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nastya-sokolova-2002 · 1 year

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In this post I will show you five characters from the Pinky and the Brain family in the mouse version, so that later I can take a break from this and think about what Diego, Jasper, Linda and others (exactly from the family of Pinky and the Brain) will look like in the mouse version, and besides, the second chapter of fanfiction is still in progress, but I promise that it will be. So, let's start with Suleiman. Here is his mouse version.

As you know that in the mouse version and that in version 035, Pinky inherited exactly the appearance from his grandfather Suleiman. Suleiman, Pinky's only maternal ancestor (because Suleiman is Vanessa's father), who is not very stupid compared to his daughter and grandson. Polly is of course a bit stupid only 50/50, and so she, too, like her husband, the only ancestor who does not behave so stupidly. Pinky also inherited from his grandfather that Suleiman himself, like his grandson, has a pure and kind heart and is always ready to help everyone. Another interesting fact about him is that when he met Polly, he fell in love with her not only because she is a beautiful woman, but also because she herself is also kind, but sometimes very naive, like her grandson.

Okay, now let's move on to Julia Scott in the mouse version.

At first I wanted Julia Scott in the mouse version to be very similar to Julia Brain, but then I changed my mind because some people might get confused between Pinky's wife and Brain's daughter. And so I decided that Julia Scott in the mouse version should be very similar to Billie (if Billie was in "Animaniacs 2020"), who is the former love of Brain. And what, since Julia Scott married Pinky, she has the right to live with him. She doesn't want to be a widow after Larry dies, does she? Despite the fact that she stayed with Pinky immediately after Larry's death (in the second chapter, she will tell Mindy and Rory that she told her foster father that she and her children will stay with Pinky and Brain because she doesn't want to go anywhere. But Pinky, hearing these words, decides to help Julia, until the horror begins at the end of the second chapter. And you will read the second chapter about this soon) she later fell in love with Pinky in return when he began to entertain and care for her to feel good, she thinks at the moment that she will not be left alone a second time. And as for Pinky, for those who watched all episodes of "Animaniacs 1993", "Pinky and the Brain", "Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain" and "Animaniacs 2020", they will understand that before Julia Scott, Pinky lost several of his lovers, but eventually, after Larry's death and while he was courting Julia Scott, he gradually fell in love with her and eventually married her and has a son named Kolin with her.

Okay, guys, now let's move on to Mindy in the mouse version.

Actually, she is very similar to her native version in the form of 035. Currently, like her mother Julia Scott, she lives with Pinky and the Brain. She has a very good relationship with her new father, Pinky, and loves him like her biological father.

So, now let's see what Kolin looks like in the mouse version.

Well, you see that he is a copy of his father Pinky, but inherited the color of the eyes from his mother Julia, and the hair color of one of the ancestors of Julia Scott. We can say that in character he is half like his father and half like his mother. How is it, you ask? Very simple. He is 50% stupid like Pinky and 50% smart like Julia Scott. He loves to annoy Gadget, like Pinky annoys Brain. Pinky and Kolin are both masochists when Brain and Gadget hurt them when they annoy them or talk nonsense (just like in the original "Pinky and the Brain"). Kolin treats Porcelain Sage very well. He loves him like his native grandfather Roger (Pinky's father). Kolin, like his siblings, mother and uncle Brain, has a bad relationship with Michael, because Pinky and Brain and their ancestors told him from early childhood what his mother Julia experienced and told him never to approach him. Kolin is also not friends with Michael's and his sister's children, like how Mindy and Rory, who stopped being friends with them after Larry's death.

And the last one for today is Rory in the mouse version.

Rory in the mouse version looks exactly the same color as in his native version, except for the color of the eyes. And yes, an interesting fact about him is that if Rory, in his native version, would also take off his mask like Julia Scott's ancestors, he would have yellow eyes. You know that Rory in his native version his mouth is always open, but does only either a smile or sadness, but in the mouse version, his mouth opens and closes like everyone else. Oh yeah, he, like his sister Mindy and mom Julia, he currently lives with Pinky and the Brain, but he and his sister don't forget Porcelain Sage and visit him often. Rory also has a very good relationship with new father, Pinky, as does his sister Mindy. There is also the fact that after Larry's death, Rory not only wanted revenge on Michael, but he also had depression until he did sex with Gadget and became a father after the birth of Amelia. When Rory fell in love with Gadget, but at that time did not understand that Gadget was in love with him long ago when Larry was alive, he dreamed of winning her heart. Gadget herself understood this, but she played along a little like she said, “Well, what do you need from me? Dating? Well, I don’t even know. I have so many things to do. I need to help my dad take over the world. What? And your father too? Wow!". In short, Rory and Gadget had a very long relationship since 2040 to their wedding in 10053. Oh, shit, I forgot one more thing. As for Rory's eyes in the mouse version, everything is the same as in version 035. In case someone forgot what Rory's emotions look like, then here is an image for you.

And the last fact for today. At first, I wanted the mouse version of Rory to look like B.R.A.I.N. from episode of "Animaniacs 2020" called "Ex-Mousina". And the "prototype" Rory looks like this.

But then I thought that Rory would not look very perfect in this form and decided to make Rory look a little like his new father Pinky.

I hope you enjoyed the mouse versions of these characters. ^^

#scp containment breach #scp fanart #scp foundation #scp fandom #animaniacs version #scp 035 suleiman #scp 035 julia #scp 035 mindy #scp 035 kolin #scp 035 rory #scp information #interesting facts about scp in my au #animaniacs style

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delldarling · 4 years

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lost things | pyx

This was Faebruary’s story of the month over on Patreon! I gave the time between posting this a bit of a break because of the plethora of fae tales I’d been writing in February, but hope you all enjoy!

female fae x gender/body neutral reader 2500 words sfw | fluff, sweetness, holding hands, dancing, adventure note: here’s a story that is rather close to my heart <3

Lost is scrawled in a nearly empty diary, tossed in a plastic milk crate full of books. The word is messy and traced twice over, just above a small splattering of ink. The ink drops remind you vaguely of dot-to-dot pages and a smile slips onto your face as you trace them. When you flip it over, a small pink sticker reads: .25 It’s older and weathered, but the paper is clean except for that single word. Twenty five cents feels more than worth it, so it comes home in your pocket.

The word sticks with you throughout the day though, caught fast in the back of your mind like it’s important, even though you’re fairly sure you haven’t lost anything. Maybe you saw a poster somewhere for a lost animal? But even after silently recounting your day in your head, you’ve got nothing.

“Lost,” you mutter, going outside to sit on your back porch in the early evening. You’ve repeated the word so often now that it’s lost its meaning, which has you shaking your head in exasperation. Maybe you can ask- Movement in the corner of your eye makes you pause.

At first, you think it’s just a shadow, caught on the edge of your vision because of the evening wind blowing through the yard. You ignore the movement, elbows on your knees, trying to figure out exactly what has you feeling so strange.

It’s the light that finally catches your eyes. Fine, gleaming pinpricks of light, like a swarm of neon bright fireflies, draws your attention to the woman standing in the corner of your yard. Your heart chokes you, pounding desperately in your throat as you jump to your feet, but she’s still there, even after you blink, repeatedly. Trying to convince yourself that she’s nothing more than a figment of your imagination doesn’t make her go away either.

“I haven’t heard a Calling in an age,” she says in a low, smooth voice, walking through the grass. The fine pinpricks of light dance over her skin as she moves, mirroring… mirroring the stars overhead. Your gaze darts up and then back down to her face. She smiles when she gets close, but it's one born of polite confusion and it isn’t until she stops in front of you that you feel like you can draw breath again. “What have you lost?” She asks, less than a foot away, hooking her thumb in the cloth belt wrapped around her waist. She tilts her head, chin length, lavender colored waves brushing over her shoulders, revealing the pointed arch of one dark ear. The mirrored stars make it look like the drop of her earring is a shooting star, gleaming strangely against her skin.

“I- Where did you come from?” You glance at the fence, wondering if she hopped it - her exposed forearms are rather muscled, but then you see the trees in the corner of your yard. Towering, sprawling things that most definitely were not there ten minutes ago. “And who are you? And did you just say-”

“Lost,” the strange elf woman repeats, and a chill crawls up your spine. “I came because you asked for aid, of course. And you may call me Pyx.”

“Pyx,” you repeat, focusing on her eyes. The entire sclera is black, or as dark as, in the fading light of evening, but it’s her irises, like pale silvery moons, that make your jaw drop.

Pyx lifts her head, breathing in deeply and searching the sky. When she turns, you catch sight of small protrusions near her temples. “Yes. Now, what have you lost? I cannot move as swiftly in your realm during the daylight hours, so if we must leave-”

Lost, she’d said, just like the diary, and then you can see, clear as day in your minds eye: The ink splatter.

“Okay, so. So I’m not sure uh.. What it is that you do to help find lost things, but I haven’t lost anything? And I think this was all a mistake. There was a book - a diary, journal, thing - and sure, the word lost was in it, and I’ve been thinking-”

Pyx stares while you ramble, until you mention tracing. Then she laughs. Throaty and full, clutching at her middle until someone a few houses down, or maybe on the street? Shouts “What the fuck is so funny over there?”

“You cannot Call me by mistake. You say you’ve lost nothing?” She finally asks, catching her breath. Her grin grows smaller, but is still sparkling in her gaze.

“T-that doesn’t mean nothing. Everyone has lost something, but I’m not- Actively looking? I’m missing a few socks-” You startle as she takes a step closer, erasing the distance between you so she can lay a strong hand on your shoulder. She’s tall, you realize, and has a good five inches or so on you.

“Your way,” she corrects you. “You’ve lost your way,” Pyx says, like she’s sharing a secret, like it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

“Maybe motivation,” you mutter, frowning, but then Pyx is curling her hand around your wrist and nodding her head towards the trees.

“Come with me,” she insists, tugging you away from your porch. When you don’t resist, when your eyes simply widen, she drags you towards the trees, stars whirling over her skin dizzyingly fast.

The trees are bent into an arch towards one another, branches interlocked at odd intervals, and it looks like nothing so much as some kind of black hole, caught between the branches. Apprehension has you tempted to drag your feet, to put a halt to this, but before you can do more than open your mouth, Pyx is pulling you through the arch.

Darkness closes over you like cool water, and then dissipates into a fine mist that you suck straight down into your lungs, leaving you coughing as you come to a stumbling stop against Pyx’s winged back. You jump away, tearing your hand out of hers to stare at the pitch-black insect wings tucked in tight down her spine.

“You have wings?” Is the first question out of your mouth, though there are more crowding your brain for attention. What the hell was that portal, where did she bring you, is she- “What-”

Pyx stretches them out and you notice the line of buttons on her shirt over the top of each wing - the buttons look like precious stones. She flutters them, laughing quietly and then lays them against her back once more. “I take it that Fae are as rare in your realm as humans are in mine?” She asks, taking your hand and lacing her fingers through yours. Reflexively, you squeeze her hand, speechless as she starts walking. “Most are Court bound after all,” she continues, though you can’t say you completely understand what she’s talking about, “so if you don’t frequent a Court-” Pyx stops, a small little smile appearing as she nods her head to the side.

You follow the gesture, still trying to catch up with your rambling thoughts about Faeries, and then your mouth pops open in astonishment. Golden light is spilling out from a shop front, just barely reaching over the toes of your shoes, but then you have to look up. And up. And up.

The shop - the bar, you think, with raucous tunes drifting out the door - is nestled underneath the roots of a redwood that looks like it was planted by giants. It’s then that you realize you’re surrounded by those massive trees on all sides. The sky looks… Much farther away than normal. You squeeze Pyx’s hand again, gaze darting back to the open doors and the roots draped over them like a curtain. “The best thing to do when you find you’ve lost your way,” Pyx explains, stroking a thumb over your hand as she walks you both towards the entrance, “is find a bit of fun.”

As soon as you spot more Faeries and beings of various stature inside though, you dig in your feet. “You just said that humans were uncommon around these parts? Is that- Is that going to be a problem?”

Pyx blinks and then purses her lips as she thinks over her answer. “They might be more willing to buy you a few rounds?” She says, like she isn’t entirely sure how they’re going to react. “But if you’re worried about safety-” Pyx pats her thigh, giving you just enough time to catch sight of a silvery blade, and then a shadow is stopping in the doorway, hands on their hips.

“Pyx!” A short, bearded man calls out. “My favorite tracker! Made a new friend, have you?”

For the next thirty minutes, it feels like you’ve been pulled into a whirlwind. Pyx introduces you to a slew of Fae, and you can barely keep up with the list of names. You do remember Kolin though, the dwarven man who insisted you try a cup of raspberry wine. And the two men who can near fade from your sight like ghosts, leaving nothing behind but an unearthly light where their hearts should be? They’re wisps and their dancing is lovely and haunting.

Halfway through your second drink though, you frown and Pyx leans an elbow on the table, arching a lavender brow. “They didn’t slip you a draft of Tears, did they?”

“You drink tears?” You can’t help asking, setting your cup down with a clatter. The sound doesn’t reach much farther than your table though, before Pyx starts laughing again.

“Thrice brewed tears with a twist of moon-fruit,” Pyx teases. Or.. You think she’s teasing. You’re in a Fae tavern and you were brought here because you found a diary with the word lost written in it’s pages. You’ve met people that you’ve only ever read about or seen on TV screens - and yet you’ve seen nothing like them either. “Time for a dance, I think,” Pyx decides, taking another sip of her drink before she gets to her feet. She sets down her cup and offers you a hand, nearly doing some kind of clip with the heels of her boots that reminds you of bowing. For a moment, the stars on her exposed skin - her face, hands and forearms, seem to burst, to fizzle out like fireworks before they settle back into place.

“Are you alri-”

“Uh, yes,” Pyx says, clearing her throat. “I just- we’re not in Court. Anyway! Would you like a turn about the room?”

Regardless of how overwhelming some of the evening has been, you… You kinda do. Pyx is tall and looks fierce when she isn’t smiling, and her skin is peppered with the stars, flying somewhere over the giant tree you’re sitting in. This is most definitely a moment to seize all the experiences you can.

“I think I would,” you agree, laughing when she pulls you to your feet and spins you out into the middle of the floor. You let her lead, not caring overmuch that you don’t know any of the steps - none of the Fae seem to care, and even the wisps start clapping along, urging you and Pyx to move faster, to keep dancing. Everything in you, from your toes to the top of your head, feels light. Alive.

"How are you feeling now?" Pyx asks after you’ve danced around the entire room at least twice. She leads you back to the doorway so you can grab some air, smiling brightly at you as you catch your breath. Standing here, staring out at the enormous trees, part of you wonders if you shrank to get here. Faeries are supposed to be small, aren’t they? Ah, it doesn’t matter.

"Better," you confide, because it's true, because you feel at ease in a way you haven't in quite a while. "Is this what you do?" You find yourself asking. “Taking random humans - or Fae, I mean, out for a good time? Helping them find- Fun? Motivation?”

Pyx shrugs a shoulder, wings arching with the movement before they settle against her back again. “I pursue. I track lost things. We all do - not Faeries,” she corrects, “but my people. We’ve been called Navigators, Compasses - Star Followers, because we’re never lost.” She lifts her hand and splays her fingers, displaying the glittering stars mirrored on her skin. “There aren’t many of us who roam, as we’re in high demand,” she says. Her lips quirk, though you’re not sure whether she was trying to smile or frown, it’s gone before you can blink. “We can track down any lost thing. For a hefty price.” She does smile then, though her nose wrinkles when she sees the startled look on your face. "Your price was my company. We don't see many humans here these days, and fewer still have Called for me in.. quite a while. Where did you learn?" She finally asks, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

Your explanation is likely much shorter than she expected it to be, but Pyx nods. "It's meant to be passed on, you see,” she explains. “Find another who is lost, send them to me. Of course you're free to keep the knowledge - I've led a human or two out of the woods! But it is hard to share such things in this day and age, is it not?"

“The diary? Or-”

“The ink!” She clarifies, smiling as she traces a shape in the air. “It was the constellation I was born under. It Calls me when you trace it. It was given to an old friend. A… A very long time ago, I imagine.” Pyx sighs. “I’m afraid I’m a bit terrible with time. Seeing as I haven’t seen the state of it, it could be something recent, passed down to their kin.” She sounds so terribly… lost, and then she freezes when you slip your arms around her. You’re careful of her wings and to keep your hands in considerate places, but- as soon as she melts into it, you shiver.

"...are you lost?" You can't help asking. Because it’s a valid question, and she seems like she’s missing something, or perhaps someone, the way she’s been talking about her people, about finding things.

“Less so, after this evening,” she teases, hand stroking down your spine. She sighs again, but this time it holds a sweet note and then she’s pressing a kiss to your temple. “But I think it’s time I took you home. I’m not in the business of whisking humans away permanently.”

That… Makes you pause. Not the thought of permanence, but the thought of going home. Pyx notices the way you’re starting to worry at your lower lip though.

“I’ll be back,” she promises, lacing her fingers through yours once more, “perhaps even before you feel lost, you have my word.” She starts to walk, away from the tavern, away from light spilling out of the doors. Hand held fast in hers, you follow.

#exophilia #monster girlfriend #female faerie x reader #female fae x reader #d.darling writes #faerie girlfriend

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prettygalsread · 4 years

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Thank you to the author, the publisher and TBRandbeyondtours for allowing me to be apart of this tour!

Title: Of Silver and Shadow

Author: Jennifer Gruenke

Read: December 2019

Rating: 5/5 ✰’s

“But Markus was their mother’s son. Rebellion swam in his blood”

Wow! That’s all I can say for a moment... Ok

I’m back haha. I actually stayed up late to keep reading this! This book was amazing. I love how the story dives into action from the very beginning and the world descriptions were beautiful! I thought the concept of “The King’s Children” was creative and very interesting. The magic was amazing, the characters were phenomenal and I enjoyed each POV - Darek gave me serious Rowan Whitethorn vibes when we first met him haha

If you read my reviews you know how much I love slowburns, forbidden romances and the enemy-to-lover scenarios which this book tackled beautifully haha. I love when I can actually enjoy the main character(s) without wanting to strangle them. Ren was probably my favorite. she was awesome!

This book also made me laugh. I love banter and this story had plenty of it. That made me smile in the way that The Gilded Wolves did.

Favorite Quotes:

“You think with your heart. And hearts are dreadfully weak things. Yet without them, we’d all be dead.”

“It wasn’t never. And then the things they felt would no longer be dangerous, and they wouldn’t have to hide.”

“Can I ask what brought on this change of heart? He questioned. Because you’re still here, Ren thought. No matter how hard I try to get rid of you.”

Book Info:

Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publishing Date: February 16, 2021

Synopsis:

Ren Kolins is a silver wielder—a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won’t see a single coin until they overthrow the King.

Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King’s Children is engaged in a competition: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King’s Fang, the right hand of the King of Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel leader, and the coveted King’s Fang title.

But time is running out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself pulled into the rebellion. Political tensions have reached a boiling point, and Ren and the rebels must take the throne before war breaks out.

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Shadow-Jennifer-Gruenke/dp/1635830540/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RPTRKHHTF4E8&dchild=1&keywords=of+silver+and+shadow+jennifer+gruenke&qid=1607112042&sprefix=of+silver+and+shadow%2Caps%2C1305&sr=8-1

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/of-silver-and-shadow-jennifer-gruenke/1133209308?ean=9781635830545

Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Silver-Shadow-Jennifer-Gruenke/9781635830545?ref=grid-view&qid=1607112122807&sr=1-3

Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/of-silver-and-shadow/9781635830545-item.html?ikwid=jennifer+gruenke&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=6245dfd413e8248491aa7c639d1bd3df

IndieBound: https://www.bookdepository.com/Silver-Shadow-Jennifer-Gruenke/9781635830545?ref=grid-view&qid=1607112122807&sr=1-3

#prettygalsread #my book reviews #prettygalreviews #tbrbeyondtours #of silver and shadow #book review #jennifer gruenke

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fedorasaurus · 5 years

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If you could re-write A Shadow Falls from Street Fighter V, how would you change it? It’d be great to see your twist on it!

(I’m replying to this on mobile, so I’m almost positive that the formatting will be a mess, and it won’t let me save as a draft. Sorry in advance! I’ll fix it as soon as I can get to a real computer.)

Thank you so much for this question! It’s a blast to think about.

I mention some big spoilers in this, so beware!

It’s hard for me to think of how I’d rewrite the whole thing, because I’m pretty much okay with most of it! Sure, it’s pretty cheesy at times, but I’d even dial the cheesiness up a few notches. I mean, they got Bison’s voice actor to say “this is delicious,” and I think they could have taken it even further with the SF Animated Series references if they really wanted to!

I guess the biggest thing to me is, ASF included so many characters, but not all of them got equal treatment in the storyline. Maybe it was a matter of a cast too big for the length of the plot, but I’d have really liked to see individual character arcs, or at least see how each person’s strengths contributed to the defeat of Shadaloo.

For instance, Birdie was the perpetual comic relief guy: fat man eats a lot and is kind of a rude goofy slob. But what if he had a moment to shine as a former Shadaloo agent? Yeah, some of this is covered in the individual Character Stories as fun little prologues, but ASF should show how it all comes together, I’d think.

Also, I’d really hype up the new characters in addition to the familiar returning cast. They did a fantastic job with F.A.N.G in this respect. He REALLY plays off like the main villain while Bison, the “true” big bad, just kinda floated there menacingly for the most part, and I loved it. However, not everyone got such memorable treatment. Looking at how the story played out, what was Necalli’s purpose in all of this? In the opening scene, you get the sense that he’s returning as a direct result of Nash’s soul leaving the afterlife (and maybe it also ties in with Shadaloo’s Black Moons bringing fear and chaos to the planet to fuel Bison’s Psycho Power, basically more tasty powerful fighters emerging for Necalli to consume), but as the story goes on, he doesn’t do a whole lot besides growl a lot and turn into mud. He’s just sort of there for the most part, when there could have been an opportunity to make him... maybe the fighting game equivalent of a slasher villain. Hungry, lurking in the shadows, on neither the hero nor villain’s side, but actively hunting whoever is the most powerful fighter in the given moment. Rightfully frightening as a result of it.

I also think some of the cast, major and minor characters, could have a little more screentime. Maybe elaborate more on the family bond between Cammy and Decapre. In fact, the concept of “family” could be a good unifying theme here. You got blood siblings Laura and Sean, you got the Dolls having that sisterly bond as they fight for their independence, the Shadaloo Kings being a sort of their own dysfunctional bad guy fam (heck, you could make an argument for Ed having a sort of “found family” with Balrog there, at least), and, a big one you might have expected by asking me this question:

What if ASF put more spotlight on Guile and Charlie’s relationship? SEE: Guile’s Character Story in which he tells Kolin that he’s looking for a friend who is like family to him. Presumably this happened while Nash was in some semi-conscious state during his resurrection. You don’t suppose he could have heard Guile say this, do you? Surely it would have affected his feelings toward him when they met up again... Ah, I’m just speculating. The GuileNash shipper in me wants to say I wish ASF gave us some scenes of them hugging and holding hands when they re-united (Guile grabbing Charlie’s hand to pull him into the helicopter is close enough. I’ll take that)! The point is, these characters have such a big history, and maybe there could have been more scenes of their friendship being shown, rather than Nash being this tragic, broody dude who has to take everything on his own. If his choice to ultimately go after Bison alone was his decision, I’d like to hear why that is. Not just, “Helen says I don’t have much time,” but why, even after Rashid told him about being there for his friend even though his friend foolishly gets into trouble all the time, did this seem like the best move? Why did Nash’s friends just let him go ahead with it? I feel like there was some off-screen discussion or something I missed there. Right before Nash’s final encounter with Bison, he looks back and Guile kinda gives him a lil’ nod (of understanding? approval?). Basically, I don’t want to believe that he’s doing all of this alone because Helen pressured him into it and manipulated his anger and cravings for vengence. I want some confirmation that Nash considered everything, including how much his friends loved and supported him, and still decided, by his own confident assessment, that what he needed to do was to get Bison alone and absorb his Psycho Power to save everyone, even if it meant dying again in the process.

While I’m at it, here’s the most important change of them all: A Shadow Falls, but when Nash does his heroic sacrifice, it isn’t for nothing.

As it is, it’s a little disappointing to see that after all Nash goes through, his efforts result in nothing. He explodes, but Bison is completely fine! Ryu comes out of nowhere to finish him off, and it just stinks of, “well, we gotta have the obligatory epic final showdown between the main hero and the main villain!”

I can understand the story trying to warn us that living a life for revenge is the wrong way to go about it, but if Nash was destined to fail, I’d at least like to add something that shows us that Ryu wouldn’t have been able to stop Bison if Nash hadn’t stolen so much of his energy in the moments before.

Furthermore, I think killing Nash in the same game that brought him back to life after so many years is kind of a waste. I’d put in a clue... something ambiguous, perhaps... that suggests that Charlie could still be alive in some form. Maybe as a spectral Psycho Power ghost or something like Bison tends to do.

Finally... as someone who hasn’t played Street Fighter 3, I understand THAT Gill is important, but I didn’t really comprehend WHY it was such a big deal that he and Kolin were the big post-credits reveal. I like a surprise as much as anyone, but it felt a little out of the blue! A few breadcrumbs of Gill flashbacks in Urien’s scenes could have been a good foreshadowing.

How would I re-write A Shadow Falls?

TL;DR summary:

Ham it up even more!

Give each character a time to shine / contribute to the plot in a significant way

Give it a unifying theme (I suggest “family”)

Give Nash some visible, meaningful character development / interaction, rather than making him a vessel for tragic sacrifice

For the love of god, don’t kill the man off AGAIN. He just got here!

Foreshadow Gill’s involvement just a tiny bit!

And a bonus thought that just ocurred to me as I was finishing the post: I’d give Azam SO MUCH more dialogue in ASF. He has a ton of personality in the character stories with Rashid, so it was kind of a shame that the cinematic story just had him saying “Master” in various levels of emotion.

#long post #Street Fighter #SFV #A Shadow Falls #spoilers #spoiler #story mode #asks #thank you so so much #I love talking about this #I hope it didn’t come off as a salty rant because I really do like the story in SFV #was just a lil’ unfair to my fave

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jewish-privilege · 6 years

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Central Synagogue, a historic New York congregation, opened its doors to the congregants of a nearby mosque after damage from a recent fire in their building prevented them from holding Friday prayers. Friday is the holiest day in the Muslim week, and Muslims traditionally gather for prayer in the early afternoon, called Jummah.

Central’s act of hospitality comes one week after a massacre of Muslims at two mosques in New Zealand. In the wake of the attack, Jewish communities around the world visited local mosques in acts of solidarity, forming welcome lines and holding supportive signs.

The mosque, the Islamic Society of Mid-Manhattan, was temporarily closed two days ago after a fire started in a restaurant occupying the first floor of its building. FDNY officials told local media that the mosque was not damaged in the fire. The mosque is just one block east of Central Synagogue in midtown Manhattan.

On Friday afternoon, the imam of the mosque had been hoping that the fire department’s investigation of the building would be done in time for Jummah. Outside the mosque, several members of Central Synagogue had already gathered to welcome them in, as they had done last Friday.

When it became clear that the growing crowd of congregants waiting to go inside would likely be turned away, the Central members invited them to the synagogue, according to Rabbi Stephanie Kolin, a rabbi at Central.

Over the next several minutes, over 600 Muslims walked a block east to Central, and filed into the synagogue’s indoor pavilion, leaving their shoes in the hallway. A facilities manager at Central located a hand-washing station for the Muslim congregants, since hand-washing is a part of Jummah prayers. Kolin said that the entire space was filled with supplicants.

“It was one of the most beautiful sights I’ve seen in my life,” she said, adding that many people in the room were in tears in response to the religious solidarity on display in the moment.

Kolin said that the Islamic Society’s imam spoke about how he had had a plan for how to conduct that day’s prayers, marking one week since the New Zealand massacre. But, he said, “Allah had a better plan.”

In a sermon, the imam called the prayers “one of the most blessed moments of my life in New York.” He told the attendees that this was a moment they would talk about with their children and grandchildren. He said the moment showed that “light can come out of darkness.”...

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, the leader of Central, posted on Facebook that the moment was one of her community’s holiest moments.

There have been many other instances of Jewish-Muslim solidarity. In 2017, a synagogue in Victoria, Texas, gave a local Muslim congregation the keys to their building after their mosque burned down in a fire. Also in 2017, a Jewish community in Florida helped fundraise to rebuild a mosque damaged in a hate-fueled arson attack.

Kolin said that having the Islamic Society pray in Central was deeply powerful.

“I feel like I’m still integrating it,” she said. “I’m still a little shaking from the spiritual power of what happened.”

Kolin said she spoke at the end of prayers at the invite of the Islamic Society’s leader, and spoke about how the attack on the mosques in New Zealand and the attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh are part and parcel of the same violent ideology.

“These attacks on our communities are one and the same,” she said. Kolin’s words at Central were met with a round of applause from the Muslim guests.

#antisemitism #islamophobia #white supremacy #jews and muslims refuse to be enemies #the restaurant that was gutted is the best mediterranean restaurant i've been too #the restaurant that was gutted is the best shwarma place i've been #when i worked in that neighborhood i went at least once per week #and also after shul when i was a member of central #thankful no one was harmed

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reddtabor · 7 years

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Cider Rite of Spring 2017: Meeting Your (Northwest Cider) Makers

Cider Rite of Spring 2017 included 31 Northwest cidermakers and featured 100 ciders unique ciders. Photo: Sean Connolly

Saturday, March 24, 2017--It’s 8:50 am, and we are unloading scores of cider-filled sixth barrels in preparation for Cider Rite of Spring, which starts in about three hours. I’m one of about a dozen or so people in the vanguard at the Evergreen, this year’s event location, working on set-up. The mood is purposeful and jovial—it seems most everyone in this tight-knit regional cider industry knows one another—yet there’s also the slight tension that comes from knowing the clock is ticking with lots still to do.

As a Portland-based cider disciple, this will be my third tour of the Northwest’s largest springtime, local-cideries-only cider festival—and I only missed last year’s event because I was out of town. This time I’m volunteering, because I want a window into an event Sip NW Magazine in 2015 called the Best Northwest Cider Festival swings from planning into execution.

The 2017 fourth annual Cider Rite of Spring, a six-hour affair presented by the Northwest Cider Association and presented by Square Mile Cider, is going to be big. Thirty-one Oregon and Washington cideries will be present and pouring about 100 ciders, plus six additional, limited pours in the upstairs VIP lounge.

Association Executive Director Emily Ritchie has promoted Cider Rite on Portland’s KATU-2 News, and the Pomme Boots Society, an industry organization for women in the cider industry, has leveraged its marking and outreach panache to spread the word, too. Schilling Cider Company’s Regional Operations Manager and Pomme Boots co-founder Jennie Dorsey at one point informs those working the room that at least 500 tickets have already been sold, with more expected once the doors open.

In addition to General Admission tickets, 2017 Cider Rite of Spring offered a throughout-the-event VIP Lounge experience with exclusive pourings. Photo: Sean Connolly

Over the next couple of hours from nine to noon, representatives from the Oregon and Washington cideries file into the hall, check in, set up their jockey boxes and pouring stations and unfurl company banners. As the main hall morphs to its event-ready state, it’s hard not to get caught up in energy that radiates from a collective of people and businesses at one of the epicenters of what I call the New American Cider Movement. Cider, early America’s alcoholic beverage of choice, is seeing a coast-to-coast revival, and the Pacific Northwest is one of the trailblazing regions.

Cider barrels at the Evergreen. Photo: Sean Connolly

After the kegs are sorted and sent to the cideries’ assigned tables, I spend the couple of hours with a Portland Cider Company colleague cataloging and organizing the bottles and cans that’ll go on sale in the festival’s Cider shop. It’s where I’ll be stationed from noon to 3pm, and we expect sales to be brisk. I get a quick orientation on how to use Square and run transactions. We set up the display table so festivalgoers can get a gander at what’s on sale.

The lineup—and collective craft invested in the making and marketing of ciders and manifested across 100 cans and bottles of varying shapes, sizes, and styles, is impressive. I cannot resist a picture, but have to suppress the urge to start quaffing cider until my shift is over.

Cider Rite of Spring 2017’s Cider Store offered nearly 100 unique ciders for sale, plenty for all kinds of tastes.

Before the doors open, I manage to get a few quick tastes and brief ‘hellos’ to a couple of cidermakers I’ve met at previous Cider Rites like Kevin Van Reenen of Pear Up Cider and Laura Cherry of Dragon’s Head Cider or that are new to Cider Rite of Spring and are pouring ciders I haven’t yet tasted, like Mike and Nate Thierfelder of Portland-based Woodbox Cider Company and Jeff Bennett, co-creator Tumalo Cider Company in Bend, Oregon. I’m struck by the realization that behind every table is the story of people who not only share my passion for cider, but also have elevated it as makers and the investment of their life’s work.

And then before we know it, it’s time for the doors to open. And apparently a line has formed that stretches around the block.

The line to enter Cider Rite of Spring 2017 at some points stretched around the block. Around 900 people attended the fourth annual cider-tasting event. Photo: NW Cider Association.

The next few hours are a blur. The hall fills with a hum of festivalgoers and tasters, and stays filled. What starts as a trickle of people visiting the Cider Shop wanting extra drink tickets becomes a steady, undulating stream of customers ranging in age from their early 20s to 70s who want more tickets, or to take one or half a dozen different ciders home.

Early crowd favorites emerge at check-out: Alter Ego’s The Guardian Angel Blueberry Pomegranate; Bauman’s Peach Raspberry; Locust Cider’s Smoked Blueberry; Portland Cider Company’s Sangria; Schilling’s Pineapple Passionfruit; Seattle Cider Company’s Gin Botanical; Woodbox’s Double Barrel Whiskey Barrel Ice Cider. People’s cider tastes are truly as eclectic as the cross-section of Portlanders who showed up today and the cideries filling glass after tasting glass.

Ciders for Sale at 2017 Cider Rite of Spring. Photo: Sean Connolly

But really, everything we have behind the table’s selling, a good sign. I fill orders and event tote bags briskly, occasionally eye the cheeseburger someone brought earlier as a snack that I don’t have time to munch on. When time allows I make small talk with the buyers, asking them their favorite pours of the day. Unsurprisingly, favorites broadly run the range of ciders on tap.

Just before my shift ends, I’m asked to substitute in at the Locust Cider table so their server can take a much-needed break. I’m glad I have my OLCC Server’s Permit so I can legally pour. I recently began working part time as a Brand Ambassador for Portland Cider Company, and enjoy interacting with people that are either new to cider or steeped in the craft. In between steady requests for Locust’s Smoked Blueberry, Chili Pineapple, and Vanilla Bean ciders, I chat briefly with a representative from McMenamin’s, and am surprised to learn that their Edgefield Winery has been producing cider since 1992.

I return to the Cider Store to see—somewhat to my relief—that a new crew is handling the transactions ably and don’t need me. My shift’s over: now it’s time to sample some of the ciders myself.

Cider Rite of Spring 2017 drew a large—and enthusiastic—number of Northwest cider aficionados. Photo: Kolin Leishman, NW Cider Brokers

Midway through the event, and the Evergreen’s hall is still packed. It takes crowd gymnastics make way to the tasting tables. I return to the Woodbox and Tumalo table, taste a Pippin Dry and Prickly Passionfruit , one of three samples each cidery is offering, respectively. Both are excellent, and proof that relative newcomers into the cider industry are arriving not only with great product out right of the gate, but with offerings that’ll sustain the Northwest’s reputation of one of the most diverse, innovative, and successful cider meccas in the country.

As I’m tasting, a man approaches and asks if he can snap a shot of four cider bottles and a 2017 Cider Rite of Spring tasting glass in front of a cedar-framed jockey box. The image is artful and the photographer moves with precision, so I ask what he’s going to do with the picture.

Turns out he is Steven Shomler, a former corporate banker who’s followed his passion and re-emerged as an active writer, radio host, and culinary storyteller. It’s quickly evident that not only has Shomler established a storytelling niche in the New American Cider Movement – as well as the local beer scene and Portland culinary movement – he’s dedicated his life to his love of craft in the same way so many of the cideries and people working at Cider Rite have.

Screenshot from the Portland Beer Podcast’s 3/20/17 feature on Cider Rite of Spring 2017. Photo: Steven Shomler.

For the last hour of Cider Rite I head to tables stations with cideries that are relatively or completely new to me: Steelhead Cider out of Lake Chelan, Washington, Salem’s 1859 Cider Co., Baird and Dewar in Dayton, Oregon, Eugene, Oregon’s Elk Horn Brewery, https://www.redtankcider.com out of Bend, Oregon, who’s Pumpkin Pie cider is spicily delicious. In the quest for completely new, I reluctantly bypass offerings from ‘more established’ cideries—which in this business remarkably often only means established in the past 4-5 years.

Over and over again as I talk to makers and marketers, the same storyline emerges, albeit with slightly different details. It’s the story of people with a passion for their craft , a sense of place, and a belief in the integrity of Northwest fruit and the creative cider-making process. Of striving and sometimes struggling, sometimes completely reinventing themselves and their carers along their cidermaking journey. And, ultimately, finding deep satisfaction through living life on their own terms and embracing the organic, sometimes messy nature of an industry that embraces the cycle of the seasons. And of course, making something that people love to drink.

At Cider Rite of Spring, even the good-natured, yet sometimes passionate Portland-Seattle rivalry takes a backseat to showcasing Washington and Oregon cidermakers. Photo: Sean Connolly

As the taps close down at 5:45 and the hall finally begins to clear, I feel a brief sensation of melancholy with the realization that Cider Rite of Spring 2017 is coming to an end. Like spring itself, the event was colorful, bustling, frenetic, and seemed (for me) to come to an end quickly.

But for the event organizers and volunteers beginning the break-down process, it’s not completely over until the hall is cleared. As I leave the Evergreen the realization hits that what I think is a long day is even longer and harder for others. It fits, my perception of the cider industry, too: people work hard, make time for fun, but there’s not a lot of time to rest on one’s laurels. Things, and trends, move fast.

Cider Rite of Spring is hosted by the NW Cider Association, a trade organization that connects cider aficionados with cideries and cider makers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia. Photo: Sean Connolly

I recall watching throughout the day as Dorsey, Jana Daisy-Ensign of Finnriver and Gemma Schmit of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider—also Pomme Boots co-founders and Cider Rite 2017 organizers—and Carolyn Winkler (also with Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider) were seemingly everywhere, coordinating logistics with the cidery representatives and VIPs, greeting event-goers, checking in with and providing volunteers like me affirmation and thanks. Their professionalism, energy—and effort—vastly eclipsed mine. I see Deron Davenport, Sam Rico, and Helen Lewis, Portland Cider Company colleagues that were here this morning even before I arrived and still here as I leave, still working.

It’s an ethos of hard work and energy that makes us cider aficionados who live in the Northwest, the region where dry-hopped cider was invented, very, very lucky. And despite our rainy, cold winter, apple and pear trees are beginning to blossom. Cider Rite of Spring 2017 was a reminder that warmer, brighter days are ahead. And no matter what your cider preference is, there’s something you tasted today, or tomorrow, that’ll be worth raising a glass.

Sean Connolly is a cider enthusiast who’s much better at writing, talking up, and drinking cider then he is making it. He recently passed Level 1 of the the U.S. Association of Cider Maker’s Certification Program, and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Missed Cider Rite of Spring? Never fear, more spring cider festivals are just around the corner! Be sure to check out next month’s Hophouse Ciderfest on April 1, Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider Hopped Cider Fest on April 9, and the Hood River Hard-Pressed Cider Fest on April 22.

#cider #pickcider #hardcider #nwcider #ciderriteofspring

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