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wheelsgoroundincircles · 3 months

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Mechanic : The last of the V8 Interceptors... a piece of history!

Mechanic : Would've been a shame to blow it up.

The Pursuit Special, also referred to as the Last of the V8 Interceptors, is the iconic black GT Falcon muscle car featuring a distinctive supercharger driven by the title character Mad Max during much of the Mad Max franchise, where it appears in Mad Max, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and in Mad Max: Fury Road, as well as both video games.

The first car shown in the film with the title of Pursuit Special is a 1972 HQ Holden Monaro[V8 coupe stolen by Nightrider (played by Vince Gil), an escaped cop killer, who dies in an accident that destroys the vehicle. The more famous Pursuit Special is a heavily modified Ford Falcon XB GT, built on a vehicle originally assembled stock at the Ford plant in November 1973. Maxwell "Mad Max" Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is offered the black Pursuit Special, as an incentive to stay on the force as their top pursuit man after he reveals his desire to resign. Although Max turns the offer down, he later uses the black car to exact his revenge on an outlaw motorcycle gang who killed his wife and son.

The vehicle started out as a standard white 351 cu in (5.8 L) Australian built 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Hardtop when in 1976, filmmakers Byron Kennedy and George Miller began preproduction on Mad Max. The movie's art director Jon Dowding designed the Interceptor and commissioned Melbourne-based car customizers Graf-X International to modify the GT Falcon. Peter Arcadipane, Ray Beckerley, John Evans, and painter Rod Smythe transformed the car as specified for the film.

The main modifications are the black paint scheme, roof and boot spoilers, wheel arch flares, and front nose cone and air-dam designed by Arcadipane (marketed as the "Concorde" style). Also, eight individual exhaust side pipes were added (only two of them being functional, others appeared to be working because of the vibrations the first two created). The most famous feature of the car is a Weiand 6-71 supercharger[5] protruding through the bonnet. The impressive looking supercharger, in reality, was nonfunctional; functional superchargers are typically driven constantly by the engine and cannot be switched on and off, as portrayed in the first two Mad Max films.

1973 Ford XB Falcon GT 351

Pursuit Special, when the term is used, generally refers to Max's more famous V8 Interceptor Pursuit Special, a 1973 Ford XB Falcon GT 351, commissioned at great expense by Police Commissioner Labatouche and the Main Force Patrol's (MFP) commander, Fifi Macaffee.

#car #cars #muscle car #american muscle #Ford XB Falcon GT 351 #Ford XB Falcon GT #Ford XB Falcon #Ford XB #Ford #mad max #the road warrior #road warrior

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usafphantom2 · 4 months

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The prototype B-52s scrapped after First Lady Lady Bird Johnson’s ‘beautification’ of the US Air Force Museum

The B-52 Stratofortress

For more than 60 years, B-52 Stratofortress bombers have been the backbone of the strategic bomber force for the United States. The B-52 is capable of dropping or launching the widest array of weapons in the US inventory. This includes gravity bombs, cluster bombs, precision guided missiles and joint direct attack munitions. Updated with modern technology, the B-52 is capable of delivering the full complement of joint developed weapons and will continue into the 21st century as an important element of our nation’s defenses. The Air Force currently expects to operate B-52s through 2050.

The B-52A first flew in 1954, and the B model entered service in 1955. A total of 744 B-52s were built, with the last, a B-52H, delivered in October 1962. The first of 102 B-52H’s was delivered to Strategic Air Command in May 1961.

The prototype B-52s scrapped after First Lady Lady Bird Johnson’s ‘beautification’ of the US Air Force Museum: The story of the XB-52 and YB-52

The winning design

As explained by Scott Lowther in his book Boeing B-47 Stratojet & B-52 Stratofortress Origins and Evolution, the winning design for the XB-52, Model 464-49, transitioned to Model 464-67. While largely the same, there were some notable differences, most obviously the extension of the forward fuselage. Where 464-49 had the rear of the cockpit canopy behind the leading edge of the wing roots, 464-67 put the cockpit well ahead of the wing. The relatively vast expanse of spoilers on the wings were scaled down and the engine nacelles were reshaped. With those changes and an Air Force ‘letter of intent’ for B-52 tooling in March 1951, Boeing was ready to begin constructing two Model 464-67s.

The prototype B-52s

These prototype B-52s were given the designations XB-52 and YB-52… X for ‘experimental’ and Y being the designation for ‘prototype.’ Typically an `experimental’ aircraft is built before a ‘prototype’, but in this case while the XB-52 (serial number 49- 230) rolled out on Nov. 29, 1951, and the YB-52 (serial number 49-231) followed on Mar. 15, 1952, the YB-52 flew first on Apr. 15, 1952. This was due to the XB-52 suffering damage during pneumatic system pressurization testing which required extensive repairs.

The prototype B-52s scrapped after First Lady Lady Bird Johnson’s ‘beautification’ of the US Air Force Museum: The story of the XB-52 and YB-52

The XB-52 followed the prototype into the air on Oct. 2, 1952. The first flight of the YB-52 lasted two hours and was powered by prototype YJ57-P-3 engines. Despite the difference in designations, the XB-52 and the YB-52 were essentially identical.

The prototype B-52s were largely similar to the production aircraft in appearance. An immediately distinguishing feature of both aircraft, though, was the cockpit. A tandem fighter-style canopy somewhat similar to that used on the B-47 was employed; it was low-drag and gave the pilot excellent visibility.

Pioneering the landing gear layout

The prototypes pioneered the landing gear layout that the rest of the B-52 fleet would employ. Somewhat similar at first glance to the bicycle arrangement used by the B-47, the gear used by the B-52 was quite different. Four separate dual-wheel bogies were stored within the B-52 fuselage, but instead of deploying straight down they deployed out to the sides, twisting around so that the bogies stored fore-and-aft ended up side-by-side. This gave the B-52 not a bicycle arrangement, but a quadricycle. The B-52 would comfortably sit level on its main landing gear and not tip to one side or the other. It still employed smaller outrigger gear near the wingtips, but this was to keep the wingtips from striking the ground during heavily laden takeoffs or bumpy landings.

‘Crabbing’ into the wind

Additionally, the forward bogies could rotate up to 20° side to side, allowing the B-52 to do something unique: land while ‘crabbing’ into the wind, the fuselage of the aircraft pointed well off the axis of the groundpath of the flight. This would permit safe landings in high winds.

The prototype B-52s scrapped after First Lady Lady Bird Johnson’s ‘beautification’ of the US Air Force Museum: The story of the XB-52 and YB-52

The prototypes had flapperons, ailerons and spoilers on the main wings. The ailerons were relatively small and located far from the wingtip; in fact, just outboard of the inboard engine pylon. A wingtip location for the ailerons would have given them more authority, but that would have put them in a much thinner section of the wing, a section much given to flexing. The inboard location was sufficient for the manoeuvring that the bomber was expected to perform.

Folding vertical fin

In any event, the spoilers were to take care of the bulk of the control needs of the aircraft, and the ailerons would eventually find themselves redundant. Unlike the production aircraft that followed, the prototypes did not have the capability for inflight refuelling. Neither did they, initially, have the external fuel tanks that generally graced the outer wings of production model B-52s, but such tanks were eventually added later in the testing phase.

B-52H print

This print is available in multiple sizes from AircraftProfilePrints.com – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS. B-52H Stratofortress 2nd BW, 20th BS, LA/60-0008 “Lucky Lady IV”.

The horizontal stabilizers were all-moving, but this was meant for trim stabilization. Actual control was via slim elevators along the trailing edge. The elevators had, through the B-52F, trim tabs. An important but rarely noted feature not only of the prototype B-52s but of all B-52s that followed was the folding vertical fin. The fin was, at least until the G-model, a vast structure; too tall by far to allow the B-52 to fit within standard hangars. So it could fold over 90-degrees, greatly reducing the effective height of the aircraft. Unlike naval aircraft with wings that fold to fit in the limited space on board aircraft carriers, the fielding fin is not a self-contained system — an external crane is needed to lay it over and raise it back up again.

Prototype B-52s were hand-made

The prototypes were essentially hand-made at the Boeing Seattle factory. Production methods were not used as the jigs were not finalized; the equipment and instruments employed were also often not what would become standard. Neither prototype was fitted with defensive weapons; the tail turrets were represented by static fairings, with the painted-on lines.

The YB-52 was donated to the US Air Force Museum on Jan. 27, 1958, having flown for 783 hours. It was on display for a time but due to a ‘beautification’ scheme orchestrated by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, both the XB-52 and YB-52 were scrapped sometime in the 1960s. Exactly how the official museum of the United States Air Force was ‘beautified’ by converting one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built into razor blades and soda cans is not adequately explained in the available literature.

Boeing B-47 Stratojet & B-52 Stratofortress Origins and Evolution is published by Mortons Books and is available to order here.

Photo credit: U.S. Air Force

B-52 Model

This model is available from AirModels – CLICK HERE TO GET YOURS.

Dario Leone

Dario Leone is an aviation, defense and military writer. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviation Geek Club” one of the world’s most read military aviation blogs. His writing has appeared in The National Interest and other news media. He has reported from Europe and flown Super Puma and Cougar helicopters with the Swiss Air Force.

@kadonkey via X

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hermitrivia · 2 months

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Hermit Trivia Question #2

Please read the voting rules before participating:

No cheating! Don't look up your answers before voting. (I have no practical way of stopping you from doing this, so I'm going to have to trust you not to ruin the fun.)

No spoilers! Don't say, imply, or hint your answer in the comments or tags before the poll is finished. This ruins the game for everyone else, so you WILL be blocked if you do this.

Share the fun! Reblog the poll if you play. The more people play, the more fun everyone has.

Once the poll is finished, I'll reblog it with the correct answer.

#hermitcraft #mindcrack #vintagebeef #docm77 #ethoslab #xbcrafted #trivia questions #hermitcraft polls #mcyt polls

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galactic-pirates · 1 year

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Oh boy. Ok episode 9 where do I start?

Spoiler alert as always.

Ok let’s start with the positive.

Data’s line and delivery of “I hope we die quickly” was hilarious.

I loved how Seven was the first to fight back and get a phaser with an elbow to the head.

Raffi going “not a chance” and striding forward shooting because she wouldn’t leave Seven was totally badass, and warmed my shipper heart.

As for everything else…

Oh boy.

In my theorising I said maybe the changelings wanted Jack to do his mind control whoo whoo, and form a ‘collective’ as a way to bring totalitarian order/control the federation which the changelings want.

But actual Borg? Actual Borg passed down because of Picard? That was a crack theory that I thought we were all laughing about. For once I take no pleasure in having saw this coming a little bit. ESPECIALLY to be honest because there is no explanation just a “the changelings were working with the Borg all along” erm how? Why? What do they get out of it? How did they even find the Borg given that clearly…

This season has a huge problem with time and relative distance. I know space is vast and all but for them to be jetting around to all the various places those places must be within half a light year or less. I mean I looked this up when I was comparing hyperspace travel times for Stargate and warp 9 is like 2 light years a day.

Make it make sense.

So for Jack to get to the Borg in a shuttle which I am guessing was probably not warp 9? In a matter of a couple of hours it seemed, the Borg were basically hiding out for a decade in the heart of federation space? I know Jack said “transwarp portal?” but that sounded more like a question so I guess the Borg could have warped into that nebula. But I don’t know I thought they were supposed to require some proximity. I swear what was a thing re: transmitters on Voyager. I could be mistaken though I guess.

Also what the hell with the “Borg haven’t been seen in 10 years?” I guess the friend Jurati led Borg don’t count? I mean ok separate collective but it would have only been one extra sentence to explain that and then we wouldn’t be going “continuity? I don’t know you”.

At least I guess they explained how Jack could control the younger crew members due to the implanted Borg DNA. But that raises some major questions about the transporters. Pulaski was so right not to trust them because if they can materialise people with different DNA… I mean I know this wasn’t done with Federation approval but for that capacity to even exist within the technology… I watched SNW and that has Number One being arrested for being Illyrian (genetic modifications) and then the StarFleet transporters can alter genetic code. I mean ok yeah it’s a couple of hundred years later but I don’t know feels hinky. Wouldn’t people have got sick or died? I mean tampering with DNA seems super dangerous. I get that it’s all handwaved science because it’s science FICTION but it should still seem plausible.

I just don’t get it. It’s just so weird from start to finish. Like are all XB’s modded like Picard? Have none of them reproduced in the past 30 years? Why mod Picard like that anyway? The Borg don’t reproduce like that. I think I am trying to make sense of something that is just so strange.

Anyway I am momentarily amused that my pet theory that the Borg came from contamination from the killer robots in the season 1 finale, could have further weight as that’s when Picard’s brain exploded. Could it be contact through the open space portal to killer robots was trying to transmit/receive and basically getting an error message which fried his brain?

Aaaand back to episode 9. So Shaw’s probably not dead. I mean he might be but from some of the tweets I read I am doubtful. I would like him to be dead. “Redemption through death” is a time honoured trope. I don’t know if it was invented by Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi, or just popularised, but it is a big thing. Shaw was a bastard who I wanted to throw out an airlock. In his final moment finally giving Seven the respect she deserved after his petty bullying abuse of power. That’s Redemption though death.

I am concerned though that if they given Seven and Raffi anything to do in the finale, it might be dragging Shaw to SickBay to revive him. Cortical stimulation etc. forget the fact that the Galaxy is on fire. Shaw probably wouldn’t even be grateful and instead lecture Seven on priorities again. In that case he would be right as risking their lives to bring Shaw back would be insane given the state of things. Especially as I don’t think it’s guaranteed that people can be brought back. Not killing Shaw when there is only a handful of seconds to think, is very different from deliberate choice over and over when he’s technically already dead.

Speaking of that scene though I get they wanted to isolate the TNG crew so they could be heroes, but Raffi stunned the last attacker. They couldn’t wait 2 seconds for Raffi and Seven to join them in the escape shuttle? Instead they left them behind to be killed. I mean that is basically what happened.

Make it make sense.

I dislike that the ‘face’ of the Borg control on the Titan is an alien, and the most obviously an alien. It feels like they didn’t make it one of the LaForges because obviously they will get saved and it’s to keep the impression of victims rather than the enemy. Also let the enemy be alien rather than human as that’s very othering. Humans are good guys right? /sarcasm. I mean it is so rare to see a non-human (unless it’s a Vulcan but that is quite rare too) sit in the Captain’s chair so of course it happens when they are the bad guy.

Fireworks in space. How does that work? I mean there is no oxygen. Technically this means all the glorious explosions of ships probably shouldn’t happen either? Clearly I am willing to overlook it in some cases but those fireworks did look weird. Dodgy CGI or…?

I am sure I am forgetting lots of points.

I think I have said a few times that this season has had a pacing problem. Never more so has that been true than now. As a writer I can tell you that on the story beats list this would be the doorway of no return which separates Act 2 from Act 3. That means there should be 25% of the story left approximately. So paced properly this episode should have been number 7, and possibly given everything they crammed in 6+7 expanded. That’s probably why we got such a glossed over “the changelings have been working with the Borg this whole time” with no explanation or curiousity as to why or how. I really can’t see how they can wrap this up with any degree of satisfaction within one single episode.

You know at the end of this ramble I am still stuck on how the crack “Borg baby” theory turned out to be true. I mean that was like the most “yeeeah it’s not going to be that” level of stupid and then they actually went there. Crack theory = canon and I still can’t believe it. I mean to be fair Trek did have the lizard baby episode on Voyager, so there is precedence for insanity, but that was a single episode, easily ignored and forgotten - not built up to over a 10 episode season establishing lore that anything that comes after will have to live with.

Is that what they call irredeemably jumping the shark?

As for the Enterprise-D I am picturing Geordi as the dad tinkering in his garage repairing his classic car on weekends now. Mostly though I am stunned that they went to the trouble/expense of replicating the bridge set and it will be used for all of one episode.

Oh! Hahahaha. So that’s where the lighting budget went? Finally something that makes sense.

#star trek: picard #picard spoilers #sam rambles (a lot)

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phoslux · 2 years

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Spoilers for Xenoblade 1 and 2

With Xenoblade Chronicles 3 being out soon, I was trying to remember all the things regarding Klaus, the Conduit and how the worlds are connected, so I rewatched a lot of scenes. Thought I might as well share in case anyone else needs a refresher:

-In 20XX the Conduit, a mysterious thing that in theory allows interdimensional travel, is being found in Kenya, Africa.

You will say "wait, that's not from Xenoblade" and you are right. It's actually from Xenosaga, but I heard some booklet that came with one of the XB2 figures confirmed these events for XB too.

-The organization Aoidos is formed to research the Conduit.

-The unified world government builds three "bean stalks", space elevators that connect to an orbital ring around the planet. They are named Rhadamanthus, Aecus and Minōs. The Conduit was transfered to space bcs it was deemed too dangerous to stay on the planet.

-Aoidos create an AI, called The Trinity Processor. It's made up of three cores, named Ontos, Logos and Pneuma. These three parts have been raised in VR to obtain a personality which was necessary so they could properly maintain the Conduit. The Trinity Processor is located on Rhadamanthus where the Conduit is as well.

-In order to protect the Conduit and the orbital ring, the Trinity Processor uses energy from the Conduit to create Artifices, huge mechs.

-As the orbital ring is being attacked by rebels, a researcher named Klaus defects and locks himself in the control room for the Conduit, planning to activate it bcs he believes it will help humanity become Something More. Another researcher, Galea, tries to stop him but fails.

-The Conduit gets activated, portals appear all over the planet and most of humankind vanishes to who knows where. Most places on Earth also seem to disappear. Galea and Klaus' half body also disappear to another universe (half his body remains (no he's not dead)). There they take the forms of the gods Zanza (as the soul of the titan Bionis) and Meyneth (as the soul of the titan Mechonis) which leads to the whole story of the first game.

I won't talk about the cycle of life in XB1 as I think that won't be important (if any of this will be important at all lmao).

-The half of Klaus that remained becomes the Architect from the second game.

-He regrets what he did and wants to atone for his sins. So he wants to recreate life. First he creates a "special particulate substance with the ability to restore deterioated matter", called the Cloud Sea. It dissambles matter and rebuilds it in its original image. That is supposed to restore the world (buildings, etc) to their former state.

Then he creates miniature vessels containing memories of all the planet's former lifeforms, Core Crystals. He scatters them in the Cloud Sea.

The crystals bond with it and become the titans, who were originally not at all titans but tiny creatures. As they evolved they grew larger and lager and became like the huge titans seen in the game. However, the tiny creatures didn't JUST lead to the big titans, but actually to all living beings, including humans.

Worrying that one day someone might be as stupid as him and cause another apocalypse, he creates the Blades to take care of humans and prevent the worst. The first ones were Ontos, Logos and Pneuma. However, Ontos triggered a space-time distortion and disappeared to the world of XB1 (he's Alvis/the Monado). Logos (known as Malos) and Pneuma (Pyra and Mythra) were supposed to manage all other Blades. The Blades relay all kinds of information to those two, who then process this data and return it back to the Blades' Core Crystals, allowing them to come back in a more evolved state. As Blades "die" and go back to the state of a crystal and get awakened again and again (everytime this happens they lose their memories) they eventually become titans, which in return again create new life and also serve as the living space of other beings.

-Core Crystals were originally not meant to become Blades and titans. They were actually an invention by the last remaining humans, living in what is later called the ruins of Morytha. They were meant as replacement for human brain cells. People wanted to use them to become immortal. However, that failed and they mutated into monsters. Klaus then used their technology as the starting point for the creation of Blades and titans.

-Klaus senses that he will soon cease to exist. He knows Shulk and the others are about to defeat his other half, Zanza, in the world of XB1. As Shulk's words can be heard in XB2, Klaus grants the people of this new world a final gift: he orders all of the huge titans to move towards the world tree (which is the space elevator leading to Rhadamanthus), below the Cloud Sea, to form new landmasses above the ocean.

-He also knew the Conduit (which, yes, was still There) would soon disappear into another dimension. Ontos, Logos and Pneuma were all originally powered by it. As was the space station. Logos/Malos died. We don't really know what happened with Ontos/Alvis in XB1. Pneuma (Pyra/Mythra) sacrificed herself to blow up Rhadamanthus so it doesn't crash onto the Earth. She returns as two separate people in a post-credits scene.

My assumption here is that Pneuma and maybe ALL Blades lost their powers after the Conduit disappeared. This would mean there could be no more new titans, so turning the existing ones into landmasses might have been the only way to save everyone's future. This could also explain why there are no Blades in XB3 (not in the same sense as in XB2 at least. Some characters very much LOOK like Blades).

-With Zanza dead and Shulk as new god, at the end of XB1 Alvis asks him what he wants to do with the world, now that the Mechonis has been destroyed and the Bionis is collapsing as well. Shulk wishes for a new world without a need for gods.

It very much seems like the remains of the titans, including all living beings from XB1 have been brought to the Earth. In the DLC "Future Connected" you can see they now live on a flatter surface, close to the ocean.

#xenoblade #xenoblade chronicles #xenoblade chronicles 2 #xenoblade 2 #xenoblade 3

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potionofinstantdamage · 1 year

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listen i don't mind if its incomprehensible your lighthouse au has charmed and captivated me and I simply must know more please take this as an excuse to ramble indefinitely.

tbh most of the reason i didn't ramble in the last post is because 1. there genuinely is not that much of a plot and 2. i want to avoid spoilers in the off-chance that i ever actually post any of it, but i'm glad you're interested :^D!!

i will say the main, like, Plot Hook of the story is that XB is like... for lack of a better description, like. the ocean's antichrist. he's The Leviathan Reincncarnate. The Sleeper Under The Water. he also has been in human form all his life and is not, like... aware that he's not human, aside from having avoided the sea most of his life bc it gives him strange unstable longings that he doesn't know what to do with. by fate or happenstance he ends up in the domain of two warring forces born of blight upon the sea (the light-tower, the tar depths) who both want him for themselves as he is unknowingly very powerful.

#ask #stitchthesewords #lighthouse au

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biblioflyer · 1 year

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Jumbled thoughts about Picard s3e1

The short version without spoilers? I liked it. I'm not surprised I like it. That just means Picard is 3 for 3 in really solid first episodes. This is a show that's always been good at sprinting but can it finish the marathon without being winded and slightly confusing?

Spoiler free commentary:

They're getting the band back together!

Riker & Picard's dynamic is arguably more solid than it ever was in TNG. There's a genuine warmth and congeniality to it that rarely got explored in TNG.

Raffi's character growth from seasons 1 & 2 is preserved and expanded on. Narratively the character also seems to be playing a role that is a better fit for her personality and talents.

The mystery to unravel doesn't seem like its going to be as arcane and at risk of requiring a convoluted resolution.

Yay starship porn! But also....ehhhhhh starship porn. (I don't love one of the new designs for extremely arbitrary and very nerdy reasons. Your mileage is free to vary without my judgment and I'm hoping I'll warm up to it.)

Spoilers after the jump.

This is where the spoilers start.

Bev kicks ass?

I find it to be a rather interesting choice to make one of the main characters to be a key element in the central mystery. Making it Beverly of all people just adds another interesting twist. At first I was put off by her lethal efficiency in dealing with the boarders but I really appreciated how Riker pointed out how out of character this was for her when he was examining the aftermath.

Casual XB-ism

I'm uncomfortable with Captain Shaw's casual prejudice towards Seven of Nine. A certain amount of anti-Borg sentiment would be understandable in a less utopian setting and while its not entirely out of character for people in the Federation to hold prejudices, those prejudices are generally the direct result of some sort of trauma. Which is not great, but its not entirely realistic to expect people to be entirely free of bitterness over horrible experiences and it is better, relatively speaking, than simply being prejudiced because of a bunch of ancient conspiracy theories and undeserved smugness over one's culture or genetic lineage. Although it is still not objectively good, just better than more irrational forms of prejudice.

To throw out a few examples of what I'm talking about, Kirk hated Klingons because on multiple times he was a firsthand witness to Klingon atrocities and a Klingon murdered his son because he was Kirk's son - pointedly though, he was able to realize by the end of the Khitomer affair that his prejudice may be something he may never get over but it was also something that could get a lot of people killed if people like him were the only ones directing Federation policy. O'Brien hated Cardassians because of his traumatic experiences during the Cardassian war. Sisko was hostile to Picard at first because his wife died at Wolf 359. Notably he also was able to recognize that he was being unfair in blaming Picard for the crimes of Locutus.

By contrast, Admiral Satie hated Romulans in a more general sense and was willing to ruin people's lives trying to root out spies.

All of those Admirals who are hidebound obstacles for the crew to rebel against, and sometimes are villains outright, must come from somewhere. So it does seem like somehow Captain Shaws slip through the cracks, in spite of Starfleet's best intentions, and wind up becoming symbols of authority that is too remote and out of touch to be of use.

That having been said, there is an opportunity here that I hope will be seized to give Shaw a legitimate reason to be standoffish with Picard and to dislike former Borg. Maybe he was part of the flotilla that fought the Borg in First Contact. Heck, maybe he was a fresh Ensign that Picard forgot who was on the Enterprise during the events of First Contact and witnessed Picard's spiral into Captain Ahab territory. Maybe he lost a parent at Wolf 359.

I just hope that he's not prejudicial because of generalized dislike of the Borg, because that's one of my arbitrary lines where I think it is possible that humanity could reform itself: to let go of arbitrary, generalized prejudice and collective punishment of liberated individuals for the crimes of a hegemonic collective.

Shaw didn't do everything wrong.

Okay I have to admit it was hilarious and just plain good world building for someone to behave like they're part of a command structure with defined responsibilities and reporting structures, and not running off to showboat based on the whims of two people who absolutely no authority or standing, besides their status as heroes.

Raffi is where she should be.

One of the issues I plan to address with a rewatch is the generalized sense among many fans that Raffi should not have been cleared for duty after Season One based on how she behaved in Season Two. That may or may not be unfair, depending on just how effectively you think you can stress test someone who already knows most of Starfleet's tricks for psychologically screening people for their mental fitness to serve.

Season three addresses this by having Raffi serve in Starfleet Intelligence as a field operative with what seems to be a wide reservation to work inside of it. This seems to be a much more appropriate place for her based on her personality and skills. Also I am entertaining the possibility that her handler is not who we all probably think it is and that the comment about Raffi being a warrior is a Red Herring. It would be interesting to see it wind up being Moriarty of all beings, newly emancipated after the lifting of the Synth ban and free to roam wherever the processing power exists to support him, and unable to resist a good mystery.

Arbitrary gripes

The mystery son trope. Don't get me wrong, I'm curious about his parentage and conception. I'm sure we're meant to assume he's Picard's (somehow) but I think it would be neat if he were actually Jack Crusher's son and Bev just decided to have another child with her late husband using preserved DNA and somehow managed to keep it secret from the rest of the crew. Maybe his growth was artificially accelerated?

Machine gun phasers. Why? No, its rhetorical. I know why, not having a suppressive fire option for energy weapons means that everyone and their uncle would be using bullets instead like it was The Expanse, but a part of me loves the moderately kinder, somewhat gentler Old West style exchange of fire one shot at a time.

#star trek #star trek picard #picard season 3 #picard spoilers

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cristobalrios · 2 years

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Picard Season 2 Spoilers:

Still mourning the loss of so many wonderful Star Trek: Picard characters and so many characters I was looking forward to seeing developed more as the show went on.

First losses: Zhaban, I really wanted to see more of you. I know the actor wasn't available, but it's still devastating that they killed him off, and didn't just write him as being away for the one episode they spent where we would see him. I was sad that Laris and Zhaban didn't get much in s1, hoped that they would show them back at Chateau Picard for everyone to meet them properly, and we didn't even get that in s2. It's disappointing.

The Holos: You have no idea how mad I am that they just... had Seven combine the holos into Emmet. After everything with Doc, after they fought for the synths, after everything the xBs go through, just throwing four holograms away and violating the fifth like that... With how close Seven was to Doc? With how much she has defended him? How he'd helped her reconnect with her individuality as he was exploring his own development into sentience? Did they really just... Curb the sentience of holograms that much? It would be plausible if they did that because of the synth ban, but there has never been any mention of this at all, plus the synth ban was lifted (in a very hand-wavy way) at the end of s1. I am still grateful for the small time with Emmet that we did get, though. I was worried we wouldn't get the holos at all in s2, so at least we got some Emmet. I miss Ian (who only got one episode, where each of the others got at least a scene in two episodes), Emil, Enoch and Steward (aka Mr. Hospitality to those who don't know that little bit of fanon lore). And Emmet, since he's probably not going to be in s3. Although unlike most of the rest of the cast, Santi has *not* specifically stated that he's not going to be in s3. Rios was written out, all the other holos were written out, but Prime!Sirena is still there and therefore so is Emmet, it's possible that Emmet might have a scene in s3? If we still get any of La Sirena? (Not getting my hopes up for that).

Soji: Soji had quite a journey in s1, and I was looking forward to seeing how that goes moving forward for s2, but unfortunately, she got a single scene in the first episode, and... Nothing else. Not even a mention in the finale. And she's not going to be in s3. It's just... Strange, because Brent Spiner will be in s3, and who is he going to play? It would have been interesting to see her with him, possibly more Altan? Not sure why, especially if we're not dealing with the synths? Or if we are, we're just not dealing with Soji? And Soji has lost Agnes now. They'll have to explain that one to her. That will be fun. Maybe Borgnes will pay her a visit. Soji deserves to know what happened to Agnes. I really thought she'd be in s3. I'd love to see the TNG crew meet her, as Data's daughter.

Elnor: I hate that you were fridged for Raffi's angst. I hate that we had two and slightly more episodes with you, and small glimpses of you as a hallucination, in a flashback, and as a hologram (although Holo!Elnor - Holonor? - did give us mobile emitter confirmation for at least the Confederation timeline), and I hate that although they brought you back, you're still not going to be in s3. I was fascinated at where they put you, did not see Elnor joining Starfleet Academy coming, but it's adorable and I would have really liked to see more of his journey with it and I am so sad we won't be getting that, at least not in PIC s3. Maybe, maaaybe, sometime later?

Agnes: Honestly, this New Borg intrigues me, especially because it doesn't at all erase the Old Borg. They still existed. Nothing about them has changed. There's just this other, different Borg Collective, morally gray and I have Thoughts about if Agnes's "Benevolent Borg's Consensual Collective" is actually benevolent or consensual, given that the premise is they go to the desperate and the dying and give them a last-second deus-ex-machina out in joining their collective (with the alternative being... death, not caused by them, but still). It's... All pretty uncomfortable still, but fascinating, and I would be interested in seeing how this Borg, who are apparently joining the Federation? will be seen by the growing xB community in and near Federation space. Unfortunately, although we were dealing with the Borg in s2, not much with the xBs, although this is another concept I am Very interested in. I am just thinking of Borgnes going to Coppelius, with the synths and the xBs who remained there from the crashed Artifact. I want Coppelius to become the AI and Cyborg Ardani. I don't like how they made Cris and Agnes's relationship end, wish they gave them more time together. I don't care if they date or not, but I love how much he cares about her either way, and how gentle he is with her, and I wish they gave us more of that. I actually did like the exes dynamic, actually. Agnes wasn't alone. She had Cris, and she had the rest of her crew. They were there for her and could be again, although they all kind of separated for a bit between seasons. I really wish she would be back. I am also interested in what they did with her (although they could have done better on that design, it looked terrible when they revealed her face).

Laris: What even was the point in the barely-there romance plot with Picard if she isn't even going to be in s3? I really thought they would keep her around. Especially after the ending, so it's terrible that she's not going to be in s3. At least she's still alive, and not drastically changed. Also, it would have been nice to connect her to Tallinn a little more than "oh you must be her ancestor" I really thought she was going to be a Watcher too, maybe even the same Watcher, maybe a descendant, and that she just completely ignored the "Don't Get Involved" rule, and that she was assigned to Picard. Maybe even she and Zhaban were both Watchers assigned to Picard. That would have been cool. It's kind of my headcanon now. I really wanted at the end of s1 to see more of Laris and Zhaban and to see them with the crew, I wanted them to be officially part of our motley crew. I wanted to see them with Elnor. I wanted to see them with Soji. I wanted more. I will miss them terribly.

Rios: I am... Devastated, obviously, but it's hurting slightly less. I have been ranting for the past week about it, but it's dying down. I have posted several things already with alternate ideas and fix-its, but I am also starting to think about and wonder about possibly canon-compliant stuff. I do not want any canon-compliant, but I won't reject it completely. I just want more Rios. I would not at all have minded Teresa and Ricardo coming to the future with Rios. They should have done that. Seven on the Stargazer where Rios should be still hurts. It all still hurts. I am devastated and I miss him so much. S1 is my happy place. The first episode of S2 is my happy place. The space between the first two seasons is my happy place.

S2 Exclusive characters: Tallinn's death was tragic but heroic. I can't complain that much. Most of these characters I was not expecting to see past s2, so it doesn't hurt as much. It would be nice to see Teresa, Ricardo, Rios, Renee and Young Guinan doing fun Traveler stuff with Wesley and Kore. It was a fun ending for Kore, I'm happy for her and I loved the Wesley cameo, definitely a highlight even if it was out of nowhere. I don't mind because that's kind of the nature of the Travelers, like with Q. They are Deus Ex Machinas and I don't mind that. Could be a Gary Seven spinoff like they wanted. Probably not. But you never know. We finally got SNW after all this time. Adam Soong's ending was not surprising. - I really wanted to get to know Stargazer's crew. I wanted a Rios on the Stargazer spinoff. I really wanted that and I have adopted Moshe, Kemi, Urtern and Sing as my own. This crew is mine now. They had so little screen time but I love them, and they are Rios's crew, thank you and goodbye. I don't think s3 will take place on the Stargazer, which I am relieved by, because that's Cris's ship and it would hurt too much, but in the one episode we had her I grew attached so I will miss her. She is also mine now. Rios, Stargazer and her crew will live in my head rent free from now on. La Sirena is in her shuttlebay, the holos are all there and they are a part of the Stargazer's crew and it's just an eccentricity of the captain the Stargazer's crew has to get used to.

I think we will see more of Q in s3, because it would be strange not to tell us more about how Q is dying when Qs aren't supposed to be able to do that, and I thought John DeLancie said he'd be in both seasons, but that could have been a red herring. I'm not sure. We'll see.

I am glad that Raffi and Seven survived the loss of so many characters this season, and will go on to s3. I am happy for them. And I am looking forward to catching up with old friends. I just wish it did not take away the last season with my new friends. I really hoped we'd see both of these crews together. What a wonderful crossover that could have been. Too many characters, but it would be fun.

Shout out to the characters absolutely didn't die in Picard S1: Hugh and Icheb, still out there in the way that the majority of the cast of Picard are still out there in my heart. Shout out to the characters who did die that I'll still have fun thinking about anyway: Dahj (that was quite a bait and switch!) and her boyfriend Caler, Bruce Maddox, Vandermeer, Jana, Beautiful Flower. Shout out to the villains we won't be seeing again (probably) but were fun anyway: Narissa, Commodore Oh, Sutra (although it would be interesting if they brought her in for s3....), Bjayzl. Shout out to the characters they didn't explore beyond s1: Gabe/Pel & Baby, Narek.

Sad that Picard only got (1) 2 seasons (one and a half?). Looking forward to The Next Generation season 8, with some crossover characters, and that's just how I have to think of it. And take the good parts of S2, and S1, ignore what hurts too much, let my imagination run wild with all the fun ideas seasons 1 and 2 brought up but never followed through on. I will still be watching. But I am separating all of this in my mind, disconnecting them from each other. Rios was the character I attached to on this show, Elnor the second, they fridged Elnor in s2 but left things open for him in the end, and wrote Rios out in a rushed and forced romance I wasn't super into, but I have nothing against Teresa and Ricardo. Cris has a son now. That's... Kind of cute to think about?

The Confederation Timeline is also something that I enjoy speculating about, and I know they crammed a lot more about that universe in those two (primarily one) episodes than I have explored, and the rest can be our imaginations, much like the Mirror Universe. Might even give me some ideas for my Mirror Universe Rios I've been working on. Mirror!Cris still gets an eyepatch in my mind though. He can have the sexy black, the (partially) fingerless leather gloves and the thigh holster Colonel Rios got, though. I will enjoy thinking about the crew Colonel Rios is commanding, and in my head, the Prime Timeline version of Zilah, who was the woman Prime Rios talked to pretending to be Colonel Rios, is one of Cris's crew on the Stargazer.

#star trek spoilers #star trek: picard #spoilers #cristobal rios

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cyclaes · 2 years

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random xenoblade chronicles 3 thoughts

scribbled down here so I don’t forget them. I am about 70 hours into the game. Very mild spoilers under the cut but I tried to keep it vague.

Really liking the sweeping vistas and the fact that unlike XB 1 and XB 2 we do not KNOW what the hell is going on with this alien landscape (yet) so it really does feel like exploring and I freak out when I see a giant hand looming in the distance

My enjoyment has been immensely jacked up by recent Big Story Event. I will not go into detail about that yet though.

This game is still animu as all hell but less cringe than XB 2, aka Waifublade Wars.

Kinda tired of the ‘win the boss battle in gameplay, get told you’re losing in cutscenes’ schtick. It’s very hard to get a good feeling for how strong my party should be considered story-wise as gameplay and cutscenes are at huge odds. I’d prefer a ‘you cannot win’ boss battle to the other type.

Loving the callbacks to XB1 and XB2, since I played and loved the other 2 games (and Xenogears too - never did play Xenosaga) but I’m sure I’m missing a bunch. I look forward to finishing the game and watching better players than me explain all the links in a YouTube video

I also am loving how you do not need to have played any previous Xeno games to get this

The fetch quest mechanic in this was good anyway but they incorporated it into the actual story and I am loving it

Ghondor and Isurd are my faves. I love all the heroes though.

Side-quests are interesting storywise in this game. I have done too many and leveled up too much for the story quests though.

I honestly didn’t think I would but I love all the characters. I thought Noah would be the most boring and was explaining to my bored siblings why he was inferior to Rex and Shulk. I was wrong. I take it back. He is superior to Rex, at least. (I love Rex)

Eunie is the best. Taion is also the best. Lanz and Sena are adorable.

The major thing is I was expecting and experiencing a lot of rage about certain characters and the game took that rage and let me choke on it and then turned around and gave me story that made me forgive it entirely.

#very mild spoilers only #xenoblade 3

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sonocomics · 8 months

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Building the community took hard work

But only seconds to tear down

Click HERE to view the first masterpost of my Xenoblade 2 comics!

Commissions Info | ko-fi | Patreon | Can you spot my patrons?

#xenoblade 2 #xenoblade 2 spoilers #xb2 #xb2 spoilers #xb 2 #xb 2 spoilers #torna #torna spoilers #torna the golden country spoilers #ttgc #ttgc spoilers #comic #mythra #malos #patron npcs

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mosscloakenthusiast · 1 year

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I posted 1,342 times in 2022

That's 1,342 more posts than 2021!

29 posts created (2%)

1,313 posts reblogged (98%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@yellowsomethings

@theminecraftbee

@astronomical-bagel

@teamranchers

@its-shells

I tagged 129 of my posts in 2022

#empires smp - 6 posts

#empires x hermitcraft - 6 posts

#grian - 5 posts

#tma spoilers - 5 posts

#mythicalsausage - 5 posts

#oli orionsound - 4 posts

#rendog - 4 posts

#third life series - 4 posts

#bdubs - 4 posts

#bdoubleo100 - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 119 characters

#listen i need xb ‘constantly trying not to swear’ crafted to interact with mythical ‘always making an innuendo’ sausage

My Top Posts in 2022:

THATS MY GUY THAT’S MY DUDE HE WON MCC LOOK AT HIM GO

See the full post

125 notes - Posted November 12, 2022

[in reference to the what is empires hermitcraft recap video] “-think of it as an empires breakdown, which is coincidentally what i’n having right now”. -- pix pixlriffs

132 notes - Posted November 6, 2022

okay okay wait okay im trying to make this make sense

- im running with my Personal Theory that only winners remember the life series, and those who don’t win remember in flashes kinda??? with exceptions for Really Strong Emotional Connections (ethubs, scarian, ranchers) - and scott is just playing dumb because he’s like that. he’s coy . - so that’s why like impulse recognises some people but not others?? maybe?? look im trying

- hermitcraft has modern technology (twitter, youtube, grumbot), empires does NOT

- following ren’s universe theory: this is the empires universe, other worlds include afterlife, empires s1, and possibly like fwhip’s hardcore world - hermitcraft universe includes all the prev. hermitcraft worlds (hence scar being all like “is this a past hermitcraft world”) and possibly some people’s hardcore worlds

- something somehting parallel universes parallel people means that the two falses cannot coexist, presumably neither can the gems, and pearl got a god fit - following whatver oli orionsound has going on, everyone has like one Soul/center point that their characters deviate from? e1!sausage, al!sausage and e2!sausage clearly are linked, similar building styles; e2!joel has some preliminary knowledge about e1!joel; and clearly hc!pearl is linked to e!pearl (santa pearla)

- some worlds (such as like jimmy’s challenge videos, the life series TO AN EXTENT) dont create a new deviation on the soul, they just teleport a previously existing one from somewhere - clearly e2!jimmy and hc!tango were pulled into double life for example

look im trying so hard to make this make sense Help Me make this make sense feed me your hyperfixation rambles please lets talk about the lore of these wet cats

135 notes - Posted October 27, 2022

jack manifold perfectly uses the multi-pov format of the dream smp to create a villain who’s motives are clear and who you can genuinely root for while understanding what he’s doing is Bad in this essay i will-

137 notes - Posted November 13, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

1,355 notes - Posted October 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #ignore this just wanted to save it so i can compare next year #and bc i'm a fiend for recaps #most used tags says a lot about my taste in streamers though lmaoo

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baekhvuns · 2 years

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okay so i'm here again, surprizingly alive lmfao school is killing me :D

but omg the new vm feature on universe is feeding my delulu ass right now, 2ho saying i love you dAMN,, i love u too😔💔

ALSO I SAW THE SPOILER hwa definitely does NOT wear the pants in this relationship. lmFAOOOO AND IM HERE FOR IT. i seriously love tropes where one is all bad and rawr grr growl but when it comes to their s/o they go soft marshmallows uwu AND CANT EVER SAY NO TO THEM AAAAA

also tmi😭 its like about to be 2am here, i stood up from sittinf down for like 2 hrs and then i felt like i peed my shorts, turns out my period decided to give me a visit😁 AND NOW I FEEL GROSS AND STICKY even though i literally just took a bath right after that happened

anyways

how've u been! i hope life hasnt been hard on you <33 i was rereading part 2 of duke hwa like my life depended on it lmfao i think i need to go see a doctor

also mingis hair!! i thought the pics he uploaded with that hair a few days ago was taken a long time ago😭 turns out it really is his current hair <33 he looks so good with it, we now have a oreo line!!

also lmfao ateez and kq keep on edging us JUST DROP THE DAMN CB ANNOUNCEMENT WILL YOU😭😭 im tired of wearing the clownsuit every 12am kst like, they dropped the fever diary one earlier, I THIYGHT IT WAS THE XB ANNOUNEMENT💔

also why does sannie keep on doing the eating poosie pose HQJZHAHHAHAHAH

okay neways JWIZJAZJAB please take care of yourself ms baekhvussy owner<33 stay safe and healthy!! hope your days will be full of fun and joy always, mwamwa

-🍤

hi bestie!!

okay so i'm here again, surprizingly alive lmfao school is killing me :D

hello !!!! BDMADJ YOU GOT THIS BESTIE YOU GOT IT 😭😭

but omg the new vm feature on universe is feeding my delulu ass right now, 2ho saying i love you dAMN,, i love u too😔💔

LMFAOOOO pls the way my friend messaged me ant this new update and the delulu level is on a mAXX

LMFAOOOO HE DOES NOT 😭😭😭 WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE YN,,, u know how side characters have more personality than the main character,,, this yn is exactly that 😭😭 YEAH RAW GRRR BODYGUARD WALKING BEHIND HER LIKE A DOG NGBWM 😭😭😭

NAURRRRRRRRR I FELT THAT PHYSICALLY hope no bad cramps for u ✨✨🤚🏼 no cramps at all ✨✨✨🤌🏼

how've u been! i hope life hasnt been hard on you <33 i was rereading part 2 of duke hwa like my life depended on it lmfao i think i need to go see a doctor

ive been well!!! it has not bc i sleep half my day <3 ☺️☺️ NOT PART 2 GET OUT THATS FULL OF SMUT GHWKFH TAKE ME WITH U ASWELL now imagine how much smut would be in the next series i DONT EVEN WANNA THINK ABT IT FBFB

HES SO MF CUTE I CANNOT THIS MAN IS VILE HES SOMETHING ELSE ON STAGE AND THEN HE POSTS THEM CUTEASS PHOTOS 🔫 MEN 🔫

i think they just forgot they have a cb 😭😭 july 29th should be the date so we should see announcements end of june BUT EVERYTIME THEY TWEET I RUN LMFAOO ME TOO PLS I WAS CLOSE TO LOOSING MY SHIT OVER 1. IT WAS ONLY ONE VERSION 2. THICKASS BOOK 😭😭😭

also why does sannie keep on doing the eating poosie pose HQJZHAHHAHAHAH

GET THE FUCK OUT THAT SOMG JUST PLAYED IN MY MIND GET OUT 😭😭😭

okay neways JWIZJAZJAB please take care of yourself ms baekhvussy owner<33 stay safe and healthy!! hope your days will be full of fun and joy always, mwamwa

yes miss shrimp(ussy) !!!! pls take care of yourself tooo!!! take breaks from uni too ayo 😭😭🤚🏼

#✉️ : ask #🍤 anon

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