#but you can easily see the trajectory of the person he’s becoming

[t-tomuras]

cw: jjk au, Tenko uses curse speech. sfw

You’ve gone on too many missions to count by now, seen an astronomical amount more of horrors. Tenko has made plenty of comments on how you look most mornings in the meantime, tactless for the most part but always well meaning. You know you look ragged and drowsy and that he never really believes the playful and dismissive, “I’m just a little sleepy, just burnin the midnight oil a little too often.” 

But you can only pretend for so long, lie awake staring at the ceiling of your room as your lids grow heavy with the desire for sleep but you fear what you’ll see in the darkness. What creature will assault your subconscious more than the ones you’ve yet to exorcize haunt your waking hours.  

You fight the riptide of slumber for as long as you can, unsure of when you’re dragged into the undertow but you know when you wake in a sob. Soaked in a cold sweat and heaving for precious air from the nightmare that suffocated you. You sit for a moment, clutching the thin blanket of your futon until your breathing is regulated. A white knuckled grip on the soft fabric until you toss them away in frustration. 

You have to sleep, the hour or so you manage each night no longer sufficient for your weary bones and fatigued muscles. Peaking out into the hallway and looking from one end to the other as if there were a single other person on this floor besides Tenko and yourself before you pad quietly to his door.

He stirs at the sound of his door creaking open but doesn’t move. Shallows his breath and allows his muscles to go rigid in case he needs to rise with haste. There’s barely a sliver of the moon's cool glow, blotted out by a shadow before the door slips shut much quieter than how it was opened. 

Careful and quiet steps, timid in nature before the mattress dips at the edge of his bed and a whisper follows, “Tenko..? Tenko wake up.” 

A familiar voice he didn’t expect in the late hours but he wouldn’t complain. Rising just enough, making out the haunted features of the woman across the hall from him easily now that his eyes have had time to adjust to the darkness. 

“Tutorial?” He doesn’t feign grogginess in his modified speech to keep his fellow sorcerers safe. 

You fidget for a moment, leaning back like you’re considering just up and leaving; never to talk about the lapse in confidence during the daylight but you don’t. Instead, you wordlessly crawl into his bed and Tenko makes room for the extra body, scooting back without a question. 

“I just want to sleep. I don’t want to be alone,” he can understand. If Tenko was being honest, he wasn’t expecting you to tell him anything at all. You’ve been in his bed more than once, as well as him in yours but in a much more carnal sense. Your relationship relatively undefined as you seek relief in a different form. 

More than comrades, coworkers or even simply friends but not quite lovers; for now, just an unspoken agreement between two adults with a dangerous job to do. With budding young sorcerers and the ignorant lives of the public to protect at the cost of your own, seeking meaningful partnership felt like a pipe dream.  

It’s quiet for a long moment, only the sound of crickets singing and frogs joining in the serenade as a cooling night's breeze creates a lazy rustle of the trees in the courtyard. Tenko almost thinks you’d already fallen asleep before you break the silence. 

“Do you think I’ll make a pretty curse when I die.” 

“Npc.”

“I’m serious,” he knows, he still hates it. Lifting his head from his pillows as he squeezes your hip in the silent bid to end the conversation, but you continue anyway, “you’d curse me in the end, wouldn’t you?”

It’s not a thought most sorcerers have, not one any of them want to. Not a soul wants to be cursed, to become the hollow specters that mindlessly take lives in their confusion. 

“Npc,” again, firmly this time as if he were imbuing his cursed speech into the word, his brows furrowing at the trajectory of your morbid questioning. Making a noise of confusion as you giggle at him, cupping his cheek tenderly as you thumb swipes over the smooth flesh of the old scar on his lip. 

“If you curse me in the end I’d be bound to you, wouldn’t I? Depending on how you do it, just make sure you do it right.”

Tenko’s arms wrap around you, securing you with a firmer embrace as he tucks closer into his chest with his hand gently caressing the curve of your skull.  Breathing deeply as he brings his lips close to your ear to whisper, “sleep.”

#vixen drabbles #tenko shimura x reader #tomura shigaraki x reader #tomura shigaraki x you #tomura x reader

[velvet-vox]

An analysis of Doll on a Roleplay battle setting.

Here's a little something to remember in regards to the things discussed in this post:

Tank beats Melee

Melee beats Support

Support beats Critter

Critter beats Tank

I head canon that Doll is (in an RPG setting) a Critter/Tank but mostly a long distance damage dealer that relies on dealing critical hits (metaphor for her plans) with tanking features and talents that allows her to take in a lot of damage (metaphor for her incredible survivability) in line with these stats:

And the funny and interesting thing about it is that her life trajectory probably wasn't this; in fact, I believe that originally Doll was expected due to her behaviour, personality type, and attitude towards situations to become a Tank/Melee (but more specifically an high damage dealing Tank) but after the death of her parents and the hands of V she took a forceful nose dive into rewriting her class trajectory in order to accommodate for her new goals, because it makes perfect sense:

Uzi is definitely a Critter/Melee but not a straightforward one; for context, a Critter/Melee in the language I am using is a long distance damage dealer that gains advantages from actually getting up close, it's a super rare play style that jives well with Uzi being an unconventional protagonist, but it doesn't stop there as Uzi also doubles down as an all-rounder by also having a blunt, defensive personality and being fairly resistant and resilient like a Tank but also having an understanding, highly empathetic and forgiving personality like a Support that allows her to help her teammates in battle and shrug off some of the trauma caused by her situation.

N on the other end is a Melee/Critter (opposite attract each other:) but not a straight up assassin like V in the sense that N is mostly a regular Melee that has counterplay for Tanks and his capable of getting through other people defenses (metaphor for penetrating the bunker at the start of the season) and he's not a glass cannon like other damage focused Melee and Critters tend to be, (although I don't think he has Tank like qualities in the same way as Uzi, rather he has a moderately high base health pool) and has on top of that the qualities of a Support like Uzi to help his teammates by cleansing debuffs and giving bonuses.

(Side note: even though Uzi and N have the qualities of Support, none of them are healers, they are only buffers and cleansers, they heal themselves and only themselves once they kill, hence why they are the most dysfunctional main trio of all time. Nuzi still works by the way, in the same way Wall-E and EVE works).

V instead, arguably the most complex character of the series, is your typical glass cannon Melee/Critter assassin that deals massive damage up close but can't take back said damage. But where it becomes interesting is that V, much like Doll, wasn't initially projected for this play style as we can clearly see from her original timid maid persona that she was probably more inclined towards being a Support, but unlike Doll, she was fully capable of making that transition because she was motivated by the desire to protect N while keeping him distant, while Doll never fully managed to let go of her Tank origins because she was motivated by hatred and not love.

And as you all can clearly see, the problem with Doll being a Tank becomes self evident: all of the protagonists have the characteristics of Critters, the one class who counters Tanks, meaning that each and every single one of them could have easily mauled her like her family had been if she didn't change her ways; which is ironic, since Tank counters Melee, V main class, so even if Doll couldn't defeat V in a combat situation, she would have hard countered her on a narrative level, so in committing to the Critter play style, she lost an important advantage on that front and, narratively, allowed V to destroy her like her parents were.

And it all comes together to bite her in the ass in episode 7 when she faces Tessa/Cyn who I believe, despite what the colour scheme might imply, it's a Melee/Support who stacks attack buffs on herself; you know, Melee who's the class countered by Tanks (of the which Doll isn't anymore) and villainous Support, the class that counters Critters, aka the class Doll traded Tank for.

As to why I believe fake Tessa is Melee/Support, there are a couple of reasons, but you can mostly get it by their personality and play style; Cyn in their dialogues doesn't try to get under N skin to then deal as much damage as possible all in one go like a Critter would, instead, she slowly destroys his sense of security like a Melee would, also, the Absolute Solver is definitely a Support type of villain since they give their abilities to Uzi and Doll, even if inadvertently, which would make sense narratively to have an unstoppable Support force against our 3 Critter protagonists and to have N and V, our 2 Melees working for him, be the ones who can stop him through Uzi's help.

And lastly, the main reason why Doll even manages to reach Uzi inside the chapel is thanks to that Tank characteristic that she chose to forsake and neglect, and now, that characteristic is not strong and trained enough to allow her to survive, but it has just enough of a presence to allow her to get a final warning out, much like her redemption was always possible despite not being reachable anymore.

#murder drones #murder drones doll #murder drones uzi #murder drones n #murder drones v #murder drones yeva #murder drones doll's dad #murder drones tessa #murder drones cyn #murder drones absolute solver #@melissa-titanium this is the most bat shit insane analysis of doll ever pulled of on this site I hope you get a kick out of it #character analysis #rpg

[arianamidnight]

Movie with a twist

Hazbin hotel fic

My AU that's why it's OOC and pretty far from cannon

Warnings: swearing, pretty peaceful, chilling out, huskerdust

Summary: Hotel residents are having a movie night, what turned into a playful brawl. And then into the magic show. But what if something unexpected would spoil the fun?

~~~~~~~~~~

Charlie was chasing Angel Dust with a playful growling.

"Angel! Gimme back my popcorn! Or at least leftovers of my popcorn! Don't eat everything, you naughty fluffy spider!" Charlie yelled.

Angel Dust burst out with miscivious laughter and, using the sofa as a support, jumped over Charlie with a backflip, while still holding the bowl of popcorn with his second set of arms.

"Careful, Angel!" warned Vaggie, bending down so demonic spider won't trip over her head.

"Legs won't trip over ya, Varrior" huffed Husk idly, taking a sip from the whiskey bottle.

Vaggie and Husk were sitting on the sofa in the lobby, while Charlie was chasing Angel Dust over the whole lobby. Actually, it was supposed to be a peaceful movie night in the Hazbin hotel. But word "peaceful" and demons are incompatible things.

Charlie noticed that demonic spider was running circles, and with a smirk suddenly changed the direction to cross its trajectory. This trick allowed princess of hell finally catch Angel Dust, pinning him to the floor, but...

"Seriously, you ate everything?!" groaned Charlie, seeing the, now empty, bowl. "It was filled with popcorn just 10 minutes ago! Is it really possible to feed you?!"

This statement made Angel Dust burst out with laughter. Then demonic spider looked at Charlie with flirty girn, but before he could say anything...

"Don't you dare say something sexual!" growled Vaggie and Husk in unison.

A second later Vaggie and cat-demon looked at each other with confusion and then burst out with laughter. So did Charlie, while Angel Dust pouted and crossed both his set of arms on his chest.

"Mean! I was about to say that princess is pretty heavy~" Angel Dust said in childish pouty voice. But a mischievous twinkle was still in his eyes.

Charlie gasped and jumped up from demonic spider with worried face.

"Oh Edem, am I really that heavy?! I'm so sorry Angel! Are you alright?!" Charlie jabbered, worried.

Demonic spider covered his face, and his shoulders started shaking. Charlie blinked in confusion.

"Legs, don't be a bastard. Princess, he's just acting. And now he's laughing at your naive reaction." huffed Husk.

Then cat demon yawned, stratching his wings while his cat ears went down and then perked back up. This behaviour an ignorant person might get mistaken as boredom. But the hotel residents, as well as its owner, knew Husk enough to know that this behavior was a sign of trust and comfort of cat-demon.

Charlie blinked and titled her head. She looked at Vaggie, who nodded her head.

"Baby, that lazy cat is right. Angel Dust was just messing with you. After eating all popcorn." Vaggie rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

Princess of hell blushed a bit.

"Angel! Not my fault I'm easily getting fooled!" Charlie crossed her arms on her chest and pouted, mimicking demonic spider s' expression.

"Great. Two pouty kids." cat-demon huffed. "Do we even need a movie? Living here is like... The most absurd tragicomedy I've ever seen."

Husk huffed. Angel Dust, Vaggie and Charlie got startled from this monologue, and then... All three of them burst out with laughter. Cat-demon muttered something grumpy, but then snickered in amusement.

"This cat still can entertain the crowd!~" purred Husk with a touch of nostalgia.

Charlie, Vaggie and Angel Dust stopped giggling and looked at Husk.

"Husk, what do you mean?" princess of hell titled his head.

"Oh, right!" Angel Dust sat more comfy on the floor. "Before becoming a subordinate of Creepy Smile, Whiskers was a performer. Showing tricks with cards and so on. Right, Kitty?"

"Yeah-yeah. And how many times I asked not to call me "Kitty"?" Husk rolled his eyes.

Charlie, after hearing the explanation got excited.

"You used to be a performer?! Amazing! Can you show us some tricks? Pretty please!~" Charlie looked at cat-demon with pleading eyes.

"Yes Whiskers, show us what you can!" nodded Angel Dust, getting excited too.

"Nah. Not gonna happen." huffed Husk and finished his whiskey bottle.

Princess of hell and demonic spider whined, dissapointed.

Vaggie didn't want her girlfriend to be sad, so...

"Don't bother him, guys. He is just old grumpy lazy cat. I'm sure that he forgot all his tricks anyway. All he can now is grumping and drinking alcohol." Vaggie said with a grin.

Cat-demon hissed.

"For your information. I know that you said it to hurt my ego. You haven't succeed." Husk yawned ostentatiously.

Vaggie groaned in dissapointment. She really thought that Husk would fall for this provocation. But he didn't. Charlie looked sad about not seeing magic tricks.

Suddenly Angel Dust stood up and walked towards cat-demon. Girls looked at it with interested faces.

Suddenly demonic spider sat on Husks' lap and snuggled towards cat-demons' chest.

"Come on, Whiskers~ Be a good kitty~ We all so wanna see your amazing magic tricks. You won't disappoint your fans, right?~" Angel Dust purred with velvet voice.

Husk gasped and thanked Edem that because of his fur his blush wasn't visible.

"G-get off you kinky freak!" cat-demon pushed Angel Dust, and demonic spider fell on the floor, laughing.

Charlie smiled softly.

"Interesting..." princess of hell muttered.

"Baby, what is interesting?" Vaggie asked, confused. Angel Dust flirting with everyone wasn't anything new.

"Nothing Vaggie, don't mind me" Charlie shook her head softly.

"Fine! I said, fine dummit!" cat-demon growled and stood up. "I'll show you a few tricks. But only a few! Am I clear?!"

Demonic spider jumped up from the floor and started nodding excitedly.

"Yup Whiskers! Thanks!" Angel Dust clapped both his sets of arms with a giggle.

"Such a child." huffed Husk and Vaggie in unison.

They looked at each other with confusion again.

"Hahaha, you're finally getting along! It's second time you two are saying the same line at the same time~" Charlie snickered.

"Oh shut up, princess"

"Babe, don't even start it!"

Cat-demon and Vaggie groaned rolling their eyes.

"Okey-okey, I won't~" princess of hell snickered and took a seat on the sofa. Angel Dust sat next to her. "Vaggie, come, sit. Now, Husk you can start!"

Husk sighed and rolled his eyes. He already started regretting that he agreed to this.

Vaggie sat on the other side from Charlie and snickered.

"Don't tell me I was right and you forgot everything for real?~" teased Charlie's girlfriend.

Cat-demon rolled his eyes again. Then he looked around, thinking about what he should start with. Then Husk met up with Angel Dusts' eyes and snickered, getting the idea.

Cat-demon took off his hat and shook it.

"My hat is empty, as you can see" Husk said with a slight smirk. "But not for long. Because right now, I would get someone out of it~"

Charlie started giggling in anticipation, while Vaggie just rolled her eyes. Angel Dust was just watching, waiting for the magic to happen.

Cat-demon chuckled, waved his paw above his hat. Then he put his paw inside the hat and... Took Fat Nugget out. Angel Dust gasped.

"Fat Nugget?! Is it really you, my sweet baby?!" demonic spider jumped up.

Husk let go of the demonic pigglet and it immediately ran towards it's owner oinking happily.

"It was so amazing! Husk you're magical!" Charlie started clapping with sparkling eyes.

"Okey, I admit that wasn't that boring" Vaggie snickered.

Angel Dust picked up his demonic pigglet and giggled.

"Kitty, I never knew my pet was your assistant~" demonic spider teased.

"Shut up Legs" Husk grumped with a smile.

Cat-demon actually started enjoying showing tricks to such appreciative audience.

Husk continued showing magic tricks, and soon even Vaggie started sincerely clapping and cheering.

["Husk is so amazing... And hot... I wish he saw me as someone more than just a friend..."] Angel Dust thought with a smile.

Charlie chocked with air. As a succubus, she was able to feel love and all other things connected with it. Sometimes she was even able to hear the brightest thoughts. That's why now, sitting near demonic spider, princess of hell heard his thought clearly. Angel Dust had crush on Husk?

Charlie wasn't able to help herself and burst out with laughter. Husk, who was in the middle of the trick, blinked in confusion and stopped.

"Princess what's the fuck? It wasn't supposed to be funny...." cat-demon muttered grumpyly.

Angel Dust and Vaggie looked at laughing succubus with confusion too.

Charlie was still laughing, not able to stop herself. Princess of hell laughed so hard that she fell from the sofa.

"Baby, you alright there?" asked Vaggie with a snicker.

"Yehehehes" bubbled Charlie through laughter.

Angel Dust started giggling too and even Husk snickered.

"Have no idea why princess is dying from laughter, but her laughter is contagious" cat-demon said with a smirk.

Angel Dust nodded, giggly.

*****

It took almost 30 minutes for Charlie to calm down and stop laughing. Then princess of hell and Angel Dust looked at Husk with hope.

"No, don't even look at me. Princess ruined the mood." cat-demon huffed and teleported another bottle of whiskey into his hand.

"Aww come on, lazy cat!" Vaggie groaned.

She got interested in Husks' magic tricks too and now was as upset as other two demons.

But suddenly with a black shadow spark Valentino appeared in the lobby. Everyone in the room got startled and tension instantly grew in the air.

"Angel Cakes, I see you done here. I need you" moth demon said with aloof voice, and then looked at Charlie "I hope you don't mind, princessa?"

Everyone in the room got silent and tesne. Charlie looked at Angel Dust, who started visibly shaking.

"Angel?" asked princess of hell softly.

She didn't want repeat her previous mistake and make everything between Valentino and Angel Dust even worse than it already was.

Demonic spider took a deep breath and put on his usual defiant smile.

"Don't worry Charlie~ I can handle myself~ Val, is it for the whole night?" Angel Dust said with his usual erotic voice.

"Not for the whole night" Valentino chuckled and took a drag from his pipe.

Princess of hell sighed and nodded.

"Okey Angel, you can go. But after, could you please come to me for a private conversation?" Charlie said softly.

Demonic spider nodded, a bit curious about that conversation. Then he stepped towards Valentino.

"Okey Val, I'm ready~" Angel Dust smiled, slightly nervously.

Moth demon nodded and they both dissappeared in the pink dust.

"If that pervert moth would do something to Angel..." Husk let out a low growl. His ears went back and down, while his tail straight twitching angrily.

"I hope he would be okey..." Charlie sighed and hugged Vaggie, scared about her friend.

#hazbin hotel fic #huskerdust

[rainingmbappe]

This is amazing because I’ve been listening to the destroyer of world (ost form Oppenheimer today) and I had this sudden urge to learn everything i could about space, feeling so little and insignificant. Feeling like a tiny speck of dust amongst what is and what could be. What amazes me more than « what is already there » is the things «that could be », and the things we haven’t discovered yet. I do not know any fancy science words, i do not study science in college, but it is something that always moved me to tears from the youngest age. Stumbling onto a random NASA rocket landing when I was just a little child changed the trajectory of my life and clicked something in my brain. When I tell you it is something stronger than emotions, I cry so easily when I watch documentaries, not because I’m sad to be so insignificant, I cry because of the frustration of knowing that I won’t make it alive until we’ve discovered everything, and neither will my potential children be. I will cease to live eventually, and maybe some stars will die at the same time. And what I used to know will probably be refuted, and humanity will go further. I love science and I love humans.

First off, I love you so much, Anon. I love you for talking about this to ME. For giving ME a chance to talk about this.

I was in physics class when my teachers phone started ringing. It was destroyer of worlds from Oppenheimer. I was writing notes when it happened and anon. The WAY my head snapped up when I heard it. As I was getting so freaking excited to talk about the movie with my teacher, I noticed how no one around me seemed to care or notice. I mean, it was pretty loud, so I assumed that they just didn't care. I don't understand how. Oppenheimer is the best science related movie I've watched recently. It changed my life. It reminded me to wonder again.

I understand you to a caliber that no one understands me. The things that could be. That's what keeps me up at night. Things that already ARE and we are not aware of. Oh, that drives me closer to insanity every fucking day. This is going to sound cliché but watching interstellar changed the trajectory of MY life. It lit a dwindling fire I didn't know I had in me. I'm studying science now, and I have unapologetically made it my personality, haha. I mean. How can you not?? I could talk about the wonders of this weird little universe that we're trying to figure out, for absolute eternity.

Anon. I kid you not, I was talking about this with my friend YESTERDAY. About how celebrities dying is sad and musicians dying is sadder. But absolutely NOTHING is sadder than a scientist dying and never knowing the leaps that were made in their field. Let's take the man who changed my perception of absolutely everything forever, Carl Sagan. I genuinely thought that he passed away around 2015 or something. When I found out that that man left us in 1996, I instantly had tears streaming down my face. I have spent so soo many hours of my life watching his lectures and talks on YouTube. I have read so many of his books. I've watched the very old TV programs that he did. The way he talked, the way he conveyed his knowledge, the way he saw humanity for what it was, and what it would become. Years and years before, any of us saw it. He talked about it all. I genuinely thought that he was alive for the things he was talking about. Politics, religion, the future of science, global warming, you name it. He was years ahead of any of us. The fact that the person who made me infatuated with this magnificent world is no more to see the wonders we have achieved makes me just so unbelievably mournful.

I don't know if you know this anon but. My first love in science was and is biology. I don't talk nearly enough about the thing that amazes me the most and beyond any human terminology. I don't think I should even get into the wonders of beloved biology because I'd genuinely never stop. I just want to say how my world only revolves around magnificent wonders so humongous that it's beyond human perception and paradoxically enough, breathtakingly mcroscopic things that are very well beyond our perception too.

Anon, please come off anon so that we can talk forever about this. Or don't. But please don't stop sending asks. I could always talk endlessly more. You seem to very graciously let me indulge in my fanatic talks 😭🫶🏽

I love science and I love humans too.

Edit : fuck it I'm pinning this

#this became long real quick #it felt like i was talking to my friend #i have sososoososooooo much more to say anon #i could have talked in lengths about every point you brought up #this was massively satisfying #i want to thank you again for bestowing me with this ask #i feel so happy that you did #i cry too anon i definitely cry too #🔭🌌 anon #astronomy #science #carl sagan #anon asks

[samwpmarleau]

with the keeley/jamie thing, coming from a neutral perspective here (personally I'm rooting for an ot3, so i support them getting back together along with roy) but i think the problem for some people lies in the old trope of the guy who starts off as a dickhead, undergoes a redemption arc and then gets the girl as a reward for being a good guy now. i think people enjoy that jamie's redemption doesn't hinge on him trying to win Keeley back, because that would cheapen it - and it would be easy for the show (or a lesser show) to get that wrong and hit the wrong note with a storyline where they got back together.

Thanks for the response!

I guess I don't really understand that fear, though, because Jamie has never been trying to win Keeley back. Not even his love confession was him trying to win her back. His growth and maturity has never been for her, and indeed they barely interacted in season 2, showcasing that his improvement arc was for himself. So I don’t quite see how them eventually getting back together would negate that.

Jamie’s reward, if there is such a thing, for becoming a better person is that he now has real friends, he’s happy, he’s getting therapy, he stood up to his father, etc. The climax of his growth arc has already happened; the narrative time for Keeley to have been his “reward” passed a long time ago. Which is what that 3x04 scene was lampshading, that Jamie hasn’t been any of the negative things Keeley mentioned for quite a while, she just hadn’t taken notice.

In some ways, you could even argue that Jamie would be Keeley’s reward, in that the faith and support she gave him once upon a time wasn’t wasted and now she can reap the benefits of it. He’s certainly leaps and bounds above Roy in terms of emotional intelligence and expression, and his professional trajectory and ambition dovetail with hers very well.

With how good this show’s writing is, how well it portrays nuance, and the foundation/context that has been laid, I think it easily could sell the sweetness of a second chance storyline.

#jamie tartt #keeley jones #jamie x keeley #tl #anonymous

[bardofavon]

First of all, love your fic! I'm addicted, it's so good!!! But I had a question so I could get my expectations for the ending/what's upcoming in order. I'm feeling for Kaz a lot, I guess you could say I'm "rooting" for him. Am I supposed to be? My read is that Kaz is trying to make the most of an awful situation to give himself some kind of control but that he really didn't want to help in Novokribirsk but did because of the Darkling's blackmail. He also doesn't seem to agree with any of the Darkling's plans, thinking them delusional or for power rather than what the Darkling says.

Kaz is such an unreliable narrator and you make a ton of jokes about how he did it to himself in some ways, so I'm not sure I'm reading it right.

I guess what I'm asking is if Kaz is genuinely becoming a worse person (not really in acts but as in caring less about hurting innocents/children) and going to stay on that trajectory all the way through or am I reading the extortion right and irrespective of his attraction to the Darkling, Kaz would never do these things willingly.

Sorry this may be confusing and maybe you don't want to answer which is fine but i really like your fic!

Omg you never have to apologize for asking questions about my fic, I love love love love talking about my fic because I am also obsessed with it. answer under the cut bc it's 10 paragraphs

Kaz is....very complicated........I call him an unreliable narrator a lot, but he's not unreliable in the way that "he's lying to the readers" and more in the way of "he's not capable of seeing the full picture/we are so limited in his head that we can only see things through his eyes and he will very confidently come to conclusions that are wrong/he hasn't slept a full night in weeks" so there's no "kaz is secretly also just as evil but not admitting it" twist coming or anything.

You SHOULD root for him and I hope that you do, I do!! I make a lot of jokes or comments about him doing it to himself which is true and also untrue, they are jokes and they are not. He made several wrong choices that led him to this point, he let his hubris get the better of him and didn't rely on the people who were there to help and support him when he should have, he went out of his depth, he pushed people away, he tried to play the game when he should have been burning all the cards. But at the same time, that revelation he has in the last chapter about how he was fucked from the start is ALSO true. He was always going to be in the Darkling's sights, he was always going to have these dilemmas, he was always going to be put in the impossible situations.

But also...so was Alina, and she chose differently. She fought. She made allies and confidently stood against him saying "no, this is wrong" and stuck to it all the way through. She was also more easily manipulated and didn't see through the Darkling at the start the way that Kaz did, but if she had I very much doubt her conclusion would be "I will agree to side with him because there's more in it for me" (something Kaz thought he wanted because he has this view of himself of being this cutthroat heartless monster willing to do anything to achieve his goal even though at his core that's not really who he is, but again, unreliable narrator, he thinks that he is. he will continue saying that he is. he will make decisions as though he is, but he will not feel good about them and he will be torn and he will not be happy).

Kaz is kind of becoming a worse person in that he is being desensitized to violence and he is going down this path of "I've already taken so many lives, maybe I am wrong that I'm not seeing the picture of eternity, maybe this is what it takes" but he's also not there yet. He still cares very deeply about people even though he doesn't want to admit it, he advocated to kill the King not because he wanted to rule but because he made a promise to Genya and he wanted to see it through because he is genuinely disgusted by the King's actions and abuse of power.

Every time he thinks about the way Inej views him and the person she thinks he could be and the way she hoped he would use his power, he feels absolutely terrible about it...because he also kind of wishes he could be that person for her. There was a sort of bitterness in his refusal to help people at the start, that "the world never helped me so why should I help them" and "time and time again you hear stories of saints being killed by the people they helped because no good deed goes unpunished" but that was still when the people involved could be reduced to faceless masses. Something about committing the actual act and seeing the people it was affecting and watching kids as they died was brutal and brought to the forefront that these are real people, real lives, just like he's a real person with a real life.

But of course, by then it was too late. Him being unable to find peace, unable to find rest, his inability to close his eyes without reliving the people that he killed, that's definitely me trying to demonstrate that he's not free of it because he does still genuinely care about people. He's fucked up over it. They committed the same crime, but he's fucked up about it and the Darkling isn't because he still cares about people as individuals in the way the Darkling never will because he still only cares about people as a concept (the greater good outweighs the individual lives I'm taking, even though the greater good is hypothetical future and the individual lives are crying in front of me..........)

I do think if the Darkling hadn't threatened Inej and Jesper Kaz would never have gone through with it. He would have backed down, he would have stood up to him, he would have fought. But now that he's done it and also (in his mind) lost Inej and Jesper he has to recontextualize it in his brain in order to cope with it. Objectively, he wouldn't have done it if he had no other choice and he does not want to be in this situation and he is a victim and he is suffering. In his mind, the way he processes and copes with what he's going through, he made a choice and threw his lot in with the Darkling and he wants power and he is working his plan and he doesn't feel remorse. Is it true? No. Is he going to keep saying it because being in this position is his reality? Yes.

But please root for him!! Kaz is going to have quite a few more morality defining choices left to make, and he might make the right ones and he might make the wrong ones but I personally believe in his inherent goodness and think his genuine care for the people around him can't be beat out of him so easily.

#a good myth is hard to kill #writing #i hope that answers your question!! it was a very good question!!

[kingjaffejoffer]

I watch NBA league pass religiously and have noticed a disturbing trend- a lot of teams regional announcers are fucking racist and it manifests in wildly inaccurate criticisms of good players. Best example being former Player and elite dumbass Wally Sczerbiak calling Tyrese Haliburton a “wannabe allstar” and basically a fraud. Wally should know a good player when he sees one. So when he says something like that about a guy who is widely accepted as one of the best young players it’s telling. The comment also sounded weirdly personal so there’s that too. Another thing I’m noticing is that the same announcers that make weird inaccurate comments about players also ALL favor Jokic as this year’s MVP. Jokic is unbelievable, and for what it’s worth if he keeps on this trajectory, niggas are going to forget about Dirk as the best European player ever. BUT- MVP is a political award and you have to be on a top 4 team to have a chance at winning it because white Nerd writers with MVP votes said so. Denver is in first in the west but any of the 5 Western conf teams behind them could EASILY turn their lights out in the playoffs because after Jokic, Denver relies too heavily on players that are overrated (Murray, Gordon, Hyland, and especially Porter). Denver certainly isn’t better than Boston or Milwaukee… which brings me to my final point- Giannis and Jayson Tatum are the actual front runners for MVP, but white voters/ regional announcers are just waiting for an excuse to remove them both from the race. Watch how this shit plays out…any and all excuses will be made for Jokic despite Denver’s inevitable collapse and soon to be exposed short comings. I fucking hate how the NBA allows for history to be altered via unrefined, outdated MVP voting. It’s got niggas acting like Steve Nash was a better player than Kobe, Shaq, Olajuwon, Malone, etc.

unrelated and random- Jordan Poole in his final form is gonna be so fucking crazy! He has Dame’s tool bag (range, confidence, ability to finish at the rim)+ more height that keeps Dame from advancing to the next tier of super star. He also has a Kyrie-esque counter package that very, very, very few other players posses. When Klay finally goes to another team or becomes 6th man permanently shit is gonna get really fun.

Messages like these are right up my alley! I watch the NBA every day. I don't have league pass officially but I've been pirating since I was a literal child so it's nothing.

I agree with you about just about everything. I hate how the MVP race has turned into this year-long media event / content machine. There's no fucking reason an "MVP Ladder" should even be the subject of conversation in December. Journalists and media personalities craft narratives for whoever they want to win and spend the year rallying a base. I hate it.

Most local team Homer broadcasts are unlistenable, have you ever heard the Celtics? 🤮🤮🤮

As exciting as Poole is offensively, until he can significantly improve on defense and decisionmaking he will be second fiddle to Klay in crunch time when it matters. Kerr values experience and trust more than anything when it matters. You can see that by the short 8-man playoff rotations.

But yeah Pooles creativity with the ball is amazing. This really is his time to shine right now with Steph out. I'm rooting for him.

Also... Only 4 teams are actually competing for a title this year: Golden State, Boston, Milwaukee, and with luck the 4th slot can be Brooklyn or Philly.

The rest of these teams are completely unserious to me. Especially Phoenix and Memphis.

[no-tresspassing]

On Der Himmel Über Berlin - Wim Wenders 1987

Der Himmel Über Berlin (The Sky Over Berlin), commonly known as Wings Of Desire, was the first film I saw at the BFI. A film classic directed by Wim Wenders that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17th 1987, the film was restored in 4K and was rereleased at the BFI on June 24th 2022. Usually, when writing a review or analysis, I will add a summary of the content; but I would rather you see this for yourself, should you choose to do so. I will, however, tell you that the film follows two angels (Damiel and Cassiel) through the streets and skies of Berlin as they observe its inhabitants and their thoughts. While it is a romance, I think it focuses more on the ability to love than the actual romance between the characters (Damiel and Marion, the trapeze artist). Whilst Der Himmel Über Berlin isn’t a Lynchian level of absurd, and its camerawork doesn’t have the same close-ups as David Lynch’s work, I found that the detail in the sound of this film was equivalent or at least comparable to Lynch’s visuals. Having the ability to hear a person's thoughts brings an entirely different level of intimacy between character and viewer that I am yet to find elsewhere, to the extent that it felt almost intrusive to be watching and listening in on such private matters.

The forbidden love between Damiel and Marion is greater than that of Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juliet, perhaps because Damiel isn’t grooming a 13-year-old girl into marrying him after only knowing her for a few days. Instead, he becomes enamoured with and practically stalks an unknowing grown woman and decides to change the trajectory of his entire existence just for the possibility of her loving him back. I particularly enjoyed the scene in which Damiel lay on top of Marion while she slept and visited her in her dream while dressed in armour. Keep in mind that all of this takes place in a world where invisible angels exist among people, giving hope to those in distress who cannot physically interact with them, can only see in black and white and can only be seen by children. So maybe it is pretty absurd after all.

All jokes aside, I left the BFI after watching Der Himmel Über Berlin with a greater appreciation for the things in life that are so often and easily overlooked. In one particular scene, Peter Falk speaks to Damiel (despite not being able to see him, claiming he can “feel” Damiel there) about the small things he appreciates in life. “To smoke, to have coffee and if you do it together, it's fantastic…to draw…or when your hands are cold, and you rub them together.” While it confuses any bystanders, as Falk seemingly talks to nobody, I can see why Damiel decided to exchange his immortality for the human experience. After all, he as an entity had existed long before humanity, he watched its entire development, yet he had never lived.

While I was expecting the film's poetic and ethereal ambience, I was not expecting it to be funny. Furthermore, I think the use of this humour amid the whispers and pensive scenes was done very tastefully. You don't see a frustrated Peter Falk trying on copious amounts of hats until he finally finds one that he likes straight after you see a man jump off a high rise. You do, however, see Falk repeating the speech that he made Damiel word for word and shaking hands with thin air, thinking he was talking to an angel. Another thing that I was entirely not expecting was the presence of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds in the film. At first, I was excited to see The Boatman's Call vinyl used in a scene and hear The Carny and From Her To Eternity in the film's original soundtrack. Still, the band made a cameo appearance, performing a gig at which Damiel and Marion speak for the first time. I cannot deny that this made my face lit up with joy. In fact, my favourite part of the film was when we hear Nick thinking to himself, "One more song, then it's over, and I'm not gonna tell you about a girl,” just seconds before leaning forward to his microphone and proceeding to say “I’m gonna tell you about a girl.”

Really what I took away from this film was an appreciation for the beauty of life itself and the human experience as a whole and a deeper understanding of how little we know about the happenings of other people’s lives. While I do have more to say about this film, I fear I would either be repeating myself, or this would just become a list of things that I found funny with no real input on my part. Something that you have to have seen the film to understand, so for now, I think this is sufficient.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More to come...

- Ida

#film #1980s #romance films #review #media analysis #wim wenders #peter falk #der himmel über berlin #wings of desire #classic film #80s movies #1987

[blaiddydbrokeit]

1, 9, 16, 19 and 21 for Allan fom the 100 OC question list :3

Interesting selection. Let's see.

1.What do they smell like? He smells approximately like a mix of linen, a little bit of metal and cheese. The metallic scent is largely because of the armored plates on his leather gloves and handling weaponry, and the cheese due to his proximity to his personal cheese at most times - he also handles his cheese crate often due to how quickly he goes through wedges and wheels. The smell of linens is mixed in, because he uses it to wrap his cheeses, and also because the linen shirt is the base of his uniform. The blazer is sleeveless, and closes in the front similar to a waistcoat, meaning that any perspiration is only ever in contact with the linen. Thankfully, linen airs well and his blazer stays clean, so he also has to wrangle laundry less - a lack of experience and superhuman strength is not a good combination for handling wet textiles.

9.Describe the way that they sleep. Allan tends to sleep poorly due to nightmares of past trauma, much like Edelgard and Dimitri do. However, what sets him apart is how he behaves in his sleep. While Dimitri is prone to fitful thrashing and Edelgard to sob and cry out in her sleep, Allan tends to shake and whimper quietly while clutching to anything within reach. This usually happens intermittently, but due to how much energy his body uses even while idle, he still gets a fair bit of sleep in terms of the duration - when he's completely tired out and falls asleep, you can mostly expect him to stay asleep. This also means that in comparison to Dimitri, he has less frequent fitful wakings. It does require him to have some extra pillows to clutch to, though, but he's not complaining - bones and beds do not go together well, and extra cushioning helps him suffer less. Extra cushioning also works for making his nightmares less frequent, since the Agarthans never provided more than the hard ground and a rag to serve as bed and blanket and having cushions make it possible for him to not be reminded of such conditions. As for his sleep position? He likes to sleep on his side and on his back, switching between them at times based on whether anything is sore, injured or overly warm.

16.What are they like when they've gotten too little sleep? Allan occasionally gets into such a situation when he's been up in the middle of the night trying to catch up on his training alone. Truth be told, he is quite awful to handle when sleep-deprived - he becomes even more reclusive and quiet, and also is far less responsive due to severe lethargy. He falls into sleep often and his perfect etiquette habits become a little more sloppy, but are still practiced instinctively. Everything is extra fragile to him at this time as well; due to not having the active mind to control his strength as well as usual, which has made for some suspicions from the more observant Blue Lions, like Felix and Sylvain. He confuses extremely easily and struggles to pay attention. The most appropriate thing to do at this point is to simply put him in a bed and let him sleep, even if he wants to attend to his appointments, seminars he signed up for or what-have-you.

19.Are they right or left handed? Allan is right handed, like Dimitri, and wields his weapons in the corresponding configurations. However, he experiments with his grip often as a way to mitigate his excess strength and avoid breaking weapons. This also means that he uses his left hand to guide his lance trajectory and the right for strength and velocity, making for extremely powerful strikes that can severely injure, if not kill a man outright. A menace, this man is terrifying to encounter as an opponent.

21.Favorite kind of weather? His favorite kind of weather is the sunny, but otherwise slightly chilly sort of windy day. Due to his past of being trapped far underground by the Agarthans, he is actually extremely fond of being in sunlight and can grow melancholic when going too many days without sun. He also dislikes heat as a result of being raised in Itha, which tends to be cold and windy year round. Although he does struggle with the cold due to his malnutrition for a time, it is only a temporary weakness that is corrected by wartime. Still, Allan is fond of a nice fur collar and cloak just for extra warmth and comfort, and it's a staple of his wardrobe post-war once he has the time and funds to have it tailored. Alas, being large has its downsides, because you can't exactly use hand-downs.

#allan montgomery blaiddyd #fe3h ocs #ask

[cosmicjoke]

Berserk and the theme of revenge

So, after reading the latest chapter of Berserk, it got me thinking again about the concept of revenge in the story, and how it ties into Guts’ journey, as well as his relationship with Casca and those he loves and cares for, as well as his relationship with Griffith.

I think it can be agreed upon that the concept of revenge in Berserk is portrayed to be, generally, a negative thing.  Guts’ thirst for revenge against Griffith is what leads to him losing Casca the first time, and, we see that theme circled back to in the latest chapters of the manga.  Guts is once again overcome with rage and an obsessive desire to kill Griffith, and in this blinding, berserker state, he once again loses Casca.  I think this is very much deliberate. 

I know there’s an overwhelming desire from the Berserk fanbase to see Guts’ get his revenge on Griffith, stemming from a general feeling of hatred toward Griffith from the fans.  I find Griffith to be an extremely interesting and in some ways tragic character, and his relationship with Guts to be probably the most important and thematically relevant relationship in the story, and I don’t think the narrative was ever meant to be taken as a simple one of revenge, and that’s backed up, I believe, by not only the most recent chapters, but by the entire story as a whole.

Because, given the trajectory of Guts’ journey, him seeking out and enacting revenge on Griffith would make no sense for his character development.  I know that this statement is likely to piss a lot of people off, but it’s true nonetheless.

Over the course of the story, Guts has come to realize the importance of human connection, of friendship and holding on to the ones you love.  He’s come to understand he doesn’t always have to go it alone, that he can rely on help from his friends, that he can depend on and trust in them.  It isn’t at all subtle, the way the story presents it.  When Guts started realizing this, and allowing it to happen, things started going noticeably better for him, and for those around him too.  Guts’ berserker rages in the story are always accompanied by the demons haunting him asking for a “sacrifice”, and it’s obvious what they mean.  Guts’ humanity, and Guts’ human connections.  The message is clear.  If Guts continues down the path of revenge, he’s going to lose everything that once made him human, and he’ll end up just like Griffith.  Griffith, of course, famously forsook all humanity and human connections he had in pursuit of his dream.  He’s meant to be a parallel and a mirror to Guts, what Guts will become if he continues to lust after Griffith’s head.  Indeed, one could easily argue that it was in his desire to be Griffith’s equal, by leaving the Band of the Hawk in the first place in pursuit of his own dream, that Guts inadvertently set off the chain of events that lead to Griffith becoming the monster he did.  By initially rejecting what he already had, the friendships he had formed, the connections he had built, including WITH Griffith, Guts finds himself here, Griffith standing as his mortal enemy, Casca gone, and the world lying in ruin. 

Guts’ latest failure to enact revenge on Griffith is really an encapsulation of his continued mistake, the continued fools errand of placing his personal desire for revenge over the lives of those he loves.  It was while trying to take Griffith’s head off, and failing to put even a single scratch on him, that Griffith was able to calmly walk over to an unconscious Casca and simply... take her.  Guts allowed this to happen, because, once again, he allowed his thirst for revenge to take priority.  It’s called “Berserk” for a reason.  When in a berserker state, it makes one blind to everything else around them.  That’s Guts’ challenge.  That’s Guts’ true advisory.  Not Griffith, but himself.  

If the story leads, then, to Guts finally succeeding in his revenge, in killing Griffith, it will undermine his entire character journey up to this point.  And on a more basic level, it would just be incredibly uninteresting and a waste of potential.

Again, I feel as though Guts and Griffith are meant to be seen as mirror images of one another, their journey’s paralleling one another.  Griffith wasn’t always an unfeeling monster, despite what much of the fan base tries to claim.  I’m absolutely certain he had genuine love and affection for his men, and for Guts and Casca in particular.  I even wrote two posts about it here, if anyone’s interested: https://cosmicjoke.tumblr.com/post/672119081465511936/understanding-griffith and https://cosmicjoke.tumblr.com/post/672076147740360704/ugh-i-just-finished-reading-berserk-for-the?is_related_post=1

But it’s that very fact that makes Griffith’s eventual fall and betrayal so emotionally affecting and brutal.  If Griffith had simply always been some entity of pure evil, these things wouldn’t have had even a fraction of the impact they did.  It wouldn’t have hit nearly as hard.

What would be the infinitely more interesting turn of events, and given the themes and current direction of the story, what I think is the much more likely scenario we’ll see unfold, is that Guts finds it in himself, somehow, to let go of his quest for revenge, and even that Griffith himself is allowed a chance at redemption.  I know everyone wants to credit Griffith’s tears with being nothing more than leftover emotional remnants from his transformation into the Moon Child, but again, that makes zero thematic sense.  Rather I think it’s a manifestation of Griffith’s own regret.  At his beginning realization of what he traded, true love and friendship, for the hollow, empty Kingdom he’s since come to acquire.  He once had the true love, admiration, respect and friendship of Guts and Casca, and all of his men.  Now, all he has is impersonal idol worship based on falsehoods.  That realization in itself is, in many ways, a far worse punishment for Griffith than mere death could ever be.  I would argue then, that it would bolster and make significantly more emotionally impactful this theme of the importance of friendship and human connection, if Griffith were to become fully conscious of his great mistake, and willingly sacrifice his dream, and probably even himself, in the attempt to right it. 

I know, I know, nobody wants to see a redemption arc for Griffith.  But I do.  I think it would make the story that much more powerful, and would link directly with Guts’ own story, and his ultimate triumph.

Guts has a choice then to make.  Either he lets his demons consume him in his pursuit of revenge, and loses everything that truly matters in the process, or he rejects his pursuit, and in so doing, fully realizes and embraces the things in his life that actually matter.

Guts will need to forgive Griffith for this to happen, I think.  Or in the least, let go of his burning hatred for him.  I don’t see Guts being able to let go of his revenge otherwise.  And maybe that forgiveness will be the thing that spurs Griffith into finally doing the right thing, sacrificing his own dream, and maybe even his own life, to make things right. 

#berserk #guts #griffth #casca

[arafatssss1267]

Those false opportunities in AI implementation

If you take away all the HE Tuber decorations, you will definitely come back here. If we compare an enterprise to a living body, these are the physiological and safety needs that Maslow talked about.

(The little tiger will grow up in the future, and the big orange will do the same)

It is easiest to see the situation clearly with the smart speakers that have been relatively popular in the past ten years.

Have smart speakers crossed the usable line?

In fact, it has been crossed, but its upper limit is lower than imagined in the past. It is neither a general computing platform nor a new entrance. It's like a gas stove with or without a screen.

Before the emergence of big models, the limitations of technology meant that it was still speakers rather than personal assistants and robots. This ceiling determines the development trajectory of the most representative AI product in the past decade. (Unlike the above example, this one has problems with the use value itself )

The wonderful thing about this type of product is: assuming the technology is mature enough, this large category will become a market with fierce competition among giants; if the technology is immature, it will still be a traditional category.

Toynbee's summary of civilization has an interesting point: the surrounding areas are not effective if they are too intense or too comfortable, but should be moderately stimulating.

This is key to establishing the product in this direction: speakers are too cool and difficult to live; computers are too comfortable and have no activity and new opportunities. On the contrary, new categories that seemed marginal in the early days, such as drones and sweepers, have been given the opportunity to develop and find their own broad space as the market expands.

In addition, if you really want to make this type of product, you need to make it clear from the start that you are positioning yourself as a C-end consumer product company such as Xiaomi and DJI, and you must establish your own brand through opportunities in new categories. We need to focus on brand channels, not technology.

This is a hard application without network effects. It just needs to do things well with traditional consumer goods. It is very taboo to always think about back-end monetization. Because the early team has so much energy and is always worried about back-end monetization, it can easily lead to poor performance of your front-end products.

Under this logic, although technology is critical, it is still a part. But when AI personnel create such companies, it is easy for technicians to manage the whole. This is very troublesome, and it is equivalent to the part being greater than the whole. If it actually needs to be transferred, the weight of the product is greater than the technical point. It is the product that drives the research and development rather than the transfer. (Just look at Apple for this)

To sum up, for such a complex direction that requires heavy investment, if the upper limit of water temperature is 90 degrees, then the efforts will be in vain and the results will be very unlikely to be good.

3. Management and operation are the most important

It can also be called project system.

Because the project system is the easiest to capture user needs, it is the easiest to run out of cash flow.

If you look carefully, you will find that Kazuo Inamori's Kyocera actually did a lot of customized project work in the early days.

The trouble with the project system is that it requires running many business units and at the same time providing certain unified services. Some places are suitable for separation, and some places are suitable for integration. (Amoeba and Zhongtai deal with the issue of division and integration)

AI technology is generally used in parts that need to be integrated together.

At this time, the replicability of the output of the department responsible for AI technology is critical. If the supply here is insufficient, it means that no matter how fancy it is, the final thing it grabs is a CPU. A fixed CPU has such a large amount of calculation. Businesses inherently cannot scale.

Assuming that the bandwidth is enough, what will happen?

This will become a task of meticulous management and operation, which will be more troublesome.

(https://www.statista.com/statistics/1133436/challenges-digital-transformation/)

(In real management and operations, there is no problem that needs to be solved with digitalization. It is essentially the same thing, and the success rate of digitalization is basically a narrow escape)

Management and operation is something that everyone thinks they are good at, but in fact the so-called skills are all below 60 points.

Ning Gaoning is actually right to go back to textbooks, but one can also understand with the most normal thinking: the core competitiveness in the early stages of entrepreneurship becomes management and operations, which is definitely not reliable for most scenarios. It's a bit like Iron Man, who was physically weak, but his armor was too heavy and he was crushed.

There are indeed several types of scenarios that will intensify the importance of management and operations to the point where it cannot be increased , such as project systems and long-chain operations. Long-chain operation means that pre-sales, products, software, hardware, supply chain, customer service, software scoring algorithms, cloud, front-end, client, testing, etc. need to work closely together to promote the continuous amplification of the business spiral.

If this kind of work is not paid well (mechanism construction), then no matter how many people are added, it will be in vain. The more people are added, the worse the effect will be.

There are three essential ways to solve this situation:

One is to avoid it. For example, if you make WeChat products, that’s fine. Of course, when WhatsApp was acquired for US$19 billion, it only had 30 to 40 people working on one product, so that was easy.

One way is to face it head-on. If you do this well, you will be truly invincible. Competing with other companies is a lot like Terminator versus zombies. When it comes to Huawei, people often talk about technology, but technology is the result. Huawei's success is actually the success of the organization and mechanism. It’s just that most people really can’t compare themselves to Mr. Ren Zhengfei.

One way is to use carbon-based algorithms, but there is currently no general product that can really solve this problem. This is possible. If Douyin, MCN, and anchors are regarded as a company, this is undoubtedly the most successful realization of Amoeba, which is a high degree of unity of vitality and rules.

To sum up, under this model, the realization of use value can be realized but it is difficult to control the cost of realization. Coupled with the constraints of pricing power, it is like needing to wring out the water from a relatively dry towel, which is what most entrepreneurs are good at. It's a departure.

4. Capital-heavy games

There are also some opportunities that are indeed new opportunities, but in fact the very large weight is a game of capital. This is not to say that technology is not important, but that it has become a complex of big capital and high-end technology. The most typical one is the large model. From a capital perspective, this field is actually no different from building railways and roads in the past, but it requires an extremely high density of talent. There are really only a very small number of people who are qualified to do this. (OpenAI has 200 people doing technical work. In the end, there will definitely be no need for 100 OpenAIs on the planet, so there won’t be 20,000 people in total. Most of them will just join in the fun)

In the past, there was a chicken head and a phoenix tail, but according to the digital space mentioned above, it will have the only characteristic of name and reality, so in this category there is actually no chicken, only phoenix. The chicken will soon be tortured to death. Furthermore, this type of product is a classic example of big wins and big losses. The average person should keep an understanding of its application characteristics and potential, but can actually stay away from this field. (The ones who are most likely to struggle are the R&D personnel who are close to the point. At this time, the wisdom and courage to retreat bravely are particularly tested)

To sum up, this type of field is not suitable for using the use value and pricing power mentioned above. The essence is that the threshold is too high and it cannot be done. The welt is suitable for self-dimensionality reduction.

5. The password in the AIGC name

So where do new opportunities come from? From another perspective, where do new categories come from?

Looking from the outside in, the first thing to do must be a new category, and I think the origin of the new category is in the name AIGC. This most primitive word actually has a code.

What needs to be considered is how to combine and superimpose the content and scenes of GC (Generate Content).

Ignoring the size of the problem, products with some success in the past were all centered around this, either directly as tools for content generation, or as packaging of generated content.

Any category that relies heavily on GC must be a new category, because this was not possible in the past.

On top of this is the integration with the scene. In this process, it is necessary to cut off the illusory branches of AI that are generated in the movie. (I'm trying it myself, but it takes some time. I'll talk about it later when there is progress.)

Eiichi Shibusawa during the Meiji Restoration era wrote a book called "The Analects of Confucius and Abacus", which talks about the ancient Confucian distinction between justice and benefit. Of course, we can combine justice and benefit to give enterprises a higher dimension. Value, the organizatio

#Film & Animation #Music #Pes & Animals #Sports

[communistkenobi-archive]

I know I keep saying this but I really like the way obi-wan is characterised in M&A. Usually I find authors write him as overly passive and meek, or a kindly old emotionally-distant mentor, but this feels a lot more authentic. He’s very observant, eager to impress people he respects, he LOVES the sound of his own voice and is very sure of what he’s saying, and while he’s kind and polite he does have a petty mean streak in him

#m&alb #liveblog tag #and like all of these things are a bit more rough and sharper around the edges #because he’s only seventeen #but you can easily see the trajectory of the person he’s becoming #and you can even track stuff like. beliefs he no longer holds as an adult but would make sense for him to hold as a teenager #like being overly fussy about rules and working from this like. legal moral framework #like ‘the law is just because it is the law’ #like for the type of person he is that makes sense for him to believe that as a teenager #and then like with experience and maturity obviously he grows into a far more shrewd and nuanced understanding of politics and power and law #anyway I think this is a pretty good character study of obi-wan #I hate how much the fandom makes him into this like defenceless sad cinnamon roll #when he’s like an incredibly cunning and practical person who gets hung up on the finer details sometimes #I feel like if you gave him a cup of tea and a lace pillow to sit on he could probably deal with basically anything #like obi-wan’s always been sort of picky about very fine small details and pleasures #but if he has those settled he’s usually content to deal with whatever is happening #anyway lmao did not mean to ramble so much #but this is good content. he is angsty without being pitiable

[hellsbellschime]

Billy Hargrove's Character Popularity Explained

While Stranger Things has introduced many lovable and popular characters, one of the most interesting and surprising success stories of the series is Billy Hargrove.

Billy's seemingly everlasting popularity is surprising for a few reasons. Firstly, it's unexpected simply because he is written as an extremely dislikable character with very few appealing qualities on a surface level. And secondly, it's bizarre because his popularity level seems outrageously high in comparison to his relatively short amount of screen time in the actual series itself. So what is it that makes so many people love Billy Hargrove so much?

Most Stranger Things fans who have no affection for the mulleted bully would likely attribute his disproportionate popularity to his physical appearance, or the undeniable appeal of a bad boy. But there is actually a much deeper and more interesting explanation for why Billy Hargrove became one of the show's most popular characters despite his minimal screen time.

Stranger Things is a great show with a lot of dimensional and complex characters, and Billy can be counted as one of them. But, Billy is also directly contrasted with nearly every other character in the series in the sense that, when it comes to the rest of the cast, what you see is typically what you get.

Characters like Eleven, Joyce, or Hopper are definitely layered and interesting. But they very rarely behave in a way that the audience wouldn't expect, and it's pretty easy to follow and predict their character trajectory from the beginning to the end.

In comparison to the majority of these characters, Billy is radically different. Not only is the course of his character arc completely unpredictable, but as his character becomes more dimensional and complex, it completely changes his characterization as a whole. But what makes him more compelling is that these changes don't just alter the way that his character can be interpreted from that point going forward, it drastically transforms how he can be perceived from the very start of his characterization. To put it simply, Billy is fascinating because the show establishes him as a character, and then later tells the audience that everything they seem to believe about him is wrong.

Although Billy only starred in two seasons of the series, what makes his character so compelling is that in his character arc for each of those seasons, the climactic moment of his story was something that could very easily and cataclysmically alter the way the audience might perceive him.

When Billy first made his debut in season 2, he seemed like all of Steve Harrington's worst qualities on steroids, with a whole lot of rage and cruelty thrown in for good measure. And he wasn't just an average bully, from pretty early on after his introduction, it was established that a lot of his behavior was genuinely violent and terrifying.

Drawing inspiration from classic 80s bad boys like Billy Hicks of St. Elmo's Fire and more sinister child villains like Henry Bowers from Stephen King's IT, it seemed like Billy Hargrove was meant to be a one-dimensional antagonist that posed some kind of threat to many of the human protagonists in season 2. And, he quite deftly plays that role up until episode 8 of the season.

The revelation that Billy is actually being abused by his bigoted, hyper-masculine, and aggressive dad at the very start of "The Mind Flayer" is a masterful example of how one single scene can completely alter the meaning of a story. For Billy's entire trajectory thus far, he seems to be intent on doing nothing more than victimizing everyone within his immediate vicinity, but the brief introduction of Neil Hargrove establishes that Billy himself has been a victim this entire time as well.

What makes this twist such a great example of truly fantastic character development is that it not only adds a completely new dimension to Billy as a person, but it also forces the viewer to reexamine everything that they thought they had already learned about the character and allows the audience to see almost everything that he's done before this moment in a completely different light.

Yes, Billy is a hyper-aggressive, prejudiced asshole who is intent on dominating Steve Harrington whenever he can, but in retrospect his behavior seems to directly mimic his father's behavior towards him. And yes, Billy is frighteningly controlling when it comes to Max's relationship with Lucas, but his scene with Neil also makes it clear that Billy is not only expected to keep Max under his control, but that the consequences for Billy will be brutal if he fails to do so.

But even more interestingly, the show doesn't actually tell its audience how to feel about this, which once again distinguishes Billy Hargrove from the vast majority of the characters on Stranger Things. Whether they're a villain, a hero, or meant to be a mystery, the show pretty consistently tells the audience what category of character its major players are meant to fall into, and it's pretty rare for the series to ever challenge those character structures in any meaningful way.

Even if characters like El or Will question whether or not they're the villains, the viewer themselves is never intended to ask that question. And even if irredeemable baddies like Dr. Brenner believe that they're doing the right thing, the audience never even considers the possibility that he's not the ultimate evil. But with Billy's season 2 story arc, the answer is never given to the audience, and whatever information that is given about his character seems to generate more questions than offer answers.

This is the kind of challenge that serves to make Billy an even more divisive character. Yes, the narrative offers up a possible explanation for his behavior, but that explanation doesn't function as a possible excuse for it, and it only offers up this explanation as a potential possibility for his behavior. Ultimately, it's up to the audience to reexamine his actions and choices and decide whether or not what he does is driven by pain, trauma, or the fact that beating the shit out of people just makes him feel better.

Trauma is one of the most interesting dimensions of Stranger Things too, but honestly, the show doesn't always handle it in the most plausible or relatable way. Most of the characters have experienced some kind of extreme trauma in their lives, but ultimately, the narrative seems to intentionally sidestep these issues at its own convenience.

Arguably the perfect example of this problem is Eleven. She has gone through incomprehensible torment and abuse for her entire life, but one of the significant flaws of Stranger Things is its unwillingness to actually acknowledge that in a way that could ever make her character unappealing. Sure, they're willing to give her a quirky speech pattern to signify how disconnected she is from the real world, but the show never really presents her trauma in a way that could be off-putting from a character perspective or in a way that could be inconvenient from a storytelling perspective.

And unfortunately, this is a pretty consistent flaw throughout the entire cast of characters. Whether it's Hopper, Will, Joyce, or any one of the many players who have experienced something genuinely horrific, that horror rarely has any effects that doesn't work well within the narrative itself, nor does it have any effects that makes them less appealing as characters.

But once again, Billy Hargrove serves as a direct contrast to this, which typically makes viewers either like him more or like him less. Billy is an extremely traumatized individual who handled those experiences in the worst possible way, but his reaction also feels more sincere and true-to-life than any other representation of severe traumatic experiences in the series.

And once again, the show doesn't spoon-feed its audience regarding how exactly they're supposed to feel when they see Billy act the way that he does. Yes, his abuse offers an explanation for his behavior, but it doesn't offer an excuse.

This complexity is largely responsible for Billy's initial success in season 2, and it's not hard to see why so many viewers became interested in him despite the fact that he is intentionally made to be dislikable. His characterization and character development over the course of his introductory season forces the audience to not only reexamine his entire story arc, it forces them to reflect and ask questions of themselves to truly see how they feel about Billy as a character without ever offering them a direct instruction on how he should be perceived, unlike nearly every other character in the show. And impressively, this only becomes deeper and more complex during season 3.

Interestingly, Billy's character arc in season 3 pretty directly mimics his trajectory throughout season 2. He's taken over by the mind flayer early on in the story, which turns him into a straightforward villain until the very end of the season, where one particular scene completely changes how his character and his journey so far can potentially be interpreted.

It comes as no surprise that Billy became more popular during this season, and not just because he became the primary antagonist of the story.

Many Stranger Things fans have complained that season 3 is the worst in the series thus far, and there is actually a pretty objective and clear explanation as to why that is. This entire season is undoubtedly the least character-focused out of the series as a whole, and frankly, the majority of the story is about the characters just going around and doing things rather than developing as individuals and progressing their individual characterizations or interpersonal relationships forward.

It's not lacking in irony that the show's hyper-intense focus on the plot of the season is what actually made the story so dull to so many people, but that problem also made Billy much more prominent and his character arc much more valuable.

Unlike everyone else, Billy's internal conflict is taken to the most literal and extreme level by forcing him to become the vessel of the Mind Flayer. And while the story of that inner struggle would have likely resonated with the audience under any circumstances, it becomes all the more compelling and moving when there really aren't any emotional or deep character stories going on around it.

Billy's possession storyline provides a lot of room to create dimension for his character, and Stranger Things really makes the best of it. Using El to not only explore his internal struggle, but to establish more background characterization, really brings more life to Billy Hargrove in an exceptionally short amount of time. And obviously, Dacre Montgomery's ability to literally play two characters at once makes that struggle feel real, and ultimately makes Billy and flayed-Billy's individual development feel like the centerpiece of an overly busy and plot-heavy season.

However, regardless of how compelling or complex Billy's overall story is, the climax of his character arc where he stands up against the Mind Flayer to save El is something that no one would have ever suspected that he would be capable of, let alone willing to do. But, because of Billy's previously established abuse, this completely unexpected twist is also incredibly believable, meaningful, and cathartic for the character as well as the audience.

Billy has been a violent and frightening character for the vast majority of his existence, both in his normal human form and in his flayed version. Therefore, his final act of rebellion against a symbolic abuser in defense of the abused once again allows the audience to go back to the very beginning of his character arc and ask themselves what Billy Hargrove's story really means and represents.

Billy's apparent death at the hands of the Mind Flayer offered a modicum of catharsis for his story and some semblance of a conclusion, but it will be interesting to see if Stranger Things actually leaves his character behind completely, as that would almost certainly be a mistake.

One of the most compelling aspects of Billy Hargrove is the genuine lack of clarity or explanation that the character has. He is obviously someone who is capable of great and terrible things, and the show never offers a direct answer on whether he's meant to be good or bad. That not only differentiates him from most of the other cast members in the show, but it makes him more interesting and more realistic than many of the other major players in the series.

And that is a huge reason why Billy's story arc doesn't seem like it should end with season 3. The notion of a character who has done awful things but redeems themselves in one final act of goodness before they die is not only a completely overplayed trope, it's the easiest way out for a character who seems designed to not be easy.

But regardless of whether or not season 4 does Billy Hargrove some kind of justice, it is not at all confusing or accidental that he became such a disproportionately popular character, because despite his limited screen time and seemingly limited dimension, he is actually the most complicated, sophisticated, and well developed character in Stranger Things.

#billy hargrove #stranger things #dacre montgomery #harringrove #billy hargrove meta #stranger things meta #my videos #Youtube

[jonsa101]

Episode 3x14: A Reflection of How Max Stepped Into Love After A Season of Suffering

Gif credit @supagirl

Hey guys! I can’t believe the season finale has come and gone! I think my mind is just taking time to comprehend everything that has happened! Sharpwin is officially canon! As I’m typing this out, it feels strange writing a meta on the other side of things. Since season one, I’ve been writing metas about how these two belong together and making predictions about the trajectory of their relationship. Now, to be on the other side of things where I know longer have to do that because these two are finally together is kinda crazy. I feel so elated!

Now y’all, I’m not going to lie to you, I had a totally different meta planned out and that meta is still in my drafts. I will probably release it because it was a general review of the episode but I thought it was more important that I put this meta out first. When I was watching the finale live, I didn’t love it. I just didn’t. I loved that Max and Helen finally got together at the end of the episode but I had a major issue with how it unfolded. The issue my friends was this scene right here: 

Baby!!! When I tell you this scene TRIGGERED me, it did! Now mind you, I wasn’t upset with Max’s storyline of searching and struggling to take off his wedding ring. It is human nature for Max to still have an emotional attachment to his ring. He’s not still grieving but essentially that ring is the only thing he has left of Georgia and represents a life he once had. Him taking it off was always going to be a monumental moment for Sharpwin and for himself. The issue that I had was Max casually telling Helen that he freaked out about losing his ring!!! To me, after the voicemail he left her, after Helen flew standby and was in a six hour flight to see him, it was an incredibly CALLOUS thing for Max to say. I know Max wasn’t thinking in this moment. I know his intentions were clearly not to hurt her but words matter and him being careless with his was a complete disregard of Helen’s feelings. She was deeply hurt and upset when he said this and rightfully so! I mean just look at her expression here:

Helen’s entire being read like

“I can’t believe you”

And girl same, because neither could I!! He knew he fucked up and he obviously made up for it in the end but y’all when I was watching it live, everything that came after that elevator scene was was tainted for me. I had a hard time believing that Helen would let what he said slide so easily and in the moment, I couldn’t appreciate the beauty of them finally coming together! 😩 In my personal opinion, there were so many other ways that scene could have played out without Max having to literally tell Helen to her face that he was worried about his wedding ring! I know they were trying to build up to the “big moment” where he finally takes his ring off and runs back to Helen’s apartment but man, that moment did not sit right with me in my spirit! It still doesn’t and I don’t think my opinion will ever change on this.

With that said, I’ve now done several rewatches of the finale where I specifically watched the scenes after that awful moment by the elevator. As I’ve had time to reflect, my perspective has changed. I no longer view the moments after the elevator scene as tainted but as something deeply profound and beautiful. Hell, even as I reflect on that scene by the elevator, I still don’t like it, but in a way I understand it in how it relates to Max’s overall journey when it comes to Helen. To me, Max Goodwin is a man who fell deeply in love with Helen in the midst of the most complex situations and a season of him suffering. It’s been deep rooted, complicated and messy from the start and over the past three years we’ve seen Max navigate through the complexities of his feelings for Helen and the circumstances he’s found himself in on our screens. I think when you look at season three finale and specifically the journey of Max finally making a choice to be with Helen, you have to put into context Max’s history and how it influenced what that looked like. So y’all that is exactly what I want to do in this meta so let’s dive in.

One thing I think we need to acknowledge is that, even though as an audience we have loved seeing Max and Helen’s journey unfold, the road has been so TOUGH for them. As Helen said in 3x13, it’s been a fight! Especially for Max. The suffering he has endured over the past three years has been unfathomable and much of his relationship with Helen and his feelings for her have been developed under these traumatic and tragic circumstances. 

At the very beginning of the series, when Max and Helen first meet they clash but it doesn’t last for long. It’s his first day at New Amsterdam and as the new Medical Director, he wants her to stay at the hospital and treat patients instead of doing press tours. Helen on the other hand wants to continue doing press and for the most part ignores his demands for her to return to the hospital. When she finally does return, she does so because she learns that Max has cancer. This bonds them at the onset as Helen is the only person in his life that knows about his diagnosis. As an audience, when we first see them interact, we instantly saw the sparks fly between them. Their chemistry and natural witty banter made us immediately take a look at their relationship and what potential they could have in the future. Though we were shocked by his cancer diagnosis, I think the fun and lightheartedness of Sharpwin’s first interactions really masked how traumatic this must have been for Max. On the first day of his dream job, that he sacrificed his marriage for, he learns that he has cancer while having a baby on the way. Those are the awful circumstances that first bring Max and Helen together. 

As Helen becomes Max’s doctor and he swears her to secrecy about his diagnosis, their friendship and bond grows deeper. His passion and drive to help his patients, reignites Sharpe’s love for medicine again and inspires her to put her patients first. They become vulnerable with each other more than anyone else in their lives. He confides in her about his broken marriage and she tells him that she wants a baby. When he almost dies, she becomes his deputy medical director so that he can focus on his care. All of these moments are significant to them because somewhere along the way they develop feelings for each other. They didn’t plan for it and it’s something neither of them are consciously aware of but unknowingly, they both start to fill a place in each other’s lives that was clearly more than a doctor and patient relationship or a friendship. This “place” wasn’t called out until episode 1x16 were the clairvoyant called out their feelings for each other. When episode 1x17 comes around, after a night of revelations and a scramble to get the power back on in the hospital, Helen decides to step back as his doctor. If she wasn’t aware of her feelings before, in this moment, she’s fully aware of them now. This is an effort to safeguard her heart and set boundaries because the lines of who they are to each other were already so blurred. When she “triages” their relationship Max’s reacts badly and honestly they’re both devastated and are on the verge of tears:

As viewers, we loved this moment but when you peel back the layers of what’s actually going on in this scene, it’s gut-wrenching. The subtext is so clear here yet their situation is so complex and layered. We know for a fact that Max wasn’t trying to lose her in ANY CAPACITY. We also know that in the way he TRULY wanted her he couldn’t have her and Helen knew that too. Not when he was married, had a baby on the way, and fighting cancer at the same time. Y’all that’s hard and profoundly painful when you think about it and it makes this scene all the more tragic. 

When Helen steps back as his doctor, at first Max seems to be handling it well but as his cancer starts to get worse, he completely breaks. Like I said earlier, over the course of his cancer treatment, Helen filled a place in Max’s life that was so much more than just his doctor or his friend. So when he’s dying and no longer has the person he feels deeply for play an active role in his treatment, he lashes out. He’s dealing with a range of emotions he can’t handle or properly process. Things only get worse from there and at the end of season one Georgia and Luna’s life are on the line and Bloom and Helen scramble to save them. When it seems like everyone was able to come out of that traumatic event unscathed, they get into a devastating ambulance crash that changes everything. 

Season 2 brings another level of pain and suffering for Max when he loses his wife after the crash and is thrust into single fatherhood. Not only is he grieving but he’s also dealing with guilt of falling in love with Helen while he was married. The complexities of his feelings is something he struggles with throughout this season and it affects his relationship with Helen. At some points he pushes her away and at others he desperately needs her. Once again, Helen and Max’s relationship is caught up in the most complex of circumstances that is riddled with agony and trauma. 

By time we head into season 3, Max doesn’t even have time to breathe or think about his relationship with Helen because they’re both thrust to the frontlines of the pandemic. 

I bring all of this up again to emphasize that there has never been a time where Max and Helen’s relationship hasn’t been wrapped up in trauma or some sort of suffering. It has always been one thing or another with them. It’s been A LOT and Max has tried to navigate being in love with Helen through his suffering and under these crazy ass circumstances. So after rewatching the finale, the questions that run through my mind are:

How do you step into love when all you’ve known for the past three years has been suffering?

How do you love openly and freely when for so long you’ve emotionally suppressed your feelings for someone because it was “wrong?” 

How do you let go, heal, and move on with your life?

To me, answering these questions is what the season finale for Max was all about. When you’ve suffered so much and endured so much it’s not easy to step into a new chapter in your life that’s hopeful and filled with love and possibilities. For Max, I don’t think in his wildest dreams that he ever imagined that he and Helen would be in a place where they could actually be together. Considering everything they’ve gone through, quite frankly it’s a fucking miracle! So when he actually makes it to the other side and not only SURVIVES but has a chance for happiness, I don’t think he knows what he’s doing. Pursuing/having feelings for Helen from a place that isn’t wrapped up in trauma and tragedy, where there are seemingly no obstacles in his way, is totally and completely new territory for Max. I think he’s clueless in how to do that in the right way and as he navigates through that, naturally there are hiccups.

That’s evident with what he said by the elevator and also in this moment here: 

Max doesn’t have a clue but he wants to make sure that he doesn’t fuck it up because he DESPERATELY wants this! I also think there’s something to be said about how we as human beings can self-sabotage ourselves when we finally have an opportunity to get what we want. Fear, guilt, worthiness usually comes into play with that and I think for Max there was definitely a fear with moving on with his life, guilt of surviving it all and having a chance to be with the woman he’s loved for so long, and a question of if he’s worthy of actually having happiness.

Their walk in my mind perfectly embodies him self sabotaging while also trying to navigate his feelings of desperately wanting to be with her. At the beginning of their walk, you see that at one point he clearly wants to hold Helen’s hand but he doesn’t (I would use a gif here y’all but I literally only have room for 10 😩). I’m focusing my attention on Max here because essentially this whole moment between them is a part of Max’s “mini story” in the episode. The ball has always been in his court and truly what we are witnessing is his journey to step into love because Helen is ready and has been waiting on him. 

The most compelling moment in their walk scene for me was this one: 

I find it strange for Max to walk so far ahead when he was the one who asked her if he could walk with her. My first thought while watching it live was “what is he doing” and I think Helen’s expression reads the same way. After analyzing this for a bit, I genuinely think that’s the point of this scene. Like I said earlier, Max doesn’t know what he’s doing. To be with Helen like this is, where its romantic, peaceful and drama free is probably blowing his mind and he doesn't know how to navigate this. He doesn’t know how to receive this second chance at happiness. 

The internal war of Max stepping into love or allowing fear, guilt, and unworthiness to hold him back becomes all the more evident when they get to Helen’s door: 

He knows he wants to come in. Helen know he wants to come in too. This man literally says goodnight twice and when Helen responds with “you said that,” it perfects this scene. She wants him to come in as well but she’s not going to ask him to. In this moment, she sees his internal struggle and she knows that he has to make the choice himself on whether or not he wants to move on with his life with her.

When he walks away, for a moment that was Max choosing to hold onto the pain and trauma of his past. That was him choosing to hold onto the guilt that was keeping him from healing and moving on. With the suffering he’s been through, it makes sense. In many ways he’s been conditioned to fight, to suffer and to endure. It’s what he’s used to. But praise the lord, he thinks of the moments he just shared with Helen. 

The joy he has with just being in her presence. 

The opportunity he has to freely be with her and have a life with her after loving her for so long.

He is not condemned to a life of suffering. It was only for a season. He’s in love with Helen and wants to be with her. Like hell is he going to let this opportunity at a second chance of love and happiness slip away from him. So guys, he slips off that ring, runs back to Helen’s apartment and makes a choice to step into love. Step into this new, uncharted, chapter of his life with Helen Sharpe. 

Anyway guys! I hope y’all enjoyed this! I might be releasing one more meta but we will see how it goes.

As always feel free to reach out to me on Tumblr and on Twitter @oyindaodewale. Love you guys!

#new amsterdam #Sharpwin #Max Goodwin #Helen Sharpe #Max x Helen #sharpwin meta #new amsterdam meta

[semi-imaginary-place]

my favorite version of edelclaude is canon compliant with verdant wind hahahah. yup doomed romance and the tragedy of what ifs. I’ve seen two comics about the two meeting the night before they meet in battle in enbarr (not necessarily romantic). the one on tumblr has them in one final dance, and the one of twitter is about the exchange of a rose. both very good.

so to quote from my earlier fe3h posts:

Thinking about claude and edelgard. On one hand their personalities, ideals, and ambitions complement each other. On the other hand Edelgard doesn’t understand how people work and Claude is a manipulator, guarded, he never lets any one in. Claude can read her, but Edelgard reacts poorly to criticism and dissenting opinions…. Claude has no faith. Not in his dreams and not in himself. With out a push, he’s not proactive. Edelgard charges straight ahead while Claude takes the circuitous path. “Defensive” thats the word for edelgard, she so easily thinks people are out for her. Whereas claude deflects. Both are fueled by a sense of justice. The point is the the tragedy that they would make great friends! But thats not happening in this universe! Because edelgard’s bull headed and claude wont open up!

Edelgard Claude foiling. Both see that the world is wrong and that motivates them to make it better. Claude listens to people, Edelgard listens to herself. Claude reflects and introspects, Edelgard doesn’t and continues to charge ahead believing only she is right. 

its about the silent grief of missed opportunities despite their compatibility

Edelgards biggest flaws are her desire for control and her stubbornness or the way she will double down on a decision and refuse to budge. Claude’s biggest flaws are his inability to trust, and showing his hand too late. A bit more on that last part. A large part of Claude’s strategies involve downplaying his side and biding his time. This strategy is especially weak though to an aggressive opponent like Edelgard who can bulldoze him before he has time to play out his plan. Part of the problem is that Claude is very reactive but not very proactive (its one of the reasons I like pairing him with Edelgard and Petra). He won’t just go for something the way Edelgard does, he’s wait for the right opportunity. This difference you can also see in how the deal with the Church. Edelgard declares war on them because she thinks they are the root of Fodlan’s social problems and need to be taken down. She makes a decision she believes in and readies herself for the consequences. Claude actually believes much of the same (The Church is the root of Fodlan’s problems) but would much rather avoid those consequences (fall out with the Church). You see in Verdant Wind he will make use of the Church because the are useful. He’s even willing to spout Church rhetoric and propaganda (Byleth as a Church symbol) if it suits his end goal of transferring power to an individual who will shape Fodlan’s future to his liking (he does have an altruistic and humanitarian goal much like Edelgard). However in doing so he risks empowering the Church even more. In short Claude will put up a facade that he doesn’t agree with on an ideals level and so is always in danger of that facade becoming real and failing his goals. yeah so claude character development has him learning to trust and being more proactive in his goals. so i like pairing him with characters that put him on a similar growth trajectory like petra or edelgard.

For me at least the appeal to Edelgard and Claude forming a supportive relationship whether that is a strong friendship or a romantic relationship is the great potential for personal growth. The two of them are the type of take inspiration in one another and together they shore up each other’s weaknesses, Edelgard’s difficulty in adapting long term plans to new information and a changing situation, and Claude’s inability to take a more direct path towards his goals. Claude expands Edelgard’s world view and she gives structure and directed action towards his dreams.

After Jeralts death both Claude and Edelgard both tell you that the world will continue spinning regardless of what befalls you personally but they do so in rather different ways. Edelgard phrases it like pull yourself together or the world will leave you behind. Claude phrases it like personal tragedies are such a small thing in the face of the world. You may have suffered a loss but there is so much to the world beyond that. There are still worthwhile things in the world. Both of say the world doesnt stop for you but mean different things. And both are trying to motivate you to pull yourself together for the world will not stop turning. Whereas dimitri is like: you want vengeance? You should go for vengeance. I’ll help you rip them apart. I’ll kill for you.

Because at their cores, Edelgard and Claude operate in similar sphere’s. Neither is shackled by what is or what was (edelgard’s line about how the Church has “only existed for a mere 1000 years” which she means to say that it is finite and small on the scale of the universe and thus it is very possible to take it down), both are mostly live in the realm of ideals and possibilities,  what the future could look like instead of believing that what currently is is best like Law and Order Dimitri does

In the novel in my head that will never get written. they never even enter a romantic relationship in this timeline its all unrecognized pining (by both the self and the other) and realizing too late they could have been a good thing together! They strike up an unlikely friendship in the academy despite hubert’s vehement disapproval and just as they are truly starting to open up to each other, the deadline for edelgard’s plans arrives and she chooses to proceed as planned. the juicy unrealized potential!

Part of this is also especially during white clouds, romance is at the bottom of each of the lists of priorities. Edelgard is busy plotting a war and doesn’t think she has time for such things. Its an interesting shift actually between part 1 edelgard who is serious business 100% of the time and takes everything seriously and wants to be taken seriously and part 2 edelgard who realizes on a personal level what the responsibilities of ruling entails and longs for simple days. Meanwhile part 1 Claude is still scoping out the situation in Fodlan, he’s wary, his position is insecure, romance is also the furthest thing from his mind. Teenage Edelgard and Claude would both be rather bad with affection and emotions too. In edelgard’s supports you can see she’s very defensive and thinks byleth teasing her is them insulting her, and she reacts to embarrassment with anger. While Claude had many difficulties in his childhood, he did have 2 living parents and seems to get along pretty well with them and it shows since he’s the most well adjusted of the lords. Still, his attempts at connecting with others are guarded and clumsy, you can see this very well in his supports with Marinne. He’s well intentioned and genuinely wants to help people, but he’s got so many defense mechanism built up that it creates a distance with people.

also claude and edelgard teaming up would be too powerful. they would break the game, the church, and every unjust social, economic, and political system. i mean between the be and gd you are going to have society proceeding at the speed of light. too powerful.

#fe #fe3h #edelclaude #edelgard von hresvelg #claude von riegan

[sirthisisa-wendys]

The Enforcers Part 1: Geto Suguru x Fem!Reader

synopsis: As a Kitsune, you're tasked with sniffing out the illegal activities of the underground and reporting them back to the Civic Service Bureau. You'll be partnered with a Leviathan, who is the muscle to carry out the arrests, but can you handle what he brings to the table?

wc: 2.1k

tw: none

masterlist

“Chins up, kitsune! Leave your confidence at the door, and become one with your fear. For the first time in your lives, you will come to stare death in the face. And, unlike at that rubbish academy you were at for the last four years of your life, this is the real deal.”

You look at the man pacing in front of you, his blonde hair slicked back and eyes covered with a pair of peculiar glasses. He’s wearing the standard grey uniform for the upper ranked kitsune with a spotted tie, which would normally be out of uniform, but he’s the head of communications in the Civic Service Bureau, so it doesn’t matter.

“There’s only one thing separating you from a Leviathan in this world. You there, tell me what it is!” Nanami Kento points to the pink-haired boy beside you and Yuji Itadori gulps.

“Uh… cool haircuts and tattoos?”

You groan internally, wondering how he made it through the four years of training without dropping out. “Incorrect. Y/n, tell me what separates you from a Leviathan in the Civic Service Bureau.”

“Our lifespan.”

“That’s right. On average, a kitsune will live ten to twelve years longer than their headstrong and combative partner, hence why there are more of them than there are of us. But that doesn’t mean be reckless. The entire bureau relies on the intel, insight, and reports you bring back from the field. Now, if you think this isn’t the desk job you were promised, you are free to leave. You were only invited here based on your ability to spy and not be caught. But if you’re ready to serve your nation in the most honorable way, stay here.” Not a single person out of the four of you shifts their movements. “Perfect,” Nanami murmurs, eyeing you all carefully. When his eyes rest on you, you notice the different assessment he gives you. It’s the one thing everyone does the first time you meet:

Is she as good as her parents were?

You’re here not only to answer that question but to exceed it. Your parents raised you for this moment - to take on any task thrown at you, spy as well as they did when they were in the Kitsune. You would do all of that and more, then when it came time for you to settle down, you would marry a fellow Kitsune and live in the Grand Sun District with your peers. The trajectory of your life looks like an arrow, shooting straight for the stars and never coming down until your own star wanes into the night. But by then, there would be a legacy tied to your name, and no one would be able to besmirch your reputation. Ever.

“Alright, you will all be paired with your Leviathan after dinner. Go and freshen up; you have a long night ahead of you.”

“Sir!” You all salute the man with fervor, then you’re ushered to your temporary dressing quarters where you’re instructed to shower until you’re thoroughly cleaned, then to dress in the standard Kitsune uniform - a light grey shirt and grey pants, with a grey jacket. As you stand in the shower and wash, you remember your parents’ words:

“You’re the reason there’s still good in this world. As a Kitsune, you give balance to the chaos of the universe.”

They always made the job seem like a superhero’s task, but you learned much more about the types of jobs you would take on when you went to the academy. But you’d risen to each and every challenge, no matter what, and graduated second in your class, behind Nobara Kugisaki.

As you slide on the pants provided to you, you wonder who they’ll pair you with. In the past, each Leviathan was paired with their equal Kitsune, which meant you would be paired with the second-ranked in the incoming group. But they changed that rule when Gojo Satoru switched from being first in the Kitsune to being first in the Leviathans a year ago, disrupting the entire ranking system. Ranks from the Academy were just a formality now, thanks to him.

“Fall in line!” You toss your jacket on, then join the other three in the main room, coming face to face with Yuki, the head of the Kitsune and Reconnaissance.

“You all look like a spry bunch. But I hate to say that the Leviathans you’ll be paired with are tougher than last year’s group. Excluding Gojo, of course.” You all hold your breath, but she smiles, turning to Nanami. “Dinner should be ready soon.”

_____________________________________________________________

The cafeteria is silent with Yuji, Nobara, Maki, and you eating as quickly as you can, trying your best to scarf down the tasteless meal before introducing your partners. Finally, once you swallow down your water, you stand, grunting.

“Alright, I’m done.”

“Hey, hotshot,” Nobara huffs. “We don’t meet them until they’re ready. And you know how Leviathans are.”

“Slow, lazy, quick to anger,” Yuji groans and Maki nods, shrugging.

You sit back down, tapping your fingers on the table. “Perhaps they could speed it up.”

“Why are you in such a hurry?” Yui wonders innocently, pulling apart his bread roll.

“I want to get to work,” you admit, cracking your knuckles. “I’m itching to sniff out and dismantle some organizations.”

“Just because your parents took down the Motivir Group doesn’t mean you have to live up to their reputation.”

“Doesn’t mean I can slack off, either,” you grumble just as the doors to the cafeteria slide open. Yuki walks through, her brow raised curiously.

“It seems that they’re ready. Are you all set?”

The walk to the auditorium seems longer than it actually is as you pass by endless barracks, one of which would end up being where you stay in an adjoining room to your Leviathan. As your shoes clang on the metal rafters connecting the barracks to the main building, your heart beats feverishly in your chest. Of course, your Leviathan will be impressed that you’re the daughter of two prominent Kitsune, but would they expect you to--

“Watch your step.” You descend the staircase to the lobby of the auditorium and wait patiently for the doors to open. When they do, they reveal the hundreds of waiting Civic Service Bureau members, including the head of communication (Nanami Kento), head of surveillance (Mei Mei), head of foreign affairs (Yuta Okkotsu), Gojo Satoru, and of course, head of the Leviathans, Toji Fushiguro.

He sits in front of his group on the right side of the stage, elbows on his knees as he watches you all parade to the left side where the other Kitsune are seated. A scowl is painted on his face as he eyes each of you, and the Leviathans behind him look equally as bored, whispering to each other and snickering. You analyze the group, taking in their all-black attire and various haircuts, piercings, and tattoos.

When you look over to the Kitsune, they all look polished - hair slicked back, arms and legs free of any visible markings, and light grey attire. The only piercing you see among the crowd of your peers is in the ears, and even those are easily hidden. It wasn’t that you all were prudes or traditional, but to blend in, you had to be a blank slate, mentally and physically; adult tabula rasa.

“Is this thing on?” Toji groans, tapping the microphone just handed to him. You take your seat as he begins to speak, grumbling his words without enthusiasm. “Right. As you all know, today is the day when our newest members are paired with their partners and sent off on initial missions for an assessment of compatibility, blah, blah, blah. I’m going to skip the bullshit and get straight to the fun part.” Yuki mutters a string of curses as she gets up and snatches the mic from him, pushing her partner off to the side.

“Apologies, you all. We do have to read the pledge of the Civic Service Bureau before we continue.” You all stand, tapping two fingers to space between your brow and then to your heart, where they rest as you chant:

“I pledge allegiance to the Civic Service Bureau and to keeping the nation safe with authority, strength, and boldness.” The words echo in the auditorium, and then you all retake your seats.

“And now, a memorial to our fallen Kitsune and Leviathans.” The lights dim as the hologrammed faces of various Leviathans appear above the crowd. In addition to the many faces, there are two outlined in gold: Kitsune.

“Did you hear about the Leviathan that got his Kitsune killed while on a mission last year?” Maki whispers to Yuji, and you frown, turning in your seat.

“Huh?”

“Yeah,” Yuji answers. “I heard the Leviathan didn’t execute the raid properly, and the Kitsune was murdered by--”

“Shh!” Nobara hisses, turning back to watch the faces fade into the light, and the lights come back up as Yuki brings the mic back up to her lips.

“Alright, now I’ll pass it back to Toji so he can… do his job.” Yuki glares at the man and passes him the mic as he grins at her lazily.

“Thanks, Yuki. Such a riveting presentation. Let me start off by saying this year’s Leviathans have the grit and determination that moved even the Grand Council.” The Leviathans roar in response to this admission, acknowledging the head members of the Civic Service Bureau, who were conveniently not present. “Now, at the head of this year’s class, we have my own son, Megumi Fushiguro.” The black-haired, green-eyed man comes up to the stage, forgoing anything other than a blank look as Toji clasps his arm in solidarity. “He will be partnered with Nobara Kugisaki, as directed by the Grand Council.” Everyone claps as they should.

Nobara and Megumi shake hands, then move to the back of the stage to stand together.

“Next, we have Noritoshi Kamo,” Another blank-faced black-haired man. “And he will be paired with…” You anticipate your name being called second, thinking maybe they’ve reinstated the rank pairs rule. “Maki Zen’in.” You watch her walk up to Noritoshi and shake his hand, then join Nobara and Toji’s son. “Next, Choso Kamo and Yuji Itadori.” The two men forgo the traditional handshake and instead perform their own special handshake, no doubt practiced for this very moment. You look up to the elder Fushiguro, wondering who in the world was left for the daughter of heroes.

“This year, as we mourn the tragic loss of first-year Kitsune Yu Haibara, the Grand Council has moved to reassign his Leviathan in a show of forgiveness. So, for the second time - and for the first time in history - Geto Suguru will be paired with Y/n, as directed by special order from the Grand Council.” You don’t move from your seat as the massive man walks up to the stage, his black eyes roaming the crowd for his partner - you.

“Go,” Yuki urges you, but you can’t move.

There has to be a mistake.

“Y/n, please come up to the stage….” Toji rumbles. “Before I lose my patience.”

No. There’s something wrong.

“Get up there.” Yuki grabs your arm and lifts you out of your seat, pushing you toward the stage unceremoniously. When you finally stand in front of Geto Suguru, you look into his eyes and see… nothing. He stares at you, his silver nose ring shining in the lights, just like his long, black hair. But you don’t even shake his hand, opting to walk to the back and stand there, dumbfounded with crossed arms. Geto joins you, looking equally as miffed.

“Okay, great. So, that’s over, and now I can take a nap. Go have some light desserts, talk, get to know each other, and then go to your barracks.” Once everyone files out, you follow, searching for Gojo and Nanami. When you find them conversing at the chocolate fountain, you interrupt their conversation, temper flaring.

“Who chose that failure to be my partner?” you growl, pointing your finger at the man who lingers by himself at the back of the room, arms crossed over his chest as he observes the others.

“Whoa,” Gojo holds up his hands, taking a step back. “That’s a Grand Council question.”

“Partners can't be reassigned except in extreme circumstances,” Nanami reminds you. “This seems like an extreme circumstance, y/n.”

“He let his Kitsune get killed!” you yell, catching the attention of a few others nearby. “If you think my parents will allow this to--”

“Your parents are still under the directives of the Grand Council,” Yuki mentions, walking up to you. “They can’t get you reassigned even if they tried.”

“We’ll see about that,” you hiss, striding out of the lobby and to your assigned barrack before closing yourself off.

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