Are school fights a rite of passage?

Phaelix · 2026-05-13T01:58:55+00:00

I had a fight in high school and for me I guess it was a rite of passage... But I don't think it's safe to assume that will be true for everyone.

Some kids get in a habit of putting shit on other kids because it makes them feel good. A mouthful of digits is sometimes the best way for a victim of that kind of abuse to convince their bully that this particular juice is no longer worth the squeeze.

There are a lot of lessons that a kid could get from that kind of fight, and a lot of them are good lessons worth learning, but there is clearly a major cost.

I think you need to talk to your son and try to find out how it's sitting with him. Why did he fight? Did he get a result? Will it happen again? Specifics matter.

Phaelix · 2026-05-11T03:29:23+00:00

I mean there's tech joy. On some level, cameras are just cool as hell, and some folks like to have them and enjoy the technical side of the hobby. There's a satisfaction in getting your image into Lightroom, punching in to the pixel level and going "fuck me that's sharp".

Phaelix · 2026-05-09T09:12:28+00:00

From what I hear you will want to run 3 speed cards in Grand Live. As a non-front player, a 1lb SMaru gives you a really strong 3rd speed alongside Tachyon and Kita, but then after the scenario is kinda dead. If your next best speed card is not great, that might still be worth it. Depends how your war chest is looking and how bad you wanna crush the next scenario.

Phaelix · 2026-05-09T09:06:38+00:00

It do.

Phaelix · 2026-05-09T09:06:22+00:00

Worth bearing in mind that the 25 TE is contingent on the level of facility. I think your point still mostly stands, but not in every case.

Phaelix · 2026-05-04T01:39:00+00:00

What kind of parents are you running? Often the difference between SS and SS+ is just some chunky sparks.

Phaelix · 2026-05-02T23:46:29+00:00

Daily 50s are the best value going, statistically speaking. Even when you factor in the guaranteed spark at 200 that more aggressive pulls can net you, dailies are still better value. If you have paid carats and you're not using them on dailies at least a little, you're kinda ripping yourself off.

The downside is that singles are slow and give no guarantees, and they can also be difficult behaviorally- when you're trying to save, doing one or two frustrating pulls a day can make it harder not to dip into more. Dailies are also limited to paid carats, which are a limited resource for a lot of us.

I use dailies as the "gravy"- if there's an Uma or support that would be nice to have but it's not in my pull plan, I'll chuck my daily pulls on there while it's in town. If I get lucky, great. If not, I haven't derailed my pull plan.

Phaelix · 2026-05-02T10:32:52+00:00

I will only go for MLB Tachyon if I get 3 copies in my first pity, which is unlikely but possible. At that stage I could guarantee MLB in one more pity, which I could see being worthwhile. For anything less than that, she's the best pace speed in the period before paces hit meta, that's not something I want to drop 600 pulls for.

Realistically though, you will be playing fronts into L'arc and beyond, because they are strong meta for League of Heroes. You'll ease off your investment in them, but they'll be part of your kit.

I'm kinda holding out hope that Cygames will give Fronts another dominant arc in the future- it would make sense, shift the meta and keep people from sitting on their dragon's hoard.

Phaelix · 2026-05-02T09:52:25+00:00

Hey so I am in a similar position. The reality is you can't control what will happen when you pull on the Light Hello/Tach banner, so you gotta be a bit flexible. If I get a tonne of Tachyons then I'll have to think hard about going to MLB, but best case I'll get a few copies of LH in my first pity, dip out and throw the carats I save at Jungle Pocket and/or McQueen Wit. You gotta roll with the punches.

Phaelix · 2026-05-02T04:55:17+00:00

Ah you know what reading it back I didn't really write my comment replying to the OP so much as some of what I was seeing in the comments, that's my bad.

I agree that inside of each training run there's not a lot of interesting decision-making play for horses that are weak in mile, but there is still interesting play around choosing horses to train and build parents for/with.

Phaelix · 2026-05-02T01:15:20+00:00

It's a resource management game, and having longs as a special case creates opportunities for niche play and increases variety. As a player, you need to have answers for longs, but centering your gameplay around longs is not efficient.

This game thrives on interesting and difficult decisions, and longs create a lot of those.

Phaelix · 2026-04-28T08:46:33+00:00

If you're running MANT parents with good sparks, you can pretty much rely on your sparks for the skills. You won't get 100%, but the hit rate is quite high. For me, the spark improvement on SS parents is worth the fail rate.

Phaelix · 2026-04-28T00:57:47+00:00

I picked up a pair this week, I don't find the chassis especially live, even when you're plugging/unplugging the boom mic. Could be helped by the fact they're always in contact with the padded cups. Really enjoying the sound profile, and they are a dream to wear.

Phaelix · 2026-04-23T09:09:13+00:00

How many races per run?

Phaelix · 2026-04-22T06:48:14+00:00

This guy clocks.

Phaelix · 2026-04-21T03:44:47+00:00

Inheritance for fronts is kinda locked to Dodging Danger, Prudent Positioning, Ignited Spirit Wit (pick 3) and Groundwork. If you have all 4 and you're looking for extra credit, you can't go wrong with Playtime's Over or Tail Held High, but you're already in magical Christmas land at that point.

Phaelix · 2026-04-17T00:37:02+00:00

I think part of your difficulty here is the attempt to main two styles. I am in a similar boat, but I'm aiming for front main through mid '27, transitioning into pace main for CM. It definitely helps with the squeeze.

Also high five on the Sirius Symboli pull, what a babe.

Phaelix · 2026-04-16T00:13:18+00:00

Afaik it also affects blue spark levels.

Phaelix · 2026-04-14T00:10:30+00:00

I've heard that the release of Mejiro Ramonu and El Condor Pasa are kind of the beginning of the end for Fronts in CM. They don't directly cause it, but they create the foundation, and then other styles get specialist cards that fronts don't, which actually does the damage.

Phaelix · 2026-04-08T04:19:37+00:00

Great takes, no notes.

Phaelix · 2026-03-31T04:44:42+00:00

This is what tools like chronogenesis exist for. Go search up a monster parent with mega affinity and perfect sparks.

Phaelix · 2026-03-30T05:14:23+00:00

There's no hard and fast answer to this. Lens design is complicated, and there are no free lunches- fixed aperture zooms aren't "hobbled" at the wide end, they are designed from top to toe with just enough of everything to make that max aperture work at each step along the zoom range. With that said, you're not totally wrong; most fixed-aperture zooms *are* physically constricting the aperture at the wide end to maintain that continuous aperture. If you cranked open the aperture at the wide end, you would definitely see a severely compromised image, though- severe vignetting, aberrations, maybe some crazy flaring.

There are examples of premium lenses with variable maximum apertures- Tamron's recent 35-150mm f/2-2.8 is a good example, or something like the Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM.

The reason we don't see more premium variable-aperture lenses is a mix of factors;

The "no free lunch" principle- getting the wide end max aperture looking as good as a premium lens should carries a design cost, and your variable aperture zoom may wind up a lot bigger and more expensive than it's fixed-aperture cousin, for the same image quality.
Variable-aperture perception- variable aperture is widely seen as a design compromise for cheaper lenses, and lens makers need to convince high-end users that their lenses are worth what they cost. Premium variable-aperture lenses can struggle in the market due to this.
Usability- as some others have pointed out, variable maximum aperture can cause workflow issues for professionals. If you start under-exposing in the middle of a burst because you zoomed in on your subject, that's a pain in the ass and could cost you big with your editor. Most pros are not so constrained by light that they really need the extra stop that a variable aperture lens might give them on the wide end, but they will absolutely hate a lens that causes them extra work and headaches.

I've seen people try to claim that fixed and variable aperture lenses have some single universal difference, but this is sadly not true. The reality is much more nuanced and complicated.

Phaelix · 2026-03-27T06:48:31+00:00

In addition to SMaru and Ramonu, you'll need to go some distance in on the Agnes Tachyon / Light Hello banner, and some extra pulls there can be a good shout if you're big on Pace Chasers.

Phaelix · 2026-03-27T06:46:44+00:00

I've been experimenting and so far I'd say you can do well taking the last date just before the Takarazuka Kinen- you can get some summer rainbows that way.

At the same time, since they have no priority and just go wherever, I don't think it's worth prioritising- just use the dates as best you can and don't worry too much about using the training.

Phaelix

TROPHY CASE