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Captain Stelgart held tightly to the 'oh shit bars' on the side of her command couch, the lights flickering on the bridge as her 'little' frigate took a small section of the nCv cannons fired by the Harvester that was breaking orbit from around the gas giant. Sure, it was only a 'fraction' of the guns in that salvo, but when the array firing that salvo was measured in the tens of miles rather than by the barrel, the concept of 'only a fraction' became largely moot.
"No damage! Cycling out projectors in section 9-G! Hull integrity is still nominal," her DCC officer called out.
It was worth it as the little frigate and its brigade mates came out of the maelstrom of hellfire, still tightly interlocked in formation, guns still hot.
"TARGET LOCK!" Guns called out.
Stelgart heard Rear Admiral (Lower Decks) call it out and gave her own input.
"OPEN FIRE!" she yelled.
The frigate shuddered as the fireplan was activated. The massive C+ cannons fired, rotated barrels, loaded a ground-car sized slug, and fired again, each of the six guns spitting out a C+ round every fifteen seconds. The inverted tachyon particle beams ripped out, transferring almost instantly across the hundreds of kilometers to impact almost before the C+ shells. The frigate flushed its missile pods, the pod itself turning into a C+ slug, and dumped more out. The creation engines ran overtime, producing a shell every second and a missile pod every five seconds, the heat rising rapidly.
The Harvester being targeted took hits from the entire brigade across the engines. The C+ shells hit inside the shields, detonating inside the engine spaces, which were not protected by the armobattlescreen/armor technolaminate like the hull.
Over a third of the engines went out or exploded. The rear battlescreen failed, lightning bolts the size of trains ripping across the hull of the Harvester, tearing huge canyons in the armor.
"Fireplan updating!" Guns called out. "Decoys out!"
Stelgart felt the ship
slide to the side as it warped space around it, the 'little' frigate's mass sliding into the warped gravity well it was projecting to move rapidly. The entire brigade moved like a flock of birds, each one's engines supplementing the engines of the others, allowing them to move quickly and smoothly through space.
The Harvester's return shots whipped through space where the brigade had been, hitting nothing but echoes of the ships that were a hundred kilometers away. The decoys that survived spun up to full power and 'fired' off. Dozens, hundreds of ship profiles and energy signals scattered from the target area, completely obscuring the small flotilla of two dozen 'light attack' ships as they changed targets to the undamaged engines and maneuvered for a better shot.
"HELLCORE CHARGING!" Guns called out.
General No'Drak heard the call, preceded by "STATUS CHANGE" from the ground-side tactical analysis teams.
Ge'ermo'o turned around, his hooves thumping on the variable hardness flooring. He looked down at the large hologram of the planet. The thirty or so icons representing the more massive Precursor machines were starting to flash, alerting those who were reading the map that they had changed their activities and demanded attention.
"Precursor ships are engaging engines and starting to lift off," someone else called out.
Only the lemurs of Terra could break a machine's will to fight, Ge'ermo'o thought. Two hours ago that realization would have filled him with horror.
Now, it was just one more shock and horror piled upon everything he had witnessed.
White filled a holotank as Third Armor gutted another Precursor ship, turning the superstructure into fuel for the fusion hellfire the consumed it. The feed cleared and the recon drones and sats focused on how the battlesteel of the Precursor machine was burning like anthracite coal exposed to plasma.
You murdered and terrorized your way across the Rim Systems and now that someone can hit back you scurry away like insects. I hope the Terrans destroy every one of you butchers and that you feel every moment of it, Ge'ermo'o thought, completely unaware of the irony of a Lanaktallan thinking such things.
The floor rumbled slightly even though the blast was nearly a hundred miles away.
Die, Ge'ermo'o thought, his tendrils curling with anger.
Don't say goodbye, just die, Precursor trash. An aide touched General No'Drak's arm. The big insectoid shifted, pulling Ge'ermo'o's attention from the holotanks.
"Sir, 108th MI has a data pull request from Sergeant Casey," the aide said.
It took Ge'ermo'o a moment to remember who Sergeant Casey was, and his eyes went to the holotank that was tracking the subterranean progress of the massive Precursor mining machine.
"Tell me," No'Drak sighed, pulling out another cigarette. He was highly stressed. The weapons being used shredded atmospheric gases, blew holes in the planet's magnetic field, and shattered the ozone layer. The weapons were "Total War" option weapons.
You usually didn't use them on a planet you planned on having anyone live on before an Elven Court or Genesis Device could be used.
They'd been used on Unified Council military targets prior, the Mar-gite before that.
Now they were being used to show the Precursors that the Terrans still had the ability to hurt them.
"MI reports Casey filed a data pull request for an older creation engine template," the aide said, combing her whiskers with one slightly trembling hand. "It's a problem."
"What's the problem?" General No'Drak asked. Part of him wanted to snap at his aide, ask her why she was bringing a request from a Senior NCO to him instead of gong to his Company Commander.
A glance at the holotank showing the progress of the Precursor mining machine heading toward the mountains along a path miles below the surface reminded him that he wasn't dealing with some Private asking to use the latrine.
"The request was very specific, but not something in our decrypted and active template data archives," the aide said. "Current network and mainframe usage rates mean it could take a couple of hours for even one of the BOLO's to find the correct files in their archives since it's going be a low priority file."
"Anyone else who might have something like it?" General No'Drak asked.
"There is someone in-system we can ask, but..." the aide went silent for a long moment.
"Spit it out. Who?" No'Drak lit his cigarette as another Precursor machine was gutted, the city sized bulk falling a half mile into the ocean, still burning.
"The Crusade of Wrath likely has the template loaded in systems that they can datamine a lot faster," the aide said.
Ge'ermo'o opened his mouth to ask the question, but General No'Drak beat him to it.
"What is he asking for?" the big Treana'ad asked, putting away his pack.
The aide consulted her dataslate. "A set of Second Terran/Mantid War creation engine templates for, and I quote, 'M-428e9 High Frequency Phasic Scrambler' and 'High Frequency Phasic Disruption Munitions in the multi-spectrum range'. Both sets are real old, we're talking archive databanks old."
"How would he know of such things?" Ge'ermo'o asked.
"Aside from being like nine hundred years old? It's a pretty big piece of history for our people," General No'Drak mused. "He's probably seen it referenced in manuals and documentaries and history works."
"Sir, should I contact the Crusade of Wrath?" the aide asked.
Smokey No nodded. "Get me
Joan Mentissa," he said, exhaling smoke around his feet.
Ge'ermo'o stared at the holotank as another Precursor made it to orbit, its hull burning, only to run face first into the ships of the Crusade of Wrath, which began pounding it with their guns even as it tried to get clear of the gravity well to safely make a helljump.
The holotank in front of him wavered then cleared, to show an archaically designed ship's bridge, all black metal with dark green, blue, and red markings. No hologram projectors there, only bulky looking flat screens. The crews at the stations ranged from female Terrans in heavy armor to rough looking, almost skeletal appearing full conversion cyborgs. The well lit bridge still seemed to give off the aura of being dimly lit, shadowed, and hidden due to some dark purpose.
"General," the
Joan said, nodding. "How may the Dark Crusade of Light assist you?"
"We believe there may be justification to deploy ancient technology only you would be in possession of," General No'Drak said carefully. "Technology that we require the creation engine templates for."
"What type of technology?" the Terran woman asked, narrowing her eyes slightly. "The Crusade possesses many forgotten and forbidden technologies. Be wary with what you ask, General."
"High frequency phasic interrupter technology," No'Drak said. "We have reason to believe there is a statistically insignificant but still valid change of encountering Precursor War Era Mantid technology," No'Drak said.
She turned, her mouth blurring slightly as the audio cut out. After a moment she nodded and turned back to General No'Drak.
"We have such technology templates," the
Joan stated. "We shall transmit Terran Imperium Era templates as well as Combined Military Authority templates to your people."
The lights on the deck of the ship flashed around the
Joan and she turned away.
"I have a battle to fight, General, and the enemies of life to destroy. May you seek honor," she said.
The channel closed.
Ge'ermo'o swallowed around the lump in both his long and short throats.
"What is the technology do?"
Casey looked up at Vuxten, his armored breathing mask making him look strange to Vuxten's eyes.
"Sorry, what, sir?" he asked, turning his attention from the holographic wireframe projected by Addox's hand to Vuxten.
"What does the tech do? Even my greenie isn't sure," Vuxten said.
Casey tapped the hologram as if it was a physical thing. "It's old tech. There's civilian versions, but those are the size of small spaceships, designed to cover entire cities in an interlocking field, we need smaller ones, ones that can handle the punishment of combat."
"OK, but what does it do?" Vuxten asked.
"It's a high frequency phasic disruptor," Casey said. Before Vuxten could comment that he had heard that but it didn't explain what it did, Casey pointed at a small scaffolding walkway. "We've got overwhelming evidence that this is a Mantid machine, and I doubt it's from Premik-8. That means our greenies run the risk of being hit by ruling or warrior caste psychic attacks."
Vuxten nodded even as 471 flashed icons of disgust.
"These were designed just prior to the Second Mantid War," Casey said. He finished tapping icons and wrapped the object he was modifying in the hologram in a casing. "They won't do much more than make our little green buddies itch, maybe a light headache, but it completely disrupts psychic control signals from upper caste."
The nano-forge attached to Casey's heavy loading/work chassis began to hiss, the untold trillions of nanites contained inside building the template Casey had modified.
"These are Imperium make. I used the Combine circuitry, the Imperium disruptors, and wrapped it in warsteel, which can hold and disrupt psychic energies," Casey said. He grabbed the small cylinder as it exited the creation engine, waved it a second to cool it down, and moved over to Addox. "We attach one of these to each armor, we crank the detection up, and if there is any type of upper caste Mantids running around, they can't force our little buddies to do anything."
--i die free-- 840 transmitted. Icons from every other greenie flashed in agreement.
Vuxten watched as Casey used a fusion torch to attach two different types of cylinders to Addox's armor. One was round with a flat side, the other was a hexagon. Both had green lights down the side.
--ouchie-- 471 transmitted to Vuxten.
"You OK, buddy?" Vuxten asked on the private channel.
--tingly achey-- 471 replied. --taste like copper vapor--
"It's going to be thick when they cut in if our buddies get hit," Casey said, moving to Vuxten. "From here on out, our battle buddies need to stay in the shells, especially if we end up deploying the munitions."
Vuxten nodded, looking at the grenade on his harness that Casey had handed out. It had the Confederate logo of a hand crushing a planet on it, but it seemed older, somehow malevolent, just sitting there.
"Try not to shoot random robots you see. Most of them will be extremely task oriented," Addox said. "More than likely they won't even be able to process your existence beyond being some kind of obstacle to move around."
Everyone nodded as Vuxten felt a slight twinge in his head, a couple of inches behind between his eyes.
"Right now, they're set to stealth," Casey said, moving to the next person in line. "The Crusade was nice enough to give us the specs and they had a stealth mode in the templates they handed off, just needed a little tweaking to work with our systems."
Vuxten closed his eyes for a second as a mention of the Crusade made the taste of Gen-0 stimgum rise up in his mouth and the scar around his cyberear ached for a long moment.
He could remember the fear and rage of the Imperium/Crusade/Combine troops landing on Telkan in the middle of an all out assault by the Dwellerspawn creatures and plants upon a shelter that had undergone an emergency surfacing.
"Your vitals just spiked, Lieutenant, are you all right?" Addox asked.
Vuxten swallowed. "I'm all right. Just reminded me of something."
"Second Telkan War?" Addox asked.
"Yeah," Vuxten said.
"You were there when the Imperium troops made their landing, right?" Addox said.
--no shit-- 471 said privately.
"You could say that," Vuxten replied.
I AM ENTIRELY FORMED OF WRATH! echoed in his mind, along with the memory of a huge Terran wading into the Dwellerspawn.
Vuxten waited, consciously taking control of his breathing to keep it steady and reciting the mantras he had been taught. A couple of times his datalink tossed up memes, but they were all pretty bad, pretty basic ones, which told him he was either out of range of the main psyops system or it was overloaded.
One got through that made him laugh, even though it obviously wasn't meant for him, which made it even funnier.
A heavy tank with markings of Bravo Company, 6-28 Armored Battalion had obviously driven into a large ditch and broken its tracks, tried to back up, slid sideways and left its tracks bunched up before somehow having the cupola jump its track and having then gotten stuck on its side. A green mantid was in the foreground with a commo headset on saying "Have you tried turning it off and on?"
"What?" Private First Class Sultrek asked, making Vuxten aware he'd laughed over the platoon leader channel.
"Fighting must be easing up on the surface," Vuxten said. He passed around the meme and everyone laughed.
Vuxten saw Casey shake his head. "Not gonna work, they're gonna need to release the IP and acquire a new one."
--try running a network ping-- 884 offered.
--diagnostics on my board says your tank is fine please clear channel-- 737 informed the tank in the picture.
--must be a factory defect-- 013 decided.
Another meme popped in, obviously from 3rd Armor Divisions Morale section and Vuxten burst out laughing as Casey attached another set of disruptors.
This one was of a Precursor with "ONLY ENOUGH FOR ONE" written on its hull, staring with wide eyes at another Precursor that was completely engulfed in the white fire of an uncontrolled fusion reaction. The one with wide eyes slowly went transparent as it slid off the side of the picture. The caption read "When see your boy get roasted by another squad and realize you're next."
"It's an older meme, but it checks out," Casey chuckled.
"I've never seen it," Pvt Renklant said.
Addox shook his head. "That's a genuine Pre-Diasporia meme right there, boys."
The link cut out and Vuxten could see "No Connection" on the BATTACNET icon.
Addox filled the time while Casey attached the parts onto the armor telling a series of profane jokes that made the tip of Vuxten's ear heat up with embarrassment. It was over two dozen jokes that involved a greased up Rigellian body building midget and a pair of confused cat boys. Vuxten knew it was supposed to be jokes but they were so shocking he couldn't even laugh.
Ranklant snickered though.
"All right, done," Casey said, straightening up. His frame hissed as pressure relieved in the heavy pistons that provided strength enhancement.
"Everyone ready?" Vuxten asked, more to Casey than to anyone else.
Icons flashed ready as Casey nodded.
"Lead the way, Sergeant," Second Lieutenant Plunex said.
"All right, let's move out," Sergeant Addox ordered. "Casey, take the rear."
There was silence on the channels as the platoon moved through the larger maintenance tunnels, following the maps made by the recon drones. The drones had found what looked like engines as well as massive fusion plants that provided power but both of those possible targets had been set aside by the very obvious target.
In the heart of the machine was a huge egg shaped area that the doors were closed, the vents did not access, and there was no access outside of what appeared to be airlocks designed for Mantids.
Big Mantids.
It took nearly two hours to navigate the large area before they reached the heavy airlock door. When they got there Addox ordered it cut open but Casey shook his head.
"What?" Vuxten asked.
"Need a greenie to check this seal. It's got some pebbling, looks age related. Might give us an idea of the last time this door was used," Casey said.
--will do-- 471 said.
"My buddy says he'll do it," Vuxten said. He half expected someone to object because he was the ranking officer and was grateful when nobody said anything.
471 popped the armored housing, climbing out and jumping over to Casey's frame, hanging off of it for a second.
"Visual only, don't touch it," Casey said.
--not tell you how to be ape-- 471 shot back.
Casey just chuckled.
After a moment 471 moved back into the shell, sliding his bladearm into the computing node built in. He ran the tensile strength and other factors.
--356 years approx-- 471 let Vuxten know, feeling a glow of pleasure in figuring it out. His fellow Mantids stuck their tongues out at him via emoji for getting the be the one who did the work.
"It's been awhile," Addox mused. "Hopefully there isn't a surprise on the other side of the door," he looked at Lieutenant Plunex. "Orders, sir?"
"Open the door," Plunex said, managing to keep himself from looking to Lieutenant Vuxten for guidance.
"Casey, handle the door," Addox said.
"Roger that," Casey said. He worked for a few moments to get the control panel off, examining it. "No power. Probably controlled from inside," he mused. He pulled wire out of the creation engine, ran it from his frame to the door, and toggled the power.
The door slowly ground opened, moving more smoothly by the time it was halfway open.
"We're going to have to divide up to go through that airlock unless you want me to cut open the far door and risk this thing's systems going full breach alert," Casey said.
"We'll move through by three man groups," Addox said. He looked a Plunex. "First three, sir?"
Plunex felt the sweat break out under his fur. "Uh," he started.
Vuxten stepped forward. "Casey, me, and Private Renklant," he said.
Plunex felt relief even though the idea of putting a superior officer in danger bothered him slightly.
Casey handed the wires to Plunex and walked in, pulling the panel off the door and starting to work on jumping the power leads. Vuxten waited for Renklant to move through then moved through himself. When saw Renklant reach down to take his weapon off of safe Vuxten reached out and put his hand on the weapon.
"Not yet," Vuxten said over the point to point link. "Go in ready, but not hair trigger. Move to the right."
Renklant nodded, swallowing, as Casey stepped back, the wiring bypass ready.
"Close the outer door," Vuxten ordered. He closed his eyes as the massive door hissed shut, taking a deep breath and centering himself. When he opened it Casey stood by the door, staring at Vuxten, simply waiting.
"Open the door," Vuxten ordered. He felt loose but ready to move in any direction, not on edge but ready to react with his weapon at any second.
The door slid open and Casey stepped in, taking a step straight into the room beyond and Vuxten knew it was to clear the firing arc for the big minigun the human was packing. Vuxten went left, rifle in his hands, thumb on the fire selector.
The entire sphere was open. Work stations covering the walls and a massive computer core suspended in the middle of the room with what looked like some kind of horseshoe shaped command console wrapped around it. Heavy cabling was festooned everywhere, over consoles, across chairs, in mid-air as it moved from point to point.
"Negative movement," Casey ground out. Vuxten noted how the human's voice had suddenly changed. "Not much power in here with the exception of our big friend in the center," he turned and Vuxten could see the cold amber glow in Casey's eyes was fading. "I'm pretty sure we bring everyone through."
Vuxten radioed back and waited as the lock cycled to bring the rest of the platoon through in threes, with Addox coming in last. During the time spent bringing everyone in Casey moved around slowly, walking on the catwalks, careful to never brush any of the wiring. A couple times Vuxten saw him duck or step carefully over nothing and changed his visor.
Laser commo in the high IR range.
Using that data Vuxten started tagging up places for everyone to sit down in such a way that they'd be covered by at least three other members close by. Each time one of the Telkan Marines came through the airlock he guided them over to sit down.
"Sir," Casey's voice broke in. Vuxten looked up and saw that Casey was standing on the middle platform, one hand holding one of the heavy cables that held the platform up.
"Yes, Sergeant?" Vuxten asked, noting that Casey had linked in Addox and Plunex to the conversation.
"I've seen tech like this. It's old Mantid tech for sure, but I'm pretty sure this is what's affectionately referred to as 'after market modifications' by the mechanics," he said. "Computer's Mantid make, systems are Mantid make, machine's Mantid make," he swung slightly and faced Vuxten. "Circumstantial evidence suggests that this thing might possibly have a chance of being built by Mantid."
"You don't say," Addox drawled. "Smartass."
"How's Glory?" Casey suddenly asked.
"Fine. She said for you to quit screwing around and hurry up," Lieutenant Plunex said. "I left a squad with her, she'll be fine."
"Oh," Casey said. He swung a couple of times back and forth and launched himself through the air, landing on the catwalk with a clang.
The pose, the way he seemed to hang there, reminded Vuxten of the Imperium of Rage Marines.
"We have commo outside?" Plunex asked.
"I've got slow commo, text and data only. Having to go full error correction on it," Casey said.
"File a sit-rep, let Command know we're still alive," Plunex said. He looked around. "Where do you think it's going?"
"Somewhere terrible, I'm sure," Vuxten said softly.
The last time I was underground, it didn't work out too well for anyone involved, he thought to himself, staring at the computer arrays on the central platform.
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submitted by Hi everyone, in my hunt for the right sized ring, I have bought the same piece of 18k jewelry 3 times. I know I should have gone to the store to get sized, but with Covid I was too hesitant to do so. I just plan to sell the ones that don't fit, so not a total loss. On to the review - I'll break down all 3 in depth and do the final comparisons at the end.
CCW!
Disclosures I have not gotten any incentives from any of the sellers. I know a couple will offer free shipping or a discount on your shipping for next order for a review, but I haven't contacted anyone for this, nor have I been offered one.
I originally wanted the pink gold, but decided against it in my other orders as the colour seemed to blend in with my skintone and didn't really pop. It was a really beautiful rose gold though.
Materials All sellers use 18k gold. I'm not sure about Li, but XY uses lab diamonds while Miss Chen uses natural/mined diamonds. I have not made edits to the quality sections as I do not personally think it makes a huge difference to me, but please take this into consideration if you do prefer certain materials over others.
Sizing Information I originally wanted the ring for my ring finger, which I measured with a measuring tape to be 47. The ring fit, but very tightly and left an ugly muffin-top. A 48 would have been much more comfortable. I have gotten a ring on Etsy before where I measured my finger at 14.80mm, and the girl had a ring sizer stick which said I was US size 4 so I went with that. Not sure why I went for the smaller size now, looking back at Cartier's size chart.
When I reordered, I decided I wanted to wear it on my middle finger. I measured myself and gave a little more slack this time, with the stupid measuring tape again. Obviously the size 54 was too big for any of my fingers, even my thumb. No idea what I was thinking here. I then bought a ring sizer off Amazon due to the advice of some repladies, and measured my middle finger to be a size 5. It fit snug so I figured a 51 would fit better than a 50. The 51 fits well with no muffin top, but does snag on my knuckle when I try to take it off, so I know it is secure. The link to the amazon ring sizer I used
here. For anyone this may help.
Review Seller: TS Li: Pink gold 1 diamond, size 47 Factory Li was the only one I asked for factory pics of, but it doesn't really help for jewelry since the details are so miniscule you can't tell from a photo. I like relying on the reviews of others instead.
PSP My Photos Auth Price and Payment: 2300CNY + 280CNY for shipping - paid with transferwise
Timeline: Oct 5 - Contacted
Oct 6 - Paid in full with transferwise
Oct 10 - PSPs sent
Oct 12 - Shipped out
Nov 3 - Received
I believe shipping was with EMS but I can't 100% remember
Quality: 9/10
I want to preface this by saying I am not a trained eye at Cartier jewelry. The colour seemed to be very spot on to videos and photos I have seen of the ring. It was weighty, and packaged very nicely. The engraving was crisp, and so were the screw motifs. I took -1 point for the thickness of it. When I compared this to Miss Chen's rep, her ring was definitely thicker. I did take into consideration that this was vastly smaller, but I am not sure if that should change the thickness overall. The diamond was a good size and very shiny.
Li's ring came with a certificate of precious materials, which is great.
Accuracy: 8.75/10
Same with the above points, I took -0.5 off for the thickness. I tried to find the numbers online; the thickness should be 1.5mm. I did not get a chance to measure this one but from memory I believe it was thinner. I took off another -0.25 as the screw motifs seems to be a little more crisp - if you look at photos, the middle line does seem to be a bit thicker and a tiny bit deeper than the auth. It's a small deduction as I am being VERY picky. The size of the diamond seems spot on. Now, the ring of gold around the diamond - this is thicker than the auth for sure. This could result in a smaller diamond being added to the ring. I took -0.5 off for this as to me it is a bigger deal, but it is also impossible to tell while you are wearing it. Anyone would have to be at eye level an inch away from the ring, while holding the auth beside it to tell.
The engraving font seems similar to the examples I've seen. I cannot 100% judge the contents of the inner engraving as it seems to be different in many rings, in terms of style. See the auth and my photos for what I mean.
I did not take points off for colour as that seems quite accurate, as well as size. I measured the width and the website says it should be 36mm. My tape seems to show the same numbers, if not a bit off.
Packaging I received was a regular unbranded jewelry box.
Service/Communication: 10/10
TS Li was friendly and spoke fully in Chinese. I don't mind at all, I can't read any of it so I just used my translator and it worked fine. I communicated in English fully and they must have just translated my words as well. The ring was made quickly, I didn't have to check up on them, and it was a smooth transaction. It only took a week to make the ring. They take payments as a deposit or full - I just did the full payment so I didn't have to mess with transferwise anymore. I actually tried to reorder from Li again for my third round but I couldn't get the transferwise to work so I ultimately went with XY. No fault of Li, they had an
amazing price for the ring, great service, just bummed that they only take transferwise.
Satisfaction: 5/10
Obviously didn't fit, so I was pretty bummed. And also surprised at just how underwhelmed I was at the colour on my skintone. This does not reflect quality or accuracy at all - I would have been quite happy with this ring if it did fit, despite the few inaccuracies of it.
Seller: TS Miss Chen: Yellow gold, size 54 No factory photos given - I just sent a photo and asked for the specific ring. She sent me a chart with all prices and ring examples.
PSP My Photos Auth Price and Payment: 530USD + 30USD for packaging. I think the 30USD includes shipping in the packaging but I'm not too sure as we didn't really break it down and I didn't end up clarifying with her.
Timeline: Nov 6 - Contacted, MC got back in 24 hours
Nov 8 - asked to order, MC responded in a day
Nov 9 - clarified shipping and sent full payment with transferwise.
Checked in about a week just to ask for shipping time. She said another week (so 14 day wait time)
Nov 22 - received PSPs
Nov 23 - shipped packaging and ring together
Dec 3 - Received package - I got dinged about $35CAD for duties booo but what are you going to do. Shipping was DHL.
Quality: 10/10
When I first opened this up I was surprised at how heavy it was. It was definitely well made, weighty, shiny, and diamond looked great. It didn't fit, but that's alright. This is also thicker than I expected, however I've never held the auth in my hands so I wouldn't know exactly. Diamond looks perfect. I've heard lots of stories of Miss Chen's quality and I honestly cannot complain.
Accuracy: 10/10 (edited from 9/10)
So the screwhead engraving seemed to be more accurate. It wasn't as 'sharp' as Li's, but matched more closely to the auth. It's hard to explain what I mean but hopefully the photos show it. The middle line seems to be more accurate as it was thinner and a tiny bit more shallow. Diamond size correlates with the photos and videos I've seen online. I don't know what the weight would be, but there's so much fluctuation with size I didn't bother weighing it with my scale. The thickness is about 1.6 or 1.5mm. It is really hard to measure this accurately but I would say this is closest to 1.5mm, if not a bit more.
Inside engraving I took off -1 point for - this is the part where I apologize about - I have no idea what the inside is supposed to look like, but I am pretty sure it should come with a serial number. Never mind! There is an inside engraving, I was just not sure what it was - turns out it is the UG 1686! Full points here for Miss Chen! Thank you to RL Shop2udrop for helping me discover this!
Packaging - font is a bit bigger on the bag compared to the auth, and honestly the packaging is not that accurate. But it works for the untrained eye or a display on your shelf away from prying hands.
Service/Communication: 9/10
Miss Chen took a while to get back with responses, but it's never been more than a day. However I was a bit impatient with waiting for a response, especially when I knew what I wanted and I wanted to pay in full as soon as I could. But communication was smooth, Miss Chen was friendly, and transaction went through with no issues. She was responsive and updated me first with any shipping delays without me having to check in. Keep in mind this is an extremely busy time and she must have been swamped with orders so I understand the longer wait time, but would have liked to purchased quicker!
Satisfaction: 8/10
Again because it didn't fit, but the colour was exactly what I wanted! Also the weight of it was really nice. I really wished this would have fit at least one of my finger but oh well. I feel that this one was the most accurate - more on this below.
Non-TS XY: Yellow gold, size 51 Contact info: XiangYaoJewelry on Wechat.
No factory photos given - I just sent a photo and asked for the specific ring. They have an instagram with all their jewelry examples (handle same as wechat ID)
PSP Photos Auth Price and Payment: 3100CNY + 200CNY for shipping
Timeline Dec 8 - Contacted and paid a 50% deposit because well, it was a new seller and not a TS. They took paypal, which is one of the few reasons I chose to go with XY as my transferwise was giving me so much issues.
Dec 17 - checked up on order, they told me total time takes about 15-20 days after placing the order - totally fine
Dec 25 - Merry Christmas 'cause ya girl got her PSPs - GLed immediately and paid rest of 50% deposit
Dec 31 - Happy new years eve 'cause ya girl got her goods
Shipping was DHL
Quality: 9/10
I also expected this to be on the heavier side. Upon scrutinizing it looks to be a bit thinner than Miss Chen's - more on that later. Colour, diamond, and screw motifs look very nice though. Engravings were deep and crisp, and it is obviously a very well made ring. I know XY is newer on the Repladies scene, but I am super impressed. Quality wise, I can tell this is a really well made ring. I would put this on par with TS Li's if not a bit better.
Accuracy: 9/10
Same 'issues' with TS Li's - now that I have compared the photos closely, the gold ring around the diamond may be either thicker, or more flattened (which gives off the look at it is thicker). So I deducted 0.5. It is almost impossible to tell if the diamonds are different sizes, even right beside each other. I don't think it is and the difference seems to be too small to mention, so I won't take a full point off for it. Now, the thicc-ness. This measures to be about 1.3 or 1.4mm. It's not visible to the naked eye unless you're really super up close. Even less so on a moving hand. Like I said above, it should be around 1.5mm if the internet is correct. I'll deduct another 0.5 for that.
Screw motifs look good. Inside engraving is there and looks good, plus the addition of a serial number, which I am very happy with.
Seller Communication/Service: 10/10
Quick responses, takes paypal, and transaction was suuuuper smooth. Very professional - when I first added them, they had an auto message linking me to their instagram (same as their wechat ID). They did ship without notifying me of the tracking number, but DHL sent me a text right when they did so I didn't even bother checking up with them. Overall, they were detailed and I have no complaints at all. The ring was packaged very very well, with layers of bubble wrap and it was shrink wrapped on the inside as well. The plain jewelry box is a nice quality as well!
Satisfaction: 9/10
For the price, it was almost comparable to what Miss Chen charges, but it lacked the accuracy and thickness of her ring. I am happy that it finally fits and that it looks amazinggg but I would have paid the extra few hundred CNY to get the top quality that she charges. I ultimately wanted to try a new seller as I was impatient and didn't want to wait for Miss Chen to get back to me. However, I don't regret going with XY either.
Comparison Photos Here's what we're here for. Unfortunately since I do not have Li's ring anymore, I will only have comparison photos between XY and MC. Miss Chen's is the bigger and thicker ring (as it is a larger size). It's impossible to mix up:
Comparison Pics Questions I've Gotten: Which Seller was your favourite, quality/price/communication wise? Quality: Miss Chen - for reasons above, I do think her prices are higher and they may not be proportional to what you're getting, but I can't fault the craftsmanship that I get. It is quite a high jump, but it all depends on how accurate of an item you will be happy with. Also I would ask about the serial number next time.
Price: Price for craftsmanship, definitely Li. Great quality ring, AMAZING price.
Communication: Hard to find favourites here. I thought everyone was quite steller. Mind you, I didn't really come with questions; I'm a girl who shops for what she wants after doing a bunch of reading on my own. Possibly Miss Chen as she seemed to be the most polite and friendly, with 'please' and 'dear', and the handshake emoji. Love that emoji, always reminds me of closing a business deal.
Favourite overall? Miss Chen. I know some have commented that she likes to brag about how her stuff is better without having the quality to back it up, but I would have to disagree, at least for Cartier pieces. It is quite expensive, but as someone who bought the same ring 3 times, I will tell you that I noticed a difference the second I held her work. Will I buy from her again? Possibly only for Cartier items, I can't comment on other brands. I would not hesitate to buy from XY or Li for VCA, but I will probably only stick with MC for Cartier.
Edits: Material used section
Miss Chen accuracy rating
Thanks for making it this far! Happy holidays everyone!
submitted by Intro: Today I'm going to focus on signs of whether to move on, leave, and overall indicate if your reddit friendship is heading in a positive direction. Along with some mistakes commonly made and some methods to start the conversation.
Messaging Someone: You found someone you want to message, great! So there are three ways that are appropriate approaches
(if you have any other that work extremely well put it in the comments of this post)
Before we get to that I want to say when deciding to message someone or not
HAVE CONFIDENCE!!!! I hate it when I look at a post and I see people commenting saying
"blah blah blah hmu" HAVE SOME DAMN CONFIDENCE AND INITIATE THE CONVERSATION!! I get that when you do this your trying to be polite and not trying to be a creep but it just does not work.
Mindset: When you message these people I want you to treat it like an elevator pitch. There are some redditors getting hundreds of messages and comments when they make a post.
KEEP THAT IN MIND! Here are some ways you can message someone:
- Asking a Question: Not a small talk question like "how are u" make it specific to the post. At the same time keep in mind some people may be asking the same questions so try to be unique with them
Ex: A lot of people put something like
"I like video games" in their reddit post.
This person has already been asked
"which video games do you play" like 50 times!! A better idea would be asking which video game genre do they like or even asking which of their hobbies listed are they most passionate about and then go from there.
People who are in the situation where they have been asked the same question so many damn times it would be a big help if you would tell us a good alternate solution in your opinion 2)
Introducing Yourself: Stating what you like, what your looking for in a friendship, and the fact that you want to be friends with them is a rather personal and up-front way to get the conversation started.
But what do I say after I introduce myself???? Funny enough it is based on their reaction but if they give a one word answer like
"k" or
"cool lol" then you could start launching off some questions until you find a conversation point. Although with a response like that it could either mean they are disinterested or they are talking to so many people they don't have the time to give a good response.
3)
A compliment: NO NO NO this does not mean find a female say she looks hot and wait for results.
COMPLIMENT SOMEONE BASED ON SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN CONTROL. Ex: DO NOT say "
girl you thicccer than a bowl of oatmeal" Rather say
"You look great in that photo I like your outfit style" (the more specific you get the better in my opinion\*******)*
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AM I WATERING A DEAD PLANT? Odd phrase but it will make sense soon enough
So your messaging someone and just ended your first conversation or maybe you've been talking for a while but how do you know if its going well?
NOTE: WITH EVERYTHING I SAY HERE NOTE IT IS A RED/GREEN FLAG IF IT HAPPENS CONSISTENTLY OVER THE COURSE OF A FEW WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS Green Flags: 50/50: You are BOTH initiating conversation. I'm not talking about
"well we have had about 10 convos and I initiated 9 of them but they messaged like 1 time" NO I'm talking about a 1 to 1 ratio or something very close to it.
****If you're always the one scheduling, having to reach out or initiate conversation then its not worth it. Your watering a dead plant. And odds are you deserve so much more than to just talk to someone who doesn't even care whether you message them or not.
FIND SOMEONE WHO IS WILLING TO MEET YOU HALF WAY MOIST TEXTING: Get your mind out of gutter lmao let me explain what I mean. Moist Texting is when you're out of that loop of small talk and stuff getting awkward.
YOU CAN HAVE A CONVO ABOUT ANYTHING WHETHER IT BE SPORTS, CAREER ENDEAVORS, OR SOMETHING AS IDIOTIC AS IF MR. CLEAN IS ATTRACTIVE OR NOT ****usually replies are hella consistent during moist texting. Your getting replies like every 4-8 mins not every other day or every 5 hours
(THIS IS NOT ME SAYING IF THIS PERSON DOESN'T TEXT YOU BACK IN 5 MINS EVERY TIME THEN DROP THEM)
RED FLAGS: THEY NEVER MESSAGE YOU FIRST: This is in my opinion
the biggest red flag!!!!! Even if they respond to you consistently and you two do stuff all the time a lack of initiation on their part means one simple harsh reality:
THEY ONLY RESPOND BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO. ONCE THEY FIND SOMEONE WHO THEY ARE WILLING TO MEET HALFWAY AND MESSAGE CONSISTENTLY THEN THEY WON'T BE REPLYING TO YOU ANYMORE (That sounds really dark but please remember the person could also be very busy with their life. Also please remember that if this happens over the course of like a few weeks to a few months then that's where green and red flags should be applied)
I TOOK 5 MINS TO RESPOND BUT IT TAKES YOU 3 DAYS !!!!?????: The title for this section is over dramatic but if you are consistently replying after 3-6 mins and it takes them hours on hours each time that's not the best look (ONCE AGAIN REMEMBER THEY COULD JUST BE A BUSY PERSON).
Now I will admit the reddit chat system is so damn bad so if its strictly on reddit take this red flag with a grain of salt but if its on discord or snapchat or any platform where you can either see they read your message or they are online and it takes them hours/days to respond.....that's rough buddy
Also note that a lot of people will say
"don't be dry texter when you message me" but remember it goes both ways. You both have to be moist texters.
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MISTAKES THAT YOU ARE MAKING Alright so lets say every person you message has these red flags. Then the problem might be you. So here are some mistakes that I feel that I've seen others and myself make
SMALL TALK: Now if you have known this person for like 6 months or something then yeah small talk is generally acceptable
BUT if you have just started talking
YOU NEED TO YEET THAT SMALL TALK BS INTO THE STRATOSPHERE!!!!!! Nothing kills a convo faster then getting trapped at the grips of what to do next after small talk. Unless you really know this person don't engage in the typical "
How r u?" "I'm good hbu?" type of conversations. Yes it is easy and gets you a response because it is easy to reply to but after about four text messages an awkward gap of silence is just waiting to take place.
STOP BEING A PEST: So what if you've had like 5 convos over the course of a week and they haven't initiated anything, what do you do?
Pull back and take like a week or two and just don't conversate because you might be overwhelming someone and they don't want to tell you. Wait a week or two and message again. If they don't respond then that's rough buddy.
BUT WHAT IF THE SAME PATTERN CONTINUES You keep having convos and you're the only one initiating!!! Well you know that's a red flag and you have two options:
1) STOP TEXTING THEM ALL TOGETHER: You were watering a dead plant. Stop watering it, the damn plant is dead. BUT IF YOU DID THIS YOU CHOSE THE WRONG OPTION (IMO)
2) CALL THEM OUT: IF THERE IS SOMETHING PEOPLE NEVER DO HERE IT IS HONESTY!!! *****
NEVER BE AFRAID TO TEXT SOMEONE AND TELL THEM YOU FEEL LIKE THEY AREN'T PUTTING THE SAME ENERGY IN THIS FRIENDSHIP AS YOU ARE They either won't reply, get mad, or hell maybe even have an actual conversation about feelings. You may not like the results of what happens after you send this but it is going to do so much more for you mentally than just getting sad and either ghosting someone or being ghosted. Go get yourself some closure!!!
(Also don't call them out if its only been like 3 days or something ridiculous like that) YOUR LIKE EVERYONE ELSE: I'm going to make this one short as I said it already put please stray away from asking predictable questions. When people go right be that one person that goes left!!
Ex:
Person 1:
"I like to play basketball" You:
"What position do you play" <---- WRONG EVERYONE IS ASKING SOMETHING LIKE THIS
Instead maybe answer with a witty reply
(Bad example but I'm making this up on the fly) You:
"I bet you're good enough to beat tom brady in a 1v1" I KNOW BRADY PLAYS FOOTBALL BUT WHICH MESSAGE DO YOU THINK IS THIS PERSON GOING TO REPLY TO? STATING THEIR POSITION FOR THE 99th time or A MESSAGE THAT CAUGHT THEM OFF GUARD AND STANDS OUT
EXPRESS EMOTIONS: USE THOSE DAMN EXCLAMATION POINTS, QUESTION MARKS AND EMOJIS. They seriously add a whole new depth to the conversation
**********YOUR NOT SCHEDULING: Scheduling something to do with someone is dorky but it is EFFECTIVE! By scheduling I mean get a day and a time that works for both of you guys. This can eliminate something like always asking someone to get online and play and them turning you down because they are busy.
PLEASE USE SCHEDULING ESPECIALLY IF THIS PERSON LIVES IN A DIFFERENT TIME ZONE
But what if we always schedule and they never show up because they forgot? That's rough buddy and that is a red flag. (If this happens once or twice then don't freak put up if it happens like 6 out of every 7 times then yeah that's a bad thing also if you're the one always scheduling to do something and they never do that is a red flag)
LONG MESSAGES: Often times you are being too wordy. Try condensing your text message to be readable but also short.
\**Rule of thumb: Long meaningful replies to questions but short interesting replies to statements*
FILTERING YOURSELF: When you reply sometimes you think too much and go with a "safe reply" but don't do that because everyone else is going with that "safe reply'!
(This filter thing is not an excuse to go insult or make a pervy comment towards someone)
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Mentality I'm going to reiterate some things mentioned earlier but they are that important
Realize some people are getting hundreds of messages and odds are they are only looking for one or two people at max. They may find those people before they even get to your message Do not build up unreasonable expectations: If you see that this person likes all the things you like don't go off and make a fantasy in your head where you picture them a certain way and build up an expectation.
Go in with no expectations and take the person for what they are!!!
Accept that 80% of the people you talk to won't develop into the friendship you want or a friendship at all Be open, honest, and kind to whoever you talk to. Also ask deep question that encourage open ended conversations. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's pretty much it
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR OWN TIPS AND TRICKS FOR HAVING GOOD CONVOS IN THE COMMENTS. ALSO PLEASE COMMENT ON HOW TO MAKE A GOOD POST THAT CAN GET PEOPLE TO REPLY. (I'm actually curious to see what you guys come up with)
If you read to this point.....you are a scholar 😎
submitted by Thumbs up. Fuck you, ”— a reference to a text exchange between the two that ended with Gay sending a pair of thumbs up emojis, which, according to an insulted Barlow, is “universal text code The Thumbs Up emoji, also known as the "yes" emoji, is used to express general contentment. Alternatively, it can be used sarcastically to mean something isn't actually good. 2. You receive this emoji when you've inadvertently pissed someone off, or inconvenienced them, but they're too immature to directly explain the situation. Thumbs-Up People sarcastically use the So you Slack her the thumbs-up. Advertisement The age of the emoji is homo sapiens’ time to shine, as we’re one of the few species that traffics and delights in the symbolic. You're chatting with a girl that you've known forever and there's always been chemistry, but you only recently reconnected. She sends a message that's a little flirty. You reply with something similar. She replies with a "thumbs up" emoji. No words, no furthering of the conversation, just an icon. Iran: Thumbs-up. What might seem to Americans like a universally positive gesture is not, in fact, universal. "Unfortunately, in Iran and neighboring countries like Afghanistan, the thumbs-up is There are different kind of hand symbols emoji available, like Thumbs Down Sign (to show rejection), Thumbs Up Sign (to show approval), OK Hand Sign (to show satisfaction), Victory Hand (You can relate this emoji hand symbol with coolness, relaxation, or satisfaction.), Person Raising Both Hands In Celebration, Person With Folded Hands and many Personally the thumbs up is my go to emoji when i have zero interest in a person or the conversation. Besides if I'm interested in a conversation there always other ways to end it and pick it up again like "ok, ttyl" "ok, take care for now" but the thumbs up for me means zero interest Thumbs Up Emoticon: The F*ck You of the Texting World. I have been told to fuck off many times in my life. I have been spit at, and at one point, an article I wrote had half of Estonia looking to kill me (not a joke). Sometimes an emoji is all you need. It’s extremely common to use emojis to replace the usual one-word response texts (okay, good, haha, lol, bye). Popular examples include the thumbs-up emoji, the face-with-tears-of-joy emoji, and the waving-hand emoji.
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