Lisa Simpson once said during an episode of “The Simpsons:” What could be more exciting than the savage ballet that is pro football? On Monday night, the entire Simpsons universe gets to experience it in a way not many could have imagined. The prime-time matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys will also take place at Springfield’s Atoms Stadium as part of “The Simpsons Funday Football” alternate broadcast. The altcast will be streamed on ESPN+, Disney+, and NFL+ (on mobile devices). ESPN and ABC have the main broadcast, while ESPN2 will carry the final “ManningCast” of the regular season. The replay will be available on Disney+ for 30 days. Globally, more than 145 countries will have access to either live or on replay. “We’re such huge football fans, and the Simpsons audience and the football audience, I feel, are like the same audience of just American families and football. And the Simpsons are so much a part of the DNA of the American family and culture that for us to, like, mush them together in this crazy video game, it’s so fun,” said Matt Selman, executive producer of “The Simpsons.” While the game is the focal point, the alternate broadcast, in some ways, will resemble a three-hour episode of “The Simpsons.” It starts with Homer eating too many hot dogs and having a dream while watching football. Homer joins the Cowboys in the dream while Bart teams up with the Bengals. Lisa and Marge will be sideline reporters. “That’s the beginning of the story, and the story continues through the entire game until Homer wakes up from his dream at the end of the game. It is like a complete story, and the NFL game will happen in between. It’s just going to be an amazing presentation with tons of surprises,” said Michael “Spike” Szykowny, ESPN’s VP of edit and animation. This is the second year ESPN has done an alternate broadcast for an NFL game. It used the characters from “Toy Story” for last year’s Sunday morning game from London between the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars. “The Simpsons” has featured many sports-themed episodes during its 35 seasons. Even though “Homer at the Bat” remains the consensus favorite sports episode for many Simpsons fans, there have been football ones such as “Bart Star” and “Lisa The Greek.” There also was a Super Bowl-themed one after Fox’s broadcast of Super Bowl 33 between Denver and Atlanta in 1999. Even though “The Simpsons” remains a staple on Fox’s prime-time schedule, it is part of the Disney family after their acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. All 35 seasons are on Disney+. The show’s creators have worked with ESPN and the NFL to make sure the look and sound is definitely Simpsonsesque. The theme song is a mash-up of “The Simpsons” opening and “Monday Night Football’s” iconic “Heavy Action.” There have also been pre-recorded skits and bits to use during the broadcast featuring Simpson’s legendary voices Hank Azaria, Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, and Yeardley Smith. The telecast will be entirely animated, with the players’ movements in sync with what is happening in real-time on the field. That is done through player-tracking data enabled by the NFL’s Next Gen Stats system and Sony’s Beyond Sports Technology. While Next Gen Stats tracks where players are on the field with a tracking chip in the shoulder pads, there is skeletal data tracking and limb tracking data — which uses 29 points per player — to get closer to the player’s movements. The other data tracking will allow Beyond Sports and Disney to add special characters to the game. For example, there might be a play where Lisa catches the ball and goes 30 yards instead of Cincinnati’s Tee Higgins. “Lisa is much smaller than the rest of the players. So, in real life, the ball would go over her head, but now, with data processing, we can take the ball and make it go exactly into her hands. So for the viewer, it still looks believable, and it all makes sense,” said Beyond Sports co-founder Nicolaas Westerhof. The other major challenge is making “The Simpsons” two-dimensional cartoon characters into 3-D simulations. Szykowny and his team worked to make that a reality over the past couple of months. “That’s a big leap of faith for them to say, hey, we trust you to make our characters 3-D and work with it. Our ESPN creative studio team has done a wonderful job,” Szykowny said. Lisa, Krusty, Nelson, Milhouse and Ralph will be with Bart and the Bengals; while Carl, Barney, Lenny and Moe join up with with Homer and the Cowboys. The broadcast will also feature ESPN personalities Stephen A. Smith, Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. ESPN’s Drew Carter, Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky will call the game from Bristol, Connecticut, and also be animated. They will wear Meta Quest Pro headsets to experience the game from Springfield using VR technology. For Kimes, being part of the broadcast and being an animated Simpsons character is a dream come true. She is a massive fan of the show and has a framed photo of Lisa Simpson — who she said is a personal hero and icon — as part of her backdrop when she makes appearances on ESPN NFL shows from her home in Los Angeles. “I didn’t have any input, and I didn’t see anything beforehand, so I wasn’t sure if it would look like me, but it kind of does, which is very funny,” said Kimes, who drew Simpsons characters when she was a kid. “To see the actual staff turn me into one was a dream.” Even though the Bengals (4-8) and Cowboys (5-7) have struggled this season, Selman thinks both teams have personalities that appeal to “The Simpsons” universe. “We were just so lucky also that the Cowboys are sort of like a Homer Simpson-type team, American team, and Mike McCarthy might be a Homer-type guy, one might imagine,” he said. ”And then you have Joe Burrow on the other side who is a cool young, spiky-haired, blonde bad boy -- he’s like Bart. And that fits our character archetypes so perfectly. “If Homer is mad at Bart and has a hot dog dream while watching ’Monday Night Football’, and then it’s basically McCarthy versus Burrow, Homer versus Bart, and that’s the simple father versus son strangling — Homer strangling Bart dynamic that has been part of the show for 35 years. I don’t know if that would have worked as well if it was like Titans versus Jacksonville. We would have found something. We would have made it work.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
50 EH/s expansion accelerated to H1 2025 Focused on alternative funding instruments Potential for investor distributions in 2025 Transition to U.S. domestic issuer SYDNEY, Nov. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IREN (NASDAQ: IREN ) (together with its subsidiaries, “IREN” or “the Company”), today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended September 30, 2024. All $ amounts are in United States Dollars (“USD”) unless otherwise stated. “We are pleased to report our Q1 FY25 results and reiterate our focus on low-cost Bitcoin mining, operating cashflows and shareholder returns,” said Daniel Roberts, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of IREN. “We are just weeks away from achieving our 31 EH/s milestone and are excited to announce the acceleration of our growth trajectory to 50 EH/s in H1 2025, which was previously H2 2025. Our funding program is focused on alternative funding instruments and the strong operating cashflows we expect to generate enhances our flexibility to support potential distributions in 2025.” Business Update Bitcoin Mining AI/HPC Update Power & Land Corporate & Funding First Quarter FY25 Results Assumptions and Notes Non-IFRS metric reconciliation Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or IREN’s future financial or operating performance. For example, forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the Company’s business strategy, expected operational and financial results, and expected increase in power capacity and hashrate. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “may,” “can,” “should,” “could,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “project,” “strive,” “budget,” “forecast,” “expect,” “intend,” “target”, “will,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “scheduled” or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology, but the absence of these words does not mean that statement is not forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition, any statements or information that refer to expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, performance or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause IREN’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking statements, including, but not limited to: Bitcoin price and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; IREN’s ability to obtain additional capital on commercially reasonable terms and in a timely manner to meet its capital needs and facilitate its expansion plans; the terms of any future financing or any refinancing, restructuring or modification to the terms of any future financing, which could require IREN to comply with onerous covenants or restrictions, and its ability to service its debt obligations, any of which could restrict its business operations and adversely impact its financial condition, cash flows and results of operations; IREN’s ability to successfully execute on its growth strategies and operating plans, including its ability to continue to develop its existing data center sites and to diversify and expand into the market for high performance computing (“HPC”) solutions it may offer (including the market for AI Cloud Services); IREN’s limited experience with respect to new markets it has entered or may seek to enter, including the market for HPC solutions (including AI Cloud Services); expectations with respect to the ongoing profitability, viability, operability, security, popularity and public perceptions of the Bitcoin network; expectations with respect to the profitability, viability, operability, security, popularity and public perceptions of any current and future HPC solutions (including AI Cloud Services) that IREN offers; IREN’s ability to secure and retain customers on commercially reasonable terms or at all, particularly as it relates to its strategy to expand into markets for HPC solutions (including AI Cloud Services); IREN’s ability to manage counterparty risk (including credit risk) associated with any current or future customers, including customers of its HPC solutions (including AI Cloud Services) and other counterparties; the risk that any current or future customers, including customers of its HPC solutions (including AI Cloud Services), or other counterparties may terminate, default on or underperform their contractual obligations; Bitcoin global hashrate fluctuations; IREN’s ability to secure renewable energy, renewable energy certificates, power capacity, facilities and sites on commercially reasonable terms or at all; delays associated with, or failure to obtain or complete, permitting approvals, grid connections and other development activities customary for greenfield or brownfield infrastructure projects; IREN’s reliance on power and utilities providers, third party mining pools, exchanges, banks, insurance providers and its ability to maintain relationships with such parties; expectations regarding availability and pricing of electricity; IREN’s participation and ability to successfully participate in demand response products and services and other load management programs run, operated or offered by electricity network operators, regulators or electricity market operators; the availability, reliability and/or cost of electricity supply, hardware and electrical and data center infrastructure, including with respect to any electricity outages and any laws and regulations that may restrict the electricity supply available to IREN; any variance between the actual operating performance of IREN’s miner hardware achieved compared to the nameplate performance including hashrate; IREN’s ability to curtail its electricity consumption and/or monetize electricity depending on market conditions, including changes in Bitcoin mining economics and prevailing electricity prices; actions undertaken by electricity network and market operators, regulators, governments or communities in the regions in which IREN operates; the availability, suitability, reliability and cost of internet connections at IREN’s facilities; IREN’s ability to secure additional hardware, including hardware for Bitcoin mining and any current or future HPC solutions (including AI Cloud Services) it offers, on commercially reasonable terms or at all, and any delays or reductions in the supply of such hardware or increases in the cost of procuring such hardware; expectations with respect to the useful life and obsolescence of hardware (including hardware for Bitcoin mining as well as hardware for other applications, including any current or future HPC solutions (including AI Cloud Services) IREN offers); delays, increases in costs or reductions in the supply of equipment used in IREN’s operations; IREN’s ability to operate in an evolving regulatory environment; IREN’s ability to successfully operate and maintain its property and infrastructure; reliability and performance of IREN’s infrastructure compared to expectations; malicious attacks on IREN’s property, infrastructure or IT systems; IREN’s ability to maintain in good standing the operating and other permits and licenses required for its operations and business; IREN’s ability to obtain, maintain, protect and enforce its intellectual property rights and confidential information; any intellectual property infringement and product liability claims; whether the secular trends IREN expects to drive growth in its business materialize to the degree it expects them to, or at all; any pending or future acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures or other strategic transactions; the occurrence of any environmental, health and safety incidents at IREN’s sites, and any material costs relating to environmental, health and safety requirements or liabilities; damage to IREN’s property and infrastructure and the risk that any insurance IREN maintains may not fully cover all potential exposures; ongoing proceedings relating in part to the default, and any future litigation, claims and/or regulatory investigations, and the costs, expenses, use of resources, diversion of management time and efforts, liability and damages that may result therefrom; IREN's failure to comply with any laws including the anti-corruption laws of the United States and various international jurisdictions; any failure of IREN's compliance and risk management methods; any laws, regulations and ethical standards that may relate to IREN’s business, including those that relate to Bitcoin and the Bitcoin mining industry and those that relate to any other services it offers, including laws and regulations related to data privacy, cybersecurity and the storage, use or processing of information and consumer laws; IREN’s ability to attract, motivate and retain senior management and qualified employees; increased risks to IREN’s global operations including, but not limited to, political instability, acts of terrorism, theft and vandalism, cyberattacks and other cybersecurity incidents and unexpected regulatory and economic sanctions changes, among other things; climate change, severe weather conditions and natural and man-made disasters that may materially adversely affect IREN’s business, financial condition and results of operations; public health crises, including an outbreak of an infectious disease (such as COVID-19) and any governmental or industry measures taken in response; IREN’s ability to remain competitive in dynamic and rapidly evolving industries; damage to IREN’s brand and reputation; expectations relating to Environmental, Social or Governance issues or reporting; the costs of being a public company; the increased regulatory and compliance costs of IREN ceasing to be a foreign private issuer and an emerging growth company, as a result of which we will be required, among other things, to file periodic reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms with the SEC commencing with our next fiscal year, prepare our financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP rather than IFRS, and to modify certain of our policies to comply with corporate governance practices required of U.S. domestic issuers; and other important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in IREN’s annual report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC on August 28, 2024 as such factors may be updated from time to time in its other filings with the SEC, accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations section of IREN’s website at https://investors.iren.com . These and other important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this investor update. Any forward-looking statement that IREN makes in this investor update speaks only as of the date of such statement. Except as required by law, IREN disclaims any obligation to update or revise, or to publicly announce any update or revision to, any of the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Non-IFRS Financial Measures This press release includes non-IFRS financial measures, including Net electricity costs, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin. We provide these measures in addition to, and not as a substitute for, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. There are a number of limitations related to the use of Net electricity costs, Adjusted EBTIDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin. For example, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate these measures differently. The Company believes that these measures are important and supplement discussions and analysis of its results of operations and enhances an understanding of its operating performance. EBITDA is calculated as our IFRS profit/(loss) after income tax expense, excluding interest income, finance expense and non-cash fair value loss and interest expense on hybrid financial instruments, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, which are important components of our IFRS profit/(loss) after income tax expense. Further, “Adjusted EBITDA” also excludes share-based payments expense, which is an important component of our IFRS profit/(loss) after income tax expense, foreign exchange gains and losses, impairment of assets, certain other non-recurring income, loss on disposal of property, plant and equipment, gain on disposal of subsidiaries, unrealized fair value gains and losses on financial assets and certain other expense items. Net electricity costs is calculated as our IFRS Electricity charges net of Realized gain/(loss) on financial asset, ERS revenue (included in Other income) and ERS fees (included in Other operating expenses), and excludes the cost of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). About IREN IREN is a leading data center business powering the future of Bitcoin, AI and beyond utilizing 100% renewable energy. Contacts To keep updated on IREN’s news releases and SEC filings, please subscribe to email alerts at https://iren.com/investor/ir-resources/email-alerts .People determined to spread toxic messages online have taken to masking their words to bypass automated moderation filters. A user might replace letters with numbers or symbols, for example, writing “Y0u’re st00pid” instead of “You’re stupid”. Another tactic involves combining words, such as “IdiotFace”. Doing this masks the harmful intent from systems that look for individual toxic words. Similarly, harmful terms can be altered with spaces or additional characters, such as “h a t e ” or “h@te”, effectively slipping through keyword-based filters. While the intent remains harmful, traditional moderation tools often overlook such messages. This leaves users — particularly vulnerable groups — exposed to their negative impact. To address this, we have developed a novel pre-processing technique designed to help moderation tools more effectively handle the subtle complexities of hidden toxicity. An intelligent assistant Our tool works in conjunction with existing moderation. It acts as an intelligent assistant, preparing content for deeper and more accurate evaluation by restructuring and refining input text. By addressing common tricks users employ to disguise harmful intent, it ensures moderation systems are more effective. The tool performs three key functions. It first simplifies the text. Irrelevant elements, such as excessive punctuation or extraneous characters, are removed to make text straightforward and ready for evaluation. It then standardises what is written. Variations in spelling, phrasing and grammar are resolved. This includes interpreting deliberate misspellings (“h8te” for “hate”). Finally, it looks for patterns. Recurring strategies such as breaking up toxic words (“I d i o t”), or embedding them within benign phrases, are identified and normalised to reveal the underlying intent. These steps can break apart compound words like “IdiotFace” or normalise modified phrases like “Y0u’re st00pid”. This makes harmful content visible to traditional filters. Importantly, our work is not about reinventing the wheel but ensuring the existing wheel functions as effectively as it should, even when faced with disguised toxic messages. Catching subtle forms of toxicity The applications of this tool extend across a wide range of online environments. For social media platforms, it enhances the ability to detect harmful messages, creating a safer space for users. This is particularly important for protecting younger audiences, who may be more vulnerable to online abuse. By catching subtle forms of toxicity, the tool helps to prevent harmful behaviours like bullying from persisting unchecked. Businesses can also use this technology to safeguard their online presence. Negative campaigns or covert attacks on brands often employ subtle and disguised messaging to avoid detection. By processing such content before it is moderated, the tool ensures that businesses can respond swiftly to any reputational threats. Additionally, policymakers and organisations that monitor public discourse can benefit from this system. Hidden toxicity, particularly in polarised discussions, can undermine efforts to maintain constructive dialogue. The tool provides a more robust way for identifying problematic content and ensuring that debates remain respectful and productive. Better moderation Our tool marks an important advance in content moderation. By addressing the limitations of traditional keyword-based filters, it offers a practical solution to the persistent issue of hidden toxicity. Importantly, it demonstrates how small but focused improvements can make a big difference in creating safer and more inclusive online environments. As digital communication continues to evolve, tools like ours will play an increasingly vital role in protecting users and fostering positive interactions. While this research addresses the challenges of detecting hidden toxicity within text, the journey is far from over. Future advances will likely delve deeper into the complexities of context—analysing how meaning shifts depending on conversational dynamics, cultural nuances and intent. By building on this foundation, the next generation of content moderation systems could uncover not just what is being said but also the circumstances in which it is said, paving the way for safer and more inclusive online spaces.
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Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles make their second-to-last road trip of the regular season Sunday to face Derrick Henry and the Baltimore Ravens. The NFC East-leading Eagles (9-2) have won seven in a row and play four of their final six games in Philadelphia, traveling only about 125 miles to visit the Ravens (8-4) this weekend and the Washington Commanders in Week 16. Sunday's game features the NFL's two leading rushers. Barkley (1,392 yards) and Henry (1,325) are far ahead of Green Bay's Josh Jacobs (944) in third place. Henry leads the league with 13 rushing touchdowns. Barkley (10) is tied for fourth and Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts (11) tied for second. The matchup also features two of the top candidates for Most Valuable Player honors entering Week 13 in Barkley and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson, who won his second MVP award last season. Their competition includes quarterbacks Josh Allen of Buffalo and Jared Goff of Detroit, with Allen widely considered the favorite. "Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are phenomenal football players that help their team win football games, and Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley are phenomenal football players that help their team win football games," Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. "Excited about the opportunity this week because it's our next one. It will be a really good opponent, really well coached, good players, good atmosphere that will be there. Excited about the opportunity this week. And we're going to have to be on it against a really good team." The showdown at M&T Bank Stadium also pits Baltimore's No. 1 offense (426.7 yards per game) and No. 2 scoring offense (30.3 points per game) against Philadelphia's No. 1 defense (274.6) and No. 6 scoring defense (18.1). The Eagles have held seven consecutive opponents to under 300 total yards, while the Ravens have gained at least 329 yards of offense in all 11 games. Philadelphia is coming off a 37-20 road win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night in which Barkley smashed the franchise record with 255 rushing yards. Baltimore also earned a prime-time win in Los Angeles, defeating the Chargers 30-23 in the "Harbaugh Bowl" on Monday night behind Jackson's three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing). Jackson said he's looking forward to the Barkley and Henry show. "I've known Saquon from high school. We were in the all-star game together and he jumped over somebody's head," Jackson recalled Wednesday. "So I've pretty much seen him before I even got to the league, college, anything. I've been knowing about Saquon, but Derrick Henry -- King Henry -- I'm with him every day and I'm seeing what he's capable of, so it's going to be a great matchup." Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith practiced Wednesday after sitting out Monday with a hamstring issue. Nose tackle Michael Pierce (calf) was designated to return from injured reserve. Tight end Charlie Kolar (broken arm) is out for several weeks and cornerback Arthur Maulet (calf) did not practice. The Eagles lost veteran defensive end Brandon Graham to a season-ending triceps injury Sunday. Wideout DeVonta Smith (hamstring) missed the win over the Rams and did not practice Wednesday. Neither did cornerbacks Darius Slay (concussion) or Kelee Ringo (calf). Philadelphia is 5-1 away from home this season -- 6-1 if you count their season-opening "home" victory against the Packers in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Baltimore is 4-1 at home. The Ravens hold a 3-2-1 lead in the series with the Eagles. They haven't met since Baltimore's 30-28 win in Week 6 at Philadelphia in 2020. --Field Level Media
Jefferson keeps seeing double as Vikings aim to stay focused on overall offensive production
Metaphor: ReFantazio, the tale of a young outcast's quest to end racism by clearing dungeon after dungeon of seemingly evil lesser species, is a great RPG and one of the best games of 2024. It's also like $70, which represents half a year's savings in games media. Clearly Atlus has become detached from the concerns of the common man, high on its Persona-fattened hog. Not me, though. I'm a valiant defender of the working class and a (provisional driving) licensed financial expert. I'm here to help you—and me—defeat the cost of living crisis by creating the Metaphor we have at home. All you need is a copy of Skyrim, some mods, and a little ingenuity. Low standards help too. Facing my true self The fundamental experience of Metaphor: ReFantazio is being a small boy with weird eyes who hates apartheid, so the first mod I'd need to recreate it amid Skyrim's snow-capped peaks was obvious: Heterochromia Reborn – a Complete Eye Customization Overhaul . Skyrim's default eyes are dim, un-lustrous, depressingly uniform. With these, I'd be able to approximate the gorgeous gazers of Metaphor's protagonist right at character creation, getting me in the mood to overthrow society with sensible tax policy or whatever. Sweet merciful Christ. Turns out that Heterochromia Reborn offers, if anything, too much customization. Heterochromia has been too reborn, and the default starting stage for each of your peepers is total non-existence. This is horrible. I quickly located some mismatched eyes and stuffed them in our man's head, giving him the appropriately dreamy gaze of Metaphor's magical Mandela. But there was still a problem. The real Metaphor protagonist—named Will, by the way—is a young lad, and pretty short of stature. Skyrim's default roster of musclebound grimy warrior-types didn't quite capture the vibe. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. I needed someone more youthful. In stepped Playable Child – Elder and Vampire Races – Appointable For Conquest Of Skyrim , which let me play as someone in the springtime of their life. One issue: The heterochromia mod didn't quite take with the new playable kids, leaving young Will with two Luciferian black opals where his eyes ought to be. He was also glowing for reasons I lack the mental wherewithal to interrogate. But close enough, I thought, dyeing our hero's hair its trademark indigo and sending him on his way. I had him choose Hadvar and the Empire rather than Ralof and the Stormcloaks in the tutorial, reasoning that the latter were too big on hate crimes to really jive with Will and crew. Venture forth We were in business. I had a protagonist. Now I just needed a party. Your companions are, for my money, the best part of Metaphor: ReFantazio. They're an affable cast of oddballs you can't help but fall in love with. If I couldn't replicate them in my Skyrim Community Theatre production of the game, it'd be better to cancel the whole thing. This was a toughie. Metaphor's heroic gaggle is unique. How would I capture the anguished nobility of Strohl? The upright Prussian nobility of Hulkenberg? The being-a-small-bat-person of Heismay? Difficult to do, but Skyrim modders are nothing if not industrious and exhaustive. I was sure it wouldn't be an insurmountable task to find reasonable analogues for my favorite Metaphor party members. After some searching, I became convinced that it was an insurmountable task to find reasonable analogues for my favourite Metaphor party members. It was time to find some unreasonable ones. First up, Hulkenberg. What defines her? Honour, strength, and a hidden but rich inner life. Those were her surface traits, sure, but at her core? What defines Hulkenberg is that she's called Hulkenberg. Hulken berg . Where have I heard a name like that before? Sometimes I astound myself. With Yennefer of Vengerberg fitting seamlessly into the 'berg-shaped hole in my party, it was time to find our Heismay. This one was even harder. As hard as I searched, I couldn't find a short, white, anthropomorphised bat to take up the party's ninja role. It was time to get creative. First up, Heismay needed to be short. Shorter even than me, a Satanic yet egalitarian child. To this end, I installed Bardin Goreksson – Voiced Dwarf Follower (Warhammer Fantasy) , an alarmingly detailed dwarven companion who was appropriately lacking in stature. Now I just needed to turn him into a bat. Bethesda's Creation Engine has no in-built means of mutating your followers into stunted batpeople, which only highlights the extent to which it has become divorced from the wants of its players. As such, I relied on another mod to chiropterise Bardin. I admit that, maybe, at this point, I gave in to laziness, because all I did was download the prosaically named Batman mod and put the armour on the dwarf, who loved it. I had my small bat man, leaving me only to install the most simpering noble follower I could find— Lucien —and cast him in the role of Strohl. I'm working to a schedule here. Game of Thrones The final piece of the puzzle was politics. Metaphor is fundamentally a story about a competition for the throne: the first bizarre green shoots of representative democracy in a world that's heretofore been thoroughly fantasy-feudalist. I couldn't just run around Skyrim with my party whacking frost trolls, I needed to summit the heights of secular power. Enter LC Become Jarl of Ivarstead SE – Port with Expansion and Voices Fix , a mod that promises to "introduce the opportunity for the player to become Jarl of Ivarstead, and to enjoy all the luxuries that come with such a title—such as a magnificent castle." Jarl is Swedish for king, probably, and I figured this was the best approximation of Metaphor's actual plot I could get. I gathered my party and popped over to Ivarstead, newly home to a decidedly non-canon and enormous castle. Upon entering, we found a man called "Goldur of Warehouse," sat idly at his desk munching on a heel of bread. "What's going on here? You look scared!" Will said to Goldur as he, dead-eyed, continued to chew. Turns out he was terrified. The castle had been attacked, the Jarl had been abducted, and all Goldur could do was eat bread about it. With a voice that sounded suspiciously like it had been recorded on a headset microphone, Goldur implored our party of progressive heroes to free Ivarstead and its castle from the yoke of oppression. Donning armour I pulled off a dead guard—which did not manifest on my body but which did make me bald—we set off into the castle depths. Inside, we found werewolves, and I immediately realized the folly of taking on mods like these on a completely fresh level-1 save. We might as well have jumped in a blender. Every strike sent us hurtling across the room. My comrades were knocked unconscious, I was killed outright. It was only by valiant effort and finding a section of the wall I could stand on where enemies couldn't reach me that we eventually fought our way through. At one point, Heismay began singing a song about a guy whose "brow was ruffled bald," which I took personally. Once we'd made it through the ice caves that were inside the castle for some reason, we found the Jarl. He was dead, as were his guards. Did Metaphor's villainous Louis Guiabern do this? Most likely. It could also have been the many, many werewolves. I gave the former Jarl all the respect due a perished aristocrat and robbed his corpse, yanking a jeweled circlet off his head that might maybe mean something to Goldur. I returned the circlet to Mr Warehouse, who still hadn't made a dent in that baguette, and he was aggrieved. "Our beloved leader is dead!" he cried between mouthfuls. Who would look after the people now? Perhaps a certain black-eyed boy? I think so. Actually, the questline was a lot longer, and Goldur wanted me to faff around gathering resources and whatnot before I got to be Jarl, but I figured this article was already long enough, so I simply summoned the former Jarl's circlet back out of his inventory and put it on. Hail to the king, baby. Racism is over. Verisimilitude : Indistinguishable from the real thing. Fun factor : RPG of the year. Money saved : $70.Iowa State vs. Jackson State Predictions & Picks: Spread, Total – December 8
Middle East latest: Syria's forces withdraw from Homs, a key link between the capital and coast
Police deny sitting on evidence as Netflix doc brings renewed attention to JonBenet Ramsey's killing11. SMU Mustangs 11-2 (8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference regular season) What's next: at No. 6 Penn State, State College, Pa., Dec. 21, Noon ET Head coach: Rhett Lashlee (three seasons, 29-11 overall) About Lashlee: The 41-year-old is enjoying success in his first college head coaching gig and has guided the Mustangs to back-to-back 11-win seasons. He was offensive coordinator at SMU from 2018-19 before heading to Miami for two years and returning to take the head job. He was named Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year this season. Resume SMU notched ranked wins over then-No. 22 Louisville and then-No. 18 Pitt but really served notice while racking up 66 points in a win over TCU. The Mustangs lost two games by a total of six points: 34-31 to Clemson in the ACC title game and 18-15 to BYU. Postseason history This is SMU's first trip to the playoffs during the CFP era. The Mustangs have lost their past four bowl games, including two under Lashlee. The program had a memorable run in the early 1980s behind stars like Eric Dickerson and Craig James but numerous NCAA violations sank the Mustangs and they eventually served a two-year death penalty. The road to Atlanta SMU hits the road for the first-round matchup at No. 6 Penn State. The winner advances to play No. 3 Boise State (12-1) in the quarterfinals in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31. Names to Know QB Kevin Jennings He threw for 304 yards and three TDs in the ACC title game, his fourth game over 300 yards passing this season. Jennings had a strong regular season with 2,746 yards and 19 TDs in the air and four scores on the ground. He can hurt teams with his feet, proven by a 113-yard outing against Louisville. "What is new now is the amount of criticism I receive from everyone. I get a lot of comments and messages from people on social media always criticizing everything after each game," Jennings said. RB Brashard Smith Stellar runner averaging 5.9 yards per carry to go with 1,270 yards and 14 TDs on the ground. LB Kobe Wilson Stands out against both the run and the pass, leading the team in tackles (110) and adding three sacks and two interceptions. S Isaiah Nwokobia He has enjoyed an outstanding season with 91 regular-season tackles and three interceptions while patrolling the back end. He has nine career interceptions. DT Jared Harrison-Hunte A force with 6.0 sacks, one interception and 38 tackles. He's in his first season with SMU after four at Miami. He has 15 career sacks. --Field Level Media
Teamsters boss reveals how VP Harris lost the party, and his voteMeet the 12 CFP Title Contenders: No. 11 SMU
Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. Jason Kelce’s media career has taken off in his first year away from the NFL, and his next adventure will be joining late-night television. "They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce" will premiere Jan. 3 on ESPN, running five Friday nights through February 1, starting at 1 a.m. Late-night TV is a competitive space, and Kelce got some advice from a longtime host as he prepares for his new show. CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM Jimmy Kimmel (Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty Images) Kelce revealed the news on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," and the future Pro Football Hall of Fame center said Kimmel has given him "tons of advice" about how to make his show a hit. "To be able to go on his show and promote my show that’s coming out, but also to just go there and talk to him, get all the ins and outs about how to run a late-night show — how you talk into the camera, how you choose topics, how you prepare. It was honestly a very beneficial trip to take," Kelce said on his "New Heights" podcast. TRAVIS KELCE JOKES THAT JASON AND KYLIE SHOULD ‘GO FOR THE STARTING FIVE’ AFTER ANNOUNCEMENT OF 4TH CHILD Travis Kelce , Jason’s younger brother who stars for the Kansas City Chiefs, called Kimmel "one of the best in the business for a reason," noting he got to meet the host over the summer. Former NFL player and ESPN commentator Jason Kelce on the sidelines during the first half of a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. (Denny Medley/Imagn Images) Jason said he is also a big fan of Conan O’Brien, though he likes all the current late-night greats. Jason has been to football stadiums all over this year despite being retired after joining the "Monday Night Countdown" panel for ESPN while making appearances at "College GameDay" and doing his podcast with Travis throughout the year. Jason’s wife, Kylie Kelce, is also launching her own podcast, "Not Gonna Lie." Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles reacts after announcing his retirement from the NFL at NovaCare Complex March 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Jason will embark on his first solo act with this late-night show, and he’s making sure to use all his resources to make it stick. Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X , and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter . Scott Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.