#and for some reason he thinks he's the biggest victim in the universe

[nights-at-crystarium]

Fragments - episodes 36-40 author notes

You can find similar breakdown posts on older episodes in my pinned!

I didn’t need to spend so much screentime on Titania fight, yet it was a fun personal challenge. I’d never written/drawn a cohesive fight scene before. The scripted ingame instances don’t leave much room for imagination, I wanted to stay away from the fourth wall, and make up a more immersive scene. How do you even make it look mildly interesting? You’d think, well, characters will just flail at each other until one of them dies, right?

So yeah the biggest challenge was creating the ebb and flow. What affects Vivi’s actions? Why wouldn’t he just murder Titania like any other opponent, and be done with it? I threw in a generous amount of inner pov (that I previously used very sparingly) and some silly tricks. The stakes are high, yes, it’s a Lightwarden vs WoD encounter, but Titania still retains their playful personality above all else. Vivi's here just to do his job, but he also knows that he's dealing with a fae.

The msq makes Titania stand out among other wardens, I capitalized on that and hc’d that they’re important to Feo Ul, and, by proxy, to Vivi. That instantly provided some emotional stakes, and an answer to why he doesn’t rush to kill them out of the door.

Vivi enters the castle in episode 35, and mostly runs in circles, analyzing his enemy, and even falls victim to illusions. This could’ve been it for him, but I daresay it worried none of us because we’re just at the beginning of a story about this guy, he’s THE guy in this universe not for no reason, he’ll manage.

No deep meaning behind "grasshopper", I just thought it's a bizarrely precise descriptor of both Vivi's long legs and dragoon jumps, and it fits the natural theme of the fight.

Vivi didn’t go in unprepared.

This line will be relevant again in like, 5-7 years from now :’>

More under the cut~

He always, always doubts everything, especially when it comes to his level of power. Self-nerfing. A light (heh) case of an impostor syndrome.

Everyone loved the bonk for meme reasons, Vivi simply bought himself some time to cast.

The Rainbow Sparkles of Believing in Yourself! And of something else, perhaps. I’m planting quite a bit of stuff for future, this one should take a mere year or so to pay off.

I hope this pose’s enough of a hint that you shouldn't be taking episode 37 too seriously.

Yes, he used his spear to ~cast~. And took a sailormoon pose. This's his, monoclass dragoon’s, interpretation of what the caster magic’s probably like.

Offscreen, Titania comes to their senses and shrills “so you wanna play rough?!”, Vivi ignores them, concerned with only one thing: did he succeed? How did the test of his custom spell go?

It only worked out because the both of them are idiots.

I like to emphasize that Fragments isn’t about retelling the msq, or big epic battles, but here, where I actually put my heart into it, I feel like I managed to pull off at least one epic beat you’d typically see in an action-focused comic. Super proud of this panel ;w;

This’s a standard panel divider I’ve used multiple times before, but it couldn’t be more visually appropriate here :3c

So, to recap. Vivi asks Titania if they miss the night sky. They do. Vivi brings the night sky to them, and lo, something actually happens. I illustrated this “something” as one of their eyes getting sort of cleansed here. This story suddenly takes a mahou shoujo (shounen, heh) turn, I appreciate that it may cause some eyebrows to raise, but I think it’s okay to take creative liberties like this in a story themed around identity, agency, and believing in yourself. If Titania’s so strong as to retain a tiny bit of their old self, to cohesively partake in a simple convo, then why can’t they return, even if for a brief moment, given the proper assistance.

An appropriate reaction to the wild bs that’s going on. Imagine inventing the tale of WoD in the First, only to witness THIS.

As about Vivi, he can save a soul when he genuinely cares for it. We haven’t seen him do this before. He does it for Feo Ul explicitly, implicitly as a self-reflection. He’s projecting so hard after realizing that Titania looks like him. He wishes for them what he'd wish for himself: to rest, to be treated with care and consideration. They don't only look like him, they're also unfree, tortured by something. Empathy or not, this’s the kindest fight Vivi’s ever fought.

I’m iffy about the canon talents that come with the Echo. You can understand any sentient creature, okay. What happens when you speak, does the other party feel the difference between that soulspeak and their native tongue? Does it feel off? Does it offend? I incorporated my own misgivings into Vivi’s thoughts about his Echo. He doesn't use soulspeak here out of respect and concern that Titania might not react well to it, throwing the entire plan out of the window. Thus he memorized quite a bit of fae words before the fight. This’s his way to mark himself as one of their people, or at least to show that he truly cares.

STAY TUNED FOR EPISODE 41

Vivien Doubter Rell. Also yay first nod!

Embracing his new duty, and possibly giving Titania the hug they deserve.

Look HE’S OKAY. For now. I just thought the hiccup would be a cute way to acknowledge the terrible power he’s just absorbed. The canon cutscene moves on unblinking, but here’s different.

Bracing himself for confrontation. Things might go awry. Or might not. Vivi doesn't know. Worst case scenario: this’s the end of his sweet lil friendship with Feo Ul. Do they like him, or a Titania-lookalike in him?

“Oh bugger...” big pets come with big responsibilities, my dear Feo Ul.

Just to reinforce his fae-ness.

Vivi had full control in this fight. Analyzed the enemy, successfully tested some crazy tricks, managed to have a heart-to-heart that resulted in getting a permission to kill Titania not with violence, but with mercy. So much could’ve gone wrong, but just didn’t. Vivi’s used to this, even if he constantly doubts everything, this’s how it always goes. He’s being flung at tasks with abysmal odds, somehow he emerges victorious.

I just like this panel so much okay.

This arc may feel slow, but it gives depth to Vivi and Feo Ul's relationship, and seeing them together in later episodes will spark even more joy.

Even after a warm moment they’d just shared, Vivi’s still wary. I broke out an analysis of what external influence, pressure to change means to him, please read this post if you missed it. YEAH TAGS AS WELL.

His expression here is an attempt to downplay the anxiety and swing the odds in his favor. What if Feo Ul insists and throws a tantrum? What if he has to become Titania right now, and there’s no way around this? Let’s make puppy eyes just incase, maybe that helps.

One more personal fav panel. There’s SO MUCH in this look. They’re on a threshold, about to become something else on Vivi’s behalf. Because they love him so much. They’ve instantly become friends because they don’t want anything from each other, just the company. Feo Ul’s such a breath of fresh air for Vivi, a new hope in a new world, where he’s (comparatively) a nobody, where people still have the potential to love him for who he is as a person. This’s why our crimson pixie gets so much screentime.

Vivi really said XD

The next few episodes wrap up the Il Mheg arc, and focus on good vibes and celebration. ShB follows a rollercoaster formula where it makes you smile at something nice and sweet only to whack you in the face right after, and I’m trying to do the same :3c

As always, thanks for reading~

#ffxiv #feo ul #vivien rell #ffxiv: fragments #fragment ii: new world old friend #fragments talk

[ms-scarletwings]

Irken Zim’s 8 biggest fans

For funsies! As we are well aware, this guy has a lot of gut-haters and censurers across the galaxy. Over his long years of life, he’s gained a proud infamy from every corner of the Irken empire, all the way to the fringes beyond, and the number of critics snapping at his heels only grows with every adventure. Whole civilizations sit at their seat’s edge waiting for this invader’s downfall, but what of those who defy all odds, expectations, maybe even logic? Even devils somehow find worshippers, even criminals get fan mail, and even Invader Zim has someone rooting for him within the 4th wall. Weirdly quite a handful of them, actually, let’s recount.

8. Table Headed Service Drone Bob

It’s humorous, how odd circumstance can make for strange advocacy. The show’s universe operates on the rule of funny, and Bob just so happened to be in the right place and time to comedically become the only Irken alive with something to gain from Zim’s success, and so much to lose for his failure. The sheer unfairness of what the Tallest put him through along with Zim serving some hope for a miracle ticket out of his low standing seemed to snap something in him, even if just for an episode. It would make sense for anyone in his position to have a much more dampened love for their society and leaders, to the point where cheering on its greatest enemy would be preferable than another moment of being a doormat. An underdog rooting for an underdog, even if for purely selfish and coincidental reasons.

7. The Judgementia Control brains

Even more deliciously ironic, isn’t it- That Zim’s praise was be sung once from the very bottom rung of Irken society and then again from the highest spike? What better to follow up poor Bobby than another victim of astronomical circumstance, or rather, three victims together? The nutshell recap of “The Trial’s” plot climax spells out the tragedy of, what is basically Irk’s highest court officials, to become he first ever victims of Zim’s malignant code becoming a contagion. They’ve joined the Fanclub, even if against their will, and all the better for Zim this time to have support from such a high place, seeing that it literally saved his hide in this instance.

6. Dib Membrane

Yeah, that’s freaking right. He’s on the list. You think being a hype man and a mortal rival are mutually exclusive? You either haven’t been watching enough DBZ or you haven’t been watching enough Hellsing and should fix that. Anyway, and I’m speaking within the actual canon dynamic of these two… it is very important to Zim that Dib is perceived as a formidable opponent to bluster his own ego, and vise versa. Dib is not in any self-serving position to accept what an actual mess Zim’s operation is, even though he has more evidence of the alien’s horrible tactics, nonsense plans, failures, etc. than anyone else on the planet. Gaz can see Zim for exactly what he is and why fighting him doesn’t have to be this 24/7 urgent priority. Dib refuses to get that because stopping Zim’s pop-up schemes only keeps the score tied for them. They’ve both been at this long enough to get incredibly frustrated with the lack of progression regarding the big picture goals, taking over the world, and exposing a live alien to the world, respectively. I don’t think he has to keep describing this space goblin as some ultra-cunning master of villainy, or GIR as this nefarious minion because that’s what he actually thinks of them, but because if he admits otherwise, that’s not a great reflection of his own merit for the obvious reasons. Just the presentation of another dimension’s version of himself succeeding against Zim before him causes a spiral of self doubt, just as it can bring Zim to a minor panic watching other invaders leaving him in the dust. Dib wants this guy to be a challenge worth the victory lap when he finally gets what he’s been fighting so hard for.

When Zim is getting on some truly idiotic antics, Dib doesn’t actually revel in his disorganized stupidity, but meets it with a baffled or annoyed disappointment. Like me watching a character I thought was super badass suddenly do something that reveals them to just be utterly lame. Too often he almost comes off like he is critiquing Zim’s performance as a villain rather than,, you know, the fact that Zim is a villain in the first place. It more than once has led to accidentally giving the guy new ideas or pointers on how to do his own job better once in a while. If I were in Dib’s place I would under NO circumstances be giving Zim advice or corrections on what he’s doing “badly” when it comes to the invader thing, but, whatever makes you feel cool & smart, you little dork. There’s also the whole “Dib’s hatred for Zim belies his geeky fixation with aliens broadly” angle I’ve mentioned here or there before, and don’t mind to again. Studying/stalking Zim is only partially about defeating him. His curiosity over Irken tech, biology, etc. is still coming from a place of genuine scientific passion, as literally all of us know. And of course, on occasion the two make for unlikely allies against much bigger shared enemies.

5. Minimoose

Oh come on, how much could I even have to say about this moose-weapon? He has two fathers and is fully aware that Zim is one of them. Assuming we all here know about the cute Florpus quote; no need to recap the whole existence of the lil guy.

4. Invader Skoodge

Now this guy… this guy ain’t right. Exactly here, at this (I say with love) loser of an invader, we reach two tipping points when it comes to Zim-affinity. One, the tipping point where Zim ceases to ask for and ceases to appreciate the toadying. Two, the point where I actually kind of struggle to find any rational explanation for the toady’s behavior. Like I’ve tried and I genuinely don’t know how to put together how Skoodge keeps jumping into this position other than ‘it’s that funny’ or some weird familiarity from smeethood factor. All of the invaders know what Zim has done and what he’s capable of. He’s a consistent terrorist of his own kin and defamed as the greatest disgrace to the Empire. The two options for how to feel about Zim as any random Irken soldier are fear, and/or loathing. If Skoodge were just neutral or indifferent of Zim, that’d be pretty freaking odd. But Skoodge interacts with Zim on the level of at least a lukewarm acquaintance, readily even deferring to his command, despite the fact that he nearly dies every single time he does so. He survives miles of being chased by a monster on Hobo-13, he makes it to the finish line, and his first reaction is to let Zim know he’s made it in one piece. He decides to lay low and slack off after getting fired (into the blighted surface of Blorch) and out of the entire universe to choose from, he decides to go hole up at Zim’s place and stay conveniently out of the way for some time. Dude finally shows himself in the unfinished scripts, and it’s to motherfucking help Zim troll around with Dib. I’m up at night wondering what is going on in Skoodge’s head because he’s n o t an idiot. He’s a real invader in all other respects, just as competent and nationalistic as the rest of them. Easily suggestible, yes, but not stupid. There’s basically no way for him to be ignorant of the big lie the Tallest sold Zim, yet he chooses not to utter a peep on the matter. Pity? A bizarre sense of solidarity?? A delusional one sided friendship??? Don’t look at me like I know other than the fact that he’s on our protag’s team, in spirit. The wannabe Irwin to Zim’s Billy, essentially.

3. Keef

So yeah of all things to blow Skoodge’s unhealthy attachment clean out of the water, we stumbled into this freak of a human child. Keef is a loyal compadre to a fault. A huge, creepy fault. Kid was originally supposed to make a return as well, wherein he was no less of a stubborn stalker than already proven once. And extra points for the irrational selflessness. Even while demonstrating an understanding of what Zim did in Dark Harvest, possibly even with the memory of that whole squirrel incident, he still wishes nothing but for the ability to put a smile on his green friend’s face.

2. The Amoeboid Cult

And when none thought that the scary conviction Zim garnered on Earth could be his biggest fans, you find this little ditty in the comics, and it starts turning into an irresponsible god analogy fairly quick. The short recap is that following a crash on a strange planet, the Voot Runner starts leaking fluids that inadvertently spark abiogenesis, which results in the creation of a rapidly evolving race of blob-things. Seizing an opportunity, Zim at first demands their followership, and then shortly after gets fed up with it as he did the previous fanatic on the list. Nonetheless, the cell people continue to reproduce and age thousands of years their time in the span of a couple minutes, never losing that zeal for their unintentional creator, even going so far as to repair the cruiser despite Zim’s rejection of them. Out of what little they gathered about him during his short visit, they correctly learned he’s a destructive god who planned to abandon them as soon as he could. Their last wish as a civilization? For this god to also obliterate them, as final treat. Such was their devotion that it even left Zim himself completely baffled for a moment when its full depth was revealed.

1. GIR

You watch this show, right? Yeah? Henchman and sidekick number one? Chaotic thing this whole fandom can’t decide to perceive as an adoptive child or a talking pet? He may not be as competent in pleasing Zim’s wishes as minimoose, or as focused, but his heart and loyalty are ultimately with their intended master, unconditionally and for as long as this setting has continued.

#invader zim #iz #iz analysis #scarlet talks about things #long post

[canonmisogynyvictimstournament]

PROPAGANDA

KATHERINA MINOLA (THE TAMING OF THE SHREW) (CW: Domestic Abuse)

1.) We had to read this for English my senior year. I got so mad at the way she's treated. She's the titular "shrew" of the play. She has to be married off before her younger sister can get married, because that makes sense.

Then the most dogshit man imaginable comes along, and everybody thinks they're perfect. He literally gaslights her and denies her food and water.

Fuck Petruchio and Katherine Minola deserved better!

2.) Literally the whole play is about how she is so awful that the main guy needs to change her entire personality, which he does as a challenge not because he likes her, and then proceeds to her abuse her for the rest of the play. Yet, he is portrayed as the hero, not a villain and she is shown to have "improved" at the end. People will say, oh it's open to interpretation, it can be played different ways, it's satire, but i don't find abuse funny and there is a distinct lack of commentary in the play to count as satire imo. Taming of the Shrew is a tragedy not a comedy, I will die on this hill. Kate deserves better!

3.) The title isn’t joking, ya’ll. She literally gets broken like a rebellious feral animal and it’s treated as a happy ending.

BARBARARA GORDON (DC COMICS) (CW: Ableism)

1.) Famously fridged in 1988, which was so popular with misogynists it became canon. After almost 2 decades of being one of the only disabled characters, was rebooted to a younger, more fun version of herself whose only history is that she was fridged but not disabled by it.

2.) The Killing Joke is one of the biggest comic examples of a female character getting hurt to motivate male characters. Also tbe way different cannons will trade off who her romantic intrest is out of Batfamily is pretty disturbing ranging from Bruce Wayne in Batman the Animated series universe (ew) to Tim Drake in the Arkham games (ew). Not to mention DC now is not letting her grow out of being Batgirl taking away her legacy of other young female heroes taking up her mantle and her getting to mentor them instead forcing her into a Batgirl cycle of purgatory when she was always better as Oracle (Its a little more complicated in the new Batgirl book but its still not solving the issues in a way that feels meaningful enough to make up the damage).

3.) Was shot as angst value for Bruce and her dad, implied to be sexually assaulted in The Killing Joke with absolutely no respect for her long career as Batgirl. When Alan Moore asked if he could, the editor said "cripple the bitch." She became paralyzed from the waist down. THankfully, an actually good writer picked her up from there and then wrote one of the best stories ever written (Oracle Year One: Born from Hope). Was one of the most iconic disabled characters in comic book history, hell, as Oracle, she was definitely up there as one of the most iconic disabled characters ever as well as a fantastic character, period. There were a few moments where people kept trying to make things out of her disability and had her be shitty to other women for no reason but for the most part, she was awesome. During her time In 2011, Dan Didio and some other misogynistic/ableist comic book writers were responsible for "curing" her disability and forcing her back into Batgirl, despite her having shown absolutely no desire to do so, as part of the New 52. They also made it an editorial mandate that she couldn't have glasses, a cool secret base, and her time as Oracle couldn't be referenced. This was because those writers were nostalgic for the 60s Batman show where Babs was played by an actress they all had the hots for and couldn't accept she'd grown up and moved on. That was bad enough, but over time, she's been increasingly deaged and reduced even further to just Dick Grayson's on and off again girlfriend and a generic girlboss. Batgirl of Burnsides burn in hell.

#polls #round 1 #week 2 #new #cw domestic abuse #cw ableism

[cuephrase]

i didn't realize this needed to be said, but jason doesn't die at the end of UTRH?? not in the comics, or in the movie. and on top of him not dying, bruce does not kill him??

like, this is most obvious in the movie. jason isn't suffering from any potentially life threatening injuries when the building blows up, bruce grabs (or attempts to grab) him, and then they get separated in the explosion. bruce digs through the rubble looking for him and doesn't find him. ambiguous, yes. and there is no sequel to the movie to like definitely prove that he's alive in that universe, but bruce doesn't find his body which is superhero logic 101 for 'this character isn't dead'.

moving on to the comics.

now, this is...not a great look. i'm not a medical professional, okay, and it's not the clearest shot, so i can't sit here and claim with 100% confidence that jason's carotid artery did not get cut in some way. but i can reasonably assume it wasn't, because, well, look:

do you see how deep inside the artery is? and again, not the clearest shot, but it looks like if the batarang was to hit anything, it would probably be the jugular vein.

the jugular vein being cut would bleed a LOT. but, and just to remind you, i am not a medical professional, it would almost definitely not be fatal. while it bleeds a lot, it doesn't bleed enough fast enough. (but that's so much blood!!! yeah ik. it's a comic book. they like drama.) and, if the victim is able to put pressure on the wound, that reduces the bloodflow a lot and the blood is able to clot better, etc. we see jason do exactly that. the amount of blood on the floor doesn't appear to increase a whole lot from the initial gush either. he'd still need medical attention, don't get me wrong, but he's not dying from that.

we can't even assume that he's dead when he drops to the floor because if you pay attention to the panels, jason's moving. his back is initially facing the joker and then by the last panel his back is facing bruce.

anyways, joker blows the building, and we see no bodies. just bruce's silhoutte in the wreckage in one panel, and the narration is cryptic and foreboding. ambiguous, certainly leaves room for fans to come in and what if?

but dc answers the question about whether or not jason is alive almost immediately. i say almost because infinite crisis takes over immediately after batman 650. because of this, there is no neat follow through directly after the events of utrh, because instead we get One Year Later. (they just went big event!! no resolution!! gap year!! perfection!! pure brilliance.) so does jason pop up in batman's first issue OYL? no, but he does in nightwing's. dick seems somewhat surprised to see him, but i honestly think it has more to do with dick being surprised that the person running around nyc killing people in a nightwing costume is jason than him being surprised jason is alive.

so we know he lives. big whoop. how the hell do i know that he didn't just get dragged into another Lazarus Pit for a refresh while infinite crisis was happening? i don't. i mean, if i remember correctly, all the pits were destroyed by bruce and bane, except one, and at the time i don't think the location is known? point is, would've been hard to get to one.

but the biggest reason, aside from everything else, the way i know jason did not die temporarily again in the comics, is that it requires assuming one of three equally improbable outcomes.

outcome 1: jason doesn't survive the explosion, because he's incapacitated and bruce tries to save him, but fails. why is this improbable? because literally what is the point in telling that story again if you're just going to have jason pop up alive again basically as soon as he can. bruce certainly feels like he's lost jason post-UTRH, but not in a my-son-is-dead way, in a my-son's-lost-his-way way.

outcome 2: jason doesn't survive the explosion, because he's incapacitated and bruce chooses not to save him in that moment. bruce, who has only gotten himself into that situation to begin with because he was trying to save his son, decides to let him die at the last moment. bruce, who has been haunted by finding jason's body in the smoldering remains of a warehouse for years, allows history to repeat itself when he's right there and he can save him this time. bruce, who will always try to save someone, even the joker, even if it means risking his life.

outcome 3: the batarang sliced jason's carotid artery and he bled out and died...at the hand's of batman. batman, who does not kill. batman, who has never killed. batman, who refuses to take life, decides to break his one rule in the spur of the moment to kill his son and save the joker? oh, but, maybe it was an accident. maybe he didn't mean to cut jason that deeply with the batarang. maybe, for the first time in batman's many years of precise batarang throwing, he messes up and whoopsie, kills someone.

maybe, let's set the batarang down for a sec and pick up occam's razor- we know that jason is alive post-utrh. there is a crap ton of hoops to be jumped through and rules broken to explain how jason might've died, and then you've got to figure out how he's alive again. it's a much simpler path of logic to follow that jason was injured, survived the explosion, and that is how he is still alive post-UTRH.

look. you can dislike how bruce chose to handle jason's ultimatum. you can explore the what-if-it-had-happened-this-way in fanfic or posts. but you cannot claim that jason canonically died at the end of Under the Red Hood. it's just not true. and claiming it's true directly contradicts immutable canon foundations. there is a lot you can say about bruce wayne, about batman, that are canonically true, but he is not a murderer.

plus, i mean, c'mon, if jason had died at bruce's hands, do you really think he'd never bring that up? you really think his petty, dramatic ass would keep his mouth shut about his father killing him to save the joker? you think the hero community would find out that batman killed his son and just be casual about it?

from here (Green Arrow #70), we at least know that ollie knows about their fight, which if he knows the whole justice league probably knows. (there might be a comic out there were bruce discusses it with them, idk.) it seems like ollie was under the impression that jason was dead again, or maybe not in good enough shape to be running around in a costume. interpret as you want. ollie being under the impression that jason is dead would fall under outcome 1 imo, maybe 2 if you want to imagine that bruce fudged some details when he filled in the other heroes, if you're assuming he decided to do that. i haven't read a whole lot of comics where bruce is interacting with non-gotham heroes, but it is my understanding that bruce is not exceptionally forthcoming with info. personally, i think ollie asking for clarification comes more from a place of green arrow writers not assuming that green arrow readers know what's up with batfam comics, but that they might've heard about UTRH and so they're just going, yep there was an explosion, no jason isn't dead. bottomline- there's no way ollie will be working with bruce, especially with mia, if he thinks bruce is a killer.

look. you can dislike how bruce chose to handle jason's ultimatum. you can explore the what-if-it-had-happened-this-way in fanfic or posts. but you cannot claim that jason canonically died at the end of UTRH. it's just not true. and claiming it's true directly contradicts immutable canon foundations. there is a lot you can say about bruce wayne, about batman, that are canonically true, but you cannot say he is a murderer.

#jason todd #red hood #bruce wayne #batman #under the red hood #dc comics #engage with canon as much or as little as you please #headcanon what you want #but if you're going to make claims about canon please don't spread outright lies #there's plenty of canon angst and trauma in jason and bruce's relationship #i promise #bruce doesn't need to kill him #for things to be rocky

[ride-thedragon]

Nettles Discourse.

I'm a big Nettles fan. I accept that the bias I have towards her can affect my judgement when it comes to negative discussions, no one likes their favourite characters to be undersold or talked about in a negative regard. That being said we've lost the plot yet again when it comes to her.

I know I can be out there with my claims about her (George literally wrote asoiaf to support her narrative), but I do think she's often disregarded about the way she impacts the narrative. Because she does, she leaves some of the biggest questions that carry over into the main series in fire and blood.

. Was she a witch that seduced a prince

. Did her and Daemon spend the rest of their days in the Vale.

. Did she create the burned men

. Is she actually Valyrian

. Can non Valyrians ride and claim dragons.

. What happened to her and Sheepstealer (the dragonskull found in the main series...)

For who she is as a character, she's so misrepresented in the fandom, while I know I'm annoying about her, it's within good reason.

That's without the paedophilia discourse surrounding her character, the race and racism discourse surrounding her character at all times. Someone conflating her popularity and race isn't entirely incorrect.

The way people undermine her written story because they don't like her. The way they will make race and class the forefront of that undermining is quite insane when you see it.

There is also this air of mystery intended by her character that allows for theories and tie-ins to the main plot.

I've said that she mirrors Dany in some regards, which is true. They have a lot of parallels, like Rhaena and Sansa or Baela and Arya.

All this is to say that even though she isn't a main character in Fire and Blood, she's still important, and race does affect the perception of her a lot, which is an issue. We see the same thing with the popularity of Baela and Rhaena in the show, especially. She isn't a pov character or a main focus by any means, but her mystery alone would've had her 10 times more popular if she was a white alternative to that familial ship.

AND WHILE WE ARE HERE, DETTLES DISCOURSE.

Let's be serious.

Nettles is a child, Nettles is a victim, Nettles was groomed has no basis in the actual story.

If it's a reservation, you hold in the discourse fine, that's great but it's not an in universe thing.

She's legally an adult. She's an impoverished black girl in the narrative who's saved by a prince and a house protecting her against their world's Monarch and escapes on a dragon she claimed and she again escapes and her escape is framed as Daemon's redemption in the narrative.

When people say she was abused by Daemon, they never contextualise it in her character. She's just a poor, 16 year old at the mercy of a prince. That's unfair.

I'll be the first person to scream from the rooftops that Daemon should be held accountable for his every breath in the narrative as well as not being redeemed for all his crimes because he let my favourite character go.

But let's be clear, if someone views their story as romantic, it doesn't mean that they want paedophilia in the narrative. Nettles is closer to Book Brienne's age and perception than she is to Sansa's, two character with prominent ships with men older than them. Nettles is an adult by Westeros standards. (Daemon will burn in hell for messing with teens), but she is an adult.

It's not a question of a person's morality if they ship Daemon and Nettles. They are within the bounds of the world to do so. That's just how they choose to engage with the material instead of being critical and applying our standards to a ship.

#hotd #house of the dragon #nettles #nettles asoiaf #netty #nettles thoughts #nettles discourse #hotd meta #I'd tag people but it seems to be a large issue #two things are allowed to intersect and co exist #a lot of the time there is truth in overreaching statements

[ravenwitch45]

What would happen if Striker joined IMP if he was a good guy? It's an au.

Oh okay, the coolest part of this idea to me is that it nearly happened in canon. Blitz fully offered him a job and that only fell through because of Striker being contracted to Stella and trying to fulfill that, so let's get rid of that pesky hen's involvement and explore a little on what I feel could happen with this AU

Striker joining I.M.P as a good guy AU

Now let me get one thing clear off the bat, Striker is still kind of an ass, He and Moxxie still get off poorly, he's still very boastful and cocky. The only difference is he was never contracted, so no actual murder attempts this time, he accepts the job and everything is hunky dory.

Also I'm conflicted on if Blitz would want him to join in on the company car pool to work, and all the scenarions that could work with, or have Striker ride Bombproof there everyday so there's a horse around. Choose which you like.

I have a feeling if he kept bullying Moxxie, Millie would eventually come to his defense, no parents around to scold her this time. So he learns to back off and be nicer to his co workers, no reason to make people who have your back in tough situation mad at you after all.

He and Blitz get along the best, after all he's the guy he really synergized with during the festival, becoming a bit of a common duo on missions. Also he has a horse which we know makes Blitz like anyone a bit more.

Not sure how his and Loona's relationship would be, she seemed cool with him so maybe she's less standoffish to him, maybe calling him over to show him something funny on her phone, idk seems like it'd be a cute little friendship.

Now if he apoligized to Moxxie, and chilled out with the teasing, I think they could be decent friends, talking bout gun stuff and music, since they both seem to like those things, Maybe something more if you want a Strixxie situation that's pretty wholesome, either way I think they'd grow to like eachother.

With Millie her only problem with him here is him antagonizing Moxxie so if he settles that she's okay with him, I can imagine they sometimes talk about her family, mainly venting since they both knew them, and while Striker seemed cool with them, I feel he'd still get her frustrations a little, plus there both Wrath grown Imps it seems so theres also something shared to talk about.

Now with Stolas... Well I feel good or not Striker wouldn't be the biggest fan of royals, as it seems to be big part of his character so he sees Stolas as a necessary thing for the book, and prefers him not to be around. He's standoffish if they interact and Stolas hasn't a clue why, and just awkwardly walks off, though eventually I think he'd see Stolas is just as much a victim of the system as he is, and he chills out, after all I also feel for the sake of another thing I feel happening here they probably should.

Speaking of that, One thing I feel very strongly about in this AU is I think Blitz is going to ask Striker out eventually, since he clearly liked him and was attracted to him, and without the falling out I feel he'd ask him out. Cause if theres any kind of universe Stritz would work healthily, it's this one.

Now interpret how this goes anyway you want, Striker could just politely decline and they remain friends, they try it out but find they don't work, or they get together long term, I feel any could work here. This doesn't disqualify any other ships tho so have a big happy polycule with the cowboy involved someway. XP

Now I could go into how Striker would work in the other episodes he just wasn't in, in canon, but this post is long enough so I might make a part 2 for that if you want it, in the mean time let me list off some random scenarios I thought up.

Striker misplacing his hat and getting the whole team to help him look, Moxxie tries to give him one of his in the meantime but it just isn't the same to him so he's still grumpy untill they find his actual one.

Whatever situation he had to house Bombproof falls through so they try to find another way, and get into shenanigans along the way.

The whole company get's treated to a fancy dinner (Probably by Stolas) And Blitz insists they go as a team bonding thing, but it has a strict dress code and Striker refuses to wear anything fancy and without his ragged hat (Blitz and Millie end up having to wrangle him into a suit)

Also in general he's just a grump when they get him to try new clothes XP

Striker discovering Blitz in his apartment constantly, and dealing with the same stuff M&M do. To the point he puts rope traps around, and it blossoms into a full goofy war between him and Blitz on who can outsmart the other. Ending with both tangled up in the traps, and they have to call M&M for help

I hope this was a good list of ideas for this kind of AU. Personally I really like the idea of a Good/Redeemed Striker, as I like him a good bit, so this was fun, also even if I don't personally ship them, the ships with Striker with one or some of the I.M.P members I've seen some cute stuff in passing, and this AU seems perfect for those.

#ask reply #helluva boss #helluva striker #helluva boss au #blitzo #helluva moxxie #helluva millie #helluva loona #stolas goetia #my writing

[moonmeg]

Do you hate people who think Philip can be redeemed? Like, you would physically fight them? Cause I really like Philip, like, I would always try and see the good in people if they had a reason for it.

What brought this up is this:

Me and a buddy (ex buddy) were talking about your au, and he was saying about how Philip should go and do some... Not very nice things to himself. And was going on and on about really disturbing things you should make him do.

So, I told him my thoughts about it, and he said I was bafld person and called some things I won't say, because it had me crying for a while.

And also, I just want to give cannon Philip a cuddle. (Cuddle with his beard too.... It looks soft...)

I don't hate anyone who merely has a different opinion regarding a fictional character than me. It's rare I hate people in general. It sounds like your friend is not a true friend and a very rude and mean person so I'm happy to read they're an ex friend by now. Someone who calls you names and makes you cry because you have a different opinion on a fictional character is not a friend.

Theoretically seen every villian CAN be redeemed but I believe not every villain NEEDS to be redeemed. Philip, at least by the point in time the show takes place at, is one of them.

He is far away from sanity at that point in his life. The biggest indicator for that being him stuck in an endless cycle of creating clones of his deceased brother only to torture and kill them again at the smallest inconvenience. Over and over again for centuries. He has brainwashed an entire community and convinced them into helping with their own genocide and he felt no remorse for it. No hesitation. Nothing.

As much as I feel sorry for him because of his sad backstory, as much as I understand his rage and hurting after what Caleb has done - just leaving him behind without ever communicating it, when Caleb was all Philip ever cared for back then, when Caleb was Philip's everything - and as much as I understand he himself is a victim of manipulation too, I do not believe he should've been redeemed in the final episodes of TOH.

I do believe that at an earlier point in his life he could've started a redemption arc. Back when Caleb was still alive. In an alternate universe where instead of Caleb being wounded in the fight, it's Philip. Not mortally though, so in the time that he's bedridden due to the healing process of the wound, he has the chance to seriously think about everything again. An alternate universe where the brothers work all of this out together. Something along the lines of @phobylee and @mentalmeles Clarity AU.

Casually spoiling my Caleb-lives AU here

These are basically my thoughts on it!

I hope you're doing better after what your ex friend said to you..

Sending hugs! <3

#moonmeg ask #philip wittebane #caleb wittebane #caleb clawthorne #evelyn clawthorne #toh #the owl house

[flowwochair]

Why did Jean-Baptiste Bessieres burn his correspondence? (a list of - unprofessional - theories)

Writing a post to de-stress in between one of the most annoying to research university assignments I've done in a while (what historians don't tell you is that research can be the biggest pain in the ass aspect of writing I guess).

Anyways, today in the Napoleonic Bubble server I was talking to some friends about Bessieres's mystery correspondence and reasons why he could've burned them (as his motive for doing such wasn't entirely clear, nor can we be certain of the contents of the many letters he burned). Here's a couple of the theories I came up with, I'm listing them off just for fun and to see what you guys think, I might be a history major but please don't take these too seriously as I literally came up with them on the spot as we were talking.

Let's start with the Murat related theories to get my BessiMu obsession out of the way first: 1 - Bessieres had been secretly corresponding with Murat This one is pretty self-explanatory, especially after Murat's betrayal, Bessieres himself could've been accused of treason had he had been corresponding with Murat. Furthermore, neither seemed to hold disdain for each other following Murat's betrayal. One point I will need you to keep in mind is that Murat grieved for Bessieres death, something I sincerely believe he wouldn't have done had they been in bad terms. In this case, their correspondence may not have been political, instead being general conversation between the two which Bessieres was still scared of being caught for. 2 - Bessieres had been corroborating with Murat in some other way - Bessieres was making plans with Murat either for Murat's return to France or for a potential attack from Murat. Bessieres, as Murat's long-time friend, would've been an excellent source of insider information for Murat if we're to believe they were still communicating. Where this theory falters is where you believe Bessieres's laid his loyalty more strongly/sincerely (with his boss and friend Napoleon, or with his long time friend and coworker Murat), additionally, I am unsure (regardless of Murat's access to insider info and his notorious stubbornness) how viable it would've been for Murat to literally fight his way into good graces again so...

Now for the other theories 3- Bessieres was working with France's enemies (betrayal theory) - Bessieres may have burned evidence of him providing information to France's enemies or requesting to switch over to their side. The realism of this theory once again depends on where you believe his loyalty was and how strong said loyalty was by the later years of his life.

(CW: DISCUSSIONS OF SUICIDE/POOR MENTAL HEALTH FOR THE NEXT 2 THEORIES)

4- Bessieres was planning to commit suicide - Bessieres in 1813 was reportedly in an incredibly depressive state. Although I do not believe his death was nor could've been planned/orchestrated, there is a possibility that him burning his correspondence was him preparing for such. He may have been planning to commit suicide at a later point, and his actual death may have happened to come earlier than he had planned. By 1813 Bessieres had become an incredibly hopeless and broken person, his friends were dying left right and center, one of his best friends had been entirely banned from France, the empire he had sworn loyalty to was on the edge of crumbling apart, he was in extreme debt, he wasn't short of reasons for suicidal behaviour/ideation. 5 - Bessieres was not in a sound state of mind - Bessieres burning his correspondence was an irrational decision. His mental state had been deteriorating and him burning the correspondence was evidence of him thinking illogically as a result of this. Said mental strain could've been caused by his depressive state or by PTSD he had developed along the course of his career.

(END OF CW)

6 - The correspondence was related to the blackmailing which he fell victim to - As you may or may not know, Bessieres's debt was largely caused by blackmailing involving affairs he had. The correspondence he burned could've been related to said blackmailing. Either as fuel for more blackmail or as evidence that he was being blackmailed.

Okay, that's all the theories I have so far, feel free to tell me what you think or even better: add your own theories!!! I'd love to know your thoughts or extra info you may have on this c:

#napoleonic #napoleonic era #napoleons marshals #joachim murat #jean baptiste bessières #napoleon #implied bessimu I guess #napoleonic wars #historical theory #historical speculation

[ntaras]

this is a little analysis on shang tsung/appreciation for how good of a villain he is

we all already know shang tsung is an amazing character (especially thanks to cary-hiroyuki tagawa) but his role in mk12 was genuinely the biggest highlight of the game (ignoring the very lame boss fight but we can’t blame him for that). despite how nearly everyone did not like the multi-universe plot twist, no one hated the fact that it was shang tsung from another timeline screwing everything up- because how can you hate that? as annoying as the reveal is, the set up for it was amazing.

for convenience sake i’m going to refer to alt-timeline shang tsung as aftermath!shang tsung and mk12 timeline shang tsung as shang tsung.

aftermath!shang tsung got what he wanted: power over everything and liu kang destroyed/corrupted. he was living in his paradise already, and didn’t need to do anything else to achieve the great evil he’s already become. but then he found out that liu kang was happy and at peace and he just couldn’t help himself. he just had to squirm his way into liu kang’s timeline and ruin everything. for what reason? none. he’s just petty like that. and he likes being petty like that. he wants to ruin liu kang’s chance at happiness. he wanted to corrupt everything liu kang built- and that included himself.

the ultimate thing aftermath!shang tsung could do was ruin liu kang by first corrupting himself- by corrupting shang tsung. and you know aftermath!shang tsung did not give a genuine care about shang tsung because he thinks himself better- and is better (as he calls shang tsung a lesser form of himself due to being made by liu kang and simply not being aftermath!shang tsung). his deceit makes shang tsung look as pathetic as he did at the start of the game, sulking in the rain in front of his trailer.

“if it’s revenge you want, have at it.” and aftermath!shang tsung did as shang tsung said. aftermath!shang tsung wanted revenge against liu kang’s timeline because that timeline was a personal attack against aftermath!shang tsung. of course, he doesn’t succeed in ending that timeline, but he sure does succeed in fucking up any chance at peace in that timeline.

“if it’s restitution, there’s nothing left.” shang tsung says this in regards to the possibility of this “dissatisfied customer” coming to take back what shang tsung took away (money, a loved one’s life, etc.), but aftermath!shang tsung knows that it’s shang tsung that got everything taken away from him. through shang tsung’s pov, it’s him who deserves restitution as it was liu kang, his creator, responsible for holding him back/taking away the power he thought he deserved. and aftermath!shang tsung manipulates this desire for power and a want to escape the life he currently lives in shang tsung perfectly, by taking advantage of all the traits aftermath!shang tsung knows in himself so well.

shang tsung’s word in his official bio is “influence”, and aftermath!shang tsung elevates shang tsung to obtain some degree of influence, but you know who really influenced everything? aftermath!shang tsung.

the reveal that there’s someone better than shang tsung is so satisfying. to actually witness the shock of damashi’s reveal and the shocked “you’re me!” from shang tsung made me so giddy when i rewatched that scene. plus, how liu kang basically called shang tsung stupid (“you are a victim of deception” code for “you’re a dumbass”), and liu kang has that right because he knows how naive his shang tsung is compared to aftermath!shang tsung. it makes you realize that wow, shang tsung is so small compared to what he was before. and now he has this idea even further implanted in him that he deserves to usurp liu kang, and will become an even more deadly threat in this timeline as he tries to elevate himself to the level of treachery that aftermath!shang tsung was. it might take a while for him to get that level (who knows if he’ll even reach that level), but you know he’s going to grow himself into one of the most hostile forces to be born in liu kang’s timeline.

it’s really sad that we aren’t going to see aftermath!shang tsung again, but his presence was at least one of the best performances he gave.

#of course this didn’t negate the reveal of multiple timelines making the rest of the story feel very useless in the grand scheme #but man shang tsung was so fucking good in the story #there is like no denying that #and of course i really miss the old him. but at least new him (and briefly seeing old him) is and was fun #shang tsung #mortal kombat

[look-how-they-massacred-them]

Preliminary Poll

Korekiyo Shinguji

Submission reason:

okay so throughout the game there are some heavy implications of abuse from his sister but they completely throw that away. they don't let him heal from his trauma or even realize that no, his sister did not love him and so people think he's into incest when he's a victim of grooming. it sucks even more because he was really cool before that :( they also gave him an outfit resembling a nazi uniform but it's never even implied that he's a nazi... spike chunsoft is just horrible when it comes to this

Up until [spoiler: the trial of the third chapter], the game builds him up to be a charismatic and kind of weird man. He would have had great potential, but instead the game pulls a [spoiler: 'SURPRISE! HE ACTS SO CREEPY BECAUSE HE WAS GROOMED BY HIS OLDER SISTER, AND EVERYTHING HE DOES, LIKES OR HAS AS A MOTIVE IS DICTATED BY WHETHER SHE WOULD HAVE SUPPORTED IT BECAUSE OF HOW OVERLY CONTROLLING SHE WAS, BUT INSTEAD WE'RE GOING TO DEPICT HIM AS SOME INCESTUOUS CREEP FOR IT FOR NO GOOD REASON'], and it is so darn irritating to see so many people hate him because they mistake his character as just being [spoiler: incestuous, even though it's clear that it was abuse.]

okay. there's layers to this shit. so gimme a second. spoilers for all of danganronpa v3, cw for incest specifically. Shinguji, for the first half of the game, is a Cool Dude. A lot of the characters think he's kind of a freak, but I just read him as being autistic and bad at social cues (for example, not realizing when it is and isn't appropriate to discuss death or sex). He's always very polite, though, and never tries to stir up any trouble. Then, Chapter 3 comes to its awful, awful conclusion. Shinguji has murdered two of his classmates in cold blood. Why? Because he had a spiritual experience that led him to believe his dead sister needed one hundred friends in the afterlife. Also, he and his sister were lovers. Also also, he manifested what basically amounts to a tulpa of his dead sister that emerges when he takes off his mask. So Shinguji went from being a cool character to an incestuous Buffalo Bill/Norman Bates character. But wait, there's more! In optional dialogue, there's a LOT to suggest that Shinguji was actually a victim of grooming by his sister (she was older than him, he states she was very controlling, the tulpa version is really mean to Shinguji, etc). So Danganronpa not only turned this guy into an incestuous serial killer with a "scary girl personality", but they implied that all this happened because he... was a victim of abuse? And he didn't even realize it until he died??? But here's the kicker: he was screwed over by canon... in canon. Let me explain. Every character in Danganronpa V3 is, effectively, a fictional character placed in a real body in-universe. Teenagers sign up to be put in a murder game, get their original personalities replaced with new ones written by Team Danganronpa, and they let them loose. Clearly, not everyone gets what they want out of that deal. We are shown three audition tapes from three different people who went on to become characters in V3 (again, all in-universe). Saihara wanted to be the first detective in Danganronpa history to kill someone, he ended up never killing anyone. Momota wanted to cause a massacre, the closest thing he got was being the assistant in someone's assisted suicide. So, it's very possible that the original Shinguji wanted something very different out of his character, and the in-universe writers of this game *deliberately made him this way*. They gave a teenager trauma he very well may not have had before. Obviously, this implies that the entirety of V3's cast got screwed over by canon in-universe, but I think being turned into a victim of incestuous grooming on a whim of a few writers is one of the biggest screw-overs I could imagine. And of course, let's not forget the evidence that this was written to satisfy a writer's fetish. There's a lot of incest in V3. Previous entries in the franchise made jokes about it (because its an anime video game and we cant have a normal fuckign anime game), but immediately after Shinguji dies, two other characters enter an incestuous relationship. Admittedly this one is played for laughs, as the characters are robots and thus cannot be actually related, but it's still weird. And THEN you realize that one character, Tsumugi Shirogane, was secretly a writer for this game all along. And then you realize there's an optional scene where you see Shirogane's deepest romantic fantasy... stepsiblings hooking up. I don't know if any of this makes sense, especially if you haven't touched this series with a 10 foot poll. But I'm tired and nauseous and just wanted to get my Shinguji essay out of the way.

uncalled for incest plot in a franchise that is already riddled with incest as well a making him a serial killer on top of that. Every single aspect of both of those things conflict with what his character is about, reducing him to a creepy weirdo and glorifying abuse against men because the perpetrator is a woman (who is also older than him and was supposed to be his caretaker)

Propaganda:

Deeper understanding of Korekiyo reveals he was most likely a victim of grooming and assault, has a completely warped perception of what he went through while the game actively wants to paint him as the perpetrator. Korekiyo deserves better

If the image link I submitted didn't work, just Google him. He'll show up. I love him despite how badly they fumbled him.

There was nothing wrong with how he went out, he just deserved better writing when he did.

when his research lab opens he runs around lookkng at everything like a kid and i think that's great. autism. also there's this art where he's eating pasta which is so funny for no reason + the pasta, which he said the name of completely seriously, is listed on the menu as "pasta that tastes like a lonely old lady eating her grandkid's birthday cake" and he's really cool and creepy i love that

#look how they massacred them poll #look how they massacred my boy #danganronpa #danganronpa v3 #korekiyo shinguji #drv3 korekiyo #danganronpa korekiyo #tw incest

[pknn18]

A blog post about South Park, Chef, Issac Hayes, and Scientology

I'm already kind of preemptively looking for things to focus on for my next video while I'm still working on another script. And so I think "Oh yeah, Exploding Rabbit, what the hell happened to that guy?" It could be explained just by looking at his small Wikitubia page and his YouTube. And while there's obviously.a way to turn it into a short video, it honestly was just kind of lame and even deflating seeing what happened explained so plainly.

Now, I have a better idea for a essay and an excuse to be a dork about something other than video games. Issac Hayes, South Park, and his exit from South Park along with his character's exit. Because upon kind of reluctantly revisiting the episode where Chef is killed off, "The Return of Chef"

Holy shit, this is one spitefully made episode, like Matt and Trey don't just assassinates Chef's character for the plot and thinly veiled Scientology reference, they fucking nuke it until it's turned into ash and soot. Like, this is probably more of their more vitriolic driven episodes besides "Mecha-Streisand" and "The Biggest Douche in The Universe". They're very clearly mad at Hayes' departure from Scientology, perhaps they found it insulting considering the show Hayes was signed up for. 

In the episode, Chef had left South Park, depicted in a "Previously on.." sequence that doesn't actually continue off of anything, very funny. Some time later, he returns to the town, but something's off about him. For starters, they didn't get Hayes to record new audio for Chef, for obvious reasons. Instead, they make him speak with comically spliced archive audio from over the years. Oh yeah, also he's a pedophile now. He joined a club named the Super Adventure Club, which is a club for: pedophiles. And also a less than thinly veiled stand-in for Scientology, with Hayes being Chef.

 Later in the episode, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny manage to undo Chef's brainwashing from the Super Adventure Club, but SAC - I'm calling them that now - manages to re-brainwash him. This pisses off God, aka Matt and Trey, and as Chef crosses the bridge back to SAC, a lightning bolt hits the bridge, causing it to break and for Chef to fall to his death. 

This death is probably one of the most brutal and vicious in the entire series and is pretty much the peak of this episode’s treatment of the Chef character. However, It is followed up by a rather touching eulogy from Kyle at Chef's funeral that serves as a message that although Chef, or rather, Hayes, is no longer on the show, his character will still be remembered by the townspeople and by extension, the audience. Then they cut to a Star Wars prequel parody and SAC turns Chef into Darth Chef so he can diddle more kids.

This is a really harsh way for them to depart with the character and Hayes and I have the suspicion they didn't immediately know the truth behind his departure at the time.

He suffered a stroke in 2006 which left him very shaken mentally to say the least. Scientology, the absolute fucking scumbags they are, took advantage of them and basically told him to quit, which he did while not in sound mind at the time. This all comes from his son, Issac Hayes III, who revealed all of this information ten years after The Return of Chef aired in 2016. This information would also reveal that Matt and Trey were aware of some funny business, though whether they knew as they were writing the script for The Return of Chef, I couldn't tell you. Tragically, Issac Hayes passed away in 2008. And just as bad, it's unfortunately, it's quite likely Scientology had something to do with Hayes' death. 

When his body was found, it was next to a treadmill that was still running. A victim of a stroke running a treadmill raises some questions. Ordinarily, one would see a neurologist and a psychiatrist for a thing like a fucking STROKE. But one of the things that we know about Scientology that we probably weren't supposed to know initially is that they make you sign a form prohibiting "psychiatric or mental assistance". This specific quote is from Roger Friedman's article where he explains Issac Hayes' history with Scientology, but this was also common knowledge by the time that article was written and published. Not only that, but Scientology even has a page discussing why they're against psychiatry, but I'm not giving them traffic. Anyway, most likely Scientology placed Issac under some strange kind of workout routine just so he wouldn't run to a neurologist or psychiatrist.

It is absolutely depressing what cults can do individuals as it did in this instance. They try to chip away at that individual's personality so that they act in only the cult's best interest. This can affect relationships, personal or business, which of course ruins the individual's life. But that won't matter because if all goes well, their life belongs to the cult. Yeah, this is a "no shit" string of texts but I just wanted to reiterate: Scientology' fucking suckssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

I do apologize if this blog post isn't perfect - this swelled from what happened in the beginning and I just kinda kept going. This was done in a day, and not in a very long period of time. This is essentially just a organized infodump. If you actually fucking read this however, thank you.

Also yeah I watched the hbomberguyvideo I might've absorbed some of his style in the process OOPS-

#south park #issac hayes #south park chef #scientology

[lemonhemlock]

Hi, sorry for this, but I just need to rant about this, or I'll explode. Feel free to delete this 🩷

I saw somewhere it was written that Elia Martell deserved her fate while Lyanna and Rhaegar were just in love and deserved to be happy...

THIS PISSED ME OF SO BADLY LIKE WHAT THE HELL !!!

Lyanna was 16 and even if we overlooked the part where she’s a westerosi woman at that age you know it's wrong to run away from your home to be with a married dude who's got two kids !

As for Rhaegar, I believe he was as mad as his father. leave your kind, beautiful wife and two kids for a 16 year old girl who's about to get married herself !? Yeah, there's definitely something wrong with your brain !

Also, that person painted Lyanna in such an innocent light like I do not believe she was that dumb she knew Robert would be furious, plus her father and brother's did this girl ever consider them ? The answer is no. Lyanna didn't want to marry Robert, and when Rhaegar showed interest, she decided to run away with his stupid ass !

The biggest victim of Rhaegar/Lyanna actions is ELIA MARTELL AND HER CHILDREN !!!

I can agree with Rhaegar being the most responsible for all the shit that happened, but at the same time, I don't believe Lyanna was just a little girl who fell in love with him.

And Yes, Lyanna is considered a child in our timeline, but in her universe and timeline, she was definitely not a child who didn't know how things worked given that she was also a noble woman and educated as well !

hello kitty 🐱🐱🐱

yeah, some rhagar/lyanna stans would do anything to justify rhaegar's actions because they have it in their minds that he was this fairytale prince charming. and, to be fair to them, that's how he is mostly presented in the text, heaped in praise and regret (apart from robert obviously but many fans disregard robert's appraisal because they see him as biased)

i don't hold it against people if they have a particularly idealised view of rhaegar, because you never know how much they've actually studied the text or thought about this issue in the first place. but if one does engage with the fandom on a general basis and reads meta/takes, it's very difficult not to eventually interact with critical analyses of rhaegar. so, even if his story didn't ring any alarm bells from the start, for whatever reason, if you do start thinking about the practicalities, the shadier elements emerge.

leaving all of that aside, if someone were to try and justify rhaegar's actions, then blaming his brutally-murdered wife is not the kind of stance that will win over the fence-sitters 🧍‍♀️ even if elia were an awful person who made rhaegar's life miserable (though there is no proof of this, on the contrary), then she still wouldn't "deserve" a violent murder and to witness her children being murdered in front of her. you'd think a reasonable person would agree with that, but this is the kind of fandom in which fans tell others to kys because they disagree with their opinion on fictional people, so for them it's only natural that being annoying (or any other some such dumb infraction) is such a huge and problematic crime that can only be sanctioned by death.

so it's like. i feel there are some huge behavioural issues at play here or at least an unhealthy amount of internalised misogyny or bully fantasies that are the real culprits here :))

i've outlined my general opinion of lyanna here for whomever is interested

#ask #littleobsessedkitty #anti rhaegar targaryen #anti lyanna stark #for filtering purposes

[deluweil]

My biggest question is: how are they going to wrap all the stories in 40 minutes!?!!??

There’s a lot to tell: Madney, the bridge thing, the sperm donor story, Natalia/Marisol, hopefully some Buddie…

I’m really intrigued about how they’re gonna play it all!

It's a LOT for 40 minutes, I am not completely sure that they can wrap all of it up in one episode.

I have a feeling that for all of KR love for wrapping up stories for the season, this one has the potential to end on a cliffhanger.

I believe that the Madney situation may only be resolved next season, the bridge thing is totally dependent on when in the episode it happens, if it is at the end of 6x17, like 4x13 when Eddie was shot? Or maybe a cliffhanger where we're left to wonder if one of our favorite firefighters live through this disaster.

Buck's talk with Connor told me two things, one Connor is not entirely sure he wants a baby or ready to have one, now that it's a reality, and something is waiting just around the corner for Buck.

Now the clown in me says that all the references from both Buck and Eddie to the future and things becoming very real very soon have a hidden, or maybe not so hidden, message that buddie canon is very near. I'm optimistic that way.

So Buck, imo, came to terms with the sperm donor thing, but I don't think the couple itself has their story resolved. I'm semi hoping they ask Buck to be godfather, or for Connor to get cold feet and for Cameron to come to Buck for help with her birth and later with the baby.

But those are all fanfics materials lol, we'll see.

The Cameron thing, imo, will probably happen in the beginning of the episode, thus leaving the firefam to maybe discuss it as the universe screams at them again, that life is short and they're wasting time.

I'm thinking maybe Natalia helps Buck come to terms with something, and they separate as friends or whatever, because dating Natalia will be pretty much dating Taylor under another profession, but same attitude.

Natalia is an interesting character, but she doesn't feel concrete enough to stick around, I think she's just a way for Buck to move past his ordeal and come to terms with whatever is holding him back now.

In my experience, those that find death fascinating were either touched by it (family members or trauma of some sort) or are facing the possibility of their own mortality, Natalia's motives to why she chose to be a death doula may shed light on what her function in this story is. -So if the disaster doesn't happen at the beginning of the episode, Natalia may show up to wrap up her appearance in this show at the beginning of 6x18.

Marisol, I'm pretty sure, is one if the victims most probably, in the bridge crash, I can't see any reason as to why she would suddenly show up, unless it's another one of Pepa's attempts at matchmaking lol.

If they do manage, by some miracle, to shove all of those things into one episode, it will probably end up being hurried and leave us with the same unsatisfied feeling we all experienced at the end of 3x18. (At least for me and my mutuals.) The train wreck resolution felt very anticlimactic, so I'm hoping 6x18 doesn't suffer the same fate.

As I've said before, this whole season we've been counting down to some bonus, as far as I'm concerned, it's time to put up or shut up, because we can't have so much character developments on all levels with all the characters only to be fated to watch them making the same mistakes all over again.

I do hope that we get a Bobby sending Buck away, while he and Ravi try to get to Eddie. While Buck, worried about Eddie, is making his way to save his older sister Hen and his future brother in law.

It's known from one of the bts pic that Chimney will be hurt badly, so I'm expecting something, emotional and heart-wrenching and frantic maybe, and maybe a little crazy Buck stunt 👀

I'm hoping, that once Eddie and Buck reunite we'll finally get a hug or better yet, a desperate 'you're a sight for sore eyes, I fucking love you' kiss.

Manifest with me 🙏✨️✨️✨️

Ps. Also manifest Buck's couch catching fire and Buck moving to the Diaz household where his favorite and chosen couch resides. 😌✨️🙏

#911 6x18 speculations #911 speculations #911 spoilers #too many guest stars #very confusing #but I'm excited for this episode #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie #bobby nash #chimney han #hen wilson #ravi panikkar #118 firefam #911 fox #911 on fox #manifesting ✨️ ✨️ ✨️

[spicybonelesschickenfeet]

Heartbeat 3/3

Summary; you had know Aaron hotchner since university, and ever since the first day of knowing him you had the biggest, fattest, most overwhelming crush on the guy. But for some reason he never knew, or even noticed. You had eventually learned to push the feelings away trying to figure out your own problems, focusing on yourself. Then, years later when you joined the bau after getting transferred... Things seemed to go downhill after reuniting with Aaron. But there's a bit of a romance twinkling between you and one of your new coworkers.

Aaron hotchner x nb!reader (past romance)

Spencer Reid x nb!reader (SLIGHT romance)

bau x nb!reader (platonic)

WARNINGS; you do ALMOST die at the end :P it's angst. There's canon levels of violence but may or may not be a little more violent, there's mention of unrequited love, you don't kill yourself but the unsub almost kills you , this also may Incudes a few adult rated scenes and language.

(Now a psa, the reader aka you in this story is a bit fem presenting and gets along better with the gorls. There's mentions of typically "girl" related things like makeup n stuff. Just a psa, oh and also Im still getting used to writing longer stories and it might feel like it jumps from one scene to another a bit quickly and that's because is it. Also I'm very reliant on speech rather than detail.)

___________

The following day you, Spencer, and Elle all explained what your aunt Naomi had said, and you took the two journals out of your bag and placed then on the table.

"My aunt Naomi was the one who found the clow killer back in 1987, she had found him in the mideof killing her ex boyfriend. She had previously called her father, the cheif of police at the time, on a payphone and told him she found the killer adt et to her boyfriends house. These notebooks are full of her notes, evidence, and other things that can definitely help us on this. Especially since this copycat is copying the clown killer down to the crime scenes and the outfits" you explained as they all looked through the notebooks and Gideon seemed to be very invested.

"She knew who is was before her boyfriend was killed?" He asked you and you nodded.

"She realized who it was the same day and went to the police and her father. She had a suspect list it's in the back of the lighter colored journal. And she seemed to really think it was her old English teacher" you explained and he gave a slight nod. Before looking back through the notebook.

Morgan looked at you for a second before asking. "you didn't bring that jean jacket with you?" You nodded to his question, "my aunt Naomi gave it to me when we went to talk to her last night" you say while looking at the crime scenes photos.

"Well it looks vintage, it's probably older than you" he teased and you just rolled your eyes. Getting back to figuring out a profile.

___________

It had gotten late, you and Spencer went out to the crime scenes and compared them to the ones from the real clown killer.

"It just doesn't make any sense, how would the copycat get more the same costumes? The were discontinued years ago" you say looking at the clown costume on the victim in the photo.

"Maybe our unsub got a hold of them... Or they're making the costumes their selves, I think th costms from the photo are moe silk that cotton. There's a clear difference in the stitching since the new one seemed to have a few rips in the stitching" Spencer commented and you made a "ahh" sound as you acknowledge that could definitely be the answer to ha question. "That could definitely be the case, the unsub must not be good enough at sewing for it be identical to the first!" You nod while walking around the crime scene.

Spencer stood there and seemed a bit uncomfortable, you turned fully to look at him "Spencer are you okay? You look kind of uncomfortable" you inquire and his breath seemed to catch in his throat. "I just.. I dont want to sound insensitive....." He half mumbled and you cocked a brow. "don't worry I know your not the best at words sometimes. Do you have a personal question?" You waked a few steps closer putting the journal back into your medium sized satchel.

Spencer gave you a very concentrated look. "Uhm.... How do you and hotch know each other? I.. didn't want to overhear but while I was walking to the break room I heard a few seconds of your conversation... " He asked his ears turned red with embarrassment from clearly being nosey.

You snorted out a laugh and patted his shoulder shaking your head. "It's okay Spence, hotch and I went to the same university and became friends. We had an argument a few years back, about seven years. I had been going to Europe to take care of my grandma and he tracked me down to my hotel room the night of my flight. I had cut him off two weeks before that so our last conversation was a argument. It wasn't anything really" you explained to him and he nodded while you spoke.

"I see.. do you want to go to the second crime scene now?" He asked, you nodded and the two of you walked back up onto the path.

While the two of you were walking Spencer asked you more questions, you found it nice that he was trying to learn more about you as a person outside of work.

"Wait so your thirty?" Spencer asked in shock and you nodded. "Yup, only six years older than you" you smile and he laughed a small bit. "I thought you were about as old as me. You look like you'd be twenty four" he joked and you chuckled. "well I just have amazing skin care-" you stumble, tripping over a rock you didn't see, your phone flying out of your hand and off of the path. "Shit- I'll get it just stay here" you curse, jogging off the path to look for your phone. It was dark so you used your flashlight to look for it.

You heard an odd cracking sound and called out. "Spence you okay?" It took a second before he responded. "Yeah! All good" he seemed confused.

You looked around before you found your phone. You smiled when you found it and jogged back up to the path to see Spencer unconscious on the ground, his forehead bleeding. "Spencer?! Spencer!" You rushed over getting on your knees and trying to wake him up. You quickly checked for a pulse which was still there, you took your satchel off to try and prop his head up and started to dial hotches number. It rang one time before he answered and someone ripped you up, causing you to drop your phone.

"Get off of me!" You screamed as you tried to get away from the hooded figure. "Shut up" they said as the held a rag up to your face, you thrashed around before feeling weak and it went black as you passed out.

(Hours later)

Spencer woke up and saw the blood on the grundfrn his head, he looked around in panic. You were gone. "Oh no- no no no- (F/NAME)? (F/NAME)!" Spencer yelled and when he received no answer he called your cell phone only to hear it ringing just a few feet away. He rushed over to see it taped to a tree with a note. He didn't know what to do so called hotch in a panic.

"Reid? Where have you been everyone's been looking for you and (L/name), they called me and I heard them yell. We thought you guys were in trouble" hotch half scoled and Spencer panicked. "The unsub, they got (F/name), their phone is still here and there's anoe from he unsub we were waking back to the hotel and I don't remember what happened I-" Spencer started to choke on his words and "Reid were on our way, where are you? Spencer? Spencer, where. Are. You." Hotch spoke slowly to try and get through to a on the verge of a melt down Spencer. "We... Down the left path from the first crime scene." Spencer spoke as clearly ashe could and hotch responded quickly "okay stay on the line we'll be there"

___________

You woke up tied to a chair, you couldn't see right, everything blurry. You tried to speak but felt something covering your mouth. A mask? It felt moe metal. Like a muzzle or something.

"Your lucky I didn't kill your little friend" a male voice said from Infront of you. Your head fell forward with heaviness. You felt whoever was Infront of you bring your head to look up.

"Maybe I used to much Rohypnol... You look a bit to out of it. Hopefully you can still eat. Now if you scream no one will hear you this entire room is sound proofed." The voice spoke softer and you groaned trying to pull away but they took the mask off. "Okay now open up, it's chicken and rice" he spoke as you tried to pull away but his grip tightened on your jaw. You were forced to open your jaw and warm chicken and rice was put into your mouth with a soft fork that felt like one of those forks they give little kids. "Okay now chew and swallow, it shouldn't be to hard" he said and his hand covered the front of your mouth. You complied, chewing the food before swallowing it.

This went on for you don't know how long, but soon enough the man stood up and let your face go. "hopefully you know why I took you instead of kill you (F/Name)" the man spoke and you shook your head, a bit more aware of your surroundings now, your vision not as blurry. "you don't? Well it should be obvious. I cant let my own child send me to jail, but luckily your aunt Naomi sent the wrong ma to jail. That man was just killing josh to kill him. That old English teacher never liked Josh or the aunt Naomi. Are you thirsty? Chocolate or strawberry milk?" He spoke as your eyes widened, at a loss for words you brought your head up to look at your father.

You hadn't seen him since your sixteenth birthday. He still had brown eyes and (hair/color) hair. He looked at you with a clear look of empathy.

"But-.. why? Dad why would you do this?" You asked in disbelief and he sighed. "I made a promise to you when you were five, and that was I would protect you until you die. The people I've killed were either child predators or convicted felons. Except the one woman, but she had said to me that if didn't teach you to be a well behaved child she would smack you herself. I couldn't let anything happen to my doll" he said with the clear belief that he did it all to protect you. "Dad... This isn't okay..." You say with tears starting to weld up in the corners of your eyes. He sucked in a breath as he walked over. "You'll be fine, you won't ever get hurt again. Especially by that Aaron guy. You wont ever have to worry about anything. Daddy will always be here to protect you" your father said kissing your forehead and hugging you. You couldn't help but cry. You were scared, and you father was standing in front of you, whom you thought didn't want anything to do with you.

___________

The team was searching high and low for you. Until your mother mentioned your father still lived here.

"Reid you stay here with JJ and Gideon, Morgan, elle, your with me." Hotch said and then they were off and to your fathers house.

The house itself was in amazing condition. It was two stories with a wrap around porch, just down the street from your aunt's. It was a brow color, the yard had a large oak tree with an old tree house and tireswing that clearly hadn't been used in years. There were two saint Bernards on the porch sitting on the porch swing. One of them lifted it's head looking at the thee agents walking up onto the porch. The San Bernard layed it's had back down. Morgan knocked on the door and it opened quickly after they hard shuffling. A taller man with short (h/c) hair, brown eyes, and a million freckles opened the door. He looked as if he had just woken up.

"Are you mr.(L/Name), Frank (L/Name)?" Hotch asked and the man squinted, "yes? Is there something wrong?" He asked confusion riddled his being.

"we're here to ask you a few questions about your child? (F/Name) (L/Name)?" Elle asked and the mans face was confused. "Did something happen? I haven't seen my kiddo in years, not since their sixteenth birthday.. here come in" Frank offered opening the door. When they all walked in Frank whistled to the two dogs that got up and yawned loudly before walking into h house themselves and going straight to the dog beds near the fire place.

"Is it alright if we take a look around?" Elle asked and Frank nodded "that's okay, but uhm... My kids room? Ive tried to keep it clean and all that jazz, they cut contact with me after moving to Europe. But go ahead, your free to look around" he spoke with clear inferiority. The man was clearly very submissive. He clearly didn't want them to be suspicious of him or anything of the sorts.

"Mr.(L/name) can you tell me about your relationship with (F/Name)?" Hotch asked and your father gave a worried look. "Well, we had a good relationship, (N/name) was here every other month. Their mother didn't want to leave (N/Name) here and we decided to give them to oneanother every other month... We had a good relationship, they told me practically everything including crushes they had and their stresses." He explained hotch nodded and asked. "Frank did you ever feel like

(f/name)'s mother didn't treat the agreement th right way sometimes?"

Frank seems hesitant but spoke again. "well... Bernie never payed for anything for (N/Name), anytime my kid needed anything I payed for it. Their university tuition I payed for it, I even helped pay for them to move to Europe with their grandmother and Bernie... But bernie always lied to my kid, she always told (N/Name) that I didn't want anything to do with them when all I wanted was to be in their life. It was unfair that I didn't get to spend any time with them after they turned sixteen." Frank explained his eyes teary and full of deceit. Hotch could see Frank was hiding something. Then Elle showed up behind Frank and mouthed.

'we found something, basement'

"Frank we saw this house has a basement, could we see inside it?" Elle asked and they watched as Frank tensed.

"No. You can't." He sucked in. And Morgan spoke. "Why not? You haven't got anything to hide right-" they all heard a loud crashing sound. Frank stood up and ran past them into the hallway where the basement stays were and rushed down them, the door was open and a broken chair was laying in front of it. Ropes cut and on the ground as well.

Before Frank could do anything Morgan had him at gunpoint as Elle rushed to (F/Name) who was bleeding, they had hit their head on the side of the table. They flinched away from Elle their eyes widened and dilated.

"GET AWAY FROM MY KID!" Frank yelled he had a knife which must have been a concealed weapon and went to stab elle.

But the knife didn't even come close to Elle. (F/Name) had pulled elle behind them and the knife went into them instead. It took seconds before Frank let out a shaky gasp. "No- no I didn't-" it gave Morgan and hotch time to handcuff him. Morgan was silently cursing at himself for not shooting Frank. Elle helped (F/Name) lay down, they were struggling to breath since the knife went up and may have punctured there lung or how it was placed. Morgan called for backup and a ambulance while Elle and hotch talked to (F/Name).

"Is Spencer okay? Is he alive?" You asked them tiredly and Elle nodded "he's okay, he's alive. Tell.. tell me about your favorite memory with your pet!" Elle spoke shakily. Trying to make sure you stayed awake while the ambulance was coming. "Favorite.. uhm... Oh, when I was seventeen I adopted this...... Little old dog.. it only had a few years left.... But his name was... Fin, his name was fin... And when I got him the shelter workers told me.. he was aggressive but... He was actually..... Really... Sweet" you started to close your eyes but this time hotch spoke. "(F/Name) do you remember the coffee shop you slipped in? When we were studying together?" He said quickly as you let out a hoarse chuckle. "yeah, that was funny....man my head hurts" you say shakily bringing your hand to the side of your head that was cut open from the table when you broke free. It was still bleeding.

When the ambulance arrived and they got you into the stretcher you had gone unconscious but you were still alive. They all rushed to the hospital. Your mother in the ambulance with you since she had show up with the other agents. While in the ambulance you woke again looking around you went to feel your chest but the EMT's stopped you, you felt a hand on your cheeks. "it's okay sweet pea, your going to be fine" she spoke shakily and you furrowed your eyebrows ather blurry figure. "mom? Mom is Elle okay?" You half mumbled with a groan at the pain that was surfacing from your head. "she okay, can you see me?" Your mom asked. You turned your head to look at her. "yeah.. but your... all blurry like if was in a cup of.... Of water" you speak slowly.

When getting to the hospital the doctors and nurses had all rushed around you, trying to sober you up from the horrific amounts of Rohypnol found in your body. You had lost to much blood and halfway through fixing your wound they hadn't do a blood transfusion. And when they got you into a hospital room after fixing you up you were asleep. That was until you woke up again for the the second time since being stabbed. You looked around the room tiredly and see Elle, Spencer, your mom, your aunt Naomi, and Aaron.

"Look I know I almost died but I'm not dead so calm down" you joke and see Elle and spencers heads shoot to you direction Elle almost jumping out of her seat.

"You know for someone who could be dead you got some nerve joking like that" you mom scolled and you just giggle at her teary eyes. She kissed your forehead and you sat up tiredly rubbing your eyes. You looked at Spencer without any words. You just stared at him for a minute before speaking. "Are you okay? Is your head still hurt?" You asked, he gave you an *are you kidding me* look and shook his head. "No I'm okay, but are you okay? You had a whole punctured lung." He asked and you shrugged. "Meh, I'm good. You know I think nows a good time for me to tell you that you have this weird mark on your cheek. It looks like food or something" you say joking with his but he gives a confused look and wiped his cheeks. You smiled with amusement and whispered "I'm messing with you Spence" which earned you a glare from the brown haired guy.

The your aunt Naomi spoke. "so who wants Chinese? I'm ordering some for take out" you smiled at everyone in the room talking happily.

For almost dieing you definitely were happy.

___________

Now listen, this is my first time writing a planned out fanfiction. I'm a little rusty and I'm not the best at writing so Im sorry if it's a bit jumpy, not smooth, or anything of the sorts. But I hope you enjoyed :P.

#spencer reid x reader #aaron hotch x reader #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds x reader #elle greenaway #light angst #slight angst #hospital room #jason gideon #criminal minds season 1 #derek morgan #jj criminal minds #slight romance #not noticable romance

[boozois]

Hi again I was wondering what happened to the post about the different Borzois? I'm making a little series and I was thinking of making one of some of them (I just made a post about it you can go to my posts and see what I'm talking about and if you don't want me to make your Borzois I'm fine with that I don't mind🫀)

hi sorry it took a while for me to answer this! hang on, it'll be a very long post. the world of borzois has expanded so much since that post! and, of course you can draw them or do whatever!

i think i know what you're talking about, was it the Borzoi Files i had as my pinned for a small bit? well, i ended up deleting the post as i was having some trouble keeping up with the characters. but i do remember roughly what they were! i cant really remember any of the names so take these ones with a grain of salt. there are a few names i actually know, like Tendo and We.

there's Tendo, who you can find pictures of on any image i've edited that has purple text. they are a shapeshifting Borzoi creature! i can't remember their background, but they are very friendly and like to travel.

one i cant remember the name of, but her posts always have red text, usually in the fancy header font. nowadays, i often use that lettering format because it looks good on my posts but theres no reason it couldnt be her! she is the most divine of the Borzoi creatures. she can shapeshift into any form, and can also cast spells or curses on other creatures/people/whathaveyou. i do remember that she has a feisty personality but a heart of gold.

there's Graffiti Dog, i call them that because 1. they live in a backrooms-style world, except it's never ending abandoned buildings and graffiti. 2. they like the graffiti! i think i only have one post of them but i should probably make another one. they are very sweet, and intelligent. they gaurd the people who get lost.

there's Ick, who lives with Graffiti Dog, and is not so nice. they eat people. Ick and graffiti dog dont get along at all, because ick is always scaring people. i do believe there's only one post of Ick, which has green text.

then theres Train Dog, who, you guessed it, lives in an infinite world of train yards, train tracks, train stations, all abandoned but somehow the trains still work. people who get lost there attempt to use the trains but it's dangerous because... Train Dog is the biggest of all the Borzoi creatures. and they also eat people. even tho they're the largest, they aren't the smartest, and have a limited understanding of language.

We is another Borzoi creature i do remember the name of, since it's so simple and it was one of my top posts. We's posts usually are captioned in the cursive header font, in black. one of the heads is blind, and also their smelling is extremely impaired. however, their hearing is better than the average dogs. the other head has one excellent eye and an above standard sniffer, but is deaf. this is due to the way they consumed eachother in the womb, they kinda absorbed each others powers. they are more like a dog than other Borzoi creatures, who can commune with humans more efficiently. they have no understanding of language beyong dog language of course!

Hose Goat was the first dog that ever got posted to this account, not to be confused with the Hose Goat Strain post which is actually just one of Tendo's forms. they are a borzoi creature that's very tall and skinny with goat horns. i don't remember much else about them tho...

these are only the first Borzoi characters i came up with! since then, we've had a lot more show up in this universe, such as,

Maxine, who is the star of my ARG. to be honest, no one really knows what she is. she might be a manifestation of god, or satan. she might just have been a normal dog who was the victim of an animal abuser. she might be a telepathic alien who can communicate with people through brainwaves. nobody really knows! but she sure is something..

Max, who is an abnormally giant Borzoi. he made friends with Maxine when he too got lost in the cornfield. Max is also the dog from the picture where the neighbor forgot to let their dog back in.

The Dog from the Urban Exploration Series: now this pupper uses the same format as the divine borzoi, but is not the same entity. The Dog is a creature made by scientists, a 20 foot borzoi that has 6 six legs. it's much like snake with legs in the way it's built. it can manuever around pretty much anywhere, flattening it's body like a rodent. it mainly stays in the pipe systems in the ceiling to stay warm, but comes out of hiding if threatened.

Sunny Pup Daycare's Borzoi: this is the dog from the "closing shift" image, which you can find in my top posts. they are just a giant borzoi, who doesn't have an owner and doesn't leave the daycare. they don't appear at daytime. it's sort of like a fnaf thing, where there's a security guard to watch them at night. only, it's just a daycare worker! and oh, yeah, the Daycare Borzoi doesn't kill anybody. unless it gives you a heart attack when it runs by you too quickly..

Storage Unit's Borzoi: this lil guy is something else. he's a brown borzoi. he's camouflaged in the boxes. and he's got an extendable neck, which can reach up to 8 feet. his head may be small, but the teeth are razor sharp, and his eyes are specialized in night vision. if you have a flashlight, you might blind him. bring food with you if you don't wanna get eaten..

and there's probably plenty others i'm not thinking of, but that's all for now! have fun with your little series, im looking forward to it :D

#blessings #boozoi lore

[audio-luddite]

Tripping Down Under.

Just got back and am unpacking my jet lag. In Sydney I met a guy who has 35 guitars and more than a few amps for same. He is a collector so frets about using genuine NOS tubes, but strangely has not put them in his amps and tried them out. It may be all about labels. He also had a large box packed with a lot of tube he did not want. I left it with having his son, my virtual son-in-law, to photograph and make a list so I can figure if there is any treasure there. Unfortunately no KT88s or 6550s for me. So sad Wa Waaa.

In Brisbane I told my brother's best friend that a blue tooth speaker is not really enough for his man cave (in Oz a "man shed") and he should get a real system. His wife agreed. Another potential victim of this hobby.

I looked at the local ads in the Australian Audio Mart and in Gumtree their classified ad thing. Generally the prices are similar to NA. but some stuff is very expensive.

All that said I did no high end activity at all except for attending a concert presentation of Das Rheingold in the Sydney Opera House. It was a long night, even though that is the shortest ring opera. We had decent seats about centered in the first balcony (circle). The sound was good and very realistic.

Wagner had a lot of brass and well loud stuff. The acoustic treatments worked well and the sound was clear and natural.

I tried to explain to my daughter that my audio hobby was an attempt to bring this kind of experience into my home. Great music without having to dress fancy and pay $200 bucks for 4 glasses of wine and some finger sandwiches.

While I was in Australia I got a notice of a black Friday deal for new 6550s at a substantial discount. Good ones apparently as they were new production from China but triple tested in Canada. I was not going to order it from Oz, but once home the deal was gone.

I am in a bit of a fret about getting a new tube set. 8 large power tubes are around $1k right now. The CL60 is voiced for Russian tubes and supply is tricky with that FN war Putin started. There is stock at my reliable supplier for now. In one or two years......

I would like to get a full set of power tubes while the current ones are still good. I figure at least one year is in the cards, maybe two before it is time to replace them. I can wait, but I am nervous.

This is a serious issue with tube electronics. Tubes wear out and are expensive. Golden ear writers can buy sets as a business expense. Affluent people can keep multiple sets for rolling. I just want consistent reliability with good quality. I do not like the idea of swapping tubes to adjust the sound of a system. That is just wrong in my universe.

In other news I read a thing by Frank Doris about imperfect audio systems.

This guy was the house tech at Absolute Sound during the HP years. He has heard it all. I think he is actually getting it. He hints at my thesis that there is no best just preferences but then kinda drifts into his preferences as best.

The title image is an example of Wabi-sabi the Japanese acceptance of imperfection. Call that Ironic given that much of the best audio stuff comes from Japan. Kaisen is the Japanese process of continual improvement.

I have preferences. I like detail and clarity. I made my speakers to minimize room reflections. I like ARC stuff that I can afford. So old stuff. That guided my preamp selection for years. And yes I have now snagged an ARC tube amp. These products speak to me. Yes they need a tiny tweak in the phono loading to work properly with non-mc pickups, but otherwise none. I do not care for McIntosh for irrational reasons. Hell I admit that this is an irrational hobby.

But it is fun.

#audiophile #high end audio #cheap audiophile #vinyl #turntables #audio research preamp #ARC #audio research amplifier #imperfection #Sydney Opera House