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phddyke · 9 months

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What Blitz doesn’t know:

1. Stolas’s marriage is abusive

* He might not even know it’s bad. All he’s seen is royal portraits of their happy family together as he’s been led through the halls, and the Hellhound security team brought him in after Stella finished her rant. Based on his expression after Ozzie implies their affair ruined Stolas’s marriage/relationship with his daughter, he feels guilt about that. Maybe he feels like a homewrecker.

* I’m not entirely sure he knows Stolas asked for a divorce immediately after their one-night stand. Based on the pilot, he ran away with the book too fast to hear him.

* And, by that token, he doesn’t have a clue Striker was hired by Stella to not only kill Stolas but torture him first (and he never told Stolas Striker was a danger because he didn’t think he was especially unique, and now feels bad about that, I’m sure).

2. That his reaction in Ozzie’s was about being humiliated in front of so many people, not actually because he was ashamed of Blitzø.

3. By that same token, Stolas only responding with “okay” when Blitz says that their relationship is clearly only about “wanting me to fuck you” was NOT actually confirmation that Blitz’s suspicions were correct.

4. Stolas’s text messages were him trying to reassure Blitz he doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want—he just became really unclear about what he wants in the process, which makes it look like he doesn’t want him to visit.

5. That he improved Stolas’s life, he didn’t ruin it. Because of Blitz, he got the closest he ever did to telling his daughter the truth about his relationship, asked for a divorce, and even after Ozzie’s he stood up for himself and DEMANDED the divorce! Not to mention Blitz clearly gave him the only happiness he had in a while.

6. The only pictures Stolas has on his phone of them make it look like Blitz is constantly annoyed by his presence.

7. He has absolutely no clue whatsoever about Blitzø’s feelings. None.

8. Striker made fun of him about the fact that Blitz didn’t come to save him.

9. He probably offered for Blitz to be his bodyguard because Stella said “Can you imagine if he didn’t have money!”, so he doesn’t think anyone will have sex with/hang out with him if money isn’t involved.

10. Stolas isn’t actually racist or classist, it’s more like he says things thoughtlessly and is blinded by privilege in many aspects. But he doesn’t have some weird fetish for imps.

11. Stolas loves him!! We all know he’s a horny motherfucker but he does deeply love Blitz so much.

What Stolas doesn’t know:

Oh man, where do I start.

1. Blitzø’s biggest fear is dying alone.

2. He’s afraid to get close to Stolas because of commitment issues and the “eventually everyone goes” mentality, BUT also because of the race/class difference he’s scared to lose his freedom and basically become one of Stolas’s servants.

3. He comes toward Stolas in the hallucination anyway. Away from everyone else and toward him. (Crawls toward him, in fact.)

4. That he stole Verosika’s car, ran three rings to Wrath, maxed her credit cards on shitty horseback-riding lessons, and left her to pay for the hotel room while they were dating. (He does know that Blitz was a selfish lover to her and broke her heart, though.)

5. He’s in awe of Stolas. You can see it when he sees his demon form when Stolas saves him, when he puts on his human disguise, and when he’s being trampled on the ground and sees Stolas’s tail feathers as he’s being carried away above him. He’s put him on such a pedestal that 1) he can’t believe Stolas would ever love him back and 2) he’s forgotten that Stolas is mortal and can be hurt, both emotionally and physically.

6. Blitzø has no idea of Stolas’s feelings toward him—since episode 2 we’ve been aware that he’s operating under the assumption that “no one” loves him, and since Ozzie’s we know Blitzø thinks that Stolas makes it clear “all the time” that their arrangement doesn’t go deeper than fucking. Therefore, when he invited him to the date at Ozzie’s, he wasn’t cruelly playing with his feelings; he had no idea said feelings existed (though, he probably should’ve been honest that he wanted to spy on M&M). Even when Moxxie says, “He seems to like you, sir,” Blitzø responds with “Okay, my dick is GOOD—but it is not that good,” misinterpreting Moxxie’s observation of Stolas’s feelings for him as Stolas’s sexual interest in him.

7. His “oh yeah…I guess it is, huh” when Stolas called Ozzie’s their first “real” date wasn’t him being like “ew I don’t wanna go on a date with this guy,” but more like “Oh right…this is our first real date and I’m using it to spy on M&M, this isn’t really how I wanted our first ‘real’ date to be.”

8. Blitzø’s obsession with M&M stems from his own desire to have a happy, healthy, monogamous marriage like they do, despite constantly mocking them about it.

9. Blitzø has a picture of Stolas asleep and himself looking happy to be cuddled up with him forefront on his phone.

10. Blitzø has scratched himself out of every picture of himself, his friends, his daughter (and twin sister) on his walls.

11. The betrayed look on his face—the “I knew this was going to happen but I was hoping it wouldn’t” when Stolas covered his face at Ozzie’s.

12. How concerned he looked when Stolas said “I seem to have been stolen by your little cowboy friend,” how much MORE concerned he looked when Striker spoke to him directly, that he was so furious he broke his phone AND damaged his car after that before he started driving recklessly and seemed to be seriously contemplating going for Stolas himself. He even grilled M&M on their ability to do so, rushed through the doctor’s appointment, vented about it in the waiting room, and looked so happy when he thought they’d brought Stolas back safe and sound. (Didn’t even correct the doctor who called him “Bingo,” just wanted to get out of there.)

13. The look on his face and the genuine surprise when he said “he can get HURT?” Not to mention the “Stolas got what?” and the crack in his voice when he said “how?”

14. When he said “If you promise this isn’t some fuck-fest invite it does sound like a blast and a half,” he wasn’t annoyed with Stolas, he was annoyed that the only thing he thought Stolas cared about was sex with him.

15. That he changed the screaming sound of Stolas’s ringtone to a cute bird one and presumably changed the contact name from “Creepy Mouth (aka one night stand bird dick)” to his actual name. Not to mention, his ringtone for Loona is a dog one—what does it say that he made Stolas’s a bird one?

16. When Blitzø is giving Stolas that weird look when they meet as children, he’s not finding kid!Stolas weird or annoying, he’s weirded out because Stolas’s father is there acting like a jackass and hitting him in front of Blitzø. (It took me multiple rewatches to notice that one, actually.)

17. That despite saying “We ain’t bodyguards. That was a one-time thing we did badly,” he saved Stolas from Striker the first time without 1) being asked or 2) paid to do it. He just did—and didn’t tell him afterwards in order to receive any type of accolades. He saved him quietly.

18. He didn’t actually deny that Stolas was his boyfriend when that’s what Millie called him.

19. Striker was the first person outside of I.M.P. to call Blitzø on his feelings for Stolas—and mock him for them.

20. “I’ll take the first watch” and “You guys better go make sure Stolas is okay” in Loo Loo Land.

21. Blitz tried to get his attention when he was attempting to break into Stolas’s room. That’s gotta mean something, idk what.

22. Blitzø lied to everyone, including himself, that he had to sleep with Stolas to get the Grimoire when he actually did that AND spent the entire night with him of his own free will (which actually jeopardized his mission, let alone helped it).

23. Blitz remembered him for over two decades—Stolas had forgotten him until he showed up again, it seems.

24. Blitzø had a chance to go home with Cash Buckzo but he stayed and played with Stolas instead.

25. He was about to say something when Fizzarolli called his love life “a pile of shit” before Verosika cut him off. He also looks at Stolas and back when Fizz sings, “Some nerve you’ve got to comment on a relationship.”

26. He cried after Ozzie’s.

* He got wasted off his ass after Ozzie’s.

* He said he could drink Queen Bee-lzebub under the table because “you have no idea what kind of night I’ve had” and told Loona he had “a really shitty day.”

* He was gonna have sex with a dude who looked like Stolas but in the end got rid of him—and requested a man by the same name as the lead in the soap opera Stolas also watches.

* He made out with, at minimum, four strangers (if Dennis was in the five-person makeout).

* He cried that Fizz was right that he was gonna die alone again.

* Even though he couldn’t remember Dennis’s name when they’d been making out ten seconds ago, the last word on his lips before he fell asleep was “Stolas” (he also seems to have gone in increasing order of importance with the names he muttered).

27. That he slept with Chaz, but said he was terrible in bed, used him for information, and snuck out as soon as Chaz was asleep instead of staying beside him all night.

28. That Blitzø was paid to hang out with him that day (though thankfully neither of them know that he was only worth $5 and a slim-fit condom to Cash Buckzo), and he didn’t want to steal from him.

29. How scared Blitz looked when he was being led back to Stolas’s room after he said “I will deal with him accordingly.”

30. He’s almost definitely reading Stolas’s apologetic and “only if you want!” texts as lack of interest.

31. How hurt/annoyed Blitz is every time Stolas thoughtlessly says something about imps, which is especially prevalent in “Harvest Moon Festival.”

32. Despite the persona he puts on and what Stolas probably believes because of that persona, Blitzø is clearly struggling with self-hatred and self-worth issues in general.

33. How much it’s going to hurt Blitzø when he reaches out and Stolas rejects him (or what he’s going to see as Stolas’s rejection when he gives him the crystal)—because that’s exactly what happened with his sister. For all we know, Stolas isn’t even aware that Blitzø has a twin sister.

34. He loves Stolas with everything he has and deep down he’s aware of that, even if he’s lying to himself about it.

Conclusion: AHHHHHH

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familyagrestefanblog · 9 months

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If the woman at the pool really is Amilie then from S6 onwards we will have 2 orphans in the main narrative: Adrien and Lila

That fact that it's these two is honestly weirdly giving me hope

and yes, Adrien is an orphan. Just because he doesn't live alone and has legal guardian/s and a girlfriend doesn't it mean he isn't an orphan anymore. Marinette holding his hands and kissing him is not undoing the fact that Adrien's mother died harshly of illness almost 2 years ago and he thinks his father now died because Ladybug was partnerless and Gabriel as the only adult member of the Resistance and as Adrien's father - Adrien, who was thought to have been kidnapped - filled in Chat's place to defeat Monarque.

The amount of death surrounding Adrien's narrative right now - if the woman truly is Amilie - is beyond concerning.

Add Adrien blaming himself for Monarque having been cataclysmed in "Destruction" to the mix, plus depending on how Ladybug will go about Monarque's defeat she may use as a cover story towards the world in a panic reaction that Monarque crumbled to dust because of the cataclysm, which would indirectly but very directly include making Chat Noir responsible for Monarque's death in front of the whole world which in normal Miraculous fashion Marinette probably only accepts 20 episodes later to sweep it under the rug because *sighs; unfortunately insert random excuse for why she's blameless*

And let's not forget the fact that Adrien still had to wittness Nathalie having been sick like his mother (though Adrien never saw Nathalie in her worst state) and he also knows that Nathalie and his father were very close to the point where he has already given his blessing in season 3 and in s5 Nathalie has worn his mother's ring.

And now Adrien has every reason to blame himself for his father's death.

Take a damn guess if Nathalie being his legal guardian is enough for Adrien to not be or feel like an orphan anymore!

Then there is Amilie being around who looks like his dead mother and most likely can't stand either of his dead parents

Or Félix being around who gave ShadowMoth the 15 miraculous' which made Monarque as powerful and dangerous as he was (that's an objective fact) which for Adrien also would have lead into his father's death which is gonna be awful when Félix bad mouths Gabriel with Kagami, Marinette, Ladybug or in general.

Depending on what everyone else thinks and remembers, Adrien's friends may bad mouth Gabriel as Adrien's father too since that's what everything has lead up to by "Representation".

And let's not even get into Lila now.

The way Lila at this point would have such alarmingly easy game taking Adrien from Marinette and the rest of his friends and family, and also Chat Noir from Ladybug and her team that has barely ever been his anyway - especially now that there are 4 people in Ladybug's team who know her identity and he will continue not being allowed to be included in any of that, because I don't know how realistic it is to hold onto any hope regarding this - is ... insane. This is absolutely insane.

I know hoping that the new villain will latch onto everything bad and unfair is a shitty and biased thing to do, but Lila's villain narrative will be all about her being an orphan (right? That makes sense with the whole mothers thing and her extreme attention seeking behavior while not having a home. Just dialed up to the worst 11) and now Adrien is one too after.. all of THAT and how Adrinette and especially Ladynoir are at risk because of all the lies and secrets Lila is perfectly aware of.

For me there is a difference between wanting a new villain to latch onto the unfair treatment of a character because of one's own personal biase and just straight up refusing to get out of one's denial to acknowledge it when a new villain not only as an established character but story wise too has every reason in the book to do that now.

Do what you want, but I'm not putting my TRUST into LILA for her to not be as stupid as Gabriel because that's "mean to Marinette/Ladybug"

#ml spoilers #miraculous ladybug #miraculous #lila rossi #Ml season 6

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7grandmel · 2 months

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Todays rip: 27/02/2024

Beautiful Dreamer

Season 7 Featured on: The Year of Grand Dad Sound Selection [Side B] Also on: Now That's What I Call Quality! 3

Ripped by minindo

youtube

Over the course of this month, I've been having what's best described as an inner battle with myself over which rip from the One Direction takeover of Season 7 to feature, which was really not something I was expecting when the event first began. The timeframe around 9/11 on SiIvaGunner is typically where some of the channel's most subversive and fun events happen, such as the Metal Gear Rising-themed event of Season 4 Episode 2 as described in SUNGORE, or the Not Funny Didn't Laugh day of the Season prior that gave us Sex - Steve Harvey. To just dedicate a day to One Direction instead? To me, it was a little bit of a letdown.

And then, I heard the rips. Oh LORD, the rips.

A lot of my disappointment really came from without giving it a chance, since I lacked much of any connection to One Direction as a band - like Justin Bieber in BELIEBERDANSEN, like Sean Kingston in Crazy Noisy Beautiful Girls and Take You To The Desert, these pop sensations were names I'd probably heard whispers of now and then, but didn't really have any sort of emotional connection to. But over the years, the SiIva rippers have gotten so EXCEPTIONALLY good at twisting my perception of preexisting music completely on its head through their sheer creativity and proficiency - and it was those factors that, after a LOT of rumination, has led me to pick Beautiful Dreamer as the debut rip for One Direction on the blog. To say that it blew me away would be an understatement.

Let's get the obvious out of the way first: Lucid Dreamer is a track using the 3/4ths time signature, a far less standard rhythm than the 4/4th time signature that most pop music, What Makes You Beautiful included, uses. This difference in time signatures between songs makes the mashup process far more of a challenge, and overcoming that challenge is thus a sort of accomplishment. Hoopache back in Season 1 garnered quite a bit of attention back in the day for this very reason, and time signature manipulation in general is what makes rips like He4rt4che and 4SGOR3 such fascinating listens. This isn't even to mention how Touhou music in general, and Lucid Dreamer not excluded, has a very distinctly hectic, melodically rapid-fire feel to it - one that ripper minindo has shown excellent understanding of prior with rips like Nostalgic Blood of the Gregg ~ Old Source, but now had to take to a whole new level.

With Beautiful Dreamer, minindo came out fucking swinging, and left several of his fellow SiIvaGunner members/contributors in absolute awe in the comments. "i think this rip just created a new genre", says current channel manager MtH, while the team's very own Touhou expert Princess Sylvyspirit of NIGHTMARESCAPE 〜Unrestrained HyperCam 2〜 (Final Boss Phase 2) fame declares it her favorite Touhou rip on the ENTIRE channel. Her own analysis brings up several excellent points I agree with: compared to the days of Hoopache, the adjustment to 3/4ths time done here feels incredibly seamless, with several small manual tweaks to the instrumentation of What Makes You Beautiful that obscure its 4/4ths origin incredibly well. But the most important part Sylvy points out is of course the the highlight of Beautiful Dreamer; the additions minindo made to make the rip truly go above and beyond.

Sure, the rip already bangs as a mashup on its own terms, One Direction's vocals going from a solo to a quintet with the chorus of both songs, as well as becoming pitch-shifted to Lucid Dreamer's melody at the same portion, creates a fantastic sense of buildup and energetic release, a hype that drives the first chorus - but past that chorus, the song suddenly comes to a slower-paced section. A section COMPLETELY new to Beautiful Dreamer, an addition of flavor done by minindo himself. The section is impressive in its own right, but its utilized here as another form of tension buildup for the second chorus, whereupon it practically SOARS back into the song with an added heaviness to the volume and mixing compared to the first chorus.

Again - all of this, was for an event where the expectation was One Direction mashups and melodyswaps. Beautiful Dreamer not only fulfills that goal on a baseline level, but manages to be a full-on musical journey, almost as a flex on minindo to show just how good he's gotten from his time on the channel. I don't know for sure WHY he chose One Direction Day to be when he revealed his true power to us all, but I'm immensely happy for it - it, along with a few other What Makes You Beautiful Rips that I may cover in the future, have given me a newfound affection for the song that I didn't know the event would bring me until now. Its the second-coming of the Sean Kingston effect, but with SiIva's most cracked rippers of today at the helm.

#todays siivagunner #season 7 #siivagunner #siiva #minindo #one direction #1D #1direction #touhou #touhou project #touhou music #touhou 16 #lucid dreamer #touhou 16.5 #sumireko usami #what makes you beautiful #Youtube #Bandcamp

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sobbingprincess · 10 months

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My Favorite Human Characters In TFP

(and i dont like human characters in transformers lol)

Soooo, I don’t really like humans in Transformers. I came to watch/read about giant transforming robots who are like humans but still an alien species, why would I care about the humans when I can see humans anywhere? I do understand that the humans played a huge part in TFP but I still don’t really like them.

Nonetheless, here is my list from most favorite to least:

1.) Agent Fowler (He’s my favorite and I honestly don’t mind him! He actually had a reason to be there as a government official unlike the children and he’s pretty funny at times. He’s an enjoyable human character, imo!)

2.) Silas (Yes, we all hate him but come on… He made the show so interesting by giving us so many episodes. Breakdown rescue, Airachnid teaming up with M.E.C.H, Nemesis Prime, the human factor, Thirst… For the amount of episodes he gave us, he gets to take second place.)

3.) Rafael (Genius children exist irl so I guess that’s fair but how the heck does he understand Bumblebee? Cybertronians are forged knowing their own language, nobody taught them like how we need to be taught. Rafael never even met one but he understood Bee immediately. Yes, I know Ratchet was teaching him Cybertronian but that was way after he met Bee. I feel it would have been kinda better if he was techno-organic but then again, that would raise even more questions than him just being a human that can understand. Anyways, I liked his personality and his style was the most unique imo. If I recall correctly, the TFP art book said they were supposed to be hand-me-downs since he had a lot of siblings? He was good to help us see Ratchet’s softer side but still, why are the kids there. Anyways, Raf is relatively likable.)

4.) June (She’s only there cause the kids are there, she doesn’t really have a purpose in the show besides Fowler crushing on her.)

5.) Jack (I just find him boring, honestly. I feel it’s just meant to be “oh look!!! he’s a honorary prime!!! Not entertaining but not unbearable either.)

…

6.) … Miko (I’m not even going to get into why because this was post was supposed to be brief and I would be typing for awhile. I’ll probably make a full post about it one day. However, she is awful. She is unbearable. I don’t think I’ll ever like her character.)

That’s my list. However, I have two conflicting thoughts on the human characters. Perhaps if they went more in depth with them and their lives then I’d find them to be more interesting but at the same time, I don’t wanna see anymore damn humans lol. I’m here for the Cybertronians. Seriously, the kids were more in danger hanging out with the Autobots, especially now that the cons know they have close bonds with their human friends. If the kids had just went on their own separate ways, the cons probably wouldn’t even bother after the 2nd time. I can’t lie tho, I would want to chill out with the Autobots too lol

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idkanymoretbf · 11 days

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I need to know your prediction for todays game bebs!!! I think barca can do it, i’d say 4:2

¡visca barca!

i'm honestly nervous. i have some serious traumas from the ucl since the roma game and all those teams that did the 'remontada' on us, lmfao, so the nerves are kicking in. i'm not gonna give my prediction because i'm always AWFUL at that (i usually predict the winner but i can't really predict the score lol) but i'm gonna do some analysis for sure:

1. one of our cms needs to step up and be a dm since we don't have andreas (most likely fdj or gundo or both of them as double pivots while pedri will have the most attacking space probably).

2. i don't think that mbappe necessarily 'ghosted' last time i just think that our defenders did a good job. as much as i hate to admit it mbappe is a world class and our defenders need to step up again (i believe that they will). mbappe has a motive ngl, he got trolled on internet a lot and he probably wanna prove himself tonight, but trying to prove yourself can be a bad thing too (it can results to taking some unnecessary shots and moves just to prove yourself).

3. apart from mbappe, nuno mendes and barcola are the biggest threats AND add hakimi to all that, they wouldn't hesitate to play a really offensive football tonight. xavi made a great thing and did NOT put araujo on rb, just because mbappe is playing there. he realized that he can't have only one player marking him so putting jules on rb and ronald on rcb was the best thing he had done. in paris we didn't played high with our defense which is a good thing and we need to play like that tonight too.

4. BUT they have a big problem too and it's their defense. they have fast and dangerous wingers but i think our defense and midfield is way better. their defense is shit ngl and they make tons of mistakes. let's mention donnarumma too. they are awful at set pieces (corners especially) and we can an NEED to take advantage of that.

5. they are so good at pressing and that can be a problem for them too. one long pass from our defense or mats to the front and that's where their defenders collapse. also we need to press too because donnarumma is bad in that aspect too.

6. the best thing about last game is that we have the advantage. we're in the best situation among all the clubs that are in the qfs because only we won an away game. we have one goal advantage and we need to use that in our favor. we can't just defend the result tonight because if we score the goal first, there won't be any bigger problems for us if you ask me.

7. our players seem really happy and excited about this game and i think that's a good thing.

8. fans there, would help us a lot. more passion, more chants, more anything, we can't be quiet tonight, it's one of our most important games in years literally!!!

9. if xavi does everything tactically perfect tonight we would definitely win, and of course, if our players do their best!!!

10. also forgot to mention that we shouldn't really care about possession, because possession doesn't win you games, psg also plays that 'possession type of football' under lucho so we shouldn't really care about that! (i saw few fans on twitter roasting our players because of that but we literally won a game lol).

11. we can't lose concentration tonight because we saw what happened when we did in those 5 to 10 minutes. we controlled a game and they scored because we controlled it badly in the start of the second half.

long ass analysis, i know, but i had to write it out to make it clear for others that it's not gonna be that easy tonight. BUT i do believe that we can win this.

at the end of the day i stand with the boys always, no matter what happens, so:

Visca el Barça y Visca Catalunya, always! 💙❤️

#fc barcelona #barca #barça

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starilicious · 4 months

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mere haath mein (echo x gn!reader)

》 summary: reader and echo's love story from strangers to friends to lovers throughout the clone wars (a 4+1 type of story)

》 series masterlist: (please read the masterlist before continuing on!)

click here to read on AO3

》 part 3 word count: ~2k

》 part 3 warnings: none

》 part 3 spoilers: none

》 a/n: a bit of a longer part! reader and echo meet again and reader is a lil bit confused, poor thing.

i really took some creative liberty with this chapter and it probably (definitely) does not really reflect what it's like to be fighting in a war in any manner but oh well!!!!! that's the fun of fiction, you get to make up your own world <33

hope u folks like the chapter!

३ (3)

The third time you see him, you’re back on Coruscant, and technically supposed to be on leave. You requested a few days off, much to Fives’ delight and Anakin’s dismay. (“Aw, come on Astro! Your opinion is the only one I can trust on this entire ship when it comes to engineering.” “Oh please Anakin, spare me your whining. You know just as well as I do that you’ll be perfectly fine. But I’ll miss you too.”)

Despite both being part of the 501st, Fives and Echo had very different schedules, and more often than not, Fives’ rotations lined up with yours, leaving you to suffer through his insufferable pick-up lines. You have no idea how you haven’t smacked the banthashit out of him yet. (Fives’ knowing smile always ends up stopping you)

In all seriousness though, he had been pestering you to take a break from your work after quickly seeing the toll it began to take on you. The responsibilities kept piling up and more and more often, you were sacrificing sleep in order to continue making improvements, even despite having your team’s help. In your mind, time couldn’t be wasted when good soldiers were losing their lives, and you would be damned if you didn’t take every opportunity to make sure they lived another day.

But Fives eventually wore you down. (You have a sneaking suspicion he was relaying everything to Echo who then in turn made sure Fives turned his “charm” up to the highest notch to get you to take a break.)

(It worked.)

If anything, you were shocked when you received the message that not only was your leave accepted, but you were encouraged to take a sabbatical for a few weeks.

You weren’t planning on doing so, but after Fives, Prauf, Sonia, and even Rex of all people ganged up on you, you didn’t think you had a choice.

Even now, you’re still not sure what to make of it. Granted, the extra time means you can reach out to family and dust off former projects, but you kind of miss the hustle and bustle of your job. It simply isn’t the same without your friends always nagging you and cracking jokes. You would never tell Fives, but you even miss his terribly endearing flirting.

After the glamour of the sabbatical wore off, you decided to dive headlong into the numerous ideas collected in your engineering notebook over the years. It’s an old gift given to you by your parents, made out of paper and bound by string, encased in a decorated hard-shell cover to protect the inside. Such rarities are difficult to come by these days since datapads are so prevalent, but you always liked the smooth glide of an inkpen against scratchy paper better.

You turn to a new, precious page and meticulously begin fleshing out a prototype. Each line is drawn precisely, every mark exact. As you design, you keep a datapad open with the list of items you need to get. You have a makerspace where you can engineer to your heart’s desire, but there are some select objects you require you doubt you’ll be able to find in the marketplace.

So you head for the makerspace in the engineering garage in the basement of the Senate building on Coruscant. Your office is still there, and you still have your holoid with you–you’ll be in and out in no time.

Or so you thought.

“Astro! It’s good to see you,” a voice calls out. You turn around to find both Ahsoka and Padme side by side, R2-D2 trailing behind Padme’s lovely gown.

“Padme! Ahsoka! I haven’t seen you both in so long,” you greet kindly, eyes curving into crescent moons. R2-D2 beeps indignantly as they stop in front of you and you laugh, bending down to pet the droid’s head affectionately.

“And hello to you too, R2. Anakin making sure that capacitor is working smoothly?” R2 whumps and warbles and you nod in satisfaction.

“For once, he’s actually taking my advice.”

All of you laugh, knowing just how headstrong Anakin is when it comes to technology–or anything, really.

“Why are you here? I thought you were taking some time off?” Ahsoka pipes up, her confusion as clear as day. You shrug in slight embarrassment at getting caught so quickly.

“I wanted to pick up a few things from my office downstairs. Thought I could do something useful to help the war effort even though I’m not here,” you explain and Padme raises an eyebrow.

“Astro, I believe the point of taking leave is to not do work?” she points out and you rub the back of your neck sheepishly.

“Yes, well, this...this is more of a personal project than a work project. I like to keep busy,” you say, hands gripping your bag tightly.

Ahsoka opens her mouth to speak, but Padme places a hand on the Padawan’s shoulder. “In that case, we won’t stop you. But please do take some time for yourself, hm? And you’re always free to stop by anytime,” she says instead, and you nod in agreement, not sure what else to say.

“Take care Astro! See you later!” Ahsoka fills the silence as the three of them begin walking away and you wave back in response.

Once they turn the corner, you let out a breath you didn’t even know you were holding, too focused on not slipping up in the conversation. At least that’s over.

You make your way to the makerspace swiftly, not keen on meeting anyone else. You love your friends, but you doubt you can handle any more guilt-tripping. Besides, you’re still taking a break–you don’t really see what the problem is here.

The sharp scent of oil and grease fills your nostrils as you step into the engineering garage, saws and cutters whirring throughout the spacious area. Lights spark here and there and you relax, feeling at home. Before you can make it any farther, your best friend seemingly materializes out of nowhere.

“What the hell are you doing here? Go home,” Prauf exclaims, already trying to push you back out the door. You roll your eyes as you easily duck under his outstretched arm.

“I am, I am! I just came by to pick up a few things–please, for the love of the Maker above, do not tell Sonia. She’s going to rip me apart to shreds if she finds out,” you please, clasping your hands in front of you as Prauf folds his arms over his chest.

He relents, though, sighing out your name in resignation, and you whoop in joy.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou! I promise I’ll make it up to you,” you say as you throw your arms around him and he pats your back gently.

“Yeah, yeah, you owe me,” Prauf agrees. “You should use your time to go on a date with your boyfriend though.”

He darts away back to his work before you can smack his forearm in retaliation because you do not have a boyfriend, thank you very much. Your heart beats faster at the thought anyway.

Instead of following him, you accept defeat retreat to your office to grab the materials you need. You end up needing a cart to tow everything back to your makerspace back home. Realizing you can’t walk back without the high chance of one of your parts being stolen, you opt for grabbing a speeder taxi up at the ship docking bay.

You make your way back upstairs, dodging busygoers this way and that before finally making it to the bay. So close…

But of course, the universe is against you when you see his telltale armor standing near a ship. Oh kriff.

You saw both Ahsoka and R2-D2 today, meaning Anakin and the 501st were probably here too. You can’t believe it didn’t connect the dots in your head sooner. For someone whose life's work is putting things together, it’s ironic you didn’t realize.

In an attempt to make sure he can’t see you, you turn at an angle and try heading for the far end of the hanger as fast as possible, pulling your hat down lower over your eyes to obscure your face.

It doesn’t work.

“Astro?” Echo’s voice calls. You close your eyes in defeat, posture softening into a sag. Damnit. But despite your reluctance at being caught, you can’t help the spark of warmth that shoots through your body at the sound of his warm acknowledgment.

“In the flesh.”

You turn around and Echo jogs up to you, a look on his face you can’t quite decipher. He gazes at you when he ends up in front of you, a small, disarming smile. It seems as if he knows something you don’t.

“Need help?” he gestures to your heavy cart and you look down, momentarily forgetting about it. You don’t comment on your surprise.

“Oh, uh–yeah. Thanks,” you say instead. You step back, but it’s not far enough. Echo bumps into you when he tries sliding into your space to take over. It knocks a breathless laugh out of him and your stomach flips. Whether it’s out of embarrassment or something else entirely, you don’t know.

“I–sorry, I didn’t mean to–”

Echo waves you off nonchalantly. “Don’t apologize, happens all the time. You should have seen Fives yesterday at 79’s. Tup accidentally tripped him and he went careening straight into a commander. And boy did they give him a piece of their mind. All of us were losing it when he came back to our table,” he laughs effortlessly.

You’re suddenly jealous of how natural he is, how easily he smooths over awkward bumps and cumbersome smalltalk. Your hands curl at your sides, unsure of where to place them.

Echo guides you both across the large docking bay, filling the silence gracefully with one story after another, each as funny as the last. You stay quiet most of the time, appropriately laughing at this point and that, inserting a comment here or there. He doesn’t seem to mind though, instead building off of your reactions. It’s almost… relieving.

“And we’re here!” You’re shaken out of your reverie by the exclamation, and you look around to confirm that you indeed have arrived. Wait… how did he even know this is where I wanted to go?

You choose not to dwell too long on the thought.

Echo lets go of his grip on the cart, making space for you to push it. He waves down a driver and instructs them to load your parts into a crate to take on the back of a speeder before turning to you.

“Thanks, Echo. It was nice to see you again,” you remark, lifting your gaze to meet his eyes. He smiles in acknowledgment and something about him pushes you to continue.

You hesitate for a moment before opening your mouth again. “Would… would you like to accompany me back? I’m working on a prototype and I wouldn’t mind an extra set of hands…” you trail off. The offer hangs in the air, uncertain–a lingering question.

Echo’s comm answers for him. He steps back and you feel the same urge as you felt in the cantina all those days ago to pull him back to you, pull him close to you. You stay stuck by the cart.

“As much as I would like to, duty calls,” he says apologetically, echoing your statement from when you first met him. As he walks backwards, he gives you a lazy salute accompanied with a lopsided smile.

“Until we meet again, Astro!”

And with that, he runs off, leaving you alone with the grouchy driver, mumbling about how he doesn’t get paid enough.

It’s only until you get home and unload the equipment that you realize Echo was the only one who didn’t ask why you were there.

---

please consider reblogging! it really helps me and is super encouraging ^_^

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sunfish999 · 2 months

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The nitty gritty is watering down katara's character so she's just a meek girl ? Your lying If you really think that's the same character. The producers said they would take an axe to the main characters and that's where the show really suffers...also nothing is perfect people like you is why we get stuck with mediocrity

?? I finished episode 5 but what😭 how is katara just a meek girl, i feel like yes she has a little less rage but other than that she shows that shes smart and powerful and her own person? Explain what is watered down i feel like animation usually over-exaggerates facial expressions and voices for the most part, so i’m not surprised that katara has more subtle strength so far, and also the actress has a very kind face, but i think shes still able to show some of that anger. (I havent watched the water master fight yet so maybe thats where you’re talking about, so i cant speak on that)

Idk what taking an axe to the main characters means (like really cutting them apart? Cuz i doubt they would promote a show by saying its gonna be bad but who knows). But i feel like the characters are all pretty accurate with how they carry themselves, of course they’re younger so acting wont be perfect but i think the imperfections are what brings them to life. I know a lot of people hate the writing, i feel like it’s quite similar to the show? (Though its been maybe 3-4 years since i last rewatched it) and some lines especially from something previously animated are gonna sound awkward in real life, which is why generally i believe live actions arent necessary for any animation, though in this case i’m really enjoying just rewatching atla and my childhood be brought to life.

Nothing is perfect: ok i was using perfect mostly because i was very excited about it, of course i know theres things that could be changed to improve it but a lot of those things are impossible (like you cant get an actress thats EXACTLY katara and will make everyone happy, because shes a drawing) but overall, i think the landscapes come close to perfect (i’m just really into fantasy scenes and i think it’s so beautiful and impressive to see things like the omashu supply rail and the air temple come to life. And zuko’s boat looks so awesome and so accurate too.) And i thought the cgi looked slightly silly at first (especially air) but then i realized that we were always seeing drawings of aangs air in the animation which would look even stupider irl so i made my peace pretty quickly.

People like me is why we get stuck with mediocrity… hm. I feel like my opinion probably has nothing to do with what comes out on tv, especially because in this society haters have the real power, and you guys tearing it down are more likely to get it cancelled. I don’t think any production team takes an animated film or show and thinks ‘yea im gonna make this absolutely awful,’ (though i’m really not sure what they were thinking when making the pjo movie, its good as a standalone but they went so off course from the plot…) of course they’re all just trying to fit what they think into the show and express their own opinions, which are ultimately going to be a lot different than some people watching it.

Overall, ok i haven’t watched the og in years, so my memory on comparing each episode of the show to the live action is not going to be at the level of others (which i think boosts the enjoyability 100x over). But as i watch it, i remember tons of parts of the animation, and it makes me super happy that it has the same air as the show, albeit slightly more serious because they can’t fit all the funny filler episodes (if they ever created a live action lost appa episode i would lose it that cannot happen).

Maybe i sounded rude in my original post (i changed it quickly bc it was very angry at first lol) so sorry i know you’re all entitled to your opinion, it’s just i was SO EXCITED and then checked the tag on tumblr only to see that everyone hated it… i always feel inferior to people who really like films etc because i tend to enjoy things that other people hate, (like i really enjoyed the avatar way of water movie even if it was super long, and i know people DESPISED it). So maybe i seem like someone who is satisfied with mediocrity, and maybe i am, i focus mostly on the backgrounds and beauty of movies because im really into art and much less on acting and script (though i can appreciate beautiful characters, i was Blown Away by live action suki and hair down sokka my jaw dropped fr) i agree i am fairly simple to please in terms of this type of thing.

SORRY THIS IS GETTING QUITE LONG IM SURE U WONT READ IT ALL but i hope ur finding joy in life since live action atla is obviously not doing it for u

#avatar the last airbender #atla #JUST MY OPINION #take it all with a grain of salt #im quite bad at wording things sometimes

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paladin-of-nerd-fandom65 · 6 months

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That was pretty quick lol I got some more if that’s ok?

1: if there was a starburst comic/cartoon/manga, how would you write it? Do two volumes for both kids separately showing their origins & before they meet and then bring them together in like the third volume/chapter?

2: since you mention they like to wrestle, what’s their favorite wrestling move; also to perform on goons?

3: what’s the power level gap between mar’i & Jake? Since both are probably already in the puberty stage, I can see Jake being a little bit more powerful due to the fact boys are stronger than girls with our bone density & stuff. (Unless tamaranians are build different lol)

4: even though they don’t kill due to being heroes, if they were in mortal kombat, what fatalities would you give to the boys? I can see Chris summoning the Nightwing entity and have the dragon eat the upper half of the opponent similar to liu kangs dragon fatality.

5: silly question :p you mention earlier that Chris gets powerful when the moon is out, does he get powerful when he looks at someone’s bare butt? Get it full moon XD I can see Jake or Conner making that type of joke & making Chris laugh.

Bring it all on my friend @gothicghost2000 XD. I got plenty of imagination to o come around

1. I think that’s an ideal approach enough though if we take into account that first issues/volumes of any comic are meant to entice the reader into the actual team themselves, I’d do their respective origins on one or two pages each of that volume, with narration from Chris and Jake themselves to help give the reader their points of view before then cutting to the present day for their first adventure shown in the pages.

2. Chris Kent by his the nature of powers is an absolute powerhouse and despite having some acrobatic moments, has a fighting style that reflects that. Hence his wrestling finisher of choice and one of his go to finishers against crooks and goons would be the Jackhammer Slam, a suplex which he carries his opponent on one arm up high before then slamming them on the ground back first. Best demonstrated by real life pro wrestler, Bill Goldberg

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Now as for Jake, being more nimble and flexible, his preferred wrestling finisher of choice would be the Diamond Cutter aka the RKO. Here, he’d have a well placed headlock with his hands on the back of his opponent’s head, then slide forward onto his back, slamming the opponent face first onto the ground. Part of its charm for Jake is that he can strike with that move out of nowhere and anywhere, his stealthiness being utilized to great potential. Pioneered by wrestler Diamond Dallas Page and refined by Randy Keith Orton

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When the play wrestle and spar in some of their free time, the Duo would also perform these moves albeit dialing back the intensity to sure they don’t hurt each other for real

3.I’d say Mar’i by a very thin margin has a little bit more power than her baby brother only though since she’s about to enter puberty (or as the Tamaraneans dub it ‘Gradual Transition into the Transformation’) while Jake has about two to three years to go before he can do so as well. That being said, other than that small margin, the Grayson siblings are somewhat even in terms of combat prowess and ability

4. Oh yes, Chris would do that for a MK fatality while for Jake, his would be charging up an esrcima with a starbolt, ramming the taster tip of it onto his opponent’s chest, unleashing it’s full blast, frying the guy but truly finishing them off with another supercharged escrima starbolt on the back to compliment the front one, finally causing the unfortunate opponent to explode in a blue blast of electricity and fire, leaving behind only a lower body with its top charred to a crisp

5. As hilarious it sounds, naturally Chris won’t be gaining a charge up of his powers via someone’s rear end anytime soon lol. And yes, his brothers and best friend would tease him about it but he’d take it in good fun. He’d probably quip that if those ‘full moons’ did count, they’re be a lot more werewolves during the nighttime hours of the city since that’s what Mom Lois told him about when he’s curious about what are ‘Adult Clubs’ all about.

#chris kent #jake grayson #starburst duo #mari grayson #pro wrestling #wwe #bill goldberg #diamond dallas page #randy orton #mortal kombat #sfw

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couragehopelovefaith · 9 days

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As an answer to @carladuquette:

Mike Flanagan character draft

Rules are simple: pick your top 6 characters from the Flanaverse. Series only! If a character appears at different ages, specify which one you want on your team. Can be characters you love, love to hate, whatever. Ready? GO!

(There will be no Midnight Club-characters, because I haven't been able to bring myself to watch it since I know that the cancellation would frustrate me to no end, if I got myself engaged to it.)

This was way harder than I thought it would be! So many others would deserve to be here as well. If you haven't seen these shows and want to avoid spoilers, stop here.

But okay, here we go...

Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford, Midnight Mass)

It tells a lot that I saw Midnight Mass for the first time just this Easter, but I couldn't imagine anyone else getting the first place. Such an underrated character. He had such a sad backstory and a kind soul...he truly did his best and helped so many people when he had every possibility to be selfish. His relationship with Erin was very special too. I guess he got his happy ending in a way, but all the possible could've beens and fix-it-fics about him that I will probably never write haunt me.

2. Luke Crain (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, The Haunting Of Hill House)

I debated with myself for a long time, which Crain-twin I should put here, but Luke and his journey just moved me deeply. I'd like to write much more about him, but it would become an essay so I'll pass. It would be so inspiring to see Riley and him to have a conversation, now that I think about it. During my every single Flanagan deep-dive, I am awed how Oliver could play both Luke and Peter - such opposite characters - so believably. *standing ovation*

3. Hassan Shabazz (Rahul Kohli, Midnight Mass)

I had an eeny, meeny, miny, moe whether the third prize should go to him or Owen, but I had to pick this loving father and a wonderful sheriff. In this case, I can't even fully explain why, but he just managed to stand out from the middle of all these other fantastic characters in an unique way.

4. Verna (Carla Gugino, The Fall Of The House Of Usher)

I feel like I don't really even have to explain myself when it comes to this choice. Carla has always been talented and beyond, but she really exceeded herself in this role. In the wrong hands, this character could've become very corny and comical, but with her behind the wheel, there was no fear of that. I lost count how many times I got shivers, was lifting my jaw off the floor and crying while watching Verna. I almost wanted to include a gif of her and Arthur (since I love him too), but I thought it might be cheating, so...

5. Hannah Grose (T'Nia Miller, The Haunting Of Bly Manor)

Okay, listen... I love Dani and Jamie, both as a couple and as individuals, and their story is very bittersweet and heartbreaking. But when I think of Bly Manor, my mind always travels first to Hannah, her relationship with Owen and to episode 5. She is amazing and deserved the world. A little restaurant in Paris, with the love of her life... Gaah, even writing about it makes me tear up!

6. Tamerlane Usher (Samantha Sloyan, The Fall Of The House Of Usher)

I almost feel bad for not putting Lenore here, because she obviously was the purest one of the Ushers and didn't deserve what she got in the end. But I can't help being intrigued by Tammy and her complexity. Surely, she is far from perfect - quite a despicable human being, actually - but the episode centered around her made me feel a bit sorry and sympathetic towards her. She is my favorite Usher-sibling (Leo being a really close second) and belongs on this list. Samantha deserves way more recognition of all her roles, to be honest.

Phew, I did it! *victory dance*

Anyone can participate. Let's show appreciation to this marvelous saga, pretty please.

#mike flanagan #the haunting of hill house #the haunting of bly manor #the fall of the house of usher #midnight mass

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firawren · 1 year

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Asks about my OTPs

Pick your top 10 OTPs without reading the questions, then answer the questions after you've made your list

Elizabeth and Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)

Belle and Beast (Beauty and the Beast 1991)

Anne and Wentworth (Persuasion)

Chuck and Sarah (Chuck)

Killian and Emma (Once Upon a Time)

Peeta and Katniss (The Hunger Games)

Stede and Ed (Our Flag Means Death)

Catherine and Henry (Northanger Abbey)

Snow and David (Once Upon a Time)

Leslie and Ben (Parks and Recreation)

Now here are the questions and answers!

1. Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6? – Probably some time during the second book, when they really become a team protecting and comforting each other.

2. Have you ever read a fanfic about 2? – Haha yes, and written many!

3. Has a picture of 4 ever been your screen saver/profile picture/tumblr screen saver? – Nope!

4. If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be? – They kind of are broken up? It's devastating, but I hope season 2 will fix it!

5. Why is 1 so important? – Because they got me into the entire Jane Austen universe, which is one of my main interests and hobbies now.

6. Is 9 a funny ship or a serious ship? – Mostly serious, but they have their funny moments.

7. Out of all the ships listed, which ship has the most chemistry? – Elizabeth and Darcy or Chuck and Sarah.

8. Out of all your ships listed, which ship has the strongest bond? – Probably Peeta and Katniss since they went through such intense trauma together.

9. How many times have you read/watched the 10’s fandom? – 3 times, and I'll do it again.

10. Which ship has lasted the longest? – I don't know what this means. In their canon? Snow and David have been together for over 40 years by the end of the show, I think. In my heart? I've been into Belle and Beast ever since the movie came out over 31 years ago. In fandom? Elizabeth and Darcy have been going strong for over 200 years!

11. How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up? – I suppose they weren't really a couple during the period where Peeta wanted to murder Katniss lol! Plus they were fake dating and fake engaged for most of their relationship, so it's hard to tell what "broken up" means in this sort of context where they're not truly together to begin with.

12. If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive, 2 or 8? – 2, because Beast is a literal beast with claws and fangs and crap, and Belle is very smart. 8 are sweet little cuties who would get killed immediately lol!

13. Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason? – They both were kind of in denial about liking each other romantically, but that's not really the same thing. And they kind of broke up right after officially acknowledging they wanted to be together! I guess Stede was hiding his relationship when he went back to Mary.

14. Is 4 still together? – Kind of. The awful series finale makes their future murky.

15. Is 10 canon? – Yep, all of these ships are. I'm basic haha!

16. If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win? – Well Beast is the most dangerous physically, but he wouldn't want to kill anyone. So I'm going with Chuck and Sarah due to their physical training and Sarah's skill and lack of remorse over killing anyone she needs to.

17. Has anybody ever tried to sabotage 5’s ship? – Mostly Emma herself haha! I guess Neal and David kind of did, but not really actively/aggressively.

18. Which ship would you defend to the death and beyond? – I strongly believe in all of them, but Belle and Beast are the most in need of defense because some people see them as toxic, so I'm the most prickly about defending their relationship, I guess.

19. Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr page? – Nope, they're not super popular on Tumblr. I think only 1, 5, and 7 have a strong presence on Tumblr.

20. If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all forever, which ship would you sink? – I guess Catherine and Henry just because they could each easily find someone else to love and be happy with and not be forever devastated by their breakup. They're not, like, soulmates, just two cute young people who happened to get thrown together.

Tagging some people if they want to do this: @loonysama, @thefamilybruno, @annaofthenorthernlights, @bad-at-names-and-faces, @thecassadilla, @keeshya6, @bethanydelleman, @thatscarletflycatcher + anyone else! (No pressure to do this as usual!)

#ask game #my ships #personal

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thebluemallet · 1 year

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My Top 10 Favorite Moments From Bridgerton Season 2, Episode 2: "Off to the Races"

It has officially been one year since Season 2, so please enjoy my upcoming series of posts about my favorite moments from each episode (and ignore the fact that I never finished doing this for Season 1). My favorite moments in no particular order (except maybe chronological):

10- Shave and a Haircut (Two Bits)

The back and forth between Anthony and Benedict is gold. Anthony is being his usual, brooding, calculating self. Benedict is just waiting for all of Anthony's plans to get derailed by the sissster! And probably the most quoted line from the trailer is in here and I love it. I am, of course, talking about Anthony's desire to go about choosing a bride with his head and not his dick heart.

I don't know if the cloth over the face was an intentional nod to Anthony's sideburns from last season, but if it was, kudos to the production team for thinking of that.

9- Door to the Face

I a-door Kate telling off Anthony and then shutting the doors to the drawing room in his face. She is the gatekeeper and she'll do whatever it takes to keep Anthony away from Edwina.

8- Hug-blocked

Oh, Penelope. You sure have some awkward moments, don't you. First, you slightly horrified your best friend when you said "...someone like--Colin!" Then you almost forgot yourself in the excitement of Colin being home and went to hug him before the other Bridgertons cut you off. At least it gave her a moment to remember herself and luckily for her, no one else seems to notice what she almost did.

While I would like the montage for season 3's first episode to be Colin getting increasingly confused/stressed out/sad because Penelope is ignoring him, I think it might actually end up being more of this awkward cutie trying and failing at the marriage mart.

7- "You think too much about it." "And you too little."

Kate and Anthony's argument over which horse will be the victor gives me life. And they're so absorbed in each other that Edwina's and Dorset's attempts to try and break up their debate get drowned out. And the two of them just absolutely losing it while watching the race is amazing. And I love the look on Anthony's face when Kate starts whistling. He's bewildered. He's in awe. He's horny as hell.

How did nobody else notice that these two were perfect for each other based off of this interaction???

6- The Fencing Scene

I would hereby like to petition the showrunners to please let us see the flowy white shirts the men are wearing more often. Anyway, on to the scene. Anthony is having a temper tantrum ranting to his brothers about Kate. If this is Anthony trying to hide how much he likes Kate, then he is going to be absolutely sickening in season 3 when he doesn't have to hide it anymore. I'm amazed that the brothers aren't picking up on it. Colin, you're forgiven since you've only just returned to the country, but Benedict, you haven't taken any drugs yet at this point in the show. You should have been able to read between the lines.

And did I mention: give us more of the flowy white Regency men's shirts.

5- Trojan Horse

Showing up at Lady Danbury's house with Nectar showed that a) Anthony really knew nothing about Edwina and b) he accidentally got the perfect gift for Kate. If only he wasn't so stupid. But his stupidity leads to some great lines this season so I'll take it.

Seriously, this is the 19th-century equivalent of getting someone a Ferrari, why would you do this, Anthony?

4- Pouty Anthony

Anthony pouting over being excluded from the invitation to Lady Danbury's. That's it. That's all I have to say.

3- Edwina Bonding With Penelope

Let's be real, Penelope's hair and outfits improve this season...but not until episode 3. Edwina is kinder than I am because she is very nice to Penelope about her dress and even makes her smile. I would not be able to say one nice thing about that outfit without lying through my teeth. Obviously, Penelope had other motivations when she spoke with Edwina, and she needed to be among the suspects for the Queen for plot reasons, but Edwina made Penelope feel good about herself for a minute there. I wish this friendship had been explored a little more this season, but alas.

2- "You are Pen...you do not count."

The only reason this is on my list is because I'm hoping this moment to come back and bite Colin in the ass in season 3. I like to imagine that when he starts to come to his senses, he'll remember this moment as he's about to drift off to sleep, cringe, and then lie awake for hours wondering what the hell is wrong with him.

1- Lady Danbury's Warning

Yes, Lady Danbury dropped the ball this season by not picking up on the attraction between Kate and Anthony sooner and also not denouncing Anthony courting Edwina. When Kate insists that she doesn't care what anybody thinks of her and she'll be more than happy to live the rest of her life alone in India, Lady Danbury calls her out on this. It's obvious to us and Danbury that Kate does care what people think of her (read: Anthony) and that she would be devastated at leaving her family behind and probably never seeing them again.

#bridgerton #bridgerton season 2 #anthony bridgerton #kate sharma #kate x anthony #anthony x kate #kathony #kanthony

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roxtron · 8 months

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Splatoon 3's game mechanics are absolute bullshit at this point. And I wasn't sure what other vague term to use, because that's the shortest way I can describe it. Yes, this is going to be a long post, ranging from discussing badges, matchmaking, weapon balancing.. etc. I've had a lot of issues with the game for a while now and while the fandom is a part of it, I already addressed part of that in one of my other posts, so I'll keep this one dedicated to the game itself. Keep in mind I may over-explain things so this post is as accessible as I can make it to people who don't play the game.

Salmon Run Issues.

I think I'll start with the badge issue, since it's one I have personal experience with. EVP 999, specifically.

(Context paragraph.) For those who don't know, EVP is a ranked badge you can get during one of the game's extra modes, Salmon Run. The gameplay itself isn't incredibly important to explain why this badge setup is awful, so I'll go over the context that is important. Every match is about 6-9 minutes (Depending on if you get the king salmonoid, which appears every couple of waves.) Each match has 3 waves, a wave 1 loss gets -20 points, wave 2 loss is -10, and a wave 3 loss results in no point change. If you win a match, whether or not it has a king salmonoid, you get 20 points. Keep in mind the name of the badge here with that information in mind. The game expects you to get from EVP 40 to EVP 999 within ONE SINGULAR ROTATION. Each rotation lasts a quarter over a day and a half, around 40 hours. As an example of the hours they give you, the current rotation as I type this started at 9 AM on the 17th, and ends at 1 AM tonight, which would be the 19th. With previous calculations done by the fandom (That are not 100% accurate, but the closest we can get.) To count for lobby-waiting time, inevitable disconnects from the lobby, even if you got 0 losses it can take anywhere from 6-7 hours. Due to splatoon's TERRIBLE matchmaking, unless you have a team of friends to do this challenge with, you're probably gonna get a decent amount of losses. Let's say you only lost 1/4 of your matches, depending on which wave you lost, you may have to do another full match to make up for that loss. If it takes roughly 50 matches of solid wins to get to EVP 999, and you lost 1/4, let's say all wave 1 losses, you'd be behind by about 12 losses. Which means you'd have to get 12 more wins just to undo those mistakes. That already adds roughly another 72 minutes to the amount of time it would take, nearly an hour from only 12 losses. While we're at it, let's say you actually got a healthy amount of sleep, 8 hours each night. That could potentially mean you're skipping out on only part of the rotation, for example if you went to bed at 10 when the rotation ended at 1 AM, but for calculation's sake, since it's not fully two days, let's go for the amount of time the rotation lasts, a day and 3/4 worth of sleep. If you get a decent amount of sleep, that decreases the amount of time you have to play by 14 hours. Leaving you with only 26 hours to get EVP 999. But oh wait, you're a functioning human being, you're gonna need to take breaks to eat and go to the bathroom. According to google, "on average, we spend only 1 hour and 8 minutes of every weekday consuming food and drink.." Once again counting for a day and 3/4, that's nearly 2 hours spent eating and drinking. Which would leave you with 24 hours. But oh, yet again, the bathroom exists. Once again according to a google search, "the average person spends 30 minutes in the bathroom daily." Again, 3/4 of a day added, that's nearly an hour to add to the count. Which brings us to 23 hours. If all you do besides playing this video game is eat, sleep, and use the bathroom, you only have around 23 hours of the 40 hour window to play. So that's assuming you have that day and 3/4 free, and don't spend any extra time doing things like socializing or talking to your family or roommates. Oh wait.. you might have a job? Working 9-5.. Or school? About 6 hours in the day are lost, even if you have no homework. Forget even attempting this.

Now here's the part where we get to my personal experience: I have gotten this badge. And I never want to do it again. Every time I complained about these circumstances or saw others doing so, the response was basically just "get good." And I'm one of the people lucky enough to not have had a job or school work when I attempted this. Now that I do have the badge, I can safely say: this response is bullshit. You're not "not good enough" to get the badge. The game simply doesn't give players enough time to get the badge without dedicating an unhealthy amount of hours playing it. The game really doesn't get much harder as the hazard level increases either: It's not a skill issue. It's a time issue, and if you have terrible teammates, a matchmaking issue too. When I got this badge, the rotation was the same. It started at 9 AM, and ended at 1 AM the next night. The first night I started playing around 7 PM, I had spent the entire day cleaning. According to the screenshots I saved, I finished playing around 3 AM and got to EVP 480. So in about 8 hours, I had only gotten about halfway there. Unfortunately for me, I was sick, and woke up at 9 AM the next day. I also had a hard time falling asleep, I remember only getting about 3 hours that night. I played the ENTIRE DAY. I don’t know how many breaks I took to eat or go to the bathroom, but I can tell you it wasn’t many. I was dedicated. Eating and using the bathroom were the only breaks I took. I was dead-tired, zoned out, and trying hard not to stay on autopilot. By the time I finished, my mind had melted so much it didn’t even feel like the same map anymore. Logically, I knew it was, but each jump felt like it was coming from a different place entirely. The time I finished? Around 12:40 AM if I remember correctly. I was nearly 15 minutes behind the cutoff, meaning if I had lost one or two matches: I would’ve just barely missed the count for the badge entirely, after all I went through. I got the badge but, my god, at the cost of my physical and mental health. That was at least 4 months ago and I still remember how drained I was so clearly. The worst part is this wasn’t even a rotation on a map I wasn’t good at, or completely random weapons that leave you forgetting what weapon you’re even holding: Nope. It was on my second favorite map, with me being good/decent at 3/4 weapons in the rotation, with 1 weapon randomized. It was a GOOD rotation, and I still came that close to failing. All the people that claim it’s easy: I am willing to bet money they did this with friends or other pro players. I didn’t have a team of four. The person I typically play with was unable to play beyond a few matches of the rotation. I was doing this completely alone, only with help from pools, which were still new at the time. And I’m good at this game too. This badge is COMPLETELY unattainable for a casual player. And I know it’s intended to be a pro-player badge.. But, I honestly struggle to decide whether or not it was worth it. I’m glad I got the badge, but I certainly went through a lot to get it.

What makes this frustrating is that there’s such a simple solution: Checkpoints. Yeah, there is none. If you can’t get the points before the rotation ends, your number will be reset to 40. Even if you got to 990, you will still go back just like everyone else. What makes this even worse is that Splatoon 2, which introduced Salmon Run, did have checkpoints. Another point: Splatoon 2 didn’t have any sort of badges. No matter how high your score got in Salmon Run, you would not receive a reward for doing so. And yet, the game would give you a checkpoint every 100 points up until 400. I never got that far, but from old posts, it seems like 900 is the highest you could go. Even this would be so much better, if you got up to EVP 500 and the game would reset your points to 400, that means you’re already nearly halfway there AND you still have the full rotation to keep trying! It’s such an easy fix, by giving players checkpoints you’re giving them more time to achieve this goal, even if it got reset back to 400 that is WAY more attainable than getting reset to 40. Some people argue against this because “oh, what about the poor, poor sweaty players that got EVP 999 without checkpoints?” As one of them, y’know what I say? Fuck it. I don’t care if that makes my achievement less valuable, I can always tell people “I got the achievement before they added checkpoints.” It just feels like “I suffered, why shouldn’t they?” I didn’t expect to have written this long of a post solely on the EVP 999 badge requirements, so I’ll move on to the servers.

Matchmaking

It’s no secret this game’s matchmaking is terrible. You can be a pro player and still get in lobbies with new players. And no, that’s not an exaggeration. Like I’ve mentioned, I’m a player with the EVP 999 badge, and I’ve gotten into X rank. Granted, I haven’t gotten good enough matchmaking to get near a badge for it, but that’s part of what we’re complaining about today, isn’t it? Unfortunately it’s hard to use any sort of stats to prove this, as now you can really only see the stats players choose to show off, so you don’t know what level they are or if they’re simply hiding higher rank badges because they prefer characters’ head badges. The simplest way to show this is to just.. Play the game, or watch videos of other players. I don’t think any way I write it could be more damning than.. Watching a clip of someone getting a wipeout, and yet your teammates still manage to lose the ranked match, despite the goal being wide open. Or watching a rank C player get matched with a X rank player. Unfortunately this is just the category I’m not as good at writing about, though I planned to, I apologize. So I’ll link some videos that can explain or show this. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dYcdFs0Hojk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRZw3PZoU-E https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lh9TpiaFt0Y (This video is sarcastic, btw.) Other people have complained about matchmaking enough that I feel like if you’re involved in the community, you probably don’t need it to be explained to you anyway lol. It’s something the majority of players can agree on. Either way, I’ll move on to another somewhat-fandom related issue, though I do once again want to focus on the game itself, less than the way players influence it.

Splatfests.

While Tricolor has had plenty of issues since the game’s release, I actually wanna start by focusing on one specific update that changed the point system we should be talking about. Here’s the chart for reference.

(Before: Splatfest Sneak Peek 8p, Votes 10p, Open battle 12, Pro battle 12, Tricolor battle 15. After: Sneak peek 7p, Votes 8p, Open Battle 12, Pro battle 12, Tricolor battle 18.) Now, while this hasn’t affected the splatfest results yet due to the way points have been collected by the winning team: I want to make this very clear: it could, drastically. It doesn’t seem like a big change but it makes Tricolor such an important category, despite being a problematic game mode, it could single-handedly give you a win. Let me explain by going through hypothetical situations. Let’s say Team 1 got Sneak Peek, Votes, and Pro battles, Team 2 got Open Battles and Tricolor battles, and Team 3 got no points. Pre-update, Team 1 would’ve gotten 30 points, and Team 2 would’ve gotten 27 points, giving Team 1 the win. Post-update, Team 1 would’ve gotten 27, and Team 2 would’ve gotten 30, reversing the numbers completely. Post-update, even though both won a point on turf wars, and Team 1 had not only the votes but the playtime during sneak-peek.. Team 2 would’ve still won simply because they got Tricolor. I dunno about you, but this seems pretty broken to me. Sneak peek counts how much XP players get in the week before splatfest, basically how much you play. Winning the votes would literally mean the majority of players chose that category. They EACH get one turf war category, and yet the second team would win solely because they got a category that’s only available halfway through the splatfest? A category the lower votes actually have a better chance in due to less mirror matches? That’s prioritizing Tricolor WAY too much. If Team 1 gets 3/5 categories, Team 2 can win just by getting those remaining 2 categories.

Some people praise this change because it makes it less likely for the popular team to win, and still gives others more of a chance, but honestly? I think it makes it more likely for unpopular teams to win, depending on how severe their lack of popularity is. As I mentioned before Tricolor is way more likely for less voted teams to win due to the lack of mirror matches. If a team has too many players, previously they may not get matched in Tricolor at all, instead matched into a regular turf war match, but at least now, a mirror match would result in them playing Tricolor against their own team. No point gain for anyone, just practice pretty much. You could have the possibility of playing for hours, and getting less points than someone who played half as much as you, simply because they didn’t get as many mirror matches, and got to play matches that actually count towards your team’s points. Plus, with the gamemode only being available during the second half of splatfest, it can kinda encourage players to only play Tricolor, and nothing else, since it’s worth that many points. And I can’t lie here and say I’m not one of those people, lol. Turf war is boring to me so I tend to mostly play Tricolor if I don’t care much about the splatfest theme and I’m not very dedicated to who wins. I don’t think that votes should be worth more than Tricolor, but I don’t think Tricolor should be worth as many points as it is. Worth votes and sneak peek combined, nearly 1 1/2 of the points the turf war categories are worth. I’m not sure what an ideal system would be, I’m not a huge fan of sneak peek as a category personally, I feel like it’s better the splatfest points are within the time of splatfest itself, and that having the snails to use on the machine is already enough to encourage players to play more during that time, if they want to. But, my point is, Tricolor is worth way too many points in comparison to the other categories.

Especially when you consider Tricolor’s broken history.. When Splatoon 3 launched, it actually released a demo specifically for splatfest leading up to the release date. During the first half, it was just the typical turf war modes. But during the second half of the splatfest.. Whichever team had the most points was put in the lead. The leading team would be put on the Defending team for Tricolor mode. If there weren't enough players, you’ll be placed into a regular turf war match. But here’s the thing: You didn’t have a choice. If you were on the leading, defending team, you could ONLY play Tricolor. If you were on Attacking (Not in the lead) you could choose to play turf war or Tricolor. Which is why most people complaining about how unbalanced the gamemode was were met with: “Just don’t play it then.” Or any type of “get good” argument. This was only from players on attacking teams, too. Even worse, naturally after how unbalanced it was: The win shifted from Team Scissors to Team Rock. But if you complained about Team Rock winning due to Tricolor: Take a wild guess what would happen to you. This continued and only started to get recognized after youtubers made videos about it, and/or until the next splatfest came along, and people previously on the attacking team were left to defend and experienced how difficult it was. Like I mentioned in another post. And according to these polls: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/08/poll-what-did-you-think-of-tricolor-turf-war-in-splatoon-3

(What do you think of Tricolor Turf War? “It’s good (Team Scissors)” 12%, “Attacking team is best! (Team Rock and Paper)” 36%, “It’s easy” 6%, “Defending sucks, I hated it.” 46%) I think the results speak for themselves, as only 12% of those in the poll, team scissors, actually enjoyed defending. Whereas 46% hated it.

(Do you think Tricolor needs improving? “No, it’s perfect!” 5%, “Ultra Signals need to be changed, they’re too good” 17%, “The defending team needed some kind of boost” 26%, “The maps aren’t built for tricolor, they need to change.” 10%, “Weapons aren’t suited for a three-way match” 1%, “Results should be checked more often and defending team should change to match” 15%, “It should be 3-v-3-v-3” 18%, “I want old splatfests back!” 9%) NOBODY was fully happy with Tri-color. Only 5% of people actually said it was good as it is. I don’t think anyone would consider that good for a demo. Ironically people assumed the defending team would do best, since it was 4-v-2-v-2 instead of 3-v-3-v-3. But clearly that was a wrong guess. If you got the signal, you’d get an infinite sprinkler to give you free turf throughout the match, and if you got both? You’d get free turf in the middle of the map. Right where the defending team spawns. And god, there was a LOT of spawn-killing. For some added perspective, these were spawn points for the teams.

And this is what a lot of maps looked like at the end.

The attacking team’s spawn has a lot of high ground and multiple entrances to get to the middle. There were far too many opportunities for the attacking team to get to the middle, and far too little opportunities for the defending team to get in the attacking team’s spawn. (Which was the only way to get enough turf to overpower at least one of the other two teams.) Needless to say the first demo was an absolute wreck. But we’re not done yet. Somewhere around September, their temporary solution to splatfests was to make it less likely to even get into them. If I remember, the rate may have been around 2%. It was very unlikely, I played for a couple of hours and got LUCKY to get in 2-3 matches. Obviously people were upset with this too. They tried changing points and maps, but it was never enough, so they simply gave up and made it so that you could get into Tricolor on Defending or Attacking regardless of if your team was winning or losing. This change was mixed at the time but unfortunately I think it’s the best solution they could come up with, considering they were completely unwilling to change the mode’s gameplay. If all we have to work with is changing how players get into matches, so be it. Though players would get extra points if they got randomized onto the team responding to their points. For example if the winning team got placed into defending. Nearly every splatfest there’s been some sort of complaints about the map, though they largely stem from what a lot of people mutually agree on: The mode should have been 3 players on each team, so they could balance a third of the map for each team. Trying to squeeze 2-v-2-v-4 is just difficult to do without giving one team too much of an advantage, especially when one team spawns at mid. The fact that the original purpose of 2-v-2-v-4 has been rendered useless- With it originally being to give the other teams more of a chance to catch up. (Which was a bit unfair already, to be honest.) It doesn’t matter if they can be on any team now. It’s backtracking, really. Trying to appease the fandom while refusing to address the core issues because they’re too stubborn in what they’ve created. Speaking of being too stubborn to change core gameplay..

The Balancing.

Yeah, Tricolor isn’t the only thing people have been upset with since launch. One of the new specials introduced, the crab tank, has absolutely been argued as an overpowered special. Even in pro tournaments there’d be teams with 3-4 crab tanks. Needless to say people were definitely choosing that special more often, and for a reason. On launch, the crab tank has 500 HP. In comparison to a normal squid, which only has 100 HP.. You can see why this thing is a pain in the ass to fight. If you’re a short range weapon, unless you get the opportunity to sneak up on the back, you’re dead. With extremely high range and damage, the thing’s like an overpowered Hydra Splatling, without the need to charge up. What makes this more of an issue is that: It’s barely been nerfed, at all. Its stats have barely changed since launch. They spent months slowly trying to make players happier, not by changing the tank, but by changing the effect other specific weapons have on it. Specifically by increasing the damage certain weapons deal to it, decreasing the amount of damage done to certain specials.. The tank was never actually made less powerful, and if you didn’t main a weapon that got any of these specific changes- It wouldn’t matter to you. The only stat change is that the duration changed from 9 seconds to 8 seconds. Yeah, what a big change, right? They made special power up more effective anyway (Which increases the duration) so you could very easily undo the tiny inconvenience this update created. As a slightly less inconvenient change, tenta missiles got a lot more powerful from splatoon 2 to splatoon 3. I can’t find the exact stats for comparison, but back in splatoon 2 the targeting was much less effective and easier to dodge, in splatoon 3 its targeting is much more accurate, and for whatever reason, it’s generally a lot more dangerous to deal with than it used to be. Back in splatoon 2 dodging tenta missiles was pretty easy, yet in splatoon 3 it’s harder to do successfully. I don’t have the stats to know why, but I wish I did. Still, it’s a minor change, though it caused players to heavily spam them with weapons that can refill their specials quickly. So it definitely affected the game. And now we move on to what was my biggest sign this game was going downhill and the devs didn’t fucking care. When it was announced they were bringing a splatoon 1 special into splatoon 3, I think we all expected major changes for it, but somehow.. They didn’t. All the specials in splatoon 1 are infamously overpowered, and you’ll quickly see why. You thought a tank with 500 HP was bad enough to deal with? Try dealing with an INVINCIBLE SPECIAL. That’s right. You CANNOT damage this thing until the duration is over. (Which, by the way, was actually INCREASED from splatoon 1 to splatoon 3.) What made me the most shocked about this special being added was how little they seemed to care about the ways it can affect the game. On launch, if you went into the Kraken you would NOT lose any of your clams in clam blitz. Most specials you either lose your clams or you cannot fire them, and considering how quickly it was changed so you would lose clams, I’m willing to guess they just didn’t think about it. Unfortunately around that time I played ranked a lot, so you can imagine what an experience that was. Splat Zones? The Kraken can just run around the middle, and remember, you can’t kill it, and if you get close to it you’ll die, so if you don’t have a long ranged weapon, you can’t do anything about it. You just have to sit there and let them take the turf. Rainmaker? Not so bad, but it can basically be a shield for the rainmaker holder. Tower Control? OH MY GOD. I don’t know if they fixed it since, but at least back when I played more often, a kraken could just sit on top of the tower and keep getting points. The only way to retake the tower is to either push off or kill the person on top of it: Oh right, you can’t kill them. Needless to say I didn’t play tower control much after that.

Now think about how all of these issues combined affect the game. You can’t have much fun playing the basic modes because of the balancing and matchmaking issues, you can’t have much fun during the special events like splatfests unless you’re on the winning team and it’s a good tricolor map.. So how do you still have fun? It’s why I stopped playing. I like playing video games competitively. I’m really good at them, and I know that, I have really rare achievements in other games I find more difficult. But I honestly gave up on this game for a while. After all these issues piling up, I couldn’t find a point anymore. With all the matchmaking and shit, I genuinely don’t think I can have much fun in this game again unless they somehow fix the many issues the game has right now, or unless I can get any friends into the game so I can get a team of 4 and not rely on random level 2 players. I’ve only been playing the special events so naturally I don’t have much recent experience. The game just isn’t fun anymore. The community, and the gameplay itself.. It’s been rough. I used to love this game a lot, and don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it or anything, but I hate the way Nintendo and the fanbase are treating it. I’ve let this rant go on for a really long time at this point so I’m gonna cut it here. If I think of more I wanna say I’ll add it in reblogs or something but for now, I think I’m done lol.

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #splatoon rant #splatoon salmon run #splatoon ranked #you have no idea how long i spent on this it took me all day lmao #over 4600 words and over 25000 characters #if you're interested in the previous post i made about splatfests it's like right below this one on my account #ok i think that's all the tags i've got for this #goodbyee

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iviarellereads · 11 months

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Nona the Ninth, John 5:18(1)

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For detail on The Locked Tomb coverage and the index, read this one!)

(No icon) In which someone starts to really use his powers.

IN THE DREAM, night had fallen, or what she assumed was night. They were lying atop the hill they had climbed and he was pointing out all the constellations that they would be able to see if it weren’t for the thick green cloud and the softly falling flakes of ash. They were lying head-to-head, their eyes aimed at the right part of the sky to see, or in this case not see, the Southern Cross. The stars were sweet and familiar, but she did not know their names, though they seemed to be at the tip of her tongue. She asked him why it was called the Southern Cross. He said that was just one name for it, but the stars were in a cruciform pattern and it was only visible from the southern hemisphere. He said when he was little he’d been taught it was the anchor of a ship.(2) He still preferred that, he said. Liked the idea that the Milky Way was pinned down and couldn’t go anywhere. Said when he was a kid he hated change, any change at all. She had quite liked change—mostly. But he did not want to dwell on that. So she asked him about the fingers trick, and he was happier to talk about why it had upset everyone so much.

After everyone in the gang has had a chance to see him do it, they needed to come to terms with it. C- and G-, despite being raised religious, took it better than anyone. M- was an atheist since age 12, even though her best friend was a nun. A- giving her "a benzo and a shot of whiskey" helped too, John thinks.

Still, they all wanted to believe in him. They all wanted a miracle. P- worried about a zombie apocalypse, but Ulysses and Titania weren't zombies, they were fully controlled by John's commands and will.

He and she sit in the fallout ash for a bit.

After a moment, he said: I knew it was fine. I knew I’d touched something, come away with something, that could be used for good. Could be used to fix everything, used for you.(3) I only had to figure out how. There was so much to figure out. But I’d got a dream team on tap, eh?

Then they started testing the limits. What he can and can't do, how much he can control them, from what distance. They even dug up a graveyard, to P-'s annoyance at having to cover it up, and he could "raise" the bodies of the long-dead as well.

At that point, they knew the biggest risk was getting caught, getting institutionalized, or weaponized by more stakeholders. Maybe they'd seen too many movies.(4)

He said, So we figured that what we had to do was make as big a noise as humanly possible, turn to the public. Find out if anyone else was like me, if there was someone out there who could do the same thing. And there was a way we could do just that. It was a different time back then. I didn’t want to do it. It felt too—kill switch, too awful to contemplate. Too grisly. Too shitty. But it was the only trick we had up our sleeves. He sighed and said, “We had the internet. We decided to stream.” She said, “What is this internet?” And he said, “See, I did make a utopia.”(5)

=====

(1) "Hereupon therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he did not only break the sabbath but also said God was his Father, making himself equal to God." Well, that certainly seems relevant, are we four for four? Of course we are. I don't love the layer of "the Jews sought the more to kill him" because that sort of thing has been long, long used to justify antisemitism, but some people are probably getting more upset at John for not complying and giving up, considering how hard they worked to shut him down. Meanwhile letterizing brings us to THETOWER. Well, we certainly saw many towers at Canaan House, but this feels more specific somehow. THE tower, or perhaps The Tower, not just any old tower. (2) It's true! The constellation the North knows mainly as the Southern Cross, or Crux, is known in Maori culture as the anchor on the Milky Way's boat. (3) That sneaky "you" again. (4) How many of us haven't made wild plans for things like nuclear attacks or zombie apocalypses because we've seen too much fiction to not think about it on some level? Even though the risks are so low for most of the world. (5) The joke almost as old as the internet, that the internet is hell and cursed and we'd be better off without it. We wouldn't, mind, but I still laughed.

#the locked tomb #tlt #nona the ninth #ntn #nona the ninth spoilers #ntn spoilers #emperor john gaius #harrowhark nonagesimus

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dumb-hat · 1 year

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Tagged!

@thefreelanceangel smacked me with this thing, and I happen to be sitting here, looking at it, right at the moment when I'm both restless and bored and can't think of anything to read or do, so... yeah, okay, why not? Been a bit since I've done one of these things.

1. Are you named after anyone?

Kinda.

So, the original plan was to name me after my father, but it turns out there was another guy in town with his name, and Dad, like... he hated that guy, and the thought that people might meet little baby me and think that I was that guy's kid just grated on him, so they named me after his best friend, but gave me Dad's middle name.

2. When was the last time you cried?

I don't remember the last time I did a whole-ass, full-on cry, but I probably furrowed my brow and tried to stoically choke down a swell of tearful emotion while watching fucking Ted Lasso yesterday.

Same thing with Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 the other day.

It used to be that like, I'd get fairly emotional about real life stuff, but not so much with media. Sure, it would have an effect on me, but that effect just didn't, like... go anywhere, if that makes sense. These days though, if I'm being honest? I will almost cry at the drop of a hat.

3. Do you have kids?

Nah. The cats are enough.

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

I think I use, like, a normal amount of sarcasm, whatever that is.

I really appreciate sarcasm, especially well-crafted sarcasm. It doesn't take much to just, I dunno, meanly say the opposite of how you actually feel about something, but good sarcasm can be an absolute delight.

When I was younger, I did an awful lot of the former, all the while confusing it for the latter. I won't say I always get it right now, but I try to do it less as a knee-jerk reaction, especially around people who might not know me as well... But I can't help it, and sometimes I show my ass.

If anything, I'm more likely to lapse into bathos than sarcasm.

5. What sports do you play/have you played?

Tee ball and coach pitch when I was a little, tiny kid. I was really bad at it, but Dad wanted me to do it, and it meant I got to hang out with him, even if I was terrified the entire time I was out there.

That's it, unless you want to count a few summers during/right after high school where my friends and I got really into Ultimate frisbee and started a league with teams and shirts and everything.

I, uh... I for one would rather not count that, if that's alright.

6. What is the first thing you notice about other people?

Honestly, it really just depends on how I meet them, you know? Is it an online thing? An in-person thing? A party? A concert? A convention? Work?

I guess I could say that I get a pretty strong gut reaction to people right off the bat, no matter the context. I'm pretty good about giving myself room to adjust how I feel, but there's definitely a quiet, ongoing vibe check that I notice first thing, if that counts.

7. Scary movies or happy endings?

This feels like a false dichotomy.

For years, I thought I didn't like horror, but then I realized that I had just been convinced that I didn't like horror. Turns out, I really like it, I'm just kind of specific about it.

I like happy endings, but sometimes I'm put off when things are just a little too pat, you know?

So, uh, yeah. I like both. This doesn't feel like an either/or for me.

8. Any special talents?

I kinda wanna say 'no,' but that's not really a fun answer, is it?

So, okay. Here's a fun one: One day when I was like, 17 or 18, I was sitting at my grandparents' computer, waiting on something to download for a class project, I saw one of those... Oh, I don't know what they're called, like... one those, uh, letter spikes? You know, it's a spike that sits upright on a desk and you impale letters on it?

Yeah. One of those.

Anyway, I saw it there, and I still don't know why I did this—chalk it up to that ADHD impulsiveness, I suppose—but I took the thing and just, like, slid it into my nostril. I expected resistance, but didn't really find any, so I just kinda, you know, kept going.

I slid the thing in—straight back, mind you! Not up!—until I felt it touch the back of my sinus cavity. It wasn't long before I was showing this off to anyone I could, using progressively more impressive-looking nails. I started keeping a nose nail handy just so I could do the impromptu human blockhead thing on demand at parties and stuff.

Uh, does that count?

9. Where were you born?

Nowhere good, I tell you what.

10. Do you have any hobbies?

I do a lot of tabletop RPG stuff. I'm coming up on session 8 of an Exalted game, which is a lot of fun. I ran tons of it back in the day, but I haven't touched it since like, '11, but it feels good to be running it again. Feels kinda like home.

I play some video games, too. I find that the interest is always there, but the actual doing of it waxes and wanes, and boy, is there a lot of waxing right now. Just... a lot of fun stuff coming out. Lots I want to play.

I, uh... should probably log into FFXIV sometime soon. Get caught up. Take screenshots. Roleplay. Sort inventory. Manage retainers. Anything, really.

Honestly though, I really love making terrariums. I always thought it was kind of neat, but I started watching terrarium videos on YouTube as kind of a Bob-Ross-Moment-of-Zen-Unwind-and-Destress kind of thing while I was working a super-stressful job, and then it just kind of turned into my pandemic hobby. I love it, but I haven't made anything in a while, since I'm low on a few supplies. This is a good reminder to change that, though!

11. Do you have any pets?

I do! Two cats and a leopard gecko. The cats are 17 and 11. The leopard gecko is... at least 16, but could be years older than that, as he was kind of a rescue situation. He's slowing down a lot and getting really fussy, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit worried about him, but I reckon he's had a good run.

12. How tall are you?

5'10? 5'11? Depends on my posture, I guess.

13. Favorite Subject in School:

Depends on what kind of school we're talking about.

In grade school, it was usually science, sometimes social studies.

In high school, I took whatever *-as-literature classes I could, but my favorite classes were probably actually World Cultures and Sociology.

In college, I double majored in Anthropology and Linguistics. My favorite class was probably Sociolinguistics, but I was pretty good at Phonetics and the Anthropology of Science Fiction course I took as an undergrad was a ton of fun.

Okay, I guess it doesn't actually depend. Most of that can be boiled down to "I like people, and I like words, and I like what people do with words."

14. Dream job?

As much as I'd love to be pithy and say something like "I don't dream of labor," Baldwin said it better than I could ever hope to.

I don't think I have a dream job. I just kinda wanna do stuff and then have time to, like, not do stuff, you know?

That said, as I get older, I do find myself daydreaming about all kinds of things that feel like they'd be fulfilling now, but didn't even cross my mind when I was in a better position to do something about it more easily.

For all the time I spent staring at the architectural mock-ups in the halls at college, I could have at least taken an intro class, right?

I spent a large chunk of my life thinking I had no interest in making things or putting things together before realizing how much I loved the thin line between frustration and cursing, and elation and satisfaction that comes with repairing something, just because I was told that wasn't the kind of thing guys like me did. Also, uh... Having a half—or even quarter!—decent set of tools (rather than whatever you can find around the house) really, really helps.

So, yeah. I dunno. I'm getting older and still figuring out what I want to do, which is kind of a pain in the ass for an old guy that's long past all the college and "What do you wanna do when you grow up?" part, but I guess that's alright.

Wait. No. I wanna be a garden hermit. Surely, that's still a thing somewhere, right?

15. Eye Color?

Blue.

I'm not tagging anyone because... I dunno, I don't wanna. But hey, feel free to steal this and do it and tag me back so I can see it. That sounds like fun.

I've got an OOC blog over at @justlikethefish. In theory, that's where I talk about stuff like this. In practice, it's mostly like, cats and memes, and the occasional two-sentence post about whatever tabletop game I'm running, or whatever. Oh, and just about every Calvin & Hobbes post I come across.

#Tagged #OOC

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