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takadasaiko · 4 years

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Aftermath (a Veronica Mars one shot)

FFN II AO3

Part of my Spanning Years, Continents series

Notes: I know these one shots were supposed to be movie to the beginning of S4, but this idea popped into my head a while back and I wasn't able to shake it, so here we go. It does take place after the S4 finale, but with the exception of Logan getting to live because I'm not a monster.

Summary: In the aftermath of Epner's last bomb, Logan struggles with recovery and what it cost him.

Aftermath

It wasn't that the waves were much louder on the ground floor than the third, but in the early hours of the morning when the rest of the world was silent, they sounded like they were. It was just one of the many things that Veronica had had to get used to in the new apartment over the course of the last few months. They'd been lucky, she knew, to catch an empty unit a few sections down from their own and on the ground floor so that Logan didn't have to struggle up three flights freshly home from the hospital. He would have given it the same stubborn effort that he'd given everything since the bomb had gone off, leaving him clinging to life without great odds at pulling through. He had, though. Stubbornly. Just like he had stubbornly pushed through surgeries and rehab. She had no doubt that he would have been willing to climb the stairs if that's what had needed to happen, but she hadn't wanted him to.

Anyway, this unit had a washer and dryer, she'd told him when he'd rolled his eyes at her from the hospital bed. It all worked out.

It had nothing to do with the overwhelming fear and guilt she had felt at seeing him lying on the street below their old unit or the fact that every time she risked a glance out their bedroom window she saw it happen all over again. The glass cutting her face and the pressure from the bomb sending her stumbling back. It had sent him flying too, but instead of a bed to catch his fall, he'd been tossed like a ragdoll into the building itself. The collision with the unyielding wall had broken bones and given him a bad concussion while shrapnel had done the rest of the damage. Nearly six months later he still wasn't back up to speed and the doctor warned him that there was a good chance he never would be.

Not that Logan listened to him. That could be for better or worse. The doctors had also told Veronica to make sure her new husband's affairs were in order and he'd proved them wrong there.

Veronica pulled in a deep breath, the sound of the waves doing nothing to lull her back to sleep with those thoughts rattling around in her brain. She turned in the bed, hoping that holding onto him and feeling his steady heartbeat would help ease her nerves, but found only empty space and rumpled sheets on his side. She sat up ramrod straight in the bed they shared, looking around the room still drenched in pre-dawn shadows. "Logan?"

Shuffling could be heard from the other side of the bathroom door now connected to their bedroom and, for the first time, she saw the light peeking out from under it. It opened and Logan shot her a curious look. "Hey. You okay?"

Veronica squinted against the fluorescent light shining into the bedroom and Logan seemed to notice as he reached back to switch it off. She watched - noting the very subtle limp that still worked its way into his step some mornings - as he made his way back to the bed and eased himself down. "You okay?" he had asked again, his brows drawn together with the question.

"Yeah. Yes. Just —" Just what? Thought he was really gone? Thought that the last six, nearly seven months had been a kinder dream to replace a realty her mind couldn't accept? It all sounded silly now that she was actually awake, so she forced a smile and rocked forward onto her knees. Her fingers teased at his hairline and the burn scars there, gently guiding him in until he met her halfway for a kiss. She leaned into it, feeling one of his hands against the side of her face and she tilted them both over so that he landed on his back, Veronica leaned over him with an impish smile. There was one way to banish those recurring fears. "I love you," she said firmly.

His thin lips quirked up into that lazy, amused smile she loved and he brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I love you too, but I need to finish getting ready if I'm going to make it down to base by seven."

Her pre-caffeinated brain spun trying to figure out why he needed to be down at the base at all that day before it slammed head first onto the answer. "You have your physical today."

"Yep," he answered, kissing the tip of her nose and his tone a lot cheerier than she would have expected. His last physical had not gone as well as the Navy doctor - or Logan - had hoped. After about a day of moping around the apartment Logan had very pointedly brushed it off as still healing and buckled down to work even harder than before. Wanting it - needing it - had been what had gotten him through ROTC, through OCS, and continuing through one of the toughest military training programs there was, but it might not be enough to keep it now. Veronica had heard his physical therapist remind him the last time she'd picked him up that sometimes there was just no bouncing back to before an injury.

"You want me to go with you?" she asked, hoping he wouldn't read too much into the offer.

"Aren't you working a case?"

He rolled a little and she slid off of him, letting him up. "Yeah, but I can make time if you want me there."

"I'll be okay," he promised, leaning in to steal a quick kiss. "How about you make reservations and we'll celebrate good news at dinner tonight?"

"Logan —"

"It's fine. I've got this."

She watched him carefully, and damn it if he hadn't convinced himself of it. She just hoped he was right.

Slowly she unfolded and stood on the bed, stepping to the edge so that she could wrap her arms around his neck and look down on him, her fingers teasing his short hair. She took a breath and went in with him. "Yeah you do. We'll celebrate good news."

"You keep looking at me like that, Mrs Echolls and I'm not gonna make it to base," he muttered, mischief dancing through his eyes.

Veronica snorted and released him. "Then go get 'em, Mr Mars."

And on the heels of a joke they'd held onto throughout his recovery, he turned to finish getting ready to drive down to San Diego.

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She knew the moment she saw him walk through the office door that the news had been less than he'd hoped for. They canceled the reservations and went home with takeout and a bottle of wine. He didn't talk. No quips, no brushoffs, not even an honest opinion or an explanation of exactly what the doctor had said or what it meant. Veronica didn't know if they were forcing him into retirement - or was it discharging him? She wasn't entirely sure - or if they'd pushed the decision down the line. His squad had already been deployed without him two months earlier - this time for a longer tour - and while she hated the idea of him shipping out to join them, the idea of him losing the job he loved so much - because of hers, the pesky thought tried to push its way to the forefront - wasn't any better. Sure, he'd be safer, but he loved what he did. He'd tried to describe the way it felt to fly his jet to her one time. The rush of an aerial dogfight, the thrill of hitting supersonic, and the way he could trust that his Wizzo Dave Riley had his back, both literally and figuratively. Even when his duties had shifted in the last couple of years and he found himself with boots on the ground from time to time, the people he trusted were right there with him. "They're family," he'd explained one time and she knew what that meant to him.

Now she was afraid that he'd lost that and she had no idea what to say. She'd never been particularly good at finding the right words to fill the awkward silence following a disaster she couldn't fix. She was good in a fight. She was good on a case. Something winnable. This…. she couldn't do anything for him besides be there and support him, but that never felt like enough. Too often she brushed past, opting instead to focus on anything tangible, but not here. She couldn't do that to him here.

Logan had barely touched the slice of pizza sitting in front of him, but his wine glass was almost empty. Veronica reached over to the bottle and poured the same amount she tended to reserve for his impromptu deployments: up to the lip of the glass. He shot her a look at that and she shrugged, finally pulling a mirthless snort that was close to a chuckle as he was capable of giving her in that moment. He reached over and she took his hand readily, feeling his fingers close around hers, his wedding band cool against her skin. He heaved a sigh, squaring his shoulders a little as he started to speak. "You know, right after I woke up in the hospital my first thought was shit, I bet that explosion just fucked my hearing. Woulda grounded me instantly."

"You got cleared on that three visits ago," Veronica murmured.

"Right? Didn't lose a limb, didn't damage my eyes or ears. I was lucky. I know I was lucky." She shifted on the bar stool and reached up tentatively, her freehand resting on his thigh. He tried for a smile and failed miserably. "I just couldn't pass the physical."

The words were like a knife to the gut and Veronica tightened her hold with both hands, feeling his own fingers around hers and he squeezed his eyes shut. He was done. They were taking his wings. They were taking the thing from him that had helped him find purpose in and that he'd devoted his adult life to.

She had taken it.

Veronica scooted off the stool and wrapped her arms around him, her forehead pressed against his arm as hot tears streaked down her cheeks. She felt as much as she heard him choke back a sob as he reached to hold onto her arm, his entire body trembling under the strain of it all. He'd fought so hard, but even he couldn't fight hard enough to win this one.

"I'm so sorry," she heard herself say, the words tumbling out again and again, faster and more desperate each time until he turned on his seat and suddenly he was standing there, his arms around her too and pulling her in.

He didn't say anything and her apologies eventually dwindled to get swallowed up by the sobs that still shook her. She felt his hand tangled in her hair, though, stroking it gently and he had her pulled close in that way that had always been meant to comfort. Even now, even after being responsible for this, he was trying to comfort her in whatever way he could manage. It wasn't fair.

She felt him pull in an unsteady breath and kiss the side of her head before leaning back. His eyes were rimmed red, the lines in his face a little deeper than usual with the strain of trying to hold himself together. "Veronica," he said firmly, even if his voice was rough. He waited until she met his gaze. "This is not your fault."

"Bullshit," she managed and swallowed hard, determined not to let another wave of sobs break free. "He was after me and he nearly killed you. I knew. Back in college I knew how dangerous this was. It's why I left. It's why I didn't come back until…"

"Till I asked you to."

"I knew this job was dangerous. Not just for me, but for everyone around me. Everyone I love. I went back to it anyway. I could have used my degree at a firm in San Diego or LA and lived here, but I was….so selfish. I knew I was putting everyone -" No, that's not right, Mars. If you're going to start, you better damn well own it."That I was putting you in danger. I did it anyway. I did this."

"No," he choked out, fresh tears building in his brown eyes and she hated that even now he was trying to defend her.

"This is my fault!" she shouted and lost the battle with her own will as she folded forward, unable to drag in enough air to satisfy her lungs.

He pulled her back in and held her close. "Don't ever apologize to me for being who you are. You're good at what you do and I…. I wish it weren't as dangerous as it is. You know I wish it wasn't, but that's for you. What happened to me is Epner's fault, not yours." She felt his finger under her chin, guiding her to look at him again. "You hear me?"

"Yeah," she said smally.

"You believe me?"

"I want to."

That pulled the tiniest of smiles from him and he leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "I love you. The Navy was everything once, but you…. I love you. I've loved you over half my life."

Veronica sniffed hard. "What now?"

He leaned down, catching her lips with his like that was his answer, and the moment she kissed him back he was lifting her off the floor. Veronica wrapped her legs around him and she could taste their tears in the kiss as he carried her back to the bedroom. He wasn't going to magically be okay with losing his career just like she wasn't going to instantly be able to - appropriately or not - redistribute the guilt she was feeling onto Penn Epner, but she could be there for him. And maybe, in time, she'd find a way to be a little better at that.

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The world didn't stop just because Logan felt like it should have. There were things to do, papers to sign, and - worst of all - a call he dreaded making. Thankfully he managed to hold it together on the Skype call with his squad, even if Riley of all people looked on the verge of breaking down. Riles wasn't the only one that reminded him that just because he didn't ship out with them didn't make him any less their family or them his.

Veronica spent the first few days after he got the news close by. She didn't ask him to talk about it, but listened when he wanted to . Even that couldn't go on forever, though, and eventually she started slipping out to the office. The bombing case had put Mars Investigation on the map even outside of Neptune and calls were coming in from all of the country. She wasn't taking anything out of town just yet, but Keith wasn't able to carry to load himself, even with the adjustment to his medication that had helped his memory issues. It was fine. Probably better than fine. Hopefully it meant that she was starting to accept that this really wasn't her fault.

Logan wasn't sure how long a person was supposed to take to mourn the loss of their career, but he was pretty sure he was due at least a few more days of moping. Dick hadn't agreed with him on that and had shown up on his doorstep with a surfboard and a chest full of beer that morning to drag him out to the beach. Well, it had always helped him clear his head when he was younger.

It was bordering on noon when he and Dick trudged their way back to where they'd left their things to find Veronica had brought her own beach towel and was stretched out with a magazine on cameras. She flashed him a bright smile. "Hiya, handsome."

"Always knew you had a thing for me, Ronnie," Dick chirped at his side and Logan rolled his eyes, elbowing the other man in the ribs.

"Hey. You calling it a day already? Careful, or someone's going to accuse you of keeping '09er hours."

"Well, I did marry one," she answered him with a wink.

Dick snorted and Logan elbowed him again before he had a chance to add to his earlier comment. He feigned injury. "That's what I get for trying to cheer you up, man."

Logan's lips stretched into an almost-smile. "Thanks."

"Anytime." Dick turned his attention back to Veronica. "You got him?"

"I do indeed," she answered cheerfully and popped to her feet. "You -" she directed at Logan this time - "go hop through the shower, then I'm kidnapping you."

"What for?"

"You'll see."

He glanced at Dick, looking for any hint he might give, and the blond shrugged.

"You think I'm dumb enough to give him details?" his wife laughed. "C'mon. We're on the clock."

Logan gave up trying to figure it out and did as he was told. Twenty minutes later he was showered and dressed, being ushered out to the convertible he'd bought four months before when he'd been cleared to drive again and it became clear that Veronica couldn't continue giving up her car or all of her time to make sure he made all of his doctors' appointments. He tried to swipe the keys from her, but she just smirked as she hopped into the driver's seat. "You don't know where we're going."

"Would if you'd tell me."

"Where's the fun in that?"

They worked their way through the back roads and he could tell she was trying to throw him off, but he knew the town too well and recognized the roundabout path she was taking to the private airport on the edge of town that Duncan's family used to fly their private plane out of. He didn't bother asking why, but settled into the passenger seat a little deeper and tried to push back the twinge of pain that the roar of a Gulfstream climbing overhead stirred in him.

"Veronica…" he started, suddenly finding himself utterly sapped of energy and wanting nothing more than to go home. They had come out here over the years and watched the planes coming and going. Veronica didn't get nearly as much out of it as he did, but he had loved to go on and on about them, always teasing her that he was going to buy some little single engine one day. She had rolled her eyes at him and told him not to even try it. He'd come close a couple of times, but the judgement would have been strong if he had.

"Trust me?"

He sighed, giving her a sharp nod.

They pulled around towards the hanger and parked off to the side. Veronica kept glancing at him, like she was constantly trying to gauge his mood. He could have saved her some time if she'd just asked: worse by the minute. "I'm really not in the mood to watch them."

"Good, because I thought you might want to fly one." She motioned to where a late 90's model Bonanza sat out on the runway. "You said that you can still fly, just not like the Navy needs you to be able to. I did some research and talked to Riley to make sure I understood everything correctly. He said you had gotten certified in a Bonanza several years ago and all you'd need to do to… re-certify?"

"Get current," he corrected and she nodded.

"Right, that's what he called it."

"Yeah, I just have to do what they call touch-and-goes. Three take offs and landings."

"Super easy, right?"

"Yeah." He felt his lips quirk upward despite his best efforts. "How long do we have her?"

"Unless Riley lied to me and you don't really love this model…. as long as you want?"

Logan stared at her. "You bought me a plane?"

"Well, technically, you bought you a plane, but apparently that marriage certificate means that your finance guy was willing to listen to the crazy idea and set everything up." The beautiful blue gaze of her latched onto him and Logan felt his heart stutter in his chest. "I know it's not a Hornet and I know it won't go mach… whatever, but you'll be in the air." He wasn't sure what his face was doing, but apparently it caught her by surprise. "Shit… do you hate? Is it too soon? I just -"

He leaned in, the kiss cutting off whatever she was going to say and he lifted her up off the ground and spun her a little before letting her feet drop back down and begrudgingly releasing her. Oh. That's it, he realized as he blinked through blurred vision. Tears could definitely give the wrong impression. "I love it," he swore. "It's perfect."

"You're not just saying that?"

"No. You wanna go up?"

She flashed him a bright smile. "See you fly first hand? Absolutely. I think we have to talk to the guy in the office before we just take off in it though."

"Probably so," Logan chuckled and caught her hand in his, pulling it up to press a quick kiss to her knuckles before starting into the hanger. The aftermath of the bombing, recovery, and his eventual medical discharge had been more than he could have ever handled alone, but he had her. Through all of it and for whatever came next. They'd figure it out together.

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Notes: So, fun fact: my dad has been a pilot all my life and when I was little (and it didn't break the bank to do it) he used to rent Bonanzas to fly us to different places. I have some very early and very fond memories of those flights, so when I needed a single engine for Logan to be certified in, that was my go-to.

#Veronica Mars #Logan Echolls #VM fix it fic #veronica mars fanfic

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stularsen · 3 years

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THE HURRICANE vs THE CORONAVIRUS (part one)

That time we planned a once in a lifetime hurricane world tour for March 2020..

I’m currently on a plane for the first time in six months. It feels strange to not have been in the air for this longer than usual period of time but also strangely normal to find myself once again on a flight surrounded by complete strangers. The main difference now is that everyone seems even more in their own worlds than before. Maybe this is because we have replaced invisible masks with real ones and we now happily hide behind these physical barriers, to protect us and others from the virus that stopped the world from moving almost entirely.

The last time I was on a flight was back in March 2020 as the planet was beginning to understand just how serious the situation was becoming. Unfortunately for me, I had planned a once in a lifetime tour for this exact period of time.. The Hurricane Tour. It was an adventure I had been dreaming up for many years and planning for many months. The idea was simple enough, to travel around the earth in one month, playing eleven shows in eleven different countries, experiencing different cultures and meeting different people all along the way. We would start in Australia on the first day of March and then visit Japan, India, Botswana, Turkey, Germany, England, Canada, USA and Mexico before eventually finishing in Argentina on the last day of March.

The lead-up to this crazy tour wasn’t particularly smooth and it was looking like it might be a kind of storm before the calm scenario. One week before we were due to begin, I landed back in Australia from a few months away only to find my precious guitar had been split right down the middle during the flight and my passport had somehow been damaged and needed to be replaced urgently. At the same time Jarrad Seng (the man behind the photos and videos) was having some major laptop issues and needed to find a decent replacement in the last remaining days before we set off on this epic journey. Through some minor miracles and generous support from friends and strangers and also a tour manager who refuses to ever say the word ‘impossible’ (thank you Thomas!) we began this absolutely insane tour where we would quickly learn that we would need to rely on more miracles and friends and strangers to help solve some pretty interesting problems every single day throughout the tour.

The first show was in AUSTRALIA and somehow everything went pretty much to plan. A very jet-lagged Tim Hart (album producer as well as band member and support act for the night) had flown back from London the day before to then drive out west and play one of the best shows I have ever seen him play (while his newborn son watched with us from backstage). My slightly nervous and always teary mother joined me on stage for a little song. My dream of playing a show at Empire Theatre in Toowoomba had finally come true with 500 of the loveliest people to share the moment together. It was a truly special evening with lots of family in attendance as well as old friends from so many places and work colleagues from the bank days. Perhaps the most special person in the crowd for me was Bob Cook, the man who taught me to play guitar when I was a very shy 14yr old kid, to whom I am forever grateful. What a night! It seemed like the storm before the calm scenario had played out and we were about to have the smoothest and most incredible tour of our lives! In reality though, it would turn out to be the exact opposite and what we had just experienced was actually the calm and the greatest storm I’ve ever witnessed was fast approaching.

Thomas, Jarrad and I were up early the next morning and off to Brisbane Airport where we should have been boarding a flight for Tokyo, but a few days earlier we had been notified that due to the virus situation we would not be able to play the show in Japan and would potentially be putting the rest of the tour at risk if we even entered the country. So we somehow managed to change our flights very last minute and head to SINGAPORE instead, but without a show to play. We decided to put the word out and see if anyone knew anybody who might be able to help. It was truly incredible to receive so many messages and comments from people who desperately wanted to help us find a place to play. It didn’t take too long before the team at Timbre X @ The Substation came to the rescue and let us bring in a few people and play a few songs on their outdoor stage before Supersonic helped everyone dance the night away. Show number two, somehow completed.

INDIA is next on the list and it’s looking like everything is maybe going to happen as planned.. until we are waiting to board the flight to Mumbai. I hear my name called over the speaker at the airport in Singapore. An upgrade to business class perhaps? Oh how nice that would be. But no, there was a problem with my visa not being recognised with my new emergency passport and they would not allow me to board the flight.. we pleaded with them to see what they could do while I scrambled to contact people in India at 5am local time to try and amend the visa. It was beginning to feel impossible. If I missed this flight there was a chance there would be a knock-on effect and the rest of my flights for the month could be cancelled. With no other viable option, we decided it might be best for Jarrad and Thomas to board the flight for India and for me to wait in Singapore to try and fix the problem and hopefully get on a flight later that day. But just as we were saying goodbye to each other I heard my name called again and we were told that they had heard back from the flight captain and he had overturned the decision and I would now be allowed to fly?? A medium sized miracle! We celebrated and quickly disappeared feeling both jubilation and disbelief. Surely now is where good things start to happen..

Of course not.. We landed in India to an email notifying us that our show had been cancelled, with very little explanation. We pleaded with them to reverse their decision but it wasn’t looking hopeful, so we put the word out to the people, again. Very soon we had been saved, again, this time by the wonderful people at Veranda Bandra who rearranged their schedule to fit us in super last minute. It was crazy to play a show in India and have people singing along to my songs, it just didn’t feel real, but it was happening right in front of me. Our time in Mumbai was so short but so incredible and we made fast friends with some amazing people. But onwards now to our next destination, the most random location of the tour but also maybe the smoothest show of the tour..

We arrived in BOTSWANA after a long day of travel via Ethiopia and Zimbabwe to the warmest of welcomes. Local musician and Stu Larsen fan, OneSpared, was there to greet us. We had connected a while back when OneSpared (Thuso) had covered one of my songs and I couldn’t believe that someone so far away was not only a fan of my music but was also singing my songs. When the idea for this tour started to become a reality, I contacted Thuso to see what he thought about playing a show together in Gaborone. He said we should do it, so we did. We turned up. The crowd turned up. It was magical and so full of love and energy. Finishing the show at The No1 Ladies Coffee House by singing Whisky & Blankets unplugged with the entire crowd singing and dancing was maybe the highlight of the tour for me, it still feels so surreal when I think about that moment.

With things starting to feel a little smoother, we felt like we were maybe going to be okay in the next days. But when we turn up at the airport to fly to TURKEY we’re told our flight is no longer departing. At this point, we don’t really react. We are so used to being hit with bad news every day. We are in a good frame of mind for finding solutions and after some fast talking and a little bit of confusion, a few minutes later we have another option sorted. We arrive in Istanbul to more bad news, the venue is unsure if we can go ahead with the show due to the worsening and frightening virus situation. It’s now the 11th of March and things are getting serious with the virus, but we want to push ahead while we can and play another show if we can, so we agree to keep the numbers low, the windows open and provide masks and hand sanitiser for the crowd and thankfully Cem at Norm Coffee agreed to let the show go ahead under these conditions. It was a very intimate show with a percentage of the crowd consisting of local cats, an actual dream situation for me :)

After the show, I could see a slightly worried Thomas, he seemed to be rushing to get us all packed up and out the door and back to the apartment.. but why..? Because, he told me as we walked away from the venue, not only our flight, but all flights for the next morning were apparently cancelled. We would spend the next hours trying to work out if there was another way to somehow make the journey from Istanbul to Munich without spending too much time or money or if we would be stranded in Turkey for the coming days/weeks/months. Nothing seemed to make sense so we did what we knew best, we kept moving forward. We had been told that the flight had been cancelled and that the airlines were stopping all flights instantly and that we should not go to the airport the next morning, but every time we searched our flight number it showed that it hadn’t been cancelled and was still on schedule…? We decided to wake up early and make our way to the airport to see what would happen. We didn’t know what we would find when we arrived, but it was eerily quiet and by some miracle our flight was one of only a few flights still operating while the airline and airport finished shutting everything down.

We were so relieved to be able to fly to GERMANY but landed in Munich knowing that the sold out show at Folks! Club was probably going to be cancelled and that it was getting close to game over for the three of us. We searched for an alternate option for the show but we realised that bringing people together was just not the right thing to do anymore. We were starting to understand just how big this virus situation was becoming. We had to accept this and cancel the show and decided to replace it with a livestream instead. We found a friend with a beautiful living room where I played a few songs and shared the experience with a handful of friends and a wider audience online. It was hard to accept that we maybe had to stop this once in a lifetime dream tour which had been unfortunately planned for the exact same month that a global pandemic took hold of the planet, but more and more it was becoming clear that this was the likely outcome.

Waking up in Munich the morning after the little livestream we were told that our next flight had been cancelled, but we managed to be put on another flight which took us to our seventh destination. We arrived in ENGLAND and of course one last thing went wrong. None of our luggage turned up. No suitcases, no guitar, nothing. We waited and waited and waited and waited. We were hoping that for some reason it would just turn up, even after everyone else had collected their belongings and left the airport. Our luggage didn’t arrive and it kind of felt right for things to be this way after somehow surviving the challenges of the previous weeks. We started to make our way towards the ‘lost luggage’ counter to see what we could do but along the way we saw some lonely but familiar suitcases and a guitar sitting beside a completely different luggage belt. We three idiots had been waiting in the wrong place the whole time. Call it exhaustion, call it stupidity, call it what you want, we don’t mind, we were just thankful to not have actually lost our luggage that day in London.

From here, things moved quickly, we made the decision to cancel the sold out London show and we knew we then had to cancel the remaining shows for CANADA (sold out), USA, MEXICO (sold out) and ARGENTINA (sold out). We announced one final live stream from a little cafe in London called Hotshoe 333 where we would officially call it a day. It was a weird feeling, we didn’t want the tour to end, but it simply had to. It was not possible nor sensible to continue. The Coronavirus had well and truly overpowered the Hurricane. Thomas, Jarrad and I said goodbye the next morning and we headed our separate ways.. which is when things started to get really interesting…

Check out the new video for Hurricane - https://youtu.be/xttiOK-0CCE

#stu larsen #hurricane #coronavirus #world tour #march 2020 #jarrad seng #thomas stein

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dontdoitluke · 5 years

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We Could Be Heroes (Superhero!5sos AU)

Sky High AU, but instead, it’s a superhero University.

Featuring Jenna, Skyler, Emma, and Val, more to come!

Summary: After graduating from the Superhero high school Sky High, students can choose to enroll in the University for Supernatural Abilities and the Valiantly Educated (S.A.V.E.U) to further expand their powers.

Chapter 1/?

CHAPTER INDEX

Word count: 2,607

Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list!

Tags: @calumamongmen @myloverboyash @wildhearthood @vintagehoods @lukescherrypie @burncrashbromance @dukesnumber1 @calsophat @kindahoping4forever

“It is a great pleasure to inform you that you have been selected for admission to the University for Supernatural Abilities and the Valiantly Educated for the fall semester.

You were chosen from the largest and most competitive applicant pool in the institution’s history for this opportunity based on your perseverance, potential for improvement, and your exceedingly high scores on your H.E.R.O. exams during your time at Sky High. On behalf of our Headmaster, the faculty, and students - congratulations and welcome to the S.A.V.E.U. community!

As a S.A.V.E.U. student, you are joining the very best, along with a student body from around the globe, all here to educate themselves on how to further improve their supernatural abilities, just like you.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that we hope you take advantage of. Please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Admissions if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to greeting you in the fall.

Sincerely,

Malinda Breton

Director of Undergraduate Admissions”

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

Ally threw her last suitcase into her dorm room and closed the door, immediately turning to throw herself on to her bed. She had begun to question her decision to pick a room on the top floor sometime during the second trip upstairs. This school has so much money and they can’t install a damn elevator?

She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, smiling to herself. “I did it, mom. I made it into the best Superhero University in the world.” Then she erupted into a fit of giggles. “And you said I couldn’t do it! Haha! Suck on that!”

She was floating and jittery with happiness and was about to start unpacking but was interrupted by a knock at her door. Without even waiting for Ally to answer, the door opened and a girl with straight blonde hair poked her head inside.

“Hey, have you seen a 6’4 Australian dork pass by here? Probably sopping wet, looks like a douche nozzle, and sounds like a dog whistle?”

“Um...no, no I haven’t.”

“If you see him can you tell him Jenna is looking for him?”

“Yeah, uh, okay.”

The door closed and the girl was gone.

This year is going to be very interesting indeed.

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Ally’s first class of the semester was Supers History. The class itself was surprisingly small for such a large university, maybe only 15 students, maximum. While waiting for the professor, most of them were occupying themselves. The girl that poked her head into Ally’s room earlier was there also, twirling her fingers and making a cyclone out of the water in her water bottle, and there was boy at the front who was using what looked like telekinesis to draw crude pictures on the whiteboard.

“Good morning, class.”

Everyone jumped. No one saw the professor come in, but there he was, erasing the drawings on the board. “You’re not in grade school anymore, son, try to act like an adult and keep the phallic artwork to yourself, okay?”

“Welcome to Supers History. In this class you’ll learn about Heroes past and some present. You’ll learn about mistakes they made so that we don’t make the same ones. You’ll learn which Heroes turned to the dark side and which Villains came to the light. I’m not here to waste your time, so I hope you’re not here to waste mine.”

No one said anything, so the professor continued.

“We will get to the syllabus in a moment but we have to do ice breakers first. I know what you’re thinking and I agree. They’re a waste of time. But they’re required for some reason so let’s just get them over with as fast as possible. I’ll start. My name is Professor Reinchecht. I’ve been a professor at S.A.V.E.U. for 27 years now, my power is teleportation."

If you had blinked the very second he teleported, you would have missed it entirely. There was no noise, no cartoonish whoosh sound, and no movement except for the fact that he was standing behind his desk one moment and in front of it the next.

Again, no one said anything at first. Most of the students were taken aback by how deadpan and to-the-point Professor Reinchecht was, as S.A.V.E.U. had a reputation for having fun and comical professors. One of the girls in the back stood up shakily however, and wrung her hands together nervously.

“Hello everyone, uh, my name is Emma, I’m majoring in animal sciences and biology, and I’m a shapeshifter.”

“Are you comfortable with giving us a demonstration of your power, Emma?”

She nodded and walked toward the front of the class before turning to face the students. She bent down on her hands and knees to shift; her skin seemed to vibrate and pulse, then a sickening crack was heard as her bones began to grow and change shape. She began to grow fur and her face stretched into a long snout, and her hands turned into huge paws with long claws. The entire class was buzzing and murmuring with excitement. Shifting was a pretty common power but it’s not every day you get to see one of your classmates shift into a giant tundra wolf up close and personal. Even Professor Reinchecht seemed impressed. Wolf-Emma bowed her head and shook her entire body, and in a split second, she was back standing in her human form.

The professor spoke up with a slight smile. “Fascinating. Tell me, can you shift into anything or just a tundra wolf?”

“I can shift into anything I’ve seen in person, or have a clear image of. But I haven’t been able to stably shift into other people yet.”

“Wonderful. Well, that’s why you’re here at the University, to learn how to expand your power. Thank you for your demonstration.”

Emma smiled brightly and walked back to her desk with a spring in her step. At this point the entire class was excited to see each other's powers and to show off their own.

Without being asked, a tall, leather clad guy sitting next to Emma stood up, smirking cockily. “Hey, my name’s Luke, some of you know me, the rest of you can’t wait to know me. I haven’t picked a major yet, and my power is my voice.”

Even the crickets were silent.

Reinchecht blinked twice and looked at Luke with a bored expression, having seen arrogant students like this every year. “You’re gonna show us what that means, aren’t you?”

Luke nodded and smiled widely. “You guys might want to cover your ears.”

No one moved to cover their ears. However, Luke looked around the room before setting his sights on Reinchecht’s desk. Taking a deep breath, he let out a very quick but very loud yelp, similar to the sound of an airhorn, albeit higher pitched, causing one of the pencils in a cup on Reinchecht’s desk to shatter into dust. The students let out groans of protest and rubbed their ears, and the professor just sighed and took his glasses off to clean the pencil dust off of them.

“That was my favorite pencil, but go off I guess, as the kids say these days. Have a seat, Luke. Who’s next?”

Ally thought to herself that this guy must have been the one Jenna was looking for. She was excited to see the rest of the student's powers.

The girl who visited her dorm earlier that week stood up quickly. “Hello, I’m Jenna, I’m majoring in criminal law, and I can do this.” Jenna opened her water bottle and poured some into her right hand, but instead of the water pouring over and onto the floor, it formed a grapefruit-sized orb in her palm. She turned toward the back of the classroom and threw the water orb directly at Luke’s face, soaking him and all of his belongings as the class roared with laughter. Luke sputtered and tried to shake the water out of his eyes, but it seemed as if Jenna was also using her powers to force the water to stay on his skin.

“Fuck, I knew I recognized you! I ought to burst your eardrums.”

The professor finally spoke up. “Alright, alright, that’s enough. Jenna, can you dry him off?”

“I can. But I don’t know if I should.”

“Jenna.”

“Okay, fine.”

With a wave of her hand, every drop of water on Luke and his things reformed into the orb that flew toward the front of the classroom and dropped itself gently into a potted plant. The class was still laughing softly and Luke was red-faced with embarrassment. Ally, however, was getting more and more anxious with each power she witnessed. She felt as if her power paled in comparison to her classmates powers.

Another guy sitting toward the front of the room stood. He was wearing a pair of noise cancelling headphones, and looked like he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks.

“My name is Michael, I’m also studying criminal law, and I have supersonic hearing. I don’t really know how to demonstrate it well enough to prove it. I can’t turn off my power, so I just use these all the time to dull down the noise so that things aren’t so loud,” he said quietly, tapping his headphones and shuffling his feet.

Reinchecht replied softly,“That’s alright, Michael, you don’t have to demonstrate your gift to us. Thank you for sharing.”

Poor guy, Ally thought. Is it a gift or a curse? He must never get a break.

Another girl stood and waved. “Hi, I’m Valeria, I’m here to study human biology, and I can shrink myself down to the size of a pin head.” She’d begun shrinking before she’d finished speaking, but her dress didn’t shrink with her so she was struggling to hold it up and keep herself covered. Luke and a couple of other students catcalled and whistled, much to Michael's dismay. He pressed the cups of his headphones harder onto his ears and grimaced. Valeria shrunk herself down to about a foot tall before holding her dress up became cumbersome and grew herself back to her normal height. She swayed in place for a second and fell back in her seat dizzily.

“Very useful, I imagine. I should have you come shrink down for me if I ever accidentally lock my keys in my car.” Reinchecht chuckled and took a seat on top of his desk. “Anyone else?”

A boy with tan skin and bleached hair stood. “My name is Calum. I’m majoring in powers theory, and I have indestructable digestion. And a spare stomach pouch. I can swallow and store or digest pretty much anything I can fit into my mouth. I...guess I can show you”

Valeria made a pained noise in the back of her throat that sounded like a cross between a groan and a squeak at that.

Calum moved on, pulling a small leather bag out of his pocket and taking out a small handful of large glass marbles. He popped them into his mouth as if they were a handful of peanuts and swallowed them whole.

A red haired guy scoffed and shook his head. “You’ve been trying to prove that since we were kids, Cal. I’m still not convinced that’s a real power. Anyone can swallow some marbles with enough practice.”

Calum furrowed his brows and frowned. “Yeah, but can they digest them? Not everyone can digest glass marbles, Ash.”

Ash shrugged and slouched in his seat. “Still not convinced it’s real.”

“Real enough for me,” Valeria sighed, smiling at Calum, who was beginning to look very uncomfortable.

“Alright, we have to finish up soon, let’s move on,” Reinchecht interrupted. “Anyone else want to volunteer?”

“I will,” a girl with long black hair bounced up excitedly. “I’m Skyler, I’m studying physics, and I have invisibility and forcefields. Jenna, can you shoot some water at Luke again?”

“What!?”

“With pleasure,” Jenna grinned evilly. She pulled another orb of water from her bottle and sent it flying toward Luke. Skyler raised her hand and summoned a shield of light in front of the blonde Aussie, preventing him from getting soaked again.

“You have GOT to stop doing that. You’re like a nerf gun gone wrong.”

“Hey, Sky asked me to, yell at her,” she raised her hands in defense and pointed toward Skyler, but she was invisible all except for her clothes. It was kind of eerie to see clothes sitting in a desk without a body.

“It takes me a little bit to come back...sorry guys, I’ll be visible in a few seconds.”

The red-haired guy from earlier stood. “I guess I should go. Hi, I’m Ashton, I’m majoring in geology and earth science. And, surprise surprise, I’m an earth elemental. Cal Pal here used to call me Captain Earthquake when we were kids because of it.”

“I called you Captain Earthquake because your farts shook the whole room.”

“Gee, thanks Cal. Love you, man.”

“Of course, you’re my best bud.”

Luke opened his mouth to say something but Jenna flicked two fingers and shot a water stream directly into his mouth, making him gag.

“Moving on, now. Jenna, please stop trying to kill Luke, you can do that in the arena on rally days. Skyler, that’s a pretty incredible power. I can’t wait to see how you end up progressing. Alright, who hasn’t gone yet?”

Ally looked around the room to see if anyone else would volunteer before her, and when no one did she stood up shakily. Public speaking always made her nervous.

“Hello, I’m Ally. I’m, uh, here to study environmental science, and I can...multiply things.”

Emma looked at Ally with confusion. “Like...mega math powers?”

“No, um...like this.” She grabbed the pen off of her desk and rubbed it between her hands. It was one of those things where if you weren’t paying attention, you’d miss it. One pen turned to two, two turned to four, and four turned to eight, until she had a handful of blue ballpoint pens in her hand. Some of her classmates clapped in approval, and that calmed her a little. She felt subpar to her classmates, so even the slightest bit of approval made her feel much better.

“Thank you, Ally. That’s a very useful power. I imagine you’ll be able to improve far beyond your expectation.”

Reinchecht cleared his throat and glanced at his watch. “However, we are out of time. We’ll have to get to the rest of you tomorrow. Please, take a syllabus on your way out today. Read over it and make sure you get the required textbooks. You’re dismissed.”

All the students stood up and started gathering their things, chit chatting with each other about their powers. A now-visible Skyler and Jenna were bombarding Emma with questions about her power, Luke and Ashton followed Michael out of the classroom, and Valeria busied herself with trading phone numbers with Calum, pouting when he exclaimed “I have not and will never attempt to swallow a human, no matter how small they are.”

“But you CAN do it, though.”

“Bye, Val.”

“Wait, I have more questions!”

Ally stuffed all the new pens in her bag and headed for the door, but she was stopped by Jenna.

“Hey, what are you doing for lunch?”

“Uh, I was just gonna grab a sandwich or something from the commons, why?”

“Why don’t you join us? We’re gonna meet the boys at Pablo’s and have lunch there. They’ve got the best fish tacos. Please?”

Ally smiled to herself. This was already much better than high school and regardless of what her mother assumed, she loves it here.

“Sure. I’ll meet you there.”

#I'M STILL NERVOUS ABOUT THIS #5sos #5 seconds of summer #um #idk what else to tag it #WCBH

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astudyingreer · 5 years

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Chase and Henrik drunk~ (suggested by @juniper-juno)

Chase burst through the front door, speaking on the top of his lungs as a enraged yet extremely subdued Henrik followed behind him. “You think your life sucks?” Chase was announcing loudly. “Buddy, she didn’t... she didn’t leave me for no tennis instructor. Pal, she left me for what? Air? A wall? One of those fuckin... fuckin blowup anime pillows?”

“Shut up,” Henrik said. Despite obviously having a headache he did not seem to mind his voice gradually growing louder into a yell. “Shut up, just shut up! You are so loud in my ears I cannot even hear myself!”

Chase went to the fridge, grabbing the carton of orange juice and chugging it straight from the spigot. Henrik watched him for a moment in exhausted horror but only turned to fall onto the couch face first.

“Well I’m just, I’m sorry you got your fuckin supersonic doctor hearing,” Chase said in a slurred but still very loud tone. “I feel like I can’t even feel my skin. My skin is gone man. Stacy took my fuckin skin.”

“Vhat the fuck,” Henrik said, muffled by the couch pressed to his face, “are you speaking of, you dumb man child.”

“No I’m serious, dude.” Chase brought the orange juice over to the couch and sat down on top of Henrik, taking another long sad swig. “Before she left I was so like, I was so cool and confident. Now I’m so fuckin...”--another drink--”I can’t even feel my body dude. Like what the fuck is skin anyway, you know what I’m saying? Shit, man. Shit...”

Henrik suddenly let out what could be described of as a scream of rage and frustration into the couch, hardly disturbing the melancholy Chase staring down the barrel of his juice carton.

Suddenly Marvin came down the hallway, obviously woken up by the fog-horn like pitch of Chase’s voice. He emerged into the living room, his expression turning from concern to almost pity.

“Guys,” he said, voice still heavy with sleep, “it’s four in the morning. Schneep, you have work--what the hell am I looking at right now?”

“Juice?” Chase offered sadly, extending the half-empty carton.

Marvin sighed, running his hands through his wild, unbrushed hair as he walked over to his friends. “Chase, get off of him, okay? He’s going to throw up if you sit on him.”

“I have nothing in my stomach,” Henrik confirmed, rolling over as Chase slid off of him. “I have zhrown up many times in the Uber.”

“Dear gods,” Marvin breathed, finally snatching the juice from Chase. “Chase, stop putting more fluids that aren’t water in your body and go run a bath. You stink and you’ll be close to the toilet.” He watched as Chase just shrugged and walked off before turning to the doctor. "Dr. Schneeplestein, get up. You have work tomorrow.”

“I vhill cancel.” Henrik sighed, pushing himself upright and reaching up to straighten his glasses, which were not on his face. His eyebrows knit in confusion and it took him a solid 7 seconds before he finally said, “I have lost my glasses.”

Marvin sat down next to him, pulling the ponytail off his wrist and putting back his hair. “Okay,” he said slowly. “What is going on right now? You never go out. I literally... I don’t know what to say. And that’s very rare for me.”

Henrik only shook his head, burying his face in his hands. “Stop talking. Everyzhing is so loud.”

Marvin reached over, patting Henrik’s leg comfortingly. At the contact Henrik noticeably relaxed, his discomfort disappearing. For a moment Marvin’s hand almost glowed, but as he pulled it away it returned to normal.

“That may work on the others,” he said softly, “but not me. You can’t get rid of me, so cut the bullshit. You’re sad and upset and you’re obviously not going to tell me why. But you can’t act like this, man. You can’t. Okay?”

Henrik nodded, his eyes still fixed on the floor. His eyes had softened, glistening just a little as he stared bitterly at nothing at all.

Marvin stood and offered a hand to his friend. “Come on,” he said softly. “You need sleep, for real. How are you supposed to poke brains all day if you’re exhausted?”

Henrik actually chuckled at this, rising to his feet. “I do not poke brains.”

Marvin nudged him, laughing a little and shaking his head. “Yeah you do.”

#jacksepticeye #jse #marvin the magnificent #chase brody

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zak-helling · 5 years

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Big Hero 6 Theory: Liv’s Next Mutation

Even though it’s not the main focus of my blog, it’s no secret that I love Big Hero 6: the series. I love the characters, I love the animation, I love the stories, and I, of course, love the mysteries. The show keeps you guessing as to what’s going to happen next, but the tragic thing is that, despite being popular enough to warrant a renewal for a third season before season 2 premiered, there doesn’t seem to be much of a fan community online. Unless you tag your fan art, theories, quotes, etc. it’s unlikely a piece of fan art will drift across your dash like it does for shows like Steven Universe, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, She-Ra, etc. I’m hoping that changes soon, but I digress.

Also, this theory is going to contain spoilers for season 2, so I’ll go ahead and tuck it under “Read More”.

Getting back on topic, one of the biggest mysteries thus far in season 2 is the monsters and who is making them. We know Liv Amara is the culprit, but as of episode 10, “Lie Detector,” it becomes less clear what’s going on. Who’s the real Liv Amara? Why is one Liv in what appears to be cryosleep? Why is the other Liv making these monsters? How long has this apparent clone been running amok? Have we only known this clone the entire time? Does the sleeping Liv know what’s going on? There are so many questions, but not a whole lot of answers. Seeing as it’s been a few weeks since the last new episode, we might not know for some time. All we know is that the active Liv Amara is turning old villains into monsters for some kind of fee and, at the moment, no known benefit for the villains. Well, yeah, the villains become stronger, faster, and meaner, but as we saw with High Voltage, the process kind of interferes with living their best lives. We don’t know why they want this or why Liv is doing it. All we really know is that Liv is turning humans into monsters and turning them loose in the streets, sometimes being the one to take them down and look like a hero, other times letting Big Hero 6 do the dirty work.

So now let’s take a look at what we know about Liv’s monsters. I’ll bold the important stuff, as most of this will just be recap:

The first one, introduced in season 1 although we don’t know the full story yet, is Orso Knox, the Shakespeare fan turned whale mixed with a dinosaur and some hair, put into a blender, frozen, and then partially thawed. He spends the episode rampaging through the streets of San Fransokyo, attending his meetings, destroying offices, and speaking cryptically. We later learn that he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, but is more beast than man, and was only trying to get help the best he could. Had it not been for Karmi reversing his mutation in the episode “Prey Date,” Liv probably would have kept Knox as a monster for even longer, potentially pulling him further and further from his humanity.

The second one is Momakase, who can be best described as turning into a werewolf from Skyrim (although her appearance is likely based on Lady Deathstrike, another Marvel villain). Momakase has always been strong, but she is heightened way beyond her normal abilities. Her nails are deadly claws that can cut through anything, she can escape the trap Big Hero 6 creates her and escape into the night, and has so far not been seen again since the episode “The Seventh Wheel.”

Third and fourth is the mother-daughter duo High Voltage. When they make their season 2 debut in “Something’s Fishy,” they discuss wanting to go straight with Liv, telling her that their crime days are over and even trying to lead normal lives after doing Liv’s dirty work. Unfortunately, once they mutate, those dreams are crushed, and they end up being kept in a tank until Liv needs them again in the episode “Lie Detector.” Barb and Juniper even end up turning back over their new leaf after an entire song and dance number about wanting to be normal, which, suggests to me at least, that Liv’s mutation process also messes with free will. Is it possible the two really did just learn they love crime that much? Sure, but I’m not convinced.

The fifth, arguably, is Nega-Globby, a destructive blob made from Globby’s already mutated DNA, introduced in the episode “Nega-Globby”. Side note, I love this episode. Globby makes such a sacrifice in the name of goodness and, I’d say, has been pretty thoroughly redeemed. While our Globby is victorious by the end of the episode, Nega-Globby is still part of him, suggesting that it’s not easy to undo one of Liv’s mutations.

The sixth is the Hibagon in the episode “Muira-Horror!”, the mutated Ned Ludd, back again for more action. Unlike all the other mutations before, Ned’s mutation leaves him a mindless killing machine, further supporting the idea that Liv has the power to interrupt or even override free will. Even Orso Knox had the ability to quote The Tempest, but Ned doesn’t say a word. He comes out of his mutation dazed and confused, with no recollection of what happened.

Mutant number seven is Mr. Sparkles, who is made into a fluffy green monster in the aptly titled episode, “Something Fluffy.” Also introduced in this episode are the Mayoi, adorable, fluffy fungus creatures created by Liv that grow into towering kaijus that can be controlled by Mr. Sparkles. Basically, Liv can create hive minds, or at the very least can put one mind in charge of many. She’s the one to save the day at the end of the episode, boosting her appearance and making Big Hero 6 look inept. After Hiro learns the police already don’t much care for the superhero team in the episode “Something’s Fishy”, this event creates more tension between them and the people they protect, possibly setting up the conflict for the rest of the season, or maybe even the main conflict of season 3.

Finally, we have the big Bessie Bear from the latest episode, “Lie Detector.” This mutation shows us that Liv can essentially give life to inanimate objects, as all she needed was a lock of grizzly bear hair to create the technology cancelling beast. This shows that all Liv needs to make a monster is the tiniest amount of DNA.

So now we know/remember what Liv can do with her technology. We know she poses a threat to Big Hero 6. Seeing as she has only done experiments on past antagonists (as well as Orso Knox and, as is implied, her Chris-sistant, although we don’t know enough about him for him to make the recap), why would she experiment on Big Hero 6? In my mind, the answer is simple: to break them apart. If she mutates one of the characters, crime fighting will be a lot harder. Public perception of the team will plummet. And, if she works her magic with tampering with free will, she can even have another henchman on her side. In short, there’s no way Liv loses in this scenario. Now that we know her motivation, who’s on the chopping block?

The first person who comes to mind isn’t a person at all. We know that Liv can make monsters with a frame and just a bit of DNA, so in theory, she could mutate Baymax. This doesn’t seem likely though, as it would be much easier to just unplug him. Plus, he was part of a super villain grand scheme last season, so it might be repetitive. It could be Hiro. He’s the main character, and having him mutated would force him to hide more things from Aunt Cass, force him to go to Karmi for help, and would give us more insight into the lives of the mutated villains. Although, because he’s the main character, I can’t see him switching sides. Fred is already pretty animalistic, as reflected in his costumes and behaviors while wearing them. But, I don’t know how much mileage we can get considering how Fred is still very much a comic relief character. Wasabi is probably the least developed character on the team, so a mutation could push things for him in a new direction, but that would probably come at the show’s detriment. Honey Lemon’s chem purse already puts her in harm’s way of suffering the same mutation as Globby, making her an easy target, but that would just be repetitive at this point. And so, we are left with one person, the character who I think this is most likely to happen to:

Go Go Tomago.

In a way, season 2 has been Go Go’s season. She’s had more development than the rest of the cast, maybe even more than Hiro. “The Fate of the Roommates” shows her emotionally vulnerable and opening up about her feelings for the first time, developing her as a character and her relationship with Honey Lemon. The very next episode, “Muira-Horror!” shows her learning to let go of some of her stubbornness to trust in Krei’s judgement. The episode “Supersonic Sue” shows her crisis as she fails to prevent an old criminal fresh out of retirement from escaping a crime scene, an old criminal who, as it turns out, was inspired by Go Go to go back to crime. Basically, Go Go has been on an emotional roller coaster this season. We see her get angry, we see her get sad, we see her challenged in ways we hadn’t before. These episodes gave her highs, but they also gave her lows. In fact, “Supersonic Sue” didn’t even give her time to get over what happened, nor does she get a chance to redeem herself from her failure. Right now, Go Go has the most to lose and would likely be the hardest to fall. If anyone on the team is going to get mutated, I’m betting it’s her.

As of right now, we don’t know if the show is going in this direction. For all we know, the mutations stopped at Bessie and the rest of the season will be rounding up the mutants and returning them to normal. But the season is only half-over. I feel like we have plenty of time to play around with the status quo and shake things up a bit. If they do go this route, I doubt it will be permanent, but it could be fun and heart-wrenching at the same time. We’ll see, when Disney finally airs those new episodes.

#Big Hero 6 the series #BH6 the series #BH6 theory #Big Hero 6 theory #season 2 #Liv Amara

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btshogwartsauheadcanons · 6 years

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DETENTION, pt. 1 (BTS x Hogwarts AU Fanfic)

I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THIS

So I started writing a one-shot about the 7 meeting up during detention and so far I have the first part down but I haven’t written fanfics in a long time and I’m still a bit insecure about it since I’ve never written a BTS fanfic either. But yeah here is the first part I hope you guys like it and please comment if there is anything I should fix.

Summary: Due to mysterious circumstances, or just plain bad behavior, the seven boys end up in detention, on a Saturday, with the much-loved Argus Filch. The caretaker plans to take this chance to make this the most hellish detention ever. His biggest mistake is putting the seven of them in a room together.

Pairings: None

Word Count: 10,991

Part 1 of 4

"Hey, Hoseok! Hoseok!" Seokjin yelled to catch his friend's attention. At the moment, Hoseok was training with Jimin, his underclassmen and fellow Hufflepuff, by passing the quaffle to each other across the Quidditch field. Hoseok caught the quaffle just in time before looking up at Seokjin hovering above on his broomstick.

"What is it? Tired already?' Hoseok grinned playfully.

"Yeah! Maybe our old man needs a rest!" Jungkook, another first year from Slytherin, laughed as he zoomed by on his own broomstick while chasing after a snitch.

"I'm NOT tired!" Seokjin yelled back at the maknae who simply cackled and kept right on his task. Both Hoseok and Jimin laughed along with Jungkook. Seokjin often got on their nerves with all his corny dad jokes and Jungkook, the young first year with the power to get on the oldest hyung’s nerves, was practically a godsend.

"Sorry, what were you saying hyung?" Hoseok asked once he stopped laughing.

"Do you want to sneak out to Hogsmeade on Saturday?" Seokjin said.

"Hey hyung, did you forget that we have detention?" Hoseok frowned.

"Yeah, but after detention,” Seokjin shrugged. “I heard there's a new café opening up and you know how I feel about new cafes.”

“That sounds good,” Hoseok nodded. “We can use the secret exit Yoongi-hyung showed us.”

“I just hope detention ends early,” Seokjin sighed.

“You got into detention, hyung?” Jimin looked up at him quizzically before doing one of his superhuman tosses that sent the quaffle flying across the field. Seokjin couldn’t help but feel a bit scared about how nonchalantly Jimin did that.

“Aish, really?” Hoseok sighed and ran after the quaffle before catching it with relative ease. Seokjin couldn’t help but feel scared of Hoseok too for being able to catch that kind of toss. ‘Man, these guys are monsters,’ he thought to himself.

“I got into detention because of these devilishly good looks,” Seokjin winked at Jimin who burst out laughing.

“Don’t listen to him,” Hoseok shook his head and tossed the quaffle back at Jimin. “We both got into detention for sneaking to the kitchen in the middle of the night.”

“Ah, that sounds like something you two would do,” Jimin said.

"If you're in detention you're going to be gone for the whole day," Jungkook butted in, hovering on his broomstick next to Seokjin with the golden snitch he was previously chasing already clasped in his hand. "Especially if you're with Filch."

"Seriously?" Seokjin and Hoseok groaned at the same time.

“We wouldn’t be here if you didn’t bring up that idea,” Hoseok chided his friend.

“Hey, you got hungry too!”

"Yeah," Jimin nodded in agreement with Jungkook. "Last time we were in detention, Filch made us sweep, mop, and polish the entire Great Hall."

"Can't we just pretend to be sick?" Seokjin asked.

"Nah, Filch is just going to make you go to Madame Pomfrey to confirm if you really are sick," Jungkook shook his head. "Taehyung did that and Filch made him wash the windows too."

"Speaking of which…" Jimin said as Taehyung, a first year Ravenclaw and Jimin and Jungkook’s close friend, came bounding into the Quidditch field.

"Guys! We got to go to Hagrid's! Right now!" he said excitedly, despite the fact that he looked as if he just escaped a burning building.

"Why are your clothes burnt?" Hoseok frowned.

"And you smell like sulfur," Seokjin added.

"Blast-ended skrewts," the three first years chorused, with Taehyung sounding noticeably more excited than the rest. Seokjin and Hoseok glanced at each other once and decided not to ask any questions.

"One of them started molting!" Taehyung continued with a big grin on his face. "Come on! You guys gotta see!"

"Alright," Jungkook shrugged and landed on the grass before dismounting his broom. He and Jimin were pretty much used to following Taehyung’s creature research expeditions with Hagrid, one of their favorite professors. Both Jungkook and Jimin agreed that they weren’t the safest activities but they were pretty awesome to do. Either that or they just couldn’t say no to Taehyung.

"I hope Hagrid's got some protective clothing of some sort," Jimin said worriedly before setting down the quaffle he was holding on the grass.

"No problem. Hagrid's got oven mitts," Taehyung said.

"Nothing to worry about," Jungkook said sarcastically. Seokjin and Hoseok exchanged worried glances.

“I can protect you Jungkookie,” Jimin teased.

“I think Hagrid has aprons too,” Taehyung added. “But they might be too big on us.”

“It will be especially huge on Jimin,” Jungkook snickered. Both he and Taehyung laughed while Jimin kicked them.

"Hey, be careful with those blast-ended squorms,” Hoseok said.

“Skrewts,” Taehyung corrected him.

“Yeah, whatever that is.”

“We will,” Jungkook and Taehyung nodded before heading off.

“And make sure you get back to the castle in time for dinner!” Seokjin yelled after them.

“You know that might not be possible,” Jimin sighed. “Well, see you two later. I hope detention isn’t so bad,” he added before finally leaving.

"I guess that's our cue to leave," Hoseok shrugged as Seokjin landed on the grass and dismounted his broom.

"I still can't believe we'll spend a whole day in detention tomorrow," Seokjin grumbled as the two of them walked back to the castle. "I better cancel plans with Yoongi."

"Oh, hyung is in detention too," Hoseok laughed.

“Him too?!” Seokjin exclaimed. “What for?”

“Guess,” Hoseok raised an eyebrow.

It didn’t take long for Seokjin to pinpoint the answer. "He was caught skipping class and playing piano in the Room of Requirement, right?”

“Give the handsome guy a prize.”

"Aish, that boy," Seokjin shook his head. "I guess that makes three of us in detention."

"Do you think we can get Namjoon in detention too?" Hoseok wondered.

"You know just as well as I do that he's miles away from detention," Seokjin chuckled.

…

'You know, this could get you in detention,' Namjoon's inner self chided him. 'Going to the library's Forbidden Section AND sneaking out in the hallways at night? That's a double whammy for sure.'

"But it's all worth it if you don't get caught…" Namjoon whispered to himself as he walked down the aisles of bookshelves in the Forbidden Section with the tip of his wand just barely illuminated in order to see the book titles. During Divination class earlier, Namjoon overheard a pair of Gryffindors talking about a so-called "Marauders' Map" used by some Gryffindors in the past, including the legendary Harry Potter. Apparently the map showed the entire Hogwarts and Hogsmeade location, as well as the people and where they are. The map was supposed to be enchanted as well to make it look like blank parchment until the right words are said out loud. It was pretty much the Google Maps version of Hogwarts, but magic. This was enough to pique Namjoon’s interest but he was disappointed to here that it was lost.

'So why not make a new one?' he figured. It may seem crazy. Making a map like that surely required some advanced magic, which is why Namjoon turned to the library. But since none of the books there had anything on that kind of magic, he suspected that there was a book about it in the Forbidden Section. After all, anyone who would make a "Marauders Map" would probably have taken stuff from the Forbidden Section as well.

"Advanced Charms: Enchanting Objects…" Namjoon read the book spine title quietly out loud. That sounded like something he needed. Just as he was about to scan the shelf for other similar books, the sound of approaching footsteps interrupted his actions.

'Shit! You're done for now!' Inner Namjoon yelled. Namjoon quickly pulled the book he found off the shelf and turned out the light from his wand.

"Who's there?!" Filch rasped. Namjoon stayed still and hoped to god Filch didn't have supersonic hearing. But then with him, anything was possible. After a while, Namjoon heard some muttering and the sound of footsteps leaving the library. He sighed in relief, tucked the book he snitched under his sweater, and began to tiptoe back out of the library. But then just as he was about to leave the room scot-free, his foot somehow caught on the edge of a table, making him stumble forward and land face-first on the floor.

"Ah-HA!!" he heard Filch yell just a few short seconds after. Namjoon pushed himself up, wondering if Filch had supersonic speed as well, to find Filch grinning with glee in front of him, shining a lamp in his face. "You're going to be in real trouble for being caught here." Namjoon groaned and stood up.

"Fine, fine. I'm going back to bed," he said, walking away until Filch grabbed a hold of shirt collar and pulled him back

"Not so fast," he sneered, wagging a finger in front of the student's face. "Being caught at night and in the Forbidden Section means detention for you."

'Double whammy, told you so…' Inner Namjoon muttered. Namjoon winced. So he is going to end up in detention after all. He’s never been in detention except for those times when Seokjin, Hoseok, and Yoongi somehow dragged him into it. Also Taehyung at some point.

"Tomorrow, bright and early," Filch said, poking a finger at Namjoon's chest with every word he said. "If you arrive late and skip out, that's double detention for you."

"Bright and early…" Namjoon repeated and nodded his head, already tired all of a sudden. Detention on a Saturday of all days.

…

"Geez hyung, hurry up! Filch is going to kill us if we're late," Hoseok urged Seokjin who was still finishing his breakfast. Seokjin looked up at him with a look that said 'I'm not leaving until I finish my breakfast' which Hoseok returned with his own 'Yeah, but whether or not you had breakfast won't matter if Filch kills us in the end' look. Seokjin sighed, grabbed the piece of toast he was finishing, and got up from the breakfast table.

"Do you think Filch will let us have a lunch break?" Seokjin asked as the two of them walked out of the Great Hall and down a flight of stairs.

"Is that really all you can think of right now?" Hoseok sighed. “You just had breakfast.”

"Don't lie. You're thinking about that too."

"The more you think about it, the hungrier you get," Hoseok argued, silently agreeing with his friend when he felt his own stomach beginning to rumble. The room Filch instructed them to go to was just near the Slytherin common rooms. When Hoseok and Seokjin entered, they were greeted with stacks and stacks of parchment scrolls and letters. The two looked at each other and groaned simultaneously.

"I guess no lunch break then," Seokjin sighed and sat down on one of the few chairs among the piles.

"Shouldn't that be the least of your worries?" Hoseok suddenly jumped when he saw Namjoon emerge behind him at the doorway.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Seokjiin asked before grinning mischievously. "You got into trouble too, didn't you?"

"Filch caught me last night at the Forbidden Section of the library," Namjoon sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Aww… now we're one big happy family," Hoseok gushed. "When Yoongi arrives that is."

"Isn't the Slytherin common room nearby?" Namjoon frowned and sat down on a chair next to Seokjin.

"Yeah, but you know how much he sleeps on a Saturday," Seokjin shrugged.

"Yoongi-hyung was probably playing piano all night," Hoseok reasoned.

“Or he’s just sleeping a lot like usual,” Seokjin shrugged.

"Well, speak of the devil," Namjoon grinned once their missing friend walked in, still rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"More like dementor," Yoongi mumbled and slumped down on one of the chairs inside. His hair was a mess and his clothes practically looked like they were thrown on. Hoseok chuckled and sat down next to him.

"Sleep well, hyung?" he joked.

"Not enough to have the energy to last through this detention," Yoongi sighed and looked around him. "Looks like we're going to have fun."

"At least we're together, it could be worse," Seokjin shrugged just as they heard voices outside the room.

"Come on Filch--"

"It's Mr. Filch to you!"

"Mr. Filch. Sorry, maybe we could have detention some other time this week?"

"Yeah! Like at 25 pm on April 42!"

"Shut it and get in you three!"

"I know that voice," Namjoon frowned.

"It's Jungkook," Yoongi said, frowning just as not only Jungkook, but Jimin and Taehyung as well burst into the room.

"You guys too?!" Hoseok said in surprise. "What did you do?" he laughed.

"Ask Taehyung," Jungkook and Jimin chorused as they sat down.

"I THOUGHT I saw a bowtruckle," Taehyung pouted. "I was going to give it to Hagrid."

"He would have appreciated it," Jimin comforted him.

"You came back late from the Forbidden Forest again, didn't you?'" Yoongi raised an eyebrow at Jungkook.

"We always come back late. We just got caught this time," Jungkook whispered while Yoongi smirked and shook his head.

"Alright, listen up! All of you!" Filch rasped, the seven students looked up at him. "See all these scrolls and papers here?"

"Kind of hard to miss," Yoongi mumbled, causing his friends to snicker. Filch glared at them before continuing.

"I want everything to be sorted out based on the date it was sent into those boxes," he said, pointing to the stack of empty boxes in the back. "By date, you understand? And I want it all done by the end of the day."

"That doesn't seem so bad," Namjoon shrugged, seeing that there were seven of them.

"Good," Filch sneered. "There's more in here in case any of you get bored," he said, opening a door behind him and revealing a room stacked to the ceiling with even more scrolls and papers. Everyone in the room besides Filch groaned.

"You just had to jinx it," Seokjin said.

"Question!" Jimin raised his hand. "What if we need to go to the bathroom?"

"Down the hall," Filch pointed. "But if you think of sneaking off, all of you are in detention again next week." He sneered before adding "The upstairs bathrooms need plumbing." Jimin gulped and put his hand down. "And I don't want to hear any yelling coming from this room."

"What if the room catches fire?" Jungkook spoke up. "I mean with all the paper here, that's bound to happen."

"Yeah, shouldn't we be able to yell if that happens?" Yoongi added, immediately catching on to his underclassman’s plan.

"Well I--" Filch began before being cut off by Hoseok.

"What if a hippogriff crashes through the window?"

"Yeah, I heard Hagrid unleashes Buckbeak on Saturdays," Taehyung added, grinning at his hyung.

"What if the merpeople decide to attack the castle?"

"Yeah, and what if they somehow got the giant squid to walk on land too?"

"What if a rouge Bludger comes in?"

"Or aliens!”

"SHUT UP!" Filch yelled and the seven of them quickly shut their mouths, quite pleased at achieving the desired effect. "None of that is going to happen. Now all of you shut up and get to work. I want everything in their boxes by evening." he growled.

"Easy," Namjoon shrugged and pulled out his wand only for it to be snatched away by Filch.

"No magic!" he sneered. "All of you, hand over your wands now!" The rest of them grumbled and handed them over to Filch. "Now that that's taken care of," the man grinned, "You seven better get to work." And with that, he left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Well, you all heard the man," Namjoon sighed, pushing up his glasses before looking through a stack of papers.

"If we're lucky, we'll finish sorting through all of this before the school year ends," Jimin added and set to work along with the rest of them.

“Look, there’s someone whose last name is ‘Bratwurst’,” Jungkook snickered, holding up a sheet of parchment.

“Let me see!” Seokjin and Jimin said as they crowded around Jungkook.

“What an unfortunate family,” Jimin shook his head in mock sympathy.

“I can’t stay here,” Taehyung groaned. “Guys we need to find a way to bust out.”

“You heard Filch. If we do that we’ll have detention against next week,” Namjoon said, not looking up from the stack of papers he was sorting.

“You heard about the toilets too,” Jimin added.

“Well, maybe we can fit Jungkook through that small window there,” Taehyung answered, pointing at a window on the upper right wall that seemed just big enough for one person to crawl through.

“Oh! Then he can somehow get to Filch’s office and get our wands back,” Hoseok said. “You’re a genius Taehyung!!!” he grinned and high-fived his underclassman.

“On it!” Jungkook nodded as he began rolling up his sleeves.

“That window leads to a network of tunnels in the dungeons area,” Yoongi interrupted him. “If you go in you probably won’t be able to find your way out.” He was standing in front of one of the bookcases at the far end of the room, pulling the books out one by one.

“What are you doing then?” Seokjin asked.

“I’m not wasting my Saturday here, that’s what I’m doing,” Yoongi answered. “We’re busting out.”

“Wait hyung, you mean there’s--” Hoseok sat up excitedly.

“There should be a secret entrance around... here!” Yoongi pulled a book out and suddenly, the bookshelf slid to the side, revealing a passageway through the wall.

“Whoa!!!” everyone exclaimed.

“Genius Slytherin Min Yoongi strikes again!!” Hoseok cheered while Yoongi smirked and admired the praise.

“I knew Yoongi-hyung was going to find a way out for us,” Jimin said proudly.

“We’ll still need to get our wands back from Filch though so we can pack everything here,” Seokjin said.

“That’s not going to be easy,” Taehyung pouted.

“Don’t worry,” Namjoon smirked and adjusted his glasses. “I’ve got a plan.”

“Namjoon-hyung is going into Smart Anime Character Mode!!” Jungkook exclaimed.

“I speak five languages and that is none of them,” Seokjin said. Jungkook grinned.

“All you need to understand is that we’ve simply got one hell of a Namjoon.”

So yeah that was it. How do you guys like it??? Please let me know!

Parts 2, 3, and 4

#bts hogwarts au #bts #bts fanfic #bts Hogwarts au fanfic #Hogwarts au #jungkook #jimin #taehyung #hoseok #namjoon #yoongi #seokjin #fanfic

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tumblunni · 6 years

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Man i have such a weird soft spot for alternate sonics being redemption'd in random adaptations. Like i wouldnt expect that to happen multiple times!

The old british comics had Super Sonic be an evil alternate personality, which i always found fascinating as a way to give a justified reason why this super form was rarely used, ratherthan just 'robotnik stole the chaos emeralds AGAIN'. Having a risk of going mad with power if you overuse it was REALLY INTRIGUING as a power for the hero character! Often it was like 'unleash supersonic and he fights whatevercs in front of him, whether its friend or foe' and it had to be used strategically so there wasnt any opportunity for his shadow self to fuck stuff up even worse than the villain did. And sometimes we'd have a really awesoem fight of all the heroes versus their own best friend, trying to hold off super sonic long enough that he'd turn back to normal. Lots of great sources of drama for a more serialized story!

But then what i really super loved was the unexpected twist of the two personalities getting separated into their own bodies via magic, and super sonic ending up as an adorable lil brother figure. It was interesting how they chose to interpret 'chaos emeralds' in a time before the games had any real story, it was this Venom-esque high risk symbiote type thing. And we'd only ever seen super sonic all doped up on this evil nonsense, only ever existing for a few minutes at a time and wanting to 'play' with things, even if it meant breaking them. In retrospect it made so much sense that he would be super innocent if he was given his own sentience, yknow? And it was super double cute cos his design was still all 'chaotic' even after he got purified. Big doom spirals instead of eyes, and cute lil fangs, on this socially anxious dork in a big baggy sweater who works as a janitor in a coffee shop with his new adoptive family. It was super extra sad too cos there were situations like sonic discovering super and thinking he had to destroyhim to save the world while super was just like WHO ARE YOU AAA I AM JUST A SIMPLE COFFEEMAN. *cowers under table* And then that really depressing issue where he had to use his chaos powers again to save his friends, and he was scared he'd lose his mind and become a monster again. AND THEN HE DID. He just woke up hours later and got to see that he'd failed at saving anyone andjust destroyed everything even worse. Then he ran away and exiled himself from society, and cos the comic got abruptly cancelled his story was rushed into a conclusion with him dying :(

WHY MUST THE SAD HEDGEHOG CLONES ALWAYS DIE

#oh and the series wascalledSonic TheComic or stc if u wannacheck it out #tho similar to the archie comics it took quite a while to get all dark and creative and the first 15 or 20 issues arejust #generic badly drawn kiddy trash #like not even entertainingly bad like the aosth cartoon #also it takes like 100 issues to get to the super sonic saga i think #but this series got cancelled way earlier than archie sonic did so theres only 250ish issues to read thru

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davewakeman · 4 years

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Talking Tickets 31 January 2020

Hey There!

Thanks for being here again this week. If you are enjoying this newsletter, tell your friends and colleagues to sign up by visiting this link.

Yesterday saw the release of “What Matters In Tickets Now!” an ebook that I put together in partnership with my friends at Booking Protect.

I can say that this is one of the coolest things we’ve pulled together so far: 40 perspectives on the world of tickets and how to make more sales! It is great!

In conjunction with the launch of the ebook, we are putting together a special webinar with key ideas, takeaways, and action items to make the ideas from the ebook take hold in your organization. The webinar will be Wednesday, 26 February, and we will have a landing page to sign up ready for next week’s email, but if you want to make certain you get hooked up…reply to this email.

To the tickets!

————————————————————————————————————

1. Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash in the Los Angeles area:

Like all of us, Kobe Bryant had a complex history. And, one of the more mature things I’ve learned over the years is the understanding that no matter how you feel on a topic, your feelings are valid. So I am cognizant of the people celebrating his life and pointing out his failings, all of those feelings are valid.

I mention that because I don’t want to make a values-based judgment on this story, but I did want to discuss this because I think it highlights a few big points about what sports does for us and why sports and live events matter:

First, this story reflects the power of community that live events foster. I heard Bill Simmons talk about how Kobe’s death feels like it is hanging over the community. This is in death, but if you look through history, you’ve seen how sports also has pulled communities together, if only for a short time like when the Caps won the Stanley Cup.

Second, this story points to the irrational nature of our likes, dislikes, and fandom. As many announcers pointed out, most people never met Kobe, so they didn’t know him, but they felt a real pain at his loss. While, I’m looking at this through the lens of Kobe, this equally applies to any athlete, team, or star. I mean, I have no rational reason for disliking the Oklahoma City Thunder, but because I was a Supersonics season ticket holder when I was a young adult, the ache of the loss of the Sonics is still there.

Finally, it reflects the power of shared experiences. Sometimes, in a world where everything feels like it is on-demand or at our fingertips, we can miss shared experiences and that should be a lesson that we apply to the way we present events.

2. The Super Bowl is on Sunday and the death of the NFL seems to have been a myth:

The challenges and opportunities that the NFL are looking at over the next few years likely deserve its own series of blog posts, but right now you can’t help but respect the turnaround that they NFL and its teams have managed.

$16B in revenue, rating increases, new stars, and more.

The article above does raise a lot of good questions about where the business will go next with gambling, chord cutting, and changing tastes of modern consumers.

But as we head into the Super Bowl, we can learn a lot from the NFL like how consistency and focus can help you weather a storm; how to monetize an audience; and how to respond to drops in business.

Plus, this year’s Super Bowl is an especially hot ticket!

My question to you is who do you have in the game and what’s the score? I’ll come up with some prize for the person that picks the winner and is closest to the score. I don’t know what it will be, but we can figure out something fun…maybe buy you a drink or something.

3. StubHub could face legal action in the UK for deceptive pricing:

I’m not an anti-trust lawyer, but my lady is…so I don’t know the legal ramifications of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation into the merger of StubHub and Viagogo, but I can guess stories like this don’t help the merger in any market that is investigating it.

Unless you live in the United States where anti-trust enforcement hasn’t really been very strict for 30+ years and the rule of law seems to be optional in a lot of cases lately.

The context of a story likely helps a lot of you:

In the UK, the secondary market isn’t as big of a part of the ecosystem as it is in the United States. While resale has become more common over the last few years, professional trading is often frowned upon.

My argument to the traders that I am in touch with has often been that if you want to work in resale and be a valued part of the system, you have to work to constantly improve your value, deliver something differentiated from the primary market, and be above board in your business practices.

So a story like this hits right at the heart of what folks dislike about professional “touts” and the secondary market in general.

Add this to the public’s distrust of Viagogo and you can see that this isn’t helpful to any ongoing investigation of their merger or further or greater public acceptance of the secondary market in the UK or other countries around the world.

4. Live Nation’s updated consent decree is filed:

There was a few things going on with Live Nation this week that probably were worth paying attention to:

First, the consent decree. The new filing shows that Live Nation and Ticketmaster broke the decree on, at least, 6 occasions.

Live Nation pushes back talking about 6 alleged instances in around 5,000 deals.

A new $1M penalty for each transgression, a deal cut quickly, and dropped at a time totally designed for people not to notice it!

It looks like a victory for Live Nation to me!

Second, Live Nation is building a war chest to acquire more businesses.

There is a lot of consolidation in the ticketing technology area going on right now and I don’t know if or when there will be some sort of correction.

What all of this massive amount of consolidation signals to me is that there is room for smaller and nimble competitors to swoop in and win a lot of business because as these companies grow larger, it is going to be incredibly difficult for these companies to service everyone effectively.

Finally, Live Nation completes the acquisition of the UK’s largest concert promoter.

Over the next few years, this will bear watching because industry practices and consumer protection laws are much different in the UK and how this impacts the distribution of shows and Ticketmaster’s ability to win more business in the UK bears watching.

5. The CoronaVirus is causing troubles for sports business:

A few weeks back I had Greg Turner come on the podcast to share a bunch of stuff about China with us. Due to the nature of the Chinese internet and the way that they control access to websites and other things, that conversation was corrupted due to some technical difficulties and we figured out a way to rerecord our conversation to make sure we could have a proper chat.

On this new conversation we talked about a bunch of stuff, but we got into the conversation about the virus and how it is causing the cancellation of the X Games, the World Indoor Athletic Championships, and the Chinese Basketball Association is postponing play during the crisis.

Greg has a lot of insight into the situation in China, but seeing the AFL’s conversation around their annual China game continued to raise these issues for me and begged a couple of questions:

What’s the long-term impact of a virus or outbreak like this?

How do we prepare for these types of outbreaks when we can’t and don’t know when they will happen?

What would you do if something like this started during a big event like the Olympics?

These are complex questions and they mirror in many ways the questions I raised when considering the impact of climate change on events a few weeks back.

—————————————————————————————————————-

What am I up to this week?

I’m posting a few podcasts including Episode 100. Who will my special guest be? You’ll have to listen to find out!

I recaped INTIX on my blog and TicketNews as well.

I’m in DC this week! If you are in town, let me know.

My travel schedule is starting to take shape and I can confirm I’ll be in London from 10-16 April with a trip to the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the top of my must-do list!

I’m also planning a series of workshops for the spring in London, Manchester, and Edinburgh. The details on this are still being mapped out, but if you are in the area of one of these places and want to be kept in the loop on these special events, reply to this email.

I’m working with some sponsors that will enable me to offer tickets to these events on an invitation basis. So, get your interest into me and let me know I’m looking at the right places to take my show on the road.

Please follow and like us:

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Talking Tickets 31 January 2020 was originally published on Wakeman Consulting Group

#kobe bryant #marketing #nfl #sales #super bowl #tickets

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after-skies-ananthology · 5 years

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I'm a member of the President's new space force, here's what I've seen so far

BLACK SKY WARS

the second part

approx. 5 yrs ASE

You ever been inside a Colorado police station before? Here’s a better question, have you ever had to pick up your troubled brother from a Colorado police station before? If you have, then you may be able to sympathize with my plight that day. I had been waiting there since 1300 for him to be released. Our parents died about a year after I left for the Army. We have very few relatives who cared about us (my parents were pretty much the blacksheep of their families), so it was of course down to me to take care of him. It’s probably for the best that it happened this way I suppose. Being in the military, I get all sorts of benefits and on-base housing necessary to help raise him until he’s an adult. Which makes one side of that equation easy. The other side, the actually parenting him side, well, I just don’t know. He’s about 16 now. Gets in fights all the time. I think he may be apart of some anarchist punk gang that spray paints public property and vandalizes abandoned areas or some shit like that. I can’t really keep up with it. We barely see each other. He’s never home. I think - well, I mean, I’m never home.

I had volunteered for an earlier transition into the Space Corps than the rest of my unit after being offered a lucrative bonus. I’ve been an E-6 for three years now. And I’d say with confidence that I’m pretty good at my job. My military job, not my parenting one, that is. I suppose the military offered me that bonus for my skills in tracking space objects and directing joint partners against spaceborne threats - not my skills in guiding my brother through life and giving him a chance to feel like a happy, successful adult. I apologize for how depressing I must sound. But I’m doing the best I can. And I’m starting to think the best I can do is not good enough. I feel like the more successful I am in the military, the more I fail my little brother as his guardian.

The cops had called me while I was at work. Me and the newest member of my section were going over Counterspace Academics, which is the term we use for the death by powerpoint sessions we put our people through every now and then just to make sure they still know their job. It is ungodly boring stuff sometimes. Basic shit everyone knows out of tech school. The NCOIC for our flight was droning on about one of the first anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) tested by the United States back when women still wore shoulder pads. The ASM-135 Bold Orion II. Basically a converted nuclear cruise missile with it’s warhead taken out, and replaced with a hardened micro-satellite that would detach from it once in orbit and then proceed to smash into its target like a hockey player. The Air Force was even successful in taking out one of its own failed satellites with the 135, proving it could work. However, due to the death of the Soviet Union, and increasing skepticism surrounding the Strategic Defense Initiative, the project was quietly cancelled. That was until defense industry executive and weapon designer “extraordinaire” Frank Monterrey stuck his nose in it.

Mad Monterrey cried foul before the ink even dried on the cancellation orders. He then proceeded to cry foul for over a decade after that. In the 90s and early 2000s, he would even buy late night air time on a few of the major networks to present his case for renewed ASAT development and even - you guessed it - an independent space branch of the military. Today, my unit is responsible for the direction and employment of the fruits of his ‘labor’. The General Systems ASM-270 Orion’s Revenge. This one is not only faster than the 135, but it has more destructive potential as well. After passing through the mesosphere and into the thermosphere, its first stage detaches allowing its second stage to engage briefly for several seconds in a wild fireball. After this initial burst of flames is over, the rotors attached at the nose unfold from the missile’s remaining fuselage like a parasol. Small angled tip jets located at the end of each rotor blade then ignite, allowing the weapon to adjust its velocity as it enters orbit.

As it approaches the vicinity of its prey, the tip jets deactivate. At this point, the missile’s rotors (made of a special hardened alloy) can be used to permanently damage or completely destroy whatever they impact. After a few goes, whatever rotors remain can be used to steer the ASAT to its final target using its last bit of fuel - killing the adversary space object with a kinetic blow via the tungsten encased cone that constitutes its nose. Using this method, the 270 is capable of targeting a small constellation of targets (usually three to five objects, depending on size). Because of how it unfolds after launch, those in our unit have taken to calling it the The Killer Umbrella.

Sorry, I feel like I went off on a tangent there. We’re supposed to be talking about my brother. His name is Jerry. Our mom named him that because... Um, well, I’ll be honest I can’t remember now. She told me once when I was younger but, I don’t seem to have soaked it in. Let’s see, I know he skateboards. And, well, I think he likes to vape (maybe?). I know he listens to that genre of music on the internet, vaporwaver, or something like that? That’s... probably why I think he vapes. This is kind of embarrassing to admit but - I’m supposed to take care of him, and I’ve been taking care of him for quite some time now, and yet I don’t know a thing about him with any certainty. I can talk for days about this missile I’ve only seen pictures of in a class room, give you every little detail of its development and even the politics surrounding it, but I can’t be bothered to even invest a minutia of time into figuring out who he is or the kind of young man he’s developing into. I guess I shouldn’t blame anyone other than myself when he gets in trouble like this.

It took me about thirty minutes to leave base and arrive at the police station. I walked up to the sheriff’s deputy sitting at the front desk and asked him my question, “Hi there, my name is Wesley Fervek. I received a call telling me my little brother Jerry has been arrested?”

The deputy looked me up and down, dressed in my OCPs, with new Space Corps regalia adorned upon it. He replied, “Uhh yeah, the little skater asshole, spat at me when they brought him and his punk friends in.”

I scratched the back of my head and tried to save face, “I’m really sorry he did that. I think he may just have a lot of adrenaline and peer pressure going through him right now. He’s really not like this.”

“Right.” The deputy said as he rolled his eyes, picking up the phone at his desk. “Ray, its Diaz, skater asshole’s brother is here to pick him up...“ He looked back up at me, noticing the name tape on my left chest that read U.S. SPACE CORPS. He joked to his friend over the phone, “Oh, scratch that, Buzz Lightyear’s bottom bitch is here to pick him up.” He began to chuckle as he threw the phone back down into its place, forming a shit eating grin as he looked at me and said, “Hey man, relax. I’m just having a little fun at your expense. He did spit at me after all.”

I kept back the urge to throw my fist through the glass that separated us. “Right.” I said back to him. “So I take it he’s not being charged with anything?”

He said, “That’s right, one of his little friends was the one that actually assaulted someone. With a knife no less. From what the victim told us, your brother tried to calm things down. Anyways, you can have a seat over there while my friends finish questioning him.” He pointed to rows of wooden chairs behind me, arranged to face the bulky box TV that belonged to some other era of history.

I furrowed my brow and said “Thanks” under my breath, trying to prevent my anger at this prick from swelling out of control. I sat down in one of the front chairs and checked my phone, I saw that I had received a text from one of my troops. Her name was Space Specialist First Class June Alvarez, and she was one of many to be the first to attend Space Corps basic training at Lackland Air Force Base. Her text read, “Sergeant, I know you had to go to the police station, but could you hurry back? The powerpoint is over and we’re back to work now, but I’m still pretty lost on some of the telemetry stuff you were showing me earlier and no one really wants to help me at the moment.”

I texted her back, “I’ll be as fast as I can but these cops are being assholes right now. Go get Sergeant Flores, I know she’s studying for her 7-level test, but if you really are in dire need of help right now she shouldn’t be too mad that you’re interrupting her.”

I sat back and stared at the blurry, horribly antiquated machine in front of me as it spewed out ad after incessant ad. One featuring a beautiful young bikini-clad blonde sipping a Sodaco amidst a conga line on the beach - Introducing Sodaco Lime, the voice-over said, the familiar taste that America trusts with a refreshing twist. Another featuring footage taken from the Armstrong moon base, with the ERAS logo in the corner, finally centering on the company’s CEO with a drink in his hand as the music from 2001 plays in the background. This time the voice-over said - Mental is now the official soft drink of ERAS CEO Hood Fisher, what’s yours? Get Mental or get out! Finally, a less annoying one appeared after that was over. This time featuring supersonic airliners elegantly passing through clouds set to the tune of a soothing score. The voice-over asked, With a safety record and time to destination like ours, just remind us again - Why wouldn’t you fly Air Virginia?

After that hell of hokey commercials was past, the news returned. The commentator was grey-haired, bespectacled, and wearing a dark blue tie, signifying his well-known outspoken support for the Alliance Party. “Breaking at the top of the hour, our coverage continues on the situation in the Indian Ocean as it now appears attack boats belonging to the New Indies Construction Front have besieged a Navy hospital ship attempting to relieve wounded and dead from evacuated American and allied forces that escaped Diego Garcia last week...” He then proceeded to go into a long rant about the President and the Homeland Party while talking over a reporter who was live from the scene. The TV signal must have become distorted somehow, because eventually I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. It was as if he was mumbling. The picture on the screen blurred out even more, making the images depicted indiscernible. I began to feel weird physically. Light headed. I’m not sure if it was the stress of the day or the fact that I had been sitting there a while or what, but I had this gnawing sense of danger in the pit of my chest. The room became bright, and for a second, I thought I saw some sort of indescribable shape appear out from behind the TV.

All of the sudden, I heard a voice speak to me. not from any direction, but as if from all directions.

“You must wait to hit your target until 1935. No later. Do not let the girl with the long legs see what you are doing.“

I woke up out of my trance, shouting “What?” as I realized nothing was behind the TV. I was in a cold sweat now. I felt as though I had just woken up early in the morning. I looked outside, the sun was beginning to go down. How long was I out? Was I ‘out’? The program I was watching was over now, the blue haired woman with the FPML button on her lapel was on instead. Knowing that she comes on quite a few program slots after the old guy with the dark blue tie, I inferred that I must have napped for... four hours? “What the fuck?” I said out loud as I quickly took out my phone. It was dead. “Not good.” I said to myself.

Just then the door to the detention area opened. I turned my head and saw Jerry. “Alright, we’re done questioning the little punk.” The deputy from before said, pushing Jerry forward into the waiting room. He was holding his favorite skateboard in his hands, gifted to him by our dad many Christmases ago, now broken in half.

Jerry turned around a gave him the middle finger. “Lick my ass, pig!”

I shouted at him. “Jerry! Knock that shit off. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He turned and saw me, now becoming even angrier. Everything became silent for a moment. Finally, he spoke up and said “Can we just get the hell out of here? I’m tired of smelling pork.” He looked back at the cop and gave him a scowl.

I grabbed him by the shoulder, “Be quiet so we can leave, moron.”

He flinched and brushed my hand off. “I don’t need your stupid ass advice.” He said angrily, and walked threw the doors outside to the parking lot. I followed him.

As he approached my truck, I unlocked it for him so he could get inside. But before he did, he slammed the remnants of his board into the bed of the pick-up. I yelled at him again, “Could you not throw shit around like that? This is my truck! I paid for it. It’s what gets you to school!”

He yelled at me in turn, “Could you shut the fuck up for once? Goddamn you’re so fucking annoying.“ Slamming the passenger side door on me before I could say anything back.

Not wanting to take this any further, I walked around to the driver’s side. As I started the engine, I realized from before that my phone was dead. I plugged it into to my car charger. I noticed then Jerry had a tear rolling down the side of his face. I know he must have been upset by the whole ordeal. I tried to speak to him, beginning to verbalize his name, but before I could get anything else out my phone reactivated and alerted me with a series of text message and missed call alerts. My attention was fixated on that now as I realized I had missed over thirty text messages from seven different people and eighteen phone calls from Alvarez, Flores, and my NCOIC.

I opened Alvarez’s most recent message. “Sergeant, where are you? The NCOIC has been trying to call you for two hours now. He needs you to get down here quick! I’m not gonna say why because OPSEC, but get down here! Please!”

I let out one long “Fuck!” as I read that. Jerry wiped his face with his shirt and asked “What now?”

Without answering I bolted the truck out of the parking space and started driving back to base twenty or thirty miles over the speed limit. Jerry kept trying to ask me questions on the way there, realizing there was something wrong, but I refused to talk to him. I just kept dropping F bombs over and over as I swerved in and out of potential car crashes on the way back to the squadron control room. We finally got to the gate, and I hurriedly took out my CAC card and gave it to the Security Forces guy standing outside my truck. The airman scanned it and said, “His too please.” Pointing at Jerry.

I screamed at my brother, “Come on give me your goddamn ID!”

He screamed back “Alright! Calm down. Jesus.”

The airman looked calm as I had my episode. I gave him the ID to scan, and he let us on our way. Arriving at my unit’s building, I cut someone in a muscle car off before they could take the space that I wanted. I left the windows rolled down, turned the engine off and hopped out. Jerry was still inside. He shouted at me, indignant, “How goddamn long are you gonna be?”

I cringed, turning to him as I took my wallet out, removing my CAC card and security badge from it. I threw it at him and said “If you want dinner, walk down to the BX and get something from the food court!” I booked it into the building.

As I ran up to the polarized bullet proof glass doors protecting the world of my profession from prying eyes outside, I saw the sign placed just before the steps proudly displaying our squadron’s battle cry below our new service’s motto. The former read “WE MAINTAIN THE BALANCE”, with the latter exclaiming “SECURE THE HIGH GROUND”. I pulled on the door handle, rushing inside as I was met with another Security Forces airman who needed to check my security badge before letting me through. After being let inside, I sprinted down the hallway to the control room where my work station was. There were five people crowded around it. The NCOIC, Alvarez, and two women in Class B uniforms who were unfamiliar to me. There name plates read “Hayek” and “Hayek-Song” respectively, which made me wonder if they were siblings or something. The one with the hyphenated surname was an E-6 like me, which is called a Color Sergeant in the Space Corps. The other one was an officer, O-3, a Captain. They were almost twins, I thought to myself. And extremely attractive to boot.

The NCOIC looked at me and yelled, “Where the hell have you been?“

I tried to explain, exasperated. “I’m sorry Sergeant my phone died and somehow I got knocked out-“

He cut me off. “I don’t want to hear it right now. I’m frankly shocked you’d display this kind of behavior. We’re gonna have a long talk after today, I can tell you that much. Sit down and help Alvarez out. She needs it.”

“Roger Sergeant.” I said, defeated. I sat down next to Alvarez in my swivel chair as he walked up the steps to where the commander and the other higher-ups were. Sergeant Flores was at the work station in front of us tracking something else.

I asked the Space Specialist, “So what the hell happened?”

Alvarez explained, “Well after I texted you, me and Sergeant Flores started tracking one of those Chinese space flights they’ve been doing for awhile now. I know they’re just testing, but this time they went near New America. Two of them in fact. It was kind of like that thing they did last week when they overflew Armstrong, but not as bad as that time when they almost smashed into that damaged MS-1A we were monitoring.”

I asked, “Ok, so... what happened? Did they do something belligerent?”

“No,” she said, “they’ve just been sitting there doing some EVA. Sergeant Flores is still tracking them. I think they’re about to pack up and leave right now actually.”

I was confused. “Ok, then what’s the problem exactly?” I demanded to know.

She groaned, “That!”, pointing at the big screen in front of the entire room.

Depicted on it was an amorphous object. I can’t really describe it effectively. But it looked strangely familiar. It was black, resembling a cloak without a wearer maybe. I’m not sure. I was looking directly at it, but it was also as if I wasn’t at the same time. Like how things blur out in the periphery of your vision, only this was smack dab in front of me. I asked, lost for words, “What is that Al?”

She responded, “After we were able to get a fix on them Pine Gap contacted us. They wanted to know if we could check to see if there were any foreign space assets near one of their surveillance satellites that had become unresponsive. That’s when we found it. It wasn’t doing anything really, it was just sort of, near it. We gathered some basic information about its position and size as it moved on towards a commercial satellite in the vicinity. It stayed there for a while, but then it just darted out of view towards L5 without any warning.”

“Towards the Chinese?” I asked. She nodded her head. “Well, what is it then? Some PLA weapon we’ve never seen before?” I asked again.

“No, I-” She stuttered. “I-I think they’re as confused as we are. As soon as it showed up behind the construction site for the orbital settlement, they stopped doing maneuvers and started observing it. It detached... something just before you got back and one of them got out to capture it we think. But whatever split off from it seems to have disappeared somehow. I don’t know. This all very strange Sergeant.“

I looked up at the two women with the similar last names. I leaned over to whisper in Alvarez’s ear. “Who are those two?”

“They’re from Virginia, or something.” She said under her breath.

“What?” I said. I began to feel as though this was too much for a day like today.

“That’s what I said. I think maybe they’re Intel people, but I’m not sure. But the thing is they showed up with all this data on the object. It’s usual orbit trajectory, flight path history, more detailed dimensions, frequencies it operates on, tons of stuff we would have never figured out ourselves. It’s almost like they’ve been tracking it for years.”

That’s when the Captain interjected. “Talking about us kids?”

My eyes widened. “No Ma’am! I mean... I’m sorry, I forget my rank.”

She reassured me, “It’s quite alright Sergeant, I know this must be a lot to take in. I don’t blame you.” She turned to her friend next to her and said “Constance, go chat up the commander for a bit I think he feels left out. I have this handled over here.”

“Yes Ma’am.” The Color Sergeant affirmed, and walked off.

The captain sat down in an empty chair next to me, crossing her legs and planting her heels on the desk in front of us. For a second, she managed to distract me. Alright, cut me some slack. I am a guy after all. But she didn’t distract me for long. Her voice broke my concentration. “Specialist, we’re probably going to need you guys to start making some calls to get something scrambled here pretty soon.“

“Yes Ma’am, I’m sending a request out to NORAD right now.” Alvarez responded.

“Good girl.” The Captain complimented (or belittled) her. I could tell it irritated Alvarez somewhat. “Sergeant could you double check something for me?“ She asked.

“Yes Ma’am, what?“

She went on, “The commercial satellite the object interacted with earlier. Could you find out who it belongs to?“

“Roger that Ma’am.” I typed away at my keyboard, collecting the information for her. I pulled the satellite’s designation up on my screen. “ERAS-1212-0“ I said aloud. I crosschecked its name on the government’s registry of civilian-owned space assets. “It says its owned by ERAS ma’am, but it has some sort of note under its listing... let’s see... Here, it says its a broadcast satellite operated by ERAS and contracted out to a television provider.“ I lingered on those last few words. Television provider. My mind went back to what I saw earlier before. I wasn’t sure if I should tell anyone or not.

“Hmm... Thank you Sergeant.” The Captain said, and pulled out her government phone to begin texting someone on it.

Just then Sergeant Flores spoke, pointing at the screen in a panic. “Look!” The object was suddenly in front of one of the Shenlongs she had been tracking. The other Shenlong, it seemed, was running away from the situation - leaving its comrade behind.

“How the hell did it get there?“ The NCOIC said out loud. “Flores are they still doing EVA?“ He asked.

“I can’t tell Sergeant, that thing’s messing up all our sensors. I can’t even contact the other monitors we have nearby... Wait! Look what it has!” The Sergeant blew up what she was referring to on the big screen. It was a tungsten rod, used for construction of one of the orbital settlements. It wasn’t holding it, but it was as if it were orbiting the object itself, like it was its own planet or something.

The Captain stood up from her seat and started to sound a bit panicked. “Holy shit. Sir, it’s what I said before. It’s going to conduct a kinetic strike. Probably for here!”

The commander nodded at her and took control. “Alright people, it’s the fourth quarter, and this is the ten yard line with our backs to our own end-zone. Sergeant Fervek, what’s going on with NORAD?”

Alvarez butt in before I could respond. “They just got back to us Sir. There’s a couple of F-15s out of Oregon that can be ready to go in 90 minutes.”

“Not good enough, we need something in less than 60 or we aren’t gonna make it out of this alive.” He informed her.

I looked at the information NORAD had supplied us with, and interjected. “Sir, there’s a pair of Aggressors out of Nellis on TDY flying back from Miramar right now.”

“Yeah, so?” He questioned me.

“Well Sir, they’re less than 10 minutes away from Edwards at the moment. We could have them land there to be fitted with the 270s Edwards still has on hand. They could be armed and back up in the air within 40 to 50 if everything goes right.“ I explained.

He looked unsure. He gave a skeptical glance to the NCOIC. Just before he could say something back, the Captain intervened. “Sir, this sounds like the best option we have at the moment. If the information I briefed you on earlier is right then I don’t think we have a lot of time on our hands to play footsie with NORAD all day.”

He looked over the room contemplating her answer, reading all our faces. “Alright... Alright, call them up and get it going. No more screwing around with this thing.” He said with a cautioned tone in his voice.

About 60 minutes later we were ready to go. The F-15s had taken back off from Edwards, and headed towards Death Valley at supersonic speeds. An AWACS from NORAD patched in their position to us, and relayed a comm link with the flight lead. I had everything at my station ready to go. Alvarez would keep tabs on the object’s movements, while I would guide the F-15s into position and provide them with the necessary targeting information to input into the ASM-270′s ‘brain’. Captain Hayek would continue to observe and advise us from behind. I looked back at the commander for a quick second, he saw me and said “You got this Sarge. Take this bastard out.“ I nodded to him in affirmation.

I put the headset on and keyed up the comm link with the pilot. “Breaker 11. This is Bighorn Control. Do you read me?”

“Roger that son, this is Breaker 11 and 12, we’re packing heat now and ready to enter our climb.” The pilot explained.

“That’s perfect Sir. Object hasn’t moved so far, and if it stays that way we shouldn’t have to waste a second shot.“ I brought the object up on my screen, taking note of the information Alvarez had just collected on it. “Alright Breaker 11, Bighorn Control says you can initiate your climb. Please notify me when you reach angels 30.”

“Copy that Bighorn. We should be there in about 15 to 20 mikes.“ The pilot radioed back.

The wait for them to get into position was shorter than expected, but grueling all the same. We were at 75 minutes now with a gun pointed at our head. The object stayed in place, tungsten rod still circling it like a late night mugger with knife in hand. My chest was pounding, throat lumpy, head splitting open from all the stress of the situation. Finally the pilot radioed back in. “Alright Bighorn Control, angels 30. Awaiting orders.“

“That’s great news Breaker 11. Pulling the target’s orbital position up now.“ I then gave him the necessary numbers. After a small conversation between him and his wingman I could hear through the headset, he responded again.

“Alright Bighorn, Breaker 12′s telling me he’s locked and loaded.” He said.

“Alright Sir. Hit angels 32 and fire away!” I informed him.

The aircraft climbed a bit more. The sky must have been the darkest shade of blue anyone could imagine at that point, I thought to myself. The wingman screamed over the radio, “BREAKER 12, FOX 5!“ The missile detached from the centerline pylon of the aircraft, the F-15 breaking away and turning around back towards Earth as its first stage ignited. We picked the missile’s location up on our side, tracking it on the big screen. At my work station however I had more specific information about the weapon’s speed, velocity, its ultimate target, and when its first stage would separate. I looked at the clock on my computer. 1908 hrs.

Again I thought back to the events earlier that day. Something was gnawing at me again, deep in the pit of my chest. At this rate, the object should be struck before 1935. That should be good. But why do I feel like it’s not? Perhaps it’s just the stress again. I’m sure. But... God, oh God. I can’t. Something isn’t right. I can’t let this continue. I can’t let it happen before... Before. Before 1935. I looked over my shoulder at the Captain, she was acting as though she was watching the missile’s flight path on the big screen like everyone else. But I knew she was taking glances at what I was doing here and there... Why? Did.. she know? How could she know? I hovered my cursor over the control for the missile’s first stage. I typed in what I knew to be the incorrect separation point. My ring finger glided over to the enter key and stayed there. I looked back over my shoulder again. She was locking eyes with me now. I looked past her, glazing my eyes over, as though I let something inside of me take over my actions.

“Sergeant?” She questioned softly. I don’t think anyone else could hear her. “Sergeant!“ She said again, under her breath.

I pressed the enter key.

The first stage detached before the correct altitude could be reached. No matter what the second stage tried to do at this point, it would never be able to reach orbit, and was thus a failure. Everyone in the room began to scream, questioning what happened. I threw Alvarez under the bus, saying that she must have given me the wrong altitude. She looked confused, and upset that I would betray her like that. Why was I doing this? What was wrong with me? Could it really be the stress? Captain Hayek didn’t say anything, or call me out. But somehow, I think she was well aware of what I had done.

I radioed back to Breaker 11, letting him know the shot was a failure, and ordered him to turn back around in order to reach 32,000 feet again. He affirmed and proceeded, but before I could relay the targeting information to the pilot like before, Captain Hayek spoke up. “I think Specialist Alvarez should take this Sergeant. Give her your headset.”

“I...“ I didn’t know what to say.

The officer narrowed her eyes. “I said... Specialist Alvarez should take this one. Sergeant. I don’t want anyone interfering with our little game.” She said it softly but forcefully as though I were her errant child. I didn’t say anything back, and handed Alvarez my headset.

The Specialist took the reins, guiding the flight lead as I had done before. “Breaker 11 that should be it. You’re cleared to fire as soon as you hit angels 32.“

And as before, the pilot called in his shot as he reached the requested height. “BREAKER 11, FOX 5!” We could hear through the speakers in our control room. I checked the time again. It was 1929 hrs. Good. I thought to myself, though I still couldn’t figure out why. The missile detached its first stage at the correct altitude this time. As it was designed to do, the second stage ignited and boosted the weapon into the necessary velocity for the rotors to take over. The tip jets guided the Killer Umbrella towards our anomalous hostage taker. We watched on the big screen as it tracked the kill vehicle’s jaunt to the object’s position near New America. I fixated my eyes on the feed we were still receiving from the surveillance satellite that had it in view. Just what was it? I looked back at the time on my desktop. 1935 hrs. I felt relieved somehow. But again, I didn’t know why exactly. Just as I took a sigh of relief, Alvarez spoke up.

“The rod! It got rid of it!“ She screamed.

Indeed, the monster loosened whatever invisible grip it had on the piece of tungsten and it floated away back towards New America. It wasn’t threatening us any more, thank God. But we were still threatening it. “We’re not giving up this kill. That thing tried to fire at us. Continue with the trajectory Specialist.” The commander ordered.

“Yes Sir.” Alvarez responded. “Second stage kill vehicle is within range, icing tip jets. I’m going to go for a direct strike with this one. 3...2...1... Out. Tip jets deactivated. We’re still on the money, one more minute to kill.” Alvarez had obviously paid attention this morning in Counterspace Academics. I was proud of her, as was everyone else in the room. Captain Hayek beamed at her, while giving me the cold shoulder. A cold shoulder I suppose I deserved. But then everyone’s joy at Alvarez’s accomplishment quickly dissipated with what we saw happen on screen. The object... was back behind one of the hollowed out asteroids of New America. It just suddenly wasn’t where it was. The remaining Shenlong however, not so much. The missile was less than 15 seconds out now.

The commander interjected “Fire the tip jets! Reorient! Move it out of the fucking way!”

Alvarez panicked, cracking her voice “I-I can’t Sir! It’s not accepting the signal! I can’t move it! It’s going to hit!” She was beginning to tear up.

The missile impacted the underside of the Shenlong with its rotors, veering off from it and being forced by its kinetic energy into the side of one of New America‘s asteroid habitats - shattering the weapon to pieces and obliterating several facilities constructed along the front end of the settlement. Everyone stood up out of our chairs, a few wincing and others letting out desperate screams as the impact happened before their very eyes. It was over. We had failed. Whatever that thing was, had bested us. I tried to console Alvarez, but she didn’t trust me anymore and rejected any effort I made to let her know it wasn’t her fault. I looked over at Captain Hayek. She just stared at me, not saying anything, and walked away. The NCOIC grabbed me by the shoulder as I sat back down and informed me that my actions from today would likely be investigated by a third party and that I should probably start getting in contact with JAG. Not only had I sacrificed the trust my apprentice had in me, but it seems as though I sacrificed my entire career for this thing. How am I going to be able to take care of Jerry now? I thought to myself. That’s when I remembered that I had left him in the truck outside.

I got outside to check on him. It was just after dusk now. He was gone. With his broken skateboard, and my wallet. “Jerry, I’m sorry.“ I said to myself out loud, and hung my head over the open window on the passenger side. “I’m so sorry.” I heard some foot steps from behind and turned around. It was Captain Hayek and Color Sergeant Hayek-Song, exiting the building and walking towards their car. As I watched them pull out of their parking space, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. I turned and saw three men in plain clothes, one of them sporting an Air Force Office of Special Investigations badge.

“Hi there Sergeant. I’m Agent Williamson. These two men are with the National Scientific Intelligence Administration. They have a few questions about the day’s events. As do I.” The Agent explained.

Before I could respond, the one with balding grey hair and wearing a white dress shirt pointed at Captain Hayek’s car as it turned down the street and drove away. He said, “And if you could, I’d like to know exactly everything you saw those two do the entire time they were here. Especially those two.”

I'm a member of the President's new space force, here's what I've seen so far

#black sky wars #after skies

1 note · View note

knight-of-trash · 7 years

Note

1-47?

Oh dangie you went there! Okay. Here we go.

1.Do you want a boyfriend or girlfriend?

Yes, I want a girlfriend. I miss having someone in my life who is an endless supply of support. I miss having someone to send mushy stuff to, because I am mushy and full of feelings. I miss inside jokes and daydreaming about the next time I see her. I just miss that.

2.When did your last hug take place?

Mm…Last Tuesday. I hugged my friend Tia.

3.Are you a jealous person?

Oh yes. But in my defense, it’s mostly because of my mental illnesses. I feel super insecure, and that can make me bitter.

4.Are you tired right now?

Yes, I just got back from jogging.

5.Do you chew on your straws?

Not anymore.

6.Have you ever been called a tease?

Believe it or not, I have.

7.Have you ever been awake for 48 hours straight?

No. My record is 39 hours.

8.Do you cry easily?

Only when I’m alone.

9.What should you be doing right now?

Cleaning floors.

10.Are you a heavy sleeper?

Ehhh…I wake up when people enter or move around the room I’m sleeping in, but I can sleep through tornado sirens, violent storms, and supersonic jets doing practice drills overhead.

11.Do you think you can last in a relationship for 6 months?

Honestly? No. I never seem to make it past 5 months. Most people just can’t handle my needs for validation and attention, so we end up breaking up for one reason or another.

12.Are you mad at someone right now?

Yes, though I probably have no right to be. So, my ex hasn’t spoken to me directly in over a month. No big deal…Wouldn’t be the first time this has happened. Except this time it’s different. In the past month, my cat Oliver was diagnosed with Lymphoma, I was in my first car wreck, totalted my car, and then a week after starting Oliver on chemo, we had him put to sleep because he wasn’t responding to it, and he was clearly suffering. So during all of this, I tried to get a hold of her, because I really…really wanted her comfort. I know it might be unfair to put that much on another person, but really I just wanted her to tell me it was going to be okay, and was there for me. The most I would’ve probably asked of her was to spend time with me after Oliver’s death, because I haven’t been without that cat in over 9 years, and he was basically my biggest source of emotional support for the past 9 years, and has kept me alive during some serious suicidal moments in my life. But I didn’t hear anything from her. I know we’re exes, but we are trying to be friends at the very least, and friends don’t let friends go through that alone. Especially not when I’ve told her during every crisis in her life since I came into it, in every hardship, that I’m here if she ever needs me. It just feels like I don’t matter, and to have that happen during all this negativity in my life, it’s been very detrimental to my self worth. So yeah, I’m angry. It’s like Rowan all over again when Spice died, except Rowan took it a step further, and said “It was just a cat.” But at least Rowan had the wherewithal to text me a, “U ok?” text and tell me “No” when I asked them to come over, despite being close to a mental breakdown and being highly non-verbal at the time of Spice’s death. (And Spice wasn’t even my cat, she was my brother’s. She just went into like cardiac arrest when I was home alone with her.)

13.Do you believe in love?

Sort of. True love isn’t something that just happens. It takes time, and equal effort. You need someone who can meet you halfway, and makes an effort to make you an active part of their life for it to be true love. You both need to be willing ot work through things, and admit when you hurt the other, and then NEVER do that thing again.

14.What makes you laugh no matter what?

Space Jam vines.

15.Who was the last person you talked to?

My mom.

16.Do you get butterflies around the person you like?

If I am around someone I like I get butterflies, yes.

17.Will you get married?

Gotta have a long relationship first, but we all know that’s not my forte.

18.When was the last time you smiled?

Like really smiled? I was at Target with my friend Emily, and we were buying a shit ton of Capri Sun, The Oregon Trail board game, a box of 120 Crayons, and some suer cheap Pilsberry Valentine’s cupcake mix and frosting.

19.Does anyone like you?

My Finn, Raphael likes me. He tries to flirt with me a lot and always calls me beautiful, but honestly, I’m not really interested in him.

20.Do you secretly like someone?

No. Wait. Yes. I’ve had a secret crush on a friend for like three years. I won’t tell her though, because number one, we don’t talk much, and I feel like we’re better friends than anything, but got'damn if she ain’t my type.

21.Who was the first person you talked to today?

Technically…If we’re going off of what time it was, Rheann. If we’re going off after I fell asleep and woke up earlier today, my mom, when she handed me my new pocket knife.

22.Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything?

Emily probably. She knows I’m a dirty robot fucker, and there’s really no coming back from that.

23.What are you NOT looking forward to?

Developing the roll of film from Oliver’s last 24 hours alive. There’s roughly 35 shots on the film, and my professor REALLY wants me to develop it on Tuesday, but…If I’m being honest, I’m not sure I’m ready for that. Not when the last picture is-…Is after it was confirmed his heart stopped.

24.What ARE you looking forward to?

Spring break. My birthday is during spring break this year, so I don’t have to be at school on my birthday, so I get to sleep in, despite it being on a Monday. That’s really the only thing I’m looking forward to when it comes to the near future, and my birthday. I don’t really like to celebrate it, but sleeping in on it is definetly a plus.

25.Has someone of the opposite sex ever told you they loved you, and meant it?

Yeah, and it’s ridiculous.

26.Suppose you see your ex kissing another person what would you do?

Honestly? I would be pretty hurt. There are still some complicated feelings there, at least for me, and I would probably walk off, find a place to be alone, cry for a while, then cut all contact, and not speak to literally anyone for a while until I accept it, and allow myself time to heal and move on, before trying to become friends with her again.

27.Do you plan on moving out within the next year?

Wish I could.

28.Are you a forgiving person?

You have no idea the shit I have been able to forgive. I was able to forgive my abusive ex boyfriend, Lewis, despite him emotionally and mentally abusing me for a year. Now we play Minecraft together every so often. I can forgive people for canceling plans with me as long as they don’t cancel the next plans we have together, unless it’s like a family emergency or they got called into work, or freak weather happens. I can forgive almost anything if a person is sincere enough in their apology, and finds a way to make it up to me. I’m very easy in that sense. I pride myself on being a very understanding, very forgiving person. It’s one of my only virtues.

29.How many TRUE friends do you have?

…One? I guess? Emily has been my friend since freshman year of highschool, and has put up with my shit more than anyone else has. There’s never been a time where I’ve questioned her being my friend, nor have we ever really fought before.

30.Do you fall for people easily?

Okay listen here you little shit…I MAY have a problem with seeing pretty girls and going, “Holy fuck! Marry me?????” but listen! LISTEN! …I am an innocent little bean, just looking for love, and therefore, no one can judge me!

31.Have you ever fallen for your ex’s best friend?

Pfffhahaha that implies I know my exes best friends.

32.What’s the last thing you put in your mouth?

My headphone. Why do I do that???

33.Who was the last person you drove with?

Baker. I drive her home after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

34.How late did you stay up last night and why?

3:30am. Rheann was having a hard time, and my mom friend mode activated, so I needed to make sure she knew that she is doing her best with school, and that she shouldn’t compare herself to others, and that she’s not going to fail, because she is way smarter than me, and I believe in her, and know she’s perfectly capable of suceeding in school, even though she feels overwhelmed right now. AND SHE BETTER NOT FORGET THAT!!!

35.If you could move somewhere else, would you?

California. I hear they want to succeed from the US, and I am DOWN for that. I don’t give no fucks about no drought or cancer everywhere, get me out of the Trump regime now, pretty please.

36.Who was the last person you took a picture of?

Myself, post-jog.

37.Can you live a day without TV?

I mean…Realistically I could. I think I managed to not watch TV last Tuesday.

38.When was the last time you were extremely disappointed?

August 14th, 2016. The last Monday before I started school. My girlfriend at the time was supposed to come over and hang out with me on her day off. She never showed up, and when I texted her asking her if she was coming or not, she said no, and wouldn’t explain to me what was going on. So I flipped out and broke up with her because lord have fucking mercy, that was like the twelveth time she had flaked on me that summer, and I was livid! So I guess that would be the last time I was extremely disappointed.

39.Three names you go by..

My lastname, Ali, and Kiki.

40.Are you currently in a relationship?

No. Do I want one? Yes. Have I ever had one in February? No. Am I depressed by this? Fuck yes. Am I looking forward to Valentine’s Day? Hahaha I’m going to throw myself off a bridge.

41.What is your all-time favorite romance movie?

Titanic I guess. I’ve only seen it 70 times.

42.Do you believe that everyone has a soul-mate?

I believe there are people who are soul-compatible. In your life time, you’ll meet many people like that. Friends, pets, romantic partners. Those that are truly your match will find ways to stay in your life for years and years and years. But in my opinion, souls change. Rarely though, you will find someone who’s soul changes with yours. Never let them go.

43.What’s your current problem?

I have 99 of them, and at least 4 of them are the fact that my cat just died. 1 of them is my sever lack of pink roses in my life.

44.Have you ever had your heart broken?

My heart is fragile. Even after years of abusive relationships both platonic and romantic, child sexual abuse, betrayals, and bullying, my heart is as fragile as butterfly wings. I trust too easily, I love to quickly, and believe too strongly. I set myself up for heart break after heart break, but you know what? I like being hopeful, and being intense with my heart. It’s apparently what makes me so charming.

45.Your thoughts of long distance relationships?

They don’t work for me. I require a lot of attention, so they’re a no can do. Kudos to others who make it work though.

46.How many kids do you want to have?

Hmm…I used to have vivid dreams of having three kids. Figure it gives me a chance to have a boy and girl, and then whatever happens happens.

47.Have you ever found it hard to tell someone you like them?

Yes. I don’t like to inconvenience people. Part of the reason my secret crush is my secret crush is because I didn’t want to hold her back. I don’t want people to feel obligated to return my feelings, and I don’t want people to date me, only to leave me a month later because I’m “too intense”. That’s why I find it hard to tell people I like them most of the time. The last person I told I liked them though, I did it because it felt right to me. It felt like if I didn’t I was going to miss out on the most important thing in my life. You know what I mean?

#people write the knight #long post #personal

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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183. Sonic the Hedgehog #115

Meanie in a Bottle

Writer: Benny Lee Pencils: Art Mawhinney Colors: Jason Jensen

So I haven't really been mentioning them, but in lieu of the intro pages that older issues had, lately most issues have begun instead with a full-page illustration relevant to the story content. This one is no different, except that instead of depicting something that actually happens within the issue, it reimagines Sonic as Aladdin, which is honestly very cute. The actual plot of the main story does involve a genie, but it's a very silly story, a rare thing nowadays. Fittingly, Art Mawhinney is the artist, since his style is very cartoony, but weirdly enough, we've actually got ourselves a new colorist for this issue, one Jason Jensen. I have to say, his coloring style is probably the most interesting and dynamic we've seen so far, and while it looks lovely with its more complex shading and somewhat more realistic colors, the style ultimately kind of suffers from being paired with Art's pencils. Don't get me wrong, Art isn't a bad artist by any means - how could he be, with a name like that? - but his style just clashes weirdly with Jason's colors, making for kind of a jarring combination. But enough of that, onto the story! Sonic is playing fetch with the roboticized Muttski near a lake when he accidentally throws the stick into the water. Muttski obediently jumps in after it, and Sonic, worried for his dog's safety, leaps in after him.

I find it a little interesting, his comment about hating water and the implication that he can't swim. After all, throughout the entirety of the comic 'verse so far, Sonic's and Knuckles' swimming skills have kind of been swapped, with Sonic being a decent swimmer who enjoys a nice dip in the summer, and Knuckles being the one who can't swim and is afraid of water. It seems they're finally trying to align Sonic's swimming skills with that of his game counterpart, but after so many issues depicting him swimming without a problem, it's kind of a weird, sudden loss of ability. Anyway, as soon as he grabs the bottle, it shoots him and his dog safely to the surface of the water. Upon opening the bottle, a genie shoots out, and Sonic excitedly asks if this means he gets three wishes. The genie seems annoyed by this question, and decides to give him a little "present" anyway before flying away, zapping both him and Muttski at the same time.

Sonic realizes in shock that he has quickly run out of energy while Muttski bounds ahead, and gets a checkup from Dr. Quack, who confirms his worst fears - the genie straight up swapped his and Muttski's speeds, making Sonic an ordinary runner and Muttski a supersonic robot dog. Man, what is it about this comic loving to take away Sonic's speed through random happenstance? You'd think he'd kind of be used to it by now. He dejectedly, over the next few days, tries to figure out how to control his dog, who is now racing all across Knothole at ridiculous speeds and even offering some speedy help to people in need. After a few days of these shenanigans, Sonic and Muttski are once again playing a game of fetch in the forest, when Sonic spots the same genie floating around nearby and sics Muttski on him. Muttski swallows the genie whole, because it's the best way to keep him from running (flying?) away, and Sonic promises to let the genie back out if he gets his three wishes, to which the genie irritably agrees.

Wait, Sonic! Are you serious? That's your final wish? First of all I actually kind of find it funny that his wishes in this issue were very similar to the ones at the end of Secret Rings, in that he basically uses the first two as a fix-it for all the stuff that's happened over the course of the story and uses the final one to re-trap the offending genie back into its prison, but second of all, don't you think that third and final wish could be better used on, say, world peace or something? Maybe a guaranteed defeat of Egg… man… hey, wait a second, guys! Has anyone noticed the conspicuous lack of Eggman in the past few issues? I mean, I know his city got blown up pretty hard back in StH#110, but this is a Robotnik we're talking about. He's kind of known for coming back from seemingly certain death to torment the world time and time again. No one seems concerned at all with making absolutely sure that he's gone, but I have a feeling that the destruction of Robotropolis isn't the end of Eggman's story…

The Spaz Sketchbook

Writer/Pencils: Spaz

So here we've got something quite interesting! This isn't actually a story, but rather a collection of concept art by Patrick Spaziante, for various characters and machines of issues past, scrapped concepts that never made it into print, and even a few sketches for some upcoming stories! Unfortunately I can't just post every page here - that would be way too many pictures - but they're free to look at on the Archie Sonic wiki for those who are interested in viewing the full thing. I've decided to only include a couple things here, being sketches that I found the most interesting. First up we have a concept for Rob o' the Hedge that was ultimately scrapped in favor of making him look… well… exactly like Sonic.

Seriously, this design is so much more interesting! I mean, sure he kind of still looks like a recolored Sonic OC with a few details changed to make him stand out, but let's face it, that's what basically every hedgehog looks like in the Archieverse. As it stands, this design is way more unique-looking, and has much more visual interest than just making him a slightly lighter-colored Sonic clone.

A few pages in, we have what looks like a large, segmented train of sorts, which has its description box blocked out with a large "CAUTION: SPOILER INFO" sticker plastered over it. There's obviously relevant text behind it, but only a couple of words at the beginning and end show through, giving us a tantalizing glimpse at something that might come up here in a few issues. There's some references to a scrapped arc that takes place on Mobius twenty years in the future that depicts an older, redesigned Knuckles and Julie-Su - hmm, wonder if we'll ever see anything come of that eventually? - and then some pages devoted to plans for a manga-style alternate universe that never saw the light of day, due to the Sonic Super Special series being cancelled.

I include these mostly because they're really cute! I mean, the series has already been going in a much more anime-inspired direction with its art as of late, so it's interesting to see how that has been an inspiration for the art team for quite a while, even before Ron Lim and Steven Butler started really Nihon-ing it up. We conclude with a final page in which every sketch's text is completely spoilered out, but we can take our best guess at what the art depicts just from looking at it.

Two of those designs are pretty obviously Mecha Sonic and a new Mecha Tails, meaning we might be seeing those two get roboticized sometime in the near future. As for the other robots, given their unique designs, we can safely assume that we're looking at roboticized versions of Flying Frog, Lightning Lynx, and Predator Hawk. The top left robot is a little more ambiguous, but I just cheated and looked at the wiki, which informed me that it's a roboticized Drago. Man, how did this big ol' string of roboticizations happen, huh? It's almost like Eggman might not be truly gone…

Ultimate Power (Part Two)

Writer: Ken Penders Pencils: Dawn Best Colors: Jensen

So, we can pretty safely assume that Mammoth Mogul is up to no good. Harry drops him off at the hospital in Echidnaopolis just as Lien-Da leaves the building, and he walks in, gloating in the doorway over his former enemy lying so helplessly in the middle of all the life support gear.

It's kind of amazing how in the span of barely over a dozen issues, Penders has managed to take Dimitri from a hated villain that we're certain wants to conquer the world, and rebrand him as a tired, ancient old man just trying to do the best for his people using the only means he knows. These issues have really given a much different perspective on Dimitri that we've never seen before, painting him in a much more sympathetic light and even making us root for him in some respects. After all, I know I certainly don't want him to die here, and more and more it seems like the real danger within the modern Legion is Lien-Da, with a whole hidden agenda of her own.

Unaware of the brewing catastrophe, Knuckles, Julie-Su, and the Chaotix are hanging out in a park, generally enjoying the time they have together. Knuckles explains to everyone how his fur color changed from Rad Red to Gross Green, and demonstrates some of his newfound powers by producing a bouquet of flowers from thin air, much to Julie-Su's delight. I can't say she's the type of girl who I would have expected to be so happy with flowers, but hey, I can see her maybe being touched by a gesture that's so normal, in contrast to her messed-up past. Knuckles sobers the mood up, however, by saying that he really needs to go see his father about his powers, which begs the question of why he hasn't done so before now, and leads everyone away to the Brotherhood's new, temporary place of residence, what with Haven being wrecked and all. In the Legion's own secret base within Echidnaopolis, Lien-Da converses with what appears to be her assistant, Gae-Na, about Dimitri's state of being. The base appears to be small-time, something Lien-Da has had recently set up by a few loyal underlings of her own without Dimitri's knowledge, as she discusses that if the echidna's main council votes to not go through with reunification she's ready to go through with her "backup plan." Knuckles and co. enter the temporary Brotherhood base, noting how run-down it seems in comparison, but upon heading into the main room they're met with a nasty shock on screen…

Well, I'm sure nothing but good things will come of this…

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 115 #writer: benny lee #writer: ken penders #pencils: art mawhinney #pencils: pat spaziante #pencils: dawn best #colors: jason jensen

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biofunmy · 5 years

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China’s 70th Anniversary: Parades and Protests

President Xi Jinping will preside on Tuesday over a large military parade and pageant involving 100,000 performers as China commemorates the 70th anniversary of Communist rule and its rapid emergence as a global power.

National Day is an important holiday in China’s political calendar and the authorities in Beijing have left little to chance: For weeks they have imposed an extensive security crackdown around the country and across the internet.

But as much as China wants to project a vision of itself as prosperous, powerful and unified, anti-government protests in Hong Kong threaten to overshadow the festivities.

Here’s a look at why Oct. 1 is so important and what to expect on Tuesday.

What is National Day?

The People’s Republic of China was founded on Oct. 1, 1949, after the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, defeated the Nationalist Party in a civil war.

On that day, a ceremony was held in Tiananmen Square to celebrate the formation of the Central People’s Government. It included a parade by the People’s Liberation Army and an address by Mao Zedong, the country’s new leader, from the nearby Gate of Heavenly Peace.

Tuesday’s ceremony, like those of the past seven decades, will echo the pageantry of that first National Day. President Xi will oversee a military parade and deliver a speech. For many Chinese people, it is a day of patriotic celebration that is followed by a weeklong holiday.

What to Expect

The military is expected to show off new weapons, including an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States, supersonic drones along with tanks.

President Xi, the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, is expected to highlight the Communist Party’s role in taking the country from isolated and impoverished 70 years ago to a making it a key player in international relations and the world’s second-largest economy.

China watchers will be studying Mr. Xi’s remarks for any references, implicit or otherwise, to the political turmoil in Hong Kong and whether he uses the day to warn the city to stop testing the central government’s patience.

The party is hoping that the fanfare and fireworks in Beijing overshadow the fury and firebombs expected in the streets of Hong Kong.

A Holiday Crackdown

Ahead of the holiday, the authorities have taken measures around the country, but particularly in Beijing, to ensure the festivities are not disrupted.

The area around Tiananmen Square will be on lockdown, and residents who live on nearby streets have been told to remain at home. Passenger trains will undergo security checks and all unauthorized flying objects — including racing pigeons — have been banned.

But the authorities are also policing cyberspace. Internet access in the city has been throttled and Weibo, the popular microblogging site, said it would delete content that “distorts” or “insults” Chinese history.

Protests in Hong Kong

National Day is a holiday in Hong Kong too, and workers and students who will have the day off are expected to hold anti-government protests.

Pro-democracy protests have been a mainstay of National Day commemorations ever since the former British colony returned to Chinese control in 1997. But this year is different.

The protests have forced the city’s government to cancel the annual fireworks display over its famed Victoria Harbor. The government also did away with a public viewing area for a flag-raising ceremony on Tuesday morning.

The semiautonomous city has been roiled for months by demonstrations that have become increasingly violent. In July, an estimated 2 million people marched against a proposed bill that would have allowed the people in Hong Kong to be extradited to the mainland to face trial. The city’s embattled chief executive, Carrie Lam, withdrew the bill last month after weeks of protests. But the protesters’ demands have expanded to include universal suffrage and an investigation into the police’s use of force.

The city has not yet seen another march of that size, but every weekend since has seen protesters clashing with the police, including this past weekend. Officers have deployed tear gas and pepper spray, actions, some residents say, that amount to excessive force.

Protest organizers hope that a large turnout on the streets on Tuesday will force the world’s attention away from Beijing and onto Hong Kong, and have called on residents to wear black and participate in a march through the city’s center.

Sahred From Source link World News

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thesnhuup · 5 years

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Pop Picks – February 11, 2019

February 11, 2019

What I’m listening to:

Raphael Saadiq has been around for quite a while, as a musician, writer, and producer. He’s new to me and I love his old school R&B sound. Like Leon Bridges, he brings a contemporary freshness to the genre, sounding like a young Stevie Wonder (listen to “You’re The One That I Like”). Rock and Roll may be largely dead, but R&B persists – maybe because the former was derivative of the latter and never as good (and I say that as a Rock and Roll fan). I’m embarrassed to only have discovered Saadiq so late in his career, but it’s a delight to have done so.

What I’m reading:

Just finished Marilynne Robinson’s Home, part of her trilogy that includes the Pulitzer Prize winning first novel, Gilead, and the book after Home, Lila. Robinson is often described as a Christian writer, but not in a conventional sense. In this case, she gives us a modern version of the prodigal son and tells the story of what comes after he is welcomed back home. It’s not pretty. Robinson is a self-described Calvinist, thus character begets fate in Robinson’s world view and redemption is at best a question. There is something of Faulkner in her work (I am much taken with his famous “The past is never past” quote after a week in the deep South), her style is masterful, and like Faulkner, she builds with these three novels a whole universe in the small town of Gilead. Start with Gilead to better enjoy Home.

What I’m watching:

Sex Education was the most fun series we’ve seen in ages and we binged watched it on Netflix. A British homage to John Hughes films like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Pretty in Pink, it feels like a mash up of American and British high schools. Focusing on the relationship of Maeve, the smart bad girl, and Otis, the virginal and awkward son of a sex therapist (played with brilliance by Gillian Anderson), it is laugh aloud funny and also evolves into more substance and depth (the abortion episode is genius). The sex scenes are somehow raunchy and charming and inoffensive at the same time and while ostensibly about teenagers (it feels like it is explaining contemporary teens to adults in many ways), the adults are compelling in their good and bad ways. It has been renewed for a second season, which is a gift.

Archive

January 3, 2019

What I’m listening to:

My listening choices usually refer to music, but this time I’m going with Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History podcast on genius and the song Hallelujah. It tells the story of Leonard Cohen’s much-covered song Hallelujah and uses it as a lens on kinds of genius and creativity. Along the way, he brings in Picasso and Cézanne, Elvis Costello, and more. Gladwell is a good storyteller and if you love pop music, as I do, and Hallelujah, as I do (and you should), you’ll enjoy this podcast. We tend to celebrate the genius who seems inspired in the moment, creating new work like lightning strikes, but this podcast has me appreciating incremental creativity in a new way. It’s compelling and fun at the same time.

What I’m reading:

Just read Clay Christensen’s new book, The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty. This was an advance copy, so soon available. Clay is an old friend and a huge influence on how we have grown SNHU and our approach to innovation. This book is so compelling, because we know attempts at development have so often been a failure and it is often puzzling to understand why some countries with desperate poverty and huge challenges somehow come to thrive (think S. Korea, Singapore, 19th C. America), while others languish. Clay offers a fresh way of thinking about development through the lens of his research on innovation and it is compelling. I bet this book gets a lot of attention, as most of his work does. I also suspect that many in the development community will hate it, as it calls into question the approach and enormous investments we have made in an attempt to lift countries out of poverty. A provocative read and, as always, Clay is a good storyteller.

What I’m watching:

Just watched Leave No Trace and should have guessed that it was directed by Debra Granik. She did Winter’s Bone, the extraordinary movie that launched Jennifer Lawrence’s career. Similarly, this movie features an amazing young actor, Thomasin McKenzie, and visits lives lived on the margins. In this case, a veteran suffering PTSD, and his 13-year-old daughter. The movie is patient, is visually lush, and justly earned 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (I have a rule to never watch anything under 82%). Everything in this film is under control and beautifully understated (aside from the visuals) – confident acting, confident directing, and so humane. I love the lack of flashbacks, the lack of sensationalism – the movie trusts the viewer, rare in this age of bombast. A lovely film.

December 4, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Spending a week in New Zealand, we had endless laughs listening to the Kiwi band, Flight of the Conchords. Lots of comedic bands are funny, but the music is only okay or worse. These guys are funny – hysterical really – and the music is great. They have an uncanny ability to parody almost any style. In both New Zealand and Australia, we found a wry sense of humor that was just delightful and no better captured than with this duo. You don’t have to be in New Zealand to enjoy them.

What I’m reading:

I don’t often reread. For two reasons: A) I have so many books on my “still to be read” pile that it seems daunting to also reread books I loved before, and B) it’s because I loved them once that I’m a little afraid to read them again. That said, I was recently asked to list my favorite book of all time and I answered Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. But I don’t really know if that’s still true (and it’s an impossible question anyway – favorite book? On what day? In what mood?), so I’m rereading it and it feels like being with an old friend. It has one of my very favorite scenes ever: the card game between Levin and Kitty that leads to the proposal and his joyous walking the streets all night.

What I’m watching:

Blindspotting is billed as a buddy-comedy. Wow does that undersell it and the drama is often gripping. I loved Daveed Diggs in Hamilton, didn’t like his character in Black-ish, and think he is transcendent in this film he co-wrote with Rafael Casal, his co-star. The film is a love song to Oakland in many ways, but also a gut-wrenching indictment of police brutality, systemic racism and bias, and gentrification. The film has the freshness and raw visceral impact of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. A great soundtrack, genre mixing, and energy make it one of my favorite movies of 2018.

October 15, 2018

What I’m listening to:

We had the opportunity to see our favorite band, The National, live in Dallas two weeks ago. Just after watching Mistaken for Strangers, the documentary sort of about the band. So we’ve spent a lot of time going back into their earlier work, listening to songs we don’t know well, and reaffirming that their musicality, smarts, and sound are both original and astoundingly good. They did not disappoint in concert and it is a good thing their tour ended, as we might just spend all of our time and money following them around. Matt Berninger is a genius and his lead vocals kill me (and because they are in my range, I can actually sing along!). Their arrangements are profoundly good and go right to whatever brain/heart wiring that pulls one in and doesn’t let them go.

What I’m reading:

Who is Richard Powers and why have I only discovered him now, with his 12th book? Overstory is profoundly good, a book that is essential and powerful and makes me look at my everyday world in new ways. In short, a dizzying example of how powerful can be narrative in the hands of a master storyteller. I hesitate to say it’s the best environmental novel I’ve ever read (it is), because that would put this book in a category. It is surely about the natural world, but it is as much about we humans. It’s monumental and elegiac and wondrous at all once. Cancel your day’s schedule and read it now. Then plant a tree. A lot of them.

What I’m watching:

Bo Burnham wrote and directed Eighth Grade and Elsie Fisher is nothing less than amazing as its star (what’s with these new child actors; see Florida Project). It’s funny and painful and touching. It’s also the single best film treatment that I have seen of what it means to grow up in a social media shaped world. It’s a reminder that growing up is hard. Maybe harder now in a world of relentless, layered digital pressure to curate perfect lives that are far removed from the natural messy worlds and selves we actually inhabit. It’s a well-deserved 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and I wonder who dinged it for the missing 2%.

September 7, 2018

What I’m listening to:

With a cover pointing back to the Beastie Boys’ 1986 Licensed to Ill, Eminem’s quietly released Kamikaze is not my usual taste, but I’ve always admired him for his “all out there” willingness to be personal, to call people out, and his sheer genius with language. I thought Daveed Diggs could rap fast, but Eminem is supersonic at moments, and still finds room for melody. Love that he includes Joyner Lucas, whose “I’m Not Racist” gets added to the growing list of simply amazing music videos commenting on race in America. There are endless reasons why I am the least likely Eminem fan, but when no one is around to make fun of me, I’ll put it on again.

What I’m reading:

Lesley Blume’s Everyone Behaves Badly, which is the story behind Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and his time in 1920s Paris (oh, what a time – see Midnight in Paris if you haven’t already). Of course, Blume disabuses my romantic ideas of that time and place and everyone is sort of (or profoundly so) a jerk, especially…no spoiler here…Hemingway. That said, it is a compelling read and coming off the Henry James inspired prose of Mrs. Osmond, it made me appreciate more how groundbreaking was Hemingway’s modern prose style. Like his contemporary Picasso, he reinvented the art and it can be easy to forget, these decades later, how profound was the change and its impact. And it has bullfights.

What I’m watching:

Chloé Zhao’s The Rider is just exceptional. It’s filmed on the Pine Ridge Reservation, which provides a stunning landscape, and it feels like a classic western reinvented for our times. The main characters are played by the real-life people who inspired this narrative (but feels like a documentary) film. Brady Jandreau, playing himself really, owns the screen. It’s about manhood, honor codes, loss, and resilience – rendered in sensitive, nuanced, and heartfelt ways. It feels like it could be about large swaths of America today. Really powerful.

August 16, 2018

What I’m listening to:

In my Spotify Daily Mix was Percy Sledge’s When A Man Loves A Woman, one of the world’s greatest love songs. Go online and read the story of how the song was discovered and recorded. There are competing accounts, but Sledge said he improvised it after a bad breakup. It has that kind of aching spontaneity. It is another hit from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, one of the GREAT music hotbeds, along with Detroit, Nashville, and Memphis. Our February Board meeting is in Alabama and I may finally have to do the pilgrimage road trip to Muscle Shoals and then Memphis, dropping in for Sunday services at the church where Rev. Al Green still preaches and sings. If the music is all like this, I will be saved.

What I’m reading:

John Banville’s Mrs. Osmond, his homage to literary idol Henry James and an imagined sequel to James’ 1881 masterpiece Portrait of a Lady. Go online and read the first paragraph of Chapter 25. He is…profoundly good. Makes me want to never write again, since anything I attempt will feel like some other, lowly activity in comparison to his mastery of language, image, syntax. This is slow reading, every sentence to be savored.

What I’m watching:

I’ve always respected Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but we just watched the documentary RGB. It is over-the-top great and she is now one of my heroes. A superwoman in many ways and the documentary is really well done. There are lots of scenes of her speaking to crowds and the way young women, especially law students, look at her is touching. And you can’t help but fall in love with her now late husband Marty. See this movie and be reminded of how important is the Law.

July 23, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Spotify’s Summer Acoustic playlist has been on repeat quite a lot. What a fun way to listen to artists new to me, including The Paper Kites, Hollow Coves, and Fleet Foxes, as well as old favorites like Leon Bridges and Jose Gonzalez. Pretty chill when dialing back to a summer pace, dining on the screen porch or reading a book.

What I’m reading:

Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy. Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Stevenson tells of the racial injustice (and the war on the poor our judicial system perpetuates as well) that he discovered as a young graduate from Harvard Law School and his fight to address it. It is in turn heartbreaking, enraging, and inspiring. It is also about mercy and empathy and justice that reads like a novel. Brilliant.

What I’m watching:

Fauda. We watched season one of this Israeli thriller. It was much discussed in Israel because while it focuses on an ex-special agent who comes out of retirement to track down a Palestinian terrorist, it was willing to reveal the complexity, richness, and emotions of Palestinian lives. And the occasional brutality of the Israelis. Pretty controversial stuff in Israel. Lior Raz plays Doron, the main character, and is compelling and tough and often hard to like. He’s a mess. As is the world in which he has to operate. We really liked it, and also felt guilty because while it may have been brave in its treatment of Palestinians within the Israeli context, it falls back into some tired tropes and ultimately falls short on this front.

June 11, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Like everyone else, I’m listening to Pusha T drop the mic on Drake. Okay, not really, but do I get some points for even knowing that? We all walk around with songs that immediately bring us back to a time or a place. Songs are time machines. We are coming up on Father’s Day. My own dad passed away on Father’s Day back in 1994 and I remembering dutifully getting through the wake and funeral and being strong throughout. Then, sitting alone in our kitchen, Don Henley’s The End of the Innocence came on and I lost it. When you lose a parent for the first time (most of us have two after all) we lose our innocence and in that passage, we suddenly feel adult in a new way (no matter how old we are), a longing for our own childhood, and a need to forgive and be forgiven. Listen to the lyrics and you’ll understand. As Wordsworth reminds us in In Memoriam, there are seasons to our grief and, all these years later, this song no longer hits me in the gut, but does transport me back with loving memories of my father. I’ll play it Father’s Day.

What I’m reading:

The Fifth Season, by N. K. Jemisin. I am not a reader of fantasy or sci-fi, though I understand they can be powerful vehicles for addressing the very real challenges of the world in which we actually live. I’m not sure I know of a more vivid and gripping illustration of that fact than N. K. Jemisin’s Hugo Award winning novel The Fifth Season, first in her Broken Earth trilogy. It is astounding. It is the fantasy parallel to The Underground Railroad, my favorite recent read, a depiction of subjugation, power, casual violence, and a broken world in which our hero(s) struggle, suffer mightily, and still, somehow, give us hope. It is a tour de force book. How can someone be this good a writer? The first 30 pages pained me (always with this genre, one must learn a new, constructed world, and all of its operating physics and systems of order), and then I could not put it down. I panicked as I neared the end, not wanting to finish the book, and quickly ordered the Obelisk Gate, the second novel in the trilogy, and I can tell you now that I’ll be spending some goodly portion of my weekend in Jemisin’s other world.

What I’m watching:

The NBA Finals and perhaps the best basketball player of this generation. I’ve come to deeply respect LeBron James as a person, a force for social good, and now as an extraordinary player at the peak of his powers. His superhuman play during the NBA playoffs now ranks with the all-time greats, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, MJ, Kobe, and the demi-god that was Bill Russell. That his Cavs lost in a 4-game sweep is no surprise. It was a mediocre team being carried on the wide shoulders of James (and matched against one of the greatest teams ever, the Warriors, and the Harry Potter of basketball, Steph Curry) and, in some strange way, his greatness is amplified by the contrast with the rest of his team. It was a great run.

May 24, 2018

What I’m listening to:

I’ve always liked Alicia Keys and admired her social activism, but I am hooked on her last album Here. This feels like an album finally commensurate with her anger, activism, hope, and grit. More R&B and Hip Hop than is typical for her, I think this album moves into an echelon inhabited by a Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On or Beyonce’s Formation. Social activism and outrage rarely make great novels, but they often fuel great popular music. Here is a terrific example.

What I’m reading:

Colson Whitehead’s Underground Railroad may be close to a flawless novel. Winner of the 2017 Pulitzer, it chronicles the lives of two runaway slaves, Cora and Caeser, as they try to escape the hell of plantation life in Georgia. It is an often searing novel and Cora is one of the great heroes of American literature. I would make this mandatory reading in every high school in America, especially in light of the absurd revisionist narratives of “happy and well cared for” slaves. This is a genuinely great novel, one of the best I’ve read, the magical realism and conflating of time periods lifts it to another realm of social commentary, relevance, and a blazing indictment of America’s Original Sin, for which we remain unabsolved.

What I’m watching:

I thought I knew about The Pentagon Papers, but The Post, a real-life political thriller from Steven Spielberg taught me a lot, features some of our greatest actors, and is so timely given the assault on our democratic institutions and with a presidency out of control. It is a reminder that a free and fearless press is a powerful part of our democracy, always among the first targets of despots everywhere. The story revolves around the legendary Post owner and D.C. doyenne, Katharine Graham. I had the opportunity to see her son, Don Graham, right after he saw the film, and he raved about Meryl Streep’s portrayal of his mother. Liked it a lot more than I expected.

April 27, 2018

What I’m listening to:

I mentioned John Prine in a recent post and then on the heels of that mention, he has released a new album, The Tree of Forgiveness, his first new album in ten years. Prine is beloved by other singer songwriters and often praised by the inscrutable God that is Bob Dylan. Indeed, Prine was frequently said to be the “next Bob Dylan” in the early part of his career, though he instead carved out his own respectable career and voice, if never with the dizzying success of Dylan. The new album reflects a man in his 70s, a cancer survivor, who reflects on life and its end, but with the good humor and empathy that are hallmarks of Prine’s music. “When I Get To Heaven” is a rollicking, fun vision of what comes next and a pure delight. A charming, warm, and often terrific album.

What I’m reading:

I recently read Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko, on many people’s Top Ten lists for last year and for good reason. It is sprawling, multi-generational, and based in the world of Japanese occupied Korea and then in the Korean immigrant’s world of Oaska, so our key characters become “tweeners,” accepted in neither world. It’s often unspeakably sad, and yet there is resiliency and love. There is also intimacy, despite the time and geographic span of the novel. It’s breathtakingly good and like all good novels, transporting.

What I’m watching:

I adore Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 film, Pan’s Labyrinth, and while I’m not sure his Shape of Water is better, it is a worthy follow up to the earlier masterpiece (and more of a commercial success). Lots of critics dislike the film, but I’m okay with a simple retelling of a Beauty and the Beast love story, as predictable as it might be. The acting is terrific, it is visually stunning, and there are layers of pain as well as social and political commentary (the setting is the US during the Cold War) and, no real spoiler here, the real monsters are humans, the military officer who sees over the captured aquatic creature. It is hauntingly beautiful and its depiction of hatred to those who are different or “other” is painfully resonant with the time in which we live. Put this on your “must see” list.

March 18, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Sitting on a plane for hours (and many more to go; geez, Australia is far away) is a great opportunity to listen to new music and to revisit old favorites. This time, it is Lucy Dacus and her album Historians, the new sophomore release from a 22-year old indie artist that writes with relatable, real-life lyrics. Just on a second listen and while she insists this isn’t a break up record (as we know, 50% of all great songs are break up songs), it is full of loss and pain. Worth the listen so far. For the way back machine, it’s John Prine and In Spite of Ourselves (that title track is one of the great love songs of all time), a collection of duets with some of his “favorite girl singers” as he once described them. I have a crush on Iris Dement (for a really righteously angry song try her Wasteland of the Free), but there is also EmmyLou Harris, the incomparable Dolores Keane, and Lucinda Williams. Very different albums, both wonderful.

What I’m reading:

Jane Mayer’s New Yorker piece on Christopher Steele presents little that is new, but she pulls it together in a terrific and coherent whole that is illuminating and troubling at the same time. Not only for what is happening, but for the complicity of the far right in trying to discredit that which should be setting off alarm bells everywhere. Bob Mueller may be the most important defender of the democracy at this time. A must read.

What I’m watching:

Homeland is killing it this season and is prescient, hauntingly so. Russian election interference, a Bannon-style hate radio demagogue, alienated and gun toting militia types, and a president out of control. It’s fabulous, even if it feels awfully close to the evening news.

March 8, 2018

What I’m listening to:

We have a family challenge to compile our Top 100 songs. It is painful. Only 100? No more than three songs by one artist? Wait, why is M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” on my list? Should it just be The Clash from whom she samples? Can I admit to guilty pleasure songs? Hey, it’s my list and I can put anything I want on it. So I’m listening to the list while I work and the song playing right now is Tom Petty’s “The Wild One, Forever,” a B-side single that was never a hit and that remains my favorite Petty song. Also, “Evangeline” by Los Lobos. It evokes a night many years ago, with friends at Pearl Street in Northampton, MA, when everyone danced well past 1AM in a hot, sweaty, packed club and the band was a revelation. Maybe the best music night of our lives and a reminder that one’s 100 Favorite Songs list is as much about what you were doing and where you were in your life when those songs were playing as it is about the music. It’s not a list. It’s a soundtrack for this journey.

What I’m reading:

Patricia Lockwood’s Priestdaddy was in the NY Times top ten books of 2017 list and it is easy to see why. Lockwood brings remarkable and often surprising imagery, metaphor, and language to her prose memoir and it actually threw me off at first. It then all became clear when someone told me she is a poet. The book is laugh aloud funny, which masks (or makes safer anyway) some pretty dark territory. Anyone who grew up Catholic, whether lapsed or not, will resonate with her story. She can’t resist a bawdy anecdote and her family provides some of the most memorable characters possible, especially her father, her sister, and her mother, who I came to adore. Best thing I’ve read in ages.

What I’m watching:

The Florida Project, a profoundly good movie on so many levels. Start with the central character, six-year old (at the time of the filming) Brooklynn Prince, who owns – I mean really owns – the screen. This is pure acting genius and at that age? Astounding. Almost as astounding is Bria Vinaite, who plays her mother. She was discovered on Instagram and had never acted before this role, which she did with just three weeks of acting lessons. She is utterly convincing and the tension between the child’s absolute wonder and joy in the world with her mother’s struggle to provide, to be a mother, is heartwarming and heartbreaking all at once. Willem Dafoe rightly received an Oscar nomination for his supporting role. This is a terrific movie.

February 12, 2018

What I’m listening to:

So, I have a lot of friends of age (I know you’re thinking 40s, but I just turned 60) who are frozen in whatever era of music they enjoyed in college or maybe even in their thirties. There are lots of times when I reach back into the catalog, since music is one of those really powerful and transporting senses that can take you through time (smell is the other one, though often underappreciated for that power). Hell, I just bought a turntable and now spending time in vintage vinyl shops. But I’m trying to take a lesson from Pat, who revels in new music and can as easily talk about North African rap music and the latest National album as Meet the Beatles, her first ever album. So, I’ve been listening to Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy winning Damn. While it may not be the first thing I’ll reach for on a winter night in Maine, by the fire, I was taken with it. It’s layered, political, and weirdly sensitive and misogynist at the same time, and it feels fresh and authentic and smart at the same time, with music that often pulled me from what I was doing. In short, everything music should do. I’m not a bit cooler for listening to Damn, but when I followed it with Steely Dan, I felt like I was listening to Lawrence Welk. A good sign, I think.

What I’m reading:

I am reading Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Leonardo da Vinci. I’m not usually a reader of biographies, but I’ve always been taken with Leonardo. Isaacson does not disappoint (does he ever?), and his subject is at once more human and accessible and more awe-inspiring in Isaacson’s capable hands. Gay, left-handed, vegetarian, incapable of finishing things, a wonderful conversationalist, kind, and perhaps the most relentlessly curious human being who has ever lived. Like his biographies of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, Isaacson’s project here is to show that genius lives at the intersection of science and art, of rationality and creativity. Highly recommend it.

What I’m watching:

We watched the This Is Us post-Super Bowl episode, the one where Jack finally buys the farm. I really want to hate this show. It is melodramatic and manipulative, with characters that mostly never change or grow, and it hooks me every damn time we watch it. The episode last Sunday was a tear jerker, a double whammy intended to render into a blubbering, tissue-crumbling pathetic mess anyone who has lost a parent or who is a parent. Sterling K. Brown, Ron Cephas Jones, the surprising Mandy Moore, and Milo Ventimiglia are hard not to love and last season’s episode that had only Brown and Cephas going to Memphis was the show at its best (they are by far the two best actors). Last week was the show at its best worst. In other words, I want to hate it, but I love it. If you haven’t seen it, don’t binge watch it. You’ll need therapy and insulin.

January 15, 2018

What I’m listening to:

Drive-By Truckers. Chris Stapleton has me on an unusual (for me) country theme and I discovered these guys to my great delight. They’ve been around, with some 11 albums, but the newest one is fascinating. It’s a deep dive into Southern alienation and the white working-class world often associated with our current president. I admire the willingness to lay bare, in kick ass rock songs, the complexities and pain at work among people we too quickly place into overly simple categories. These guys are brave, bold, and thoughtful as hell, while producing songs I didn’t expect to like, but that I keep playing. And they are coming to NH.

What I’m reading:

A textual analog to Drive-By Truckers by Chris Stapleton in many ways is Tony Horowitz’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize winning Confederates in the Attic. Ostensibly about the Civil War and the South’s ongoing attachment to it, it is prescient and speaks eloquently to the times in which we live (where every southern state but Virginia voted for President Trump). Often hilarious, it too surfaces complexities and nuance that escape a more recent, and widely acclaimed, book like Hillbilly Elegy. As a Civil War fan, it was also astonishing in many instances, especially when it blows apart long-held “truths” about the war, such as the degree to which Sherman burned down the south (he did not). Like D-B Truckers, Horowitz loves the South and the people he encounters, even as he grapples with its myths of victimhood and exceptionalism (and racism, which may be no more than the racism in the north, but of a different kind). Everyone should read this book and I’m embarrassed I’m so late to it.

What I’m watching:

David Letterman has a new Netflix show called “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction” and we watched the first episode, in which Letterman interviewed Barack Obama. It was extraordinary (if you don’t have Netflix, get it just to watch this show); not only because we were reminded of Obama’s smarts, grace, and humanity (and humor), but because we saw a side of Letterman we didn’t know existed. His personal reflections on Selma were raw and powerful, almost painful. He will do five more episodes with “extraordinary individuals” and if they are anything like the first, this might be the very best work of his career and one of the best things on television.

December 22, 2017

What I’m reading:

Just finished Sunjeev Sahota’s Year of the Runaways, a painful inside look at the plight of illegal Indian immigrant workers in Britain. It was shortlisted for 2015 Man Booker Prize and its transporting, often to a dark and painful universe, and it is impossible not to think about the American version of this story and the terrible way we treat the undocumented in our own country, especially now.

What I’m watching:

Season II of The Crown is even better than Season I. Elizabeth’s character is becoming more three-dimensional, the modern world is catching up with tradition-bound Britain, and Cold War politics offer more context and tension than we saw in Season I. Claire Foy, in her last season, is just terrific – one arched eye brow can send a message.

What I’m listening to:

A lot of Christmas music, but needing a break from the schmaltz, I’ve discovered Over the Rhine and their Christmas album, Snow Angels. God, these guys are good.

November 14, 2017

What I’m watching:

Guiltily, I watch the Patriots play every weekend, often building my schedule and plans around seeing the game. Why the guilt? I don’t know how morally defensible is football anymore, as we now know the severe damage it does to the players. We can’t pretend it’s all okay anymore. Is this our version of late decadent Rome, watching mostly young Black men take a terrible toll on each other for our mere entertainment?

What I’m reading:

Recently finished J.G. Ballard’s 2000 novel Super-Cannes, a powerful depiction of a corporate-tech ex-pat community taken over by a kind of psychopathology, in which all social norms and responsibilities are surrendered to residents of the new world community. Kept thinking about Silicon Valley when reading it. Pretty dark, dystopian view of the modern world and centered around a mass killing, troublingly prescient.

What I’m listening to:

Was never really a Lorde fan, only knowing her catchy (and smarter than you might first guess) pop hit “Royals” from her debut album. But her new album, Melodrama, is terrific and it doesn’t feel quite right to call this “pop.” There is something way more substantial going on with Lorde and I can see why many critics put this album at the top of their Best in 2017 list. Count me in as a huge fan.

November 3, 2017

What I’m reading: Just finished Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, her breathtakingly good second novel. How is someone so young so wise? Her writing is near perfection and I read the book in two days, setting my alarm for 4:30AM so I could finish it before work.

What I’m watching: We just binge watched season two of Stranger Things and it was worth it just to watch Millie Bobbie Brown, the transcendent young actor who plays Eleven. The series is a delightful mash up of every great eighties horror genre you can imagine and while pretty dark, an absolute joy to watch.

What I’m listening to: I’m not a lover of country music (to say the least), but I love Chris Stapleton. His “The Last Thing I Needed, First Thing This Morning” is heartbreakingly good and reminds me of the old school country that played in my house as a kid. He has a new album and I can’t wait, but his From A Room: Volume 1 is on repeat for now.

September 26, 2017

What I’m reading:

Just finished George Saunder’s Lincoln in the Bardo. It took me a while to accept its cadence and sheer weirdness, but loved it in the end. A painful meditation on loss and grief, and a genuinely beautiful exploration of the intersection of life and death, the difficulty of letting go of what was, good and bad, and what never came to be.

What I’m watching:

HBO’s The Deuce. Times Square and the beginning of the porn industry in the 1970s, the setting made me wonder if this was really something I’d want to see. But David Simon is the writer and I’d read a menu if he wrote it. It does not disappoint so far and there is nothing prurient about it.

What I’m listening to:

The National’s new album Sleep Well Beast. I love this band. The opening piano notes of the first song, “Nobody Else Will Be There,” seize me & I’m reminded that no one else in music today matches their arrangement & musicianship. I’m adding “Born to Beg,” “Slow Show,” “I Need My Girl,” and “Runaway” to my list of favorite love songs.

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$SFOR Somehow we missed this significant article which I have posted below

Somehow we missed this significant article which I have posted below. It is from 12/27/2018 and discusses Gallagher Affinity’s ability to help Government contractors in light of recent China hackers. You should carefully review the article as it provides hints as to how SFOR’s technology is being packaged with the overall Gallagher Affinity Cyber Security offering. Gallagher is partnering with a few Cyber Security companies to provide a comprehensive solution. This is big-time and will bring serious money to SFOR so I’m providing the links to each page even though you can find this information yourself as well. If you click on the link and bring up the actual below article then you’ll see on the portion that says ‘has partnered with Gallagher Affinity’ it’s a link and you’ll be taken to this Gallagher Affinity’s 360 Coverage Pros website : https://www.360coveragepros.com/federal-contractor-programs If you scroll down the page to the green box “view programs” and click on the DOD link you’ll go here (although any one of three get you to SFOR’s IP) : https://www.360coveragepros.com/dod-contractors Scroll down to ‘Keystroke Encryption’ or ‘Multi-Factor Out-of-Band Authentication’ to view SFOR’s IP being provided through Secure CyberID. Here are the links to see SFOR’s Channel Partner Secure CyberID : https://fed360auth.securecyberid.com/ https://fed360encrypt.securecyberid.com/ Here is the original November Press Release : https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/secu…46468.html Here is the link that connects Strikeforce with Secure CyberID : https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/0…ution.html Finally, here is the article from December 27th, 2018 : https://securityboulevard.com/2018/12/chinese…ntractors/ Chinese Hackers Pose a Serious Threat to Military Contractors by Michael Peters on December 27, 2018 Chinese hackers have successfully breached contractors for the U.S. Navy, according to WSJ report. The years-long Marriott Starwood database breach was almost certainly the work of nation-state hackers sponsored by China, likely as part of a larger campaign by Chinese hackers to breach health insurers and government security clearance files, The New York Times reports. Why would foreign spies be so interested in the contents of a hotel’s guest database? Turns out “Marriott is the top hotel provider for American government and military personnel.” The Starwood database contained a treasure trove of highly detailed information about these personnel’s movements around the world. Chinese hackers didn’t stop there. According to a report published in the Wall Street Journal last week, nation-state hackers sponsored by China have successfully breached numerous third-party contractors working for the U.S. Navy on multiple occasions over the past 18 months. The data stolen included highly classified information about advanced military technology currently under development, including “secret plans to build a supersonic anti-ship missile planned for use by American submarines.” The WSJ noted that hackers specifically targeted third-party federal contractors because many are small firms that lack the financial resources to invest in robust cyber security defenses. In testimony before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, FBI counterintelligence division head E.W. “Bill” Priestap Wednesday called cyberespionage on the part of Chinese hackers the “most severe” threat to American security, citing the country’s “relentless theft of U.S. assets” in an effort to “supplant [the United States] as the world’s superpower.” Inconsistent security practices leave U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense System vulnerable to cyber attacks While the Navy has been hit particularly hard, the entire U.S. government, including all branches of the military, are under constant threats of cyber attack from Chinese hackers and other nation-state actors – and they’re ill-prepared to fend off these attacks. Around the same time the Marriott Starwood breach was disclosed, the Defense Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an audit report citing inconsistent security practices at DoD facilities, including facilities managed by third-party contractors, that store technical information on the nation’s ballistic missile defense system (BMDS). The report described failures to enact basic security measures, such as: *Requiring the use of multi-factor authentication to access BMDS technical information *Identifying and mitigating known network vulnerabilities *Locking server racks *Protecting and monitoring classified data stored on removable media *Encrypting BMDS technical information transmission *Implementing intrusion detection capabilities on classified networks *Requiring written justification to obtain and elevate system access for users *Consistently implementing physical security controls to limit unauthorized access to facilities that manage BMDS technical information Cyber security problems abound among DoD and other federal contractors The OIG report comes on the heels of another the office issued earlier this year, citing security problems specifically at contractor-run military facilities. The WSJ report on Chinese hackers implied that inadequate security is the norm, not the exception, at federal contractors and subcontractors, citing an intelligence official who described military subcontractors as “lagging behind in cybersecurity and frequently [suffering] breaches” that impact not just the military branch they work for, but also other branches. In theory, military contractors shouldn’t be having these problems. Most federal contractors must comply with the strict security controls outlined in NIST 800-171, and DoD contractors must comply with DFARS 800-171. DoD contractors were required to, at minimum, have a “system security plan” in place by December 31, 2017. However, many small and mid-sized organizations missed the December 31 deadline, often because they felt they did not have the resources to comply. However, continued non-compliance puts these vendors’ contracts at risk of cancellation, as well as national security at risk from Chinese hackers and other cyber criminals. It’s not too late to begin compliance efforts . If your agency starts working towards compliance now, you can demonstrate that you have a plan to comply and are making progress with it to your prime contractor, subcontractor, or DoD contracting officer. Affordable DFARS 800-171 compliance services are available for small and mid-sized federal contractors Continuum GRC’s IT Audit Machine (ITAM) greatly simplifies the compliance process and significantly cuts the time and costs involved, putting NIST 800-171 and DFARS 800-171 compliance within reach of small and mid-sized organizations. Additionally, Continuum GRChas partnered with Gallagher Affinity to offer small and mid-sized federal contractors affordable packages that combine cyber and data breach insurance coverage with NIST 800-171 and DFARS 800-171 compliance services. The cyber security experts at Continuum GRC have deep knowledge of the cyber security field, are continually monitoring the latest information security threats, and are committed to protecting your organization from security breaches. Continuum GRC offers full-service and in-house risk assessment and risk management subscriptions, and we help companies all around the world sustain proactive cyber security programs. Continuum GRC is proactive cyber security®. Call 1-888-896-6207 to discuss your organization’s cyber security needs and find out how we can help your organization protect its systems and ensure compliance. http://dlvr.it/QwTXNw

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barbosaasouza · 6 years

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Character Profiles: Sonic

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the latest entry in Nintendo's ongoing premier platform fighter series. It's also slated to be the company's biggest release of the holiday season. After almost 20 years of battle between top characters of some of gaming's biggest franchises, Ultimate will bring together every single fighter from every Smash Bros. game to date (along with a few more) in one single game.

With so many characters to choose from, Shacknews is taking a look at each and every one of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate characters individually, leading up to the game's big release on December 7. Because many aspects of the game are subject to change, including character damage and special move properties, these profiles should not be considered final and can be updated at any time. Any guide that has been updated will be clearly marked.

Here's what we have up so far:

#01 - Mario

Today, we continue with the most well-recognized character in SEGA'S history.

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Who is Sonic?

Blue streak speeds by Sonic the Hedgehog! Too fast for the naked eye Sonic the Hedgehog! Sonic! He can really move! Sonic! He's got an attitude! Sonic! He's the fastest thing alive!

Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega's top mascot and has been the face of the company since its console heyday and beyond. He's still beloved to this day, which is partially why some of his 3D outings are so frustrating, but that's an entirely different conversation. Sonic has been saving the world from the threat of Dr. Eggman for over 25 years, using his supersonic speed to run across loops and straight through danger. His speed is only matched by his cool factor, an intangible that nobody else on the Smash Bros. roster possesses. It was never more evident than Sonic's debut in the Smash Bros. series, something I touched on in our retrospective of Super Smash Bros. Brawl's Subspace Emissary story mode.

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Sonic has starred in many platformers, some of which even star other versions of the classic character. There's Sonic Boom, Sonic Mania, Sonic Generations, and the list goes on. Sonic has dabbled in other genres, like the upcoming Team Sonic Racing, and has even buried the hatchet with Mario and co-starred with the portly plumber for the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series.

Sonic's Moves and Fighter Overview

I'm not sure if anyone knows this, but Sonic is fast. He's very fast. He's the fastest thing alive and has the fastest dashing speed on the Smash Bros. roster. His moves take advantage of his speed, while also borrowing from elements of his games.

Here are Sonic's special moves:

Homing Attack (Neutral B): Lifts Sonic off the ground and homes in on the nearest opponent. Hit B a second time to execute the move early..

Spring Jump (Up B): Pull out a spring from the classic Sonic games and use it to launch the blue hedgehog skyward. The move itself causes no damage, but it's one of the best recovery options in the game. The spring itself can also bop an opponent on its way down for minor damage.

Spin Dash (Side B): Sonic's signature move can be charged up before he launches himself at opponents. Has great combo potential, though it apparently can no longer be shield canceled.

Spin Charge (Down B): Acts like the Spin Dash, but is more for walloping nearby foes for multiple hits. Keep hitting B to extend the combo.

Super Sonic (Final Smash): Sonic uses the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and fly across the screen, causing massive damage and potentially KO-ing anyone in his way. This move will be faster now than it was in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS.

Sonic has several attacks that can reliably connect with opponents, like his dive kick and his Homing Attack, but while they'll do a lot of damage, Sonic isn't exactly a KO master. Sonic's more about outrunning his opponent and isn't for the more aggressive player, though he can be played that way. He also has some incredible recovery options, for those who opt to play the keep-away game.

What's changed about Sonic since Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS? Sonic adjusts his arsenal slightly with a dashing kick and a faster Homing Attack. But as noted, Sonic's Spin Dash can no longer be canceled, which takes away one of the hedgehog's big weapons. Super Sonic will also move much faster than before.

Esports Observations

Looking to play like an expert? I'm not one of those by any stretch of the imagination. Fortunately, Shacknews has scoured the web for breakdowns from the top competitive Smash Bros. players and personalities in the world for some more detailed opinions.

In breaking down Mario, we noted that one of the best ways to learn is through direct observation. We broke down Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios' Mario play during the E3 Smash Invitational, where he rode the plumber to victory. Did you miss that Grand Finals? Let's rewatch it below.

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While ZeRo had plenty to say about Mario during the Nintendo Power podcast, he also had a few observations about Sonic, who was on the opposing side during that Grand Finals set. Shacknews quoted ZeRo last time about Sonic's Spin Dash nerf, but that wasn't all that he had to say about the character.

"It's hard to react to certain things and Sonic is too fast," ZeRo told the Nintendo Power crew. "Like, I have amazing reaction time. I'm the kind of person who can react to... few frame windows to several things. I can just react on the spot sometimes and Sonic, when he runs past you, you can't tell. It's impossible. If he runs at you, I can't tell if he's going to jump or grab. We have to guess. So that makes Sonic difficult to deal with at a top-level plane, because a good player can mix you up consistently and then it becomes the point where you don't react, so you can't consistently do it, because guessing is guessing. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't, but you can decrease the luck by reacting. But because Sonic is so fast, you can't react, so that makes him amazing. That's basically why Sonic is really good right now and couple that with the fact that he has a back-throw that kills, he has grab combos that no other character has, his Forward-Smash is absolutely ridiculous, his back-air has this slice of New York City, like it's actually humongous, like back-air stays off forever, always gets the strong hit, and even if he gets the weak hit, it puts him in a spot where you can back-air again, so it's one of the best moves, for sure."

While ZeRo has seen the positives in Sonic, a handful of the Sonic mains out in the Smash world are crestfallen with the loss of the Spin Dash shield cancel. Here's top Japanese Sonic player Kengo "KEN" Suzuki reacting to the news.

Bye Bye Sonic... https://t.co/BKTgmGho5u

— KEN (@KENisbg) June 12, 2018

The Sonic faithful are otherwise still looking to get accustomed to some of his minor tweaks, taking the most recent opportunity at CEO 2018 to get their hands on the character. The folks at Most Valuable Gaming and Smash Studios both got a chance to capture a couple of matches.

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But at least one other person might be converted to the Sonic user base. That's the guy who used Sonic at the Smash Invitational, Leonardo "MkLeo" Lopez. Despite losing, Leo sees the potential in Sonic and is apparently excited to learn the character a little better.

Well he didnt die in winners finals by the snake's uptilt and the sonic back air in last game...i wanted to win... but still have so much fun The game is awesome but bayo tho lol I love smash im playing sonic in smash5 at least as a secondary Thank you everyone!

— EchoFox lMVGl MkLeo (@Mkleosb) June 12, 2018

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is set to arrive in December on Nintendo Switch. Shacknews will continue looking into each of the game's characters from now through the big day, so be sure to come back for more breakdowns over the coming weeks.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Character Profiles: Sonic published first on https://superworldrom.tumblr.com/

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