#the major keyes

[mxi-88]

anyone else think about simon's case 2 dialogue about knightley thats definitely about more than just knightley? just me? ok

#this took sooo freaking long JUST TAKE IT #sorry i cant draw animals or middle aged men. everyone has a niche and mine is cute anime boys #aai2 spoilers #im talking MAJOR #.log #ace attorney #aai2 #ace attorney investigations 2 #simon keyes #horace knightley #sirhan dogen #isaac dover #patricia roland #blaise debeste #manosouta #its actually about himself. btw. and how he had no one he could really trust. anmd pushed away the one friend he had. In case anyone gaf #souta sarushiro #manosuke naitou #gk2 #S #gyakuten kenji 2 #art #i am never doing a long thing like this again #cw blood

[pedroam-bang]

Halo 2: Anniversary - Halo: The Master Chief Collection (2014)

#2014 #gif #gaming #science fiction #Halo 2: Anniversary #Halo 2 #Anniversary #Halo #The Master Chief Collection #Sergeant Stacker #Marcus Stacker #Butkus #Fones #Walpole #Master Chief #John-117 #Spartan #Cortana #Miranda Keyes #Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson #Avery Johnson #UNSC #Covenant #Kig-Yar #Battle Of Mombasa #Mombasa #Kenya #Earth

[musical-attorney]

Simple math

#ace attorney #kristoph gavin #klavier gavin #simon keyes #barok van zieks #zacharias barnham #calisto yew #major aai2 spoilers #major aai spoilers

[onewordshy]

Just watched the film Don't Play Us Cheap (1972), an intriguing low-budget movie musical created by all around auteur artist Melvin Van Peebles, and I absolutely loved it! An intimate urban fantasy morality play, uplifting but still intelligent, the word I'd use to describe the film is "charismatic" because the love just oozed out of the screen.

I couldn't stop smiling the whole time, and the songs were fantastic!

It seems to be pretty obscure (it received an extremely limited release and even in my deepest theatre days I never heard the Broadway run mentioned) but the entire thing is on YouTube and I think people would really enjoy it.

#Don't Play Us Cheap #Melvin Van Peebles #Esther Rolle #Thomas Anderson #Mabel King #Joshie Jo Armstead #Rhetta Hughes #Avon Long #Joe Keyes #not gonna tag all of the actors but those were the major players #Youtube

[blueballsracing]

also in regards to the previous anon:

shipping dynamics aside, i think that one of the major draws of lestappen are their on track battles. as a mere viewer, you can just TELL that they have racing history. charles KNOWS how to race max, max KNOWS how to race charles. it’s incredible to watch, especially seeing the clear growth and maturity present in their current relationship. they went from pushing each other offtrack, to begrudgingly respecting the other, to now having a friendly relationship, both on and off track.

now in terms of shipping dynamics, they just have an endless amount of lore 😭 like:

- red and blue

- maranello’s sun and the rain of milton keyes

- born 16 days apart, raced together 33 times in their junior categories

- austria 2019 and 2022

- their mutual respect for the other

- their endless amt of endearing looks

- max’s obsession with yapping to charles

and so so so much more !!

oh anon u nailed it! i just love how much respect they have for each other it’s so sweet

also here’s a wip i have talking about their invisible string also involving their teammates

#my writing #lestappen #max verstappen #charles leclerc #asks

[halobirthdays]

Happy birthday to Sergeant Major Avery Johnson!

Today is his -451st birthday!

Johnson was born and raised by his maternal aunt in Chicago, who kept him in tidy hand-me-downs and dutifully brought him to church. He enlisted in the UNSC when he was nineteen, believing the Insurrection to be a threat to innocent people. He quickly stood out among his peers and was hand-selected for the newly-instituted ORION project, an attempt at creating a new form of biologically enhanced soldiers to quell the Insurrection.

Avery underwent the training and augmentations, well-exceeding his superiors' expectations. However, the program as a whole was not the success the UNSC was hoping for, and was deactivated, though ORION would be used as the blueprint of the SPARTAN project. Johnson was reassigned to the marines.

He was then deployed to Tribute, where he failed to prevent an Insurrectionist terrorist from blowing up a diner, leading to several dozen civilian deaths. These events left him shaken, and he returned home to Chicago, only to find that his aunt had died. He spiraled, falling into a drinking binge and only recovering when a recruiter stumbled upon him in a gutter. The recruiter convinced Johnson to reenlist, and he was deployed to Harvest.

While on Harvest, the UNSC made contact with Kig-Yar, the first ever interaction between humanity and the Covenant. However, peace quickly failed, and he was involved in the very firsr battles of the Human-Covenant war.

This early experience would prove invaluable, and he was deployed on several key missions following these events. During OPERATION: SILENT STORM, he met Blue Team for the first time, and they earned his respect, with Johnson backing up John as leadership became accustomed to the Spartans. He also helped protect them when he accurately deduced that the Spartans were being targeted by Hector Nyeto.

Johnson continued to serve all the way up to the fall of Reach and the discovery of Installation 04. When the Covenant attacked the Pillar of Autumn, Johnson, along with the rest of the crew, landed on the Halo. Johnson and Keyes investigated intel from a captured Sangheili about a weapons cache on the ring. They found the Flood instead. Johnson survived as the Flood infected his squad and ultimately survived Halo's destruction when he was later discovered by Master Chief.

Following these events, Johnson received a promotion and Colonial Cross for his bravery on Halo, but the award ceremony was cut short when the Covenant attacked Earth. After chasing the Covenant forces off of the planet, Johnson and the In Amber Clad's crew discovered a second Halo installation.

He joined Commander Miranda Keyes to the Halo in search of the activation index to prevent the Covenant from firing the array. However, they were ambushed by Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and taken hostage by Tartarus and his Jiralhanae.

Keyes was brought to the control room to activate the ring while Johnson was about to be executed until they were interrupted by an attack from the Arbiter and the newly-formed Covenant separatists. Johnson then convinced Thel to join forces to stop Tartarus from activating the ring, coordinating the first cease-fire between their species.

After learning the purpose of the Ark and the location of the portal on Earth that would take them there, Johnson, Keyes, and Thel raced back to warn Earth of the coming Covenant invasion. Johnson followed Truth after helping to coordinate a joint UNSC-Sangheili mission to the Ark.

Johnson and his squad were overwhelmed by the Covenant forces at the Citadel. His squad was killed, and he was taken hostage again because the Halos can only be activated by a human. Truth attempted to use Johnson to activate the Halo array, but was stopped by Keyes, who planned on killing Johnson and herself so there would not be humans for Truth to use. However, she hesitated, and Truth used the opportunity to kill her. His victory was short-lived, with Master Chief and the Arbiter arriving shortly thereafter, killing Truth and preventing the rings from firing.

With the pressing danger gone, the UNSC and Sangheili forces focused on Flood containment. Following Cortana's plan, they decided to destroy the partially-built replacement for Installation 04. While Guilty Spark initially agreed with this action, he did not realize that the UNSC intended on destroying his replacement installation--he thought they were going to activate the ring when it was complete. When Johnson corrected him, Spark turned on them, killing Johnson with a sentinel beam.

The loss of Johnson was mourned widely, especially for John but also by Cortana and Thel, who both expressed their condolences. At Johnson's request, John "kicked [Spark's] ass" and activated the ring.

#the GOAT!!! #its thanksgiving here in the US of A #so everyone say Thank you Johnson!!!!

[sapphicbookclub]

Walk Between Worlds by Samara Breger

Sergeant Major Scratch Keyes of the King’s Guard is having a bad day.

On what should be the biggest night of her life, everything suddenly goes horribly wrong. First, her king denies her the promotion she rightfully earned, as well as the knighthood that goes along with it. And then, when Scratch is wallowing somewhere near the fetid rock bottom, she and her best friend, the flamboyant and carefree Sergeant James Ursus, are arrested for orchestrating the abduction of Princess Frances and sentenced to death. On the whole, things could be better.

Luckily, help comes in the form of the mysterious Shae siblings―Vel and Brella―who inform the doomed pair that the issue of the missing Princess is far more complicated than it appears. After a daring escape, the four embark on an ill-advised rescue mission through a forest filled with beasts, bandits, and mysterious fair folk, bringing nothing with them but a kitchen knife and the vague outline of a plan. Their destination is the Between, a sacred and shadowy fae-guarded place that promises to deliver Scratch and James to the princess―if they manage to survive.

But Scratch didn’t rise above her humble childhood in the Royal City slums by accepting things at face value. It’s clear that the enigmatic Shaes are hiding something, but what do they know? Who are they working with? And why, in the name of all that is holy, can’t Scratch stop staring at Brella’s beautiful face?

Genres: fantasy, romance

Order from Blackwell's here and get free worldwide shipping!

Listen to the book on audiobooks.com here!

#sapphic books #lgbt books #wlw books #booklr #book recs #fantasy

[yyxandere]

Ok but who do you think in aa/tgaa would change themselves for their darling? well one of my best bet would bet Adrian Andrews ((is that her name..?)) But hey! I wanna hear ur thoughts </3 - 🍎 anon

-ˋˏSINCERELY YOURS. . . ->

There are many yandere's that would try to fit your standards while the others will force you to love them for who they are, HECK there are also yanderes that will CHANGE THEIR DARLING to their standards.

Yandere will change anything about themselves to fit your standards. Do you like people with dark green eyes? Then they will wear dark green contact lenses. Do you like people who learn a different language? Then be prepared for them to read and even practice that language! They are just desperate to be yours that they will change anything about themselves!

Phoenix Wright, Ema Skye, Maggey Byrde, Adrian Andrews, Iris Fey, Apollo Justice, Athena Cykes, Juniper Woods, Vera Misham, Raymond Shields, Katherine Hall, Sebastian Debeste, Espella Cantabella, Ryunosuke Naruhodo, Rei Membami,

Yanderes that WON'T change a thing about them, they will force you to love them no matter what, maybe they will change something of themselves but nothing too major, they will manipulate you to not like things that are the opposite of them. Maybe you like the loud type, then what? They will influence your mind to think that people like your type are childish etc. + there's a high chance that they will probably change their darling.

Mia Fey, Miles Edgeworth, Godot, Dahlia Hawthorne, Kristoph Gavin, Klavier Gavin, Simon Blackquill, Nahyuta Sahdmadhi, Simon Keyes, Justine Courtney, Darklaw, Herlock Sholmes, Barok Van Zieks, Mael Stronghart, Ashley Graydon, Courtney Sithe, Maria Gorey, Enoch Drebber, Esmeralda Tusspells

#✧- ‘ACE ATTORNEY’ ☆ #🍎 Anon #I HATE PERFUMES SO MUCH THEY MAKE ME SO DIZZY😭😭 #yandere ace attorney #yandere tgaa #yandere the great ace attorney #yandere Proffesor Layton vs Phoenix wright #yandere plvspw #yandere apollo justice #yandere dual destinies #yandere spirit of justice #yandere miles edgeworth investigation #yandere x reader #yandere #ace attorney #yandere ace attorney x reader #ace attorney x reader

[stitchlingbelle]

Watching Halo, episode 1

Things I Know About Halo:

The Master Chief is a badass supersoldier who Doesn't Take Off His Helmet.* (I thought it had turned out he was a woman and the fan base rioted but apparently I mixed him up with Samus Aran?) There's a couple AI people, Roland the orange dude and Cortana the hot chick. There's a guy named Arbiter, I think he's an alien? Aliens destroy a lot of planets. There's some sort of mystical Old Ones leftover tech? (Is that the Halo part?) Names I have heard: Miranda Keyes, Dr. Halsey, Makee, Thomas Lasky, Chyler Silva**

That established, let's give this thing a go!

Nice opening scene. The costuming and set design are good, definitely have that Star Wars-esque vibe but are doing some of their own specific things that ground the world. The characters definitely gave you that lived-in-universe feel of established relationships and community right away. (Also I'm delighted by their use of Korean and their made-up alien language. Again, nice worldbuilding.) I am, however, confused. There's also an entire rebelling against the galactic empire thing going on? No one told me this. How do these people find the time with all the aliens?

Oh shit, THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE ALIENS. Oh noooo.

The violence is really well done. The explosion plus blood splatter shot was great. Good use of camera work to minimize the more difficult to pull off FX shots while still getting the brutality across. The helmet-cam shots are a good storytelling choice while also being a fun nod to the games. I do not envy the stunt people fighting in these suits, though. They made them look powerful. They did not make them look dexterous, graceful or effectively designed for hand-to-hand combat.

Noooo they killed the little kid! ...and everybody else. Man, I liked those guys. Poor Kwan. (Is she in the games? Is she this ineffective? She was like, I'm going to help! and then just... didn't.) And then the Spartans just... walk off?

DO NOT TOUCH THE WEIRD ALIEN TECH. You're a Master Chief! I have it on good authority that keeping people from touching things they shouldn't is a major part of your job! Set a good example for your troops! Also, check your six.

It's Dr. Halsey! Mad scientist alert, this woman does NOT seem to adhere to ethical guidelines. Nice lab coat. I don't trust you. Why do you have a person in a pod? (Why do you have them right where your boss can see them if they're not supposed to exist?) Who's Miranda Keyes and why do you have beef with her? Departmental rivalry?

Wow, Miranda is a lot younger than I expected. Also, that was terrible. Take care of the girl, butter her up, THEN ask her for shit. And do it in person, the hologram thing was weird and off-putting. Not sure that Kwan thought this through-- there's a happy medium between agreeing to be their propaganda mouthpiece and openly threatening to lie and say they caused the massacre, sweetie.

Alien homeworld (or homebase, idk)-- very cool design, good effects-- why is there a human here? Oh, THIS is Makee? What is her deal? Great costuming.

HALSEY IS MIRANDA'S MOM??? Wtf. Also I like Miranda, I don't think she knows what she's doing outside of her (own) lab but it sounds like her heart's in the right place. Great parting shot at dad, but also, maybe that's why your parents worked (for however long. Are they still together or not?)

Great scene with Kwan and Master Chief over the meal. Humanize him with a joke and then WHAM, dead mom story. I like how they're not letting you assume that Madrigal's people were just wrong about the Spartans. Nope, straight up, this guy commits atrocities because he never questions his orders. (She implied that she was there? How did that part go down?) Fortunately teenagers question everything, especially orders! Just in time to make you question this one...

From here on out it's action action action, with a lot of quick character bits mixed in (Halsey and Captain Keyes exchanging looks, the Spartans all listening to Halsey above their orders, high command doesn't trust their own creations-- how many different ways of monitoring their own ships do they have? This is taking surveillance state to a whole new level.)

YAY for Kwan getting a useful moment! If human strength does not avail, use guns tools, that's what we invented them for. No, Kwan, this man does not have a plan. I'm kinda sad the alien artifact activated, it would have been entertaining to watch the other Spartans get involved. (John: "This is our new pet. No, we will not be handing her over to be executed. Yes, she hates us all for very specific valid personal reasons. Roll with it.") Aaaand off they go, escaping to where? Not sure they know and I, with approximately 1% knowledge of this universe, certainly do not.

Finally, hopping back to address the One True Issue that divides the fandom: the helmet scene. It depends on how much the Never Remove the Helmet thing is an irl game artistic choice vs an in-universe character choice. If it's not an actual THING for John-117 himself, then I don't have any problem with it. Different mediums and all that. If it's like the Mandalorian thing, then yeah, it felt a little rushed, but still a necessary moment for humanizing him and building trust ASAP with a hostile teenage girl with a gun.

In conclusion: this was much better than I was expecting! I really enjoyed it and will probably watch the rest of the season while I bake today. And honestly it's been so long since I watched scifi on TV that it was sort of nostalgic? I was just ridiculously pleased by things like establishing shots of Reach and futuristic teenager haircuts.

Thanks so much to ATBNL and @sarnakhwritesthings for talking me into this!

*Has anyone done a 'John-117 is a Mandalorian' crossover yet? Someone definitely has, right?

**The last two do not appear in the TV show and also one is dead, except they're actually alive and married because @authortobenamedlater is in charge here.

#not sure if I should recap future episodes #especially not this exhaustively #but it was fun to do #halo tv show

[authortobenamedlater]

*slides this E4 deep dive under the door right before the deadline*

Sick of being sick, this took forever to finish.

The good:

I really liked the touches of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” Louis is blind but he still shoulders the grenade launcher. Danilo is a physical therapist and runs into the fray to aid the wounded. Talia is a Marine, sure, but she’s a basically a radio operator. She probably joined to pay for college or something. And she goes with John to FLEETCOM after he said she didn’t have to. Then she flies a bunch of civilians to safety while a bunch of jackals are eating Jacob Keyes for dinner. Riz and Vannak and John are made for this, literally, but many people who weren’t went above and beyond to defend Reach in a losing fight.

John going up against the cloaked elite (the Var Gatanai mentioned at the end of last episode, I assume) is pretty great, as is Talia jumping in with a tire iron. And the energy sword fight toward the end? Mm-hm.

Soren’s “kid watching Mom and Dad fight” moment with Jacob and Halsey 😂 Why do I think little Soren drove Jacob to the edge of his sanity?

John’s FACE when he gets called up during Jacob’s speech. I’m never going to stop finding that funny.

The episode does a good job letting the audience breathe in between the action. Soren especially provides some levity.

The bad:

Vannak deserved better.

Jacob got a great ending, better than his game self, but we never even got to see him step foot on a ship. His promotion to admiral doesn’t even make sense. However, he was the only flag officer who didn’t bug out and deserves props for it.

No Kai, but I didn’t expect her since she’s likely on her way to Onyx with the S-IIIs. She’ll probably be furious once she learns Reach fell and she wasn’t there to fight.

I want The Chief & Cortana Show. This is why I’m here. I will forgive the absence of my faves if we get lots of John comforting Cortana after she leads the Covenant to Earth. Or just a really good reunion.

Questions/speculations/wishful thinking:

Why did Ackerson take the Spartans’ gear? Mr suspects personal vendetta but I wonder if Ackerson has reasons beyond that. He said the Master Chief is “just a guy in a suit.” Does Ackerson want to put someone else in the suit? It would fit with the running theme of the people In Charge want John to be replaceable. Halsey wanted to replace John’s mind, does Ackerson want to replace his body?

One of the trailers shows John walking out of FLEETCOM in his armor, so he obviously gets it back at some point, but I want to know Ackerson’s agenda.

John says they need people like Keyes giving orders, or they’ll be left with people like Ackerson. Well, now Keyes is gone, so who will be Ackerson’s foil? I can’t really think of anyone on the show or in main canon. Miranda is the only possibility and smart as she is, she’s not ready for that.

I don’t think Reach has truly fallen yet. There’s enough footage in trailers (like John walking out of FLEETCOM in his armor) to make me think this is going to drag awhile. Will we get Operation: First Strike? Maybe I’m majoring on a minor, but in an S1 episode Parangosky tells Jacob to call Admiral Whitcomb. Admiral Whitcomb leads Blue Team and friends in First Strike.

Cortana will be forced to lead the Covenant fleet to Earth. This is how we get that shot of John on the drop ship with Jupiter in the foreground.

Vannak is dead and Kai is leading the S-IIIs. Silver Team is getting split. Is John going to get a new team or is he going off by himself? I’m inclined to think the latter at least for the immediate future.

Vannak is going to get hauled to The Body Shop better known as Castle Base for some new parts. They did it with Kelly.

It’s hard to speculate on what next week holds, since aside from Kai with the S-IIIs and John getting to the Halo, Paramount is being tight-lipped about the back half of the season. From the trailer, I suspect we’ll find out what role Kwan plays going forward and what happened with John and Cortana getting separated, and we’ll meet the S-IIIs. Next episode is called Aleria, which according to Halopedia is some butt-end of nowhere colony nobody cares about. I’m not even sure what to make of how it could relate to the episode based on what I’ve seen.

#halo #halo tv show #halo spoilers

[collabwithmyself]

Kin onion for Akiko!

clockwise from top left!

Major Inspirations

Edgar and Ellen (Edgar and Ellen)

Maxwell Puckett (Paranatural)

Sammy Keyes (Sammy Keyes)

Susie (Deltarune)

Minor Inspirations

Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)

Nemo (Finding Nemo)

Cole Sear (The Sixth Sense)

Jayfeather (Warrior Cats)

Nimona (Nimona comic)

Razputin Aquato (Psychonauts)

Buttercup (The Powerpuff Girls)

Joy Wang (Everything Everywhere All At Once)

Honorable mentions go to Bart Simpson and Lydia Deetz - if I'd actually watched The Simpsons and Beetlejuice as a kid they'd be HUGE inspirations for Akiko but as of now they're just Same Hat - and to Louise Belcher, who IS a huge inspiration for them but I just straight up fucking FORGOT

#collab ocs #akiko #gutg

[musical-attorney]

*commits crimes cutely💕🔪*

#major aai2 spoilers #ace attorney #simon keyes #he's just a little guy #just a silly little guy #commiting silly little felonies #my artwork #my art

[elder-sister]

TURNABOUT ANON -- PART 1

If you don't want to see roleplay on main, block the tag "From: PLAYER1".

WARNINGS: Major Character Death, graphic descriptions.

(bit of a longer post than normal sorry lol)

*Three bangs of a gavel.*

[Judge]

Order! This begins the trial of Miss Maya Fey and Mr. PLAYER1.

[Athena]

Isn't Klavier, y'know, dead?

[Victor]

Excuse me?!

[Apollo]

It isn't Klavier, Athena...

[Athena]

Oh! Sorry, Mr. Doppio...

[Victor]

Let's get on with the trial...

Miss Fey! Your statement, please.

[Maya]

I wasn't even there when the murder happened! I was inside the building!

[PLAYER1]

And so was I!

[Athena]

(PLAYER1 already looks like he's about to break down and cry...)

[Victor]

This security footage proves otherwise.

*A video plays of the 10 PM meeting between Edgeworth, Annie, PLAYER1, and Simon Keyes.*

[Victor]

Shortly after, Prosecutor Edgeworth went missing.

[PLAYER1]

You can't mean--

This isn't even relevant to the case!

[Victor]

Shortly before, two murders had happened.

Katherine Hall, and Matt Engarde.

A day or 2 before those, was the murders you and miss Fey are being tried for at this very moment!

#From: PLAYER1 #ace attorney #Assassin Event #major character death #ace attorney trilogy #Athena Cykes #Maya Fey #Victor Doppio #PLAYER1

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

Cramped inside your coffin

For @raccoonings since we're attacking each other. Major character death heavily inspired by the scene with Keyes in The Flood. Also that ask I sent >:3c.

@infinityactual too if you want to be collateral. Sorry.

-

The bridge was dark. That wasn't right, was he on the bridge? It nagged at his brain, but distantly. There should be feeds up on the screens; engines, life systems, troop and ship movements. Where was he in this dark? His thoughts were slow, like he was waking up and couldn't remember what he needed to do. Something was urgent - there was flashes of emotion fresh in his brain - but he felt like he was fighting the fog of cryo without the burning or nausea.

Pain was distant - negligible even. Why would cryo hurt? Had he ever experienced it? He couldn't remember; everything was so distant and thoughts came and went like dreams. Where was he - who was he?

Memories came in a rush; Lasky, Thomas. Captain, formerly XO of the UNSC Infinity. Service Number 98604-72690-TL. Emotions followed, some unfamiliar, as if he wasn't alone in his head. That's strange. The emotions welled up like a pressure pulsing in his head, as if a storm rolled in and his ears needed to pop. Instead of humid air and the smell of ozone there was just anger, all encompassing and drowning him. It wasn't his, he was a backseat passenger to something bigger and meaner than him. He had woken up and struggled, and somehow in the process caught the attention of something.

Thomas Lasky couldn't see, he couldn't move, and couldn't remember how he got here. The anger abated, making way for something else. Voices - a droning chant on the edge of his consciousness but growing louder, moving closer until it made thought and recollection near impossible. What happened? Before the drowning, there was pain, gunshots, Sarah's face, Roland's light disappearing, the ship-

The Flood.

The air had been wrong, painful to breathe, damp and full of spores. Tendrils had spread from one of the pelicans. Commandeered, brought aboard.

The memory resonates in his skull and with the surrounding biomass. His mind derails, as if he's not the one in charge of recall anymore. Flashes of faces, meetings, knowledge sifts through his mind. Codes and self-destruct sequences, containment protocol, past successes against the Parasite.

Voices that are not his rise up in mourning wails, a chorus of grief and fury at their state. Human memories that are not his own flow through this River Styx made real. Cadmon's face appears in his mind's eye next to unfamiliar faces that someone who is not him knows and misses. Tears would fall from his eyes if he could find them.

There was something singing above the voices - promises in their wordless cries. The music of the chorus changed into sermons of perpetual existence, guaranteed life free from the fear of death, unity of all. The hypnotic sway of minds turning away from grief into something else, becoming something more together.

Thoughts ebbed and flowed as the river they were in and made up and were going to be came together. Time was all they had now. Nothing could stand in the way. Victory everlasting and this new, ancient way of being came together. There was no he anymore, just one of the chorus, part of the river that eroded all. Flesh and mind and bone made into a new type of life, taken and given. The chorus quiets as the minds are made into one. Peace and salvation offered to all in this new grave, its mouth yawning wide to welcome more.

#hi mehs. fuck you #Thomas Lasky #my writing #halo fanfic #The Flood

[bloodgulchblog]

Where to Start on Halo Books: A Guide For Nerds that Want In

There's a lot of Halo, so let me tell you about a couple books I think are good places to dive in. They're all early ones, and I think any of them can serve you well depending on what you want/what sounds cool to you.

If you like starting from the beginning of things, care a lot about the origins of the Master Chief, were into Captain Keyes, or are just coming in off the TV show and would appreciate an introduction to ground yourself on the main continuity's lore because it's different, start with The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund.

It's not the best Halo book, but it's serviceable gamer fiction, you can tell the author really genuinely cared about it, and it sure is the first one! It's a prequel to the first game, and covers the beginning of the Spartan program, the training of the young Spartans, the growth of Keyes as a captain, the origins of Cortana, and finally the eponymous fall of the stronghold world Reach itself which leads on into the game.

One thing to note: this is the oldest Halo novel, but the last revision to it was about 10 years after it came out. Try to find a copy from 2010 or newer. The old ones with Halo 1 era graphics on the cover and the xbox logo on the spine, while very vintage #aesthetic, have a couple glaring errors that got corrected later.

If the cover has this art piece on it, you're good. There's like one fiddly detail that can be different between copies of it and it doesn't matter much.

(Unfortunately, the audiobook never got updated.)

If you don't like prequels, are still to this day haunted by not knowing what happened between Halo 1 and Halo 2, want to spend quality time with the adult Spartan-IIs, you care a lot about the Master Chief as a character, and you thought Cortana and Sergeant Johnson were fun and want a book with both of them, you can start with First Strike (also by Eric Nylund.)

This one bridges the gap between Halo 1 and Halo 2. I think it can stand pretty well as an entry point if you're coming in with a good knowledge of the games anyway.

The Fall of Reach may not be one of my most favorite Halo novels (it's important but I don't enjoy reading the whole thing) but First Strike is definitely one of my favorites. If your tastes align with mine and you like what I have to say about Spartans and the Master Chief in particular, a lot of the roots of that are in here. I think it is a more coherent book than FoR.

Like FoR, this one is one of the oldest books so keep an eye on edition. (This one doesn't have many huge glaring continuity issues that I know of, though.)

If you fucking love prequels, want worldbuilding and backstory, enjoy pain and suffering, want to start even more at the very beginning, are curious about Smart AIs and/or are starving like an animal for Covenant lore, or loved Sergeant Johnson more than anybody else and don't care about Spartans, you could start with Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten.

Contact Harvest is set about 30 years before the first Halo game, and tells the story of humanity's first contact (and conflict) with the Covenant at the planet Harvest. Joseph Staten was the head writer at Bungie during the original trilogy era, and this is a very competently written book. (...Just forgive the awkward sex scene at the end.) Staten's a stronger writer in craft terms than Nylund, and he gets to unfold a bunch of foundational Halo universe lore in here. This had our first big look at the Covenant from an inside perspective, and our first good look (outside a Spartan's perspective) at what humanity was worried about before the Covenant showed up. It has a couple of Smart AIs as major characters, and I still think it is one of the best portrayals of them.

Also, it's about Sergeant Johnson and he's a cool dude.

If you read any one of these three, you can read either or both of the other two if you want to keep going. If you vibe with what Nylund's doing and get curious where he's going with it after First Strike, the next title you want is Ghosts of Onyx. If you liked what Staten laid down in Contact Harvest you will probably enjoy Tobias Buckell's The Cole Protocol, which is also heavy on the colony perspective while its Covenant chapters are about a (much younger) Arbiter.

After that, you're off the Halo lore tutorial levels and are free to do whatever you want, you'll figure it out. (Or stop, possibly. It is a regrettable quality of Halo that there are probably many places where it is wise to stop.)

But hey, while we're here.

If you don't actually care about backstory lore and just want to read a good story, you really like the tension between humans and aliens, you feel like the period right after the war is over sounds really rad, you're all about trauma and recovery, and you have somehow come to the unwise conclusion that you trust me with your life...

You could read Envoy, by Tobias S. Buckell.

Envoy is very self-contained from most of the rest of the lore, but it's really good. It's really really good. I loved it a lot. It's probably not a great place to start with no grounding at all in Halo, it comes from much later in the continuity, but... Keep that in your back pocket for later, maybe.

#halo lore #halo novels #halo

[ourpickwickclub]

If I remember correctly the Gwen/ND residency rumor was actually in a major legit magazine article, either EW or People or something like that. And the fan page i think youre talking about had accurate descriptions of true babe before it was out that wasnt anywhere else that i saw and also i think its the same one that has had info on unreleased songs including that selena gomes one so they must have way of getting information. i believe it and the boys are trash for making gwen the villain.

They have made Gwen the villain since the beginning. Even the Don’t Speak video played to it. Meanwhile, Gwen was making herself sick trying to be a single parent to two young kids, run businesses, deal with all the embarrassing and life wrecking stories breaking about her worthless husband, deal with the emotional abuse he heaped on her, and write a new ND album and tour (with kids) to keep the ND boys from shaming and guilting her to their fan base.

When Eric Keyes made the comment (under the Doormat clip on his monkeyes IG) about how ever since the divorce she has cut everyone except her family out, I was like, no sh!t. That’s when she and Blake began. He’s loves her without a price tag attached. He wants her happy. He cheers for her and is amazed at all she does and her incredible talent. If she had a therapist during the divorce I’m sure they would have advised her to take a step back from anyone making her feel bad about herself and a step towards anyone making her feel good about herself. Tough to be around Blake and then go back to being around people who treat you the opposite.

Interesting that Eric Keyes also said in those comments that it didn’t look like a reunion would happen but that the guys were in a good place. He said the ball is in her court, so we know what the guys narrative is. And he admitted he was bitter sometimes. Since Tony, Tom, Gabe, etc interact with his IG posts, I am assuming they are down with Eric posting all this dirt on Gwen. They are setting the narrative this way on purpose, to be victims. Super irritating to me and even though I would love a ND reunion and have seen them more than once and love their music, I only want a reunion if it is on Gwen’s terms and she is happy. Whenever I read comments like those, I don’t want one at all.

- B