#*h 181

[colormush]

[completeoveranalysis]

... SO IS THE REAL SAKURA JUST DEAD?

LIKE IS THAT REALLY IT?

SURELY NOT... RIGHT?

I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS WHERE THE CHAPTER ENDS.

CLIFFHANGER: OFFICIALLY WORSE THAN LAST TIME, AND THIS TIME ISN'T EVEN A CLIFF HANGER

I can't believe I just have to live in confusion like this. I'm writing Clamp a letter of complaint as we speak.

BUT IN THE MEANTIME, thank you for suffering alongside me and/or watching me suffer and clapping your hands with glee. Both are appropriate and appreciated!

EXTRA huge thank you to everyone who supports me on Patreon. I have had a. Stressful. Few months. And the support given to me over there has been a LIFELINE in certain scenarios, so I will never be able to say exactly how much that has meant. <3

First Tier of Patrons

Rien [Ri]

Sapphireswimming

Luke Wilson

Stupid Kitsune

Jordan Fredriksz

Shynerdycactus

CloudMenaceBird

Corinne Burr

Qatari Pekarsky

Fer E

MokoCharm

limitless_paper

And the Higher Tier of Patrons:

Thank you all greatly!

Now I think I've officially decided that even if Evil Wolverine thinks Sakura is dead I'm just going to headcanon that Yukito teleported her out just in the bick of time!

There are no flaws in that headcanon! Don't even worry about it!

Until next time, please know how much I will be suffering! :D

[you-will-return]

Ready to see the cute finnish boyz tonight

[kafkasapartment]

The Storm (D., A. 63; H./H. 181), 1891. Anders Leonard Zorn. Etching, on cream laid Van Gelder paper.

[animusrox]

LETTERBOXD

1.   The Batman 2.   Everything Everywhere All at Once 3.   Prey 4.   Triangle of Sadness 5.   Barbarian 6.  The Northman 7.   Bodies Bodies Bodies 8.   The Banshees of Inisherin 9.   Bones and All 10.   Avatar: The Way of Water

Grade A

11.   Turning Red 12.   The Menu 13.   Babylon 14.   Hit the Road 15.   Cow 16.   Watcher 17.   Funny Pages 18.   Mad God 19.   On the Count of Three 20.   Armageddon Time 21.   Terrifier 2 22.   Marcel the Shell with Shoes On 23.   Smile 24.   Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 25.   Holy Spider 26.   Aftersun 27.   The Fabelmans 28.   Breaking 29.   Decision to Leave 30.   The Whale 31.   All Quiet on the Western Front 32.   Brian and Charles 33.   Piggy 34.   Saint Omer 35.   Thirteen Lives 36.   Men 37.   The Fallout 38.   Resurrection 39.   Causeway 40.  The Black Phone 41.   Official Competition 42.   Nope 43.  Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio 44.   Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood 45.   Till 46.   TÁR 47.   Happening 48.   A Love Song 49.   The Outfit 50.   The Innocents 51.   Jackass Forever 52.   BARDO, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths 53.   Montana Story 54.   Three Thousand Years of Longing 55.   You Won’t Be Alone 56.   The Sadness 57.   Halloween Ends 58.   Pearl 59.   X 60.   Vesper

Click "Keep Reading” For My Full List

Grade B

61.   This Place Rules 62.   Fresh 63.   Windfall 64.   Kimi 65.   No Exit 66.   Top Gun: Maverick 67.   “Sr.” 68.   Farha 69.   The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent 70.   Weird: The Al Yankovic Story 71.   Nitram 72.   Speak No Evil 73.   Run Sweetheart Run 74.   She Said 75.   White Noise 76.   Puss in Boots: The Last Wish 77.   V/H/S/99 78.   The Wonder 79.   Women Talking 80.   Hatching 81.   Soft & Quiet 82.   Scream 83.   To Leslie 84.   Hustle 85.   Chip ’n Dale: Rescue Rangers 86.   Dual 87.   God’s Country 88.   Emancipation 89.   Vengeance 90.   Fire of Love 91.   Bullet Train 92.   Incantation 93.   The Valet 94.   Hellraiser 95.   Christmas Bloody Christmas 96.   Significant Other 97.   Cha Cha Real Smooth 98.   Lucy and Desi 99.   Not Okay 100.   A Christmas Story Christmas 101.   Blonde 102.   Deadstream 103.   Sissy

Grade C

104.   The Bad Guys 105.   The Cursed 106.   Empire of Light 107.   A Man Called Otto 108.   Broker 109.   Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 110.   The Princess 111.   Beast 112.   After Yang 113.   RRR 114.   Fall 115.   Jackass 4.5 116.   Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe 117.   Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness 118.   Jennifer Lopez: Halftime 119.   Lightyear 120.   The Pale Blue Eye 121.   The Woman King 122.   Violent Night 123.   God’s Creatures 124.   Ambulance 125.   Elvis 126.   You Are Not My Mother 127.   Emily the Criminal 128.   Crimes of the Future 129.   The Apology 130.   The Lost City 131.   Wendell & Wild 132.   Trainwreck: Woodstock ’99 133.   The Found Footage Phenomenon 134.   See How They Run 135.   Spiderhead 136.   Studio 666 137.   Bros 138.   Spin Me Round 139.   We’re All Going to the World’s Fair 140.   Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank 141.   Honor Society

Grade D

142.   Thor: Love and Thunder 143.   Summering 144.   Strange World 145.   Glorious 146.   The Gray Man 147.   Devotion 148.   Clerks III 149.   The Forgiven 150.   Enola Holmes 2 151.   Father Stu 152.   Jurassic World Dominion 153.   DC League of Super-Pets 154.   She Will 155.   The Bob’s Burgers Movie 156.   Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody 157.   Hellbender 158.   Samaritan 159.   Day Shift 160.   Sonic the Hedgehog 2 161.   Prey for the Devil 162.   Troll 163.   Uncharted 164.  Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile 165.   Dashcam 166.   Firestarter 167.   Do Revenge 168.   Catwoman: Hunted 169.   The Munsters 170.   Amsterdam 171.   Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Grade F

172.   Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris 173.   The Bubble 174.   Dead for a Dollar 175.   Jerry & Marge Go Large 176.   Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. 177.   Infinite Storm 178.   Marry Me 179.   Don’t Worry Darling 180.   Spirited 181.   Disney's Pinocchio 182.   Alice 183.   Black Adam 184.   Orphan: First Kill 185.   The Adam Project 186.   The Invitation 187.   Texas Chainsaw Massacre 188.   Ticket to Paradise 189.   The 355 190.   Umma

Bottom 10

191.   Green Lantern: Beware My Power 192.   Deep Water 193.   Where the Crawdads Sing 194.   Blacklight 195.   Mack & Rita 196.   Memory 197.   Me Time 198.   Death on the Nile 199.   Morbius 200.   Moonfall

[occasionallycoinpin]

waiter waiter

more csb please

occasionally coinpin 181

H

[ywpd-translations]

Ride 782: The winner's parade!!

Pag 1

1: So... shall we fly?

Pag 2

4: Huh....

Huh!?

5: What's that blackboard that they showed out of that car just now?

Yeah, it's the signboard. In road races, they write the results of the race progress on that board like that to inform the other cyclists

Pag 3

1: Like, who won the “sprint” or the “mountain” and the time difference....!!

The first place...

Who's that!? Number 181?

Where is he from? Gunma!?

2: And the group behind changes its shape based on that information, just like a living thing!

Is it their debut?

Ah?

Someone like that took the first result?

What about Hiroshima!?

No but who is he! That number 181!!

3: What about Kagoshima and Kumadai!?

4: Nagoya, too

5: I mean, wait, that's not the point

Sohoku and Hakoaku should have been ahead too

6: It can't be

That guy...

Competed against those two

Pag 4

1: He defeated Hakogaku and Sohoku and took the sprint line!!

Pag 5

2: It was so hard.... but

I did it

Waaa.... I'm so happy, yon

3: Amazing!

I've never seen that jersey before!

Gunmaaa

4: I'm from Gunma!

Amazing!

Nice!

Pag 6

1: I'm so happy to hear the cheers...!!

2: Well then

3: To answer the cheers

5: Ready... set

6: What's number 181 doing

He bent forward, what is he doing!?

Is he accelerating!?

7: Hayaaa

Pag 7

1: Thank you-chai

It's a wheelie!!

Pag 8

1: Amaziing, it's the first time I see a wheelie during a race!

What's that!? It's amazing, he's only running on the rear wheel!

It's a service wheelie!!

What an amazing sense of balance!

He's waving his hand this way!

2: Ohhh he's super cool, though

He's incredible

3: He's not only strong but also cool!! He's the best...

Yoriko, shoot a video

4: He's doing a wheelie!!

Wooo!! Taa-kun, that guy you know is too cool

5: I just became a fan!

Number 181!! From now on more and more people will cheer for him

People who come to watch road racing are always looking for it!!

Pag 9

1: For an overwhelming newcomer!!

4: Dammit!!

Dammit!!

Pag 10

2: Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

3: Are you kidding me

What am I doing

What am I doing!!

4: What!!

5: I did!! Everything I could think of to become stronger, to become faster!!

Pag 11

1: Aaaaaagh dammit!!

3: I practiced... I practiced until I collapsed...

I lost last year....

4: And this year too!? What do I need to fix? Ah?

7: There's nothing to improve anymore!!

Pag 12

2: Stop screwing around, what “newcomer”

3: It's several times harder for someone to keep winning....!!

4: Even though that day

5: I

6: Watch me, Izumida-san, I'll definitely take the colored bib!!

Pag 13

1: I'll look forward to it

2: I promised....!!

3: This year I got the number “4”

In Hakone Academy it represents the ace sprinter

How important and heavy

4: is the role of the number “4” bib

5: That victory would have been a moral pillar for the team!!

6: I even changed my orders for this, and this is the outcome...!!

7: I had to win even if it meant to use up all my trump cards!!

Pag 14

2: I should have cornered him perfectly and shut him off...

4: Was I too naive somewhere?

5: No, there was no problem with you

Even from my point of view you ran well and had the perfect timing, Orange

6: San-na...!!

Pag 15

1: It must be frustrating for you too

You're a third year.... so this was your last first sprint

2: I guess you were aiming for two consecutive victories, since it's even harder to continue winning

3: Orange....!!

4: But don't worry

I promise myself

5: I will definitely not let that guy do as he wishes from now on!!

6: I'll be the one who will take the sprint line on the second and third day!! Leave it to me!!

Pag 16

2: No, I'll take them!!

3: Stop screwing around, why does it seem like I'll only finish the first result!?

Am I wrong?

Don't underestimate Hakogaku!

Ah... well, then, shall we race then?

Don't take it lightly!!

4: Hahaha but I'm an all-rounder, so I should have a job on the mountain, too!!

6: Is he joking!? Or should I correct him!?

7: H...uh? Yeah....

Let's just let it go...!!

Pag 18

1: The running order has changed!!

Gunma, who took the sprint, went ahead and is pulling the pack!!

2: I've never seen something like this

It's their debut, isn't it? Is this okay!?

3: If you take the sprint then you have to go in the front and pull – what kind of rule does road racing have? Isn't it too difficult?

4: It seems like it isn't a rule, Sonomoto-san

It's like they concede control

5: Kiji-saaan!!

Wooah, you were amazing, fou!! Kiji-san!! Everyone, follow me!!

Ichifuji is the only one who's pulling with so much energy

Pag 19

2: Doubashi-san....!!

3: Doubashi-san being defeated at the sprint is a big deal,isn't it?

That Kiji guy

4: If there's a chance to race him, please give me the order, Joe-san

No wait, you're the ace....

5: I'll crush him

Pag 20

1: Ahhh, ahhhh

2: We lost, teh.....!! What should we do!?

Kaburagi-san and Danchiku-san have.....!!

3: It's not a big deal

Since in road racing you don't have to retire just because you lost one of the midway races

4: But still, this isn't good!!

Yeah!!

5: Kaburagi-kun and Danchiku-kun lost...!!

6: Kiji-kun....!!

Pag 21

2: Puku...

He controlled it....

3: Gunma's Kiji controlled the sprint... ohh

4: What should I do?

Crush him quickly?

6: Or maybe.... make friends with him?

Puku....

Make friends!!

[tristanaef]

Franklin Expedition Service Records

I have finished transcribing the service records I used for my Franklin Careers project. You can find all the transcriptions on my Franklin Expedition page:

ADM 196/4/181. “Capt Sir John Franklin.”

ADM 196/4/220. “Com Jas. Fitzjames.”

ADM 196/4/373. “Lieut. Graham Gore.”

ADM 196/5/124. “Lieut. Edward Little.”

ADM 196/8/548. “John Smart Peddie.”

ADM 196/8/579. “Stephen Samuel Stanley.”

ADM 196/68/548. “Chas H. Osmer.”

Note that some of these are only officer service records. The midshipman service records are elsewhere.

These service records are all property of The National Archives, Kew, and were obtained from the digital service collection Royal Navy officers’ service records 1756-1931. Transcriptions published under the Open Government Licence (OGL) per The National Archives image reproduction guidelines.

[andthekitchensinkao3]

Fic Writing Review 2024

Thanks for the tags @loki-is-my-kink-awakening @kcscribbler and @lokimobius

I should warn you, I'm a Debbie Downer when it comes to numbers even when comparing them to my own stats, so be prepared. These are some shitty stats, right here.

User subscriptions are for all years, not just 24. Not sure why that's static, but hey ho. Six years gone, 35 people keep tabs on my fic. Don't ask me why.

Words and fics:

198,186 words posted on AO3. Let’s not look at how many words I’ve actually written, it’ll give people nightmares. Possibly especially since English isn’t my first language.

Don’t know which month was my busiest, but I finished Tapestries of Time, my first Lokius fic in exactly 28 days, totalling 41 014 words.

24 773.25 is my average words per month (since May this year = eight months)

14 fics (WiPs and finished), including drabbles, one-offs and multi-chapter stories.

Words written per fandom:

Loki (including the Baldur’s Gate mashup) - 180 009 (since May of 2024. MAY)

Dragon Age: The Veil Guard - 1 557 (since November 2024)

Fics and words published:

14 fics published, out of which are as follows:

7 multi-chapter

7 one shots

2 drabbles included in the one shots

198,186 words published

Published fics per fandom:

Loki - 82.4%

Dragon Age: The Veil Guard - 17.6%

Top 2024 fics per kudos:

Tapestry of Time (181 kudos, multi-chapter, finished) - Loki

Loose Ends (78 kudos, multi-chapter, in progress. The sequel fic to Tapestry) - Loki

Want  (70 kudos, a Emmrich/male Rook drabble) - DA: Veil Guard (lol for the amount of effort I put into that fic, I got more kudos in a single day than I have with any other fandom or fic. Makes me wonder why I even try to write full-fledged stories.)

The Second Kiss (62 kudos, a Lokius one shot and tumblr ask game fic) - Loki

Sledgehammer (58 kudos, multi-chapter, finished) (Loki)

Top 2024 fics per comment threads:

Tapestry of Time (10 chapters, post-s2 fix-it fic; 41)

A Promise Kept (13 chapters, BG3 crossover, Lokius Fantasy Romance; 35)

The World’s Fair Hotel (WiP, Lokius versus H H Holmes horror fic set in 1893; 24)

Loose Ends (WiP, sequel to Tapestry, 16)

We Die with the Dying; We are Born with the Dead (Vampire AU one shot; 13)

Kudos, hits and comment threads in 2024:

Percentage of kudos per views: 7.9% (768 kudos divided by 9703 hits) Yaaaay, less than ten percent of people who read my fics like themmm… Why do I even write to begin withhhh

Percentage of comment threads per kudos, assuming everyone who left a comment also kudos’d: 24.8% (191 comment threads divided by 768 kudos)

If we instead compare it to hits or views: 1.91%

Fandom events in 2024:

Lokius Reverse Bang

2024-11: Wanksgiving the Third: Lord High Admiral of Smut

Rules: Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some qualitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please don’t eat glass but don’t feel like you have to do this either.

Artists and gif makers, please also join in with any quantitative or qualitative stats or facts you want to share about your year.

No-pressure tags in no particular order for @thosegayoldmen @elodiah @impulsemuppet @blackbirdofasgard @distracteddream @devilbearingtrouble @mobiusismycomfortcharacter @mobiusisawholemood @mobiuscutemustache @mobius-m-mobius @mirilyawrites and anyone else whose username I can't recall, sorry.

[todaysdocument]

Telegram from Franklin Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Regarding Mother's Day

Record Group 181: Records of Navy Installations Command, Navy Regions, Naval Districts, and Shore EstablishmentsSeries: General Correspondence

2308 [handwritten] FILE 53907-9013 ORIGINAL FILED. EMC Copy to: All Officers. Miss [first letter missing]irvan. Miss McWilliams. TELEGRAM RECEIVED at Building 13 Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N. H. 6yd jo 121 govt Copied by C Lyon DN WASHN DC MAY 9 Navy Yard Portsmouth NH one hundred fifty one alnav: Sunday May eleventh has been selected for general observance as quote mothers day unquote I trust that no one who has a mother still living will neglect to write or if possible visit her on this occasion period No sacrifices during the war have been more severe or borne with more bravery and cheerfulness than the sacrifices of the mothers of America period Too much honor cannot be paid to them and it is trusted that this day comma set apart as a slight appreciation of our Mothers comma will be observed in spirit as well as in form by all members of the Navy o9oo9 Roosevelt Acting 132p

[eternal-echoes]

“In response to the high rate of suicidality among the trans population, advocates of gender theory consider only one possible cause: transphobes. If only people were more accepting, the argument goes, those who identify as trans would not harm themselves with such tragic frequency. This proposal, known as the "social stress" hypothesis, is not without merit. Stigmatization, bullying, and rejection from families and faith communities would certainly contribute to feelings of hopelessness.(19) However, the study that reported the 41 percent suicide risk also noted, "The survey data did not allow us to determine a direct causal relationship between experiencing rejection, discrimination, victimization, or violence, and lifetime suicide attempts."(20)

Doctors Paul McHugh and Lawrence Meyer explain, "Studies show that while social stressors do contribute to the increased risk of poor mental health outcomes for these populations, they likely do not account for the entire disparity."(21) If the problem of suicidality and poor mental health outcomes could be resolved by creating a more culturally friendly environment for individuals who identify as trans, one would expect better results from more tolerant societies. But this is not the case, as can be seen from the dismal results in Sweden and the Netherlands.(22) Similarly, in the United States, Dr. Jay Greene pointed out, "Lowering legal barriers to make it easier for minors to undergo cross-sex medical interventions without parental consent does not reduce suicide rates-in fact, it likely leads to higher rates of suicide among young people in states that adopt these changes."(23)

The problem of poor mental health outcomes and suicide is largely the result of the fact that more than 90 percent of people who commit suicide have a psychiatric diagnosis.(24) Therefore, it is an oversimplification to blame intolerant cultures for the poor results of gender reassignment treatments. The core problem could be that legitimate underlying mental health issues are not being addressed.”

-Jason Evert, Male, Female, or Other: A Catholic Guide to Understanding Gender

—

Work cited:

19) Cf. D. Burgess et al., "Effects of Perceived Discrimination on Mental Health and Mental Health Services Utilization Among Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Persons," Journal of LGBT Health Research 3:4 (2008), 1-14.

20) Haas et al., "Suicide Attempts Among Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Adults: Findings of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey," 13.

21) McHugh and Mayer, "Sexuality and Gender," Part Two.

22) Cf. Dhejne et al., "Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden,", 1-8; H. Asscheman et al., "A Long-Term Follow-Up Study of Mortality in Transsexuals Receiving Treatment with Cross-Sex Hormones," European Journal of Endocrinology 164:4 (April 2011), 635-642; N. Adams et al., "Varied Reports of Adult Transgender Suicidality," Transgender Health 2:1 (2017), 60-75.

23) Jay Greene, "Puberty Blockers, Cross-Sex Hormones, and Youth Suicide," Heritage Foundation, June 13, 2022).

24) J. Bertolote and A. Fleischmann, "Suicide and Psychiatric Diagnosis: A Worldwide Perspective," World Psychiatry 1:3 (2002), 181-185; R. Hirschfeld and J. Russel, "Assessment and Treatment of Suicidal Patients," New England Journal of Medicine 337:13 (September 25, 1997), 910-915.

—

For more recommended resources on gender dysphoria, click here.

[colormush]

[lime-bloods]

I've previously linked Cetus' voraciousness to the Lalonde tendency toward alcoholism (especially that of Rose's mother, the denizens manifesting the heroes' parents as they do), but through Rose's treatise on forbidden knowledge it also comes across that Cetus reflects Rose's appetite for knowledge. in Andrew's words, Light is "about information" (Book 3, p. 181), and since the rain Rose is expected to play to repopulate the Land of Light and Rain's seas is genetic information, it's implicitly information that Cetus has been gobbling up.

so long as we're saying that Cetus is a substance addict, though, and that information can be contained in water, it seems the intuitive next logical step that alcohol is also information, which seems to be what's being communicated by Roxy's bottle of genetic slime - even though practically speaking alcohol only seems to obfuscate information? but there are superimposed juxtapositions here; Rose's interest in necromancy versus Sburb's interest in procreation, the insistence that gravity is "nothingness" and yet nothingness is where ideas come from... so alcohol, like its troll "soporific" equivalent, is a medium in which information is dissolved, but not destroyed. (just like a black hole!)

in fact Rose seems to indirectly invoke alcohol's origins in real-world alchemy - the science of dissolving, rendering and re-constituting materials - during Openbound, when she first starts experimenting with distillation:

DAVE: what in the sweet religious name of jesus h dick are you doing with all these bottles ROSE: Just a little alchemy. [...] DAVE: youre a pretty good hike from the alchemiters ROSE: The alchemy I'm practicing is a little more old fashioned. ROSE: You know, there was a time on Earth when alchemy didn't refer to a process whereby a large device used game constructs to materialize some idealized version of an object out of thin air. ROSE: Alchemists used to experiment with various substances to transmute them into something more valuable.

[elias-rights]

What’s toxic about JonMartin in canon?

It's a really interesting question to get into because there are many factors at play. Under a cut for length.

First of all is the simple fact that they don't know each other. From MAG 159:

PETER

It’s odd, really. You each think you’re so focused on the other, but how much do you really know each other? How much time have you spent together when not working, or bickering, or fleeing from that latest thing that wants to kill you? So. What are you seeking? The image you’ve each created of the other? The people you think you love don’t exist. Not really. And that’s a very lonely place to be.

ARCHIVIST

(cutting off Peter’s echo) Shut up!

Yes, it's a manipulation attempt, but Jon notably doesn't offer a counterargument to his reasoning. Furthermore, it's true: they haven't had the opportunity to get to know each other, at least that we've heard. Not even Jonmartin enthusiasts seem to agree on the question of when exactly Jon started reciprocating Martin's feelings; most of my mutuals share my experience of being completely blindsided by MAG 159/160 and the confirmation of their feelings.

"I need him to be okay" is often cited as proof of Jon caring personally about Martin, but I always viewed it as him clinging to the concept of Martin as his last surviving original assistant; he obviously feels responsible for him and also views him as a symbol of simpler times.

Then there's the fact that they're incompatible. To put a simple example, they don't even get each other's jokes. A brief selection of instances where this happens:

They have the highest ratio of missed jokes I remember seeing between characters in this podcast. This sharply contrasts with, for instance, Gerry, who instantly clicks with Jon's style of communication.

Okay, but this is all about why they're incompatible, which doesn't necessarily imply toxicity. That factor comes in because, throughout season five, Martin is (to put it bluntly) an absolute dick to Jon.

In MAG 181, for example, he joins in on laughing at Jon with Salesa for being powerless, when Salesa at that point was an unknown variable that could've easily been an enemy:

ARCHIVIST

[Compellingly] Tell me what happened.

SALESA

No.

ARCHIVIST

I – uh… W-What?

[DEEP CHUCKLES FROM SALESA]

SALESA

The look on your face! Look, he’s so confused!

[MARTIN LAUGHS A BIT TOO]

ARCHIVIST

Martin!

MARTIN

Sorry. Sorry. Y-You did look kind of funny. It was l-l-l-like you were flunking an exam or something.

Notably, this is after they cross an unknown threshold into the place where an agent of the Web is living, which puts Jon (again, powerless for the first time in a while) in a position where he's at the mercy of the fear that destroyed his childhood. Either Martin is being very insensitive or Jon didn't tell him about Mr Spider, which wouldn't mean anything good re: how well they know and trust each other.

From the same episode:

SALESA

And you?

[SOUND OF A DISGRUNTLED ARCHIVIST]

MARTIN

He’ll behave.

You can make an argument that I'm reaching with everything else in this post, but "he'll behave" is an inarguably disgusting thing to say about your partner, especially when he's in such a vulnerable position.

And then, of course, is the matter of the killing spree.

It starts because Jon impulsively avenges his friend, which he wasn't going to do until the Not-Them basically baited him. (Of course he then felt more secure in his power and part of him enjoyed it. He's in this situation because he was systematically traumatised on purpose by Jonah and forced to read his statement.)

And then, when Jon admits to being ashamed of himself for having these powers, for enjoying them, Martin just bluntly tells him that they should "get their murder on" because "these things" (avatars, of which Jon! Is! One! Nice job implicitly dehumanising him!) are "just evil" (never mind that some of them might have circumstances similar to Jon's). (Also, never mind that revenge fixes nothing, but that's neither here nor there.)

The most egregious example is with Oliver Banks. I know "I'm not going to kill a man just because you're jealous" became a meme line, but it's really not the sign of a healthy relationship.

MARTIN

…Cool, so what’s the problem, then? Take another monster off the hit list; job done.

ARCHIVIST

…It’s not. That simple?

MARTIN

Well, what does that mean. (slight pause, insistent) What does that mean, John? What, what happened to Kill Bill? (barest of pauses) John? John, you said –

ARCHIVIST

I know what I said, and I don’t – (sigh) I don’t know, Martin. I just – I don’t think he’s – (sigh) I don’t know; I don’t think he’s evil.

[Something creaks.]

MARTIN

(really?) Oh, yeah, sure; he’s probably a really kind, benevolent ruler of a hellish fear prison.

I get that Martin is trying to project evil onto every avatar in order to distance himself from them because he's coping badly with having a domain of his own, but maybe don't do that in front of your boyfriend who's struggling with his own avatarhood and whether that makes him a monster. Martin's phrasing even parallels Jon's "all you lose is another monster" line from S4. Tying Jon's worth to some arbitrary definition of humanity that he giveth and taketh away on a whim.

Also, Jon is very notably a person who likes to think things through before expressing them. If Martin can't even be patient while he tries to explain something complex, they're clearly not compatible.

This is from before they kill Jude Perry:

MARTIN

…No. No, I’m not going to choose; I don’t, I don’t think that’s a fair decision to put on me. It’s your revenge; your choice, not mine.

This strikes me as hypocritical. Martin can push Jon to kill the avatars he doesn't like even when Jon clearly isn't comfortable with it, but then places the weight of the whole thing on Jon, as if the killing spree had been his idea. Why isn't it a "fair decision to put on him" when Martin has tried to choose every time until now?

And, I mean, Martin apologises for the pressure, for what it's worth. Except no, the topic comes back, and not in a good way.

ARCHIVIST

What happened to “Kill Bill”?

MARTIN

You weren’t meant to enjoy it this much!

This is about Jon suggesting using his power in a way that would actually make a bit of a difference. Of course it's a fallible suggestion, but Martin's response is just ridiculous. Martin clearly enjoyed the killing spree until it was Jon who put an end to it.

Martin casually dehumanises, dismisses, and belittles Jon on many occasions: treating those Jon's obviously projecting onto like monsters, being whiny and impatient about the statements he needs to survive, or interrupting his train of thought.

Finally (for this post--there were many scenes that I skipped), there's the matter of how the entire crew, Martin included, systematically dismisses Jon's input in the last few episodes. It's like his opinion doesn't even matter, when he's the one arguably best equipped to understand what's happening.

It's genuinely painful to listen to.

[gren-arlio]

So, I appear with Madou findings I forgot to give. And Yokai Watch updates.

I was supposed to show this in my last post but forgot to make a section for it, so I'm deciding to do it here, alongside other stuff.

Check it, a popularity poll around the time Saturn released. (The Schezo and Witch artwork.)

It's quite literally a popularity poll. There's the usual, Arle and Schezo being top 2, Witch and Draco in top 5, Satan being 6th, that nonsense. However, as we go down the list gets more interesting. Notably, Kikimora ranked 10 over Lagnus, who ranked 11th.

A few more notable placement is Momomo outplacing Suke (15th to 19th), Skeleton-T being 14th, and 20th being Honey Bee.

Waku Puyo Stuff:

So, a pal (@kirstenonic05 ) and I decided to go through some old Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon manuals we found online, and honestly? Yielded interesting results.

Waku Puyo Translations takes a super long time. Believe me, I'm working on them.

But with that, here's some of what we found.

Photo of Serilly inside one of these manuals. If you notice, there's some text next to her, so I decided to quickly run through these. The result is:

Serilly: A Rather Timid Mermaid

17 years old

210 CM (so about 6'10 in Ft.)

B: 93 W: 58 H: N/A (all in CM)

Undefined Weight, but likes round things.

A slightly naive girl with a complex due to being legless. She's paranoid that people are out to get her, but is actually lonely and wants friends.

Then after this, we have Harpy.

This stuff is partly in Korean, mostly because the best quality image I could find of this (The ones we had weren't the best,) came from Puyo Chatterbox, so the Japanese text could be easier to read.

Harpy: A Self-Proclaimed "Diva"

14 years old

147 CM (About 4'8 Ft)

B: 75 W: 58 H: 79 All CM

38 KG (About 83 pounds), and likes singing.

A young girl with wings who loves to sing more than anything else. But the heavens never bestow things to one person, and she's frankly bad at it. She's so bad at it, you can complain at the top of your lungs and she won't hear you. No offense given.

And then we got Incubus.

It reads as follows:

Incubus: The Invincible Narcissist

Unknown Age

181 CM (About 5'9)

71 KG (156 pounds)

B, H, and H: I don't want to tell you. (AKA. Undefined.)

Likes cute girls and himself.

A narcissistic Demon who loves any cute girls, no questions asked. Despite being confident in his looks, rumor has it that he wears makeup. According to Arle, he's a pervert like Satan and Schezo. There's really no serious men in this world.

And now, Draco.

So what does her bio say? Well:

Draco: The Energetic Dragon Girl (You could add Kung Fu if wanted...?)

16 years old

162 CM (5'3-ish. Are YOU taller than Draco?)

B and W: 78, with her H being undefined.

She chose to not tell her weight, and likes beauty contests.

A high-spirited half dragon, half human girl in a Chinese dress. She's a fighter of many techniques, has a variety of special moves, and can even breathe fire. Rumor has it, she's gets stronger depending on her popularity. (Or yours.)

And finally, Witch.

Ah, here we go.

Witch: The Tomboy Who Runs Her Own Path (directly doing translations gave me the tomboy of the Witch clan, which is...correct too? Your choice.)

15 years old

158 CM (5'1. Wow. She's short.)

B and H: 81 W: 58

45 KG (99 pounds)

Likes clean clothing and brooms.

A magical girl whose tone is influenced by The Drifters (a Japanese comedy band), with phrases such as "Oops!" and "That won't work!" She has a rivalry with Arle, but for some reason, she has a soft spot for Schezo. (You can also say she's very friendly to him.) She tends to be nosy.

Quick Yokai Stuff:

A while back, I posted the 3D models of the Yokai Watch collab finally being unearthed, so I decided to just quickly find some neat looking stuff.

This thing.

First thing I wanna say about it: Arle is legit part of the metagame. She's unironically amazing.

Second, just some promotional artwork I found of the game. I couldn't find more stuff for Witch for some... unexplainable reason.

(Thank goodness for my friend finding the last image. And also the watermark being noticeable enough.)

And honestly? That'll be all for now. Thanks for reading.

Adios.

[diabolus1exmachina]

Alfa Romeo Disco Volante by Touring Superleggera 

The Disco Volante is a two-seater Gran Turismo. It is based on the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione coupé with its front-central mounted 4.7 litre V8 engine and a transaxle rear drive with unmodified specifications. Each unit, of which the construction requires 4,000 hours of manual work.The present Disco Volante celebrates the myth of the 1952 style icon. The new design briefing required to blend ingredients as innovation, emotion and aerodynamic properties into a timeless and essential shape.During the development stage, Head of Design Louis de Fabribeckers and his team cooperated with the engineers on an almost daily basis. “We focused on the preservation of the design essence. – says de Fabribeckers – Once the design frozen, we had to understand the manufacturing problems and solve them right away without compromising the design.”In consistency with the car’s design philosophy the interior has a ‘science fiction’ feel to it. Part of this ‘spaceship’ atmosphere was created by elements like the red LED interior light profiles. Also, aeronautics has been the inspiration for parts like the dashboard, instruments and seat adjustment lever.The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione chassis was chosen for its light and rigid structure and its outstanding dynamic properties. Therefore it forms the perfect basis for the coach-built bodywork of the Disco Volante, integrally conserving the rolling chassis and drive train.The Alfa Romeo 8C’s steel space-frame and other structural elements were retained to guarantee torsion stiffness, high performance and the quality standard. The frame members and the central carbon cell remained unchanged. Elements of the underpinning and the body, such as the engine bay and firewall, the windscreen and cowl, the a-pillar and the locks and hinges have been retained too, just as the dashboard and instruments, the pedals and the steering wheel. Parts like doorframes, the roof frame and the c-pillar have been modified to match with the new shape.The layout of a front-central mounted engine, a transaxle transmission and rear-wheel drive offers an optimal weight distribution of 49-51% between the front and rear axles. To ensure excellent handling the front and rear double-wishbone suspension scheme is combined with hub carriers of forged aluminium and additional trailing arms for the rear suspension.The lightweight and compact 4.7 litre V8 engine delivers 450HP and 480Nm peak torque. It is coupled with a six-speed sequential transaxle gearbox with electronic control and paddle-shift gear selection. Together with a limited-slip differential and a state-of-the-art braking system with large diameter, ventilated discs a precise, dynamic and proactive drive is ensured. The Disco Volante can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 4,2 seconds and has a top speed of about 290 km/h (181 mph).

All new and modified components of the Disco Volante have been CAD designed. In this process, which covers feasibility, safety, homologation, aerodynamics and structural analysis, the most advanced IT tools and simulation techniques have been used.

Since torsion stiffness and noise reduction are of critical importance, special attention has been paid to the under-body structure and its elements, like the tubular frames supporting the rear wings and bumper, and the roll bar joining the c-pillars. Other complex design issues were the tailgate hinges, the 3d-cambered door window, and the front wheel covers.

The Disco Volante was then submitted to a CFD aerodynamic study to enhance the airflow and ensure optimal downforce in the rear section. After that, FEM calculations were run to assess resistance and rigidity of all parts subject to homologation.

Touring Superleggera is synonymous with the manufacture of lightweight bodywork. The weight advantage of aluminium is one of the assets of Touring Superleggera’s construction methods. Nowadays however, the craft of hand-beating aluminium panels is combined with the use of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP). For the Disco Volante, Touring decided to use this combination of aluminium and CFRP. This has been the result of a study conducted to define optimal use of materials for the bodywork in terms of weight, resistance, precision, finish and quality, and ease of repair in case of damage.

The CFRP is used for specific components like the front bumper and grille, the bonnet, the skirts, the boot lid and the integrated rear-window frame. The bonnet and the boot lid are sandwich-built with Nomex filler in-between to obtain a better stiffness/weight ratio and to dampen vibration and noise.

The aluminium panels are hand-beaten using an epoxy mould. Since the inner frames of most parts of the bodywork are made of CFRP, this requires gluing of aluminium on carbon fibre. This technique adds to the rigidity as the glue has structural properties.

The body panels are pre-assembled on a laser measurement platform using a jig. This ensures that the strict tolerance required is respected. After adjustment, the panels are either welded or glued. The body-in-white is then used to preassemble and fit all trim components, brightware and moulding.