#pauls control issues would have developed over time

[derkem]

unleashing my autism on bocchi's les paul custom

i've seen a lot of speculation about bocchi bocchi the rock's guitar and like... i am about as neck deep in vintage guitar lore as your average blues lawyer or retiree in a lynyrd skynyrd cover band so i have Opinions

the mangaka has stated that her choice of guitar was mostly/exclusively based on the colour - i haven't seen her comment specifically on the model/year beyond it being a Les Paul Custom, and I doubt she made any definitive decisions about this early on given that by her own admission she "couldn't tell the difference between a guitar and a bass" at the time

that said, it's a fortunate choice in that the flashy, expensive Gibson isn't just a great colour match for Bocchi, but serves as a great projection of the mismatch between Bocchi's "guitarhero" persona and ambitions, and her anxious, awkward personality - a flashy "tuxedo" guitar on a fidgeting teenager in a tracksuit

anyway in this post i will make the case that a) there is not a definitive answer to "what model of Gibson Les Paul Custom does bocchi bocchi the rock play" and b) there are a couple different pertinent answers, none of which take clear precedence

so unnecessarily comprehensive history of the electric guitar, the les paul custom and where bocchi's fits into it

if you don't care about guitar nerd diatribes (it will get more relevant, but not much less nerdy) skip to the *

(cut down from a much more unnecessarily detailed version XD)

over the first half of the 20th century acoustic guitars are in an arms race to get louder as the guitar gains popularity as a solo instrument and individual guitarists are playing to larger audience and playing a larger role in ensembles - in particular, resonator guitars and archtops develop during this period - but in the 30s and 40s various companies and individuals are increasingly experimenting with using electromagnetic pickups and electronic amplifiers to achieve greater volumes than are possible with purely acoustic methods, and as time progresses more people have the idea to forgo soundboxes and acoustic resonance entirely in favour of just electronically amplifying the string itself, to avoid the feedback issues inherent to hollowbody electrics

most notable are Rickenbacker who develop both the first electric guitar outright, a lap steel model for Hawaiian music in 1931, and the first electro-Spanish model (i.e. what we'd consider a conventional electric guitar) with a bakelite plastic body in 1935, and Paul Bigsby, whose custom builds for country legend Merle Travis in the late 40s are the first recognisable modern electric guitars

in the midst of that is jazz guitarist Les Paul, who develops his own prototype called "the log" based on an Epiphone hollowbody, and approaches Gibson with it in the mid 40s, though at the time they aren't interested

at the end of the 40s, radio engineer and inventor Leo Fender had been collaborating with Doc Kauffman - their joint venture saw Kauffman build electric lap steel guitars while Fender built amplifiers for them; when the pair go their separate ways, Fender decides to make his own solidbody guitar (which many would argue takes obvious cues from Bigsby's) which becomes the 1950 Esquire, shortly followed by the Broadcaster, renamed to the Telecaster sometime after

the Telecaster is big news because it's designed from the ground up for mass production - the materials are readily available woods like ash and maple, the neck is bolted on, and the electronics are all mounted in cavities routed onto a flat slab of wood for a body

and it's a hit

so suddenly Gibson wants a slice of the pie, and by 1952 they've brought Les Paul back in and released the first iteration of their Les Paul Model - with a carved top, decorative binding, a metallic gold finish, rosewood fretboard, and separate controls for each pickup, it's obvious Gibson fancies it a more premium product than what radio engineer Leo Fender could come up with, but at first it kinda sucks

the '52 les paul has shortcomings in its design and construction that really undermine it as a product, but over the course of the '50s it undergoes changes, first corrections to the neck angle, the introduction of an adjustable bridge in 1954 to improve intonation, the addition of more powerful, hum-cancelling "PAF" pickups in 1957 and a translucent "burst" finish in 1958, completing the archetypal 1958-1960 "burst" models which, owing to their low production numbers and popularity with famous guitarists, are now the most valuable vintage guitars in existence, with examples selling for the better part of a million dollars

*

alongside this, in 1953 Gibson releases the premium "Les Paul Custom" model, supposedly on Les Paul's own request as he wanted a classy guitar that looked "like a tuxedo" - so it featured a black finish with multi-ply binding and gold hardware - this is the Bocchi guitar in its original form

we know hers is a genuine Gibson and not one of the myriad copies made by other brands because the headstock logo is clearly shown, and we know it's a Custom because the black finish, gold hardware, inlays (block markers on the fretboard including the 1st fret, and the split diamond on the headstock), and binding are all archetypal Les Paul Custom features that only appear all together on the Custom model

the Custom developed alongside the Les Paul Standard, receiving the same updates; most Customs from the 50s have three pickups, but this layout is somewhat obstructive for players without offering all that much tonally, so later reproductions overwhelmingly favour the two pickup configuration which was less common on originals

anyway, this develops closer and closer to what we can recognise as the Bocchi guitar - we get the PAF pickups and Grover "keystone" tuners around 1958 and in 1960 we get the "reflector" style control knobs (more on this later)

'58-'60 Customs aren't quite as eye-wateringly expensive as the Bursts, but you could still probably buy a fairly nice house if you sold one

1960 is the final production year for the original Les Paul - the body style is replaced from '61 with the smaller model now known as the SG and then reintroduced in 1968 owing to increasing attention on big names who were still playing the "burst" models - guitarists you may recognise from your grandad's record collection; Les Pauls after this point can be regarded as "reissues" of the original model in some capacity

the Custom is reintroduced at the same time, with the most noticeable difference being the availability of new finish colours (not really relevant) and the change from "reflector" style knobs to "amp" or "witch hat" style knobs, which is something i'm gonna harp on about a little bit because it's important to my Bocchi thesis

the basic knob timeline is thus:

1954-1960 customs use all-black "top hat" knobs (left)

late 1960 customs use "reflector" style knobs, with silver or gold-ish inlays marked "volume" and "tone" (middle)

1968-1973 customs use "witch hat" style knobs, which are similar to reflector knobs but with a narrower shaft and a wider, flatter flared base where the numbers are written (right)

1974-1979 customs use reflector knobs again

1980 onwards customs overwhelmingly revert to top hat knobs, until the late 90s when Gibson starts producing models designed to closely replicate specific vintage model years, at which point you start to see the 1960 reflectors and the late 60s witch hats reproduced in relevant reissues

so the above info is most of the basis for my takes on this, let's move on to the bocchi guitar itself

there's two very important reasons i don't think it can be definitively identified, which are somewhat interconnected

the first reason is the pickup selector switch - the version of the guitar that appears in the anime, as well as a lot of the manga art, features a gold "poker chip" ring around the switch, along with a gold tip on the switch - where on a stock model the ring would be black, and marked with the "rhythm" and "treble" positions, while the tip on the switch would be either cream, an orange-y amber colour, which is the result of fading on 1950s plastic and sometimes imitated on modern repros, or black on some later models

^manga, anime and IRL

i would argue that at this point, this detail is well-established as canon, and that's significant because it means the guitar has been modified - a switch like that has never been stock on a Les Paul Custom, and frankly this means any details which could clearly identify Bocchi's guitar beyond "a Les Paul Custom" are things that could easily have been changed, leaving us nothing much to work with

but that's boring, so let's move on

the second thing which confounds identification of Bocchi's guitar is the fact the guitars are really hard to draw (my friend lauren @fabdante tells me they're like horses, because they have very specific unique proportions and look fucked up if you draw them slightly wrong)

that being the case, i think that the gold switch accoutrements developed either as a practical shortcut, or from referencing the guitar based off its first appearance in the manga - where the positions marked on the switch chip are somewhat visible, but the switch nut and washer being somewhat out of proportion makes those look like the switch chip, and i wouldn't be surprised if the gold tip was adopted either for simplicity, or simply referenced from an image where the amber switch tip appeared gold against the other gold hardware; anyway, here's that appearance

i would tend to agree with the fandom's consensus that this particular image is referenced from a reissue of a '68 model, something like this:

the knobs look like witch hat knobs, the binding is heavily yellowed as we see on a lot of reproductions, and the pickguard has the "Gibson custom" promotional sticker on it

...but i don't think this is a good basis for establishing the "canon" model of Bocchi's guitar

the numbers on the knobs appear to be written on the body, rather than the knobs themselves, which suggests that this was mainly referenced from an image like the one above, where some details aren't clearly visible - likewise the indistinctness of the switch ring

and the promotional sticker still being on the pickguard? did bocchi's dad even play this thing?

we know Hamaji was new to this stuff at the time - I would argue she was working from an imperfect reference here and hadn't really hashed out a lot of the details

i think it's more useful to look at the narrative overall, and later depictions of the guitar where its appearance is more settled, to get a better idea of this guitar and its provenance

all this to say that i would make the case, if you look later in the manga and the anime, while aspects of the guitar continue to be drawn somewhat off-model, as it were (particularly the pickguard and, early on, the position of the selector switch), it's much more common for the knobs to appear with the proportions of 1960-style reflector knobs:

now, again, we're somewhat lacking in details to go off - the knobs are pretty much all we have, but the case i would make is that as the design becomes more established, it becomes more established in favour of a 1960 (reissue) model

that being the case, we can go ahead and eliminate some possibilities i would argue are at least "less likely" on the basis of reasonable context:

an actual 1960 model, especially with the rarer 2-pickup configuration, would be worth about 10 million yen or more - if bocchi's dad had one he a) wouldn't let his teenage daughter learn on it and take it to skeevy central Tokyo live houses and school concerts in a gig bag and b) would live somewhere much nicer

while i don't really see the promotional sticker on the pickguard in the guitar's first appearance as canon (the anime omits this detail, and the idea of bocchi's dad at least at some point having been into guitar enough to buy such an expensive model and then never bother to take the protective film off the pickguard, but also let ~12 year old bocchi play it... wouldn't really make sense) it seems fair to assume it's at least a 21st century model

the only "vintage" examples post-1960 that use reflector knobs are the 70s models, which bocchi's dad doesn't seem anywhere near old enough to own from new, and while this less desirable period of vintage Gibsons is a more plausible secondhand buy for an average dude presumably in his 20s than a 1960s model, there's no particular sign of the guitar being that old

anyway, maybe that stuff goes without saying

let's go over some facts and speculations to get to the conclusion

with regard to bocchi's dad, he seems to be in his 20s or 30s as best i can tell given his lack of a face, so realistically he bought the guitar at some point in his 20s, probably in the 2010s

there's no such thing as a cheap Les Paul Custom, the lowest prices are probably around 2-3000 USD or around 300k JPY

of modern historic reproductions, 1960 and 1968 are both years that have been reproduced, but in relatively small numbers since the 1960 model is not substantially distinguished from other 1957-1960 models, except by its knobs, and post-'68 Les Pauls are nowhere near as desirable as the original run

historic reproductions are generally significantly more expensive than the "regular" Les Paul Custom model that doesn't have a historic year attached to it

not of particular significance to you, but of great annoyance to me, is that modern repros are a pain in the ass to google because all the historic reproductions are "Custom Shop" models even if they're not "Les Paul Custom" models, and the Burst models are far more widely reproduced

anyway to conclude:

official manga and anime depictions of Bocchi's Les Paul clearly depict it as a Gibson Les Paul Custom, but are neither consistent enough nor detailed enough to determine a more specific variant definitively - it could be any model of "Black Beauty"-style Custom, without more textual information, which is somewhat frustrating, but also (in my view) worthwhile to acknowledge that there is no definitive answer more specific than "Les Paul Custom"

the most likely candidates are: a "regular" base-model Custom from around 2000-2020, a 1960 reissue model Custom or a 1968 reissue model Custom

probably the most realistic option is the basic Les Paul Custom - this is the Custom Shop's flagship model and already a very expensive guitar, but they can be had for prices that would probably be relatively manageable for someone with a decent job (someone who hasn't had kids yet, anyway) - the knobs would have to have been replaced, but as I've mentioned we already know that the pickup selector hardware is aftermarket, so why not the knobs as well? this is a realistic answer, I just find it frustratingly vague

i personally favour that it's a 1960 reissue - it's not a huge year for reissues but there have been some in the past decade or so and I would argue it's the reissue year that most closely matches the details of the guitar as they appear through most of the run

the consensus in favour of the '68 reissue has some foundation - the first appearance of the guitar definitely seems to be referenced from a '68 reissue, as well as some other early illustrations; however, i would argue that few depictions specifically resemble the '68 as the manga progresses, and none in the anime

#bocchi the rock #hitori gotoh #btr #sally rambles for 2500 words only to tell you (spoiler) that there isnt a clear answer

[zilabee]

Living The Beatles Legend:

After a lifetime of self-doubt over body issues and inveterate shyness, he simply couldn’t control himself. “Big Mal was a demon for sex,” Tony wrote. “[...] Like sacrificial virgins, a lot of the girls willingly accepted that they would have to do it with Mal to get to John, Paul, George, or Ringo, and Mal knew it.”

“A couple of newspaper friends put on a private show involving several prostitutes for our entertainment, one of them being very pregnant.” As Mal recalled, “It was a little unnerving to have these ladies performing before our eyes with each other in one room, with Brian, George Martin and Judy, and the rather more staid members of the press in the adjoining living room.”

“I was being entertained by a young lady late one evening,” Mal wrote, “when George rushes into the darkened room, stoned out of his mind, tearing the bedclothes off, shouting, ‘My turn next—come on, give us a bit!’” Mal gave way to the Beatle, concluding that “apart from that, I was the one that got screwed.”

By this point, [Lily] wasn’t just finding “silly groupie letters” in his suitcase, but also the occasional stray pair of knickers and other telltale signs of infidelity. She recognized that Mal was being seduced—and had been for some time—by overwhelming forces, impulses with which she could hardly begin to compete.

After her brother returned from the States, June recalled that “Malcolm came home knackered, absolutely shattered from that tour.” [...] Her brother and the Beatles were living in a “totally unreal world—an extraordinary, horrendous, wonderful, terrible place that they were all existing in during that period. And they were all damaged by it. They suddenly could have anything they wanted.”

After sharing a convivial dinner with Victoria’s father, who retired early, Mal (31yo) and Victoria (16yo) returned to the hotel and went up to the twenty-seventh floor. [..] “Mal was very sweet,” she recalled, “and we talked and we talked, and we sort of made out.” And while she was unable to meet the Beatles the next morning to do an interview, she exchanged contact information with Mal. And later that year, the letters from her new pen pal began arriving, elegantly adorned with “this beautiful British handwriting.” *

Eventually, Mal would develop a vital relationship of his own with the Scruffs, although he had his detractors—namely, Carol Bedford, a peripheral member of their scrum and a George aficionado who later claimed that Mal tried to put the moves on her. Apparently, Mal had continued to approach women in the Beatles’ universe in the same transactional manner in which he and Neil had “auditioned” willing fans during the band’s touring years. Another Apple Scruff recalled a similar instance when Mal’s attempts to cozy up to the Scruffs went terribly wrong. Apparently, he had crawled under one of the girls’ blankets and “touched something he shouldn’t have.” With that, the offended Scruff came flying out from under the blanket yelling, “Who do you think you are, Paul McCartney?” **

Since leaving the hospital, [Arwen (21yo)] had reared Little Malcolm in her cramped lodgings in West Hampstead. At some point, around the age of six months, he was put up for adoption, leaving her care lock, stock, and barrel, with Mal’s teddy bear as the baby’s only consolation. Mal’s diary would enumerate lunches and telephone calls with the young woman at various points across 1969, but eventually, Arwen chose to move on, putting the whole painful episode behind her. ***

[For his son's birthday] Mal made a cassette recording in which he offered his sincere wishes for the coming year. [...] But any goodwill Mal hoped to deliver was quickly undone that morning as Gary listened to the recording over breakfast with his mother and sister. To his incredible pain and embarrassment, the tape didn’t end with his father’s birthday greeting. Apparently, Mal had recycled the cassette, and as Gary and his sister prepared to go to school, they heard the unmistakable sounds of Fran fellating their dad. The boy’s only solace was the knowledge that his eight-year-old sister didn’t understand the sounds emanating from the tape player.

[..]for the first time, Fran found herself afraid of her boyfriend, whose darkness had never been more acute. It all came to a head one night when Mal, drunk to the gills, began threatening her with his Colt Woodsman pistol, at one point placing the gun against her head before discharging it into the washing machine. When he sobered up, Mal couldn’t have been more apologetic, swearing to mend his ways and be the boyfriend she deserved.

____________________________________

Another quote under the cut, with trigger warning for rape and attempted suicide - and a few notes about some of it.

____________________________________

June 1964 - New Zealand

At the time, the official story involved a twenty-year-old female fan who, having secreted her way into the hotel, chose to slash her wrists in Mal’s room after being unable to talk her way into the Beatles’ suite. Fortunately, police caught sight of the young woman through a window and broke down the locked door with a battering ram. She was subsequently taken to a local hospital and discharged that same day.

[There are then some bits about how Derek tried to ensure it didn't link back to the Beatles in anyway, and the way the press reported it as "Girl Tries To Die For Beatles", and someone else claiming she'd actually had sex with someone and then got 'hysterical' because she realised he wasn't going to get her in to see the Beatles... but eventually it cuts to the quote from Mal's diary below.]

“On arriving back at the hotel at two in the morning,” he wrote, “I was greeted by a crowd of police and detectives as the elevator doors opened at my floor. On verifying that I occupied a particular room number, they very solemnly escorted me there, where to my horror on opening the door, I found the bathroom and bedroom covered in blood. Apparently, what had happened [was] several people had gang-banged her in my bedroom. She was so distraught, she took a razor blade from my razor and slashed her wrists, but was discovered in time and recovered in hospital. Obviously I was a prime suspect, but I had the best alibi in the world—I was drinking tea with her mother.” ****

____________________________________

* Victoria was 16, and Mal was 31. He wrote with her for a few years and met up with her again several times, and there's a quote where she says she "thought she was in love with him", and another where she was surprised to find out he was married. He's a grown man with a family and it's creepy as fuck that he was leading on/grooming a 16 year old girl - although I think according to the book they never had sex.

** I've bolded a lot of the wording which fucks me the fuck off in that passage about apple scruffs, what a fucking weird piece of writing. Apparently apparently apparently - I don't even think he's using it to suggest it might not be true, I think he's just using it to make it sound a bit casual, oh turns out he was just treating them like shit like he used to! Oh he was just 'cozying up' ??????? The last bit also feels like the girl being able to fight her corner and tell him off is being used to suggest it therefore didn't matter - not to suggest that there were probably lots of other girls who didn't want his hands on them but didn't know how to say no. It's also quickly followed by a quote of another apple scruff saying he took care of them like a big brother and they all loved him. Which is fine. But teenage girls feeling as though the creepy guy who is being nice to them in order to take advantage is just being nice to them, doesn't mean much. It's creepy that he was trying to befriend the young vulnerable girls that idolised anyone who worked with Beatles, you've literally just said he was doing it in a 'transactional manner'.

*** The author used a pseudonym for Arwen - a young woman that Mal had an affair and a child with. He wrote in his diary when the child was born, and visited them, "gifting the boy with an oversize teddy bear from Harrods". Personally I think 'chose to move on' covers an awful lot of pain very glibly. Imagine having to give your baby away after six months, imagine what she went through. It is not a small thing that he carelessly got a young woman pregnant and then offered her nothing.

**** I think we all live in Beatles fandom knowing that the people we enjoy did awful terrible things, but sometimes it's good to confront how bad it was, even if we'll never know who was involved in this particular incident. Or how often it happened to other women. Whether Beatles were involved here or not, they were around this, they were inside it. They were influenced by and friends with horrible people. Imagine writing that in your diary like it's a good joke that you were having tea with her mum while she was going through that, and not how awful that would actually feel if you had a heart. The author adds that this incident affected Mal, saying, "His “demon” persona was still alive and well, to be sure, but there would be perceptible shifts in his outlook as the group’s touring days moved forward." I didn't really pick up on these, so I'm not sure how so.

#mal evans #beatles books #the beatles #george harrison

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Welcome to the Blood Drop ~ David ~ Part.5

warning : minors don't interact/read, smut, hunte/prey, fire play, cigarette burns, sub David/dom reader (as best as it goes), blood drinking, some blood play, mommy issues, praise kink, use of a gun

sub!David x dom!fem reader

masterlist

Part.1(Prolog), Part.2(Paul), Part.3(Dwayne), Part.4(Marko)

Info : So it's finally done after months of having it in my wip it's finsihed, I must say I'm not so pleased about it because it was difficult to get back in but I hope you guys like it. As always have fun reading it :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was true that the night still had a few hours before the sun would slowly rise over Santa Carla. The vampires and night creatures would go to sleep and the leader of the clan would also go to rest. But her day began earlier than others again she had such an irregular sleep rhythm that day and after blurred.

But this was just right for her, if she had not come along that evening, she would not have met these four more than just interesting and handsome vampires. But now she was facing him again and saw how the nicotine had lost its effect, the Bloody Marys could not calm the vampire either.

Something the other three also said and for a moment they seemed to consider grabbing their leader and dragging him out of the establishment.

But a glance at the human woman made them pause. They knew she could not be underestimated. Her clan was still four times the size of David's. But the lust and thirst of a vampire was something they all should not underestimate.

The blond seemed to be even more sure of his intentions, no matter the consequences. ,,It's my turn," he said, his voice dripping with impatience as he took another step toward her. She watched every little gesture on him as his eyes almost seemed to change for a moment.

He seemed almost unable to suppress his hunger. Licked his lips as his eyes went to her neck and seemed to see the blood underneath. The heart seemed to call for him.

She was his irresistible prey since he had seen her on the street. Since the prey had played with him. It had become a game between the two. A game David played with pleasure when it meant he could ram his fang into her flesh.

While she was just waiting to see the surprise on his face when she herself would strike. ,,Don't be so hard on my lady" said Paul who almost looked like he was going to get between the two of them.

My sweet little savior she thought with a smile and gave him a grateful look. ,,It was your offer and you'll carry it through to the end, won't you doll?" she asked with a grin that for a moment gave him back his charm.  It made him so pretty and handsome again.

They would both have fun, she was sure of it, David just had to play along. ,,I'm not worried, shall we?" she replied and pointed to the door before they started to move. He immediately wrapped his hand around her side and didn't seem to let go.

He made his ownership clear, at least for this evening. But just before they were out the door, Dwayne put a hand on his leader's shoulder. The taller black-haired man looked at the blond with a warning in his gaze not to overdo it.

She saw how Dwayne was apparently not sure whether he should intervene or not. It seemed that no one could really estimate how the situation with the leader would develop. All but one.

Pressing closer to David and starting to move, she forced him to leave. Moving out of the room and into the different corridors of the brothel. ,,It seems your boys almost listen to me," she quipped, feeling him pull her closer in warning. His fingernails ran over her clothes and pressed warningly against her skin. She knew she had to be careful how she dealt with him.

One wrong word and she was sure he would lose his self-control. But she insisted, she wanted him to lose his temper, to hunt her down, to use her as his prey.

This feeling of anticipation, which she already had, filled her completely. But whether he also felt it or the short smirk on his lips was something else, she did not know.

At that moment she didn't care either, because she had grabbed him again and taken him through the corridors with her. ,,I never thought you would be so experimental for someone like you," he said as she continued to walk by his side. She knew that he was almost making fun of her.

He thought she was nothing more than a lustful prey who liked to have fun with monsters.

But even if there was something to this theory, it was all her actions and deeds that made her who she was. She did not have a cult of twenty vampires around her for nothing. She had to sacrifice a lot, but it was not in vain.

Paul, Dwayne and Marko protected her even though they had only known her for a few hours. She already had a certain power over the three of them, it would only take a while until she had David as well.

They would all give in eventually, she just had to push the right button. ,,There are many things you don't know Sir Jealousy...and yet here I am with you...and I didn't retreat" she murmured slowly knowing that he would understand everything.

She saw how his blue eyes narrowed almost invisibly when she called him sir. She already suspected that it would go with the blond in such a direction.

A monster and yet inside someone who was looking for love and affection in a mix of power and control because of his life. A description that suited him as she found and yet.

This search for power and control at the same time she didn't want to know how many had already died by his hand. Probably too many women as it was good. Her children had withdrawn the blood and the light and everything looked like new.

It was almost clear to her that he still smelled the blood, the dead and corpses. Her bloodbath and Marko seemed to cling to her and David seemed to hate that she didn't smell like him yet.

That she didn't belong to him yet, belonged only to him. But it didn't bother him that there was this bloodbath for him the fact seemed more important when they finally came into the room where they could give themselves to each other. or rather he finally had her for himself.

She was at his mercy and he could undermine her will. He wanted to end this resistance and insubordination, he could no longer stand it when she controlled everything under her just because she could.

It made no sense to the vampire why she had so much power without being powerful. ,,Retreat? Believe me you won't retreat and I certainly won't sweetie" he replied with a demanding look and stopped in the middle of the hallway.

It was only a few meters to the special room she wanted to take him to. Only a few meters until she had him where she wanted him.

Before she suddenly felt the wall at her back and the cold stone behind it almost painfully bored into her back. The smell of blood and smoke surrounded her as the blonde came closer.

His hands greedily drove over her body. I felt the cold spread to her body as he pushed his leg between hers. She only pressed further against the wall.

Giving her no escape. But before she could protest, she felt him force her into a deep kiss. His lips pressed on hers and he immediately bit. But no sound except a wince left her lip. She did not give him the satisfaction.

But it was exactly the satisfaction he wanted. And he hated that the control was not there. ,,Just give in, gorgeous," he murmured as he licked the blood from her lips. She gave him a warning look and told him not to push it too far.

Even though she knew her heartbeat was increasing, the heat on her cheeks was rising and her eyes showed a moment of lust. Her hand that was not on his torso reached into the small hidden pocket.

Grasped the handle of the object and almost dropped it when he again pushed her closer to the wall. He wanted more from her as he caught her scent and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

He seemed to get horny at her smell, to be attracted to her smell like a drug. Her beating heart called out to him and he wanted to drink her down to the last drop.

To bind her to him and turn her into one of them. She was to become his. She felt how he opened his mouth slightly, saw the pointed canines and knew that he would bite. That there was no stopping him.

But then as he bit she felt the taste of him going through her and a shot rang out before the blonde cried out and hurried away from her.

He held his side hissing painfully and the abnormal liquid ran from between his fingers. Her bullet made of wood had hit him in his side and brought him to the senses of pain.

But for the blond his look the ice blue eyes had a look of first fear and then confusion and finally anger. Taking advantage of the moment, she ran into the room, thundering the door shut behind her, drenching the room in darkness.

No light was turned on, none glowed, and only she seemed to exist in the room. Clasping the pistol in her hand tighter, her breath almost seemed to jump out of her chest, struggling to calm down, she knew it could all be a mistake now.

She knew that the shot was already dangerous if he wanted to kill her, but that was not what she wanted. ,,A strong boy like you...show Mama what you can do" she demanded and felt the breeze go through the room as he came closer. Moving through the darkness like a hunter, licking his lips and desiring her.

He finally wanted to grab her while she finally wanted him. She finally wanted to have him for herself, because even though she was the prey, the prey was also entitled to something from the hunter. His attention.

She felt how it became colder, his indignant rage increased. Before he struck, at the last moment she saw him coming out of the darkness towards her, his silhouette barely visible but still tangible. But he did not reach her before one of her protégés threw him back.

He disappeared again and gave David time to attack. ,,Don't hide, my little bird!" he demanded with lust and hunger, only more annoyed that he couldn't get to her and finally possess her. But it seemed no matter how many times he attacked the more often he was thrown back by her helpers. Until he was thrown back once by all of them.

He hit the ground again and instantly rebounded, only to pause in his movement. He smelled it, smelled the metal, the wood that could be deadly to him.

Smelled her confidence as she held the gun to her head. He caught himself as worry forced its way into his eyes and he became dependent on her.

Her good boy became. ,,Careful with the game," he warned, both to himself and to her, knowing that if she pulled the trigger, it was over. It was over and he and his brothers would die. But the certain kick that built up in him.

Her excitement and especially arousal seemed to make him almost go crazy as he bit his lips and realized that she had him right where she wanted him. ,,David, you can be good for me, can't you?" she asked, pulling back the trigger, playing with him from the beginning and even if he enjoyed the little back and forth between them it was still that he didn't want to lose her.

He knew that she would not give it forever but this game, this attention, this desire was something he carried inside him. ,,David, you can be good for me, can't you?" she asked, pulling back the cock of the gun.

She saw the challenge and fear reflected in his eyes before the shot rang out and the room fell silent. The sound of the shot faded and only her rapid heartbeat remained.

She had pulled the trigger, but David had come up behind her and yanked her wrist up so that the bullet had landed in the ceiling. They paused for a moment so she looked straight ahead and he at her.

His blue eyes did not leave her for fear that something might happen. Instead he slowly took his hand from hers and stroked it along her arm. He lowered his head and slowly walked around her, kissing her slowly, almost full of shame, along her arm.

Tried to take away her fear and excitement in his mind before he stood in front of her. She seemed to slowly release herself from her staare and let her hand wander upwards over his upper body.

Drove to his neck felt satisfied no pulse and the death cold. As he let his gaze lowered out of respect. She put her soft warm hand on his cheek and ordered him to look at her. He only slowly lifted his head before she wrapped him in a gentle kiss.

He slowly pressed her against him, taking her in his arms just to tease him, letting her fingers brush right over the bullet wound, which slightly rekindled the fire in him.

He gripped her tighter and yet he didn't seem to want to kill her. ,,You would have killed yourself...for me...why?" he asked slowly still almost too perplexed as if he didn't know how to deal with the situation. She gave him a knowing smile, her hand slid from his cheek to his shoulder and pushed him down lightly.

She felt him not wanting to give in before she buried her fingers in the wound again. His hiss gave her pleasure before he knelt down in front of her. The proudly overestimating David had brought him to this moment.

Looking up at her, his eyes heavy with lust and incomprehension, his leather gloves digging into his pants as she said, ,,To see you kneel before me David. My own gorgeous boy so good for me" before he came up to her, wrapped her in a kiss and pulled her to him in his shot. Kissing her again he caressed her and yet his claws dragged over her free skin.

The clothes tore and she gave her body so involuntarily free. ,,You're a monster just like us," he realized after she had not only walked over dead bodies but also shot him.

The thought that she would take her own life just to bind him to her made his curiosity and lust for her increase. She pulled back from the kiss and already felt his arousal on her leg.

She felt how the adrenaline that was still shooting through her body slowly lost its effect and finally wanted to have him. The vampire turned them both around and put them down on the hard floor.

He felt her goose bumps and enjoyed her life before reaching into his jacket pocket. Saw her eyes close in surprise as he lit his lighter and the flame lit the space between them.

Saw how she slowly seemed to understand what he wanted to do. He used his own way to make her come to him. ,,I know you can stand it for me" he murmured and reached for a cigarette in his coat pocket, towering over her again like a predator.

He wanted to have her at last, but his claws should be sunk into her first. He lit the drug that had no effect on his dead body and did not take his eyes off her.

She took the cigarette from his lips, took a puff of her own, and almost felt herself under his gaze. Enjoyed being so desired by him. A jealous boy she thought and almost smiled as he came closer to her again.

Sucked in her smell and smoke and took back the cigarette before almost gently reaching for her hand. He wanted to ruin her so much. He wanted to create a bloodbath, but unlike Marko, he wanted to be the one who lifted her up in it. He wanted to be the one she thanked.

She should look at him. Before he stubbed out the smoldering cigarette on her skin, he heard her stifled cry as she tried to grab her arm in the first moment. While she used her free hand to wrap her fingers around his aroused cock.

Giving him back the pain and the pleasure, she heard the sigh of the blonde who immediately rolled his hips against her hand in need. He wanted to get more of what he had been denied all night. ,,You need this power so badly, don't you?" she asked, taking her fingers from his sex for a moment.

She saw him coming closer to her again, wanting more of the touch. Only to press the cigarette to her skin again while she clutched his jaw. Forcing him to look at her she challenged him and slowly saw his nod.

He wanted to lower his gaze as much as he did when his creator was angry with him. ,,I would kill anything and anyone just to-" he began to confess to her, her burnt hand grabbing his hair and forcibly pulling him towards her, entangling him in another kiss.

Interrupting him, she felt his hands go to her breasts, massaging them, enjoying their warmth as they both let the kiss grow deeper and more intimate. While she felt him start to place himself in the right position. She was surprised when she felt his cold hands on her thighs.

The claws left red hot stripes and when he released himself from her kiss, he kissed his way along the stripes. And even though he wanted to burn her even more, it was his hunger that finally took over.

As he rammed his fangs into the soft flesh of her thighs. Her hands found their way into his slightly prickly hair and lovingly stroked his head like a mother.

But the pain was secondary, it only inspired her desire even more and to see him like this. So dependent on her was just everything. He bit more and more of her blood and his excitement only grew.

He held on to her more and more and she was sure that she would have never left the home of the four in any other way. She would have become one of them. Would have become their pretty little doll.

Her fingers still before lovingly stroking his head and a ,,So good for me" of himself gave. Before she only a moment later him hard away from her skin. Gave him a silent look saw how knew what she wanted before he gently bit her hand.

Apologetically made her understand that he would now take care of her. Not enough to make her bleed, but the feel of his black teeth on her skin was enticing.

Leaning back, feeling the coldness of the floor, he lightly pushed her bandages apart, repositioned himself and gave his sex a few more moves with his hand. ,,I'll take good care of you" she heard him murmur before he gently grabbed her leg and placed it on his shoulder she lay there completely for him and yet it was she who held everything in her hand.

Before he entered her she filled him and she knew he had done nothing wrong. Rising up for one, holding on to him and yet enjoying the feeling so much.

The first sounds of pleasure left her lips as David gently but firmly pushed her back to the ground. Kisses and small marks on her calf left which he kissed before he began to move.

A heartfelt sigh came over his bloody lips as the blood dripped from the corner of his mouth onto her body beneath him. She saw how it turned him on to see her like this.

How she slammed her eyes shut the lust behind them that flared up again and again when she looked at him. His gaze searched her heartbeat became faster, her smell of sex the blood on her body which he licked up greedily only to move faster.

She was so good for him and she knew that all the four of them needed was a mother. A mistress, someone they could give themselves to.

So they did, they all did and especially David did to her words of ,,Be a good boy to me". Moving faster he filled her as well as he could, entangling her further in kisses and feeling her tighten around his cock every time he bit her again and took more and more of his blood.

The two of them in the darkness tried to take their bodies together and the blood spread more and more on her body. The thought that he could see her, everything she did and every little movement. Her attention only on him wanted and how good he was.

She felt him slowly approaching her climax, tightening around him, his thrusts becoming more irregular a few minutes later as they both searched for the last release of the night. His claws clung to her hips and her hands held on to his clothes.

She searched his lips one last time before he poured into her and she came around him the groans of the two were muffled by the kiss. But despite the darkness he saw her disintegrate under him her lust at the climax.

Their heavy breathing was the only human thing that seemed to be in the room. After a few moments David slowly withdrew from her, took her leg from his shoulder and kissed it one last time.

He knew that it was even more exhausting for her than for him. ,,Thank you... for everything" he murmured and she knew that any moment he would return to the role of the leader. The grin would be on his lips and he would disappear with his group.

She saw the flare of the cigarette he lit again before he put his gloves back on, which he must have taken off at some point in the darkness. Wincing, she felt him stroke the burn and heard a satisfied sound.

He loved the fire, she realized as she slowly and carefully rose, trying to ignore the pain on her body, she suddenly felt him help her up. ,,Such a good mama's boy" she quipped and heard his smirk as she regained her composure and the two stood in the near darkness.

The glow of the cigarette lay between them and the blond slowly made his way to the door out of an impulse of discomfort.

She followed him slowly and they found themselves in the bright hallway. After several blinks she caught herself again and felt how exhausting this night actually was.

The lust and the act had drained her and yet she was glad to have made this offer to the four. ,,I see you enjoyed your night again," she heard the voice of one of her followers and loved ones as her clan reappeared from the shadows and handed her a robe, which she gratefully accepted.

She pulled the soft fabric over her body and was grateful to her protégés for giving her support. ,,The night is already over," she heard Paul rebuke as he sipped a last Bloody Mary and shook his head demonstratively.

Marko, on the other hand, was still enjoying the hand and looked over her body with a broad grin. David, on the other hand, faced her, took her hand in his and gently kissed the back of her hand.

The charm returned and she saw Dwayne smile slightly, giving her a small smile. It seemed like there was a special bond between them now. A friendship and yet more.

She knew about the desires of the four and the four the other way around. ,,So I guess we will see each other at the latest when the moon rises again" she said and the smaller clan smiled knowing it was true. They would probably see each other again sooner than it was good for their blood.

But when she brought the four to the door, she couldn't help but give them all a big grateful smile. ,,When the moon rises doll you can be sure that we can make a new offer" David said with a wink and Paul waved her goodbye while Marko waved his hand and Dwayne gave her a silent nod before the four vampires disappeared into the ending night.

The door to the blood drop closed again and the etambismo prepared for another night while the great vampire clan retreated into the darkness of the great realm and their human leader ended the night with a relaxing bath.

Knowing that the four would dream more than just about her. Would stray into her store again. But for that she was already and the blood stopper would have something for all guests. The dead and the living.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

End of the Blood Drop series

@ghoulgeousimmaculate , @misslavenderlady , @ria-coolgirl , @vampirefilmlover , @adharafirenze , @hypocriticaltypwriter , @lostboys1987girl , @paranormal-fool , @mjtheartist04 , @palomam18

@themarginalthinker

#tlb 1987 #the lost boys 1987 #tlb david #the lost boys david #tlb david x reader #the lost boys david x reader #afab reader #reader is female #tlb dwayne #tlb marko #tlb paul

[larkermarker]

Finally got around to making a super simple ref sheet for my ew redesigns. These have been floating around in my head for around a year.

These are also the designs for my eddswhirl au. To keep it short, eddswhirl is just my spin on the main series. An au where I can shove my headcanons and interpretations that might not be canon compliant. Also timeline and story changes that I want to make.

Some additional design notes below

Tom possession timeline thing I made this quickly agahag

Details for each stage

4 to 7

Not possessed yet

Just a normal kid with big pupils

8 to 12

Got possessed by a wrath demon a few years ago (thanks to dad)

The demon is affecting Toms body physically

Eyes fully black now

Doesn’t like that kids point that out all the time

A little self conscious about his eyes

13 to 17

Teeth are growing in unnaturally sharp

Braces are barely helping

Anger management issues

Shifts a little under extreme stress or anger but can’t change into a full monster yet

Thinks his black eyes make him look cool and edgy (just like all those ocs he saw online that use black eyes when they turn evil)

18 to 36

Not experiencing any new major changes to his regular form

Alcohol helps keep him emotionally numb (the demon can affect his emotions even when not under stress)

Can shift into full monster form now (he can't really control it)

37 to 38

Demon is taking over more of Toms body

More features from his monster form or bleeding into his normal form

It is exhausting Tom physically and mentally trying to keep it down

Lashes out more

38 to 39

Finally gets a successful exorcism preformed (parents tried in the past but it didn't work)

He is a lot happier and expressive with that thing gone

Eyes turn back to normal (cursed) but still has sharp teeth

Over all he is feeling good

40 to (when he dies?)

Oops! Tom developed eye cancer after some time

The demon was the only thing preventing that from happening (it wanted to keep its host alive so it protected, or lessened, most inner and outer damage that came to Tom)

His eyes are completely white

Got a visor (thanks Tord) to help him see again

And some Tord rambles (he is all i have the most thought out rn)

Tord is not totally evil in this au

He does initially plan on taking over the world, but chickens out of going through it

His dad sucks (also one of the motivations for Tord wanting to take over) and he doesn't like to think of him

His mother and him have a strained and distant relationship

They do bond more as Tord gets older

Tords family moved to the UK when he was a teen

No one knows he is trans until after a few year living with the other 3 boys (he told them)

Likes to joke that he is the straightest in the house

Still likes his anime, guns, and robots

Dated Matt for a few months before he left

He left for around 6-8 years to join the army and to go to uni

He knew Paul for a few years before join the army

Tord was planning on going to uni to improve his engineering

Was also going to go back to the house to improve his giant robot prototype, he knew it was far from being battle ready

Skip to a few years in uni and now Tord was having second thoughts on the whole red army thing

He tried to get in contact with Paul but he couldn't reach him

The contact info must have been changed on Pauls end

There has been someone continuing Tords plan behind his back, a left over Tord clone from "Spares" (im going to call clone Tord, Red)

Red had made it look like Tord changed his mind on going to uni, coming up with a different plan that could still achieve their goals

Red had a more talkative, confident, and charismatic personality than the other Tord clones

Great at controlling an army, and pretty decent with machines

But Red wasn't doing this for himself, he was doing this for Tord

He had an obsession with living up to Tords goal

Also a big Tord simp

Planning on the two of them leading the army together after Tord returned (he would even let Tord rule solo if he wanted)

After the events of "The End", it just left Red with a ruined plan, friendships broken, and Tords work and public image in shambles

In the future, Tord teams up with the boys to take Red down

Tord is the one to finish Red off

I have it so the au can go down two routes

Tord can either pretend to be Red so he can dismantle the army, or pick up where Red left off (pissing off his friends who he just got to trust him, especially after he told them that what Red was doing is what he was planing to do years ago)

#eddsworld #ew matt #ew tom #ew tord #ew edd #eddswhirl au #rambles #eddsworld designs #eddsworld redesign #larkart

[michaeljopetro]

Final Battle At times like this we must be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and what God is doing. Let’s not overthink but allow the Holy Spirit to be our guide. It’s so easy to let preconceived ideas of what we think get in the way of what God wants to do. After speaking to General Flynn about a variety of topics, I realize how little time we have left. 

If we are not prepared, if we are not ready, we will be overtaken by what is about to take place. This final battle all has to do with our minds. Yuval Harari, a historian and philosopher at the University of Jerusalem and lead advisor to Klaus Schwab, has publicly said that the Covid 19 pandemic was a catalyst to be able to monitor people under their skin. He has called humans “hackable animals.” They intend to interface all humans by linking them into an internet for humans where humanity would be completely controlled.

Klaus Schwab, who is the creator of the World Economic Forum, has written a book about how the Coronavirus pandemic was the beginning of the “great reset,” which is a pathway to transhumanism. What many have called a “conspiracy theory” is being openly discussed and pursued by world leaders. The mRNA that is found in the Covid 19 vaccines are an entry point for transhumanism, as Dr. Robert Malone, a biochemist who helped develop mRNA technology, has discussed. Klaus Schwab has said that the path to transhumanism is going to take us to a point where it does not change what you do but actually changes who you are. Transhumanism will strip humanity of having free will, identity, and sense of self. This means you would no longer have the ability to repent no longer repent. The Bible calls this a seared conscience. 

Elon Musk, the cofounder of the company Neuralink, is also pursuing this technology by placing a computer chip into your brain that can connect to any Bluetooth device. If they can connect your mind to computers, what makes you think they can’t control or hack your mind? Elon Musk discussed that by using synthetic mRNA, a person can be programmed into anything, stating that if caterpillars can do it then so can we. The Bible calls that transformation a “metamorphosis” which is the process of a caterpillar being transformed into a butterfly which is how we are to come into a glorified body (2 Corinthians 3:18).

These people are saying that they will do what the Bible says it can do for you - they are trying to replace God. This is what the fallen angels did in Genesis 6 when they had intercourse with the daughters of man and half breeds were birthed. They did this with animals as well. They wanted to, from the beginning, destroy the image of God in which we were created. These world leaders and scientists are doing what the fallen ones, the Nephilim, did back then. 

The final battle is for control over your mind. This goes back to Genesis 3, the war of seeds. The Hebrew word seed “zera” is speaking about the seed of a man, his sperm. The DNA of the father is in the sperm, and who your father is, is a major issue. The DNA that God imparts into us to be in His image is His Word. Jesus said that the seed is the Word. There are two seeds or two words. Paul mentions that if any man preaches to you a different Gospel than what he has preached let him be cursed and damned to hell. That’s how serious it is to take in a different seed. 

The Seed is also concerning the sons of Abraham. Adam was told to subdue the earth, now that it is given to the Seed of Abraham. Paul says that those who are Christs are also the Seed (Galatians 3:29). The righteous are those who can understand that Seed and produce in their life, which is the fruit of the Spirit. You see these people are trying to take the inheritance that was promised to the Seed of Abraham - this is what the New World Order sets out to do. 

Satan comes after the seed in the book of Revelation (Revelation 12:4) but is unsuccessful. The only way to not be protected from the plans of the enemy is to have your mind renewed in the knowledge of God. If you are too occupied with the things of this world, more concerned with your job, trying to get married or anything else that takes you away from God, you will not make it. In the early church, the high priest is one who dedicates himself to the knowledge of God’s Word. Those who are preoccupied by the cares of this world and only make little effort to devote themselves to the study of the Word are not High Priests. So how do we get people who say they are part of the royal priesthood and don’t even read their Bibles? 

When I was at the last reawakening conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I could see fear gripping people. The plan to “hack” humanity is imminent, not something in the distant future. Things will never go back to the way they used to be; things have been forever changed since the pandemic.  

Saints, if we want change, we have to be violent with our faith. You have to exert yourself to have your mind renewed. People exhaust themselves with making money - how much more should we be striving for eternal life. Alice, one of my spiritual daughters, did an 80 day fast. She started that fast because she was fed up with the issues she was dealing with and she became violent to make a change, to get healing, to be renewed. That’s what it takes. There is an answer - we don’t have to fall victim to this Antichrist system. The Bible tells us how we defeat the enemy, and the early church was not afraid of any Antichrist. The remnant will come out on top. Let’s focus now on renewing our minds. Amen. 

Sincerely, Apostle Michael Petro

[ailtrahq]

Democratic Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. expressed his clear stance on figures such as Julian Assange and Edward Snowden.What Happened: Kennedy Jr. in an interview with Bitcoin Magazine published on Wednesday vowed to pardon them on his first day in office if elected as president. Additionally, he expressed interest in reviewing the case of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, to determine the fairness of his conviction and sentence.Former Central Intelligence Agency contractor Edward Snowden, a self-proclaimed whistleblower, as well as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, have been pursued by the U.S. government for years over accusations they leaked confidential and sensitive information.Kennedy Jr. stated, “Yeah, I will pardon Julian Assange on day one, and probably Snowden as well. And I will look at other cases… I’m gonna look at Ross Ulbricht's case, to see if he was justly convicted, or if he was being made an example of in order to discourage, you know, Bitcoin or the industry.”Ulbricht is serving a double life sentence for his role in creating the Silk Road marketplace on the dark web that allowed users to purchase almost anything, including illegal substances, with Bitcoin. The Silk Road website was created in 2011 and was eventually shut down by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 2013.Kennedy Jr.’s interest in Bitcoin stems from witnessing the trucker strike and the government’s response to peaceful demonstrations. He explained, “I understood that we need a currency that is a freedom currency… independent and that can’t be controlled by the government.”When asked about concerns regarding government influence or restrictions on Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining, RFK Jr. expressed his worry about government attacks on the cryptocurrency. "I’m very concerned about all the government attacks on Bitcoin. You know, what I would like to do is to at least provide some issuance of treasury bills, that it’s backed by hard currency.He proposed issuing treasury bills backed by hard assets, including Bitcoin, platinum, gold, and silver, to provide greater stability and independence from government control.Will The SEC Finally Approve Long-Awaited Bitcoin Spot ETF? secure early bird discounted tickets now!A Stay At The Floating Palace From James Bond's ‘OctopussyWhy It Matters: However, he made it clear that he opposes central bank digital currencies, fearing they would become instruments of power and control, giving the government complete authority over people’s lives. He specifically mentioned events in China, where digital currencies were tied to social credit systems and obedience to government mandates.Kennedy Jr. continued, “I’m gonna make sure that Bitcoin is protected, that people can get their own wallets… and the current White House war on Bitcoin will be over. And I’ll look ultimately at treating it as a currency rather than a commodity, particularly for smaller Bitcoin owners.”Although Jr. provided a general direction for his approach, he acknowledged the need to consult with experts and industry specialists, such as Stanley Druckenmiller and Paul Tudor Jones, to develop the best strategies that uphold individual freedoms and promote the reindustrialization of America, benefiting working Americans.He has publicly declared his support for Bitcoin. "I bought two Bitcoin for each of my seven children," Kennedy disclosed during an interview in July. He made this investment shortly after speaking at the Bitcoin Conference in May. Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was trading at $27,362.22, down 0.86% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro. Here’s How Much You Should Invest In Shiba Inu Today For A $1M Payday If SHIB Hits 1 Cent?

[fmhiphop]

The Incident With Nancy Pelosi's Husband, Paul Pelosi: Could Iterate.ai's Al Technology System Have Prevented It?

We live in a world that is filled with frightening people. On Oct. 28, an intruder carrying a hammer broke into the Pelosi home in San Francisco and fractured House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi. A broken skull necessitated surgery for Paul. The 42-year-old intruder, David DePape, sought Nancy when he broke into the home. While sleeping in a pajama top and boxer shorts, Paul was awoken and startled by DePape's presence. DePape was allegedly standing over him, holding a hammer and several white zip ties. Even with all that has transpired, this incident raises a more significant issue. How is it possible to break into the house of a member of the political elite so easily and without being noticed? Public figures must live with care since they are most likely at the forefront of people's minds. Furthermore, the Pelosi family was equipped with Ring security cameras. However, their effectiveness was limited to recording footage. As a result, neither DePape nor the authorities were alerted to DePape's entry into the residence. Iterate.ai's Al Technology System In today's technological age, security cameras have become more sophisticated than ever before. In the world of Iterate.ai, talented individuals have developed AI technology that can identify items such as weapons, vests, and masks. The camera can also alert authorized personnel if anyone carries such items within the camera's field of view. What Was DePape Planning To Do To Nancy? Fortunately, Pelosi managed to call 911 before he was attacked by DePape, which was a great relief. However, the same cannot be said for everyone who has been in similar circumstances. In contrast, if DePape had attacked Nancy Pelosi first or if she had been present at the time of the assault, the outcome of this story may have been quite different. Therefore, federal prosecutors have charged DePape with two federal crimes. As an example, Nancy Pelosi was attempted to be kidnapped, while a family member of a United States official was assaulted in retaliation. An individual does not have to agree with the viewpoint of the next person. However, it should not be interpreted to mean that someone should engage in criminal activity as a response. Moreover, authorities had said DePape was prepared to kidnap and detain Nancy and break her kneecaps when he went to her residence. The speaker was in Washington, D.C., during the break-in. Even though Paul was brutally attacked, Nancy's life was spared because she was away from her residence. Unfortunately, people fail to consider the implications of their actions at times. Due to her position as a government official, Nancy may be subject to surveillance and protection at all costs. With this in mind, why would anyone believe that they would be able to abduct her? CEO Believes That His Company's Services Will Reduce The Likelihood of Problems Occurring Furthermore, artificial intelligence (AI) technology developed by Iterate.ai should also be used by individuals, particularly civil servants, exposed to a greater risk of targeted violence. Jon Nordmark, the CEO of Iterate.ai, maintains that no one should be left waiting for the worst-case scenario to unfold. "Today’s technological capabilities can increase the awareness of what’s happening on premises," said Nordmark. In addition, it can "give people additional, life-saving seconds of time to hide or escape while authorities are immediately notified and better prepared for situations before they walk into them." Nancy Faces A Difficult Decision In a recent CNN interview with Andrew Cooper, Nancy Pelosi stated that the brutal home invasion attack on her husband last month would influence her decision regarding her future position in the Democratic leadership of Congress. It is unclear whether Speaker Pelosi, who police believe was the target of the man charged in the assault, will step down or remain in her leadership position. The importance of controlling one's emotions cannot be overstated. Also, seeking revenge against someone's family cannot be justified. Click here to view Iterate.ai's website for more information about their services. Written by Nikiya Biggs | Twitter: @BiggsNikiya | Instagram @competent_journalist Follow and like FMHipHop on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify, and Facebook! Read the full article

[cksmart-world]

       SMART BOMB

The completely unnecessary news analysis

by Christopher Smart

August 16, 2022

TOP SECRET DOCS AND EXPLOSIVE BUSTIERS

Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do — FBI agents or aliens posing as FBI agents have victimized Donald Trump AGAIN! It wasn't enough that little beings in Italian satellites screwed up the election by switching votes from Trump to Biden, but now we learn someone or something has slipped classified documents into Melania's de-humidified walk-in closets at Mar-a-Lago. Whoever it was stashed the top secret  records in the wardrobe containing her lingerie. It's all in the search warrant where it says: “lift and separate.” Very suspicious. In fact, Utah Rep. Chris Stewart even said, “Maybe it was aliens.” No Wilson, he actually said that. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement saying the FBI does not hire aliens. But that didn't quell the anger on the Right. Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar said, “We must destroy the FBI.” And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich compared the FBI to the Gestapo. Of course we know the GOP is pro law enforcement — remember “Lock Her Up!” But this is different on account of... well it just is. Like, why would Donald Trump hide nuclear secrets in Melania's lingerie — it makes no sense unless he had a secret deal with Putin through Valeria, the Russian equivalent of Victoria's Secret. Now that would be one explosive bustier.

PLACENTAS ARE PEOPLE, TOO

If you are traveling by air and have a placenta you can demand two seats in comfort-plus, according to our friends on the right. Dave Alvord, local Republican patriot and Salt Lake County councilman, shot back at Vice President Kamala Harris on Twitter recently mansplaining to her that a fetus is not part of a mother’s body. No Wilson, we are not making this up. Alvord had taken umbrage when the veep said that women should have control over their own bodies. Amid criticism — and despite medical facts — Alvord bravely stood his ground. “The baby floats inside the woman... the umbilical cord and the placenta are part of a new and developing body, with its own unique DNA and gender...” he said. The notion that a developing fetus is part of the mother is just a fake rationale for leftist baby killers. “It is not about the woman’s body,” he explained, “it’s to kill then remove the baby’s body. It is done in greater proportion to black babies.” A consummate conservative, Alvord also uses Facebook to make important cultural arguments, such as this: "[T]he left won't be happy until we each have light brown skin are exactly alike…until there are no males, no females…until we are all bi-sexual and in non-committed relationships." And that's why it's soooo important to keep voting Republican!

MISSING TEXTS — AND WHAT THEY REVEAL

A whole bunch of missing text messages have been found and what they reveal is simply astonishing. The staff here at Smart Bomb has come into possession of missing texts from Utah's congressional delegation surrounding the Climate Bill, a.k.a. the Inflation Reduction Act. Not one single Republican voted for it. Here are the contents of the texts, although we have yet to identify which Utah congressmen is speaking at any time:

  Rep. A — The Dems say the $370 billion investment in a low-carbon economy will be paid for by prescription drug savings and raising taxes on large corporations.

  Rep. B — That's why we're not voting for it — we got friends in Big Oil and Coal.

  Rep. C — The good thing is we can vote against it and then campaign as though we're saving the world. Our constituents won't know 'cause they watch Fox.

  Rep. D — But it includes $60 billion for renewable energy, like solar and wind. It even has tax incentives for nuclear power and electric vehicles.

  Rep. B — It doesn't matter if it's good, we can't let Biden have any victories.

  Rep. A — But what about global warming and climate change?

  Rep. C — Don't worry, it's not like the polar ice caps are melting or anything.

Post script — Well, that'll do it for another week in the Dog Days of summer here at Smart Bomb where we keep track of bears on hallucinogenic trips so you don't have to. This is for real: A brown bear in Turkey came across some great smelling honey and had at it, apparently unaware that it was “deli bal” or “mad honey.” The hallucinogenic sweet stuff has been cultivated for hundreds of years by beekeepers in the Black Sea region. The female cub was found stoned out of her gourd in the back of a pickup. Luckily, the driver whisked her to a vet, where she came down safely from what must have been one long, strange trip. Wilson and the guys in the band are Smart Bomb's staff experts on hallucinogens but not even they had heard of deli bal. Yes Wilson, it would probably go nicely with Turkish waffles. And no, the FBI has not disclosed whether any mad honey was found at Mar-a-Lago. But if Trump had smuggled in some deli bal it would explain a lot of things. You're right Wilson, he acts more like a speed freak or a coke-head. Most acid trippers are pretty mellow — like Mike Pence. It would be interesting if the MAGA crowd that is ready to hunt down FBI agents got gifts of Turkish honey. On the other hand, imagine a bunch of crazies with AR-15s on a bad acid trip. Well, it's kinda like that already.

Alright Wilson, we can read your mind. You're clinging hopelessly to the past and we know where you want to go. So wake up the guys in the band and tell 'em to ditch the Hawaiian shirts and sandals for T-shirts and walking shoes 'cause they're goin' truckin'.

Truckin', got my chips cashed in Keep truckin', like the do-dah man Together, more or less in line Just keep truckin' on Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me Other times I can barely see Lately it occurs to me What a long, strange trip it's been What in the world ever became of sweet Jane? She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same Livin' on reds, vitamin C, and cocaine All a friend can say is "Ain't it a shame" Sittin' and starin' out of the hotel window

Got a tip they're gonna kick the door in again I'd like to get some sleep before I travel But if you got a warrant, I guess you're gonna come in

You're sick of hangin' around and you'd like to travel

Get tired of travelin' and you want to settle down

I guess they can't revoke your soul for tryin'

Get out of the door and light out and look all around

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me Other times I can barely see Lately it occurs to me What a long, strange trip it's been

(Truckin' — Grateful Dead)

[james-winston]

#John Lennon #Paul McCartney #The Beatles #McLennon #there were several times during the get back doc that pauls neuroses were irritating me #and i kept thinking (especially in ep 3) that john in particular was going to snap at him #but he never did #so i was wondering why #then i remembered the obvious #because he loves paul #in spite of (and maybe because of) his insecurities #i forget that initially #in 57/58 #john befriended paul not just because he played music and looked like elvis #but because he saw in paul a level of darkness and trauma that he could relate to #and also #pauls control issues would have developed over time #i think by jan 1969 john was genuinely concerned about the toll this was taking on paul #im not saying he dealt with this concern in any good or meaningful way #but as proven time again #from the day by day interview to his reaction to pauls arrest in japan #john worried about paul #original

[aggressive-positivity-network]

Do you have any autistic Scout headcanons? :P

Hell yeah!

I’ve actually thought about this a lot. A lot of people might think that Scout has ADHD, but I think he either has both ADHD and autism or just autism.

This is both because labeling Scout as having just ADHD is kind of a low-hanging fruit, and I also want to explore his symptoms a little more. So, in a word, I do, and thank you for asking about them!

*****************

Scout’s Spectrum:

So, where exactly does Scout fall on the autism spectrum?

First of all, he probably has both ADHD and autism, but wasn’t diagnosed with the latter until much later. This means that some of his symptoms were taken into account, but not all.

The ones that were paid attention to ramped up out of control, and the ones he didn’t hear about were stuffed away.

His ADHD symptoms include impulsiveness, need for stimulation, hyperfixations, forgetfulness, and insomnia; his autism symptoms include trouble with social skills, stimming, near inability to remember names and faces, lack of eye contact, hyperfixations again, and sensory processing issues, especially with noise and touch.

He used to have a lot of meltdowns when he was younger, usually about wearing new clothes and the amount of noise his eight brothers generated.

However, he was teased and pushed into masking nearly all the time, and made his whole personality about his ADHD, since that was what everyone accepted.

As he got older, he usually wrote off any autistic tendencies as either his ADHD or just “little habits” of his.

During his middle school years, he used energy drinks to bounce back from being exhausted every day after school. This would work, except those energy drinks would upset his ADHD, and would make it much harder to focus on even basic conversation.

After a while, he got such bad grades and had such a hard time making friends that Scout just stopped going to school altogether.

Baseball helped his focus, and the quick movement and thinking made a lot of sense to him. He never had to wait very long for the next development, and the instant gratification and community it provided supplemented what he never got at school.

With sports on his side, he rarely ever drank any energy drinks (the coach would never let them on the field), and he drank bucketfuls of water during every meet and game. Those teenage years were probably the healthiest he ever was.

However, with the amount of rumbles he got into with his brothers, and the turf wars that constantly raged in those neighborhoods, it was only a matter of time before his crime caught up with him.

After his first incarceration, he was booted from the team, which led to a downward spiral of unhealthy coping mechanisms - which included fighting someone tooth and nail whenever he could.

Even if he lost the fight, it not only catered to his impulsive nature and impatience, but also gave him roughly the same sense of friendship and camaraderie that baseball had.

One thing led to another, and by the time Mann Co. found him, Scout was a monster in hand to hand (and bat to bat) and had racked up quite the criminal record.

A perfect mercenary, ripe for the picking.

On The Team:

Scout very quickly adopted the “stupid, scrappy Boston boy” persona.

It was the only thing that made sense, and it kept him from having to try too hard in both the battlefield and socially.

Besides, that meant that he could be as silly, forgetful, and fidgety as he wanted, and no one would bat an eye.

And if he ever needed to take a break from the team, he figured everyone would appreciate the quiet.

The only thing that ever gave him away was him occasionally dissociating right when battle began, especially if the day had been stressful.

It was usually how he calmed down after a fight when he was young, but now he sometimes slid into that state when he was overwhelmed.

However, a yell from one of his teammates would usually snap him out of it.

Medic noticed this pretty early on, and wanted to look more into it, but Scout would keep making excuses not to get a mental examination.

He would blame it on zoning out, being tired, drinking too many Bonks - whatever it took for people to stop asking.

And, eventually, they did.

Even Medic stopped asking after a while - he couldn’t get a thing out of Scout.

This “try so little that when you do try it’s above average” charade worked for a long time. In fact, it went on for so long that Scout forgot how much he was actually capable of.

He began to internalize the stupidity, the exacerbation, the many comments on how dumb he was, everything.

The only time he ever gave his all was on the battlefield - moving fast, memorizing strategies, doing complicated footwork, knowing exactly how much force it took to crush someone’s skull with his bat.

That was one of the only things that he felt good doing, the only thing he could really work on without him being “found out.”

That and drawing, though he never showed the actual pieces to anyone. It was all stick figures and crooked lines with everyone else.

Sometimes, though, Scout wouldn’t be paying attention and he’d let something slip.

One time, Engineer was looking for his screwdriver, and couldn’t seem to find it anywhere.

Scout, not looking up from his comic, said, “Under the couch cushion, hard hat.”

Engineer bent down and reached into the couch, and his hand came back with his red and yellow striped screwdriver.

“Well I’ll be damned…”

At first Engineer thought Scout had just hid it, but Scout explained, still not paying attention:

“Last time we went out on th’ field, you had it on your belt, like always. But I was walkin’ by your workshop, you were usin’ a quarter to tighten a screw or somethin’. Your screwdriver had to be somewhere between the battlefield and your workshop. Engie, you’re like freakin’ clockwork. Every day, after a fight, you go to the kitchen, get a water, go to that couch, between the second and third cushion from the left, and sit there. Then ya go back to the fridge to get lunch and a beer, and ya go to your workshop until somebody needs you for somethin’. Your back loop in your tool belt is looser than all the others, ‘cause the screwdriver pulls against it when you sit down. The shank was probably in between the two cushions, and when you got up, it fell in. Demo, Pyro, and Heavy all sit on the second or third cushion at some point, so it got shimmied down. And since that’s the only time you sat down, ‘cause you woulda heard it if it dropped on the floor, and I…uh…”

“I’ll be damned,” Engie repeated, and felt the back tool belt loop. It was indeed loose.

Scout finally looked up, and realized what had happened.

“Uh, uh - l-lucky guess, huh Engie?”

Engineer squinted behind his goggles. “Yeah…real lucky…”

What ensued was Engie trying to get Scout to turn into a B.L.U Spy by chasing him around with his wrench. After a few good hits, though, Engineer saw that it was the teammate he knew and loved.

“But…how didja…?”

Scout threw his hand up, the other rubbing the back of his head where he’d been hit.

“I toldja Engie! Lucky guess! Jesus!”

Ever since then, Scout chose his words more carefully.

The Breakdown:

But, unfortunately, Scout could not pretend forever.

There was one week where Scout’s assignment count was so high that, if he wasn’t in a fight, he was on a mission.

Usually, Pauling wouldn’t trust him with so much, but no one else was available - or willing - to do the jobs.

Even when she was getting concerned about the amount of hours Scout was putting in, he blew it off.

“It’s no sweat, Miss Pauling! Their practically givin’ me the pay day. Those yahoos don’t know who they’re messin’ with.”

Over time, though, Scout had a harder and harder time staying focused and alert.

He’d sleep through alarms, stare off into space, zone out completely during briefing (not that he didn’t already do that), have a hard time hearing people in battle - even through his headset - ignore Spy’s taunts, and even forget to bring his bat onto the field.

Nothing seemed to help - Bonk!, warming up, stretching, cold showers, setting reminders, nothing.

And the team was starting to notice.

At first it was with the regular frustration - maybe Scout was just being lazy.

But as time went on, and his condition grew worse, their scorn turned into worry. They implored Medic to do something, but he had no way of getting through to Scout.

The doctor wasn’t above simply sedating him and dragging him into his lab for a check-up. However, he had a feeling that this was more than a physical issue.

The worst came when Scout was doing a routine battle with the B.L.U team on the field.

Everything had started out okay - he even remembered to bring his bad this time - but suddenly, everything was ear-splittingly loud.

He couldn’t focus on more than one sound at once, much less communicate the best course of action to his teammates.

He ended up hiding in a dilapidated shed, in a dusty, dark corner, somewhere between zoning out and panicking.

Scout’s head was in his knees, he was shaking, close to crying, when a sudden splitting of wood roused him.

A B.L.U Soldier had kicked his way into the shed, either having heard Scout or to hide from the other team.

Scout was stunned at first, but something of a blind terror filled him. He picked up his bat, screamed, and started pummeling the surprised Soldier.

At some point, he threw aside his bat and began to swing punch after punch, just like he did in his gang days when he had felt overwhelmed. Still screaming. Still crying.

By the time Scout had dissolved into a rocking, sobbing mess, the Soldier was long dead, with a gigantic pool of blood staining Scout’s shoes.

No one even knew where Scout was until a few hours later, when Spy heard a faint note of “Sexbomb” coming from Scout’s Walkman.

Scout had crawled into the shed’s framework, between the outer and inner wall, and was playing a specific verse over and over and over again, looking like he was on another plane of existence.

Spy immediately called for Medic, who had to lift Scout out by the underarms through a jagged hole in the side of the building. By then, the fight was over, so they could take him directly to the lab.

Medic’s Evaluation:

“I’m guessing zhis is your first mental breakdown?”

“Mental…doc, I ain’t crazy. Wait, you’re not goin’ to put me in a straight jacket, are ya?”

“If you’re not doing anyzhing later.”

Medic started to laugh, but quickly realized this might not be the time.

“No, Scout, everyvun has a mental breakdown at least vunce in their lives. It’s a…how do you say…a vake-up call of sorts. Vhen your body has no other options left.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“For zhe past few months, you health, both physical and mental, has been deteriorating. You eat less. You talk less. Your attacks are lackluster. You have bags under your eyes. You flinch vhen somevun yells for you. You stare off into space. Your routine, vhich usually has at least some changes, has become stringent, as if you can’t possibly expend any more energy into extra activities. You have avoided Demoman on zhe battlefield, even though you usually use him for cover.”

Medic flipped through his notes.

“I have pages and pages of your decline. However, as a scientist, I believe it is caused by zhe same source. And, though I usually respect my patient’s right to privacy vhen it comes to these sorts of matters, I believe you’ve been keeping something from me. Something that I should know as your general practitioner…your doctor.”

Scout shrugged, already shutting out the conversation.

Medic sighed.

“Maybe I tried to talk to you about zhis too soon. After all, you’ve just had a very sudden and exhausting episode. But…perhaps…”

Medic took a sheet of printer paper from his clipboard and a spare pen from his pocket.

“…zhere is an alternative.”

Scout was still unresponsive, but Medic continued.

“Zhere is a patient in my vaiting room vis a metal pole through the chest. It vill take me at least an hour to properly remove it, and a few minutes more to heal zhe area. Vhile I do zhat, vhy don’t you draw how you feel?”

Medic smiled.

“I know how much it grounds you.”

It wasn’t until Medic left that Scout actually picked up the pen, but he began drawing immediately.

For the first time in a while, he wasn’t trying to hide his strokes or scratch up the cleaner lines. No more stick figures. No more pretending.

Five minutes later, he was fully engrossed.

Medic started to walk in at one point, but, seeing how relaxed Scout was, decided to give him a few more minutes.

He deserved it.

#tf2 #tf2 scout #scout tf2 #tf2 headcanons #headcanon requests #tf2 mercs #autism #autistic community #autistic culture #red team #blu team #valve games

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

It’s Just a Movie: Part 11 (Poly!Lost Boys x Fem!Reader)

<- Previous Chapter  Next Chapter ->

Warnings: cursing, angst

Word Count: 2016

You stared at him. You couldn't believe the words that had come out of his mouth, and you didn't think before the next words left yours.

"I can't." You said, and each of the boys looked at you. Confusion, hurt, anger, and even a tad bit of disappointment filled their eyes. They stared, and you couldn't help but waver under the weight of all of their gazes. Before they could interrupt, you tried to explain. "I-I mean, we don't know how long I'll be here. It's what, November? The Emerson's don't come until the summer and-" But David's voice was cruel as he cut in.

"What, you have plans to go somewhere else?" He asked, and it sent you into a whole new bundle of nerves. His eyes were hard, and, when you looked at the two blondes closest to you, you saw anger etched into Markos face and betrayal etched into Pauls. You hadn't meant it like that. It's not like you were intending on leaving, and you quickly told them so.

"I'm not trying to leave, per se, but I didn't try to end up here either. I'm saying that I might end up slipping back into my world without realizing." You said, but you couldn't help the way your voice stammered and shook under David's glare. It was a good plan, at least, so far. But this issue wasn't something you could control, and you didn't like the way David seemed to be acting like it was.

"Oh, so if you're not here tomorrow, don't be surprised?" He mocked, and you made a noise of protest. You didn't know why he was taking this so personally. You knew that you shouldn't have let your temper get the best of you. That, if you were calm and collected, you'd fare much better when it came to arguing with the boys. It was something you'd learned and practiced over the past two weeks, but, your anger at his accusation blinded you.

"No, I'm not saying that I'm going to leave." You protested, your voice raising a pitch. You looked at the others, adding, "I'm not trying to leave." In your own defense. Paul's face softened, but Marko still looked on edge. Like you'd disappear any second you chose to. The only one who's face was completely unreadable was Dwayne's. Though, he wasn't looking at you. He was watching David instead. David crossed his arms over his chest, saying a simple,

"So, you'll do it?" He asked, and you wanted to throttle him. You swore that the boy could be completely intolerable when he wanted to be. He had gotten you riled up, and you shouted.

"No! I'm not saying that either. I don't know!" You shouted, and you let out a noise of frustration. But David continued, leaning forward in his seat.

"Why not? Do you not want to stay?" He pestered, and you gave him a glare. You knew his games, and you knew him. When it came to getting what he wanted, he was a master manipulator. An outright 'no' would never work, and you guessed that he wasn't afraid of this getting nasty. Even if you now knew that the boys needed you. Or, at least, David thought you did. Your sudden confidence in that made you yell,

"No- It's- I have to go home sometime, David! And that's- that's seven months away, at least. That's a long time-" You said, but you realized how silly the concept seemed to them when Paul muttered,

"It's not that long." And your head snapped to him. You couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth, let alone the suggestion coming out of David's.

"My friends, my family- they have no idea where I am or what happened to me! I'm not supposed to be here! I can't just- I can't just disappear from their lives forever. From my life forever. That's- that's cruel-" But David was able to cut you off and silence you with a single sentence.

"And leaving us to die isn't?" He said. His voice was as cold as ice, and it made you gulp the second your eyes flicked back to his. He was staring at you, his eyes staring daggers at you and his jaw clenched. He was pissed. Royally. You looked away, trying to think of a way to argue that without sounding completely heartless. You didn't want them to die, especially if you could help them not. But what they were asking you to do, asking you to stay for that long, you couldn't guarantee it. You could feel hot, burning tears pooling in your eyes, simply from the frustration from the conversation. You regretted your next words the second they left your mouth,

"I wouldn't even be here if it was up to me." You said, and you watched as your words hit the boys. You watched as Marko physically recoiled, the hurt on his face quickly being overshadowed by insult. Paul frowned, his chattering quieting down completely as he instead glanced down to look at his bracelets instead. Dwayne's eyes finally flipped over to you, and, while his face was neutral, you watched the way he clenched his jaw before quickly looking away again. David, well, his reaction was hardly a surprise. He narrowed his eyes, quickly leaning back in his chair and glowering at you. Though, he didn't say a word. The boys had been your only company during your surprise stay in their dimension, and you knew that those words had been taken personally. He didn't push. You looked away from all of them, wiping away the build-up of tears before they could threaten to fall.

You pushed yourself up to stand, but Marko was reaching for you before you could walk away. His gloved hand grabbed your wrist, his fingers loose but his grip still strong enough to make you pause.

"Where are you going?" He was quick to ask, and you scoffed. It had sounded accusatory, like you were going to somehow slip back into your own dimension. You pulled your hand away, before you mumbled,

"I'm going to my room." And began to walk towards the caves. After two weeks of manuevering them, you had a good feel for them. At least, enough to find the room that the boys had set up for you. It felt weird for them to set something up in the main room, simply because you knew Star or Laddie would be occupying it eventually. Dwayne had let you borrow his lighter a week prior, and you used that to light up the candles left sporadically around the room. It was small, and similar to the cave the boys slept in. However, knowing you couldn't hang from the ceiling, they managed to find you, you didn't question how, a mattress, some blankets, and a couple of pillows. You had nailed a sheet over the entrance simply so you could have the illusion of a door, and the boys had taken it upon themselves to let you borrow some of their things to make it less bare. Some of their clothes even sat in a corner of the room, besides the ones you had managed to buy for yourself. Though, with your funds being awfully close to empty, you had allowed the boys to buy- steal- some for you. After the candles had been lit, you let yourself flop face forward onto the mattress and you used the pillow to muffle your groans.

You recalled the conversation, trying to pin-point exactly when it had gone to shit. Why David had taken it so personally when you'd only been stating the truth. You had no idea how you got here, and it wasn't like you'd be able to avoid going back. Though, as you thought it over more and more, you realized why you had hurt them so badly. Before you could completely confront it, you heard the sheet flutter before there was a soft knock on the rock of the cave. You sat up, looking over to see the brunette standing in your doorway. You wiped any remnants of your tears away and waved him in.

He took a few quick strides, and then sat at the edge of your bed. It wasn’t like they had a bed-post to support it, so the two of you were basically sitting on the floor once again. You sat up, gathering yourself up and sitting with your legs criss crossed. Dwayne let his stretch out in front of him, and he ran a hand through his hair. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully, and you waited patiently for him to speak. After nearly a minute, he said, 

“Are you- Are you mad at us?” And you stared at him for a moment. It wasn’t what you were expecting, and you answered quickly,

“No, I’m just- I just needed some space.” You said, and you watched as he nodded. He had his hands clasped in his lap, and he looked down at them for a moment before he asked,

“Do you not like it here?” And part of your heart ached at the question. If possible, you answered this question even quicker.

“No, not at all! I just- I miss my family. My friends. The twenty-first century.” You joked, but he only smiled just the tiniest bit. He looked back down, and his eyes didn’t lift up as he continued.

“We- David didn’t think you were going to be upset if he offered for you to stay. He just,” Dwayne sighed, pushing his hair away from his face once again. “He thought you’d jump at the opportunity. Especially since he suggested it. He didn’t expect an argument.” He said, and you stared at him for a moment. Your theory, the one you had been mulling over just before he arrived, seemed to be true. His plan was an offer to stay. A contract of sorts. An attempt to build trust. Something more than the thin veil you had developed, something that would assure you that they had no plans of making you their next meal. At least, until the events of the movie were over. After a moment, you said,

“I didn’t expect him to suggest it.” But you waited a beat before you added, “I mean, I’m not saying no. But, I’m not saying yes either. I have no idea if one day I’ll wake up and I just won’t be here anymore, y’know? It’s not really up to me. That’s what I meant when I said that, by the way. I didn’t mean to hurt you guys. I just don’t- I don’t want you guys to build your plan around me. I don’t want to get your hopes up.” You said, even if it pained you to say the words. Especially when he looked up at you and gave you a small frown. Quickly, as if to wipe it from his face, you said, “But if I could go and come back, I would. Though, I don’t even know how I managed to get here the first time-”

“Wait, really?” Dwayne asked, and you flushed at the suddenness of his question. You had been rambling, and you thought it over for a moment. If you were able to freely go back and forth? Well, you saw no issue then. You gave him a nod, even if the situation was completely hypothetical. Hypothetical or not, you could tell it meant something to him. Especially when he cupped your cheek and brushed his thumb over it. The affection made your cheeks flush. An act was expected from Paul, or even Marko, but Dwayne? It was a surprise. When his eyes flicked down to your lips, you realized that perhaps David’s suggestion had been for more than just a temporary truce. Suddenly, Michael's bottle scene flashed through your mind. You thought he'd been stupid to accept such obvious temptation. But, here you were, reaching up curl your hand into Dwayne's hair as he leaned in to kiss you.

#the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys x reader #the lost boys imagines #the lost boys david #david the lost boys #the lost boys marko #marko the lost boys #paul the lost boys #the lost boys paul #dwayne the lost boys #the lost boys dwayne

[mst3kproject]

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster

We've talked about how there are an awful lot of fishman movies.  There are way too many Bigfoot movies.  There are even a surprising number of movies about monsters named Paul, but one thing I swear I never thought would be in two different movies is growing space blobs in the Mexican jungle.  Yet here we, are following up The Flame Barrier with Caltiki, the Immortal Monster. The cast includes Gérard Herter from Secret Agent Super Dragon and Daniele Vargas from Hercules Unchained. Mario Bava insists he didn't direct this but Riccardo Freda says he did, while most film websites blame both of them.

Long, long ago, the Maya were doing math and building pyramids in Mexico when a sudden unknown cataclysm forced them to abandon their cities. In the present (or at least the 60s), a group of scientists have come to the ruins to see if they can solve this mystery.  Two of them venture into a cave, and only one returns, raving about Caltiki, a Mayan goddess.  The rest of the party set out to find out what happened and perhaps rescue the other man, but instead discover a huge carnivorous blob monster!  Most of this beast is destroyed by crashing a gasoline truck into it, but they take a sample back to Mexico City with them for analysis.  Because that's a great idea that won't bite them in the ass at all.

The opening titles of this movie tell us that it is 'based on an ancient Mexican legend'.  I don't know anything about Mexican folklore but I did look through the List of Mayan Gods and Supernatural Beings page on Wikipedia and there are no names there that you can remotely bend into 'Caltiki'.  I'm going to assume this movie has about as much to do with ancient Mexican legends as Village of the Giants has to do with H. G. Wells' Food of the Gods. The same credits also tell us that the dancer we see ripping her own clothes off in some 'native ceremony' was a woman named Gay Pearl. The early 60's was around when the word 'gay' stopped being used to mean anything other than 'homosexual', so I suspect she changed it shortly thereafter.

Although the basic premise of a growing space blob in the jungles of Mexico is strongly reminiscent of The Flame Barrier, in several ways Caltiki, the Immortal Monster takes an opposite approach to telling the story.  One of the things that made The Flame Barrier kind of annoying was how it puttered around in the jungle with character-driven stuff for ages before it even introduced the monster.  Caltiki goes almost entirely in the other direction.  The first thing we see is the aftermath of a monster attack, with the dying archaeologist staggering back to camp.  In the minutes that follow, we watch the rest of the expedition puzzle over what happened to their colleagues, but we have almost no idea of who they are.  Most of the character development has to wait until they get back to Mexico City.

Unfortunately, the characters are really not very interesting people.  Our supposed hero is the dishwater-dull Dr. John Fielding, who is one of those movie science guys whose significant other whines because he would rather look down a microscope than gaze into her eyes.  Fielding promises his wife Ellen that he'll pay more attention to her, and I guess he does because next time we see him he appears to be happy with her and their little daughter, but if I were to call the issue 'minimally addressed' I would be giving it way too much credit.  The other subplot in the movie is about a mixed-race woman named Linda (repeatedly described as a 'half-breed') and her relationship with one of the archaeologists, Max.  Max was a dick to begin with, and when he goes mad with pain after being attacked by the blob monster he only gets worse.  He never seems very interesting or threatening, and since the audience knows there's a blob monster coming, we feel our time is being wasted.  Linda, as the only major character who isn't white, is killed when Max decides she is no longer useful to him.

Another place where Caltiki does exactly what The Flame Barrier didn't, but with far better results, is with the monster itself.  In The Flame Barrier the space blob was immobile and basically just looked like somebody spilled a truckload of petroleum jelly.  The blob of Caltiki, however, truly is the coolest thing in the movie.  It's a pulsating, leathery mass that reproduces by stickily dividing in two, and dissolves people's flesh to leave only their skeletons.  There were worse monsters on Star Trek: the Next Generation nearly thirty years later.  Not only that, but the blobs are active, able to roll around and grow to engulf screaming victims, with a satisfying sense of weight and volume to their movements.  There are also some pretty good gore effects, my favourite of which is a guy who's still breathing despite having had his face dissolved.

The Flame Barrier kept its blob in the distant jungle, where the only people it was menacing were three explorers and a chimp.  We were told about the threat of its exponential growth, but that was fairly abstract.  In Caltiki we still don't get the city-smashing rampage depicted in one of the posters, but just knowing that the city is there and having Fielding's wife and daughter around to be chased by swarms of blobs makes the threat feel far more concrete.

So this movie gets right a lot of things the other Mexican Space Blob movie got wrong, but I wouldn't be reviewing it if it wasn't still a bad movie.  The dull characters and the refusal to deal with their arcs is one big problem.  Another is the poor picture quality.  The lighting is mostly good enough that you can tell where people are and what they're doing, but the film stock itself is not very good, which makes for a loss of detail.  In some of the wide shots you can't tell who's supposed to be talking because it's impossible to see whose mouths are moving.  In another, Fielding consults a book that appears to consist entirely of blank pages.

The dubbing is also not great.  Fielding and his wife have very bland voices, which is a big contributor to them seeming like very bland characters.  The guy voicing Max gnaws on the scenery, sounding like a villain from an old Disney movie.  Fielding's daughter Jenny has the voice of an adult woman trying to talk like a child, and it sounds even worse than the same thing did in Manos: the Hands of Fate.

The script is pretty ham-fisted at times, particularly in the character scenes that tell us things far more often than they show us.  Much of this is the fault of whoever wrote the English dialogue, but there's also the series of ridiculous plot devices that prevent anyone from warning Ellen Fielding that the blob in her basement has begun to grow.  First, Max escapes from the hospital and goes to the house to get help from Linda, and pulls out the phone cord so nobody can turn him in.  One of the scientists, finding no answer on the phone, tries to drive out to the house to talk to Ellen, but gets into a car crash.  The police block the road off while they investigate the wreck, and Fielding runs the road block in his own haste to get home, leading him to be arrested and thrown into jail!  I have to admit, it was pretty funny just watching these contrived events pile up.

As far as having a point to make goes, Caltiki, the Immortal Monster kind of shaves by one in two different places, but never quite gets there.  For starters, there's the idea of archaeology as a treasure hunt.  When the diver first ventures into Caltiki's sacred underground lake, he finds the bottom littered with bones but also with the gold jewelry the sacrificial victims were wearing.  He returns to the surface and does not even mention the skeletons, but brings fistfuls of gold and goes back for more despite the risk of running out of oxygen.  I suppose he is punished for this, as is Max when he tries to retrieve a piece somebody else dropped, since they're both attacked by the blob.  It doesn't really qualify as a thematic thread, though, since the gold is never mentioned again. For the rest of the movie, the characters are motivated by scientific interest in the blob itself.

This leads into what's sort of a second motif, people disregarding the danger posed by the blob.  Fielding has a sample he wants to study (the movie has no idea what kind of scientist he is.  An archaeologist?  A microbiologist?), and upon discovering that radiation makes it grow, he pumps more into it to see what happens.  He and his colleagues are admittedly more cautious about this than the characters  in Reptilicus, but the idea's still there: scientists who think they have everything under control, but don't understand how dangerous what they're working with really is.  Again, this doesn't really go anywhere.  At the end they about-face and insist on destroying every scrap, not even leaving enough for an “... or is it?” ending.

Caltiki, the Immortal Monster comes very close to being so bad it's good.  There's plenty of stuff to laugh at, while the actual monster is threatening and well-executed enough to be entertaining in the way it was intended to be.  If the film-makers had diverted a little of that money into better film stock, I probably would have enjoyed the movie very much.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #caltiki the immortal monster #i reference star trek #60s #we're running out of plots

[daleisgreat]

30 Years of Super Nintendo - Flashback Special

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) recently celebrated its 30th anniversary of the North American launch, so it seems the perfect time to post a Flashback Special honoring it! Suppose you have not perused a past Flashback Special of mine (all linked at the bottom of this entry). In that case, they are essentially my history with the platform over the years, with a little bit of history thrown in, and recounting all my favorite games, accessories, memories, and moments with the system.

Odds are for the average gaming enthusiast reading this, and you probably are familiar with the core details of the SNES launch stateside (if not, then I highly recommend CGQ’s video on it for a quick breakdown). The SNES launched in 1991 when I was eight. I did not have a subscription to any gaming magazines yet, so I most likely first found out about the system around that time from classmates at the time at school, the infamous Paul Rudd commercial, and the fourth season of Roseanne that transpired from 1991-92. I vividly remember the Roseanne episode with her son, DJ, pleading with his parents for the brand new SNES for his birthday gift and how his parents dreaded not being able to afford the system. I covered that episode when I did my Roseanne complete series re-watch here in the year leading up to the relaunch of the show several years ago. It brought back memories of how that was the story with my parents also denying me the much sought-after SNES, saying it cost too much and that I already have an NES to tide me over. ”But mommmmm, the SNES is 16-bits!!!!” Yeah….playing that angle got me nowhere. Kiosks & Friends The first couple of years for the SNES, I mostly remember playing at store kiosks. Super Mario World blew me away from the brief time I played it with it being such a leap from the NES installments. I always ate up the precious few minutes I could procure at a store kiosk if no one were playing Super Mario Kart. One last store kiosk memory was eye-gazing over the impressive WWF Royal Rumble. I loved WWF WrestleFest in the arcade, and for a couple of years, it was the only WWF game that offered up WWF’s marquee over-the-top rope elimination match, the Royal Rumble, and it was endlessly fun to play in the arcade. Fast-forward to playing it on console kiosks around its 1993 release, and I could not eat up enough of that game’s Royal Rumble mode either, and at the time, the graphics seemed like a huge step up from the wrestling games on NES. One of my favorite issues of Nintendo Power is the 50th issue that did a several-page spread on WWF Royal Rumble that I must have thoroughly re-read at least a dozen times.

I read this NP spread of WWF Royal Rumble many times, and it was one of my initially most desired SNES games! Around 1993/94, a couple of friends and classmates started to get the Super Nintendo. An early SNES memory that stuck with me all these years is my grade school friend, Jon-Paul, having me over for his birthday where he rented a SNES console and Street Fighter II: Turbo from the video store, and we played it for several hours straight. Another is spending a lot of 1994 at my neighborhood friend’s place, where we played countless sessions of NBA Jam and Mortal Kombat II. Both games were big on codes and secrets and perfect two-player games. I was just regularly getting into video game magazines at this time and ate up issues of Tips & Tricks, Game Players, and Electronic Gaming Monthly to see what kind of hidden character and other much-rumored codes were making the waves each month for both of these games. Mortal Kombat II especially dominated the code-fervor that season with trying to uncover how to face off against secret characters like Jade, Noob Saibot, and Smoke, and trying to memorize all the input sequences for the game’s infamous Fatalities. Fast forward to late 1995/early 1996, and I still did not have a SNES, but a new neighborhood friend, Rich, just got one and the next several months at his place introduced me to so many SNES games. Rich kind of got me somewhat into RPGs at the time, and while it may not sound fun on paper, there were many times I recall just kind of embracing the role of “armchair gamer.” I did this for games like EVO: Search for Eden, and Eye of the Beholder while keeping an eye out during gameplay to offer whatever suggestions seemed viable.

FFVI was eye-opening to me at the time of what video game narratives were capable of, and I devoured the latest secrets for FFVI discovered in the latest issue of my Game Players subscription that was delivered. The RPG I felt like that I contributed something to was the game that was originally released as Final Fantasy III. That game featured two-player support for battles only, so it was refreshing to help Rich with progressing through the game finally. My two favorite characters to use were Sabin and Cyan. That game especially blew me away with its larger-than-life story with two different game worlds, the momentous opera scene with Celes, the dazzling mode-seven graphics when traveling via airship or Chocobo, constantly getting irked at Shadow whenever he deserted the party, and so many other priceless moments. Over the years, I tried restarting the GBA version on a couple of occasions and regrettably have yet to finish it. Finally Owning a SNES….in 1996

Growing up with divorced parents put me in a unique childhood when it came to gaming. I lived with my mom, who provided for us as best as possible for the three siblings I grew up with, so we only had an NES for us for the longest time. However, when visiting my dad on weekends, he would always be big on hitting up as many garage sales and second-hand stores as possible and would acquire whatever he thought seemed like a bargain. Games-wise, this usually meant he lagged behind a generation because everyone was offloading their Atari VCS/2600s at garage sales for cheap when the NES was king, so I could have a great couple of years to become familiar with the pioneering-era of games on Atari. He then got into the NES scene when the SNES hit in 1991. Sure enough, the same month the N64 launched in America in September 1996 was when he bought a Super Nintendo for the family used at our local Premiere Video. The game we picked up with it was Street Fighter II: Turbo. My dad instantly remarked upon booting it up the noticeable jump in graphics. We played nothing but Capcom’s second Street Fighter game on SNES for a few weekends. I could only finish that game by button mashing into a victory against the final boss, M. Bison, once….with M. Bison. I still have a lot of love for this era of Street Fighter - whether it be for the roster, every character’s stage and theme music, and receiving Nintendo Power’s strategy guide for the game for Christmas and studying it regularly to improve.

After a few weeks, we realized we needed something else than a fighting game, and after another trip to Premiere Video, we came home with Super Mario All-Stars. It felt like the easy choice to go with 16-bit remakes of all four 8-bit versions of the core Mario Bros. games. Every game felt like a whole different game with all-new graphics and sound, and more importantly, being able to save progress midgame. This was a bigger hit with the entire family, and it provided many days of taking turns in its alternating two-player mode to see who could get the farthest in the four Mario games included.

Make sure to have some tissues by your side as you witness FFIII/VI's infamous "opera" scene. Seriously, this was mind-blowing stuff to 13-year old Dale in 1996. 16-bit Sportsball Fun

After playing a lot of those first two SNES games, I went into this stretch for the next several years, where most of what I played was sports and wrestling games. I attribute this to many multiplayer sessions with Rich, my brother, Joe, and my dad. I know my dad was not all that into sports other than a passing interest in rooting on hometown Minnesota pro-sports teams. Still, I have to give him credit for spending as much time with us and taking the time to learn and become a pretty solid player at teaming up with me in many sports games. It is worth noting that I feel the 16-bit era is probably the last-gen where most of its library of sports games had a relatively simple pick-up-and-play feel that NES games had. That changed a little bit in the final SNES years, where it was usually EA’s games that started to incorporate more realism in their sports games and make use of most of the buttons of the SNES controller. For football, Madden NFL ‘97 was the one I played the most. I played plenty of the Genesis version at Rich's place, so much so that I noticed too many little differences with the SNES version to make it stand out on its own. For 16-bit sports nuts that want to know, the Genesis version had the better playing version, but the SNES had a better overall presentation and more popping audio and visuals. I was part of a small slice of sports gamers big into NES Play Action Football, and the 16-bit version played almost exactly like the NES version, but with a 16-bit upgrade and also has a nifty feature to play games at the high school, college, or NFL level.

NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime dominated my 16-bit sports lineup. The code scene for these games were so intense at the time I had to keep my own binder of notes on them all that I still have today as seen above! As I alluded to earlier, when it came to hoops, I played way too much NBA Jam the first year it was out at my friend’s place. However, the arcade hoops game I played the most on SNES was NBA Hangtime, which was developed by the same people who made Jam. I got that game new for Christmas in 1996 and must have played it regularly with Rich for nearly a year straight. I do not hear that game receive the same level of praise as Jam, but it added a few new fun layers to freshen up the gameplay, like being able to do co-op dunks and earn “Team Fire,” and being able to create players. For more simulation-focused hoops, I played a lot of NBA Live ’96 with my dad, in addition to Nintendo’s NCAA Basketball which appeared like a technical marvel to me that was ahead of its time with the mode-seven camera allowing constant 3D rotation whenever possession of the ball changed and foreshadowed what would become the go-to camera perspective for the next-gen of basketball games. Finally, I will cherish my time with Bill Laimbeer’s Combat Basketball for it being the only hoops game I ever had to consult a guide to figure out how to shoot the damn ball….and for its surprisingly rocking soundtrack. Find out all about it when I broke that game down with the Your Parents Basement crew on their penultimate podcast.

Nintendo incorporated the same camera style into its hockey game, NHL Stanley Cup. Its graphics also impressed me, but it was rather challenging to score a goal, and I did not have as much fun with it. I played EA’s hockey games more on Genesis than SNES, but EA’s baseball game, MLBPA Baseball, was the hardball game I spent the most time with on Super Nintendo. Many years later, I picked up Nintendo’s Ken Griffey Jr. Presents: Major League Baseball, and had some fun with it, but already played the Game Boy version of it to death by the time I picked up the SNES version, and thus did not invest as much time with it as I did with EA’s game. Wanna Wrassle!?

I must have read through this review of WWF RAW countless times in my youth, and seeing how this essentially is a bigger and better version of Royal Rumble only increased my desire to one day own a SNES! The North American wrestling library was a significant step up from the bottom of the stairwell where most of the NES games hung out….but on the SNES, it only made it roughly halfway up the stairs. The aforementioned WWF Royal Rumble provided many hours of fun for its day, but it has not stood the test of time with the button-mashing grapple meter it featured that will obliterate thumbs on the normal difficulty level! Its sequel, WWF RAW, was noteworthy for having more match types available and being one of the first games to have a selectable female wrestler in Luna Vachon, but it too used that same ill-fated grapple meter that has not aged well. WWF Wrestlemania: The Arcade Game is a fun little hybrid of Mortal Kombat and wrestling, but the SNES version is notorious for lacking two wrestlers compared to all other home versions.

For non-WWF games, WCW SuperBrawl Wrestling is rather unremarkable….except for its exceptional wrestler select screen.There were a few interesting unlicensed wrestling games in America. Natsume Championship Wrestling featured a solid wrestling engine but removed/altered the AJPW wrestlers from the Japanese version of the game. Hammerlock had a promising concept of having part of the screen dedicated to nonstop Tecmo-esque cinematics. In contrast, the other half of the screen featured 2D gameplay, but the cameras constantly flipped on screen, to which half was dedicated to cinematics or gameplay. It resulted in it being a jarring mess. Saturday Night Slam Masters is no such mess, however, and is a better hybrid of fighting game meets wrestling game, with this one done by Capcom. It features larger-than-life character sprites, full-on ring entrances with laser lights, and is a fun-playing combination of wrestling and Street Fighter. To top it off, Slam Masters has Final Fight’s Mike Haggar on the roster to boot!

Joey Pink does a fine job detailing why Capcom's "Street Fighter" in a wrestling ring should not be missed! Ensuring RPGs are here to Stay Aside from watching Rich play some of the RPGs I listed above, and of course, playing Final Fantasy VI with him, I did get a chance to play a few other RPGs on the SNES over the years, and it was not until the last few years that I finally finished a couple of them. In the late 1990s I first started two RPGs that stood out to me at the time because they broke out of the medieval fantasy mold most other RPGs at the time took place in. Shadowrun on the SNES was drastically different from the Genesis version I first encountered at Rich’s. This one still had the same futuristic cyberpunk world setting and terminology, but there were many more dialog options with NPCs that were pivotal in asking the right questions to progress the story. Additionally, the hacking games played out differently and had more of a puzzle theme to them than the action-oriented ones in the Genesis version, and the combat had kind a PC interface where a cursor had to be dragged across the screen on which target to aim at. I still wound up being totally into it and became stuck in the back half of the game before my save data became corrupted. I thought that would end my days with Shadowrun…

SNES Shadowrun remains one of my all-time favorite RPGs as of this writing! The final gauntlet tower was an ordeal and a half to work through, only to face off against a dragon as the final boss! …until nearly two decades later in 2016. I mentioned on past flashback specials how I occasionally guest host on the Your Parents Basement podcast, where they cover a random retro game per episode. In 2016 they asked me if there were any games I had in mind to cover, and Shadowrun felt like worth revisiting and possibly knocking off the “must beat this game” bucket list. I progressed until about a little over halfway through by the time we all met to record and broke down the game, but by that point, I just started to make further progress than my last effort and was determined to see this one through! I was playing on actual SNES hardware and was surprised that the battery still held a save but ran into trouble in the final tower with a gauntlet of enemies on each floor to overcome before the final boss. I looked up a walkthrough and discovered an exploit to grind experience to beef up my character. Eventually, I managed to persevere and finally conquer the final boss, a fire-breathing dragon, to cross finishing Shadowrun off my bucket list! I had a riot podcasting with the YPB crew about it too, so please click or press here to give it a listen if you want to know more about this under-the-radar 16-bit RPG.

Fast forward three years later in 2019, and the awesome YPB hosts of Steve, Huell, and Todd helped me once again restart and finish another SNES RPG that I came close to finishing in the late 1990s before evil corrupt save data reared its ugly head again. This time the game of choice is the uber-expensive Earthbound. Like Shadowrun, that game stood out to me because its setting went against the grain of fantasy settings and instead took place in modern times as grade school kids. The opening levels felt like getting lost in your neighborhood and using childlike items as weapons like Yo-Yos and baseball bats. I do not own that ridiculously expensive game, but by 2019 I did own a SNES Mini (more on that in a bit) that I made sure to abuse the save state and the rewind functions it provided to overcome some troubling bosses in the back half of the game. That final act of the game certainly goes places with its sci-fi twists and feels like an entirely different game, but I still loved it all the same! It felt exhilarating to finally knock this one off my “to do” list as well, and I had just as much fun dissecting it to pieces with the YPB crew that you can check out by click or pressing here. Unfortunately, this is where my extensive hands-on time with SNES RPGs comes to an end. I played a lot of FFIII/VI, and finished Earthbound, and Shadowrun. Sure, I dabbled in several other games but did not put more than an hour or two into them. One of those games is the much-heralded, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and I have no excuse for never sticking with it because I loved the NES original. It was the GBA re-release I played, and I think I was spreading myself thin while playing and reviewing too many games simultaneously. Lufia and Breath of Fire II were another pair of RPGs I put a couple of hours into that both left me with promising first impressions, but there was a whole other reason why I did not go back to those again, and that is because then I was waist-deep at the time in….. Discovering Emulation Right around the time my family acquired its first computer in the fall of 1997 was when I found out about emulation. It seemed way too good to be true to easily download and play games right on the computer, especially when factoring in the SNES was at the tail end of its lifecycle, and there were still new games releasing for it. As an unemployed 9th grader at the time, I sampled countless 8- and 16-bit ROMs with the SNES games I was the most curious about. A few of the RPGs in the previous paragraph being prime examples of the ones I invested the most time into. It proved to be overwhelming with so many choices, but I took a long sabbatical after a year or so of taking in the emulation scene after the family computer crashed and I lost all the save data I had amassed in so many games.

It has been interesting to see how emulation has evolved over the years from programs like SNES9X and Retroarch to being incorporated into machines like the MISTer, RetroPi, and Retron 5. Nintendo has learned to embrace official, legal emulation over the years with purchasable digital classic games on systems such as the Wii, WiiU, and 3DS. Having a stable income as an adult now many years later, I feel guilty for embracing the emulation scene so hard in my teenage years, so much so that whenever Nintendo re-releases one of its classic hits several times over, I choose to purchase it again (well…usually at a sale price) to redeem myself. Keeping SNES Alive Today

Over the years, I find myself diving into retro games versus the latest and greatest coming out. I am a fan of the various SNES hardware updates/clones, both officially from Nintendo and unofficially from other companies, which has kept my SNES and other retro game fandom blood flowing over the decades. I am unsure if it feels right to lump it in here, but the Super Game Boy lead to me getting a lot of extra life out of my SNES. Playing Game Boy games on the big screen was a big deal to me back then, considering it was always a pain to make out what was happening on the non-backlit handheld. For some reason, those special border screens that would eventually have funny animations after being left idle for so long made an impression on me. Game Boy games with the “Super Game Boy Enhanced” logo on the front of the box usually have their own exclusive border and special color palette. I loved the Mole Mania and Donkey Kong Land borders the most! I thought it was rad that around 15-20 special enhanced Super Game Boy titles featured multiplayer support with two SNES controllers. They consisted almost entirely of Bomberman and fighting games, but it was still a cool feature nonetheless. The handheld Hyperkin SupaBoy is the unauthorized SNES take on the Sega Nomad by having a portable SNES. It is a bit on the bulky side, but it has a rechargeable battery, and its support has been flawless with my entire SNES library. Another Hyperkin product I got a lot of use out of is the Retron 5. I know that particular clone system is controversial with retro game enthusiasts based on the unauthorized emulators it implements. However, the user interface and emulation support made it possible for me to make record progress in many SNES games by taking advantage of save states and its optional Game Genie-esque cheats library. The SNES Classic Edition is an excellent official piece of hardware from Nintendo that has the pint-sized SNES pre-installed with 21 SNES games, one of which is previously unreleased Star Fox 2. It has an adorably intuitive interface and supports game rewinding and save states, which made it the way I was finally able to finish Earthbound. It was also surprisingly not-so-difficult to plug into a PC and import a bunch of SNES ROMs into. Other companies like 8bitdo made that system extra convenient by making their recommended wireless controllers compatible with it!

If you did not grow up with the SNES, then both of these options are great entry points for those looking to move on beyond emulators. The Analogue Super NT may have been pushing it too much price-wise. When it comes down to the nuts and bolts of emulation tech, I am not a wizard by any means, except that by all sources, it sounds like the Super NT offers the best hardware emulation with its FPGA technology. It makes SNES games appear as pristine as possible on an HD/4KTV without any or as minimal of the fuzziness that happens whenever I try plugging in the composite/RCA cables from a base SNES system into a 4K/HDTV. For those unfamiliar with the Super NT, this video from the My Life in Gaming crew does a thorough dissection of everything it has to offer. The list of options in there is intimidating to mess around with, but this sounds like the way to go if one wants to keep playing their cartridges……although I have to admit I am pretty satisfied currently with the Retron 5 and SNES Classic Edition.

Odds are some of you are quite a bit younger than me and grew up post-SNES lifecycle. Not interested in going down the pricey road of hunting down old cartridges and hardware, and do not want to dabble on the dark side of illegal emulation? Then a terrific alternative is if you have a Switch with Nintendo’s $20/year online service membership and taking advantage of the Nintendo Switch Online and Super Nintendo Switch Online digital game portals. It has unlimited access to the slate of games on there, along with save points as long as your membership remains active. The implementation of save states and the user interface has also improved noticeably over the emulation used for NES & SNES Classic Editions. More importantly, it adds the feature to play online with a friend. Last year I played online SNES games with my nephew, who was wrapping up 6th grade at the time, and this was his first time playing SNES games. He loves Mario Kart 8 on Switch, and so when the first game we played was the original Super Mario Kart, I could not help but crack up when he instantly remarked, “Dale, this looks old!” He eventually came around, and then we had some fun playing co-op , Joe & Mac . A couple of years ago, on my Genesis Flashback Special, I made sure to reminisce of my fond memories of the summer I spent playing nonstop Sega Channel. These NES/SNES Switch portals are essentially the Sega Channel, but far better because it does not cost $15 a month (in 1994 dollars which equals $27.63 today per Google), offers multiple save states, and ability to play online for only $20 a year!!! Kids, get your parents to hook you up now!!! Miscellaneous Quick Hits

SNES games were the most common denominator on six of the 13 episodes I guest hosted on the retro game podcast, Your Parents Basement. Check out their full archives by click or pressing here. -Turns out I did quite a few guest hosting spots on Your Parents Basement Podcast for SNES games. For those that are podcasting fiends and dug the three episodes I linked to already, then I will link you to three more SNES themed episodes I appeared on where I breathed in the Mode 7 skies of Pilotwings, embraced Capcom’s action-platformer prowess in X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, and made sure not to miss any Gatorade and Wheaties health pick-ups in Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City.

-The SNES controller is my favorite pre-disc console era controller. It kept the similar button layout of the NES controller but rounded off the edges into its iconic “dog bone” feel so the controller no longer cramped in your hands! Throw in the two extra face buttons and two additional shoulder buttons, and it opened up all kinds of deeper gameplay possibilities! It made it perfect for most fighting games that used almost all the face and shoulder buttons. I found the shoulder buttons were also smartly implemented in NBA Jam/Hangtime for being assigned to use for turbo speed functionality. As far as other SNES controllers/peripherals go, since I loved the NES Zapper, I always wanted to try the Super Scope, but as a kiddo, its bazooka-sized proportions were kind of intimidating. It still kind of bums me out all these years I never got to experience it with epics like Yoshi’s Safari, T2: The Arcade Game, and Tin Star. I never had an opportunity to use the SNES mouse either, which I kind of regret all these years later after seeing all the marvelous creations from experts at Mario Paint, and it was cool to see some PC ports like Civilization, Doom, and Wolfenstein 3D take advantage of SNES Mouse compatibility.

-The 16-bit era was when fighting games exploded, and as you can tell above, I spent a lot of time with Street Fighter II: Turbo, and the first two Mortal Kombat games. Other than that, though, the only other fighting game on SNES I put significant time into was TMNT Tournament Fighters. It was released at the tail end of the TMNT-mania when the cartoon peaked at its popularity. The game itself was a surprisingly competent licensed fighting game from Konami, and tried its best to feel like a solid Street Fighter-clone. Speaking of them pesky turtles… -…TMNT IV: Turtles in Time was the only beat-em-up brawler I put considerable time into on the SNES. I have vague memories of trying others out once or twice like The Peace Keepers, and Super Double Dragon, but Turtles in Time was the one I frequently revisited over the years. It is a superb rendition of the arcade game, with SNES-exclusive levels like the Technodrome that had a fantastic first-person boss fight against Shredder, where lowly Foot Soldiers had to be chucked right at him to defeat Shredder. The soundtrack is one of my favorite SNES scores, so much so that I went all-in to get the for it! I have so many great memories of this game, with the highlight being my friend Matt and I revisiting this for complete runs of it once every year or two for about a dozen years.

Turtles in Time and FFIII/VI are my favorite SNES soundtracks, but Turtles in Time I own on vinyl so I will embed it here in all its glory for you to enjoy as well!

-The SNES library had a quality slate of racing games. Super Mario Kart quickly rose to the top of the ranks and was always fun to bust through a GP with a friend. Street Racer was one of the first kart-clones to hit in 1994, and for some reason, that one always stuck with me. As did it being one of the few games to have four-player split-screen support with all four screens being horizontal! Rock ‘n Roll Racing is another killer arcade racer on SNES; think of a more beefed up RC Pro-AM, but with a good dose of heavy metal mixed in. This past year saw it re-released as part of the Blizzard Arcade Collection for everyone to experience it! I remember trying out F-Zero at a store kiosk around SNES launch, but was too young at eight years old at the time to fully grasp its style of futuristic racing (or that the name was a riff on F1 racing until a couple of years ago). I was more into a game similar to its style that was the trilogy of Top Gear titles. Uniracers was a quirky racer I enjoyed with its unique aesthetic and one-wheeled racers taking advantage of their nature in races filled with jumps and loop-de-loops….too bad about Pixar holding a grudge against Nintendo and legally forcing them to yank it off shelves. Nintendo’s other racer, Stunt Race FX, was ahead of its time with the polygonal FX-based graphics running pretty chunky on the SNES. Still, it is a commendable piece of 16-bit tech they were just barely able to keep running at a passable-enough framerate. Another FX-chip game that did not originally gel with me was…

-…the original Star Fox. Being 10 when it released in 1993, I thought those polygonal graphics looked blocky and horrendous and would have none of it! Many years later, I would revisit it and rightfully come around on it! -Another Nintendo-published game that received a lot of hype was Donkey Kong Country with its cutting-edge 3D models. They were plastered all over gaming mags at the time. I briefly recall trying out the first and second of the three Donkey Kong Country games on SNES. However, I did not put more time into them because I beat Donkey Kong Land on Game Boy before our family got a SNES, which was just a watered-down port with some remixed levels for the handheld. I enjoyed my time with it, but its disappointingly blunt “congratulations” ending left a bad impression on me, and I never felt like giving the other entries a serious go all these years.

-Some may be wondering why there has yet not been anything dedicated to the pair of Super Mario World titles and Super Mario RPG? Super Mario World was probably one of the first SNES games I tried when I visited my older brother at his first apartment in the early 90s. I think the heavy-duty graphics and trying to comprehend attacking with Yoshi proved to be too much for eight or nine-year-old me at the time. I played it a few other times in my 20s, hanging out with coworkers on retro game nights, and had fun with it, but I think since I was exposed to the NES trilogy more and played the hell out of All-Stars, that those were the versions I preferred more. I appreciated how Nintendo stepped up to Sega’s edgier marketing at the time with Nintendo’s “Play it Loud” marketing campaign. Unfortunately, I think their ad for Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was a bit too extreme for 12-year old Dale at the time. That ad (click here for it if you are feeling daring)was forever planted in my subconscious and always crossed my mind and indirectly caused me to avoid Yoshi’s Island for all these years. I did pick up Super Mario RPG and it is on my “bucket list” of games to play as well. I am holding off on it all these years because I was hanging out with Matt one day, and he explained how he was having a tough time with the final boss, Smithy. Well, he wanted to give me a quick demo to show how unforgiving of a challenge the boss was….but for some reason his clutch gaming skills kicked in right then, and he beat Smithy and was exposed to the ending right then and there!

-As far as other tough SNES games go, the two most challenging for me are easily Contra III: The Alien Wars and Zombie Ate My Neighbors. Contra III is like the first two games on steroids. I love the boss battles and intense walk-n-shoot chaos, but do not love constantly dying in one shot! Zombies Ate My Neighbors is another fun action-platformer that is also equally tough to make it farther than a few levels in unless you seriously dedicate yourself to it. Hey, both of these games also saw re-releases this past year on current consoles with the Contra Anniversary Collection and Zombies Ate My Neighbors & Ghoul Patrol set for those wanting to experience 16-bit nail-biting difficulty (but with save state support!).

I hope this excellent video review from the quintessential retro video game source, Jeremy Parish, suffices for my lack of any meaningful Super Mario World memories here. -In 1997, I was hyped for a late SNES release, the original Harvest Moon. The farm/life/dating-sim series is still around today from publisher Natsume (as well as the original developers parting ways with Natsume and delivering their own competing Story of Seasons series). During the SNES era, I spent several summers out on a farm. I appreciated rural life's solitude and free spirit lifestyle, and that first Harvest Moon game perfectly encapsulated that. Trying to determine the best way to spend the day tending to the fields, livestock and managing a social/family life was surprisingly fun and engaging! Harvest Moon remain one of two games that I submitted a blurry Polaroid photo to Nintendo Power’s “Arena” high score section. I cannot recall if my score got posted or not.

-The original Sim City port on SNES received a lot of love around the SNES launch window, with Nintendo giving it a unique makeover with bonus Nintendo characters in it and an exclusive tutor in the form of Dr. Wright to ease everyone into the simulation gameplay. I never played too much of that version, but one night at Rich’s, the game we decided to rent that night was Sim City 2000. That one was released way late into the SNES lifecycle and lacked any Nintendo extras the first SNES game had. Still, we stayed up all night playing it and looking at our daily news recap and mayor approval ratings and trying to figure out where to stop underwater pipe blockages! It ran slowwww on the SNES, but we tolerated it fine enough at the time because I had yet to play the PC version. Eventually, I would check out the PC version and came away surprised with so much I had to put up within the SNES game. -For those wanting to dare the Super Famicom scene, there are a plethora of great games that never made their way stateside, and better yet, a hearty chunk of them have received English fan translations. I am partial to the FirePro wrestling games that never made it here that are vastly superior to all the American wrestling games I broke down above, BS Out of Bounds Golf is an addicting take on miniature golf, the original Star Ocean, and the Back to the Future platformer that was not a five-star classic by any means, but blew away the poor NES and Genesis games that did release here. If you are not that familiar with the Super Famicom library, this top 50 list from RVG Fanatic is a great place to start your research and very much helped clueing me into a bunch of Super Famicom games I had little-to-no knowledge of. Conclusion

If you are around my age reading this, you may be wondering why I have not gone on about the fabled “16-bit Wars” by now. Rest assured, I experienced it in the lunchroom and at recess and in gaming magazines at the time. I devoured all the side-by-side screenshots in gaming mags of dual-platform releases to see if I could spot which version was better. I want to say back then, I sided with the SNES because I grew up with the NES, but that does not seem like a fair choice since I did not own a SNES until 1996. Reflecting on it, although I experienced a fair amount of RPGs and other games on SNES with Rich, I primarily played endless hours of Genesis games with him back at the time. So whenever I hung out with Rich, I considered myself a Genesis fan, and when I finally got a SNES and grew my SNES library, I considered myself a SNES fan and avoided a lot of the “console wars” trash talk. For younger readers here who want to learn more about the fervor of the 16-bit wars, the book, Console Wars, and its corresponding documentary (which is currently only available on Paramount+/CBS All Access sadly) are my recommended ways to absorb all that hoopla. I will cherish all of the past 30 years of SNES memories and hope you have enjoyed reminiscing with me for the last several thousand words. If you want to hear more of my SNES memories in podcast form, I have a few SNES-centric episodes of my old podcast I recently un-vaulted and have embedded below for your pleasure. They have some of the friends I repeatedly mentioned above as co-hosts that share their SNES experiences and memories, so please load up a random SNES “podcast game” and boot one of these podcasts up for fitting background noise….

10 years ago I did a 20th anniversary SNES special with Matt!

Here is the history of RPG series episode dedicated to the 16-bit era.

Finally, here is Matt and I hosting the 16-bit installment of our history of comic book games series. Bonus Overtime

It would not be a Flashback Special without one random oddball bonus story to wrap it up with. The only Kirby game I ever finished receives that honor. One day, my brother and his friend Jake were over at my place. We were discussing SNES games at some point, and Jake mentioned how Kirby Super Star is his all-time favorite. I said how I never played it and did not think anything of it at the time, but the next time I met up with him and my brother, Jake had the copy of that game with him and insisted on borrowing it to me and said not to give it back until I finished it. I felt this sudden obligation to play through it as a priority, so I did not feel like I was keeping his game hostage. Luckily, Kirby Super Star is a damn fun game, which the front of the box labels as “8 Games in One!” Most of the games are abbreviated-length adventures of only a handful of missions in their unique theme of levels, and a few of the games are mini-games like a race against King DeDeDe. Regardless, almost every game provided that trademark Kirby lighthearted fun and was hard to put down! Kirby’s Dream Course is also a lot of fun on SNES, and is an interesting take of Kirby meets miniature golf! With that anecdote, I will wrap up yet another Flashback Special. Thank you for sticking with me this far, and If you dug reading about my trials and tribulations with Nintendo’s 16-bit machine, please take a look at the other Flashbacks I have linked below!

My Other Gaming Flashbacks Dreamcast 20th Anniversary GameBoy 30th Anniversary Genesis 30th Anniversary NES 35th Anniversary PSone 25th Anniversary PS2 20th Anniversary PSP 15th Anniversary and Neo-Geo 30th Anniversary Saturn and Virtual Boy 25th Anniversaries TurboGrafX-16 30th and 32-X 25th Anniversaries Xbox 360 15th Anniversary

#videogames #super nintendo #nintendo #SNES #Super Mario Kart #super mario world #final fantasy vi #final fantasy iii #shadowrun #nba jam #nba hangtime #Mortal Kombat #mortal kombat ii #turtles in time #teenage mutant ninja turtles #sim city #sim city 2000 #wwf royal rumble #saturday night slam masters #donkey kong country #kirby super star #ncaa basketball

[russianshavefun]

November 7 - the day when October Revolution happened!

Why October 25 (November 7 according to the new calendar) and could a revolution happen on the same day in such a vast country as Russia? What are the Soviets? Did all the Bolsheviks want to kill the Tsar? And is it true that nothing would have happened without Lenin?

Why did the Bolsheviks decide to act on October 25?

Vladimir Lenin, who was hiding from the authorities in Finland, began to insist on an armed uprising against the government.

Lev Trotsky, chairman of the Petrograd Soviet, and other Bolshevik members of the Petrograd Soviet did not think that the government would peacefully cede power.

Other members of the Bolshevik Central Committee believed that power itself was falling into the hands of the party.

On October 24, the government, which feared a coup, ordered that loyalist troops be drawn to the Winter Palace, that opposition newspapers be closed, and that members of the Provisional Revolutionary Committee be arrested.

In response, the Bolsheviks took action on October 25.

How did this happen? Seized the Winter Palace, arrested the Tsar and declared new power?

On the night of October 24-25, armed detachments of the Provisional Revolutionary Committee, consisting of soldiers and workers, occupied the train stations, the telephone exchange, the telegraph office and other key facilities in Petrograd (Saint-Petersburg). All this occurred with little or no resistance from government troops.

Petrograd continued to live its life: theaters, stores and streetcars ran.

Only in the late evening of October 25, movement through the center of the city was impeded by pickets of armed soldiers and sailors. By that time the Provisional Government controlled only Palace Square and the Winter Palace, where the ministers themselves were located.

At about ten o'clock in the evening they heard a blank shot from the cruiser Aurora: it was a signal that the building was about to be fired on. A cannonade from the cannons of the Peter and Paul Fortress followed. Then most of the troops defending the government refused to continue the defense and left Palace Square. After a brief assault the Winter Palace was occupied by the troops of the Provisional Revolutionary Committee, and the ministers were arrested. And what, a revolution in such a vast country happened in one day?

Of course not. Despite the existence of the telegraph, the news of the coup spread through the country very slowly, and the establishment of the new government lasted until the spring of 1918.

Is it true that without Lenin the revolution would not have taken place?

Lenin was one of the most famous and authoritative figures among the Bolsheviks. However, he was not the only one to make decisions: all the key issues were discussed at meetings of the Central Committee of the Bolsheviks, which brought together from 10 to 20 people.

The general strategy of action of the party was approved at congresses and conferences, held legally since 1917. Hundreds of delegates from all over the country participated.

In order to convince the party of the correctness of his ideas, Lenin had to prove his point of view at a variety of meetings. This was also the case with preparations for armed action against the Provisional Government: in the first half of October, Lenin persuaded individual Central Committee members and, as a result, convinced the majority of the need for an uprising. It is quite likely that even without Lenin's insistence a new phase of the revolution would have begun, but it would have taken other forms.

Did the workers and peasants support the revolution, while the rest were against it?

Proponents and opponents of the October Revolution could not be divided on the basis of their social background. Many saw the coup as just another government crisis and waited for the elections to the Constituent Assembly, which was to determine the path of the country's development.

Is it true that the revolution was set up by other countries to win World War I?

Germany really had a vested interest in getting its adversaries out of the war. Before the revolution, large sums of money were allocated to "revolutionizing" the Entente countries. But in the end such agitation was ineffective.

Despite careful searches by historians and journalists over the past hundred years, no evidence has yet been found that Germany sponsored the Bolsheviks.

The only favor the Germans did the Bolsheviks was to allow Lenin and some other revolutionary émigrés to return from Switzerland to Russia through their territory.

Did all the revolutionaries want to kill the tsar?

No.

After the arrest of Nicholas II there was a long discussion in revolutionary circles about his fate. It was proposed to send the family of the former emperor abroad, to transfer to strict custody, to leave in detention or go into exile.

After the activation of the White movement, when there was a threat of the White forces seizing the city and releasing the former emperor, the local authorities made an urgent decision to execute the whole family and their entourage. The execution of Nicholas II was approved in Moscow after the fact.

The revolutionaries seemed to have normal ideas - equality and democracy. Why did mass murder begin?

In the case of the October Revolution, it is not quite right to talk about proclaiming democracy in the literal sense of the word. It was a question of equalizing rights and extending a variety of freedoms to the lower classes.

Only the workers and soldiers, and then the peasants, elected the new organs of power, the Soviets.

At first, the Bolsheviks did not regard the formerly privileged classes as a dangerous and powerful enemy against whom repression would be necessary.

The October events, of course, were not bloodless. Throughout the country, armed clashes, lynchings, and terrorist attacks killed members of both sides of the budding confrontation. The Council of People's Commissars established the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission (VChK, or Che-ka for short) to combat counterrevolution and sabotage. But even it did not impose capital punishment for the first few months.

On September 5, 1918, the Red Terror was proclaimed, which was used as a means of intimidating opponents of Soviet power.

#soviet #ussr history #world history #russia #culture #ussr #fact #october #october revolution #october resistance #bolsheviks #união soviética #russian #russian culture #moscow #saint petersburg #petrograd #vladimir lenin #lenin #comunismo #trotsky

[seymour-butz-stuff]

On July 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued recommendations that surprised many Americans. In looking ahead to the upcoming school year, the agency recommended that “masks should be worn indoors by all individuals (age 2 and older) who are not fully vaccinated,” but did not call for mask use by staff or older students who were fully vaccinated.

That announcement was concerning in large part because several Republican-dominated states have already passed legislation or issued executive orders banning schools from requiring vaccination, or making any sort of “vaccine passport” illegal. As a result, saying that the unvaccinated don’t need to wear a mask is essentially placing people on an honor system. That system doesn’t work when the same people who refuse to get vaccinated are also the people who refuse to wear a mask. If anyone is allowed to not wear a mask, the unvaccinated will not wear a mask.

Which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) issued its own revised guidelines on Wednesday. Those guidelines call for everyone over two years old—students, teachers, and staff—to wear masks in the school environment whether or not they have been vaccinated. In doing so, the AAP notes that rates of in-school transmission have been generally low, a fact often cited by Republicans when claiming that there should be no concern about schools. However, as the statement makes clear, those numbers have been low “when proper prevention measures are used.” That means masks and social distancing, along with vaccines for those who are old enough.

And schools are just one place where masks are making a necessary comeback.

As NPR reports, some schools won’t be able to meet these guidelines. Because Republicans have already sabotaged the system to place children at maximum risk. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has already signed on to legislation that says schools can’t require anyone to wear a mask, including visiting adults. South Carolina has also prohibited school districts from mandating masks for either students or staff.

However, there are some states on the side of reason. Washington is already on track with the AAP guidelines, with regulations requiring schools to require both students and staff to be masked indoors.

States that are following the CDC guidance and requiring masks only for the unvaccinated have the issue of either tracking vaccination status, which some states have already forbidden, or simply letting it go. Which really means there are just two positions: masks or no masks. With children’s lives subject to the whims of those who would rather thump their chest about “freedom” than accept the advice of medical experts.

With the delta variant now making up a staggering 83% of new COVID-19 cases in the United States, even areas where vaccination rates are high are seeing increased cases of disease. The good news is that the rate of death is way down because many people—including 80% of those over age 65 nationwide—are fully vaccinated. The bad news is that there are still indications that even asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 can leave lingering disabilities, and the delta variant may be worse. So young people may not be dying from the disease in the short term, but they could be living with its effects for decades. With the U.S. now well above the rate of 1,000 cases an hour, it’s hard to contemplate what kind of cost could result if even a small percentage of those infected have lingering issues.

So … masks on. Los Angeles County has responded to rising cases there by reinstating a mask mandate. As the LA Times reports, masks are required indoors for everyone—vaccinated or unvaccinated—just like the AAP guidelines suggest. Unfortunately, officials in both New York City and Chicago are resisting the implementation of a universal mask mandate. Hopefully that resistance won’t last, because the Times research shows what everyone else has seen: The unvaccinated are the least likely to voluntarily don a mask.

The results are striking: In each scenario, respondents who have not been vaccinated were more likely to say they would not wear a mask than those who have received at least one vaccination shot. Nearly half of the unvaccinated say they would not wear a mask at a party (49%) or a grocery store (48%), despite explicit requests for them to do so.

Mask refusal rates among the unvaccinated were slightly less when we asked about the post office (43%) and work (37%) but still greater than among vaccinated respondents. Further, the survey showed that about 15% of all adults are both unvaccinated and unwilling to wear masks when asked to in public.

What this means is that while a voluntary mask mandate may be somewhat helpful, when it comes to blocking those most likely to spread COVID-19, it is guaranteed to fail. Only a universal mandate can possibly be effective.

Republicans out for no reason than to start an argument (see Paul, Rand) may sputter over the fact that there’s very little chance of the vaccinated spreading the virus, and they’re right. But the vaccinated have to wear masks because the unvaccinated have proven they can’t be trusted. Even the fact that they are unvaccinated seriously impugns their judgment.

In spite of everything, including the rapid spread of delta variant, the vaccines remain amazingly effective. As of July 12, the CDC reports just 5,490 “breakthrough” cases of COVID-19 in which fully vaccinated Americans developed a severe case of COVID-19. That’s 0.003% of those who have been vaccinated. Estimates of COVID-19 deaths over the last month suggest that 99% to 99.5% have occurred among the unvaccinated.

Those who are fully vaccinated should feel pretty good about their chances for avoiding the disease, and extremely good about their odds of avoiding a severe case requiring hospitalization. When they stroll through a world, they can smile broadly in the knowledge that their odds of serious illness are only marginally different than they were before COVID-19 first appeared.

But hide that smile behind a mask. Because those other guys can’t be trusted.

[you-are-crazy-beautiful]

S3 thoughts after complete rewatch

Please give me your thoughts and ideas. I’ll be blunt. Season 3 is bad. Really bad. There is absolutely no continuity between s2 and s3. I was joking that even though it’s meant to be set 6 months later, it could really be anytime after. I even would think I was watching an episode in the middle of a season if I was just shown 3x01 with no info. I feel that there is also a complete disregard to the tone of the show, despite Suzanne stating how it’s important to keep that. I do feel that Suzanne talks the talk more than she walks the walk. 

1.       When asked about the multiple POV Suzanne stated ‘those two women as the lynchpin relationship of the show. Their journeys are always at the spine of the story’. ‘all of them (new characters) have a really exciting energy, and really challenge the main characters’. I would argue completely against Eve and Villanelle and their relationship being the focus of this season. There are times and whole episodes when I feel there is almost a disconnect from each other. These two are absolutely, unhealthily addicted to each other. I think the amount of scenes they have together is perfect and almost the usual, but when they aren’t together, you know they are never normally far from each other’s mind. I would especially say I find it strange after V has finally got the kiss she has been waiting for 3 seasons, which would make her devotion go even more through the roof, she only has one Eve related moment (the cake) before phoning Eve after seeing each other at the train station in ep 7. They could have nearly sunk them!

·       Konstantin and Carolyn even overshadowed Eve and had more character development this season. Besides from Dasha, I would also say the new characters hardly gave anything to the plot such as Aubrey, Paul, and Geraldine. It even took me a while to remember these characters names. Paul you could take out of the season and nothing would change except that Carolyn wouldn’t have had another person to shoot in 3x08. I think Geraldine was a good character to have for Carolyn to show how she personally grieves, but why did they keep having the same scenes again and again? What the heck was that thing with Geraldine and Konstantin? I’m still unclear on how Dasha and Villanelle’s relationship came about and what happened. How old was Villanelle? How long was Dasha her mentor for? It seems like they forgot that they had Konstantin saying to V in 3x02 about Dasha doing something to her and the way Villanelle attacked Dasha upon seeing her again, that they just quickly wrote the hospital scene in 3x08. I was so confused what was happening. Did they mean Dasha shot at Villanelle because ‘she wasn’t ready’ as in emotionally or physically? Did Dasha actually manage to shoot her? Didn’t they allude to Konstantin being the one to recruit her from the prison in s1, so how did she not stay with him? How did she escape Dasha? It seemed random that Dasha just happened to die when Konstantin was there, when he said she was going to die in the hospital. I thought he had done something, but apparently not?

2. When asked what she was most excited about the audience seeing, Suzanne said Villanelle and Eve’s journey. This is her quote about Eve. ‘Similarly with Eve, we really get to see deeper layers of Eve, and her really coming to terms with the person she is now. She’s forever changed because of what happened to her and what she’s been through, and it’s really about seeing her now, this new version of herself, and her acceptance of herself, which is very exciting and really takes her into new places’. I really just have to laugh. Where is it? It is absolutely ridiculous how little Eve was developed and ignored this season. When you guys do a rewatch, I highly recommend to at least watch 2x08 before going into s3 because it really just highlights the difference and how nuts it is that they dropped Eve by so much! I really don’t understand how it’s even possible. Coming into the show there are many ways you could go wrong. However, it’s not like it’s an easy thing to cut out the lead of your show! Especially when that character had the most exciting things happen to them in the finale of s2. The things I was most excited about going into s3 was seeing how Eve was coping with knowing she has the ability to kill someone. I can’t believe they did not bring up that Eve had killed someone once in the whole of s3!!! Like @kassies​ stated, it’s like Suzanne just took one line and things she liked and disregarded everything else. Suzanne practically said in the BBC sounds podcast that she had this idea of mummy issues, which personally I don’t think there is any evidence of except the fact V is attracted to older women, like most wlw are. If anything there is more evidence she would have daddy issues with her history of castrations and the many times she comments that she finds it strange that Konstantin hasn’t tried to have sex with her. After the line ‘most of’ her family were dead she stated she could go down that route! She practically wrote the whole season just based on this. She hasn’t even taken the quote correctly, as like others have pointed out, most of her family were actually alive and it was only her dad who was dead. I loved episode 5 originally but on my rewatch with the whole season it really seemed strange. When I first watched it I thought the next episode was going to be largely devoted to Eve so I wasn’t so bothered that it was a whole V ep. However, considering Eve was hardly given anything in ep6, I really don’t see how a whole V episode was needed. The annoying thing was this season could have been the best yet. With Eve and Villanelle both discovering themselves and meeting at the end. It was that, but with hardly any Eve content and I feel they are so lucky they managed to pull it off in the last 2 eps, and that’s largely down to what s1+2 accomplished. Again, ep5 just seems like a way for Suzanne to explore her mummy issues story, as there is nothing really juicy or pivotal for the plot. Why not really show how the twelve have had their eye on V since she was little. Have the mum saying a man told her V was dead, as Konstantin did with Anna in s1? It would have added so much more to the twelve. Especially when the big thing about V this season is her wanting away from the control the twelve have on her. Why not show just how much?

I actually had no idea what Eve was thinking for most of the season and from what I do know and think is based on what I know of this character from the previous 2 seasons. Maybe this is just me not getting it, but I thought Eve was in the kitchen because she was in denial and I kept waiting for her to get a breakthrough and embrace her true self. It wasn’t until Sandra said Eve was actually showing strength by working in the kitchen, and by saying ‘no’ to working in the front, that I was like ‘oh’ that’s what it’s meant to mean. I actually feel so sad for Sandra because I can’t imagine what she must have been thinking with Eve’s treatment this season. I actually feel there are even moments in the season that delibrately stop Eve’s development. For example that lazy line of ‘lucky those tourists found you’. How? I know irl it’s a tourist attraction, but in the show they had to break into a tunnel to access it. I also don’t like the scene with Jamie. You could say it highlights the line in the finale ‘I think we all have monsters’ but I feel like it invalidates just how different Eve and Villanelle are from other people. Jamie taking his kids to the zoo when high is hardly the same as Eve hacking a man to death with an axe. 

 This is already so long, and I could go on and on, but I’m just going to point out  some issues and plot holes.

. Kenny’s death was meant to be the biggest storyline of the whole season and what got Eve back into the story. However, she only looked into his death in ep3 and never again. Carolyn didn’t even really look into his death and all we got was constant scenes with her and Geraldine. Why couldn’t we have gotten Eve and Carolyn doing real detective work like in s1 as was implied was going to happen in ep3? I don’t even feel like they actually thought through his death as it was ‘solved’ by Bear who despite apparently not thinking Kenny had commited suicide from the beginning and wanting access to his phone, apparently did not think to check a camera he had set up until weeks later?! I don’t think it’s possible Kenny fell off the roof as in ep4 when Eve chucks the cake, the wall comes up near to her chest. You could not fall off that. He also would have screamed when falling. I also don’t even know how the twelve knew Kenny was looking into the accounts. Especially if they knew Kenny was looking into it, and knew money was being taken, how did it take them so long to kill the accountant? Laura could develop this in s4, but I feel as though it was Suzanne’s job to follow through with this storyline. 

. How did Konstantin know what V looked like as a baby? Where did he see the photo? Why did they make a point to highlight that she was with someone in the photo and Konstantin really didn’t seem to want to tell her, yet the next episode he handed over her family right away? As much as I love Villanelle’s journey, on a rewatch, the family story seemed to almost come out of nowhere in ep3 and then the next episode she had the information and went home. Why not introduce the idea in ep 1?

. How would Puyter know that it was his sister? Upon immediately seeing her he knew it was Oksana. I don’t think it says how old they were, but he is younger than V, and we saw how old she was in the pics, I really don’t think he would recognise her, especially when he thinks she is dead. 

. Why is there not pictures of the dad? Even if the mum was saddened by his death as she really seemed to love him, why would she not have any photos? Also with how much she seems to be scared and despise V, why would she keep the photos of her? Did the dad die while Villanelle was still there or is she just taking he’s dead as he’s not there. I thought they were going to reveal that the dad was still alive and part of the twelve but nope.

. Why was Rhian so scared of V at the train station? I know she’s the demon with no face, but Rhian was ready to be moving into Villanelle’s shoes, and you can even see V is struggling to kill her, so why does Rhian act so scared and back herself onto the edge of the platform? That moment feels so disgenuous to me and at one point I though Rhian was acting. 

. How did Carolyn know Helene and that V was working for her? Is it a plot hole or something to be explored in s4?

. Why was Eve acting like she didn’t know Villanelle was responsible for the Catalan murder in ep4 when we know she can tell V’s kills after a sec (as seen in ep6) and even after Carolyn had shown her the photo and said it was V?

. They didn’t even seem to give much attention to Eve’s scar or wound. It was not where it was in 2x08. I know they said that they were going to move around where she had been shot, but when Suzanne was asked why the scar was different she said she wanted it to seem like Villanelle went for the kill shot, despite saying in other interviews that she doesn’t think Villanelle did try or want to kill Eve. The scar’s even so weird. I’m no expert, so that it maybe how they look, but it doesn’t even look like a bullet wound. Would the bullet not have left a round mark? 

. Why did they keep Niko around for so long? I personally loved where Emerald had taken it in 2x07 and was excited to see where Niko was. Maybe he was up for the murder of Gemma. It would have been another good opportunity to see Eve's skewed morals. A part of her being flattered that Villanelle killed Gemma as sort of revenge for stepping on Eve. Instead it got completely swept under the rug in 3x01 too by Niko saying mi6 said she killed herself. What happened? How did they find him? It doesn't even make sense now why V killed her. However, I would say there was also something symbolic about him ending up in a rehabilitation retreat because Eve and her actions has 'broken' him. It was quite powerful for his character to tell Eve he deserved better than her. Because he does. He basically told her to p*ss off there. Why make the little time Eve is being given to another ep where she chases him down, for him to get brutally attacked in a way that is so ridiculous that he would survive it borders on a soap opera. I thought the reason he survived was to give a big Eve moment of her saying her acceptance that she can't have a normal life. Instead they just had the same convo as 3x01 with him telling her to p*ss off. Then a scene with Eve looking at him and leaving. What is going on in her head? Why are you not giving her anything? We didn't even get to see her dealing with the act happening.

. This brings me onto the point of it. It could of had so much impact, yes it was cool because Eve knew it wasn't V, but there could have been so much more given to it. Such as Dasha saying to V in the lift in 3x07 about her having someone waiting for her back home, how Dasha has just destroyed the thread between the only person V cares about. It would have made V hitting her with the golf club so much more delicious.

. Villanelle saying to Konstantin that she didn't want him to die in 3x07 and looking upset. Yet in 3x08 she looks almost excited about the fact he's about to be shot?

. It also annoys me so much that Raymond was just discarded and we still know nothing about the twelve. I thought this season was really going to dive into them, but we don't know anymore about them than we did at the start of the season. After rewatching 2x08 I really wish they had explored the twelve thru Raymond. If you wanted to give Konstantin more why not have him in with the twelve and the consequences of 2x08? Raymond saying 'Some would say I'm a real somebody'. 'They will take you apart for this'. 'After today a lot of people are going to be angry'. How high was Raymond? The implications that V+E were in so much danger after killing Raymond. Then it's 6 months later and Dasha just says they've been watching V for months. Were they watching Eve? Who knows nobody cares about Eve this season😒 Why bring in new members of the twelve like Paul, make brand new stories such as Kenny's death and the money, to just kill Paul and not resolve them.

I really don't understand how the twelve haven't killed V yet. She screws up all the time from s1 onwards. I get she is amazing at her job but they have others such as Rhian. Why do they let her get away with it? It was confusing me so much this season. I thought they were going to make her dad a member of the twelve and that's how she's protected.

. The title cards and intro. By now you might all be thinking she's just tearing everything apart. Trust me, there are moments of s3 I love and that is why it's so frustrating. Laura's 3 eps are some of my fave of the show so fingers crossed that means good things for s4. I felt she grasped the original tone of the show. So speaking of staying true to the show, I don't understand why they were changing the format of the title cards. Sometimes it was funny 'p*ss off forever' and 'this is bullshit'. Yet, it also really threw me off because it's not what usually happens. I'm all for new things being tried, yet I actually find myself questioning what wasn't changed and what was kept original? The names coming up in 3x04...I can't even. This is more of a personal take as I know some people really liked them, but when it was coming up 'Eve' I was just sitting there thinking 'I know that's Eve. I've been watching her for 3 years'.

Why was there only a title sequence in 2 episodes? Suzanne got asked and said that it was only ep2 and ep7 that felt right. I mean...I'm pretty sure it could have worked in all of them. I loved the title sequences so much, and was so excited when that drop fell and they started in ep2. Then I was so confused when none of the next ones had it. Episode 7 is one of my favourite episodes of the whole show, and that title sequence is just *chef's kiss*. My point really is that it came across to me as an experiment as they only did certain things in one episode and never again, and it made me uncomfortable.

#killing eve #villaneve