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Sextro posted:Basically came here to say this.
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Jan 13, 2019 05:18
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This Solo Leveling series is considerably better than The Gamer. edit: I like how this protagonist keeps becoming more morally dubious. Ytlaya fucked around with this message at 06:31 on Jan 13, 2019 |
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Jan 13, 2019 06:06
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I think he jumped the gun into being sociopathic and not caring about murder a little too easily. Yeah everyone he has killed has been trying to kill him and others, but he just... doesn't care. You would think he would have some care for how he just killed 7 guys in that second dungeon, but the story just ignores it and he shrugs doesn't react.
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Jan 13, 2019 08:25
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KittyEmpress posted:I think he jumped the gun into being sociopathic and not caring about murder a little too easily. Yeah everyone he has killed has been trying to kill him and others, but he just... doesn't care. You would think he would have some care for how he just killed 7 guys in that second dungeon, but the story just ignores it and he shrugs doesn't react. It's still not clear whether the story will treat it as just a "badass murderhobo" sort of thing in the long run, or if it'll actually treat it as a bad thing. I'm hopeful about the latter, because there have been a few hints sort of implying that "the system" is trying to turn him into some sort of killing machine, and there seems to be an escalation in terms of his views towards killing (notably with him basically baiting that guy into attacking him in the most recent chapter so he could murder him and turn him into one of his spirits). I would also speculate that he was "chosen" by The System for a reason, and that the reason in question might be tied into the ease with which he's willing to kill (without being a psychopath who does it for fun). The main thing that has kept it tolerable so far is that, despite the protagonist having a pretty typical "overpowered ability," the story went out of its way to pretty firmly establish that "S rank" hunters are all ridiculous badasses with powers considerably outside of the norm (and that he likely won't be able to reach that point anytime soon). It also helps that the art and action scenes are waaaaay better than in The Gamer.
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Jan 13, 2019 08:37
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Ytlaya posted:The main thing that has kept it tolerable so far is that, despite the protagonist having a pretty typical "overpowered ability," the story went out of its way to pretty firmly establish that "S rank" hunters are all ridiculous badasses with powers considerably outside of the norm (and that he likely won't be able to reach that point anytime soon). I'm not so sure he's not already S class himself. That or a very high A class. Though, yes, the art blows the gamer out of the water.
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Jan 14, 2019 15:43
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I was looking at other series being translated by the same group as the 2 series mentioned before and one caught my attention: Skeleton Soldier Couldn't Protect the Dungeon.
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Jan 14, 2019 16:44
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I've rather taken a liking to Mount Hua Reincarnation, partially because I just love Wuxia and love that this one doesn't use video game stats to represent power, but also because despite clearly being powerful and cheating with future knowledge, the protagonist, while super powerful for his age, is constantly aware that even with every short cut and mystical item he grabs, he is still no match for the truly talented big dogs, so he is going out of his way to solve their problems and make them his allies. Way better than some series that go too far into 'I can do everything alone because I'm so amazingly powerful'
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Jan 17, 2019 18:30
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KittyEmpress posted:I've rather taken a liking to Mount Hua Reincarnation, partially because I just love Wuxia and love that this one doesn't use video game stats to represent power, but also because despite clearly being powerful and cheating with future knowledge, the protagonist, while super powerful for his age, is constantly aware that even with every short cut and mystical item he grabs, he is still no match for the truly talented big dogs, so he is going out of his way to solve their problems and make them his allies. Kubera is good that way too. Leez even turns down an offer to be given a name that would allow her to clown superior sura because she isn't interested in power for its own sake. Also because the one making the offer was Kali, of course, but still.
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Jan 17, 2019 19:29
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Hodgepodge posted:Kubera is good that way too. Leez even turns down an offer to be given a name that would allow her to clown superior sura because she isn't interested in power for its own sake. Also because the one making the offer was Kali, of course, but still. I'm not a huge fan of Kubera, honestly, which is unfortunate because I adore the world building and side characters. I just am not a huge fan of How Leez basically intentionally has been giving up for like, way too long. It's boring to me. While her not being a boring invincible protagonist is fine, it gets annoying. Mount Hua is fun for me because because the main character knows he is not and never will be a match for the big monsters like the main bad guy, he has spent the entire plot finding ways to nerf him. Stealing mystical medicines from under him, burning books of secret techniques, gathering ancient relics, courting his strongest allies before he can... he acknowledges that he isn't some super hero who can beat the strongest of the strong, but never stops trying to even that.
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Jan 17, 2019 21:48
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Both Solo Leveling and Magic School Returner have gotten a new chapter recently. Kind of wish there was a longer backlog on them, or that they were somehow getting new chapters every day as I am caught up and now have to wait for new releases.
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Jan 20, 2019 06:46
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Blinks77 posted:I'm not so sure he's not already S class himself. That or a very high A class. I get the impression that there is a huge gap between A and S class, and that he's stronger than most of the former but not the latter. I think he explicitly stated that he likely wouldn't be able to beat that knight guy (the one whose spirit he added to his army) if he had used his great-sword, and that guy was stated to be about as strong as a Rank A. While he likely would be able to beat that Rank A knight guy from White Tiger guild in a straight-up fight, we also never got to see how that would have panned out since knight guy hosed up and was starving and weakened by the time they actually "fought." There are basically two routes the story can go in order to remain good. One is to maintain the presence of multiple characters who are at least as strong as the protagonist, and the other is to explore the idea of the protagonist losing his humanity or whatever. While I can't say I'm optimistic (given the popularity of series where the protagonist just becomes over-powered and owns everyone), I'll be crossing my fingers. KittyEmpress posted:I'm not a huge fan of Kubera, honestly, which is unfortunate because I adore the world building and side characters. I just am not a huge fan of How Leez basically intentionally has been giving up for like, way too long. It's boring to me. While her not being a boring invincible protagonist is fine, it gets annoying. The whole deal with Leez's character is that her situation is a tragedy and she has understandable reasons to feel hopeless. And remember that she knows she only has a couple years (or whatever it was) left to live. When you pile on top of that her learning that even her relatively happy earlier life was apparently largely a lie, it isn't surprising that she'd be pretty broken mentally/emotionally. Also, there are many characters other than Leez who receive significant focus (Leez didn't even show up for almost the entire 3rd Season until fairly recently). Not wanting to read something depressing is completely understandable, but it's not an actual flaw with the story/character. Kubera is kind of in a class of its own compared with almost every other remotely similar series we discuss, to the extent it feels weird to even compare them. Like, most of the other series that are discussed I judge in terms of how well-executed they are as "pulp entertainment" (like the aforementioned Solo Leveling thing), while Kubera actually has a genuinely interesting plot and cast.
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Jan 21, 2019 01:08
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Ytlaya posted:The whole deal with Leez's character is that her situation is a tragedy and she has understandable reasons to feel hopeless. And remember that she knows she only has a couple years (or whatever it was) left to live. When you pile on top of that her learning that even her relatively happy earlier life was apparently largely a lie, it isn't surprising that she'd be pretty broken mentally/emotionally. Also, there are many characters other than Leez who receive significant focus (Leez didn't even show up for almost the entire 3rd Season until fairly recently). Not wanting to read something depressing is completely understandable, but it's not an actual flaw with the story/character. The thing with Kubera is that you know every character's arc is going to end in a soul-crushing manner because it's a tragedy. But it's also so, so good. You left out the one person who would otherwise specifically care about her above anyone else (she does have a few stalwarts like Ran who are friends, but he for example has a family to worry about) not only has to act as if he doesn't lover her, but actually has to suppress the emotion itself because Kali specifically designed him to be (to put it lightly) abusive. While we're talking, Leez was totally Vishnu's candidate. Now that it's obvious that Asha was Kali's, it makes more sense. Also, I had the feeling that Kali wouldn't be an unqualified monster, and it seems like it's going in the direction I thought it was- the other Primordial Gods are so laser-focused on making a perfect universe, they have no respect for the agency of the inhabitants. So Kali is dedicated to destroying every universe to prove that you can't just manipulate people into enlightenment. In Hindu texts, the only thing that can stop Kali is Shiva submitting to her, and her rage is rooted in universal love. Hodgepodge fucked around with this message at 01:39 on Jan 21, 2019 |
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Jan 21, 2019 01:34
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That Works posted:I think it's pretty good character development although they have set up a few times that he's definitely going to have to screw over Sora and Dark if he wants to live . I forgot about this! I think it's kind of good character development but since he's never opened up to them it's left me feeling a little uneasy about it. Then again, it feels like the plot has been acknowledging that so I can't complain. Also Sweet Home, went in a surprisingly fighty direction but it's been a lot of fun. Hypocrisy fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Jan 22, 2019 |
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Jan 22, 2019 01:54
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Hypocrisy posted:I forgot about this! I think it's kind of good character development but since he's never opened up to them it's left me feeling a little uneasy about it. Then again, it feels like the plot has been acknowledging that so I can't complain. Yup, as long as it keeps moving I'm ok with it. They're kinda exploring others backstories right now so it may be a while, but it's been a pretty entertaining read. Helps that its updated so frequently too. Sweet Home started out good but I gave it a pause, seems more kind of the thing I want to binge a bunch of at once instead of read week to week. It's appropriately uncomfortable horror stuff at least at the beginning.
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Jan 22, 2019 14:31
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Good news, fans of Korean webtoon scans, all of your favorite webtoon scanlations are now cancelled.
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Feb 1, 2019 14:25
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well that sucks
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Feb 1, 2019 15:02
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rip merakis. they lost everything they had worth reading.
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Feb 1, 2019 18:27
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I hope Mangadex doesn't get hit with the order too.
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Feb 1, 2019 18:45
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Aw booo Solo Leveling and A Returner's Magic were both really good.
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Feb 1, 2019 20:36
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Big oof. That is every one of their good series, isn't it?
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Feb 1, 2019 21:21
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Hopefully someone else will just pick these up immediately, or the original translators will just post them independently from the group.
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Feb 2, 2019 00:34
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JB is picking up some.
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Feb 2, 2019 03:12
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Red storm has already been picked up by another group lol
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Feb 2, 2019 10:32
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Can't wait for the next round of cease and desists 
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Feb 2, 2019 16:21
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Looks like somebody is resuming Returner. Let's see how long it lasts.
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Feb 2, 2019 20:53
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Looked at a few random chapters of that Returner's Magic Should be Special webtoon, and was disappointed to find that they all involved the protagonist effortlessly owning people. I do not understand the appeal of the "protagonist is an OP badass who just impresses people constantly" genre.
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Feb 3, 2019 04:04
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They can't all be One Punch Man.
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Feb 3, 2019 06:09
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Ytlaya posted:Looked at a few random chapters of that Returner's Magic Should be Special webtoon, and was disappointed to find that they all involved the protagonist effortlessly owning people. it's always about that self insert
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Feb 3, 2019 07:47
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Ytlaya posted:Looked at a few random chapters of that Returner's Magic Should be Special webtoon, and was disappointed to find that they all involved the protagonist effortlessly owning people. I sorta like it, as compared to say, Solo Leveling, because a big focus is being put on him preparing others. He knows that as badass as he is now, he is the equivalent of an MMA fighter vs. A first year karate 10 year old. But he also knows that in the future, he would be an MMA fighter vs. Literally a tank, and that he alone wont be capable of getting strong enough to handle that. I enjoy the focus on how he knows he needs companions and that he knows he has to help them, or otherwise he is hosed. This compares with other Isekai OP protagonists like Solo Leveling or the Slime Isekai, where in the protagonist does everything and every side character loses any sense of importance.
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Feb 3, 2019 16:37
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KittyEmpress posted:I sorta like it, as compared to say, Solo Leveling, because a big focus is being put on him preparing others. He knows that as badass as he is now, he is the equivalent of an MMA fighter vs. A first year karate 10 year old. But he also knows that in the future, he would be an MMA fighter vs. Literally a tank, and that he alone wont be capable of getting strong enough to handle that. That's kinda true, though when the vast majority of the manga is taking place prior to the hypothetical "future where the protagonist is outmatched and needs help" it doesn't help much, and the parts I read gave a distinct "traveling back in time to impress people fantasy" vibe, even as late as chapter 30-something. With Solo Leveling it kinda remains to be seen since it depends upon how the protagonist stacks up with the S-classes and how the story deals with his characterization. There's also a generally different sort of "feeling" to the way it deals with the protagonist's abilities; it doesn't give too much focus to people being amazed with the protagonist. A good example is that healer woman from the beginning; after the protagonist reveals his new strength, she doesn't hang around as a harem member or something and instead just realizes she should retire and leaves. That being said, the "really strong protagonist who does almost everything by themselves" thing is still definitely an issue with that series, and I think that if it weren't for the good art/action I wouldn't be able to enjoy it much either (and the necromancer stuff is making me a bit pessimistic since "absorbing abilities from others" is one of the most cliche and common ways these sorts of series make protagonists "OP" - both the Slime series and the one where the protagonist is a sword are examples of this). It's nice to see someone who agrees about the Slime thing, though; reading that thread makes me feel like everyone is doing some sort of group trolling effort to pretend the series is good.
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Feb 3, 2019 19:30
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the 'travel back in time to murder your younger self and steal their body' thing is effectively a genre, now. returner's magic is a pretty standard entry in that genre. many others include using this second chance at life to play the same mmo as the first time around, which is both very funny and very sad. personally, i liked reincarnator (before the pacing and translations slowed to a crawl, at least) because it was this insane solo speed-run that resulted in dramatic positive transformations to the world(s).
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Feb 3, 2019 19:53
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I don't have high hopes for Solo Leveling, seeing as the S-Rank guy already was like 'woah, I would get permanently crippled in a major way if we fought.' His power is only going to go up, and while he isn't gonna win the fights, it's just a matter of time. Personally, slime isekai and returner's are both solidly okay, where I can enjoy them a little. Slime because it completely avoids the oh so common slave stuff of isekai, and Returner's because I like how Adjest, who has 12 years less experience than he does, is almost entirely his equal. Solo leveling is actually my least favorite of those three. All it really has for me is the really good art (which I admit is really good) KittyEmpress fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Feb 4, 2019 |
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Feb 4, 2019 02:08
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KittyEmpress posted:Slime because it completely avoids the oh so common slave stuff of isekai
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Feb 4, 2019 21:01
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KittyEmpress posted:I don't have high hopes for Solo Leveling, seeing as the S-Rank guy already was like 'woah, I would get permanently crippled in a major way if we fought.' His power is only going to go up, and while he isn't gonna win the fights, it's just a matter of time. Yeah, I'm not exactly optimistic about Solo Leveling avoiding the issues other titles from the genre have either (I just read the chapter you mentioned that basically confirmed he's already nearly as strong as the S-ranks), though it's at least still in a "wait and see" phase (since there seems to be something implied with there being a greater plot of some sort and some reason that he was given his abilities*). If it didn't have good action scenes, I'd probably find it just as boring as stuff like the Slime series (which just reads like someone writing a fan-fiction about how they became super strong and got all the fake game skills and everyone loved them). The "decent overarching plot" thing is also the only reason I was able to enjoy Kumoko; I really had to struggle with the earlier parts with the spider leveling up, and it was only the focus on other characters and the existence of an actual plot that compelled me to keep reading. I do prefer that Returner's series to stuff like the Slime series, though. Mostly because the "travel back in time with current skills" genre is superior to the "just have ridiculous OP skills for pretty much no reason" one. Like, there's at least some basis for a plot in the case of the former, and the reader can expect some sort of challenge in the future. * I'm guessing it won't be too long until we find out how the story is going to deal with this, since he'll be "officially stronger than the S-ranks" by the time he resolves the "S-rank brother of that guy who wants to kill him" subplot, and at that point there won't be anyone else in the current setting for him to surpass.
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Feb 5, 2019 06:04
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There's no way the protagonist of Solo Leveling is the only one in the world with the ability to level, the others will no doubt show up as soon as he reaches S rank Or in the grand genre tradition it turns out Earth was just the tutorial and it's time to go to the real universe where S is basically level 1 again. Sindai fucked around with this message at 17:17 on Feb 7, 2019 |
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Feb 5, 2019 16:46
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i've been reading the webnovel solo leveling is based on, and dang is it ever mediocre. the webtoon is mostly different in tone, but that difference is a drastic improvement over the source material. for example, the fight against the snake boss in the manwha was a long, drawn out struggle that jinwoo barely survived. in the wn he dodged one attack and then strangled it to death. this took all of a paragraph. that's how all of the big fights have gone thus far. the webnovel is about numbers go up and everything that isn't numbers going up doesn't get a lot of focus.
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Feb 7, 2019 17:12
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gimme the GOD drat candy posted:i've been reading the webnovel solo leveling is based on, and dang is it ever mediocre. the webtoon is mostly different in tone, but that difference is a drastic improvement over the source material. for example, the fight against the snake boss in the manwha was a long, drawn out struggle that jinwoo barely survived. in the wn he dodged one attack and then strangled it to death. this took all of a paragraph. that's how all of the big fights have gone thus far. the webnovel is about numbers go up and everything that isn't numbers going up doesn't get a lot of focus. drat, yeah, sounds like the webtoon improved upon it pretty drastically (though that makes me pretty pessimistic about where the plot is going to go). I will never understand the appeal of the "leveling up and getting skills in a fake game/pseudo-game that doesn't even exist" genre, particularly since the protagonist usually has some unique ability. The only time I can see it possibly working is when the system is well thought-out and the player is using its rules in a fair way alongside other players with access to the same abilities, but I can't really think of any examples where that's the case.
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Feb 8, 2019 07:57
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Ytlaya posted:drat, yeah, sounds like the webtoon improved upon it pretty drastically (though that makes me pretty pessimistic about where the plot is going to go). So, as expected/feared: Current chapter has the protagonist go 'I'm an s rank, but just barely', and then proceed to grind out 3000 demons and gain a ton of levels.
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Feb 14, 2019 19:43
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So what's going on with Kubera, is it getting to a point where those of us who abstained from reading it regularly, waiting for the end, can hop on, or are we still like a year out from doing that?
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May 15, 2019 07:03
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Gologle posted:So what's going on with Kubera, is it getting to a point where those of us who abstained from reading it regularly, waiting for the end, can hop on, or are we still like a year out from doing that? There have been revelations, which have only lead to further mysteries.
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May 15, 2019 10:46
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