#(shortly after he retired his golf)

[leclercskiesahead]

Maybe pobrecito really started when Carlos was asked on BTG who is his fastest teammate and he said everyone is fast and went on to list every one of his teammates ever EXCEPT Pierre

[gabessquishytum]

Not especially horny, but I had the thought of retired Dream having to learn corporeality again (like everyone, lol).

I specifically pictured him... being bad at Video games. He'd love them, they've got such beautiful stories, and it's so like a dream, the setting is something given and the player decides what they'll do.

But he's not that good, because he hasn't got the hand-eye coordination, and the buttons are just so fiddly, and so it becomes a regular occurrence for Hob to see Dream coming to him with pleading eyes, extending the controller his way.

And for every ledge he hops for Dream, for every monster he kills, he gets a kiss on the cheek. Hob loves it. He also loves watching Dream play, because even if it takes him a moment, he's so immersed, so excited about it.

After a few months Dream has gotten better at being human, but not at video games. It takes for Hob to come home early and finding Dream expertly smashing around a Zelda boss to find out that Dream has been... lying, a bit. He's very sorry about it, really, but he just likes when they do this together, and if Hob could forgive him?

But Hob just smiles and tells him about multiplayer games.

Dream is not, actually, good at those, because shortly after starting their first game together, because it turns out that kisses on the cheek for killed monsters are more difficult when you're both trying to look at the screen.

And it's even more difficult to kill said monsters when you've just discovered that apparently, your best friend/housemate is not at all against being kissed on the mouth.

This is the cutest thing I've ever read I'm literally dying!!! Also!!! I feel like we don't talk about Hob and video games enough and I think he would absolutely love them. He would spend hours staying up until 2am with his eyes aching from staring at the screen because he's so engrossed. And Minecraft!!! He would love Minecraft so much!!!!!!! So would Dream!!!!!!!! Imagine retired Dream making a whole little world in Minecraft and its like he can rediscover a spark of creativity he thought was utterly lost to him!!! Anyway.

So Dream starts out playing Kirby or something with pretty cute graphics and stories but. He does struggle with the jumping and the switching skills and so Hob is like ok. Let's try a different story kind of game. And then they try Zelda which Dream really loves but again. He's a little bad at it. Hob gets to be the hero, beats up the bosses, and Dream gets to run around doing silly little quests. Hob gets many kisses. All is right with the world.

He was a bit suspicious that Dream seems to be spending so much time on his games without his skills improving, but he doesn't exactly mind. The worse Dream is at killing monsters, the more kisses Hob gets. Except the truth is, Dream is now definitely better at the game than Hob...

And when Hob catches him beating a boss for the first time, of course he has to give Dream a kiss in return. A slow, soft kiss on the lips that makes Dream drop his controller and melt into Hob’s arms. Hopefully he saved his progress, because suddenly he's being carried off in the direction of Hob’s bedroom like Peach being carried off by Bowzer (only with a lot less protesting, and no pesky plumber coming to rescue him).

(I need you all to know that I really really really like golf games like Golf with Your Friends and Golf It so I have vivid scenarios in my brain about Dream and Hob playing together. The glitching golf balls. The bizarre courses. The rage. Hob making terrible puns about holes. Whoever wins on each hole gets a kiss. Hob absolutely loses on purpose so he can kiss his beloved <3)

[safereturndoubtful]

A Space Odyssey

Thursday 20th July

The RAF have had a military presence at Saxa Vord, on the opposite side of the inlet or voe, to Hermaness, since the Second World War, with a Radar Station on the hill, symbolised by its radar tracking huge golf ball, similar to Great Dunn Fell. It closed in 2006 as it was becoming too expensive to maintain, but reopened in 2019 due to increased Russian military activity. About two kilometres across the hill, on the Skaw headland is the new Saxa Vord Spaceport, formerly the Shetland Space Centre, on the Lamba Ness peninsula. Tests for the first UK vertical rocket launch have already taken place, and the launch itself is scheduled for later this year. Three launch pads will enable 30 launches per year, for orbital rockets for satellites.

Surprisingly, the only objections came from Historical Scotland who withdrew them in 2022, stating that they recognised the benefits that this would bring to the area, in terms of employment, and the visitor’s centre as a tourist attraction.

Tours are taking place at the moment, but more controversial, is for how long the land I have wandering around over for the last couple of days, and up at Skaw Beach, will be accessible to the public. The large grey house, and the white cottage on the beach here at Norwick, are set for compulsory purchase, and no longer occupied. The former was a retirement property that a local farmer had worked on for several years, and the latter a holiday rental. Both on the photo below.

At the moment security is minimal, just an old guy in a portacabin bored out of his mind. The ‘warning’ sign seems in jest rather than with any seriousness to it. No doubt things will change quickly.

I met four older women sat having lunch on the beach at Skaw. They came from the Mainland island and told me they take their holidays annually here on Unst. They pondered what it might be like to watch a launch from a position sat on Skaw beach. It certainly would be a pity if there was no access to this far northeasterly part of Unst. It seems this little corner of wild UK will be a lot less wild in a few months.

I put a hike together that started on the old road between Norwick and Skaw. It is closed and has fallen into disrepair..

Then past the space port, and the old man in his portacabin, who Roja surprised so much that he hastily put away his magazine. The road runs out at Skaw, where there claims to be the most northerly house in Britain, and the terminus of the Northern Cycle Route.

Beyond are Vendra Stacks and a small wild island called the Holm of Skaw. There were a couple of showers during the three hours or so that we were out, but the strong northwesterly kept them short, and the temperature at about 10C.

Back at Norwick beach dog walkers came and went, some stopped to chat, and ask the Test match score. I’ve watched only bits of this series, listened to a lot more of it on the radio, but some of the places I have watched it in have been quite distractingly spectacular.

Unst Fest doesn’t name a venue for its outdoor events until shortly before, due to weather conditions. This afternoon at 4 pm there was a kids disco, for the 6 to 12 age group, and it was on Norwick beach, about 50 metres from where I had the Ashes on. It didn’t disturb me at all, fifty or more kids painting each other, dancing, and playing various other games in the sand and the sea. Most of them were completely soaked after the hour was up. With the temperature at 10 degrees, one can only admire their toughness. I didn’t see anyone complain, and it rained hard at one time, with the sand blowing around.

[z34l0t]

Closing Argument

This post contains spoilers for Breaking Bad Season 6.

Those Better Call Saul writers are some cold-hearted bastards.

Just a few episodes after a central character was given a Christ-like ending (poor Nacho — betrayed by Gus before sacrificing himself to save his family), the writers of Better Call Saul succeeded in humanizing Howard Hamlin and made him a sympathetic character, only to immediately have him meet an ignominious end.

Redemption arcs never bode well for characters in Vince Gilligan's universe. I'm reminded of Grant Morrison's JLA: Earth Two graphic novel, which proposed the existence of a universe where "evil" always prevails. The arc of the Gilliganverse likewise bends towards corruption: Characters readily fall into drug dealing, theft, infidelity, fraud, and murder. They redeem themselves only to die shortly thereafter.

That tanned, well-dressed, golf-playing Howard Hamlin ended up being Saul Goodman's nemesis (instead of one of the show's many murderous thugs) is a cynical commentary from the show's creators; it also serves to differentiate this show from other lawyer-centric ones. On a different series, in a different era of television (before Tony Soprano paved the way for small screen antiheroes), Hamlin may well have been a title character. His name seems to be a deliberate nod to L.A. Law star Harry Hamlin, just as his blonde hair and expensive suits draw easy comparisons to the slick corporate lawyer played by Corbin Bernsen on the same show. But in the Gilliganverse, with its affable drug dealers and honorable cartel enforcers, Hamlin's glowing appearance and manicured charm made him suspect. When the title character drives around in a Suzuki Esteem with mismatched doors, anyone who owns a Jag is a clear choice for an antagonist.

Hamlin's redemption arc began back in Season 4, when the writers chipped away at his perfect image to reveal a much more damaged, vulnerable character. At the same time, dishonest but relatable Jimmy McGill was slowly taking the form of the amoral, self-serving Saul Goodman we originally met in Breaking Bad. The series is post-modern in this way — actors play characters who themselves assume different roles. Michael Mando's Nacho is an embedded spy/saboteur who had to be all things to all people in public, even as he was privately held hostage. Giancarlo Esposito plays a cartel boss who hides in plain sight behind the non-threatening image of a fast food restaurateur. Bob Odenkirk flexes his significant sketch comedy chops to play Jimmy's various personas: A retirement home BINGO announcer; a helpful phone salesman; and, in one of the few instances of broad comedy presented in season 6, he even pretended to be Howard. The show's directors have a habit of showing us these characters as they're reflected/refracted in various surfaces, allowing the audience to see their duplicitous and fractured selves.

Howard, it turns out, had also been putting on a facade. His marriage was falling apart, and we witnessed how his attempts at magnanimity and reconciliation were icily rebuffed by his wife, who could barely hide her contempt for him as he struggled to maintain his sunny exterior. Though we witnessed his actual execution an episode later, this terse scene was more heartbreaking.

The divide between heroes and villains is a matter of perspective: By allowing the audience to experience Howard's, the writers automatically make black hats of Jimmy and Kim  - and thus their plans to disrupt his life seem needlessly cruel and vindictive. In his final scene, Howard was allowed to give his side of the rivalry. For actor Patrick Fabian, it was a dramatic monologue; for the attorney that Fabian portrayed over the course of 6 seasons, it was a closing argument. 

Howard made irrefutable points: The resentment towards him was petty, and Kim and Jimmy were both deeply ungrateful for the opportunities Howard provided them. The two decided to exact revenge on Howard for his wealth and good looks, being an exacting boss, and following the wishes of Jimmy's own brother. And in having Howard berate Jimmy and Kim, the writers were also obliquely addressing the audience who reveled in his downfall.

If you've seen enough horror movies, you probably sensed that the empty space in the top left corner of the screen during Howard's diatribe portended danger; when Lalo (presumed dead) enters the scene, it's with all the menace of a Hammer Horror vampire, candles flickering to announce his arrival as his shadow slowly occupies that dead space. That the other characters stammer ineffectually while he calmly screws the silencer on his pistol is darkly comic; Howard, having completed his redemption arc, was given one last kick by the writers as he stated the obvious ("I think I'm in the middle of something") while cravenly trying to exit the situation. The scene's similarity to a classic Simpsons scene is probably unintentional, but that doesn't make it less comedic. Or Howard's death any less undignified.

Pour one out for poor Howard. Hopefully he's in a better place —like a series on the USA Network where rich, good looking people don't exist solely to be laid low by pranksters and television writers.

[burkymakar]

Can you please post screenshots from the new Athletic post from Peter 👉👈🥺🥺

i got you!!! i'm just gonna post the text and the pictures!

About half an hour after an intense playoff practice ended, Jared Bednar wandered back to the concrete circle surrounding the boards at Family Sports Ice Arena, where he greeted a smiling, blonde-haired 22-year-old. The 49-year-old Avalanche coach and his visitor shared a connection, both having played for the same junior hockey team as teenagers: the Humboldt Broncos in Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

Graysen Cameron, the guest at the Avalanche’s practice Tuesday, was a winger for the Broncos in 2018 when a semi-trailer hit the team bus, killing 16 people, including 10 of his teammates. Cameron suffered a broken back as well as a concussion and an eye injury. At the time, doctors thought he wouldn’t be able to play hockey again, and a photo from the hospital went viral of him and two teammates grasping hands.

“Bonding and healing,” read the caption, written by the father of Derek Patter, one of the other injured players.

“Just to see the strength of the people of that community and the families that were affected has been amazing,” said Bednar, who played for Humboldt from 1989 to 1991, on the three-year anniversary of the crash. “A bunch of amazing people there.”

In the aftermath of the crash, Cameron met Marty Richardson, the president and CEO of Dawg Nation, a Denver-based nonprofit dedicated to helping hockey players and their families in times of crisis, and the former Broncos player came to two of the organization’s events in Colorado. This week’s visit was less organized, as a cross-country road trip brought Cameron to town. He and his girlfriend, Madi Lynch, had been visiting his brother in South Carolina and were driving back to Alberta. He reached out to Richardson last week to see if he could stay with him while passing through Denver.

He’s gotten much more than a spare bed.

“I wasn’t going to just have him hang out here,” Richardson said. “I said ‘let’s make this a really neat trip.’”

Richardson took Cameron and Lynch to Game 1 against Vegas on Sunday, and they sat in a box with Avalanche great Milan Hejduk, an honorary board member for Dawg Nation. At one point, a few people slipped out of the box and returned with a jersey of Cameron’s favorite Avalanche player: 22-year-old defenseman Cale Makar, who Cameron watched play junior hockey while they grew up in Alberta.

Then, on Monday, Richardson texted Bednar to ask about attending the Avalanche’s skate Tuesday. The coach responded that practice would be closed to the public — but not to them.

So the three came to Family Sports Ice Arena just ahead of the 11 a.m. skate and, shortly after their arrival, met broadcaster Peter McNab, who played 14 years in the NHL and, like Hejduk, is a Dawg Nation honorary board member. They then picked out second-row seats and watched the Avalanche get to work.

“It’s a really cool experience, and I’m very grateful to watch these guys perform at their best and get ready for a big game tomorrow,” Cameron said as the players skated.

He of course enjoyed watching Makar, and he appreciated seeing Nathan MacKinnon’s speed up close. When practice started winding down, McNab walked back toward him and they talked about how fast the game looks at ice level.

As players started leaving the ice, Bednar put Richardson in touch with security, who led them down to the area next to the rink. That’s where Bednar came and met them.

“I really didn’t know what was going to happen,” Richardson said. “It was way better than (expected).”

Bednar, who is from near Humboldt and helped create the Humboldt Broncos Memorial Golf Tournament, talked to Cameron for around 15 minutes about his trip and the Avalanche’s second-round series, which they lead 1-0. The coach signed a photo for Cameron and is also giving him and Lynch tickets for Game 2 on Wednesday.

“You definitely see his character and the type of person he is,” Cameron said of Bednar, who he had met previously at the golf tournament. “He has a big heart and likes making people’s days.”

Added Richardson: “He’s clearly someone that thinks of others before himself, even when he’s in a really stressful time, which he is right now (with the playoffs).”

The special moments weren’t over. Richardson asked Bednar if he could have Makar sign Cameron’s jersey they’d bought two nights before as well as one for the son of a Dawg Nation’s sponsor. Bednar took both sweaters into the dressing room.

“He came out and handed me the jerseys back (unsigned),” Richardson said. “And he said ‘Cale wants to sign them out here. He wants to meet Graysen.’”

Graysen Cameron, Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar and Madi Lynch pose for a photo together. (Photo courtesy Marty Richardson)

Moments later, the star blueliner, who will likely be a Norris Trophy finalist this year, walked out of the dressing room area. He approached Cameron, shook his hand and posed a picture with him and Lynch. Then, as requested, he signed the white No. 8 on Cameron’s jersey. He stuck around for about five minutes, and then Bednar returned with forward Tyson Jost, the only other Avalanche player from Alberta.

“It was pretty low-key,” Cameron said. “Talked about the last game a bit, how they did and what they’re kind of expecting coming up. Just some hockey talk.”

Though he initially thought his own hockey career was over after the crash, Cameron recovered from his injuries. His first hockey game after the bus accident came in October 2019, at a Dawg Nation charity event in Colorado. He suited up alongside 10 current or former NHL players — including former Avs players Paul Stastny, now with the Jets, and Kyle Quincey, who retired in 2019 — and even scored a goal, bringing tears to his dad’s eyes.

Shortly after, he made his return to the Broncos, becoming the team’s first captain since the crash.

“Following in (the late) Logan Schatz’s footsteps there — my former captain — it was really emotional,” he said. “I just felt really honored and grateful to be a leader on that team.”

He played in 46 games that season, collecting 13 points, then suffered an ACL tear in his last game. But he rehabbed the injury and was able to play three games this past season with Northland College, a Division III school in Ashland, Wisc.

At season’s end, though, he decided to call it a career. His body had been through a lot.

“It just was starting to weigh on me mentally and physically,” he said. “ I’m happy and content with (the decision), but you always miss the game and miss being a part of practice.”

And that made watching the Avalanche skate Tuesday even more special.

“It’s really cool to see these guys do that,” he said.

Cameron is an Oilers fan thanks to his father — “he corrupted me at a young age,” he joked — so his childhood favorite team is out of the playoffs. But thanks to Bednar, Richardson, Makar and others around the organization, he didn’t hesitate when asked who he’s pulling for to win the Stanley Cup.

“Go Avs,” he said.

[novelistash]

Lex Evans

Continuing my compulsive catalogue of fictional lives that I didn't come up with.

After the wedding, Ayla took Lex golfing and admitted that she had created distance with Lex ever since she'd made a move on her. They became besties again. At the age of 31, Lex sold her town home, so she could focus on renovations on her and Ariana's equestrian ranch home.

Throwing party after party, Lex realized she wasn't just hilariously addicted to Bahama Mamas, but simply addicted to alcohol. She went to AA, but got nothing from it.

While long boarding and drinking Mai Tais Ayla admitted to Lex that she'd been offered opium and seriously considered using it. Lex said she was glad Ayla didn't go down that path.

At the age of 34, Lex became a Sr. Environmental Scientist, but her real job was dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into Arian and Lex's mansion.

The days all started to bleed together, and Lex drove all the way to work before realizing it was Saturday. Lex suspected that the drinking was getting in way of her memory. Remembering her luck with spiritualism in the past, Lex found a Witch Doctor to help her with her alcoholism. She ate a raw Komodo Dragon Egg. After purging most of her stomach, the thought of liquor made her sick.

Ayla's continued drinking pulled Lex and her apart, and Clive became Lex's new bestie.

While at the record store with Ayla, she talked about opium again, saying that her new bestie was smoking it around her. Lex told Ayla she was glad she wasn't using it, but Ayla got quiet instead. Lex was pretty sure she was going to try it.

At the age of 39, Lex accidentally scored on her own goal while playing soccer. Everyone laughed for ten minutes. She sold her old BMW and bought a used Suburu. Ariana renewed their vows and adopted Carter, 3 year old whose father couldn't afford to pay for his medical bills. Lex bonded with Carter by doing yoga with goats.

Carter called out "mama" and Lex and Ariana laughed when they realized they didn't know who he was asking for. While buying new clothes, Lex tried on a stranger's coat. She was caught and left the store in humiliation.

Carter had his first day of school and Lex's niece Kylie was old enough to get a job as a receptionist. Lex reflected on how awesome human beings actually are. After playing laser tag with Carter and Archie's family, Lex and Archie became best friends. Lex's friend Eleanor talked her into crashing a wedding. She didn't remember how it ended, only that she was back at home puking in the garden bathroom so Ariana wouldn't know she was drinking. Lex went to a hypnotist to overcome Alcoholism and it worked. Picking up a bottle of champagne only made her think of maple syrup.

At the age of 42, Lex's niece Hazel graduated secondary school. At the graduation party, someone told Lex to shake her money making, so she shook Ariana. Lex gave her nieces $10,000 each. (Kylie getting money for the graduation she'd been too drunk to attend!) While playing bingo with Ayla, she admitted that she'd been cheating on her boyfriend. Lex told Ayla that she'd always be there for her.

Hazel became a Jr. Flight attendant and moved out of the house. Lex housed a celebration at the mansion and she was offered ritalin. Lex turned them down. Lex wrote up a will that named Ariana and Carter as the sole inheritors.

At the age of 44, Lex was sexually harassed at work. Her coworker Michael pulled her shirt off in front of everyone. The supervisor fired Michael. The Evans family started going house shopping.

At the age of 46, Lex's mother got very sick. She took her mom to Dr. Cooper and he treated her diarrhea, caused from contaminated lettuce. The lettuce outbreak had originated in Indonesia. This got Lex thinking about social responsibility, and she decided to run for School Board Director. She ran against Angus White and lead a clean campaign. After knocking on 1000 doors, Lex lost the election. Ariana took the family to Thailand to help Lex get past the sting.

At the age of 47, Lex had another brush with death! While hiking off trail, she slipped into quicksand! Lex remembered her swim team days and swam out of the pit. She was in there for 8 minutes. Contemplating life, she read her step brother Kobe's journal. Kobe found her and Lex apologized. Lex decided that she needed to downsize her life. She needed to get out of that mansion.

At the age of 49, Lex's mother passed away of natural causes. Lex and Kobe both inherited $2,618,526. Lex finally found a buyer for the manision, and sold the property for 4.3 million. They moved into a midcentury home with 3 beds and 2 baths. Carter was starting secondary school, and Lex gave him $10,000 to spend how he wished.

At the age of 50, Lex celebrated her 20th anniversary with Ariana. They laughed about the prenup. Ariana encouraged Lex to keep running for office and Lex realized she could do anything she set her mind to. Lex caught the flu, but recovered after a trip to the doctor.

Lex's niece Kylie married her college boyfriend. Though neither were unemployed, Kobe had the funds to pay for the wedding. Lex's friend Eleanor convinced her to start drinking again. Lex spent a lot of time with wannabe sommeliers, and dealt with a very real relapse. Lex went to AA and found the strength to throw out thousands of dollars of premier wine. Lex and Elanor got into a fight about the perfect crotch shape, but they both knew it was about drinking.

At the age of 52, Lex lost her step father. He had a stroke in the closet and Lex found him dead. The thought of dying alone in a closet haunted her, making her uneasy about staying in windowless rooms. Ariana talked to Lex about the future at a local park, and Lex decided to run for School Board Director again. She ran a clean campaign against Sophia Johnson, but someone called Ariana a biznatch! Lex called the man a troll and won the election. Lex held energetic rallies about education and the environment.

At the age of 53, a provocative intern tried to hook up with Lex while they were working late. Lex turned him down, but she had been turned on. She talked to her wife about the pros and cons of becoming swingers. That following morning, she planted a cucumber garden.

Carter graduated secondary school and Kobe retired. teen pregnancies were becoming an issue in Lex's school district, so she mandated contraceptives be available. Lex held a rally to dispel the myths about contraceptive encouraging pregnancies.

A friend of Lex's wanted Lex to put her on the payroll without having her do any work. Lex offered her a job as a lead janitor instead and she stopped talking to Lex. Carter asked his mothers if he could study finance at a university, and they encouraged him to live his life how he wanted. Lex went to a bar with Ariana, and was able to stop after one drink.

Kobe's daughter, Hazel, married Jayden Roberts, a restaurant worker. While dancing at the celebration, Ariana fell to the floor. After taking Ariana to the hospital, she was diagnosed with cancer of the buttocks! Lex renewed her vows to Ariana. Lex read Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason," and found little reason for cancer to exist.

While at a masquerade ball, Lex flirted with a politician to grease the gears of government. Ariana was furious, but no amount of trying to explain the situation helped.

At the age of 58, Lex fell out of bed and hit her eye. She could see for 6 days. Lex's term as School Board Director ended. Ariana's cancer went into remission. Lex and Ariana went to Osaka, Japan to celebrate. Ariana forgave Lex for flirting and encouraged her to run for a second term. After another clean campaign against Hugo Miller, Lex won re-election!

Carter graduated uni and became a Jr. Stockbrocker. After a trip to the gym, Lex was diagnosed with a staph infection.

At the age of 60, Lex and Ariana celebrated their 30th anniversary. Ariana vowed to make more time for their marriage, by finally retiring. During the party Lex caught Kobe sneaking around in her room and the two got into an argument. Lex was the first to apologize even though she wasn't at fault.

Carter got promoted to Stockbroker. Lex was diagnosed with hemorrhoids and cherished naps above all other activities.

Kobe's daughter, Kylie came out as gay. Lex was offered a $3 million bribe and turned it down.

Lex finished her second term in office with a 100% approval rating. As School Board Director, Lex Evans was known for her energetic rallies. She tried to run a clean campaign for Mayor of Sydney. When she didn't deny the truth of her past with alcoholism, the public sided with 79 year old, Eli Epping. Lex went on a vacation to Machu Picchu with Ariana.

Lex spent $754,000 on an unsuccessful campaign, and then at the age of 65, retired.

Ariana and Lex moved to France to get away from the public eye. They bought an art deco home! They adopted a cat named Zorro from the animal shelter. Lex bought a used tesla.

At the age of 68, Lex lost her step brother Kobe after a stroke. He had refused to seak medical treatment, even though his hearing was going out.

Lex's life was dominated by renovating the art deco home. She missed her friends in Australia. Lex and Ariana argued about the nature of reality. Ariana thought it was a waste of time to talk about things like that.

Lex got into a car accident on the way home from her 40th anniversary, her butt got cut. She visited her friend Ruby in prison. Ariana started withholding sex. They both opened up about their fantasies on a trip to Venice, Italy, and things seemed to be back to normal.

Shortly after Lex's 71st birthday, her cat Zorro passed away. Lex and Ariana moved back to Australia, moving into an adorable cottage with 2 beds and 1 bath. Lex sold her tesla and art deco home in France, and bought another used Suburu. Though the move back to Australia helped Lex's mood, it had done nothing to help her relationship with Ariana. They were getting into fights about everything from video games to fishing laws.

Forty-two years into their marriage, Ariana asked for a divorce. Lex begged Ariana to stay. Even though she agreed, she refused to go to marriage counseling.

The next year, Lex and Ariana went sky diving and slowly things started to improve. It seemed like Ariana was simply bored with life, so Lex would try to be more spontaneous.

Lex and Ariana renewed their wedding vows after volunteering at a retirement home, something they both hoped they would never be in. Lex gave 0.74 carat diamond earrings to Ariana. She said the gift was an insult.

The day after Lex's 78th birthday, she witnessed a bank robbery! Within a year, her best friend and first crush, Ayla passed away. The doctor's said it was, "her time," but Lex felt strong and happy. Lex lost two more friends that year, and wondered if she was fooling herself and started to think about her bucket list.

Lex and Ariana's 50th anniversary was a solemn affair, as Ariana was suffering from bronchitis. Someone hacked into Lex's instagram account, so she deleted all her social media.

The 82 year old millionaire, Lex, wanted to run for office again. Ariana thought it was a waste of time and money. Lex ran despite Ariana's objections and lost. Ariana was back to withholding sex and it was like their life in France had been forgotten.

Lex sold their cottage for a modern home. The change in scenery helped Lex and Ariana move on from the drama of the past, but their marriage had become a sexless one. Lex brought up having a threesome or an open marriage to try and bring some excitement back into their life and Ariana was furious. She moved all of her stuff into a spare room.

58 years into their marriage, Ariana said Lex was too old to be attractive, despite being named Sydney's most attractive woman over fifty a year prior. Lex confronted Ariana about her being faithful, and Ariana admitted that she was seeing someone else. The two got a divorce. Lex Evans was now Alexandra Miller.

[aion-rsa]

Marvel’s Black Widow: MCU Easter Eggs and References Guide

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains Black Widow spoilers. We have a spoiler-free review here.

The MCU is finally back on the big screen! Marvel’s Black Widow was supposed to be the official kickoff of Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but then the pandemic happened, it got bounced around the release calendar, and Disney managed to release three MCU TV shows before Natasha got to take her curtain call on the big screen.

But that’s thankfully behind us, and Black Widow delivers terrific blockbuster action in the mighty Marvel manner. And you know what that means! Let’s try and spot all the cool MCU references and Marvel Comics Easter eggs in Black Widow.

The Prologue

Setting this prologue in 1995 gives us the approximate age of Natasha. If she’s supposed to be about 11 or 12 here, that conveniently makes the character the same age as Scarlett Johannsson, who was born in 1984.

The general premise of Natasha’s childhood, in which she was the daughter of two Russian spies is highly similar to that of the FX series The Americans. 

This seems to be the late summer of 1995, which puts it roughly around when Captain Marvel was taking place (the official word on that is 1995, but little details in it, like Stan Lee reading a Mallrats screenplay could place it in 1994). 

Young Natasha is played by Ever Anderson – the daughter of actress Milla Jovovich and Event Horizon director Paul W. S. Anderson. You will not be able to unsee her resemblance to Milla. 

The first song choice in the movie is young Yelena’s fixation on Don McLean’s fixation on “American Pie,” a song about (among other things) the death of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and “The Big Bopper” J.P. Richardson. That being said, “American Pie” is about a larger loss of innocence, a theme that weighs heavily throughout this film.

Before Alexei turns the radio off to play “American Pie”, the station is set to 105.1 FM. This is WQXK, a country station based in Salem, Ohio that serves the Youngstown market. Natasha and Yelena’s American home is likely based in Eastern Ohio.

There’s an episode of DuckTales playing on TV in the background while they have dinner. We can’t tell what episode it is, but DuckTales ruled, and the new series was even better. And hey, we get some payoff later in the movie when they play an aircraft crash for laughs while having everyone just casually walk it off.

Alexei was working undercover in the US at the North Institute, which he burned to the ground before making his escape. In Black Widow Vol 3 #1, Natasha decided to retire to Arizona but she and other Red Room victims were hounded by the North Institute. Spurred to investigate the situation, Natasha returned to Russia where she discovered much of the terrible truth behind her past Red Room manipulation. This was a story that also featured Yelena (and Daredevil, believe it or not).

There’s definitely an early SHIELD logo on the trucks chasing the family to the very end there.

The plane number is 258. In Incredible Hulk #258, we get the first appearance of the Soviet Super-Soldiers (later named the Winter Guard), a communist superhero team created for the sake of rivaling the Avengers. The original lineup was Ursa Major (more on him in a minute), Darkstar, Vanguard, and the fifth Crimson Dynamo (more on this, too). Over time, Red Guardian joined their ranks, though it was Josef Petkus and not Alexei Shostakov.

This is a perfect cold open, the kind that James Bond movies excelled at, and it’s far from the only Bond parallel we’ll get in the film. 

The Opening Credits

There’s all kinds of stuff happening in the opening credits, including the film’s villain Dreykov being inserted into photos with various world leaders, including President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush’s Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, and others. The Red Room’s influence knows no national boundaries, it seems.

The overall effect is to imply that Dreykov and the Widows have been putting their fingers on the scale for quite some time.

It’s also a nice touch that many of the “news broadcasts” we see here are from MCU staple WHIH.

There’s a shot of some vials with blue liquid, which allude to the Red Room’s attempt to create Captain America-esque super soldiers, which they succeeded with to some degree with the Red Guardian, but also makes us wonder if they tried enhancing any earlier Widows.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

The opening credits are set to a version of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Malia J. You may have heard her covers of Seal’s “Crazy” and Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” in trailers for shows like Bloodlines and The Handmaid’s Tale.

We wrote more about the Black Widow version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” here.

When Does Black Widow Take Place?

This movie takes place in 2016, shortly after the events of Captain America: Civil War. General “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) is here to remind us all that Natasha is still in trouble with the government.

What’s kind of neat about this is that it’s the first Marvel “prequel” that feels like it is designed to be watched in its chronological sequence (minus that post-credits scene, of course). Captain America: The First Avenger makes more sense as a flashback interlude between Thor and The Avengers, while Captain Marvel makes more sense as a breather between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. But Black Widow feels like it should be watched right after Civil War.

Thunderbolt Ross

Natasha brings up Ross having his second triple bypass. In Captain America: Civil War, Ross talks about how he had his first heart attack while playing golf and it gave him perspective and convinced him to retire from the US Army. It seems chasing down Cap’s allies hasn’t been so good for his health.

Red Guardian

We know that Alexei has been active as Red Guardian since at least 1983 or 1984 based on the tales of fighting Captain America he tells while in jail. He was apparently sent to the USA for undercover work in 1992, and then imprisoned a few years after their 1995 escape back to Russia.

Red Guardian’s knuckle tattoos say “Karl Marx” which is kind of adorable but…shouldn’t they be in Cyrillic/Russian characters and not Latin/English? Is this to troll his capitalist opponents so they can read them as he beats their asses?

Red says he fought Captain America in 1983 or 1984. The simplest explanation is that he’s lying but…what if he isn’t?

Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he’s telling the truth and there really was yet another secret Captain America active in the ‘80s. Now that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is done, we know that there was at least one “replacement Cap” and the comics indicate there were others. Or maybe it’s just Steve in the timestream…maybe we’ll find out one day, but we wrote much more about some possibilities for this here.

Ursa

Red Guardian breaks the arm of a man named Ursa… Ursa Major (Mikhail Ursus) is the name of another Russian superhero in Marvel Comics, whose mutant power caused him to turn into a literal talking bear. He became a staple member of the Soviet Super Soldiers/Winter Guard along with a Red Guardian. While the movie doesn’t depict him like the comics, Red Guardian does joke about him being a bear.

Taskmaster

This is a very different version of Taskmaster than the one we got in the comics. Marvel Comics Taskmaster has “photographic reflexes” and is a man named Anthony Masters. Here, in addition to the new gender (Dreykov’s daughter is named “Antonia” as a nod to the comics character), Taskmaster is cybernetically enhanced to make those “photographic reflexes a little easier.

There is precedent for a female Taskmaster. The series Deadpool MAX reimagined Deadpool in a cynical, dark, and very adult (albeit absurd and humorous) way. This lent itself to Deadpool-adjacent characters. Taskmaster was depicted as a woman roughly in her ‘50s who trained Deadpool and warped his mind.

There’s also Finesse, a member of Avengers Academy, whose powers are so similar to Taskmaster that she believes him to be her biological father. Unfortunately, due to memory problems, Taskmaster doesn’t know for sure and refuses to offer any DNA to find out the answer.

In the course of Taskmaster’s action scenes, we see her mimic a number of Marvel heroes, with a particular focus on those who played a part in the recent (by this movie’s timeline) Captain America: Civil War including Hawkeye, Captain America, Black Panther, and even Natasha.

We have more on Taskmaster here.

Who is Mason?

Rick Mason first appeared in his own 1989 graphic novel called Rick Mason: The Agent. Mason was a SHIELD agent mostly remembered for being the son of Phineas Mason, the Tinkerer. Granted, the Tinkerer we saw in Spider-Man: Homecoming isn’t nearly old enough to be Rick’s father in the movies and he looks nothing like him, so I wouldn’t expect any secret connection.

In the comics, Rick was practically forgotten about and killed off-panel. His son was one of the victims of Nitro’s explosion in Stamford, Connecticut from the beginning of the Marvel Comics version of Civil War.

Melina Vostokoff

The Melina Vostokoff of the MCU is pretty different from the one in Marvel Comics (who created by Ralph Macchio and George Perez in 1983). There, she was known as (we shit you not) Iron Maiden, and she was at least a former Widow-esque agent as she is here in the film.

Yelena Belova

Yelena and Natasha’s first meeting being over a bio-weapon/agent is very faintly similar to Yelena’s proper introduction in the comics, a 1999 Black Widow comics story where they were explicitly fighting over a bioweapon, not a “mind control antidote” as we see in this film.

The “face swap” trick that Natasha and Melina pull in the film’s final act also has the faintest of echoes of another early Yelena story, where Natasha “swapped faces” with Yelena to try and break her mind and get her on the side of the angels.

What Happened in Budapest?

“You and I remember Budapest very differently,” Clint Barton famously told Natasha in The Avengers during the Battle of New York. But now we know what went down…

Basically, Taskmaster’s origin story is tied to Natasha’s superhero origin. To fully defect from the Red Room and go to work for SHIELD, Natasha had to assassinate Dreykov…which meant the collateral damage of Antonia.

Of course, that led to Clint and Nat getting hounded by Red Room agents, which led to them hiding out for days together. 

And before that, they were in that safe house apartment that was currently occupied by Yelena, hence the arrow damage to the walls.

Crimson Dynamo

Yelena (probably on purpose) refers to Alexei’s superheroic days as when he was “the Crimson Dynamo.” Sure, this is cute, but there really was a Crimson Dynamo in Marvel Comics! Crimson Dynamo is primarily an Iron Man villain, lots of different Russian agents have worn the Crimson Dynamo armor. It…didn’t end well for any of them. 

The original Crimson Dynamo was Anton Vanko, otherwise known as the old man dying in the beginning of Iron Man 2. Although his son was known as Whiplash, Ivan Vanko was more of a cross between Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo. In the comics, “Ivan” was an alias Anton used.

We’re gonna choose to believe that Yelena isn’t just making this name up and that the Russians really did have an armored hero called the Crimson Dynamo, and if we’re lucky we’ll get to see him in a flashback of some future MCU project. After all, there’s that Armor Wars series on the way…

Also, there’s one thing that Crimson Dynamo has over the Red Guardian: he was immortalized in the lyrics of a song by a member of The Beatles. Paul McCartney and Wings have a tune called “Magneto and Titanium Man” which involves “a robbery” where “the Crimson Dynamo came along for the ride.” It’s great, and it’s on Wings Venus & Mars album.

Thor

Yelena’s line about how a “god from space” doesn’t “need to take an ibuprofen” after a fight is kinda priceless.

Mutants in the MCU

Dreykov tells Natasha that they were searching for the “genetic potential in infants.” Sure, this could mean anything like how athletic someone might grow up to be, but is there a chance they could also have been searching for a mysterious x-factor in a baby’s DNA?

James Bond

Natasha is watching one of the lesser-regarded Bond flicks, Moonraker. Of course, she still knows every word.

Dreykov gets a classic “Bond villain monologue” wherein a baddie spells out his plans for world domination before a hero who he surely thinks is either neutralized or could be swayed to their cause.

Antonia/Taskmaster is a Bond Girl! Olga Kurylenko played Camille Montes, a Bolivian agent with a vendetta in Quantum of Solace.

Remnants of the Red Room

Black Widow was written by Eric Pearson, who also wrote Thor: Ragnarok.

So… Natasha probably couldn’t taste that peanut butter and jelly sandwich from Endgame, right? That’s too bad.

It doesn’t seem that “Fanny Longbottom” is a thing from Marvel Comics, but as Mason points out it is most certainly a real name. Also, Yelena’s dog in the post-credits scene is named “Fanny.”

We get an explanation for Natasha’s blonde look in Infinity War here, as Mason gave her the hair dye. But the way it’s presented here feels slightly like a sisterly tribute to Yelena, which is really sweet.

Natasha makes a crack about “the cavalry” as Ross’ troops close in, but folks hoping that’s an Agents of SHIELD reference are probably going to be sorely disappointed.

Dreykov’s pheromone trick that he has implanted in the Widows (and Natasha in particular) leads to this scene playing out like when RoboCop tries to arrest Dick Jones in the classic 1987 film.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” Natasha tells Dreykov with a smirk after getting him to monologue his evil plans. This is as close as we get to a Black Widow catchphrase – she also ended a veiled interrogation with Loki using the exact same words in The Avengers.

The Post-Credits Scene

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) is back after her appearances in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. If we had to hazard a guess, she’s putting together a team of “Dark Avengers” or “Thunderbolts” for the MCU.

Florence Pugh is indeed confirmed to appear in the upcoming Disney+ Hawkeye series, as well.

We went into much more detail about what the post-credits scene means for the future of the MCU right here.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Spot anything we missed? Let us know in the comments!

The post Marvel’s Black Widow: MCU Easter Eggs and References Guide appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2VrjyDY

[afew-of-my-favorite-things]

In the Roaring Twenties and into the 1930s, Hearst Castle reached its social peak. Originally intended as a family home for Hearst, his wife Millicent and their five sons, by 1925 he and Millicent had effectively separated and he held court at San Simeon with his mistress, the actress Marion Davies. Their guest list comprised most of the Hollywood stars of the period; Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, the Marx Brothers, Greta Garbo, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford, Jean Harlow and Clark Gable all visited, some on multiple occasions. Political luminaries encompassed Calvin Coolidge and Winston Churchill while other notables included Charles Lindbergh, P. G. Wodehouse and Bernard Shaw. Visitors gathered each evening at Casa Grande for drinks in the Assembly Room, dined in the Refectory and watched the latest movie in the theater before retiring to the luxurious accommodation provided by the guest houses of Casa del Mar, Casa del Monte and Casa del Sol. During the days, they admired the views, rode, played tennis, bowls or golf and swam in the "most sumptuous swimming pool on earth." While Hearst entertained, Morgan built; the castle was under almost continual construction from 1920 until 1939, with work resuming after the end of World War II until Hearst's final departure in 1947.

Hearst, his castle and his lifestyle were satirized by Orson Welles in his 1941 film Citizen Kane. In the film, which Hearst sought to suppress, Charles Foster Kane's palace Xanadu is said to contain "paintings, pictures, statues, the very stones of many another palace – a collection of everything so big it can never be cataloged or appraised; enough for ten museums; the loot of the world." Welles's allusion referred to Hearst's mania for collecting; the dealer Joseph Duveen called him the "Great Accumulator." With a passion for acquisition almost from childhood, he bought architectural elements, art, antiques, statuary, silverware and textiles on an epic scale. Shortly after starting San Simeon, he began to conceive of making the castle "a museum of the best things that I can secure." Foremost among his purchases were architectural elements from Western Europe, particularly Spain; over thirty ceilings, doorcases, fireplaces and mantels, entire monasteries, paneling and a medieval tithe barn were purchased, shipped to Hearst's Brooklyn warehouses and transported on to California. Much was then incorporated into the fabric of Hearst Castle. In addition, he built up collections of more conventional art and antiques of high quality; his assemblage of ancient Greek vases was one of the world's largest.

In May 1947, Hearst's health compelled him and Marion Davies to leave the castle for the last time. He died in Los Angeles in 1951. Morgan died in 1957. In the same year, the Hearst family gave the castle and many of its contents to the State of California. It has since operated as the Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument and attracts in the region of three quarters of a million visitors annually. The Hearst family retains ownership of the majority of the 82,000 acres (332 km2) acre wider estate and, under a land conservation agreement reached in 2005, has worked with the California State Parks Department and American Land Conservancy to preserve the undeveloped character of the area; the setting for the castle which Shaw described as "what God would have built if he had had the money."

[un-bearablysweet]

You know when the episode started I found it wierd that Jupiter Jim's meet n greet was empty.🤔 Especially with how many movies Jupiter Jim appears to have made, and how well his merchandise sells.

But looking back it makes sense, Marcus has probably been kidnapping fans for a while now.

And I imagine that after the third year in a row of fans going missing, and last to be seen at his table. His table and whole section were probably labeled as cursed at GalaxyCon.

Rumors soon spread that anyone who goes to see Marcus Moncrief turn up missing shortly after, fans of the series go in but never go out. And with less and less fans showing up, it probably became easier for him to kidnap the few dedicated fans, who did come to see him.

And no one would suspect him either, why would Marcus Moncrief be kidnapping fans? Wouldn't a retired actor like him have better things to do like collect his royalties and play golf. He probably gets hassled by fans off the street, it can't be him.

It appears that after years of playing Jupiter Jim has caused Marcus tp be unable to differentiate between the character and himself. Its Method Acting gone to far. So many people address him by Jupiter Jim, that he really started to believe it in his old age.

But hey at least we know where Raph gets his Ahoy catchphrase from🤷🏿‍♀️

[thehollowprince]

Civil War Fixit #1

How the Accords scene in CIVIL WAR should have gone down in production didn't favor Tony the way it did in a Captain America movie.

The Team (that's what the actually called themselves. Avengers was a name that Tony used at the drop of a hat and it had a nice ring when it comes to publicity, but it's a bit pretentious to use among themselves) sat around the conference table in the Compound situation on the Hudson, just upriver from New York. Thaddeus Ross, who had crawled out of whatever dive bar he'd last been seen in to suddenly be named Secretary of State (when will this country ever learn?), was droning on about perspective and accountability (totally unironically, it should be noted) while weaving in a story about a golf game for reference and simultaneously insulting them by calling them "dangerous".

Then came the video presentation, with footage of the battles of Manhattan, D.C., Sokovia and then finally their most recent mission to Lagos, which unfortunately ended in tragedy (but not as much as it could have).

Wanda flinched from the footage and averted her eyes, while Steve noticed and called immediately for it to stop. "Okay. That's enough." Ross nodded to his aide, who turned off the television, because apparently the Secretary wasn't capable of reaching over to push the button himself.

"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." His aid handed him a thick document, very official-looking, and he placed it on the table in front of Wanda. THE SOKOVIA ACCORDS were printed very boldly on the front of the novel-sized manuscript.

"The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries… it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary." Secretary Ross went on, as the document was passed from Wanda to Rhodey, who immediately opened it to look inside.

"Yes, we did lose people, but we saved more. It's an ugly statistic, but the innocent are always the first to suffer in any conflict. You would have thought someone with your war record would know that." Steve said, followed by a silence where you could have heard a pin drop. "The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that."

"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross asked.

"Did you seriously just refer to two people who have done more to protect this planet than the entire US military ad weapons of mass destruction?" Natasha countered with a deceptively sweet smile.

"If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes… you can bet there'd be consequences." Ross said. "Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."

"So there are contingencies?" Rhodey asked, trying to keep the conversation on track, only to be interrupted by Steve.

"I'm sorry, I'm still stuck on the consequences part."

"Do you truly believe that you've suffered consequences for the actions done by this team? For the buildings you've toppled, the lives you've ruined, the country you destroyed?"

"For the record, Mr. Secretary, the Ultron program and everything it did after coming online is the responsibility of the man sitting behind me." The eyes of the other Avengers shifted to Stark, who was looking at Steve like he'd never seen him before. "Not a single other person at this table had any knowledge of what he was doing in his lab, so if you have issue with what happened in Sokovia, I suggest you take it up with him."

Ross opened his mouth for a rebuttal but Steve beat him to it.

"But, in the spirit of fairness, let's talk consequences." Steve went on. "F.R.I.D.A.Y.?"

"Yes, Steve?" The A.I. said from the speakers.

"Could you roll footage of Culver University, spring semester, 2008?"

The screen that had been off immediately clicked back on and began playing back footage from cellphones and cameras of Ross' failed attempt to contain and capture the Hulk in the middle of a crowded campus, using an unauthorized enhanced human, as well as weapons that put the civilian population in extreme danger. The last image was of the Hulk launching an armored truck at another, the screen immediately going static as the footage was lost.

"Harlem, three days later."

The Hulk's fight with a severely mutated Blonsky showed on the screen next, as well as the atrocities that Emil committed on his own before Banner stepped in to stop him. Ross's face was reddening at having one of his biggest failures played in front of the very people he was trying to intimidate. Harlem was on of his biggest failures and he did a lot to try and distance himself from it.

"Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y." Steve said and the screen froze on an image of the infamous Abomination lifting a car above his head, about to crush it into some police officers. "Tell me, Mr. Secretary, where were your consequences? Because from what I understand, you tried to pin the whole thing on Blonsky and Banner, getting a medal and a promotion for your trouble."

Ross stood there, gaping, like a fish out of water, unable to process what was happening. He really should have listened to Phillips back in the day, when he told everyone that Rogers wasn't anything like the propaganda. Sam, Wanda and Natasha were doing their best to not outright laugh.

"How long to we have to come to a decision?" Steve asked as the document was slid in front of him

"Three days." Ross said, straightening his suit and trying to regain his composure. Steve paused in his inspection of the document, looking up and raising an eyebrow at the short time span. "In three days the United Nations meet in Vienna to ratify the Accords."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asked.

"Then you retire." Ross replied.

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary." Steve said, looking back at the document before him and not even giving the former general the courtesy of eye contact. "We'll be sure to discuss this thoroughly. He looked up then, pinning the older man with America's eyes. "I believe you know the way out." He said before looking back to the document, already a few pages in.

None of the other Avengers stood or showed any sign of walking him to the door, so Ross angrily turned on his heel and left the room.

"Oh, and F.R.I.D.A.Y. could you please provide the Secretary with a list of all the individuals targeted by Project Insight?" Steve's parting shot was quickly followed by a ping to both his personal phone and his aide. When he pulled out the phone, the first to things he saw were his and his daughter's face with a red label declaring them "Priority Targets."

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

Sorry if that felt rushed or slightly OOC. I did this quickly on the app because it's dead at work. Part 2 to come shortly.

[valeriannnn]

if youve ever wanted to think about what almost every major RWBY character would main in professional overwatch, then today is your lucky day! brought to you by hiatus, return of owl, and 3am delirium

RUBY - Star DPS.  Extremely flashy, always on the highlight reel.  Will play whatever is needed to pound the enemies into dirt, but also the type to say "fuck it ok guys trust me im gonna pop off" and swap to her signature widow/tracer to Pop Off.  Works unfailingly.  Team captain and emotional core.  Prefers mobile heroes and an unpredictable playstyle.

WhiteSnow - Flex Support/Flex DPS.  Put her on any sniper (including and especially Ana) and watch all hell rain down.  Methodical playstyle, favors high-utility heroes.  Aside from snipers, can often be found on Baptiste/Mei/Symmetra.  Enables teammates to make big plays, but often sacrifices her own presence in the killfeed for the benefit of the team as a whole.  Loves to maker opponents' lives a living hell with CC.  Line em up, knock em down.

Belladonna - Offtank.  Extremely attentive to her backline, constantly running interference and peeling for allies.  Impossible to catch off-guard.  Delights in thwarting the enemy team's plans and preventing them from making the plays they want to.  Excellent map awareness and always the one to touch point to preserve overtime.  Shotcaller.  Struggled with committing to risky/aggressive plays, but being on a reliable team has made her more comfortable performing her role and trusting her teammates to have her back.  Prefers mobile heroes but will adapt to any situation to work in perfect tandem with...

YangXiaoLong - Main Tank.  Could have been a DPS main but early on committed to tank role to enable her duo parter (and little sister) to pop off (and have shorter queue times).  Developed a real knack for controlling space and being a brick goddamn wall between her squishies and the enemy team.  Extremely aggressive playstyle, but has cooled down in recent years to be more of a team player.  Still loves to thrash about when given the opportunity.  Known for bold plays and phatty shatties.

Arc - Main Support.  Tried for years to be a DPS hotshot but was determinedly mediocre and got hard stuck in plat.  Persuaded by Pyrrha to pocket her for a few games, and discovered the depth and fulfillment of playing support to a well-coordinated team.  Nurtured his aptitude for assisting from the backline and quickly rose through the ranks.  Will play whatever is meta but will always be a Mercy main at heart.  Played Brig during GOATS.  Shotcaller.

Valkyrie - Doomfist.

Nikos - Main Tank.  Extremely methodical player, reknowned for big brain cerebral plays and unflappability.  Can be slow to push advantages, but never makes mistakes.  Loves the mind games in a Rein v Rein matchup, and unfailingly blocks the enemy shatter (delights in cucking the enemy Rein).  Will play Orisa For The Good Of The Team but takes no joy in it.  Terrifying on defense; takes a strong position and allows time pressure to force enemies into missteps.  When you make a mistake, she will be there.  Strategic backbone of the team.

RenLie - Flex Support.  Bloodthirsty support.  Likes the balance of damage potential and support capacity in Zenyatta, but puts forth strong showings on Moira and Ana as well.  First priority is of course keeping his team alive, but flankers trying to dive him in the back line tend to get sent home in tears.  Big Jjonak energies. :uwuknife: Can be susceptible to tunnel vision/desperation, and occasionally needs teammates to re-ground him.  Always nanos Nora.

PPolen - Offtank.  D.Va one-trick.  Absolutely notorious for eating ults; absolutely infuriating to play hitscan into.  Flawless mechanical skill.  Occasionally struggles with communication, but honestly so on-the-ball that it doesn't usually come back to bite her.  Always has gold objective time.

Qrow - True flex.  Exclusively solo-queues on ladder, just plays the leaderboards.  Played just about every role at some point (except main tank, fuck that), but currently on a flex support kick.  Holds world records for gravs/blizzards/immortality feels clipping through the geometry and falling out of the map.  The sort of Ana who will singlehandedly take out both enemy DPS when beset by flankers only to immediately die to an errant Moira orb.  Gamers can we get an F in chat.  Accustomed to playing on 200+ ping and is deeply unsettled when he moves somewhere with good internet and has to re-learn all his timings.

RWBY+JNPR+P All form a single 9-man roster.  Sub out roles with redundant players for map set strategies and for flexible plays.  Probably called the Beacon Huntsmen or something generic like that, who cares

Winter - Main Tank and Offtank.  Excellent mechanical skill.  Unparalleled when allowed to execute her set strategy, but struggles with adaptability.  Extremely self-sacrificial, and knows exactly how to leverage her health pool to buy time and/or space for her allies to make the plays they need to.  Will unflinchingly act upon callouts, good or bad, because the worst outcome is a split decision.  Especially fond of a quick reset.

Whitley - Doesn't play Overwatch, but holds several championship trophies in international Pokemon tournaments.  Minecraft youtuber.

Adam - Widow one-trick.  Highly overrated, inexplicably popular streamer.  Mechanically talented but poison in a team environment.  Picked up and quickly dropped from several professional teams.  Teabags.  Looks impressive on stream but crumbles against opponents with any semblance of coordination.  Eventually blacklisted from professional environments after one too many scandals in his personal life.

Ozpin -Franchise owner.  Has never actually touched Overwatch, but used to be a respected Starcraft player back in the day.  Took on a coaching role for a time, but now largely manages from afar.  Has a sparse and cryptic social media presence.  Makes business decisions largely at random, unbeknownst to all his subordinates.

Salem - Hates videogames. Will unplug the router if you piss her off.

Ace Ops - High profile roster hand-picked for perfectly complementary hero pools.  Hyped to fuck in the preseason.  Unparalleled individual play but poor communication, incompatible playstyles, and truly abysmal coaching staff keep them from being a top-tier team.  Widely considered a disappointment considering the talent and money backing them.

Harriet - DPS.  Exclusively plays flankers and extremely mobile DPS.  Tries to solo-carry; in her defense, it often works.  Unironically brags/complains about having gold medals.  Quick to tilt but often uses the negative energy to pop off even harder.  Overtime clutch god.

Marrow - Flex DPS.  Cautious player, often hesitant to commit to risky strats.  Flawless positioning, both personally and for thrown abilities.  Talent for projectile DPS; probably contributed not-insignificantly to scatter arrow being removed from the game.  Prefers to understand the enemy's strategy before acting.  Shotcaller.  Nobody listens.

Elm - Main Tanks (Except Reinhardt), Zarya.  Aggressive tank player, frequently found with gold damage.  Generally good natured but vulnerable to tilt if on a losing streak.  Highly momentum-based.  Makes tutorial videos on strategy and positioning for her youtube channel.  Wants to see the competitive scene develop and flourish, but sensitive to feeling threatened by new talent.  Helps them anyway.

Vine - Flex Tanks (except Zarya), Reinhardt.  Unflappable, regardless of quality of games or recent performance.  Good at reading enemy team and tracking ults.  Generally calls enemy plays before they happen.  Always sticks with Elm, largely out of obligation to bail her out when her aggression puts her in a dicey position.  Understated player, rarely in highlight compilations, but extremely consistent performance.  Plays off-meta in scrims so as not to reveal strats.

Clover - Main Healer. Can play any support, but Lucio main through and through.  Suffers from Reddit Lucio syndrome, but usually good enough (or lucky enough) to get away with it.  Loves to deny enemy followup.  Peel master, boop god.  PMA to a borderline-irritating degree.  Gives great pep talks at half time.  Tends to overcommit to strategies that are dead in the water; sometimes it's better to call it and switch comps while you still have time on the clock. Despite this, is opportunistic in the moment-to-moment sense and quick to capitalize on enemy vulnerabilities.

Flynt Coal - Lucio one-trick.  I mean, come on.

Wukong - ???  Exclusively plays off-meta heroes and weird shit.  Talented but remains on ladder because he doesn’t like the rigid structure of tournament play.  Refuses to be confined to a single role.  Hates role lock cause he can’t swap mid game anymore.  Despite all this, somehow tends to be more of an asset than a detriment.  Definitely a team player.  PMA king.  Occasionally finds legitimately competitive strata for underutilized heroes.  Nutty with hammond movement, godawful with mines.  Has the Winston skin equipped, of course.

Ilia - DPS.  Popular streamer.  Tried going pro for a bit, but didn’t like the schedule and retired shortly.  Frequently plays with the community and does weird custom game modes for a laugh.  Loves Daddy Rein Chases Tiny Torblets.  Refuses to open loot boxes, much to the dismay of her stream.  Plays Golfing Over It during long queues.  Draws all her own custom emotes.

Watts - DPS.  Mains Widow, Sombra; plays anything that lets him avoid ever actually engaging the enemy at close range.  Thinks the game stopped being good when Sombra GOATS stopped being a thing.  Spends all day on twitter heckling pro players and declaring Overwatch a dead game.  Suspected of cheating.  Considers himself a shotcaller but isn't very good at it.

Tyrian - Plays Junkrat and Roadhog exclusively.  Thinks it's bullshit that the game doesn't have friendly fire.  Thinks it's bullshit that Junkrat doesn't deal self-inflicted damage anymore.  Master of the bounce shot.  Tends to treat the game like a TDM and forget the objective in favor fragging out.  Targets a single enemy player and tries to get them to tilt.  Uses voice chat but only laughs.  Never makes callouts.  Trash talks in all-chat.  Considers it a personal victory if he gets someone to rage quit.

Hazel - No Role.  Doesn't really get the idea of the metagame; knows it's generally good to have a balanced team but thats about as deep as he chooses to go.  Was one of the old guards of PC gaming but now that it's a mainstream hobby has to refuses to confront that he's hot garbage at them.  Can't really parse everything that's happening onscreen in a fast-paced game like overwatch, so he just picks Torb (regardless of map or attacking/defending status) and uses the turret as a security blanket.  Godawful turret placement.  Still has a good time somehow.

Cinder - Main Tank.  Likes the importance of the role, and especially the way her team has to follow her calls for any chance of success.  A nice balance of aggression and craftiness, she makes a fearsome opponent.  Callouts could be more frequent/detailed, but her directions are always good when given.  Very susceptible to emotional ups and downs, and often takes out frustration on teammates.  Takes losses very hard, gloats about wins.  Happiest with an Ana pocket.

Emerald - Offtank.  Would be much happier on DPS or Support, but desperate to show off and live up to Cinder's expectations.  Sticks with her main tank except when it's absolutely necessary to peel for the back line.  Tends to be overcautious with ults; she's good enough mechanically to earn them relatively quickly, but fear of whiffing one makes her reticent to spend them.  Flawless bubble timing on Zarya.

Mercury - Support.  Still considers Symmetra a support.  Quick to whip out the blaster and try to fight off flankers instead of calling for assistance.  Knows all the angles for a narsty biotic grenade.  Plays as though he's got better positioning and backup than he does; frequently gets opponents to back off just by winning the mental game.  Will let allies die on ladder if they piss him off.

[bountyofbeads]

Trump’s pick to lead U.S. intelligence claims he arrested 300 illegal immigrants in a single day. He didn’t. 

https://wapo.st/2ZrB4ou

Ratcliffe withdraws from consideration for intelligence chief

By John Wagner and Shane Harris | Published August 02 at 3:07 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted August 2, 2019 7:16 PM ET |

President Trump announced Friday that Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Tex.), his embattled pick to lead the nation’s intelligence community, was withdrawing from consideration and would remain in Congress.

The lawmaker was facing intense questions about padding his résumé and a lack of experience, which led to a lukewarm reception on Capitol Hill.

Trump said he would announce a new pick for director of national intelligence shortly.

In tweets, Trump said that Ratcliffe was being treated “very unfairly” by the media.

“Rather than going through months of slander and libel, I explained to John how miserable it would be for him and his family to deal with these people,” Trump wrote. “John has therefore decided to stay in Congress where he has done such an outstanding job representing the people of Texas, and our Country.”

In a statement issued shortly after Trump’s tweets, Ratcliffe said that he remained convinced that if confirmed by the Senate he would he would have served “with the objectivity, fairness and integrity that our intelligence agencies need and deserve.”

“However, I do not wish for a national security and intelligence debate surrounding my confirmation, however untrue, to become a purely political and partisan issue,” he said. “The country we all love deserves that it be treated as an American issue. Accordingly, I have asked the President to nominate someone other than me for this position.”

Trump made the announcement of Ratcliffe’s withdrawal shortly before appearing at a White House event to announce a new deal to sell more beef to the European Union. He ignored questions shouted by reporters about Ratcliffe’s withdrawal as he left the event.

One White House official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said that Ratcliffe got cold feet because of the lack of support among Republican senators.

But inside the White House, at least some believed that while Ratcliffe would likely have faced an contentious nomination fight, Senate Republicans were ultimately unlikely to vote against a Trump nominee. Ratcliffe might have survived, and may have withdrawn too early, in the view of some.

Ratcliffe’s background has come under scrutiny since Trump announced Sunday that he planned to nominate the lawmaker to be the next director of national intelligence, replacing Daniel Coats, a longtime senator and diplomat who was often at odds with the president.

Though Ratcliffe had dialed back claims that he had won convictions in a high-profile terrorism case as a federal prosecutor, his planned nomination drew opposition from Senate Democrats and tepid support from key Republicans.

Some current and former intelligence officials have said Ratcliffe is the least-qualified person ever nominated to oversee the country’s intelligence agencies — previous directors have been former diplomats, senior intelligence officials and military leaders — and questioned whether he would use the position to serve Trump’s political interests.

The post was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to coordinate the 16 other agencies of the nation’s intelligence community.

Ratcliffe has been a staunch defender of the president and has alleged anti-Trump bias at the FBI. Trump tweeted out his plan to nominate Ratcliffe several days after the lawmaker attacked former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III during a hearing.

Congressional and intelligence officials have described Ratcliffe as a relatively disengaged member of the House Intelligence Committee and as little-known across the ranks of spy agencies he has been tapped to lead.

Though Rep. John Ratcliffe’s membership on the House committee is perhaps his most important credential for the top intelligence job, officials said he has yet to take part in one of its overseas trips to learn more about spy agencies’ work. The other new lawmakers on the panel have done so or are scheduled to travel in the coming months.

It is also unclear whether Ratcliffe has spent much time at the headquarters of the CIA, the National Security Agency or other parts of the sprawling U.S. intelligence community that he has been nominated to direct.

On Thursday, The Washington Post also reported that a Ratcliffe claim of a massive roundup immigrant workers at poultry plants in 2008 as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Texas was undercut by the court record and recollections of others who participated in the operation. Ratcliffe has often cited the arrests as a highlight of his career.

In a statement, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-N.C.) said he respected Ratcliffe’s decision to withdraw from consideration.

“As the White House determines its next nominee, I’m heartened by the fact that [the Office of the Director of National Intelligence] has an experienced and capable leadership team to see it through this transition,” Burr said. “However, there is no substitute for having a Senate confirmed director in place to lead our Intelligence Community.”

Ashley Parker, Robert O’Harrow, Shawn Boburg and Greg Miller contributed to this report.

Trump’s pick to lead U.S. intelligence claims he arrested 300 illegal immigrants in a single day. He didn’t.

By Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Shawn Boburg | Published August 01 at 9:10 PM ET | Washington Post | Posted August 2, 2019 |

President Trump’s choice to lead the nation’s intelligence community often cites a massive roundup of immigrant workers at poultry plants in 2008 as a highlight of his career. Rep. John Ratcliffe claims that as a federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of Texas, he was the leader of the immigration crackdown, describing it as one of the largest cases of its kind.

“As a U.S. Attorney, I arrested over 300 illegal immigrants on a single day,” Rat­cliffe (R-Tex.) says on his congressional website.

But a closer look at the case shows that Ratcliffe’s claims conflict with the court record and the recollections of others who participated in the operation — at a time when he is under fire for embellishing his record.

Ratcliffe played a supporting role in the 2008 sweep, which involved U.S. attorneys’ offices in five states and was led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, according to a Justice Department news release. The effort targeted workers at poultry processor Pilgrim’s Pride who were suspected of using stolen Social Security numbers.

Only 45 workers were charged by prosecutors in Ratcliffe’s office, court documents show. Six of those cases were dismissed, two of them because the suspects turned out to be American citizens. One of those citizens, a 19-year-old woman, was awakened in her home and hauled away by immigration agents, the woman said in an interview.

Two people involved in the planning or execution of the enforcement effort said they could not recall Ratcliffe playing a central role. 

A.J. Irwin, a former immigration investigator who was involved in the early planning stages before retiring, said in an interview that the operation was a costly failure. Later, as a private immigration consultant, he advised the poultry processor after the sweep and gathered details about the woman who was arrested.

“At the end of the day, it did not deliver,” Irwin said. “It was the biggest waste of money and hype.”

A spokeswoman for Ratcliffe, Rachel Stephens, did not respond to questions about the operation but said in a statement that it grew out of a prior investigation and arrests in the Eastern District of Texas at the company’s national headquarters.

Ratcliffe’s background has come under scrutiny since Trump announced Sunday that he plans to nominate the lawmaker to be the next director of national intelligence, replacing Daniel Coats, a former longtime senator and diplomat who was often at odds with the president. 

Ratcliffe has dialed back his earlier claims that he had won convictions in a high-profile terrorism case as a federal prosecutor. His planned nomination has drawn opposition from Senate Democrats and tepid support from key Republicans.

Some current and former intelligence officials have said Ratcliffe is the least-qualified person ever nominated to oversee the country’s intelligence agencies — previous directors have been former diplomats, senior intelligence officials and military leaders — and questioned whether he would use the position to serve Trump’s political interests. The post was created after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to coordinate the 16 other agencies of the nation’s intelligence community.

Ratcliffe has been a staunch defender of the president and has alleged anti-Trump bias at the FBI. Trump tweeted out his plan to nominate Ratcliffe several days after the lawmaker attacked former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III during a hearing.

Ratcliffe graduated from Notre Dame in 1986 and Southern Methodist University Law School in Dallas in 1989. A native of Illinois, Ratcliffe and his family moved to the small city of Heath, an affluent suburb just east of Dallas, where he began a law practice.

In 2004, he was hired as an assistant federal prosecutor in the sprawling Eastern District of Texas and was named chief of anti-terrorism in the office, despite an admitted lack of experience.

“My background isn’t in law enforcement and I don’t have any real specialized training,” he said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News in early 2005.

The same year he became a prosecutor, Ratcliffe was elected mayor of Heath, an unpaid post he would hold for eight years while working for the Justice Department. In his run later for the House, Ratcliffe cited his leadership of Heath — a wealthy lakeside community of 8,000 that has a yacht club and a private golf course — as an example of his government service and fiscal acumen.

He was named acting U.S. attorney in May 2007 to fill a vacancy for one year. He was never nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate. The brief stint later became a cornerstone in Ratcliffe’s bid for Congress.

“During his tenure, John personally managed dozens of international and domestic terrorism investigations involving some of the nation’s most sensitive security matters,” his campaign website said during his first run for Congress in 2013.

In 2016, seeking reelection, he claimed a central role in a major federal terrorism case. “There are individuals that currently sit in prison because I prosecuted them for funneling money to terrorist groups,” he is quoted as saying in campaign literature.

Stephens, Ratcliffe’s spokeswoman, did not respond to questions about which cases Ratcliffe was referring to. But the same news release refers to a high-profile case from that time. “In 2008, Ratcliffe served by special appointment as the prosecutor in U.S. v. Holy Land Foundation, one of the nation’s largest terrorism financing cases,” it says.

Stephens acknowledged this week that Ratcliffe’s assignment was not to prosecute the case but rather “to investigate issues related to” why an initial prosecution of Holy Land Foundation resulted in a mistrial.

She said Justice Department policy prevents Ratcliffe from commenting on his work related to the case because it did not result in criminal charges. Without citing specific cases, she said that Justice records would confirm that Ratcliffe “opened, managed and supervised numerous domestic and international terrorism-related cases.”

Ratcliffe has made the immigration roundup of poultry workers, code named Operation Plymouth Rock, a defining example of his conservative bona fides.

Irwin said he raised questions about its goals and methods during planning sessions in 2007. Irwin said he questioned why they were devoting so many resources to a case he thought would net only low-level offenders.

An ICE spokesman did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Irwin retired from ICE before the sweep. He later worked as a consultant at a firm that helped Pilgrim’s Pride comply with immigration laws, including in the weeks after the arrests. 

He dismissed Ratcliffe’s claim of having arrested 300 immigrants in the country illegally, in part because ICE agents and U.S. attorneys’ offices in five states were involved. Also, he said, federal prosecutors do not arrest suspects.

Leticia Zamarripa, a spokeswoman in ICE’s El Paso office who also participated in the operation, questioned Ratcliffe’s characterization of his role in the arrests. “No, that doesn’t sound factual. That sounds incorrect,” she told The Washington Post. 

Zamarripa said she does not recall Ratcliffe being involved. “The name doesn’t ring a bell,” she said.

A news release by ICE and the Justice Department on the day of the arrests calls the operation “an ICE-led investigation with support” from the five U.S. attorneys’ offices. The release said that the defendants could receive up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000. 

“The Department of Justice anticipates that a substantial number of those detained will be federally prosecuted,” the news release said.

But the operation was marked by some missteps, and the cases did not result in long sentences or big fines. One of the suspects was Xochitl Delgado, the 19-year-old female citizen who was detained.

Born in California, she had worked at Pilgrim’s Pride for almost a year before her arrest. In an interview in Spanish, Delgado told The Post that eight agents, some of them armed, awakened her and took her into custody just hours after she finished a night shift at the plant.

She said she was surprised and scared: “I was asking myself, Why are they here? Who are these people?”

Delgado was released from custody the following day after agents learned she was a U.S. citizen. The case was dropped after a prosecutor representing Ratcliffe’s office asked a judge to dismiss it “in the interests of justice,” court records show.

Another U.S. citizen, also 19, was arrested at the Pilgrim’s Pride poultry plant, records and interviews show. A third was a legal resident worker.

Irwin’s consulting partner, Hipolito Acosta, a 30-year veteran agent and manager at the agency formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, was at the plant advising the company during the sweep. In an interview, he said he told a top ICE official who was there that the 19-year-old man was a legal citizen. He said the official responded, “He can tell it to the judge.”

Those charges were also dismissed, records show.

The three were among six cases dismissed at prosecutors’ request. Indictments against the other suspects were dismissed nearly two months later as part of plea agreements that resulted in guilty pleas to a single charge of false use of a Social Security number and a $100 fine. The defendants in the Eastern District were released to immigration officials for deportation proceedings, and at least one person arrested in the case was deported, according to documents and interviews.

More than a dozen defense attorneys representing other defendants did not respond to inquiries about the outcome of those proceedings.

Ratcliffe’s campaign literature later claimed that “as a result of John’s efforts” Pilgrim’s Pride paid a $4.5 million “criminal penalty.” The agreement to pay the money was not struck until December 2009, a year after Ratcliffe left the prosecutor’s office. The company did not admit wrongdoing and the government brought no civil or criminal charges against it.

Ratcliffe highlighted the crackdown when he announced his first run for Congress, citing it as “part of a proven conservative record” and describing it as “one of the nation’s largest work site enforcement actions.” 

“Operation Plymouth Rock led to the successful prosecution of hundreds of illegal aliens,” the campaign brochure said.

[kristinarambles]

Laser Light Cannon

Analysis Three:

This is the first episode where we get the hint that the Gems are actually aliens and not just magical people. Considering how early we see this tech from Homeworld they did a really good job keeping it from us, and from Steven. And just like I said in the last analysis, we see Amethyst and Steven just hanging out together. Also our first introduction to Mr. Fryman and to Steven's love of the bits. If I wanted to be really weird I could connect the bits to Rose's reputation of gathering the outcasts, but I think that might be stretching even for this show lol. I wonder how serious Steven is when he talks about the "second sun" or if he's kind of just making a joke? Amethyst sure thinks its a joke at first, until she actually looks at it. They've obviously seen Red Eyes before, and judging on Pearl’s exclamation that she had no idea they were so big Rose usually blew them up long before they got that close. I wonder at her saying that it's going to crash into them though. My guess is that they are made to be disposable, just like the probes that we shoot into space. They transmit data back and that's all they're really good for, they have no intention of collecting them later. The Homeworld Gems gathering the data probably don't even notice when they get destroyed or how far they are from the ground when they do and just say "okay, no Gem readings, all good". This whole conversation with the Gems about the Red Eye actually contains a lot of clues about the future of the show and Steven's past as well as Rose's. I don't want to go crazy, but even Garnet correcting Steven about pink eye could be construed as a hint about Pink Diamond lol. But for real, we find out that Steven's mom is gone, Pearl clutching at her chest when she talks about it is so small you could pass over it but knowing what we know it's kind of heart wrenching now. We get a feel for the hierarchy among the Gems, Pearl is condescending to Amethyst about trying to protect humanity. We get Garnet adjusting her shades while making an observation, and we only see Sapphires gem. There's also how comfortable Amethyst is with touching, even though we don't see how that's a quartz thing for a long time, she picks Steven up and just carries him off as well as throws herself into Garnets arms later in the episode, it doesn't seem to bother or surprise Steven and Garnet just catches her and even holds her over her shoulder. Also throwing Amethyst over and over at the Red Eye kind of shows us how pretty much indestructible the Gems are. Greg is another character that took some time to grow on me, although not nearly as much time as Lars lol. Pearl and Amethyst's comments about him kind of biased me though, which I'm sure was on purpose. Pearl at least mostly feels that way because of their background with Rose, but we don't know any of that at first. I suppose even Amethyst is a little angry with him about Rose too, after all we see her blame him and freak him out by shape shifting into her later on. Having an absentee mother and a father that was less than present growing up myself it was easy to look at Steven living with the Gems and Greg living in his van outside the car wash and see a broken family. It would have been hard not to think of him as a dead beat dad at the beginning. It takes a long time, and watching the extended theme song, to realize that Greg was doing what was best for Steven all along. And Steven always has such faith in him. Plus he flat out says that the Gems told him to stay away from the magic stuff. The more we learn about Greg the more I love him, and he really is such a great dad. So loving, so supportive, maybe a little clueless sometimes but always well meaning. I don't know how much of what's in Greg's storage unit tells us about his life and how much it just tells us what he wanted to be. Like how he says he likes to think of himself as someone who would golf eventually. He seems to really like cats. I find the difference in how Greg and the Gems talk about Rose to be very interesting though. Greg talks about her and tells stories without prompting, the way Steven reacts to Greg mentioning how he met Rose tells us this isn't the first time he's told the story, whereas I already noted that the Gems only seem to tell Steven things when it's directly relevant or when he asks. The Gems also talk about her with reverence, especially Pearl. We get the sense from the Gems that she's powerful and wonderful in every way, but Greg just talks about her with love. That's not to say the Gems didn't love her or don't talk about her with love, just that their view of her was different than Greg’s. I know I said I would only mention visual changes that were purposeful but the fact the Greg is losing his hair in that picture when he's still got hair in the video Rose left for Steven really does bother me. Only mentioning it, and now I'm over it lol. We get another first in the saying "If every pork chop were perfect we wouldn't have hot dogs", it's said multiple times in this episode, but other than using it to shoot the quartizine trio and the original light cannon later on when Peridot comes with her hand ship we really don't hear it again until Change Your Mind. It's actually really funny because I said something about that to my sister shortly before the special and then he says it to the Diamonds lol. When we talked about it we came to the logical conclusion that he used to say it all the time but once it was used as a trigger phrase he retired it so as to reserve it for that specifically. Also maybe so he doesn't shoot the cannon on accident lol [although Steven almost says it again after they take down the Red Eye]. I love Mr. Universe's music by the way, it looks like Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart is possibly a single? I would like some more information on his singing career. He calls himself a one man band, and we see him perform later in both Story For Steven and We Need To Talk, and he has the CD in this episode and a different one that he gives [or tries to give] Rose when they first meet. We know his career technically failed, and that Sunshine Justice says he was ahead of his time, plus we see his falling out with Marty. But other than the cheeseburger commercial I've had a theory before that he's had some sort of royalty fees coming in from something so I'm very curious. And here we come to the climax of the episode. The Red Eye gets closer and we see a few of the humans noticing it. When Steven and Greg show up with the cannon the Gems think they're saved, but none of them know how to use it which is our first insight to the many secrets Rose kept from them. Not only did she hide it from them, where Greg doesn't even know for sure it's in the storage unit, but she doesn't tell anyone how to fire it even though she's set Greg's saying as the trigger. There's something about the way Pearl yells about how "it was Rose's" that I really like. Just the expression in her voice. And she still thinks of the gem as Rose's as well even though it's a part of Steven now, something that we see a little bit more of in Three Gems and a Baby. It sets us on the path of wondering if the gem is really Steven's or if his mother is just poofed and biding her time trapped in his belly. I do love the shot of the cannon firing though, I wonder if the gem/jewel in the center is relevant. I've wondered a lot about Gem Tech and how much of it is sentient, especially after seeing the structures on Homeworld in the most recent bomb. The beam is beautiful, the rose turning into the silhouette of Rose Quartz and Greg wiping away a tear always gets me. The boardwalk was only partially destroyed, obviously Greg was able to pull his van out of the water eventually, and the day was saved. Last time the star centered on the four Crystal Gems kneeling down and Steven vomiting and this time it centers on the van, neither of which seem very pivotal. We end with the instrumental version of Love Like You again

[interpretingtexas]

By Department of Defense. Department of the Navy. Naval Photographic Center. (09/18/1947 - ?) - File:George Bush - NARA - 558524.jpg, Public Domain, [source]

George H.W. Bush

War and School George H.W. Bush was one of those Texans who wasn't born here, but got here as fast he could. He was born in Massachusetts in 1924 to a wealthy family. He enlisted in the Navy as soon as he turned 18, putting off his studies to fight in World War II. He was commissioned as a naval aviator just three days before his 19th birthday, making him the youngest naval aviator to that time. He was discharged in 1945, having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his service. He married Barbara Pierce shortly before his discharge and the two settled into an apartment in New Haven, Connecticut while he attended Yale University. George W. Bush was born there in 1948, shortly before Bush graduated and the whole family moved to West Texas.

George HW Bush, seated in a Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft, c. 1944. U.S. Navy photo H069-13, Public Domain, [source]

Oil Boom Bush used his father's business connections to gain a foothold in the oil business. He started as a salesman for oil field equipment, but started his own company a few years later. During this time the young Bush family moved frequently, all over West Texas. Eventually, Bush's company joined with another to create the Zapata Petroleum Company, where Bush would be president of a subsidiary, the Zapata Offshore Company. Bush took the subsidiary independent in 1959. By 1966, when he shifted to politics full time, Bush was a millionaire.

Politics Bush got into Houston politics in 1963, when he was elected chairman of the Harris County Republican Party. The following year, with much urging from fellow Republicans, Bush ran against sitting Senator Ralph Yarborough and lost, though by a relatively small margin for a state that was still a Democrat stronghold. During the campaign, Bush spoke against President Johnson's Civil Rights legislation, though he later said he regretted the hard line stance he had taken during the campaign and did later vote for Civil Rights bills. He did win the election to the US House of Representatives in 1966, serving two terms. In 1970, Nixon convinced Bush to run against Yarborough for the Senate again, but, once again, Bush lost. Nixon then appointed Bush as ambassador to the UN. After that followed a series of positions, based on the needs of Nixon and later Ford, including chairman of the Republican National Committee, Liaison to China, and head of the CIA. Despite their short terms, these positions helped to ground Bush's foreign policy. In 1976, Carter was elected president and Bush was out of a job.

President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George Bush at the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas August 23, 1984. NARA, Reagan Library, [source]

"Ready My Lips: No New Taxes!" Bush returned to the business world after Carter's election, but soon turned to running for President. Though he campaigned hard through 1979, he couldn't compete with Ronald Reagan and formally dropped out in May of 1980. In a last minute decision, Reagan picked Bush as his running mate and Bush became the vice president in 1981. Bush spent much of his time outside the US, talking with leaders all over the world, but particularly in the USSR and former Soviet Bloc countries. After Reagan's second term, Bush campaigned for president once again, most notably with the promise "Read My Lips: No New Taxes!" He won the 1988 election in a landslide. Bush excelled with his foreign policy. He continued to improve relations with the Soviet Union and former Soviet bloc countries. His presidency saw the fall of the Berlin wall and the dissolution of the USSR, marking the end of the Cold War, as well as the signing of NAFTA. It also saw the brief Gulf War in 1990, where the US joined with many other countries to liberate Kuwait from an invasion by Iraq. Bush had trouble gaining support for the war at first, but after its end was often criticized for not continuing it until the Iraq government was overthrown. Despite the criticisms, the incident led to an incredible surge in his popularity. It wouldn't last. Reagan had left a large deficit and Bush was forced to work with Democrats to raise taxes to handle it. Breaking his promise of "No New Taxes" hurt him with the public and probably led to his loss of the 1992 election.

President Barack Obama meets with former President George H.W. Bush in the Oval Office, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010. Photograph by White House photographer Pete Souza. [source]

"To Make Kinder the Face of the Nation"   The loss of the 1992 election blindsided Bush. Though many signs pointed to his waning popularity, he still felt that he could win up until Election Day. After his defeat, he largely retired from politics, though not necessarily from the public eye. He continued to visit countries to improve relationships that he had helped build. He continued to be involved in causes he had begun as president, such as Points of Light, an organization that recognized ordinary Americans doing great things in their communities. He stayed in the background during his son's presidency and continued to be reserved when it came to politics over the next years, though he did come out in support of the presidential campaigns of John McCain, Mitt Romney, and his son, Jeb Bush. Bush came to be good friends with former president Clinton and showed solidarity with former and current presidents. In the 2016 presidential election, he was an outspoken critic of Trump and said that he had voted for Hillary Clinton, despite saying in 2008 that he would campaign against her vigorously if she ever initiated a presidential bid. Bush suffered from Parkinson's disease, though that didn't keep him from living an active life, including many rounds of golf and sky diving on his 90th birthday. He passed away in December 2018 at the age of 94, and is buried at his presidential library in College Station, Texas, next to his wife Barbara. Many believe that as Reagan's legacy begins to tarnish, Bush will be remembered as one of the most successful one term presidents in US history.

[chenetdental-blog]

Meet Dr. Cedric C. Chenet

Dentistry With a World Wide Perspective

After attending Averett College in Virginia for his bachelor’s of science degree, Dr. Chenet earned his DDS degree from Howard University in Washington, DC. He graduated in 1982, and that same year, he entered the US Air Force, serving as a dental officer. His assignments carried him across the nation and the world. He was deployed to such exotic locations as Japan, South Korea, Egypt, Honduras, Peru, El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Alaska, and Haiti. His hands-on, post-graduate training covered the full scope of general dentistry, including periodontics, endodontics, prosthodontics, and pediatric dentistry. In December 2002, Dr. Chenet honorably retired as a lieutenant Colonel, and started his Melbourne practice from scratch shortly after.

Activities Outside of Dentistry

Dr. Chenet grew up in Port-au-Prince Haiti, speaks fluent French and Haitian Creole, and semi-fluent Spanish. He and his wife Katia have been married for 25 years, and they have three boys. Time with family and traveling (to visit family!) take top priority, leaving little time for hobbies. Unlike many of his peers, he doesn’t golf, and he’s not a fan of cold weather, so skiing is out of the picture. He has done some scuba diving and hunting (duck, dove, and quail). An interesting fact about Dr. Chenet: He was an animal rescue technician (AKA dog catcher) in New York City for a year before attending dental school. It was, in his words, "The most interesting job I’ve ever had."

State of the Art Dental Office serving Viera

At his current practice, Dr. Chenet embraces new technologies to enhance patient comfort and treatment. The practice is a fully computerized, high-tech office with digital X-rays (including Panorex), computerized records, and CEREC CAD/CAM system. His mission statement is short and to the point: "Where education, experience, and technology come together to provide excellence in dental health care."

With this state-of-the-art-practice, Dr. Chenet loves that he is able to help friends and neighbors smile. He welcomes patients from Melbourne to Rockledge and everywhere in between. Dr. Chenet is especially proud that almost half of his patients live in 32940- many within walking distance of our practice.