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im-totally-not-an-alien · 3 years

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Final Fantasy 7 prompts # 73

1. Puppet! Cloud drops out from a random vortex after his master was defeated. Where did he land?

On Sephiroths office desk in Shinra tower of course. Sephiroth poked him with his pen a few times before Cloud woke up.

"Master!" The blond exclaimed as he wrapped the larger man in a hug. Of course. Of freaking course, thats when Genesis barged in with a stack of paperwork tucked under his arm, (not even bothering to knock mind you!) "Ugh, Seph, you are not going to believe-" the redclad figure stopped in his tracks.

"...this isn't what is looks like."

Genesis wiggled his eyebrows suggestivly, "Sure it isn't." And he was back out in the hall without another word. The soft click the door gave seemed much too loud in the silence and only seemed to add to Sephiroths humiliation.

Thus began Cloud following around his "Master" wherever he went while Sephiroth and the SOLDIERS/Turks did everything in their power to stop him, only to fail hilariously or get beaten up by the (comparatively) petite blond for thier efforts

2. The Holy Trinity encounter Winged! Cloud from the future or a parallel dimention or something and instead of viewing him as a monster they think he's an actual angel and treat him accordingly.

3. Cloud had just finished burying a dead chocobo (may she rest in peace) he had found when he heard a twig snap from behind him.

He reached for Tsurugis handle only to pause when he saw a bright yellow ball of plumage peek out from behind a tree. The blond let out a small laugh. That was by far the fluffiest chick he had ever seen, hells, it was a perfect circle/

Cloud reached down and picked up the baby, "Hello there, are you lost?"

"Kweh!" The little circle cried out and Cloud was quickly surrounded by three other chicks, all wild and overly fluffy. He absently wondered if this was a new breed while they preceeded to peck at him with little effect. He just scooped them up and drove them to Bills place after a ruddementry search of the nearby area.

That was the end of it.

Until he woke up the next morning with three of the chicks sleeping on top of him. The blond was baffled and got up to search for the fourth, only to find it perched on Denzels head, shifting its balance as to not fall whenever Denzel began nodding off, threatening to fall asleep and plant his face in his breakfast.

If Cloud took a picture-or a dozen-no one would have to know

4. A mysterious ailment has been effecting all the creatures Hojo created using Jenovas cells causing them to run amok. With Cloud missing and AVALANCHE busy dealing with rampaging monsters, Denzel and Marlene sneak off to search for the missing blond, but will they find him in time? Or will Cloud be in the same state as the others?

5. Reno found Cloud at a mall in some nowhere town dressed as a girl. He was originally planning to use this as blackmail material before Cloud came out to him as trans.

Now Reno goes out with him and helps him keep his cover...while disguised of course. Wouldn't want anyone to recognize him and- by extention- Cloud.

Besides, if anyone did recognize them, Cloud had full permission to blame Reno and let him take the fall for it.

6. The SOLDIERS apparently had a "Chocobo protection squad" when Cloud was a trooper. He had no idea why Reeve had insisted he read this annoyingly thick file on it until he realized half way through the first page that it was about him

He was the "precious cutie chocobo that must be protected from the evils of the world"

Cloud wanted to burn it on principle...but was too curious to stop reading. Apparently most of the members were still alive and it seems he owes them a great deal, so maybe he should take Teef and the kids to visit some of them. Maybe bring gift baskets...

7. Cloud cursed as he stepped on the edge of his cloak, sending him tumbling down from the path and deeper into the cavern.

Cloud picked himself up from the ground, grateful his goggles kept any of the dirt and debris from entering his eyes.

He heard something from behind him and whirled around to slash at them with his dagger...except there was no one there.

Poink

Oh no. He looked down at the little creatures, wearing cloaks much like his own, only brown instead of the worn black fabric the professor gave them. The blond looked down sadly at the number tattooed on the back of his hand.

Guess I won't be going to the Reunion after all. Shame. Mother had said Zack would be there as a guest and he really wanted to see him again.

Poink!

One of the little creatures- Tonberry- mother supplied - was clutching the edge of his cloak and attempting to lead him somewhere.

Did...did this creature think himself one of them?!

Aka Numbered! Cloud! gets adopted by Tonberrys

8. Hojo waking up strapped to one of his own tables with Cloud and Sephiroth standing over him, grinning like mad men.

9. Au where Sephiroth escaped as a child and fled into the wild and was eventually taken in by the "dead" professor Gast and his wife Iflana

He was "never found" by the Turks and eventually grew up to be a bad ass vigilante.

Cloud shared a similar fate but kept running instead of being taken in, eventually becoming a vagabond until the fateful day when their paths crossed and the pull of Reunion drew them together

10. Enraged blue eyes locked on to the blond. It may have been nearly a thousand years since Shinra fell, but he would know that man anywhere.

Not just anyone could have destroyed a corporate entity as powerful as Shinra and in the span of a single month no less! But he didn't care much about that, oh no.

He cared about the fact that this lovely creature killed him and his fellow firsts and then had the audacity to just disappear into the sands of time, stripping materia of its power and somehow causing Gaias mako to sink deep beneath the soil, never to be seen by mere mortals again. After it did, monsters began appearing less and less frequently, until they stopped appearing at all.

With Shinra so thoroughly destroyed and no other sustainable power available, information and records deteriorated, leaving Shinras history spotty at best and non existent at worse (probably didn'thelp that records seemed to conveniently disappear). Now Shinra, monsters and magic are all considered fairytales from a bygone era.

He and the others occasionally visit the lake that was once the city of Midgar to light candles in honor of all they had lost. Like hell he was going to let the blond escape again. Genesis opened his phone and made a call, "Seph, I found him."

11. Cloud meeting Female Sephiroth. Shes rather impressed that he's completely unaffected by the boob window. It had been the death of many men before him, that was for certain.

Too bad he wants to kill her, she has a feeling she would have liked having him around. Maybe she'd introduce him to Angel's puppy? She had the peculiar ability to befriend everyone she met

12. Time traveler Sephiroth saves time traveler Cloud from the labs with Genesis and Angeal.

Cloud is wondering why Sephiroth saved him and what he's planning.

Meanwhile, Gen and Geal are freaking out and asking annoyingly sane questions, like "Who is this guy?", "Why do you seem to know him so well?", and my personal favorite "Why is there a man being held captive in the labs?!"

13. Lab Experiment Cloud au where teenager Cloud barrels into Sephiroth in the middle of escaping the tower and asks if Sephiroth is his dad.

Sephiroth stops functioning and he just stands there frozen in a full battle stance while Genesis fights and subsequently captures the teenager, who he then promptly kidnaps.

*later*

Sephiroth bursts into the labs and confronts Hojo, asking if he was a father.

Hojo laughs and says "Of course you are! Do you have any idea how many creatures I've spawned with your DNA?"

Cue Sephs mental breakdown and Genesis's rampage on behalf of his friend.

Angeal does his part by babysitting with some office secretaries

Aka: the trinity raising a broody teen

14. Post OG Nebilheim is super duper haunted and Yuffie is NOT okay with that.

Cloud is even less okay and they talk about it while sitting on the roof of Clouds abandoned house...well, the fake one anyway

15. Everyone gets therapy but its from the perspective of a therapist who is %1000 done with Hojo

Bonus: This is actually questions posed by a friend and it helped spawn number 10.

What would Shinra do if Mako where to suddenly disappear? How would that even happen?

Bonus Bonus: What would be the quickest/ most brutal way to take down Shinra and/or SOLDIER? How would the Firsts feel about being completely owned by a stranger who appeared out of nowhere? (This was also my thinking about 10)

Announcement: Due to lack of interest, list #75 will be the final one. Thank you for reading my ideas. It made me super happy!

#tumblr prompt #ff7 #ffvii #sephiroth #final fantasy vii #genesis rhapsodos #angeal hewley

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purplesurveys · 4 years

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1055

surveys by lets-make-surveys

1 - Surveys aside, do you use Tumblr for any other reason? Not anymore. I used to have a main blog, but it’s been years since I opened it; this is it (excuse the bad word in the URL lol, I thought it made me look like an edgy teen) but as I got older I used it less and less frequently until I no longer remember the password to log back in. These days I stay on Tumblr precisely because no one really uses it anymore, so it’s the perfect spot to hide this blog in.

2 - Do you have a lot of social media accounts? Do you update them all regularly? Depends on what you mean by a lot; I have all the basic ones - Twitter, IG, Facebook, YouTube, hell I still even have my Snapchat alive lol but I haven’t used it in like three years. I use YouTube the most but I don’t update it per se, like I just use it to watch videos. Facebook I’ve used a lot less often since the breakup, but I’ve shared a handful of posts since September. I’m probably on Twitter the most, but even then my usage hasn’t been the same.

3 - Does it bother you when your socks don’t match? What about your underwear? I don’t care for either situation, especially for underwear. Why would I care about something no one is ever going to see and even think about?

4 - How many times a year do you go on vacation? Do you tend to go to the same places each time? My family plans at least two trips, at least in non-Covid circumstances. We will sometimes repeat provinces but we never repeat hotels or sites, and we seldom repeat cities. The only places I remember visiting more than once are Baguio, Tagaytay, Albay, Subic, and Baler.

5 - How many times did it take you to pass your driving test? Just one. I could not afford to fuck it up; I was at the LTO for 8 hours and was not willing to go through that shitty long wait, so I absolutely had to pass that exam and do my best with the shitty car I had to work with.

6 - When you’re in trouble, do your parents ever “middle name” you? Nah they never used my whole name. My mom’s trademark is to add an -ah sound to my name when I’ve done something wrong though, as in Robina lol. That’s a sign I should know I shouldn’t have done what I did, whatever it is.

7 - Which family member do you look like the most? Which one do you resemble the most in terms of personality? People are always shocked to hear my mom is actually my mom and not my sister, because 1) we look very much alike, and 2) she looks young for her age. As for my personality, I’d say I’m a perfect split of my mom and dad. I exhibit an equal amount of traits they both have and I can’t tell which one I act like more.

8 - Have you ever been arrested? Never.

9 - Do you prefer Apple or Android? Apple. Would rather pay more than be stuck with an interface, camera, and emojis that I personally don’t like.

10 - Does getting sweaty or dirty bother you at all? If so, has it ever put you off doing exercise? I don’t sweat a lot, so I really do hate it when I feel beads of sweat on my temples or when the back of my shirt starts to feel damp. It doesn’t have anything to do with my feelings about exercising; I don’t like working out, period.

11 - Have you ever broken a bone? What were the circumstances that led to this happening? Never happened, hope it never happens.

12 - If you could change one thing about your appearance, what would it be? I wish I didn’t get the hairy gene so that I didn’t have to shave too much; my hair to be a little livelier and bouncier; and my front teeth to be straighter.

13 - When was the last time your computer crashed or froze? is this something that happens often? It must’ve been around a month ago. It just got too busy, so it froze for a few seconds. My laptop’s a trooper and doesn’t crash/freeze a lot.

14 - Do you ever have problems with your sleep? It’s mid-sleep I’ve been having issues with; I get nightmares almost every night. I don’t have a problem falling asleep as I’m able to do so pretty quickly.

15 - What was the last thing you ate for breakfast? Is this a normal breakfast meal for you? Angel sent over a small box of chocolate chip cookies as a Christmas gift so I’ve been enjoying that :) I’m currently having it with warm coffee. My normal breakfast is no breakfast, so this is a treat for me. Before this I also had to eat my leftover Chapaghetti that I couldn’t finish last night.

16 - Have you ever thought about how you want to spend your retirement? That has not come to mind a lot, actually. I think more about death than I do my retirement...but this question tells me I should probably take a few steps back. I’d simply love to live in comfort with the person I end up growing old with. For now, that’s all I see myself wanting.

17 - When was the last time you got a new tattoo or piercing? Do you have any plans to get either in the future? A little less than 22 years ago; my mom had my ears pierced when I was a few months old. Haven’t gotten any new ones, nor tattoos, since. I’d love to have a couple of tattoos. Some of my ideas are two pawprints for each of my dogs, a plate of nachos, and lyrics that are personally meaningful.

18 - How would you describe your personality? Oof, what a loaded question. Hmm, I guess I’d generally label myself as hardened until I get close with someone? I’ve always kept a wall up and as friendly and extroverted as I can be, I don’t enjoy letting just anyone in. I value my personal and private space, and it’s important that I don’t lose it.

From another angle, I also like to keep doing nice things for other people, even at the expense of my own happiness and comfort. I have to keep making people happy to keep me pleased with myself and the world. Maybe it’s rooted in the fact that I’m the eldest daughter in an Asian family? Idrk, but all I know is that I’ve never had a problem putting other people first.

19 - Have you ever heard of “hygge”? is this something you enjoy or participate in at all? I have no idea what this is and I’ve never come across this word before.

20 - What colour was the last vehicle you travelled in? Does this vehicle belong to you or someone else? White. It’s the car that was given to me for college, but when all is said and done it’s not mine.

21 - Would you describe yourself as healthy? Why or why not? In some senses yes, in other senses no. I don’t exercise or actively watch my diet, and I certainly eat too much junk; so proactively speaking, I’m not super healthy. But generally, my gene pool has been pretty fortunate with health. Other than heart conditions that run in certain branches of the family, we’re relatively a healthy bunch.

22 - Would you describe yourself as messy or organised? Is this something you would like to change? It’s a balance of both. I’m very organized at work so I allow myself to let go in my personal space, like my closet and car. I do clean up from time to time and I still like my space to be neat, but I’m not as neurotic as I normally would be with my workspace.

23 - Do you miss anything about being a teenager? If you are a teenager, what’s your favourite thing about it? The innocence. It was a period of being ideal, being a dreamer, being as romantic about life as I wanted to be. It was also a period where you were allowed to make mistakes, because fucking up when you’re younger lets you off the hook. These are the biggest things I miss, but I don’t really find myself pining for my teenage days. I still like where I am, even if things are realistically a little duller in adulthood.

24 - Are you patriotic at all? Why/why not? No. It’s hard to be when your country is shit.

25 - Have you ever had to wear a white lab coat before? Was this in school or for a job? Yeah we had lab coats in Lab class in high school, but they were green. We also needed safety goggles, and if I remember correctly if we had neither of these things we had to sit outside and skip out on the session.

26 - Would you ever want to do the same career(s) as your parents? I can see myself going down somewhere in the secretarial path like my mom as I’m good at organizing things and keeping internal affairs in order, but I don’t know if I would find it fulfilling. But in general, I wouldn’t want to be in the hotel and restaurant industry. I don’t have any attachments to it and I’ve always felt like I belonged in media and communications.

27 - Do you believe in aliens? Is there a reason why (or why not)? Yes. For the most part, it’s more comforting to think and believe that we’re not the only beings around.

28 - Which animated film would you most like to live in? Does it have to be a film? I’d love to be in the Fairly OddParents universe and have fairy godparents of my own.

29 - When was the last time you got into an argument? Have you made up with that person yet? Gab. I don’t know. She’s ignoring me.

30 - What are you going to do now this survey is over? Take another one.

1 - Have you ever had your computer or e-mail hacked? Did anything bad happen as a result? No but I had bad viruses on all of my Windows laptops before. The worst virus I got involved my laptop typing out some long-ass Vietnamese paragraphs for me at the most random times. It was like a horror movie lmao. Every time I Googled the text I never got any leads from it, so I never knew what it meant or what the virus was.

2 - Do you prefer the company of people or animals? I don’t really have a preference when it comes to these two because their companionships are individually different. I like that animals can be playful and sweet; but I also like cracking jokes and having meaningful conversations with people.

3 - Are you a religious person? Were you raised in that faith or did you discover it a later date in life? I was born and raised Catholic, and still legally am. I never saw the appeal of the idea of being saved or of reading the Bible or anything that has to do with Christianity; and the idea of praying was weird to me even from childhood. A lot of Christians/Catholics I know are hypocrites anyway, and to me that says a lot about their mindset when it comes to religion.

4 - When was the last time you went to the beach? What did you do there? August 2019. My friends and I had a day trip to Nasugbu so we could have some fun before the semester started; we mostly swam and caught up with one another. August is a low season so we literally had the beach, the pool, and the poolside bar to ourselves.

5 - With all the COVID restrictions in place, would you feel happy/comfortable travelling abroad right now? Why/why not? I’d be happy, but not comfortable because of the swab test I would have to take hahaha. The selfish part of me is itching to go to other places already. I know my parents would put a million roadblocks to keep me from getting on a plane though, so me traveling is purely theoretical.

6 - How would you describe your dress sense? I like wearing flattering pieces but nothing too flashy or bright. I get items that are currently in style and make sure they match with the rest of my wardrobe, but at the end of the day I still like to blend in with the crowd and avoid neon colors, flashy labels, or whatever it is that would make me stand out.

7 - Do you wait until the sales start before you buy non-essential items? I never really pay attention to sales. It’s led to some pleasant surprises, like the other day when I was looking for a gift for my aunt. There was an H&M purse that caught my eye and it was so pretty, but way above my budget. I decided to get it anyway because that aunt throws amazing Christmas parties over the years and gives us lots of money, so I thought it could would be my way of giving back (especially since her company got hit hard by Covid). Once I got to the cashier the register showed it was like 60% off, even though there were no stickers on it and there was zero promotion anywhere in the store.

8 - What kind of milk do you prefer to drink (if you drink it at all)? I don’t drink milk, but I’m able to consume it in other dishes. I haven’t tried any types other than whole milk.

9 - Do you prefer blonde hair or brunette hair on your preferred sex? I don’t have preferences when it comes to hair color. We’re not really conditioned to consider this factor, since Filipinos have black hair.

10 - Would you be embarrassed to own the same clothing as one of your parents? No. I borrow stuff from my mom all the time. My sister also borrows some of my dad’s t-shirts, at least the ones that can fit her.

11 - When was the last time you wore some kind of fancy dress? Like...a gown? I’m not too sure. It must’ve been Alena’s debut three years ago since that’s the last fancy party I went to.

12 - Do you enjoy dressing up (ie. in suits or smart clothing)? When was the last time you did so? I like dressing up and making myself look cute, but dressing up formally not so much.

13 - What’s worse - being overdressed or underdressed? Personally, underdressed. I’d rather look too prepared than looking as if I didn’t care to look decent for whatever event I’m headed to.

14 - What do you think would be the worst thing about being stuck in solitary confinement? Not having any options or activities to do.

15 - Have you ever owned an unusual or exotic pet? Would you want to? Nope. I would not want to have one. Unusual pet is just a euphemism for animals that shouldn’t be pets.

16 - How old were you when you learned to tie your shoelaces? I was 5 and had to learn it for a test in kindergarten.

17 - Do you enjoy decorating for the holidays? Sure, it makes me feel festive :)

18 - Would you rather go into a restaurant or just go via the drive-through? These days it’s more wise to use the drive-thru, but to be frank I’ve missed dining in. I would opt for the restaurant but make sure to follow safety protocols in the area.

19 - Do you like having your teeth cleaned at the dentist? I’ve actually always found trips to the dentist soothing, even as a kid. The only time I ever really freaked out was when I went last year to have a tooth removed and I was told that I needed an anaesthesia shot on my gums; even then, I didn’t even feel anything when it finally happened.

20 - Have you ever had a gun drawn on you before? Maybe? My cousins and friends and I doodled on each other a lot as kids.

21 - When was the last time you went to a petting zoo? I’ve never been to one and idk if I can go to one.

22 - Do you bite your nails? Could you physically bite your toenails if you stretched enough? Sometimes I’ll gnaw at my nails and then scrape them off. I’ve found it more satisfying than biting them all the way off. I could definitely bite my toenails, but I choose not to.

23 - How old were you when you first started using Tumblr? Have you had the same blog all that time? It wasssssss 2010, so I was 11 at the time. Nah, I deactivated that blog only after a year of using it and then I shifted to a wrestling blog.

24 - Are you a fan of practical jokes? If I’m watching celebrities pull it on another celebrities, yeah. Most of the time I get anxious that the recipient would react negatively, so I don’t watch a lot of pranks.

25 - How many years older and younger than you would you consider dating? Is this a concrete thing or would you make an exception for the right person? It will still depend on the latter condition, of course; but theoretically I would like to keep seeing people my exact age. No more and no less than the year 1998. Growing up with relatives in such close age to me makes me feel like I’d be dating an older cousin if it was someone a year older, and my sister if it was someone a year younger.

26 - Who did you vote for in the last US elections? If you’re not in the US, who would you have voted for? I don’t live in the US; I would have voted for Biden.

27 - Are you a fan of reddit? What are some of your favourite subreddits? Sure. I don’t visit it as much as I used to, but I still go on there when I’m bored and in need of entertaining or educational content. r/AskReddit is a classic fave of mine, but I also go on r/interestingasfuck, r/todayilearned, r/mildlyinteresting, r/dataisbeautiful, r/SquaredCircle, and r/goodmythicalmorning. Sometimes I’ll visit the r/AmItheAsshole sub as well to have some fun lol.

28 - Have you ever watched those YouTube videos of people popping their own spots or zits? Do you find them gross or fascinating? Not those, but I’ve looked up earwax extractions and blackhead removals before.

29 - What’s a food you hated as a kid but love now? How about vice versa? Chicken curry is probably my best example because I’m obsessed with all kinds of curry now, whether it’s Indian butter chicken, Thai green curry, or Japanese curry. I didn’t understand the complex flavors as a kid, but I’m got to appreciate more and more as I got older.

30 - Do you prefer socks, shoes or going bare foot? Idk, I feel like all these choices are useful and convenient in their own different situations? I’m barefoot when I’m at home but put on socks when it’s chilly, and I wear shoes when I’m outdoors.

#survey #surveys

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fullymechanized-consoomer · 5 years

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40K factions and you

Space Marines:

Your favorite flavor of ice cream is vanilla, but occasionally you might try some Neapolitan, if you’re feeling dangerous. You’re faction’s lore is designed from the ground up to accept your self-inserts, and the models are some of the easiest to paint in the entire range. None of this matters because no matter how unique you think your super-cool “realistic marines who use real tactics maaaaan” are they’ll always come out looking like a slight variation of the ones below

8th edition has finally allowed you to feel a tiny sliver of the unbalanced and over-costed hell other factions have been stuck in for years, but unlike them, daddy GW is more than willing to spend a little extra on his bulky good bois so they still get all the coolest gear and lore. Like vanilla, small children love them, but they grow out of both eventually.

edit: it was only a matter of time before GW stamped its foot down and made the inevitable decision that its favorite kid needs to be busted again. Then again in all fairness they toned down their overpoweredness from “godlike” to merely “demi-godlike”

Imperial Guard:

You’re a big “history fan”. You’ve seen Enemy at the Gates, watched some history channel shows about Nazi wonder weapons, and make 54 karma post on r/history_memes recycling debunked Eastern Front jokes. Only your intelligent eye is able to conflate this factions obvious Metal Slug levels of cartoonish design and tactics with realism, and you make sure to remind everyone else of said realism by comparing your tabletop exploits to your military experience in the reserves. Everyone used to like you back when the faction was actually made up of underdogs and under appreciated, but the Guant’s Ghosts references have gotten kinda stale, and no one appreciates the brass balls of these Starship Trooper knockoffs now that 8th edition supports and rewards the very same mindless horde tactics the Guard used to be mocked for in Lore. Despite having some of the most tried and true designs in the game, as well as an incredible amount of options, you will quickly find how limiting the only “realistic” army is in terms of customization and paint schemes, as anything but camo, grey, or tan looks goofy and reveals how silly this faction actually is.

edit: If your army consists of wrapping 30 guardsmen around basilisks I recommend you take a short fall down a long flight of stairs. Fuck you, Evan.

Eldar:

You’re a real shooter. You know what you like and you stick with it, cause lets face it, it takes a lot of loyalty to stick with these arrogant pricks. Their designs are unique but dated, their lore is a uneven mishmash of 40k grimdark schmultz Tolkien telephone, and Oliver Twist-esque whipping bois for whenever GW writers need to remind us how cool Space Marines are. But none of that matters because you know the truth: Eldar can kick tons of ass on the board, and look good doing it, as their unique designs lends them to all sorts of brilliant color combinations

And unlike other armies their rare design updates improve on their aesthetic while keeping their 40k-ness, something that is becoming increasingly rare in this era of Tacticool marines and Fantasy-creep. Just don’t expect to be taken seriously by anyone but the old-heads.

Edit: Leave it to the whipping bois to be outshined in their own event and get a single model update. Thanks GW, very cool.

Dark Eldar

You are one of two people: a meta hopping smooth brain who only jumped ship once these guys got one of the best updates in 40k history, or a true intellectual who understood their hidden merit all along. Other faction players like to make fun of you for being edgy, when in reality you know that the Dark Eldar are just a bunch of sociopathic theater kids. They, like you, know how fucked from top to bottom this universe is, and instead of getting depressed they exclaimed “how can we be the best cartoon villains we can be?”. Despite having a relatively bare army list, the fact that these d-bags come in 3 flavors of crazy in a single army offers a ton of variety: the mustache twirling villainy of the Kabals, the crazy bloodstained snuff-stars of the Wych cults, and the BDSM horror show of the Covens. All three offer substantial benefits and drawbacks and must be played carefully in order t-

Who am I kidding? You’re just gonna stuff a bunch of Kabal warriors into Venoms and zoom around the map, aren’t you? Enjoy that speed, because your abysmal save stats wont protect you anything more than a furiously thrown walnut. At least your corpses will look rad clad in some of the grimest armor and gear in the game.

edit: no longer anywhere near as dominent as they were in the earlier years of 8th, but they still look slick as hell and play great.

Orks

Your IQ randomly jumps from 20 to 200 throughout the day. There is no predicting this, no planning around this, no stopping this. You’re best bet is just to go along with it, and that’s why you play Orks. Orks are roudy good-time buddies who love slapstick slaughter, not having thoughts, and occasionally pulling of cunning plans that human savants would struggle to comprehend. Orks seem to be the only faction that know what joy is, which is why you as a player spread it to everyone else. Yes, the memes and screaming can be a bit much to others sometimes, but like with any other mentally handicapped child everyone around just grits their teeth through your bad episodes if it means not upsetting your unique sensibilities. And considering that this army’s aesthetic revolves around cobbled together nonsense, you have a lot of uniqueness to give. Orks are easily the most creative faction in the game when it comes to conversions. Nothing is too goofy, too dumb, or too silly to scrap together. As for performance on the tabletop? Go ham. This is an army that rewards merry bullshit and randomness. Remember, you didn’t pick Orks to win, you picked them to have fun.

edit: So are Orks actually getting anything or what? GW’s plans for this faction is as chaotic as the minds of the ADHD scrambled minds who play them

Necrons

You have a very specific taste in... funky weird-science space Egyptians. Seriously, these guys are practically a completely different army to what they were a decade ago. Gone are the terminator references and eldritch lore nonsense, and here to stay is senility and glyphs. You lie to yourself, saying that you’re not really sure why you chose Necrons, but I know the truth: you chose them because they used to be busted. They used to be unfair. They used to be able to take out top-tier tanks with their version of pea shooters and come back after every turn. So overwhelmed were you by their dazzeling stats and bullshit cheese your brain’s wiring fried and the erratic firing of billions of flayed neurons made you think Necrons had cool lore and interesting models. But now they’ve been nerfed to hell, and you’re no longer stuck in that lasting state of sensory overload. Like a drunk snapping awake with a hangover you come to the painful reality: Necrons are kind of dull. So like me, you put them away in a shoebox forever, leaving their fragile sculpts to slowly fall apart.

Edit: FUCK WHERE IS THE SHOEBOX WHERE DID I LEAVE IT OH GOD OH OH NO OH FUCK THEY’RE ALL BROKEN MAYBE I CAN PUT THEM BACK TOGETHER BEFORE 9th EDITION LAUNCHES I’M SO SORRY FOR WHAT I DID TO YOU NOW MORE THAN EVER I NEED YOU, I NEED MY BOOOOOOOOYS!!!

Tau

You will forever be hated by the community unfairly. You are accuse being anime - and this is true - yet the Eldar get away with being copied wholesale from 80′s space anime and no one seems to notice. You are made fun of for your bad melee, despite having one of the most comprehensively designed niches in an otherwise sloppy game and dominating with nearly every edition. You are made fun of for your lore, despite being largely separate from the cliches and story traps that everyone else has fallen into. You are hated because you are different; hated because you are Asian.

Tau are an anomaly in 40k: a completely new faction that wasn’t directly ripped off of some other franchise and with an aesthetic that is wholly their own. I won’t be making fun of them because they get enough of that, and you don’t deserve it. Just know this dirty secret: Tau outsell almost every other xenos faction, and despite the supposedly unanimous hate are probably one of the strongest factions in terms of play-style and modelling in the franchise.

Edit: The tau are grittier than ever, happy now? They still do the same thing they have always done anyways.

Chaos

Unlike the DE you actually are edgy. You worship satan, you throw rocks at homeless people, you start fires because your dad doesn’t spank you enough. Chaos are the closest things that this cluster fuck of a universe can get to being the main villains. Their lore is at once intricate and stupid, both childish and metal as hell. You play chaos because getting your fingers pricked by the models’ spikes is the closest you can come to feeling anything anymore. Just like the chaos lore you love to hype yourself up, to puff your chest and revel in the darkness inside, but when confronted you tend to fold like wet tissue paper. You’ve stopped playing public games with these guys, because the other players don’t understand you and abuse the meta and make fun of your painting skills and everything is so unfair and don’t you think that chaos marines should get buffs for their points cost, fuck?

Edit: The new models are slick and more power-metal minivan than ever, though the rules are still abysmal despite GW desperately wanting everyone to takes these guys seriously for once.

Sisters of Battle

GW writers and designers hates Catholics and they hate women, so naturally they hate Sister of Battl. They also hate you for playing them. Because of this SoB are a monument to neglected potential. They have one of the best female armor designs in fiction, great lore, and an interesting playstyle that relies on faith/determination based feats of strength and valor... but GW hate Catholics and women, so SoB get shafted everywhere all the time. More often than not you will be disappointed reading about their exploits as they continually get unfairly slaughtered, corrupted into the horny service of the pervert god, or used as receptacles for blood-based paint when the writer’s favorite faction needs to fight demons. With no plastic models in sight for over a decade everyone began to come to the slow and dreadful realization that GW was looking to Squat our favorite estrogen warriors, until a new revamp was announced. Unfortunately the beta rules look as lackluster as ever, but that’s fine, because as a SoB fan you have learned to expect that GW hates you, Catholics, and women.

Edit: GW found God and got woke because now they love women and Jesus’ one true Church, but let it be known that reformation doesn’t occur overnight, as the SOB’s faces still betray GW’s lingering discomfort in the female form:

Their rules are fun, and if every codex was designed like it 40k might actually be a fun game

Tyranids

nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom no- and that’s it that’s the Tyranids. I don’t know anything about them besides that, and neither do you, cause that’s their lore. Yes they have cool models, but next to no reliable updates. I’ll pray for you.

Edit: it really looks like GW has just completely forgotten about you poor souls huh? The Night King, a character who is closely associated with the totally-not-reconned-Tyranid-invasion, comes back and not one word about you guys. They don’t even actively hate you like, say, they hate the Eldar. It’s just... apathy.

Grey Knights

HAHA AHAHAHAHA HA HA UHAHAHA HAHAAHAHAAHAH HAHA ha ha Ah......... he. hehahaaaAHAHAHAHA HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

edit: I hope you all realize that Grey Knights are far too specialized in fighting the permanently under performing forces of chaos to be 40ks “elite among elite.” You and your entire faction has been made completely obsolescent by the Custodes. The rough times will continue, say hi to the Squats in heaven will you?

Custodes

You are either insufferably full of yourself or a fine practitioner of the model making craft. Most likely though you are neither, and you picked them because you only need gold and red paint to make them look good. Custodes are the space marine’s space marines, and they’re better than you and everyone else. period. At least in lore. On the table their incredible individual stats and elite status are reflected in points cost, so for most large games you will be fielding what amounts to any other faction’s skirmishing army. Unfortunately, since 40k is a stat-sheet battler that favors raw bulk of rolls and stats over the quality of them, you’d be hard-pressed to do well in any serious game. However, for the luminous of mind, the small size is a blessing in disguise since you don’t need to buy and paint as many units as the other armies, and no matter how hard the guard player trashes you his 50 unpainted manlets will never look as good as your 15 gloriously crafted golden Chads. Stick to smaller games, and the individual strength of each model will make up for the glaring absence caused by their loss.

Ironically enough despite being an elite faction from a relatively obscure part of 40k lore, these attributes make Custodes the perfect casual player’s faction. It is my personal theory that if GW didn’t grossly inflate their prices to such a high degree everyone would have a Custodes army.

Oh yeah, Henry Cavil plays these guys, because of course he does.

#40k #warhammer 40k #table top

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megacircuit9universe · 4 years

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November Outlook

WED SEP 09, 2020

With the election now less than two months away, it’s a good time to look at the different moving parts of history’s machine at this point, and see what we can gleen about how things may go down on election night, and in the many weeks to follow before inauguration on January 20th.

We’re going to start here with the assumption that Trump will, at this point lose any remotely fair election... and will lose by a significant margin.

Biden has been leading him in both national and state polls for months, and now that both conventions are behind us... there’s been little change. Trump is behind in all the battleground states by several points, and within the margin of error in some states normally thought to be safe for the GOP.

His path to victory is incredibly narrow, whereas Biden has many paths to victory. He’s in a position such that if he lost several different battleground states, he’d still win.

Now, Trump is the incumbent... a status normally considered to be a huge advantage... but incumbency is a huge disadvantage, when everything is going straight to Hell... because you’re to blame for it all.

Clever incumbent politicians have tools use if a disaster strikes on their watch in an election year, such as... rallying everybody to come together in the crisis... and accepting responsibility in advance... two things Trump is not physically or mentally able to grasp.

So... what I’m saying is, it’s nigh impossible for things to change in a way that flips Trump’s approval ratings so late in the game... given that he’s the incumbent.

He’s presiding over a huge pandemic death toll with no end in sight (for which he’s directly to blame, because he’s resisted any and all efforts to flatten the curve*), nationwide protests, nationwide violence, a tidal wave of unemployment, a tidal wave of evictions and foreclosures (for which his pals in the Senate are to blame, for refusing to provide any aid in this crisis), and a pandoras box of fresh scandals, being exposed by the press, by whistelblowers, in a slew of new books, and... just by holding rallies at airports with no socal distancing or masks (all for which, he is, again, directly to blame).

Can all... or even any of that go away... or even simmer down between now and November 3rd? I would say no... it’s impossible.

Meanwhile, is there any chance that some turn of events could tank Joe Biden? Some scandal? Some terrible miscalculation?

Again, I would say no. But let’s take a second to examine why...

Firstly, Trump was impeached because of an attempt to collect dirt on Biden so... that strategy already blew up in his face. It’s no longer an option.

Secondly, Biden was the walking dead candidate who stood zero chance of surviving the first Super Tuesday... yet he’s now the nominee, so... miracles seem to be his specialty this year.

Now, I’ve said before, that miracle was more likely the work of Obama, pulling strings behind the scenes, but... as a former two-term President (and a highly intelligent man) Obama probably didn’t pull those strings just to help out an old pal.

He likely foresaw, not just the type of candidate required to beat Trump on election night... but more importantly... the one who could win against Trump in the battle to follow election night, in which Trump wages an all out scorched earth campaign to remain in power.

And that... is the subject of this entry.

Our first assumption, above, was that Trump will lose handily... but now, our second assumption must be that everybody... from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the top brass at the Pentagon, on down to the poorest, most homeless voter on the street... knows this will not be over after the votes are cast.

We’ll assume, everybody knows... Trump will reject the election results, and refuse to step down. He will, to put it bluntly, attempt to establish a dictatorship... ending the Consitution, and democracy, in the United States.

So it would be silly to think that there isn’t a plan to stop that from happening.

The Supreme Court, for example, already signaled very loudly and clearly last month, that Trump will have no ally in their house, should he attempt to challenge the election process in endless litigation... same goes for the lower Federal and State courts... they’ve all been ruling against him, and his agenda, this whole year... even DESPITE... the Republican lead Senate approving every judge he’s nominated over his term.

Nobody likes a despot... not even a conservative Judge. They take their oaths seriously... even if the Mitch McConnells who ram their appointments through, do not.

Which brings us to the military... also known for taking the same oath, to defend the Constitution against all threats, foreign and domestic... deadly seriously.

Last weeks blockbuster article in the Atlantic, in which Trump was exposed (it’s been confirmed by four other sources by now) as believing all members of the military are, “suckers,” for joining up, cuz what do they get out of the deal? And, “losers,” for dying on battlefields... has utterly destroyed any chance he may have had at getting them to cave in the face of unconstitutional orders... such as he would have to issue to establish any successful coup to stay in power.

This is critical, because if you don’t have the military... you don’t have a coup.

And Trump does not have them, at this point.

Military culture drills it into their heads that they do not have to follow unconstitutional orders from anybody, even the Commander in Chief, which means that if there is already a, “Commander Elect,” with a transition team in the wings, who DOESN’T think they are suckers and losers...

...in fact a Commander Elect who they know well, because he already served under the previous Commander in Chief as his second in command for eight years...

They’re gonna have all the footing they need to refuse any coup related orders outright. And I believe they’ll be eager to do so, under the present circumstances.

As I’ve noted in an earlier entry, it was the miltary who forced Trump to wear a mask in public while visiting a military hospital... because they were already pissed off about how he duped them at Jefferson Square, earlier this year.

Trump himself, seems to be aware that he’s lost the top brass, both retired and active... which is why he made a public remark last week that the old generals don’t like him, but the troops still love him.

All I’ve seen is evidence to the contrary on that point, but that was Trump’s desperate dog whistle to any sympathizers he may have in the lower ranks of the military, to please... please steal some tanks and bazookas to join the fight?

Recall I wrote about, “Beta Force,” a while back... consisting of rogue law enforcement officers, Homeland Security troopers, and regular citizens with weapons and other resources... well, he’s hoping he can woo some legit military troops to join Beta Force, should there be a showdown.

That scenario, right there, would be the much prophesied Civil War 2, but as I’ve said for years, such a Civil War 2 will be short lived... a couple weeks at most.

Recall the thugs he sent into Portland to terrify and abduct protesors... using locally rented vehicles, and presumably staying at local moetels. Trump is nowhere near ready for a showdown with the full might of the US Military, on our own soil, no less.

You can bet your ass the legit military are gaming this scenario right now, and that if pressed, they will shut that shit down and have Trump in a cell with a bag over his head faster than you can say, “what the fuck?”

The rest of the two weeks will just be putting down random assholes with assault rifles here and there across the country... but they’ll all be hauled in, don’t you worry. And they’ll all stand trial for treason in broad daylight.

In this scenario, yes, innocent people are going to die... as they have been dying on the streets at the hands of rogue cops, school shooters, caronavirus, and other systemic abuses, or neglects, for a long time now.

There is no scenario here, where everybody just says, “Whew!” and we’re all good. But that’s been the case for quite some years. We’re all pretty used to life threatening danger on a daily basis, and the courage required to face it by now.

Which is what leads me to the next big fear, being promulgated this past week...

...The so-called, Red Mirage.

Red Mirage is a prediction about election night 2020, in which nearly all the states on the election map turn red, because only the in-person votes have been counted, while the mail-in ballots are days or weeks away from being counted.

Trump seems to believe in the Red Mirage prediction, given his statements in recent weeks about an election that could take, weeks, months, or even years to sort out**. Couple that with his repeated assertions that mail-in voting is inherently fraudulent (seconded by his Attorney General, Bill Barr) and his recent attempts to knee-cap the post office... and you have a President who likely is betting everything on Red Mirage.

The plan would be just to run with election night results, declaring himself the victor by the biggest landslide in history... then beat that drum loudly while quashing any attempt to ever count the absentee votes... demonizing them as fraudulent, and demonizing anybody who doubted his victory as dissidents who must be imprisoned or something.

I’ll admit... it’s a terrifying scenario!

...on paper.

But the Red Mirage prediction is founded on the sophomoric conceit that all Trump supporters will vote in person... because they do not fear the pandemic... and all Biden supporters will vote by mail... because they don’t want to risk getting Covid19 by venturing out in public.

This, to me, is laughable... because it really does assume that 100% of the electorate are total idiots.

The Trump voters are all idiots who will vote like there’s no pandemic to worry about... and the Biden voters are also idiots who will, out of an abundance of caution, and a blind trust in the postal system, all vote by mail.

No Trump voters are gonna stay home... because they think it’s in the bag? No Biden voters are gonna just wear a mask and vote in person, knowing democracy itself is on the line... knowing of Trump’s attempts to knee-cap the post office... knowing it’s better to risk an infection when the stakes are this high, than to stay healthy but live under a dictatorship the rest of their lives?

Really?

Based on what I witnessed in November 2018... together with what I’ve seen this past year, with both Millenials and GenZ waking up to the dire importance of voting... together with the cleverness and bravery of protestors across the nation risking life and limb nightly just to express their outrage, while wearing masks to stay safe from infection (successfully)... together with half the GOP turning against Trump.. and everybody in agreement this time around that third party votes will get you cancelled...

I’m expecting a Blue Tsunami on November 3rd.

Trump will shout that it was all rigged, the next morning... but he won’t have any red election map to hold up and wave around.

And once Biden has secured that title, as President Elect... all Trump can do is try to incite his disaffected trolls to violence... and then turn his thoughts to damage control on the legal front.

Michael Cohen, Trumps former fixer, this week in interviews, predicted that Trump will resign if he loses, so that Mike Pence can issue a, “blanket pardon” in the few months before Biden takes power.

It’s anybody’s guess as to whether such a pardon could really protect Trump from the many New York State criminal charges awaiting him, as soon as he leaves office, but my guess is... no it won’t.

Trump will pay, for all that he’s done, and all he’s put us through.

He’s got nowhere to run. Nither Russia, nor China, nor South Korea will take him in exile... nor will any other nation on the planet. Like every two bit crime boss before him... he will end up behind bars.

And that will not only beef up the radioactive potency of House impeachment for another two hundred years... but make Trumps single term in office the cautionary tale for generations to come... of the idiot President... who dared to fuck the Consitution... and had his ass handed to him in prison.

I’m sure there are some moving parts I’ve missed in this analysis tonight... and I’m sure you think my conclusions here are overly rosey... but I have looked at this from many angles... and I do keep coming back to Trump dying in prison without a second term.

Make of it what you will.

For tonight, however... it’s time for bed.

*[THU NOV 10] Bob Woodward (of Watergate fame) released tapes of Trump the night I wrote this which did not fully hit the media until a day later. Tapes in which Trump is talking to Woodward over the phone, and which make very plain that Trump Knew the virus was airborne, that it was worse than the flu, and that it would be very difficult to contain... before the rest of us knew it... and before he went out and started playing it down in public, saying it would go away like a miracle in April, and refusing to wear a mask, or social distance, etc.

It’s been an incredibly damning development, because it’s Trump’s own voice, and it prooves he didn’t just botch the pandemic out of stupidity... but deliberately mislead the public about it, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives.

He also obstructed states from getting PPE and ventilators, attacked governors for doing lock downs, gagged the CDC, and covered up hospitals’ reporting of Covid related numbers to the public.

And all of this he did, apparently, for the sake of the economy... thinking that was the way to win in November.

This is a crime against humanity!

**The 2000 Election results hinged on the electoral votes of one single state, Florida, which was too close to call on election night. Nobody knew who’d won for several weeks as Florida went into automatic hand recounts of the ballots, many of which were ambiguous because of, “hanging chads,” or, not fully punched out holes.

However, on th strength of Fox News calling Bush the winner, his legal team sued to stop the Florida recounts, in the Supreme Court, and successfully took power, even though it was found... years later, that Al Gore had actually won Florida, and thus, should have been President.

Red Mirage anticipates this same scenario to play out again on a national scale, in all states, not because of hanging chads... but absentee ballots... and assumes that the Supreme Court might call the end to vote counting once again, because Fox News called it for Trump on election night.

This is not the way history works.

This is not the way anything works.

This is not what will go down in November.

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sithlordintraining · 7 years

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She’s No Angel (Part 11)

A/N: Holy cow balls, MY 1000TH POST!!! it’s August and school is about to start (please let me hibernate a little more!) So I made it and didn’t give in and just give it to you in July. I don’t know if people read this but thanks for the love and support. And I really hope you guys like this chapter, I worked hard haha. But, if there are people still here since Matt tripped Angel, shout outs to you and sorry for putting you all through hell last chapter. But no promises for this one and future ones (if you guys aren’t tired of my bull.) So without further ado, here you go. . .

She’s No Angel Master list

(Spongebob Narrator Voice) Two Months Later...

It’s been almost a good two months and you could honestly say, it was a much needed vacation. Although it was filled with seeing therapist and doctors, you didn’t have to go to work, you were cared for, and had weekly visits from the Captain and the General. Well, it was daily for Hux. You guys still had breakfast and he also squeezed in dinner. It was to make sure everything was up to his expectations; which meant you got star treatment. And this star treatment rubbed off unto Lucky as well. You would constantly sneak into his room to talk or play games or be with him in rehab. Of course, Ava, the nurse who begged to worked with him constantly gave you dirty looks or kicked you out.

You walked your way down the hallway on your daily visit to Lucky. Opening the door, you didn’t expect to see the General speaking to Lucky. Both of them turned to look at you. The expression on Lucky’s face made your heart stop. General Hux stepped forward. “Y/N.” You gulped as he made his way towards you, putting his hands on your shoulders. “I’ve been told about the nuisance you two have been causing and I think it’s best for you two to not see each other anymore.” Your mouth fell open. “What?” You turned to face him. “Lucky?” Lucky looked up at you from his seat on the hospital bed. “Angel, it’s for the best if I get reconditioned.” You stepped back in disbelief. “But, General?” He put his hand on your shoulder, but you brushed it off. Hux was shocked at your action. You breathed heavily in disbelief. “Angel!” “Y/N!” They called out for you as you fled the room crying.

You entered your medroom, that was now dark. You broke down and you heard footsteps fall behind you. “Y/N.” Hux said softly. “Why are you doing this?” You spun around. “Y/N, after everything, I think it’s best-” He moved closer to you. “But, Lucky’s my only friend.” You let your head fall unto his shoulder. He engulfed you and rubbed circles on your back. “Y/N, I’m sorry. But it’s for the best. And you will resume work tomorrow. Pushing back the visit has put some tension between us and the planet.” He said sternly. You shook your head and sucked up the tears. You had to get it together. You didn’t work this hard, to end up crying like a baby in a dark room.

A month had passed and it was the longest most-miserable month of your life. You only talked to the General and the Captain. You stuck to yourself and you haven’t seen Lucky. But you didn’t think you would ever see him again. To cope with your loneliness, you began making a list of things you wanted to share with Lucky; it ranged from dreams, nightmares, goals, secrets, and feelings. Like every morning and night, you jot down what you would tell him, if you ever got the chance. Before leaving your quarters today, you typed one more down: I’m sorry for everything. Just like everyday, you and the General made your way down the hallway through the sea of troopers. Before you would search through to find Lucky. But now, you walked down without expression and tuning the General out the majority of the times. Snapping out of it when the General had stopped to receive a message from a trooper. You looked through them as they continued to communicate. “Ma’am.” The troopers attention turned to you. “Trooper.” You looked down at his identification code. FN-0777. Your eyes shot up to his helmet. Tears started to fill your eyes. “Trooper FN-0777.” The trooper stated. “Yes-yes, I know.” You shook your head. “Ma’am?” “Yes?” “I’d rather you call me Lucky, Angel.” Your breath hitched. A small smile fell on your lip as a tear slipped down. Lucky excused himself as you turned to look at the General. “You-you didn’t do it?” Hux shook his head. “No, you’ve been hurt enough, I couldn’t inflict more pain.” Without thinking your wrapped your arms around him, in a tight hug. He hesitated to hug back, due to being in public. Seeing no one insight, he wrapped his arms around you. “But please, keep communication to a minimum.”

Sneaking to see Lucky had became frequent, with the help of the Captain; it was easier for him to sneak into your quarters. “Lucky!” You flung your arms around him. He squeezed you tightly. “Angel.” He nuzzled his face in the side of your neck. He let you go and you went to get him something to drink. “So how’s the trooper training?” You asked. “Eh, it’s ok, thank you.” He accepted the glass. “I wish I was out there in the field or accompanying you, instead.” Ever since his recovery, Phasma has put him under her instruction to help train the new soldiers. “I know you do, but it’s for the best. You are still recovering.” You reached across the table to grab his hand. “I know, Ava said I’m doing well for such critical conditions.” You retracted your hand at her name. “Angel, she’s just helping.” You rolled your eyes. “Come on Angel, I still don’t understand why you girls don’t get along. It’s been years since whatever happened, happened.” You crossed your arms ignoring him.

“But speaking of people the others don’t like, I know it’s been months, but how do you feel about Matt? I mean, I know he was being a dick, but, I know you liked him and I know he got spaced. Do you want to talk about it?” You sighed taking a seat next to him. “Well, I mean what is there to talk about? He’s spaced and he’s gone and I’ll never see him again.” Lucky’s face twisted up. “Angel, as much as I hate to admit it, after the whole Matt situation, you’ve changed.” You gulped. “Even after everything that dumbass Commander did, you act unbothered. But, with Matt you lock yourself up and you just shut down.” You adverted his gaze. “Fine, Lucky if you want to talk about it then fine.” Lucky eyes widened as your voice raised. “Matt wasn’t real. Matt was fake. Kylo Ren was pretending to be Matt to see if there was spies and he just happened to fall for me. I was a complete fool and fell for him too and now I’m hurt. It hurts. I want someone I can’t have because he’s not real. And now I can’t do anything without Hux’s approval and you’re just happy with Ava all over you, and I’m just fucking here.” You threw your hands up storming out of your own quarters.

You were fuming, you just didn’t want to think about it. Sometimes, it haunted you in your dreams and you would think that everything was fine and Matt and Kylo were two different people, physically. But then you woke up to remember everything. You marched down random hallways as you tried to calm your breathing. You were on the brink of tears as your vision started to blur. Hearing a laugh, you turned around seeing a familiar tall, blond turning the corner. You knew it was Matt, so you followed him. You kept walking and turning to speed up to catch him. Finally, you threw your hand on his shoulder causing him to turned around. You jumped back. “Oh, I-I’m sorry. I thought you were someone else.” The blue-eyed blond nodded. “It’s alright, Ambassador.”

P.S: Hi, you finished the much anticipated part 11 that was super short and not what you guys wanted. This just to get you back into the drama that is now Angel’s life. Trust me shit is going to go down and you will for sure hate me...sometimes, not all the time. Hit me up with comments, concerns, jokes, reminding me that Kylo Ren passed out when he got a blow job, anything. I miss talking to you guys.

tagged: @btw-imalex

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360degreesasthecrowflies · 7 years

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FarscapeWatch 03: 1.03 ‘Exodus From Genesis’

Well, here we are folks. I watched the first few episodes a bit out of order after noticing a little late that the order I was watching in wasn't the intended broadcast order, and trying to correct that midway through with limited success. This was actually the second full episode I watched, so my reaction to it was a little coloured by it seeming to come as a direct follow-up to the premiere, yet acting as if they'd been in space bonding for weeks already. It was a little confusing! Having now seen 1.02 I, E.T. in full, I think I can better appreciate this one. Ish. Let's jump in.

We open on Rygel...painting. Quite badly. And eating. Jump to D'Argo and John...D'Argo encouraging John to eat a bug to clean his teeth. Lovely.

Aeryn is in command of the ship. A cloud of debris is blocking their path. Everyone is still very colour-coded and very four humours. Aeryn's black and John's tan/off-white and Zhaan's blue to D'Argo's red are for sure deliberate.

Okay so they're goind to hide behind the debris to avoid a scan from another ship. Clever. Aeryn's idea. Pilot is grateful. Now there's a friendship I didn't expect, but hey, I guess she's used to practicality and tools and Pilot is effectively just an interface with a face.

The 'debris' turns out to be space bugs. Damn. Hope this isn't a gross episode. This has to earn its adults-only rating somewhere.

Post-credits, open on Aeryn and John. We learn a bit of Aeryn's history while she explains a little about Peacekeeper tactics. John makes a pretty weak joke but... despite myself, I do find him kinda charming. There's a twinkle there. I'm starting to think John could end up as adorkable due to being a fish out of water here, despite his position as a skilled scientist and Dude on Earth. I hope they go that way anyway, it would be interesting.

Oh. I love this. John starts to give a typical 90s afterschool special speech about them having to stick together and Aeryn interrupts sarcastically, amused at the very concept of them becoming friends, or worse, FAMILY. I miss me a character like that on tv, I'm almost getting Cordelia vibes, although the characters in other ways couldn't be more different.

Cut to Zhaan for the first time. She's with Rygel, helping clean up things that spilled when they first hit the debris field. She's such an interesting character, especially as the blue, and all of what blue normally signifies. Calmness is one, but coldness is another, and that's something we only see flashes of. So often, Zhaan is apart from the group, even while being a little like the group's mother or spiritual leader. She makes a good show of that being because of her status, or because, perhaps, of her age, but at times there are flashes that she simply thinks herself better than the others. And here's another; she mocks Rygel's painting with a smile on her face, projecting gentleness to hide the thorn, then proceeds to paint over it using her creepy super speed. It's a slightly random scene, used to give a bit more depth into Rygel mainly, and makes me wonder if what the writers are doing with Zhaan is deliberate or not. She's definitely the most interesting character for me thus far.

[So all through these scenes there are intermittent cuts to something watching the crew from the shadows; presumably it's the bugs, unless they've Alien-style mutated into some new second-level form]

Cut back to Aeryn and John. She's warm, and D'Argo reports that the ship's temperature is abnormally high. Aeryn is shot in the leg by something...one of the bugs, but it must be a light wound as she doesn't really react, nor does John notice as she was behind a table at the time. It shoots her again in the hand and this time she notices, but dismisses it as a splinter of metal. What will it be, poison? Aeryn out of action this episode?

They split off to search the ship to see why it's overheating as they don't know from diagnostics. Zhaan with John. He complains a bit to her about the others not respecting him; she is not quick to correct his view of her as separate from them! Very sly. She advises him he must win their respect. Unfortunately, although I'm a little charmed by this scene, it does also play as being aimed at quite a young audience. Just a 90s thing maybe?

So despite Zhaan's idea that no-one should search alone, she and John almost immediately split up after their heart to heart. Genius.

Cut to John. There's a bug in his quarters and holy shit these are big buggers! D'Argo and Aeryn over the intercom are no help and unsympathetic, telling him he must capture it. This will no doubt be a John-proves-his-worth episode then.

These bugs are nasty. John manages to catch it in his blanket and then beats it to death while inside. Not exactly capturing! Nice work, science guy...

Next scene; Zhaan is dissecting it. Another to add to her laundry list of skills. All she needs now is to be able to fly and she's got the whole set.

Okay so there's a whole load of these things on the ship. For the second episode in a row we have a plot that relies on Rygel being small enough to investigate/go through small holes. Hmm. While I'm not averse to that necessarily from a worldbuilding standpoint, it does seem a bit of an easy out to let the character still be a pain in the ass... although, on that point, I guess this is a twist on the special-skilled cleric/mage character being only too happy to help. I wonder which came first, the character design of making a small character to test the puppetry and make the world more alien, or, once that character was established, hastily building plots around small doors and passageways to give him something to do?

So we're 20 minutes in and it seems we've established the basic plot; the ship is going to overheat because the bugs for whatever reason are affecting the ventilation, so we need them removed. Somehow. Although they're heavily outnumbered.

Ah, so Aeryn can't take the heat. (So stay out of the kitchen?) That's an interesting weakness to have but I guess it's not hard to film and will open up interesting plot restrictions later down the line. Of course, they need a weak point to take Aeryn out of commission as it's between her and Zhaan for who's the most competent character aboard this ship.

Skip back to John and D'Argo for a bit of exposition. D'Argo is still fantastically racist, he hates all of Aeryn's kind - but he's going to make an exception for her. John is a little too shocked by this I feel, but then, I guess this was made in an optimistic,, pre 9/11 world.

Aeryn and Pilot is an interesting pairing. Also bloody hell Pilot is huge. (Pairing in terms of onscreen together, pretty sure Pilot is asexual)

Cut to Rygel exploring and wow, I hope they gave James Cameron a bit of credit for this episode, he's literally come across Ripley's Alien Queen egg chamber. Let me guess, they're raising the temperature to incubate, a la Aliens.

Well fuck me a bug stabbed Zhaan. Good storywriting though, take out the most competent characters one by one. That was a nasty stab but old bluey will probably be fine, god knows what she's made of. Cut to Aeryn who is also passed out, and now we're back to John, everyone seems to've gone radio silence... and well shit, there is now another John. That's a turn I did not foresee this episode taking. (I guess we have to vary it up away from *Aliens* pretty rapidly now after those last few scenes just to avoid infringing anything or stepping on anyone's toes.) Now, will this be a bug thing or will it be due to something else, just their luck?

New John also has the same clothes. Mirror thing? Oh they're fighting, typical. Seems incapable of speech? Quite well shot esp for the 90s, doing twin scenes is never easy as anyone who's been watching Orphan Black (RIP! :( ) can attest to.

Okay so the clone people are bugs. Somehow. Rygel is trapped by a horde of them watching them spawn. Zhaan is somewhere. D'Argo, Aeryn and John are in command...and now I feel like the Big Brother voiceover person so I'm going to stop this. The crew are a bit hopeless, the heat is still going up making it hard to think and neither D'Argo or John are particularly the brains of the operation here.

Thank god, Zhaan comes in. She still has that stabby spike in her neck/chest but she is up and walking about doing her thing, what a trooper. She goes to have one of the others help her remove it and ohshit, now she's possessed. So I guess the bugs are somehow psychic now as well as being transformers and mad scientist cloners and a big cloud of space dust. Why not eh?

Because everything was going so well already.

Interesting. Removing Zhaan is a clever way to give John a level-up as Aeryn is out of action and D'Argo is reckless; John here has to use logic to stop him from slicing Zhaan in two while she is possessed because he forgets she isnt a clone. Smart writing as a way to empower the seemingly lowest-level member of the team. Crichton is Farscape's Squirrel Girl.

(Plot wise, essentially the bugs accuse our heroes of starting fighting with them instead of vice versa. That's some Trumpian logic.)

So yeah the hive has landed in the ship to reproduce because obviously space is cold, okay. This seems like a slightly 101 plot that, again, could have been lifted right out of Alien(s).

So, with Aeryn out and Zhaan out, John takes halfway command - mental, leaving D'Argo as the enforcer. It's interesting that the show seems to be in some ways agreeing with my early assessment of the characters' competencies and usefulness order. Especially because, if John is meant to be the actual central character, that requires devolving competency and narrative centrality to two 'alien', Other self-styled side characters. I guess in some ways that's usual with traveller adrift stories, though.

This is an aside, but an interesting parallel I'm feeling with this character structural setup is to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Zhaan being, of course, Rei, Aeryn Asuka, and Crichton himself a more self-assured, but equally, more fish out of water Shinji. I guess that leaves D'Argo as Makanami and Rygel as Misato's penguin?

Back to plot. The bugs want to keep raising the heat. John points out that if they do that, Moya will die and then the heat will go completely off, killing all the spawning bugs - the hive head's children. We cut to truce, and interestingly, John has taken pure command now, D'Argo is fussing over Zhaan and Aeryn is by all accounts, out for the count, and has managed to change into what looks like an anachronistic little black dress... guess if you're going to suffocate and burn to death, might as well do it in style. Rygel is still awol.

Zhaan is back in business. The four humanoids are isolated off in a small room that, perhaps, will be not so hot? Who knows.

Okay so now the ship has been invaded by randoms. Because this plot wasn't already bloated enough. They're Peacekeepers, and are attacked by replicants. Handy.

Pilot alerts our heroes that the ship has been invaded; the alien bug leader of course takes these new invaders as proof that the crew have broken the truce and cranks up the heat again.

We cut to the Peacekeepers roaming the ship, killing every clone they come across, and I can't help thinking how much fun I'm sure the actors had getting to die and act surprised and fall over in these scenes. Something else to take away; Zhaan's maxi dress robe reveals itself here to actually be more akin to capri pants. In 1998! Add fashion forward to her laundry list of skills and attributes.

The Peacekeepers are pleasingly gender mixed.

Aeryn wants John to promise to kill her, as a friend, to save her from a painful death with her brain melting. I can't help but think D'Argo would do it.

Cut to more action scenes. Then cut to Rygel. The crew have decided to send him in - or he's decided it himself, it's fuzzy - to negotiate with the bug leader in person. He is actually quite respectful if pompous and gives it gravitas. I can't quite help though but feel this plot twist is just a little of an attempt to give every one of the main characters a key role to play and something to do, here while they're still establishing.

Honestly so far, I feel like this episode is dragging. There's a bit too much going on and most of the cast are just playing to their core characteristics, while being split up, while a whole bunch of side characters come in. That's just me though.

Okay so Rygel strikes a deal. Now the crew strike another deal with the alien leader; now the Peacekeepers are attacking the bugs, our heroes will drive them off if...the bugs will forgive them? idk, because John also lets them crank the heat up more even though that's torture to Aeryn. I'm not quite following this plot beyond the bare bones.

So another aside, Bechdel test. Zhaan offers now to stay with Aeryn while the boys go and greet the Peacekeepers. I'm unsure, three episodes in, if Zhaan and Aeryn have yet directly interacted. Now, I'm not surprised because they're two women - it's not like vaginas necessarily commune, and tbh, who even knows what any of these folk have under their suits - but I am surprised that the two most competent characters as I've seen them haven't really yet compared notes. I guess in many ways they are foils, but on the flipside, that would be in itself a reason for them to have interacted. Anyway, this comes up because Aeryn, instead of being left with Zhaan, needs to be reassured by John before he leaves.

Now, tbh, I'm torn how I feel about John's defensiveness of, and implicit connection with Aeryn, this feels a little...soon... and also just a touch away from looking after her in the hopes she'll fall into his arms. I'm a little unnerved too, that she asks of him amercy, and he refuses to even consider the thought of acquiescing to her request. It's for honorable reason; because he believes she won't die or come close to death, but still... overriding a woman's dying wish because you think you know better is not so cool.

Action scenes follow. The PKs are being themselves adversely affected by the heat. This is intercut with scenes of Aeryn going mad.

Okay so they trick the PKs with a bluff; using multiple Crichton clones, they give the PKs the impression that he regenerates and is invincible; as the clones cannot talk, he also takes a chance in staring down the PK leader, armed, while unarmed, to give a speech about his invulnerability. The actor here shows shades of having a steel underneath the bluster that's thus far characterized John Crichton. (ohgod I have just realized the initials and I am hoping this will not turn at some point biblical)

A short fight scene but Crichton ultimately uses words to triumph. It's okay but very self-congratulatory to be honest. I don't dislike John Crichton, but this really was a second focal episode in a row that felt just a little contrived.

Time skip for a coda, everything is okay. D'Argo now respects John more. Good because THAT conflict was old two episodes ago.

Bug leader briefly possesses Zhaan again to say goodbye and thanks for all the fish. JC walks her back to her rooms and they have a heart to heart, and I've realized what it is I'm disliking, the focus on John in these episodes is unnatural. We only see a scene, generally, if John's in it. Nobody else is bonding that much except here and there as a nod to establish interactions. I'm hoping that changes.

Still. This show was a contemporary of Xena, which was hardly outstanding in that field.

End up for this episode. Aeryn and JC in a new location, 'the terrace' according to Pilot. Aeryn is back in her black leathers, thank god. Oh, they are leaning IN to this ship. Aeryn takes a step towards a truce with John with a joke about lesser lifeforms, double meaning; humans and bugs. And we close with them watching the...sunset? Thank god that's over.

So, ultimately I think this might tie with episode 1 for my least favourite so far. This episode felt overstuffed and my favourite characters pushed to the sidelines. Still, there was some character work done. Let's get into the beats.

CHARACTER BEATS

JOHN

This episode is VERY John-heavy. His baptism of fire, getting Zhaan on-side and then moving to impress D’Argo and Aeryn…I guess everyone forgets about Rygel again. John shows a lot of skills in this episode, but it gets to the point where you almost wonder why we need the others, if John’s there to be the voice of reason, the warrior, the scientist, the logic, the negotiator, the moral centre, and the big damn hero. And all those in an episode where we’re supposed to believe he’s doubting himself and his skills! Okay then…

ZHAAN

Zhaan, even though out of action for a lot of this episode, still is at a lot of her best. With every episode I find myself wondering what exactly she CAN’T do… but somehow, she’s not a Mary Sue either. I’m still unsure what age she is, especially as I already am sensing the seeds of the writing trying to move her into something of a mother figure role. I’m not sure if she needs to be older to contrast with Aeryn; two women can be a similar type or age in the same show without the universe imploding, even in 1999. This episode sees Zhaan the medic, Zhaan the telepath, and Zhaan the peacekeeper with a small p. I’m still sensing that Zhaan could have elements of danger within her though; no-one is that self-assured without knowing they have the ability to back it up.

D’ARGO

Third time in a row this isn’t a great episode for D’Argo, and right now I can’t see him being anyone in the audience’s favourite character. I’m suspecting more character beats will come through at some point though, frankly, because D’Argo design-wise isn’t good looking enough to be able to keep going just as eye candy and a walking anger issue, as some ‘big guy’ characters are in other shows.

RYGEL

Well…Rygel gets things to do in this episode, but generally is humiliated. I don’t know, I really didn’t like this episode so much. Rygel pulls diplomacy out of the hat, inspired by an ancestor, I guess…but I feel it loses its weight because I’m still not quite sure how old Rygel is. Also, although it was painted as a triumph that Rygel negotiated…I’m still not sure what it was he negotiated. At least he seems not to hate the others so much, but at the same time, he still feels a little apart from the group, which is already a little fragmentary.

AERYN

Aeryn is also not that well served by this episode. We see a few excuses to get her out of her clothes and generally helpless, and the narrative implies that this might be coincidence, but it might also be penance for her previous self-assuredness. Her desire to be mercy killed as well is also laughed off and unacknowledged; yes, it privileges John the human’s ways of doing things over the brutal Peacekeepers, but it also walks over Aeryn’s choices and desires just on a whim. Nice. This episode also leans hard into what it poses as a mutual closeness between John and Aeryn that I’m just not sure is at this point earned, it does edge almost into Tarzan and Jane territory. Eek.

PLOT POINTS AS OF 1.03

They’re still on the run. They’re bonding. There is shipping. That’s kinda where we are now.

WHAT THIS EPISODE ADVANCED:

Honestly, not a lot. We learn a weakness for both Aeryn and Zhaan, that plots need to be heavily contrived to feature Rygel prominently, and that John Crichton has hidden depths when needed, some steel there. Forgive the shade, fans, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

CHARACTER RANKING AS OF 1.03:

1) Zhaan

2) John

3) Aeryn

4) Pilot

5) Rygel

6) D’Argo

And that’s it for this episode of FarscapeWatch! Check back in my Farscape 2017 section on my blog (also linked on the homepage) for my next episode reviews, as they come! Or feel free to give me a follow to catch all of my stuff ;)

Also, if you’re enjoying these, feel free to shoot me a message or comment :3 Sorry we’ve been a late at getting them out, pesky real life getting in the way! Also, would you guys like me to put a cut in instead of running these as one huge post? Let me know!

#farscapewatch #farscape #watch throughs #reviews #90s #retro #throwback #scifi #sf #tv shows #farscape fandom #first watch #reaction #exodus from genesis #aeryn #crichton #zhaan #d'argo

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noddytheornithopod · 8 years

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I was tagged by @fryferbfringefan44. Now, I have to post 10 characters from 10 fandoms. I’m gonna take some liberties here and bend the rules by not necessarily picking top faves, but faves nonetheless and characters I want to talk about that I don’t really get to in other memes. Be ready, I’m gonna use this to let off some steam. :V

1. Isabella Garcia-Shapiro (Phineas and Ferb): I can’t help but feel controversial here because while I’d hardly call her unpopular, I always get the feeling that most people either don’t care about her much or that the main reason they like her is because they ship her with Phineas (or Ferb, or some other character even). Meanwhile I’m sitting here cringing at my old Phinabella days, and am in that odd sliver that seems to really like her but don’t really focus too much on the Phineas aspect, even if I still have some dreaded Phinabella inside me I’m trying to suppress? I mean, I didn’t even realise she had a crush on Phineas until a year after I discovered the show (yep, I didn’t see crush episodes like how Linda never sees Phineas and Ferb’s inventions). So anyway, I just think she’s really damn cool. She’s hypercompetent like the rest of her peers, she cares about things that matter (in particular the Fireside Girls) as well as her friends, she’s not afraid to speak her mind (well, besides one thing), plus she’s funny, cute and while probably being the most “normal” out of Phineas and Ferb’s group of friends can still have her moments of quirkiness (just watch Return Policy or Face Your Fear, lol). I also find some of her flaws quite interesting, like a lot of her friends we actually see she cares enough about the Fireside Girls to the point where it has given her anxiety over potential failure, and sometimes she has a need for attention (I really like the episode where she’s competing with Candace over attention for Melissa the young Fireside Girl because of this). Granted her central character arc still revolves around Phineas and I understand why some don’t really care for that, but admittedly I like that kind of stuff too (in b4 “problematic fave” comments from people). On one hand I feel like we focused only on her crush at specific times and not nearly as much as some people make it out to be, but on the other hand her crush on Phineas is just super adorable? I think it might actually be because I kind of relate to her (I often remind myself of her at times admittedly, even if there’s other characters I’m more like XD), like there’s loads of characters that exist as love interests but Isabella actually managed to engage me probably because we actually followed her and her feelings instead of her just being some random girl for Phineas to try and impress (I guess I’m saying she was at least active in her own romance storyline, before then I had only really seen boys chasing after girls)? IDK if I’m making sense, but I guess I’m saying even if I think she’s able to stand on her own with her other attributes and is admirable in that regard I can’t help but really relate to the crush stuff too, which is maybe why I like her more than some people (and again, still not in the super shippy wants-her-to-be-with-Phineas-at-all-costs way). But yeah, as you can see I think Isabella is awesome and she’ll always have a special spot as a fave.

2. Jasper (Steven Universe): I choose Jasper because I feel like some people are being somewhat unfair on her? Like, I feel like some people are underestimating how complex she is and that she’s not going to be the “true villain.” Steven Universe never works that way, not even with characters like the Diamonds, you can even ask the writers and they’ll say they don’t do actual villains. Plus, lots of people have gone “true villain” on characters like Peridot when she first appeared, and now look at where she is! Anyway, Jasper’s story is honestly really gripping and also quite tragic. Sure, she works as a great antagonist against the Crystal Gems, but when we piece together where she came from we really get to see why she is the way she is, and she’s actually quite sympathetic. I mean, in her last appearance in Earthlings, I was on the verge of tears. She’s not just some thug, she has things she cares about and has experienced real hurt, and has become quite messed up as a result. Oh, and I can’t wait for her to come back. She’s gotta be back eventually.

3. CT-5555, aka “Fives” (Star Wars): I always enjoyed the clone troopers, but one of my favourites was always Fives. I was always invested in the Domino Squad storyline, and how they rose through the ranks and eventually became ARC Troopers. However, when things got really interesting for me was the Umbara story arc. Here, we not only saw Fives’ capabilities as a soldier, but with Pong Krell taking control of the 501st Legion he actually started to show more colours to his personality. In particular, we got to see that he cared more about what he thought was right than simply following orders without question. Unfortunately, even if that saved him and his fellow clones on Umbara, it would doom him when he learned about Order 66. Fives may have done the right thing, but when the entire Republic is against you for trying to reveal what they perceive as some conspiracy theory, you’re not going to go out well (especially if you have the Sith involved). I just really liked seeing a clone grow rebellious and then renegade but still cared about his duty because it’s either all loyalty or fuck the army, it was a nice balance. It was just committing the crime of asking questions that doomed him (and gosh his death is so sad). At least Rex seemed to listen to his warning though. :’)

4. Bradley Nicholson (Milo Murphy’s Law): IDK if I’ve talked about Bradley much, but he’s just such a blast to watch. Of course there’s the added bonus of Vincent Martella voicing a character radically different from Phineas, but even then he’s just really funny, the voice acting just enhances that. He’s also quite interesting, given that he’s jealous of Milo and the attention he gets, plus he seems kind of lonely. I really want to see him interact with Milo in the future and see whether he changes his opinion on him, or if he somehow grows even more envious while he grows on the others.

5. Makuta Teridax (Bionicle): Yeah, Teridax here is a pretty standard villain with standard villain traits. Selfish, arrogant, wants power, views his subordinates as nothing but tools, associated with darkness, etc. The reason he has left a mark on me is because he’s not only good at what he does, he’s epic at it. They could’ve just had him be some typical dark lord type, but he ended up developing into a character that is able to plan things out to a ridiculous extent. As a result, he would always find ways to be steps ahead of the heroes, and he would even go as far as letting himself be severely defeated and letting them win if it meant achieving his ultimate endgame. Everyone was being played like a puppet, he was powerful but his manipulation and planning is what made him so competent. Oh yeah, and he ended up winning. It literally took a moon to the head to finally take him down, but even then he had already unleashed so much terror on the world that was now his.

6. Keith (Voltron: Legendary Defender): I’m pretty new to VLD so I might not really be as in-depth here now, but Keith is definitely one of my favourite characters in the show. For starters, he’s just really badass. Seriously, he might be reckless at times, but at least he’s not to the point of being foolish, he’s really good at what he does. Also the whole storyline with him being Galra was really interesting, The Blade of Marmora is probably one of my favourite episodes of the show so far. I was already invested in his need for answers, but there he was willing to go to dangerous lengths to get what he wanted. At least the hell he went through was worth it.

7. Alister Azimuth (Ratchet and Clank): Most of the final bosses in Ratchet and Clank games are villains, but here it was literally the mentor character for Ratchet. Granted I’ve never been too savvy with video games, but this twist here when I first saw A Crack in Time blew me away. He’s one of the last of his entire species and has lost everyone who was ever close to him, but when he sees the chance to go back in time, he can’t help but take it. Problem is that he will rip apart time if he actually tries that. It’s actually really dramatic to fight him at the end because throughout the entire game Azimuth had been helping out Ratchet despite stuff from his past slipping into the open (oh yeah, he also feels personally responsible for unwitting helping the one to get rid of the Lombaxes), but when Ratchet and Clank tell him using The Great Clock to alter time would be dangerous, he decides to stop playing nice. He’s rough throughout the entire game, but now he’s not taking anything from anyone. He needed to go back and undo the mistakes of the past, but he had to end up fighting someone who is the son of his once best friend to do it. Granted he’s brought to his senses by the end, but he does end up dying to reverse the time travel process.

8. Connor Temple (Primeval): I don’t remember much of Primeval, but I always liked Connor. Sure, a lot of the time he was there to be goofy and provide comic relief, but he was also really intelligent and knew his stuff. It’s also cool seeing him grow more important with each series, even if in the end his technological skills almost fuck up the Earth since he was being played by the antagonists. Just a fun and cool character.

9. Max Jerry Horowitz (Mary and Max): Mary and Max isn’t a film for the faint of heart (...like me), but Max has always meant a lot to me. He was the first time I had ever seen an Autistic character that felt real, and not just some stereotype or gag. We get to know him and all of the stuff he’s been through, and you can’t help but feel for the guy. He also wasn’t afraid to be himself despite how much hell the world put him through, which is really great to see. Also yay for a character that actually supports neurodiversity in some shape or form!

10. Donna Noble (Doctor Who): Donna was the first companion I got to know on Doctor Who, and she’s still my favourite. I enjoyed seeing someone with a relationship with the Doctor that was platonic but still strong and obviously meant as much as any other kind of relationship, and she was a lot of fun. I understand some found her annoying at first, but if she didn’t start there she wouldn’t have had such great character growth, learning to grow more confident in herself and overcome her insecurities. She was really funny as well, not to mention unafraid to speak up about things. The way she left the show was absolutely heartbreaking though...

I’m not tagging anyone, but if you’re reading this an interested feel free to do this.

#ask #meme #long post #Phineas and Ferb #steven universe #star wars #milo murphy's law #bionicle #voltron: legendary defender #ratchet and clank #primeval #mary and max #doctor who

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entergamingxp · 5 years

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DualShockers’ Favorite Games of 2019 — Iyane’s Top 10

December 31, 2019 12:00 PM EST

2019 had a lot of cool mecha related games, but a lot of other great games from other genres too. Here are my top 10 from this year.

As 2019 comes to a close, DualShockers and our staff are reflecting on this year’s batch of games and what were their personal highlights within the last year. Unlike the official Game of the Year 2019 awards for DualShockers, there are little-to-no-rules on our individual Top 10 posts. For instance, any game — not just 2019 releases — can be considered.

I assume anyone who clicked on this wishes to read me talking about myself and my Unneeded Opinions (one of my favorite sentences of 2019), so I’ll do just that. 2019 was another year that went by in a flash. I’ve reached my first anniversary writing on DualShockers in September, and I’ve been pretty busy overall. As such, there are multiple games on this list I actually didn’t finish yet.

There are many games released in 2019 that I was really hyped about but didn’t have the time to try out yet either, and I’d like to start by listing some of them:

We first have games I’d consider mainstream, such as Devil May Cry 5, Judgment (I actually bought it in Japanese) Astral Chain. Then you’ve got more niche things, like Daemon X Machina (I’m waiting just in case a PC port gets announced), the Grandia remasters, SaGa Scarlet Grace, and Friends of Mineral Town Remake.

Lastly, we’ve got some visual novel games: Berubara Gakuen, Gnosia (Japanese outlets hyped up this game in a similar fashion that what happened with Disco Elysium in the US and Europe), Ciconia Phase 1 (the thing I was actually hyped for the most in 2019), Eve Rebirth Terror (idem), and the Yu-No remake.

I’m on a quest to play everything that Hiroyuki Kanno wrote after getting my mind blown by Eve Burst Error. Yu-No is one of these things, but the character design in the remake is bland as hell. Ryou Nagi is a great artist, and you can see that with Heavy Object or Ar Tonelico, but for some reason, everything remake-related he touches turn into the blandest thing ever. The same thing happened for the newest Langrisser I&II remake; it’s like some huge conspiracy. As such, I’ll probably grab the Yu-No remake in Japanese, as that version includes a port of the original.

Anyway, that was just a small intro to show my tastes and what to expect in this ranking. Here are the games I’ve enjoyed the most in 2019, and note that it’s not only games released in 2019. Also, note that the top 5 are all pretty much my top 1.

10. Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Masterpiece 1995-2001

I suck at Virtual-On. But I love it, especially Oratorio Tangram, and being able to play it remastered on PS4 is nice. The only thing these ports of the three Virtual-On games sadly lack is local multiplayer split-screen. Virtual-On is the originator of Gundam Vs like games and all the anime 3D arena battlers of varying quality releasing each year, and it’s the best one there is.

Other games I considered for this position were Destiny Connect, Shenmue 3 (which I didn’t play myself and watched an online friend’s playthrough), and Zanki Zero (I was supposed to review that but ended up never finding the time to finish said review). I picked Virtual-On because it didn’t require me to write 2000 words to explain my mixed feelings about it.

9. Space Engineers

According to Steam, I’ve played 47 hours of Space Engineers with my online friends. I’m pretty sure at least 20 hours of that was us trying to figure out how the game works and being annoyed and how counter-intuitive many elements are. This includes reading wikis and only to realize it’s outdated info, looking for Uranium only to realize you can’t find any on planets, or trying to design vehicles, copying blueprints and recreating them block by block. And a lot of other dumb stuff.

Besides all these frustrations, Space Engineers is my favorite multiplayer game I’ve tried out this year and I’ve made some great memories with it, as an online friend streamed some of our adventures too. I’ve tried making the Senegalese flag with wind turbines (too long to explain): we managed a trip to a moon and putting the Algerian flag on it (a French joke too long to explain) and we did a MASK opening sequence parody with a vehicle parade.

8. Ocarina of Time Randomizer Version 5.0

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I actually put this on my list last year as well, but seeing that the game’s meta has changed since then, this is fine. Again, I don’t have the time to play this myself and enjoy watching races instead, This year, ZeldaSpeedRuns held the OoT Randomizer Season 2 tournament, which ended in June with the victory of Marco against WTHH.

Now, the Season 3 tournament bracket matches just started in early December, with the version 5.0 0f the mod, changing the meta. We’ve already got a surprising upset, with first tournament winner and 2nd qualifier ATZ losing against 31 qualifier Killerapp23. Getting into detail would take too long and be incomprehensible if you’re not already into OoT rando, so I’m just gonna say this is the most interesting esports thing to watch ever. And like I said last year, it’s incredibly fun.

7. Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom

Wing Commander IV is one of the many games I’ve played in my childhood which left me with a huge impression. Along with things like Shenmue 1 & 2, this is one of the games I used to regularly quote until my high school years or so. I’ve finally got the time to rediscover the game this year. I didn’t end up replaying it myself though and watched a full playthrough of it. It was really interesting; I remembered many iconic scenes from the game and some characters, but I had no idea what the overall story was about anymore.

It’s surprising how anime space opera the story is, and I wouldn’t be surprised if something Japanese inspired the story. It all comes to Japan. This also made me realize, in a sense, that Wing Commander IV is pretty much one of the first visual novels I played and what made me enjoy well-written stories and choices. This is also what made me both love and hate draconian choices, multiple routes and characters’ deaths. I hate not being able to save characters.

6. Romancing SaGa 3 Remaster

Back in my childhood I tried playing Romancing SaGa 3, as it was among the various SNES roms I had at disposal. I quickly realized that it’s completely different than most RPGs and unlike many games in Japanese such as Super Robot Wars 4: I couldn’t trial and error my way through.

Around 18 years later, Romancing SaGa 2 Remaster comes out in 2017; it’s awesome, and a masterpiece. And then in 2019, Romancing SaGa 3 Remaster is finally out and it’s even more awesome. I’m currently in the final area of the game after playing as Sarah, because she has a fluffy afro ponytail. I just wish the game had a turbo button.

Tie-in 6. Persona 5 Royal

This is a tie-in as that’s an enhanced version of a really recent game, which was my 2016 favorite. I purposely played through Persona 5 only once, only maxing the coops and not doing much of the other side content, in case such an enhanced version ever released.

Even then, and even considering how much of a masterpiece that Persona 5 is, clearing such a long game again is annoying. Most of the new scenes I’ve seen so far, most notably Kasumi’s and Takuto’s scenes, are all incredibly nice though. The renewed dungeons and bosses’ designs are fun, and Joker is even more Lupin The Third-like with the wire hook, but there’s nothing groundbreaking either. I’m far from reaching the new part at the original’s ending, as I’m just about to reach the Hawaii part. Hopefully, it’ll be a nice ride.

The five games below are all my actual number one.

5. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

I’ve been waiting for 13 Sentinels since when it got announced in 2015. I could even say since 2013, as I hoped a game related to the Vanillaware Happy New Year 2013 Geroge Kamitani artwork above would come out someday. I had incredibly high expectations for it and none of it were betrayed as of now.

It’s awesome. It’s fully-voiced. It’s got giant robots. It’s the most beautiful (2D) game since forever. It’s like if an old Japanese adventure game got made with current technology. It’s a shame the game bombed in Japan. If you’re interested, I’ve written more about the game, and I’m recording myself translating the game as I’m playing through it.

4. Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox is amazing on all points. I’ve rarely had so much fun walking around and exploring a city in a game. I think what makes the game the most amazing is how it’s pretty much the culmination of the Ys series since it switched to the party system, and as if one of the first versions of the first Ys games were transposed to 3D. The verticality of the environments is used so well you can still feel lost despite having a map. Falcom might pretty much be one of the smallest, penniless studios in Japan despite its longevity; they still make the best action RPGs ever. What I’ve seen of the story so far is particularly amazing too, and Toshihiro Kondo is a good writer along with being a good company president.

I’m currently taking a break from the game after reaching what I guess is around 1/3 of it. I was so hyped I had to play it at launch, but I want to do all the other Ys games I didn’t do yet first, even if it’s absolutely not necessary to understand the story. I like being able to understand every single reference in a series like this. I’m the kind of person who wishes to know exactly how many times Kazuya and Heihachi threw each other out of a volcano/mountain.

3. Super Robot Wars T

I didn’t play Super Robot Wars V nor SRW X as they initially didn’t release on Switch. If we don’t count SRW OG Moon Dwellers, which was on my top ten 2018 list, SRW T is my first SRW game since the SRW Z3 finale on PS3 in April 2015. It’s pretty great, be it the story, its cast list, or the animations. Everything about it is nice. Having things like Cowboy Bebop, Gunbuster, Rayearth, Gun x Sword, and Captain Harlock together feels incredible. It’s extremely sad that Captain Harlock’s seiyuu Makio Inoue passed away right after he finally got in SRW.

A new OG anime directed by Obari and a new OG game would be nice. I’m happy the series seemingly won’t get a new game in 2020, so the development teams can take their time.

2. Fire Emblem Fuukasetsugetsu / Three Houses

This game has my favorite cast of characters in a Fire Emblem game, along with Fire Emblem Seisen no Keifu/Genealogy of the Holy War, and I could write a 1000 word article on every single character on this picture (if I was paid adequately for it). This is only one of the many reasons why I like this game. In a nutshell, I’d say I love the fact that I find it very innovative and yet similar to the other Fire Emblem games I’ve played and liked so far, and how it’s true for every aspect of the game.

Check out DualShockers‘ review for Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

1. Project Sakura Wars/ Shin Sakura Taisen

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This opening sequence has over 1.7 million views, and half of these are all me. While I’m not done with Shin Sakura Taisen yet, I fail to imagine how the game could even disappoint me so far, seeing how amazing it is. Before the game launched, I wasn’t concerned about the battle system change, but whether the new cast would be interesting or not. If there was a world Guinness record for most baseless worry of 2019, this would get it. This game got everything that makes Sakura Taisen so awesome. The strong female characters, the cool mecha, the great worldbuilding, the comedy. It’s a great new start in the series and I hope we’ll get more. I shared a few impressions on the game and just like 13 Sentinels, I’m recording myself playing the game, translating at the same time.

That’s it for my top ten.

If you’re wondering about my expectations for 2020, the game I’m looking forward to the most so far is the Seiken Densetsu 3 remake: Trials of Mana. Then we also have things like FF7R, Rune Factory 5, Space Channel 5 VR, Brigandine…I’m also eager to see KOF XV even if I won’t play it. Lastly, 2020 will also mark the tenth anniversary of the Pretty Series franchise. The Pretty Rhythm anime seasons and its King of Prism sequels were my favorite anime of the decade, so I’m looking forward to what Avex and Takara Tomy have in store for the anniversary, and if we might get some games other than arcade games out of it.

I’m planning to stay on DualShockers and keep writing about Japanese games in the new year. I don’t have the time nor the paycheck to cover every single news as fast as possible, but I always try to bring to the table as much info as I can, along with relevant translations and observations. Hoping you’ll keep reading us in 2020.

Check out the rest of the DualShockers staff Top 10 lists and our official Game of the Year Awards:

December 23: DualShockers Game of the Year Awards 2019 December 25: Lou Contaldi, Editor-in-Chief // Logan Moore, Managing Editor December 26: Tomas Franzese, News Editor // Ryan Meitzler, Features Editor December 27: Mike Long, Community Manager // Scott White, Staff Writer December 28: Chris Compendio, Contributor // Mario Rivera, Video Manager // Kris Cornelisse, Staff Writer December 29: Scott Meaney, Community Director // Allisa James, Senior Staff Writer // Ben Bayliss, Senior Staff Writer December 30: Cameron Hawkins, Staff Writer // David Gill, Senior Staff Writer // Portia Lightfoot, Contributor December 31: Iyane Agossah, Senior Staff Writer // Michael Ruiz, Senior Staff Writer // Rachael Fiddis, Contributor January 1: Ricky Frech, Senior Staff Writer // Tanner Pierce, Staff Writer

December 31, 2019 12:00 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2019/12/dualshockers-favorite-games-of-2019-iyanes-top-10/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=dualshockers-favorite-games-of-2019-iyanes-top-10

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