#5th generation black tiger

[dorothygale123]

Raise your hand if you've heard of the 4 Guardian Beasts before. Anyone? If you don't, it's cool. That's what learning is for!

Now, anime fans like myself may be more than a little familiar with these guys as they've shown up in more than a few properties (ex. Fushigi Yuugi) but the concept, like many things in Asian culture, was originally Chinese. Also called the 4 Symbols, the 4 Gods, and the 4 Cardinal Creatures in English, the 4 Guardian Beasts are very popular in East Asia. We'll be calling them by their Chinese name, the Sixiang, because it's much shorter than any of their English titles because it's shorter. Do excuse me if I call the beasts themselves by their Japanese names, as it's what I know them best by.

The Sixiang are an astrological concept, with each one governing a portion of the sky. Each of these 4 sections had 7 constellations consisting of parts of the beast that when looked at together shows the beast as a whole. Pretty different from Greek constellations, huh? Anyways, these 28 total constellations were very important to Chinese cosmology as each one was seen as housing a different part of the Heavens, where the gods did their business. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Azure Dragon/Canglong/Seiryuu, Guardian of the East

Fun fact: back in ye olden days azure was used to describe a shade of green, so while there are many depictions of Seiryuu as a blue dragon a lot of really ancient art paints him green. Surprisingly, he's associates with the element of wood rather than water. His constellations house the Heavenly Gates and several parts of the Jade Emperor's palace (including the stables where a certain naughty monkey did a stint). He's generally seen as the most important member of the group as a result.

White Tiger/Baihu/Byakko, Guardian of the West

As the name suggests, Byakko is a massive white tiger that rules over all other beasts with a terrifying roar. He's said to be in tune with all 5 elements (water, fire, earth, wood, metal) but is most associated with metal. He carries the 'essence of heroes' and means business. His constellations mostly have to do with the Heavenly army, with the prison, garrison, and granary all falling under his purview.

Vermillion Bird/Zhuque/Duzaku, Guardian of the South

Often confused with a Phoenix, Suzaku is actually a distinct creature. The fact that Eastern and Western Phoenix's are very different in concept doesn't help matters, especially since cultural osmosis has led to the Eastern Phoenix becoming more and more similar to it's Western counterpart. Suzaku himself is very similar to a Western Phoenix, being associated with fire and elixirs of immortality. His constellations are very functional, housing heavenly the wells, wardrobes, kitchens, and other such things.

Black Turtle/Xuanwu/Genbu, Guardian of the North

Now I say turtle, but Genbu is a bit more of a dual creature. Sometimes they're 2 animals, a turtle with a serpent on it's back, and others it's a turtle with a long snake-like neck. Sometimes it goes full chimera and is a turtle with a snake for a tail, head included. No matter which way you slice it though, Genbu is some mix of snake and turtle. Naturally, it gets associated with the element of water. Sometimes it's even credited as once having been the turtle that carried the floating city of Penglai (which I'll get to eventually). Genbu's constellations seem to be wealth-based, as it presides over the temples, treasury, and non-military granary.

Okay, so I know I said 4 beasts, but the Sixiang are sometimes shown with a 5th member that takes it's place in the center of the group. Occasionally it's a yellow dragon to represent the Yellow Emperor, but personally I prefer when it's the qilin/kirin, the Chinese Unicorn. Now it's called a unicorn, but like many Chinese creatures it's a bit of a chimera. With the head of a ram, the hooves of a horse, legs of a wolf, body of a deer, scales of a snake, tail of an ox, and horns of a dragon. Calm and intelligent, it is often seen as a symbol of nobility and scholars. Another fun fact: the Japanese word for giraffe is kirin because of their remarkable resemblance to the mythical beast.

This was a bit of a long one, but I had fun! What about you guys?

Sh*tpost Masterlist

[beardedmrbean]

So Yasuke discourse back, and I just realize why

Black Americans are taught to HATE the core of the USA because the treatment of us. I mean my feelings towards my country is complex…but where this idea we were never taught this?

I’m sorry were you asleep in history class after the 5th grade?

I mean have you seen Emmett Till Corpse? My community was terrified for generations for black boys like me.

But anyways black supremacists latch onto other cultures like Japan and such for validation. Rather than our own people who survived and found success even in hard times America

Also this post https://www.tumblr.com/someoneintheshadow456/728775975508344832/i-think-one-of-the-biggest-differences-between

It two fictional historical stories, but remind when I saw a actress on the view being shocked she have slave owners ancestors

Despite being half Puerto Rican

And in her 30’s-40’s

I’m sorry does that chick think real life a Disney film?

Also about the samurai thing, yes people glamorize them like FX Shogun

But the Japanese (especially in counterculture as most mangakas are the descendants of the people the samurai oppressed. Oops, someone didn’t get the memo) acknowledged their samurai ancestors caused them significant issues especially with the isolation and stagnation the Tokugawa caused

Also I suspected but check wiki, the imperial Japanese army was heavily based off samurai culture 😬

And given the horrors they committed…

But anyways like I hinted at, the Japanese acknowledged their ancestors were complex people. But also acknowledged the flaws, because we can see it. Like people complain about how the late dbz creator draw black people

The thing is I heard some Japanese people don’t even a black person irl until their 30’s fuck I’m going too long

But at least get Japanese don’t have socialists in positions of influence and power that treat a book made by a antisemitic freeloader that rape his maid and let that offspring died poor less like the Bible.

Also another thing I notice in my abuse healing. If you don’t make some form of piece with what your abuser did to you.

Your shit out of luck at understanding history. Random but stuff I been noticing with Japanese culture and handling of others maybe another anon because an important figure in the pokemon community said something that shocked him while visiting nyc in the 2000’s.

Black Americans are taught to HATE the core of the USA because the treatment of us. I mean my feelings towards my country is complex…but where this idea we were never taught this? I’m sorry were you asleep in history class after the 5th grade?

The scripted 'how come they never taught us this in school' followed by 'you know' is one of the most infuriating things to show up and signal the beginning of discourse.

Texas isn't going to teach about slavery, Florida is going to teach that it wasn't so bad, are both statements I've seen allegedly educated people say, Texas most certainly will teach about it and the comment from Florida is that some slaves learned trades that helped them when they were free, like blacksmithing and coopering still not a statement in praise of anything, just a statement of fact.

They absolutely taught that stuff in school,

True you likely didn't learn about Bass Reeves which would be why people are so willing to believe The Lone Ranger was based off of him now, that would be also because they don't know about The Lone Ranger either, (there is some crossover and they likely pulled some from Bass)

There's only so much instruction time, you want to learn more there's a library or the internet.

But anyways black supremacists latch onto other cultures like Japan and such for validation. Rather than our own people who survived and found success even in hard times America

I have found that weird, then again they latch on to any successful black person as well and act like they own them, right up till the Williams Sisters marry white dudes, which for some reason was worse than Tiger marrying a white woman if memory serves.

The thing is I heard some Japanese people don’t even a black person irl until their 30’s fuck I’m going too long

I love Psych.

In person they may go their whole lives without seeing anyone but other Japanese people, common in not western nations. For all the talk about ethnostates people sure get them wrong a lot.

But at least get Japanese don’t have socialists in positions of influence and power that treat a book made by a antisemitic freeloader that rape his maid and let that offspring died poor less like the Bible.

That would be why no socialism in Japan, they killed the commies. My commitment to free speech says that was the wrong thing to do, but it also says people that want to cheer can.

The GOT/Downtown Abbey thing those were set in two totally different periods of time and one not even on earth so making comparisons to anything is difficult.

Edwardian Vs when Henry VIII was king totally different and not good to compare to each other to, not from a judgmental standpoint at least.

Also another thing I notice in my abuse healing. If you don’t make some form of piece with what your abuser did to you. Your shit out of luck at understanding history. Random but stuff I been noticing with Japanese culture and handling of others maybe another anon because an important figure in the pokemon community said something that shocked him while visiting nyc in the 2000’s.

Makes healing a bit more difficult too.

Forgive and forget is bunk, you don't have to forget, don't have to forgive either but I think that it's important to do that. Doesn't mean you need to speak a single word to the person or spare them a passing glance ever again though. Don't need to give them a chance to do it again, but forgiveness is as much for you as it is for the forgivee.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.13

313 – The decisions of the Edict of Milan, signed by Constantine the Great and co-emperor Valerius Licinius, granting religious freedom throughout the Roman Empire, are published in Nicomedia. 1325 – Ibn Battuta begins his travels, leaving his home in Tangiers to travel to Mecca (gone 24 years). 1381 – In England, the Peasants' Revolt, led by Wat Tyler, comes to a head, as rebels set fire to the Savoy Palace. 1514 – Henry Grace à Dieu, at over 1,000 tons the largest warship in the world at this time, built at the new Woolwich Dockyard in England, is dedicated. 1525 – Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for priests and nuns. 1625 – King Charles I of England marries Catholic princess Henrietta Maria of France and Navarre, at Canterbury. 1740 – Georgia provincial governor James Oglethorpe begins an unsuccessful attempt to take Spanish Florida during the Siege of St. Augustine. 1774 – Rhode Island becomes the first of Britain's North American colonies to ban the importation of slaves. 1777 – American Revolutionary War: Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette lands near Charleston, South Carolina, in order to help the Continental Congress to train its army. 1805 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: Scouting ahead of the expedition, Meriwether Lewis and four companions sight the Great Falls of the Missouri River. 1855 – Twentieth opera of Giuseppe Verdi, Les vêpres siciliennes ("The Sicilian Vespers"), is premiered in Paris. 1881 – The USS Jeannette is crushed in an Arctic Ocean ice pack. 1886 – A fire devastates much of Vancouver, British Columbia. 1893 – Grover Cleveland notices a rough spot in his mouth and on July 1 undergoes secret, successful surgery to remove a large, cancerous portion of his jaw; the operation was not revealed to the public until 1917, nine years after the president's death. 1895 – Émile Levassor wins the world's first real automobile race. Levassor completed the 732-mile course, from Paris to Bordeaux and back, in just under 49 hours, at a then-impressive speed of about fifteen miles per hour (24 km/h). 1898 – Yukon Territory is formed, with Dawson chosen as its capital. 1917 – World War I: The deadliest German air raid on London of the war is carried out by Gotha G.IV bombers and results in 162 deaths, including 46 children, and 432 injuries. 1927 – Aviator Charles Lindbergh receives a ticker tape parade up 5th Avenue in New York City. 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Villers-Bocage: German tank ace Michael Wittmann ambushes elements of the British 7th Armoured Division, destroying up to fourteen tanks, fifteen personnel carriers and two anti-tank guns in a Tiger I tank. 1944 – World War II: German combat elements, reinforced by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, launch a counterattack on American forces near Carentan. 1944 – World War II: Germany launches the first V1 Flying Bomb attack on England. Only four of the eleven bombs strike their targets. 1952 – Catalina affair: A Swedish Douglas DC-3 is shot down by a Soviet MiG-15 fighter. 1966 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona that the police must inform suspects of their Fifth Amendment rights before questioning them (colloquially known as "Mirandizing"). 1967 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson nominates Solicitor-General Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. 1971 – Vietnam War: The New York Times begins publication of the Pentagon Papers. 1973 – In a game versus the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium, Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes, Ron Cey and Bill Russell play together as an infield for the first time, going on to set the record of staying together for 8+1⁄2 years. 1977 – Convicted Martin Luther King Jr. assassin James Earl Ray is recaptured after escaping from prison three days before. 1977 – The Uphaar Cinema Fire took place at Green Park, Delhi, resulting in the deaths of 59 people and seriously injured 103 others. 1981 – At the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London, a teenager, Marcus Sarjeant, fires six blank shots at Queen Elizabeth II. 1982 – Fahd becomes King of Saudi Arabia upon the death of his brother, Khalid. 1982 – Battles of Tumbledown and Wireless Ridge, during the Falklands War. 1983 – Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the central Solar System when it passes beyond the orbit of Neptune. 1990 – First day of the June 1990 Mineriad in Romania. At least 240 strikers and students are arrested or killed in the chaos ensuing from the first post-Ceaușescu elections. 1994 – A jury in Anchorage, Alaska, blames recklessness by Exxon and Captain Joseph Hazelwood for the Exxon Valdez disaster, allowing victims of the oil spill to seek $15 billion in damages. 1996 – The Montana Freemen surrender after an 81-day standoff with FBI agents. 1996 – Garuda Indonesia flight 865 crashes during takeoff from Fukuoka Airport, killing three people and injuring 170. 1997 – A jury sentences Timothy McVeigh to death for his part in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. 1999 – BMW win 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. 2000 – President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea meets Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea, for the beginning of the first ever inter-Korea summit, in the northern capital of Pyongyang. 2000 – Italy pardons Mehmet Ali Ağca, the Turkish gunman who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981. 2002 – The United States withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. 2005 – The jury acquits pop singer Michael Jackson of his charges for allegedly sexually molesting a child in 1993. 2007 – The Al Askari Mosque is bombed for a second time. 2010 – A capsule of the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa, containing particles of the asteroid 25143 Itokawa, returns to Earth by landing in the Australian Outback. 2012 – A series of bombings across Iraq, including Baghdad, Hillah and Kirkuk, kills at least 93 people and wounds over 300 others. 2015 – A man opens fire at policemen outside the police headquarters in Dallas, Texas, while a bag containing a pipe bomb is also found. He was later shot dead by police. 2018 – Volkswagen is fined one billion euros over the emissions scandal. 2021 – A gas explosion in Zhangwan district of Shiyan city, in Hubei province of China kills at least 12 people and wounds over 138 others.

[keepingthespiritalive]

ZERO1 results for June 3, 2018

Pro-Wrestling ZERO1, 6/3/2018 [Sun] @ Susukino Mars Gym in Hokkaido

(1) Shoki Kitamura vs. Takuya Sugawara ◆Winner: Sugawara (7:59) following a Lariat. (2) Yoshikazu Yokoyama vs. 5th Generation Black Tiger ◆Winner: Yokoyama (9:19) with a High School Boy. (3) SUGI vs. Ikuto Hidaka ◆Winner: Hidaka (11:44) following the Takatsugawa.

(4) NWA UN Heavyweight Championship Match: [30th Champion] Chris…

[intuitive-bbloom]

Your parents first impression of your fsp and vice versa

Hello my shrooms! Welcome to another pac, it’s love family related since the whole world loves the idea of love and simply crave that, because being loved is being accepted and we all want that, don’t we?

Anyways let’s get into that!

ABC- Your parents first impression of your fsp

123 - Your fsp’s parents first impression of you.

A- Clothes hanging on the line

B- books sliding down

C- cursive writing of “Our moment”

—————————————————

1- Black coffee cup

2- Pencils stacked on each other???

3- Cactus

How to pick?

Take in a few deep breaths and ground yourself. Pick the image that calls out to you the most and relax. If none call out to you, this might not be the reading for you,

Disclaimer

I don’t own these pictures, I got them from Pinterest.

Pile A

Art

Communicate

4th house

Cosmos

Love yourself

Sagittarius

Libra

First thing your parents notice about your fsp is they’re artistic. It must be in the clothes they wear, probably a tie-and-dye outfit or your fsp is an artist. They notice how talkative and extroverted your fsp is, chattering and giggling and being a generally easy to get along person. They see your fsp as family already, as a family oriented person too, they see the two of you having a really loving and nurturing family. They think you two are meant to be. They might notice that your fsp is quite insecure about their body, whether is be their height or their physique or their teeth or something but your parents are like, “we’re chill with that. Your appearance doesn’t mean anything to us, you’re a pretty good person for our child.”. They will notice that your fsp is very lively and fun to be around, might blurt a few things here and there and overall really good looking regardless of how your fsp thinks otherwise.

I hope you liked my reading!! Like and reblog my shrooms! Have a nice day 💕💕💕☺️☺️💓

Pile B

Your power rests in you

August

Love yourself

5th house

Fish

Ouroboros

January

Gardenia

Have faith

So pile B your parents might think your fsp is too shy, or anxious or in their headspace. Like they just want to reach over to them and tell your fsp that it’s alright that they should relax around them. They want to give your fsp the pep talk about how they’re now family and there’s no need to be so anxious and to be more bold and comfortable with them. They will notice your fsp is self conscious and insecure in their presence. Like something is telling me your family is intimidating one way or the other, you might not know it but I’m feeling intimidated that they’re so bright and well put together, they might be living very comfortably, beyond your fsp’s standards of like living and thus the insecurity. Your parents will also notice how lovey dovey the two of you are and they approve of the relationship.

I hope you liked the reading my shroom! Like and reblog boo!! Have a nice day ☺️☺️💕💕💕💕💕✨✨✨✨

Pile C

Light at the end of the tunnel

Good things take time

Ram

Jaguar

November

Tiger

Sweet tooth

So pile C, I’m getting that your fsp is the unexpected, the prayed for 😂😂 their first impression is how and when? I’m getting the feeling that you were so caught up in other things like work while neglecting love or taking a break from it because of a heartbreak. Your parents were pressuring you with stuff like, “When are you going to start dating again?” “You’re not getting any younger.” stuff like that, and they lost hopes of you ever getting back in the dating game then one day your fsp comes in with you and they’re like, ????? When and how!?!???? I thought you were done for??? Okay they notice how sweet your fsp is, so fiery and the push and drive that just matches with their you, your fsp lights up their kid. Your fsp might have dark features like really dark hair or wear dark clothes, they might also wear patterned clothes like tiger stripes or leopard or Jaguar prints. They also notice your fsp likes sweet things, ice creams, cookies and just basically that gold ol sugary stuff.

(The song that just started playing is Remember November by No Rome, give the song a listen, it might be of importance.)

I hope you liked your reading my shroom! Like and reblog! 💕💕☺️☺️ and have a nice day!! ✨💕✨✨✨

————————————

Pile 1

Darling

Pluto

I love spending time with you

March

You’re so pretty!

3rd house

Change

Pile 1 they absolutely love you! You’re their darling! Their first impression is how you’re so reserved and mysterious and intimidating, but so beautiful! Their child really landed on a gold mine 😂😂 So you’re quite the intellectual, you give them engaging conversations and they love debating with you and listening to your opinions on certain things. They might start asking their child, your fsp, to be visiting with you more so they can see you and talk. I’m getting they’ll even baby you more than your fsp 😂😂😭 You’re a change of pace from what they’re used to, your fsp might’ve had like a type but you’re different from the people he’s usually with. Or you might be a foreigner.

Have a nice day my shroom! Like and reblog 💕☺️💕☺️✨✨✨✨

Pile 2

555

Foreign

000

Rabbit

They don’t deserve you

Don’t surrender

Uranus

Stars

222

Pile 2 I’ll be honest with you. I don’t really think they like you… The first thing they’ll notice is how different you are to them. You might be from another race most likely, or gender or religion idk but you’re different from what they’re used to. I think they might think you’re too good for their child, they might be really toxic people, the people your fsp warned you about and how they didn’t want to introduce you to them but you were bent on seeing them. Your in-laws might always be chipping depreciating comments about your fsp and might be telling you to find someone better than their kid which will definitely shock you at how disgusting they are, they say this in front of your fsp because they don’t care. They might find you as an innocent person that is far too good for their child, until they see how rebellious and intolerable you are to their behavior.

Have a nice day boo💕☺️💕☺️

Pile 3

Gladiolus

Bee

111

Hearing

We work well together

September

Amaryllis

Smile some more

Saturn

In with the new and out with the old

Nature

Be one with nature

So pile 3 I’m getting your in-laws are gonna think you’re so hardworking, stable, reliable and organized. They’re gonna like that about you but I’m getting they’re thinking you’re too rigid, too uptight, I’m hearing let loose around them, they’re your family after all. I’m getting your in-laws are pretty simple free spirited people who don’t like hyper focus on things like you. They are chill, but not like hippie like, maybe a little but nah, they give me Sag vibes. They think you’re really attentive and just want you to be comfortable with them, I’m getting they go camping or hiking a lot so expect that family road trip across the country. Your fsp’s dad might like you and make efforts to welcome you in, I just saw him handing you a cold beer from the cooler or helping you with all this work you carry on your own. He doesn’t want you to do everything, you’re now his kid too. I’m also getting he’ll be cracking some jokes in hopes to get a smile out of you, a genuine one.

I hope you liked this reading my shroom! Like and reblog ☺️💕☺️💕 have a nice day

𝔹𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕞💕

[simlicious]

I found amazing pattern designs at spoonflower 😍 The swimming tigers pattern is so original, don’t you think? If you want, read on to get to know more about my conversion/pattern creation process!

The last few days, I have been creating a lot of patterns, but I am not very productive when it comes to correcting them/adjusting color palettes at the moment... 😑 I often go back and change the color palette, because it looks so different in-game than in the pattern preview. I also have to sometimes scrap a pattern size because it looks too pixelated/ does not work on a small scale, or fix a few misplaced pixels.  I managed to get the tiger pattern right though. What you see is the color scheme I chose for the default and I think it looks beautiful like this. Sometimes, the contrast between colors is off, but not on this one 🤗 There is really a lot of work involved in the patterns, even though it might not always seem like it. I often have to make patterns tile properly, which can take a lot of time. For multi-color patterns, I have to think about what areas I will put in separate color channels so it recolors purely and what areas will be mixed colors between two main colors. Often, the pattern looks entirely different in its sims 3 version than of the original. Just copying everything, including the colors of the original, is generally too boring for me!

If you want to go further down this particular rabbit hole with me, you can read in detail what techniques I used in this pattern. (I don’t know why I want to write about it right now, but the information wants out, so here it goes:) The tiger pattern is a good example of maximizing the colors, as it also uses the background color as a 5th color. The background color is a fixed color, which I can set and which will stay the same no matter how one recolors the pattern.

For the tigers pattern, I used a black background color for the tiger stripes. Additionally, I used it for the darker plants in the water by lowering the opacity in the first channel. The first channel is mainly used for the color with the biggest area (the body of water, in this case). By using different opacities, I can create shades of a color, and thus broaden the color spectrum of the pattern. Similarly, I lowered the opacity of the color channel that has the white fur parts of the tiger and the water ripples. By lowering the opacity of the water ripples, the blue color of the water shows through, and the final color is a lighter shade of blue (mixed with a hint of white), while the fur part is opaque white. I use these tricks to get the most out of the 4 (5, with the fixed background) colors we have available. This comes with a small caveat, since you cannot recolor the channel without also affecting the water ripples, but I tend to use this when it is something that you would hardly change drastically. But enough pattern theory for now. Thank you for your interest in my pattern process! It is much easier to comprehend visually though. Let me know if you would be interested to watch a timelapse video of me making a pattern. I am thinking about trying that out/branching out to youtube, maybe?

[lilyginnyblackv2]

Tiger & Bunny 2 - Character Popularity Poll

The Japanese website Netorabo ran a Character Popularity Poll from May 29th to June 5th, 2022. The poll received 1,751 votes and the question asked was, “Who is your favorite TIGER & BUNNY 2 character?”

They had 16 characters on the poll, plus a “Other” option. So, here are 11 - 16 + the “Other” option, along with how many votes they got:

Other  - 17 Votes

#16 - Agnes - 3 Votes

#15 - Fugan/Hugan - 6 Votes

#14 - Mugan  - 7 Votes

#13 - Subaru / Mr. Black - 13 Votes

#12 - Thomas / He Is Thomas - 18 Votes

#11 - Lara / Magical Cat - 19 Votes

Unsurprisingly, we have the newer heroes and the antagonists here. This makes sense to me, since the audience is still learning about the new heroes. I’m also not surprised by the order of the new heroes and their popularity. Lara and Thomas tend to be more generally favored over Subaru in both the Japanese and international fanbase (he’s personally my least favorite of the new heroes, as well).

Mugan and Fugan/Hugan being so low makes sense too. I enjoyed them as antagonists, but they were just here for this one cour, so a lot of people aren’t going to have them as their favorite character. The same can be said for Agnes. I love her character, but I wouldn’t choose her as my favorite character in the whole series. A part of me does wonder if her ranking would have been a bit higher if she was still skinny (sadly, there as been quite a bit of fatphobic comments in regards to Agnes among the Japanese fanbase, so it does just make me go “hmm...”, you know).

Now, for the Top 10! 🥳

#10 - Antonio / Rock Bison  - 32 Votes

#9 - Nathan / Fire Emblem - 36 Votes

#8 - Paolin / Dragon Kid - 52 Votes

#7 - Karina / Blue Rose - 73 Votes

#6 - Keith / Sky High - 87 Votes

#4 - Yuri Petrov - 96 Votes

#4 - Ivan / Origami Cyclone - 96 Votes

#3 - Ryan / Golden Ryan - 166 Votes

#2 - Barnaby Brooks Jr.  - 291 Votes

#1 - Kotetsu / Wild Tiger - 739 Votes

Kotetsu annihilated them, omg!  😂 😂 😂This ranking isn’t all that surprising to me, T&B fans absolutely love Kotetsu. That’s not to say that there isn’t anything interesting going on with this ranking though. Ryan being in third place was a bit of a surprise for me. I knew he was well liked in the fanbase in general, but I didn’t realize it was by that much. I find it fascinating that Yuri just goes by Yuri here and not Lunatic. I would assume it is because Lunatic doesn’t really make an appearance in the first cour. 

Anyway, this fan ranking is pretty fun to compare to the Hero TV Rankings:

It would also be interesting to see the differences in character rankings between this Japanese fanbase centered poll and an international fanbase centered poll.

Source

[pacificshoulder]

I know this week month supposed to be about vaultober but I cant join when I haven't even introduced her properly, so here I present you..

Template by: @cynicaljapanophile, shared by: @missnight0wl

Azula Summer Reeves

Last edit: 15/11/21

General Information

Name: Azula Summer Reeves (Azula Reeves)

Nickname(s): Most school residents - even Mr. Filch and the kitchen elves too - call her 'Little Ravenclaw' due to her height. Is called Lulu by her family, especially her grandparents.

Gender: Female

Date of Birth: 10th of June, 1973

Astrological/Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Ethnicity: British-Austronesian (unspecified)

Nationality: English. Born and grow in Cornwall, England.

Species: Human

Blood Type: A+

Blood Status: Half-blood

Family:

Ernest Hugo Reeves, Azula’s father. A half-blood who has both a wizarding world and a muggle world job. As the only son among 4 siblings, he inherited the tea production company from his muggle father, making him the second-generation owner. The tea products are also sold to the wizarding world's tea shops, Madam Pudifoot's Tea Shop being one of the patrons. As a wizard, he indulges more in herbology and potions, along with his herbologist and potioneer sisters to support his magical tea creations.

Padma Magani Reeves, Azula’s mother. The only witch in her family, making her a muggle-born. In her country -which still striving for its independence at the time she'd been born- magic is considered harmful, as the only known magic then was dark magic. She'd been labeled as 'cursed' even by her parents. Those who see her ability as talent are only her siblings, and later on, Ernest.

(There's a whole another chapter of their meeting, but it's not completed yet)

After she had affirmed her feelings for Ernest, they both fled to England and got married there. Her life turned into a whole different one. The Reeves are accepting and warm, and the presence of her two children just complete her. She also learned magic from her in-laws -which helped her pass WOMBAT- mostly healing and herbology to help Ernest with the business.

Asher Jacob Reeves, Azula’s older brother. Having quite an age gap with his little sister, he sees her as a baby. He's a doting brother, though he's the type to show it through jokes. That is until around his 6th year at Hogwarts his letters became less until they were none.

Affiliation(s)/Organization(s):

The Reeves family

The Goshawk family (paternal line)

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:

Ravenclaw House

Dueling Club

Circle of Khanna

Occupation(s): Student (currently in 5th year)

Appearance

(faceclaim: artbreeder)

Height: She's more petite-sized -her father's genetic doesn't contribute much to her appearance. She barely touched 151cm (4'9") when she enrolled in Hogwarts and didn't grow much since.

Weight: Always between 49-52kg (108-115lbs), depends on her mood. She looks quite stocky due to some muscles, not that she mind tho.

Hair Colour/Style: Mild-wavy black hair which turns blue-ish under sunlight, that's why she LOVE being outdoor to show off. Ever since she learned how to adjust her hair length with magic, she changes them to her mood, but mostly medium short during class and ponytail for quidditch, for practical reasons.

Complexion (skin tone/condition): Mid brown tone and she loves it, not much worry for getting prominent tan for being outside long.

Eye color: Dark brown under heavy lid.

Magical Characteristics.

Form of Boggart: Herself crouching down in white gown, surrounded by all dark and gloom, with hands covering her ears, eyes shut close, chanting spells that seem to not work. She's afraid of her own failure, fails to keep her family together, fails to found Asher (Jacob).

Form of Riddikulus: Her crouched body rolls over and over as it turns into a snowball and toppled the people around.

Form of Patronus:  A tiger, later changed into a Knarl (caused by developed personality)

What do they see in the Mirror of Erised?

Herself carried over Asher's shoulder, her parents giggled at their behavior, just like how they were when she was younger, before this whole Cursed Vault fiasco.

Wand(s):

First wand: Hornbeam, Dragon heartstring, 11", inflexible

Description: Given by the game. Hornbeam wands are said to be the most loyal and easily adaptable for their owner, making them quickly personalised. They consider their owner as life-mate. The dragon heartstring core is said to produce the most magical power and learn quickly. Though the core is not the champion of loyalty, the wand body could balance it. As she entered Hogwarts with power to save her family -Jacob- in mind, this wand is the most suitable for her.

Second wand: Ebony, Dragon heartstrings, 11 1/4"

Description: Given by the game. After Rakepick broke her first wand, Mr. Ollivander recommended this jet-black wand for her, as she's grown to be more focused on herself and her goal of saving her family -Asher (Jacob).

Animagus: A Merlin bird! Though the game gave us a different bird option, she chose to be a Merlin bird. They are pretty small for a falcon bird, which while having the ability to defend and attack still gave her the freedom she needs.

Amortentia: Fresh laundry, petrichor, sandalwood, caramel.

Hogwarts Information.

Taken elective(s): Divination (dropped midway), Care of Magical Creature, Study of Ancient Runes, Arithmancy.

Worst Class(es): Classes that include small invertebrates (especially squirmy things). She had a terrible experience with worms when she was a toddler and it affects her deeply till now. Care of Magical Creature is quite tolerable, but once she ran away when Kettleburn announced the creature of the day was flobberworm - she apologized to Kettleburn after class though.

Actually interested in potions, like experimenting with ratios and their effect, but she hates touching those peculiar ingredients - even the dead or dried ones. Struggling with herbology because of the same reason, and basically just doesn't have green thumbs, unlike her mother.

Best Class(es): Excels in spells-centered classes, like Charms, Transfiguration, and DADA. She just loves how few words could change things.

Least Favourite Teacher(s): Trelawney. She's actually interested in her class, not believing it, but curious about how it works. But all things she's curious about are not answered. Though she knows divination is not an exact-logic class, all Trelawney's answers are too vague to be understood, it doesn't help her.

Favorite Teacher(s): Flitwick. Being her head of house aside, she could see his dedication to the class. He's strict but not as stern as McGonagall. He understands students' curiosity and desire for knowledge, and if the subject wasn't supposed to be learned, he only gives 'precaution'. Like when Azula asked him to tutor her the Obliviate spell, he still decided to help her despite probably knowing she's up to something peculiar.

Quidditch: She started late and got the position of Chaser. Though in the later years, with the Cursed Vault issue getting busier, she quit being a member. She still comes to the pitch after team practice to join friendlys, or play with Charlie and Andre on the weekends, just to destress.

Favorite Spell(s): Finite Incantatem, Accio, Avifors (for entertainment and duel), Deletrius (on enemy only)

Trivia

(random facts about them, future job, face claim, theme song, etc.)

You cant quite pinpoint her personality. Sort of like she has 4D personality, or someone who lives in their own world. Sometimes she does this and sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she's an open person sometimes she's as shut as a clam. Sometimes her moods are up, other times they're down, or even just hover. Many random things she's done are weirdly questionable. But one thing is she stays true to herself and not afraid to be bold (when she have to).

Coming from SEA mother, she handles spice REALLY well. Brings a tiny bottle of mixed spice to meals to help her picky appetite. Pitts doesn't like this idea.

If you see someone in the courtyard do a little twirl while humming to A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes it's probably her in her good mood. The one laying down blankly on the corridor floor is probably also her, just being melancholy and contemplating life.

She's the type of person who instead of curses fvck or a$$hole, would say "hope your pinky toe and the table corner have lasting relationship" sort of phrases

She took arithmancy in consideration of becoming a curse breaker in the future. Though it might seem stressful and tedious to continue doing curse-breaking after all these Cursed Vaults took her whole years at Hogwarts, she thinks it might be what she's best at, what keeps her going.

Loves experimenting new spells/charms and potions just for fun. Tonks, Tulip, and Jae sometimes give her the ideas -for whatever purpose only they know. Sometimes Badeea willing to help her, if not busy with her paintings.

Mostly stays up late, because she has lot of thoughts or anxiety took over her. When she does, she goes down to the common room, sit on the windowsill, reads some fictional fun book or reviews her experiments just to take her mind off from wandering. Or she turns into her animagus form, took off somewhere, and sit or munch some snacks she brought.

[usafphantom2]

Complete guide to fighters in "Top Gun: Maverick"

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 04/16/22 - 9:19 PM in Fun, Military

On May 27, the long-awaited film "Top Gun: Maverick" which had its premiere delayed three times, should finally arrive on the movie screens. Find out which fighters will appear in the movie.

In this sequel to the 1986 classic, Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell (Tom Cruise) returns to the cockpit of the U.S. Navy fighters to train a new group of young aviators in charge of what seems to be some kind of extremely dangerous mission.

The "Top Gun" franchise is obviously a work of fiction set in a universe with very different Navy regulations and even geopolitics (the conclusion of the first film should probably have started a new World War in another way).

It has been a long time since we were introduced to a high-budget action film focused on real-world tactical aircraft and the incredible men and women in charge of piloting them at the limit of human and technological capacity. "Top Gun" may not be real, but the fighters that these pilots take into the fight are, and movies like this offer us a way to take a peek into the incredible world of fighter aviation - even if it comes with some exaggerations.

The first Top Gun featured very real fighters (even if some were invented)

The original "Top Gun" was more than a highly successful film, it also ushered in a golden age of U.S. Navy aviation recruitment. The film did such a good job of selling young Americans the idea of flying on combat planes that some recruiters even set up tables outside theaters to get involved with the movie buffs when they left the movie. The fascination of the incredible performance of the F-14 Tomcat alone was enough to inspire many aspiring aviator to consider wearing a Navy uniform.

The MiG-28 from the 1986 film Top Gun.

Tomcat's competitor in the 1986 film, however, was not as real as the F-14A. The MiG-28, boasting a black painting and a seemingly Soviet red star on its tail, never existed and should also not appear in the new film, but it is good for remembering the iconic hunt.

Okay, it's not technically true: the aircraft portrayed as the MiG-28 in "Top Gun" is a real aircraft, but it's not a MiG. Damn, it's not even Russian. In fact, it is another fighter in the U.S. arsenal, the Northrop F-5 Tiger II, which still performs flights as opponents in training against U.S. Navy pilots.

Obviously, Paramount Pictures failed to get their hands on a real MiG-29, which was built specifically to face capable American fighters like the F-14, and in the days when visual effects could turn almost anything into reality, they needed something to position themselves as a capable opponent. Compared to the massive and powerful F-14, the small and agile structure of the F-5 made it an excellent response to Tomcat's brute force.

"Top Gun: Maverick" will feature the 5th generation Russian fighter, the Su-57

This time, it seems that Maverick and the rest of the Navy crew in "Top Gun: Maverick" will be facing a real foreign aircraft in the Sukhoi Su-57, NATO Felon name. Earlier, we reported that this seemed likely, based on the toy lines that hit stores before the original release date of the film in June 2020. Of course, just like in the first film, the filmmakers were unable to get their hands on a real Su-57 - after all, Russia has only about 14 of them in total - so the villainous stealth jet is a recreation in computer graphics.

It seems almost likely that "Top Gun: Maverick" will paint the Su-57 as a formidable enemy, potentially even in close combat with an F/A-18 Super Hornet from Maverick and company. This would be perfectly in accordance with the popular perceptions of this aircraft, even if not necessarily according to the mediocre reality of the Felon.

The Su-57 is easily the worst of the 5th generation fighters in the world, thanks in large part to Russia's struggles to develop the means to mass aircraft with the incredibly rigid production tolerances required by poaching jets. The aircraft was originally proposed in a joint venture between the Russian and Indian governments, but India gave up the program in 2018, when rumors arose that the new fighter (known at the time as PAK FA) was simply not stealthy enough to justify its expense. To this end, expert evaluations placed the cross-section of the Su-57 radar at approximately 0.5 square meters - about 5,000 times larger than the F-22 Raptor and almost on the same level as Maverick's new F/A-18 Super Hornet.

Stealth problems are not the only problem of the Su-57 - delays in Russia's 5th generation engine program have left its fleet of Felons operating the same AL-41F1 engines found in the 4th generation Su-35S not stealthy, but highly capable. An analysis by Rand Corporation of the aircraft's advanced set of 360-degree sensors postulates that the system itself also remains incomplete, probably hampered by international sanctions imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine in 2014, and these problems will certainly be exacerbated by deeper cuts, sanctions and financial penalties imposed on the nation after its recent large-scale invasion of the same nation.

However, despite the problems of the Su-57, it should be remembered that the Russian doctrine of air war does not rely as strongly on stealth as that of the United States, and the Su-57 remains extremely difficult to detect when it approaches head-on, as it could during a hunting interception. Combine this with thrust vector control, allowing fantastic once target maneuverability and a thrust-to-weight ratio comparable to the Super Hornet and it is clear that the Su-57 would not turn into scrap with virtually any 4th generation fighter.

The Su-57 is said to reach Mach 2, with the ability to transport 6 weapons internally without compromising its stealth profile.

Maverick's new jet is an F/A-18 Super Hornet

The original "Top Gun" may have left viewers longing for the F-14 cockpit, but with Tomcat's retirement in 2006, Maverick's five-decade career now puts him behind the joystick of the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E Super Hornet.

The Super Hornet is a direct successor to the successful F/A-18 Hornet, but although they look similar, the Super Hornet is practically a totally different aircraft. With a 20% larger fuselage, the Super Hornet carries 33% more fuel and burns it more efficiently, ensuring 41% more range or 50% more flight resistance in combat patrol (ability to enter combat without having to refuel). It can carry 15,000 pounds more than its predecessor Hornet, making room for a series of avionics upgrades, and its improved General Electric F414 engines (an update over Hornet's F404), provide 35% more boost in most of the aircraft's flight envelope.

In other words, Boeing took a very capable aircraft and made it significantly better. As we have already discussed, the Super Hornet is widely claimed to carry a radar cross-section of something between 0.5 and 1 square meter, which puts it not far from Russia's Su-57 in a direct comparison. However, the Super Hornet must carry its ammunition externally, which will certainly make it much easier to detect on the radar than the Felon.

The Super Hornet, or Rhino, as it is known by Navy pilots, thanks to its heavier weight and rhinoceros-like overhang coming out of the front of the fighter radome, was called an "80%" solution to the U.S. Navy's long list of problems at the end of the life of the F-14. It lacked the power, speed and range of the Tomcat, but with a maximum speed of Mach 1.5 and enough hardpoints to carry 11 weapons (five more than the Su-57 while maintaining stealth) it proved to be a very capable multimission jet. In fact, he was a U.S. Navy pilot in a Super Hornet that marked America's only air-to-air slaughter in decades when he shot down a Syrian Su-22 in 2018.

"Top Gun: Maverick" will also feature the F-35C

Another assumption that can be made thanks to the Matchbox toy line has apparently been confirmed by Paramount film crews working aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln: "Top Gun: Maverick" is likely to feature the Lockheed Martin F-35C.

The F-35C is the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier-embedded version of the stealth Joint Strike Fighter, boasting a larger wing area than its sister jets, a more robust landing gear and, of course, the hook requirement for aircraft carrier landings. This extra wing area allows slower approaches to the aircraft carrier, but also provides the additional benefit of extra internal fuel storage - granting the aircraft carrier version of the JSF more than 8% of fuel than the air force version dependent on the airstrip and a huge 35% more fuel than the short-run/vertical landing F-35B used by the Marine Corps.

The F-35C is powered by a Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 post-combustion turbofan engine capable of achieving an impressive 43,000 pounds of post-combustion thrust, and has a small radar cross-section (although larger than the F-22) by about 0.0015 square meters. It can carry only four weapons internally, maintaining a stealth profile, however, and due to concerns about damage to its radar absorbent coating, this jet is largely limited to subsonic speeds, except in emergency situations. If asked to do so, the F-35C could overcome the Super Hornet in a race, with a maximum speed of Mach 1.6, but would have the cost of its low observability (its radar absorbent coating begins to crack and peel under the intense heat caused by air friction at these speeds).

But what the F-35C lacks in old-fashioned combat power, it more than compensates with incredible data fusion and computing power. The F-35 offers greater situational awareness than any other tactical aircraft on the planet, collecting data from a wide variety of ground, marine, air and even space sensors and merging everything into a single and easy to navigate display directly in the pilot's field of view. In a very real way, flying the F-35 is almost like a video game, complete with red squares appearing around bandits, green squares around the good ones and a variety of real-time data displayed on a heads-up display and the aircraft's huge touchscreen console.

The F-35 is widely presented as a "quarterback in the sky" thanks to its vast computing power that allows you to build a complete view of the battle space, which the F-35 pilots use to help improve the awareness of all friendly aircraft in the area. The F-35 raises the information tide for all allied assets, making its 4th generation wings more deadly than they could otherwise be.

The Su-57 may be a little more stealthy than the Super Hornet, but compared to the F-35, the Felon can be a bright neon sign. How this aircraft will fit into the fight we will see in "Top Gun: Maverick" is not yet known, but it will probably be flying in support of Mav and his friends in their Rhinos.

The crazy jet you see in some trailers is called "DarkStar" and may be a hypersonic clone of the SR-72

In another Matchbox preview found in the toy section is the Darkstar aircraft shown only briefly at the end of some of the trailers for the film. The jet is clearly not based on anything in operation today...

Based on the shock wave visible when the jet passes through the trailer, it seems likely that this exotic-looking aircraft will introduce hypersonic platforms into the Top Gun universe. Supersonic aircraft (such as the F-14 Tomcat of the "Top Gun" and the F/A-18 Super Hornet) are able to fly faster than the speed of sound (Mach 1). Hypersonic aircraft travel much faster - above Mach 5, or about 3,838 miles per hour.

The Darkstar of "Top Gun: Maverick" bears a remarkable resemblance to the actual effort to put on the field a successor to Lockheed Martin's legendary SR-71 Blackbird, the SR-72.

The SR-72 must be a hypersonic aircraft with Mach 6 capacity that depends on dual-mode ramjet propulsion, not much different from Hermeus' latest efforts to field a Mach 5 passenger aircraft. Much like hypersonic (perhaps excessively trendy) missiles developed by nations such as China, Russia and the United States, vehicles moving at these incredible speeds would be almost impossible to intercept using existing air defense technology.

Lockheed Martin confirmed that engine tests had already taken place for the SR-72 in 2018. In fact, the U.S. Air Force announced work on a reduced technology demonstrator in 2013, but despite Lockheed Martin's very optimistic statements over the years, no real SR-72 has ever manifested itself (at least to the public's knowledge). The Darkstar certainly seems to be based on Lockheed Martin's concept art for the SR-72, suggesting that it may also be able to achieve hypersonic velocities.

There are some differences between the two - most notably the use of two vertical stabilizer fins on the back of the "Darkstar", with only one central stabilizer on the SR-72. However, since Lockheed Martin's image is nothing more than a conceptual design, the final platform (if it comes to fruition) could also be viable.

Maverick's P-51 Mustang actually belongs to Tom Cruise

"Top Gun: Maverick" not only features new fighters and advanced aircraft, but also an appearance of Tom Cruise's personal-owned P-51 Mustang.

You can actually buy these incredible fighters from the World War II era, although they tend to cost between $2.5 and $4 million each... so how exactly Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell managed to pay one with his salary in the Navy's active duty is a real mystery (it is probably classified). In real life, Tom was presented by his then-wife Katie Homes, so maybe Mav has a well-funded friend as well.

The American P-51 Mustang first took off in 1940 and, despite being an American aircraft, entered service with the British Royal Air Force in 1942. However, he did not enter the fight until 1943. It soon proved to be an extremely effective bomber escort, and in 1944, Maj. Gen. James Doolittle (who gained fame during the Doolittle Raid) was adjusting U.S. air doctrine to send these capable fighters far ahead of the bombers to hunt German aircraft, instead of keeping them in tight formations with the bombers they supported.

The P-51D Mustang, with its legendary 1,490-horsepower Merlin engine, was the best-known version of the aircraft, combining its acrobatic performance with exceptionally long range. This was a watershed for the Allies who had suffered significant losses in bombing missions over the European theater until that time. With a maximum speed of 437 miles per hour, six .50 caliber machine guns and the ability to carry ten 5-inch rockets (or 2,000 pounds in bombs), the P-51 gave the Allies an aircraft that could stand up and swing with the advanced German fighters of the time. At the end of the war, the P-51 Mustangs would be credited with an astonishing 5,000 shooting downs of enemy aircraft.

The P-51 Mustang presented in "Top Gun: Maverick" is not a P-51D, but a P-51K (different propeller and canopy format), but this is just a little more technical information.

The king is back in "Top Gun: Maverick": The Grumman F-14 Tomcat

While Tom Cruise obtained the highest revenue in the first film, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the real star. Now, it seems a lot that the F-14 is coming back in "Top Gun: Maverick", and in what may be the craziest fraction of a second of footage you can find on television today, it may be fitting against Russia's Su-57.

Despite a problematic start and problematic engines that devastated the aircraft for much of its useful life, the F-14 was a wonder of Cold War technology. With a maximum speed higher than Mach 2.3 and the ability to carry six huge long-range AIM-54 Phoenix air-to-air missiles for the fight, the Tomcat was built specifically to dominate the skies for hundreds of kilometers around aircraft carrier attack groups, engaging Soviet three-digit range bombers.

The Tomcat was such an incredible aircraft that a proposal to renovate the platform on the ASF-14 Super Tomcat could most likely have kept it at the top of the 4th generation fighter pile until the modern era. Its variable geometry wing design gave it excellent handling both at the low speeds required for aircraft carrier landings and at the high speeds required to intercept enemies before they could deploy their anti-ship missiles towards an American aircraft carrier.

When the F-14 Tomcat entered service, it was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney TF30 engines that had been designed for the F-111B, which was more of a multifunctional bomber than fighter. Each engine could produce 14,560 pounds of thrust under military power, with the afterburner increasing the output by up to 25,100 pounds. These engines were powerful, but incredibly problematic, leading to the loss of up to 40 Tomcats over the years. Eventually, the TF30 engines were replaced by General Electric F110-GE-400s, which effectively solved all the problems of the TF30, but many F-14s continued to operate the old engines until the 2000s.

The AIM-54 Phoenix missiles of the F-14 are designed for air-to-air combat and can close their range of one hundred miles extremely quickly thanks to a maximum speed of Mach 4.3... but these weapons are designed to shoot down Soviet bombers, not highly maneuverable fighters. Russia's avionics can be dated, but the F-14 was retired 16 years ago, so this time, the Russians would probably have the technological advantage.

Source: Sandboxx

Tags: Military AviationTop Gun: MaverickUSN - United States Navy/U.S. Navy

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. He has works published in a specialized aviation magazine in Brazil and abroad. He uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation

Cavok Brasil - Digital Tchê Web Creation

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #300

that’s a lot of time wasted, lmao

If you were a witch, which animal would be your familiar? Could I have like, a melanistic barn owl? That'd be dope. They're fuckin gorgeous. If there's a design on your shirt, what is it? Ha, speaking of owls... Would you ever visit a ghost town? MOTHERFUCKER would I. Bringing my camera, too. What would you do if you found out your life was only a simulation controlled by someone else? I have a very much Detroit: Become Human (phenomenal game, btw) outlook on this: I think, therefore I am. It honestly wouldn't affect me terribly. I sure would hate my creator though, jfc, lmao. What's the scariest thing you've accidentally found on the internet? Okay so there is this one video filmed by some guys who had this really strange, sulking guy in black stalking them, and it ends with the suspected murderer slinking over to the guys (who were by this point finding it almost funny, due to how the man was acting) and charging with a knife, I think, once he was very close. I believe the men were never found afterwards. It is SO goddamn unnerving. Is there anything bothering you right now? Not to be a Negative Nancy, but when isn't there lmao. Thinking of every Halloween costume you've had, which one was the most creative? I never had creative ones, really. What's the picture on your calendar for this month? I don't have a relevant calender, just old meerkat ones on a wall in my room. If you were a mythical creature, which would you be? As much as I love dragons, they're targeted too much in fantasy to kill, so let's not, haha. Being a dryad would be cool. Or druid. Either/or. If you were an animal, which would you be? A housecat, ig. Were you ever bullied when you were younger and how did you handle it? I consider myself very lucky to have not been. Have you ever thrown something away and then wanted it back? Okay so it's "deleted" versus "thrown away," technically, but there are two senior prom pictures in specific I desperately want back because fuck my low self-esteem, I look beautiful in them and so damn happy. I even tried Facebook restore programs that supposedly recovered all pictures you ever removed, but I couldn't salvage them. I'm still pissed about it, haha. What's one random city you want to visit? I don't have a specific city, per se. More so just countries in general. If you owned a store, what would you most likely sell? I think owning a pet supply store would be really cool, with some animals that are actually very well-cared for, unlike chain pet stores. I HATE those, vehemently. So unspeakably ignorant and neglectful. If you had a garden, what sort of plants would you grow? I don't want a garden, but hypothetically, I'd love orchids, dahlias, tiger lilies, a weeping willow tree, some strawberries... What's your favorite phase of the moon? Full, of course. What's the song for your life right now? I've felt extremely connected to Seether's "Weak" lately. Do you believe that when you die, you get to see all your loved ones again? I hope so... Who would you be the most excited to see? DO I ACTUALLY NEED TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION?????????? Do you enjoy reading National Geographic magazines? If I'm like, sitting in a waiting room and they're available, I'll go for them. Do you know anyone who's serving in the military right now? Welcome to the South, baby. The boys graduate, they're going straight for the military. I only have one real friend who was one but left tho because he fucking hated it. Does or did either of your parents serve in the military? No. Has anything in your house ever caught on fire? Not in this house, no. As a small child, did you ever feel as if you were different or weird? Absofuckinglutely. I have A LOT of bad memories of instances where I felt like "the weird kid." Can you say "happy birthday" in another language? Omg... I forgot the German phrase. Wow, I'm rusty. What subjects do you or did you get the worst grades in? Math. Do you have photos to go with all of the contacts in your phone? I don't have pictures that go with any. Who was the last person to comment on one of your photos on Facebook and how did you meet that person? I just checked, and it was my friend Summer. I met her because she was actually first friends with my younger sister in pre-k, but we grew closer than they did in our teen years. What career paths are you considering? I just want to be a photographer. So badly. But I've felt super, super discouraged lately. Do you watch music videos? I pretty much never do, but rather listen through the artists' Topic uploads or lyric videos. I don't generally like official music videos because they tend to have other sounds/parts/breaks/etc. in them that distract from the song. Have you ever clicked on those banner ads that promise a prize for clicking? Probably by accident at some point in time. What kind of computer are you using? Acer Nitro. What kind of computer do you wish you were using? I'm fine with what I have. Have you ever had a weight change so drastic you went to the doctor? .-. How cold does it have to be before you put on a sweater? Depends on how long I'll be outside, but in most situations, in the 50s. Do you eat things off the floor? Um, ew. Who do people say you look like? My sisters. Do you usually get your homework done on time? When I was in school, I was very serious about having my homework finished by the date it was due. Have you ever framed your old movie ticket stubs? I've kept some, but never framed any. Do you have a digital camera? A Canon, yeah. Have you ever stuck something inappropriate in an electrical outlet? Bitch I ain't tryna get electrocuted. How many days has it been since your last birthday? My b-day is actually coming up soon; the 5th of February. Do you want any more siblings than you have now? Well, considering both my parents (and stepmom) are in their 50s... How easily shocked are you? VERY. I am extremely jumpy and on edge at like all times. You like the color blue, don't you? I mean yeah. Particularly the lighter tints. Who was the last person who asked you something that made you think? My therapist REEEEAAAALLY makes me do this. She's an absolute pro at getting me to dig deep into myself. Ever fired a gun? No, and I don't want to. From 1-10, how would you rate your cooking skills? Is 0 an option? Do you notice the heat or the cold more? HEAT, JESUS FUCK. It can be one or two degrees above what I consider stable and I'll be sweating. I'm hypersensitive to it I know from being in such a consistent temperature in my room like 24/7. Do you believe in miracles? Probably no. What hurts more: scratches or bites? Bites, if you're talking serious ones. Do you prefer rabbits to mice? No, mice (and especially rats) are absolutely amazing, intelligent animals. Bonus points for being mega cute too, though I do find rabbits cuter. Who out of all the people you know reasonably well is the most "dark?" Sara, haha. Favorite chocolate-based candy? Reese's. Do you call anyone babe or baby? My pets sometimes. Name me a food you used to like that you now don't: Peas, olives. Name me a food you now like but never used to: Mashed potatoes, IF prepared very well (by my standards, obviously). Would you rather live in Europe, The US, or Australia? By this point, take me to Europe. If it wouldn't be such a huge life change and leaving so many people, I would 120% move to Canada, but out of these, Europe will do. Would you rather have a big house, a lot of kids, or a high flying job? Give me the high-flying job, 100%. I don't want kids, and I have no need for a large house. Is crime a big problem in your area? Oh yes. What’s your town/city most well-known for? By the locals, being the crime hub, actually, lol. Name 5 objects that you don’t have but would like right now: Hmmm... I want a 40g tank as an upgrade for Venus, a gaming chair for when I turn the extra room into my "office" so I don't destroy my back sitting there, new glasses and a driving permit, and don't forget a gd tattoo needle pounding my skin. :^) If you were given the choice to choose your child’s gender, would you? Yes, I would absolutely want a girl just because IF I wanted kids, I'd want a daughter named Alessandra. Do you get along well with your family doctor/your doctor? Yeah, she's nice. What types of soups do you like? None. If a color could reflect your current mood, which would it be? Grayish blue. The last time you saw fireworks? I really don't know; it's been years, at least. Have you ever gone to a movie premiere? Possibly for Silent Hill: Revelation, but I'm not certain. Who was the last person to make you laugh out loud? My mom, because she made me remember something funny. What was the last commercial you heard selling? *shrug* Do you prefer fairly common names or a bit out of the ordinary ones? Oh, definitely rare and unique ones. Would you rather have a pet cat, dog, horse or tortoise? At this current time, a dog for Mom, which we're actually probably getting. She misses having one super badly. Is your laugh loud, normal or very silent? My laugh is loud and obnoxious as fuck. What are you interested in that most people would be surprised to know? Tarantulas, probably. I love them, even though spiders kinda scare me. Last movie you watched the whole way through? Elf, I think, with Sara's fam. What's your favorite fruit? Strawberries are where it's at. Last time you drank coffee? I've only ever sipped coffee to try to see if I liked it. Never have. I THINK I last took a sip of Sara's when we went on a breakfast date? Has anyone ever called you rich? Calling me rich would be entirely ludicrous. What makes you feel beautiful? Nothing. How many bathrooms are in your house? Two. Last time you were on a plane and where did you go? A couple years ago, coming home from Illinois. Favorite flavor muffin? Uggghhhh chocolate. Do you prefer stripes or polka dots? Polka dots. I tend to find circles visually appealing. Did you take Music when you were in school? I think all the elementary school students did. I was also in band in middle and high school; I played the flute. Why did you last feel like crying? I'm just sick of how my life is going. Do you find being alone with strangers scary, interesting, or indifferent? I find it either awkward or terrifying, depending on the gender. It's not a willing thing or intended sexism whatsoever, I'm just naturally afraid of men. Do your initials spell a legitimate word? If so, what? No. Does someone’s background affect whether you'll be friends with them or not? Well, it depends on what they've done. How about their religious background? No. If someone admitted cheating in a past relationship of theirs, would you trust them? Nope, bye. Did you ever want to be a cook as a kid? No. How about a fashion designer? No. Do you prefer fire or ice? Fire aesthetically, but ice is certainly less intimidating. When happy, do you become more talkative? OH yes. Are you offended easily by non-politically correct language? No, really. I wouldn't say derogatory terms, but I really don't understand why most people put so much weight into a single made-up word. But again, you won't hear that language coming out of my mouth because I understand that it just does hurt some people, and I respect that. Do you think the censors/fcc go a bit too far or are just right? It's gone overboard, imo. What's your I.Q? I don't want to know, haha. Have you ever taken a martial art? Which one{s}? No. Do you know anyone who is scared of you? Um, no. What person who has died would you bring back and why? Probably Steve Irwin. His children have done FUCKING FANTASTIC at carrying on his legacy and purpose, but I feel he could've taught the world so much more than he had time to... Do you like watermelon? No. Too watery. Can you remember the month of your first kiss? Yes, actually. March. What do you think is the most interesting thing about you? I'm unsure, really. Do you like being complimented or does it make you uncomfortable? Both. What artist's paintings do you find the most beautiful? This is an impossible question. What about the most disturbing? Oh man, I watch this one person on deviantART that makes especially creepy artwork. I follow a loooot of dark artists, though, so it's difficult to pick. Have you ever gone to a camp or summer school? A church-related summer thing, yes, as a kid. What was your favorite cartoon as a child? Pokemon was/is where it's at. What was your biggest fear as a child? Thunderstorms, holy shit. Would you rather be able to fly or breathe underwater? Be able to breathe underwater. What about invisibility or mindreading? Definitely invisibility. Mindreading would just... suck. Hurt. Especially if you couldn't control it. Which stereotype do you dislike the most? Good question, considering I hate a shit ton. Can you remember all your past teachers names? No, not all of them. Do you like talent shows? Which ones? I don't mind watching 'em. I particularly used to love America's Got Talent. Have you ever failed an important exam? In what? Yes; I failed horribly at my final math exam the last time I was in school. Are you on any meds? Too many. Just way too many for someone my age. I'm really starting to think I'm over-medicated to where it's dulling my senses, feelings, and also destroying my memory. But I kinda need like... all of them. I'm talking to my psychiatrist in just a couple days though, actually, and I'm going to talk to him about maybe trying to wean me off my OCD med, since I haven't had big symptoms in a long time. I wanna see how I deal without it. What color is your razor? Black and orange. What is your fave frozen treat? Just the classic ice cream. Which supermarket do you like to shop at? We tend to get our groceries from Wal-Mart. Do you struggle to say ‘no’ to things you don’t want to do? YESSIREE. Are you friends with someone a lot of people dislike? I don't think there's anyone that is widely disliked, no. Have you ever had to deal with someone close to you going off to war? No, thankfully. Other than yourself, who did you last buy something for? Mom. What's something you complain about frequently? My legs hurting. It's hard to ignore when taking one step is painful. Have you ever talked about your period with a guy? Were they okay with it, or grossed out? I certainly haven't talked about it in-depth, but it's been mentioned in some way when I was with Jason. I mean we were together for three and a half years, sexually active (and I ain't doing jackshit if it's that time of the month), and I spent as much time with him as possible, so... it woulda came up. I'm sure he was indifferent about it, he was a mature guy. Have you ever been to an Asian (any type) market? If so, what is the closest one to you? No. I've never even heard of one around here. Have you ever slept with a member of the opposite sex without having sex? Back up two questions, haha. That was normal. How would you feel if your significant other had tattoos? Shit man, I love tattoos. I'd obviously not care. How have you been feeling today? Depressed. Where’s your phone right now? On my chest. I'm lying down. Is there a certain person that makes you feel safe? ugh When you drink alcohol with friends, do you play drinking games? I never have. What are the best kind of Girl Scout cookies? I don't remember their names, honestly... but the chocolate and peanut butter ones come to mind.

[littleeyesofpallas]

Bleach Cosmology 2/4(?)

Moving right along from part 1 in this series of posts...

Soul Society[ソウル・ソサエティ] which is just the phonetics for "So-u-ru So-sa-e-ti" and written with the kanji [尸魂界] meaning "Corpse Spirit World."  Pretty straight forward really.

The slums making up the vast majority of Soul Society are Rukongai[流魂街] "Exile/Drifting Spirit Street(s)/Town."  I usually see this interpreted as "drifting"/"wandering" but considering the statified social status between the shinigami and nonshinigami, "exile" feels like a pertinent reading.  Again, though, nothing unusual or crafty about the word choice here.

At the center of Soul Society is the Seireitei[瀞霊廷] "Pure-Water Spirit Imperial-Court."  Again, nothing crazy, the English translations I've seen kind of skirt around the slightly obtuse use of the kanji for "pool (of water)"/"pure water"/"clear water" but that doesn’t amount to much.

One tiny thing of interest is the name scheme for the 4 gates leading into the Seireitei, each with their own gate guardian.

Hakutou-mon[白道門]: White Road Gate

Shuwai-mon[朱洼門]: Vermillion Sink Gate

Kokuryou-mon[黒隆門]: Black Rise Gate

Shouryuu-mon[青流門]: Blue Flow Gate

The other 3 gate guardians don’t actually show up in the anime at all, so if you missed the one chapter of the manga they show up in, you’d easily miss the reference here entirely.  They are of course situated in the 4 cardinal directions and corelate with Fengshui's 4 Auspicious Beasts:

Byakko the White Tiger in the West

Suzaku the Vermillion Bird in the South

Genbu the Black Tortoise+Snake in the North

and Seiryuu the Blue Dragon in the East

Within the Seireitei, some notable locations include the Zenzaikyuu[懺罪宮] "Repent Crime Palace" which is, yet again, pretty literal as to its purpose.  There's also the Soukyoku[双殛] "Double to Put to Death" which again seems pretty literal, the "Double death" probably meaning a death after death, referring to souls that were humans, died, came to Soul Society, and then have been sentenced to a "second death."  Really, most of the Soul Society landmarks are like this, but these felt like one that couldn't go without mentioning.

Reioukyuu[霊王宮] "Spirit King Palace."  Within that each Royal Guard member has a Den[殿] "Mansion"...

Tenjirou's Kirin-den[麒麟殿] "Qilin Mansion"

Kirio's Gaton-den[臥豚殿] "Lying(down) Pig Mansion"

Oh-etsu's Houhou-den[鳳凰殿] "Ho-ou Mansion"

Senjumaru and Ichibee's Mansions are never actually named, which feels like a weird oversight...

Notably each of these seems to be named after an animal, in two of the cases classic mythical ones.  (The Houou I’ve mentioned before in relation to Rose’s name...)  I feel like Senjumaru's would've been named after a spider just because of her general motifs of many arms and fabrics, but I don't think Ichibee had any clues to what his would've been.  Also, among the Auspicious beasts referenced before, technically there is a 5th direction in old Chinese geomancy, “Center,” which is represented as either a golden dragon, the god emperor himself, or the golden Qilin.  Although Kirinji doesn’t seem to have been made with any relation to the gate guardians in mind.

Bleach Cosmology posts: [Karakura] [SoulSociety] [Hueco Mundo] [Wahrwelt] [Hell/Naraka(allusions)] [Animal Realm(?)] [Preta Realm(?)]

[caztiel]

All the botanical asks you haven’t got yet

lia that’s so many 😳 

lavender; soundcloud or vinyls?

soundcloud, i don’t have the money for vinyls, but if i had the money for them then vinyls 

primrose; what book does everyone right now need to read?

i can’t think of any lol 

lunar mist; do you like wearing other people’s shirts/jackets?

yeah

bird of paradise; what was the best thing that happened to you this month?

i hung out with my friends yesterday! also November 5th was incredibly funny

gardenia; what’s a promise you’ve recently made to yourself? 

i promised to be nicer to myself, and to exercise every day, and to get a job, and to write more

whirling butterflies; would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

have not kissed 

marmalade skies; do you plan your outfits? 

sort of? 

apricot drift; how do you feel right now? 

a bit tired! also a bit annoyed at the universe because I keep dropping and breaking things lmao (I dropped a glass lid everywhere and then kept stepping on glass as I was cleaning it, and then spilled water everywhere) 

everlasting daisy; what’s the last dream you remember having?

recurring apocalypse dream, I don’t remember the specifics 

queen’s cup; what are you craving right now?

chocolate 

lavender dream; turn ons/offs?

uhhhh i don’t like most perfume smells, or specific sudden loud noises

water lily; when was the last time you cried? why?

i cried a little bit yesterday when I was watching bly manor, but it wasn’t a full on cry

lily of the valley; did the one person who hurt you most in your life apologize?

no, but I don’t expect one, i’ve moved on 

winterberry; do you bite or lick your ice cream?

both 

desert rose; do you like yourself?

a little bit more every day. two steps forward one step back 

snapdragon; have you ever met or seen in person a celebrity?

nope 

night owl; how many countries have you visited?

5, i think? excluding one flight layover  

heliotrope; have you ever been in a castle? 

yes! in Germany 

creams and sky; what’s the craziest/bravest thing you’ve done?

idk if i’ve done anything really 

lantana; what’s on your mind right now?

the mini nanowrimo i thought I would start, that I haven’t written anything for (10k words in two weeks) 

pumpkin patch; what’s your zodiac sign?

aquarius sun, sagittarius rising, scorpio moon

tulip; name 5 facts about yourself.

1. i love rollercoasters, 2. i love love, 3. i cut my hair the other day, 4. i overheat easily, 5. i am a bad actor 

daphne; do you believe in karma?

yep! even if not in a spiritual sense, I think that being kind can bring kindness back to you, and being cruel can bring cruelty back to you 

queen of the meadow; ever been in love? 

perhaps, but I might be wrong 

wisteria; whom do you admire and why?

someone I once knew, they are good at making boundaries 

angel’s face; what was your favorite bedtime story as a child?

i don’t remember 

remember me; did you make someone laugh today? 

hannibal played by mass mikkelsen 

lilac; if you could go back in time which time period would you visit?

hmmmm 1920s? 1980s? 

caramel kisses; would you want to live forever? why/why not? 

i would want to be immortal until I want to die. there’s so many things that I want to experience! but I don’t want to live FOREVER, that’s too long 

primula; what makes you sad?

a lot of things. there’s a lot to be sad about, especially this year

rain lily; was today typical? why/why not? 

it’s typical of the holidays, i’ve spent the morning watching netflix

queen anne’s lace; who do you trust the most?

damn idk that’s a loaded question. next 

forget me not; do you have any regrets looking back in your life?

yes lol many 

lunaria; what’s your favorite fictional universe? 

honestly? rise of the guardians 

violet; favorite tv show? 

doctor who is my favourite comfort show, but i have a lot of shows that i love like dghda and bly manor 

snowdrop; what does your ideal day look like?

visiting a theme park with someone i love, and then we have a picnic, maybe on the beach. it’s sunny and there’s a nice breeze. then we go for a drive along the coast and listen to music together. we get home and it starts storming so we hang out together and watch movies 

tiger lily; do you have any hobbies? 

knitting! i started a blanket in the Irish moss stitch :) i like writing too. i also like baking and cooking, and i sometimes pick up guitar and ukulele and duolingo. um also games. 

peony; share a small random book passage that means something to you. 

there’s a bit in the book thief by markus zusak where Death describes the colours of the sky 

tea rose; what’s something you always wanted to do but were too scared? 

can’t think of anything rn 

honeysuckle; do you usually date people your age or older/younger? 

i’ve only “dated” one person and they were my age. i’m not really into dating people older or younger 

love in the mist; best books you’ve ever read? 

i literally cannot remember and I'm too lazy to try and remember 

foxglove; who is your favorite cartoon character?

dr doofenshmirtz 

magnolia; coffee or tea?

both! i love coffee!! i also love tea!! i’m a multifaceted person 

crown imperial; would you rather be extremely rich or extremely loved?

extremely loved. but if i had a lot of money i could help a lot of people 

snowflake; are you a dog or a cat person? 

both! 

bell flower; what is your biggest addiction? 

don’t judge me lmao i am addicted to asmr, it makes my brain go brrrr

cosmos; do you ever think about the galaxy? 

all the time

moonflower; what’s your favorite color?

yellow, but also pink, and blue, and so many others 

freesia; do you have a good relationship with your parents and siblings? why/why not? 

yes, they always try to be good people. also i just generally get along with them 

poppy; have you ever dealt with a mental illness?

perhaps. i think so yeah. self diagnosed. i’ve gotten pretty good at dealing with it over the years 

clover; how would your friends describe you?

uhhhhhh idk quirky? 🤪 i don’t know. 

dandelion; do you consider yourself an extrovert or an introvert?

introvert, i’m good at spending a lot of time alone, and that’s how i recharge. but i still enjoy people’s presence. i think the words extrovert and introvert are uhhh misnomers? it’s like asking if you prefer the darkness or the brightness. there’s different shades of light on a spectrum 

lilly; what’s something you love watching/reading but you are too embarrassed to admit you do?

asmr but i’m only tentatively embarrassed 

anemone; describe yourself in 3 words.

weird, eclectic, trying 

lotus; best memory as a child?

can’t remember much, but i can remember that time i went on the green lantern rollercoaster at movie world like 4 times 

angelonia; what is your eye and hair color?

brown, dark brown/black 

dahlia; do you like crystals?

yeah, not really in jewellery (it tends to look a little tacky (not always!)) but i like crystals :) 

buttercup; if you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?

stop overall suffering. it’s not one thing, it’s a series of things: war, poverty, food deserts, etc. um if i had to choose one i’d make it so that there’s a reliable source of water available to everyone 

baby’s breath; what’s your hogwarts house?

hufflepuff 

calendula; biggest pet peeve? 

people who have a very different sense of personal space to me and don’t respect mine 

blanker flower; would you rather go to a cocktail party with your best friends or stay home and read a book/watch a movie with your pet?

hm stay home? but also i want to hang out with my friends. i haven’t been to a cocktail party before with friends 

blazing star; share a secret.

scroll through my old blog, i’ve blurted a lot of secrets on there 

carnation; would you rather live longer or happier?

happier 

bluebell; do you wear glasses? 

nope

orchid; do you like exercise?

depends on your definition of “like”. I like the benefits, the after effects. if i’m walking, i like the time alone, and the time out in nature and on the street 

pansy; do you like poetry?

yes duh i’m a poet 

morning glory; any special talent that you have? 

adapting

botanical asks

[thecollegefootballguy]

The Top 25 Teams of the Decade: #7 LSU

Hello everybody, we’re celebrating the arrival of the 2020′s by looking at the 25 best programs of the previous decade.

We’re on to the top ten to celebrate the #7 team from the 2010′s:

Louisiana State University Tigers

Record: 103-28 (.786) Division Titles: 2 Conference Titles: 2 Bowl Seasons: 10 Major Bowls: 3 Playoff/BCS Berths: 2 Final Top 25 Finishes: 9 Final Top 10 Finishes: 4 Final Top 5 Finishes: 2 National Championships: 1 Best Season: 2019

The present champions clock in just outside of the Decade’s Top 5. LSU was consistently good in the 2010′s, and occasionally the best team in the sport. LSU began the decade as one of the biggest names in college football. The Tigers had won two national championships in the 2000′s (’03 and ‘07) under two different coaches. Les Miles was well established as one of the preeminent head men in the game, though Nick Saban, Miles’ direct predecessor in Baton Rouge, was already threatening that supremacy by winning the national title in 2009 for Alabama.

LSU began the decade strong. The Tigers didn’t blow anybody away to begin the 2010 season, but they won. #21 Louisiana State beat #18 North Carolina in Atlanta 30-24 to begin September and capped the month off with a 20-14 win over eventual Big East co-champion #22 West Virginia. LSU was now flirting with the top ten, but the Tigers kept getting caught up in close games. Louisiana State had a couple one score games with Tennessee and #12 Florida, but stayed unbeaten until the end of October when they went face to face with fellow unbeaten #4 Auburn. #6 LSU fell at Jordan-Hare 17-24, briefly tumbling out of the Top Ten. Two weeks later, the Tigers knocked off #5 Alabama 24-21 to leap back in to the top ten. The win over the Crimson Tide put Louisiana State comfortably in second place in the division standings, and if Auburn ended up winning out and going to the BCS Championship, then LSU would get the SEC’s bid to the Sugar Bowl. It didn’t happen. The #6 Tigers lost to #12 Arkansas in Little Rock 23-31. The 10-2 Razorbacks then took the spot in the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to Ohio State. Louisiana State was relegated to the Cotton Bowl, where they beat #18 Texas A&M 41-24. LSU finished 8th in the AP Poll, the 2nd highest SEC team after national champion Auburn.

2011 was different. The Tigers began the year ranked 4th in the nation, and ended up being better than that. #4 Louisiana State outpaced #3 Oregon 40-27 in Arlington. It was a great start to the year which also saw LSU beat #25 Mississippi State and #16 West Virginia before the month was out. The offense was exploding and the defense was even better, only allowing more than 11 points three times before the BCS Title Game (spoilers (lol)). Needless to say, they were up to #1 at this point. The Tigers absolutely mauled #17 Florida and #19 Auburn in October before their fateful date with fellow unbeaten Alabama. In the most recent regular season #1 vs #2 matchup, Louisiana State was able to edge out Bama 9-6 in overtime in Tuscaloosa which opened the door to a 12-0 regular season. LSU destroyed #3 Arkansas 41-17 to seal the undefeated record. In the SEC Championship Game, the Tigers shut down #12 Georgia 42-10 and were on their way to the national championship game. With no other undefeated teams left from the BCS conferences, Bama ended up as the #2 pick in the rankings. The rematch, a first in the Title Game, didn’t go Louisiana State’s way. This time, the offense was completely shut down by the Crimson Tide. LSU lost 21-0 in a near unwatchable shutout. It was a horrific, embarrassing way to end what was shaping up to be one of the easiest open and shut, national championship, undefeated seasons of the BCS era. In a way, LSU never recovered under Les Miles.

Football teams rarely ever go 13-0 in two consecutive seasons, the Tigers were no different. Louisiana State started the year ranked 3rd in the AP poll, and fully were expected to contend again. After beating a bunch of nobodies and the worst Auburn team in a generation, LSU fell to #10 Florida, severely wounding the Tigers’ chances to repeat as SEC champions. #9 Louisiana State rebounded by beating #3 South Carolina and then turned around the next week and were the last team to beat then-#20 Texas A&M, who by the end of the season were perhaps the hottest squad in college football. LSU climbed back to #5 in November, and could have taken control of the SEC West with a win over #1 Alabama. In a hard fought contest, the Tigers lost 17-21 to officially fall out of the race. Louisiana State did win out over rivals #22 Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Arkansas to finish 10-2. #9 LSU faced off against #15 Clemson in the Peach Bowl and lost 24-25 in a close bout. 10-3 with a final #14 ranking isn’t a bad follow up to a near championship season, but it was still disappointing especially with Alabama romping over Notre Dame to win their second consecutive title.

2013 was a pretty similar result. The Tigers started strong with a win over #20 TCU 37-27 in Arlington and then pretty easily beat eventual SEC Champion Auburn 35-21 back before anybody thought they were good. However, #6 Louisiana State fell to #9 Georgia 41-44 before the month of September was out. LSU climbed back to 6th in the polls with a 17-6 win over #17 Florida, but were then upset by rival Ole Miss to officially end their championship aspirations. A listless, 17-38 loss to #1 Alabama delivered the Tigers their third loss. Louisiana State rebounded with a commanding 34-10 win over #9 Texas A&M to recoup some of their prestige. A win over Iowa in the Outback Bowl delivered LSU their second consecutive 10-3 record and #14 final ranking in the AP Poll. 

The Tigers really began to disappoint in 2014. It would end up being Les Miles’ worst or second worst season in Baton Rouge depending on who you ask. Louisiana State was expected to be their usual competent selves, beginning the year ranked 13th. A win over #14 Wisconsin in Houston kicked things off well, but they lost their first SEC game to Mississippi State 29-34. Two weeks later, #15 LSU was completely demolished 7-41 by #5 Auburn. It was their worst loss in years. This horrible pants-ing in the Tiger Bowl knocked the Bayou Bengals out of the AP poll for the first time since 2008. The indignities didn’t stop there. The Tigers beat #3 Ole Miss 10-7 in the Magnolia Bowl to push their way back into the spotlight, but then suffered back to back losses to #4 Alabama and unranked Arkansas to fall back out of the rankings. It was an even worse gut punch that they took the Crimson Tide to overtime before losing 13-20. 8-4 Louisiana State might have been the best 8-4 team in the nation, but it didn’t help them against 7-5 Notre Dame. The Irish beat LSU 31-28 in the Music City Bowl, putting Les Miles on the hot seat heading into 2015.

The revenge tour started pretty well. The Tigers began the season with wins over #25 Mississippi State and #18 Auburn. In October, Louisiana State beat #8 Florida 35-28. LSU was undefeated through two months 7-0 and climbed up to 4th in the rankings, but you know how this went. The Tigers suffered a trio of successive losses to #7 Alabama, Arkansas, and #25 Ole Miss, which dropped them all the way out of the rankings. Wins over Texas A&M and Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl propped Louisiana State back to 9-3, but the embarrassing way that the team fell from Playoff participant to unranked was a real stain that still threatened Miles’ job.

2016 was the breaking point. LSU began the season ranked 5th in the AP Poll, expectations were high. The Tigers immediately lost 14-16 to unranked Wisconsin in Green Bay and at the end of September they lost to unranked Auburn. That was it for Miles. The head coach who had guided Louisiana State to their third ever national championship in 2007 and would have won another title in 2011 if not for the extreme circumstance that pitted them against Alabama in a repeat matchup. Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron was promoted for the interim. LSU was able to hold serve through October with a 38-21 win over #22 Ole Miss before losing to #1 Alabama as expected. The Florida game was postponed to the end of the year due to Hurricane Matthew. A 10-16 loss to the #21 Florida was a black eye which threw Orgeron’s ability to retain the job in doubt. The Tigers rebounded with a 54-39 win over #22 Texas A&M to end the year which, with intensive lobbying from the players, helped Orgeron keep the gig as the full time head coach. Good move.

Louisiana State in 2017 looked pretty much the same under Orgeron as they did under Miles in 2015. Well, not quite. Miles never lost to Troy. Miles did lose to Mississippi State. Once. Through 12 years in Baton Rouge. Orgeron’s Tigers lost to both in September. It wasn’t a hot start to his first year as the official head coach. LSU rebounded with back to back wins over #21 Florida and #10 Auburn. Of course, they lost to Alabama because that’s what happened through most of the 2010′s. #16 LSU lost 17-21 to #14 Notre Dame in the Citrus Bowl. A #18 final ranking and a 9-4 record is what eventually tanked Miles. It was a black cloud hanging over Orgeron.

Things started to trend back up in 2018. #25 LSU opened the year with an easy win over #8 Miami. By the end of September, the Tigers also scraped past #7 Auburn. #5 Louisiana State suffered their first loss to #22 Florida, but the Gators turned out to be better than anticipated that year. LSU rebounded with a commanding 36-16 win over #2 Georgia. The Tigers then shut down #22 Mississippi State 19-3 to climb all the way to 3rd in the rankings. But, yet again, in came #1 Alabama to ruin the Bayou Bengals’ season. The Crimson Tide blanked LSU 29-0, the Tigers’ worst loss to Bama since 2002. Louisiana State did rebound, and finished the year on a three game win streak, capped off with an epic 7 overtime win over #22 Texas A&M. LSU was selected by the Playoff committee to play against #7 UCF in the Fiesta Bowl. The Golden Knights were undefeated in the past two seasons and would have a very real claim to a second straight national title with a win in Phoenix. The #11 Tigers won 40-32 and ended the year in the top ten for the first time since 2011.

Everything came together in 2019. LSU’s offense bloomed in a way never seen in all of college football before Joe Burrow took the field in Baton Rouge. The Tigers passed their first test in Austin when they scraped past the #9 Longhorns 45-38. Louisiana State climbed up to 6-0, scoring 42 or more points every game. The meat of the SEC schedule proved a stiff challenge, but LSU was up to the task. The #2 Tigers beat #7 Florida 42-28 and managed to put away #9 Auburn 23-20. After a bye, Louisiana State faced off against #3 Alabama, the team that had tormented LSU every time since that 2012 BCS Championship Game. The Tigers outpaced the Tide 46-41. Louisiana State was 9-0 and the path was wide open for their first West Division title since 2011. Undefeated LSU was pitted against #4 Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. The Tigers easily handled the Bulldogs 37-10 to cement their place in the Playoff. As the #1 seed, Louisiana State hosted #4 Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl. LSU dismantled the Sooners 63-28 in one of the most lopsided semifinal games in the short history of the Playoff. In the National Championship Game, the Tigers faced off against Clemson. Those other Tigers from South Carolina were the scourge of Alabama, and kept the Tide and the SEC as a whole from utterly dominating the 2010′s unlike anything ever seen in college football. It wasn’t a very interesting game. Louisiana State was measurably better in every way and LSU cruised to a 42-25 win to finally earn their elusive national championship this decade in the last possible year.

I think some people will take issue with me placing the Tigers so far down the list. After all, only 7 or 8 teams actually won national championships and only a few played for it twice in the 2010′s. But, as has been painfully aware to Louisiana State fans from 2012 to 2018, LSU didn’t win anything special for most of the decade. All of the teams above the Tigers on the list have won their division more than twice as many times as LSU in the same span. All but two more than double Louisiana State’s conference champions. LSU was a good team in the 2010′s, they were great for most of the decade in fact. They just weren’t among the best outside of 2011 and 2019. Only winning 2 division titles in 10 years won’t put you in the top 5.

I’m optimistic for Louisiana State in the 2020′s. They seem to have a great foundation upon which to build yet higher plateaus. As for the rivalry tally I’ve been keeping...

Louisiana State absolutely dominated most of their rivals: 7-3 against Arkansas, Auburn, AND Florida, 8-2 against Ole Miss and Mississippi State. But, the most important rivalry would end up mostly frustrating the Tigers. LSU went 3-8 against Alabama in the 2010′s, which kept them from being higher (likely much higher) on this list.

[minkillah]

hello everyone!! my name’s lua, my pronouns are she/her and i’m a resident of gmt+1. i’m super excited for this group to get rolling so i can write with you all. i play choi minki (kim taehyung) of lotto fame. if you’re interested in interacting with him just ♡ this post and i’ll give you all of my love.

born and raised in busan’s gamcheon village, south korea, the former underground rapper turned ambitious lotto all-rounder has been under marathon entertainment for nine years. winners  know him as the unspoken protector of the group, and his observant nature allows him to encapsulate ideas in his music with a persuasive edge, but he’s at times criticized for being too eccentric and sardonic. 

OVERVIEW

FULL NAME: choi minki

STAGE NAME: MINKI, minkillah (pre-debut/underground)

NICKNAME(S): min, key

GENDER (PRONOUNS): cismale (he/him)

DATE OF BIRTH (AGE): 1994, march 5th. (25)

HOMETOWN: gamcheon village in busan, south korea

RESIDENCE: seoul, south korea

OCCUPATION: lead rapper, vocalist and visual of lotto. 

SEXUALITY: bisexual.

HEIGHT: 181cm

HAIR COLOR: naturally jet black (often dyed for his job, currently dark brown)

EYE COLOR: dark brown

TATTOOS: upper arm white tiger (sleeve tattoo, is a work in progress), roman numeral wrist tattoos (left wrist: lotto debut date / right wrist: his mother's birthday)

PIERCINGS: several in his ears.

SCAR: small childhood scar along his knee from falling on broken glass at the beach.

NOTABLE FEATURES: intense and piercing eyes / long eyelashes / big hands / deep voice / nose, cheek and lip moles / big boxy smile. 

FACE CLAIM: kim taehyung

PERSONALITY

POSITIVE: protective, contemplative, playful, mischievous, ambitious, loyal, soulful, creative, plainspoken, focused, steadfast, sentimental, observant, intuitive, tenacious, passionate, wry.

NEGATIVE: eccentric, sardonic, juvenile, intense, pent-up, stubborn, hard to know, single-minded, competitive, temperamental, moody, untrusting, all-or-nothing.

LIKES: art, music, anything unique, reading long letters from fans, writing, working, poetry, performing, sincerity, intimacy, the sea, candles, mystery, travelling, warm hands, depth, long conversations, feeling connected to someone, driving at night, visiting home, his mother.

DISLIKES: feeling controlled, invasions of privacy, assumptions, loneliness, boredom, shallow conversations, having his trust broken, spinelessness, being lied to, self-victimizing, blowhards, people who don’t keep their word, his father.

HABITS: staying up late to work on music, collecting headbands and baseball caps, chewing gum, bouncing his leg, man-spreading, calling his mom every day, stuffing his hands into his pockets, scribbling lyrics on things he shouldn’t (napkins, his hand), clicking his tongue, quirking his eyebrows, making funny faces to relax, stretching his neck by tilting his head to the side, rolling his shoulders.

FEARS: losing his mom, never being accepted for who he is, resembling his deadbeat dad, the general public finding out his father left their family.

STYLE: streetwear, skatewear, city-ready and modern, comfortable, relaxed fits, a touch of grunge, baseball caps, logo t-shirts, headbands, thick rimmed glasses, black trousers, hoodies, worn buckle-boots, chunky sneakers, retro runners, wide-cut trousers, shirt tuck, pleated pants.

SMOKE? no. 

DRUGS: no.

ALCOHOL: yes.

HEADCANONS

minki’s outer mask of aloofness is a cover for his stormy inner life. he’s always battling between his heart and mind, conscious of how emotions can make him look; sometimes he’s cool and level-headed, and other times he’ll throw his weight around. ultimately he’s emotional and has a great desire for intimacy.  

once he lets his guard down, he’s more than willing to show how much he truly cares for someone. for special someones, he feels a poignant love strong enough to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. when these feelings are hard to verbalize, he expresses them best through action.

the promise of emotional depth and soul-level understanding shines out of his eyes. he’s a good listener, maybe because he’s often listening into the hidden layers of what people are saying. his closest relationships are the equivalent of feeling an overwhelming urge to call someone, only to find they were just about to call you.

in a world of tell-all social media, he’s quite a private person. anyone close to him has to be able to keep secrets. the classified files of his personal history are only ever revealed to those who’ve earned his trust. 

while it can be hard for minki to let others in, he also intensely needs others, and he needs to go deep with them. it’s important for him to have close friends and special someones who are in it with him for the long haul.

he’s got an animal magnetism on stage and knows how to turn it on for the effect of something tender, edgy, soulful or brutal.

prone to jealousy and paranoia and will do anything to hide it. he needs mutual reassurance in relationships, and betrayal of any kind is the death knell for any relationship with him, friendship or otherwise. a true loyalist.

ambitious and will do whatever he needs to attain his goal. he also has a strong competitive characteristic that pushes him to strive for greatness.

drops one-liners and quotables in public that, for good and bad, will follow him until the end of his career. doesn’t seem to get embarrassed even when he misspeaks in interviews and can help dispel tensions at times using poker-faced humor at his own expense.

minki knew next to nothing about fashion or make up prior to joining the company and was shocked to learn stylists saw enough potential in him to appoint him as "visual" of the group. these days he moves with more awareness in regards to how he represents lotto to the public, and sometimes jokes in interviews that his face does all the work.

shockingly good at aegyo despite his image and the intense vibes his face gives off. variety shows used to love asking him to perform cute gestures and whatnot back in the day, but thankfully that doesn't happen as much now that he's older.

sheds not a single tear all year but can be seen full on bawling at the end of annual fanmeetings.

as the third oldest in the group, he’s something of a bridge between the younger members and the oldest members of lotto.

that big goofy rectangle grin makes him look like a different person when he smiles.

one of the members most likely to slip into satoori.

plays the piano; currently learning guitar.

RELATIONSHIPS

MOTHER: choi misun (52), a writer and local artist in gamcheon culture village. 

FATHER: doesn’t know his father. 

SIBLINGS: none. 

OTHER RELATIVES: they’re rarely in touch. 

PETS: none. loves & wants pets of his own, but worries he won’t be able to care for a living thing. dotes on other people’s animals instead.

LOVERS: single.

HISTORY

CHILDHOOD

when minki was born, his mom decided the only thing scarier than being a single mother was not being a mother at all. her ex-boyfriend, minki's dad, denied the child was his and refused to support her decision to keep him. her parents begged her to give the boy for adoption, threatening to disown her, but it was too late: looking into her son’s eyes she felt certain, more than she’d been of anything, that he wasn’t a mistake. he was her miracle. she would raise him alone, an unwanted mother and the black sheep of her family.  

relatives gathering for holidays didn’t want the two of them attending, and neighbors were told made-up stories of a husband passing away, all to protect the family’s reputation. for some time, minki was too young to notice anyone’s absence: it’d always been just him and his mother and he didn’t know of anything different. this changed as he grew up and was confronted with the lack of a father figure in his life - or grandparents, aunts and cousins.

he became painfully aware of his mother’s struggles. her writing and art wasn’t enough to support them, and she worked too hard for most of her life, taking on several labor-intensive jobs to feed and clothe him. theirs was a humble but colorful life in the poor seaside village of gamcheon, located in the coastal city of busan.

at the epicenter of art, beauty and chaos, minki spent his childhood running through steep slopes and tiny alleys nestled between a mishmash of pastel-colored houses, a deep blue sky and ocean in the background. he was often alone, as all throughout school, there were classmates whose mothers instructed them not to play with him, or would tease him for not having a father. 

birds of a feather flock together. minki found friendship in the company of children who either seemed different, outcasts just like him, or those who accepted him and didn’t care about rumors and social status. his best friend was a neighboring child of an eclectic couple of local artists and acquaintances of his mother.

in his early teens, there was anger and hurt simmering beneath minki’s exterior. he was at an emotionally painful passage of his life and wanted to act out, but knew that it would break his mother’s heart if anything ever happened to him. not wanting to hurt her the way his father had hurt her, minki turned to art as an outlet for destructive thoughts, and music became his way of dealing with the sense of chronic loss.

hip-hop was raw, emotional and honest. it was a device in and of itself, a friend to play with.  twotime had a huge influence on minki as a teenager, and inspired him to start writing songs when he was 14 years old. thanks to the democratization of music through the internet, he found a way to pirate software and started producing beats in his bedroom.

CAREER

he was active in busan’s underground hip hop scene during high school, competing in rap battles under the name minkillah. it wasn’t only his rapping that garnered attention; minki eventually began establishing himself as an emerging  producer, composing beats for local talent in his hometown.  

looking for a challenge that would take his music to the next level, minki entered a hip hop competition held by marathon entertainment. when staff met with the young man in person, they insisted he enter a second audition with the potential of joining a new idol group the company planned to debut.

minki passed the second audition and joined marathon entertainment as a trainee at 16. dreaming of one day providing his mother the kind of life where she never had another day, and possibly making music with his role models in twotime, he moved away from home and enrolled into a high school in seoul to complete his formal education while attending daily vocal, rap and dance lessons.

after the grueling trainee period, he joined the final lineup of lotto and debuted as the group’s lead rapper, vocalist and visual.

CONNECTIONS

MASC.

SQUAD GOALS: masc. 20-30. (0/5)  simply put, i’d love for minki to have this big dumb friend group featuring top dog male idols from marathon ent. they’re often seen hugging at award shows, going out for bbq, travelling together, clowning each other and breaking the internet whenever they upload selfies!!

MENTOR: masc. 35+. (0/1) this is an older muse minki looks up to and confides in. whether y/m realizes it or not, they’ve become a father figure to minki. he doesn’t have to be another artist! anyone who works at marathon ent (producer, choreographer, etc) would work, as long as minki feels like he can trust them. they’re equipped with the maturity and experience to give him advice about his life, music or relationships.

SOULMATE: masc. 23-25 (0/1)  soulmate /ˈsəʊlmeɪt / noun “a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.” these two are each other’s, through and through. y/m is minki’s second home; they complement and complete each other. their relationship doesn’t have to be romantic at all, even if it has potential to be, in the case of complicated feelings and the crossing of lines. platonic or not, though, minki is in need of deep and meaningful connections, where he feels known. where he feels understood. he thrives off of them. y/m either knows minki since he lived in his hometown busan (there was a childhood best friend, if you’re interested) or since they were trainees. possibly they both attended the same high school in seoul, too.

RIVAL: masc. 23-27. (0/1) a little bit of friendly competition never hurt anyone. these two boys are seen as evenly matched in many regards (leave it to their fans to debate the validity of that, though) and often pitted against each other, sometimes on purpose to rack up clicks and excitement. whether there’s any truth to the rivalry or genuine animosity can be discussed! a future collab between them would create immense amounts of buzz, though.

FEM.

OLDER SISTER. fem. 35+ (0/1) quite similar to the connection above, but in this case, y/m is more of an older sister to minki, maybe even a mom away from home. seeing right through him, she knows when to put him in his place and when to offer him gentle guidance. she’s one of the people he’s come to respect the most at marathon entertainment and he absolutely loathes to disappoint her.

HEARTBREAK: fem. 21-25. (0/1)  minki’s last love was a lost love. maybe they could’ve been happy together if they weren’t both idols, but it’s too late for that now. foolishly, though, they still keep in touch and spent time with each other as  “friends.” they’ve seen so much and know so much of each other, there seems to be no greater comfort for him than hearing y/m’s voice and feeling their warmth in his arms when life goes to shit. but they’re still just friends… let’s hash the rest out to make sure we’re on the same page! inspiration for this connection comes from the lyric “isn’t that what friends are for, even if we used to be more?” from the song partners in crime. if the world was ending is another inspiration.

KNIGHT. fem. 18-23. (0/2) minki as an older brother to y/m!! growing up an only child, he never knew what it was like to have siblings, let alone a younger sister. i think his inexperience in combination with protectiveness could result in endearing and fun interactions. however, he is prone to projecting his own cynical and hostile views onto men that approach women he’s fond of, which isn’t exactly fair to anyone? having someone like y/m in his life could push him toward character-development, though.

NIGHTINGALE. fem. 22-24. (0/1) a nightingale made a mistake; she sang a few notes out of tune: her heart was ready to break, and she hid away from the moon. a small, sweet-voiced songbird that goes on singing late into the night. she's far too bright to be a nocturnal creature in his eyes, but she breaks the stillness, and she’s taken to asking him for advice. they’re quiet company, willing to sit in silence or talk for hours about who knows what, trying to figure out what they are. not even minki knows. he just enjoys her company, and perhaps they’ve found something to bond over. it's still small and precious and new.  

ALL.

ALWAYS: if you're thinking of a different connection that isn't listed here but pings you, please dm me about it!! i'd love to plot and throw in my own suggestions. as a quick aside, i'm always open to friendship, group members, platonic m/f & mf/m dynamics, mentoring, flings, exes, secret relationships, rivalries, innocent crushes, muses, staff members, co-writers, trainees, unrequited feelings, pining, etc.

[thedarkestdragonknight]

LFRP/LFC - Lusaut de Durendaire (Mateus)

(Screenshot courtesy of @theaetherhealerffxiv <3, also sending a tag to @talechaser-ffxiv because reasons)

Lusaut de Durendaire, of House Durendaire

All these broken souls They never make me whole They don't, they don't know my heart They don't know my heart

Ricochet - Starset

Disclaimer: Lusaut is not a nice, ball of fluff and good times. He is an evil character that is meant to be cruel and a straight up asshole as well as a Sadomasochist. Because of this Role-plays with him could potentially delve into mature and otherwise adult content with dark themes. Please use discretion when asking to RP with Lusaut.

The Basics ––– –

Age: Twenty (20)

Aliases: The Devil’s Son

Birthday: 32nd Sun of the 5th Umbral Moon

Race: Ishgardian Elezen Halfbreed (Miqo’te Cross, Keeper of the Moon)

Gender: Masculine, Male (He/His/Him Pronouns)

Sexuality: Homosexual, Polyamorous 

Marital Status: Single

Alignment: Chaotic Evil, on a good day he can lean into Chaotic Neutral. This rarely happens however.

Server: Mateus

Physical Appearance ––– –

Hair: Lusaut has a very vivid blood red mane that goes down to the base of his hips, his hair has very faint darker black-purple highlights in it that form tiger-like stripes in his hair. His hair is essentially the Thavnarian Male Hair Mod by the wonderful @misteff so you have the idea on it’s appearance due to my game being on PS4 and not being able to mod him.

Eyes: Heterochromatic due to his mother being a Miqo’te, his eyes have the slitted pupils that Miqo’te have as well. His left (our right) eye is a very pale, almost completely white in coloration while his right (our left) eye is a bright and vivid hunter green in coloration.

Height: 5 foot 5 inches, due to his Miqo’te blood he is far shorter than most Elezen even at their shortest.

Build: Athletic, Lusaut is muscular in his arms and also his leg due to being trained from a young age to be a killer as well as an assassin. He has a very toned physic with a very pronounced six pack as well.

Distinguishing Marks: Lusaut has a tattoo over his left (our right) eye that is a pale grey in coloration, his body is also littered with Freckles. For an idea of how his freckles are, the 3rd row best gives the idea in the image below. Other than this he has a long scar that cuts across his face from the right of his forehead and down to the bottom left of his cheek and a very unique birthmark on his right inner thigh that looks like a pair of hearts with one looking like it’s bleeding in a way.

Common Accessories: Lusaut has an arsenal of things on his belt ranging from knives, poisons, sedatives and anything else that he can use in order to get his job done. He has various herbs and such to help him mix his poisons as well. Other than this the only other accessory he has is a Lapis Lazuli ring that he got from his father as well as an Aetherite Earring on his left (our right) ear that acts as a Linkpearl.

Additional Features: Being Half Miqo’te, Lusaut has a slightly long rather fluffy tail that is the same color as his hair. His ears, while in the area where Elezen ears generally lay on the face, have fur on the backs of them which again, matches his hair color. Lusaut also has long claws on his fingers that he paints red and trims to an extremely sharp, fine point that can easily cut skin if he lashes out.

Personal ––– –

Profession: Assassin and Interrogator for House Durendaire, personal hunter for his father Rimoux de Durendaire. Torturer when he is not in Ishgard (Currently)

Hobbies: Cooking in his spare time, Knife Collecting. He also likes claiming ‘prizes’ from his victims, usually he will take the left ring finger (if his victim happens to be married) or anything of significance to the person he is torturing/about to kill.

Languages: Common

Residence: House Durendaire in Ishgard, Transitory for the most part with most of his time spent in Inns in the various towns he visits.

Birthplace: Foundation, Ishgard

Religion: While he was raised to learn the teachings of Ishgard and specifically Halone, Lusaut has no true interest in any sort of religion as that was never a part of his training.

Patron Deity: Rhalgr, the Destroyer

Fears: Most women (personal reasons), failing his father, letting his prey get away, not being seen as a true Ishgardian

Relationships ––– -

Spouse: None

Children: None

Parents: Rimoux de Durendaire (Alive, Ishgardian Elezen, Father), Unknown Keeper of the Moon (Mother, Deceased)

Siblings: Faust de Durendaire/Greystone (Alive, MIA)

Other Relatives: Members of the Durendaire family

Pets: He has a half grown Behemoth ‘Pup’ that he affectionately named Rama. He also has a Dalamud Red Chocobo name Lucifer.

Traits ––– -

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Additional information ––– –

Smoking Habit: Never, Lusaut has never taken to smoking and never really had the chance to fully learn about it since from a young age he was being trained day in and out how to be a killer by his father. He could take up smoking in the future however if convinced to try it. Drugs: While Lusaut does not take any sort of drugs, when he was being trained by his father he would on those occasions when the boy got to be ‘too wild’ he would give him minor hallucinogenic drugs to calm him down and bend him in the ways that he wanted him to. Alcohol: Wine, and that’s about it really. He doesn’t drink often and when he does it might simply be a glass or two and that’s it. For the most part he simply doesn’t have ‘time’ for such pleasantries really and drinking isn’t really something he cares about. Though much like smoking he could be convinced to try other brews if convinced to do so.

RP Hooks ––– –

Insert Hooks Here: Honestly, because Lusaut is a newer Muse for me and I’m still trying to think of ideas for general RP hooks while I ‘flesh him out’ so to speak I am more than open to things. For the most part, Lusaut is more or less a very dark oriented RP type in which he is cruel and doesn’t exactly act nice. So dark themed RPs are to be expected and are likely going to be the general area that I would lean towards for him. That isn’t to say that lighter Ups can’t happen or fluff, I am just tossing out the warning that Lusaut is an Evil character overall and thus dark themes come with his territory.

Insert Mature Hooks Here: Lusaut is very much into men only and because of that he will not be involved with women outside of simple meetings or in the best case scenario as friends/companions. He has not interest in women in regards to sexual intimacy. When it comes to him being involved with other men however it is purely because of carnal desires and nothing more. For the most part Lusaut will usually never return any sort of romantic interest because for him, sex is a thing that he needs to have every so often due to lust. The potential for romantic interest is there however but it will not be easy to obtain because Lusaut is very... cruel. On that note, he has a very big interest in larger males and specifically Au Ra.

Voidsent/Ascians/Primals: Lusaut has quite a bit of interest for the ‘darker’ things so to speak. Besides the fact that his lustful side of him has him attracted to larger men and Au Ra it also leads him to have lustful desires for the more demonic beings of the world that people tend to be fearful of. To him it’s a walk on the wild side and if he has a rather good time then he’s likely to return so that he can continue having such good times. Obviously he has to take caution with these things as he wants to avoid being possessed or tempered by these creatures.

Hook

Hook

Contact Information  ––– –

For the most part Tumblr DM’s, Asks or Submissions are the best way to get my attention or to spark an RP. Other than that, Tells in game if I am online will also be a means to get into contact with me. If you wish to contact Lusaut in game please message me on Tumblr first before doing so. I do not share my Discord with people as it is a safe space for me and I prefer keeping it private to people that I feel are a good fit and good friends.

On that note I tend to be very shy and hesitant with RPing with people I have not RP’d with before. So please bear with me if I seem hesitant to RP with you if I do not know you, ESPECIALLY if it is a more mature RP. I am glad you enjoy my character(s) but I’m still learning how to be more involved in the community and not have major anxiety whenever I speak to new people. 

@mooglemeet | @ffxiv-crystal-rp

[dungeonecologist]

WILD ARMS 2 - Live Reflectors & Overworld

A weird note here, as we use the Live Reflector to get to the next 2 dungeons, the different panels used to activate different destinations are clearly modeled off Chinese fengshui lore, utilizing dragon, bird, tiger, and tortoise imagery.  Not surprisingly this is also the basis of the 4 central Guardians of Filgaia, yet these seem otherwise unrelated in-world.

The mythic beasts are a part of a daoist concept called the wu-xing, used to describe the interrelation of 5 different aspects or phases, and the overall mapping can be lifted and transposed onto a number of various other sets of 5.  Among them the elements, seasons, senses, flavors, and directions.  The odd thing is that even though there are pretty specific directional connotations associated with these icons, they aren’t actually in those places?

The black tortoise, Genbu, is associated with Water, the North, and Winter; its Wild Arms equivalent is Schturdark, Guardian of Water. (They do make him a little more turtle than tortoise, but that just makes sense as the water Guardian)

The vermillion bird, Suzaku, is associated with Fire, the South, and Summer; its Wild Arms equivalent is Moor Gault, Guardian of Fire. (Variously either a bird, a dragon, or a hybrid of both across the franchise)

The white tiger, Byakko, is associated with Metal, the West, and Autumn; its Wild Arms equivalent is Fengalon, Guardian of Wind. (also a white tiger, but I really like that the first two Wild Arms games make him a kind of thiranthrop/weretiger.  They swap the look in for Luceid in Wild Arms 3, turning Fengalon into a normal tiger, and the Guardian of Desire into a werewolf.)

The blue/green dragon, Seiryuu, is associated with Wood, the East, and Spring; its Wild Arms equivalent is Grudiev, Guardian of Earth.  (An azure dragon more in line with western dragons than eastern.  Of the central 4 Guardians, Grudiev has gone thru the most dramatic changes, design wise ranging from more recognizably dragon-like, to dinosaur-like, to space Godzilla...)

There’s also the Yellow Serpent/Dragon/Kirin/Emperor, associated with Earth, the Center, and the transitional periods between seasons; but this 5th stage isn’t really used here.  (Kirin/Qilin are super cool though and a neat subject all their own.  Maybe I’ll find an excuse to talk about them in a later post.)

Curiously they do dodge the daoist Fire, Water, Stone, Wood & Metal elemental system, but the basic framework is still there.  But even though the 4 Live Reflector locations are actually in 4 remote corners of the map, the panels correspond

Green Tortoise-South: color’s off and it’s the wrong direction

Red Bird-West: color’s right but direction should be south

Yellow Tiger-North: color’s a little off, but as an alternative to white, yellow’s not a crazy choice, but it’s in the wrong direction.

Blue Dragon-East: right color, right direction

Weirder yet they aren’t even arranged with North and South, and East and West opposite one another, so it’s not like the directions are just rotated or mirrored.  It all only strikes me as odd because these are pretty well established iconography in Japanese pop culture, so any of the various creative hands that touched these assets would’ve been pretty keenly aware of there being some meaning tied to each of these design elements, and yet they left the end result just slightly misaligned at every angle...

Anyway, moving on...  The next two dungeons are both rather small and lumped together as two halves of the same real mission for this chapter.  And in an odd illustration of that unity, they share overworld encounters, even though the two locations are so distant from one another...  (I was going to tackle both dungeons in one post, but the first draft wound up a lot bigger than I was anticipating, so this is actually going to be a series of 3 shorter posts instead.)  

Both the Western island where the mining town of Holst is, and the Northern volcanic landform where the Raline[sic] Observatory are, are populated by Berserker, Assassin Bug, and Cockatrice.

Actual Assassin Bugs are members of the family Reduviidae, but the name is also that of a classic Dungeons & Dragons monster. (because of course it is)  There’s actually not too much resemblance to either here though, and the recolored Stirge models appear in large numbers and all cast a low accuracy insta-kill spell, Dead End.

The Cockatrice is of course a classic fixture of English lore with roots in Greek mythos; Being so prominent as to show up even in familial heraldry. A dragon or serpent with a rooster's head, allegedly hatched of a chicken egg incubated by a toad or snake. Their glare or in some accounts breath can kill. Due to superficial similarities the Cockatrice and Basilisk have become closely related in fantasy, although they don’t actually share any origins. Oddly it is the Basilisk, not the Cockatrice that is generally associated with poison, but the Cockatrice in Wild Arms 2 uses Poison Breath, and curiously not Dead End, like the Assassin Bug.

The Berserkers are an oddity.  The name is of course super generic.  The form is some kind of human sized mantid, but with one club arm in place of the usual sickle?  They recycle the I Hate You! move from the Ratmonkey we’ve seen before. They also partially share a name with a major villain of the original Wild Arms, whose name was erroneously transliterated as Belselk, with whom they share absolutely no similarity with.

Belselk was a part of the race of Demons that served as the core antagonists of the first Wild Arms.  They were a race of otherworldly “mechanical” beings but Belselk was pretty all around meaty looking if you ask me.  To be fair though, most of the Demons in Wild Arms didn’t seem too mechanical, but at least others hid parts of themselves behind chest plates or helmets; Belselk’s just got normal clothes on for the most part.  He’s also confusingly reptilian while the others were mostly humanoid.  The one other exception was Alhazad, who I’ve mentioned briefly before.  

He was the weakest of the game’s 4 Heavenly Kings bosses. (something I’ll come back to when we come back to Odessa in a few missions)  He was the first to die and was immediately replaced by a way cooler dude named Boomerang, who was the companion of Lucied, Guardian Lord of Desire, whom fought along side him against the heroes.  He and the Sword Magess, Anastasaia, in this game establish the lore that Luceid appears to those on Filgaia with the strongest desires, regardless of their alignments.

Anyway... now I’m just rambling...

Also at the last minute I realized you can run into Myconid here, and that’s fun.  As ever, they’re another one taken from D&D, where the Myconid are a race of humanoid fungus whose spores can reanimate fertile corpses.  Here they appear as humanoid corpses with large bulbous and porous growths on their backs and heads, and long tendril like growths wriggling around.  It’s actually a pretty unsettling design, even with these low res models and textures.

I feel like I’ve been slacking a little on the actual ecology angle to all this, but this one really doesn’t have a lot to comment on...  The Cockatrice doesn’t exactly have a natural environment for it to be restricted to, the Myconid is pretty straight forwardly at home any place fungi would be, and then the other two are insects so so can live just about anywhere.  Both places in question are islands, but environments that are still fairly dry and barren: Holst continues the dusty wasteland, and the Raline Observatory‘s surroundings are barren, likely volcanic, rock.  It’s not that any of these monsters can’t live in these places, but they don’t feel especially at home there either?  I’d expect fungi monsters in a jungle or a rainforest, or a dark damp cave or basement.  The fungi would potentially feed on insects, which makes sense, but why the Cockatrice?  It and the Assassin Bug have a theme of instant death, going on, but then the Berserker and Myconid don’t quite fit that?  I guess there could be a kind of implied food chain going on here, where the instadeath’d humans get brought back by Myconids?  But that's pretty flimsy.  This is also why I mean to dodge the overworld, as they’re broader environments and less thematically unified over all, as they encompass multiple locations each with their own core concepts.