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chirpsythismorning · 1 year

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Hi! I can't stop thinking... Why so many people insist that Will doesn't have / can't have powers, only the connection with Henry-the Mind Flayer? Some of them are so sure, they even make fun of who thinks that Will with some sort of powers could be the plot twist that changes the way we see the whole story.... I think that would be awesome, not ridiculous.

Many milvan fans think that, and Henry's stans too. But what's the problem? Character in a sci-fi show about superpowers has powers. Wow. Unbelivable.

Don't get me wrong, we all have our own biases (a lot of toxic milkvans vehemently deny the possibility of Will having powers, for obvious reasons), but what I think it really comes down to the original intention of the Duffers in terms of Will what they always had planned for him.

A lot of fans think that certain concepts being explored would just be flat out bad, assuming those concepts come out of nowhere, and/or in a way that feels like we've been cheated.

For example, a lot of fans feel strongly about not wanting the show to ever involve time travel at any point, with most fans agreeing on this to a large extent, arguing that it would feel like a cheap reset, changing our entire understanding of the overall show.

You could also make the argument that a lot of Redditors feel this way about the possibility of byler whenever it's brought up genuinely, where they say it's not possible because there weren't enough signs to support it and so if byler did happen, it would ruin the show.

The main problem with this, is that we're assuming that the story hasn't already hinted about these things, with the intention to explore them from the moment they hinted at them.

Like when it comes to time travel, we have a main character that goes missing who is literally dressed like Marty McFly from Back to the Future, which was a film also referenced a lot in s3. Not only that, but time itself has been referenced A LOT since the very beginning. And we even have the upside down stuck on the very moment Will went missing on Nov 6th 1983 (in his Marty McFly fit). And so yes we can have our doubts about it being as good as we hope based on other media and how they've all depicted time travel, but to say it wouldn't be fitting or it would be coming out of nowhere would be naive.

And same with byler. There are definitely signs, it's a matter of being willing to acknowledge them, actual view them and think about them each individually and all together (assuming you are willing to do that). If you're willing to do that then it suddenly is an undeniable obvious direction that the show is going. And yet there are plenty of people out there that will never see it that way, until it's spelled out to them with everything being explained.

I think what it all comes down to is the show itself having hints over the seasons, with it being apart of the Duffers original plan from the beginning, to some extent.

No matter what, even if I don't like a choice they make about a certain concept, I don't know if I could critique them that much about it if it was actually intentionally put there from the beginning? Like props to them, I'm not gonna be mad if at the very least, it fits? That would be my main concern, that it came out of nowhere with no signs. But I doubt that's going to be the case for the surprises we have in store for the final season, TBH I think all of them will have been foreshadowed at some point.

And that also goes for Will having powers. I can see why fans might be against it, because they are choosing to imagine that it would go down in the most unsatisfying way possible. And they're also choosing to not look deeper at things that clearly hint at it over the seasons, all because of a bias based on whatever they feel that's stopping them from that, big or small.

Personally, I'm a twelvegate truther at the moment, and so I have my own thoughts when it comes to the likelihood of Will having powers in some capacity (yes). And I genuinely came to that conclusion based on hints in the details since the first episode.

People need to realize, the Duffers want more than anything for the show to have rewatch value forever and ever. And by making all these hints really subtle in the details from the very beginning, only to be revealed at the end, they are not only shocking the people experiencing it in real time, but they're also setting it up in a way that makes it even more satisfying for future generations. Not only is rewatch value being considered, because I would argue that's the most important, but also think about all the people that will hear about ST in the upcoming years, knowing how it ended because it was spoiled to them in passing. Those kind of viewers would immensely enjoy those details about time travel or byler or Will having powers, stretching all the way to the beginning.

Right now so many people brush off the details as unimportant, and we're able to do this freely because we still don't have all the answers yet. That's fair for now. But when we do get all the answers in the end, people will have everything in front of them waiting to be confronted, it'll just be a matter of everyones willingness to accept it as reality at that point, even if it's not what we might have thought we wanted based on what we were/weren't willing to see.

#stranger things #byler #will has powers #stranger things predictions #twelvegate #i don't even know what i think about wills powers yet #i'm somewhere in between #time powers #creation powers #fire powers #somewhere in between #regardless i'm excited to see where it goes #because there are a lot of possiblities

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bronyinabottle · 3 years

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Post-Trailer Generation 5 Thoughts

So, a trailer for the beginning of G5 has now been released. And as promised, I am having a supplementary post to my preliminary thoughts and concerns heading into G5. Though I do first want to answer something I’m sure some might be curious about and that’s if G5 will have any bearing on I Dream of Twilight Sparkle. Given the thing about it being supposedly being the same Equestria at least according to mentions of the Mane 6 as the ancient times and by execs.

G5’S EFFECT ON I DREAM OF TWILIGHT SPARKLE

I will go ahead and say that no, other then if there’s maybe a part of the movie and/or upcoming series I want to make some sort of reference to for any reason that G5 will not happen in the IDOTS universe. The thing about the premise of G5 contradicts a huge thing that’s part of Secrets of the Dragon’s Tear in that Life itself is Magic. With presumably years and years of no magic, G5’s world wouldn’t exist. It’d be the lifeless wasteland that was seen in the Season 5 finale. I will stay firmly on G4 characters as I still have plenty I want to do with them. I’ve once thought about ending I Dream of Twilight Sparkle on the 10th anniversary of the blog next year. But that might not be enough time to fully explore everything I want to do post-Secrets of the Dragon’s Tear. So rest assured I have lots of plans still without having to dive into G5 material.

Another huge difference in IDOTS case that I will point out is that thousands of years by now as I imagine is implied by G4 being Ancient Equestria in G5. Is that Twilight (and Spike too, who will probably be full size at that point) will still be around. And even the others of the Mane 6 and other characters of the G4 generation will likely be able to guide the living as summonable spirits. I doubt under that context that the world of Equestria deteriorates to G5’s situation with this all in mind.

(More after the break)

REITERATING THE CONCERNS ABOUT THE G4-G5 CONNECTION

But now to actually get the trailer itself, it generally shows what we know already but this is the first time we see a little bit in how they’re executing it in motion and acting. They are going to continue mentioning that G4 is the ancient times of this world with the only reason Pony relations that seems to have deteriorated is the long passage of time. Which seems like a terrible interpretation of time. Division still happens in our world especially in the politics side of things but thousands of years ago (or even just a few hundred years ago) it was far worse then it is now with authoritarian empires, monarchies, and enslavement of people everywhere. There’s not a period of history from thousands of years ago that most of us look to have again like Sunny will for Twilight’s reign.

If we are to take it at face value that G5 happened after G4, the peaceful world we saw in The Last Problem where not just all 3 pony types but even non-pony species popullate many areas of Equestria and live in harmony. Even if perhaps you’re not a fan of one or both of the final two seasons of the show, The Last Problem showed that Twilight’s friendship school accomplished it’s goal in helping Equestria reach out to other places in the world. It’s hard to see from that point how things can deteriorate where things seem to be far worse then Celestia’s sole rule of 1,000 years. Or to go even further, it seems to have gotten just as bad if not worse then the Hearth’s Warming story of the founding of Equestria. It’s arguably worse then even the Hearth’s Warming story since even if it was obvious the three types of ponies hated each other, they tolerated each other enough to bargain the necessities at that point. The earth ponies would make the food if the Unicorns move the sun and moon and the Pegasi help with the weather. But as seen in the trailer even one sighting of a unicorn in an Earth pony town puts the whole place in a panic.

Speaking of the Hearth’s Warming story they’re going to have explain why the Windigoes aren’t currently ravaging the planet in Ice and Snow like in the story if we’re to truly believe this is the G4 world we know. Somehow I feel they’re not going to for that deep cut in terms of the lore of G4. I think any connection to G4 is going to be treated more as an afterthought. References to Twilight and her friends, the toys in Sunny’s house, and murals to the past the only huge indications that G4 was the ancient past and never explaining how things got where they are now. I believe this is an attempt of Hasbro to bake it’s cake and eat it too. They want to try to retain G4’s popularity heading into G5 so they try to say G5 is the same exact world even when so much of the evidence we’ve seen so far is too different to be world we knew. (I know there’s a map that shows the Pegasi have what might have once been Canterlot. But there still needs to be more) I feel like most fans going into this should go into this thinking this is a totally new world despite the references to G4. Or even perhaps the ancient G4 isn’t the same G4 we saw in the show. Maybe the Friendship school never happened in this timeline for example. An alternate universe G4 where they never developed the school might make this at least somewhat more palatable. Though even then there’d still be questions.

Another note in the story is as a sort of flipped from G4. Where Canterlot had Unicorns seem to make up most of the rich upper-class ponies. The pegasi seem to be the upper-class and/or royals this time while the Unicorns are actually the poorest of the three and Earth Ponies are middle-class. I slightly joked after hearing that maybe this is a universe where Cozy Glow actually got what she wanted given she was a Pegasus heh. Not that makes any sense either, as there’s probably no honoring of the Mane 6 if they got defeated by a Pegasus filly.

BOOK LEAK

On the same day of the trailer we also got something of a leak of book that comes out next week that recaps the movie in a children’s book style (Don’t worry I won’t spoil anything from it, but yes I did see the scans). Now naturally not all details of an entire movie is probably going to get in a picture book with small excerpts of text on a 32 page book. But it does generally give an outline of how the movie goes. The scans give enough of an outline of how the movie will go. I just have too much concern about G5 to resist knowing how the movie will go to wait until the movie releases. I still intend to see the movie itself but it’ll sort of give me an idea of what we’re in for. For a spoiler-free review of what I know, I think under it’s own merits if we ignore the G4 elephant in the room it’ll probably be a decent way to start things.

FANDOM REACTION

I think if the context was G5 was it’s own separate universe with no connection to G4 it could potentially have some standing on it’s own and will probably have young kids enjoy the movie that see G5 before they see Friendship is Magic. For older fans of G4 though, heading into this generation there’s going to be a lot of things preoccupying the mind before we even start watching the movie. Having G4 as the ancient past has something of a pro of at least getting some fans who liked FiM to at least give this a chance, but at the cost of leaving certain expectations and putting some of the creative freedom in a bind because to tell us this is the same world means you will have fans pointing out contradictions where as there would be no concern if this world was allowed to be it’s own thing The writers and staff of G5 are going to have fans that criticize them for any choice they make that doesn’t fit with G4 in some way. I’m not going to be one of them of course, as that’s annoying behavior even if I agree with the fan who’s criticizing them. And fans have plenty to already raise an eyebrow at, such as normal animals oddly having wings and/or horns when normal animals tended to be just normal animals in G4 (Albeit alot more sentient then real life animals).

LACK OF NON-PONIES?

There also doesn’t seem to be any sign of the other species that became more prominent in late G4. There’s not even a Spike from what we can see thus far. Unless maybe there’s a 6th main character that gets introduced in the beginning of the series that has a little dragon companion this would be the first time since maybe My Little Pony Tales that there was no Spike. I imagine we will get the return of some non-pony species.but it’s still going to be an elephant in the room because the end of G4 showed that basically all other species became allies to the ponies. Did relations to the non-ponies also deteriorate terribly? And there’s also the possibility that many of the Dragons have long enough lives that they remember Twilight’s reign. Maybe even a possibility of full-grown Spike making an appearance in the series. But then there’s still griffins, hippogriffs/seaponies, yaks, kirins, changelings, and more. You keep the world of G4 you have to keep in mind all the species that played a role at some point. If you ignore them for too long it’s another point to those who might feel that this isn’t truly G4’s world.

ALICORNS

I won’t say much on subject of Alicorns since I already mentioned that in the preliminary thoughts, though I will reiterate things like even if say we overestimated the immortality of Alicorns they may still need to point out that Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and probably Flurry Heart too are all gone. There doesn’t seem to be any signs of Alicorns at all. To be honest it might be that the only real Alicorn reference is the possibility during the scene where Izzy disguises everyone as unicorns. Someone manages to see either Zipp’s or Pipp’s wings and thus they get a lot of unwanted attention. (And in contrast probably one of the non-Izzy main characters horn disguise falling off)

CONFLICT AND HAPPY ENDING OVERRIDES

I get that the main response to concerns of G4 fans is there has to be some sort of conflict for this series to be interesting as otherwise you go back to the too saccharine days of G3 where the conflicts leave almost no danger to the world at large. But we can still point out that if this was presented as it’s own world separate from G4 this would be ok. But not the same world where Sunny’s goal had been more then already achieved. It doesn’t lay the blame at the Mane 6 for failing at the very least but it certainly looks down at all their descendants generations later of being unable to withhold the Mane 6’s lessons and keep the peace. They had the solutions for divisions mostly solved, yet it’s somehow squandered. It won’t be easy to swallow for anyone who loved the conclusive happy ending FiM got. And even for fans who weren’t as into the ending as others they’re only being vindictive if they say it makes their criticism of the ending valid.

The point is the series ended as happily as it could of gotten, and you will bug fans no matter what you do if you attempt a happy ending override. Just look at how for example the Last Jedi bothered some Star Wars fans with Luke’s characterization after the joyful end to the original trilogy.

HARD ACT TO FOLLOW & DIVISIVE FANDOM MOMENTS

Now, even if G5 had none of the pre-conditioned concerns it would have a lot to live up to. G4 is the absolute highest peak MLP has ever gotten to. Hasbro’s going to try to repeat the same success but it’s a lot more likely G4 remains a lightning in a bottle that can’t be repeated. And any attempt to recapture that lightning such as applying G4 as the ancient past is looking to backfire. It’s very likely that even if G5 is generally a success, Hasbro will not reap the same benefits that it got from G4. The cost of a big success is the pursuit of attempting to repeat that success but ultimately not working out quite the same way. I don’t wish any ill will of Generation 5, I want it to have an audience and the staff to enjoy themselves working on the show. I don’t think it will quite capture the same attention I gave to G4 but that’s ok. This is how Hasbro’s operated for decades, as I’m sure Transformers fans have gone through the same feeling.

There are shows that have maintained fandoms for years despite the show having ended more then 10 years ago. I don’t think Friendship is Magic is going to be forgotten anytime soon. There are sure to be clashes about G5 in the coming years as it’s impossible to control an entire fandom that will have it’s vocal parts at eachother’s throats. But I don’t plan on looking down on anyone who ends up enjoying G5, I hope in some way there are those who may enjoy G5 as much as we did G4. And also for said G5 fans to respect those who continue to do mainly G4 content. I plan to give G5 a chance to grow on me, I just know the G4 is the past concept is going to somewhat bother me in a similar way to how for a long while Starlight’s lack of a full-fledged backstory prevented me from looking at her character with nothing but lukewarm feelings (Until I expanded on her myself in a story after the show’s ending). But just like with Starlight I don’t plan to rain on the parade of those who did end up liking Starlight. Especially considering I’m probably among the fans that were on the other side of those arguments as someone who liked the idea of Alicorn Twilight despite how divisive it was. I’ve been somewhat on both sides of different controversies in G4’s time itself. As G4 itself had it’s own divisive parts in it’s own history. Arguably, G5 being the distant future makes it just another part of those fandom controversies.

Though even with everything that happened a positive side of all of those is there were many fans invested one way or another to get heated about the show. Not saying it’s a good thing to have fans at each other’s throats but it’s part of G4’s legacy that people cared when something disappointed them. I think while there were certainly a good number of fans that left the fandom over certain stuff especially in regards to Season 3 and the first Equestria Girls. Those who stayed generally still had good things to look forward to. I myself kind of feel like Starlight’s reformation was the closest to a jump the shark moment where Season 6 failed to capitalize on nearly all it’s opportunity of what Season 5 laid up for the show’s future. But there were still good episodes in Season 6, Season 7 had some pretty great episodes, Season 8 is a bit of a mixed bag but even that had it’s fun parts, and I’m on the side that I’m happy with how the final episodes of Season 9 finished off the show. I don’t think Starlight’s reformation was a point where the show never reached another high point and I’m happy it was successful enough to get a conclusive ending rather then either getting canceled after a finale that didn’t leave things off with a proper goodbye or ending too early. As if the show had not been as popular as it did, Magical Mystery Cure would of been the series finale. I’m actually one of those who loved MMC, but for the show not to get things like the CMC’s cutie marks and just leave things that Twilight is a princess and that’s it certainly would of been way too soon of an ending.

CONCLUSION

Obviously, the staff seemed to plan for more then 9 seasons as no doubt they probably had more plans for the Student 6 and/or Cozy Glow had they gotten the green light for Season 10 or more. But for what it’s worth, it still got an conclusion that not all cartoons like this get. For all it’s ups and downs, MLP retained my interest for the entire run that I started watching and I still intend to do fan content about it’s characters a few years after it ended, so G4 MLP continues to be retained in a special place in my heart. Perhaps that’s a big reason I have the concerns about G5 that I do that I’m attached to that universe and for it to say things go downhill even if it’s not really the fault of the Mane 6 or anything makes it hard to accept very easily. I do think my concerns about the G4-G5 connection have merit either way, but I will repeat that I don’t wish any ill will on G5. Whether fair or not, G5 has a lot to live up to after the success of G4 and the consequences will be there for fan expectations. I hope it finds a decent enough audience regardless, and I hope that if I try to ignore the baggage of the implications of an Ancient G4 Equestria being part of this that maybe there’s something there for me too. I never thought I’d be invested so much in a cartoon about magical talking horses to this point a long time ago, but gosh darn it G4 managed to do so. And the staff behind G5 will have a lot on their shoulders to try to maintain that interest. Even if that task is impossible, I hope they try their hardest. Even if I’m not as invested into this generation, I want to be able to respect a good try.

#mlp #my little pony #my little pony the next generation #g4 #g5 #mlp g5 #mlp g4 #netflix #my little pony movie #generation 5 #generation 4

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dyketectivecomics · 5 years

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I’m the anon whose setting the bomb off by asking why season six won’t happen

TL;DR- bc Teen Titans (2003) ended! It wasn’t canceled! It was brought to a conclusion, that fans weren’t super happy with obviously, but it was an ending nonetheless.

I’d really like to encourage everyone in the fandom to read the interviews gathered by TitansTower (2nd half of the page) during the time TT03 actually aired. David Slack, Glen Murakami, & the crew have said over and over again, the original order for the series was for 4 seasons. WB hadn’t expected the popularity of the show to last past that, but it exceeded expectations and by the time season 4 was wrapping up development, they were asked to pen a movie and move forward with development for s5.

They had LOTS of ideas for season 5 too! More side characters they wanted to explore! More depth to get into the Brotherhood’s plot! But unfortunately, when they pitched the idea of a Longer season/more episodes, they were asked to keep it at 13 eps, the usual order. There were Talks about a possible 6th season & the crew started prepping for it and pitching it because, hey! they were passionate abt the show they were working on too! But WB ultimately decided to move onto other projects and guess what? So did the crew! Because that’s just what happens! Things end and you have to accept it and move on. Huh it’s almost like Things Chan-

(The rest under the cut here, is very much getting more into a Rant that veers way off topic (the Bomb is above mostly, the shrapnel is below lmao) & it hasn’t been proofread for errors bc I am, as the kids say, Big Mad. so Beware. You’ve been Warned) (also tagged: long post, in case the cut doesnt work for whatever reason, sorry mobile users RIP)

[[MORE]]

Even IF, for whatever reason, against all logic & reasoning they decided to Greenlight a sixth season, 12 years after this series ENDED. I GUARANTEE fans would find SOMETHING to bitch about every single step of the way. Just look at Young Justice. Much shorter timeframe between s2 and s3 getting picked up and yknow what fans are still doing? Being the Same Old Fans that Fans who Fan will Be.

Misinformation gets spread around every so often too, and I just wanna be really fucking clear: No amount of Toy Sales success/failure had anything to do with the show. No amount of the Demographics they Targeted vs Ones they Hit, had anything to do with the cartoons perceived ‘failure’. Especially considering that, again, they got a movie+5th season that hadn’t originally been planned for. So from that, no amount of fan petitions or campaigns were going to ‘bring it back’ because WB & the crew, again, had moved on to other projects. Because the show, as a production, had reached a natural conclusion.

Now sure, let’s fast forward to 2011/2012? The DC Nation block gets dropped into a SatAM slot. Nostalgia hits Big as, alongside new eps of Green Lantern:TAS & Young Justice, they showcase a plethora of shorts! One of which, is the New Teen Titans, done in that ~*adorable*~ Super-D form but with more or less the same style as the first cartoon.

Fans lose their minds and there’s a resurgence of petitions and letter writing campaigns (ones that I will readily admit to participating in because I was 15 and we all do DUMB things when we’re 15) And through all of this. WB/DC answers our Monkey Paw wish.

But here’s the thing abt the monkeys paw: you’ll get what you wish for, but it’s gonna come with a Big Ass Catch

And that catch, while they gave us the same lineup and same voicecast, they also gave us a comedy-focused & fully super-d/simplified style. And “fans” were Outraged with that.

But here we are again, 7 years later. And there’s a whole generation of fans who have forgotten the mistakes of the past, thinking and hoping against any kind of logic & blinded by nostalgia, that maybe JUST MAYBE. WB will revive a cartoon that ended in Two Thousand and Fucking Seven.

I tutor kids now who weren’t even born by then! The only Titans they know are TTG! And when they tell me they LOVE them, I say “that’s AWESOME dude! Did you know that they’ve got comic books abt them too?”

I tell them about the new generation of TTG! comics, the ones based on the cartoon they grew up with, not the ones I did. I let them know that there’s even more kid & teen heroes beyond the titans. And if they have a certain fav I let them tell me everything they love abt them and I tell them a cool Fact that might encourage them to find out more later!

Some days I HATE TTG, but I will NEVER tell a child that I hate something they love. I saw too much of that when I was growing up and I’ll be damned before I turn around and do the same damn thing to these kids.

Cartoons are a WONDERFUL medium to introduce a new generation of fans to these characters. And we should be encouraging WB to take more chances on bringing more of them to life. Not asking for the same few characters or groups to be redone over and over again.

Give me a Birds of Prey limited series! Give me a Secret Six Adult Oriented action-comedy! Explore that Amethyst short, with all its 80s game tech+magical girl anime aesthetic! Explore more Obscure characters with a quick 5-10 min story! Put a fresh new spin on a golden/silver age storyline (bc lbrhh some of them got WILD)

Just for the love of fuck stop pretending that One cartoon was the absolute Peak of Achievement and is the only thing that deserves to be revived or redone to death. Teen Titans WILL get another cartoon eventually. It’s like Scooby Doo and Batman. Its like Sherlock Holmes or Star Trek. It’s just a little early in its journey but it WILL have another reboot, another reimagining, another chance to shine for an entirely new generation. Everyone will have their preferences.

Just sit down, have a juice box and popcorn and enjoy ur fan servicey nonsense movie that you asked for But Didn’t Ask For, until we get that brand new series again.

TTG is gonna have to end eventually. And when it does, WB will be rubbing their hands together just biding its time until they can reboot the Titans again.

#long post #asked and answered #anonymous asks #randywrites #randyvents #I'm using both tags for archiving/post blocking purposes #(just in case ppl want to block my vents. i Totally Get It ur valid)#but i want y'all to understand its ok to reblog but if you try to Enter a Debate i WILL kneecap u #well. just block really bc I'm not about to Debate this #theres NO DEBATE. the show ENDED. its OVER. we almost had a CHANCE in 2011/2012 but??? is it REALLY any surprise that they took it in a #difference direction when all they had to go off was that the shorts were doing WELL #and that they probably wouldn't have been able to get the exact same crew back together anyways? besides the voice cast at least?#i was PSYCHED when they got amy wolfram to write a few eps of TTG!!! that had be HYPED! but she wasn't brought on as a Regular writer! which #is understandable! she probably had other shows she was working with!#like!!! enjoy the stuff these writers and artists have GONE ON TO DO INSTEAD #theres a lot of the same Spirit of TT there!! its just in something Else instead!

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steve0discusses · 5 years

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Yugioh S2 Ep 31: You Can’t Spell Marriage Without Mai

First off, when I got to this episode, I turned to my bro and said “WHAT” and he said “Right? This episode is the best. It’s all down from here” and I was like “YOU SAID THAT TWO EPISODES AGO” so now I know Bro can never be trusted.

If you had told me the plot of this episode before I watched it, I’d say “no, that is Mario Party Fanfiction, and you’ve changed all the names.” That is where this episode went.

Does Mario Party Fanfic exist? Quick Google search, one moment. Dear Lord. OK, I’m back.

Now guys I want you to know that every time a ship comes up in Yugioh, I write like...10k words about it, math equations appearing around my head, as I try to figure out what the freakin hell anyone is even doing and if the writers even know what they’re doing, and I’ll just promptly delete it. I just want you to know the service I do for you. Every time it comes up I start ranting about what the hell an ancient Egyptian would even understand about modern romance and then I stop myself and go “No! Focus!” and I’ll Ctrl-A and I’ll just *delete* and feel a burden lift off my shoulders and into the ceiling like a prayer.

And then this episode happened?

And I’m just like...

...

well I TRIED to spare you.

Please admire how many people they stuffed into Mai’s very small convertible. I half expected them to drive up to Kiki’s Delivery Service.

In case you’ve also forgotten something that happened 40 episodes ago, Mai saved Joey last season by giving him a McGuffin as well as a gross ass handkerchief (which he doesn’t have anymore, the whole 'will they ever return the gross ass handkerchief’ plotline seems to have left the building) and finally, here, halfway through S2 we’re going to actually address why Mai would have any compassion for this bundle of awful kids.

I mean, Joey is still in high school and Mai is like 24 (although some say 44???) so I’m pretty sure they were trying to make it seem platonic or motherly between these two but eh, I don’t even know with this show, man. I mean she and Joey are 8 years apart but Serenity is 4 years Tristan’s junior despite Mokuba being 1 year younger than her and like right there. (Mokuba’s like 12 by the way, something surprising I found out when I did a Google Deep Dive on everyone’s canonical weight a few episodes ago.) And then Pharaoh is like either 5000 or 16-ish depending on who’s asking, so age doesn’t seem to be ever an inhibiting factor in this show.

But as is Yugioh tradition, any space that could possibly be filled with any growth between a boy and a girl--even platonically--must be absolutely derailed by something exploding.

(read more under the cut)

Stepping out from inside of this limousine is a man who wears sunglasses at night, and so at first I thought “oh hell it’s Pegasus’ security, he’s back” But he’s...he’s not. I really, really wish it were.

Joey literally wiped his hand off on the ass of his jeans before trying to shake the hand of this guy he has never mentioned before in his life but swears is his favorite person in the world.

Jean wisely left him hanging.

Joey is SO ready to see a ship in this show actually do something. So ready, that he is willing to accept Mai and this rando we’ve never seen before as canon, despite the fact I’m pretty sure a chunk of last season was trying (rather unsuccessfully) to pair him up with Mai?

It’s not where I expected this episode to go! I really thought we were going to go and play a tourney? We were meeting up with Kaiba at a stadium one block away - he’s just sitting there on his big ass dragon shaped chair and like “omg the moment I walk away they get completely distracted, every single time.”

Anyways, lets get to a flashback where very fancy people in pastel suits were playing cards because apparently cards isn’t just for streetfighting.

I have been wading through 1.5 seasons of these characters doing these elaborate dances around each other to never ever speak a word of commitment or relationship, and I’ve been pretty OK with them doing that. Honestly, the less romance in my Yugioh, the more satisfied I am, but then, after 1.5 seasons of basically nothing but Serenity wearing some bandages and needing a lift from the hospital, suddenly we have this random guy show up and profess marriage, and it is the most whiplash this show has ever given me.

I will accept demonic weird ass devices threatening children, spooky magic, bad history, and all sorts of weird ass outfits but like marraige???? wtf?????

Which is something that Mai seems to know because she turned him right down as you should when a person you’ve never met before decides to marry you based on your ability to coordinate cards in a deck.

Joey honestly thinks being a rich star will automatically make you marriageable material, because I guess Joey completely forgot about Seto Kaiba, a very famous billionaire who is maybe one of the least marriageable people on the planet.

So what gets me about this episode and what makes it so freakin weird is that everyone here accepts this as the rules from this point on.

She MUST be married if Mai enters and then loses this game. Welcome to the Yugioh universe. This is how card people dating works. This is law, she has to accept this proposal if this card game based on chance loses.

Anyways, Yugi’s here to be the voice of reason in a dating episode and that’s something I didn’t expect to write in a sentence.

Yes, his motive was “Mai, this will take too long” not “Mai, you don’t know this guy, and he’s probably crazy” it was “Mai please, I know the world will end when I enter this tourney and so you have nothing to lose and it’s the best time to marry a stranger actually, but can you not? It’s taking SO LONG.”

Duke Devlin in the back still trying helplessly to keep up with what the hell is going on since he wandered on this team by complete accident four episodes ago.

And yes, it’s THIS that makes Joey not like this guy. Not the part where he proposed out of the blue, nearly ran over them with his car, stalked Mai for like a year, and then completely disregarded Mai’s common sense. No--this part, where he threatened to kick Mai out of the competition. That was the low blow to Joey.

You will lose this duel and gain a husband.

That is an actual line from the show, folks, this show went places.

aaaaand Mai starts losing right away.

DAMN

IT.

This is the one thing I thought was pretty much in the bag. That there would not be the concept of one of these characters getting married. That was the One thing I was sure of. But I was not only wrong, but this is like the most bizarre wedding I’ve ever seen on TV. It’s basically a shotgun wedding but with cards???

And what makes this more bizarre, and it was something I only noticed after watching this episode, is that we’ve seen this type of behavior before. But at the time, back in the beginning of this season I was just like “that was just a really weird thing that happened that wouldn’t possibly be accepted as normalized in this universe.”

Like, remember that creepy DDR guy who dueled Yugi so that if he beat Yugi in a match, that creepy guy would become Tea’s boyfriend despite never spending more than 2 minutes with either of them? That despite the fact that Yugi isn’t even her boyfriend, it was like something all three of them were like “I guess I have to go through with this now.” At the time I just assumed that was an insane thing that happened. I just assumed that would never come back.

This was the episode where suddenly I realized, maybe the big issue with these kids dating is a hell of a lot more than just actually going on dates. Maybe it’s because I didn’t understand what their love language is. It’s not Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, Acts of Service, Words of Affirmation, and for sure as hell isn’t Physical Touch, it’s the 6th, not very often talked about love language, that’s right, it’s Cards. Rewrite everything, Gary Chapman. Tear it all down and reshoot all those Ted Talks, we forgot something.

Like, sometimes I forget that these guys live in a universe controlled by cards. I mean we’ve seen cards and romance intermingle twice. (three times, if you count Rebecca, who might be engaged to Yugi now? It was kind of a really weird ending to a card game) Pegasus even tried to resurrect his dead wife through cards. All these cards currently exist because of Pegasus’ undying love for Cecilia (who is...OMG I forgot that chick might be alive somewhere)

What I’m saying is that...What if this is how they’ve actually dated this whole time? What if this whole time that I assumed no one was dating they......they actually...were? What if I just didn’t notice, because it was just so freakin weird? What if this is more like how in a Jane Austen novel, if someone goes on a walk with someone else it’s basically like 3rd base?

Like, remember Jane Austen’s Persuasion, where Captain Wentworth went on a walk with Louisa and she was like “hey catch me, I’m 14 years old!” and then she tripped off a wall and got a concussion and he was like “DAMN IT! Now I have to marry her!” and everyone was like “Well congrats on getting married, Louisa.” and then she fell in love with a sad poet who gave her soup once while Captain Wentworth was getting his nuptials planned out in Bath and so Louisa dumped Captain Wentworth’s sorry ass and he was like “OH THANK YOU. YOU ARE SO 14.” And then sad soup man showed up in Bath while Wentworth and the rest of Louisa’s family was quickly crossing out “Wentworth” on all the marriage invitations and sad soup man was like “Before Louisa, I was in love with this other chick, but she died, so I’m pretty stoked I found Louisa.” and Captain Wentworth was like “You’re such an asshole for cheating on your dead girlfriend, I would never do that, you ass!” and then immediately married Anne Wentworth by writing her one single letter saying “hey, want to get married Y/N?” despite the fact that he went well out of his way to avoid her the entire book?

What if that’s been going on in the background of Yugioh but I just didn’t know because, unlike Persuasion, I never took a college class on Yugioh Dating Customs so I have no idea when it ever happens.?

See, this is the stuff I usually delete but like psh whatever, it’s a dating episode, so for once this isn’t a tangent, and yes, I am reading too much into this, thank you.

Anyway, after Joey asks Yugi what to do and then telephones what Yugi just told him to Mai enough times, Mai beats Jean Claud Magnum and avoids a lifetime of...whatever that would have been like.

However, something is off about that game and it takes a card wizard to explain it to us although it was...........really obvious.

This is the third time someone on this show was abducted by a ninja net.

She gets kidnapped by a guy in a ninja jet suit contraption and this is her reaction!? Freakin lucid dream what the hell?

This is the weirdest show I’ve ever watched. Not so much because it has stuff other shows don’t have, but because it forces me to have these expectations of what I think it is and then, once I get comfortable, completely changes it. Last episode Bakura murdered 3 established characters in a graveyard. Like, not even random people, Bakura murdered 3 named people with funny accents we’ve known since last season. That was already completely insane for a kid’s show to do. But rather than address whatever the hell is going on with Bakura, we’re just going to add more to the pot and throw in this crazy asshole, too. For kicks.

Like this is a filler episode somehow? This filler episode would be an entire season of any other kid’s show.

So this episode ends with Mai hanging from a flag pole in a miniskirt, but it’s not like anyone in this city would ever peek their nose out of their window to see what the hell is going on, so at least she doesn’t have to worry about upskirting an entire town. Just these two people.

And like, Joey’s such a mess in that head anyway that like who freakin cares? He’ll probably wake up tomorrow without any memory of yesterday thanks to possession, drowning, getting beat up, tied up, and then this oncoming concussion.

I’m pretty sure she should have stabbed him right through with this duel disk?

(the dialogue really does imply that if he had done this himself she would have been cool with it. How freakin weird is Mai?)

And then he just lets her go? Makes you wonder if it was an abduction or just a game he thought she would enjoy? I don’t know. This episode was all over the place. I mean...maybe he really thought she’d like getting caught in a net and being flown all around Domino? I don’t freakin know.

Like, in my opinion she was stalked for over a year and abducted with several witnesses. But, no one is calling the cops. So like...was this weird to them? This was very weird to us...but like...maybe Mai was like “hm, that was a so-so date.” because this type of behavior is just how this universe does?

....

Yugioh, are you OK?

Anyways, next week:

Is the tourney cancelled because after episodes and episodes of tangents, no one ever freakin shows up and Kaiba has to go back to school to do a Chem final? Does Duke Devlin ever even do anything? Does it take 20 minutes for Bakura to walk through security because he keeps setting off the metal detector with his invisible necklace that he can never take off?

#Yugioh #yugioh recap #photo recap #s2 ep31 #Mai Valentine #Yugi Muto #Jean Claud Magnum #joey wheeler #serenity wheeler #Tea Gardner #tristan taylor #duke devlin #marriage #real talk what type of cut even was that diamond

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cassh24sg · 3 years

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8 Quick tips to lower your home buying costs

How to be successful in today’s real estate market

The affordability of living space is falling. In fact, according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions, today’s homes in 61% of the US states are less affordable than the historical average.

But that doesn’t mean that you should give up your dream home. It just means you have to get creative.

If you plan ahead and be smart with your financing, home buying could be a lot cheaper than you thought. Here’s what to do.

Confirm eligibility to buy a house (July 6, 2021)

In this article (continue to …)

Typical costs when buying a house

First things first, you should know what the cost of buying a home is so that you can budget accordingly.

Today’s home buyers should plan to:

The deposit – 3-20% of the sales price

Closing costs – 2-5% of your home loan amount

Deposit – Approximately 1-3% of the purchase price of the house, which is paid when you submit the offer and will later be added to your deposit

For example, suppose you buy a home worth $ 450,000. If you are planning to cut 20 percent, your up-front costs could be something like this:

20% Down Payment: $ 90,000

2.5% acquisition cost: $ 9,000

Total cost of buying a house: $ 99,000

However, even with property prices rising, you don’t necessarily need a large down payment.

Today’s buyers can often qualify with just 3 percent less. (Or reset to zero if you meet special eligibility requirements.)

Let’s say you opt for a 3 percent lower traditional loan instead of the 20% lower. You now need to pay for private mortgage insurance (PMI) that will increase your monthly mortgage payments. However, your upfront costs are far lower:

3% Down Payment: $ 13,500

2% closing cost: $ 8,730

Total Home Purchase Cost: $ 22,230

As a homebuyer, you have a lot of control over your own expenses.

Make sure you do your research on loan options and mortgage lenders before buying. This could save you thousands.

Find a cheap home loan (July 6, 2021)

8 Tips to Cut Your Costs as a Home Buyer

Fortunately, home prices aren’t the only factor that affects affordability.

If you are looking to buy a new home and are discouraged by the rising cost of home ownership, try one or more of these strategies to help you stay on budget:

1. Look for your mortgage

Mortgage rates vary from one mortgage lender to the next – sometimes quite a bit. So go shopping This is one of the best ways to ensure you are getting the lowest price possible.

It’s best to compare quotes from different types of lenders – a credit union, bank, well-known mortgage company, and an online lender.

You should also consider your home banking institution as they offer loyalty discounts or perks that you can take advantage of.

Remember: the lower your interest rate, the lower your monthly payment. This can help offset rising home prices and help you better afford today’s housing.

Compare Mortgage Rates and Fees (July 6, 2021)

2. Negotiate your fees

You can also negotiate the fees associated with your mortgage. This is a great way to lower your closing costs and save money upfront.

Start by asking lenders to lower their lending fees; Using another lender’s offer can help with this.

Also, check your loan estimate for other lender fees, such as: B. an application fee or a subscription fee. They have leeway over all of these and may be willing to negotiate if they really want your business.

You should also jump to page 2 of your loan estimate and check the “Services You Can Buy” section.

Here is a list of fees you can shop for. Often times, comparison purchases for these services can help you save hundreds of even more on your deal.

Other tricks are:

Prepaying the mortgage insurance premium for an FHA loan or USDA loan to your mortgage account to save money on completion

Credit the VA loan finance fee towards your loan amount

Payment of discount points to lower your interest costs during the life of the loan, or

Avoid discount points to save money in advance (depending on your priorities)

Just note that some costs are non-negotiable.

For example, your lender doesn’t control the valuation fee, home inspection fee, homeowners association (HOA) fee, or title search / insurance fee. So plan for the full offer amount for these items.

3. Apply for a deposit and final financial aid

Even in this competitive real estate market, you don’t need a large down payment to be successful – regardless of what real estate agents might say.

In fact, around 70% of first-time home buyers gave up less than 20% in the spring of 2021.

A small down payment can make buying a higher priced home difficult. But the down payment can help fill the gap in order to be able to afford your dream home.

Each state has several Down Payment Support (DPA) programs that offer grants and / or loans to make home buying more affordable. The funds can usually also be used for your down payment and closing costs.

Check with your loan officer or broker about local DPA options in your area. These programs make a huge difference in trying to afford a home in today’s high-priced market.

4. Boost your credit

Boosting your credit score is another way to get a lower interest rate and make buying a home more affordable.

The logic behind this is pretty simple: borrowers with higher credit ratings are more likely to repay their loans and therefore are less risky for lenders. This allows lenders to offer these borrowers lower interest rates and generally cheaper loans.

So before you start buying a home, do a quick credit check first.

The best odds go to those with 760 points or higher. So if you’re below this threshold, take some time to increase your score before moving on.

You can do this by paying off your debts, paying late or overdue bills, notifying the credit bureau of errors in your credit report, or even requesting an increase in the credit limit on one of your credit cards.

5. Choose your location carefully

Home prices vary widely from one city to the next. It all depends on the cost of living, local incomes, property taxes, supply, demand, and a whole host of other factors.

If you are really looking for a cheap (or just affordable) property, consider looking outside of your current location. This can mean moving a few miles – to a cheaper suburb or a rural town – or even out of a state if you’re in a particularly costly market.

Fortunately, many employers allow continued remote working even after a pandemic, so moving to a more affordable area can be easier.

6. Close at the end of the month

When you take out a mortgage loan, you pay for so-called “prepaid items” in addition to your down payment and other closing costs.

These cover mortgage interest, property taxes and home insurance premiums from the date of purchase to the due date of your first mortgage payment. And they can often run into hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

To avoid sky-high prepaid costs, try to schedule a closing date as close to the end of the month as possible.

Prepayments are calculated on a daily basis, which can reduce the number of days you need to cover and significantly lower your closing costs.

7. Buy a fixation upper

Ready-to-move houses are expensive. So, if you really want to find a bargain on a home? Consider a fixer upper.

You will have to put in some work (and money) updating the house. But it will often turn out a lot less than a move-in property would cost at full price.

Remember, there are mortgages out there that are designed just for these types of purchases.

For example, the FHA 203k loan – backed by the Federal Housing Administration – can help you buy a home and pay for repairs all in one.

There are other options too. So if down this route, speak to a mortgage broker about the best ways to fund your purchase and renovation before proceeding.

8. Set it up right

The housing costs depend on the season. Prices tend to be highest in spring and summer and begin to decline in autumn and winter. If you can, try to postpone your purchase for one of these cheaper times.

According to ATTOM, the absolute best days to buy a home are December 4th, January 26th, December 6th and December 26th. At the monthly level, December is the best choice while June is the worst.

Confirm eligibility to buy a house (July 6, 2021)

Will home prices fall in 2021?

During the COVID pandemic, low interest rates helped make home buying more affordable.

But soaring home prices and low inventory levels reversed the affordability trend in 2021.

“While super-low mortgage rates have certainly been a big contributor, prices have just skyrocketed too much to hold historical affordability levels,” said Todd Teta, ATTOM’s chief product officer.

Unfortunately, home buyers shouldn’t expect prices to fall anytime soon.

The reason? Simple supply and demand.

“Given the low mortgage rate environment, high demand and space requirements, we expect this to be the case [housing] Lack to continue in the near future. “

The US is in the midst of an epic housing shortage that will take builders a long time to fill. And demand – especially from first-time buyers – continues to outstrip supply.

“Given the low interest rate environment, high demand and space requirements, we expect this shortage to continue in the near future,” said Freddie Mac in May 2021.

There is a chance that the current market could cool off a bit if interest rates rise and home buying interest falls. But for now, buyers shouldn’t expect a massive reversal in home prices.

Teta says: “The near future of affordability remains very uncertain, as it has been during the entire pandemic.”

That said, if you’re really motivated to buy a home this year, it’s time to take affordability into your own hands.

Take affordability into your own hands

Home prices may go up, but there are still ways to cut your costs and afford a home in today’s market.

Are you looking for your dream home? Work on improving your credit score, find your loan and plan the right time to buy a home. Home ownership can still be within reach (and budget).

Confirm your new plan (July 6, 2021)

source https://www.cassh24sg.com/2021/07/06/8-quick-tips-to-lower-your-home-buying-costs/

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survivor-mountmerapi · 3 years

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Finale: “My impact on this game? Astronomical.” - Raffy

Raffy

My impact on this game? Astronomical. This is probably the best I've ever played in a long time. I literally survived a vote that I should have been gone at. My strong social bonds and strategic mind are literally shining. With my SWP, I am at F5 guaranteed. There's no reason to lie to Gian or Anastasia anymore. It's time I come clean to them so I don't lose to a bitter jury. It will be tough because I really like Gian, but this has to be done. Literally, my CP edit is over the charts. I am winning this game! My F3 plan is still in the air. I definitely want Steven there. So, it's between Elle and DeNara. I have a better chance at winning against Elle, but DeNara could be extremely bitter. Choices, choices.

DeNara

Final 3 alliance with Elle and Anastasia? Yes please! I am feeling like I am in a good spot right now. I can use a break from stress for at least a day. We just cant have Gian win immunity

Raffy

I found an idol! I got it! I have it! I can make it to Final 4! These people are going to be MAD when I flip that thing out at Final 5. But, it doesn't matter anymore. I have the one thing that will keep me safe in these trying times. That's all that matters. Now, I just need to win the Final Immunity Challenge and I will the game. Honestly, things are looking a lot brighter for me. I came into this game thinking that there was no way I could possibly win, but now there is a real chance. My preferred boot order at the moment is Gian -> Anastasia -> DeNara. I think that gives me the best chances at getting my second win.

Steven

These puzzles are making me not like puzzles. I literally haven't talked to anyone cause Im trying to grind these things out.

Raffy

I won individual immunity! We stan a king that's making it to FTC. My plan this round is to finally take out Gian. I am giving Steven the SWP to ensure he sticks around. So, it should be 3-2 against Gian which serves me well. I am not that worried about an idol because I am safe. In fact, it would do me well if Gian does have an idol and idols out one of DeNara or Elle. It takes one of them out for me so I do not have to do it later.

Gian

No one wants to talk with me, which means they’re unwilling to flip. So, 6th place it is I guess! Not bad for a noob in what’s like an All Star season. I’m proud of that.

Elle

hi between last round and this one i have contracted covid amazing hate that for me anyway this is a general run-through of the game stuff i did while i still had energy to do game stuff: - made an 'eventual final 3' alliance with denara and anastasia - made a plan of it being gian, raffy, then steven gone - texted the raffy steven denara and me alliance abt some meant for the other one and then had to cover a bit whoops - idk i think that's it, i started the puzzle challenge and then the next morning i woke up and was like "this... might not be it chief" and then took a nap and woke up and was like "this is Entirely Not It, Chief" Hope im not some secret blindside vote bc i have not been active enough to even guess what may be going on secretly I'm voting Gian and that's all i got

DeNara

Oh my goodness, I can't believe I have made it to final 5! Yay me! I feel good about my final 3 deal with Anastasia and Elle. I am nervous about Steven and Raffy. Steven hasn't really been talking to me much lately so I am nervous he doesn't want to work with me anymore so I feel like he may have to be the next vote off. Anastasia said she searched 28 and was told there used to be something there, which is where Raffy said he found his idol. I didn't believe he had the idol, but now I do. Which means he is for sure going to be in the final 4. He cannot win final 4 immunity or I am hecked. Right now I am trying to figure out if there is a way to put the votes on Raffy in case he doesn't play it. I don't want to only vote Steven and then have Raffy give his idol to Steven.

Raffy

The only concern I have for this round is if Anastasia will win immunity. That presents a very big problem as I would have to move my betrayal plan up by one round. However, I am not terribly worried about this round since, with this idol, I will be getting to Final 4. There's not much tea. I am trying to discuss with Steven later who we should take out at 4, but he seems hesitant. That's a red flag that he might be targeting me. Oh well. He'll have to beat me at FIC first.

Anastasia

The only tea is very sad. I think I might be getting voted off. I only think this because Raffy sent me a goodbye message and it seems that's the way it's going to be. My only hope is DeNara and Steven and I talked with them and pleaded my case to keep me. I don't know what they'll do but I'm thinking they will vote me out because I'm a bigger threat than Elle. DeNara literally said earlier in the game that me, Gian, and Raffy were her biggest threats. I have like a 30% chance of staying but even if I do stay I probably wont win. And if they somehow get Raffy out next round, I don't even know who I'd even vote for. I think if I made it past this round I would maybe have a chance at winning or at least recieving some votes.

Raffy

Steven and I had a small chat about our FTC plans. We came to the conclusion that we should bring DeNara to FTC. The logic behind it is that some of the jurors may be bitter against DeNara for not flipping at multiple occasions. She missed her shot to do anything really impactful in the late stages of the game. So, it would be best to take her to the end. Elle has a solid vote in Moth, but DeNara has no one like it. So, that is the current plan of action. Other than that, Anastasia should be getting the boot tonight unless she has an idol. In which case, it makes the FTC plan a lot simpler in my mind since we will not have to betray anybody.

Elle

Late game I feel like there's less and less to confess, probably bc there are less people to interact with, and especially with this vote not much choice. Unless Anastasia has an idol, she's going this round :(. I could've sworn there were 2 more idols out in the wild (well one more bc Raffy has one) but maybe I forgot to subtract once or something. Anyway I hope DeNara wins, even though I was thinking about it, and no matter which one of us wins at this point it's not a bad narrative. Steven will have won his first game in like 3 years, Raffy will have had years of losses only to win twice in a row which would be wild lol, and I'm not sure how long DeNara has been playing but it'll be her first win, and this is only my second game so I'm not like, dying to win, honestly. If Anastasia does have an idol tho :O now wouldn't that be interesting!! I hope she votes for me 😂since the only options are me and DeNara I really want DeNara to win :( but if I go to FTC I can't just be like "Hello everyone vote for DeNara pls 💖" Plus I've been getting like a stray vote like every round since before Julia left.

Steven

So basically Raffy conceded his chance of immunity to me cause of his idol. Like i guess I could've done the same but my idol is still a secret (shhhh). The plan is now to use it on Anastasia and maybe throw a vote on DeNara. Like it's in everyone's best interest to vote Raffy next round so I could pretty much do whatever this round with little repercussions. Like I know voting DeNara would probably hurt her feelings but she is apart of Raffy's ideal final 3 so whatever way I can mess with that I would be down for.

DeNara

Dang it. It sucks that Steven got immunity. I love the guy, he is great, but he is the person connected the most to Raffy so now it is either myself, Elle or Anastasia going home :-(

DeNara

Ahhhhhhh I am so nervous for tribal. I really hope I am not going to be blindsided. Right now the plan is for myself, Steven and Raffy to vote for Anastasia. I am nervous because I know I am probably a bigger threat than her and it has been super quiet lately. Sooooo.... either I am going to be blindsided or everyone is just super set with their plan. Part of me wants to take Elle out and work with Anastasia but that would require Steven's help and I don't think he is up for it. Sigh. It is harder because I like every one!

Anastasia

DeNara just comfirmed with me that I'm going home. Since this is probably my last confession in this game I will say my opinion. This whole situation in this game is very boring because everyone knows what's going to happen. And it's DeNara and Stevens fault for it too. DeNara could've voted him out but she got scared. Steven, to this round, is too scared of Raffy to vote Elle. They are letting the person that is supposed to be the biggest target control them. They are literally scared of "going against his wishes." It's rediculous and I'm sorry to say it but I don't like how Steven and DeNara played the game. I love them as people though! DeNara even made it seem like she was on my side but the only time we really worked together was when I saved her by voting out Madi. That was the only thing we actually got done. Steven also said he was my ally the whole game but whenever I would talk game with him he would just talk about how he's scared of what Raffy would think or do. It's so boring and dissappointing to me. Oh and Elle. The nicest girl here but also the least active in the game. She was good at challenges kind of but she also followed Raffy the whole game. If Raffy got voted out, I wouldn't want to vote for any of them. Sorry about it. I'm hoping I can play this game again and be an experienced player. Now that I know how this thing works I am ready to make moves and stuff. It's too bad I'm getting voted off tonight.

Anastasia

So everyone tried to get Anastasia out but Anastasia remains in this game. I survived the hardest week when the odds were against me somehow. And heres something awkward: I said out loud that Steven is such a Raffy follower and basically that I think hes a bad player and then he used idol on me. Laughs out loud I guess. Anyways i am so happy that I am safe and we got the most likable player outta here. I really hope I win immunity like I literally need to win please.

DeNara

Holy crap!!!!!!! I knew I was going to get blindsided!!!!!!! Although I thought it was going to be Raffy doing that, not Steven! I am so thankful to Anastasia for voting Elle because I told her to vote Raffy and if she had done that, I would have gone home. I am also so thankful for Elle for saying she wanted to be voted out. I kind of feel like I don't deserve to be in the final 4 because I think Raffy would have voted me out, but I have played a great social game. I told Raffy I will send him to fire-making if he doesn't win immunity and I meant it when I said it. Now I have to figure out if I am actually going to do it. I have played a great social game and connected with just about everyone so I do feel like I have a chance to win.

Raffy

I am not that surprised by Steven's move. Though, it didn't work. I figured he was wanting to make a big move to have some credit to his game. Though, it didn't work. Now, I have two options: win FIC or get DeNara to vote with me. It will be a tough road, but I have faith that I can get her to send me to fire along with someone else. I have found myself in a very sticky situation, but I'm a weasel. I can get out of it. It's possible. I am very nervous about this immunity challenge because I have no idea what I am going to get myself into. God. I want to win so badly it hurts.

Anastasia

Raffy

I should get "Arrogant" tattooed on my forehead. There's something about that word that just gets me HEATED. But, during the conference, I feel I maintained my cool. I don't think it was necessarily helpful because I already know what I need to do to get to the end. Just got to find a way to get there.

Raffy

Time to go cry. There's nothing left for me to do. Literally, nothing to do except wait and pray these people actually talk to me. DeNara will not be receiving my vote if she chooses to vote me out here as giving me false hope after last tribal is a bit too unflavorful for me. Anastasia is going to vote for me. Steven is going to vote for me. Literally, I just have to rely on DeNara which fucking sucks. I'm just so sad now. I've come so far in this game and done so much and have given up so much time, effort, and mental energy to a game. And now it's all going down the drain because of fucking trivia. Side note. I hate trivia. If there's one thing I am not good at, then it would be trivia. God. I just want to crawl into a hole until tribal.

Anastasia

GUYS I LITERALLY JUST WON THE CHALLENGE. We literally just need to vote out Raffy it's so easy but I'm scared DeNara is going to send him to fire like she promised WHICH WOULD BE DUMBEST GAME MOVE EVER I SWEAR IF SHE DOES IT.. Anyways I am a little bit excited for final tribal council i can't wait to plead my case and probably win. I mean maybe I wont but I talked to the jury today and they don't seem to like Steven or DeNaras games. So unless they have something really good to say I think that I might have a really good shot at winning.

DeNara

Well I lost that challenge so hard. I am so glad I saved my advantage for that *insert eye roll here*. Seriously though I actually only knew two answers lol I felt so stupid. I hope people realize how incompetent I actually am and give me props for making it this far lol.

DeNara

I feel so stressed. Steven and Anastasia are begging me to vote Raffy out and Raffy is begging me to let him make fire. I know that if I vote him out, I have a really good shot at winning, but I think the guilt would eat me alive. He saved me last vote 100% and now he is asking me, person to person, to just give him the opportunity to fight for his life in the game. I know that if I let him make fire, I am basically killing my chances of winning. If Steven wins fire-making, people will be mad I left it to chance and didn't vote Raffy out for the second time. If Raffy wins fire-making, he is likely to just straight up win the game. I have played a fantastic social game so I know I deserve to win, but I think everyone will be clouded over by Raffy that they won't even listen to me. Right now I plan on voting Steven because I know I would feel awful voting Raffy out, whether I win or not. But I know I am likely to flip flop about every 11 minutes until tribal lol. I honestly have no idea what I will end up doing. Greedy DeNara really wants to win, but kind DeNara wants to give Raffy the chance, even if she looses. DeNara loves to talk in third person btw.

DeNara

Both Raffy and Steven are checking in on me constantly because they want to ensure my vote. It is kind of nice to feel like I am guaranteed a spot in the final 3 at this point. Unless something crazy happens and Steven and Raffy both vote me.... rip

Raffy

DeNara is sending me to fire. I am going to cry.

DeNara

Well.... it is 35 minutes before tribal. I am feeling stressed and pretty awful about voting Raffy, especially since all day I have told him I am going to send him to fire. I have been trying to not think about how I feel about this. I plan to vote Raffy and I feel awful about it right now.

Steven

This may be my final confessional. This game has been a journey of ups and downs from the start and I'm so happy to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. It hurts to vote my friend out at the last possible tribal but I have gone over it in my head for rounds now and the only possible way for me to have a chance at final tribal is to have him out. Its so weird though going the end with both Anastasia and DeNara cause we just randomly made a final 3 rounds ago but we barely talked in it, and now it actually came to fruition and we are most likely being in the final 3 together. Now my life is in DeNara's hands and I'm just hoping that she sees the situation from a logical standpoint like she has for most of this game. I'm just worried cause she has got nervous in the past and I don't her to make any irrational decisions and keeps Raffy.

I was so worried before the challenge cause I told Raffy that the chances of me voting for him to stay was very unlikely. I just wanted to be honest cause I didn't want to get his hopes up and then hurt him right before he goes to jury. He was honest back and said that he will be voting for Anastasia and if she wins then me. Well Anastasia won (Just barely and oh my god Raffy had me so worried cause he almost won) and ultimately put Raffy's final target on me. Like if I do make it to final 3 with DeNara and Anastasia I do think it is kind of an even playing field. We all have different stories with our own person ups and downs. I know my biggest hurdle is going to be getting the jury to see me as anything as Raffy's goat first and then get them to understand my game second. I'm worried they will look at the other two and see them playing more individual games and I need to make everyone see that I played the same way. I don't say this much and actually mean it but it is anyone's game.

Anastasia

So we just voted Raffy out of this game. The vote was all up to DeNara at this vote and she is a very emotional player so I was so nervous. Luckily, she voted Raffy and that made it 3 votes Raffy and 1 vote Steven. And as a plus, Steven no longer has a perfect game so I think that is just perfect. DeNara was very upset about having to vote Raffy but she knew she had to do it. Raffy's goodbye speech was very extreme and I think he shouldn't have said some of the things he said. He had been playing with DeNaras emotions for a week up to this tribal and his speech just attacked her. He basically took all of this negative emotions that he felt from losing the game out onto emotional DeNara and I didn't feel it was right. Raffy just critisized DeNara for lying but everyone lies in this game including you. I know he's lied because he's lied to my face before. I just hated how he made DeNara feel it was not nice at all.

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ts-akhmim · 4 years

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Episode 14 (Finale) | “All of this and more, but only in Autumn's World” - Autumn

So I figured out that Amir does have the idol and Jakey originally had it that round... damn I wish I looked a little more but I just didn't think Jakey had it. So that probably means that Autumn is going this round, and then I just need to find a way to win this next challenge over Amir. I know Kendall and I will vote together next round regardless, so worst case scenario next round for me is that I am in some kind of fire-making challenge, but I at least see there being a good chance that me and Kendall could be sitting in FTC together, and I'm just hoping at this point that it's Augusto sitting there with us. P.S. In the event that I make FTC... I really hope I'm not seen as a goat. Like, I don't think I am, but I'm not sure how much respect I'll get for my game. I'm hoping people see how savvy I had to be to continuously work my way back up after a couple blindsides and being pushed to the bottom, but you never know with this jury / cast. P.P.S. Please no pressure cooker next round. I'm not ready to have to beat Amir THAT way.

So I'll count that as half of a success. I was at least able to help convince Amir to play the idol he told me about to flush that, and with Autumn safe, the next option was to do Adam. Knowing that if Autumn did have the merge idol, she probably wasn't playing it on Adam, this was the next best option. I need Kendall and Augusto around because those are the two I'd like to bring to FTC if I can make it there. It makes sense to take them to the end as our games are all very similar, so at least we aren't against a winner at the end. Part of me thinks that bringing Amir may not be the worst thing in the world given he has screwed over a decent bit of that jury, but also, I'd rather not take that risk.

So now that that's done and I'm cute and immune, I can confirm it all. Yes I do have the merge idol, yes I've had it since Final 7 but planned not to play it until Final 5, and yes that makes me the most powerful person here. Deadass everyone wants my head on a stick and I don't give a single fuck. I'm chilling all weekend, letting them think they're doing something if/when I lose win immunity, and then I'm sending a man out on one vote Monday night. You think they hate me now? Wait til they find out they can't take a shot at me until Final 4 lmaaaaoo. Be blessed!

youtube

So Amir blames me for playing his idol... I think that's a win for me then, right?

I'm so glad I was able to take this challenge win! I needed to win this to guarantee I wasn't some kind of contingency plan. But now, it's about how can I guarantee a winner goes home. I've already kind of told Autumn she was in trouble (literally 0 point in lying to her about it) and have explained to both Kendall and Augusto that we should find a way to split the votes / guarantee that Autumn and Amir have no shot of working with one another and sending home one of the two people I want with me at FTC. I feel so close, yet so far away from the title of Sole Tumblr Survivor. I want this win so badly. I can't describe how much I want this win. I didn't come back just to have fun; I didn't come back just for maybe an ounce of redemption from Guyana, I came to win this mother-effer. I have at least a 25% shot at the moment, but I want to increase that number.

Final 5... it's so insane honestly because I never expected this of myself but I've played my ASS off (literally, that's why I'm flatter than a table top) especially these past few rounds. I'm kinda shocked that the clear targets are Autumn/Amir/TJ just given I have been a force in the game (subtly ofc) so its def a gag... but yeah. TJ winning the immunity was WORST case scenario because I wanted to come for that man's neck SO bad but we'll just have to get him next time. Amir having the merge idol isn't a SHOCK but it was interesting to say the least like rip telling me that but both his idol plays are gonna be kinda useless which helps my case! I know that Autumn said me and Kendall have been up Amir's ass but first of all... i'm a bottom so I would never BUT also I feel I've held my own this entire game so it isn't my truth in the slightest but I'll just have to prove her, TJ, and the jurors wrong if I got to. I've gone from flop (16th in Bhutan, 17th in Great Lakes, 12th in Socotra) to the top (6th in Flops, 2nd in Seychelles) but I am trying to WIN and wear my deserved crown, it's time I won something yknow.

Amir and I when my plan worked and NEITHER of us walked into jury yet again https://twitter.com/abridrakegraham/status/1222552252357005313 The kids HURTIN yall and I will 100% respect their privacy at this time. Like they really thought!!! They really thought they finally killed me and were probably singing ding dong the witch is dead all day and now look at em. They done lost the boy they all wanted to go to the end with, got severely played by me, AND still gotta see my face everyday. Someone check on Jordan Pines I wanna make sure he's not still holding his breath waiting for my demise. And I've teamed up with his other least favorite person? HOES MAD. But it's not just him- Kendall ready to fight Amir in PM's, TJ in his feelings on call during tribal, Augusto couldn't even find the words he was that shocked. It's all so glorious and I truly fucking love wrecking everyone's games. Amir was like I've never felt these emotions before/ this is one of the wildest moves I've ever been apart of and tbh I agree with Amir. This was batshit crazy but you know what the gag is? This is literally just another day in the mind of Autumn Hill Jury mad, the mayos mad, Augusto mad, and I'm literally on top on the world right now. Like I love Augusto yes but that move was the definition of powerful. Like it's not just playing an idol correctly. It's the fact that Amir came to me begging that I forgive him and that we work together again, I then agreed and admitted to having the idol to A WHOLE ASS WINNER, convinced Amir to tell the kids he had the idol, got everyone to feel super comfortable around me all night and day cause I knew "I was going," snapped in the tribe chat at 2:00 because I "just wanted people to be honest about voting me," got the kids to essentially then tell on themselves since they listed all the reasons why they were voting me, and then idoled out their king using his once closest ally. Liiiikkkee?? STIFF WHERE?? DEAD WHERE??? Bitch I'm playing to win ok I hope yall enjoying this master class I've put on cause I'm hanging it up after this. Unless yall get serious about having a TS version of Winners at War, then call me. But otherwise, yes I'm going ham because I have every intention of walking into the 2 time winners chat. I WANT TO ASCEND!!! So PSA: if my funeral is public knowledge, that means I ain't dying hahaha. Apparently everyone has nicknames for me and that might actually be my favorite part. Jakey calling the game Autumn's World all merge to the boys and TJ only referring to me as the Godmother?? iconic! You know I'd hate me too if I wasn't me, which is why I'm flattered by it all. They know damn well they're almost out of time to get rid of me and they've spent the entire fucking game hoping and wishing and praying and still can't pull it off. And them not targeting me out the gate like Jordan wanted has gotten soooo many people killed. But most importantly I have successfully played an idol now TWICE at Final 5.. And I sure did win back to back immunities at Final 4 and Final 3 in Crossroads so finding out this season has a final 2? Perfect let me dust off the blueprint real quick

https://twitter.com/rcgersnatalia/status/1168071613763342336

okay im going to work my ass of to win this but autumn and tj have both claimed they can do this really well, so like basically, tj cannot win immunity, i need to win or i may be absolutely screwed https://66.media.tumblr.com/583667e85060a36a2cccb8551baa27d5/tumblr_inline_oh5slaYgdO1tr4u58_500.jpg but as of rn, i was going no matter what if i didnt win immunity, i tried to make a story to autumn and we called for like 3 hours and i did my damnest to sell that tj is the problem with everything that happened last round and that i was down to vote augusto for real until tj really sold the plan out to augusto and i didnt want to go to rocks, but i played the idol out of fear that augusto-kendall-tj would 3-2-1 me so she believed there is a true rift in the beauties right now and has more of a reason to hate tj she is so fucking smart so she may have sussed it out and went along with it, but im hoping it worked??? idek but she said if she wins immunity she'll idol me she did admit she has the idol to me but maybe because she knew i already knew

I just... do I even have words anymore? Like, time and time again, I'm getting screwed over and I just... it's a good underdog story now. I just have to win this next challenge. I guess regardless I had to win this next challenge, but also, I was really hoping to not have to have as much concern as I do right now.

What was that?? oh cause I thought the yts who can't successfully kill me had said something https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wux4HnZRY0 Another day, another body bag. THEY WERE SO SURE THEY HAD ME AHHHH I really have to laugh. Kendall was certain this was my funeral and I'm like nah baby it's yours. I'm still screaming that TJ would keep immunity for himself and let Kendall go to firemaking where she would 100% lose that's wild. Only for me to find out after that sis really was THE RAT??? Y'all set her up lmaaaooo. Now I really don't feel bad cause she ran from her karma long enough and if Amir had told me that shit before firemaking I really would've smoked her in the comp. Kendall had no business snitching to Jordan about an airtight unanimous vote and blowing up all her allies' games just to do right by an egom aniac. Then Jordan still died and she falls in love with his bestie boo TJ (he's playing you sis!!) who sensed she could die this round but didn't give a single fuck?? Absolute mess. She really got Devon, TJ, Amir, and Augusto to lie about it the whole game and they agreed because they knew if I ever find out the truth, I'd kill her on sight. Bitch I killed her anyway!!! So was it even worth it? Cause she still walked into jury but she got a better placement and a noble death, which miss Devon and Augusto cannot say. Too busy being lying https://media3.giphy.com/media/6DMfLQEhixGdW/source.gif I feel so affirmed though- every person who has come for me is either sitting in jury or is about to walk in. That's power- that's RANGE! Also I just wanna say to Devon while I'm here: you really gave me all that grief for considering you could be the rat when you, Amir, and Augusto were in on it and protecting Kendall the whole time??? Fuck outta here. Like whose fault is it really that you died Devon? I wanna know. You mad at me and Amir when you need to be mad at yourself for picking the wrong girl, which is on brand for straight white men but y'all not ready to have that conversation. Anyway! Kendall trying to undermine me the ENTIRE merge and using all these men to do it only to still get killed by me in the end?? Fucking love that shit. All of this and more, but only in Autumn's World

https://66.media.tumblr.com/143402720bb2766ebe14eb1d657e2ca6/tumblr_inline_o8662rxDt11tr4u58_250.gifv

Me before the challenge https://peopletalk.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/tumblr_n49eidw5Zk1rsrbdko1_500.gif

Me after I went beast mode and embarrassed the men https://twitter.com/intoragnarok/status/1233477557565173762

I'm screaming at Amir asking me after if kept him strategically or out of loyalty and I'm like sis what do you think. I was not about to let the white knights get their way and give TJ the win all because he's a good car salesman. Like y'all should've seen that 1 hr plus discussion of TJ and Amir going back and forth on camera about who I have a better chance of beating and I'm just sitting there IMMUNE taking notes, knowing neither of them wanted this. The power that that has, the intelligence that that has, the clearance that that has, the access that that has. Amir and TJ planning to kill me and then being thwarted once again is arguably my two favorite storylines. TJ wanted to do this the ENTIRE MERGE and I never let him succeed. And Amir wanted to be the one to say he killed me cause he's Mr. Smith when I'm Mrs. Smith and my ass spared him and helped him several times. Now look at em, getting third and second. I made a joke at Final 5 that Amir and I are the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith and it's so true. I adore him as a person and I know he loves me too but we're not above killing each other. Hell we genuinely want to kill each other but time and time again we chose to kill everyone else instead lmao.

So please enjoy this visual walkthrough of our wild ass partnership

(when we met at merge) https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3f/48/5e/3f485e53a56fb43c62c22c0790e8afd7.gif

(when we voted together at Final 11 and Final 10) https://media1.giphy.com/media/l3Ucho9gtq4b7SLok/source.gif

(when I caught Amir in a lie and killed Devon as retaliation but still wanted to work with Amir) https://media0.giphy.com/media/l3UcotueAJQAW0zjW/source.gif

(when Amir killed Ali and Adam to piss me off) https://66.media.tumblr.com/eebc1dc0a509a652ea543aba82bcb1c5/tumblr_ojjk22iVXM1uhcmrao1_250.gifv

(when Amir tried to get back in my good graces at Final 5) https://66.media.tumblr.com/3b157a36601820370897ace6673af493/tumblr_n17egq7Hdq1r7fawxo4_r3_250.gifv

(when I agreed to the winners pact and got him to kill Augusto and Kendall with me) https://thumbs.gfycat.com/DefiniteVapidDogwoodtwigborer-size_restricted.gif

(when he kept trying me at Final 4 and Final 3/ saying he'd kill me) https://i.gifer.com/3lie.gif

(when I snapped and took Amir to Final 2, like I said I would, and we both knew he'd lose beside me) https://66.media.tumblr.com/d1f3506fc873a7d2393d705a7f58065d/tumblr_mgooqovRHw1qkdoj2o1_500.gif

mood after everything that's happened and me making FTC again- we out here. Coming out of retirement has been good to me https://twitter.com/emrific/status/1235072497055227907

(final 4) oh dear me this one is a tuffyyyy wuffyyy.... okay okay. so its f4, tj thinks im voting with him and kendall to vote autumn. Autumn thinks im voting with her against kendall to make it firemaking. basically, i was originally gonna vote autumn, and i told autumn and she was like fk no so i told her im convinced but i am STILL UNSURE So if I vote kendall: autumn has to win fire making which like statistically i do not see kendall beating autumn, but then tj takes me to final 2 over autumn, and autumn will take me to final 2 over tj, she also threatened to make jury hate me if I cut her now which doesn’t really scare me tbh if I’m next to kendall anyway, but regardless of that threat, me going with tj and autumn gives me a 66% chance of winning this game. If me or Tj win final immunity, I think I win this game. If Autumn wins, then uhhhhggg she will probs take me but like we will thee i just hope she doesnt win final immunity If I vote autumn: me or kendall have to win final immunity, because if tj wins, then I’m getting third place, and kendall would probably take tj as well, so like, yeah i would beat them both at the end but i would be putting myself in a position where i have to win immunity but idk . i think voting kendall is better as i type dis

final 3 oh my gooooodddd, the fact that i am here is so surreal 2 me, and idk idk this immunity is gonna be the deciding factor of my game and im so nervous but also happy and proud of myself however this game turns out. hoyoyoyooyoy

SO MISSS AUTUMN JUST UHHHHHHHH wooped me arse in immunity and me and Tj had to PLEAD for ourlives but she ended up TAKING MEEEEEEEEE so partyyy Honslee tho, while this is gonna make winning 90x times harder, I am pretty happy to be sitting next to Autumn cuz our end game mr. and mrs. smith alliance is highkey iconic af ewnfewkjfnewkjnf like we killed each others allies and somehow have been aligned since early merge and I lied to her and somehow we always came back and protected each other and if i don't win im happy she will <3 but with that said, i gotta take her DOOOWNNN

AUTUMN WINS 8-1

#BackWithVengeance

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jonathanalumbaugh · 6 years

Text

Weekly Digest

January 7th, 2018, 6th issue.

A roundup of stuff I consumed this week. Published weekly. All reading is excerpted from the main article unless otherwise noted.

Read

Teen birth rates hit a new low in 2016, Boston has joined other cities in banning single-use plastic bags, Tesla restored electricity to a children's hospital in Puerto Rico after it was hit by hurricanes in September, the FDA cleared an earpiece that may help block symptoms of opioid withdrawal, 13 states saw record-lows of unemployment this year, Support for allowing same-sex marriage is at its highest point in 20 years, Vice President Mike Pence said in October that the U.S. "will return...to the moon not only to leave behind footprints and flags but to build the foundation we need to send Americans to Mars and beyond," a man in North Carolina has started the non-profit ChemoCars, a service that provides cancer patients with free rides to and from their chemo treatments, Uber partnered with the charity Whizz-Kidz to give those who use wheelchairs in the UK free rides to polling places this summer.

— 9 things America is getting right

This is not some “lite” version of Civ stripped down for touchscreen, mobile implementation. It’s the whole game.

— Civilization 6 on iPad is a marvel

First comment in thread: I keep seeing this referred to over and over, even TV Guide is calling the bad Cooper by the name BOB! In my opinion, this is something that people have been confusing for 25 years.

— Clarification: Cooper is not possessed by BOB

I got married two weeks ago. And like most people, I asked some of the older and wiser folks around me for a couple quick words of advice from their own marriage... Almost 1,500 people replied, many of whom sent in responses measured in pages, not paragraphs. It took almost two weeks to comb through them all, but I did. And what I found stunned me…

They were incredibly repetitive.

— Every successful relationship is successful for the same exact reasons

Explaining #Meltdown to non-technical spouse. “You know how we finish each other’s...” “Sandwiches?” “No, sentences. But you guessed ‘sandwiches’ and it was in your mind for an instant. And it was a password. And someone stole it while it was there, fleeting.” “Oh, that IS bad.”

— Scott Hanselman (@shanselman)

January 5, 2018

— Explaining Meltdown with parallel worlds, libraries, and a bank heist

TED Video: How to make stress your friend

— How to make stress your friend

A user visits a website, registers an account, and saves the data in the password manager. The tracking script runs on third-party sites. When a user visits the site, login forms are injected in the site invisibly. The browser’s password manager will fill out the data if a matching site is found in the password manager. The script detects the username, hashes it, and sends it to third-party servers to track the user.

— How web trackers exploit password managers

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was negligent in connection with one of the biggest bank failures of the financial crisis, a federal judge has ruled, opening up the Big Four accounting firm to the potential of hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

— Judge Says PricewaterhouseCoopers Was Negligent In Colonial Bank Failure

Whether we see an LTE version of the Nokia 3310 in the US is still a major question, as is the release date of this phone — not the mention the battery life, which took a major hit when it added 3G support.

— An LTE version of Nokia’s 3310 may be coming

The Big Five... has produced results that can be shown to remain largely consistent across a person’s lifespan and that can be used to predict at least some part of a person’s likely academic achievement, dating choices and even future parenting behavior. It has also been validated cross-culturally to some extent, Soto told me.

— Most Personality Quizzes Are Junk Science. I Found One That Isn’t.

"Neither [Iraq] nor while I was in the military did I actually hear anyone ask whether we should be doing some of the research we were doing. You know, some of it was a little scary -- I don't know that it was necessarily unethical -- but nobody ever asked the question." -General Robert H. Latiff

— Nobody's Ready for the Killer Robot

If you are a low-wage worker who cuts your expenses to the bone in order to sock away $500 a year, on which you earn 8%, you will still not go more than a year in retirement without starving to death.

— Oh Damn, 401(k)s Aren't Magic

Ever stood at an intersection and prodded at, leaned on, elbowed and otherwise palm-slapped the ever-living hell out of a crosswalk button and wondered to yourself if the thing actually does anything at all, really? Well – chances are, it doesn't.

— Placebo buttons do absolutely nothing, and they are everywhere

Meanwhile, Pete is convinced the Log Lady stole his truck. But wait! It wasn’t the Log Lady. It was Windom Earle, says Cooper. How does he know? Well, look at the map up there. Duh. Try and keep up, people.

— Revisiting ‘Twin Peaks’ Season 2 Finale: An Appointment at the End of the World

In an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis in New York, Cohen said that it was clear that President Trump — like former President Obama — did not want to approve a plan to provide the new arms to Ukraine, but decided to do so in an attempt to shirk allegations that he has acted as a "Putin puppet."

— Russia expert: US decision to supply arms to Ukraine a 'mistake'

Scopophilia or scoptophilia (from Greek σκοπέω skopeō, "look to, examine" and φιλία philia, "tendency toward"), is deriving pleasure from looking.

— Scopophilia

The fatal swatting case started Thursday when a man called the 911 center in Wichita, Kansas, and said he'd shot his father and was holding his mother, sister and brother hostage inside a house, authorities said.

— Swatting case poses legal challenges for police, prosecutors

The IRS lets you claim investment-related losses on your tax return as long as you sell the money-losing investment at some point during the year. You can then use the resulting capital losses to offset any capital gains on other investments that you might have.

— Tax Loss Harvesting: Don't Wait Until Year-End to Save Thousands

Tesla was on the cover of Time magazine in 1931 but died a poor man in 1943 after years devoted to projects that did not receive adequate financing. Yet his most significant inventions resonate today.

— Tesla the Car Is a Household Name. Long Ago, So Was Nikola Tesla.

More than a century ago, in New York City, Paul Strand began creating some of the earliest candid street photography. His goal was to capture people as they act in public, unaware of the observing eye.

— Theater of the Streets, Shot On Google Glass

In 2016, psychologist Danielle Gunraj tested how people perceived one-sentence text messages that used a period at the end of the sentence. Participants thought these text messages were more insincere than those that didn’t have a period. But when the researchers then tested the same messages in handwritten notes, they found that the use of a period didn’t influence how the messages were perceived.

— There’s a reason using a period in a text message makes you sound angry

My beach wedding in Diani, Kenya, was supposed to begin at 4 p.m. It started two hours later. The reason: The photographer was late. He shrugged it off, blaming traffic. "I am here now and that is what matters," he said. Grrr, "Kenyan time."

That is what they call it in my homeland.

— Under 'Kenyan Time,' You're Expected To Arrive ... Oh, Whenever

The year 2017 was really successful for Vue.js. Even though the goals are partly fulfilled, I think that most of the goals are somehow achieved or getting more traction. Vue.js is spreading and a lot more companies are using it now, including: Behance, Adobe, Chess.com, GitLab, HERE Technologies, Car2Go, IBM, and many chinese companies like alibaba, ele.me

— Vue.js review of 2017

In 2007, Warren Buffett entered a million-dollar bet with the fund manager Protégé Partners that the S&P 500 would beat a basket of hedge funds over the next decade.

— Warren Buffett has won his $1 million bet against the hedge fund industry

Earlier today, Twitter published a five paragraph answer to the loudly, repeatedly-shouted question: “Why won’t you ban Donald Trump, a man who has actively used your platform to threaten nuclear annihilation against an entire country?”

— What Twitter's New Statement About Not Banning Trump Really Means

In South Carolina, for example, people hoping to buy a Siberian tiger to celebrate the new year are likely to be disappointed: As of Jan. 1, it is illegal in the state for typical residents — that is, if you're not a zoo — to buy or own exotic animals for pets.

— What's New In 2018? Here's A Brief Tour Of State Laws Now In Effect

Why people believe what they believe is a wide topic that many psychology professors investigate. And while Peterson’s lectures certainly do tend to focus on the idea of “pushing back,” the contents of them raise questions about whether the bad ideologies are the ones he’s rejecting or the ones he espouses.

— Why Is Monsanto Inviting This Alt-Right Hero to a Fireside Chat on Farming?

The danger is that such detailed, sensationalized coverage of suicide can prompt copycat behavior — a phenomenon called suicide contagion. “Suicide contagion is real, which is why I’m concerned about it.”

— YouTuber Logan Paul's video of a dead body put his own audience at risk

Then there’s the matter of how Uber treats its drivers. You know it’s not great, but it’s not as though competing services are much better. Before Uber, taxi companies were notoriously terrible employers. Lyft, like Uber, hires its drivers as independent contractors—they don’t get benefits or minimum-wage protection—and has cut their pay to make fares cheaper for riders.

— Are you a bad person if you still take Uber?

Forecasters are warning people to be wary of hypothermia and frostbite from the arctic blast that’s gripping a large swath from the Midwest to the Northeast.

— http://metro.co.uk/2017/12/30/niagara-falls-freezes-sharks-freezing-death-atlantic-7192401/?ito=cbshare

#Weekly Digest

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teenwolfpotential · 7 years

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Fan Service

Again, I don’t inherently have a problem with Stydia, but I see people asking how a slow burn over 5+ seasons can be considered fan service and I just have to shake my head. The fact that Stydia DOES have development over 5+ seasons and yet they STILL are carrying it out so badly on the show is what’s most insulting about it.

Example 1:

Remember I love you. This is pretty alright. I could complain about how we’ve never actually heard Stiles tell Lydia that he loves her before, but since you could imply that he’s said it off screen or that the phrasing is just because he’s about to be taken, it’s alright.

However...

I think I loved him. *shocked, somewhat confused and appalled face* What the heck was up with this line? Why would they have her admit to loving him without any sort of visible realization, with a not so flattering facial expression, in an underwhelming scenario? Why would they even have this if they were planning on the whole realization in 6.9?

Example 2:

When I was remembering him I was also remembering the two of you together. I don’t think anyone had a connection like you guys.

I saw it too.

I will suspend disbelief that Lydia and Stiles who haven’t admitted their feelings to each other and haven’t been in an established relationship with each other have stronger ties than Stiles and Scott who have been best friends through everything even when no one else bothered to give them the time of day.

To be honest, the strongest connection to Stiles being Lydia > Malia > Scott seems really messed up, but it’s still possible to suspend disbelief because “the power of romantic love” and all that.

However...

THEY DIDN’T SHOW ANY MEMORIES THAT SCOTT OR MALIA SAW THAT STILES AND LYDIA HAD A MOMENT IN.

Scott had a few memories that had some tangential Stydia. She was present for the flare memory, but she didn’t interact with Stiles. The fact that Scott kissed Lydia was mentioned during the full moon memory, but Scott wasn’t remembering “the two of you together” like he said. The only time Scott saw Stiles and Lydia together that we were shown in Scott’s memories was a very brief flash among many other flashes. It showed Stiles with Lydia at Deaton’s after she was rescued from Eichen.

The same is even more true for Malia’s memories. Her memories were seeing Stiles for the first time in the hallway at Eichen, punching Stiles at Eichen, talking to him in the bathroom at Eichen, Stiles with her during the full moon at the lake house, and at the vault under the school. None of those even have Lydia present or mentioned, yet she says she “saw it too”.

Why the hell did they put that line in if they were going to disprove it before they even said it? Why couldn’t they just follow up on what they said properly? It’s not like they didn’t have the footage.

Example 3:

Lydia doesn’t use her banshee powers when they’re running from the Ghost Riders? We know she has them and can use them at will, yet she doesn’t even attempt to use them against the Riders. Why not? Stiles could point her in the right direction and she could let it rip. Maybe it wouldn’t work on them, but they could have at least tried.

The only reason I can think for her not to at least try to use them is because that’s not what the people writing the show wanted. They didn’t want Lydia to try to fight. They wanted her to run with Stiles and look devoted and scared to lose him. It was a scene that was created solely to show Lydia’s less established feelings about Stiles and not because it actually made sense in canon.

Example 4:

This is probably just a pet peeve of mine, but the memories they showed of Lydia and Stiles weren’t any of the ones I’m fond of. One of my favorite things about Lydia and Stiles is how supportive they are of each other and how well matched they are when they discuss mysteries.

Every time Stiles is feeling down on his abilities, Lydia shows him that she has faith in him and vice versa. Whenever Stiles wants to talk something through and no one else is taking him seriously, Lydia hears him out. Whenever Lydia is feeling ignored or useless, Stiles reminds her that he sees her and cares about her. Whenever something needs to be solved, Stiles and Lydia are the brains of the operation. They’re the two vulnerable ones that have to fight smart.

I don’t like their relationship because Stiles had a crush on Lydia for years and is now “getting the girl he thought he’d never get”. I don’t like their relationship because Stiles worships Lydia and “she deserves to be worshipped”. I like their relationship because of the mutual respect and support they’ve developed over time.

The memories chosen for 6.9 don’t reflect anything but the superficial stuff. The memory at the dance is the only exception.

The other moments visually shown- the kiss, the moment in Stiles’ room with red thread, Stiles rescuing Lydia from Eichen, and Stiles holding Lydia still as the Doctors passed by- were purely physical. They just show the most dramatic moments where they touch rather than any of the more intellectual or character driven moments that truly form the base of their feelings for each other. Even with the memories that are emotional, only the physical parts are shown.

The message is CHEMISTRY > personality which isn’t what I’m here for. Chemistry + personality is nice, but I’m not going to ship something because of chemistry alone.

Sloppy

Stydia is being handled extremely sloppily. Stydia DO have history on the show which is why it’s even more upsetting that it’s being handled so poorly now that they’re actually becoming established in canon.

The only explanation for why this is happening is that the people on the show don’t really care about Stydia, don’t care about their past and the unique things about their relationship, and are only putting in lines and scenes to attempt to satisfy the fans.

Ok, that’s not entirely true. It could partly be that the writers of the show have no idea how to go about setting up a proper relationship seeing as pretty much every other relationship on the show was far too sudden with little groundwork laid down. However, Stydia was better written in the seasons leading up to this one than it has been this season, so that doesn’t seem right.

Really, all you have to know about this season is that everything is fan service. Everything has been sloppier than usual because the writers have stopped trying to create an interesting and consistent story and instead have been taking everything they think fans like and tossing it all together haphazardly.

None of the characters have felt well fleshed out or consistent with their previous characterization

They keep forgetting characters exist from episode to episode and aren’t showing the logical progression of the actions happening to different characters- Chris Argent, everyone getting disappeared to the other side where they should be meeting up, focusing on the old crew vs the young crew from episode to episode

Some characters have disappeared entirely without acknowledgement- Deaton, Lydia’s mom

The way memories of the erased people have been treated is very inconsistent- some people remember when everyone else forgets, some people are forgotten entirely, the later people seem to be disappeared but not forgotten, some people can form memory surrogates and most others can’t, people were forgotten before disappearing sometimes and not others

They dropped every arc that characters had that didn’t have to do with Stiles except for Theo’s- Corey’s power arc, Corey and Liam’s trust arc, Scott and Liam’s succession arc, Malia’s feral arc

The way they did Stiles’ mom made no sense whatsoever and also was a slap in the face since it yet again painted her in a bad light and Stiles STILL hasn’t gotten a nice interaction with her

They still haven’t explained why the Riders are stuck in Beacon Hills

They still haven’t explained why banshees get left behind

The entire season is an unprecedented mess that can only be explained by poor attempts at fan service, meaning that the Stydia arc is fan service too.

Season Focus

In any case, they know the big draws to the show that are left are 1) Dylan O’Brien/Stiles, and 2) Stydia. What did they do with the 6th season? They created a plot that revolved around Stiles even without him being present for most of it and they finally pulled the trigger on Stydia.

I know people argue that Scott is the main character and, therefore, he’s a big draw. I won’t say what SHOULD happen with Scott being the main character, but I can say what IS happening. Aside from the dropped story line from the first couple episodes of the season about Scott leaving the pack and Beacon Hills to Liam, Scott has no story arc this season that’s not about Stiles.

To be honest, they’ve even eschewed the importance of Scott and Stiles’ relationship in order to focus more on Stydia. Rather than Scott being Stiles’ greatest champion, Scott notices something is off just like Lydia and Malia do and then promptly forgets it. Lydia is the only 1 of the 3 to keep insisting Stiles existed even though all 3 should really be on the same page if it weren’t for the need of the writers to try to create dramatic tension and highlight that Lydia cares most.

Scott is a side player in this season to Stydia and that should make it clear that whether you think he should be a main draw or not, the show isn’t treating him that way.

Drawing Viewers

There were very clear comments from cast and crew in seasons 3 and 4 that Stiles had gotten over his crush on Lydia. They decided to fix that by saying that he got over his crush but then that let him fall in love sincerely, but I highly doubt that was their intention at the time. It’s clear from comments that Lydia and Jackson were supposed to be long term and Stiles was supposed to get over Lydia. Things changed as the casting and viewership situation changed.

The show has been bleeding viewers for seasons now, losing half a million viewers from one season to the next. They know Dylan/Stiles and Stydia are their biggest draws left, so it makes perfect sense for them to use those 2 things to draw in fans to watch the show through the last season.

#teen wolf #stydia #lydia martin #stiles stilinski #fan service #season 6 spoilers #mine

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survivorwesteros · 7 years

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Episode 7: I feel personally victimized - Luke

why are they abaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaackkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

also steffen or drew will win this season bookmark this.

I can't Beloeve

So glad to be back in the game! The amount of shock in the chat was awesome! Hahah I'm just glad I didn't get eliminated without receiving a single vote. Although I know I'll get one now!

First of all I feel personally victimized by the hosts for allowing people to come back. Next I feel personally victimized because Darian came back and he has reason to target me!!! Going forward I'm trusting Drew the most because I love him so much :) Ashley, Steffen and Jordan are also strong allies of mine. I want to target Darian next and then I want either Brian, Lily or Andrew out. Jordan should leave fairly soon too because he's a big threat and that means betraying him but I need to do what I need to do to win.

So I got some kick ass items at auction today. I got a Wildfire, which can reset a round and make all of our challenge results null so we have to do them over. I also got a ride on a dragon thanks to Steffen, even though we don't know about it yet. He got to choose two others to take with him and chose Drew and I, which I really awesome because I am starting to like Steffen a lot. Hopefully we can get closer in the upcoming days. I also got a turkey leg, which gives me an advantage in a challenge up to final five, so that is pretty chill too.

Darian and Lily coming back????? UGLY!!!! KEEP THEM!!!!!!!! But also like I'm rebelling more against the fact of HAVING two people come back than the reality of who they are. If two people were going to come back, they’re DECENT choices because at least they both like me? But they come with their own vendettas against other people I like and it’s a PROBLEMMMMMMM. Darian coming back means the tension between him and Luke is gonna come to a head sooner rather than later. And Lily wants to take out both Andrew and Steffen QUICK because of reasons. Meanwhile WHAT EXACTLY HAS MY ASS BEEN DOING???? Aligning with almost every damn person in the game! Jordan specifically said “i feel like were aligned with too many people at this point. Like we need to actually get on a side” and my internal monologue is laughing because I think I’m connected to even more than he is because I’m with Steffen too????

1. Me Ashley Jordan Darian 2. Me Ashley Luke Steffen 3. Me Ashley Andrew 4. Me Ashley Andrew Luke Jordan 5. Me Jordan Lily

I’m about one second away from starting one with Brian and Nic just for shits. And THEY’RE ALL FUCKING TARGETING EACH OTHER!!!! Luke and Steffen bonded on call over wanting Darian gone and have brought up Jordan’s name, Jordan and Lily want Steffen gone, Lily is PUSHING for Andrew to go and Jordan and I can only keep her at bay for so long, and LITERALLY NO ONE IS BRINGING UP BRIAN AND NIC TO GO like I’m about to upset a whole group of people really quickly. I think my best course of action right now, if Ashley would be open to it, would be to blindside Darian right the fuck back out. I need to convince Jordan that our five-person alliance (listed above as #4) is the most important thing in the world right now because it’s numbers after this vote. It’s also another alliance that I have with both Ashley and Jordan so if they’re on board for the Darian blindside, then we can do it without pissing anyone off. Except Darian but I mean whatever, it’s not like I have to see him at high school the next day (sorry Ashley!!!). And it keeps Luke happy, and I’m all about keeping Luke happy. And it might convince Brian and Nic that we’d go for Lily next and just cleanse the field, and honestly that’d be nice too.

This is my dream boot list, at least for now (subject to like 18,000 revisions so like take it with the entire container of salt that for some reason is a current Snapchat filter with the Morton’s wig and umbrella)

10th place: Darian, with the consent of Ashley and Jordan 9th place: Brian because whew comp strength 8th place: Steffen because I don’t know that I can hold Jordan and Lily off any longer on that one 7th place: Nic, to, in the words of Lord Voldemort, kill the spare 6th place: Andrew because he might not see it coming at that time? The kid has been to the Citadel so fucking much, I can’t 5th place and beyond I don’t fucking know yet??? That’s a really tough position to be in because everyone in that final five would potentially want to work to the end with me but they’re all also threats to win. Ashley has been a main co-conspirator since the very beginning for me, but walks in with at least Darian’s vote almost pre-destined. Jordan and I work well together and his reputation often works against him, but I honestly think this isn’t the jury that would hold that against him like Costa Rica did, and he would have Ben’s vote almost pre-destined. Lily’s story could go either way, in that she’d been voted out twice, she doesn’t deserve to win, or that she’s fought back in twice and made it to the end. Especially if people like Steffen and Jordan are on jury, that’s going to really resonate with them as people who have won buybacks and almost won with them before. Luke probably has the least amount of connections from that potential jury pool, but has a great story of being the only foreigner and needing to adapt to our schedules, staying up until 4-5am every night to participate with us when we’re at our most available. Steffen would really respond to that, having played seasons from Norway and understanding the struggle. Honestly I could end up with the worst case to present in any configuration of that five, but I’ll worry about that as we get closer because I think that’s the configuration that best LEADS to me getting to finals. I can argue my way through a lot of things, and if I lose, I lose, I’d be happy losing to any of them. This might be the strongest social game I’ve ever had?? Or I could be wildly delusional and other people have just as many chats with just as many leads and I don’t factor into anyone’s final plans. We’ll see, I guess

Pray for me, it’s gonna be a fucking bumpy ride.

So Steffen, Drew and I's dragon ride ended with me getting a vote revealer, Drew getting an advantage in a challenge of his choosing, and Steffen got a vote stealer. We all agreed to it and are now in a semi alliance. So this should be interesting.

So I won immunity yay :) Sam got mad at me cause she spent a long time making that challenge and I beat it in 8 minutes so i felt bad and decided to make an actual confessional. Shocking right? Anyways even if I didnt have immunity I think Im in a good spot? like okay, so i have a lot of alliances. I have one with Andrew Drew Luke and Ashley, one with Drew Ashley and Darien, One with Lily and Drew and then i sort of have an alliance with Nic. Meaning I am not aligned with Steffen, meaning ideally Steffen goes. lily told me she has the power to take away someones immunity so thats good that thats on my side. Either way, things are good for Jordan. First confessional done, dont expect another

me to jordan yesterday: lets vote out steffen lily to me today: i was thinking steffen for next tribal

ok sooo i do think steffen is a big threat and could win but i feel bad about voting him out cause im not invested in this game and idk if he is but he could win so i feel guilty if i vote him out and stay over him r . i. o. p. in peace

well well wel......... this is perfect. darian came to me wanting to blindside a threat so i said drew and now he's doing all the work to get drew sent home :o i spoke to steffen abotu it and hes good and darians gonna try to get andrew/brian/ashley so hopefully that works.

i have a really good feeling where this is the episode where my edit goes from INV to MOR3

HONESTLYYYYYYYYYYY disregard the boot list, scrap it, move on from it, delete the confessional, it NEVER. HAPPENED.

Lily has gone to Drew, Jordan, Darian and Ashley to try and get me out. Ashley and Darian came clean to me about it and now we’re sorting stuff out now. darian thing lets him see a random alliance chat don’t like it. Lily is after me, then Brian, then Andrew. Drew has an idol from the citadel so now we’re strategizing. trying to spill that Luke wanted Brian gone. Lily has Drew and Jordan but only Jordan. Nic has to vote Drew. Drew might have to self vote Brian has to vote lily Andrew will vote lily Darian votes Drew Steffen votes lily Ashley votes lily Lily votes SteffenJordan votes Steffen Luke votes TBA

so Luke came to me with Jordan tea about how now Jordan is voting me out well good job Lily I officially say you can choke now [17:46:00] Luke: So do we know what's happening yet?

[17:46:08] Jordan (Westeros): no one is talking [17:46:19] Jordan (Westeros): if i didn’t have immunity id be freaking out [17:47:15] Luke: That's why I'm freaking out!! [17:47:23] Jordan (Westeros): i want to target steffen tbh [17:49:39] Luke: Oh wow really? You think that could work? [17:49:49] Jordan (Westeros): i think we could potentially get the voes [17:49:51] Jordan (Westeros): votes

So screw you Lily, and Jordan next time you go behind my back, be a little more creative you little toad and as soon as Jordan tried to get me to vote out Andrew IM LIKE SURE but then sent those receipts to andrew also I might now have Luke voting out Lily

[11/30/16, 6:42:48 PM] Brian: [2016-11-30, 11:38:39 AM] Brian: have you heard anything about the vote today? [2016-11-30, 12:19:23 PM] Lily Owen: Yeah, people are planning on Steffen [11/30/16, 6:42:59 PM] Steffen Bøhn: oh yeah [11/30/16, 6:42:59 PM] Brian: [2016-11-30, 6:42:13 PM] Brian: so idk [2016-11-30, 6:42:13 PM] Jordan Pines: no one has said it to me [2016-11-30, 6:42:17 PM] Jordan Pines: ive heard steffen so far [2016-11-30, 6:42:22 PM] Jordan Pines: and i think thats where I’m leaning

I GOT BRIAN SENDING ME SHIT NOW AW HELL YAS

So I am terrified for this upcoming tribal. Some shit is going to go down. After the auction there are so many items in this game that I can't even keep my head straight.

So Darian got approached by Lily, who said she wanted to get Steffen out. She had this whole hit list and whatnot, and stupidly told Darian a lot of crap. So basically he comes to me and tells me everything. So now we are working with Steffen to try and find a solution... Hopefully all of this stuff is true, because if not, who the hell knows who is leaving tonight.

#youwinoryoudie

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thegloober · 5 years

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Revisiting the MLBTR Archives: November 2013

RAB Live Chat

Zelous! (Hannah Foslien/Getty)

Welcome to November. The offseason’s first month. And, since we’re in a new month, it’s time to go back in time to make our regular run through the MLB Trade Rumors archives. The transactions and rumors pick up now because, well, it’s the offseason. Not much happens in September and October.

The 2013 Yankees went 85-77 and could’ve been a whole lot worse. They missed the postseason and went into the 2013-14 offseason needing everything. Starters, relievers, infielders, outfielders, a catcher … you name it. The farm system was thin and the core was aging. And Robinson Cano was a free agent. That was a pretty big deal. Time to dive into the five-year-old hot stove talk.

November 1st, 2013: Yankees Re-Sign Jeter To One-Year, $12MM Deal

The Yankees announced that have re-signed shortstop Derek Jeter to a one-year deal worth $12MM. Jeter, who is represented by Casey Close of Excel Sports Management, had a $9.5MM player option on his previous contract, but this deal will override that option.

This was the time the Yankees gave Derek Jeter a raise simply because he’s Derek Jeter. There was no other reason. Injuries limited Jeter to 17 games in 2013 and the Yankees, who were supposedly planning to get under the $189M luxury tax threshold in 2014, could’ve let Jeter exercise his $9.5M player option and been done with it. Who was signing a soon-to-be 40-year-old Jeter after the season he just had? Instead, the Yankees reworked his contract and have him an extra $2.5M just because he’s Derek Jeter. It’s good work if you can get it.

November 3rd, 2013: Yankees Interested In Infante If Cano Signs Elsewhere

Though the Yankees remain the odds-on favorite to employ star second baseman Robinson Cano for the foreseeable future, GM Brian Cashman has reached out to Omar Infante as a fall-back option, report George A. King III and Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Cashman was vague when approached for comment by the Post, and there is no reason to believe that this report indicates any change in Cano’s status.

Cano was, obviously, the best second baseman on the free agent market that offseason. Infante was second. He hit .318/.345/.450 (118 wRC+) with the Tigers in 2013 and it was so very far out of line with the rest of his career. His first full big league season was 2004. He hit .282/.320/.410 (95 wRC+) from 2004-12, then he had that big 2013 season. Infante timed his career year quite well.

The Yankees were on Infante pretty much all offseason and especially so after Cano went to Seattle. He eventually signed a four-year deal worth $30.5M with the Royals and you’d have thought the Yankees missed out on peak Joe Morgan the way the media and a portion of the fan base reacted. Infante went on to hit .252/.295/.337 (74 wRC+) in 2014 and .220/.234/.318 (43 wRC+) in 2015. Kansas City released him midway through 2016, the third year of his four-year deal. Bullet dodged.

November 4th, 2013: Yankees Make Qualifying Offers To Cano, Granderson, Kuroda

The Yankees made qualifying offers to Robinson Cano, Curtis Granderson, and Hiroki Kuroda, according to a team press release.

A formality. The qualifying offer was only $14.4M that offseason. I remember there being some speculation the Yankees could pass on giving Granderson the qualifying offer after he missed so much time with injuries in 2013, but that never made much sense. Worst case scenario is he takes it and you get 33-year-old Granderson for one year and $14.4M? Not bad at all.

Given their free agent signings and losses, the Yankees had a very busy and complicated 2013-14 offseason when it came to draft pick compensation. Here’s how it all broke down:

Yankees forfeit 18th overall pick to sign Brian McCann.

Yankees gain supplemental first round picks for losing Cano and Granderson.

Yankees forfeit the Cano and Granderson picks to sign Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran.

Kuroda re-signed with the Yankees, so no draft pick compensation.

The Yankees signed three qualified free agents and lost two qualified free agents. Their first pick in 2014 was No. 55 overall, which they used on Jacob Lindgren. He appeared in seven games for the Yankees in 2015 and was non-tendered following the 2016 season after getting hurt. Lindgren hasn’t pitched since. He’s with the Braves and is currently rehabbing from his second Tommy John surgery.

November 5th, 2013: Yanks Made Preliminary Inquiry On Brandon Phillips

Preparing themselves in the event that Robinson Cano signs elsewhere, the Yankees have placed a preliminary call to the Reds on Brandon Phillips, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Cincinnati’s asking price for Phillips is said to be “way too steep” according to Heyman.

Among trade candidates, Phillips was probably the most discussed Cano replacement. He had a down season in 2013 (90 wRC+) and the Reds were good at the time — they lost the 2013 NL Wild Card Game and were planning to contend in 2014 — so they were never serious about moving him. A few years later reports surfaced that the Yankees and Reds had a deal in place for Phillips at some point (I think at the 2014 trade deadline), but he used his no-trade clause to block it. Phillips blocked a bunch of trades over the years. He didn’t want to leave his Cincinnati and hey, that was his right. But there was a lot of Phillips chatter during the 2013-14 offseason. A lot.

November 6th, 2013: Five Teams Showing Early Interest In Grant Balfour

Grant Balfour is expected to sign with a new team as a free agent this offseason after three excellent years with the A’s — two of which came as the team’s closer. According to the latest from Susan Slusser at the San Francisco Chronicle, the Yankees, Tigers, Rockies, Rays and Angels have all expressed interest in the hard-throwing Aussie.

Balfour was dominant with the Athletics from 2011-13, throwing 199.1 innings with a 2.53 ERA (3.40 FIP) and a bunch of saves. He agreed to a two-year, $15M contract with the Orioles and then the O’s backed out over something they saw during his physical. Everyone laughed because the O’s are notoriously stingy with their physicals, and hoped their team would sign Balfour on the cheap. The Rays scooped him up for two years and $12M and … he broke down the next year. Threw 66.2 innings with a 5.00 ERA (4.32 FIP) on that contract and was done for good by the middle of 2015. The Orioles had this one right.

November 8th, 2013: Yankees Making Tanaka A Top Priority; Won’t Pursue Ervin Santana

The Yankees are planning to make Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka a “top priority” this winter and are considered the team to beat in bidding for the 25-year-old, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports … The Yankees are not expected to be in the market for Ervin Santana, he adds, as they don’t feel that he would fit well in New York.

Given their Japanese free agent activity at the time (or lack thereof), it was easy to be skeptical of the Tanaka rumors. The Big Erv stuff was completely believable. He’d been complaining about the new Yankee Stadium for years and years. And why wouldn’t he? Santana has allowed 29 runs in 39.1 career innings at the new park, postseason included. Granted, he faced the Yankees in those 39.1 innings, but still. Santana wound up with the Braves on a one-year deal and had a nice 2014 season (3.95 ERA and 3.39 FIP) before going to the Twins the next year.

November 11th, 2013: Minor Moves: Crotta, Richardson, Blue Jays

The Yankees signed outfielder Antoan Richardson to a minor league deal and invited him to their Major League Spring Training camp, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets.

Antoan Richardson! Richardson spent pretty much the entire 2014 season with Triple-A Scranton, where he hit .271/.380/.364 (114 wRC+) in 93 games. The Yankees called him up in September to be their designated pinch-runner and he appeared in 13 games. Richardson will forever be the answer to a trivia question: Who scored on Derek Jeter’s walk-off single in his final home game? It was Yankees legend Antoan Richardson.

? Jose Pirela started the bottom of the ninth with a ground ball single, Richardson pinch ran, Brett Gardner bunted him up to second, and Jeter punched a Jeterian single to right to win the game. The 2014 season pretty much stunk. Jeter’s farewell was really cool though.

November 13th, 2013: Feinsand On Freese, Yankees, Ellsbury, Beltran

The Yankees are talking to the Cardinals about a deal for third baseman David Freese, a source tells Feinsand (via Twitter). The Cardinals could theoretically part with Freese since they can move Matt Carpenter to third base and use Kolten Wong at second. Freese, 30, would give the Yankees a solid plan B in the event that Alex Rodriguez’s suspension is upheld.

It amazes me that David Freese has never been a Yankee. He’s been available a bunch of times over the years and, once Alex Rodriguez became a full-time DH, the Yankees had a revolving door at third base for a while. Basically from 2011 until Chase Headley arrived in 2014. And yet, Freese was never a Yankee. Seemed like such a natural fit. A relatively low-cost third baseman who the Yankees could promote thanks to his championship pedigree. Never happened. I thought a marriage was inevitable.

November 13th, 2013: Latest On Brian Wilson

General Manager Brian Cashman told reporters, including Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger (on Twitter), that you can rule out the Yankees signing Brian Wilson after his agent told the team he won’t shave his beard.

So silly. I mean, Wilson’s free to do whatever he wants. He had plenty of suitors, so he was getting paid either way, but imagine telling the richest team in baseball you’re not interested because you want to keep that stupid beard? Wilson signed a cheap one-year deal with the Dodgers in 2013 as he rehabbed from Tommy John surgery, then, after looking good in 18 late season appearances, they gave him a new one-year deal worth $10M. He had a 4.66 ERA (4.29 FIP) in 2014 and has been out of baseball since. Wilson is now beardless and he races cars.

November 14th, 2013: Yankees Notes: Morales, Cano, Jeter, Trades

The Yankees are interested in Kendrys Morales, CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports. Despite Morales’ history of leg injuries, Yankees scouts feel the switch-hitter could add first base depth behind Mark Teixeira in addition to taking regular DH at-bats.

Morales had a pretty good year in 2013. He hit .277/.336/.449 (119 wRC+) with 23 homers for the Mariners. That’s not great for a DH, but it’ll work. I don’t remember whether the masses wanted the Yankees to sign Morales though. Mark Teixeira was coming off basically a lost year with his wrist surgery and there was no obvious in-house first base replacement/fill-in. Morales eventually signed a one-year, $12M deal with the Twins and hit .218/.274/.338 (72 wRC+) in 2014. Ouch. Teixeira stayed mostly healthy that season. His primary backup? Kelly Johnson.

November 15th, 2013: Mutual Interest Between Yankees, Javier Lopez

There’s mutual interest between the Yankees and left-hander Javier Lopez, agent Barry Meister tells Andy McCullough of the Star-Ledger. The two sides have had preliminary discussions and plan to have more substantial discussions later in the offseason once the Yankees have had time to address their biggest issues.

The Yankees were set to lose Boone Logan that offseason and they were looking for another lefty reliever. They eventually settled on Matt Thornton, who was fine, then was let go on a trade waiver claim in August so the Yankees could save money and give Rich Hill a look. Lopez was one of the best left-on-left matchup guys in baseball with the Giants from 2010-13 and he returned to them on a three-year deal worth $13M. He was fine. Declined a little in his mid-to-late-30s but was fine overall. Everything was fine.

These days, I’m not sure a guy like Lopez sticks around all that long. Those one or two-out left-on-left guys are a dying breed. Teams use their bullpens so much now that using a roster spot on a guy who only gets one or two outs doesn’t make sense, even if they are high leverage outs. Four lefty relievers made at least 60 appearances and averaged no more than two outs per appearance this year (Luis Avilan, Jerry Blevins, Andrew Chafin, Tim Hill). Back in 2013, just five years ago, eight guys did it.

November 17th, 2013: Minor Moves: Valaika, Whiteside, Wheeler

The Yankees signed third baseman Zelous Wheeler to a minor league contract. Wheeler split time between the Orioles’ Triple-A and Double-A affiliates in 2013, posting a .275/.354/.414 batting line.

Zelous Wheeler! The Yankees called him up in July 2014 because Yangervis Solarte was struggling big time and they wanted to try someone else. Wheeler hit .296/.367/.467 (132 wRC+) with Triple-A Scranton that year, and, in his second big league at-bat, my dude went deep.

? Come for the Zelous Wheeler dinger, stay for the Phil Hughes cameo. Wheeler went up and down the rest of the season and finished with a .193/.230/.298 (46 wRC+) batting line in 62 plate appearances.

The Yankees sold Wheeler (at his request) to the Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan following the 2014 season and you know what? He’s still over there mashing. Wheeler hit .264/.332/.414 with 13 homers in 103 games this year. Last year he hit .271/.342/.493 with 31 homers in 153 games. Huh. Rakuten gave him an extension and a couple million bucks last year. Good for him. Wheeler’s only 31 too. Still has a lot of baseball left to play.

November 18th, 2013: Yankees Interested In Jhonny Peralta

The Yankees are now expressing interest in Jhonny Peralta, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (on Twitter). Peralta would provide the Yankees with insurance should Alex Rodriguez miss significant time with a suspension or in the event of a Derek Jeter injury. He has extensive big league experience at both shortstop and third base.

It was kinda funny Peralta was being mentioned as suspension insurance for A-Rod when Peralta himself was coming off a suspension. He was one of the players who accepted the 50-game suspension for his ties to Biogenesis. Peralta wound up with four years and $53M from the Cardinals. His numbers from 2014-17 are pretty much the classic aging curve for middle infielders from age 32-35:

2014: 120 wRC+ and +4.6 WAR

2015: 105 wRC+ and +2.0 WAR

2016: 91 wRC+ and +0.0 WAR

2017: 27 wRC+ and -0.5 WAR

Imagine if the Yankees had invested $80-something-million in Infante and Peralta from 2014-17 to replace Cano and hedge against Jeter and A-Rod? Lordy.

November 19th, 2013: Yankees Won’t Wait For Cano Before Pursuing Other Free Agents

Reports have indicated that Robinson Cano is willing to wait until January to get the deal that he’s looking for, but don’t expect the Yankees to exercise similar patience. Yankees president Randy Levine told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News that the team is interested in five or six free agents and doesn’t plan on waiting for resolution on the Cano front before making offers.

November was loaded with “Cano wants $300M+” and “the Yankees and Cano are far apart” rumors. There was a daily update, it seemed. Levine coming out and saying the Yankees were ready to move forward with other free agents was designed to a) put some pressure on Cano, and b) let everyone know the Yankees were open for business. Remember, they missed the postseason in 2013, and they were desperate to improve the team. There was some thought the club would hold off on everything until Cano’s deal was done. That definitely was not the case.

November 20th, 2013: Minor Moves: Twins, Pirates, Cabrera, Ely, Alfaro

The Yankees announced that they traded right-hander Ben Paullus to the Padres for utility man Dean Anna. Anna, who recently celebrated his 26th birthday, posted an .892 OPS in Triple-A last season. Paullus, 24, worked his way up to Advanced-A Tampa last season.

Dean Anna! He made the Opening Day roster in 2014 and had a very short stint with the Yankees. Twelve games and 25 plate appearances. Anna spent most of the season with Triple-A Scranton. I do remember two things though. One, Anna pitched for the Yankees. Two runs in one inning. And two, he drew an eight-pitch go-ahead bases loaded walk in the 12th inning at Tropicana Field.

That was Anna’s last plate appearance as a Yankee and his second-to-last plate appearance as a big leaguer. The Yankees send him down a few days later and then released him after the season. The Cardinals signed him and he appeared in one game with them in 2015. Anna’s been bouncing around Triple-A ever since. He hit .271/.367/.341 (106 wRC+) with the Phillies’ Triple-A team this year, so I suppose he could get back to MLB at some point.

As for Paullus, he threw 81 innings after the trade, only one of which was above Single-A. He got hurt and has been out of baseball since 2016.

November 22nd, 2013: Brian McCann Closing In On Deal With Yankees

The deal is for five years and $85MM and has a sixth-year vesting option that could boost the contract’s value to $100MM, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets. The deal is simply pending a physical, Rosenthal adds in a second tweet.

The first of several big free agent signings that offseason. McCann was a priority. The catching was so bad in 2013. So incredibly bad. I mean, look at the Yankees’ catcher ranks that year:

AVG: .213 (26th in MLB)

OBP: .289 (23rd)

SLG: .298 (29th)

OPS+: 70 (26rd)

WAR: +0.9 (23rd)

It is very hard to win with catching that crappy. McCann hit .256/.336/.461 (118 wRC+) with the Braves in 2013 and ZiPS projected him for .258/.340/.451 (113 OPS+) in 2014. Going from the Chris Stewart/Francisco Cervelli/Austin Romine catching trio to McCann was one of the single biggest upgrades any team could make during the 2013-14 offseason. Gary Sanchez was still years away and the Yankees needed outside help behind the plate.

McCann fell well short of his ZiPS projection in 2014, hitting .232/.286/.406 (94 OPS+) overall, but he was still a pretty substantial upgrade behind the plate. He was better in 2015 and 2016 (102 OPS+) before the Yankees shipped him to the Astros. McCann was definitely a bit of a disappointment offensively but he was a lot better with the Yankees than I think he gets credit for. He was a big upgrade — on both sides of the ball, it should be noted — over what they had. The signing didn’t really work out as hoped though. Doesn’t that always seem to be the case?

November 25th, 2013: AL East Notes: McLouth, McCann, Orioles, Saltalamacchia

The Yankees are interested in Nate McLouth writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, but more as a backup plan to primary targets such as Carlos Beltran and Curtis Granderson.

Man did we get a lot of McLouth mailbag questions back in the day. What about trading for him? What about signing him? What about trading for him now? Every offseason. It started with McLouth’s breakout 2008 season (121 wRC+ and +3.8 WAR) but he never came particularly close to those numbers again. His dead cat bounce year with the Orioles in 2013 was .258/.329/.399 (100 wRC+) with 12 homers, 30 steals, and +2.2 WAR. That’s about as good as it got after 2008. The Nationals gave him two years and $10.75M and received 79 games and -0.1 WAR in return. Imagine if the Yankees would’ve let Granderson walk, lost out on Beltran, and signed McLouth to plug into the outfield? Gosh.

November 27th, 2013: AL East Notes: De Jesus Jr., Lavarnway, Infante

The Yankees paid a good amount to sign Cuban lefthander Omar Luis last year and they’ll be making him available in this year’s Rule 5 draft, writes Ben Badler of Baseball America. The Yanks initially signed Luis for a $4MM bonus but when an unexpected issue popped up in his physical, they negotiated that figure down to $2.9MM. It may be a long shot that any team will draft Luis, however, given how far away he is from contributing.

Luis was the last big money prospect the Yankees signed before the international spending restrictions kicked in and he was a total waste of money. He allowed 66 runs in 99.1 pro innings, almost all in rookie ball, and walked (75) nearly as many batters as he struck out (86). I can’t find any record of the Yankees releasing Luis, but he hasn’t pitched since 2015, so I assume he’s out of the organization.

November 30th, 2013: Pirates, Yankees Nearing Chris Stewart Trade

The Pirates are on the verge of acquiring catcher Chris Stewart from the Yankees, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney (Twitter link).

Stewart was a goner either way, with or without the McCann signing. He was slated to earn seven figures through arbitration and, rather than non-tender him, the Yankees were able to send Stewart to the Pirates for a player to be named later. That player: Kyle Haynes, a righty who spent a few seasons in the farm system as an organizational arm before being released. Stewart spent four seasons in Pittsburgh and slugged .298.

November 30th, 2013: Cano Asking Yankees For Nine Years, $250-260MM

Cano asked for a nine-year deal at $28MM per year, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney, a $252MM total that would match Alex Rodriguez‘s first free agent contract. He also wants a tenth year vesting option at $29MM. Olney says the Yankees are in the $170MM range, leaving a gap of around $80MM.

This was the first time we heard an actual dollar figure from the Yankees. Cano’s camp had been saying $300M total and $30M annually for weeks and weeks. This was the first time the Yankees’ offer was reported. Also, the fact they were at $170M indicated they were not offering ten years. It wasn’t until after Cano signed with the Mariners that we learned the Yankees capped their offer at seven years and $175M. That’s a gap of three years and $65M. It was a bummer to see Robbie go. I wish he could’ve been a lifelong Yankee. But the Mariners made it very easy to say goodbye with that offer.

RAB Live Chat

Source: https://bloghyped.com/revisiting-the-mlbtr-archives-november-2013/

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15topwrestlers-blog · 6 years

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15 Wrestlers Who Are On Top of WWE

Nutrition For Wrestlers

I am no dietitian but a dietitian is not any wrestler, nor would they know the best wrestler's food plan. It goes with out saying that a wrestler's weight loss plan is among the more essential parts in wrestling, considering how many people actually minimize weight throughout our careers.

During the final months of my aggressive profession there are solely a handful of days that I did not write down my weight each morning, what I consumed and the way a lot I worked out. By the end, I was utilizing my earlier days as a mannequin to observe two or three days earlier than a match. Albeit the craziness, the concept labored. Under, I will present you a few sample pages from my wrestler's weight loss program, but it surely's important to remember that everybody's body is different. If for some reason the wrestler's weight-reduction plan that worked for me would not for you, keep experimenting. Remember experimentation is greatest carried out within the low season.

Wrestler's Diet Generalizations

First, in any wrestler's eating regimen the drink of alternative must be water. It's one of the simplest ways to keep you hydrated. Water is just like the gasoline for our automotive, without it, we can not run. On match days we should be going from full to half a tank, not half solution to empty.

Ingesting a sports activities drink when you'll be able to is also necessary on a wrestler's weight-reduction plan. The rule of thumb is simply drink one if you labored out for over an hour. The problem is that sports activities drinks do not go through your system as shortly as water so you need to be careful with them. The only other beverage I drank was green or white tea with no components like sugar or milk. At first I used to be not an enormous fan of tea, nevertheless; gradually over time, I discovered to find it irresistible and I nonetheless drink no less than two cups of the stuff a day. Tea is high in antioxidants, and a natural diuretic which helps fluids cross by your system quicker.

A great guideline to follow is to stay hydrated so long as possible as my cutting weight post pointed out.

I wouldn't begin reducing out water until the day earlier than a weigh-in. In highschool this is very tough since weigh-ins occur nearly each other day. That is why I recommend highschool wrestlers to all the time go one weight class higher than they intend to. If extra wrestlers targeted on wrestling in high school as a substitute of what weight class, and who they must dodge, they would be much better fitted to the game in school. Plus high school students are still rising, and reducing weight impedes that course of. I made the error of sucking out too much weight on my wrestler's weight loss plan in highschool and it ruined my metabolism.

It is best to make your personal food as a lot as possible, to know precisely what you're eating. There aren't many locations where you may get a well-balanced meal, together with the marketed healthy places. Making your individual food is the smartest (and least expensive) technique to dwell when you find yourself on a wrestler's food regimen. In the event you reside on your own and have hassle in the kitchen, purchase a healthy cookbook to help you get started.

Wrestler's Weight-reduction plan Really helpful Foods

Any greens, fruit (it helps hydrate you), yogurt with dwell energetic cultures, egg whites (whole eggs are advantageous every so often), walnuts, almonds, granola, oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly on entire wheat bread, hen (baked or grilled), brown rice (not the Chinese meals kind), quinoa (one other grain), beans (if from a can rinse them off and then re-season), tuna (rinse), shrimp (not fried), and veggie burgers. Those meals mainly constituted my weight loss program through the season excluding the meals out, our group shared after sure matches.

I additionally restricted my sodium intake as much as possible by by no means including salt to anything. Stemming vegetables is one of the best ways to cook them. The principle elements to virtually all my dishes were extra virgin olive oil, onion and garlic.

Avoid all varieties of quick meals when you find yourself on a wrestler's food regimen through the season. "Food plan" stuff, like soda is just not the best option either. It's higher to drink sugar and burn it off then drink diet soda and watch TV. There are in fact, sure meals vices that all of us have. Mine was frozen yogurt, teddy grahams, fruit snacks, baked cheetos and sizzling sauce. Hot sauce was primarily the one added sodium I allowed myself to have. Do not deny your self of your food vices completely, otherwise you will go nuts. In our modern supermarkets there are various options to get your "repair." If it's cookies, you can buy 100 calorie packs of them. If it is chocolate, eat just a few blocks a day. Wrestlers burn so many energy that it isn't the end of the world in the event that they fall off their wrestler's food plan once in a while.

The top 10 feminine wrestlers of today are judged by their athleticism, their "stage" presence and their keen to be taught and progress to what the fans need to see. Wrestlers, properly if that is what you wish to name them, like Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres don't belong on a high 10 listing a wrestlers. They might be considered models, divas, and the top 10 of quick ranking boosts. Your more consistent and dependable followers choose the artwork of the entertainment over the the pillow combat matches, not because they are not all in favour of great thing about the women, however they turn on WWE and TNA for their love of wrestling leisure.

Featured first on the top 10 of feminine wrestlers of now, is WWE Diva Maryse Ouellet.

She came in as a contestant of the Diva Search WWE had to recruit stunning gifted wrestlers. Though the contest has proved to be principally a failure, it did deliver to life a couple wrestlers that took the time and effort to do greater than show their legs. Their participation in practice and training brought them to a high level. In Maryse's case, this opportunity brought her to a really high level. She has rapidly grow to be a fixture on WWE tv and has had the WWE Divas title for fairly some time. Her inexperience does show within the ring and she can be paraded in bikini matches from time to time. Maryse hits number 10 because of her persistence in changing into a respected wrestler for her capacity... and her appears.

Beth Phoenix is an excellent wrestler with great abilities. Unfortunately, the "Glamazon" gimmick that is used has taken away from her capability and has given her much less vital story traces. Beth hits quantity 9 on this record as a result of she does have the flexibility. You may expect her future in wrestling to be long and profitable.

Natalya Neidhart is quantity 8. With the suitable story strains and push from promoters, Natalya could at some point high this list. Her father was Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and she was educated in the dungeon by the Hart Household. This means she is really powerful! Natalya additionally has a stable which refers to themselves as The Hart Dynasty which consists of Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith. David is the son of Davey Boy Smith, Tyson Kidd is the final particular person to be trained out of the Hart dungeon. Now provided that WWE would let her wrestler extra.

Daffney might be probably the most underrated feminine wrestler on this record. She is available in at number 7 as a result of she is a great wrestler. What separates her from others is her capacity to behave as well. With an performing background, this TNA Knockout and Shimmer lady ought to have plenty of doors open for her. Daffney was as soon as Cruiser weight champion in WCW and nonetheless remains extremely athletic and hardcore.

Melina Perez takes the 6th spot. WWE Diva and very proficient wrestler. It's recognized that she was one of the quickest learners and best technical wrestlers amongst all of the Diva stars. Best Wrestlers WWE The sky is the limit for Melina and her expertise, her future tremendously is dependent upon WWE format and story strains as WWE seems to go for weight and looks over talent at times.

Our fifth ranked female wrestler of right this moment is Angelina Love, also known as Angel Williams. The Canadian magnificence largely identified for her role in TNA because the chief of the "Lovely Individuals" where she has been embarrassing wrestlers since her arrival, even taking the title from Awesome Kong. You possibly can take into account her rank a demotion considering that her matches normally embrace the help of Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky.

Tara, formerly often called Victoria, is ranked quantity 4 because of her shear energy and determination to be the most effective at what she does. She was convinced into wrestling by the former WWE famous person Chyna. Victoria has overwhelmed a few of the finest together with Lita and Velvet Sky. In July 2009 she became the TNA Knockouts champion just after a couple months of her arrival.

Gail Kim has taken feminine wrestling to new heights, which is why she lands at number 3. She is a excessive-flying athlete very like Lita, former WWE, with even a bit of more finesse. Gail has beaten nearly everyone in her path excluding Awesome Kong.

Michelle McCool hits the quantity 2 spot. Like Maryse, she was a contestant on WWE Diva Search. Although this former college trainer has the talents to prove she belongs in wrestling. Wonderful talent and an important persona, Michelle should be a fixture in wrestling for a very very long time.

Our number 1 female wrestler of right now goes to Awesome Kong, also known as Amazing Kong and Kia Stevens. She now wrestles for TNA and has had numerous expertise wrestling in Japan with different super talents there. Awesome Kong is probably the most dominant feminine wrestler of anytime. Every opponent she has confronted has been demolished. Kong has the technical skills, and she or he scares anyone who faces her. To top it off, she is not afraid to climb the highest of the ropes.

Combined Martial Artwork and Final Preventing Championships have exploded in popularity. More and more people are training for MMA and UFC tournaments. Regardless of being "combined" martial arts, there seems to be a dominate skill set inside the cage: wrestling, or ground game.

The interest of the article is to discover three potential reasons for why athletes proficient in the ground game continually excel in MMA contests, and people three are high quality of instruction, expertise developed, and the rules of the competition. These are, what I contemplate, to be the top causes wrestlers proceed to reign supreme in MMA competitors.

First, let's think about the quality of instruction. Many individuals in martial arts have incredible teachers, however one thing to contemplate is the length of time any pupil of the arts has been learning martial arts. With wrestling, it's a sport backed by many colleges, and begins as early as elementary faculty. This means there are kids studying the best way to work on the bottom without having to pay membership dues like they must do at any martial arts studio. This permits a broader base of potential fighters to draw from; not just the mother and father that can afford it.

Further, in contrast to a martial artwork studio that can continue to teach you regardless of skill so long as you pay the dues, wrestling coaches are pushed to provide results; not paychecks. This implies college students should compete for a place on the workforce which places a number of strain on wrestlers to increase their abilities. With out the power, he won't make the crew. If a wrestler stays on the workforce through school, it means he might have as many as seven years of expertise underneath his belt with one other four to 5 years in college to coach, all before getting into an MMA contest. The low value, long term, and competitive nature of instruction goes an extended technique to creating competent fighters who are most comfy on the ground.

Second, let us take a look at the skills wrestlers are taught from day one and the way it improves their fighting means. One of the most necessary fundamentals to any bodily confrontation is positioning. Take into consideration how properly you may defend your self if your opponent is standing behind you. You are not going to do too nicely with that. Wrestlers are drilled on positioning, and figuring out where the most effective place to be a selected transfer. They change into very conscious of how their opponent is maneuvering, and whether he's in good or dangerous place.

As a wrestler, if someone have been trying to set you up for a throw, you'd immediately really feel your opponent's shift in body weight, and you'd know exactly where to position yourself to neutralize his benefit. Wrestlers have an incredible working data of positioning which they can use to their advantage whereas standing, or sprawled on the bottom. This forces anybody else to work a lot tougher than they often need to, and this works in the wrestler's favor by carrying down an opponent's energy reserves.

Whereas preventing a wrestler, you possibly can "fuel out" in a short time for those who're not used to coping with someone who is snug while standing or working the ground sport. As soon as his opponent is tired, the wrestler can capitalize on this by going for the submission, or using some other strategy to end the fight. If he can seal the cope with a punch, he'll punch. No space of the battle is off limits to a wrestler, while many hanging-only fighters are uncomfortable with engaged on the bottom.

Lastly, since we're speaking the MMA arena, we've got to contemplate the nature of the foundations of the sport to totally understand the advantage wrestlers may have. Ultimately these fights are a sport. Violent they may be, however a sport they're still. Deadly strikes and crippling blows are strictly prohibited, which is definitely advisable for any sport the place the athletes anticipate to have a career. Managers wouldn't have anybody to handle if their fighters solely lasted one fight, both. Further, there is a restricted attraction to no-holds-barred combating. This was the issue UFC confronted in its inception. There was too much blood, and the final inhabitants discovered it distasteful. Only a few corporate sponsors have been keen to tie their image to such brutal entertainment.

As soon as certain guidelines had been put in place, there was a lot less blood and fewer genuine accidents. Now that the UFC was much less of a blood sport and more of a full contact contest, its recognition skyrocketed. An unintentional side-impact of those rules was giving an edge to wrestlers. Take into account the number one protective posture in ground combating; the full guard. The defender has his legs around the waist of the aggressor to forestall a full mount. In the ring the place groin assaults are prohibited, this can be a wise plan of action. Exterior the ring, however, even the least educated particular person can see why presenting your attacker with your most susceptible part would be fairly foolish.

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eridianshores-blog · 7 years

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The Walking Dead: Season 6 - Revisited

Warning: There be SPOILERS ahead! If you haven't watched Season 6 of The Walking Dead and want to keep all the twists, turns, secrets, and deaths a surprise, stop reading!

(Maybe one day I'll whip up some fancy HTML to hide spoiler text until the area is hovered over, but until then...)

Looking back at my humble collection of around 8 or so zombie DVDs circa 2005, it’s hard to believe the very same subject matter I sought out would, in a few years time, become one of the highest rated TV programs of all time, constantly setting new records (all in an age where traditional TV is dying out, no less). The proliferation of zombies into the mainstream is largely a very recent phenomenon, both responsible for and spurred on by The Walking Dead.

I will admit that my interest in the show is patchy - some seasons I religiously catch every episode, while others ebb by with barely a thought. But when a new season does inevitably pop up on Netflix, I do get a little excited to see what’s happened. I also think it’s fair to say that The Walking Dead can feel like 2 different TV shows depending on whether you’re getting your season in over the course of a few days or actually watching it week-to-week complete with holiday break.

Watching the show week-to-week really helps those “moments” settle in. You’ve only got a finite amount of Walking Dead to chew on for a week or more, so it sticks in your head longer and leaves you to ponder over secondary and tertiary plot strings more thoughtfully and completely. The drawback is that the lulls and the filler are 10x more obvious. When processing the season as 16 different chunks, drawn out plot lines, tangential episodes, and even shockers and cliffhangers are much more noticeable and memorable simply because we have more time to ruminate before our next narrative dose.

On the other hand, binge watching a season gives us a much clearer view of whatever arc the writers had planned since we’re sort of able to feel the momentum and the progress in “real time.” Sometimes the week-to-week stuff is like moving in slow motion, and it’s difficult to see “the point.” Conversely, some degree of detail and nuance is lost with the binge-watching approach because our minds aren’t spending time going over every single detail over and over. We see an episode, reach back to remember what we need to, and move forward; it’s much different than sitting around for a week and wondering where every plot thread will eventually end up.

That being said, depending on who you are and also depending on what season of The Walking Dead we bring into question, one approach or the other may be a “better” or more optimal (or worse or less optimal) way to watch the episodes. However, as the years roll on - particularly from the 4th season forward - more and more I think that binge watching is the way to go, mostly because the writers or producers or whoever seem to revel in audience manipulation. At least you’ve only really got to put up with the season finale when watching it all at once.

Now with all of that being said, I digested the 6th season more or less in one chunk, maybe 5 sessions over the course of 3 and a half days. As a season I would say it was maybe...75% successful? It certainly got off to a good start after the rocky road to (and into) Alexandria in the 5th season. I can see where the quarry situation may have initially come off as contrived and manufactured, but I think the writers actually did a good job of explaining it - these zombies had been falling in and this was one of the biggest reasons why Alexandria had yet to face any serious threats from the dead. Of course the timing of the trucks that held the bodies at bay was mighty convenient, I’m ok writing that off as the magic of television.

Most criticisms leveled at the first half of Season 6 focus on the plodding nature of the events surrounding the quarry - in case you’ve forgotten, the group was successful at leading half of zombies away but the other half were drawn towards Alexandria due to a simultaneous assault by the Wolves. Soon the wall gives way and the town is overrun. I suppose I can somewhat sympathize with these criticisms, but I also feel like there’s a lot that happens over these 3 days (I think) and that it takes a little time to adequately run through all the events, especially since many events overlap and we’re getting multiple perspectives, plus enough information to know how all the events fit together.

Personally, I found the threat of zombies refreshing. Our heroes have become pretty adept at dispatching these things and it’s been a while since we’ve seen more than a few quick stabs here and there. Maybe the group was splintered into 1 or 2 too many subgroups for the show’s own good, but I was still glad to see all the running and cornering and eventual evisceration of several lesser characters. It reminded me a lot of the show’s earlier days when plots revolved around simple supply runs or fortifying a place to sleep.

As for the attack of the Wolves...meh, I could take it or leave it. It wasn’t entirely original, it was 100% expected (at some point anyway, and what better time than the worst time possible...), and I felt like it was a forced means for the show to get to this whole “kill or not to kill” theme that ends up dominating the season. Now don’t get me wrong, I think this is a great question to ask - I’ve been asking it myself for the last couple of seasons - I just thought the whole Wolves attack with “Alpha Wolf” and Carol and Morgan was a weird and slightly unnecessary spark for the conversation.

Morgan’s obvious reticence towards killing has always brought with it a tiny air of mystery, but it wasn’t until this season’s 4th episode that we fully understood the breadth of Morgan’s journey from Atlanta to Terminus. As a sidenote, I have mixed feelings about these flashback episodes. Usually the information presented within is interesting, informative, and worth the use of an episode, however, no matter how great it is as a standalone piece, it still interrupts the flow of the season. I guess it can’t be helped (other than to do away with these types of episodes, though I don’t think that’s the answer) but maybe they could place these episodes more strategically, i.e. not following a cliffhanger. Oh well. Back to Morgan and his Odyssey.

When I was finally able to get my mind off of Glenn’s fake death and get into the tale of Morgan (who I’ve always been mildly ambivalent towards as a character) and the one-shot Eastman, I thoroughly enjoyed the renewed interest in morality. Rick & Co. have continually oscillated between “kill fucking everything” and “we’re all a big happy family” but from very early on it’s been established that killing the living is par for the course and must be done. Via Morgan, we’re finally getting around to, “is it really necessary?” It’s not only interesting but also a vital component of the equation at this point in time and I kinda dig how it’s rippled outwards from Morgan, eventually deeply affecting Carol. Daryl isn’t so closely associated with all of that, yet he also seems to have developed a renewed appreciation for human life.

It’s a little early to get into the implications of whether or not killing is wrong and if people can truly change, but I hope we’ll move further into this territory. All of this Negan shit sort of turned the concept on its head and basically gagged and blindfolded us and dropped us smack dab in the middle of everyone-needs-to-die-NOW land. I hope that the issue resurfaces somehow and wasn’t merely heaped on just to create the jolt that was Negan...I guess we’ll see before long.

And then there was the fake Glenn death which I feel obligated to mention...it was stupid. Anyone disagree? Didn’t think so. Moving on.

Wrapping up the season’s first half, which thematically runs through the 9th episode, I’d like to add that I especially enjoyed the payoff that was the death of the Andersons. Don’t get me wrong, I was rooting for Rick and Jessie, but what better way to keep us viewers on our toes than by BAM killing the little kid and BAM killing Jessie and then BAM killing that other kid who also shoots Carl’s fucking eye out. That last part was a little gruesome and perhaps overkill, but I get that it was adapted from the comics. Still, Carl doesn’t have but so many lives....and at the same time it’s kinda cool to watch him become battle-hardened and world-weary - a true product, both mentally and physically, of this post-apocalyptic existence.

The back half of Season 6 kicks off on a positive note. I thought it was great that Michonne and Rick finally got together. Back on the road to Terminus it seemed like there was a spark between the 2, but once that was abandoned I gave up on it. To see it happen was an interesting moment for the show...as far-fetched as the pairing seemed, it also totally makes sense. The cherry on top was seeing that Carl was cool with it. He and Michonne had definitely established a bond, plus I don’t think any of the viewers are in the mood for some “you ain’t my mama” drama.

Of course this is a very minor plot point compared to the flavor of the next few episodes. For anyone in need of a refresher, we meet “Jesus,” the Hilltop Community, and learn about Negan. To hell with morality - the citizens of Alexandria make a decision to launch an all out assault on Negan’s crew, albeit somewhat out of desperation for food (which they intend to trade for Hilltop - exterminating Negan in exchange for necessary goods).

At first the march of war seemed pretty damn interesting. The assault itself was pretty awesome, and we also see both Glen and Heath (I think?) struggle with their “duty” to kill other humans. Some of this guilt seems to subside as they study the Polaroids of smashed skulls pasted to the walls. Then we deal with more Negan as Carol and Maggie are captured, and then the season sort of spins its wheels for a few episodes in anticipation of the long awaited confrontation with Negan.

Watched as a whole, this string of episodes creates some mild exasperation, so I can only imagine that when viewed weekly the show seemed to absolutely slow to a crawl. We do get the death of lesbian M.D. Denise somewhere in there, which actually kinda pissed me off. It seems like - lately anyway - secondary and tertiary characters will continually languish in the background, only to be gradually brought into the forefront. And then, just when you’re starting to settle in with the new addition, they’re unceremoniously killed. It actually seems pretty tough for secondary characters to make the jump to the front row. Either they’re given the axe, or they continue to doddle in the background without being given any real significance.

When we finally meet Negan and ultimately put the pieces given to us in the season finale together, we get what I feel is a wildly unrealistic picture of who Negan and his followers are. First of all, how has any group out there amassed this many members? There was the motorcycle crew, the crew at the outpost, the reinforcements that were inbound, and then enough members to create several roadblocks, impassable to even Rick and his well-armed and well-trained crew. To me, this feels like a huge convenience created just to stymy Rick and Co. No one we’ve ever seen has had this much of a following, and furthermore it seems that this following isn’t confined to a single location either, as evidenced by the “outpost.”

I guess it is possible that they just happen to be the ones that made it long enough and stayed well enough off to become so large, but there’s a few problems with this. For one, there’s the tyrannical nature of Negan. If this show has shown us anything, it’s that violence begets violence and if you rule with a violent hand, all you’re doing is setting yourself up to be overthrown by the next badass under you. Pretty soon you’ve got a group with poor leadership and in discord and they get eaten by zombies or whatever. (Shane, the Governor, Alpha Wolf) The second issue is how predatory Negan’s group is. To maximize their spoils, they’d need to keep their numbers small. They’re not the sort of community that can just continue to grow, especially since they’re relying on the exploitation of others. Too many mouths to feed. No no, you need servants, not comrades. There are just some glaring logistical issues with having a group so big yet so dependent on taking what they need by force - eventually they’re going to run out of people to extort.

Finally there’s the common issue of how many people would seriously pledge their loyalty to a guy who beats people to death with a baseball bat and laughs about it, but that’s more of something to discuss with Season 7.

Any damn way, this big climax with Negan was pretty darn disappointing. I know that Jeffery Dean Morgan garnered a lot of praise for his portrayal, but honestly he just talked too damn much. (And if you don’t think so, just wait until you get into Season 7...) Yeah, he was definitely evil and unnerving and made for some serious suspense, the problem was that it was just drawn out too long. By the end of the finale we know that Negan wasn’t bluffing and that somebody bit the dust, but in true Walking Dead sensationalism, we got no idea who.

Like so many of The Walking Dead’s biggest moments, this one was also polarizing. Plenty of critics loved the buildup and plenty others were unsatisfied. Good TV shows will almost always create this sort of division, though I can’t help but notice that many of these “shock” moments are the target of harsher and harsher criticism as time goes on. My concern is that the show will become something like Jerry Springer or Maury - a once serious show that ostensibly remains so, but in reality is just out for the shock factor. What it seems like the writers and producers don’t seem to realize is that a) TV is not a comic, and b) it only takes 1 or 2 severe blows to shatter a viewer’s interest and emotional investment in a show. (Yes, I’m looking your way Season 7...) Sure, you can keep pulling the rug out from under us and making us gasp and cringe with the very things we thought would never happen, but there’s only so many times you can play that card before unpredictability becomes predictable; where viewers learn to expect the unexpected, and as a result, go into the show with a degree of skepticism that hinders their full enjoyment.

Furthermore, the number of possible storylines grows ever smaller with many of these moments - whether it be someone minor like Denise or Noah (huge waste of potential in my opinion) or a bigger player like, let’s say, Lori or Dale - and to be honest, the show has had a difficult if not impossible time when it comes to replacing these folks. Frankly no one has even come close to replace people like Herschel, or Dale, or Shane (ok, Shane had to die), or even smaller roles like Beth. Looking back on it, Michonne was really the last great character they introduced; I guess Tyrese was alright once he came into his own. But the other sorta-newcomers - Sasha, Ford, Rosita, Eugene, Father Gabriel - none of them really come close to hitting the highs that much of the Seasons 1 - 3 cast did. The Walking Dead has all but become “The Rick Show,” and while part of me can get behind that idea, part of me wishes it was a little more balanced.

So for all these reasons I’m giving the season a 75% success rate. Obviously we had a stronger first half and though some may see it as drawn out, looking back on it I enjoyed the multitude of perspectives and events taking place. And like I said, it gets a big “thumbs up” from me for once again featuring zombies as the primary threat. As far as the second half, I don’t have a problem with Negan and I think that - eventually - it’ll create a fun context to explore the morality of killing people within, but as of the season finale, the road was just too damn long and too damn uneventful.

Currently I’m 4 episodes deep into Season 7, and as soon as my cable’s OnDemand is fully functional again I hope to catch up to the mid-season finale. Hopefully I’ll feel strongly enough about it to follow up...I certainly have some choice words concerning those first 4 episodes already!

Until then...brains?

#walking dead #the walking dead #walking dead season 6

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