line was she from?” Jason shrugged, a little discomforted by her amusement. “I honestly can’t remember. She said her mother was a planetary governor though.” “Big bitch then.” The woman nodded. “Yeah, I could see one of them pulling some strings.” Jason sighed as the woman casually confirmed a fear he’d been trying not to dwell on since the moment he heard his deployment would be ‘classified’. “So I’m fucked then?” “Maybe?” The sergeant made a so-so gesture, making his heart sink further. “You’ll have to ask the captain exactly what your posting says. Might shed a bit more light on it all.” Jason shoved another shirt into the locker. “Ah, come on, kid.” Assisse said smiling somewhat awkwardly, a strange thing to see on the previously gregarious woman’s features. “I can’t stand to see a pretty face down.” Jason nearly rolled his eyes at the line. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that Assise was technically his superior, and his time in the Crucible was still fresh in his head. And in the Crucible, one did not roll their eyes in front of their superiors with the expectation of seeing tomorrow. “Don’t look so glum,” Assisse continued, still somewhat awkwardly. “Sure, Gurathu may be a backwater, but it ain’t all bad. Beats playing hide and seek with the roaches out in the Periphery.” She placed a rather large hand on his shoulder, far more delicately than he expected given how she behaved. “How long you in for?” “Three years,” he said, translating the time from the five in Earth years to the three in Shil. “Hardly any time at all,” Assisse insisted, her tusked maw turning into a toothy smile. Despite the somewhat ham-fisted way she’d presented his situation, Jason found a smile forming on his face at her words. “There, that’s better,” the woman said. “Thanks, Sarge.” Satisfied, he started to shuck off his shirt. “Hey, hey,” the woman said, stepping back with both hands raised up. “Don’t you want me to leave first?” Jason looked at her in confusion as he held his shirt in his hands. Was she actually blushing? She was. Though that didn’t seem to stop her from glancing at his torso every few seconds. “I was just switching kits,” he said, gesturing to the snow themed fatigues that he’d just been issued in place of his old grey recruit gear. “Is that a problem?” “No, but…” The woman trailed off. Jason mildly chastised himself as he stopped undoing the latches of his pants. He’d started getting changed without even thinking about it. After three months in basic, where time was a premium, he hadn’t even given it a second thought. Apparently, what was normal there wasn’t normal in the greater military culture as a whole. “Ah, well if you don’t mind…” he didn’t finish the statement, not quite able to give a woman who was ostensibly his superior a suggestion. Just thinking about what the DIs would have done to him if he did so during basic sent a shiver up his spine, and that was enough for that sensation to be transferred to Assisse. It seemed that he needed to spend a little time ‘unprogramming’ himself away from the social norms he’d built up over the past three months. He almost sighed at the thought that he was once more in a situation where what was ‘normal’ played by entirely different rules. “Makes no difference to me,” he said. “Damn kid, they weren’t exaggerating about you humans,” Assisse said as she stepped away, a strange smile on her face now that she’d gotten over her surprise. Still, she dutifully stepped out of the room to let him change in peace. Not that she didn’t spend a final moment blatantly getting an eye full as she stepped out. Jason finally allowed himself to roll his eyes at the classically Shil’vati move, even as he continued stepping out of his clothes. Assisse was nice. A bit on the rough side but pleasant enough. In many ways she reminded him of Nuiy, though if in human terms, Nuiy played the role of the stern Patriarch in the squad, then Assisse was more akin to the freewheeling uncle. …Not that Jason had much experience with either type of familial relation. Glancing down at his new winter fatigues, he could at least concede that they looked a little better than the drab grey fatigues he’d been wearing prior to now. As he glanced down at his name tag, written in Shil’vati script, along with the words Whisker emblazoned on his arm, he was reminded that this was real. He was an actual serving member of an alien military. The same military that had conquered his home. Even as he mulled it over in his mind, it still didn’t feel any less surreal. “You done in there?” Assisse asked, poking her head back in. Jason ignored the way she looked mildly disappointed at the fact he was fully changed. He was rather glad for the interruption, as it shook him away from his moment of personal funk. “Yep,” he said as he walked over to her. Despite her initial disappointment, Jason could feel some pride as her eyes turned appreciative. “Doesn’t look bad at all on you kid,” she said. “Thanks.” He smiled, standing a bit taller in his new uniform. The Sergeant patted him on the shoulder again, guiding him down the hall. “Let’s get you to the cafeteria. With any luck you might be able to meet some of the others in our motley crew before the Whisker returns to swap crew again tomorrow. Might save you from being jumped by all of them when we set out.” Although she phrased it as a joke, Jason could hear the glints of truth in her statement. First / Previous / Next Another three chapters are also available on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/bluefishcake We also have a (surprisingly) active Discord where and I and a few other authors like to hang out:https://discord.gg/RctHFucHaq
I'm reading every Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and World Fantasy Award winner. Here's my reviews of the early 1980s (Vol 5)
Well, it’s been a moment or three, but it’s good to be back. The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Plot: An epic four book fantasy series chronicling the adventures of Severian of the Torturer's Guild.
Page Count:
The Shadow of the Torturer: 304
The Claw of the Concilliator: 303
The Sword of the Lictor: 302
The Citadel of the Autarch: 330
Awards:
The Shadow of the Torturer: 1980 World Fantasy Award
The Claw of the Concilliator: 1981 Locus Fantasy and 1981 Nebula
The Sword of the Lictor: 1982 Locus Fantasy
Worth a read: Yes, but it's an investment.
Primary Driver:Plot, World, or Character
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Both Technobabble and Fantasybabble in moderate quantities.
Review: There is no denying that these books are remarkable. The attention to detail is astonishing, the writing is crisp, the characters are complex. Locales have their own personalities, the world is fleshed out, side characters and side stories are both brilliant. It's an intricate and well crafted work. On the other hand, to quote one of the characters: "...You talk about it to me as someone else might talk about the weather." Can be dry and a bit of a slog; some of the side stories, while interesting, feel forced into the broader narrative. Books do not stand on their own at all as individual stories. In terms of quality, I would probably say: 3, 2, 4, 1.
Plot: An amnesiac wanderer goes on an epic quest to reclaim his identity.
Page Count: 506
Award: 1981 Locus
Worth a read: Yes
Primary Driver:World, Character
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Minimal.
Review: Despite it's sluggish pace and constant meanders there is something absolutely engrossing about this book. Tapdances right on the border of SF and Fantasy - and successfully balances both. Character interaction and conversations are solid throughout. Remarkable establishment of side-character personalities - including minor characters having their own arcs. Excellent use of power crawl and believable evolution of Valentine from passive to active protagonist. Got pretty tired of reading about juggling.
Plot: The only way to stop environmental and societal collapse is to contact the past to stop it from happening.
Page Count: 499
Award: 1981 Nebula
Worth a read: Oof. Somewhat?
Primary Driver:World, Character
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: To the max.
Review: I cannot figure out why I enjoyed this book, but I did... until the truly interminable final 20%. Interesting applications of paradoxes, time loops, determinism, and everything else that fits in a good time-based story. That said, it's unbelievably slow. The majority of drama and action is about academic clashes, but I was somehow invested nonetheless. Some excellent character work; this does not apply to the women, who are all philandering, repressed, nymphomaniac arm-candy for the men involved. I hope you like the word "Tachyon" because you're going to see it a lot.
Plot: The backwater planet of Tiamat has been under the control of the Snow Queen for 150 years. Summer is coming.
Page Count: 448
Award: 1981 Hugo
Worth a read: Yes
Primary Driver:World, Character
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Minimal.
Review: A delightful mix of fantasy tropes with science fiction twists. Tiamat itself feels solidly fantasy; the ageless Snow Queen, The Lady who gives some people visions and helps them, the separate regimes of Summer and Winter. Yet it is but one planet - and the rest are technologically developed. It's a remarkable balance that works surprisingly well. Side characters are great; distinct justifications, backstories, history together. Protagonists are... fine. The driving motivation being, once again, cousins in love... not great. They're also quite passive, which gets tiresome.
Plot: There's a portal that goes back six million years into the past and it only gets wackier from there.
Page Count: 433
Award: 1982 Locus
Worth a read: Yes
Primary Driver:World
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Moderate.
Review: This book is delightful. The premise is ridiculous, the explanations of "science" to explain what happened are pretty much nonexistent... but it's just so fun. Every opportunity where this book could go off the rails it does so. The characters are fun, though shallow. This book is what happens when you throw a sack of different world-building related nouns into a blender and say, "Sure!" Are the rules consistent? Yes, in that there are none. I was regularly surprised by things to the point where I was laughing out loud.
Plot: If you think hard enough, you get to the past!
Page Count: 397
Award: 1982 Nebula
Worth a read: This is one of the worst books I've ever read.
Primary Driver:World
Bechdel Test: Fail(?)
Technobabble: Moderate.
Review: Look, he uses his chance to go back in time to have sex with proto-humans. And yes, the pacing is awful, but at least the prose is terrible. I have nothing positive to say about this one, except that I've never seen the word "beshat" in a book. This is one of the very few I've encountered with an African American man as the lead - and holy guacamole is it an insulting portrayal.
Plot: Somehow, the Galactics missed a species - sentient creatures living at the edge of the Sun. It's up to humanity to investigate.
Page Count: 340
Award: Book 1 of the Uplift Trilogy - Books 2 and 3 won awards.
Worth a read: Skip this one but read the next two.
Primary Driver:World
Bechdel Test: Fail
Technobabble: Frequent.
Review: At the core of this book is a great theme: to join the broader galaxy of enlightened species, populations must be "Uplifted" - brought into the fold via a sponsor, and civilized. There's a key question - which race Uplifted humans? All of this is fun, and well done. It is also still at the heart of the sequel, which is a much better book. The plot of this is... fine. Characters are bland, interactions are stilted, relationships unbelievable. This isn't exactly a bad book - but it has nothing on the sequel, and is not necessary reading to understand it.
Plot: Things quickly get out of hand when a ship crewed by humans, dolphins, and a chimp stumble upon a massive armada of abandoned spaceships, escalating to galactic-level drama.
Page Count: 498
Award: 1984 Hugo, 1984 Nebula, 1984 Locus SF
Worth a read: All aboard the hype train! Toot toot!
Primary Driver:Plot, World, or Character
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Moderate.
Review: Sweet kittens and milk is this thing excellent. It's not a perfect book - characters can be hard to keep track of, relationships can be forced, some parts drag, and the machina has a whole bunch of deus. But there are so many good ideas in here. Uplift is brought to the fore: that a species needs another to bring it to the galactic scene. But what does that mean? How do we recreate other species in our own image? What debts do we owe each other? What if attempts to help a species fail? It's pure delightful science fiction - a masterpiece of speculation and technology and species and politics.
Plot: It's all-out war pitting the Earthlings (both human and chimp) and their allies against the Gubru, a race of birdlike aliens... with no sense of humor.
Page Count: 638
Award: 1988 Hugo, 1988 Locus SF
Worth a read: Yes
Primary Driver:Plot, World, or Character
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Moderate.
Review: Everything that makes the concept of Uplift delightful is still here. This is a good follow up to Startide Rising - but not a necessary one. Quality of writing is better, but pacing fluctuates, an overwhelming cast of characters can be hard to track, and deuses jump out of machinas frequently. This does add more depth to the mechanics of Uplift, but not to the broader ideas that made Startide Rising so cool.
Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea.\* \The Incompleat Nifft,* which is the original and it's sequel.
Plot: Nifft is a brilliant thief and an accomplished grifter. He'd probably be rich already, if his luck was a bit better. But the next score will be the big one!
Page Count: 576
Award: 1982 World Fantasy Award (Nifft the Lean)
Worth a read: Absolutely
Primary Driver:Plot, World, Character
Bechdel Test: Fail
Technobabble: Minimal to moderate (if we're including fantasy babble).
Review: What an absolute joy to read. It's classic sword and sorcery in the best way. A number of shorter tales linked together throw Nifft all over the globe - and to hell and back - allowing the reader to see all sorts of different things. Pacing is quick, humor lands well. Character tropes are used to good effect, allowing quick 'n' dirty introductions to lots of different players. That said, there are a number of truly engaging characters and surprising twists. It's a light, quick, and delightful read.
Plot: A multigenerational family drama mixed with a healthy dose of magical realism.
Page Count: 627
Award: 1982 World Fantasy Award
Worth a read: No
Primary Driver:World, Character [Charitably]
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: Moderate Fantasy Babble.
Review: I loathed this book. Pacing could be charitably described as dreamy - but more aptly as between lethargic and catatonic. Characters are as plentiful as they are unimaginative and disposable. Plot is not really a feature: all of the standbys for family drama are here, from "You're Not the Father!" through "A Surprise Same-Sex Encounter?!" with a bit of "But She's My Sister!" thrown in for good measure. Quality of writing is decent, but some striking phrasing and evocative images are nowhere near enough to redeem this one.
Review: The fact that I did not out and out die of boredom while reading this is all of the proof I needed to confirm that I have, in fact, been dead the whole time. It's an epic space opera with emphasis on the opera portion (for length and pacing, that is). A hefty cast of forgettable and interchangeable characters existing in a generic SF setting coupled with truly glacial pacing made this an absolute chore to read. Even scenes that should be exciting manage to be completely bland due to style choices. A smattering of neat ideas (clever uses of mind wipes in particular) are nowhere near enough to redeem this dud.
Plot: Psychohistory: The use of mathematics and psychology to predict the course of human events.
Page Count:
- Foundation: 244
- Foundation and Empire: 256
- Second Foundation: 279
Award: Hugo for Best All-Time Series. Book 4 (next post!) won a Hugo and Nebula.
Worth a read: Yes
Primary Driver:World
Bechdel Test: Fail
Technobabble: High but plot relevant.
Review: A set of nine interconnected stories that demonstrate the power and pitfalls of Psychohistory. Generally good writing and clever twists keep things engaging. A whole lot of exposition dumps. Characters are all flat. Concept is excellent, and each story highlights a different aspect. Feels like each segment successfully treads new ground, as opposed to rehashing. Some diminishing returns by the end, but absolutely worth a read as a whole. And the stories have aged astoundingly well.
Plot: Did you want another story set in the Foundation universe? You got one. It's a hunt for the Second Foundation, controlling things from behind the curtain.
Page Count: 450
Award: 1983 Locus SF and 1983 Hugo
Worth a read: Please don't kill me, but No
Primary Driver:World
Bechdel Test: Fail
Technobabble: Moderate to high.
Review: Some interesting moments mixed with some truly bizarre choices. Plot seems to constantly be a scene where one character says, "Ah, I knew he would do that, and instead..." and then the next says, "Ah, I knew you would counter that, so I..." and on we go. I did not enjoy the conclusion of this; in a universe with a number of interesting concepts, throwing in another in Act III of another book is an odd move. I hypothesize that this won because the previous three did not. Does not add anything interesting to the Foundation Universe; instead undercuts the core concepts that make the first three appealing.
Plot: The legend of King Arthur often ignores the importance of the women who put him in power and kept him there.
Page Count: 1009. One Thousand and Nine. One one, two zeroes, and a nine, in that order. In binary: 1111110001
Award: 1984 Locus Fantasy
Worth a read: Nope.
Primary Driver:World, or Character
Bechdel Test: Pass
Technobabble: N/A.
Review: For a book that is about the strong women surrounding King Arthur, dang are all the female characters weak. They are almost all motivated by some mix of: love, forbidden love, lust, desire for children, marriage, envy of beauty... every entry on the "women's reasons" list. Characters either blend together or eventually become caricatures of themselves - especially Gwenhwyfar, whose presence makes a scene unbearable. There are some really exceptional moments here, and some genuine surprises. But too few and too far between in a 1000 page epic.
Plot: Shifting alliances butt heads in this alternate history, including England's Richard III, the Medici, the Byzantine Empire, and also vampires.
Page Count: 368
Award: 1984 World Fantasy Award
Worth a read: If there were no other books left on Earth, and I had an unlimited supply of kindling, lighter fluid, and firewood, I'd still burn this.
Primary Driver:World
Bechdel Test: Fail.
Technobabble: None.
Review: This book is just well and truly awful. The haughty condescension from the author about how grounded the historical aspects are clashed with some painfully bad attempts at changing the past. Mix in some truly baffling choices as to when to adhere to actual historical events and when to veer away, and you've got yourself a stew. Characters have no traits that aren't explicitly stated, and, in the name of "subterfuge" these characteristics can change on a dime. Pacing is abysmal - switching at random from plodding discussions to sloppy action. Fantasy elements are handled with the grace of a baseball bat to the stomach.
Plot: The Smoke Ring has everything needed for survival - except for ground. Survival itself is a struggle in constant freefall.
Page Count: 272
Award: 1985 Hugo
Worth a read: No
Primary Driver:World
Bechdel Test: Fail
Technobabble: You betchya.
Review: A fascinating and cleverly constructed world full of unique fauna and striking vistas. Unfortunately it is populated by a bland, interchangeable, and generally uncompelling cast of characters. This is a striking downfall in a survival story; tragedy and difficulty mean little if one is not invested in any of the players involved. Worth skimming at a library for a taste of the world, but that alone does not carry a novel - this felt much longer than its 270 pages.
Plot: Number Ten Ox sets out to help his village and ends up wrapped up in a centuries-old conflict.
Page Count: 271
Award: 1985 World Fantasy Award
Worth a read: Yes. Right now.
Primary Driver:Plot, World, Character
Bechdel Test: Fail
Technobabble: Fantasy Babble - yes
Review: A gem. Excellent writing, charming characters, engaging plot. Many books use Greco-Roman or Norse Mythology and it's a breath of fresh air to see an unrelated mythos and fables in a book. The world as depicted is both complex and fascinating. One of the most fun and novel books I've encountered. I was constantly surprised, but it never felt like cheating. At points heartbreaking, at points laugh-out-loud funny.
And a bonus! A fellow Redditor asked me to check out his book, and kindly sent me a copy: Constructors by Russell Libonati
Plot: Colonization is a difficult enough prospect, but we definitely didn't do enough research on the resident life before we started.
Page Count: 203
Worth a read: Yes.
Primary Driver: World, Character
Bechdel Test: Fail
Technobabble: Mild to Moderate
Review: Surprisingly enjoyable and a breeze to read. Humor is executed well without being overwhelming, characters have distinct personalities, dialogue is generally crisp. Relies at some points on tropes, but has enough novel ideas to be worth a read - especially at this length. It's a fun afternoon. Even after reading everything else, it's nice to get a new take on alien life - which is, in its own way, an impressive feat, given just how much SF material exists already.
Any questions or comments? Fire away! A truly massive thank you to u/gremdelfor mailing me a bunch of books! People like you are what make this endeavor worth the effort. And some of these books are dang near impossible to find, so… invaluable aid! Some of the above are a bit out of order to maintain series cohesion - it seemed silly to leave off The Uplift War, for example, while doing this batch. I’ve been using this spreadsheet, as well as a couple others that kind Redditors have sent. So a huge thanks to u/velzerat and u/BaltSHOWPLACE At the request of a number of you, I’ve written up extended reviews of everything and made a blog for them. I’ve included the links with the posts for individual books. I try to put up new reviews as fast as I read them. Also, yes - these are only the books that won “Best Novel” and not any version of First Novel/Short Story/Novella or anything else. I might take a breather at some point and do some short stories, but that is a task for another day. The Bechdel Test is a simple question: do two named female characters converse about something other than a man. Whether or not a book passes is not a condemnation so much as an observation; it provides an easy binary marker. Seems like a good way to see how writing has evolved over the years. At the suggestion of some folks, I’m loosening it to non-male identified characters to better capture some of the ways that science fiction tackles sex and gender. For a better explanation of why it’s useful, check out this comment from u/Gemmabeta
“Don’t Make Your First Game a Stupidly Big Project” – I went against sound advice and took 4 years to make a game... was it worth it?
[text is taken from gamasutra and pasted below for convenience. Original article: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JohnWatmuff/20210119/376232/Dont_Make_Your_First_Game_a_Stupidly_Big_Project__The_Benefits_of_Going_Against_Sound_Advice_and_Making_a_Game_in_4_Years.php] It was a major exhale to see my open-world, galactic survival strategy game Lilith Odyssey finally make it to the Steam store on January 8, after 4.19 years in development. I am part of a two-developer studio called Chaystar Unlimited, and we have been working on our game for about 4.19 years, according to my therapeutic excel spreadsheets. We worked on the game in our spare time while holding two ordinary office jobs. Our game has now been featured in a variety of publications and after so much time in development, the attention has been charming and thrilling! I want to talk about the bright sides of being naïve and stubbornly curious. Now knowing the extensive struggle that was this project, would we do it all over again? It’s a complicated time to answer that question without having the hindsight of sales data to determine whether making this game was “worth it.” Regardless, in case you are as obsessive/naïve as we were, here’s what we learned. We Learned to Relax Effectively and Appreciate Small Progress To give a sense of what 4 years of game development looks like, you can see my source-code commits (on GitHub) — a steady mix of progress and breaks. It may sound counter-intuitive, but I learned to take lots of breaks. Naturally, I’m an obsessive coder that wants to stay up until 3 a.m. to see my vision come to life. Unfortunately, this is not sustainable, and also clouds my judgement. I tend to *not* reflect on my work while in this state. I still think it’s great fun to “enter the zone” — this process might even channel some deeper artistic output. But between work, countless weekends of game dev, and even small chunks of progress on weeknights, I begin to simultaneously burn out and become anxious. So to keep moving forward, I generally have to take a step back, focus on “life things,” and allow my mind to wander. These relaxation moments are good for mental health, but they also allow me time to think about my work – do I like what I’ve made so far, would I enjoy this feature? Personally, I found that the key to relaxing effectively is being kind to yourself, allowing your mind and body to recover in a way that is right for you. I did the best/most-focused work when I took time or even weekends off to play golf or invest time in parts of life that make me feel good. Days, weeks, or even months: it’s okay to take a break, because it’s only a break. Additionally, never begrudge progress. Even if something takes an exceptionally long time, as long as you complete *something*, you are now further along and in a better position than you previously were. Working in a large bureaucracy for most of my professional life has helped me realize this — big changes happen slowly and are often the product of many tiny bits of progress. Take what the world gives you! A Stupidly Large Scope Helped Us Learn Deeply Admittedly, Lilith Odyssey has an enormous scope — a very stupid (hasty) decision made early in the process. There are more than 1000 planets to explore, 16 space ships to customize with various parts, 20 alien creatures, procedural characters, procedural buildings, space stations, galactic monuments, and an in-game radio with original songs, ads and DJ segments. And honestly, perhaps the game didn’t *need* all of this. We just felt it would be “cool to have.” But to have all that, staying motivated was a big challenge. It wasn't until roughly 1.5 years of dev, amidst several growing pains, where we thought, “Uggh, why did we choose to make this game so unwieldy!?” But we kept working. What helped was recognizing the development of our skills (i.e. better visuals, better game play, better music) and knowing when our growth was enough to hit game quality markers we could live with (not necessarily the best we could do). We were aware of all the advice suggesting that a large 3D game is very difficult to complete — but we went for it anyway! By taking on the challenges of a large scope, we quickly became better learners. I would argue that the ability to learn new things is a skill you can work on, a skill that pays huge dividends in artistic confidence. And part of this skill is recognizing when you’ve learned enough to achieve a solid version of your vision (not its perfected form). For example, aesthetically, our game features a lowpoly/toon-shaded style that looks more playful than technically advanced. I’m sure that other talented devs can do much more. But for our own purposes, this was a sweet spot between looking good enough and moving forward. Learn, make it work, move on. Instead of minimizing the scope of the game to fit our skills, we challenged ourselves and hit depths of quality that we felt we needed. We deepened our skills in areas of coding, sound design, 3D modeling, animation, world building, and marketing to an extent that a smaller project would not have merited. The pay off? We believe we made an explorable, immersive, open-world galaxy. Low poly, sure, but we hit the scope. We realized an artistic vision, and explored new territory that we otherwise may have avoided until a later time. So, if you find yourself facing a large body of work, my advice would be: give it a shot so long as you are prepared to learn. If you try to minimalize your ideas, you may destroy the uniqueness of your art or miss out on finding the inner voice of your work. It takes time to find good art within yourself! We Overcame Fear of Difficulty By Surrendering Certain Battles When we started our project, I had never programmed a 3D game before. I am an experienced software engineer with more than 10 years of experience in a non-gaming software industry. But prior to this game, working in 3D greatly intimidated me! I had consistently defaulted to making simpler 2D games. In college, I nearly failed a graphics programming course. I overcame this specific fear by reading tons of articles about 3D development online, acquainting myself with the proper tools, and repeatedly failing (more on that below). The grander challenge to overcome, however, is the fear of difficulty (intimidation). As my game dev companion has said, it is the voice of self-doubt in all of our heads that says “this is too hard for you to complete.” Early on, my game dev partner motivated me to imagine our game as a 3D game. I was extremely hesitant, and even thought it impossible, but I gave the idea a chance. From there on, the two of us developed an internal culture of fearless problem solving. We were committed to learning anything we needed to learn to complete the project. We were ready to fight any battle — but also willing to tactically surrender battles that were far beyond our skills. The possibility of “falling short” never leaves the mind. Especially in the face of consistent technical hurdles that seem to limit our vision. There were many sobering moments for us where we realized that our technical limitations stood in the way of creating a feature or aesthetic we otherwise would have wanted. Sometimes, we could learn our way through the problem. Other times, we backed down and had to re-concept elements of the game. We Grew Used to Failure Our failures have been frequent and massive. For every one thing that went right, I would say that four things went wrong. We learned to accept the failures, identify a different approach, and move forward with a plan. Not all of our ideas panned out – for example, we had a feature where rescue crafts would pick you up if you were stranded on a planet. We ended up deciding that this feature, while super-cool, was not necessary for the larger game play and its exclusion would not affect game enjoyment. We had to give up on various other concepts, and we had to recreate some content with different styles — until we found something that worked well enough. Perfection was not the goal. Our reasonable satisfaction was. Ultimately, for a small team like ours, game development is an iterative crafting process that requires a balance of rework and acceptance. Link Up With Others It’s important to acknowledge that embarking on a years-long project was made easier by having a trusted creative partner. “Frodo didn’t get the ring to Mordor alone, after all, even when he insisted on it.” — words from my game dev partner. When others are involved, there is more accountability and commitment to see your part of the work through. And when your creative energies are thinning, sometimes all it takes is seeing what your team member has done to stoke your own passion for the project. For solo devs, I’d recommend working with artists – whether that’s for cover art, sound tracks, or asset modeling – to keep things exciting. Not only can you rely on skills better than your own in certain development areas, but getting quality input from others raises the bar for your own work. In the best case scenarios, there’s a symbiotic cycle of great work inspiring other great work that inspires other great work. Was It Worth Working on a Game for Four Years? Yes (but you have to finish it). We are currently polishing Lilith Odyssey and marketing our title as we look ahead to an early Access launch. By many accounts, we have no idea how successful the game will be from a sales standpoint. So, why was the struggle still worth it? We better understand our capacities to learn. Our weak spots are animation and rigging, which we look forward to addressing in future work. But we are not intimidated by the difficulty or challenge of trying something new and complex.
We gained creative confidence. It sounds lame, but in art, and in life, self-belief matters — and it exponentially opens up new doors. We have tons of limitations, but we also know that we’ve got the grit to work through a problem and the tactical wisdom to abandon a costly battle.
We know how to balance our lives. Practicing kindness to yourself and taking mind-clearing breaks will open the capabilities of your person. Learning to balance your inner self, can give you the stability and endurance required to wander across larger oceans — and do much more than you thought possible.
I'd be happy to address any of the points above or answer any questions about hunkering down on a project for 4 years. I attempted to write an article with genuine perspectives about gamed dev -- the same kinds of discussions and prompts I see in this subreddit that have helped me along my journey so far. Cheers all and best of luck on your work!!
Beginning|Previous A peaceful wonderland lay in front of Damian. Snow drifted down from the heavens, falling amidst evergreens and gathering upon boughs already laden with the flakes that had come before. The scenery was untouched by man. Unspoiled by the eons of hate and strife and horror. Just an unending nature, stretching out in quiet bliss for as far as the eye could see. It was perfect. Damian wished he could go there one more time. To walk the land of his youth. He knew it was still out there. Still beyond the reach of Humanity. The silent paradise of the outskirts of Kaamanen, off on the cliff of the world in Old Earth's Finland. He felt his age now. Felt stretched and thin, like all of the weight of the past had finally found him and piled on. A weathered hand reached up and ran through the scruff of his beard. Then it pulled out, momentarily catching a tangle before he raised it in the air in front of him. "Back to it then," he whispered, taking one last look before the hand swiped down. The wilderness was immediately replaced by a world preparing for war. All four walls of the bunker shifted to depict status reports and requests for comms coming from all directions. He had only stolen a few seconds to gaze upon his homeland, but it had been enough to make a chaotic situation a true conflagration. Everyone needed something. All of it was a top priority. Thankfully, many carried out their duties admirably, marching toward their chosen destinations without the need for guidance from above. For all of its miserable history, Humanity had finally learned how to govern itself -- how to turn ideas into actions into progress. There was so much that had been accomplished since they had emerged from the shadow of the Automics, and yet here they were again: fighting for the future of the species. Damian jabbed a finger and thumb forward toward the wall. "Where are we at on Wave Two?" A harried Captain appeared in the view, a hive of activity behind him as he walked along the corridor, his wrist raised in front of him. "Good progress, Secretary. We can get out of the berths on the timeline, but we're going to be worse than useless without some supporting infrastructure." They were scheduled to depart immediately after the Zix freed up following the departure of the Boomerang fleet, which should be completed in the next few minutes. By the look of things, they'd be carting along everything they could shove into the hull and figuring out as much of the mess as they could later. After what happened to Wave One, they'd be taking more precautions with the launches, only moving out of the berth when the Zix were in a position to provide them immediate passage to their designated launch point. They'd be joining the two Wave One vessels that had successfully escaped at Alpha Site -- the Wave Two boats couldn't survive without them. "Understood, Captain. Keep your head swiveled and get folks buckled down." The Captain nodded, "Yes, Secretary. Is there anything else?" He looked eager to be off the comm. "Nothing else, good luck." "Yes, Secretary. Thank you." The link dropped. Damian turned forty-five degrees and jabbed at another wall in the hexagonal room. This one depicting the progress of the Boomerang Launches. Another comm link sprang to life. "I've still got nerves on this one, Joan." The Fleet Admiral sat comfortably in her chair, the broad, curved sweep of the *UWDFF Sun Tzu'*s Admiral's Bridge rolling out behind her. "It's suboptimal. Had Captain Erikson survived the battle at Halcyon, perhaps my involvement would be unnecessary." She shrugged, "But there is no one else suited to this task other than myself. Earth's defenses are a known quantity and UWDF leadership is more than capable of overseeing the task." "We don't know what they'll be throwing at us," Damian replied. "Everything, I imagine." Her hand flipped into view briefly and swiped away. "Our only chance may be to stay on offense. Hard to know without more information." "I don't see us getting that until they make their arrival, not unless Kai has more nuggets to drop." Joan glanced away from the viewscreen and then cursed. "New wormhole triggers. Probe one gone." She exhaled. "There goes the second." Similar alerts had flared to life on Damian's side, adding a red hue to a portion of a single wall, one that was easily lost amidst the sea of red surrounding it. "We need to leave, immediately." The chart depicting the Boomerang Fleet's exit from the solar system indicated that slightly over half the vessels had yet to depart. They would be transitioning out soon enough, but Joan's tone made it clear she was unenthusiastic about the rate of progress. "So eager to leave me, Joan? And here I thought we would never be parted." Damian's banter only merited an annoyed furrowed brow as a response, her hands furiously swiping in the air. She barked a series of orders, rerouting all fleet traffic. Damian waited while she conducted the orchestra of Earth's defense. When the flurry of activity died down, she turned back to Damian. "They'll have an updated picture now. We need to get it out of date as quickly as possible. Things that are moving need to move in a different direction. Things that are sitting still need to be somewhere else if possible." "Still hoping they're slower than the Zix?" "Unclear. The Amalgans are a black box. However, we risk nothing by maximizing the advantage if it exists." "Fair. Think they'll be coming soon?" "It'd be logical. The longer they wait, the more likely it is that they'll need to re-canvas, unless they're waiting for their FTL sensor network to spread." "Maybe they'll just decide to pack it up and call it a day. Leave the barbarous Humans alone on their rock before we get any crazy ideas." Joan snorted. There was a silence. The conversation had come to an end, and Damian was just prolonging it to put off all the rest of the mess on his plate. He wanted to say something appropriately charismatic to Joan, but the Fleet Admiral was immune to charm. Instead, he opted for simplicity. "Good luck, Admiral. If you get your chance, make it count." She nodded curtly, her eyes meeting his as her chain raised back up. "I intend to, Secretary. You'll be in good hands, until I return." "Of course, Admiral." He reached up and swiped the comm link off. If the Boomerang Fleet was successful, he wouldn't be seeing her again. There would be no way to generate a wormhole home unless the Amalgans decided to give her a lift back in an act of charity, which didn't seem to likely under the circumstances. Damian wasn't a particularly sentimental person, but he'd miss her. Assuming he was around to miss. The timer ticked down and the UWDFF Sun Tzu transitioned out of the system without further incident. It was odd to think about, that she had been there one moment and in the next she was light years away. He supposed it didn't matter. A light year or a mile away, it was the same difference. Two new comm links came online as Damian connected to Admiral Kai Levinson and Captain Alistair Bishop. Kai looked considerably less fatigued than he had the last time they'd interacted, though he still looked like he'd been through hell. Captain Bishop was considerably more spritely, though he had he bags under his eyes from long nights and hard days. "Are you two ready?" "Yes, Secretary," they said in unison. "Joan seems to think we'll be in for it soon enough. Get underway and see what this Cerebella can do for us," Damian said, his attention focused on Kai. "Yes, Secretary," Kai repeated. "Kai? No bullshit. I'm taking a chance here, trusting you when I've got enough red flags to reupholster my couch." He jutted a thumb behind him. "And it's a big couch. Seats twelve." "We're keyed in for Interstice. Once we arrive, it'll take a short amount of time to make contact and meet with an Evangi vessel keyed for Ecclesia. Then it's one more jump from there and then I'll be having tea with the Cerebella." "I know the plan, but it's a shitty one and I'm expecting you to make it seem like a good idea in retrospect." Kai nodded, "Secretary, this isn't the first shitty plan I've been involved in. They're something of a specialty at this point." True enough. Kai had a habit of gravitating toward the thickest tangles. It was a trend that'd only picked up after he'd lost his family. No surprise there, he wasn't the only one with survivor's guilt. Not the only one that was looking for a decent way to die for the sin of having lived. "Captain Alistair, the ship is yours. You see something you don't like, you hope back Earthside and we sort it out then. If the Admiral has issues following orders, then you have my personal permission to toss him out the airlock." Alistair seemed uncertain on the best way to respond. He was a promising captain, but this was his first foray into the nosebleeds of leadership. Under different circumstances, Damian would have looked for an alternative, but he'd been in training as an alternate for the Alcubierre and Joan had given him the nod. Nothing like having the fate of Humanity hang on hare-brained schemes thrown together at the last minute with zero information. Great time to be alive. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Damian made a shooing motion, which accidentally caused two screens to minimize in the background. "Get out of here." "Yes, Secretary," they said, again in unison. Damian killed the comm link and then turned to the next wall. A large image of the Earth dominated the center panel, showing a real time feed of the planet as it spun its way through the cosmos. A few swipes later, and the blue, white and green Earth was covered with overlays depicting the defensive assets in orbit. Humanity had made some investments in orbital fortification, but they were largely limited to shooting down space junk -- they weren't ready for a full on planetary assault. The cost was too high for the utility offered. Clearly they should have considered the possibility of galactic hitmen in that calculus. The five status walls surrounding him continued their updates, interrupted only by the sixth wall that served as the exit to the rest of his leadership bunker. Damian slowly turned in a circle and came to a stop at the door, feeling a momentary urge to kick it down and claw his way up the hundreds of yards worth of tunnels leading back up to the surface. He didn't want to be down here if things went south. He wanted to be up top, staring death in the face with everyone else. But the Earth needed leaders, and he hadn't been smart enough to retire the last go around. Joke was on him. As he stared at the door, the alerts began to ping out, and the crimson hue of the bunker deepened. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. One after the other, almost colliding. Dread crept into ever pore as Damian slowly turned around and faced the walls behind him. The planet Earth was still there, but Polaris station, one Humanity's key trading hubs, was not. Instead, it had been replaced by a molten pile of slag amidst a field of debris. Damian ran over to the wall, and raised a hand, turning it slowly counter-clockwise on the vid feed. Gradually, the video reversed itself, the debris field coming together and then reforming, though it was obscured by a brilliant flare of light. UWDF Command chimed in, "Secretary, have you--" "Just tell me what happened." "Some sort of energy weapon, we're trying to trace--" New pings sounded out. Fleet Admiral Fatima Ahuja paused, her mouth drawn into a thin line. "Another." She turned out of frame. "Nothing? What do you mean nothing? I thought we had eyes!" She exclaimed. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. "They're everywhere. They're...they're everywhere." Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping. Damian could only watch as one priceless asset after another disappeared in brilliant light. Gone before they had a chance to respond. Gone before they had even realized they had been targeted. Brilliant minds. Brave souls. Gone in a flash. Gone. -=-=-=- Valast was bored. Of course, there were many demands upon his attention, the affairs of the Combine could not be conducted without the oversight of the Premier, but they were unwelcome distractions from his brooding about the Amalgans. Yes, entire worlds were starving. Yes, the economic fabric of the Combine was in shambles. Yes, the Combine Compact was frayed and facing disintegration. No, he did not care. So long as the Evangi and their minions were free to roam the galaxy, there could be no safety. No security. No chance to build an empire that befit his ambition. Any work that he might do today could just as easily be undone by them tomorrow. They had proven that quickly enough at Halcyon. He was willing to go through the motions of governance, if only to pass the time until he received notification that Humanity had been exterminated like the pests they were. Being left in darkness was the most bothersome aspect of the entire affair. He questioned the nature of the Cleanse Contracts, finding it incredibly annoying that the Amalgans would be granted the right to conduct their business without observation or assistance. It was an oversight he intended to remedy once the Amalgans had completed this current tasks. Soon, they would learn that the facile administration of the Evangi was a far cry from the leadership he intended to exhibit. Valast's ear twitched and he glanced at Minister Gorman, who was blathering away in front of him. Somewhere in Gorman's ramblings he had said something sufficient stupid that it interrupted Valast's train of thought. Valast really should have Gorman killed, it would make matters easier. "Repeat that," Valast said, talking over whatever Gorman was mumbling about. "Repeat...repeat what?" "Whatever it is you just said," Valast replied, his ears now flapping in irritation. "The thing before this thing." "I..um...about the tra-trading routes?" "Yes. The trading routes, Gorman. What else would I be talking about? Repeat it." He swallowed and then cleared his throat of some hanging phlegm. "Oh, yes, well, I said there is good news." Gorman's bobbed his head up and down a few times, nodding along as he spoke. Trying to emphasize that yes, this was very good news and he should be appropriately acknowledged and rewarded. "We have been able to extend trade to more planets than anticipated due to reduced trade flow with the Amalgans." Valast's claws began to grind on his cushion. "Reduced? How so?" Gorman shrugged, "They have said they will handle the matter themselves." "Themselves." The nails of Gorman's forepaws clicked together with delight. "Yes, yes, yes, it was my own solution. With the duress caused by the loss of the worm projector, I was quite worried we would lose access to critical trade routes. Every additional world was a strain, you see, so the question of how best to cover the gaps was brought to me as Trade Minister." Gorman's chest puffed out at that. "So I suggested to the Amalgans -- who are much more talkative due to your involvement -- that they conduct their own trade utilizing their projector. Subject to appropriate tariffs of course. This allows us to service an additional fourteen sys--" Gorman's rambling died out as Valast raised a paw. The Premier glowered at the Trade Minister. "You told them what?" Valast spoke with an exaggerated pause between. Gorman now looked considerably less certain. "To...to...use their own--" "You allowed them to circumvent our trade network?" The Trade Minister shook his head violently, "No, as I said, they must comply with our tariff frame--" Valast leapt up from his cushion and sprang from the raised dais to land on the ground in front of Gorman, who immediately began to cower. Valast swiped a paw along the top of Gorman's head, dragging his claws along until a thin smear of red emerged amongst the densely packed brown fur. Gorman let out a yelp and scrambled backward, with Valast in pursuit. "You've destroyed our leverage, you idiot. Let them have everything they wanted all so you could do what? Save a few worthless worlds?" Gorman continued to retreat, his eyes wide with terror. "Y-y-you gave them the worm projector! I thought that's what you wanted. What else would they use it for?" The question landed with a force beyond Gorman's feeble capacity as an orator, stopping Valast in his tracks. They would use the worm projector to complete the Cleanse Contract of course, there was no alternative available to them. Well, there was an alternative, they could have just made use of Combine projectors, but they hadn't accepted it. But that didn't mean they had ulterior motives... Of course it meant that. Everyone had ulterior motives. Everyone was scheming. Always trying to find a way to unravel the progress he had fought so hard to secure. They couldn't help themselves. Envy was a natural condition for those who surround him. And Gorman, feeble-minded dullard that he was, had simply exposed the Amalgan's plot earlier than expected. Valast snorted. If the Amalgans meant to compete with the economic power of the Combine, they would find themselves sorely outmatched. A single projector, even two, could never serve as a basis for opposition. They could play their little games, and Valast was quite happy to play along with them to see whether they were as treacherous as those he had sent them to destroy. If they proved their loyalty by destroying the Humans and their leash-holders, then perhaps it could be the basis for a very profitable and mutually beneficial relationship. If the Amalgans tried to grasp beyond what Valast permitted, he would destroy them. Valast sneered down at the huddled mass of Mus on the floor before him. "Gorman, you are quite lucky that your terrible decisions may be played to the Combine's benefit." Valast flicked off a piece of stuffing from the destroyed cushion behind him -- he hadn't remembered when he had torn it asunder. He then preened his whiskers carefully before continuing. "I want every transaction they complete carefully monitored. Every world. Every location. All of it." The smaller Mus peeked out from under his claws, one hand reaching up to dab at the crimson slash on his head. He suppressed a wince and then nodded, "Yes, of course. But...how will we know where they are going?" A paw waved in the air as Valast made his way back to the dais. "That the sort of problem I have you around to solve." Valast glanced over his shoulder. "Not a speck of iron moves without our knowledge, Gorman. Your life depends on it." Gorman returned to his feet and bowed deeply, "Yes, of course, Premier, I'll see to it." The Trade Minister turned around and made a hasty exit, his claws clicking on the polished floor as he scurried off, leaving Valast alone once more in the room. Valast moved to the side and pulled a new cushion out from the pile, tossing it atop the dais before he hopped up behind it. As he settled down on the cushion, he began to mull the matter over further. It made little sense for the Amalgans to try and compete economically with a single projector. They would have the same problems the Combine currently had, only magnified multiple orders higher due to the limited keys set to the Amalgan territory and their limited access to projectors. Perhaps it was nothing more than trying to secure their own interests and reduce the Combine's leverage. It made enough sense. There was also no reason to believe they would not complete a task they had completed thousands of times before. But still, their ownership of the worm projector created additional considerations, many of which he had not fully contemplated in his haste to be done with the Humans. Valast exhaled. He had been given no other choice. Once again, he had been called upon to exhibit the courage and tenacity of a leader amidst a sea of cowards too afraid to act. If there were unintended consequences that arose from his dealings with the Amalgans, then so be it. They were powerful, but they were not the Combine. If they could not see the benefits of well-compensated subservience, then they would suffer the pain of disobedience. He would starve them. He would crush them. And, in the end, he would win. It was his destiny. -=-=-=- Demand MOAR if you want to see MOAR! Chip in to the Nest on Platreon, chat on Discord or Subscribe for updates! Platreon|Discord|Subscribe
Most of you are probably far to young to even know what "Love Boat" is, but the theme just fit SO well, I opted to go with that rather than the much more popular Haddaway's "What Is Love?" (though you'll see a little shout out to that later too 😉). Anyway, sit back and let me assault your (mental) ears for a moment.... Love, exciting and new Come aboard! Hanke's expecting you! Love, and GBL's sweet rewards. Let dust flow, it comes back to you! The Love Cup, soon you'll be making another run, The Love Cup promises something for everyone! The "Nifty Or Thrifty" article series takes a comprehensive look at the meta for PvP Cup formats: Love Cup, in this case. As is typical for the NoT series, I'll cover not only the top meta picks, but also some mons where you can save some dust with cheaper second move unlock costs. Because for those on a stardust budget--and/or folks trying to save up some dust for the future--it can be daunting trying to figure out where to spend or not spend it. We all want to field competitive teams, but where can we get the best bang for our buck and where should we perhaps channel our inner scrooge? Love Cup is an unusual format... there are only 105 Pokémon eligible in total, and of those, only about 60 (and honestly, far less than that) have any PvP relevance at all. Heck, most Cup formats have 150-200 eligible Pokémon, easily... even Kanto Cup has more than 105! So while there IS some diversity and variety to be had, there is also a higher than normal chance of the same Pokémon showing up over... and over... and over.... In fact, there is one core group that Love Cup discussions I've seen are honing in on, and I want to highlight the Pokémon that make up that core--and why they're discussed so often together--before I dive into anything else. Similarly to how Flying Cup was all about Aerodactyl, Skarmory, and Zapdos and then what could beat them, so will be my breakdown in this article. So let's get to it!
BABY DON'T HURT ME...NO MORE
These Pokémon are at the very top of this meta. Their importance cannot be understated, to the degree that I feel compelled to cover them before I get into the standard run from 10,000 to 100,000 dust 'mons. You may not plan to use them, but you better have a plan to fend them off. Because otherwise... baby, they WILL hurt you. LOTS more. THE CHARMERS WIGGLYTUFF Charm | Ice Beam & Play Rough CLEFABLE Charm | Meteor Mash & Psychic Amazingly, even though you automatically think of "pink" when pondering Charmers, Wigglytuff and Clefable are the only two Charmers (and only fully evolved Fairies) that are actually eligible. And while they may look cute and friendly on the outside, deep down they are stone cold killers. With well over a 60% win rate against the entirety of Love Cup AND the core meta, WIGGLYTUFF appears to remain the better Charmer once again. That Normal subtyping DOES make it a little bit squishier against Fighting damage, but it still easily dispatches of the Fighters that actually sneak into the format. And while there is barely any Ghost damage around, the fact that Wiggly double resists Ghost DOES allow it to beat bothLickis with their Lick fast move, whereas Clefable (with no resistance to Ghost) typically loses. (With caveat... see below.) CLEFABLE does replicate nearly all of Wiggly's performance, albeit sometimes with a bit less left in the tank and sometimes needing to play matchups a certain way to get the win. To make the comparison between the two as simple as possible, I did some extensive side by side analysis on Wiggly vs Clefable in 1v1 shielding, and here are my findings:
Wigglytuff alone is able to defeat XL Lickitung and Camerupt... Clefable has no realistic path to victory, at least assuming it does not come in with a shield or energy lead. Wiggly is also able to beat non-XL Lickitung, Lickilicky, and Milotic consistently, whereas Clefable wins against those are reliant on sticking to JUST Charm and are also a bit IV dependant.
Clefable is uniquely capable of Charming down Porygon2 and Shadow Magmortar, again as long as it sticks with JUST Charm and does not try to throw any charge moves. Wigglytuff cannot win these battles without some type of advantage coming in.
As you have probably gathered, a Clefable player sometimes has to rely on commiting to the Charm farm down (and sometimes a little luck!) to win certain battles. These include the Lickiboys, Milotic, Porygon2, and S-Magmortar, as noted already, plus Solrock, Ledian, and Corsola. Wigglytuff wins all of those besides P2 and S-Mortar whether it throws a charge move or not, so it is technically better at pressuring shields despite Clefable having the cheapest charge move of the pair (Meteor Mash, at 50 energy).
Clefable DOES do better versus the Fighters (Medicham, Scrafty, Blaziken) due to fully resisting Fighting damage, but Wigglytuff still beats them all very, very comfortably.
Now all that said, it may be mostly academic as I believe a number of players are planning to run BOTH Charmers in the same line of three, alongside protection against Fires and Steels and Poisons that plague Wiggly and Clefable. Protection like the next thing on our list.... ALOLMOMOLA Waterfall | Psychic & Hydro Pump/Blizzard Alomomola is a nearly perfect pairing with the Charmers for one big reason: it makes a fantastic bodyguard, washing away the Fires and Steels that threaten the Fairies, beating the Charmers themselves on opposing teams, as well as fighting the Poisonous Bugs at least to a standstill (and usually emerging victorious there too, at least with a decent Attack IV). If a Charmer cannot beat it, then with very few exceptions, Alomonola probably can, or at the very least leave it nearly dead and well within Charm range. I mean, if you really wanted to, you could stop with those three and likely call it a day. That trio essentially is the "B.B.M.L." of Love Cup. Running them all three together--or heck, just ONE of the Charmers plus Aloe--nets the highest possible score against the Love Cup meta in terms of Safely, Consistency, and most importantly, Coverage. The ONLY score that clocks in below an A is "Bulk", and honestly, I think even that is a B+ at worst. (I mean, what is it looking for there... Chansey? 🤣 You don't get much bulkier than that trio.) But good as they are, those three are of course not the ONLY options... not by a longshot. There are plenty of other solid Pokémon to cover, and I'll be keying in on those that can beat down these Queens of Love Cup. And so, let's get into a more standard Nifty Or Thrifty review of the rest, starting with the cheapest and working out way on up from there.
10,000 Dust/25 Candy
SCOLIPEDE Poison Jab | X-Scissor & Megahorn/Sludge Bomb This might seem an odd place to start in with the 10,000k 'mons, but there's a method to my madness. Because Scolipede is one of only two Pokémon in the format with Poison Jab, and that move alone--combined with Scolipede's natural resistance to Charm thanks to being a Poison type--is able to completely farm down the Charmers. What's more, Scolipede is capable of finishing off Alomomola (depending on IVs, as linked to up above) as well as Vileplume. In fact, Scolipede and Vileplume are two of only FOUR Pokémon in the entire format capable of taking out both Charmers and Alomonola. I could probably rest my case there, but there's more, as Scolipede can also beat Medicham and Scrafty (neither appreciate Bug damage), Cherrim, Milotic, and even Lickitung... and that's of the XL variety too. Note that Scolipede wants both Bug charge moves more than Sludge Bomb; Bomb is better for one shotting Fairies, but Megahorn is necessary to beat Medicham and Lickitung, and those are kiiiiiiiiiiind of a big deal, so Horn gets the nod from me. Venipede is out there spawning in boosted numbers right now, so what are you waiting for?! Go get a good one while you still can. ARIADOS Poison Sting | Cross Poison & Megahorn Scolipede lite. I don't know that I heartily recommend Ariados, but it CAN beat everything Scolipede can... well, except for Medicham, Lickitung, and Milotic. Ariados does beat out Electrode, which it can brag about to Scol that does not, but that's not exactly fair compensation. If you like Ariados and have always wanted to run it, this DOES look like your best shot by far... after all, it IS in elite company with Scolipede, Vileplume, and one other (secret, for now) Pokémon as the only 'mons that can slay Wigglytuff, Clefable, and Alomomola. But it's quite bait dependant and... yeah. Like I said, not strongly recommended, but you can do a lot worse. CHARIZARD Fire Spin/Dragon Breathᴸ/Wing Attackᴸ | Dragon Claw & Blast Burnᴸ/Overheat With all the many moves Charizard has these days, AND being able to be a Shadow as well, I could fill half an article just going through them all. But I will try to keep this light and not get bogged down. So to sum it all up, let's assume you have Dragon Claw and Blast Burn as a starting point. With that in mind:
Fire Spin typically beats Grasses (Vileplume, Cherrim), Fairies (Wiggly, Clefable), Lickitung, and Wing Attack Zard. Shadow FS is a hair worse, gaining Electrode but now losing to WA Zard and XL Lickitung.
Wing Attack has been generating some buzz for the fact that it adds Slowbro to the win column, but it cannot beat XL Licki and loses to Fire Spin and Dragon Breath Zard. Shadow WA now DOES beat Fire Spin Zard, but loses that special win over Slowbro.
Dragon Breath has been less discussed than the other fast moves, as people understandably assume it is less viable than other moves due to the prominent presence of the Dragon-resistant Charmers. However, DB Zard DOES still beat the Charmers, with the same HP left over that FS Zard does... it just has to land the Blast Burn, obviously, but that is also the case with Fire Spin and Wing Attack: no BB, no win. Dragon Breath Zard also beats FS and WA Zard, Slowbro like WA is able to do, and Licktung like FS is able to do. The one blemish is that DB does NOT defeat Medicham, not even the non-XL version. However, Shadow DB Zardcan beat Medi, but is overall worse, losing to XL Licki and WA Zard. No bueno.
Also no bueno: we are now into the portion of the article where we're discussing things that can handle the Charmers OR Alomomola, but not both. Zard and most Fires handle the Charmers (and other things, like Vileplume and Bugs and Steels that harass the Charmers) just fine, but have not a prayer against Alomomola's Waterfalls. TALONFLAME Fire Spin | Brave Bird & Flame Charge Arguably a better Charizard in this particular meta, and will require far less second-guessing on which moves to run with! While Talon cannot overcome Medicham as Zard (usually) can, it CAN beat Scrafty and Seaking, neither of which Zard can replicate, and beats down Slowbro and XL Lickitung far more effectively and consistently than Charizard can (25+ more HP remaining on average), and ALSO beats Fire Spin Zard in the head to head. Charizard has more quirks and is a bit more unpredicatable, but if you just want consistency (and have Medicham coverage elsewhere), you may like the feel of Talonflame a lot more in Love Cup. (And do note that Talonflame CAN overcome non-XL Medi, so there's that too.) BLAZIKEN Counter | Blaze Kick & Blast Burnᴸ/Brave Bird/Stone Edgeᴸ The first of very few Fighters on our list, which is a pro and con. The good: easy wins against things like Lickitung and Crustle and Magcargo that are weak to Counter, AND things like Vileplume and Cherrim that are weak to Fire damage. (Blaze Kick is usually enough for those.) The bad: Charmers are a write-off, AND Alomomola (and most other Waters too) in this case. If you DO decide to run Blaze, I recommend Blast Burn most, as that at least is fast enough and powerful enough to beat Seaking. Blaze does good things, but even I will admit that losing to all of the "big three" is pretty discouraging. Just being honest here! MAGCARGO EmbeRock Throw | Stone Edge & Overheat Magcargo is meta? Could it be true? Anyone that has followed my articles for a while (especially those focused on The Silph Arena) probably knows that I am a YUGE fan of Mr. (or Mrs.!) Cargo. It is truly unique with its typing and moves. The issue is that, while it has a lot of resistances (Fairy, Bug, Normal, Flying, Ice, Poison, and 2x to Fire), it has some very exploitable weaknesses as well (Fighting, Rock, and double weaknesses to Water and Ground). It's also a Fire that takes neutral damage from Grass and Steel, which become problematic whenever there are several of those around. Quite frankly, usually there are other Fire types that are just plain better. But in Love Cup, Mags is right up there with them. It beats the Charmers and the Grasses just as you'd want your Fire type to do, as well as Bugs Scolipede, Trashadam, Sczior and such. But it ALSO beats Charizard (as long as it doesn't have Dragon Breath) and Talonflame and most other Fires, manages to claw past Lickitung, and incredibly, even takes out Slowbro! You do have the option of running Rock Throw instead of Ember (as in the sims above), but while you do beat Crustle that way and become a VERY hard anti-Fire counter, you now lose the Grasses and Lickitung and Slowbro and... it's just too much. Just stick with Ember, and for once, roll Magcargo out there with confidence! 💪🐌 CRUSTLE Fury Cutter | X-Scissor & Rock Slide Speaking of odd Rock types, little Crustie is a nice option overall too, though I'll point out right up front that it doesn't beat the Charmers or Alomomayomama. What it does do it clean up most of the riffraff, from Charizard to Slowbro to Electrode to the Grasses to Seaking to Trashadam to Scolipede to any Lickitung that isn't driven all the way up to the very upper 40s. It's disappointing not being able to take out the very biggest names, but many can't and have to settle for that riffraff, and Crustle does it as well as (and much cheaper than!) most. WORMADAM (TRASH) Confusion | Bug Buzz & Iron Head Convenient that the only Wormadam allowed in this format is the best by far. "Trashadam" is a very curious little guy. There are many Steely Bugs in PvP now, but Trashy still remains truly unique with Confusion powering out more standard Steel and Bug moves. Between these moves and its typing, Trashadam is a particularly good Fairy counter that also beats Vileplume (and HARD, too), Slowbro, Electrode, Scizor, and even Blaziken, and puts up an intense battle against Lickitung and Alomomola too. With excellent PvP IVs it adds Crustle and even PuP Medicham to its list of wins too! (If Cham is running Ice Punch/Psychic, as I recommend below, then Trashy already wins that anyway.) It doesn't win EVERYTHING you might want it to, but that's one heck of a résumé. I strongly recommend looking into building one if you can... though note that, despite the second move costing only 10k dust, Trashy has to be at (or nearly at) Level 40 to work, so it's still not exactly "thrifty". DELPHOX Fire Spin | Flame Charge & Psychic No, it's not an impressive win total, but note WHAT Phoxy beats: both Charmers, Medicham, Vileplume, and Cherrim (and unlisted Trashadam and Scizor). Yes, Aloyomama will steal its lunch money and stuff it in a locker, but if you need a quick, cheap build to deal with Charmers and/or Medi and/or Grasses, Fenneken is still spawning quite frequently right now, so Delphox may be a good emergency fill in for you. CHERRIM (SUNNY) Bullet Seed | Weather Ball (Fire) & Solar Beam Now this isan impressive win total, and includes a rare Alomomola sighting in the win column, and VERY solidly so. Now I know what you're thinking looking at that: "but JRE, it only wins because it baited a shield with Fire Weather Ball!" Well yes, but also no: Cherrim has ample time to forgo baiting and just go doubleSolar Beam and still escape comfortably. Solar Beam may normally seem to take longer to charge than quarantine has been dragging on, but with Bullet Seed driving it, Cherrim has one ready to go after only 7 Seeds and about 10 seconds, which is faster than Aloe can charge up its first charge move. And thus, Cherrim easily dispatches Alomomola and Milotic and Slowbro, as well as melting down Vileplume, Steely Bugs, Electrode and Lickitung with Fire Balls. As a 3+ season lead for my own Great League GBL team, I can tell you from experience that Cherrim puts a LOT more pressure on the Charmers than the sims show, too. If Aloe is a particular issue for your team and you can't (or just don't want to) build, say, a Vileplume, Cherrim has some really good play in this meta. Oh, you COULD run it with Razor Leaf instead if you want a really hard Water counter, picking up Seaking along the way, but you now lose to Scizor, Vileplume and others with the drastic decrease in the number of Fire Balls you can spew out there. Not worth it, IMO. If you want a Razor Leafer, just scroll down about four lines....
50,000 Dust/50 Candy
VILEPLUME Razor Leaf | Sludge Bomb & Moonblast The only Razor Leafer you actually WANT to run with Razor Leaf in Love Cup, and unlike Cherrim, Vileplume comes with some very handy resistances thanks to a Poison sub-typing, enabling it to be the third (of four) Pokémon on the list of things that can beat both Charmers and Alomomola. And it can do that comfortably without ever having to throw a charge move! In fact, if you compare Plume using charge moves to Plume sticking to just Razor Leaf, you'll notice a jump in performance in the RL-only results. Why? Because as is often the case for other Razor Leafers (and Charmers to, in point of fact), the best way to play them is usually to kill something off with just fast moves and save up energy to throw a charge move (or maybe multiple charge moves) at the next thing to follow before dying. As odd as it may seem, sometimes throwing a charge move (that is blocked) can actually lead to a loss where just straight fast move spamming would mean a win. Take Crustle, for just one example: throwing a charge move means a tie, whereas just saving that energy and sticking with Razor Leaf means a win instead (albeit by a razor thin margin). Anyway, not to get TOO down in the weeds, in addition to the Waters and Charmers, Plume can also slice through Electrode and Scrafty. Shadow Plume is a small step backwards, with the drop in bulk leading to losses to Scrafty and Crustle no matter what strategy you utilize. Plume is dangerous in this format, and stands truly alone as your one real Razor Leaf option. SEAKING Poison Jabᴸ | Icy Windᴸ & Drill Runᴸ So I keep teasing a fourth Pokémon that can take out the Charmers and Al Yomama. Well here it is. Thanks to Poison Jab, Seaking wears down the Charmers, softens them up with Icy Wind, and then finishes them off with a Drill Run to the face. (Or you can go for the throat and just double Drill Run instead... either way works.) In addition to Cherrim, I have ALSO run my own triple Legacy Seaking out there a LOT in GBL, and so it's not surprising to see that the best way to beat Alomomola is to hit it first with an Icy Wind (reducing all subsequent damage dealt by Aloe) and THEN start launching Drill Runs, just as I've done for a couple GBL seasons to Azumarill (though Azu, being a Fairy, is even more farmable thanks to Jab). Anyway, with those three handled, note that Seaking has some overlap with Vileplume, beating Slowbro and Milotic in addition to the big three, but then branches off from there to handle Fires (Charizard, Magcargo, Blaziken, etc.) and, ironically, Cherrim, who cannot quite reach two charge moves (the second being Solar Beam) before Seaking launches its own second Icy Wind to close it out. Vileplume has certainly been discussed in forums I have seen in excited tones, but not so much Seaking, which is a serious oversight. Yes, it requires a couple Elite TMs to build, but I promise you that it is a BLAST to play, and there's never been a better time to get started. PARASECT Fury Cutter | X-Scissor & Solar Beam Parasect is yet another 'mon with a promising and unique typing (Bug/Grass) and decent moves that has never seemed to put it all together. But maybe, juuuuuuuuuust maybe, its moment has finally come? As a Bug--and one that double resists Grass, at that--it handles Vileplume and Cherrim, and that Bug damage also tears up half-Dark Scrafty and half-Psychic Slowbro. But as a Grass, it also resists Water damage and can hit at Waters with big fat Solar Beam, enabling it to also take out Milotic and Big Momma Olga. (The nicknames for Alomomola are just coming easier and easier the more I write. 😂) And before you point out that, yes, the sim results up there bait with X-Scissor before landing the killing Beam, keep this in mind: it can beat Milly AND Aloyomama (and Vileplume, for good measure) with JUST Solar Beam, no baiting required. Boom! Oh, and it also takes out (with X-Scissor) Electrode and Lickitung for good measure, just to further sweeten the deal. I love how this Cup brings some neglected but cool Pokémon into the PvP limelight, and Parasect could be a great representation of that. SLOWBRO (and friends) Confusion | Ice Beam & Psychic A popular discussion topic, simply because it beats Alomomola and Medicham. It doesn't do a whole lot beyond that--just a couple Fires, Milotic, and Scolipede are about it--but this meta is such that taking out those two big targets is enough to be considered "core meta". Of note: SLOWKING and even SLOWPOKE do the same basic things, with King also beating Bro head to head and Poke beating Fire Spin AND Wing Attack Zard (whereas WA can overcome the other Slows). EX Slowpoke looks VERY interesting with added wins against Slowbro, Crustle, and the Charmers too, if you're feeling frisky and somehow rolling in XL Slow candy. And there are actually several other 'mons that fill a similar role. CRAWDAUNT (with Snarl) actually beats the same things as the Slows, though substituting (Smack Down) Crustle in place of Medicham... being half-Dark, Daunt has no chance against Medi's Fighting damage and loses especially hard to the Charmers. Exeggutor is not the right color for Love Cup, but EXEGGCUTE is. Like Slowpoke, it has to be maxed, but it has similar potential, handling the Aloe and Milly, Medicham (most of the time, at least... Ice Punch can be a problem though), and then Electrode, Vileplume, and Cherrim, mostly on the strength of resisting most of their moves thanks to being part Grass. And pushed up to XL levels (if you're crazy enough to try!), it can even beat Clefable, which is quite a nice pickup. Similar in some ways but quite different in others, SOLROCK gives up the Waters but hates harder on Fires, manages to beat Medicham, Scolipede, and Seaking, and somehow can also outlast Clefable in the right spot (but as with Exeggcute, Wigglytuff remains evasive). And there are still others like GOREBYSS, but they're even worse and not much more than curiosities. ELECTRODE Volt Switch | Foul Play & Thunderbolt On the surface, Electrode has a set of wins that looks shockingly close to the Slows, despite being drastically different Pokémon. As with Crawdaunt, it replaces Medicham with a Crustle win (the better Fury Cutter variety this time), but otherwise the same names are all there: Charizard, Magcargo, Milotic, Alomomola, Ice Punch Medicham, and hey, also the head to head with Slowbro. But unlisted there are also wins against Scolipede and Scizor and even Trashadam that the Slows and Daunt and the others above can't beat. Electrode, by my estimation, does their job, but better, and I'm surprising even myself by saying that I'd recommend it over any of them. The one hangup is that it has no answer to the Grasses, but that seems an acceptable price for all the good it can do. I will admit: I underestimated Electrode in Great League in GBL the first couple times I faced it, and I learned not to be so dismissive after those first couple encounters. It's not the greatest Electric out there or anything, but it certainly does its job well enough, and there is practically no Electric competition in this meta. The closest is bargain basement Lanturn wannabe ROTOM (Wash), and it's just... not as good. Again, never thought I'd say it, but just stick with Electrode and you'll be fine. KINGLER Mud Shotᴸ | X-Scissor & Crabhammer I almost listed this among the smattering of stuff the followed the Slows, but Kingler is a bit different. It doesn't really beat the other Waters, for one thing, aside from Slowbro. But it does still beat down the Fires, and also the Bugs... Crustle, Scolipede, Trashadam, Scizor, all of 'em. And as a bonus, throw in Electrode and Cherrim as well, things that Waters really shouldn't be beating, but here we are. Kingler doesn't get many of the big ticket names in the meta, but it does do enough zany things that you're likely to see somebody flexing their Legacy one during the week. Knowledge is power... be prepared. PORYGON2 Lock-On | Tri-Attack & Zap Cannon Alright, Porygon fans. This is your first (and likely) last chance to use one of them and have it be actually borderline relevant. Yes, it requires baiting and landing the Zap Cannon killing blow, but P2 can take out the big Waters (including Mama Olga... I'm not even TRYING to get that name right anymore 😅), and Crustle, and Lickitung, and Magcargo, and can force a tie with Wigglytuff. This is still, in my opinion, more gimmick than serious play, but if you were to ever try, THIS is probably the time. LICKITUNG Lick | Body Slamᴸ & Power Whip Okay, look, I'm not here to debate the merits of the XL candy system or how likely/fair it is that some players will have grinded enough XL candy by now to push Lickitung to new heights. I'm just here to report the facts, and the fact is, XL Lickitung is very good. But even regular old Level 40 Licki is good too, still beating Waters (Aloe Vera included) thanks to Power Whip, plus Electrode, Vileplume, and even Clefable just by sheer bulk and a lot of Body Slams. The only things XL Lickitung brings in are anti-meta type stuff like Scolipede, Trashadam, and FC Crustle. Not that those wins aren't good to have, but my point is this: you can run a non-XL Licki and still fulfill its primary roles without missing a beat. Do pay attention to any above 1411 CP (as that represents a maxed, perfect IV Level 40 one) so you'll know whether it's an XL one you're facing and respond accordingly. Good luck! For those wondering, yes, LICKILICKY is a viable enough (and much cheaper) replacement, but without Power Whip, it struggles versus Waters (losing to Alomomola, which is a particularly painful step backwards) and is just a bit worse/less bulky overall. Honestly, if you can't build a good Lickitung, I might look elsewhere to fill that slot on my team than to Lickilicky... but that's me! It's YOUR team, so do what makes you happy. DARMANITAN Incinerate | Rock Slide & Overheat SIMISEAR Fire Spin | Crunch & Flamethrower Just a couple of alternative Fire types you may or may not have laying around already. Both effectively handle the Bugs (aside from Crustle) and the Grasses, and manage to overcome Wigglytuff and Clefable. SIMISEAR beats WA Charizard and Slowbro thanks in large part to Crunch, while DARMANITAN instead XL Lickitung, Ember Magcargo, and (barely) XL Medicham and is probably a better choice overall. But they're both generally behind other Fire types already discussed above. MEDICHAM Counter | Psychic & Ice Punch/Power-Up Punch So a lot of nuances here, but I'll try and keep it simple. You want Counter and Psychic (the move) for sure, but beyond that it gets a little sticky. My recommendation is Ice Punch, as it's needed to get wins against Cherrim and Vileplume, whereas Power-Up Punch instead narrowly wins the mirror match... see why I lean Ice Punch? That all said, PuP MAY be better with XL Medicham, as it still manages to beat Vileplume without Ice Punch, still wins the mirror, and adds on Trashadam as well. Ice Punch is still needed to overcome Cherrim, however. You may not have to worry about XL Medi too much, though... the only notable wins you get at Level 50 that Medicham cannot achieve at Level 40 are Vileplume (for PuP) and Milotic (for Ice Punch). Aloe, Mags, Crustie, Licki, Electrode, Scrafty, Scizor, etc.... they all go down with regular or XL Medi. Might not have to break the bank to play Medicham in this format. SCRAFTY Counter | Power-Up Punch & Foul Play Here things are quite a bit easier: the moveset is pretty well set (don't run Acid Spray, please), no real XL concerns. The one potential concern is that sims don't always handle Power-Up Punch well, as it usually ALWAYS burns a shield on it, so while Scrafty looks godly in the overall win/loss column, losing really to only Charmers and Medicham. (Though if you expand a little beyond the "core meta", there are a few Bugs and Fires that give it issues.) But it's hard to tell how much that can be fully trusted, as you're not ALWAYS going to get the bait. I think there is certainly enough there to give Scrafty a hearty thumbs up--it may be even a bit better than Medicham--but live testing will probably be required to find out HOW good it can be.
75,000 Dust/75 Candy
I'm going to run through these quickly and highlight just a handful that really stand out, and then throw a few more "spicy" ones all at the end. You can construct a team pretty cheaply in this Cup, so something this expensive has got to be REALLY good to get an in depth look. Something like.... ALOMOMOLA Waterfall | Psychic & Hydro Pump/Blizzard Yep, what else would I lead this section with? I think I've talked about Alomomyolo enough already, but let's just take a look at what all it can actually do. Beats the Fires, beats the Charmers, beats its closest competitor Milotic, beats Crustle (and Scizor... and Trashy). But Aloe is not without flaws... it does still generally lose to the Fighters, Waters with non-Water moves (read as: Seaking and Slowbro), Lickitung, Electrode, and of course the Grasses. Alomomola is not dominant by any means, but as discussed way back at the beginning, it fills in the gaps left by the Charmers almost perfectly. Alo/Charm is surely going to be THE core to beat. MILOTIC Waterfall | Surf & Blizzard/Hyper Beam Alomomola, but not as good. Still beats the Fires and Crustle/Trashy/Scizor and Clefable, which is good, but cannot reliably overcome Wigglytuff and cannot hang with Momolala, which is very, very bad. If you just don't HAVE an Alomomola to run, this might be the best place to turn, but it's going to struggle to maintain exactly the same role. MAGMAR & MAGMORTAR Karate Chop | Fire Punch & Return (Magmar)/Thunderboltᴸ (Magmortar) Yet again, more Fire options. Do note they both seem to actually run a little better with Karate Chop than their Fire fast moves... it's necessary to beat Magcargo, Magmar needs it to Lickitung, and Magmortar needs it to beat Fire Spin Zard and Seaking. (Conversely, Magmar with Ember instead defeats Electrode and Scolipede, and Magmortar with Fire Spin only brings in Scolipede.) And those are really the big differences between them: the potential wins against Lickitung and Electrode are unique to Magmar, and the potential wins versus Charizand and Seaking (both thanks to Thunderbolt) are unique to Magmortar. They both handle the Grasses just fine, the Bugs (aside from Crustle), and of course the Charmers. (It gets a little tighter with Karate Chop rather than Fire fast moves, but not much.) SCIZOR Bullet Punch | Iron Head & X-ScissoNight Slash For when you absolutely need Charmers dead, call in the exterminator. There isn't much that can outslug the Charmers in a battle of JUST fast moves, but Scizor can. That alone gives it value, but then it also goes out and beats several other relevant things like Vileplume, Slowbro, Crustle, Scolipede, Lickitung, and Seaking. It's not cheap, but Scizor is an above average Fairy killer that plays as a pretty good generalist too. Others that look interesting (but not QUITE interesting enough) include HEATMOR, FLAAFFY, and BISHARP, but there are other things listed above that generally handle their roles better. And that's it! Thanks for sticking with me to the end! Hopefully this helps you balance the cost of where to save yourself some hard-earned dust (and candy!) and still have a good time in Love Cup. Until next time, you can always find me on Twitter for near-daily PvP analysis nuggets, or Patreon. And please, feel free to comment here with your own thoughts or questions and I'll try to get back to you! Thank you for reading! I sincerely hope this helps you master Love Cup, and in the most affordable (and enjoyable) way possible. Best of luck, stay safe, and catch you next time!
Kickstarter Roundup: Feb 7 2021 | 20+ Ending Soon (including: Radlands) & 50+ New This Week (including: Maquis: 2nd Edition)
What this is:
This is a weekly, curated listing of Kickstarter board game projects that are either:
newly posted in the past 7 days, or
ending in the next 7 days (starting Feb 08) and have at least a fighting chance of being funded.
All board game projects meeting those criteria will automatically be included, no need to ask. (The occasional non-board game project may also sneak in!) Expect new lists each Sunday sometime between midnight and noon PST.
Ending Soon
Project Info
Players
Backers
Min / Avg Pledge
Ends
Comments
Memory Decompression A solo survival miniatures gamebook. // Has raised $4,828 of $4,000 so far. (~121%) ☑
1860: Railways on the Isle of Wight The long-awaited return of Mike Hutton's game of tricky track-building and questionable corporate direction // Has raised $126,512 of $20,000 so far. (~633%) ☑
The W.A.T.C.H. RPG A tabletop role-playing game in which the players become paranormal investigators and cryptid hunters. // Has raised $5,714 of $1,500 so far. (~381%) ☑
Warbattle: a remote tabletop fantasy game A two-player tabletop fantasy battle game designed to be played remotely, designed by a 9 year old, his mom and his uncle. // Has raised $934 of $300 so far. (~311%) ☑
COLOSTLE - A solo RPG - make100 Discover a world of mountains, valleys, seas and cities, all within the colossal impossible structure of a castle's rooms and corridors // Has raised £32,937 of £250 so far. (~13175%) ☑
Drink To Forget Relevant themed drinking games to keep your party engaged and laughing the entire night. 8 Categories and 110 cards! // Has raised $9,130 of $10,000 so far. (~91%)
Pingyao: First Chinese Banks Pingyao: First Chinese Banks is an economic dice-as-workers placement game for 1-4 players and plays in 60-90 minutes. // Has raised $27,754 of $20,000 so far. (~139%) ☑
Dodoresque Jungle Fever - 2021 Edition It's a funny, fast paced Card Game about colorful Dodos including 12 Eco-friendly Miniatures. Your game for the whole family. // Has raised €592 of €500 so far. (~118%) ☑
XENOSCAPE - Extreme survival Sci-Fi RPG Are you ready to discover the secrets of Materia, a green and deadly raypunk world? // Has raised €19,465 of €5,000 so far. (~389%) ☑
Snack Attack: The Card Game Hungry dinos everywhere! Fast-paced and easy-to-learn, steal snacks in this family-friendly, competitive card game for 2-4 players! // Has raised $5,926 of $6,000 so far. (~99%)
BATTLE SQUARES: Trays and Bases Resin magnetic bases and movement trays for fantasy "rank and flank" wargames. // Has raised €2,633 of €500 so far. (~527%) ☑
Dice Dodgems - Make 100 A 30 minute, 2-4 player tabletop game that combines, dice, dodgems, strategic gameplay and tonnes of bouncing fun! // Has raised NZ$6,003 of NZ$6,500 so far. (~92%)
Bunny Party at Maple Valley Play as a bunny furiously decorating for a party in this card game where two players win! evansgames.com/bunnyparty // Has raised $6,698 of $3,800 so far. (~176%) ☑
The Full Shanty! Card Game Can you bluff,blagg and tradeyour way to victory?Collect cards to make aFULL SHANTY.The Shanty bases card game. // Has raised £1,158 of £1,000 so far. (~116%) ☑
The Belgian Beers Race US edition The US localization of Belgian Beers Race board game. Race through Belgium, visiting breweries and enjoying beers. // Has raised $11,114 of $1,000 so far. (~1111%) ☑
Wasted Wizards: A Party Game for Your Inner Nerd A board game that combines luck of the dice with classic drinking games. Get your friends together to have fun and slay the dragon. // Has raised $4,097 of $6,000 so far. (~68%)
A Universal Truth - International Version The Strategic Game of Courtship. This is a gamer's game for 1-5 players, now with an international version! // Has raised $1,724 of $8,000 so far. (~22%)
All in one Board Game: A tactical and competitive board game consists of advance Tic Tac Toe, advance Paper Scissors Rock and much more playing ways. // Has raised HK$922 of HK$37,500 so far. (~2%)
varies
3
$15 / HK$307
Mar 02
#lolwut
Badland Wolves Guided by the law of Tooth & Claw, the wolves now fight for the crown. // Has raised $12,363 of $10,000 so far. (~124%) ☑
Burger Builder Burger Builder is a fun new card game where players score points by building tasty food items using ingredient cards. // Has raised A$2,546 of A$2,500 so far. (~102%) ☑
?
50
$16 / A$51
Mar 06
Card-opoly A combination of monopoly and Cardistry condensed to the constraints of the 8x8 for a different feel // Has raised $121 of $100,000 so far. (~0%)
?
2
$100 / $61
Mar 05
#lolwut
Clinic Deluxe Extensions TWO new Extension boxes for Clinic Deluxe Edition containing more than 25 expansions for a level of simulation probably never reached i // Has raised $149,761 of $29,000 so far. (~516%) ☑
Core Worlds: Empires + Nemesis "Core Worlds: Empires" is the epic, standalone sequel to the "Core Worlds" card game. "Nemesis" is the original game's solo expansion. // Has raised $48,548 of $60,000 so far. (~81%)
Crayne: Fractured Empire, a mission, a game, epic... Crayne: Fractured Empire is a high-fantasy epic deck-building card game with combat, high replay-ability and near limitless strategy! // Has raised A$5,121 of A$20,000 so far. (~26%)
Cult of the Deep 4-8 player hidden role dice game. You are a cultist, establishing your faction's rise to power as you fight over rituals and monsters. // Has raised $21,877 of $15,000 so far. (~146%) ☑
D-D 1944 A roll & write wargame that simulates parts of WWII. / Un wargame estilo roll & write que simula partes de la 2da. GM. // Has raised €535 of €100 so far. (~535%) ☑
Dodoresque Jungle Fever - 2021 Edition It's a funny, fast paced Card Game about colorful Dodos including 12 Eco-friendly Miniatures. Your game for the whole family. // Has raised €592 of €500 so far. (~118%) ☑
DOOM MACHINE: A Mint Tin Card + Dice SOLO Game Can you destroy the ever-evolving DOOM MACHINE before humanity is lost? A pocket-sized pressure cooker fight for survival! // Has raised $24,577 of $2,500 so far. (~983%) ☑
Dragons Fire Games: Gambler Gambler, a stand alone saloon brawl expansion to our flagship game Gunslinger. // Has raised $1,861 of $850 so far. (~219%) ☑
2 - 5
15
$15 / $124
Feb 28
Dragons Wild Quick Card Game of Mythical Creatures // Has raised NZ$1,396 of NZ$4,300 so far. (~32%)
Eggvolution Eggvolution is a strategy/random card game with the objective of destroying your friends. // Has raised €1,398 of €7,500 so far. (~19%)
2 - 6
41
$25 / €34
Mar 06
Embryo Machine — A Mecha Wargame A compact and accessible wargame from Japan for 2-6 players ft. fast-paced mecha combat across a modular grid-based battlefield. // Has raised $31,771 of $15,000 so far. (~212%) ☑
ExeCUTEtion (Re-Launch) The Card Game of Adorable Capital Punishment // Has raised $3,292 of $20,000 so far. (~16%)
2 - 6
64
$24 / $51
Mar 07
#take2
Food Time Battle in Space A 2-4 player retro restaurant card game on the moon. Pushing your luck, risk-taking and planning are all required to earn 5 stars. // Has raised £1,357 of £4,000 so far. (~34%)
Forbidden Psalm: Miniature gaming Inspired by Mörk Borg Table top miniature game. Inspired by and compatible with Mörk Borg. Rules light table top game.Miniature agnostic. Solo Play. Coop. VS // Has raised £2,870 of £300 so far. (~957%) ☑
GRIDWARS: Age of Cyberpunk Complete Skirmish Wargame! 77+ Cyberpunk Sci-Fi STL Models! Terrain, Environment & Web App included! Put your miniatures into action! // Has raised €46,345 of €10,000 so far. (~463%) ☑
Maquis: 2nd Edition - Reprint with NEW Content! Maquis, the award-winning solo game of strategic worker placement, is getting reprinted with new missions! // Has raised $76,245 of $6,000 so far. (~1271%) ☑
Metro - Deluxe Big Box - City Edition 20th Anniversary of Metro! Time for new artwork, new expansions, and whole lot of component upgrades. // Has raised $75,800 of $10,000 so far. (~758%) ☑
Posthuman Saga & The Journey Home Expansion The Journey Home is the new chapter in Posthuman Saga, a post-apocalyptic, story-rich, strategic survival board game. // Has raised $48,087 of $20,000 so far. (~240%) ☑
Recarded A super fun party game // Has raised £696 of £4,500 so far. (~15%)
2 - 8
18
$35 / £39
Mar 05
Rock Paper Scissors: The Board Game A board game offering a new take on the classic rock paper scissors game! // Has raised €562 of €5,000 so far. (~11%)
2
18
$35 / €31
Mar 17
Royalty Assemble great nobles of the 15th century in a fun twist to this classic card game // Has raised $81 of $2,000 so far. (~4%)
2 - 6
5
$15 / $16
Mar 05
Space Weirdos A sci-fi skirmish wargame for whatever minis you have around. #zinequest // Has raised $921 of $100 so far. (~921%) ☑
2
124
$4 / $7
Feb 18
The Belgian Beers Race US edition The US localization of Belgian Beers Race board game. Race through Belgium, visiting breweries and enjoying beers. // Has raised $11,114 of $1,000 so far. (~1111%) ☑
The Best Recycler Fun Card Game for sensitizing against recycling, and consume fairly. // Has raised C$1 of C$4537 so far. (~0%)
7+
1
$12 / C$1
Mar 21
The Elf Shelf High quality shelf solutions for your miniatures and dice. // Has raised $1,013 of $40 so far. (~2532%) ☑
-
14
$29 / $72
Feb 17
#bling
The Fisherman Board Game All the magic of fishing for big ocean Fishes, unknown species, life on a boat, the crew and the sea in a unique board game // Has raised €299 of €15,000 so far. (~2%)
Toxic Takeover Board Game Dice duel and battle your way to home safe before the mad scientist takes over the world and you’re turned into a lil monster! Hurry! // Has raised $101 of $14,100 so far. (~1%)
2 - 5
3
$55 / $34
Mar 08
Truth, Dare or Spoon! A game of Truth of Dare with consequences you can taste! // Has raised $1,491 of $1,000 so far. (~149%) ☑
2 - 8
17
$39 / $88
Mar 04
Way of the Patriarchs Travel through the Land of Israel on the path of the forefathers - roll a die, collect cards, and move your piece through ancient sites // Has raised $3,007 of $8,000 so far. (~38%)
This is a server-side update that will require downloading a new app version.
February Terrain – Streetcar City
February’s terrain options will allow you to turn your campsite into a quiet far-away city with a gently clacking streetcar and vibrant architecture that appears inspired by the villages of Bavaria. This terrain set includes a foreground, a middle ground, and a red-brick shrub fence and will likely release January 29th GMT, January 28th for PST and other early time zones, but this date is unconfirmed. A closer look at the terrain can be seen in the tips images below.
Rover is running far away from the doctor who told him not to eat chocolate, into a wild adventure of bittersweet bliss and cocoamotives, and he needs your help! February’s monthlong campaign will have us collecting sweet chocolate bars to earn rewards such as the choco-checked dress, the cocoa telephone booth, and sweet-scented gifts. Completing February’s gardening event, and later in the month, February’s fishing tourney and scavenger hunt, will earn us 30 bars each for a grand total of 90 bars. Make sure to complete each event fully to earn the grand prize, the sweet-as-cocoa camper! This is one dark and smooth ride that will have your friends’ mouths watering—not to mention it’s totally edible, as delicious as it is expeditious. Just get your fill before any summer road trips… some drivers have complained about some melting issues. The chocolate chase begins January 30th GMT / January 29th PST.
Rover is out of control. After his giant chocolate smuggling scheme was a bust, he’s now trying to partake in the form of chocolate syrup clotted in the delicious pockets of waffles. February’s gardening event will have us planting crocus seeds to attract different colors of brickbees. Catch and share enough to earn prizes such as the chocolate waffles meal, orange café window seat, or roving city streetcar to create a scene of a peaceful street-side café where you can enjoy a treat in the early morning or late evening. Completing this event will also yield 30 sweet chocolate bars as part of February’s Rover’s Choco Locale campaign. The brickbeekeeping begins January 30th GMT / January 29th PST alongside the beginning of the Rover’s Choco Locale event.
Pecan’s building a new place for her and her closest friends. It’s going to be one of those shared communities where everyone is weirdly close, but it’s really not as vaguely threatening as it sounds once you’ve been there a while! Make a cute multi-story living space just how you like it with the stackable rooms, and if you’re lucky, center it around the 5-star balcony view tower perfect for looking out over the floral landscape every morning. Squirrel away at a house of unending possibilities when this prodigious cookie releases on February 1st GMT / January 31st PST.
So, you’re after a rose from your beloved, but all the other contestants—er, girls—keep stealing him away… That’s when you whip out the Valentine Rose collection. With dulcet pieces such as the red-rose ribbon dress, the brown ribbon sash, and the pink ribbon parasol, you’ll have any suitor saying “Let’s join our social media empires for at least 3 months before an uncomfortable public break-up”—er, I mean… “You’re the one for me.” This LT collection releases February 3rd GMT / February 2nd PST.
Assets for 25 new classes were added with this update, likely made up of 16 puzzles for upcoming Courses 28 and 29, as well as 3 classes each for Rover’s Waffle Whimsy and Pecan’s House Cookie, as well as a Pop Quiz for Rover’s Choco Locale that may request items from both.
Still to Come for February / Miscellaneous
Buckle up because there’s still a lot of events and surprises planned for this month. Additional assets include:
The “clocktower carrion,” a large standalone “furniture” decoration that may cost a substantial sum of Leaf Tickets to craft, similar to the “towering Toy Day tree” released this past December, though this isn’t 100% confirmed. This item’s availability period will begin February 2nd GMT / February 1st PST.
A teaser sprite for February’s fishing tourney. Judging by the Twitter teaser image, this event appears to be chocolate-themed and exquisitely delicious.
A teaser sprite for February’s scavenger hunt. Judging by the Twitter teaser image, this event appears to be street-circus-themed, offering balloon animals and other old-fashioned delights.
A teaser sprite for February’s second clothing collection. Judging by the Twitter teaser image, this appears to offer several cat-themed pieces, including handheld cat plushes. The back half of February appears to have a running cat theme, potentially in part to celebrate the release of Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Furry Fury and in part because cats are cute (if a little stuck-up).
A teaser sprite for Felicity’s kitty cookie. Judging by the Twitter teaser, this cookie offers pieces to create a charming cat café. (Well, you or animals might have to be the cats.) This cookie will likely release in mid-February.
A teaser sprite for what appears to be a second wall and floor collection for February, potentially offering some sweeter designs to coordinate with the month’s items.
A teaser sprite for Rudy the jock cat, likely signaling a new batch of animals late in February, potentially with some new cats, though that is speculation.
Lunar fireworks and lunar paper lanterns, traditional items to celebrate the lunar new year, potentially obtainable as log-in bonuses.
Valentine’s Day gifts to send to your friends, possibly containing a berry, honey, or mint valentines cupcake when opened, though this isn’t 100% confirmed.
A best-friend bouquet to be gifted to one animal of your choice. Based on similar events in the past and item labels, the animal is likely to give in return a box of chocolates with a personal note unique to their personality. If patterns correspond to previous events, then sweet, peppy, and snooty animals will give the red chocolate box; jock, cranky, and smug animals will give the blue chocolate box; and lazy and big sister animals will give the ivory chocolate box. If there is a mix-up with item labeling, then it’s possible the berry (red), mint (blue), and honey (yellow) cupcakes will be given instead, but as of now, the chocolate boxes seem more likely.
White and pink heart cockles available as limited-time seashells as part of the Heart Seashell Goals event, a shell-collecting event taking place between Rover’s Waffle Whimsy and the “chocolate” fishing tourney. Warm the cockles of your heart with enough collected seashells and you can earn a free Pecan’s house cookie! Say “cockle-doodle-I-do” when this event begins February 9th GMT / February 8th PST. Alright, let’s move on before I make any jokes I shouldn’t.
Some limited-time Valentine’s stamps to finally tell that one special friend how you feel in case your attempts to communicate through the market box aren’t working. Evidence of some limited-time poses was found as well!
Banners for several upcoming reissues including but not limited to:
Pekoe’s Boba Cookie, Traditional Clothing Collection, Pretty Pastels Cafe – February 4th GMT / February 3rd PST
Steampunk Collection, Old-School Autumn Collection – February 5th GMT / February 4th PST
Celia’s Chapel Cookie, Goldie’s Library Cookie, Rock-Star Collection, Autumn Art Collection – February 6th GMT / February 5th PST
Audie’s Lemon Cookie, Eloise’s Pancake Cookie – February 7th GMT / February 6th PST
Pelly’s Flight of Passion, Sweet Wall and Floor Collection, Date Night Collection, Valentine’s Collection, Classic Wig Collection, Cafe Cool Collection – February 9th GMT / February 8th PST (Thanks again to Coco for help identifying these sets!)
Three is a magic number, the perfect number for powerful good luck charms. On this piece, three elements, aventurine, Amazonite and tiger’s eye meet. Each one brings its own dose of beneficial properties into the mix. The result is a formidable force for someone looking to attract wealth. Want More Good Luck? If you'd like some more ways to bring good luck into your life, check out this playlist of lucky songs, or these inspirational quotes about luck and winning. If you have some extra time, you can read a great book about luck or try out these 8 proven methods to be luckier. Most of all, don't put all of your faith in luck. The feather is an ancient charm for good luck and represents the journey of the soul to the other realm. People also often wear a feather charm or feather necklace to represent someone who they have lost ‘feathers appear when angels are near’, this gives them strength in the knowledge their loved one is still with them and supporting them. The four leaf clover is not only a symbol of good luck, all four leaves represent something important that you must bring to your life: faith, hope, love and luck. All four elements are crucial to work on right now. Don't choose only one, all four of them deserve your attention. Horseshoes are one of the most popular lucky superstitions and considered to be one of the best good luck charms. This charm is known as various legends attributed to giving them their lucky powers to make money and wealth. One legend says that horseshoes are good luck charms because they were traditionally made of iron. The feather is an ancient charm for good luck and represents the journey of the soul to the other realm. Peacock feathers are considered to be particularly auspicious and is often used as an astrological remedy. Good luck necklaces and pendants have been around for centuries. They are as many and varied as there are different cultures and utilize simple symbols and gemstones to evoke deep sensations and bestow their power.. There are some lucky charm necklaces that are designed to attract wisdom and prosperity while others are meant to keep you safe from harm. 12 Good Luck Charms You Might Already Have In Your House Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, here are a few lesser-known good luck charms that are (mostly) easy to get ahold of. by Katie Heaney There are many things that bring good luck charm in life, like signs such as Sun, Moon Phases, or flowers as Clover, Lotus or Zodiac signs, religious signs as OM... Many of these Symbols people have strong believes and faiths that they try to make it permanent appearance on the body by sketching or piercing tattoos to bring good luck all the time. A rabbit’s foot is one of the few good luck charms that is known worldwide. Countries such as England, Spain, and China are among the many that recognize this global talisman. The origin of the rabbit’s foot as a good luck charm comes from the Celtics.
Elvis Presley - Good Luck Charm (Official Audio) - YouTube
Brad Williams Seeing Me Buy Lucky Charms Is Funny - REACTION - Duration: ... Good Morning America 56,441,426 views. ... Positive Vibes The Best Music For You Happy Music ... Written by Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold , recorded by Elvis in 1961 and released as a single in 1962.Don't want a four leaf cloverDon't want an old horse s... Music video by Elvis Presley performing Good Luck Charm (Audio). Originally released 1961. All rights reserved by RCA Records, a division of Sony Music Enter... Thank You for singing with us :)Please Subscribe, Like and Share...⚠ Please don't violate the YouTube Partner Program terms ⚠ Don't try to re-upload our Vid... Saw a good luck charm out my window, I don’t if I’m gonna reach the end goal, ... Car Music Mix 2020 🔥 Best Electro House & Bass Boosted 🔥 New Hits 🔥 24/7 Live Stream Back over 309 ... Suggested by SME Always On My Mind (With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) [Official Audio] (Audio) Song Good Luck Charm; Artist Elvis Presley Do you know that apart from aesthetics and freshness, plants also has the power to attract health, wealth, love, prosperity or in short good luck into your h... The lucky charms of the participants ... asking them what their lucky charms are. Which attributes bring them good luck in the competition. ... The Best of Jim Lying to Dwight ... Disfrutad de mis videos y si os gustan suscribiros a mi canal !No Commercial Gain Is Being Made From This Video, it is for Educational purpose only. Copyrigh...