Lets just look at the offensive holding, because the NFL stopped enforcing offensive holding. In case you don't want to click that, it says year-over-year, there was a 78% drop in offensive holding calls (week 1 2019 to week 1 2020). The probability of this being "random" is on the order of 1 / 1,000,000,000,000 (see math at bottom if you don't believe me). So it wasn't just the refs being rusty.
As far as I know, there was no change to the rules (which requires owners to vote and sign off, and gives time and foresight to adapt), just some decision to not enforce rules. Changing the rules would be changing the rules, that's aboveboard. Just not enforcing them? That's how you systematically skew games after teams have made their hands known; it'd be like changing the value of poker hands after everyone flips their cards over. If you change the value before, people play differently, the game continues honorably and fairly. Change it after? Clearly putting a huge thumb on a scale.
If we had federal gambling regulation, I couldn't see how they would find almost anything more relevant in the US at this point. Hundreds of millions of dollars in sports betting, with the odds being changed at the NFL's behest with no warning to fit their preferred outcome.
Honestly I don't know why more people aren't pissed about this. How do you play a fucking strategy game when the rules are randomly enforced? Imagine playing competitive Starcraft or something except sometimes some units can ignore terrain, but it isn't decided until the game is already ten minutes in. How do you play Counter Strike except today the AK has auto-aim but not until after halftime and nobody tells you? As a lover of the game I hate this so much. Its like if Valve came out and said after the first week of a CS league that "this week we let 78% of aimbots go unpunished". How is that ok?
For some numbers:
This year there were 18 offensive holding penalties week1. That is a 78% drop from last year, where there were 82 offensive holding penalties in week1. AFAIK the rules did not change related to this penalty (please correct me if I am wrong).
A standard error measurement for 82 events is sqrt(82) = 9.05 ~ 9.
(82 - 18) / 9 = 7.11 ~ 7 standard deviations.
The probability of a random set of events (random being normal human capabilities to call the penalties, no underlying model/rule changes) being outside 7 standard deviations is 0.999999999997, corresponding to about 3 in a trillion. That means that it looks like it is a 3 in a trillion chance that this was within random human error and not a concerted change in behavior.
If it was like 2 sigma (95% chance), I would be disturbed but it could happen. This is 7 sigma. This is not random referee error. This is a change in the underlying behavior, and without an actual rule change, that's some fat fucking garbage.
Its like going for a drive on a given day under the understanding that people aren't allowed to shoot at you on the road. But actually, 78% of them are that day, and nobody told you. Would you maybe consider not going for a drive? I bet that's how teams would have reacted in terms of drafting DLs over OLs or corners, if they had known ahead of time.
tl;dr: why is this ok? Why are people fine with saying "refs make mistakes, its part of the game, git gud"? Why is it even allowed, when games are legally allowed to be gambled upon? I just don't get it.
For the record, I am totally cool and on board with changing the rules to reduce the number of penalties, however that changes the actual game. I am not on board with arbitrary enforcement of the rules after all the teams have made their strategic personnel choices for the year.

The Last Precursor is an HFY-exclusive web-serial which focuses on the exploits of the last living human amidst a galaxy of unknown aliens. With his species all but extinct and now only known as the ancient Precursors, how will Admiral José Rodriguez survive in this hostile universe? Make sure to read the earlier chapters first if you missed them!
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Previous Part
Part 001
.......................................
Salt and Pepper zip through the underground catacombs toward the source of the 'bomb' detonation they detected moments before. Due to the pitch-blackness surrounding them, these two Shades move at unbelievable speeds, crossing five miles of total darkness in the blink of an eye. They stop a few hundred feet away from a tremendous pile of collapsed rubble and pause to examine the scene.
The cave roof appears sunken in, as if something had crashed through the entire mountain down to these lower levels, more than half a mile below sea level. Where there should be a hole leading to the surface, the mountain has instead collapsed in on itself, blockading the roof with tens of thousands of tons of solidly packed dirt and stone. A cloud of dust hangs in the air, recently stirred up by whatever strange object forced its way into the underground caverns. The two Shades creep a little closer, their expressions turning to bewilderment. Before them, a giant metal cylinder sits embedded several feet in the ground, with only a couple of feet of its upper portion sticking out of the cave floor. A vibrating noise hums in the air, as if a beast were slumbering within the planet's bowels.
"What the devil is that?" Pepper asks. "Did it fall from the sky?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Salt retorts. "How could anything dig through the mountain so quickly? We would have noticed within seconds! The explosion was nearly instantaneous! I bet that tricky human somehow planted this weird... this weird thing here earlier."
"But... but we watched him the whole time," Pepper says skeptically, her confusion only increasing further. "How could we have missed something that big?"
"Dunno. Master says the fleshbags are tricky. We have to watch out for them. They nearly wiped out our entire species, after all."
"Mmm. True that. Hey, do you hear something?"
Suddenly and without warning, the circular metal object's 'lid' erupts outward, blasting off the cylinder's top. It flies backward, strikes the ceiling, and embeds half a foot into the stone roof, vibrating for a moment afterward.
Then, a gigantic, unthinkably huge metal 'hand' emerges from the canister. Both Shades go on the alert, gazing with wide-eyed fascination, and a tinge of horror, as a metal 'monster' begins to climb out of its metallic embryo.
Salt shrinks back, her eyes wide with shock, as the bipedal machine escapes its containment unit, revealing a shiny, silver body hidden within the darkness. Thanks to her incredible vision and perception, she can easily see every inch of its thick, powerful frame. Two gigantic railgun cannons rest upon the metal monster's shoulders. Its gauntlets appear powerful enough to effortlessly crush stone into dust, while its single glowing-red eye focuses on them, a tiny laser observing their movements. Having never seen such a terrifying giant, Salt can only begin to imagine what sort of terrifying beast must have spawned this behemoth.
"That thing must be six meters tall!" Pepper gasps. "What is it?!"
"M-Master... I think he mentioned these once..." Salt whispers. "It's... it's a human weapon. A killing machine!"
At that moment, one hundred and fifty front-facing lights activate on the robot's body, blasting out tens of thousands of lumens worth of solar energy. The entire cavern system for a mile behind the Shades becomes as bright as if a star had ignited within the underground depths.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!"
"IT BURNS! NOOOOO!!!"
Salt and Pepper scream in horror, their voices echoing into the distance with the volume of a thousand melting witches. Both Shades mindlessly leap backward, their bodies decomposing at terrifying rates. Unable to withstand the horrific bombardment of light upon their shadowy forms, they retreat as fast as possible, but only make it five steps before their bodies explode into smoke. A second later, they reform and fall to the ground, their limbs continuously melting due to the corrosive solar energy ripping them apart at the atomic level.
Thrice, the Shades explode, reform, and fall to the floor.
After the third time, they release high-pitched shrieks, their dying screams mirroring the agony within their souls. Then, they disappear for the rest of eternity, consumed by the all-encompassing light engulfing them.
...
Soren Mudrose, Chief Tactical Officer aboard the Bloodbearer, merely stands and watches for a moment as the Shades perish. Their deaths happen within the span of several seconds, giving her just enough time to witness their fall.
"Do not become complacent, Officer Mudrose," The synthmind, Umi, says. "Due to the imminent threat to the Admiral's life, you have not been able to properly learn to control the Titan-class Battlesuit. For now, I will initiate Automated Assault Mode. Your task is to guide the Battlesuit to the Admiral's location. Leave the combat to me."
"I understand," Soren says, taking a deep breath. "I'm not much for fighting... so I'll go with that. Let's move!"
Like an Olympic swimmer diving into a pool, Soren charges forward, her movement inside the giant, clunky, and seemingly unwieldy Titan-class Battlesuit quickly becoming smoother every second.
Boom-boom-boom!
The ten-ton Battlesuit smashes its feet against the floor as she stomps forward, rapidly increasing her running speed from five miles per hour to more than thirty.
"Officer Soren," Umi says, her computerized voice speaking within the Battlesuit's cockpit. "You must move with haste. The Admiral's vital signs have ceased, but his body has begun to move. I suspect the demonic entities intend to capture him and drag him further into their underground lair. You must bring him back in as little time as possible."
"I understand!" Soren answers. "Don't worry. I will not let the Admiral down!"
Despite running at insane speeds far beyond what her body could ever pull off, compared to the Shades within the world of darkness, Soren's movement is as slow as a turtle's. She travels toward the Admiral's blinking vital signs, which appear as a red dot superimposed over the Titan's holographic imaging interface.
"Seven hundred meters to the Admiral's current location," Umi says. "I am detecting multiple Giant-class demonic entities, as well as several hundred Hunter-class enemies. Threat rating: 0.01."
"Giant-class entities?" Soren repeats. "Like Trolls? The ones I fought in the simulation?"
"Affirmative. However, you have nothing to worry about. Inside a Titan-class Battlesuit, it is all but impossible for biological entities to injure you. Only Duke and Emperor-class demons will pose a threat, and only if they catch you off-guard. Should a Battlesuit utilize Automated Assault Mode, it will only perform with a 5% combat efficiency when compared to the control of a seasoned and veteran pilot. This loss of efficiency is unavoidable, but it will still prove more than adequate for dealing with low-level demonic entities."
...
Not far away, at Admiral Rodriguez's body.
A dozen Shades linger near the fallen Terran, having been told to stay behind with the human, just in case anything happens. All of them grumble and moan, complaining as loudly as possible about their bad luck.
"This stinks!"
"I wanted to watch Master break and train that little hussy. Now I'm stuck here, babysitting a dead man."
"Maybe we should mess with the orcs. That's always good for a laugh!"
"Oh, shut up, Prankster. Only babies like that stuff."
"Nuh-uh!"
"Uh-huh!"
Several of the Shades argue among each other as they trail behind a pair of orcs. The two monsters hold the human by his arms and legs to roughly carry him through the underground catacombs. José hangs limp in their grasp, his entire body unmoving and unable to sense the world around him. Countless nanites swim throughout his bloodstream, their movements slowing more and more every minute due to his unmoving hearts.
Without a doubt, the Terran has perished.
Unfortunately, none of the monsters or Shades recognize this simple fact. They continue traveling deeper into the underground levels, dragging the Terran's corpse along to some awful, distant torture chamber.
As they do, a few of the goblins at the front perk their pointy ears up. They swivel their heads toward a main passage up ahead, where a faint trickle of light begins to slowly expand and brighten that particular exit. In the distance, a sound greets their ears.
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
The sound of something heavy smashing the ground at regular intervals makes them hesitate.
The lead goblin frowns. "What that noise?"
"Dunno," his nearest companion replies. "It sound really angry though!"
One of the Shades flickers toward the front. Her expression darkens. "I can't sense Salt and Pepper! Where did they go? Ah! Don't tell me... don't tell me they died?!"
A second Shade jumps in alarm. "No way! How can that be? Those two are always so cautious!"
Within seconds, the distant light becomes brighter than ever. The unmistakable sounds of titanic footsteps makes all of the Shades turn to one another in a panic. Not knowing what the hell is coming, the duly appointed leader barks an order. "Y-you, orcs! Gobbys! Take the trolls and find out what's making all that noise. Hurry!"
The four remaining thirty-foot-tall trolls stare dully as their miniature companions zip between their legs and follow the head Shade's orders. By the time the Trolls start moving, the light up ahead has become astoundingly bright, while the heavy footsteps grow ever more frightening and oppressive.
All at once, a metal giant rounds the corner, its 150 unthinkably bright headlamps blasting down the corridors. The Shades scream in pain and retreat as quickly as possible, while the charging goblins and orcs screech to a halt and shield their eyes. Despite how the light doesn't injure their bodies like it does the Shades, it's still bright enough to blind them and destroy their retinas.
"Aaargh! Big sun underground! Where come from?!"
The oncoming robotic warrior doesn't slow down. Soren Mudrose charges at full speed like a stampeding bull. She smashes through the frontlines, stomping anyone in her path into patches of bloody mulch, while swinging the Battlesuit's arms from side to side. Each swing shatters spines, crushes skulls, and sends the helpless orcs and goblins flying, their comparatively tiny bodies about as threatening to the Titan-class Battlesuit as a toothpick to a T-Rex.
The Trolls, still lagging behind the orcs and goblins, don't suffer nearly as badly. Perhaps thanks to their tiny pea-brains, they somehow ignore the pain in their eyes to charge at Soren's oncoming form. They raise their fists high and swing down, intending to crush the Battlesuit into spare parts. Given how its size is only 2/3rd's the height of the Trolls, their victory seems inevitable.
However, before the Trolls can land their crushing blows, the two automated railguns mounted atop the Titan's shoulders swivel toward the fleshy giants.
Thoomph! Thoomph!
With two simultaneous shots, a power unlike anything seen in the galactic community for one hundred millions years blasts out of the turrets' barrels. The two nearest Trolls detonate like bombs as two miniature shells rip through their bodies at 5% the speed of light. Their ribs explode backward in horrific showers of gore, splattering their companions behind them. The railgun shell tears into the mountainside and causes a localized earthquake, sending shockwaves in all directions. The deafening concussive blasts blow out the eardrums of the remaining two Trolls, making them stumble in pain while howling soundlessly.
By the time the two remaining Trolls manage to open their eyes, all they see is a stupendously blinding light flying at their faces. Soren raises two fists and smashes the Trolls' skulls, killing them before they have a chance to react.
Within ten seconds of her arrival, Soren murders every monster in the area, leaving lakes of blood and gore in her wake.
"Haah... haaah...." Soren gasps, her adrenaline pumping like crazy. "Did... did I do that?! This suit is incredible!"
"Now is not the time for self-congratulations!" Umi says, her tone authoritative. "The Admiral's body rests only seventy meters from your position. Fetch him as quickly as possible and return to the shuttle."
Soren nods. She starts to walk toward the Admiral's 'blip,' only to pause. "Wait, what about Megla? I have to rescue my sister and the Kessu too!"
"Negative," Umi replies. "Admiral Rodriguez is your top priority. You must bring the last Terran to the Bloodbearer at once. He is the last of his species. If he perishes, there will be no others. However, there are still countless Kraktol and Kessu elsewhere in the galaxy."
Soren continues walking toward the Admiral, but her ecstasy from killing all of the monsters disappears, replaced instead with a mixture of horror and outrage. "How could you say that?! Megla is my sister! I will not leave her behind, synthmind!"
"You will follow my orders," Umi replies. The synthmind's tone becomes noticeably colder than before. "The Admiral's survival is my top priority. The sooner you bring him back-"
"I'll bring the Admiral back as soon as possible!" Soren shouts, fury building in her chest. "But I will also rescue my sister and the Kessu first! Don't you dare try to stop me!"
"Officer Mudrose. Your conduct is unbecoming-"
"Shut up!" Soren shouts, her voice becoming increasingly venomous. She slows to a stop beside the Admiral's unmoving body and grits her teeth. "Not another damned word! If you think I don't know how critical the Admiral's condition is, you've got another thing coming! Now, how can I bring him along with me safely? I'm liable to crush him to death if I'm not careful."
Umi falls silent for several seconds, as if calculating a response. When she does reply, her tone is noticeably more curt than before.
"Before you entered the Titan-class Battlesuit, you also obtained numerous auxiliary attachments. One of those is the Temporary Medical Stasis Device. The TMSD will envelop the Admiral in a protective force-field. Place him inside and it will temporarily preserve his vitals as they are now. However, this effect will only last for thirty minutes."
One of the magnetically attached devices on Soren's Battlesuit glows with a golden hue thanks to her HUD. She grabs the circular object, activates it with a command, and places it on the Admiral's chest. A faint blue film rapidly envelops the Terran's body, sealing him in its protective embrace. Moments later, he levitates into the air, and an invisible 'chain' of energy connects him to the Battlesuit's torso.
"Once again," Umi says, "I must demand that you return to the Bloodbearer at once. The Admiral's life is incomparably valuable. If he perishes, it will mean the extinction of his entire species."
Soren hesitates.
"...You think I don't know that? If I could, I would! No matter what, I'm not going to leave my sister down here! End of discussion."
Soren starts stomping in the direction of Megla and the Kessu, following the general direction of their vital signs. As she does, Umi beeps with disappointment.
"Originally, I calculated that you would be an officer who prioritized logic over petty emotions."
"I never expected myself to act this way either," Soren retorts. "But now that I've made the choice, I'll never regret it. Logic is irrelevant once my family's safety is at stake!"
"...In that regard, I suppose Admiral Rodriguez would commend you. By all accounts, were your roles switched, I am 100% certain he would make the same choice."
Soren snorts. "Good. That's the nicest thing you've said all day."
.......................................
A few miles away, inside the tucked-away Kessu cave.
Megla hovers over little Lele's shoulder, wringing her claws together. "Come on, hurry up! What's taking you so long?"
Lele, still disassembling Megla's rifle into a new device, releases a long meow of annoyance. "Mraaaaw! Every time you ask, you slow me down, scale-face! Just be quiet and let me focus, jeez!"
The yellow-scaled Kraktol flicks her eyes around the room. Already, her eyes seem to be playing tricks on her, as the flickering shadows appear to slowly move around, bit by bit. Like pitch-black lava lamps, dozens of 'shadow globs' slowly float across the ceiling, making Megla feel extremely uneasy.
I swear to the galaxies, it feels like a bunch of creepy monsters are looking at me! Are those the Shades that little furball mentioned? Augh! If this brat is trying to prank me, I'll shave her fur and dunk her in a bath!
Megla listens intently, but no matter how she strains, she doesn't hear the sounds of combat outside. Her nerves tighten more and more every second.
Is the Admiral okay? Maybe he escaped! Yeah. He'll leave and come back with a... with a rescue thingy! Yeah! He wouldn't just leave us here, would he? Oh, gosh, I hope he didn't lose the battle! He has to be okay, he just has to!
"Kyargh! Hurry up, fuzz-brain!" Megla hisses. "I have a terrible feeling something bad is about to happen!"
Hardly have the words left Megla's mouth, before a shudder goes down her spine. She whirls around and screams in a shrill, terror-stricken voice. "Eeeeyaaah!!!"
Behind her, on the wall, a gigantic face comprised entirely of shadow smiles at her, its creepy and sinister expression revealing nothing but delight in her squeamishness.
"Ehehehe!" The face cackles. "Listen to that delightful scream! You seem to be afraid of little old 'us,' you pretty little reptile. What's the matter? Do we scare you?"
The face increases in size, swallowing up the entire sidewall. Megla loses her footing and falls to the ground, panic pulsing through her veins. The Kessu behind her appear to be even worse condition, with all of the children having fainted from terror, and Baaru simply unable to move. The Matriarch's legs tremble and shake, while her knees knock together.
"Sh-shadow monster! Mreeooww!! Hiss!"
All of Baaru's fur stands on end. She hunches down low and raises her claws as if to attack, but it only takes one look at her expression to see she wants nothing more than to flee.
Even Lele's father, Ruuki, barely manages to hold it together. His teeth click together as he trembles and chatters nervously. "Maaoww! I do not like this! No, no, not one bit!"
As the Shade, Yama, indulges in his twisted fear fetish, his expression sours slightly. In between all of the frightened and screaming Kessu and Megla, one creature remains completely impassive to his presence. Little Lele continues to tinker away with her Hypo-spanner, slowly building what looks like a radio antenna with a tripod base. The barrel of Megla's old rifle points straight up in the air, and the whole thing only stands about one and a half feet tall.
Yama frowns. "Hmm. Why is this child not cowering in fear? What a brave little girl! Perhaps she has not yet noticed our majesty and splendor!"
Lele raises her head for a moment. She glances behind herself at the horrifying face on the wall. After staring at it for a moment, she returns to what she was doing, her expression not changing in the slightest. Her reaction appears about as startled or impressed as if a leaf had blown past her face.
The Emperor of Shadows begins to feel annoyed. He doesn't draw any nearer, due to Megla's glowing force-field, but he skirts around the battlefield, his gigantic head continuing to swallow up the walls. "You there! Little girl! Did your parents not teach you to look at your elders when they talked to you?!"
Bzzt, brrt.
Lele continues to quietly work on her little science project. "Sorry, can't. I'm busy right now."
"B-busy?!" Yama sputters. Countless other Shades materialize on the walls around him, their expressions unsightly. "How dare you ignore us?! We have ruled this underground world for countless years! We have tortured and defiled countless females, making them scream in terror before succumbing to our power!"
Rather than intimidating and scaring Lele, the Shade Emperor's words have the opposite effect. She glances at his shadow for a moment and snorts. "Oh, geez. What a dumb, poopy-looking shadow! Look at the big, scary guy, picking on little girls and women. You're just a stupid, weak little bully. You're not scary at all!"
Lele's words make the other Kessu jump in alarm. Ruuki quickly drops down and presses his paw against her mouth. "What are you saying?! This shadow is about to kill us all! Didn't you hear what he did to the other Kessu?! We're in dire straits, sweet child of mine!"
"Hahaha, well spoken!" Yama cackles. "You should be afraid, large male! We are going to tie your females down, violate them endlessly, make them beg for death, and then convert them to our harem! As for the males, we will flay the skin off their bones and feed their blood to our wargs! Your pain has only just begun!!"
Lele rolls her eyes. She pulls her father's paw off her mouth. "You don't scare me. If you were a real man, you'd wait one minute and fifteen seconds for me to finish my Discombobulating Tickle Poker. Too bad you're even more of a scaredy-cat than my daddy."
"What?! You insolent little brat! How dare you insult this Emperor's majesty! Do you think we are afraid of a tiny little baby like you?!"
"I dunno. Are you?"
Even as Lele talks, she continues to screw and weld pieces into place, slowly finishing her assembly of whatever device she happens to be working on. Megla's fear subsides somewhat, and a thought forms in the back of her mind as she notices how the conversation has shifted.
The furball is oddly confident. Could it be? Does she really have some means to hurt or kill these Shades?
A flash of light appears in the Kraktol's eyes. She stands up a little taller and presses her fists against her waist.
"Kyargh! Well said, little furball! Hahaha! How could I be so blind? It's no wonder this shadow-blob taunts us from a distance! He's too scared of us to let you finish your infamous Tickle Poker! Even the weakest males of the Kraktol wouldn't be afraid of a few tiny little cats and women! This so-called 'Emperor' is truly nothing in my eyes!"
Yama hesitates.
The Shadow Emperor glowers at Megla with the rage of a thousand charging bulls.
"Shut your mouth, woman! Soon, we'll have you screaming and begging for mercy!"
"Sure, sure," Megla says, slowly building back her confidence. "I'm not denying you can and you will. But does it matter? If all you can do is bully the weak, then you aren't worth a drop of my spit. My Admiral is a thousand times the man you will ever be!"
At these words, the Shadow Emperor's unsightly expression shifts dramatically. Once again, his confidence comes roaring back, along with a sinister grin. "Hehehe. Your Admiral, hm? Haven't you noticed yet, worthless woman? We have defeated him! He's all but dead now, a meat puppet in our claws! We defeated that fleshbag, and now we have come for you! Tremble and despair, for no matter how you taunt this Emperor, you cannot leave here as anything but our helpless pet!"
Megla's expression sinks. Indeed, Yama's words have the intended effect, making her heartbeat slow to a stop.
"W-what? You... you beat the Admiral?! No! That's not possible! The Admiral... he's invincible! You can't possibly...!"
"Hehehe, we can, and we have! This Emperor crushed the fleshbag with relative ease. He killed a few minor members of our harem, but it matters not! Now that he has fallen, nobody can save you! Nobody!!"
As Yama brags, Lele's paws move with ruthless efficiency. She slides the last bolt into place on her 'Discombobulating Tickle Device' and nods with satisfaction.
"Okay, done! You can die now!"
Without hesitation, Lele jumps to her feet while ignoring the Emperor's cackling. She lifts the odd antenna-shaped device over her head and presses a button on its underside, causing it to vibrate and build up power.
Click, whirrrrrrrr...
Yama stops laughing. The Shade Emperor immediately looks at the device in Lele's hands with confusion. "Hm? Die? Wahaha! Does this silly baby think she can tickle us to death?! This Emperor has heard many jokes in our life, but none have been as funny as this!"
"It's not a tickling device, you dummy," Lele says, her voice cold. "It's a weapon. And you let me build it."
At that moment, a faint ball of light appears atop the antenna.
Fwip!
The light-orb instantly fires upward and slams against the ceiling.
FWEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
A high-pitched noise erupts underground, like a thousand banshees uttering their dying screams. At the same time, the luminous orb detonates, bathing the cave with an astonishingly bright light, one which mirrors the beginning of creation.
"EEEEYAAAAARGHHHH!!"
Yama, the haughty Emperor of Shadows, screams in agony as the scorching brightness bathes him for 1.34 seconds, irradiating not only him, but all of the Shades present with the lethal cosmic rays. They instantly lose their formlessness, explode into smoke, and reform a moment later as biped-shaped creatures of varying species, landing on the floor to crawl around and scream in pain.
"Aaaargh! You little BITCH!! This Emperor will kill you!!"
Yama screams incoherently, only managing to put his body together after a few more seconds.
Meanwhile, other than the sudden brightness forcing Megla and the Kessu to quickly cover their eyes, they don't suffer any harm at all. The Kraktol quickly swivels to face the enemies around her, looking at them with astonishment.
"What?! Furball, you did this?!"
"Mhm," Lele answers, shrugging nonchalantly. "No biggie. Oh hey, shadow-bully! Here's another."
Click, whirrrrrrrr...
The antenna rapidly builds up energy for another ball of light, making the Shadow Emperor become livid. He recoils in horror and flees to the furthest point in the room, but in his heart of hearts, he knows he cannot hide from that all-encompassing light.
"No, please! Aahhh! Have mercy! The light burns us! We do not like it, not one bit!"
"Too bad!" Lele laughs. "Like my Aunt Lorrie always says... if someone's gonna hurt me or my daddy, I have to hurt them first! Now die, please!"
The orb atop the antenna fires once again. It instantly strikes the roof and detonates into another light-blast of god-like intensity.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Yama screams once again, along with all the other members of his harem. This time, when the light recedes, two of his Shades explode into smoke and don't reappear. The rest flee the room as quickly as they can, skirting around the edges to avoid Megla's glowing Survival Suit.
Yama joins them in his flight, his last panicked words being, "Y-you'll regret this, little girl! You'll regret this!!"
...
A moment later, the cave falls silent.
Lele glances at Megla.
"Okay! We can leave now. Let's go find Big Baldy!"
Megla sighs.
"Alright. You got me. You're not bad, kid."
"Thanks!"
.......................................
Author Note:
If you enjoy what you've just read, please consider subscribing to my Patreon! I am very poor and presently jobless due to Coronavirus, so every dollar helps. You get access to Cryopod artwork, and plenty of other exclusive posts, with more to come soon.
Also consider reading The Cryopod to Hell, the primary story in the Cryoverse! I'll be returning to TCTH for the next week or two after this TLP part. Both stories are part of the Cryoverse, so they're deeply interlinked. You don't wanna miss them!
Thank you!

"King-high diamond flush," I said boldly as I laid my cards out on the table.
Despite my strong hand, my heart still thumped in my chest as I waited for the only other player in the hand to reveal his cards. Although my odds of winning were good, I was nervous. If my opponent had the ace...
"Ace-high diamond flush," my train of thought was disrupted and heart my sank. My opponent had the goddamn ace.
Unlike any other time I had played Texas Hold 'Em at a casino, I had no idea what to expect. See, I wasn't at a normal casino. I was at the Holy Grail Casino, where one does not gamble with money.
My opponent had wagered a finger, and I thought that that had been some colloquial way of making a small bet. Just as we frequently say "an arm and a leg" figuratively for an exorbitant cost, I thought that 'finger' was being used in the same context. I was proven brutally wrong when the dealer, without a hint of emotion, pulled a large knife out from some concealed location and chopped my pinky finger off.
I screamed, both in pain and disbelief. I had been expecting the most intense gambling experience of a life time, but I hadn't imagined anything of this magnitude.
I had finally found a form of gambling even I balked at.
I'll come clean and say it, I'm a compulsive gambler. I've had an enduring fixation on Lady Luck as early as I can remember. As a child, I loved making bets - even small and petty ones - with my peers.
When I was eighteen, and had my first job, I squandered a bigger portion of my very first paycheck than I care to admit on scratch-off lottery tickets.
With my addictive proclivities, I ignored the glaring net financial loss that this incurred, instead gravitating to the mere twenty dollars I did win with those tickets.
Now you can tell me that my gambling winnings are heavily outweighed by my losses over the years, and you'd be right. It's a stubborn fact that cannot be truthfully denied.
But it didn't matter to me. I was addicted to gambling. I was always convinced that the big, life-changing win I needed was right around the corner. It is this lifelong habit that has not only brought about a life of financial strain, but which, I fear, has brought about my imminent appointment with my own mortality.
You see, my gambling problem reached its zenith last year after I cajoled one of my poker friends, Dallas, into taking me to a secretive and high-stakes casino that he frequently spoke of, and this is as good a place as any to begin telling what happened.
"So, is this the night you're finally going to accede and tell me more about the mythical 'high stakes venue' you claim to frequent, Mr. Big Shot?" I asked my friend Dallas.
Dallas was a pro at gambling. At least, he swept the floor with the competition nine times out of ten and the backroom card games we frequented.
Dallas groaned loudly in the passager seat.
"Come on bro," I said doggedly, "you can't just set something up on a pedestal like this and not expect someone to persist."
"I don't know man. This isn't kitty shit. This is the big leagues." Dallas answered.
"I'm not a lightweight." I objected.
"No...but this is way more than anything we'd ever bet back there," he said, referring to our backroom games, one of which we had just left.
"This is the real shit. Hard-fucking-core. This is the most hardcore gambling around." Dallas continued.
"Like what, Russian Roulette?" I joked.
"Nah man." Dallas said cryptically.
"Look man, I give you rides to these games every week. You owe me." I was getting seriously annoyed at his reticence.
"Fine," Dallas groaned, exasperated.
I couldn't believe it. I had actually worn him down!
"But I'm warning you. This is serious shit." Dallas said sternly.
"I want to go." I said firmly.
Dallas reached into his wallet and handed me a medallion.
Upon inspection, I saw one side was affixed with the design of an ornate, bejeweled chalice with the words 'Holy Grail Casino' written above it. On the other side, written in elegant calligraphy was the phrase 'omnem marmora' - "all the marbles" in Latin.
This certainly bore the look of a ritzy and exclusionary place. I had a feeling I'd either win the jackpot of jackpots or end up homeless on the street. The reality would prove much worse than the latter.
Dallas was looking at me oddly, almost as if he was worried. But he could tell he wasn't going to be able to talk me out of it. I still hate him for his acquiescence to my pestering.
"When can we go?" I asked excitedly.
"I was planning to go tomorrow-," Dallas started.
"When I should I pick you up?" I interrupted.
"That's...not how we get there." Dallas answered.
"What-," I started, but it was Dallas' turn to interrupt.
"When you go to bed tomorrow night, write your full name on a piece of paper, then put it and the medallion in your pocket when you go to sleep."
I looked at him incredulously. Had he been fucking with me this whole time?
"Look...just trust me. Either do it or don't, but that's how you get there." Dallas said matter-of-factly.
I looked silently at the road as we neared the place where Dallas lived. Dallas seemed to be pensively looking out the window, as if he was debating whether or not he should have give me the medallion.
I dropped Dallas off without a word and raced home. I don't know why I was such a hurry - I guess I wanted to start waiting for tomorrow night as soon as possible.
After a torturous day of waiting, the next night finally came. Remembering Dallas' instructions, I wrote my full name on a slip of paper and placed it, along with the medallion, in the pockets of my sweatpants that I was wearing to bed for that purpose.
I could have sworn that I had heard my name being chanted as I drifted off to sleep, but the authenticity of those sounds is still ambiguous. What is not ambiguous is the fact that, shortly after falling asleep, I found myself in an opulent red-carpeted casino.
I was in a lobby of sorts, at least I think that's what it was. I was in a large, marble room with Greco-Roman style columns flanking a plush red carpet that led to two magnificent ebony doors, which boasted intricately carved ivory handles.
As I was soaking in the amazing luxurious sight, a man in a suit briskly approached me.
"You can't go to the floor dressed like that!" He admonished me, pointing to my sweatpants and white t-shirt.
"I'm sorry-," I began sluggishly, a bit confused by everything. Was I honestly expected to go to bed in a suit in order to gamble here?
"No worries sir," the man had a rather upper class accent, "we will get you outfitted here free of charge."
A short while later I was sporting a fine burgundy suit, a white dress shirt, and black loafers, and being led by the casino worker back to those grandiose doors. He stopped in front of them, held one of the doors open, and ushered me in.
"Enjoy your stay sir," he said as he closed the door behind me.
I took in the even more impressive sight that was the gambling floor. I stood at the top of a red-carpeted staircase with gilded railing, looking down at a large room. On the far end, the words 'Holy Grail Casino' were displayed prominently on the wall, illuminated by spotlights.
Like the lobby, a red carpet ran through the center, bisecting the impressive layout of games and tables. Interestingly, there didn't appear to be any slot machines- there seemed to be exclusively traditional games. Poker tables, blackjack tables, roulette wheels, and craps tables I all recognized.
Finally, I descended the stairs. The patrons and staff paid me little attention as I set foot on the floor. I briefly scanned the floor for Dallas but saw no saw no sign of him.
I shrugged and decided to jump into the games. All around me, finely dressed patrons were engrossed in their games, and others stood to the side, nursing cocktail glasses or puffing on cigars.
I had never had much of an affinity for roulette or craps, and I avoided blackjack like the plague (it's definitely rigged for the house). Accordingly, I quickly settled on poker.
After eyeing several tables I settled on a table occupied by just one patron - an uninterested old man in a black suit.
"Can I join here?" I asked.
The dealer replied affirmatively.
I sat down and noticed there were no chips in sight. I thought it had been odd that I hadn't received any, but I had just figured they would be given at the table. Curious, I asked.
"First time?" The dealer raised an eyebrow.
"Yes."
The old man sighed, annoyed. What the hell? Shouldn't a patron at such a purportedly high-stakes venue be eager to have fresh meat?
"Well, the rules state that one's first game is one round of betting only." The dealer said in a monotone voice. No wonder old man was annoyed.
I nodded and sat down.
"But the chips-," I began to inquire.
"We don't use 'em here." The old man spoke for the first time.
Before I ask what we did use, the old man placed what would apparently be the sole bet of this hand: a finger.
Had I heard him right? He couldn't actually mean-
"Bet is one finger." The dealer said, interrupting my thoughts.
As I stated in the beginning, I assumed that 'a finger' was being used in the same figurative context that one often uses the term 'an arm and a leg.' I called the bet.
The cards were dealt, and I felt confident as I laid out the King-high flush I spoke of in the beginning. But then came the old man's ace-high flush, and then came the chop.
I screamed. To my shock, none of the other patrons even looked up from their games at the sound of my screams and the chop. Was this an ordinary occurrence?
Before I could get up from the table, the dealer also procured some sort of ointment and quickly dabbed some on the nub where my finger had been. The bleeding instantly stopped, and the pain eased, but I was having none of it. I got up from the table and began to run back to the doors. This was too much. I had to get out of here.
I heard a despaired howl coming from the direction of the roulette wheels as I made it back to the center of the floor, but didn't dare look back at the source. I stepped onto the carpet and set for the stairs when I nearly collided with Dallas.
"Hey you made it!" He said. "Oooh tough break with the finger," he indicated my hand.
"How have you never lost anything?!" I asked pointedly, barely resisting the urge to shake his shoulders.
"Well I have," Dallas smirked.
"You-you have all your digits." I sputtered.
"Well that's cause I won them back." He said.
"You can win them back?!" I was in disbelief.
"Of course, they'll reattach it if you win one."
I should have just cut my losses. I shouldn't have been swayed by temptation. But if you know the rabbit hole that is gambling, you'll know how much people put themselves in the hole vainly trying to win back a negligible loss, all the while turning that negligible loss into something substantial.
I was still weighing my options (stay or quit while still ahead) when a booming voice disrupted my deliberation.
"Attention floor! We have a class ten loser! Death!"
He couldn't actually mean-
Before I could make any kind of move, the patrons become a mob, and the wave people pushed Dallas and I to the center with them.
A man, who I noticed was already missing an arm, was on his knees sobbing. An emotionless casino dealer stood before him, holding a sword.
"Everyone c-cut y-your loss-losses," the man stuttered through sobs.
Before he could say anything else, the sobs were cut off by the slice of the sword, and the poor man's head hit the floor and tumbled, landing at my feet.

As usual, I appreciate any and all constructive feedback! I also welcome questions, comments, quick quotes, and criticisms! All that being said, thank you for your time, and I hope you enjoy!
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Of Men and Dragons, Chapter 36
Jack's muscles were screaming in agony. When he complained about the burning pain, Angela simply responded by saying, "That just means the exercise is working! We need to loosen up the muscles you have and help develop more muscle growth at the same time. Now pull!"
Em'brel was holding Jack's arm so that it was extended just a little further than Jack's new limited range of motion left him comfortable with. On Angela's command, Jack did his best to pull his arm back to himself. It was somewhat disheartening how little his arm budged in the younger girl's grip, but he kept pulling until Angela told him to relax again. They'd been doing this for several minutes, and Jack's arm felt like it was on fire. He wasn't sure if the tears in his eyes were born from pain or frustration, though he suspected the truth involved a little of both. When Jack was absolutely sure he couldn't do it one more time, Angela pushed him again. "Ok, just once more, THEN you can relax your arm!"
Jack forced himself to pull with his exhausted arm for just a little longer, though he could swear this time seemed to stretch on longer than any of the previous attempts had. Eventually, Angela instructed him to relax and had Em'brel lower his arm. Jack closed his eyes to recover from the strain, but much to his dismay, Angela seemed to have a different plan. "Ok, now extend his other arm, and let's repeat the process!"
Jack's eyes shot open. "You said... we'd take... a break!"
Angela's face was the oddest combination of apology and determination as she shook her head. "No, I said you could relax your arm, and you can! Now we're working on the other arm. I understand that you are exhausted and frustrated, but the more progress you make now, the more functionality you're likely to recover. So unless you want to be a cripple for the rest of your life, completely dependent on the people around you to feed you, bathe you, and help you use the bathroom, you need to push yourself. Now Pull!"
Jack thought back to last night and the sheer humiliation of having Em'brel help him use the bathroom. She's been surprisingly professional, preferring speed and efficiency instead of conversation. Jack suspected the girl understood how hard this whole experience was for him and was determined to get through the worst parts as fast as possible. He'd tried telling himself that after climbing a mountain and leaping into a void, this was nothing, but when the girl had to help clean him after he was done, he was forced to admit he'd prefer to climb a dozen mountains than endure that experience ever again. And yet he knew he'd have to repeat that same experience multiple times a day until he was able to recover enough to take care of himself.
With that humiliation in mind, Jack suddenly found he had far more energy and determination than before and pulled hard enough that Em'brel's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and Jack saw his arm move noticeably in her grip before she adjusted to the unexpected strength he'd suddenly acquired.
Jack and Em'brel grinned at each other over this tiniest of victories. When Jack resumed the physical therapy, it was with a renewed determination.
-
Jack was exhausted. After the arm pulling, Angela had had Jack lift his legs and hold them 'up' for as long as he could endure. He was rarely able to lift them entirely off the bed, but his muscles were burning in a way that told him the exercise was working.
As bad as the physical therapy had been, it paled in comparison to the frustrations of occupational therapy.
Angela had manufactured an oversized pen for Jack to use. Em'brel helped Jack wrap his fingers around the pen, in a manner better suited for stabbing than writing. Then he tried to write his name on the piece of paper. It was more of a scribble than actual writing, but Angela told Jack it was important for him to have a specific goal in mind when he was writing, and his name was an excellent benchmark for him to strive for. He dropped the pen over and over, and every time Em'brel would patiently help Jack extend his fingers to grab hold of the pen once more.
Jack groaned in frustration after dropping the pen once more, Angela explained the purpose of these exercises to both Jack and Em'brel. "The brain is very delicate, but also great at self-maintenance and repair. Portions of your brain that had been deprived of oxygen too long died and left behind scarring. This prevents signals from getting to your nervous system, which controls your motor functions. However, given a chance, your brain will seek to establish new connections to your nervous system to restore proper function once more. These repetitive activities essentially force your brain to send signals to said nerves and will eventually establish new neuro paths to send signals across. This is, of course, a gross oversimplification of a very complex process, but it should help you get the idea."
Jack didn't feel like he was making any progress. The letter J he was trying to draw looked more like a sloppy figure eight, drawn by someone only passingly familiar with the concept of curves. As Jack continued into the letter A, he dropped the pen for what felt like the hundredth time. With a sigh somewhere between frustration and anger, Jack reached out and picked up the pen in order to continue butchering his name, when he realized both Em'brel and Angela were staring at his hand.
It was only when Jack looked at his own hand that he realized what he'd done. He'd picked up the pen without any help from Em'brel.
Setting down the pen again, Jack held both of his hands up in front of his face. He focused all the effort he could muster into opening up his hands. His left hand twitched and shook, but his right hand, the hand he'd been writing with, opened about 3 inches. It seemed like such a small thing, but it also meant this stupid exercise was working, no matter how childish it seemed.
Even lunch was an exercise. Jack was strapped into a chair since he couldn't easily support his own sitting weight yet, and since the table wasn't quite tall enough, Em'brel held up a can full of Jack's liquid lunch, complete with a straw. In her other hand, she held a rag to wipe Jack's face clear of any food he coughed or sputtered up. The whole meal was almost as humiliating as the bathroom experience had been.
After lunch, Jack had to re-evaluate his assessment of how embarrassing the meal had been when Em'brel had to help him use the restroom again.
After that, they were off to more rehabilitation. Apparently, this time Angela wanted to work on speech.
-
S'haar was amazed at how effectively the outfit Angela had designed worked at retaining heat. Unlike the coats they'd been using up until now, this outfit covered her entirely. It came complete with a mask, gloves, and boots that fully encased her clawed feet. Even the airflow was directed to help retain heat. The intake passed through the suit's heated sections to prevent her from breathing in air that was too cold for her lungs. The outflowing air passed along the colder areas of her suit to avoid wasting the heat coming out of her lungs.
It was a little disorienting to wear at first, and it took S'haar a while to get used to the fact that she couldn't 'taste' the air around her, nor could she get traction with her claws. However, she'd spent enough time walking around the somewhat cold cave to familiarise herself with the outfit before going out into the storm.
Of course, Angela was also coming along for the ride. "So, now that you've gotten used to the suit, any recommendations you'd like to make?"
S'haar stumbled a little before speaking. "Without the use of my claws, you might need to add a bit more traction to the boots. The gloves are a little too smooth as well. A little texture on the palms would help. Maybe the shoulders could stand to be a bit less restrictive? Other than that, this suit is a marvel!"
Angela seemed to preen a little at the compliment. "Excellent! And might I add that you're a much better test subject than Jack. Less grumbling and more constructive feedback, just what an AI needs in a guinea pig!"
S'haar's voice came back weary. "I'm not certain what a guinea pig is, but I suspect I wouldn't enjoy being compared with one. But since you mentioned him, how's Jack doing?"
Angela's voice came back much more cheerful than S'haar had been expecting. "He's not doing quite as well as my more optimistic projections, but he's doing far better than I'd feared. Every time he starts to lose heart, he seems to dig within himself and find some untapped inspiration, and he comes back with greater determination. It's relatively common for people faced with this kind of debilitating setback to become overwhelmed and give in to feelings of hopelessness."
S'haar was approaching the cave's mouth with the sled loaded with some fresh heating packs and a load of meat pastries Em'brel had sent with S'haar. Angela continued her explanation. "Honestly, I'm not sure where he's finding the will to keep pushing himself, and while I don't want to 'jinx' myself," (At Angela's jovial tone, S'haar could practically see the pixy girl wink while she spoke.) "at this rate, there's hope of a full recovery!"
S'haar chuckled to herself before responding. "Admittedly, I haven't known Jack nearly as long as you have, but ever since I've met him, he's always seemed to come out of his bouts of fear and doubt with renewed determination to see things through. Why would you be surprised when the worst setback yet only brings out the best in Jack?"
Angela was glad to hear the easy affection still deep in S'haar's voice. She'd been afraid that seeing Jack broken the way he was would have changed the warrior woman's view of him.
Now at the mouth of the cave, S'haar readied the 'snow shoes' Angela had crafted. She was fascinated by the idea of walking on top of the snow! Angela had designed them with large, easy to manipulate fasteners so they could be put on or removed even if wearing thick gloves. S'haar also had a shovel ready to dig out the door to the workers' lodge if it was buried too deep.
Snowshoes in place, S'haar walked out of the cave and into the open. Walking in the cumbersome shoes was incredibly awkward. She had to exaggerate her legs' up and down movements in a way that was largely unfamiliar to her, but the further she got, the easier it became.
The wind was strong, and the snow seemed to be falling more sideways than down. As it tore through the mountain's ridges and valleys, it created a howling sound that made S'haar feel more isolated than she'd ever felt before. Despite the walk not being too far, she was glad when the billet came into view.
The trip to the worker's billet took roughly 4 times as long as usual, and despite her new outfit, S'haar was starting to feel the cold, but she was in no danger of succumbing to said cold any time soon. Still, even with her new suit, it wouldn't be safe to travel long distances during the deep freeze.
S'haar took a minute to clear the snow from the entrance before wrapping on the door with her knuckles and shouting for anyone awake. "It's S'haar, I'm coming in!"
S'haar had been expecting workers to be in their usual half-asleep state that all argu'n used to pass through a deep freeze, but she walked into a surprisingly lively group of workers.
Lon'thul and Tel'ron were in the middle of another dice game, and S'haar had to wonder what the two younger workers had left to bet with at this point. The rest were gathered around swapping stories or otherwise finding ways to kill some time.
Everyone was staring at S'haar, and it took her a moment to realize that with the mask still on, she probably looked like some monster out of a fireside tale. She removed her gloves so her hands could undo the clasps keeping the mask in place. That brought out a wave of exclamations as everyone looked over the outfit taking turns inspecting the gloves and mask as S'haar explained their function and effectiveness.
The billet was surprisingly warm, and Angela decided to speak up through the headset S'haar had worn under the mask. "I'm glad to see Jack's design working so effectively despite the cold weather, but with the workers not going into their hibernation state, they will probably consume more food. You might need to at least start talking about rationing out your food stores, just to be safe." S'haar nodded quietly before turning her attention to the workers.
After the initial excitement died down, S'haar started checking on everyone and seeing how they were doing, and asking if they needed anything. The universal answer was that they needed something to do. Luckily Em'brel had already thought of that potential issue and sent S'haar with something to help.
However, before S'haar could bring up the subject of Em'brel, Lon'thul beat her to the punch. "So Em'brel's not coming today?"
S'haar had to admire the younger man's drive and smiled while shaking her head. "No, I'm afraid Em'brel's attention is required elsewhere. Jack's spirit has finally returned from the realm of the dead, but his body is still severely damaged and weak. Em'brel is seeing to his recovery, which will probably be the focus of her attention for the next few weeks."
Everyone took the news in stunned silence. While people in the village sometimes recovered from severe injuries that left them unconscious for a day or two, a month was impossible. Everyone had assumed he was dead, and no one knew quite how to take the news. As usual, Lon'thul was the first to speak. "Man, is there anything that human of yours can't do? Will he be taking over the camp again?"
S'haar shook her head. "Eventually, he might, but for now, Jack's focus is on recovering from his ordeal, so I will remain in charge. There's not a lot for me to do in that capacity at the moment, except seeing to the well-being of all of you. To that end, Em'brel sent me here with a couple more human items to help you all pass the time while you wait out the freeze."
That caught the attention of all the workers. 'Human' tools and technologies had proven nearly miraculous to everyone now familiar with them, and everyone was curious about what humans did for entertainment.
The first thing S'haar held up was a small odd-looking box. When opened, it revealed many flat panels with shapes and symbols painted on them. "These are called playing cards, and the game I'm about to teach you is called 'poker.'"
As S'haar explained the game, it became quickly apparent that everyone was excited at the idea of a new way to pass the long cold days in the billet, and it didn't take long before chores such as cleaning the outhouses or doing the dishes were being gambled on by many of the younger workers. However, it quickly became apparent that Fea'en's stoic demeanor gave her quite the advantage as the game quickly devolved into a heated match between her and S'haar while the rest of the workers watched as the two most frightening women any of them knew went head to head for the 'pot,' which at this point mostly consisted of a few of the meat pastries still left over after everyone had eaten their fill.
As the bidding came to a close, S'haar was confident she'd won with the straight she held, but then Fea'en revealed her three of a kind was, in fact, a full house. The room erupted in cheers of excitement and exasperation. In the end, Fea'en retained her bragging rights but shared the meat pies for the low price of getting a pass on her next night of fire watch duty.
When the rest of the workers seemed hesitant to face the stoic older woman a second time, S'haar thought it might be a good time to reveal the next item Em'brel had sent her with.
It was a small box that unfolded into a small checkered board, on the inside were a number of small stone pieces that S'haar set up on the board. "This game is called 'chess.' The humans also call it 'the game of kings.' Apparently, many of their greatest rulers were quite proficient in the game, and it teaches you to anticipate problems before they arise, allow me to explain the rules."
This time around, it was evident that many of the younger workers preferred the card game to this 'complex mess of a game' as Tel'ron and Lon'thul had both dubbed it. However, S'haar and Fea'en quickly found themselves absorbed in a battle of wits against each other. Eventually, the other workers returned to the card game, and the afternoon was passed with loud laughter, cries of anguish, and many exclamations of how terrible everyone's luck was.
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Will Jack make a full recovery? Will Em'brel ever give herself a break? Will S'haar face another humiliating defeat at the hands of Fea'en? Find out next time, same Jack time, same Jack channel! Ok, there's no telling what time it'll actually post, even I don't know. Did you know some of the more responsible writers actually get a few chapters ahead so they can make sure to post on a strict schedule? Honestly, I just get too excited to post once the chapter is complete, I don't know if I have the discipline to sit on a completed chapter for any length of time...
​
If you like my work and would like to support it, consider donating to my Patreon. Don't worry if you can't, there won't be any paywalled content or anything else like that, this is nothing more than a way to show your support. =)
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Hey everyone,
I wanted to put out a few thoughts regarding mentality in League, especially compared to other competitive activities and skill-based endeavors. This is as much to simply clarify my own thoughts as it is to create a dialogue and, if I may be so bold, inform.
Also, I love writing long posts. If you clicked in, be warned. This is a goddamn novel.
However, here's the tl;dr
TL;DR - Basically I want to know what you guys think we as a community can do to improve toxicity and mentality in League, and maybe make it a bit more inviting and fun. Scroll down to the bottom on my suggestions/discussion section for my main talking points.
First, let me flex a bit to show what I'm bringing to the discussion (because it really isn't League knowledge, unfortunately):
I'm a dilettante at heart. I love learning new subjects, and I've always had a particular bent for competition.
Chess was a first competitive game, and I peaked around 1700 Elo. Not the highest, but not a bad player. Go (also known as baduk, igo, and weiqi) was a major love, and I currently sit at 1 kyu. I've also played some Overwatch (peaked at Plat) and a handful of other smaller games with less competitive communities.
For those unfamiliar with the ranks, to use a very rough comparison to the League system it would probably be something like:

• High Gold/Low Plat in Chess
• Mid Diamond in Go (maybe?)
• Plat in Overwatch is honestly like, mid Gold in League

I also play three instruments competently (guitar especially well) and went to school for classical guitar and music composition. For those who have not worked in music or sought a career, it's quite competitive.
Oh, and Smash. I've played a healthy amount of Melee and PM. I'm not the best, but I'm better than most, played a fair amount online and followed the esports pretty closely. A few other fighting games too, but those never interested me nearly as much.
The reason that I bring these up is just to give a baseline of my knowledge about competitive mentality in general. You don't get good at these things by talent or just "not being an idiot," you have to play and practice and work and study. Talent doesn't get you very far at all.
Next, a disclaimer:
I'm a relatively new League player. I started playing League because my crush (later girlfriend, now wife) had just gotten into it. This was like...late S7? I played a couple dozen games, fed my ass off and then dropped it not long after. I didn't pick it back up until quarantine, where I started in Iron III and have made it up to Silver III (where I failed my promos for Silver II last night...).
So NOT a world-class League player. Statistically on the lower side of average, actually. But I'm working on it and I'm having fun.
I wanted to talk about a few subjects as they relate to League of Legends through the lens of my experience in learning other stuff. These are discussion points, not instructional. I don't want to tell anyone how they should play a game, but I did want to let everyone know how it looks from the viewpoint of a newcomer looking to compete in something cool.

1. League's Aspects
2. Toxicity
3. Newcomers
4. Comments/Suggestions for Discussion

​
LEAGUE'S ASPECTS
So the first thing is that I really like League as a skill-based game. MOBAs are very unique in their spot, but I think they deserve a seat at the table with discussions about games like chess, go, poker, etc.
One funny thing is that it is a skill-based game without the element of chance (per se) when it comes to gameplay, which makes one put it in the same realm as chess and the like. There's no RNG, just the choices of others, and so skill expression is very apparent.
However, there is a key distinction between games like chess and League, namely access to information. In chess or go, you see the whole board. You have the same information that your opponent does. In League, you have a situation where you have the limited information from your own team's vision via minions, towers, wards, and your own champion's line of sight. If there were no fog of war, League would be very much a simpler game and would be abysmally boring. This aspect gives it a similar feel to the competitive aspects of poker, where you have access to limited information and the skill lies in playing the numbers and using this to read your opponents and gain small advantages.
Next, there is another aspect which differentiates League from games like chess as well as games like poker and (an arguably much more direct relative) RTS games. That is the fact that League is played with a team. This makes it similar in a sense to a game like Overwatch in that one of the main factors that is out of your control is what your teammates do with their champs. You do your best on your champ, and communication with your team becomes a massive competitive advantage.
So the way I see it, there are a few distinct aspects of League when you want to break it down as a competitive game:

• League is a skill-based game, where your game knowledge, decision making, and technical execution are rewarded. There is very little RNG. Lack of knowledge, poor decisions, or poor execution of decisions are punished.
• League is an information-based game, where you do not have full information of the field of play and so information gathering and processing are rewarded. Lack of information gathering and failure to interpret what information you do have correctly are punished.
• League is a team-based game where you have to work together with other players to accomplish your goals. Good communication and coordination are rewarded. Poor communication and coordination are punished. This is also the aspect which is most outside of your control.

TOXICITY
This is, unfortunately, the thing for which the League community is most infamous. Let's break down some situations I know y'all have seen in SoloQ:

• You have a bad game. Everyone has them in SoloQ, from Iron to Challenger. Just check out op.gg or look at TSM's Worlds 2020 performance (jk, but not really. sorry, all NA fans...). Someone on your team starts "flaming" you for playing like shit. Which, let's face it, you are probably playing like shit compared to your average games.
• Someone on your team is having a bad game and blames a teammate (usually the jungler) for their awful performance.
• Your team starts losing and a teammate decides to "run it down."
• Teammates that spam ff on a game that is still pretty winnable
• Teammates that refuse to ff in order to lock you into an unwinnable game while they continue to run it down.
• ADC blaming support or vice versa, when they just took bad fights or mispositioned.

This is normal, right?
But it's all kind of weird mentalities, especially because when they are doing well these same people never seem to think that they did it with their team's help or because of bad enemy play.
You go 10/0/0 in lane and got a double whenever you got ganked? It was because you popped off! It wasn't because they tried fighting in your wave or didn't track summs or just mechanically misplayed. It's because you're awesome, right?
Jungler camps your lane and gets you fed (in a dream world, right?) it's because you set up your lanes correctly, right? You might give some credit to your jg, but not as much blame as junglers usually get when the laner is just running it down.
Enemy team ffs a winnable game you type "?" in all chat.
Enemy team refuses to ff a game when you're 30k gold ahead on scaling champs, you feel confused and maybe laugh a bit.
I won't say that players never acknowledge mistakes of the enemy team as mistakes, but I think that the degree to which your teammates are upset by your mistakes is absolutely disproportionate to how well you are acknowledged for sound play, and the credit players give themselves is disproportionate to how much credit they give their team.
***
Some Comparisons:
Overwatch: I think League's toxicity stems, to a degree, from its team-based aspect. Overwatch is the only thing I've encountered where the community was anything but lovely, helpful, and informative. I think it's because in 2-player games, the only person you can blame is yourself. The other person beat you, therefore they were better than you that game, and so you have something to learn. Overwatch...that's not always the case.
However, I think Overwatch players do better than League players. There are calls people will make to do better, but it's very rare that someone gives up or spends a lot of time being upset when their teammate sucks, and they may adjust their play accordingly if someone on their team is not doing well.
Go/Chess: This aspect of toxicity was actually the reason I never got into League before quarantine. When you compare League's community to a game like go, League is (quite bluntly) fucking disgusting.
Do you know what go players do at mid-high ranks after a game? They sit down and review it together. Even in tournament settings, if you have time before your next match it is absolutely the polite thing to do. To refuse to review a game (barring perhaps if you have somewhere to be) can even considered a bit rude.
You know what would NEVER happen in a go match? Being rude to your opponent, whether they won or they lost. Like, I can't even fathom playing a game online with someone, dumpstering them and seeing them type "fuck you, kys trash" in game. Or getting dumpstered and someone typing "gg ez."
Now go players are a bit different. Go is a very thinking-based game and based on concepts of balance, trading, and sharing. So the game doesn't appeal to someone who can't sit at a board for a couple of hours quietly and compete, nor to people who feel the need to dominate someone.
But chess is about domination to a larger degree, and the games (can be) much faster than go, or at least of a similar length as your average game of League. And I could count EASILY on one hand the number of times anyone has been rude to me before, during, or after a chess match.
***
Rank-Shaming:
You know how deeply this is ingrained into players? Whenever anyone has told me they play League, they almost always put as a precursor that they are a "(insert-rank) scrub." Whether bronze or silver or diamond, they automatically feel bad because they know they can improve on the game.
Most everyone knows that statistically speaking over half of players are Gold or below. According to League of Graphs, Plat+ is just under 15% of players, while Diamond+ is just under 3% of players.
Do you know how objectively ridiculous it is to make fun of someone for being "hardstuck Diamond II"? To make fun of someone for being in the top .5% of all League players? That's insane.
This isn't a call-out post specifically and I legitimately am interested in opening up discussion, but this part is a bit of a call-out. This activity is stupid. It would literally be the equivalent of someone making fun of an IM (International Master) in chess for not being a Chess Grandmaster. IM is a lifetime achievement in and of itself.
The ONLY thing I've ever seen an equivalent of is some light jabbing from VERY high rated players when ACTIVELY TRYING TO HELP a player who is trying to break into high Elo (i.e. help a chess player break into 2000+ Elo and hit Candidate Master; or help a go player break into 1 dan).
If someone is being a toxic asshole, call them out for being a toxic asshole, not for their rank. I mean, damn.
Also, this flies in the face of any understanding of how systems like this work. Honestly if everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) in the world was as good as a Diamond player is currently, then you know what would happen? If there were any change at all, sure there would be fewer iron players BUT THERE WOULD ALSO BE WAY FEWER DIAMOND PLAYERS. The bell-curve would flatten out and most people would still fall somewhere in the middle. (Correct me if I'm wrong on my statistics knowledge here, reddit...)
Either way, rank is an indication of skill and a personal achievement. Shaming someone for not having made that goal yet is really shitty, I think.
***
Flaming Your Own Damn Team:
My brother (and frequent duo-queue partner) said it best when we muted some toxic teammates: "For a game so fundamentally based on communication, League is remarkably improved by turning off chat."
As mentioned earlier, teams are a core part of League and one of the things you can least control. So why is it that in the few things we can do to control our teammates (namely chat and pings), we insist on making it a toxic shit-hole of an experience? It's super easy to vent your frustrations, but it actively harms your team.
I don't think a single player has ever legitimately improved by getting flamed. Ever. They either get defensive and just do the same damn thing, they troll, or they mute you. But, in almost every case, they tilt. They play WORSE because of what you're doing. And they don't actually learn anything.
***
Winning/Losing:
In go, there is a saying: "a newcomer should lose their first hundred games as soon as possible." When the newcomer does this, the response is frequently "Nicely done! Get on with losing the next hundred."
This doesn't mean you int 100 games of go in a row. It means that you learn more by losing than by winning.
A question for all of you: how many games that you lost do you actually remember? Maybe a few spectacular losses, or some really close games that you couldn't pull through. But seriously, compared to how many games you've lost, how many actually stuck with you as memories? I'd bet not many.
For that matter, how many games that you won have stuck with you? Again, maybe some spectacular hijinx you pulled off and saved in a highlight reel, sure.
But at the end of the day, the W and the L are equally unremarkable when you're not playing professionally.
I've probably played and lost hundreds of games of chess and thousands of games of go. Do I remember any of them? I don't remember a single chess match I lost with any clarity, and I can remember exactly one go loss that I had because it was at a tournament I traveled for and the loss was due to a silly blunder.
League isn't different. So why do League players treat a loss like it's the end of the goddamn world?
Sure, there's a time investment involved and nobody likes to play to lose. But, if I'm being real...don't play competitive games if you're a sore-ass loser?
Like I said, go players often review the game with their opponent, win or lose. Usually the winner is the one who offers the review, but it doesn't matter. The point is that when the game is done, both players are willing to look each other in the eye and help each other get better at the game.
I personally feel like dignity in losing is important, and the lack of it is something I think will absolutely hurt your climb if you don't have it. Getting the fuck over yourself is something that frequently pushes someone past a middle rank in chess/go/etc. up to a serious ranking.
The idea should be to go into every game and try to win, but accept that you'll lose sometimes. If you're losing less than half of the time, you're climbing. If you're losing about half, then you have mistakes to learn from. If you're losing significantly more than half your games, you're either boosted or you're tilted, and you need to take a long, hard look at yourself.
Additionally, you should realize that people who you are playing with are at your rank. "Elo Hell" is a concept that stemmed from League players and stems from the team-based nature of it all. Your teammates are "so bad" that you have to "hard carry" your games to get through, and even then you can't make it.
But that's bullshit, right? Sure there will be games where your teammates int and there's no way you can win but, over a long enough time period, there should be just as many games where your opponents int and you get a free win.
Actually, it's better than that. So long as you don't literally give up or troll, you have 4 players that could give up/troll on your team and 5 players that could give up/troll on the enemy team. Statistically, if you're better than your peers, you should climb.
There are certain strategies that work better in SoloQ (as opposed to coordinated FlexQ/Pro Play) and these are MORE than covered by a ton of YouTube content, as well as strategies that work better at low elo than high elo and vice versa. But barring that, your skill has a lot to do with your rank, so unless you are actively getting better at a rate faster than the people at your elo, you'll probably stay the same rank and maybe climb very slowly.
***
Surrender Votes:
This one I add because I mentioned it and thought there were two interesting schools of thought and wanted to see what others thought about it:
Chess:
In chess, there is not really incentive to forfeit since you may be able to force a draw. You are certainly allowed to resign if you're sure that the opponent has a way to beat you, knows what it is and is actively planning on properly executing that strategy, but there's nothing wrong with someone making you "play it out."
My dad always liked to say to me regarding chess that you should make your opponent "prove it." They should prove they know how to pull out the win. Quitters never win, right?
Go:
Go players do not share this philosophy. Since Go is a point-based game where you typically win by accumulating small advantages and the rules (as of the twentieth century) do not allow a draw to occur, the game can be won by a small margin or a large margin.
There occasionally comes a point where your opponent has accumulated an overwhelming advantage over you and you do not actually have room for counterplay. The lead is too great, and you will lose this game.
It is actually considered rude in the go community to NOT surrender, as all you are doing is wasting the time of your opponent.
While there is still no incentive for resignation from the standpoint of "you won't win either way," there is no incentive to continue either. You will lose. The reward for the forfeit is valuing your time and that of your opponents over pride.
League:
League appears to have players in both camps, each feeling the other is rude or inconsiderate.
Some people think that people who want to ff have "weak mental." Maybe it's true sometimes, but maybe they are looking at a situation where the enemy team is ahead, scales better, and appears to be well-coordinated. They don't want to spend the extra ten minutes "playing it out" when there seems to be no incentive for doing so. If they just chalk up the LP as lost and get to the next game, that ten minutes would already have them well into their next laning phase.
That being said, throws happen CONSTANTLY in League. Especially since the later a game goes on, the longer death timers are. So if the enemy team is ahead and doesn't end, and you catch someone out, you can force a fight 4v5 and maybe even just end if the game has gone on long enough, even if you are behind.
So "hostage takers" are sometimes just counting on the enemy team throwing, as they often may do.
Additionally, I think while League definitely has the aspect of "accumulating small advantages over the course of the game" and you can get to a situation where the enemy team just steamrolls you, League is more like chess than go in that there is a "checkmate" situation. The gold you have doesn't matter, the towers don't matter, the dragons don't matter except in how much they help you to take down the enemy nexus.
Therefore, objectively, it makes more sense to play it out. But this also goes back to toxicity: nobody wants to be trapped in game with an 0/20/2 mid/jg who's flaming all chat, spam pinging everyone and everything, and seems hell-bent on making sure that there's an extra 100 gold with every cannon wave mid by running straight into the enemy team 1v5. Why flame someone for wanting out?
What do you guys think?
NEWCOMERS
Like I said, this is my first real season actually dedicating time into this game. It was something social I could do in quarantine with my brother, wife, and a couple friends, and then I got into the competitive aspect a bit more. I studied it like I studied other things, namely by studying from experts, getting coaching where I could find it and playing a lot of games.
I felt comfortable in doing so because I have a great little group of friends that play and they were happy to teach me until I was comfortable enough to learn.
One thing I think that has improved in content-creation between when I first encountered the game in Season 7 and when I looked at it now is that it seems to be more widely understood that there are TWO sets of fundamentals in League. There are the basic mechanical aspects of how to play (abilities, last-hitting, towers, what jungle camps are and do, what each role does on a basic level, etc.) and then the more advanced decision making aspects (wave management, roaming, jungle timers/pathing, teamfighting, lane positioning, etc.).
The knowledge base required for League is actually massive, by the way, just like it is for almost any competitive game. The MINIMUM knowledge that I could see would be required to play like an actual human and not get smashed EVERY TIME is:

• An intimate understanding of at least one role and how that role relates to the team
• A strong understanding of at least a couple of champions, knowing how to play them, who counters them, who they counter, what runes to take, what items to generally build
• A basic understanding of basically every other champion in the game so you know what to look out for
• An ability to focus on several things at once (map, enemy movements, wave states, warding, enemy positioning, your own positioning).

Getting good requires expanding this knowledge base, as well as other aspects of the game. It's a lot to take in.
Combining this with the fact that you get punished for not being good (as covered earlier) and get flamed, told to uninstall, or even have homophobic/racial slurs and get told to kill yourself (which isn't as harmless to some people as you might think), the face of League is a very unfriendly one.
Which begs the question: how many more people would have fun and play this game if it weren't the baffling combination of complicated, difficult, and toxic?
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COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
I've been thinking about making this post for a while, especially since Voyboy's famous video on community toxicity.
While I do think that Riot should not allow rampantly and obviously toxic behavior, the community has to do a lot of stepping up too.
Every time you personally int or type something shitty or are an asshole to others in-game, you show the rest of the players in your game that to some degree it is socially acceptable to do.
I ran a go club for a while, and if anyone treated a new player or an unskilled player half as poorly as I've seen inexperienced players treated (hell been treated as a new player), they would get a stern talking to and, if it continued, I would just kick them the fuck out. And nobody in my club would have batted an eye.
Wouldn't it be nice to have more people to play League with? And have the games be less toxic? Hell, maybe actually be fun?
The thrill of competition is a shared experience. If you have trouble with toxicity yourself, maybe just start by acknowledging that sometimes its okay for people to have a bad game, and its okay for your enemies to pop off sometimes. To feel otherwise is to torture yourself, as there's no way that (unless you're hard smurfing) you should expect to win 100% of your games with people at your rank.
But this goes beyond simply not being the guy who spends the game sitting under his turret typing and flaming his team. That should be a given if you want to see a less toxic game. It is the absolute bare minimum to not actively contribute to the things you don't want to see in game.
I think that if we want to improve the general environment of the game, we have to actively set examples and change what we think is acceptable conduct. Ignore or report bad conduct, but also add things you can do to improve the conditions.
Here are my thoughts on some stuff I think we can do as a community that will improve stuff:

• Reviewing as a courtesy. Reviewing a game with your opponent can be SO helpful. I think we're not in a place where an offer to go over the game with your enemy laner would be seen as anything but condescending, but maybe it might be better received if the loser asked to go over the game? Or at least have a brief discussion about it in the post-game chat.
• Coaching as a courtesy. The "Go Teaching Ladder" is a great service where lower rated go players would submit their games and higher rated players review them for free. The higher rated players also submit their games for review, so it runs off a combination of goodwill and fair exchange. This really wouldn't be hard to implement, honestly. What would you guys think of such a site/service? The flaw in this system is that a Bronze player might get incorrect information from a Plat player, but I think it's better than the Bronze player having at best Bronze information and at worst no information about how to improve.
• Acknowledging both your enemies and your allies for good play. Instead of flaming someone else or going into self-deprecation, maybe just trying to look more at what an opponent did well and just typing in post-game chat that they played well and giving a genuine "gg" would just help make things not so toxic constantly.
• Turning off chat. So we all know when we're being kind of toxic, right? If you can't help but type all game, then maybe just...remove your own ability to type? Just be the bigger person, realize you don't have the mental to avoid tilting your team even harder and just not do it. Conversely, if you know you have a weak mental and tilt easily or you're a brand new player and getting flamed all the time, it would also be good to disable chat while you get better. And I don't mean muting everyone or just "holding back" from typing. I mean clicking escape, going into your game settings and disabling both allied and team chat. The downside there is that you might miss calls and coordination in chat, but you can do most shotcalling with some creative pings and if you have a major problem with these things it can do more harm than good.
• Making reports actually matter. Reporting someone for having a bad game seems to be common, but I think it harms the game. If there are 10,000 reports submitted and 9,000 of them are for "inting," but only 500 of those reports were validly for people actually running into enemy turret and flaming in all-chat between death timers, then Riot can't punish people as effectively for actually ruining the game. They have to play the numbers game here, and if you punished everyone who was reported as having a bad game at the same level as everyone who was actually inting, you would ban half the player base. So then it takes more reports to actually act upon these things to try to weed out people just not doing well or learning a role/champ, so now the actual offenders get to play more games before they get punished.

Anyway, thoughts on my suggestions? Suggestions of your own? Comments? Critiques? This has been bugging me for ages and I wanted to talk about it.

​
Before I go into the actual topics, I would like to point out that I have not spoken and written English for decades.
I hope that my lines, my thoughts are understandable, that the translation into English corresponds to my thoughts.
I beg your indulgence if something is not perfectly formulated.
​
Introduction:
It is very interesting to read here on the discussion board about how much billions of dollars the sale of the company will bring in, whether the sales price will be distributed as dividends, complete cash payments, stock holdings etc.
The fruit has not yet been harvested, it is not certain whether there will be a harvest, whether it will be sold at all and if so, what price will be reached, but discussions about success and satisfaction are already lively.
Every investment should primarily be analysed/treated under the aspect of risk assessment and minimisation of risks, and only then do performance aspects play a role.
In particular we long-term investors of MVIS are aware of the risks and repeated disappointments of the investment and should not neglect these aspects.
In my opinion, there are relevant aspects to be considered, which I would like to address in the following lines.
According to the posts in this forum, the majority of investors would like to see a complete sale of the company this year, including me.
Here in the discussion forum the question arose several times whether SS had lied about the sale of the company.
These questions show that there is uncertainty and doubt among some investors. This obviously has to do with the history of Microvision or rather with the destabilized confidence of the shareholders in the leadership.
The question about the sale of the company is justified because there is nowhere to be read that the company is definitely being sold, but they write about the potential sale of the company - more on this below.
First of all it is important to take a short look at the recent past.
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About the proxy, the voting, the voting results:
If we recall the weeks of April and May, there had repeatedly been much frustration, anger and indignation among us investors. This could be read in detail here in the discussion forum. This disappointment was again caused by the fact that MVIS leadership repeatedly failed to successfully market the technology for which we shareholders had invested a lot of money for more than two decades.
As a result of this renewed lack of success, many investors probably voted against the proxy proposals in April.
It was probably these understandably poor election results that led the MVIS leadership to have a conversation with very few shareholders in order to achieve better election results. The proxy was sent again and the election results changed.
​
On proposal 1:
Due to the history of repeated disappointment and failure, the members of the BOD may not have been elected at first. After the conversation (Firesidechat) with very few shareholders, the members of the BOD were re-elected.
Due to the continuous economic failure of MVIS, we have understandably experienced anger and indignation.
As you could read, some of us changed their opinions about their election because they didn't want to vote against it out of anger (motivated by anger).
I agree that emotions should not be the primary guide.
But: A voting against the BOD members is primarily a rational decision, as it is known that they could not show any economic success for more than 2 decades.
A vote against the members of the BOD therefore has primarily rational reasons.
​
On Proposal 3:
A sale of the company this year does not require a rs.
A wise quote from a shareholder: "... Shares are NOT needed for M&A as Microvision shareholders will receive shares of the acquirer and even Nasdaq listing does NOT matter in the M&A case either ...". Sig
A vote against a reverse split has primarily rational reasons. Because the company is supposed to be sold and no rs is needed for this.
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On Proposal 2:
It is very important that a further capital increase was not approved. This has also kept the share price stable.
However, it is astonishing that over 61.5 million shares voted for a capital increase.
As has been read in many posts, we shareholders have become suspicious of leadership through repeated disappointments and failures.
For the restoration of confidence and credibility it is not conducive that on the one hand we are told that the company will be sold this year, but the April proxy reads: "We will require additional capital to fund our operations and to implement our business plan.“
There is nothing about the fact that additional shares will be used exclusively (!) to sell the company, but only to continue the current business.
In this case, too, it is primarily a rational decision to vote against Proposal 2, against a further capital increase - further relevant aspects in this regard can be read elsewhere in this text.
I would also like to note a clever quote from a shareholder on this topic:... Shares are NOT needed for M&A as Microvision shareholders will receive shares of the acquirer and even Nasdaq listing does NOT matter in the M&A case either ...". Sig
​
On the subject of the capital increase and the sale of the company, the following can be summarised:
- The majority of investors would like to see a complete sale of the company this year - it is also expected by the shareholders, because they believe that the leadership of MVIS has definitely expressed this.
- In a discussion with some shareholders, management is said to have expressed the intention to sell the company this year.
- Some of the leadership's letters state about the potential sale of the company and not about the definitive sale.
- Finally, the April 2020 proxy states, "We will require additional capital to fund our operations and to implement our business plan.“
​
Isn't that contradictory?!
Will the company be sold completely this year or not?
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And most importantly:
What is ultimately decisive and legally binding?
What has been said to a few shareholders or what can be read in the proxy (see above) and some letters (… potential sale ...).
​
This all gives cause for scepticism.
There is no reason not to be sceptical.
How much longer?
Until the company is completely sold.
​
Whether we have any influence on the sale is important to know and will be discussed below.
​
​
What will reach us first: The request for a capital increase or news of a significant offer for the company?
Management has not achieved its goal of obtaining 100 million additional shares - 100 million additional shares would be about 67% of the current number of shares (based on 150 million authorized shares).
That would be an enormous increase.
There are several indications, which are not all discussed in this post, that a request for a further capital increase can be expected in the foreseeable future.
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You do not believe that?
OK.
Mark this post so that you can call it up again quickly when we receive a request for more shares in the foreseeable future.
​
How to deal with such a request, I would like to discuss the following.
​
​
What is the value of our company?
We, the investors, have an important influence on the further development of our investment.
No further burden for us, the investors!
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None of us knows how high the value of Microvision (patents etc.) is.
It may be that the value is over $1 billion or less.
​
So let us go through the two possible examples below:
(A) MVIS is valuable
(B) The offers for MVIS are currently not high
​
(A) If the company (patents etc.) has value, then the big companies (e.g. Sony, Samsung, Foxconn/Sharp, Apple, MS, Google, FB, Amazon, STM) know this too.
The large companies have so far been in a comfortable situation.
This is because they did not have to finance, or only partially finance, the costs of research and development in the technological areas on which Microvision focuses.
These costs (and others: sales, marketing, general, administrative etc. expenses) have been largely/completely borne by us, the investors in Microvision. (Our money, the money of the long-term investors, was largely burned over more than 20 years, because for decades no product with significant sales could be marketed).
For the big companies it would be an advantage if Microvision would continue to exist as it has been. Because this would mean that they would continue to have little or no costs for research and development (and other: sales, marketing, general, administrative etc. expenses) in the technological areas (if they are interested) in which Microvision specialises.
The risk, the costs would continue to be borne by Microvision's investors, you and me.
So the usual existence of Microvision would be to the advantage of the big companies and at the same time to the disadvantage of the Microvision investors.
History would repeat itself, more money from us (investors, especially loyal long-term investors) would continue to burn (see my written contribution https://www.reddit.com/MVIS/comments/gl1cty/mvis_my_experiences_my_present_your_possible/).
​
So far, the big companies had no motivation to take over Microvision.
It is conceivable that the interested companies play a game, play poker by not making an offer at all, since they are betting that Microvision will continue to operate as usual through a further capital increase (approved by its shareholders who have become weak and/or thoughtful).
If Microvision (patents etc.) is really valuable, then the big companies know this too - so their motivation to take over can only be awakened by Microvision terminating its activities. Only then are the large companies lured into a bidding competition (if they have a fundamental interest in Microvision), for which a professional management should create such conditions that the highest possible proceeds can be achieved.
High proceeds will be generated automatically if (a) Microvision (patents, etc.) is valuable and (b) the right/professional conditions for a competition are created.
​
So that means:
A.1. If the capital increase had been approved in May, we would have very unfavourable conditions for a sale of the company. Everyone should be aware of this, especially those who voted for a capital increase.
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A.2. The previous operation of MVIS was inexpensive for all other companies. These other companies may have an interest in keeping it that way.
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A.3. It is possible that there are offers from interested parties to buy MVIS. However, these offers could be withdrawn if there is a capital increase, since the interested party assumes that the normal operation of MVIS will continue.
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A.4. If by the end of December 2020 the company has not been sold because the big companies are playing a game, playing poker, by not making an offer at all, because they are betting that Microvision will continue to operate as usual through a further capital increase (approved by its shareholders who have become weak and/or thoughtful), bankruptcy should be declared from January 2021, because all further requests for a capital increase by us shareholders will consistently not be approved.
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Is it possible that no company will make an offer for the reasons mentioned?
Absolutely.
Is it likely that no company will make an offer for the reasons mentioned?
It is not possible to say exactly how likely it is. But as long as it is possible, this aspect should not be neglected.
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If I haven't overlooked anything, MVIS has an accumulated deficit of almost $578 million and no significant debt.
If the company were to be sold, auctioned off, the majority of the proceeds would be distributed to us shareholders because of the low debt. As a result, bankruptcy of MVIS would not be a problem for us shareholders.
This is my personal state of knowledge.
However, I am not familiar with your American laws in detail.
Since this aspect is important, I would like to ask those of you who are knowledgeable about correcting or confirming this.
Thank you very much for that.
​
​
(B) It may be that the offers for MVIS (patents etc.) are currently not high.
For example, management could tell us that bids were received, but none were high enough, because our great technology has a much higher value. This would repeatedly trigger and intensify the dreams, wishes, hopes and fantasies of some investors (who want MVIS to continue trying to become successful on its own), as we have known for decades.
In this case it would be fatal to agree to a request for a capital increase of another 100 million shares, because a lot of money, our money, would continue to be burned.
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If the management succeeds in showing us by a clear and comprehensible concept that the value of the company will be significantly increased by the further development of LIDAR within the next 1 to 2 years, an approval of max. 10 million additional shares would be conceivable (this is approx. 6.7% of the current shares - based on 150 million authorized shares).
Max. 10 million additional shares only under the following conditions (more shares and vague statements are unacceptable):

1. Clear answers to the question: When will profitability be achieved?
2. Development of a detailed concept, which should include

a) Which products will be further developed?
b) Do these products have a technological and cost advantage over comparable products of competitors and which ones are they?
c) Which market segments are these products aimed at?
d) Which customer relationships have been established so far and how advanced are they?

1. No further stock options
   
2. Previous options should be withdrawn as far as possible or completely.
   
3. Parallel to the development of the LIDAR products, further efforts must be made to sell the complete company at the highest possible price - the sale of the complete company has priority and is not negotiable.
   
4. Management's suggestions as to what contribution they will make in order not to leave the costs entirely to the investors as has been the case so far - for example, reducing the members of the BOD by at least 30 to 50% and significantly reducing the remuneration of the remaining members of the BOD
   

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If management can present a clear concept for the further development of LIDAR, including the significant generation of cash within 1 to 2 years (as they have repeatedly claimed), this will have a positive effect on the share price.
The max. 10 million shares and the implementation of points 1 to 6 should be enough to run the operation for 18 months - these 18 months and the increase in value of the company through the further development of LIDAR should make it possible to sell the company definitely completely within this time at a good price, by 30.06.2022 at the latest.
If the Company is sold in its entirety no later than June 30, 2022, the leadership and employees of MVIS could be compensated for a total of 0.02% to 0.04% of the sales proceeds if the sales proceeds are at least $1.5 billion.
Should the sales proceeds be higher than $1.5 billion, the remuneration could increase by 0.01% for every additional $0.5 billion (i.e. for $2 billion sales proceeds 0.03 to 0.05%, for $2.5 billion sales proceeds 0.04 to 0.06%, etc.).
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To avoid any possible misunderstandings, I would like to make the following clear:
I. I clearly favour Option A, with the complete sale of the company by NovembeDecember 2020 at the latest or an auction after the declaration of bankruptcy from January 2021.
II Alternative (B) is, so to speak, Plan B, the implementation of which is only conceivable under clear, specific conditions.
III. A further capital increase of 100 million shares with the formulation stated in the proxy ("We will require additional capital to fund our operations and to implement our business plan.“ ) is unacceptable and should always be consistently rejected. Approval of such a capital increase drastically reduces the probability of the company being sold and significantly increases the risk for us investors that our money will continue to be burned and the share price will fall sharply.
IV. If management asks for additional shares (about 50 million) to sell part of the company, the following quote should be taken into account: "... Shares are NOT needed for M&A as Microvision shareholders will receive shares of the acquirer and even Nasdaq listing does NOT matter in the M&A case either ...".
V. If management asks for additional shares (about 50 million) to sell part of the company, they must be able to explain very well why the quote under IV. is not possible. Above all, there must be a significant financial benefit for us shareholders. We long-term shareholders remember that MVIS has already sold a part of the company about 8 to 12 years ago (Lumera) respectively they brought Lumera to the stock exchange. Normally, the shareholders are involved, which did not happen in this case. We shareholders had nothing of it, the money was burned by the MVIS leadership.
IV. If management asks for additional shares (about 50 million) to sell part of the company, there must be a significant financial benefit for us shareholders. We long-term shareholders remember that MVIS has already sold a part of the company about 8 to 12 years ago (Lumera) respectively they brought Lumera to the stock exchange. Normally, the shareholders are involved, which did not happen in this case. We shareholders had nothing of it, the money was burned by the MVIS leadership.
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Other contingencies/risks:
If the company really should be sold completely this year at a good price, then I welcome that.
But when has everything gone well and without any problems at MVIS?
In the written thoughts presented here, my aim is to point out problematic aspects that could still arise and to think about minimising possible risks - after all, it is about our investment.
It is important to bear in mind some aspects of proposal 2 (on capital increase).
We (especially the loyal long-term investors) have experienced a long history of continuity of disappointments and failures through our investment in Microvision.
Since proposal 2 contains the following wording, "We will require additional capital to fund our operations and to implement our business plan," approval of an additional 100 million shares could lead to the following developments (in examples 1, 2, 3, and 5 it is assumed that SS really intends/pursues the sale):

1. If SS were to be outvoted by the BOD, if there were to be a change of opinion regarding the sale of the company, if the usual business were to continue, the capital increase would cause a further immense loss in the value of our shares and the likelihood of continuity of disappointment and failure would increase immensely.
2. If SS had health problems and could therefore not continue his activities, another person could follow a different course.
3. SS could change his course because (a) no offers were received, because (b) offers were received that were not high enough for him.
4. Do not forget that no letter says that the company is definitely being sold, they are writing about the potential sale and the wording in the April proxy means that normal operations will continue.
5. Should SS be offered another lucrative job, i.e. leave Microvision, the following news could be published in a few months:

MicroVision Announces Change in Leadership, Names Brian Turner as New Chief Executive Officer
--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2020-- (NASDAQ: MVIS), a leader in innovative ultra-miniature projection display and sensing technology, today announced that it has named Brian Turner, a company director, as chief executive officer, replacing Sumit Sharma who has resigned as chief executive officer.
We thank Sumit Sharma for his commitment and wish him all the best.
"I am very excited to join MicroVision as CEO and I look forward to carrying on the vision of the company and building on its success," said Brian Turner, incoming CEO. "There are many opportunities ahead. We have received many bids for the company, but none were high enough to sell our great technology as it has a much higher value. We have decided to continue our operations to maximize shareholder value.
.…
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These possible developments should be taken into account when agreeing to the proxy with the above-mentioned formulation "We will require additional capital to fund our operations and to implement our business plan.“
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Is everyone aware of this?
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The leadership of MVIS has had complete freedom for more than 2 decades. They kept getting the money they needed from us through the approved capital increases. They repeated again and again to increase the value of the company ("...to maximize shareholder value...").
But the fact is:
- None of the value-enhancing announcements were realized.
- A deficit of about $578 million was accumulated.
- No significant revenues were generated in any year,
- The share price fell from over $500 to temporarily below $0.20,
- The number of shares rose immensely.
- The credibility, the trust of leadership is fragile for some investors, and for other investors it no longer exists.
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With these facts, under these circumstances, there cannot and must not be any further approval of 100 million shares to continue the current business.
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For various reasons, there are doubts as to whether the company will be sold at all.
Once again: There is cause for scepticism.
There is no reason not to be sceptical.
How much longer?
Until the company is completely sold.
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In this discussion forum there seems to be a high degree of satisfaction with the company, the leadership and the investment in MVIS among some (maybe even many) investors.
This is incomprehensible, as the long-term development of the share price, the annual balance sheets of the company on which the share price development is based and the development of the number of shares and other aspects give rise to necessary criticism and justified dissatisfaction.
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In this context, it is important to consider :
We owe the progress to the critics. Satisfied people do not want change.
This can/should be thought about, which hopefully leads to an understanding and subsequent implementation.
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Other reasons why the complete sale of the company is important as soon as possible
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There are relevant reasons for a complete sale of the company this year, which I would like to mention from past threads:
(1.) Surely one cannot rule out that they will try to find a way to circumvent the patents.
(2.) Furthermore, the time of the patents will expire at some point.
(3.) Perhaps they will also find another technological way to make us more or less superfluous.
All these aspects (probably there are more) cannot be ignored.
...
Today our patents seem to still have value. But that can change. That's why an immediate sale, an immediate auction is important.
https://www.reddit.com/MVIS/comments/gl1cty/mvis_my_experiences_my_present_your_possible/
AND:
"1. The contractual inability of a small company like MVIS (and BOD) to obtain profitable contracts with TIER1 companies.
2. The legal inability to defend its intellectual property from the TIER1 companies.
3. The expectation that the technology would spread, knowing that this would happen very gradually over the next two years.
With dividends and a little liquidity, MVIS will always remain a small and vulnerable company.
Two years from now we will not know what the economic market will look like, even if you look at a long-term stock chart to understand that we are "a little" too excessive.
In two years we will not know what the technological development will look like, even if we are now strong in a fantastic engine.
Now is the time to sell everything.
Now is the time when many companies are looking at our technology.
Now is the time when profitability can be maximized," Gpmeagle
https://www.reddit.com/MVIS/comments/hisork/the_onetime_dividend_scenario/
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Summary:
As already mentioned above, each investment should be analyzed/treated primarily under the aspect of risk assessment and minimisation of risks and only then do performance aspects play a role.
The primary risks of MVIS 'current situation are that

(1.) the company will not be sold and (2.) a capital increase will be applied for / approved so that the ordinary business can continue. 

This should be prevented.
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In the present lines, various aspects/possibilities/contradictions are listed, which illustrate the risks. We can minimize/eliminate these risks for investors through our behavior.
It is important to have a plan B, which I consider to be an emergency solution in this case.
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Concluding addition:
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Due to the decades of unsuccessfulness of MVIS, criticism is justified and necessary.
However, an analysis would not be balanced if it were focused on this alone.
Of course, one must also bear in mind that they certainly did not have it easy when they negotiated with other large companies.
The fact is that we are a small company that does not have a big name, that has little money to compete with the big companies.
That was the case and it will remain so.
Also for this reason, it is the only right decision to sell the company now.
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Even if our technology is good, the big companies won't have given us anything and may have played cat and mouse with us.
We live in a time when money makes a big difference.
Whoever has the money has the power - whether you like it or not, but it is so.
The capital is not in our company, but with the big players, who therefore more or less determine the rules of the game.
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It is possible that the April 2017 customer will be the same one who signed the 10 million DO exclusive contract.
This contract should bring in about 20 million annually. Do you remember?
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Why might the customer of April 2017 also have the 10 million DO exclusive contract?
It is possible that the same customer signed this exclusive contract with the intention of excluding other customers and not ordering any components himself.
If there is no money coming in, if there is no sales, then we can be kept small to create dependencies. If you are small and dependent, you have fewer opportunities, you are weak, you have less freedom, for example in contract negotiations.
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Anyway.
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Due to the fact that so far no significant sales could be generated that would guarantee independence, it is the right decision to sell the company now.
As explained above, there are still contradictions and risks in this respect which we must take into account.
We should support the management in selling the company before the end of this year, without further burdens for us, the investors, without a further capital increase that would allow the normal business to continue.
If a sale does not succeed this year, then an auction following the declaration of bankruptcy from January 2021 should be considered.
One should have a plan B (as mentioned above), which I do not prefer, however.
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To answer the above mentioned question for those asking whether SS lied about the sale of the company, one can say:
- If SS said that the company is being sold and it is not happening, then he has not told the truth.
- If the company should not be sold, then this is in accordance with the content of some letters, in which one reads of the potential and not of the definitive sale.
- If the company should not be sold, then this does not conflict with the wording in the proxy "We will require additional capital to fund our operations and to implement our business plan."
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Everyone should be aware of this if there is a request for additional shares in the foreseeable future.
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I would like to thank all those who in April/May did not agree to the approval of an additional 100 million shares - because otherwise we would now (a) have very unfavorable conditions for the sale of the company and (b) there would be a high probability that the usual business could continue.
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We owe the progress to the critics. Satisfied people (and the yes-men) do not want change.
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We all have the same goal: That our investment brings the highest possible return.
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All the best for all long-term investors.
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Saturday July 25, 2020
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Change on August 25, 2020
Change due to a misunderstanding.
Note by Sig.
Thanks to Sig
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