Esquire

@d_aeroflame_z: SirFizzWhizz has had my opener since yesterday, so as soon as you post yours or PM it to him we can move forward and I'll make the first response.

@d_aeroflame_z: I'll have my opener finished and pm'd to Cadence by the end of today. Much of our debate will hinge on how our characters choose to approach the battlefield, since that will determine where and how we encounter each other, so I would prefer that we both write our openers without seeing the other person's strategy. Then I'm happy to make the first response once both of our openers have been posted.

Why should you vote for Team 5?

All the teams are cool, have cool people and cool characters, voting for anybody is cool. So when there are no wrong choices, how do you figure out which choice is the most right? Well, I am here to tell you.

How many of you like a feel-good romance story? How about an underdog story of overcoming the odds? Well, let me regale you with a tale of Comicvine That Was. Many years ago, debates were had in threads titled "This Character vs That Character," and people would say "Team 1," or "Team 2" and then move on with their lives.

It was a dark time filled with awkward formatting and users trying to make sigs happen.

Into the vacuum of awkward debate came the glimmer of an idea: What if, instead of users awkwardly passing each other like ships in the night, unable to engage in debate over their disagreements, we locked them up in a thread with each other where there was no recourse but to beat each other over the head with out-of-context scans or to concede?

Thus, Challenge a Viner was born. And from the molten heat of this grand idea rose what may be the greatest or most uncomfortably amateurish CaV of all time: @sovereign91001's very first Challenge ever, against a Viner known only as @esquire. Here it is, in all its glory: Jamie Sommers vs Storm Shadow.

From this epic debate rose a friendship spanning space, time, and years of absence. And now, after a hiatus bordering on years, Esquire has returned to the Vine and is joined by none other than his old friend and rival, Sovereign91001, competing side by side to become champions of the Scenario of the Month. And if that isn't a story worth voting for, I don't know what could touch your heart more in this cold, cruel world we live in.

A vote for Team 5 is a vote for friendship, brotherhood, and the triumph of love!

@jinn@seagod@banthabot@primez0ne

Shocked at the audacity of the one called Nura, Endarion was swift to move to the Magi's defense. "Perhaps you have been led falsely before, but surely you could feel the truth of the Magi when he spoke before us? His love is a gift to us all, and His intentions are pure and genuine! He is truly the savior of all Eldritch races. You will see! Our faith and trust will be rewarded one hundred-fold, just as it has been for the unequaled Kismet. Let us quest for these lost, feral Eldritch together, and I will show you the truth of the Magi's words! Together we shall enter the Genesis Site and see the light of His promises spill over us like a blooming dawn in our own Dreams of Power!" Seeing Rose and Benji listening to the exchange, Endarion extends his invitation to them as well, encouraging them to seek out feral eldritch as the Magi desires.

He turns to Kismet. "Blessed Kismet most fair, you belief shines like a radiant sunrise. I ask of you just one simple clarification; how do we go about rescuing these lost, feral Eldritch?"

tl;dr

• Asks @jinn, @seagod, and @banthabot to team up on the Feral Eldritch quest
• Asks Kismet how the rescue eldritch from being insane and where they can be found.

I'm curious to see how the Finland pilot program goes.

If automation continues its takeover of blue-collar jobs, which seems to be the most capitalistic solution for businesses and companies, then there is a strong possibility that the amount of entry-level jobs necessary for the world's functioning will rapidly be outpaced by the workforce available to fill them. When the Amazon model of checkout-free physical marketplaces takes over at walmart-style chains across the world, close to 4 million Americans working as cashiers (roughly 3% of US employment) will lose their jobs, to say nothing of the total number of jobs displaced worldwide.

This is only a single example of how automation will sweep through the job market in the next half-decade alone, taking huge bites out of the entry-level job market. If the world doesn't take steps to support the millions of people displaced from their workplaces, the lack of available income will force them out of their homes and onto the streets, overwhelming social services which are stretched thin as it is. A lack of consumers with money to spend on goods will also devastate the world's economy, because if people don't have money to spend then no cash moves through the economy, hurting businesses and production.

A solution will be necessary, and if it doesn't become a priority for policymakers we could shortly be facing another financial crisis with the death of the lower classes. UBI seems like a potentially equitable solution, as it provides the same numerical benefit to everyone regardless of income. Obviously the tax burden will fall more heavily on those with higher incomes than those without gainful employment, but the world of everyone having a 40-hour workweek available to them may no longer be feasible once there are simply not enough work hours to support the general population. People who work would still be rewarded with all of the usual benefits of having money, even if they are paying taxes, and will benefit from a stronger economy if everyone in their country has money to invest in it.

I'm not convinced that UBI is the only solution, and I need to do more research on how it would impact markets and price inflation, but rejecting the proposition out of hand is concerning if we aren't willing to work towards finding other responses to the growing automation of entry-level jobs.

@sirfizwhiz: Reserve me an Empire sponsorship, please.

Team:

Daken (5)

Wolverine (Fox) [2]

15x 28 Days Later Zombies (1)

Does Daken have muramasa claws? I'm assuming no?

And Fox Logan has full adamantium?

Endarion was still dazed as the murmur of the crowd flooded the gargantuan structure. Dazed, not from the journey here, but from the words of the great Magi. Such a promise of greatness, of rightness, of truth was too much to take in. These were ideas which he had sought after for his whole life, but never had he felt so close to them as when he heard the words of the Great One fall upon him. I will follow this Magi, and I will learn from him all that there is to know of this cruel world, resolved the Eldritch mystic. Shouldering his way through the crowd, he tried to approach the important-looking Eldritch who had been privileged to stand with the master.

Closest to him, and quite lovely, was the Eldritch female called Kismet. Destiny, thought Endarion. How appropriate in a time such as this. Feeling woefully out of place in the presence of the beautiful and terrible woman, Endarion steeled himself, gathered his thoughts, and blurted, in what he hoped was a respectful manner: "You were with the Great Master. What was it... Pardon my intrusion... Who was... My deepest apologies. How was it that you came to be beside one so enlightened as He?"

@sirfizzwhizz: First draft:

2 slots: Spider-Man (616)

2 slots: Wolverine (616)

1 Slot: Blink (AoA)

@sirfizzwhizz: I'm going to bow out as well; looking at the teams again I'm not sure that this is the best fit for me at the moment, with some of the other scenarios going on. I'll try to get in on the next one!

@primez0ne:

• Class: Eldritch
• Name: Endarion, the Vigilant Unseen
• Body: Daken (616)
• Skillset: Wolverine (616)
• Power: Shroud's Dark Force Projection (616)
• Eldritch Power: Siryn's Sonic Projection
• Gear:

1. 1. Suppressed Assault Rifle w/ Armor Piercing Rounds (2 magazines), Assault Scope w/ Integrated Tritium Iron Sights
   2. Bear Trap
   3. 100' of High-Strength Cord
   4. Block of C4 w/ Remote Detonator
   5. Protein Bars

It says in the OP that Espers' aura sense doesn't work on some individuals; is that purely determined by plot elements, or is there any way to render your character invisible to the aura sense?