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nasa · 6 months

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A simulated image of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s future observations toward the center of our galaxy, spanning less than 1 percent of the total area of Roman’s Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey. The simulated stars were drawn from the Besançon Galactic Model.

Exploring the Changing Universe with the Roman Space Telescope

The view from your backyard might paint the universe as an unchanging realm, where only twinkling stars and nearby objects, like satellites and meteors, stray from the apparent constancy. But stargazing through NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will offer a front row seat to a dazzling display of cosmic fireworks sparkling across the sky.

Roman will view extremely faint infrared light, which has longer wavelengths than our eyes can see. Two of the mission’s core observing programs will monitor specific patches of the sky. Stitching the results together like stop-motion animation will create movies that reveal changing objects and fleeting events that would otherwise be hidden from our view.

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Watch this video to learn about time-domain astronomy and how time will be a key element in NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s galactic bulge survey. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

This type of science, called time-domain astronomy, is difficult for telescopes that have smaller views of space. Roman’s large field of view will help us see huge swaths of the universe. Instead of always looking at specific things and events astronomers have already identified, Roman will be able to repeatedly observe large areas of the sky to catch phenomena scientists can't predict. Then astronomers can find things no one knew were there!

One of Roman’s main surveys, the Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey, will monitor hundreds of millions of stars toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers will see many of the stars appear to flash or flicker over time.

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This animation illustrates the concept of gravitational microlensing. When one star in the sky appears to pass nearly in front of another, the light rays of the background source star are bent due to the warped space-time around the foreground star. The closer star is then a virtual magnifying glass, amplifying the brightness of the background source star, so we refer to the foreground star as the lens star. If the lens star harbors a planetary system, then those planets can also act as lenses, each one producing a short change in the brightness of the source. Thus, we discover the presence of each exoplanet, and measure its mass and how far it is from its star. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

That can happen when something like a star or planet moves in front of a background star from our point of view. Because anything with mass warps the fabric of space-time, light from the distant star bends around the nearer object as it passes by. That makes the nearer object act as a natural magnifying glass, creating a temporary spike in the brightness of the background star’s light. That signal lets astronomers know there’s an intervening object, even if they can’t see it directly.

This artist’s concept shows the region of the Milky Way NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s Galactic Bulge Time-Domain Survey will cover – relatively uncharted territory when it comes to planet-finding. That’s important because the way planets form and evolve may be different depending on where in the galaxy they’re located. Our solar system is situated near the outskirts of the Milky Way, about halfway out on one of the galaxy’s spiral arms. A recent Kepler Space Telescope study showed that stars on the fringes of the Milky Way possess fewer of the most common planet types that have been detected so far. Roman will search in the opposite direction, toward the center of the galaxy, and could find differences in that galactic neighborhood, too.

Using this method, called microlensing, Roman will likely set a new record for the farthest-known exoplanet. That would offer a glimpse of a different galactic neighborhood that could be home to worlds quite unlike the more than 5,500 that are currently known. Roman’s microlensing observations will also find starless planets, black holes, neutron stars, and more!

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This animation shows a planet crossing in front of, or transiting, its host star and the corresponding light curve astronomers would see. Using this technique, scientists anticipate NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could find 100,000 new worlds. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA/GESTAR)

Stars Roman sees may also appear to flicker when a planet crosses in front of, or transits, its host star as it orbits. Roman could find 100,000 planets this way! Small icy objects that haunt the outskirts of our own solar system, known as Kuiper belt objects, may occasionally pass in front of faraway stars Roman sees, too. Astronomers will be able to see how much water the Kuiper belt objects have because the ice absorbs specific wavelengths of infrared light, providing a “fingerprint” of its presence. This will give us a window into our solar system’s early days.

This animation visualizes a type Ia supernova.

Roman’s High Latitude Time-Domain Survey will look beyond our galaxy to hunt for type Ia supernovas. These exploding stars originate from some binary star systems that contain at least one white dwarf – the small, hot core remnant of a Sun-like star. In some cases, the dwarf may siphon material from its companion. This triggers a runaway reaction that ultimately detonates the thief once it reaches a specific point where it has gained so much mass that it becomes unstable.

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NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will see thousands of exploding stars called supernovae across vast stretches of time and space. Using these observations, astronomers aim to shine a light on several cosmic mysteries, providing a window onto the universe’s distant past. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Since these rare explosions each peak at a similar, known intrinsic brightness, astronomers can use them to determine how far away they are by simply measuring how bright they appear. Astronomers will use Roman to study the light of these supernovas to find out how quickly they appear to be moving away from us.

By comparing how fast they’re receding at different distances, scientists can trace cosmic expansion over time. This will help us understand whether and how dark energy – the unexplained pressure thought to speed up the universe’s expansion – has changed throughout the history of the universe.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will survey the same areas of the sky every few days. Researchers will mine this data to identify kilonovas – explosions that happen when two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole collide and merge. When these collisions happen, a fraction of the resulting debris is ejected as jets, which move near the speed of light. The remaining debris produces hot, glowing, neutron-rich clouds that forge heavy elements, like gold and platinum. Roman’s extensive data will help astronomers better identify how often these events occur, how much energy they give off, and how near or far they are.

And since this survey will repeatedly observe the same large vista of space, scientists will also see sporadic events like neutron stars colliding and stars being swept into black holes. Roman could even find new types of objects and events that astronomers have never seen before!

Learn more about the exciting science Roman will investigate on X and Facebook.

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lavenderlyncis · 9 months

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Join me in reviewing Olivia Rodrigo's album GUTS. I've waited years for this!!

all-american bitch - 9/10, big fan. I love it when she screams because the world is unfair. same girl, same

bad idea right? - 10/10. I know this one is controversial but I LOVE her more punky songs, I think that's when she's best

vampire - 10/10. I'm not always a fan of piano ballads, but the bridge and outro really make it for me. The hurt turning into anger and despair is just so cathartic. And the video is one of my faves of all time

lacy - 1000/10. What the hell. Did not expect to feel this much emotion from that title. Uhhh... yeah, same. I super relate to that. Whether or not lacy is supposed to be a real person or a manifestation of the beauty standard, this hits. Also, idk if I'm making this up but I dig the romantic undertones, they sell it

ballad of a homeschooled girl - "I made it weird, I made it worse"/10. OLIVIA HOW DID YOU KNOW that I lie awake thinking about all the weird things I did and said, Olivia, did you write this for me specifically??? Every day I am alive IS social suicide. I'm sorry, this is my song, actually. "Can't think of a third line", she's so real

making the bed - "I'm playing the victim so well in my head"/10. How. Does. She. Do. It? I could write an entire essay about this song. Maybe THIS is my song?? She's so good at saying exactly how I feel. I already know that this song will play a million times on my phone. Also I love the drivers license references. Big fan of the making the bed metaphor

logical - 9/10. favourite crime vibes. She's good with these songs about bad relationships. Used to be my favourite thing she did, but now I'm more invested in the songs that are about her/other experiences. That being said this song is really fucking good. This is the Olivia I fell in love with and she's still amazing at doing piano ballads

get him back! - 9/10. Olivia having ANOTHER song with speak-singing where she wants to get back with her ex?? Yes, PLEASE. Bad idea right 2.0. Fucking obsessed

love is embarrassing - 10/10. I said it before I'll say it again, angry Olivia is the best. And she's right, love IS embarrassing as hell

the grudges - 10/10. She does the paino ballads SO WELL. I think this is my favourite one on here. Because, wow, yeah, that is how it is

pretty isn't pretty - i can't rate this/10. GOD, I love it when she talks about insecurities. And don't think I don't see that skipping lunch line. It's sp hard to articulate how this song makes me feel. Especially since I've been low key comparing myself to her, even though we have entirely different bodies and faces. It's nice to know she also struggles with this. And she's right, you could do literally anything to change your appearance and you'd still be unhappy

teenage dream - 100000/10. "Is it recording? Of course it is.", the way I gasped. Okay, I love the interpretation of it ending with a child to be about growing up and childhood innocence. But the line she says?? Especially combined with the meaning of the song it feels a lot like it's about taking away youth by recording it and putting it out there just like she was supposed to be everyone's teenage dream as a child actor and young musician. This feels so personal to her while also being relatable to others. I'm 19 too, Olivia and I are born in the same year. And this is exactly how I feel about growing up. I hope it gets better, my teenage years were crap, I'm tired of being young, but it's also the only thing I can hold onto. I'm honestly terrified of turning 20. But hey, Olivia did it, so... it'll get better, right?

#i should probably stop trying to give songs numbers #they're all perfect to me #or2 #olivia rodrigo #guts olivia rodrigo #or

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naneun-no · 4 months

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From my drafts so it’s late but:

Today’s delulu thought is that Standing Next to You has too many lyrical coincidences to not be about Jimin.

🫣 I SAID IT WAS DELUSIONAL OKAY

You are free to disagree. You probably should 🤣

I mean we know it wasn’t written by Jung Kook but obviously the version he recorded was arranged with and for JK, and “leave your body golden” can’t be a coincidence right? Like it’s the whole ass album name, plus a word that carries connotations of JK himself, which the ppl who worked with him on Seven must have known.

So if that wasn’t a coincidence… then what about:

1. “How we left and right is something we control” — a callback to both Left and Right by CP feat JK, but also a nod to Butter, a massive BTS hit and a song that he performs alongside his boyfie bestie JM.

2. “When it’s deep like DNA, something they can’t take away” — a callback to another massive BTS hit, interesting. And *delulu warning* also reminds me of JM and JK’s extreme similarities that they themselves have referred to before?? They’re wired the same, they have the same sense of humor, they live and breathe for the same shit and even though they have some very key differences, they really do seem like twin flames (even if you just see it as platonic). They are similar in ways that seem braided into the fibers of their being. Like, in their DNA 🧬 some may say. *delulu warning #2* I’m also reminded of Jimin’s Letter lyrics: “After all this time has passed will we still be the same? Just like we were when we first met.”

Also, “something they can’t take away” is an interesting turn of phrase… more on that later.

3. Okay the real meaty part:

Screaming I’ll testify that we'll survive the test of time, they can't deny our love. They can't divide us, we'll survive the test of time I promise I'll be right here

[I seriously can’t believe how closeted-couple-coded this song is]

First off, again with the Letter lyrics mirrored here with the “test of time.” Then it’s got all this drama about being ripped apart and how it won’t happen and how they’ll be next to each other no matter what and that they have “something they can’t take away.”

Not only does all that line up with other Letter lyrics, but it is so goddamn dramatic and for what?

Be for real, what straight couple in this day and age would have this much working against them?? The only possible explanations are: 1) within the fantasy world of a song I suppose this could be some sort of Romeo and Juliet/West Side Story motif, and to be fair the music video did have a kind of rival gang/crime family look to it? Sort of? With the men fighting below the stage? Idk. Or it could be 2) the fact that idols do in fact often have to hide even their straight relationships, which is wild to me. But I know it’s a thing, so. I suppose there’s that. JK doesn’t seem the type though honestly. I think he’d be even more open about it than V.

On the other hand, the lyrics seem SO fit for a couple who are a) queer, b) closeted, c) currently in/about to be in a legislatively homophobic military and country (am I saying that right? Lol) and d) internationally famous pop idols in the SAME BAND who are both widely regarded as heterosexual sex symbols and would be shunned by many people in their homeland AND internationally if their queerness were to be revealed, much less if they were truly an item and THAT news broke.

Whew. That was a lot but like… that would be a real example of a relationship that would be VERY threatened by outside forces plotting against them and trying to separate them. Not JK and a hot blonde model, not him and a Korean actress, not basically any other scenario but a queer relationship.

Idk I know he didn’t write it but like ??? What the hell is that theme? I’m dying to get inside the mind of the people who DID write it, because are they or are they jikookers at this point like?!

4. Just for fun I’ll also point out the “leave your body golden like the sun and moon” 😏 like. Okay. At this point the songwriters are watching Jikook compilations, drooling over @slaaverin edits like convince me they’re not. CONVINCE ME.

5. ��Deeper than the rain”?! “The pain”?! Alright I’m not even serious at this point but ??? Rainy day fight 🌧️?!?! 🤣🤣

6. “Standing next to you” oh you mean like… for 18 months? In a companion enlistment program? Like that?

Alright alright I’m done but you get my point. What even is this song if not an anthem of jikookery?! It’s more on-the-nose than Letter, more sneaky than Still With You. It wasn’t written by JK but at this point I’m calling that the songwriters are as delulu as me.

Hope y’all are well. If you made it to the end of this thank you for donning your tinfoil hat with me and I hope you at least got a giggle.

✌️

#jikook #kookmin #jimin and jungkook #jikook theories #delulu time

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teaboot · 5 months

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Your post about art vs content got me thinking about the differences between the two. To me there is no difference besides the mindsets. One is of creator and the enjoyer, the other is content and consumer it removes the personhood, the joy/emotion, from the equation. Like a writer or video creator may not see their work as art so content creator maybe a way to refer to themselves comfortably but it sounds so machine, emotionless and lifeless, like a cookie cutter recipe mass producing something verses people lovingly crafting something...then again Disney uses a cookie cutter recipe for the most part and it brings out bangers cause people lovingly make it their own so maybe I'm thinking too hard on this

Does my long-winded rant make sense?

see, I get what you mean, but I still feel like the willingness to entertain calling art of any kind "content" reduces it to the facet of consumption where in reality, the experience of consuming art is not the sole defining trait of it.

Reducing arts like music, writing, painting, dance, voice acting, theater, etc. to the role of "content"- a thing created to be consumed, measured and valued by how pleasant or easy it is to digest- I feel that it was our biggest red flag to herald the incoming tide of AI "art".

Because if art is "content", if arts are nothing but consumable matter, then obviously the key to success is to produce as much soft, tasty, edible paste as we possibly can at the lowest possible expense.

It's the same issue I have with "meal replacements", diet culture, nutrient slurries, twenty-step skincare routines, 24/7 body padding and shapewear and laxative teas and "grind culture". It's not a cause, but a symptom, of the disease that is late-stage capitalism.

Things must be produced at low cost and remain in high demand forever. Things must be perfect and palatable and the new hit trend forever. People must pay hand over fist to consume without asking anything in return, and if they start dropping like flies at the unending unrewarded thankless demand of it all, then that must be treated as a weakness. We should all take pride in how much we can spend, pay, give, produce, and think as little as possible about what we ask for ourselves.

So, who cares if, of two identical paintings, one was made by a person and one was made by a computer program? It's the same work, so what does it matter? What does it matter?

I am an artist. I make art. I ask a question, make a statement, declare something horrific or challenging or upsetting or wrong or grotesque, and when you respond, we are together experiencing a conversation. We are existing, two people living one life and reaching out and touching across time and space. No matter the work, you're at the barest minimum saying, "I'm alive, and you're alive, and at one time or another we shared this same world, and at the end of the day we aren't too terribly different. My heart is worth sharing, and your heart is worth the struggle of understanding."

An AI-generated piece, a computer-generated voice, a CGI puppet of someone long since dead and gone, they cannot speak. They have no voice. Ay best, they are the most chewable, consumable, landlord-beige common denominator possible that you can sit and listen to like the lone survivor of a shipwreck listening to the same three songs on a broken record, and at worst, they're the uncaring vomit of an empty, unloving, value-addled hack wearing the skin of someone I know over their own.

When you abandon art to say that you make content, that should not be a point of pride. That's an embarrassment. That's not sitting down for an intelligent discussion with an equal, that's kneeling at the feet of the crowd and saying, "what do you want to see me do? I can be anyone you've ever loved. I can be them, I can be anyone, as long as you love me."

I can make content. I can be consumed. What do you want to consume? I'll make myself consumable. I'll make myself just like anything you like. And I'll make so much of it that you'll never have to go anywhere else, because it'll all be right here, and under all the cut-and-paste schlock you've seen before I will sit alone in the dark and the silence and I will know that I am safe, because I am valued, because I am desired, and I need to be desired or else I am worthless like a factory that no longer churns out steel or a hen that no longer lays eggs or a cow that is too old to make milk.

Content, the most literal meaning, is something which is contained inside a container. What it is doesn't really matter, and the best it can hope to be is something worthy of being scooped out and used.

Art is an experience that transcends value. Art is something you can eat without paying for. You can make it out of anything and anyone can do it. It can be crude and vulgar and bad, and that's a strength because it means something. It always, always means something, and it doesn't matter if you like it or not. It's not content because it doesn't fill anything. It's a living, breathing thing, and whether you want to birth it or eat it, then you're going to have to be willing to put the fucking work in

#I want to apologize but I'm not going to #This is important to me #I do not want to create content #I do not want to be universally loved #I do not want my existence to revolve around being used #I'm not a machine I'm a person and I'll do what makes me happy #Even if that isn't good or useful #I don't want to be pretty I want to be alive #Don't look at me #I'm breathing #I'm screaming #I'm ugly and sharp and painful to hold #And that is not a bad thing #To come back to

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tothepointofinsanity · 7 months

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Observation Log Series: Sayaka [III]

Today on: Visual metaphors for depression and the actual “magic of friendship”.

Images are taken from this Magia Record game video on YouTube.

I am pretty sure someone else in the ages past had already covered this bit, so I suppose I will add this to the archives for my own documentation purpose. Or for just anyone who feels like reading it, really.

Sayaka’s magical girl transformation in this sequence is very interesting. There are a lot of jokes about how she’s yeeted everywhere by the Holy Quintet in her own transformation, so here are the notes:

The beginning of her transformation is shot in the sequence of a downward spiral. Sayaka falls through the hoops and into the ocean as her opening, a reference to her descent into madness (keep in mind: the sea as a metaphor for an inescapable expanse of darkness; the abyss) in the main show, as well as her deteriorating mental health. The spiral drawn to resemble piano keys (🎹) is also no coincidence, but they break apart when Sayaka plummets past them, much like music becoming discordant and incoherent.

Right after that, she gets thrown around respectively by her friends, each of whom gets her to the destination of being fully transformed. What is important to notice is that for the majority of this part, you cannot see Sayaka’s face, and she appears completely indifferent and motionless as others pass her around without hassle. You would think someone like Sayaka, who typically exhibits stubborn tendencies, would be resistant to being literally thrown around, but I feel that there are reasons for this:

• Sayaka being shown not as weightless, but rather as something heavy that makes an impact wherever she goes. She’s literally dead weight in the water despite her Witch being a mermaid. There is no attempt whatsoever we see from her where she tries to swim gracefully or float naturally in the sea. She just seems to be…there, being moved rather than performing her transformation by herself like all the other magical girls.

• The Holy Quintet are the essence of friendship that help Sayaka not necessarily out of her depression, but rather giving her a massive boost by flinging her to the next appropriate person. Given she is portrayed as dead weight, she doesn’t transform manually and do fancy dances, instead heavily reliant on the support of the crew to help her get changed. The sequence where she’s thrown onto the bed and lies there before being flung out again is very reminiscent of the tragedy that individuals struggling with mental health problems can barely get out of bed on their own at times, even to the point where it seems they might never leave said bed. Homura has to pick up Sayaka in a bag before tossing her to Kyoko, where it unfurls and it becomes her cape.

It is also interesting to note that the bed is surrounded by mirrors of all sizes and shapes that don’t reflect Sayaka at all, but rather the oceanic creatures and environment. Her self image is nonexistent and replaced by the sea. When she’s thrown to Kyoko, it is only then she is “stopped”, and we finally get to see her face. Her hair is long, unlike the appearance of her short hair that we are used to. Kyoko helps her with the last part of her transformation by putting on the gold hair pin.

Kyoko being the one to not throw Sayaka but rather casually stop said impact is likely symbolic of their relationship. The ocean is stopped by the unmovable rock.

• In the very last part, Sayaka appears standing on a platform that arises from the sea, and only then she seems fully refreshed and ready to go. Once again, instead of swirling out of the water or something, she needs something solid to stand on and raise her to the surface as she is incapable of doing so herself. Her entire transformation seems to highlight that others need to be on standby to support her, or else she will likely just dwindle and sink motionlessly to the bottom of the ocean. By the way she’s posed, it also seems to imply that she has complete trust in her friends, who were there at every turn to assist her transformation.

Something else I thought about as well is the irony that despite being mermaid coded in terms of her own Witch and backstory, Sayaka is almost always portrayed as a sinking vessel the moment she hits the water. A finless mermaid, yet frustratingly a mermaid that cannot even swim or float. I find that this interpretation would fit into the existing narrative that Sayaka and the Incubators view her as useless or inadequate. What good a mermaid who sinks in the sea? What good a magical girl who needs others to help her transform proper? Noting that Sayaka’s transformation always involves her emerging out of water seems to tell us that she has always pulled her weight out of the abyss by herself.

TLDR: It wouldn’t hurt to show that Sayaka requires support from everyone in order to do her best.

#Sayaka Archives #madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica #magical girl #pmmm #pmmm sayaka #sayaka miki #mahou shoujo madoka magica #magia record

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kat-sribbles · 8 months

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October 9th, 2001: The Beginning of Something

Ever since Quarantine of 2020, I’ve always wondered where fall out boy first ever performance was. I’ve been a fan of FOB for about 9 years now and never fully went into their history of how they started, so quarantine gave me time to do research. I came across a video of a Black Sabbath cover band and in the description of the video said that this was fall out boy first ever show they did, they played alongside two cover bands that were Chicago hardcore locals. After looking at this video for awhile, it had a date and location. October 9th, 2001 at DePaul University at Cortelyou Commons. There was my answer to the question…but it didn’t feel satisfied enough, I need to know more about this show and if there is footage of this show. This is where my search starts going into more depth.

Fast-forward to this summer of 2023, with the help of two friends, I started to do more digging on the first show. I went back to the video and saw that the channel had uploaded another video from that same night. When I looked the description of that video, it had said “This was Fall Out Boy's first show. No, we do not have any video of them. They were awful.”

(Which I do not mind that they were terrible, even the guys said it was a terrible show). I then started to search this channel name on instagram, I found that this guy who uploaded thee videos was the bassist of Stillwell (the band that is shown in the video) and is the founder of the independent record label, Forge Again Records. My friend reached out via the instagram that I found and we asked a few questions. (See picture below) he was very kind to answer some of our questions that we had about that night ( we asked about how they were booked for that show and if there was any flyers promoting this show at all).

What he told us:

He got a call from Ben Rose (the drummer at the time) and asked to be put onto the lineup last minute (this is why there most likely wasn’t a flyer with their name on it)

They opened the show that night since he needed someone to open.

He then guided us into looking at the Oral History of TTTYG from AP Magazine (issue 303). I have a copy of the mega collection of all the issues that FOB was in from AP and quickly found some key notes. (Show pictures below) not only did our search gave us some clues but also made us open to other lost media that might be out there as well!

Joe was given a link from Patrick (Patrick’s mp3 page) after meeting Joe at a borders bookstore in Wilmette

The first implication of FOB being mention was in a GuestBook post that Patrick made (picture below) on May 31st, 2001

At the show, they did not have a name yet, they were only referred to as “Pete’s New Band”

Their second show, they opened for The Killing Tree at an unknown southern Illinois college auditorium, and this is the show where they got their name from.

With all of this information, we come to a halt. We are still trying to find anyone who would possibly have this footage, there’s possibly might be someone but not 100% sure yet (I wanna note that I did look on DePaul’s archives online and couldn’t do much without going in-person to look at their archives since I do not live in Chicago, I went as far as contacting the head digital archivist at DePaul and they do not have any footage, they would only have the footage if it was donated to them). We still need help finding some Information and anything pre-tttyg.

If you know anything please contact/email us at [email protected]

(Wanna mention that I did make a similar post, you can check that out as well)

Happy 22 years of being a band & best friends @falloutboy

(And we love you back!)

(Disclaimer: please do not message the guy we contacted, he was already contacted by us and answered our questions on what we needed)

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prince-kallisto · 3 months

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NRC Trial Admission

WHAT WHAT WHAT?!?!?! ANXJZJSBXHDJDJ did anyone else know about the “Trial Admission” on the Twisted Wonderland website?? 😭😭😭 it’s essentially a random sorting into a dorm (no quiz no nothing, just purely randomized), with voicelines from Crowley and the 7 dorm leaders. (Here is also a video recording if for some reason you cannot access the TWST website yourself!)

First of all- CROWLEY VOICELINES I DIDNT KNOW ABOUT 😭 This Trial Admission was released 2 years ago on the Twst EN website, which likely implies that this Trial Admission has also been available on the JP side for 4 years since the beginning of the game’s release- or perhaps even before that as an interactive feature to stir up hype. The 7 dorm leaders introduce themselves, and their live 2D models and poses are on full display.

But the clip above that I selected SHOCKED ME HELPP 😭😭😭 Okay, let me break down the parts I wanted to talk about one by one.

Crowley says to “hold it [the invitation] up to the light.” Crowley…this is a pit of darkness. Yet he says to hold it UP to the LIGHT. ITS A PIT OF DARKNESS??? Crowley, how do you see the world, exactly if this is what light is to you?? Also, I brightened up the background as much as I could, but does anyone know what this actually is? My first though was that is resembles crumbling rocks, which I associate with the Phantom!Grim in the Prologue. But it also looks like broken glass shards, and we are looking into what’s left of the mirror inside? The green fire looks A LOT like both the Dark Mirror fire and Draconian fire. The fire looks like it’s leaking out from the remnants inside the mirror…is this foreshadowing?? Was whoever inside the mirror let out?

The invitation itself is also in pure black and white, to the point it’s even glowing. I wonder if this was a reference to the countdown art with Crowley, where he is the only character in the countdown series to be shown in glowing monochrome black and white.

BUT THEN!! When the invitation is “held up to the light,” there is ripples like there’s water inside- which honestly resembles blot. The ripples also look a bit like the start to Yuu’s dreams. And then the center of the invitation, which is NRCs logo AND a symbol heavily associated with Crowley in regards to the raven and keys, glows a bright blue. This shade of blue seems a bit random, doesn’t it? But to me, it heavily resembles the blue from Ignihyde and Styx….especially within the Lechesis System.

AHXIZJDHCJDB BUT I WAS SHOOK AT THIS?? THE INVITATION GLITCHES, ENTIRELY IN GREEN…in the recent Book 7 update, Malleus had a sudden “glitch” where the screen had a slight overlay in green, and Ortho describes it like a frozen CPU stuck in processing. This heavily resembles Yuu’s dreams/flashbacks, especially when these flashbacks happen when they’re awake. WHY THE GLITCH?? CROWLEY???

Crowley can also use his own magic to assign you to a dorm,,,I want to talk more about that later but the invitation is my focus right now. Also, many apologies I couldn’t include it in the above video (tumblr dislikes it when I try to upload longer video lmao) but the invitation then shows an image of a keyhole that connects to the gates of Night Raven College. It’s very Alice in Wonderland, with a keyhole literally leading to the entire Wonderland (also very Kingdom Hearts with the keyhole being the “heart” of the world), but…in the invitation, the keyhole is right where the hand in mirror would be in that art. Whoever’s hand is in that mirror is being suggested to be like a keyhole to this world…or even the “heart” of the world in KH terms.

It’s really uncertain of how far in story development Twisted Wonderland actually was when the game released. There’s some rumors that Book 2 for example, was originally a Book 6 and switched around last minute. But the bright blue color, the green *glitching*? In the first three books of the game, which was what TWST first dropped with, there was no glitching effect. The glitching in Yuu’s dreams are a much later thing I think, such as in Book 7, or at the very least, *not* an effect shown in the first three books. Crowley’s role in the story and the hand in the mirror do seem to have their roles cemented from the beginning though, considering how purposefully mysterious they are. So what is the purpose of the green glitch exactly? 👀

The Lechesis System and Malleus’s powers…a keyhole to a world. They are all both heavily associated with the creation of their own worlds. I feel very unsettled by this Trial Admission- I had no idea it existed until now but there’s a lot in it now looking back after four years of this game existing! (*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)

#it is midnight and I’m not mentally ready to process what is happening here BAHXJSJD #twst analysis #twisted wonderland #twst #dire crowley #twst dire crowley #twst malleus #kallistopost #long post

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shironayatl · 1 month

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And today's the mini event for the next big event!

Today we know what's their background is, so here we go!

The Leadership of the Student Union

Minerva Academy Student Union is an organization established by the academy. Through the careful management of each student union, it has now become an indispensable bridge and leader between the academy and students. In addition to the leadership team with the president and vice president as the core, there are also a number of functional departments responsible for different matters such as publicity, literature and art, and sports.

Among them, the Publicity Department has performed particularly well, and has been awarded the title of Excellent Department many times recently. The Publicity Department is responsible for daily tasks such as printing school newspapers and posting posters. It's not only records major activities of the college, but also records the energetic mental outlook of students. It is an indispensable student organization.

Minerva Academy Drama Club

Minerva Academy focuses on cultivating students' interests and hobbies. Minerva Academy has opened many clubs of different directions and types. The drama club is one of the most outstanding clubs among the many clubs. It has many members and with students that are good at acting, dancing, scripting, directing, etc.

The drama club has their own classroom. The space in the classroom covers the rehearsal space and prop storage space. It is also equipped with professional video recording and playback equipment. In addition, the school has also specially approved drama club students to use the school auditorium and other venues for rehearsals during specific times, so that students can better understand and learn drama-related content.

Overseas Exchange Program

In order to promote academic exchanges between on-campus students and classmates from overseas institutions, improve students' comprehensive quality, and stimulate students' innovative learning motivation, Minerva Academy has established an overseas exchange program. Every year, the academy will select a number of students to go overseas for cooperation. In addition to exchange studies between schools, overseas academy will also send students to this city to study with students from Minerva Academy.

Since overseas student representatives came to the city for inspection and decided to make Minerva Academy a key partner for the exchange program, the program has been implemented for many years, with a total of 43 students participating. Hoping the friendship between the two schools will last forever and the exchanges will last forever.

Strong artistic atmosphere

Under the concept of diversified development of Minerva Academy, the art lovers who gathered together continued to communicate and collaborate with each other, forming a strong artistic atmosphere in a corner of the campus.

The building is included with a fully equipped art classroom. The commonly used drawing board paints, plaster models, etc., the art classroom also prepares art book sections of different styles for students to refer to when creating. In addition to hosting club activities for students in the art club, the art classroom is also open to students outside the club during non-club time. Students who are interested are welcome to visit and experience and step into the door of the art world.

#translation #cn spoilers #tears of themis #cn server #tot cn spoilers #artem wing #vyn richter #luke pearce #marius von hagen #tot new event

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xxxdreamscapexxx · 2 years

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I don’t want to hear thoughts... Unless they’re yours

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff / Reader Word count: 3k Summary: Wanda wanted to live the normal life she was never afforded, but something was always missing. Something she denied herself and buried deep inside. But watching you move next door, she quickly realizes that this may not be possible for much longer. Warning: Spoilers for MoM. This will be a multi-chapter fic and it’s only the beginning. Smut in future chapters. This is just fluffy, so i can set the story up. It will get far more heated as the story progresses. Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6, Part 7; Part 8; Part 9; Part 10 Series materlist Masterlist of all my works

Chapter 1 Wanda Maximoff watched from a distance as you moved in to the house next door. It used to belong to a family, an ordinary one, with two kids and a yappy dog that she disliked, but the kids adored, including her own two boys. Closing the Darkhold was hard. Even harder to choose to survive it. She certainly didn’t plan on it. But the human spirit is a hard thing to kill, she knew that. She had been broken so many times, in so many ways, she had lost so much… Too much. Yet here she stood. The universe presenting yet another chance for her. A chance she had no intention of wasting. It took her a long time to build the life she had now. Years. After she closed the Darkhold, governments of multiple nations tried to get to that place, excavate what was left. They were looking for the Darkhold, for a way to still salvage it. They were looking for her too. So she made the only smart move she had. She found them first. She used all her leverage, all her power and all her will, but she made a deal. She would help… When the world was ending and when Earth needed its heroes, she will be there, and she will fight. But until that day comes, she will be left alone. To live a life of her choosing, a calm, normal life. The one she was never afforded. Hands were shaken, secret deals were made, records were deleted and a well-placed cyber-attack destroyed all images and videos of Wanda Maximoff. It was good to still have friends. Tony Stark never supported her publicly, never spoke on her behalf, but when her battle was won, he hired all the right people, took all the necessary measures and made sure that the world would forget who Wanda Maximoff was, or what she had done. He also gave her the keys to a nice new car, his final words to her a whisper. ‘’You deserve to be happy.’’ She didn’t think that was possible, but she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her new life, so as soon as she made sure that there was nothing but dust on that mountain, that there would be no Darkhold to open, she moved with nothing but the clothes on her back. She found a house for sale. A quaint, welcoming house in the city of Eastview. Yes, she knew… A little on the nose. But she liked the place, liked the calm life she saw a glimpse of, before it all went to hell. She also liked the reference to a life not quite real, a life meant to be hers, but forever stolen. But this time Wanda had learned her lesson. She used her magic subtly, never to solve her problems and never to hurt others. She also kept her mind closed to all the thoughts that constantly threatened to drown out her own. She was never quite used to it before, always feeling just a little schizophrenic for hearing voices in her head. And the voices only grew louder, the stronger she became. But she also became much better at blocking them out. Her mind a fortress and her resolve to stay away from all the old habits that ruined her life in the past, a constant reminder that her powers were better left buried. After she settled, money never being an issue, since being an Avenger landed her more money than she ever thought possible, Wanda decided to follow the dreams she never had a chance to indulge. She immersed herself in hobbies, painting and cooking always being her favorite. But something was missing. Something big! A family. And though she never thought anyone could replace Vision, the idea of children never stopped haunting her. She didn’t just want them. She knew she had them. She had met them… Refusing to use her magic again, realizing how easy it was to destroy something gained from magic, she did something far more permanent. Wanda Maximoff decided that she didn’t need a man to be a mother. She just needed their seed and artificial insemination soon presented itself as the best option. When the treatment was successful, Wanda was beside herself. She was pregnant. The right way this time. The slow way. And despite all her resistance to her powers, she did something. Something that perhaps broke the deal she made, while gaining her new life, but she didn’t care. She made sure that she will have twin boys. Boys that would look just like the ones she had in Westview. The boys she had always had in every other universe. When they were born, she named them Billy and Tommy. In her mind they were her boys. The same ones. And she was going to live the life she was owed. People in Eastview were as boring as they come. She had read all her neighbors minds, found all their dirty and not so dirty secrets, all in the name of keeping her family safe. Of keeping her boys safe. And when the next door neighbors proved to be an ordinary couple, she made sure that their children and hers were fast friends. She organized sleepovers, they hosted pool parties, the kids played together in the yard… Life was boring and absolutely as perfect as it could be. Her twins were 4, when the family next door moved out, deciding to move after Phil got a great new job offer in a new city. Their house had been empty ever since. Five months had passed and her boys missed their friends dearly and though she tried to organize other play dates for them, it never quite worked out the same way. So she reluctantly signed them up for day care. Not for her sake. Never. Wanda didn’t want the boys to leave her side even for a moment. But they needed friends their own age, needed to spend time with people, other than their mother. So Wanda did the only logical thing. Dove into days of research and scoped out all the daycares, read the mind of each teacher, until she was satisfied and signed them up. A month later, you showed up. You had been offered a nice promotion in your company and a hefty pay increase, if you would agree to move to middle of nowhere - Eastview and be part of the new office they intended to start there, heading a project for one of your big clients. You hesitated. Of course, you did! It was a great opportunity, but it was also … Well… Middle of nowhere - Eastview. But you saw a wonderful house, Greek revival style, with beautiful columns and a pool at the back and you thought… Why not! The rent cost just a little more than your shitty apartment in the big city and the town looked nice. You had little friends and your girlfriend had left you seven months ago, telling you that you’re clingy and too unsocial and that she needed someone who would match her energy… Meaning, someone, who partied and had an endless circle of friends, snorted happy pills and just so happens to be her new ‘’friend’’ Jess. You didn’t mind that she left. It wasn’t going to work out between you anyway. You were never real in front of her. You never showed her who you really are. And if you were honest with yourself, you didn’t like who she was either. So when the offer came you called your mom and talked about it for hours on end… In the morning, you marched into the office and said ‘’Yes’’. You signed all the paperwork and made sure that that house would be your new home. A new beginning. You filled up your car, watched the moving company load all your furniture in a huge truck and left. Now you were finally here. The house looked even more beautiful up-close. The second-floor bedroom had huge windows and access to the balcony, which stood proudly over the heavy columns and you already made plans of placing a nice table and a couple of chairs there, so you can have your morning coffee. The kitchen was big and bright, the second-floor bathroom had a huge tub. The iron fence was painted black and was ornately decorated with abstract flower motives that you thought suited it perfectly. And the second-floor room that overlooked the pool looked perfect for a library. You already saw yourself fill it with shelves from floor to ceiling and your desk would look just perfect near the window. You took a week off, so you could organize your house and move. You watched with delight as the house filled with all your things and became home. You woke up happy and relaxed in the new environment, wondering why you felt so anxious to move in the first place. It was perfect. The house was perfect, the people seemed nice and friendly. The whole place seemed so serene, you thought you could stay here forever. Wanda had watched you from afar ever since you arrived, gently probing your mind. She thought of it as research and she always kept in mind the excuse that she was doing it all for the safety of her children, as she got to know more and more about you. She told herself that every time she invaded your privacy. But the truth was that the longer she spent time surrounding herself with your voice, the more she found your mind captivating. You enjoyed architecture, so she watched through your minds eye the small details of the house next door that she never noticed before. The idea of your dreamhouse was often at the front of your mind when you were outside, admiring the structure, noticing the details that you would have changed, should you have owned the house and Wanda couldn’t help but fall in love with the idea of your dream home. She listened silently as you made plans and watched them come to life soon after. When you weren’t working on your home, you were cooking, or reading. Your mind always drifted to beautiful daydreams and quotes that you found inspirational or simply touching. She found so many books there that you held fondly in your mind and the connections you made with them. She discovered so many movies and TV shows, some of which her own favorites too. She found your favorite songs and that you couldn’t listen to them every day, because they made you feel too much, so you liked to turn to more generic music, that helped your mind drift. As the week passed, Wanda kept her mind open more often, perhaps for the first time in years. When she wasn’t with the boys, or devoted to her own chores or activities, she always let her psychic power drift to you. She took the ideas from your head and after putting the boys to sleep, she watched the movies you enjoyed, waiting at the edge of her seat for your favorite part to come, the quote already on her tongue. She went to the book store too and bought some of your favorite books, delighted to discover the words you had engraved on your memory and feeling them for herself. She felt like she was getting to know you, despite the fact that she hadn’t introduced herself and her boys yet. And the longer she immersed herself in your private little world, the more she wanted to meet you. After days of hearing your thoughts and slowly surrounding herself in everything that made your heart sing, Wanda could delay no longer. She needed to meet you. Needed to finally see the face of the woman, who had filled her with so much poetry. So she did the one thing she could. Baked an apple pie, knowing how much you loved it, from finding it in your thoughts and she marched over. It was a Saturday afternoon, the sky beautiful and cloudless and so wonderfully blue, as she made her way to your house, knowing that you were in the living room, organizing. You were playing some music, which she knew was either a distraction from the times your thoughts got too loud, or a way for you to fight boredom. She wasn’t sure what she expected from this interaction, wasn’t quite sure what she wanted… She just knew she liked you and that she wanted you to like her too. When she rang the doorbell, Wanda discovered with surprise that she was nervous, perhaps for the first time in years and she braced herself for the moment she would see your face up-close for the very first time. She had seen you from a distance, watching intently through her window, but she never got a chance to really study your features. She heard your steps approaching, your mind still singing along the lyrics of a song she didn’t know and keeping any thoughts from surfacing. The quietness of your mind only unnerved her more. But she had no time to think about that as your front door opened and your face reviled itself. A genuine, kind smile was the first thing Wanda saw. Followed by the features of your face, that immediately studied her, perhaps just as attentively as she studied yours. She found you beautiful to look at and she immediately decided that she’ll make an effort to see more of you. - Hi, I’m Wanda! – She introduced herself, her right hand extended as she was balancing the pie in her left. – Wanda Maximoff. I live next door with my sons. I just wanted to introduce myself and welcome you to the neighborhood. ‘’Beauty is not caused. It is.’’ – Wanda’s eyes sparkled, recognizing the words, as you took her hand in yours and shook it briefly. It was from Emily Dickinson and the words shone in your mind so clearly, she felt herself blush and she pulled herself away from your thoughts, in order to keep herself calm and collected. She had heard so much of the author’s poetry from your mind that she ended up reading it for herself, only to discover that it sounded so much sweeter when it came from you. - Oh, thank you! It’s so kind of you to come by! I would invite you in, but I’m only just settling and the house is such a mess, I wouldn’t want to embarrass myself… I’m Y/N, by the way. Y/N Y/L/N. It’s nice to meet you, Wanda. - Oh, don’t be silly, I wouldn’t want to intrude! Especially on such short notice. I just thought I should be neighborly and say ‘’Hi’’, bring you a pie and make sure you feel welcome. I’m sure I’m not the first. - You’re very much the first. – You say shyly, still studying her features. Her eyes were stunning and the intense gaze that accompanied them, made you feel like she could see into your soul. – But I’m happy to meet the neighbors. Have you lived here long with your family? – You asked, trying to distract yourself from her obvious beauty. - About five years. – She replies with a nod of hear head, as if confirming the number to herself. – I know it looks quaint, but trust me, it grows on you! I had my reservations too, but everyone is so nice and friendly, you’ll feel at home in no time. - Yeah? - Absolutely! – Wanda assures you as she reaches her hand and squeezes one of yours. – The family that lived here before you gave me the same welcome when I first got here and we became such good friends! My boys used to come over every Saturday to swim with their children. I sometimes think they like staying here more than they like staying at our house! – Wanda ranted with a smile, embracing her best personification of a suburban housewife and watched you smile at her excitedly. - Well, you guys can still come over. The pool is great and I really don’t mind. - Nonsense! We wouldn’t dream of bothering you! – Wanda deflects, secretly hoping you’ll extend the invitation again. - No bother at all. I’ll be working most of the week. It would be nice to know that at least someone is enjoying the place. – You say warmly. You weren’t sure why you were offering up so much of your space to this stranger, but the woman was just so charming, you couldn’t resist. - You’re too kind to offer, Y/N! – Wanda could barely contain herself. Despite being in Eastview for so long, she didn’t have many friends. The ability to read minds and hear thoughts was unsurprisingly repelling, especially when people couldn’t filter thoughts the way they did words. She often felt it was a burden and rarely enjoyed this side of her gifts. But she liked your thoughts and hoped she would be allowed to spend more time around you, so this offer came as a welcome relief. – What do you do? - The company I work for is opening a new branch here and I was offered to head a project for one of our customers. – You say, stepping out of the doorway and onto your porch. - That’s exciting! – Wanda gives you a smile, already knowing all this. Now that she was talking with you, she wanted to extend this interaction. Her train of thought is interrupted when Billy and Tommy step out of her house and call out to her. - That’s my cue. – She tells you. – Look at me… I came here to give you a pie and I almost left with it! Here, I hope you enjoy it, Y/N. You take it hesitantly, barely able to say thank you, before she leaves and you watch her hurriedly approach her house and herding her children inside. You’re still at your front door as she disappears inside, a little stunned, but generally uplifted by the woman and the positivity that seemed to ooze out of her. Eastview really was wonderful, as far as you were concerned and as you were walking inside your new home, pie in hand, the apple aroma filling your nostrils, you genuinely felt excited about what would your next day bring. ________________________________________________________ Ok, so... I rarely write milty-chapter stories and this is only chapter one, so please let me know if you want to know where this goes. Your general thoughts are always appreciated too!

#wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff x you #wanda maximoff x y/n #wanda maximoff fanfiction #lesbian #Scarlet Witch

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broodingheroine · 3 months

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tmagp 10 thoughts

oooo what happened on saturday night

oh are we going right in??

talk show?????

BONZO! (I know nothing abt the arg but this and the institute list)

"nigels SOS" is..... interesting.

he was...... imprisoned in the basement by the "imaginary" head of channel 6. do I even need to explain my thoughts on that one.

"you've got buried!" what the fuck. (in hindsight this might be berried not buried but I'll check the transcript later)

you can't remember who came up with the name mr bonzo. deeply unsettling.

the laugh track in this is weird. like it's not in the right places.

it glitched when he said there was a lot of bonzos over the years. unless I'm insane.

not bonzo being a hazing ritual lmao

this is lowkey giving wiggly from black friday

ELEVEN BODIES?

oh my god.......... bonzo butcher..........

oh more murders. in the bonzo costume.

US?????

COLIN!!!!! MY BOY!!!!!!!

oh god. it sounds like he's been reprogrammed or smth.

oh colin you are so jonathon sims coded

OH THEYVE GONE TO A PLACE. THEY SURE HAVE GONE TO A PLACE.

"a wet hole. and not the good kind either." ALIIIIICE SHUT UPPPPP

carved floor. interesting.

a key..... didn't the redcanary statement say there were no doors? might be misremembering

it's not for you??? who the fuck is it for nigel

OH GOD. OH MY GOD.

OH MY GOD GWEN RUN WHAT THE FUCK.

MR BONZO IS A HITMAN???????

did they get easier to hear when the door opened??

ARCHI...... LIKE ARCHIVIST........... FUCK MEEEEEE

wood worm. fuck you tma references.

SIGILS OF ANCIENT OTHERWORLDLY POWER

OH FUCK

tunnels....?

weird stuff with no context????

WHY THEY DIDNT CHOOSE YOU. BABE YOU DONT WANT TO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN.

the only one left? what do you mean. what do you MEAN. did kids die in the fire?

okay they're getting farther away from whatever's recording. don't like that.

WHAT. WHAT WAS THAT. LOUD NOISE DO NOT LIKE.

ew whispers ew ew ew

WHAT THE FUCKKKKKKKK

okay so they definitely accidentally freed jonahs corpse or smth right

I can't believe we're getting an actual monster already in episode TEN too. bonzo is horrifying. it's time for me to actually watch the arg summary video.

gwen is going to be a nervous wreck after this and everyone's going to be soooo confused.

are we thinking the bonzo thing was the suit itself being cursed or was it just this Thing that made itself? much to think about

so much happened in this episode I don't even know where to start to be honest

I love that alice and sam were presumably using work hours to go trespassing. very timothy stoker coded of them.

I wanna know what the fuck was in the archives. I'm assuming it's jonahs corpse? but could also be redcanary.

god I cannot collect my thoughts. yk what no actual analysis today yall are just getting my live blog.

so long farewell auf wiedersehn goodnight

#tmagp #tmagp 9 #the magnus protocol #tmagp spoilers #the magnus protocol spoilers #going absolutely fucking insane

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kaidanworkshop · 5 months

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December Workshop Update: The Fun(ds) & 2024

Well met Workshop Spectators! Besides our super shiny Beta presentation video, & new Mod Content FAQ, we have lots of exciting news to get through. First and foremost, we are reopening our staff applications for our Community Team, specifically in search of new people to join our Discord moderation team. If you are interested in applying, please fill out this form, and someone from our Community Team will reach out to you in early January. As per our last mini-update, the Workshop is looking to have a surplus budget of about 1100 USD -- or 500 lines worth of funding -- and we've been brainstorming up ways to add some goodies into the Kaidan Revoiced: Community Expansion mod 1.0 launch, internally (& lovingly) referred to as 'the FUN(ds)'. Starting today and running though February 1st, 2024, the community can vote on which of these to prioritize. You can read the details of those choices below and place your vote here. Finally, the Workshop staff are going on vacation! We'll be around sparingly over the next few weeks as we all take a much needed break to prepare for the end of the Fun(ds) voting. We'll be back in full force on January 12th! As always, from the staff to the Spectators; we are truly blessed to be the recipients of such support and good will. We can't wait to see what you vote for!

Intro Overhaul Pack - estimated 0 ~ 10 lines

This proposal was inspired by the mod Immersive Kaidan Start, created by WarTortle. Rather than the quest simply appearing in the player’s journal, there is instead a series of changes to point the player towards Kaidan’s Old Campsite or the Abandoned Prison in a more immersive way. We have obtained permission to adapt this mod and incorporate it within our 1.0 version of KR:CE; while we may be able to achieve this via splicing dialogue from vanilla Skyrim, we may need to arrange to have a small set of new lines recorded for one of the NPC interactions.

I’m Glad You’re Here - estimated 15 lines

This proposal revolves around the mod I’m Glad You’re Here, created by WhiteWolf424242, which allows the player to hug their companions and loved ones; it currently uses spliced lines from the original Kaidan 2 files to create responses for Kaidan. We would create a small collection of new and old lines to be recorded by our VA, then implement them within the 1.0 version of KR:CE.

Paarthurnax Quest Expansion Compatibility - estimated 10 ~ 20 lines

It is no secret that many players find the ultimatum Delphine gives them about killing Paarthurnax problematic, and while Kaidan has dialogue that acknowledges either choice, we wanted to create content that would acknowledge if the player uses the Paarthurnax Quest Expansion mod by Jayserpa to keep Paarthurnax alive.

The Book Review Pack - estimated 25 ~ 30 lines

In the vanilla Kaidan 2 mod, there is a feature that allows the player to give certain books to Kaidan; while he does have a few unique responses to some of the books, his primary replies can quickly become short and repetitive. To address this (and also because the idea of a Kaidan Book Club is just too endearing), this proposal would consist of creating unique responses to all of the books Kaidan can currently read.

NPC Revoice: Dremora, Ren, Myriah, Tarben - estimated 40 lines

One of the key reasons the Workshop was formed was to address the audio distortion that existed in the Kaidan 2 mod. During our process of reviewing and revoicing the base script, it became apparent that some of the other custom characters and voices included in the mod could also use a touch-up, or lacked a custom voice at all. This proposal would revolve around replacing nearly all of the custom NPC dialogue in KR:CE with revoiced lines from new voice actors. The exception to this is Rosalind (recorded by voice actress Tanya S. Bartlett) for two key reasons – one, her lines are still in fantastic condition; and two, there have been many requests for an overhaul &/or extension for Rosalind and her dungeon. While we are definitely interested in this idea, pursuing something of this scale would add too much time to our current production cycle for the KR:CE 1.0 launch, and so we have elected to reserve reviewing Rosalind for a later date.

The Faction Pack - estimated 40 ~ 50 lines each

The base Kaidan mod lacks extended commentary on several of the major faction quests; particularly the Civil War, the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild faction questlines. This proposal would have the community pick among the three aforementioned factions for a full Workshop Original Script addition for our 1.0 launch.

Scripted CVF Pack - estimated 50 ~ 60 lines

New interactions with other custom voiced followers is one of our most requested content additions. While we aren’t fully prepared to tackle large expansions yet due to scheduling and production time concerns, we’ve selected a few CVF’s with whom we have the ability to produce new content relatively rapidly due to internal pre-existing scripts &/or the availability of our potential content collaborators. Those followers are Auri, Caryalind, Khash, and Rumarin.

The Daedra Pack - estimated 60 lines

Currently, Kaidan only has commentary for the Daedric quest “Pieces of the Past”, with a few one-off lines mentioning certain Daedric gods. The Daedra Pack would focus on adding four to eight lines to each of the following quests, similar to the line count of the original “Pieces of the Past” script.

“The Black Star”, “Boethiah's Calling”, “A Daedra's Best Friend”, “Discerning the Transmundane”, “Ill Met By Moonlight”, “The Cursed Tribe”, “The Whispering Door”, “The Break of Dawn”, “The House of Horrors”, “The Taste of Death”, “The Only Cure”, “A Night to Remember”, “The Mind of Madness”, & “Waking Nightmare”.

Commentary on Nocturnal is not included in this pack, but rather is tied up in the Thieves Guild questline, which is an option for selection in the Faction Pack.

The Reaction Pack - estimated 60 ~ 75 lines

During the many hours of playtesting the staff undertook, we noticed that there were just certain events that would occur in Skyrim (for example, Jarl Balgruuf asking the player to kill a dragon) that Kaidan just didn’t have any dialogue for. Alternatively, there are some reaction lines that fire frequently enough that they quickly become repetitive (for example, Kaidan lines when being healed by the player). This proposal is geared around creating single line additions throughout the script to make Kaidan be a touch more reactive to the wilds of Skyrim, as well as adding in extra takes of certain lines to reduce repetitiveness.

Note that this is not a full expansion for any given questline or faction – just extra lines to bolster the existing script.

The Roleplay Pack - estimated 60 ~ 75 lines

There are several instances where the mod allows the player to roleplay a bit with Kaidan, providing him details about your past, your family, and even your adventures. Given the staggering amount of options that are possible within the Elder Scrolls Universe, this proposal aims to expand the responses the player can give to Kaidan – for example, lines that acknowledge the specific province the player was born in, as well as the player's race, filling in the missing gaps for his commentary regarding the player’s level in different skills, or increase the variety of different gods the player can say they worship.

DLC (Dawnguard/Dragonborn) Pack - estimated 65 ~ 80 lines each

The base Kaidan mod lacks any commentary regarding the two DLC’s Dawnguard & Dragonborn. This proposal would have the community pick one of the two aforementioned factions for a full Workshop Original Script addition for our 1.0 launch.

#kaidan 2 #kaidanworkshop #kaidan skyrim #custom voice follower skyrim #skyrim kaidan #elder scrolls skyrim #custom voiced follower #kaidan #tes v skyrim

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abeautylives · 1 year

Text

Imperfect Moments - Chapter Two

a/n: Strange Horizons Nashville twins. That is all.

Series Masterlist

pairing: Jakexfemale!reader

word count: 2.3k this chapter

series summary: You’re in love with your best friend. His twin brother hates you. Or does he?

warnings: 18+ minors stay away, language, emotional pain if you’ve ever seen them live and miss them terribly, unwanted attention (discomfort, unwanted touching, nothing graphic but could be triggering to some), mentions of sexual situations and masterbation (m.)

Strange Horizons. You know Josh penned the lyrics that inspired the name, but Jake’s obsession with piracy is written all over it.

The band was going back on tour, but they’re starting at home and you were finally going to see them do what they do best. Josh had offered you some kind of special seat reserved for friends or family, but you told him you wanted the full experience from the pit.

“Are you gonna turn into a groupie, darling? We plan to put on quite a show, you might just fall in love with one of us,” he pokes at you, but doesn’t seem to notice the evidence of the heat that rushes to your cheeks.

“Maybe I’ll just find a spot on Jake’s side, then we don’t have to worry about it.”

His sharp laughter warms your cheeks further.

By the time they’re set to take the stage that night, you’d found yourself exactly where you’d predicted, though not intentionally. You hadn’t expected the crowd to be quite so dense, but it seemed that after their album release earlier in the year, a ton of people were eager to see them perform. Despite the horde, you’d wiggled your way toward the front and though you’d tried to make it to center stage, the mass of fans there were steadfast and rooted to their spots.

So here you were, staring over a few rows of heads at an empty portion of the stage where you knew Jake would soon appear. Great.

Luckily your view of the middle section of the stage seemed to be mostly unobstructed, and no matter what you’d be able to hear Josh’s voice. You’re smiling to yourself when the person next to you taps your shoulder and starts speaking over the pre-show music.

“How’d you get that pass?” She’s referring to the lanyard hanging around your neck, granting you backstage access if you wanted to head that way toward the end of the show. “They weren’t selling those, I checked.”

I know the band sounded smug, even in your head, but… it’s true. “I, uhh-“

The lights go down and your nonexistent answer is cut short by the roar of the crowd. A recording of Josh’s voice is playing, paired with a video displayed on the jumbotron screens.

And finally, one by one, the guys take the stage. Jake takes his place third, and when Josh appears the crowd is completely gone. He looks beautiful in white, which of course you knew, but he’s radiant right now. Home at last.

Sam takes to the keys and as the opening notes of Heat Above ring through the amphitheater, somehow Josh’s eyes find you. His smile is bright but you know he’s nervous, they’ve been waiting a long time for this moment. You give him the biggest smile you can physically manage before shouting “You got this!”

And he truly did. As the seemingly impossible notes burst forth from his lips, only enhanced by the thousands of people singing along, you think that you couldn’t love him more than you do right now. You know the entire audience is enamored with him as well.

You moved with the crowd, sang with them, eyes only leaving Josh momentarily as your view was interrupted when Jake joined his side to share the microphone, and again as he worked the stage nearer to Sam at the start of a drum solo. It’s during those few minutes that for the first time of the night, you allow yourself to assess Jake’s appearance.

His tailor made suit is a dark blue, embroidered with a floral design, and fitted perfectly to his body. His chest is bare underneath, which is a normal occurrence and nothing you haven’t seen before.

He looks good, but he always does. Right now though, on stage and living what you know has always been his dream, he looks… really fucking good.

Aside from some plucking at an acoustic guitar and videos Josh had sent you to watch, you’ve never actually seen him play. As just another face in a sea of them, you let yourself drown in him for the next couple of songs. This Jake is different from any other version of him you’ve encountered - he looks happy, comfortable, completely in his element with a guitar slung over his shoulder and laying across his hips. The fans are eating it up, yelling his name and screaming when he moves close to the edge of the stage.

You can’t help but notice that he’s also sweating, his face is glowing with it, his hair stuck to it on his cheeks and the sides of his neck.

Unable to take your eyes off of him, you don’t even realize how long you’ve been watching until he goes into a guitar solo that you easily recognize, and suddenly Josh is bouncing into your line of sight again with a tambourine in hand. He’s not necessarily the star of this particular part of the show but you focus your attention on him as he seems to get lost in his brother’s music.

They really are meant to be experienced this way, live and loud, and you’re terribly proud of them. All of them.

When they leave the stage the crowd is buzzing, but the girl from earlier is tapping on your shoulder again. “Do you know them or something? I asked my friend and she said I was right, they didn’t sell any backstage passes. How did you get it?”

“Oh, uh, yeah I know Jo- the singer. Well, all of them. We’re-“

“Are you his girlfriend?! I didn’t think he had one, I've never seen you before.”

You can feel the blush creeping across your skin as you try to figure a way out of this conversation, but there’s nowhere for you to go. You could push your way through and out of the pit, but you want to see at least most of the encore. Fuck.

“Um, no, just friends. Like I said, with all of them.”

“Oh, okay. That’s really cool.” She’s already turned to her other side to whisper into her friend’s ear, so you take your opportunity to tune her presence out. Just in time, Sam reappears onto the stage and all focus is back on him. You’re uncomfortable now though, flustered and barely able to pay attention to what is easily one of your favorite songs. You keep your eyes on Josh as he makes his way back to center stage and he’s able to find you again, a smile and a wave in your direction calm your unease but the girl next to you notices it.

“Holy shit he does know you!”

Ignoring her, you smile and wave back before moving your gaze to Jake. Shit. He’s found you in the crowd for the first time and his eyes are definitely not sparkling with the same light that you’d found in his twin’s, but they’re locked onto yours and you can’t look away.

You’ve seen the look before, distinct aversion shaping his features. Instead of returning fire with your own look of disgust, you grin at him. The way his eyebrows shoot up in confusion is a memory you’ll cherish forever, and it only encourages you to stretch your smile even bigger. Right before your eyes, you watch his face transform as his fingers move into position to play.

Jake Kiszka is smiling back at you, a close-lipped, almost shy looking thing. You feel your mouth drop open slightly, paralyzed by it. He’s smiled at you once, the entire time you’ve known him, and it was the first time you met him.

Your shock is not lost on him, his thoughts are similar to your previous ones. He’ll remember this moment. To really cement it in his mind, he puckers his lips at you and juts his chin in your direction. Your jaw drops further and his smile is now nearly splitting his face in half.

What. The. Fuck?

Frozen like that for a few seconds too long, when you shake yourself out of it you realize he’s back to focusing on his craft and his fans, playing to the crowd, smiling at the faces on the barricade. You’d like to think his attention to you had been the same, nothing but a performance, but it certainly didn’t feel that way and you can feel the eyes of the girl next to you burning holes in the side of your face. When you chance a glance in her direction, she looks as dumbfounded as you feel.

Time to go.

Pushing past her and through the crowd as politely as you can manage, you feel like you can breathe again as soon as you’re out of the pit and moving toward the side of the stage. You flash the pass around your neck to a security guard who holds you up for a few minutes as he confirms that you have permission to go further. Once he does, he passes you off to another person to lead you to a green room where you sit on a well worn couch picking your nails for what feels like a very long time.

When the door bursts open and the guys bound into the room, your eyes find Josh immediately. He’s sweaty, they all are, but he’s glowing and the excitement is rolling off of him and electrifying the stale air of the green room. You can feel it hit you as you stand to congratulate them, but when you move toward him he breezes past you to grab a bottle of water.

Jake watches as your face drops in disappointment but you resituate a smile into place quickly before directing your attention to Sam and Danny, offering them each a hug and a congratulatory kiss on each cheek.

Still high on adrenaline, he can’t stop himself.

“Where’s mine then?”

All heads snap to face him.

“What? I don’t deserve a kiss for a job well done?” A smirk is gracing his lips and once again he’s caused you to feel unnerved and off-balance. You’d prefer if he’d continue to ignore you the way you’ve become accustomed to.

No one else has said a word, this display is uncharacteristic enough to stun you all into silence but he’s decided he’s not done yet.

As your wide eyes stay trained on his face, you feel them threaten to bulge out of your skull when he saunters over to you, wraps an arm around your waist and circles the other around your back. With a hand pressed between your shoulder blades, he pulls you close until the tip of his nose is almost touching yours.

Lowering his volume, but not so much that the others can’t hear, he murmurs, “Tell me I did a good job, sweetheart.”

What the fuck is happening here?

His proximity has effectively sucked the air from your lungs, the heat rolling off of him is suffocating, so it leaves you as a whisper, “Jake… what are you doing?”

He drops his volume again, to match yours. “I know you enjoyed it, I just wanna hear it from you.”

Without moving your face away from his, you scan your eyes past him to find the others are staring. Waiting to see this play out. Josh’s expression is difficult to read but he mostly appears entertained, curious but not upset at all that his brother has wrapped himself around you and pressed his body against yours.

Clearing your throat so that the others will hear, and this will be over, you tell him, “You guys were all amazing, you should definitely be proud of yourselves.”

It’s not good enough for him so he doesn’t release you. Maintaining his hushed tone, he asks again, “So where’s my kiss?”

You don’t know what else to do, so you lean in closer and peck your lips against his cheek, pulling away immediately after. Satisfied, he lets go of you.

Josh is instantly swooping in and scooping you off of your feet, laughing loudly as he swings you around. “See darling? It’s not so hard to be nice to each other, let’s celebrate!” His joy is infectious and you feel the tension of the last few moments melt away as you laugh with him.

Once you’re set back onto your feet you throw your arms around his shoulders and hug him tight.

“Josh, you were perfect out there. Really, it was so great.”

He’s beaming back at you before he presents his cheek to you and taps it twice with his fingertip. Without hesitation you press a kiss there and giggle as he turns for one on the other side.

That night, you have trouble falling asleep. Very specific moments are running through your mind, but there are two intertwined that you can’t help but over analyze.

Jake had rattled you after the show, for sure. You’d never seen him behave that way, and especially not with you, but worse than that… Josh didn’t seem to care all that much that his brother was making you uncomfortable, touching you, begging for your approval. You’re upset with yourself for expecting anything different.

Inversely, Jake had knocked out as soon as his head hit the pillow. After a few celebratory drinks, you’d all gone your separate ways and the guys intended to get enough rest in preparation for another show the following night.

Not totally unusual for him, he dreamt of you. You popped up there every once in a while, which could be expected considering you were always invading the space he shared with Josh. More atypically however, this dream version of you was naked in his lap and riding him slowly, whimpering his name and words of praise. Not telling him how good he was fucking you, but how well he had played, how talented he is.

The next morning, you woke up groggy and unrested. Jake woke up hard, painfully so, and he didn’t even try to stop himself from replaying his dreams behind his eyelids when his fist was wrapped around his dick in the shower.

Taglist:

@lightmylove-gvf @spicedandicedtea @weneedsomehealing123 @milkgemini @why-ami-on-here @gretavanbitches @twistedmelodies @wildflowerxx-x @dannythedog @blissfulbellss @averagemisfit03

Please let me know if you’d like to be added ❤️

#greta van fleet #gvf #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet fic #greta van fleet smut #gvf fic #gvf fanfiction #gvf fan fiction #gvf smut #jake kiszka #jake gvf #josh kiszka #josh gvf

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tearsoftime0086 · 6 months

Text

Zero-Sum Escape: A Close Reading of Code Veronica’s Steve Burnside

Introduction + Disclaimers

If you’re a friend/mutual/unfortunate witness to my discovery of Steve Burnside, you might’ve seen this coming. I’ve become an avid enjoyer of the character, which has led to some interesting discussions about him with friends! I’ve decided to write a small (edit: it was supposed to be small) piece on what makes him so interesting, using quotes and cutscenes from the original Code Veronica game. A lot of online discourse around Steve has historically been negative, so I hope this can be a positive primer for folks who want to learn more about him, or even an interesting curio for folks wondering why someone would do such an in-depth read for a one-off character.

This reading will focus strictly on Code Veronica (and not any of the Darkside Chronicles material) – with the full understanding that many aspects of the game are a product of their time, good and bad. I’ll try to cite my evidence as much as possible, but this will obviously be coming from a subjective and modern perspective as a fan of his character! I’m also a fairly new Resident Evil fan, so if anything’s incorrect, please forgive me and let me know! I’d be happy to make edits.

Anyway, this is all in good fun – and to anyone who even reads a single sentence of this, I appreciate your time!

Reference

As a way to “cite” dialogue and cutscenes, I’ll be including rough timestamps to this great video of Code Veronica cutscenes: https://youtu.be/ym46RPHqaSY?si=a6ItTpdOn3rCZq-U. Feel free to follow along, but the text should make sense without the video too.

So, who is this guy, anyway?

Let’s start with the basics. In the game Resident Evil – Code: Veronica (taking place shortly after RE:2), you start as Claire Redfield, recent prisoner of Rockfort Island. Unfortunately, Claire finds herself in the midst of another biohazard outbreak. And what’s worse is that during her escape, a stranger in a watchtower starts shooting at her indiscriminately! (0:05)

When the dust settles, Claire comes face to face with an abrasive teenager named Steve Burnside, a fellow prisoner on the island.

“Uh, sorry about that little misunderstanding…” (0:43)

This, alongside his attempts to be “smooth” – (I mean, who says “Relax beautiful…” unironically?) doesn’t do him any favors for most players. Not to mention his active derision of Claire’s skills – he leaves her with a few choice “tsks” and a “I don’t want you following me, lady. You’ll only slow me down.” (1:30).

This opening scene sets up a few key characteristics for Steve, which I’ll be referencing throughout this piece.

Steve is someone who makes numerous mistakes, ranging from purely accidental to sheer negligence.

Steve puts a heavy emphasis on reliability/dependability. He leaves Claire because he thinks she will “slow [him] down”. We’ll see more examples of his complex with “relying on others” later on.

Where do these traits leave us? A character that ends up being deeply paradoxical, and in my opinion, super fascinating because of it.

“You’ll just end up disappointed if you rely on others”

Claire finds Steve somewhat quickly afterwards, perusing information about her brother, Chris. I think it’s important to recognize Steve’s intent here. If he was purely focused on escaping (and leaving Claire behind), he wouldn’t have bothered looking for any records relating to her. Some folks may argue that he has a crush on Claire already, and is just following teenage impulses. But trust me, there’s more concrete evidence of teenage impulses later. For now, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he was trying to help her out – it ties well with point 2.

Steve’s snooping reveals that Chris is being monitored by Umbrella. Claire immediately takes action, contacting Leon about it. At this point, Steve sarcastically tells her,

“That file shows latitude and longitude of this place. Tch, why don’t you send your brother the coordinates and ask him to come help?” (2:20)

When Claire takes him completely seriously, he becomes prickly.

S: “Hey? I was just kidding? There’s no way he could get here, even if he is your brother.” C: “Yes he can; I’m sure of it.” S: “No way. He won’t come. You’ll just end up disappointed if you rely on others. Believe me, I know!”

Steve’s sudden anger and exit demonstrate how much this topic of “reliability” affects him. He’s vocal about his need for self-reliance – and yet, if we take his investigation in a positive light, it’s not like he’s completely selfish in his attempt to escape Rockfort.

Steve is someone who desperately wants to believe in human reliability, and yet has been spurned due to the circumstances of his imprisonment. We’ll see that he tries to emulate it himself, but unfortunately (and perhaps realistically) falls short.

Yet, what really nurtures this desire is Claire – someone who he can finally depend on. The pair’s next encounter comes when Steve is in trouble (if you’ve seen the “Steve is suffering” memes, it’s from this scene). The player hears him yell a pitiful “Help me!” as he bangs against a locked door – so much for relying on yourself.

If Claire solves the puzzle fast enough, Steve escapes and tells her, “That was too close. But I found something. Thanks to… you.” (3:44).

Thus begins the two’s shaky partnership – and believe me, it’s shaky. Steve runs off yet again, only agreeing to give Claire the essential golden lugers if she trades him something “fully automatic”. But Steve’s obviously on better terms with her now, as seen when he emphatically tells her, “See? This is why you need me. I got your back,” later (5:10). Quite cooperative for someone who was crowing about not relying on others.

In the midst of these scenes is a growing desire to look good to Claire – to be someone she can count on.

The knight fantasy – and bitter reality

Steve ends up describing his own motivation pretty well. Claire finds herself stuck with a nasty Bandersnatch, before Steve dramatically comes to her rescue (more on this in the next section). Afterwards, he eagerly proclaims the following:

S: “Oh yeah, that felt good! Don’t worry Claire, your knight in shining armor is here!” C: “You wish – but thanks for the help.” S: “See? This is why you need me. I got your back.” (4:54)

Steve wants Claire to see him as someone she can rely on – as a self-proclaimed knight to save her from the influx of zombies. It’s why he tells her to wait as he clears out the following area with his “new toy” (6:35). He wants to be the hero who saves the day – Claire might not be able to count on others, but she can sure count on him. He even states it outright afterwards:

“See? You can depend on me.” (6:58)

But maybe this is too blatant of a turn even for him, because he immediately backs off and instead mentions his guns instead:

“You see? This thing is a lot more reliable than any person.” (6:59)

Claire takes immediate suspicion of this, however, and starts to ask questions.

C: “Than people?” S: “…” C: “Steve, what were you doing here? Who brought you here, and where’s your family?” S: “Shut up – I don’t want to talk about it!” *shoots his gun at the wall* C: “Steve…” S: “Never mind. Let’s get going.” (7:04)

Note that he punctures this conversation with an angsty emptying of his gun magazine at the wall. This is no knight – this is volatile, teenage behavior. Claire can tell there’s something on his mind, but Steve doesn’t seem to be in the condition to explain anything.

Steve does the same thing four times – aka, analyzing entrances

As a brief interruption (but it ties into the rest, I promise), let’s take a chance to look at the different ways Steve barges into a cutscene. Humor aside, Steve’s physical actions vary across the four different times he comes to Claire’s “rescue”.

Bandersnatch (4:30)

The first rescue is all cliches and edge. Claire’s “knight in shining armor” breaks through a window dramatically. He shoots at the Bandersnatch without even directly aiming at him, walking forward as he shoots with his dual wielded lugers. It’s almost comical as he walks straight up to the Bandersnatch, delivering a kick and single killing shot for good measure.

It’s all impractical – Steve’s incessant wish to dual wield would hardly be effective in real life, let alone everything else here. But this scene, cliche as it may be, reflects what Steve wants to be in front of Claire. He’s the action hero, the knight – the one who can be counted on to swoop in and save the day.

The Infamous Father Scene (8:13)

These heroics fail him once the two encounter his father. No longer is this a fantasy but bitter reality – and Steve can’t find it in him to shoot his infected dad. It’s only when Claire is in peril that he takes action – and this time, it’s impulsive and rough. He unloads all his ammo in a single, shaking shot, continuing to press the trigger even when it’s all gone.

It’s now that Steve tells Claire the full story – his father was caught trying to sell confidential Umbrella information, leaving his mother dead and the two of them locked up here. He morosely tells Claire, “He was a fool to do something so reckless! So stupid…” (10:15). We can see how much his father’s actions have impacted him – his desire for consistency comes from having his familial life ripped apart by the actions of someone he trusted dearly. And now, at the end of it, he is truly alone – the last one left in his family.

Alfred (11:07)

The next time we find Steve, we see a little bit of the Bandersnatch energy back in him – there’s the same aim, the same kick (to open the door) – but it’s less dramatic this time. There’s no slow-motion focus on shattered glass, no cocky final shot. In fact, this encounter leaves Steve visibly hurt – a crack in his armor. Steve’s still trying to be Claire’s dependable rescuer, and yet this encounter shows that he’s not the infallible knight he wishes to be. Far from it, considering the mistakes he'll make later on.

Alfred in Antarctica (21:30)

This cutscene skips forward a little, but it’s a nice final reminder that Steve does genuinely try his best to protect Claire, and succeeds! We see him take two stylish leaps and then shoot a quick few bullets to rescue her from Alfred. He’s still trying to emulate that knight image, but it’s more efficient than his Bandersnatch moment.

The Flight (and THAT SCENE)

After numerous troubles, Claire and Steve are finally able to escape the island. Needless to say, they’re elated and exhausted. Now that the coast is clear, Steve decides to get honest with Claire and apologize:

S: “Claire, I’m sorry. I know I caused a lot of trouble for you.” C: “No; it’s okay. It was hard for both of us.” S: “Well, I really hope you find your brother. I… I know what it’s like to be alone.” C: “Oh Steve…” S: *coughs awkwardly* “So, where should we go now? I can take you anywhere you want to go, Claire.” C: *laughs* “I hear Hawaii’s nice this time of year.” S: “You got it!” (14:20)

(On a personal note, isn’t this scene so cute? If only this was how it all ended…)

It’s here that Steve bares his heart to Claire. It’s clear that his mishaps and snarky remarks have been weighing on him too – he genuinely wants the best for her. When Claire is all too accepting and sympathetic, however, Steve begins to reveal his feelings (in… controversial ways).

After they find out that the plane is out of their control, the two of them take an uneasy rest. In the cutscene at 16:12, we find Claire leaning on Steve – a physical sign of how she relies on him. As if to follow his teenage impulses, Steve leans in for a kiss – only to startle as Claire begins to wake. His notion is thwarted immediately. Steve stands up,leans on the glass, slams the window and sighs.It shows signs of a “what was I thinking?” moment of clarity.

After all, kissing princesses in their sleep is something knights do in fairy tales. And Steve? Well, he’s no knight. He’s someone who’s almost hindered Claire’s escape as much as he’s helped, and he knows that. This thought is only exacerbated with his actions upon their arrival in Antarctica.

Antarctica, where more mistakes ensue

The plane decides to violently crashes into the side of the Umbrella Antarctica base. Steve kicks the door down and jumps first, reaching his arms out to catch Claire. She lands after, only to stumble and leave them both on the ground. Steve pulls her into a hug, which Claire doesn’t quite reciprocate. As she stands up, Steve lays back flat on the floor, sighing. It’s clear he’s jumped the gun, and it leaves him embarrassed. He doesn’t take Claire’s hand back up and tells her that they should split up to try and find a way out (18:55).

Steve’s love causes another mistake shortly after. The two of them try to break through the base wall with a digging vehicle, only for Steve to get distracted by Claire midway through. This causes a toxic gas pipe to burst – interestingly Steve tries to correct it through the controls – perhaps a reflection of his desires and fantasies for an “undo”. But in reality, he can’t undo his mistakes, and Claire is forced to grab him and leave the area.

This last mistake hits Steve particularly hard:

S: “It’s all my fault…” C: “Don’t say that. Listen to me – we’ll escape from here, together.” C: “Come on, we’ve got to shut off the gas. If we split up, we’ll have a better chance of stopping it.” S: *sighs* “…Okay.” C: “Steve. Don’t forget. We’ll get out of here. Together.” (20:45)

It’s not as if Steve is blind to his own faults – he knows that he’s been the one hindering their escape and takes it particularly hard. Claire has to reassure him multiple times that they’re working as a team to get out of here.

As a further blow to his ego, Steve is completely useless when the two exit the base and encounter Nosferatu, previous Alexander Ashford. Claire notices Nosferatu first, but Steve forces himself ahead of her soon after. He’s still clinging to the need to protect her.

However, Nosferatu easily knocks him off the platform, leaving him clinging to the side. Steve’s at his lowest here, and urges Claire to just leave him behind. If he can’t protect her, then what use is he?”

C: “Hold on, I’ll waste that monster and come back.” S: “Claire, forget about me. Run!” (23:50)

Claire’s resourcefulness and skill allow her to defeat Nosferatu and come back to Steve, still weakly hanging on. She pulls him back up, and Steve is left apologizing again for his rash behavior:

S: “I’m sorry. I failed you.” C: “Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.” *she leaves* S: “I swear I’ll protect you next time, Claire.” (25:15)

At this point, Steve’s all too aware of how his mistakes have left both of them in peril. It’s something that he deeply dislikes – as someone who wants to be dependable, he’s being a poor show of it. Claire’s been the one helping him out through most of this, both emotionally and physically. And so he makes himself a promise that next time, he’ll repay the favor.

It’s with this personal promise that the two climb aboard a snowmobile, hoping that they can make it to the Australia base. Unfortunately, this escape is a dead-end for them as well.

Sleep, weary knight

After Alexia awakens and destroys the snowmobile, Claire is rescued by Chris, who managed to find a way to Antarctica. She’s insistent that they must rescue Steve. She finds him cuffed to a chair in a long hallway, with an axe against his throat.

To Claire’s dismay, it seems she’s too late. Alexia has injected Steve with the t-Veronica virus. Steve’s last words before his transformation are a desperate plea for help. At this point, he’s actively asking for help from the one he loves, but fate has it that Claire is powerless. He begs Claire to save him, but she can only watch in despair as he morphs and chases after her.

In what seems to be a miracle of love, Steve manages to snap out of it just before he lands the killing blow. He instead slashes through Alexia’s entrapping vines, sparking her ire and a fatal blow to his chest. He dies in Claire’s arms, once again in human form, lamenting how he couldn’t protect her – how he couldn’t be her knight:

C: “Oh Steve…” S: *brings Claire’s hand to his cheek* “You’re… warm…” C: “Steve, you’ve got to hang in there, okay? My brother’s come to save us. We’re getting out of here!” S: “Your brother kept his promise. I’m sorry I cannot…” C: “What? What are you saying?” S: “I’m glad that I met you… I…. I love you… Claire…” C: “Steve? Steve?! Steve!” (34:15)

To players who dislike Steve, this may be a cheesy ending to a tedious character. And yet – we see Steve’s character arc complete fully in this final scene. No longer is he a volatile teenager, or a “cool” hero, or a self-perceived deadweight. He’s just Steve – utterly human Steve, who couldn’t keep his promise, and yet saved Claire in his own way. And it’s in these final, human, moments that he can confess his true feelings – only for everything – his façades, his love, everything – to all vanish.

The arm theory

As a somewhat lighter ending to this post, I’d like to discuss a little theory of mine.

People who have been following along with all the cutscenes might have noticed Steve’s right arm getting injured during the fight with Alfred. There’s no visual effect on his model, and Steve even claims, “I’m fine; it’s just a scratch” (11:30). And yet I’m convinced that it was quite a serious wound.

Note that he continues clinging to the platform in the Nosferatu battle with his left hand (24:40), not his right. Yet he keeps clutching his right arm in the cutscene after (25:44). And more importantly, Claire is the one driving the snowmobile during their escape attempt, after Steve had taken the wheel so many times prior (25:59). My theory is that the deterioration of his right arm is also why the arm is significantly skinnier upon his final transformation. If you look super closely at the bottom of the screen, you can actually see his right hand convulse as he mutates! Does this imply anything? Not really. But it would be cool to see this brought back somehow in a hypothetical remake, especially as Darkside Chronicles skipped these parts entirely. Kind of reminds me of another Resident Evil character who had arm injuries…

Anyway, if anyone made it this far, thank you! I hope this was a little insight into why I appreciate Steve so much as a character – and maybe in my wildest dreams, made you potentially enjoy him too.

#resident evil #resident evil: code veronica #recv #steve burnside #claire redfield #bits and baubles #temporary brainworm tag #aka my long meta post for steve that I hope did him justice

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indeliblescarspivotalmarks · 6 months

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REPUTATION EASTER EGGS

Here is my master list post of all the easter eggs I believe have been left for Reputation (Taylor's Version). If I've missed any please let me know!!! Happy Rep TV clowning!🐍🤡

112 THEORY

Via this theory, Reputation (Taylor's Version) is rumoured to be releasing on the 16th of February 2024 in Melbourne Australia on the first night of the Australian leg.

The announcement is rumoured to be 26th of November 2023 in Sao Paolo Brazil, on the final night of the Eras Tour 2023.

Now onto DATE MATH!

11/26/23 is the rumoured announcement date.

SO let's break down this date!

1+1+2+6+2+3=15.

1+5=6.

rep is the sixth album.

reputation TV would be her 15th album including re-recordings

Now let's look at the rumoured release date for Reputation (Taylor's version)....

It's rumoured and guessed to be releasing on February 16th 2024. 02/16/24.

Let's break that date down too...

0+2+1+6+2+4=15.

1+5=6.

MIC DROP!

National Cake Day!

11/26 is national Cake Day.

In the Bejeweled Music video Taylor is dressed as Marie Antoinette, who famously said 'let them eat cake.

And she gave a STRONG wink during that scene.

On Sao Paolo N1, Taylor VERY deliberately looked over her shoulder and winked at the crowd, right into the camera. It feels like too much of a coincidence with little miss nothing is ever accidental.

Taylor repeated this on N2, and stuck her tongue out.

There is also the cake in the I Bet You Think About Me Music video.

The numbers on the top of the cake are: 13, 26 and 2. 13x2 is 26, which seems to be an easter egg for 26/11! As well as the obvious 2's hinting towards the second month of February!! She also pulls her hand through the cake and creates two equal lines....a sideways 11?

Black Friday

11/26 falls on the weekend after Black Friday. Reputation's colour is Black, and Reputation being announced 2 days after Black Friday seems a small nod to her blacking out her socials and 3 days later posting a Reputation teaser...

And perhaps 2 because of...well February!

BEJEWELED MUSIC VIDEO

Danielle Haim

Taylor's casting of the Bejeweled music video interested me! She cast her friends the Haim sisters to play her wicked step-sister in the first scene, which is FILLED with easter eggs.

Particularly important to me is Danielle Haim.

Danielle was born on the 16th February 1989.

Yes. 02/16. The same date as Reputation (Taylor's version rumoured release. Now just remember this date. It becomes important later!!!

She was also 33 when the music video was both filmed and released. 33. 3+3=6..6 means Reputation

Danielle says "bye snake" as they leave Taylor. She is the first person to mention Taylor being a snake in this video

I do believe Taylor wouldn't miss the chance to use her friends as easter eggs when possible!!!

Danielle also flicks her fan 6 times during that scene. Credit to @kush07_ on Twitter for this fan one!

Laura Dern

Laura Dern interestingly is another February birthday (02/10/67) within that casting. Exceptionally interesting to have 2 people born in the second month present during a scene filled with 2's with outright easter eggs to Reputation...hmmm

Kingdom Keys

The wording of 'keys to your own castle' during the discussion of what the girls will get if they marry the prince is particularly interesting to me. It is VERY strongly reminiscent of 'I don't like your kingdom keys, they once belonged to me' from LWYMMD.

Twos

There are two candles burning to the side of Laura as she talks to Taylor. Also two lights above the sisters. There's a lot of 2's / doubles imagery in this music video.

There are two candles next to where the Haim sisters and Laura exit the room.

Danielle our Feb 16th hint is also the second person to say goodbye to Taylor. Another 2.

Alana then calls Taylor 'snakey'. This is the second time a snake reference is said, and it is the last. Another 2 of course...

In the scene with Dita Von Teese there is 2 of everything.

In the final scene of the video there are two torches on either side of Taylor. Just another 2. Just for funsies.

Exile ends 02

Taylor then receives the oyster shell stopwatch which declares "exile ends at 02". Now going back to Alana and Danielle's comments...exile ends for this SNAKE at 02. FEBRUARY.

Outfits

The next scene shows Taylor in a hooded black outfit. This is very strong imagery of the reputation stadium tour beginning outfit she wore.

In the scene where jewels begin flying to her, there is a scene alone of just her boots when she is walking. This really reminded me of the beginning of the reputation section of the eras tour.

Full Moon

When we see the outside of the building of which the elevator is in, there is a full moon. 11/26 is a full moon. SNTV was announced on a full moon, 1989TV was the day before a full moon....

Dita Von Teese scene

In the scene with Dita Von Teese, Taylor is dripping in diamonds. Very reminiscent of LWYMMD bathtub scene.

Theres two chandeliers present during this scene. This just struck the idea of the lyric 'bass beat rattling the chandelier' from This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things.

Ghosted

Taylor refuses Jack's proposal. The text says...she ghosted.

When did Taylor ghost on us? Rep era! she wasn't seen, she was like a ghost!

Marie Antoniette

Taylor is dressed like Marie Antoinette in the scene where she receives the keys. Marie famously said 'let them eat cake'. National Cake Day is 11/26. This also lines up with the I Bet You Think About Me Cake theory!

Castle Crumbling

The final scene has her stood in a crumbling castle at night. Her castle crumbling overnight...hello Call It What You Want To! There is also a full moon...

KARMA MV

Devil Scene

The scene that we link to Reputation is the second scene featuring Taylor. She's dressed in all black and has a mask of the devil.

This scene starts at 20 seconds. She waves at 26 seconds.... perhaps an easter egg for the era beginning in the 2nd month and for the album saying' hello' aka an announcement on the 26th!

She's surrounded by 13 dancers at this point, the presence of a 13 normally is alerting us it is an easter egg.

The belt on her dress is very similar to a necklace she held up during the LWYMMD behind the scenes walkthroughs.

Ice Spice

Ice Spice is featured in both the song and of course the video. Her birthday is 1/1. New Years Day. And well...Taylor loves to use a birthday as an easter egg...

Island

The scene where Taylor is laying as an island has linked her to Te-Fiti, and the codename for Karma was 'Volcano'. However in Sao Paolo, there is an island called 'Snake Island'. And the outline of this island looks VERY similar to how Taylor looks as an island!

Coffee Cup

Obviously we have the most obvious one we all know and love. The Midnights coffee cup being a blue nail at 8 & a black nail at 2. 1989TV was announced in August, meaning the nails definitely meant something.

Now the black nail being at 2 could mean released in February or announced then, but I'm leaning heavily towards releasing!

The coffee cup has the hands of the clock between 11:56, indicating it is becoming close to midnight.

Midnight = 12. December is the 12th month, but she's indicating something coming BEFORE MIDNIGHT. 4 minutes in fact before midnight. Indicating reputation is coming 4 days before December. Aka November 26th!

I CAN SEE YOU MV

The only real easter egg I could find within this music video for Reputation was the use of a Getaway Car and the dark outfits.

You Are In Love Lyric Video

In the sand of this video are the letters R E P...hello reputation!

The Eras Tour

At one night of the Eras Tour, Taylor said the crowd were jumping like kangaroos. With Reputation TV rumoured to release February 16th in Melbourne, Australia, I am counting this as an easter egg for SURE.

VMAS

Hello. The Outfit. That's Reputation!

The Ring Taylor wore (and broke) is very very similar to the necklace pendant Laura Dern wears in Bejeweled. Telling us to look at Laura, who is a February birthday.

During her acceptance speech, Taylor used the words 'slithering around genres' to describe her musical journey. Well that reputation if I've ever seen her!

PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Taylor announced Speak Now with Sparks Fly. Track 2.

She announced 1989 TV with New Romantics. Track 16.

2/16...how interesting!

RIO

The choice of playing ME! as her first acoustic song ON N3 was VERY interesting to me. Her first released song that she owned. Interestingly it came out on the 26th of April 2016. Yup a 26! The music video also begins with a snake, and signified the end of the rep era, so I do think it was used as a Rep Easter egg, especially when paired with So It Goes....

It was interesting she paired a track 16 with a track 7. 16 is her rumoured rep release day and 7 is her rumoured debut release day.

Post Rio the only remaining Reputation song left for surprise songs is 'I Did Something Bad'. It appears Taylor is doing what she did with 1989 and will announce after finishing the entire album!

SAO PAOLO

They used a new reputation era photo from the Taylor Insta photoshoot for a welcome banner in transit areas. After scouring the internet and my swiftie sources I couldn't find it anywhere, so I am presuming this high quality image was provided to Sao Paolo to use from Taylor's team... a rep era picture..hmmm

In TaylorNations post from pre Sao Paolo N1, they say they are 'wonderstruck'. This is from the song Enchanted. Enchanted has a run time of 5.53. 5+5+3= 13. Funny them using a 13 song to talk about Sao Paolo...seems important right!

In Sao Paolo there is an island called Snake Island. I think this is important as mentioned in the Karma MV section.

There are 6 shows in Brazil. 6 again that's REP CODED!

N3 will be her 13th international date. It will also be her 66th show overall.

Taylor's opener Sabrina Carpenter came out in an outfit very reminiscent of Taylor's rainbow dress from the Reputation Stadium Tour. Taylor's openers have been in on announcements in the past, Haim knew about 1989TVs release!

Taylor looked over her shoulder and winked right into the camera. This is very similar to the wink she did in Bejeweled whilst dressed as Marie Antoniette!

For surprise songs on Sao Paolo N1 Taylor sang Now That We Don't Talk for the first time. This song has a run time of 2:26. Taylor is insane enough to do this....2=February. 26= Announcement date,.

She also played Innocent. Innocent is track 11 on Speak Now. So by using Now That We Don't Talk and Innocent she easter egged both the numbers 2, 26 and 11. February and the 26th of November!!!!

Innocent is also sampled in LWYMMD. It is also about the same person. Innocent was also first played on 12/09/10. 1+2+0+9+1+0=13! Sao Paolo N1 was also a 13 date (11/24/23 - 1+1+2+4+2+3=13)

Taylor stuck her tongue out a LOT this night. I think she knows we are clowning and is playing with us. Also...snakes do stick their tongues out constantly so...

Taylor did a sideways Dolphin body roll in Midnight Rain. She doesn't normally do this. We saw her do this move during the BTS clips of Reputation being made and recorded.

SURPRISE SONGS

Surprise songs were Safe and Sound and Untouchable. An interesting pairing. As Safe and Sound technically wasn't on an album release, it's a track 0. Untouchable is a track 15.

Reputation (Taylor's Version) will be Taylor's 15th album including rerecords.

Safe and Sound was released on the 26th of December 2011.

Untouchable was released on the 26th of October 2009.

Safe and Sound is all about protection from the outside world, and Untouchable is about dreaming of something you feel you can't have. During the Reputation era/events leading to Rep's release Taylor went into hiding to protect herself from the outside world, and dreamt of the public releasing she was right about the phone-call and the Kimye situation all along, but she felt they wouldn't believe her.

There are lyrical parallels in both the surprise songs to Reputation songs. Credit to @taylorslavender and @lightupfloor on twitter for these!

TRIPLE HIGH NOTE

Taylor did a triple Don't Blame Me high note on N1. The only surprise song left from rep is track 3. This triple note was done once in Rio, N3 in Atlanta, once in Tampa, Glendale once and finally Sao Paolo N1. This means she has done it 5 times. She did not sing that note in the rep set N2 in Sao Paolo. If she does it N3 she would bring the total of triple notes during tour to 6...aka rep's number!

Photographer

A black and white photographer named Damon Baker (@damon_baker) who has previously worked with Taylor, posted her on his story on 11/25 answering a question box asking 'last thing that inspired you?' answering 'my next creation'. Now with Reputation TV being rumoured to release on 11/26 and likely with a black and white photoshoot makes for an interesting situation. He also posted a story saying his next project was coming 'tomorrow' aka 11/26...

Reputation Merch

In the holiday merch drop, Reputation appeared to receive the most new merch. In the VERY limited edition drops, most of the old pieces sold were Reputation Merch.

The Black Friday sale timer ends on 11/26.

Instagram

As of 11/26, Taylor's Instagram is currently aligned, and has a clear darker theme to it. We saw this when 1989TV was released that her feed became bluer.

The Surprise Song Countdown.

It is theorised Taylor is using her rerecorded albums to count down to Reputation's release using her surprise songs. TaylorNation shared a countdown video for the Black Friday Store sale

Now That We Don't Talk (4th rerecord)

Innocent (3rd rerecord)

Safe and Sound (2nd rerecord)

Untouchable (1st rerecord)

It is theorised she could do a song from Debut as this would be album 0 as the rerecord hasn't been announced yet, or perhaps Glitch. Then we think she will do I Did Something Bad and announce Reputation (Taylor's Version).

Dancer Instagram Story

One of Taylor's dancers posted this image of a snake wrapping round legs statue...what do they know!!!

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