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Playboy going public: Porn, Gambling, and Cannabis
NEW INFO 5 Results from share redemption are posted. Less than .2% redeemed. Very bullish as investors are showing extreme confidence in the future of PLBY. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/playboy-mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-120000721.html NEW INFO 4 Definitive Agreement to purchase 100% of Lovers brand stores announced 2/1. https://www.streetinsider.com/Corporate+News/Playboy+%28MCAC%29+Confirms+Deal+to+Acquire+Lovers/17892359.html NEW INFO 3 I bought more on the dip today. 5081 total. Price rose AH to $12.38 (2.15%) NEW INFO 2 Here is the full webinar. https://icrinc.zoom.us/rec/play/9GWKdmOYumjWfZuufW3QXpe_FW_g--qeNbg6PnTjTMbnNTgLmCbWjeRFpQga1iPc-elpGap8dnDv8Zww.yD7DjUwuPmapeEdP?continueMode=true&tk=lEYc4F_FkKlgsmCIs6w0gtGHT2kbgVGbUju3cIRBSjk.DQIAAAAV8NK49xZWdldRM2xNSFNQcTBmcE00UzM3bXh3AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA&uuid=WN_GKWqbHkeSyuWetJmLFkj4g&_x_zm_rtaid=kR45-uuqRE-L65AxLjpbQw.1611967079119.2c054e3d3f8d8e63339273d9175939ed&_x_zm_rhtaid=866 NEW INFO 1 Live merger webinar with PLBY and MCAC on Friday January 29, 2021 at 12:00 NOON EST link below https://mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/press-release-details/2021/Playboy-Enterprises-Inc.-and-Mountain-Crest-Acquisition-Corp-Participate-in-SPACInsider-ICR-Webinar-on-January-29th-at-12pm-ET/default.aspx Playboy going public: Porn, Gambling, and Cannabis !!!WARNING READING AHEAD!!! TL;DR at the end. It will take some time to sort through all the links and read/watch everything, but you should. In the next couple weeks, Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp is taking Playboy public. The existing ticker MCAC will become PLBY. Special purpose acquisition companies have taken private companies public in recent months with great success. I believe this will be no exception. Notably, Playboy is profitable and has skyrocketing revenue going into a transformational growth phase. Porn - First and foremost, let's talk about porn. I know what you guys are thinking. “Porno mags are dead. Why would I want to invest in something like that? I can get porn for free online.” Guess what? You are absolutely right. And that’s exactly why Playboy doesn’t do that anymore. That’s right, they eliminated their print division. And yet they somehow STILL make money from porn that people (see: boomers) pay for on their website through PlayboyTV, Playboy Plus, and iPlayboy. Here’s the thing: Playboy has international, multi-generational name recognition from porn. They have content available in 180 countries. It will be the only publicly traded adult entertainment (porn) company. But that is not where this company is going. It will help support them along the way. You can see every Playboy magazine through iPlayboy if you’re interested. NSFW links below: https://www.playboy.com/ https://www.playboytv.com/ https://www.playboyplus.com/ https://www.iplayboy.com/ Gambling - Some of you might recognize the Playboy brand from gambling trips to places like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Cancun, London or Macau. They’ve been in the gambling biz for decades through their casinos, clubs, and licensed gaming products. They see the writing on the wall. COVID is accelerating the transition to digital, application based GAMBLING. That’s right. What we are doing on Robinhood with risky options is gambling, and the only reason regulators might give a shit anymore is because we are making too much money. There may be some restrictions put in place, but gambling from your phone on your couch is not going anywhere. More and more states are allowing things like Draftkings, poker, state ‘lottery” apps, hell - even political betting. Michigan and Virginia just ok’d gambling apps. They won’t be the last. This is all from your couch and any 18 year old with a cracked iphone can access it. Wouldn’t it be cool if Playboy was going to do something like that? They’re already working on it. As per CEO Ben Kohn who we will get to later, “...the company’s casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth.” Honestly, I stopped researching Scientific Games' sports betting segment when I saw the word ‘omni-channel’. That told me all I needed to know about it’s success. “Our SG Sports™ platform is an enhanced, omni-channel solution for online, self-service and retail fixed odds sports betting – from soccer to tennis, basketball, football, baseball, hockey, motor sports, racing and more.” https://www.scientificgames.com/ https://www.microgaming.co.uk/ “This latter segment has become increasingly enticing for Playboy, and it said last week that it is considering new tie-ups that could include gaming operators like PointsBet and 888Holdings.” https://calvinayre.com/2020/10/05/business/playboys-gaming-ops-could-get-a-boost-from-spac-purchase/ As per their SEC filing: “Significant consumer engagement and spend with Playboy-branded gaming properties around the world, including with leading partners such as Microgaming, Scientific Games, and Caesar’s Entertainment, steers our investment in digital gaming, sports betting and other digital offerings to further support our commercial strategy to expand consumer spend with minimal marginal cost, and gain consumer data to inform go-to-market plans across categories.” https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tMDAA1 They are expanding into more areas of gaming/gambling, working with international players in the digital gaming/gambling arena, and a Playboy sportsbook is on the horizon. https://www.playboy.com/read/the-pleasure-of-playing-with-yourself-mobile-gaming-in-the-covid-era Cannabis - If you’ve ever read through a Playboy magazine, you know they’ve had a positive relationship with cannabis for many years. As of September 2020, Playboy has made a major shift into the cannabis space. Too good to be true you say? Check their website. Playboy currently sells a range of CBD products. This is a good sign. Federal hemp products, which these most likely are, can be mailed across state lines and most importantly for a company like Playboy, can operate through a traditional banking institution. CBD products are usually the first step towards the cannabis space for large companies. Playboy didn’t make these products themselves meaning they are working with a processor in the cannabis industry. Another good sign for future expansion. What else do they have for sale? Pipes, grinders, ashtrays, rolling trays, joint holders. Hmm. Ok. So it looks like they want to sell some shit. They probably don’t have an active interest in cannabis right? Think again: https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/09/24/playboy-gets-serious-about-cannabis-law-reform-advocacy-with-new-partnership-grants/?sh=62f044a65cea “Taking yet another step into the cannabis space, Playboy will be announcing later on Thursday (September, 2020) that it is launching a cannabis law reform and advocacy campaign in partnership with National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Last Prisoner Project, Marijuana Policy Project, the Veterans Cannabis Project, and the Eaze Momentum Program.” “According to information procured exclusively, the three-pronged campaign will focus on calling for federal legalization. The program also includes the creation of a mentorship plan, through which the Playboy Foundation will support entrepreneurs from groups that are underrepresented in the industry.” Remember that CEO Kohn from earlier? He wrote this recently: https://medium.com/naked-open-letters-from-playboy/congress-must-pass-the-more-act-c867c35239ae Seems like he really wants weed to be legal? Hmm wonder why? The writing's on the wall my friends. Playboy wants into the cannabis industry, they are making steps towards this end, and we have favorable conditions for legislative progress. Don’t think branding your own cannabis line is profitable or worthwhile? Tell me why these 41 celebrity millionaires and billionaires are dummies. I’ll wait. https://www.celebstoner.com/news/celebstoner-news/2019/07/12/top-celebrity-cannabis-brands/ Confirmation: I hear you. “This all seems pretty speculative. It would be wildly profitable if they pull this shift off. But how do we really know?” Watch this whole video: https://finance.yahoo.com/video/playboy-ceo-telling-story-female-154907068.html Man - this interview just gets my juices flowing. And highlights one of my favorite reasons for this play. They have so many different business avenues from which a catalyst could appear. I think paying attention, holding shares, and options on these staggered announcements over the next year is the way I am going to go about it. "There's definitely been a shift to direct-to-consumer," he (Kohn) said. "About 50 percent of our revenue today is direct-to-consumer, and that will continue to grow going forward.” “Kohn touted Playboy's portfolio of both digital and consumer products, with casino-style gaming, in particular, serving a crucial role under the company's new business model. Playboy also has its sights on the emerging cannabis market, from CBD products to marijuana products geared toward sexual health and pleasure.” "If THC does become legal in the United States, we have developed certain strains to enhance your sex life that we will launch," Kohn said. https://cheddar.com/media/playboy-goes-public-health-gaming-lifestyle-focus Oh? The CEO actually said it? Ok then. “We have developed certain strains…” They’re already working with growers on strains and genetics? Ok. There are several legal cannabis markets for those products right now, international and stateside. I expect Playboy licensed hemp and THC pre-rolls by EOY. Something like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/842996758/10-playboy-pre-roll-tubes-limited?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=pre+roll+playboy&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search_click=1 Maintaining cannabis operations can be costly and a regulatory headache. Playboy’s licensing strategy allows them to pick successful, established partners and sidestep traditional barriers to entry. You know what I like about these new markets? They’re expanding. Worldwide. And they are going to be a bigger deal than they already are with or without Playboy. Who thinks weed and gambling are going away? Too many people like that stuff. These are easy markets. And Playboy is early enough to carve out their spot in each. Fuck it, read this too: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimosman/2020/10/20/playboy-could-be-the-king-of-spacs-here-are-three-picks/?sh=2e13dcaa3e05 Numbers: You want numbers? I got numbers. As per the company’s most recent SEC filing: “For the year ended December 31, 2019, and the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s historical consolidated revenue was $78.1 million and $101.3 million, respectively, historical consolidated net income (loss) was $(23.6) million and $(4.8) million, respectively, and Adjusted EBITDA was $13.1 million and $21.8 million, respectively.” “In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Licensing segment contributed $44.2 million in revenue and $31.1 million in net income.” “In the ninth months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Direct-to-Consumer segment contributed $40.2 million in revenue and net income of $0.1 million.” “In the nine months ended September 30, 2020, Playboy’s Digital Subscriptions and Content segment contributed $15.4 million in revenue and net income of $7.4 million.” They are profitable across all three of their current business segments. “Playboy’s return to the public markets presents a transformed, streamlined and high-growth business. The Company has over $400 million in cash flows contracted through 2029, sexual wellness products available for sale online and in over 10,000 major retail stores in the US, and a growing variety of clothing and branded lifestyle and digital gaming products.” https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF Growth: Playboy has massive growth in China and massive growth potential in India. “In China, where Playboy has spent more than 25 years building its business, our licensees have an enormous footprint of nearly 2,500 brick and mortar stores and 1,000 ecommerce stores selling high quality, Playboy-branded men’s casual wear, shoes/footwear, sleepwear, swimwear, formal suits, leather & non-leather goods, sweaters, active wear, and accessories. We have achieved significant growth in China licensing revenues over the past several years in partnership with strong licensees and high-quality manufacturers, and we are planning for increased growth through updates to our men’s fashion lines and expansion into adjacent categories in men’s skincare and grooming, sexual wellness, and women’s fashion, a category where recent launches have been well received.” The men’s market in China is about the same size as the entire population of the United States and European Union combined. Playboy is a leading brand in this market. They are expanding into the women’s market too. Did you know CBD toothpaste is huge in China? China loves CBD products and has hemp fields that dwarf those in the US. If Playboy expands their CBD line China it will be huge. Did you know the gambling money in Macau absolutely puts Las Vegas to shame? Technically, it's illegal on the mainland, but in reality, there is a lot of gambling going on in China. https://www.forbes.com/sites/javierhasse/2020/10/19/magic-johnson-and-uncle-buds-cbd-brand-enter-china-via-tmall-partnership/?sh=271776ca411e “In India, Playboy today has a presence through select apparel licensees and hospitality establishments. Consumer research suggests significant growth opportunities in the territory with Playboy’s brand and categories of focus.” “Playboy Enterprises has announced the expansion of its global consumer products business into India as part of a partnership with Jay Jay Iconic Brands, a leading fashion and lifestyle Company in India.” “The Indian market today is dominated by consumers under the age of 35, who represent more than 65 percent of the country’s total population and are driving India’s significant online shopping growth. The Playboy brand’s core values of playfulness and exploration resonate strongly with the expressed desires of today’s younger millennial consumers. For us, Playboy was the perfect fit.” “The Playboy international portfolio has been flourishing for more than 25 years in several South Asian markets such as China and Japan. In particular, it has strategically targeted the millennial and gen-Z audiences across categories such as apparel, footwear, home textiles, eyewear and watches.” https://www.licenseglobal.com/industry-news/playboy-expands-global-footprint-india It looks like they gave COVID the heisman in terms of net damage sustained: “Although Playboy has not suffered any material adverse consequences to date from the COVID-19 pandemic, the business has been impacted both negatively and positively. The remote working and stay-at-home orders resulted in the closure of the London Playboy Club and retail stores of Playboy’s licensees, decreasing licensing revenues in the second quarter, as well as causing supply chain disruption and less efficient product development thereby slowing the launch of new products. However, these negative impacts were offset by an increase in Yandy’s direct-to-consumer sales, which have benefited in part from overall increases in online retail sales so far during the pandemic.” Looks like the positives are long term (Yandy acquisition) and the negatives are temporary (stay-at-home orders). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921006093/tm213766-1_defa14a.htm This speaks to their ability to maintain a financially solvent company throughout the transition phase to the aforementioned areas. They’d say some fancy shit like “expanded business model to encompass four key revenue streams: Sexual Wellness, Style & Apparel, Gaming & Lifestyle, and Beauty & Grooming.” I hear “we’re just biding our time with these trinkets until those dollar dollar bill y’all markets are fully up and running.” But the truth is these existing revenue streams are profitable, scalable, and rapidly expanding Playboy’s e-commerce segment around the world. "Even in the face of COVID this year, we've been able to grow EBITDA over 100 percent and revenue over 68 percent, and I expect that to accelerate going into 2021," he said. “Playboy is accelerating its growth in company-owned and branded consumer products in attractive and expanding markets in which it has a proven history of brand affinity and consumer spend.” Also in the SEC filing, the Time Frame: “As we detailed in the definitive proxy statement, the SPAC stockholder meeting to vote on the transaction has been set for February 9th, and, subject to stockholder approval and satisfaction of the other closing conditions, we expect to complete the merger and begin trading on NASDAQ under ticker PLBY shortly thereafter,” concluded Kohn. The Players: Suhail “The Whale” Rizvi (HMFIC), Ben “The Bridge” Kohn (CEO), “lil” Suying Liu & “Big” Dong Liu (Young-gun China gang). I encourage you to look these folks up. The real OG here is Suhail Rizvi. He’s from India originally and Chairman of the Board for the new PLBY company. He was an early investor in Twitter, Square, Facebook and others. His firm, Rizvi Traverse, currently invests in Instacart, Pinterest, Snapchat, Playboy, and SpaceX. Maybe you’ve heard of them. “Rizvi, who owns a sprawling three-home compound in Greenwich, Connecticut, and a 1.65-acre estate in Palm Beach, Florida, near Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, moved to Iowa Falls when he was five. His father was a professor of psychology at Iowa. Along with his older brother Ashraf, a hedge fund manager, Rizvi graduated from Wharton business school.” “Suhail Rizvi: the 47-year-old 'unsocial' social media baron: When Twitter goes public in the coming weeks (2013), one of the biggest winners will be a 47-year-old financier who guards his secrecy so zealously that he employs a person to take down his Wikipedia entry and scrub his photos from the internet. In IPO, Twitter seeks to be 'anti-FB'” “Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia looks like a big Twitter winner. So do the moneyed clients of Jamie Dimon. But as you’ve-got-to-be-joking wealth washed over Twitter on Thursday — a company that didn’t exist eight years ago was worth $31.7 billion after its first day on the stock market — the non-boldface name of the moment is Suhail R. Rizvi. Mr. Rizvi, 47, runs a private investment company that is the largest outside investor in Twitter with a 15.6 percent stake worth $3.8 billion at the end of trading on Thursday (November, 2013). Using a web of connections in the tech industry and in finance, as well as a hearty dose of good timing, he brought many prominent names in at the ground floor, including the Saudi prince and some of JPMorgan’s wealthiest clients.” https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/technology/at-twitter-working-behind-the-scenes-toward-a-billion-dollar-payday.html Y’all like that Arab money? How about a dude that can call up Saudi Princes and convince them to spend? Funniest shit about I read about him: “Rizvi was able to buy only $100 million in Facebook shortly before its IPO, thus limiting his returns, according to people with knowledge of the matter.” Poor guy :( He should be fine with the 16 million PLBY shares he's going to have though :) Shuhail also has experience in the entertainment industry. He’s invested in companies like SESAC, ICM, and Summit Entertainment. He’s got Hollywood connections to blast this stuff post-merger. And he’s at least partially responsible for that whole Twilight thing. I’m team Edward btw. I really like what Suhail has done so far. He’s lurked in the shadows while Kohn is consolidating the company, trimming the fat, making Playboy profitable, and aiming the ship at modern growing markets. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-ipo-rizvi-insight/insight-little-known-hollywood-investor-poised-to-score-with-twitter-ipo-idUSBRE9920VW20131003 Ben “The Bridge” Kohn is an interesting guy. He’s the connection between Rizvi Traverse and Playboy. He’s both CEO of Playboy and was previously Managing Partner at Rizvi Traverse. Ben seems to be the voice of the Playboy-Rizvi partnership, which makes sense with Suhail’s privacy concerns. Kohn said this: “Today is a very big day for all of us at Playboy and for all our partners globally. I stepped into the CEO role at Playboy in 2017 because I saw the biggest opportunity of my career. Playboy is a brand and platform that could not be replicated today. It has massive global reach, with more than $3B of global consumer spend and products sold in over 180 countries. Our mission – to create a culture where all people can pursue pleasure – is rooted in our 67-year history and creates a clear focus for our business and role we play in people’s lives, providing them with the products, services and experiences that create a lifestyle of pleasure. We are taking this step into the public markets because the committed capital will enable us to accelerate our product development and go-to-market strategies and to more rapidly build our direct to consumer capabilities,” said Ben Kohn, CEO of Playboy. “Playboy today is a highly profitable commerce business with a total addressable market projected in the trillions of dollars,” Mr. Kohn continued, “We are actively selling into the Sexual Wellness consumer category, projected to be approximately $400 billion in size by 2024, where our recently launched intimacy products have rolled out to more than 10,000 stores at major US retailers in the United States. Combined with our owned & operated ecommerce Sexual Wellness initiatives, the category will contribute more than 40% of our revenue this year. In our Apparel and Beauty categories, our collaborations with high-end fashion brands including Missguided and PacSun are projected to achieve over $50M in retail sales across the US and UK this year, our leading men’s apparel lines in China expanded to nearly 2500 brick and mortar stores and almost 1000 digital stores, and our new men’s and women’s fragrance line recently launched in Europe. In Gaming, our casino-style digital gaming products with Scientific Games and Microgaming continue to see significant global growth. Our product strategy is informed by years of consumer data as we actively expand from a purely licensing model into owning and operating key high-growth product lines focused on driving profitability and consumer lifetime value. We are thrilled about the future of Playboy. Our foundation has been set to drive further growth and margin, and with the committed capital from this transaction and our more than $180M in NOLs, we will take advantage of the opportunity in front of us, building to our goal of $100M of adjusted EBITDA in 2025.” https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company Also, according to their Form 4s, “Big” Dong Liu and “lil” Suying Liu just loaded up with shares last week. These guys are brothers and seem like the Chinese market connection. They are only 32 & 35 years old. I don’t even know what that means, but it's provocative. https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1832415.htm https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mountain-crest-acquisition-corp-ii-002600994.html Y’all like that China money? “Mr. Liu has been the Chief Financial Officer of Dongguan Zhishang Photoelectric Technology Co., Ltd., a regional designer, manufacturer and distributor of LED lights serving commercial customers throughout Southern China since November 2016, at which time he led a syndicate of investments into the firm. Mr. Liu has since overseen the financials of Dongguan Zhishang as well as provided strategic guidance to its board of directors, advising on operational efficiency and cash flow performance. From March 2010 to October 2016, Mr. Liu was the Head of Finance at Feidiao Electrical Group Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese manufacturer of electrical outlets headquartered in Shanghai and with businesses in the greater China region as well as Europe.” Dr. Suying Liu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp., commented, “Playboy is a unique and compelling investment opportunity, with one of the world’s largest and most recognized brands, its proven consumer affinity and spend, and its enormous future growth potential in its four product segments and new and existing geographic regions. I am thrilled to be partnering with Ben and his exceptional team to bring his vision to fruition.” https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201001005404/en/Playboy-to-Become-a-Public-Company These guys are good. They have a proven track record of success across multiple industries. Connections and money run deep with all of these guys. I don’t think they’re in the game to lose. I was going to write a couple more paragraphs about why you should have a look at this but really the best thing you can do is read this SEC filing from a couple days ago. It explains the situation in far better detail. Specifically, look to page 137 and read through their strategy. Also, look at their ownership percentages and compensation plans including the stock options and their prices. The financials look great, revenue is up 90% Q3, and it looks like a bright future. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgadata/1803914/000110465921005986/tm2034213-12_defm14a.htm#tSHCF I’m hesitant to attach this because his position seems short term, but I’m going to with a warning because he does hit on some good points (two are below his link) and he’s got a sizable position in this thing (500k+ on margin, I think). I don’t know this guy but he did look at the same publicly available info and make roughly the same prediction, albeit without the in depth gambling or cannabis mention. You can also search reddit for ‘MCAC’ and very few relevant results come up and none of them even come close to really looking at this thing. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gOvAd6lebs452hFlWWbxVjQ3VMsjGBkbJeXRwDwIJfM/edit?usp=sharing “Also, before you people start making claims that Playboy is a “boomer” company, STOP RIGHT THERE. This is not a good argument. Simply put. The only thing that matters is Playboy’s name recognition, not their archaic business model which doesn’t even exist anymore as they have completely repurposed their business.” “Imagine not buying $MCAC at a 400M valuation lol. Streetwear department is worth 1B alone imo.” Considering the ridiculous Chinese growth as a lifestyle brand, he’s not wrong. Current Cultural Significance and Meme Value: A year ago I wouldn’t have included this section but the events from the last several weeks (even going back to tsla) have proven that a company’s ability to meme and/or gain social network popularity can have an effect. Tik-tok, Snapchat, Twitch, Reddit, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter. They all have Playboy stuff on them. Kids in middle and highschool know what Playboy is but will likely never see or touch one of the magazines in person. They’ll have a Playboy hoodie though. Crazy huh? A lot like GME, PLBY would hugely benefit from meme-value stock interest to drive engagement towards their new business model while also building strategic coffers. This interest may not directly and/or significantly move the stock price but can generate significant interest from larger players who will. Bull Case: The year is 2025. Playboy is now the world leader pleasure brand. They began by offering Playboy licensed gaming products, including gambling products, direct to consumers through existing names. By 2022, demand has skyrocketed and Playboy has designed and released their own gambling platforms. In 2025, they are also a leading cannabis brand in the United States and Canada with proprietary strains and products geared towards sexual wellness. Cannabis was legalized in the US in 2023 when President Biden got glaucoma but had success with cannabis treatment. He personally pushes for cannabis legalization as he steps out of office after his first term. Playboy has also grown their brand in China and India to multi-billion per year markets. The stock goes up from 11ish to 100ish and everyone makes big gains buying somewhere along the way. Bear Case: The United States does a complete 180 on marijuana and gambling. President Biden overdoses on marijuana in the Lincoln bedroom when his FDs go tits up and he loses a ton of money in his sports book app after the Fighting Blue Hens narrowly lose the National Championship to Bama. Playboy is unable to expand their cannabis and gambling brands but still does well with their worldwide lifestyle brand. They gain and lose some interest in China and India but the markets are too large to ignore them completely. The stock goes up from 11ish to 13ish and everyone makes 15-20% gains. TL;DR: Successful technology/e-commerce investment firm took over Playboy to turn it into a porn, online gambling/gaming, sports book, cannabis company, worldwide lifestyle brand that promotes sexual wellness, vetern access, women-ownership, minority-ownership, and “pleasure for all”. Does a successful online team reinventing an antiquated physical copy giant sound familiar? No options yet, shares only for now. $11.38 per share at time of writing. My guess? $20 by the end of February. $50 by EOY. This is not financial advice. I am not qualified to give financial advice. I’m just sayin’ I would personally use a Playboy sports book app while smoking a Playboy strain specific joint and it would be cool if they did that. Do your own research. You’d probably want to start here: WARNING - POTENTIALLY NSFW - SEXY MODELS AHEAD - no actual nudity though https://s26.q4cdn.com/895475556/files/doc_presentations/Playboy-Craig-Hallum-Conference-Investor-Presentation-11_17_20-compressed.pdf Or here: https://www.mcacquisition.com/investor-relations/default.aspx Jimmy Chill: “Get into any SPAC at $10 or $11 and you are going to make money.” STL;DR: Buy MCAC. MCAC > PLBY couple weeks. Rocketship. Moon. Position: 5000 shares. I will buy short, medium, and long-dated calls once available.
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[OC] By applying a collector's curve to large marine animals (>2m) I’ve determined that there are six sea monsters left to discover. Video explanation and sources in comments. Comments || Link
New images of Dave Bautista and the cast of Zack Snyder's 'Army of the Dead' - A group of mercenaries plot a heist on a Las Vegas casino during a zombie outbreak. Comments || Link
Netflix’s next big science fiction movie is set to debut next week: Outside the Wire, a military science fiction thriller starring Damson Idris as a soldier assigned to assist a classified military robot (played by Anthony Mackie) in a war zone. Comments || Link
A great white shark may grow and use 20,000+ teeth in its lifetime. Also, it has 5 rows of teeth at any given time & will never run out of teeth because if one is lost, another spins forward from a coil-like tooth reservoir of backup teeth in the jaw and spins forward to replace the old one. Comments || Link
During the four years of the Civil War, Ft. Stevens was the closest the confederates got to Washington. During the insurrection on the US Capitol building today, supporters of Donald Trump carried the confederate battle flag through the Capitol as they committed attempted sedition. Comments || Link
The door to the dining area of the Alcobaça Monastery in Portugal was made narrow so that monks who got too fat were forced to go into fasting. Comments || Link
TL;DR: Man with too much time on his hands goes deep down the rabbit hole on a concept this sub already didn’t seem that enthusiastic about. If you really want to skip ahead, CTRL+F “verdict” and it’ll get you there. Two days ago, u/MrPhillyj2wns made a post asking whether USL should launch a D1 league in order to compete in Concacaf. From the top voted replies, it appears this made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move. But I’ve been at home for eight weeks and I am terribly, terribly bored. So, I present to you this overview of what the USL pyramid might look like if Jake Edwards got a head of steam and attempted to establish a USSF-sanctioned first division. This is by no means an endorsement of such a proposal or even a suggestion that USL SHOULD do such a thing. It is merely an examination of whether they COULD. Welcome to the Thunderdome USL Premiership First, there are some base-level assumptions we must make in this exercise, because it makes me feel more scientific and not like a guy who wrote this on Sunday while watching the Belarusian Premier League (Go BATE Borisov!).
All D1 teams must comply with known USSF requirements for D1 leagues (more on that later).
MLS, not liking this move, will immediately remove all directly-owned affiliate clubs from the USL structure (this does not include hybrid ownerships, like San Antonio FC – NYCFC). This removes all MLS2 teams but will not affect Colorado Springs, Reno, RGVFC and San Antonio.
The USL will attempt to maintain both the USL Championship and USL League One, with an eventual mind toward creating the pro/rel paradise that is promised in Relegations 3:16.
All of my research regarding facility size and ownership net worth is correct – this is probably the biggest leap of faith we have to make, since googling “NAME net worth” and “CITY richest people” doesn’t seem guaranteed to return accurate results.
The most a club can increase its available seating capacity to meet D1 requirements in a current stadium is no more than 1,500 seats (10% of the required 15,000). If they need to add more, they’ll need a new facility.
Let’s pretend that people are VERY willing to sell. It’s commonly acknowledged that the USL is a more financially feasible route to owning a soccer club than in MLS (c.f. MLS-Charlotte’s reported $325 million expansion fee) and the USSF has some very strict requirements for D1 sanctioning. It becomes pretty apparent when googling a lot of team’s owners that this requirement isn’t met, so let’s assume everyone that can’t sells to people who meet the requirements.
(Known) USSF D1 league requirements: - League must have 12 teams to apply and 14 teams by year three - Majority owner must have a net worth of $40 million, and the ownership group must have a total net worth of $70 million. The value of an owned stadium is not considered when calculating this value. - Must have teams located in the Eastern, Central and Pacific time zones - 75% of league’s teams must be based in markets with at a metro population of at least 1 million people. - All league stadiums must have a capacity of at least 15,000 The ideal club candidate for the USL Premiership will meet the population and capacity requirements in its current ground, which will have a grass playing surface. Of the USL Championship’s 27 independent/hybrid affiliate clubs, I did not find one club that meets all these criteria as they currently stand. Regarding turf fields, the USSF does not have a formal policy regarding the ideal playing surface but it is generally acknowledged that grass is superior to turf. 6 of 26 MLS stadiums utilize turf, or roughly 23% of stadiums. We’ll hold a similar restriction for our top flight, so 2-3 of our top flight clubs can have turf fields. Seem fair? Capacity is going to be the biggest issue, since the disparity between current requirements for the second-tier (5,000) and the first tier (15,000) is a pretty massive gap. Nice club you have there, triple your capacity and you’re onto something. As a result, I have taken the liberty of relocating certain (read: nearly all) clubs to new grounds, trying my utmost to keep those clubs in their current markets and –importantly--, ensure they play on grass surfaces. So, let’s do a case-by-case evaluation and see if we can put together 12-14 teams that meet the potential requirements, because what else do you have to do? For each club’s breakdown, anything that represents a chance from what is currently true will be underlined. Candidate: Birmingham Legion FC Location (Metro population): Birmingham, Ala. (1,151,801) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Legion Field (FieldTurf, 71,594) Potential owner: Stephens Family (reported net worth $4 billion) Notes: Birmingham has a pretty strong candidacy. Having ditched the 5,000-seater BBVA Field for Legion Field, which sits 2.4 miles away, they’ve tapped into the city’s soccer history. Legion Field hosted portions of both the men’s and women’s tournaments at the 1996 Olympics, including a 3-1 U.S. loss to Argentina that saw 83,183 pack the house. The Harbert family seemed like strong ownership contenders, but since the death of matriarch Marguerite Harbert in 2015, it’s unclear where the wealth in the family is concentrated, so the Stephens seem like a better candidate. The only real knock that I can think of is that we really want to avoid having clubs play on turf, so I’d say they’re on the bubble of our platonic ideal USL Prem. Candidate: Charleston Battery Location (Metro population): Charleston, S.C. (713,000) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Johnson Hagood Stadium (Grass, ~14,700) Potential owner: Anita Zucker (reported net worth $3 billion) Notes: Charleston’s candidacy isn’t looking great. Already disadvantaged due to its undersized metro population, a move across the Cooper River to Johnson Hagood Stadium is cutting it close in terms of capacity. The stadium, home to The Citadel’s football team, used to seat 21,000, before 9,300 seats on the eastern grandstand were torn down in 2017 to deal with lead paint that had been used in their construction. Renovation plans include adding 3,000 seats back in, which could hit 15,000 if they bumped it to 3,300, but throw in a required sale by HCFC, LLC (led by content-creation platform founder Rob Salvatore) to chemical magnate Anita Zucker, and you’ll see there’s a lot of ifs and ands in this proposal. Candidate: Charlotte Independence Location (Metro population): Charlotte, N.C. (2,569, 213) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Jerry Richardson Stadium (Turf, 15,314) Potential owner: James Goodnight (reported net worth $9.1 billion) Notes: Charlotte ticks a lot of the boxes. A move from the Sportsplex at Matthews to UNC-Charlotte’s Jerry Richardson stadium meets capacity requirements, but puts them on to the dreaded turf. Regrettably, nearby American Legion Memorial Stadium only seats 10,500, despite a grass playing surface. With a sizeable metro population (sixth-largest in the USL Championship) and a possible owner in software billionaire James Goodnight, you’ve got some options here. The biggest problem likely lies in direct competition for market share against a much better-funded MLS Charlotte side due to join the league in 2021. Candidate: Hartford Athletic Location (Metro population): Hartford, Conn. (1,214,295) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Pratt & Whitney Stadium (Grass, 38,066) Potential owner: Ray Dalio (reported net worth $18.4 billion) Notes: Okay, I cheated a bit here, having to relocate Hartford to Pratt & Whitney Stadium, which is technically in East Hartford, Conn. I don’t know enough about the area to know if there’s some kind of massive beef between the two cities, but the club has history there, having played seven games in 2019 while Dillon Stadium underwent renovations. If the group of local businessmen that currently own the club manage to attract Dalio to the table, we’re on to something. Candidate: Indy Eleven Location (Metro population): Indianapolis, Ind. (2,048,703) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Lucas Oil Stadium (Turf, 62,421) Potential owner: Jim Irsay (reported net worth of $3 billion) Notes: Indy Eleven are a club that are SO CLOSE to being an ideal candidate – if it weren’t for Lucas Oil Stadium’s turf playing surface. Still, there’s a lot to like in this bid. I’m not going to lie, I have no idea what current owner and founder Ersal Ozdemir is worth, but it seems like there might be cause for concern. A sale to Irsay, who also owns the NFL Indianapolis (nee Baltimore) Colts, seems likely to keep the franchise there, rather than make a half-mile move to 14,230 capacity Victory Field where the AAA Indianapolis Indians play and expand from there. Candidate: Louisville City FC Location (Metro population): Louisville, Ky. (1,297,310) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Lynn Family Stadium (Grass, 14,000, possibly expandable to 20,000) Potential owner: Wayne Hughes (reported net worth $2.8 billion) Notes: I’m stretching things a bit here. Lynn Family stadium is currently listed as having 11,700 capacity that’s expandable to 14,000, but they’ve said that the ground could hold as many as 20,000 with additional construction, which might be enough to grant them a temporary waiver from USSF. If the stadium is a no-go, then there’s always Cardinal Stadium, home to the University of Louisville’s football team, which seats 65,000 but is turf. Either way, it seems like a sale to someone like Public Storage founder Wayne Hughes will be necessary to ensure the club has enough capital. Candidate: Memphis 901 FC Location (Metro population): Memphis, Tenn. (1,348,260) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Liberty Bowl Stadium (Turf, 58,325) Potential owner: Fred Smith (reported net worth $3 billion) Notes: Unfortunately for Memphis, AutoZone Park’s 10,000 seats won’t cut it at the D1 level. With its urban location, it would likely prove tough to renovate, as well. Liberty Bowl Stadium more than meets the need, but will involve the use of the dreaded turf. As far as an owner goes, FedEx founder Fred Smith seems like a good local option. Candidate: Miami FC, “The” Location (Metro population): Miami, Fla. (6,158,824) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Riccardo Silva Stadium (FieldTurf, 20,000) Potential owner: Riccardo Silva (reported net worth $1 billion) Notes: Well, well, well, Silva might get his wish for top-flight soccer, after all. He’s got the money, he’s got the metro, and his ground has the capacity. There is the nagging issue of the turf, though. Hard Rock Stadium might present a solution, including a capacity of 64,767 and a grass playing surface. It is worth noting, however, that this is the first profile where I didn’t have to find a new potential owner for a club. Candidate: North Carolina FC Location (Metro population): Durham, N.C. (1,214,516 in The Triangle) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Carter-Finley Stadium (Grass/Turf, 57,583) Potential owner: Steve Malik (precise net worth unknown) / Dennis Gillings (reported net worth of $1.7 billion) Notes: We have our first “relocation” in North Carolina FC, who were forced to trade Cary’s 10,000-seat WakeMed Soccer Park for Carter-Finley Stadium in Durham, home of the NC State Wolfpack and 57,583 of their closest friends. The move is a whopping 3.1 miles, thanks to the close-knit hub that exists between Cary, Durham and Raleigh. Carter-Finley might be my favorite of the stadium moves in this exercise. The field is grass, but the sidelines are artificial turf. Weird, right? Either way, it was good enough for Juventus to play a friendly against Chivas de Guadalajara there in 2011. Maybe the move would be pushed for by new owner and medical magnate Dennis Gillings, whose British roots might inspire him to get involved in the Beautiful Game. Straight up, though, I couldn’t find a net worth for current owner Steve Malik, though he did sell his company MedFusion for $91 million in 2010, then bought it back for an undisclosed amount and sold it again for $43 million last November. I don’t know if Malik has the juice to meet D1 requirements, but I suspect he’s close. Candidate: Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Location (Metro population): Pittsburgh, Penn. (2,362,453) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Heinz Field (Grass, 64,450) Potential owner: Henry Hillman (reported net worth $2.5 billion) Notes: I don’t know a ton about the Riverhounds, but this move in particular feels like depriving a pretty blue-collar club from its roots. Highmark Stadium is a no-go from a seating perspective, but the Steelers’ home stadium at Heinz Field would more than meet the requirements and have a grass surface that was large enough to be sanctioned for a FIFA friendly between the U.S. WNT and Costa Rica in 2015. As for an owner, Tuffy Shallenberger (first ballot owner name HOF) doesn’t seem to fit the USSF bill, but legendary Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Hillman might. I’m sure you’re asking, why not the Rooney Family, if they’ll play at Heinz Field? I’ll tell you: I honestly can’t seem to pin down a value for the family. The Steelers are valued at a little over a billion and rumors persist that Dan Rooney is worth $500 million, but I’m not sure. I guess the Rooneys would work too, but it’s a definite departure from an owner in Shallenberger who was described by one journalist as a guy who “wears boots, jeans, a sweater and a trucker hat.” Candidate: Saint Louis FC Location (Metro population): St. Louis, Mo. (2,807,338) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Busch Stadium (Grass, 45,494) Potential owner: William DeWitt Jr. (reported net worth $4 billion) Notes: Saint Louis has some weirdness in making the jump to D1. Current CEO Jim Kavanaugh is an owner of the MLS side that will begin play in 2022. The club’s current ground at West Community Stadium isn’t big enough, but perhaps a timely sale to Cardinals owner William DeWitt Jr. could see the club playing games at Busch Stadium, which has a well established history of hosting other sports like hockey, college football and soccer (most recently a U.S. WNT friendly against New Zealand in 2019). The competition with another MLS franchise wouldn’t be ideal, like Charlotte, but with a big enough population and cross marketing from the Cardinals, maybe there’s a winner here. Wacko idea: If Busch doesn’t pan out, send them to The Dome. Sure, it’s a 60k turf closed-in stadium, but we can go for that retro NASL feel and pay homage to our nation’s soccer history. Candidate: Tampa Bay Rowdies Location (Metro population): Tampa, Fla. (3,068,511) Time zone: Eastern Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Raymond James Stadium (Grass, 65,518) Potential owner: Edward DeBartolo Jr. (reported net worth $3 billion) Notes: This one makes me sad. Despite having never been there, I see Al Lang Stadium as an iconic part of the Rowdies experience. Current owner Bill Edwards proposed an expansion to 18,000 seats in 2016, but the move seems to have stalled out. Frustrated with the city’s lack of action, Edwards sells to one-time San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., who uses his old NFL connections to secure a cushy lease at the home of the Buccaneers in Ray Jay, the site of a 3-1 thrashing of Antigua and Barbuda during the United States’ 2014 World Cup Qualifying campaign. Breather. Hey, we finished the Eastern Conference teams. Why are you still reading this? Why am I still writing it? Time is a meaningless construct in 2020 my friends, we are adrift in the void, fueled only by brief flashes of what once was and what may yet still be. Candidate: Austin Bold FC Location (Metro population): Austin, Texas (2,168,316) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Darrel K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium (FieldTurf, 95,594) Potential owner: Michael Dell (reported net worth of $32.3 billion) Notes: Anthony Precourt’s Austin FC has some unexpected competition and it comes in the form of tech magnate Michael Dell. Dell, were he to buy the club, would be one of the richest owners on our list and could flash his cash in the new first division. Would he have enough to convince Darrel K Royal – Texas Memorial Stadium (I’m not kidding, that’s its actual name) to go back to a grass surface, like it did from ’96-’08? That’s between Dell and nearly 100,000 UT football fans, but everything can be had for the right price. Candidate: Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Location (Metro population): Colorado Springs, Colo. (738,939) Time zone: Mountain Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Falcon Stadium (FieldTurf, 46,692) Potential owner: Charles Ergen (reported net worth $10.8 billion) Notes: Welcome to Colorado Springs. We have hurdles. For the first time in 12 candidates, we’re back below the desired 1 million metro population mark. Colorado Springs actually plans to build a $35 million, 8,000 seat venue downtown that will be perfect for soccer, but in our timeline that’s 7,000 seats short. Enter Falcon Stadium, home of the Air Force Academy Falcons football team. Seems perfect except for the turf, right? Well, the tricky thing is that Falcon Stadium is technically on an active military base and is (I believe) government property. Challenges to getting in and out of the ground aside, the military tends to have a pretty grim view of government property being used by for-profit enterprises. Maybe Charles Ergen, founder and chairman of Dish Network, would be able to grease the right wheels, but you can go ahead and throw this into the “doubtful” category. It’s a shame, too. 6,035 feet of elevation is one hell of a home-field advantage. Candidate: El Paso Locomotive FC Location: El Paso, Texas Time zone: Mountain Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Sun Bowl (FieldTurf, 51,500) Potential owner: Paul Foster (reported net worth $1.7 billion) Notes: God bless Texas. When compiling this list, I found so many of the theoretical stadium replacements were nearly serviceable by high school football fields. That’s insane, right? Anyway, Locomotive don’t have to settle for one of those, they’ve got the Sun Bowl, which had its capacity reduced in 2001 to a paltry 51,500 (from 52,000) specifically to accommodate soccer. Sure, it’s a turf surface, but what does new owner Paul Foster (who is only the 1,477th wealthiest man in the world, per Forbes) care, he’s got a team in a top league. Side note: Did you know that the Sun Bowl college football game is officially, through sponsorship, the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl? Why is it not the Frosted Flakes Sun Bowl? Why is the cereal mascot the promotional name of the football game? What are you doing, Kellogg’s? Candidate: Las Vegas Lights FC Location: Las Vegas, Nev. (2,227,053) Time zone: Pacific Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Allegiant Stadium (Grass, 61,000) Potential owner: Sheldon Adelson (reported net worth $37.7 billion) Notes: Sin City. You had to know that the club that once signed Freddy Adu because “why not” was going to go all out in our flashy hypothetical proposal. Thanks to my narrative control of this whole thing, they have. Adelson is the second-richest owner in the league and has decided to do everything first class. That includes using the new Raiders stadium in nearby unincorporated Paradise, Nevada, and spending boatloads on high profile transfers. Zlatan is coming back to the U.S., confirmed. Candidate: New Mexico United Location: Albuquerque, N.M. Time zone: Mountain Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Isotopes Park – officially Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park (Grass, 13,500 – 15,000 with expansion) Potential owner: Maloof Family (reported net worth $1 billion) Notes: New Mexico from its inception went deep on the community vibe, and I’ve tried to replicate that in this bid. The home field of Rio Grande Cr---I’m not typing out the whole thing—Isotopes Park falls just within the expansion rules we set to make it to 15,000 (weird, right?) and they’ve found a great local ownership group in the Lebanese-American Maloof (formerly Maalouf) family from Las Vegas. The only thing to worry about would be the metro population, but overall, this could be one of the gems of USL Prem. Candidate: Oklahoma City Energy FC Location: Oklahoma City, Okla. (1,396,445) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (Grass, 13,066) Potential owner: Harold Hamm (reported net worth $14.2 billion) Notes: There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow and it says it’s time to change stadiums and owners to make it to D1. A sale to oil magnate Harold Hamm would give the club the finances it needs, but Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (home of the OKC Dodgers) actually falls outside of the boundary of what would meet capacity if 1,500 seats were added. Could the club pull off a move to Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma – home of the Oklahoma Sooners? Maybe, but at 20 miles, this would be a reach. Candidate: Orange County SC Location: Irvine, Calif. (3,176, 000 in Orange County) Time zone: Pacific Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Angels Stadium of Anaheim (Grass, 43,250) Potential owner: Arte Moreno (reported net worth $3.3 billion) Notes: You’ll never convince me that Rangers didn’t choose to partner with Orange County based primarily on its name. Either way, a sale to MLB Angels owner Arte Moreno produces a fruitful partnership, with the owner choosing to play his newest club out of the existing Angels stadium in OC. Another baseball conversion, sure, but with a metro population of over 3 million and the closest thing this hypothetical league has to an LA market, who’s complaining? Candidate: Phoenix Rising FC Location: Phoenix, Ariz. (4,857,962) Time zone: Arizona Stadium (playing surface, capacity): State Farm Stadium (Grass, 63,400) Potential owner: Ernest Garcia II (reported net worth $5.7 billion) Notes: We’re keeping it local with new owner and used car guru Ernest Garcia II. His dad owned a liquor store and he dropped out of college, which is making me feel amazing about my life choices right now. Casino Arizona Field is great, but State Farm Stadium is a grass surface that hosted the 2019 Gold Cup semifinal, so it’s a clear winner. Throw in Phoenix’s massive metro population and this one looks like a lock. Candidate: Reno 1868 FC Location: Reno, Nev. (425,417) Time zone: Pacific Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Mackay Stadium (FieldTurf, 30,000) Potential owner: Nancy Walton Laurie (reported net worth $7.1 billion) Notes: The Biggest Little City on Earth has some serious barriers to overcome, thanks to its low metro population. A sale to Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie and 1.6 mile-move to Mackay Stadium to split space with the University of Nevada, Reno makes this bid competitive, but the turf surface is another knock against it. Candidate: Rio Grande Valley FC Location: Edinburg, Texas (900,304) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): McAllen Memorial Stadium (FieldTurf, 13,500 – 15,000 with expansion) Potential owner: Alice Louise Walton (reported net worth $45 billion) Notes: Yes, I have a second straight Walmart heiress on the list. She was the first thing that popped up when I googled “McAllen Texas richest people.” The family rivalry has spurred Walton to buy a club as well, moving them 10 miles to McAllen Memorial Stadium which, as I alluded to earlier, is a straight up high school football stadium with a full color scoreboard. Toss in an additional 1,500 seats and you’ve met the minimum, despite the turf playing surface. Candidate: San Antonio FC Location: San Antonio, Texas (2,550,960) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Alamodome (FieldTurf, 64,000) Potential owner: Red McCombs (reported net worth $1.6 billion) Notes: I wanted to keep SAFC in the Spurs family, since the franchise is valued at $1.8 billion. That said, I didn’t let the Rooneys own the Riverhounds based on the Steelers’ value and it felt wrong to change the rules, so bring on Clear Channel co-founder Red McCombs. Toyota Field isn’t viable in the first division, but for the Alamodome, which was built in 1993 in hopes of attracting an NFL franchise (and never did), San Antonio can finally claim having *a* national football league team in its town (contingent on your definition of football). Now if only we could do something about that turf… Candidate: San Diego Loyal SC Location: San Diego, Calif. (3,317,749) Time zone: Pacific Stadium (playing surface, capacity): SDCCU Stadium (formerly Qualcomm) (Grass, 70,561) Potential owner: Phil Mickelson (reported net worth $91 million) Notes: Yes, golf’s Phil Mickelson. The existing ownership group didn’t seem to have the wherewithal to meet requirements, and Phil seemed to slot right in. As an athlete himself, he might be interesting in the new challenges of a top flight soccer team. Toss in a move to the former home of the chargers and you might have a basis for tremendous community support. Candidate: FC Tulsa Location: Tulsa, Okla. (991,561) Time zone: Central Stadium (playing surface, capacity): Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium (FieldTurf, 30,000) Potential owner: George Kaiser ($10 billion) Notes: I’m a fan of FC Tulsa’s rebrand, but if they want to make the first division, more changes are necessary. A sale to Tulsa native and one of the 100 richest men in the world George Kaiser means that funding is guaranteed. A move to Chapman Stadium would provide the necessary seats, despite the turf field. While the undersize population might be an issue at first glance, it’s hard to imagine U.S. Soccer not granting a waiver over a less than a 10k miss from the mark. And that’s it! You made it. Those are all of the independent/hybrid affiliates in the USL Championship, which means that it’s time for our… VERDICT: As an expert who has studied this issue for almost an entire day now, I am prepared to pronounce which USL Championships could be most ‘ready” for a jump to the USL Prem. A reminder that of the 27 clubs surveyed, 0 of them met our ideal criteria (proper ownership $, metro population, 15,000+ stadium with grass field). Two of them, however, met almost all of those criteria: Indy Eleven and Miami FC. Those two clubs may use up two of our three available turf fields right from the outset, but the other factors they hit (particularly Silva’s ownership of Miami) makes them difficult, if not impossible to ignore for the top flight. But who fill in the rest of the slots? Meet the entire 14-team USL Premier League: Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven Louisville City FC Miami FC North Carolina FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Tampa Bay Rowdies Saint Louis FC San Antonio FC New Mexico United Phoenix Rising FC Las Vegas Lights FC Orange County SC San Diego Loyal SC Now, I shall provide my expert rationale for each club’s inclusion/exclusion, which can be roughly broken down into four categories. Firm “yes” Hartford Athletic: It’s a good market size with a solid stadium. With a decent investor and good community support, you’ve got potential here. Indy Eleven: The turf at Lucas Oil Stadium is no reason to turn down a 62,421 venue and a metro population of over 2 million. Louisville City FC: Why doesn’t the 2017 & 2018 USL Cup champion deserve a crack at the top flight? They have the market size, and with a bit of expansion have the stadium at their own SSS. LCFC, you’re in. Miami FC, “The”: Our other blue-chip recruit on the basis of ownership value, market size and stadium capacity. Yes, that field is turf, but how could you snub Silva’s chance to claim victory as the first division 1 club soccer team to play in Miami? Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC: Pittsburgh sacrificed a lot to be here (according to my arbitrary calculations). Their market size and the potential boon of soccer at Heinz Field is an important inclusion to the league. Saint Louis FC: Willie hears your “Busch League” jokes, Willie don’t care. A huge market size, combined with the absence of an NFL franchise creates opportunity. Competition with the MLS side, sure, but St. Louis has serious soccer history and we’re willing to bet it can support two clubs. Tampa Bay Rowdies: With a huge population and a massive stadium waiting nearby, Tampa Bay seems like too good of an opportunity to pass up for the USL Prem. Las Vegas Lights FC: Ostentatious, massive and well-financed, Las Vegas Lights FC is everything that the USL Premier League would need to assert that it didn’t intend to play second fiddle to MLS. Players will need to be kept on a short leash, but this is a hard market to pass up on. Phoenix Rising FC: Huge population, big grass field available nearby and a solid history of success in recent years. No brainer. San Diego Loyal SC: New club? Yes, massive population in a market that recently lost an absolutely huge sports presence? Also yes. This could be the USL Prem’s Seattle. Cautious “yes” New Mexico United: You have to take a chance on New Mexico United. The club set the league on fire with its social media presence and its weight in the community when it entered the league last season. The market may be slightly under USSF’s desired 1 million, but fervent support (and the ability to continue to use Isotopes Park) shouldn’t be discounted. North Carolina FC: Carter-Finley’s mixed grass/turf surface is a barrier, to be sure, but the 57,000+ seats it offers (and being enough to offset other fully-turf offerings) is enough to put it in the black. Orange County SC: It’s a top-tier club playing in a MLB stadium. I know it seems unlikely that USSF would approve something like that, but believe me when I say “it could happen.” Orange County is a massive market and California likely needs two clubs in the top flight. San Antonio FC: Our third and only voluntary inclusion to the turf fields in the first division, we’re counting on San Antonio’s size and massive potential stadium to see it through. Cautious “no” Birmingham Legion FC: The town has solid soccer history and a huge potential venue, but the turf playing surface puts it on the outside looking in. Memphis 901 FC: Like Birmingham, not much to dislike here outside of the turf playing surface at the larger playing venue. Austin Bold FC: See the other two above. FC Tulsa: Everything’s just a little bit off with this one. Market’s slightly too small, stadium has turf. Just not enough to put it over the top. Firm “no” Charleston Battery: Small metro and a small potential new stadium? It’s tough to say yes to the risk. Charlotte Independence: A small new stadium and the possibility of having to compete with an organization that just paid over $300 million to join MLS means it’s best for this club to remain in the USL Championship. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC: When a club’s best chance to meet a capacity requirement is to host games at a venue controlled by the military, that doesn’t speak well to a club’s chances. El Paso Locomotive FC: An undersized market and a turf field that meets capacity requirements is the death knell for this one. Oklahoma City Energy FC: Having to expand a baseball field to meet requirements is a bad start. Having to potentially play 20 miles away from your main market is even worse. Reno 1868 FC: Population nearly a half-million short of the federation’s requirements AND a turf field at the hypothetical new stadium makes impossible to say yes to this bid. Rio Grande Valley FC: All the seat expansions in the world can’t hide the fact that McAllen Memorial Stadium is a high school stadium through and through. Here’s who’s left in the 11-team Championship: Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Charlotte Independence Memphis 901 FC Austin Bold FC Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC El Paso Locomotive FC Oklahoma City Energy FC Reno 1868 FC Rio Grande Valley FC FC Tulsa With MLS folding the six affiliates it has in USL League One, the league is a little bit thin (especially considering USSF’s requirements for 8 teams for lower level leagues), but seems definitely able to expand up to the necessary numbers with Edwards’ allusions to five new additions this year: Chattanooga Red Wolves SC Forward Madison FC Greenville Triumph SC Union Omaha Richmond Kickers South Georgia Tormenta FC Tucson Format of Assorted Leagues – This (like everything in this post) is pure conjecture on my part, but here are my thoughts on how these leagues might function in a first year while waiting for additional expansion. USL Premier – We’ll steal from the 12-team Scottish Premiership. Each club plays the other 11 clubs 3 times, with either one or two home matches against each side. When each club has played 33 matches, the top six and bottom six separate, with every club playing an additional five matches (against each other team in its group). The top club wins the league. The bottom club is automatically relegated. The second-bottom club will enter a two-legged playoff against someone (see below) from the championship playoffs. USL Championship -- 11 clubs is a challenge to schedule for. How about every club plays everyone else three times (either one or two home matches against each side)? Top four clubs make the playoffs, which are decided by two-legged playoffs. The winner automatically goes up. I need feedback on the second part – is it better to have the runner-up from the playoffs face the second-bottom club from the Premiership, or should the winner of the third-place match-up get the chance to face them to keep drama going in both playoff series? As for relegation, we can clearly only send down the last place club while the third division is so small. USL League One – While the league is so small, it doesn’t seem reasonable to have the clubs play as many matches as the higher divisions. Each club could play the other six clubs four times – twice at home and twice away – for a very equitable 24-match regular season, which would help restrict costs and still provide a chance to determine a clear winner. Whoever finishes top of the table goes up. And there you have it, a hypothetical look at how the USL could build a D1 league right now. All it would take is a new stadium for almost the entire league and new owners for all but one of the 27 clubs, who wouldn’t feel that their property would be massively devalued if they got relegated. Well that’s our show. I’m curious to see what you think of all of this, especially anything that you think I may have overlooked (I’m sure there’s plenty). Anyway, I hope you’re all staying safe and well.
"OK, so we're breaking in an ancient old mansion that has 4 lethal threats within it... how do you usually break in?" "Simple! I fly in, break through the library, and steal as much as I can before they chase me down, ze?" "Are you stupid? It's almost like they're letting you do it. Hold on, I have something that should take care of them." It was sleeping gas, the same gas that was supposed to be used for a contract I had to rob the Golden Grin. The original function of this gas was to put the camera room guards to sleep, and my crew would sneak down to the vault, grab The Dentist's loot, and the money. "What else do they have?" "Fairies, devils, and goblins. Ze, I think that's what they have in there..." "Are they immune to gas?" "No..?" "Great, what else, you said there was a time stopping, knife throwing maid, twovampires, and a Chinese lady. That's what the sleeping gas is for, an odorless, colorless agent to make everyone in that mansion go nighty-night for at least 10 minutes. I'm still doubting if it'll work on vampires though..." Breaking into giant mansions and robbing vampires wasn't my gig, like at all. Smashing banks, casinos, and other various compounds were. Assuming Marisa's intelligence was right, I would need to bring sleeping gas to put 2/4 of the lethal threats to sleep. Along with nearly everyone else. To deal with the vampires... I was hesitant to put my brass knuckles on lethal mode or actually hurt someone as I've done it too much during my criminalcareer. I had my specialized handguns, but it was only a last resort. I also brought gas masks, blowtorch, C4, flashbangs, smoke bombs, and weak incendiaries as an emergency tool. Marisa wouldn't be the first woman that I can mentor into being a highly skilled burglar. So I taught her everything I knew. Bribing the right people, casing the place, getting favors done by insiders, intimidating civilians, knocking out guards, avoiding cameras, destroying evidence, stealing as much as possible, and escaping without having the cops on our ass. After hours of planning our burglary, a plan was finally executed. I would preemptively find a blind spot in the mansion and the drone would automatically fly, highlight anyone, and in general, keep tabs on everyone in it. I never used this drone before for my stealth jobs, but judging by contracts like Murky Station and Breakin' Feds, there should be a guard pattern. Of course, the chance for Plan B always exists, so if the vampires caught us, incendiaries and an implanted water cannon in my suit should do the trick, if the maid caught us, flashbangs and gas should be able to disable her, along with cable ties. If not, then maybe threatening to burn down the mansion would. Marisa told me the maid is still human. If the librarian caught us, I would exploit her asthma and use weakened pepper spray to trigger her asthma. All of those were dirty underhanded tactics to survive, but I've done much worse things in the past. Just ask the people that I cheated out of their life savings in Golden Grin, or the jewelsI) stole), or the banks that) I had robbed. Under the cover of night, with my drone inside the mansion highlighting everything, me and Marisa were on the roof, grappling onto the mansion and finding our entry point into the library. I waited to see if my drone marked anyone asleep after releasing the gas, and there it was, the maid fell asleep, the librarian, the Chinese lady, and the fairies and other useless security guards. "Ahh bollocks! The vampires aren't fucking sleeping. Bloody hell." "What do we do now? Ze?" "You have your mask?" "Ze." After getting on top of the library's tower, I found a skylight leading down to what seems to be a library. I tried lockpicking, but for whatever reason, I just couldn't get through. Using the blowtorch, I loosened the lock enough to be able to lockpick, but I had to be careful, if that thing fell onto the floor, Plan A will turn into B faster than my trigger finger when I found The Rat. Opening the skylight barrier, and having information from an insider that there are devils inside there, I prepared smoke bombs to cover our location. I padded my smoke bombs to reduce the bouncing sound that would inevitably be heard when I threw them down. Marisa was going to fly in with her broom, like all witches, but I was going to parachute down with the equipment. I wasn't going to risk adding extra weight until we successfully robbed the library, because I can't fly. Jumping in, masks on, nobody has woken up yet. Good, but I feel like that sleeping gas wasn't going to last for more than 10 minutes. So we were going to work with 7 minutes stealing books, and 3 minutes to GTFO. Dropping smoke bombs in strategic locations, me and Marisa were down in the library, next to the sleeping librarian. "Librarian's pretty hot. If I've gotta say. Hate robbing her. But I would rob her." "I rob her daily, ze!" I took out a timer and the loot bags and Marisa started shoving all the books she wanted into them. 1 minute, 40 seconds elapsed after we last set down the gas. 5:20 left to go, or so I originally thought... noticing movement from the maid, going over to our general location, I warned Marisa that we had only 30 seconds to go before Plan B arrived. This song played in my head and it gave me flashbacks to the Shacklethorne Auction. "Marisa... hurry up with those books, I sense movement to our location!" "That's all I need today! Let's do this tomorrow!" she shouted. OK, there was no way in Hell the maid or the vampires could not of heard that. Unless they were deaf or completely stupid, someone was fated to check that sound. "Patchouli... is everything alright in there?" Marisa, doing her best impression, tried lying, "Yes Sakuya. Everything is fine and dandy." "You sound weird, what's wrong?" "Oh goddammit!" I yelled, "I'm shutting down this operation!" "Wait, what operation?!!" Grabbing Marisa by the arm and the loot bags, I placed her on the broom, sat on it with the loot intact, burnt the parachute, threw smoke grenades at the voice's location, and we flew out of there as fast of possible. Granted we were probably going to get caught regardless, but leaving behind weak evidence of our burglary was much better than having to silence a witness, or two. Flying at high speed, I saw a bunch of knives getting thrown. I managed to catch and deflect a few of them, but Marisa was hit and lost control of her broom temporarily, I still held the loot, but experienced flying fast upside down. Now I feel like those poor bastards who are peer-pressured by their friends to try those giant roller coasters at some overpriced amusement park. Paying attention to the speed and direction of the knives being thrown, I returned fire with 2 flashbangs and used my brass knuckles to summon lightning and chain it through the knives, in hope of stunning the maid, or at catching her off guard. Flying over Marisa's house. I threw her the loot bags and made way to Alice's house. Told her that she's going to need way more practice to be a burglar that can terrorize an entire country. Truth be told, she was much better than Clover when I first taught her my skills, but unlike Clover, Marisa lacked discipline and deceptiveness. Punching my way throughout the Forest of Magic and snapping the neck of plants, I encountered the maid. She probably didn't know that there was a 2nd one, so she asked, "Excuse me Mister. Mister? Have you seen a witch flying quickly throughout the sky. I need to have a few words with her." Acting surprised and giving a false impression of shock. I replied, "No," and she let me go after that. I walked back to Alice's place without any more problems and saw that Alice was opening a portal to Makai. Hox,we'll see Mom again,won't we? Ali... I hope so...
I was crafting a spell to get back to the True Moon, but it wasn't easy. Having to find the right amount of purity to pass the barrier while still retaining my demonic power took a while until I got sick of calculating. Changing from my shorts and shirt to my suit that I wore during my bank robberies, I went around the streets of Washington, D.C. to take a breather, hoping to clear my mind until I encountered one of those annoying street preachers. He said, "The Devil walks among us." Knowing my mother was very well in another universe, away from morons like him, I replied, "Wrong. The Devil doesn't care about you. But her son does walk among you~" He asked, "Have you seen the face of The Devil?" I knew exactly this guy was referring to my mother, "Everyday back home, pal. You should see her face, it's quite beautiful compared to the lies you make up." "No! He's in all of us, the ugliest thing! In our moment of weakness, in this world! Sin, being lost. You can see him, it'sThe Devil's work!" This really pissed me off, as my mother has not had interactions with any outside species since her talk with that Buddhist monk, "HEY! Don't credit my mother with that, you do that by yourself! Bloody wanker." Now the preacher knows I'm probably onto him, as he walked up and tried staring me down, asking what my problem was and asked me to leave. Starting to hold back a little less, my eyes slowly faded to a gradient of orange, red, black, and every other color associated with demons, so was my body slowly transforming. I held back on letting my hatred break through and asked him if this was a performance, I complimented how good it was. Then he told me to leave because I was, "Bad for business." That bloody twat wants to argue with me about business, I was going to show him how minuscule and weak his little performance was. Going back to his act, the preacher yelled, "Repent! The Devil-" I cut him off, "-'s son isn't finished with you yet.You see, what I hate more than a rat is a hypocrite." The preacher asked what I was going to do about it, and I was going to make him believe his performance. Going into my demon form and having my mother show up as an illusion above me as The Devil, he was in terror and yelled, "He's The Devil... HE'S THE DEVIL!!! This isn't an act! HE'S THE DEVIL!!!" Pointing at me and running away, he threw all the money that he scammed from people that didn't know better, I told everyone that it was true and I was going to be here until the end of the universe, but they didn't seem to care at all. I wouldn't blame them, as free money is something that everyone desires, including me. I walked down D.C. until I noticed there was a walkway to a cafe between universes, where supernatural entities ate and mingled, I walked through the alleyway and ended up at a place called, "The Omeatery." I walked in and saw Sariel at a table along with a whole bunch of supernatural entities. She noticed me and called out to me so that I could sit with her. When the waitress came up and asked us what we wanted, I saw that they had no specific menu. OK, then it looks like it was something where you order. I asked for a Sunday Roast, as I finished my words, the perfect one showed up. Sariel asked for wine and manna, lo and behold, there were those 2 things that she requested. Sariel told me alot about this eatery, all the cooks were the most skilled magicians of eatery, being able to perfectly replicate everything from the most divine of food, to the most demonic of elixirs. You could find everything here, from skilled magicians to the most powerful of gods, from the most vicious demon lords to the holiest of archangels, it was a neutral ground where these entities would make friends, settle conflicts, or just have fun in general. If that was true, I asked Sariel if I had to stay and pay. She told me that I was covered and should, "go back and finish what I started." Walking out of the Omeatery, I went to a laundromat and cleaned up my suit, while waiting for the other entities to get their clothing cleaned, I sat next to a demon who referred to himself as, "The Masochist's Request," we had small talk, he told me how torturing souls in Hell was more than a job than a hobby, telling me that people's beliefs about Hell are how they were tortured. For example, if someone believed that a demon would torture them for eternity, then it was his job to torture them for eternity. M.R. told me he was not the only one of his kind, there were at least trillions like him that would wait around, working around the clock, torturing souls according to what said soul believed in, and it was just the daily grind. He told me how there was a strict hierarchy of the sole EmperoEmpress of Hell, AKA what people referred to as The Devil, multiple Overlords having demon lords serving under them, the upper (non-Lord) class, the middle class, and the low class, which is where most demons will ever fall under, potentially for eternity. However, all that has changed ever since Hell's first and only power-struggle. I was curious to how this guy had so much wisdom, so I asked him about the power struggle, Masochist's Request told me about him being primordial enough to be ruled under 2 Devils, Empress Shinki and Empress Hecatia. He told me while The Devils were never directly brutal to them, the Overlords and Lords under Empress Shinki had a habit of abusing the lower classes and getting away with they did, which he finds to be extremely unfair. However, all of that has changed for the better when Empress Hecatia ruled. Empress Shinki? I asked M.R. more about Empress Shinki, he told me how every demon owed their existence to her, as she was the mother of all demons and the creator of Hell. Until one day, she randomly went on some sort of rampage, wiping out the upper class, erasing all the Lords, and nearly destroying Hell itself. When she left, that was when The Devil's throne was ready for the taking, civil war has wiped out the population, and new lifeforces emerged, fairies and other species that the average citizen wouldn't expect. I asked him if there were any rumors about the old Queen, he said there was one really popular theory among everyone was that the Old Queen went and created a new cosmos to live out of spite for her old role, the most popular name for it was Makai. Asking about the new Queen, Masochist's Request told me she told everyone to refer to her without the fancy title and rule under Queen Hecatia was super-easy compared to the Hell that Shinki ruled over. He directly compared it to what souls would call "Heaven" and "Hell." I wasn't going to be unfair and leave him without any sort of knowledge on me, so I grew my 6 wings and went into my more muscular form as my clothes were queued up. M.R. was surprised to see someone who looked so similar to the old queen yet so different. "The authority... you feel like the Old Queen but you aren't her..." I admitted that I had a mother named Shinki who created a new cosmos called Makai, and that she had a new race of demons more similar to humans and that she was much happier in general. Using magic and showing that it was true, M.R. was shocked to see that Shinki had a son. Looks like he was more interested in me now, he asked if Makai was basically Old Hell and what I do, I told him that Makai's denizens generally ruled themselves and Shinki just watched in happiness as her new cosmos was thriving, then I told him about my affairs on Earth, as a rich casino owner and only going to Makai to solve boredom and to "visit family." When the laundromat owner called his name, he stood up and asked for my name before he had to "attend to business." Being the professional that I am, I replied, "I'm Hoxton... or legally known as James Hoxworth." After getting my suit cleaned up, I got back into D.C., walking down the street during a full moon and perfected my spell to get onto The Moon... ✋︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☝︎⚐︎ ☟︎⚐︎💣︎☜︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ Gaining consciousness after being momentarily stunned, I saw the Lunar Capital around me, with their skyscrapers and their ancient Asian-styled architecture. I grew 6 wings, started flying in the air at high speeds, and began finding the Moon Palace. Trying my best not to crash into aircraft or other annoying obstructions, I dive bombed near the gate out of respect rather than just bypass it altogether. Hiding my wings and tidying up my suit. I was obviously stopped by the gate guards, who wanted to know why I was here. "Ah... you bloody wankers don't know why I'm here? Well I'm pretty sure she knows why I'm here. Oh Yorihime-chan, did you miss me~" "Hox-ton..? It's been so long..." We embraced each other and cried for a few minutes. After that, I walked across the Moon Palace again with Yorihime... good memories there. Back home. My mother would be proud to see her little boy grow up, wouldn't she? Something great will start tomorrow.
so i just spend a full 1 hour ride explaining this to my dad when he asked me about our country's president gutting of the "seguro popular" and thought it would be a good idea to tell you guys about this this is a topic i lived somewhat closely as i spend the past year in my medicine internship and lived through it and talked a lot with those who dealt with it first some context mexico healthcare history: call my country north argentina cause for better or - more often - worse we just cannot be a normal third world country like everyone else, and that includes our healthcare system(s) this country spent most of its history without any kind of national healthcare services: war, poverty, corruption and france zealous defense of their foreign soil bakeries being tough obstacles for such projects as constant warfare is not good for social welfare projects until a couple of interesting fellows appeared: a spanish baker who had organized his community into a collective support system to help each other with medical expenses thought that having some sort of healthcare from the goverment would be pretty rad and not communist at all as the opposition to the idea accused and his org grew up and gained the attention of a indigena born (more common term used in mexico by our first people) agriculture engineer who reedacted a project and presented it to important people (natives and inmigrants, small feather in liberalism cap) the mexicam institute for social security was approved in 1941 and started 2 years later or IMSS from now on as is best know https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instituto_Mexicano_del_Seguro_Social (note the cool logo of the eagle protecting the mother and child) IMSS is kind of a big deal as one of the biggest and strongest syndicates in latinamerica that provided workers with healthcare, nurseries, post retirement payments and other nice stuff. A heavily independent and sometimes isolated and nepotist public organization better understood as a health work28kers syndicate that negotiates its services with the federal goverment they received funding from federal, state and local goverment as well as another 2 sources of money: a small cut from workers salary and another payment from the employer based on a percentage of the salary this already has 3 clear problems: self employed people didnt automatically get opted in so bureocracy and policy illiteracy were barriers to access, employers didnt automatically opt and much more importantly, informal workers didnt have a way to access other than burdening the full cost of it without the cut normally paid by employers (more on all this later) in such a heavily informal economy only a rough 25 ish % of the nation got access to it and cause this country is weird public and goverment employes wanted their own (casino with blackjack and hookers) healthcare system all for them and they got it (ISSSTE), the mimitar forces wanted their own healthcare system and they got it (SEDENA healthcare) and while we are at it PEMEX (mexico state oil company), the syndicate of train workers amd others wanted their own fully independent (cartels) systems where these syndicates and their leaders could make money and keep power by controlling even more stuff from the workers hands or keep the "bases" aka the jobs for doctors, nurses, bureocrats etc warm for their family etc these 3 i capitalized (ISSTE, SEDENA AND PEMEX) and IMSS being the only ones that survived (thank fucking god) this improved coberture to a great... 33? % or somethingh around that, good enough for a 3 point shot in basketball but not for a universal right so the goverment and its department of health had to give somethingh, not universal care of course, but something to the other third of the population and they had to directly create and manage open hospitals and clinics for the rest of the population (SSA for secretaria de salud units) that often made ends meet by combinin the poor funding they got from goverment with small payments from the population so it was never really free as it should and often too limited leaving people with more expensive illness out of luck comes 2004 and a new party is in power after 70 years, vicente fox, and his cabinet create " seguro popular" a opt-in insurance created and funded by the goverment that basically works like a private insurance operated by the goverment somehwat loosely in the style of metlife, state farm or gecko and other such business https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/seguro-popular-most-affected-by-austerity/ (not the not as cool eagle lacking logo that gives you a hint of its poorer budget compared to IMSS and ISSTE, this service and the hospitals it worked with despite covering so much people still lacked quality compared to IMSS or ISSTE) the people who didnt have any of the other 4 insurance (IMSS, ISSSTE, SEDENA, PEMEX) were eligible to pay a small amount of money and the seguro popular paying the bigger part and get access to this new goverment backed org that negotiates with private hospitals, SSA clinics and hospital, IMSS etc this service was a success and got bigger and more complete over time, going from being somewhat limited at first (emergency care, prenatal healthcare, pregnancy, vaccination, basic pediatrics, basic surgery) to include thinghs like dental care, cancer treatments, nutritionists and psycology in their catalogue soon they had more than twice the people included that even IMSS did ( even if their "clients" were moderately less well provided than the employer backed systems). the poorer part of mexico uninsured population didnt need to fear medical bankruptcy (as much) amd a majority of the country had healthcare insurance! of different quality, flavor and ease of access (SEDENA, PEMEX and ISSTE workers away of cities had more distance to cover for medical services since their userbase were much smaller and hence had less units) cause mexico had to mexico. but it worked well enough with cheaper quotas to pay for the worker conpared to opting it for IMSS which is even more important since the informal workers are overall less wealthy than IMSS users too off topic: and sometimes workers whose employers illegally treat them with firing them if they ask for their legal right to IMSS access, this is ilegal but many employers in this country are fine with the risk for every hard earned day little of fucking up workers for some pesos more so the workers pay for seguro popular access i met and talked with a lot of these workers in my internship all in all the healthcare insurance systems all lived in harmony but this changed when the lopez obrador nation attacked amlo is, i am gonna be clear, a dude with a huge ego who needs to replace everythingh his hated enemies (past presidents who beat him in elections) with somthing related to him and the young seguro popular, only 15 years old, was a victim of child murder by our tropical messiah seguro popular (far from flawless) had to be smeared as much as possible to sell the replacement of it, what obrador called INSABI (national institute for health and wellbeing) to the population who used it amd the best way to go at it was by attacking it on not being a true free healthcare https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/amid-health-service-confusion-seguro-popular-workers-are-out-of-a-job/ (note the laid off employes worries too ) true, although as someone who did medical practice in a hospital that worked closely with seguro popular (to the point most people tought they owned the hospital rsther than just provide funding, drugs, equipment to use in their users) i can tell that it was cheap and people got it in the same day as they asked for it, surprising burocratic efficiency for this country and had a lotnof reinbursement systems for those who needed it all in all it was flawed and a imperfect solution to mexico imperfect hesltycare system biggest (huge) gap but it also was way better than AMLO said So what does our president do to replace it after announcing it would dissapear on january 1 of 2020? Literally Nothingh, and i mean this quite literally, he dissapeared it without any replacement ready, just like that. all its users went back to 2003 where the same hospitals and clinics are still open (remember seguro popular didnt run them) to everybody but the hospital needs you to pay for the services that before seguro popular covered to make ends meet https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/new-health-scheme-touts-free-universal-care/ (note how "fully free it actually is and how much false info amlo uses to promote it) now i know what may come to mind: so you pay without the intermediary? is not that better? no, because there is still 2 problems big and small ( and this long ass post is ending soon) even beyond the false publicity of this being free AMLO used to campaign small one first: the goverment in all its glorius populism promised " a real free healthcare" but they are not putting the money where their mouth is and hospitals need to make the budget work so they moved the goalposts to fully free for those worse off and small quotas for the rest (free for the really poor, the slighlty less really poor have to pay) and background checks (yes, really) of sorts to avoid "cheating the system" cost money too, hurra for unnecessary paperwork and burocracy now here is the real problem that double works as TLDR for this wall of text worthy of trump private fantasies they didnt reallocate the money that went to seguro popular and people who were on expensive treatments, had cancer or other complicated diseases, those who really needed this the most are the ones who will price to put a simple example there is literally kids with cancer dying right now whose parents need to find enough charity money for them to live now that seguro popular dissapeared since it covered their treatment and AMLO new replacement is coming any summer now (suure) i am gonna expand on this a bit to contextualize: i talked with the paedatrician that worked with seguro popular in december 23th, asked her what was gonna happen in january 1th and what exactly insabi was beside its name. "only AMLO maybe knows and that is a maybe". imagine trump announcing that obamacare is dead and will be replaced and 1 week before the desdlin to cease obamacare there were still not any details on what the replacement will be cause burning with fire everythingh previous (ENEMIES) fellow politician did is urgent, who cares if we dont have a replacemt ready (and want to pocket the money...) amd some kids womt have their lymphoma treatments in the meantime while we do that lets make sure we emphasize how healthcare access for this 65% of the population is now technically "free" (even if it ends up costing more and doesnt help those who need the healthcare the most) sorry for all the little jokes but i needed something to have fun writing this to avoid how depressive and infuriating it is typing it and breaking my phone midway . TLDR: mexican leftist trump strips healthcare from those who need it the most cause any leftover from previous goverments must BURN and they pocketed the money cause why not and took credit cause its technically free now (at cost of covering less and people dying cause this) thank you all who read this also one of the few english language sources i found that explain this well https://www.eluniversal.com.mx/english/mexicos-new-free-healthcare-institute-spreads-confusion?amp https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/new-health-scheme-touts-free-universal-care/ (note how "free" it actually is, i posted this link above but if you only came for the tldr this peovides the best short explanation )
The Game Designer is Dead. Long Live the Game Designer.
I've tried to make this argument multiple times when I was a struggling Game Designer, but it was always too emotional. Now that I've made the smart move and switched to becoming a Developer, and now that I can clearly and concretely see how fucked the game industry is, I'm going to give this one more crack. And I'm going to summarize my argument right off the bat. TL;DR: If you want to design games, design board games, because the modern video game industry haslittle to almost no needfor game designers. These days, game studios do not invest in training or hiring good game designers, or even if they did they won't be able to find any, because:
The video game industry has become incredibly capital intensive and therefore taking creative risks is no longer worth it. Aesthetics based monetization and the paradigm of Sofware-as-a-Service means that once you get ONE game, ANY game, to work, you only need to stick with it to print money forever, and you can usually just ripoff someone else's game design at that.
The smartphone/indie game boom and bust came and went, indie designers continue to struggle to survive, while "get rich quick" cash in mobile game companies are increasingly falling back on tried-and-true design patterns, while at the same time getting swallowed by, well, Tencent.
Our hypercapitalistic culture is pushing people away from celebrating artistic mediums, or the study of them as rigorous disciplines. These days, leading a triple-A game production is more akin to being a businessman than a creative.
Crowdfunding disasters, like Star Citizen, has seriously put the whole damn industry in doubt. It's now possible to run a game like a ponzi scheme. Think about that for a second. That's not even mentioning the glut of subpar competition created by app platforms like App Store, Steam Greenlight, and Google Play, which makes exceptional games almost impossible to stand out.
Let me elaborate on these points, but rest assured, you don't have to read these bits if you don't want to, just reread the TL;DR, that's all I'm really trying to say. Point the first: Team Fortress, Counterstrike, PUBG, Fortnite, League of Legends, DOTA. All of these games were initially inspired by free to play mods. But now they're non-stop money printing machines, and there seems to be no end in sight. There is a reason why Steam Corporation is never going to make Half-Life 3. Why should they? They have an effective monopoly over all computer game digital sales. Why take a risk on any video game, that might bomb, as the costs just keep going up? Even a bet as safe as HALF LIFE FUCKING THREE. As the years march on, video games are becoming more and more capital intensive. Not only are the increased expectations of tech constantly pushing the costs to the limit, thereby making investors risk-averse, but the fact that the safest bets ended up succeeding the most: take an established, already popular mod (DayZ King of the Kill), freshen it up so that the mechanics are just a little tighter (-> Playerunknown's Battlegrounds), then just tweak it even more so that the production values shine and the aesthetic appeals to as much of a mass market as possible (-> Fortnite). As case in point, take Star Wars 1313. Headed by Amy Hennig, of Uncharted fame. You've got one of the world's biggest IP (Star Wars), backed by the world's most powerful entertainment corporation bar none (Disney), a projected headed by a leader who has proven herself with multiple franchises (Uncharted, Legacy of Kain) by any metric of game production in the last few decades, this is a surefire win, right? Well, not in 2018, because as we all know, DAT SHIT DED: https://www.svg.com/117164/disney-wont-release-star-wars-1313/ Innovation is arguably BAD for this business model. Look at Fortnite. They tried to blaze a trail by combining minecraft style building mechanics with shooter mechanics. No one cared. For the longest time, Fortnite: Save the World looked like it was going to be an abject failure. It wasn't until they ripped off the all too popular Battle Royale format that they started seeing success. People only cared about Fortnite's gameplay innovations after they wholesale ripped off PUBG's successful foundation, to the point where PUBG tried to sue them. As a further point, just look at Riot Games' approach to League of Legends. In a bid to keep the game "fresh", they tried hiring all these hotshot designers, tried reworking all the systems, essentially made it an entirely different game every year. Unfortunately, it seems that it didn't work: League is hemorrhaging players who can't keep up with all the gameplay changes, and the next generation of gamers aren't drawn to MOBAs, which was so early 2000s, but rather... Battle Royale games. Riot is more than likely working on a secret project now, even though in the last few years the purported goal was to make League of Legends a "multi-generational game", because for sure ALL MOBA games are bleeding players now... except maybe Dota 2, because it's changed the least so that the players who stuck with it don't feel like they have to start over. You get rewarded more for doing less work!! And just think. Does the BR genre feel "fresh"? Does it feel like there's innovation happening in it? Even a simple change, like when Fortnite removed the ability to reactivate your glider, was met with so much backlash (even though objectively leaving it in makes a lot of the game's early positioning tactics kind of meaningless) that they had to reintroduce it as "Soaring 50's vs. 50's". Let's just look at the AAA games of this generation that we all love. Witcher 3, Bloodborne, God of War. All games that built heavily on the tried-and-true (*cough* Dark Souls *cough*) and even the current darling, Spiderman, we can all say is just an HD-remaster-on-steroids of the original Spider-man 2 for PS 2 (fitting that the best movie of the Raimi trilogy would coincide with the best iteration of the game), and even the combat is inspired from Arkham Asylum. As Uncle Ben would say... "With Great Production Values, comes Great Risk Aversion." Point the second: Indie mobile designers usually thrive these days by going for extremely niche minimalist "microgames" (like 2047, Flappy Bird, Temple Run, etc.) which almost always get hit with tons of copycats (due to the insanely low barrier of entry), while Indie PC designers are forced to scrape by with microcommunities. There were a few successes initially, when it seemed like it was going to be an indie videogame renaissance. But we now know that isn't true. The market consolidated a few winners (Supercell's Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, GungHo online's Puzzles and Dragons, Niantic's Pokemon: Go, that last one can hardly even be considered a winner anymore) while almost everything else falls by the wayside, buried in the deluge of productivity apps, photo filter apps and geolocation tracker running apps. And even worse, the winners have seen even further consolidation. Tencent now completely owns Riot Games and Supercell, and has majority stakes in Epic Games and Bluehole Games (South Korean creator of PUBG). Just take a second and think about that. League of Legends, Fortnite, PUBG, Clash Royale and Clash of Clans... probably five of the most overwhelmingly popular games in the world. Wanna know what happened after Tencent acquired all these hot properties? They post their first losses ever because China won't let them sell PUBG in China: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-15/tencent-posts-a-surprise-profit-drop-as-regulators-hobble-games Point the Third: While Indie PC games like NEO Scavenger, Undertale, Darkest Dungeon and Underrail are fantastic games with an immense amount of depth, the sales can barely keep one or two people employed considering that even lo-fi indie games takes YEARS to make, often one dude slaving away for 10+ hour days on end. The initial surge of Indie success has come and gone: just watch the doc "Indie Game: The Movie". Perhaps the biggest winner in this entire sector was Stardew Valley by Eric Barone... that's ONE GUY, making ONE GAME, entirely on his own, and guess what? It might as well have been a Harvest Moon port. To be a "game designer" with any sense of creative control over your product (instead of the corporate style "design by committee" formula) you must also: run your own business, be your own PR manager, be your own marketing expert, be your own artist, be your own coder (Dan Fedor was a technical artist and made lots of the pixel art and coded almost all of the game by himself, Dejan Radisic practically built the entire Underrail alpha with his own two hands, Eric Barone made all the art and did all the code for Stardew Valley). Game Designer is now a secondary title, either everyone on the team has some semblance of Game Design understanding, or no one does (replaced by UX designers, monetisation experts, project managers), because any self-styled "game designer" will have to build the game he designs by himself, ain't no company giving you a job just to crank out a GDD (game design document) if you can't contribute to the project in some other way as well. It is no longer considered a serious job title. You are DevelopeGame Designer, or Artist/Game Designer, or Project ManageGame Designer. There is no "Game Designer". Most of the time, you might as well just leave out the "/Game Designer" bit. I suppose exceptions to the rule exist, but they are more than likely older designers, brought up in the much more creatively inspired industry of the 90s, and maybe had to work brutal hours under a AAA studio as a QA for a decade before they were properly brought up into the "design team". Not only is corporate culture loathe to celebrate the auteur (which is logical since out sized individual influence for any employee other than the CEO, who is beholden to a faceless group of shareholders anyway, is the antithesis of how corporations work) but even successful game designers are expected to take on roles than have nothing to do with game design: project manager, team leader, public relations expert, tech evangelist. Concrete examples: Hideo Kojima's treatment by Konami, or say, Cliff Blezinski's career trajectory, which has clearly gone from "rockstar game designer" to "elite businessman who sells Unreal Engine". These days, people want to be Elon Musk instead of Steven Spielberg. And at least, with film, you're talking about a much more easily made product with a LOT of rigorous academic discipline behind it. Who gets more respect... Steven Spielberg, or Sid Meier? Is Sid Meier even a game designer anymore, or just a brand name and a businessman who owns Firaxis Games? One good metaphor, I think, is that of the rap mogul. Are Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, and 50 Cent known more for their music these days? ...or their businesses? (Tidal, Beats, Vitamin Water) These are the three biggest fortunes in the rap game, and all three of them stem from business decisions. Just like how it is in the rap game, business acumen has become more critical to making video games than creativity, at this point. Point the fourth: ...even unscrupulous "business" acumen, and nowhere can this be seen more clearly that Scam... I mean Star Citizen. I'm not even going to get into Star Citizen, because the facts speak for themselves. Any project that is going well shouldn't need to ask its massive crowdfunding (not even customer, because the product hasn't even been fucking finished!) community to shell out $27,000 (only after you've shelled out the roughly $1,000 to even get access to this "deal" in the first place) for "every ship in the game", most of which exist only in the minds of artists and designers. Right along with the "Indie game boom" was the "Crowdfunding boom". You look at, say, Double Fine Entertainment, and it becomes clear that my last point, that you need business acumen more than you need creativity these days when making games, is best exemplified by Tim Schafer. Taking an underdog studio that made critically acclaimed but underperforming hits into the darling of the Indie/Crowdfunding nexus... and then using that same blessing to bring his company back into the graces of the publishers... is probably the most brilliant yet circumlocutory path to video game studio success ever seen. Not only were some of the crowdfunded games panned (like the long awaited "Broken Age") but many of the games that Double Fine went ahead and made with their newfound capital were small, experimental games that essentially helped the company paddle leisurely along, making games that were fun for them to make, as their fans continued to give them money before an actual product, until they scored a publishing deal for Psychonauts 2, which, let's be real, was what we all wanted all along. And how innovative do we expect Psychonauts to be, really? Do we really expect weird ass mechanics like in Stacking? ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacking_(video_game)) ) Of course not, because that would be sacrilege. So let me ask you. If you really think you do care about innovation in videogames. Did you give a shit about Stacking? Did you play it? Or did it feel like a gimmick? Do we really want innovation in our video games, or are we just looking for the Man to make a better Skinner Box? Because if we just keep playing Battle Royale games so we can accrue enough soft currency to buy that next sweet hat instead of diversifying our video game tastes (and thereby putting money in the hands of creative innovators) it really seems like the latter option - the Skinner Box - is what we really want. These days, if you want a specific type of game that isn't popular, it's going to have to be crowdfunded. I'll take one example that's near and dear to me: Pillars of Eternity. I loved tactical isometric RPGs. When I heard PoE was going to be crowdfunded, I was so excited. But, when the product finally came out, it sucked. Why? Returning to point the first: games are just becoming so capital intensive that crowdfunding isn't a guarantor of quality. Moreover, crowdfunding leaves the producer beholden to the fans, leading to shit decisions, like all the lame Mary-Sues, oh I'm sorry "backer characters", strewn about in PoE, with a litany of Fifty Shades of Grey cringe-level fanfiction writing to show you should you be stupid enough to try a talk interaction with them. More often than not, crowdfunding has absurd stretch goals that perpetually leave the team spread out to thin, no matter how much money is raised, even for features that do not serve the game at all as a whole but just sound cool on their own, like the stupid, stupid, stupid fucking levels of Od Nua. And even worse, crowdfunding fundamentally sustains itself on hype. When the hype dies down, what happens? Guess what? Banner Saga 2 bombed hard af. No one bought it. Guess what? Pillars of Eternity: The White March DLCs, although it is commonly agreed by the PoE community to be the expansion that "fixed" the game's combat (after years, with the 3.0 revamp)... did not even break even on sales. Obsidian Entertainment lost money on The White March. Guess what? X-Com 2 underperformed just as badly as these two, and Firaxis barely recovered by releasing the expansion, which made it a very, very different game. There are probably a lot more examples, but I don't want to hunt them down because... that's depressing. Because we all know what happened. The first crowdfunding surge probably brought in a lot of people who were into it because of nostalgia, only for the limitations of crowdfunding to reveal itself, leaving everyone disinterested... and before you know it, everyone has moved on to a Battle Royale game of choice. Conclusion: The truth is, game design is just about hijacking human consciousness. It's about getting people to be addicted to the a behavioral loop. There's nothing glorious, or creative, about it when you scale that up to the corporate level, because all you really need to design is that one lever, that core game loop, that you can pull again, and again, and again, and oftentimes it's just way easier to lift that design from someone else than build it yourself from scratch. Ten thousand games of Fortnite would never have the meaning that a single viewing of The Godfather part II could hold. Fifty million games of Fortnite could not compare to Moby Dick. And even the most emotionally devastating and meaningfully masterful games of the 21st century, like The Last of Us, owes more to narrative design, storytelling, film design, character design than it does to game design. Viewed from the lens of pure game design: Last of Us is just another survival/stealth action shooter, except with an escort objective that cannot actually be killed. If you want truly mindbending, creative, and innovative game mechanics, look to board games. And in fact, it can't be a coincidence that these days we're seeing a resurgence of analog board games. People are sick of the "design-by-committee" philosophy that has completely eaten the videogame industry alive. TL;DR: If you want to design games, design board games, because the modern video game industry haslittle to almost no needfor game designers. The Game Designer is dead. Long live the Game Designer. EDIT: P.S, one last data point. Guess what the biggest growing segment in mobile gaming is? It's online gambling/casino games. Like I said, it is easier to lift game design from somewhere else now than to invent it wholesale.
The Swimsuit Master Swordswoman has arrived! ...I ended up saying it, huh~!
Battle Start 2
The bodyguard is here! I'll play around as I beat them until I'm satisfied!
Skill 1
The texture is different, you know, the texture!
Skill 2
Nn~ I'm restored to life~
Skill 3
Toy swords are just fine! Let's go all out!
Skill 4
The Summer force of the Niten Ichi-Ryuu, is it.
Command Card Select 1
I'm quite merry!
Command Card Select 2
Let's do it.
Command Card Select 3
I'll strick with the back of my sword!
Noble Phantasm Select 1
Let me show you the inexhaustible arts of war!
Noble Phantasm Select 2
Mu. Let's sparkle heartily!
Attack 1
Sei! Tooh!
Attack 2
Whirlwind, Spiral GO!
Attack 3
Vacuum Blast!
Attack 4
Three Strike Kuzushi![1]
Attack 5
Hiii, fuuuu, DOOOON!
Attack 6
At ease in both advantage and adversity!
Extra Attack 1
Come, let us go to the island of the decisive battle!
Extra Attack 2
Alright, let's ride, shall we!
Noble Phantasm 1
The sea shall be parted by the force of my swords! A striped curtain like a watchtower, the dainyuudou[2] makes its entrance! Come, I have undertaken the duty of Demon Sword breaking!
Noble Phantasm 2
The cool master swordswoman has started! Phew! Yay! This is a water-soaked battle formation! The watery divine figure of Ishanaa~!!
Damaged by Noble Phantasm
A summer storm, isn't it...
Damage
Tch.
Defeat 1
Did I spend too much of my traveling expenses on equipment...
Defeat 2
I'm a Berserker so I don't find this frustrating at a~ll.
Victory 1
Aquatic combat is no problem either! The Niten Ichi-Ryuu can fight anywhere, after all!
Victory 2
The sunlight of tanned skin, skin dripping with water droplets and cute boys! Mmm~! Summer's the best!
Level up
Alri~ght, level u~p! Leave it to me, my swordsmanship has always been better than my other skills!
Bond Level 1
Nice, nice, seems like I’ve gotten used to my Berserker self too. ...Eh? Why am I not a Saber? That, you see, must be the guidance of the Buddha or just troubles as usual. It would make me happy if you’d just ignore it as much as you can.
Bond Level 2
Speaking of which, can Master swim? It’s not really your strong point? You’re just average? Yay! In that case, I’ll teach you attentively! It’s a side benefit, a side benefit.
Bond Level 3
When I got lost in the West a while ago, I competed ruthlessly with the gunmen. Since that time, “Ah, firearms are fun too” is what I’ve been thinking. The one who masters every martial art, even the weapons of the West, that’s who Musashi is!
Bond Level 4
Meeting with Master in such a resort spot, frolicking in a swimsuit, fooling around with everyone... Fufu, it’s fun, but it’s a bit that. It’s making me feel all delicate which is out of character for me.
Bond Level 5 (Male Protagonist)
When I was thrown out into this wasteland, I had no idea what would happen, but thanks to it I got to meet you again and I could also go on a fun Summer adventure. A grin somehow crept onto my face. To think I still had such good luck left; while the destiny female Musashi’s headed for has already been decided, that is a completely separate matter. Right now, I’m just someone who is grateful for this chance the great Buddha has granted me and is getting along with Master-kun as they visit casinos.
Bond 5 (Female Protagonist)
When I was thrown out into this wasteland, I had no idea what would happen, but thanks to it I got to meet you again and I could also go on a fun Summer adventure. A grin somehow crept onto my face. To think I still had such good luck left; while the destiny female Musashi’s headed for has already been decided, that is a completely separate matter. Right now, we’re just fellow girls off to enjoy some tasty hamburgers.
Dialogue 1
The weather’s excellent so let’s go for a swim. My jet ski is amazing, you know.
Dialogue 2
No matter where I may be, I’m always frivolous, but once I’ve formed a contract, I’ll properly keep it. Until you run out of money and we’re no longer getting along, that is.
Dialogue 3
Ugh, could I elaborate on my relationship with Master? ...Well, it’s Summer, after all. You can't really say I don't have any expectations, y'know. Look, I’m a Berserker now. It’s not like I live solely for the path of the sword.
Dialogue 4
Even the samurai chief of the Minamoto clan has put on a swimsuit!? S-super elegant, isn’t she. She’s hiding her face really firmly...though her other parts are completely out in the open. Even though they’re sticking out way too much! (If you have Minamoto no Raikou (Lancer))
Dialogue 5
Yep, alright, so Osakabehime’s come out too. Also, that airsoft thing is a nice hobby. You made friends you can play games with, right. ...Eh? You play alone? The other players are shikigami? ...I-I see. If you’re fine with it, I could play with you. (If you have Osakabehime (Archer))
Dialogue 6
It would be nice if Inshun-dono got a swimsuit too~. I want to see a monk wearing a loincloth~ (If you have Houzouin Inshun)
Dialogue 7
This Noble Phantasm is something I devised once during my lifetime to win against that genius swordsman. "Ah, I can’t win against this guy in a frontal attack. It‘s a pain so let’s lure him to the middle of the island and blew him up along with the island!" And so, for me who gains victories by employing fair and square tactics, this is a black history, indeed... I wonder why I am reminded of this story when I see your face, Kojirou-dono... (If you have Sasaki Kojirou)
Dialogue 8
Kuuh! To think you’d be a bunny girl despite being a queen! That’s right, it’s Las Vegas, after all. You have to go at least that far. How regrettable! I lost in mentality...! (If you have Artoria Pendragon (Ruler))
Likes
What I like is sports chanbara![2] It’s really fun~! I get to try my hand at a bunch of things. While this time’s Musashi-made weapon is boorish as well, it’s been growing on me, I guess.
Dislikes
What I dislike is a self who doesn’t play around. Mastering the way of the sword is just par for the course, but spare me from having a mental state devoid of playfulness.
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail’s just a cauldron made of gold. When your hunger’s at its peak, is there a reason not to use it? There isn’t. ...Like, it wouldn’t be that odd to use the Holy Grail to boil udon while you’re delusional from hunger, Master.
Event
There's an event underway! Let's go, Master! Now that I'm feeling the exhilaration of being reckless, my Noble Phantasm shall split those swarming enemies in two~!
Birthday
Summoning
Hooray! Berserker, Musashi Miyamoto, has been summoned! Still, finally, my swimsuit has made its debut too... Fufu, to tell you the truth, I've been interested in this for a while so I find this very lucky! Take care of me on this adventure of a single Summer, Master!
The reflection of the sun, the sprays of water bursting forth, cute girls! Nnn~! I love swimsuits!
Ascension 1
Ta-dah! How is it, how is it? This western swordsman style! I've turned my weapons handgun-like so with this I've also become a splendid gunman! Do you think they could also make rattling sounds as the magazine spins, instead of them clattering when they hit against the mouth of the sheath?
Ascension 2
I was in the middle of making a new weapon so... Sorry? We'll have to leave the fun of changing clothes for the next time.
The Great Cascading Folding Screen of Water and Sky! Demonic Swords, Sword Saints, they are nothing to be afraid of! This is Musashi's battle! Such an excellent woman who's even dripping with water!
Damaged by Noble Phantasm
My...Not yet!
Damage
Guuh...!
Defeat 1
So~rry~! I got beaten~!
Defeat 2
It was a short-lived vacation, wasn't it...
Ascension 3
And so, I made a Japanese-style swimsuit. With this, I can call myself a swimsuit master swordsman with confidence! ...Eh? It's Japanese-style, but the degree of exposure increased? We-well, it was a rare opportunity so I thought this much flashiness would be fine...Ahaha. Ah, that's right! Fairy! This is a fairy-like swimsuit or something...
Ascension 4
Sigh... We've come this far, huh... Thank you, Master. I'm a Berserker, but thanks to you, I could reach this state again. ...Yeah. I don't know how far this female Musashi can accompany you, but until this bond of ours is severed, I'll become a reliable big sister!
[1] Kuzushi is a Japanese term for unbalancing an opponent in the martial arts. The noun comes from the intransitive verb, kuzusu, meaning to level, pull down, or demolish. As such, it refers to not just an unbalancing, but the process of getting an opponent into a position where his stability, and hence ability to regain uncompromised balance, is destroyed. (<-- Stolen from wicurio) [2] I don't know why Musashi's pronouncing this as dainyuudou, but I assume she's talking about an oonyuudou. [3] I've never heard of this thing, but apparently, it's a pretty popular sport in Japan. You could try reading this article if you want to know more. [4] Usually referred to as Batou-Kannon ("馬頭観音", lit. Horse-head Kannon) in Japanese, though 馬頭 can also be read as "Mezu". Here's the link to his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayagriva_(Buddhism) ...Please, never pretend to be an American again, Musashi. Such high exposure to cringe is hard to survive.
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