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#and thus something like this might not land well with a lot of ppl
buckleysjareau · 4 years
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So, for a prompt, how would you feel about the firefam meeting the BAU team?? Bc in my mind, Buck would get along shockingly well with Reid and Garcia while Eddie and Morgan just brood about their favorite ppl not paying attention to them.
omg yes!!! i love this prompt! the beginning is kind of dramatic but i wanted to give a reason for the bau to be there haha :) hope you like it!
The entirety of the one-eighteen had been on edge the entire week. Not only had their calls been emotionally and physically taxing, but Los Angeles seems to have found itself another serial bomber. According to Athena, the LAPD called in the FBI to help investigate after twists and turns and empty leads. 
The reassurance from Athena that they’ve got Behavioral Analysts working hours upon hours with the police department to find the bomber did nothing for Buck’s nerves. It didn’t really do much for the team’s nerves, either. The whole team had been affected by the ladder truck bombing and though they know Freddie is locked away, trauma doesn’t let you think rationally sometimes. When they’re not out on calls, they’re hypervigilant. When they’re out on calls, they’re hypervigilant. At home, they’re either sleeping with one eye open or not at all. 
Buck definitely wasn’t sleeping. He checks every possible location in his apartment where a bomb could be hidden before he leaves for work and as soon as he gets home. He sits awake on the couch when he should be sleeping, waits for a knock or a sound of someone leaving something outside of his door. He hasn’t opened his mail the entire week, just leaves it in his mailbox until his landlord has to check on him to see if he’s alive. He rushes to offer to clean the trucks before anyone else can just so he can check closely for a bomb. 
Which is exactly what he’s doing when two men walk into the station. He hears Bobby greet them but doesn’t pay attention to the rest until his name is called. That makes his heart beat speed up quicker than the speed of a moving bullet. 
When Buck slides himself out from under the truck - he revels in the fact that he can - his eyes widen when he notices the guns holstered on their sides and he’s terrified to find out what the FBI wanted him for.
“You must be Evan. I’m Agent Morgan with the FBI and this is Dr. Spencer Reid, we were wondering if we could ask you a couple of questions?” 
“Buck. Just Buck.” He clears his throat. “Why?”
“Do you remember anything about the night Freddie Costas bombed the truck you were on?”
“Why are you asking? Why do you guys need to know what happened? I’m not the one that was targeted. Can’t you just watch the news report, I know it’s everywhere.” His voice is shaky, he knows he sounds paranoid and panicked but that didn’t matter. Why is the FBI asking him?
“We need more information from those involved with the bombings last ye-” Buck scoffs, cutting Dr. Reid off. 
“Why ask me then? I wasn’t targeted, I wasn’t on that kid’s kill list, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Is Freddie involved in this again somehow?”
“Buck, man, I know it’s gotta be tough to talk about it, this whole station was affected but you were there closest to him when you were trapped. Anything you can remember about that night could help.” Agent Morgan sighs. “Freddie Costas might have had a partner.”
Well fuck.
“Ask Bobby. He was the original target, he has a vendetta against Bobby.” Buck pushes passed the agents, practically shoving Dr. Reid in the process and he can hear the lecture Athena would give about disrespecting law enforcement. 
He winces internally as he thinks about the lecture he’s about to get from his Captain. Great, this is fucking great.
Three days later of restless sleep and constant worrying, Buck gets a call from Bobby on his day off. His heart is in his throat as he answers.
The speed at which his entire body relaxes the second he hears they got her makes Buck dizzy, almost. His knees buckle, falling to his couch in shocked and relieved laughter. He listens as Bobby tells him that Freddie’s partner was a girlfriend who knew her way around making explosives and by Freddie’s orders, she had planned to send one to Bobby and Athena’s again and one to Buck’s for making Freddie’s sentence longer. The fact that he was actually targeted makes him feel a little sick to his stomach but he’s just so full of relief that it’s over again, he laughs.
He feels guilty for the way he’d treated the agents he spoke to. He goes over it in his head as he heads to Bobby’s for dinner after he’d gotten his first full night of sleep in weeks. He shoved a federal agent, cut them off, rolled his eyes. He’d acted like a child and though Bobby didn’t tell him that, he felt like he was being scolded by a father rather than lectured by his captain.
When he arrives at the Grant-Nash’s, Athena greets him at the door and takes the bottle of red wine from his hand with a smile. “Well you look more well rested than I’ve ever seen you, Buckaroo. How’re you doing?”
“Well I’m not crushed under a ladder truck or blown to-” He’s cut off by his own shock at seeing people he definitely didn’t know standing in the Grant-Nash’s living room. His eyes landed on the younger agent he wished he’d had a chance to apologize to not five minutes before. “Uh, hi?”
“Buck, these guys are from the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI. I’m sure you remember Agent Morgan and Dr. Reid?”
Buck’s face flushes. “Uh, yeah, I do. Nice to see you again, agents. Sorry about the way I acted, truly. Lack of sleep does that to you, I guess.” 
“There’s no need to be, there’s no hard feelings. We understand.” Dr. Reid smiles respectfully. 
“Yeah, no need. The important thing is that we caught her and you can put this behind you again.” Morgan holds out a fist and Buck returns it to fist bump. “You can drop the title, by the way. It’s Derek.”
“Endearing as it is to see you guys bro out, I would like to get this party started.” A woman with dark hair chimes in as she grabs the bottle of wine that Buck brought. “Oh, and he brought the good stuff. Hello, I’m Emily Prentiss and you have good taste.”
Buck snorts as he shakes her hand. “Nice to meet you. Honored to have your approval.”
She’s about to respond before she’s cut off by a squeal. “Bucky!”
His entire face lights up as he turns towards the voice. “Christopher!” 
“Mr Reid pulled a quarter out of my ear just like you can do! You’re both magic!” Buck lets out a startled laugh. “You also both know a lot of facts!”
“Oh, do we have another Boy Genius amongst us right now?” A blonde woman, who seems to embody sunshine, squeals from Buck’s right. “I’m Penelope Garcia, Garcia, PG, girl of your dreams, whatever you want.”
Buck already adores her attitude and vibe.
“Pretty Boy here’s got an IQ of 187, can read 20,000 words per minute, and has an eidetic memory. How about you, man?” Morgan pipes up.
Buck snorts. “I don’t know my IQ, I definitely can’t read that many words per minute, and I never claimed to be a genius. I just like to read, man. Random stuff in history, astrology, stuff Christopher’s into, philosophy-”
Reid’s eyebrows shoot up in interest. “Who’s your favorite philosopher?”
Thus, a conversation is started. Penelope joins in at the mention of Immanuel Kant and Buck is happy Athena invited them over before they left. He’s lost in a conversation and learning new things and more importantly, he’s made new connections for the day. Eddie joins when the conversation turns to Doctor Who, something that Buck never knew Eddie was into. When he leaves to talk to Aaron Hotchner about baseball, Buck watches as he walks away before getting sucked back into another conversation about black holes.
Across the room from him, Eddie sits with Emily, Derek and a woman he now knows as JJ. He’s laughing as Emily teases him about something. What it could be about, Buck doesn’t know, but seeing Eddie laugh makes his heart soar.
“Oh?” Penelope smirks. “Eddie, huh? What’s going on there?”
Buck’s eyes widen at the unexpected question. “What? Nothing.”
Reid, who didn’t even seem to be one for gossip, scoffs. “Do you know what the BAU does? We study human behavior. The entire time Eddie was over here, you leaned into him whenever you talked. You would brush your hand against his and whenever you’d laugh about something, you’d tap his chest. You only looked at him the entire conversation, you were hanging onto every word. The amount of eye contact between the two of you was evident. When JJ came behind us and knocked into Eddie, you put your arm out to protect him. Classic mannerisms of someone in love.”
“But Eddie does that stuff too. It’s not just me.” Buck really thinks he’s making a point.
Penelope laughs. “Oh, honey, you’re exactly right. This isn’t an unrequited love trope here. Our friends are over there probably teasing him for the same thing right now. You don’t need to be a profiler to see he’s in love with you, too.”
Buck looks over to Eddie along with Penelope and Reid. Eddie’s face is red and he’s looking down as JJ talks exasperatedly. Then Eddie is looking up and catches the three of them staring. Buck’s face is on fire as he waves awkwardly. Derek, Emily, and JJ look up as well and smirk at each other.
“I think I hate profilers.” Buck deadpans. 
Across the room, Eddie says the same thing.
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kendrixtermina · 5 years
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An Alternate Take on The Prologue
It seems to have been almost universally accepted that the events in the prologue were an assassination attempt meant to remove Dimitri and Claude so that the war would go smoother later on. I’d like to present an alternative possibility. 
I have no solid 100% certain proof I’m not even going to pretend that this is anything other than my own interpretation that’s no more valid than the other one. It’s just a possibility. 
Thus it is ultimately an opinion that I wouldn’t base further conclusions on. We don’t know for a fact that her goal wasn’t, in fact, assassination. 
Still I think because there’s quite a lot of interesting stuff going on in that scene that ppl seem to miss, that I want to dissect here regardless of wether you agree with my thesis or not
Significant Clues: 
The Actual Motive
I’m not sure if it was Seteth or a random Monk, but I think more than one character goes on about how the Church’s reputation that they worked for so many years would have been tarnished if anything happened to the heirs.  Especially when you consider there aren’t that many Blaiddyds left and even less Riegans and that both are expected to solve/end the dire chaos in their respective factions.
Now who would benefit from making the Church look bad? Someone who plans to declare war on them maybe? 
They wouldn’t put that sort of dialogue there if we weren’t supposed to conclude something from it.
This might be less obvious if you haven’t played her route (though even then, you still get her speech in all of them don’t you?) but her declaration of war was strictly against the Church and their allies. She hands out papers everywhere, exposing the Church’s wrongdoings and asking all the rulers to choose sides. Petra mentions getting one such letter. 
She knew full well that most of the Kingdom and Alliance would side with the Church (and keep fighting even after Rhea’s taken out) and that there would probably be calvacades of collateral damage,  after all the Church indoctrinates the ruling elites at the Academy and thanks to the phony “crests are divine gifts” story the nobles depend on the Church for legitimacy as rulers - but every lord who doesn’t support the Church is one whose army she doesn’t have to fight. 
When she declares war, she wants as many people as possible to either stand down or join her. Painting the church as incompetent (or, in her mind, “highlighting” their incompetence) to safeguard the precious heirs might have increased that number, if Byleth’s heroic intervention and subsequent appointment as a professor hadn’t overshadowed the whole thing. 
Also note that for this to cause a scandal, Dimitri and Claude don’t need to be dead. 
Essentially ordering a hit on herself is certainly in line with Edelgard’s other... as Claude put it, “gutsy moves” (Such as not evacuating Enbarr in GD knowing full well that Claude was not going to tear through the civilians, effectively restricting his movements) but looking at literally any other action she’s ever taken, she always goes out of her way to give people the option to surrender., consistently, all the time, all throughout her route (and even many of her engage quotes in the other routes - She offers to let Claude and Byleth go at Gronder, for example) 
She even gets this whole rant before you go to fight Claude about how she wishes people would just stand down peacefully instead of starting fights they can’t win. (which is perhaps why she tells Byleth to just go ahead and finish her once she realizes that she’s beaten in the other routes)
She’ll mow you down if you oppose her alright but first she’ll make sure that both you (and her allies all of whom get the chance to opt out) are all there because you want to be/ are actually choosing to oppose her. It’s not like her to just kill people without giving them an explanation or a choice. 
But smears and coverups? That’s another matter. There’s her whole secret identity/secret faustian Bargain thing, that time only Hubert, Byleth and Lysithea knew which fortress they’d be attacking, and how she pinned the Javelins of light on the church. That’s totally something she’d do, (which might’ve backfired on the credibility of her pamphlets; PR and negotiation are simply not her greatest strengths)
Which makes her less truthful than, say, Dimitri (I think the only time he ever remotely lied to an ally was to hide his investigations of Arundel from Dedue), but overall still not as deceptive as Claude or the Church , since these are all “tactical” lies for concrete short-term goals, nothing relating to their goals. 
Everyone on Edelgard’s side knows that she wants to abolish hereditary rule and create an equal society, even if that means making enemies; Claude tells no one what he’s planning until the very end even though the knights might not follow him if he’d told them that he means to diminish the Church’s influence on society, kinda hoping that everyone will come around on their own - He does this even with Byleth to an extent. 
(Though when it comes to the Church we must really differentiate between the Chuch as a whole established by Rhea and Seteth individually, who I’d rate as significantly more truthful than Edelgard since he only lies out of very justified self-protection and loyalty to Rhea (who is his sister, and about whose wrongdoings he only knows the tip of the iceberg), and even urges her to come clean in the end.)
Ferdinand finds it strange that they just so ran into a bunch of mercenaries and wonders if one of the house leaders knew that there were mercenaries. 
As before, that Dialogue is there for a reason. One of them probably did know. 
So who is it? Probably not Dimitri he can’t pokerface worth a damn. 
That leaves Edelgard or Claude. 
Edelgard might’ve know that there were mercenaries nearby and expected them to intervene if things went south. Or it could be Claude, and that’s why he ran off.
We know that he’s got great survival instincts, grew up in a warrior culture of sorts, and makes a habit of carefully observing his surroundings. Perhaps he just spotted a large amount of hoofprints or beaten muddy footpaths, and deduced that there might be help to be had in that direction.  
For now I’ll say that Claude is the most likely option. 
I mean it’s really like him to be a spanner in the works before he even known anything is up - also, he’s the one who ran. It’s because of HIM that the trio went that direction, not because of anything Edelgard did. 
Leave it to Claude to look like he’s bailing when he’s actually looking for help. (but also taking a bit of a risk since he didn’t know for certain that he would find help).  Also he says something like “Ain’t it great the gods of fortune sent us your way?” which is something Claude would only say ironically. 
Kostas didn’t know there would be knights
As far as he knew he was just supposed to “kill some noble pipsqueaks”
But actually, our trio wasn’t supposed to be alone - it was an exercise with Alois and bunch of knights, the elite knights of Seiros, mind you, who are renowed throughout the land. (as Edelgard herself tells you after the fight)
Meaning that Edelgard probably didn’t expect them to be beaten by a bunch of bandits.
Of course beating Claude and Dimitri themselves on their own might be another matter, at least if they’re outnumbered. Still, she must’ve known that Dimitri had seen actual war before and was aware of Claude’s suspicious arrival. 
Since she was with them one could think that she maybe lured them away from the group... except that the situation ultimately depended on at least two unpredictable factors:
- The guy who was supposed to get Byleth’s job bolted. He was supposed to be with the trio and presumably semi-competent. 
I’m surprised that he didn’t show up as an antagonist afterwards or something. We never find out anything about this guy or why he ran though it coulve been simple cowardice. 
Well, unless he too was a plant who meant to run off so Jeritza (who definitely was an imperial plant) could take his job - Didn’t someone say something about expecting Jeritza to get the job Byleth got? I think it was Felix. 
- Claude ran for it, and Dimitri chased after him
Now that’s something that Edelgard really couldn’t have predicted. It’s just Claude being Claude, and Dimitri being Dimitri and hence, heroically charging after him to help him out. 
If Claude hadn’t run off, the trio would have stayed with the knights who could presumably handle a bunch of bandits. If Dimitri hadn’t charged after him to save him, Claude’s plan would have worked without a hitch and he would have returned with allies - he was just one person, he’s the fastest/stealthiest and the least valuable target so he might’ve escaped by himself. 
But Dimitri and Claude running off? Let alone all three? That’s all the most valuable targets on a platter so the thieves went after them. Dimitri, bless his heart,  of course thought that Claude was acting as a decoy and counting on himto come after him.  (consider how he eventually really DOES expect Dimitri to bail him out at the end of Dimitri’s route)
I’d like to stress that Dimitri’s genuine, unpremeditated and unplanned action with no ulterior motive besides helping out proved to be as much of a spanner here as Claude’s clever foresight and chaotic action, and that neither of the other two had been expecting it.  
Dimitri and Claude explicitly tell us that the other two got separated from the group because they chased after Claude. (Again, if she just wanted to kill them, why not just stick with the knights and let them run to their deaths? She’d get a bonus alibi. Indeed she might’ve gone after them because she hadn’t meant for this to end lethally - though it’s fully possible that she just followed without thinking and didn’t intend to get separated)
Something to appreciate here is that while Edelgard is competent and had been planning this for a while, she’s still relatively young and inexperienced and she can only defy or constrain TWSITD so much until she gets the throne.
She has clearly been amassing allies of her own (she marches in with a bunch of relatively young, handpicked generals such as Randolph, Jeritza and Ladislava, and cuts a deal with some from the old regime such as Caspar’s and Linhardt’s dads... though how he goes out in the Church and Alliance routes suggests that Caspar’s dad had some redeeming qualities) , but even with all this and some tentative assent from Arundel and co. she still needed to make an unnanounced surprise visit to actually get her hands on the crown.
She’s not exactly in over her head, but she’s attempting to control a very volatile situation while essentially making a deal with a loose-canon devil she can just barely keep in check. 
A microcosm of what’s to come
The central tragedy of the game is that though the faction leaders were ultimately good people who had the same enemies, they wind up fighting each other before they get at the real bad guys because they’re all acting on information that other other’s don’t have and hence don’t know the other’s situation. 
In a way the introduction scene is kinda like a miniature version of that. 
Each of their individual plans/decisions might have worked, but not all three at once. 
If you think about it the way they would’ve died without Byleth’s intervention foreshadows each of their “bad” endings - Edelgard finds herself surrounded and outnumbered after he plans backfire and goes down fighting as no one else has a clue what she’s really doing, Dimitri rushes head-first into an unwinnable fight because he puts honor before reason,  misjudged someone’s intentions and doesn’t consider his own role, and Claude would’ve either bailed, or gotten himself killed when one of his plans didn’t quite turn out like he wanted. 
Too bad you can only pick one :( 
The other two stay that way. 
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crowned-ladybug · 4 years
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So I said I wanted to see demon AUs that aren’t smut and that I sadly don’t have the energy to make my own rn, and then I went ahead and accidentally made one anyway
So here’s some incomplete notes on it. It’s 2.7k words. I’m so sorry.
Local dumbass heir to the throne (Joseph) doesn’t Wanna be a heir to the throne bc it’s Boring he’s always wanted to be an Adventurer but here he is anyway. Then one night he gets drunk off his ass and manages to?? accidentally summon a demon??? in his friend’s Magic Lab???
(The friend is Avdol and he’s v v tired of Joseph’s shit)
fuckin Joseph made a drunk deal with a demon who Absolutely saw nothing against making a deal with the royal heir currently drunk off his ass bc hey, free deal
luckily the deal wasn’t for Joseph’s soul or firstborn child or half his kingdom or whatever. Instead the deal is a magical bond between Joseph and the demon that allows the demon to share in Joseph’s life energy/general basic human magic and thus be able to exist in the human world in a stable form without having to go home to rest every once in a while or having to maintain like ten spells Just In Case
the demon is doing this whole deal thing bc 1) he Has to, it’s kind of his Job and 2) he’s looking for vengance on a gang of demon hunters who have killed his family but since they’re human, he needs a way into the human world for a longer term to be able to hunt them down
the demon is Caesar in case you haven’t figured that out yet
Joseph is a lot less concerned about having made a deal with a Literal Demon than he should be. He thinks it’s p hilarious actually and Caesar immediately starts having regrets (he’d bond with Avdol over it if he were willing to lower himself to the level of Measly Mortals)
the fun thing is that bc he’s tied to Joseph magically to allow him to freely exist in the human world, Caesar can’t get out of a few mile radius of him, which kinda makes his plans to hunt down the demon hunters (*cough* Pillar Men *cough*) a lot harder and Joseph even more annoying to deal with
the logical solution to that is to pass Caesar off as a servant Joseph befriends, so that he can stay in the castle, and then eventually they can go off on some adventure together to defeat the Pillar Men (or, well, so that Caesar can defeat the Pillar Men while keeping Joseph at arm’s length) which would also mean that Joseph can Finally get his big adventure he’s been dreaming about
then Joseph gets the genius idea to kill even More birds with one stone and decides that Caesar should pretend to be his bf bc all the annoying ass nobles and shit won’t leave him alone about not having a partner and “oh no, you’re of age now, what will happen if you have to take the throne but have no queen by your side?” and everyone keeps trying to woo him and it was fun at first but now it’s just goddamn Tiring
Caesar agrees to it eventually bc Anything as long as Joseph lets him do his research on the Pillar Men in peace. He doesn’t really realise what fake-dating the annoying bastard entails until he’s already too deep into it and he kinda literally can’t go back on his promises to Joseph, being a contract-bound demon
(Caesar looks like a proper demon normally but he Can disguise himself as p much entirely human-looking if he needs to. It takes energy tho, so he reverts back to his demonic looks whenever he’s safe from prying eyes, or if he’s unconscious)
they’re essentially fake-married for magic tax benefits it’s so great
there’s Definitely some Magic Soulbond Shenanigans along the line of “if one gets hurt the other also feels it”
they find out that Caesar reverts to his demonic form when asleep when he pulls two all-nighters in a row looking for information on the Pillar Men and passes out in Avdol’s study, scaring the shit out of poor Avdol. After that they manage to land a room for him in the castle with some lie about him having travelled here from faraway lands (technically true) and having nowhere else to stay (also technically true), but he also spends a lot of his time in Avdol’s study and Joseph’s room without his disguise, solely for convenience’s sake
they ofc have to fool Everyone with the fake dating, including Joseph’s family, bc No One else can know that Caesar is a demon on a quest for vengeance. The worst, most unexpected part for Caesar is that Queen Erina and Lord Speedwagon actually seem to like him?? they’re just genuinely nice to him??? simply bc he’s around Joseph and bc they find him likeable??? he did Not expect Anyone to be nice to him in the human world, what the Fuck, he doesn’t know how to Deal With That
Suzi is Technically a servant but she’s been Joseph’s friend since they were lil kids so she was essentially raised alongside him and they’re best friends and Suzi can only keep Joseph out of dumb shit like half the time bc the other half she’s right there in it with him
she is Entirely unfazed by Caesar, sees through the pretend relationship in like two minutes and knows immeditely that Something Is Up. When she accidentally catches Caesar in his demon form while checking to make sure he’s not stacking all-nighters again, she doesn’t even bat an eye (meanwhile Caesar’s thoughts are entirely “oh fuck do I have to kill her now, Joseph’s gonna kill me if I do, oh fuck, oh fuck”) just tells him to go to sleep on time and then leaves (to call Joseph out on getting himself into even deeper shit than she’d originally thought)
look idk what he does or what relevance he ends up having to the plot but Polnareff is also there, he’s a dumbass knight who’s the reason Joseph knows how to Not fight properly (bc Polnareff has a shitton of dumb tricks and Joseph knows all of them) and has a giant crush on Avdol
god there’s just. A Shitton of dumb shenanigans during their time in the castle, both with the fake-dating (like having to teach Caesar proper royal etiquette and him getting Very confused and flustered when Joseph casually flirts with him) and with hiding Caesar being a demon (they have so many stupid close calls and make so many dumb decisions they Really Shouldn’t, it’s great)
when the time comes to go and find and kill the Pillar Men, it’s only Caesar and Joseph going bc Caesar doesn’t want any more ppl in this mission than absolutely necessary, totally not bc they’re his friends and he worries about them or anything
they get some tips on where to look and how to get there from this weird adventurer dude who passes through the castle on his travels every once in a while. Joseph’s only met him in passing but he thinks he seems fun and has his own dumbass theory that he’s totally some runaway royalty or something. Instead turns out that the dude is half demon and actually related to Caesar and Caesar, being an orphan and all, had thought finding a remaining member of his family would be Way more thrilling but no this dude is just as weird and annoying as Joseph so he’d like a refund pls
(the dude’s Gyro. Ofc it’s fuckin Gyro. Johnny’s there too somewhere I just haven’t figured that out yet. He might actually be the top horse trainer/caretaker/whatever of the castle and the True reason Gyro travels this way every time is bc he’s smitten as hell)
while Gyro gives them some advice he also tells them that hey. Maybe you shouldn’t do this?? esp not just the two of you??? Considering the Pillar Men are known to be ruthless and Very good at killing demons
ofc these idiots Don’t Listen and go after them together anyway
the plan technically is that Joseph stays a safe distance away while Caesar goes and fights the Pillar Men and Totally wins but like. ofc he doesn’t listen and refuses to stay on his ass and let Caesar leave so they go in together anyway
they manage to find Santana alone and Actually Kill Him but it’s a close one, much tougher than anticipated bc as I said before, these dudes are Really Good at killing demons and also just killing in general. It’s also when Caesar realises the full scope of the “if one gets hurt, the other also feels it” part of his bond with Joseph bc Joseph gets hurt worse during the battle and Caesar is so shocked by his own reaction to it that he’s frozen for a moment and it almost costs him his life
that night when they’re camping out after the battle, Joseph reveals that a long while ago he figured out how to break their magic bond without it hurting either of them or sending Caesar right back to his own world. it’s some old spell he found in one of Avdol’s books or something, idk, and at first he’d kept it hidden from Everyone bc he was starting to really like Caesar but knew that Caesar was only around him out of necessity (not true actually but Caesar hid and denied his growing fondness for v v long) and he didn’t want him to leave the moment he realised he Could, even if it was v v selfish of him and he feels like shit about it now. And then later on when it turned out that they’re gonna see this quest through together anyway, he figured it didn’t matter anymore and so he kinda just forgot about it
but he’s remembered it again before they left and packed what he needs for it as a grim Just In Case (and it may or may not be a weird red gem bc yknow, but idk yet) and now he offers to break the bond already bc of how him getting hurt almost got Caesar killed. But Caesar tells him not to, bc it doesn’t matter now and a spell like that would probably take a lot of energy out of both of them when they need everything they’ve got for the upcoming battles
in reality he doesn’t want the bond broken bc it makes him feel like he’s got a right and a reason to stay, without having to fully face just how much he cares about Joseph, and bc it makes sure that Joseph is never far from him and lets him know if he’s hurt and maybe like this he can somehow protect him from getting hurt again
spoiler alert: he can’t
the fight with the other three Pillar Men doesn’t go their way at all. I mean it’s 3 vs 2 and the 3 are Very Good at killing so it should be Expected, but they’re young and dumb and Caesar is stubborn and still thirsting for revenge and if Joseph can’t hold him back then at least he can stay with him
they both get badly hurt and when it looks like it’s just it for both of them, Joseph brings out that spell again and breaks their bond before Caesar could tell him to stop and tells Caesar to run, to get away and don’t even fucking look back, just Go. When Caesar tries to object, Joseph tells him that he’s not dying just so Caesar can get himself killed too and Caesar is too scared to do anything but listen and run as Joseph leaves himself no escape and takes another two of the Pillar Men down with him before Caesar could figure out a way to save him
Joseph survives, Somehow, minus a hand anyway. He wakes up again in his own room in the castle and he has No Idea how he got back or who even found him and his best guess is that Gyro and Johnny have followed them and lbr Avdol’s magic has probably had a part to play in it too
and Caesar is just. Gone. Separated from Joseph and already weak from the fight, he didn’t have enough magic left to remain in the human world for long and thus got pulled back into his own world, and being just a normal demon, he can’t even cross back over without being summoned. But Joseph doesn’t know any of that, he just knows that Caesar is Gone and he strongly doubts he’s coming back bc he hasn’t already and he’s p damn heartbroken about it
meanwhile Caesar isn’t having much better of a time in his own world either. Bc nothing went well, Nothing, but he realises that he doesn’t even care about his revenge plan anymore, he doesn’t care about hunting Kars down and avenging his family. But he’s just lost the only family he’s had Again, the ppl in the castle this time, and he’s stuck here without any way back unless someone accidentally summons him again, and for what he knows Joseph had died to save him and Caesar didn’t even get to say goodbye or bury him
this v shitty state lasts until Joseph’s desperation + a lil nudge from Avdol and Suzi gets him to try summoning Caesar again (bc Joseph decides that if he gets no response at all, if the spell fails, it means Caesar’s really just Gone and he hadn’t made it out alive after all, but having definite knowledge of that will still be better than just Not Knowing and hoping for the rest of his life)
Avdol lets him take his study all to himself and so Joseph settles in during the afternoon and gets to finding the spell which is Not Easy bc he’d been drunk off his ass when he’d first found and performed it. He’s starting to lose hope and think that maybe the spell doesn’t even Exist in Avdol’s books, he’d just butchered a completely different spell and that’s how he got to Caesar, when he Finally finds it, and it’s almost midnight at that point and he’s Exhausted and Scared and Sad and he just Wants This To Work
the spell asks for an offering for the demon’s services, and the first time around Joseph had said something like “idk name your price” which is how Caesar had got the bond he needed (tho Joseph doesn’t actually remember this)
this time he just says “anything” which is a p dumb thing to offer when making a deal with a Literal Demon but he doesn’t care, this is Caesar, he trusts him and he loves him and he’d damn right give anything to just know that he’s okay and maybe get to see him again
and the spell Works it fuckin Works even if it takes a moment and there’s a flash of light and then suddenly there’s Caesar, sitting on the ground in Avdol’s study in all his demonic glory, blinking as his eyes adjust to the dim light and until he sees Joseph sitting on the ground in front of him, crying. And from then on it’s just a big “i thought I lost you” reunion moment that’s so happy it Hurts. They stay sitting on the floor for Hours despite it being late at night, just pressed together and talking about anything and just enjoying each others presence bc they’ve missed each other and thought they’d never see each other again
the next morning Avdol finds them sitting against the wall in a pile and fast asleep and decides to take the day off and goes to find Suzi and Polnareff to tell them the news
idk where the rest of the plot goes yet bc Kars is still out there and Erina and Speedwagon still don’t know about the whole demon thing but have this for now
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greensconnor · 4 years
Note
i’m asking about your dragon age characters
molly i would KILL for u im ur personal hitman now
anyway i said my city now because the entire bioware writing team sucks shit xoxo and i’m so much smarter than all of them but also fully incapable of having a normal amount of ocs for anything (see: the time i made 20 rwby ocs in less than two weeks) so i have. five worldstates here r some assorted thoughts
uhhh so the worldstates r as follows
eira mahariel (two-handed berserk/champ spec), rhett hawke (two-handed berserk spec), alas lavellan (mage knight enchanter spec), romanced alistair/fenris/dorian respectively
shiv tabris (dual wield duelist/assassin spec), radella “rads” hawke (mage spirit healer spec), kat adaar (two-handed reaver spec), romanced morrigan/isabela/cassandra respectively because im a pc gamer and i think i should be able to date whatever video game woman i like because im infinitely better than cishet men
this world state said yeah i respect mens rights. mens rights to shut the fuck up
twins bronson (sword/shield reaver spec) & bryant cousland (archer ranger spec), carmine hawke (archer assassin spec), syracuse trevelyan (dual wield tempest spec), romanced zevran/anora/josephine/bull. if ur wondering how that works my city now and the warden, hawke and the inquisitor should all meet and so they do because i Said So
riva amell (mage arcane warrior/battlemage spec), graham “gray” hawke (mage force spec), hellathen “hela” lavellan (archer assassin spec); romanced cullen/anders and later blackwall because hawke only likes men who will break his heart. hela doesn’t have a romance because she’s literally 20. who let her lead the inquisition (me it was me). also it should be noted the version of cullen i have in my head only vaguely resembles actual cullen because i write better than dragon age writers ever could and i gave him an Actual Cohesive Narrative and he gets bullied relentlessly for being scrawnier than his mage boyfriend
malien “mal” surana (mage spirit healer/keeper spec), jules hawke (sword/shield reaver spec), ash adaar (mage rift spec), romanced leliana/merrill/krem because i should have been able to kiss krem and its a Crime that i am not allowed to
knight enchanter is a Very op specialization and by Very op i mean it makes a mage with their built-in low constitution stats able to solo the biggest baddest dragon in the game on nightmare mode in under five minutes so like. alas lavellan fist fights dragons for fun send tweet
i think lavellans should be able to hit ppl with bricks for all the shit they endure. thus solas gets pranked by mahariel and alas by which i mean they just tip buckets of water onto him from the rookery
kat might be my only competent inquisitor but she did also try to knock out the right hand of the divine and attempt to gap even tho there’s fucky magic burning up her hand so does she have a brain cell? you decide
also its fantasy land and i do what i want so kat has blue/gold sectoral heterochromia
gray “mage rights” hawke is best friends with fenris which surprises literally everyone. their friendship started because they got into a fist fight and then they were like okay i respect u now. hawke is like hey fenris give me ur sword i have a fun trick to show u [uses his sword as a foci to zap carver in the ass with lightning]
i am Always thinking abt like how cullen could have been one man anti-chantry propaganda machine if he hadn’t so blatantly been shoehorned into every game past origins so anyway bioware forgot about a wholeass moon i can write what i like. [holds up cullen by the scruff of his stupid armor] not only are you bisexual you are also a bottom
i also Hate the whole uwu mage haters get fixed by romancing a mage
unlocked secret dialogue option where my inquisitors verbally cuss out dorian’s dad instead of whatever sympathetic narrative the writers were going for cuz its bullshit.
riva is a showoff and a Menace about being as good as he is because he unabashedly loves being a mage and hes like oooh look at me im sexy i dont need to use my hands to cast magic because i’m just that good ;)) and you know what. hes right.
gray, on the other hand, does Not want to be mage. he wants to be a druffalo farmer and retire in the hinterlands and be left the fuck alone. unfortunately he is gay and has one brain cell and terrible, terrible taste in men. ribbed relentlessly for this by riva (altho does he have room to talk hes been hung up on cullen since he was like 13)
shiv is trans n kieran is the result of doing the dark ritual with her wife and he looks a Lot like shiv (dark skin pointed ears, shock-white hair) and morrigan always just Assumed she dyed it or did something magic with it so seeing their kid come out like that was a WEIRD time for her
leliana almost Murdered by cassandra in worldstate 5 because the warden is Actually There The Whole Time, but its been 10 years, mal’s cut off all her hair and gotten full facial tattoos and she’s like “no one will know its me its fine” and she’s right. she gets away with it. only cullen like, Knows, because he knew her before the blight but he doesnt have a death wish n he like. will Not piss her off
shes dalish by birth n she was stolen from her clan by templars and thus is vehemently anti-circle and anti-chantry in general
uhhh the vallaslin (elf face tattoos) of my 4 dalish characters are:
eira = ghilan’nain (chose em cuz shes rlly interested in the navigation aspect of the goddess)
alas = falon’din (god of the dead n he picked them because he’s Also the god of fortune and alas is like tee hee fun but also he can and will kill u if u fuck with him so yk its fitting)
hela = june (god of the craft bc she likes to Make things but june is also the god who taught the elves 2 hunt and hela is. a hunter.)
mal = elgar’nan (allfather/god of vengeance bc. she is Vengeful. she is Angry. but yk fucking with shem politics and fucking their divine is like. mal may have little a retribution. as a treat.) yes she has the full half-face solid colour tattoo she does NOT fuck around.
bronson and bryant r not genetically identical but they Look similar enough 2 anyone who doesn’t know them well enough 2 play spot the distance. anora and bronson think this is a super fun game to play, especially when nobles realize they’ve swapped out the king but they’re too nervous to say anything
eira mahariel has two hands. one is for holding hands with alistair and the other is for throttling elven gods, apparently. she’s killed one before so solas she’s coming for your bitch ass next. watch urself.
speaking of eira and alistair are married thru dalish tradition and humans don’t recognize it n alistair loves 2 re-propose to her with random things. he’ll just pick up like. a bit of cheese and be like “marry me ;)” and she’s like GASP but whatever will the chantry say!!!! all of their friends r sick of them
“vhenan if you love me bring me a sword” “you think i could do better than a sword made out of space rock?” “:)”
eira is my youngest hero at 18 at the start of her game and kat is my oldest at 32 at the start of her game.
none of my hawkes are under six foot. rhett is the tallest (6′8″) and rads is the shortest (6′2″).
syracuse trevelyan would have been the Perfect inquisitor if he were not a pretty boy himbo and a gay bastard who does Most Things just to spite his parents.
[corypheus pointing at syracuse’s visage in his crystal orb thingo] i want that twink obliterated
i love the companions from older games return thing i truly do so i make it a point for Every companion to return in inquisition so the gang rlly is all here because i am a Slutte for found family
i lie in my keep worldstates because i dont want to choose between hawke and alistair during here lies the abyss but i never make him king and every time i play inquisition and cole has the wicked grace line it makes me Scream. alistair baby im so sorry i did this to you but i didnt actually do this to you
yes this is my everyone lives au but like. all the time. i have never left hawke in the fade and i do not intend to.
fuck whatever nonsense about wardens not being able 2 have kids. by sheer divine power (me) anora and bryant have three daughters; eleanor, sabina & cecelia n both bronson and zevran make Excellent uncles because i think anora deserves good things because i’m tired of bioware being like women bad, actually,
so like most of the time i have the warden & hawke turning up after the move to skyhold n then staying on, with the exception of bryant, carmine & mal. mal is as mentioned previously just There the whole time with her girlfriend. bryant steps in as king of ferelden w/ interests in closing the big hole in the sky spewing demons in2 his kingdom yk. carmine shows up because she wants to help & she wants protection for bethany but she outright says she’d rather die than be inquisitor so cassandra is shit out of luck.
“CHANGE HER MIND VARRIC” “she once doubled down on insisting amaranth was a shade of blue because she didn’t want to admit to being wrong. no one’s changing her mind seeker”
alas is the middle child of eight and is thus very good with children and also bossing around people older than him. 2 of his older siblings come to the inquisition when stuff in wycome has been settled
i left ash with the basic canon background with Some variation (he grew up under the qun and left of his own free will when his magic was discovered n he realized he couldn’t take living as a saarebas
kat on the other hand was raised tal-vashoth and has bounced around basically all over thedas and leads her own merc company when the conclave blows up. she also speaks multiple languages. is there a language she doesn’t speak? probably not
just realized how long this got so im gonna like. stop my general rambling now but lmao yeah theres some basics. waves hands.
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gg-astrology · 5 years
Note
What do you have to say about Cancer Mars and Venus in 10th? How would that work considering Capricorn, Cancer's opposite sign, rules 10th?
Hey there ❤️💕 oof I hope you won’t mind if I answer something that’s been nudging me for a while now a lil ;; just for everyone else as well if that’s ok? ❤️💕 promise I’ll get to Cancer Venus/Mars in 10th soon ❤️💕
About House Rulers and Houses  
Hm well first of all, unless you have aries asc – capricorn wouldn’t rule the 10th. The idea of 1st house = aries, 2nd house = taurus etc. comes from the 12 letters alphabet to help beginners learn/integrate already-mastered knowledge hopefully care/start on the houses (i.e. learning about the signs, planets, so ppl often mistakenly think that 1st house = aries = mars–  as most modern resources online would reference it without saying what it’s replaced.)
1st house=aries=mars is inaccurate/incorrect, unless you actually have aries asc in which case it would apply. But if your rising is in any other sign, then your ruler would be different. Each house govern would be different. The natural rulers/12 letters alphabet rule would be useless if we’re trying to learn about houses and how it functions, when the house rulership technique is not applicable to that formula (*again, unless you actually have an aries asc).
Thus why a lot of people tend to get confused as to why we need houses, if the signs/planets themselves are representative of them already. If Virgo is talking about the same thing as the 6th house – then isn’t the 6th house the same as Virgo’s quality/traits? It actually isn’t, not just because the functions of signs and houses are different from one another – but a lot of people get it confused because we often don’t really know what houses are used for. We’ll have to gently unlearn in order to fully comprehend the houses and the different things we can do with it.  
It actually do more damage long term, because we never realize how to utilize the houses’ significations. It takes away from so many things we could grasp with the houses, so we’d have to peel it back and unlearn a little bit that not all charts can assume the ruler of the 1st would be aries ❤️💕 
Also, that’s probably also why people may have a hard time understanding house rulership. Because we assume on one hand that 1st = aries as a natural thing, so when we try to learn how to find chart rulers, house rulers- we often think of it as a separate branch to things. By definition, house rulers refers to the actual ruler of the houses/its domains. The natural ruler/12 letters alphabet is well-intended, but it also hinders the progress of learning about houses.
So long explanation over (sorry about that) – let me actually talk about your Cancers now ❤️💕
Cancer MC + Cancer Venus/Mars 
Phew so. You have Cancer MC and Capricorn IC! ❤️💕Don’t fret, I think that’s the general idea with the ask? You might think it’s subvert bc of what we mentioned before with the natural ruler, thus a lot of people tend to think having signs like Cancer in MC/Capricorn IC, or Leo IC/Aquarius MC (or wise versa) feels ‘weird’ to them somewhat. It’s actually not! It’s just our preconceived notion about the houses. But start afresh, you’re you and this is actually organic in its own way
Cancer MC (esp since you have Venus/Mars there) might actually feel more comfortable not at home. Home as in the roots, ancestries, culturally. In a way, the structure that Capricorn IC brings is nice and familiar, it’s grounded and a stable pillar. But the emotional value and ‘progression’ is more in your exploration outwards from that.
Finding comfort in what you do, who you are, where you’re at/whom you’re with in the outside (IC - land/heritage you’re from, maybe a ‘place’ you grew up in or associate with your roots, properties, linage etc.) — tying all that into you at large– your representation/identity in a larger public, the representation the group you belong in has, the statues/figures you see in public that represents you, the social impact and how others perceive that has. It’s bringing the roots – that unspoken stability and function Capricorn has into something that is nurtured in the world, in representation, in presentation and receptivity/social impact that it has– that’s actually important.
This can be for other people, but with your placements there– it’s also you perhaps wanting/craving to see yourself be part of that representation. To make an impact as a figure in your own right as well, there’s desire/wants (venus) and will/drive (mars) to perhaps reach a higher vibration. 
Not necessarily focused on helping others (that’s pisces area) but rather to have that standing in public where you can hold your own/have the space and be available to receive receptions from others and respond to it you see you should/will as well. 
I’d say it can be linked to protection, but rather than saying youre just being protective of others- it’s more like you see that in yourself, and you’re protecting yourself and others, those who are like you or may feel like you. Being the representation/solace they need even if it’s not something you focus on, as you might not want to be biased– so the focus is more on the objectivity of the argument/knowledge behind it instead.
It’s the idea of projections thats not used in a bad way, but rather as a technique to reach out to others and gather reveberations in voices that feels the same way as you do in order the speak it into existence. Cancer MC talks alot about manifestations, particularly actions and impact. Bring the irrefutable evidence/pledge of accomplishments. So that it couldn’t be denied or doubted.
So. With all that said, Cancer Venus/Mars in 10th (along with Cancer MC) I wouldn’t say would want to stand out like a Leo, but would know why having that is so important. It’s purposeful - why having certain standing and stability is necessary for things to proceed and play out the way it should roll. The importance of it is in the desire, or rather why you want it. Rather than saying you want power for power (which isn’t necessarily untrue) – having a will is also just as important because without it – things would still be lacking and frustrating for you.
I hope this helps ❤️💕 Oof sorry for writing a lot ;; I hope u don’t mind the first part as well! ❤️💕 And i hope the second part (the cancer part) is good enough for you ❤️💕❤️💕 Thank u for asking! ❤️💕 
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comicteaparty · 4 years
Text
February 3rd-February 9th, 2020 CTP Archive
The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from February 3rd, 2020 to February 9th, 2020.  The chat focused on Park Planet by Sammy Newman.
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Chat:
Comic Tea Party
BOOK CLUB START!
Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Park Planet by Sammy Newman~! (http://parkpla.net/)
You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until February 9th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!
DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1
1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?
2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?
3. Who is your favorite character?
4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?
5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!
6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?
7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?
8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?
Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
first impressions are that the art has an attractive newspaper-comic style and is very clean for being a rare traditionally drawn comic
RebelVampire
Attractive newspaper style is a good way to describe it. What I like about the art the most though are the unique merger of the complex designs and the simplicity. For example, the faces are a bit simple to match the tone and overall nature of the comic. Yet at the same time, there's all these interesting alien designs throughout that are all very unique. But everything fits so seamlessly together. Which I feel is kind of the strength of the comic. Is it does a really great job with balancing different aspects. Complexity and simplicity, serious drama and comedy, etc. It's one of those comics that feels like warm soup because it has a bit of everything.
Ranger
Indeed, thus far it blends individual vignettes with characterization very well to remain fresh while still maintaining enough coherency to be enjoyable. Will definitely keep reading it
snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)
I think "warm soup" is a great way to describe the comic! It has this cozy, nostalgic feel that you'd get from a well-written Sunday newspaper comic - but the concept is also super unique and intriguing on its own! - Can we talk about how great of a character Paisley is? She's got the whole emotionless robot vibe going, but she's one of the kindest characters in the comic despite that. And the way her character develops over the course of the comic is super satisfying (e.g., getting a date at the dance)!
FeatherNotes(Krispy)
I'm in love with the charming stylization of letters and layout so far-- its easy to sink in a read some pages during downtime and pick right up for the next read. Page 5 of 'craft time' made me snort out loud, these jokes are always landing and play out well! And as far as fav character, Paisley is so sweet and is def hitting chords for me!
varethane
I love the end of this page where Paisley lights the fire with her eyes to impress the campers!!! http://parkpla.net/index.php/page/book-0001/004-paisleys-day/
RebelVampire
I do like the interesting blend Paisley has going on between being robotic and being human. I actually like that the story doesn't go too serious on the whole theme of humanity when it comes to non-humans. Although my favorite moment regarding Paisley is when the translators break and Paisley's joke is to speak in binary. It's definitely one of my favorite things about the beginning of the comic since I think it really captures both the comedy and unique alien aspects of the comic.
However, if I had to pick a favorite character I'd go with Wurlitzer. Cause I can't even. This is legit one of the most unpredictable characters to me, and I enjoy every moment Wurlitzer is around, because its just the sort of character that causes conflict by being in the same room as any other character.
I'd actually even say my fave moment is the company get together where Wurlitzer is doing introductions and is just kind of oblivious to everyone's attitudes and awkwardness. It's both funny, but also makes the social awkwardness relateable since it's easy to imagine having a boss like this. Overally, though, I also like any moments where the alien thing is brought up. This to me is the best part of the content cause there's so much to explore here and it just brings this really unique concept to webcomics by combining it with a park.
Ranger
Paisley is a favorite thus far
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
Everybody loves Paisley and so do I
I think "warm soup" and "Sunday comic" are great descriptions
But the world with the non-human characters brings uniqueness
Found a mistake on this page:
http://parkpla.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/SM5_tumblrtest.jpg
The dialogue randomly changes into type
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
I love this art style
snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)
i think the type is intentional
sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)
That might have been an intentional choice if the artist was pressed for time or something
snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)
she's talking like through her teeth and mumbling
Eightfish (Puppeteer)
I thought that may be the case, but his text also changes into type? So I think the author typesets by hand tracing over typed text, and forgot to do it here, maybe?
Comic Tea Party
DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2
9. What do you think happened to the humans and Earth? What do you think necessitated the creation of the park, and do you think it’s helping to preserve what’s left of Earth?
10. What moment of the work mixer did you relate to or enjoy the most and why? What about the entire scenario in general captures what it’s like to socialize at events like this?
11. What aspect of human-alien interaction have you enjoyed the most so far? How has this changed or given context to your thinking in how much of our lives are culture based?
12. What do you think this comic can teach us in general about fitting in with others, especially when we personally feel socially outcasted?
Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!
RebelVampire
To address one of the prompts I didn't get to, I like seeing Wurlitzer interact with basically anyone. I never really know what I'm going to get when it comes to Wurlitzer, so any strip goes to unexpected and fun places in those cases. Onto story stuff though! As for what happened to the humans, definitely some sort of mass extinction event. Probably something like climate change not fixed because of the fact they're also trying to preserve animals from earth as well. So I have a distinct feeling Earth isnt habitable in the comic's setting. >_> I also mentioned my favorite moment from the mixer earlier. However, in regards to the second part of the question, for me what really capture what its like to socialize at events like this is the facial expressions. Every single person is just a bit stiff, and even if they arent miserable, theres this hint in their expressions that they don't really want ot be there. And I feel most ppl feel that way about company get togethers. It's more tedious than it is fun. XD For human-alien interactions, it's actually probably this strip http://parkpla.net/index.php/page/book-0001/005-upcoming-events-at-hartwood-park/ Particular the last panel where the alien is making fun of ice cream for being so filled with sugar. I kind of feel this comic in general is a good reminder that "normal" is malleable. What's normal somewhere really isn't normal elsewhere. And it's usually the stuff we take for granted as normal. Like I'm sure one day there'll be aliens who see us eating with forks and go "WTF are these weirdos doing they have perfectly good hands." But either way, I kind of feel the comic shows a lot of scenes like that where just a bunch of mundane things are novel and weird to aliens.
Comic Tea Party
DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3
13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?
14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?
Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!
RebelVampire
In regards to what this comic teaches us about fitting in, i think for one, it's difficult. However, I think it also shows a little bit that we'll never fit in if we don't try. Like certainly the mixer was awkward, but imagine if nobody had gone to it. Nothing is ever gained by not trying. Also, I think this comic also kind of teaches a bit of self fulfilling prophecies. In that if you think too much that you won't fit in, then you probably won't fit in because the confidence just isn't there. Anyway, what I'm most looking forward to the comic I think is just learning a bit more about the human situation and also just seeing in general more human-alien interactions. I think this is the most interesting part of the comic since there's so much you can do in regards to questioning what is universal and what is just being human, and the writing is pretty all around great with this interesting aspect.
Comic Tea Party
BOOK CLUB END!
Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Park Planet this week! Please also give a special thank you to Sammy Newman for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Park Planet, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!
Read and Comment: http://parkpla.net/
Sammy’s Shop: https://www.sammynewman.com/shop
Sammy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/otterlogic
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nezumionice · 7 years
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I am going to speculate the entire plot of infinity war with all the set pics and rumours we have heard so far. Please feel free to add in missing points. This is what I think is gonna happen:
Both Stephen strange and vision have been attacked by some kind of alien intruders. This can be seen from the set pics and footage of vision being whisked off by cgi ninja-like creatures. The same ninja aliens can be seen in the recent set pics of Stephen strange as well. I suspect that these ninja aliens are Thanos' black order, whom he has sent from the cosmos to collect the infinity stones for him ONCE AND FOR ALL. The only thing Stephen and vision have in common is that they both possess the powers of an infinity stone, thus the black order is seen attacking them for their stones in these shots. Before vision is kidnapped, wanda maximoff was sighted with him, so when someone reportedly heard Wanda scream of "NO! LET HIM GO!" on the set, so we can assume that the black order must have succeeded in apprehending vision and collecting the mind stone. It's not confirmed yet, but judging by the way doctor strange is clutching his amulet of agamotto, I can only speculate that the black order must have succeeded in retrieving the time stone as well. Tony stark and Bruce banner seem evidently unscathed, thus I suspect they only arrived after the invasion occurred and are simply analysing the remains of the ordeal along with their new-found sorcerer allies. And then we have our friends in wakanda. So far natasha, tchalla and Steve have been confirmed to be in wakanda, and I highly doubt bucky has moved very far from his miserable refrigerator, so he's probably still in the country as well. God only knows how the fuck natasha managed to end up in wakanda (I mean, as the most hidden and advanced city in the world, I don't think even natasha could track it down with her killer spy skillset), im guessing someone went to find her instead (HOPING ITS BUCKY BC I MEAN ITS NATASHA ROMANOFF WE'RE TALKING ABT, AND SINCE BUCKY TRAINED HER, HES THE ONLY ONE WITH SHARED LIFE EXPERIENCE AND KNOWS HOW SHE WORKS). Scarlett Johansson was spotted filming near where vision was taken, so I have a feeling natasha (and maybe Steve?) would have heard about the invasion and brought poor devastated Wanda back to wakanda. Then there would be discussions and stuff about the aliens and why they attacked and who they were serving, so as of now, they don't know who Thanos is yet. Then come the cosmic heroes. Something on wakanda's radar picks up an unidentified flying object landing the borders of the city. Tchalla and Steve and everyone think it's the aliens again, but its actually the guardians of the galaxy. (Here we presume that there will be flashbacks or sth where we somehow get to see how the following happens) they heard that orb has been forcefully stolen from the Nova core and the reality stone was taken from the collector, who is most likely killed in the process. Gamora thinks that Thanos is behind this and is one of the few ppl in the galaxy who knows about the infinity gauntlet. They decide to go to earth to check on the rest of the infinity stones after they hear that two of which are there. They coincidentally land near to wakanda (cue emotional, nostalgic Peter Quill finally back on earth), and thats how steve, tchalla and friends found them. Both teams agree to join forces after gamora confirms her theory about the infinity gauntlet. She's also very concerned about her sister nebula, who was last seen vowing to kill Thanos by herself. Tony Stark, on the other hand, has also figured out as much as the fact that someone out in space wants all the infinity stones. Back to earth come Thor and Loki, another two individuals who are very well aware of Thanos' schemes (especially Loki). Thor finds Tony's side first (he would want to warn Steve as well, but wakanda, as I've said, is impossible to track) and warns him about the impending danger, and admits that the tesseract was also stolen from Asgard by the black order. He also mentions the missing reality stone and the collector's death, since lady sif was the one who put it there for safekeeping in the first place. In wakanda right now we have Steve, tchalla, nat, Wanda, gotg and bucky if he's awake. If he isn't yet, now is the time for him to wake up, because Steve realises the impending threat that is coming and decides that they need all the help they can get. He brings back the old team cap, Sam, Sharon, Scott, Clint, and wakes bucky up, (THUS THE BEARD?!? BC ITS BEEN LIKE TWO YEARS IDEK) but the gotg insist that they need to get Tony back. Steve is slightly hesitant (bc of civil war) but agrees to try and negotiate with Tony (cue nervous, guilty bucky). Tony's side is getting very anxious bc they lack manpower. Tony rung up his old team as well but since vision and tchalla are gone there's a huge shortage of fighters. There's literally just Tony, Rhodey, Peter Parker (I'm going to assume he proved himself worthy of handling lethal threats after Spiderman: homecoming) Bruce, Thor, and Loki. Then Steve calls Tony and both are surprised they know as much about the black order attacks as the other. They eventually agree to fight together one last time, but only for the sake of all the innocent lives in the galaxy. And thats the end of my crappy plot speculation. We don't have confirmation on where the soul stone is yet, although a lot of ppl think it's with heimdall, its not confirmed. So I can't talk about that part yet. Once again, feel free to add lil details you wanna see in the movie, like lil bits of dialogue or maybe rocket requesting for Bucky's arm to complete a plan (OK but what if it's legit tho like what if he really needed an arm for the plan, and innocent child Bucky just goes "no, you cant have this one, but I do have an old spare one from my winter soldier days. Will that work?"). But yeah also go ahead and play around with this plot, butcher it, write a fanfic to it, tweak it, add stuff, take out stuff, kill off more ppl, develop more ideas from it etc. I don't think the movie might be this way but that's okAY bc I have higher expectations for it lmao I'm gonna die
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muckkles · 7 years
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furnacelayer replied to your post
“this is the week of me barfing up andromeda critiques at anyone who...”
please tell me why to not buy this game
here’s something wild: im not actually gonna tell u not to buy it? i think if u wanna play and make ur own opinion thats good. its also still a mass effect game so even if u just wanna play to see some of ur favorite aliens or get to know the new characters thats good. i also have friends who are enjoying the game more than i am so its rly a matter of personal preference/taste. 
that being said, heres a long long LONG list of my Andromeda Opinions, under a cut for major spoilers. some are big things and others might seem nitpicky to u. keep in mind that i havent finished the game yet! but i have completed a good bit of it and i think im close to finishing the main storyline. i may add more to this list as i play more or as i remember more so maybe check back in a couple days for edits?
im gonna start with a list of things i actually like about the game cuz thats shorter and less spoilery. its mostly aesthetic/minor things tbh:
its a pretty game even if some of the textures dont always load properly. nice landscapes and whatnot to look at
driving the nomad is an upgrade from the mako and very fun. ive never gotten stuck somewhere in my vehicle. jumping around is also fun and the height u jump makes sure its hard to get stuck as well
u can give the nomad a paint job!
i like learning about the angara’s history and culture (angara are the new aliens. jaal is an angara) and i like that half of them have australian accents
theres little things that help u get to kno ur crew better. they send u emails and theres a crew message board in the common room that they talk to each other on. theres also plenty of convos to overhear on ur ship and in ambient dialogue as ur out n about. also ur crew has a specified spot that u can find them at for cutscenes with them but other times youll find their hangout spot changes around the ship which is cool it makes them seem more like real ppl
drack is good and my grandpa
theres a good amount of female turians, salarians, and krogans hanging around. also a larger variety of skintones (cute purple salarians!!)
explicit confirmation in an overheard conversation that some asari use he/him and/or gender neutral pronouns. angara also apparently have a range of pronouns they use to identify themselves (although u dont hear them of course :/)
when u look out the windows of ur ship u actually see the planet ur orbiting which is a neat addition. also the layout of ur ship is one map so no more elevators!
if youve never played the first three mass effect games (And thus have no basis for comparison) i can see how it could be a decent and fun game on its own
ok now on to things i dislike. i guess i’ll divide it by category? less spoilery stuff first but youve been warned:
general glitches - im sure youve heard of some or probably most of these. im only going to list the ones ive personally experienced. some of them have been almost game breaking and not in a good/funny way. im mostly mad about them cuz im playing on ps4 and console games are supposed to be, in general, much less glitchy than pc versions. And Yet..
npcs will randomly appear out of nowhere or slide into place from off screen
often characters skin textures lag or dont fully load
suvi has been sitting in midair instead of standing in a couple cutscenes for me
twice when kallo has stood up theres just been a giant dent where his right ass cheek should be???
the classic bioware “ur character is drinking but the cup is missing or in a weird position” glitch. im actually sort of fond of this one
i dont think they developed animations specifically for the angaras’ skeletons cuz when they cross their arms it just.. doesnt work right. they cant reach. their hands just sort of phase through each other in the middle of their chest.
one time i entered the escape pod room on my ship and the door closed behind me and wouldnt reopen so i had to load a save
a couple times ive had to talk to ppl for quests but the person isnt there when i get there. its just a floating quest marker. so i have to reload the area/my save
theres a side mission i cant complete cuz im supposed to kill all the kett in this one area but one of them just disappeared out of existence before i killed it so. the quest is just still there unfinished and its driving me crazy. 
on a planet named havarl which is a jungle world theres a layer of darkness at the forest floor indicated by how when somewhere is rly dark ur flashlight will automatically go on. one time i emerged from an area and my frame rate fell dramatically and i started moving rly slowly. at the divide where the darkness starts there was just a textureless black sheet across the whole world that looked like solid ground but i could fall thru it to the real ground. i tried reloading the area and my save multiple times and it didnt fix. i thought my save was permanently broken but then i restarted my ps4 and that did the trick
i rly dont think these can be explained away as andromeda being an open world game cuz like dragon age inquisition was open world and made by the same company and has similar sized areas with very minimal glitching (on console). the only major one i can even think of that ive experienced with inq on console is the one where if u start dialogue with someone in the middle of a jump u start hovering in the falling animation after but that is resolved quickly by just jumping again (i believe. i do remember its not permanent) 
combat - its pretty typical of an open world over the shoulder shooter tbh. theres plenty of cover and enemies can flank you. theres more options for melee which is cool. nothing else of note on that front except ways they messed it up which include:
for some reasons bullets move rly slowly?? might be a glitch but i have a friend whos complained about this too and i rly noticed after she mentioned it to me
you can only “equip” three different powers at a time?? u can save ur fave combinations and switch between them but honestly it sucks
u cant order ur squadmates to perform certain powers or if u can i sure as fuck havent figured out how
ryder is always on the left side of the screen which means ur always facing right in cover and cant peer around corners on the left of boxes and things?? its rly annoying
this one is just personal preference. i happen to dislike it overall but i understand why other ppl ive talked to like it: you no longer are set in one class. you have the ability to change at will any time. you can also spec in every single biotic, tech, and combat power. pros: u can respec and experiment without starting a new game. if u care more about taking ur fave characters along than strategy, u dont have to worry as much. which brings me to cons: if u enjoy the aspect of picking ur squad to make up for ur characters weaknesses and use strategy in that sense, this kind of renders that unnecessary (unless u just choose to purposefully limit urself). this also means that every single ryder is technically a biotic which sucks storywise imo cuz some ppl will choose not to ever use their biotic powers and that? doesnt make sense to me from a story perspective. i like the idea of choosing whether or not ur character is born a biotic so that its integral to ur individual roleplay/story/etc 
dialogue/writing/general story stuff - hoo boy. suffice to say this game does not live up to the original trilogy and fails in some areas where they Tried to make it better. more details:
a lot of the dialogue just Does Not Flow in the way im used to from having convos as shepard. ryder is bad at transitioning topics 
speaking of the way ryder talks, how awkward they are is like painful. major secondhand embarrassment and not in an endearing way. like in a wincing at the dialogue way. 
you cant choose to not be an awkward buffoon?? there are very very rarely dialogue options that make u seem competent or confident which sucks if thats the kind of character u wanted to go for. ryder is also kind of a weenie. they dont have the complete respect of their crew (good example, the argument cutscene on the tempest after u recruit jaal)
90% of ur decisions are boiled down to two dialogue options the “logical” one and the “emotional” one altho sometimes they seem to be flip flopped?? even in the paragon/renegade system u often got a third more neutral/sarcastic dialogue option and in dragon age inquisition (i kno i kno different series but same company and dialogue wheel mechanic) there was always multiple ways to respond to things with different personalities/characteristics
ur decisions straight up dont seem to have any consequences. like worse than usual for a bioware game. theres one cutscene where two of ur crew are arguing and u have to pick a side. i expected to have to cajole the one i didnt pick into being my friend again after but nope they just went on talking to me like nothing had happened. 
theres a couple times where the game doesnt allow u to disapprove of something that seems like a rly bad idea/thing depending on how u want to roleplay?? spoiler example: peebee reanimates a remnant observer to fight for u and ur only two dialogue options are in support of it and ur not given the option to say ummm what the fuck were u thinking??
ur introduction to the angara ppl rly rly lacked the significance it should have had. like u discover a new species, land on their planet, are there for all of 5 mins, and then suddenly youve recruited one to ur crew and ur on ur way again. then if u go back the nexus literally no one says anything or makes any sort of big deal about the fact that u made first contact with a new species!! like wtf!! i think theres like one line of brief congrats from tann and thats it
speaking of that. theres a real lack of diversity among sentient/sapient life in this game. theres a handwavey reason for the quarians/volus/batarians/elcor/etc not being there (their ark was delayed) and then the game only gives u two new species and only one of them is peaceful. so overall its just humans, salarians, turians, asari, krogan, and angara. plus the violent enemy, the kett.
god the cutscenes leave so much to be desired. the other mass effect games were so cinematic and engaging in comparison. im sure youve seen ppl complain about the lack of facial expressions and body language in literally any character (most noticeable in humans tho) but like. i just started a new me3 playthrough a few days ago and the first 30 mins of that game are so much cooler than any cutscene ive seen in andromeda so far even with the worse graphics
the trans npc that just. deadnames herself out of nowhere. to u, a stranger
the fact that gil is the only fucking gay man in the game and a major part of his personal story involves his best friend who is a straight female fertility expert/doctor/whatever who apparently constantly guilt trips him about not having biological kids and i guess bioware didnt see how this could possibly be homophobic or just generally offensive
miscellaneous - just general pet peeves i guess:
why the fuck do all the asari in this game have the exact same face
the sexual dimorphism in the angara just. kills me. at least the women dont have boobs.
u can choose music for ur room on the tempest but it wont fucking keep ur music on so u have to turn it back on every time u enter
god the game just dumps so much shit at u at once at the beginning of the game. its very overwhelming and honestly i still barely kno what the fuck im doing
i liked the cc at first cuz i think my ryder is good looking but after listening to one of my friends i actually agree its very restricting for a roleplaying game in 2017. u can rly only adjust preexisting features rather than completely switch them out. this is somewhat fogiveable tho since theres the issue of ur twin and parents having to look like u
personally i feel like peebee is very annoying which is a major disappointment cuz im rly gay for her whole aesthetic
the game is supposed to be all about exploration but two of the main worlds u explore are just a desert world and an ice world so. not much to see tbh. i will say that i had a lot of fun exploring and traversing habitat 7 (as brief as that is), havarl, and kandara so far tho. theyre the ones that actually feel alien but habitat 7 and havarl have relatively small maps
bioware decided to only create like 6? maybe? i havent counted but around that many different alien animal species to populate the worlds and be predators and theyre the Same on every fuckign planet even tho theyre all in different solar systems. i would have preferred it if there were even just like 2-3 animals that were unique to each planet cuz at least that makes sense.
have i said ryder is a weenie and a buffoon already
why can i still not kiss any salarians or krogans. bioware im comin for u
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jacewilliams1 · 4 years
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A day in the traffic pattern brings unexpected joy
I woke up tired. The night before we had a swath of family and friends over to celebrate my son’s 4th birthday. I looked outside and noticed the sun was struggling to make a presence and it was visibly cold and wet. After a brief wait for my morning coffee, I quickly opened ForeFlight and began my investigation of the weather at my home airport. Marginal VFR. Great, another cancellation or day of ground school, it felt like forever since I had been in the air. I decided not to contact my flight instructor and continue my day as planned, making my way to Oakland International Airport (PTK), Pontiac, Michigan, for my flight lesson.
A day to cancel? No, just a day to be flexible.
On arrival to the airport, I instantly noticed the wet tarmac and water droplets in a consistent pattern across the top surfaces of the Diamond DA40 as I began my preflight routine. After pre-flighting, I made my way inside to once again check the weather reports. I clicked on the METAR: winds 240 at 5 knots, visibility 6SM, and ceilings at 2,000 feet. The situation was marginal VFR, especially with the cold temperatures and a low dew point spread, on this early November morning. My instructor texted me and said I will meet you in the office for a briefing, which was standard protocol for our flight lessons, so I swiftly obliged.
When I walked into the office, I brought my study guides, notes, and lesson plans fully ready to call it a day and start discussing aircraft systems and emergency procedures. To my surprise, my instructor looked at me and said, “Let’s do some traffic pattern work here at PTK; we need to get you in the air.”
My instructor is a former police officer, ATP, and CFIII. He is by the book and completely subscribed to aeronautical decision-making (ADM) and other acronyms that guide pilots toward responsible decision making. We loaded into the plane, grabbed the latest ATIS, and taxied to runway 27R (6,521 ft. x 150 ft.) for “takeoff into the pattern.”
After a few uneventful trips through the pattern, I noticed my instructor looking down toward his iPad. He popped up from the device and said, “How about we leave the pattern and head to the Coleman A. Young International Airport (formally Detroit City Airport/DET)?”
I responded without thought: “Yes, let’s go!” He checked the weather and noticed the cloud ceilings were higher toward Detroit and the precipitation was moving east, on its way to terrorize another community of pilots elsewhere.
That house looks familiar.
We contacted the tower at PTK, notified them of our intentions and set our heading bug for DET. While en route, I noticed the sun was starting to make its presence known and the overcast was becoming a broken ceiling of clouds at 2,500 feet. The light was shining directly on our course, as if it were highlighting the way for us to Runway 7 (3,714 ft. x 100 ft.).
In the background, you could see the silhouette of the Detroit skyline and Canada in the distance. While coming in for a landing, my instructor pointed out the old control tower that is no longer in use, and the World War II-era hangars that sat unassumingly beyond a severely unmaintained taxiway. This is an airport with lots of Motor City history. From when it first opened in 1927, it served as the primary airport for Detroit until around 1941, when almost all airline flights moved west to Henry Ford’s new Willow Run Airport (YIP). It was there that Ford constructed the largest WWII factory in the world, producing, at its height in 1944, one B-24 bomber per day.
In 1966, all airlines moved again to the new Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) where they remain today, leaving only corporate and cargo operations at both DET and YIP.
We continued pattern work around DET, and I continued my pursuit toward a landing that would be worthy of a solo endorsement. After a couple routes through the pattern, we decided to head back to PTK before the next batch of precipitation showed up and the ceilings got any lower.
On the way back, my instructor asked me if I wanted to fly over my home and see my neighborhood from the air. I jumped at the opportunity and handed him the controls so I could text my wife and have her bring the kids into the front yard. After some old-fashioned pilotage, we were able to identify my neighborhood and my home amongst a sea of auburn, orange, and yellow leaves that were showcasing their best attempt at fall.
The sun finally made an appearance.
Later my wife would let me know how excited the kids were to see me fly over the house and, in fact, how excited she was to see me as well. Our decision to head back to PTK was the right one and at the right time. As we made our way through a 4-mile final to runway 27L, we started getting some light rain, which rolled right off the sleek curvature of the Diamond’s windshield. The temperatures were also starting to lower with the sun now completely hidden behind the low ceiling of thick, dark clouds just above us in the pattern. The approach, landing, and taxi to our midfield location were nicely executed and a fitting end to this flight training adventure.
What started as a cold, wet, routine training day at the airport quickly turned into one of the best flying days I have had thus far. Contrary to typical social media posts, flying doesn’t require exotic trips through canyons and over beaches to have a good time. This day of flying incorporated what I refer to as the four F’s of flying: Family, Friends, Flying and Fun. While the goal might be my PPL, the journey is something I will never get back. I am grateful for days like this and will forever be thankful for the opportunity to chase my dream of becoming a private pilot.
The post A day in the traffic pattern brings unexpected joy appeared first on Air Facts Journal.
from Engineering Blog https://airfactsjournal.com/2020/02/a-day-in-the-traffic-pattern/
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