#Rachel being dead?? who didn’t guess that ????

[chloepleasestopdying]

I very obviously love LiS to death but people who say it’s objectively better than True Colors are wrong and I will freely admit that.

Like. I’m sorry. True Colors has better written powers, a story that was actually planned, and minor characters that aren’t forgotten in its Act 3. Despite consequences being this huge thing in LiS, there aren’t any because the game makes you pick between two choices and that’s it.

Now, I like LiS more. I personally like Max and Chloe more but I can admit that True Colors is better in general.

[duckietiewritestoo]

Not My Problem (Jonathan Crane x Doctor! Reader)

I did not know how to end this so you get this weird perfect ending! This chapter was inspired by the events of when Rachel zaps Crane. It's a hard scene to watch as a Jonathan Crane fangirl. 

Warnings: Cheesy....I think

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

The horse at my door was breathing fire, exhaling puffs of smoke, making me cough from it. I didn’t even know how it got up the stairs of the apartment, let alone how it was breathing fire. Something happened in the city that caused the water mains and piping to burst. I blamed my landlord for not keeping up to date with anything. I paid him a lot for that. Now smoke that induced nightmares filled my house, I could probably sue him.

What really had my attention was the masked man convulsing on the floor. I guess the horse brought him up to me. I didn’t notice him prior to that, I was busy hallucinating the horse and its flames. The man lying on the ground looked like a dying scarecrow. There was a crackling and a soft smell of fabric being burnt. It smelled like human skin too. I realized something was being zapped like a bug to a light. 

It wasn’t my problem and I didn’t want to deal with it. I knew who it was, I worked for him in Arkham in his medical ward. I rushed over and tore off the electrical wires from whatever tape gun tased Jonathan Crane. It zapped me too, causing me to yelp, and I quickly tossed it to the side, ripping Crane’s mask off his face. He was gasping for air. I delicately turned his face to look at me. His face wasn’t scared. His skin was steaming, not a great sign.

“What the heck happened out there,” I snapped rudely, pulling him by the arm. Jonathan groaned. Now that he was on his feet, I could see his attire, a worn and torn straightjacket that acted like a coat and his work blazer he always wore. His leather boots were scuffed, a rare sight for me. “Actually, what happened to you?” I asked.

“Just help me,” he coughed out. I sighed, rolling my eyes. He managed to utter those words weakly in a hoarse voice that I could barely understand what he was saying. I dragged Jonathan inside of my apartment. He groaned, his head falling limp.

“Can you walk?” I asked. The trip to the couch wasn’t that long but dragging Jonathan just made it harder. 

“(Name), I’ve been electrified, what do you think?” he retorted. I scoffed. Boy, he was rude.

“So you had enough strength to tell me that but you don’t have enough to walk? Tsk, disappointing,” I teased. “C’mon, let’s get you fixed up, you big baby.” I grunted, carrying Crane all the way to the couch where I put him down. He was heavy. I almost started sweating. As I laid him down on the couch, Jonathan groaned, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.  His breathing was heavy. I had to be gentle. “Are you okay?” I whispered. I delicately touched where his wounds were. He flinched. 

“Ow, be gentle!” Jonathan exclaimed. His eyes showed actual concern. I hadn’t seen that before. All I saw were cold blue eyes that loved it when someone was in pain. 

“I’ll try to be,” I muttered. I stuffed pillows behind his head to prop him up. I was a professional medical doctor, I knew what I was doing. We’d have to run water under his burns and there was no way I was keeping him under the sink. “I’ll be back,” I said. I grabbed a pot. Right, no water. I sighed, grabbing a flower vase and taking the dead plant out. I poured the little water I had against his face. Jonathan winced. 

“I asked you to be gentle!” he replied angrily. I huffed.

“Do you want to look handsome or have scars for the rest of your life, huh?” I spat. I frowned. “Not saying you’d be horrible to look at with scars, you’d still be handsome, but they might bother you for the rest of your life. So let me work my magic, Jonathan.” I watched his cheeks become a rosy shade of pink as he went silent. I’d have to run his burns under water for twenty minutes but with the pipes broken, the flower water would have to do.

Luckily, I had gauze bandages used for treating wounds somewhere in the house. Some were even sterile. “Stay here, okay,” I replied, getting up. Jonathan grabbed my hand. I stopped. “What do you need now?”

“It’s not that bad, I can handle myself for now,” he replied. “I don’t have major burns.”

“But you have minor wounds, that still counts for something.”

“I said I can handle it!” Crane tried sitting up. He winced, flinching as he fell back down onto the pillows. I huffed.

“I’ll be back.”

I did come back as promised. I had the bandages and wrapped up Jonathan’s face, making it snug to cover up his burns. He never flinched once while I did. He stayed calm, but I knew he was wanting to flinch and wince. I chuckled. “Do you want a lollipop for being such a calm patient,” I softly asked.

“No, I’m not a child, (Name),” he replied. He looked down, his gaze softening. “But I could use something sweet. Tonight has been…..strange.” I chuckled.

“Yeah, first the pipes burst, I started seeing stuff, a horse that breathed fire approached me, and I helped you,” I replied, putting the supplies away. I sat down on the couch. Jonathan sat up straight. 

“I might have been the root of that problem.”

“I figured, you’re always doing suspicious things in the basement at Arkham. I just didn’t think you’d be getting zapped and nearly getting fried.” Jonathan’s cheeks blushed. I noticed this. He was going off and on with turning red. 

“Are you sick as well?” I asked. I pressed the back of my hand against Jonathan’s cheeks. They started to heat up more. I pulled back. I scoffed, realizing he wasn’t sick. Those wide blue eyes were telling another story. “Don’t you dare tell me you feel something towards me or else I’m throwing you back out into the streets while everyone runs around screaming,” I threatened.

“Then I won’t say anything. Are you always this violent outside of work?” He chuckled, the corners of his lips curling into a cocky smile. 

“No.”

“Then only towards me, I assume?”

“Maybe.” 

“Only towards you,” I teased. “Now rest up, you can stay on the couch tonight. It’s really not my problem on how you got tased and I shouldn’t be so nice, but I am and don’t abuse it. Or I will call the cops and tell them you’re here.” Crane frowned, pleading with big eyes.

“Please, (Name), don’t let them find me,” he begged sarcastically. “I don’t know what I’d do without you if they took me.” I smiled, leaning in. 

“I wouldn’t let them take you, unless you deserve it.” Jonathan pouted and he took my hands. He curled his lower lip. He looked kinda cute like that. I blushed. 

“Would you let them take me?” he asked. 

“No, I wouldn’t.” Jonathan sat up and wrapped his arms around me. I let him. I would’ve fought it, but I let him, and I leaned against him. His hand brushed back my hair. He leaned in close to my ear and I could feel his warm breath tickle my skin.

“Would you like to see my mask?” he whispered.

[chaseprice]

hi!! hope i’m not a bother. i just came across u and i wanted to ask something,,,

basically, i joined the life is strange fandom in 2018 so i never got to experience the pre-bts era, meaning i didn’t get to experience what rachel was like to the fandom back then or see the different interpretations of her.

i did some digging and i found some fan content of her from 2015-2016 & i’m absolutely infatuated with all aspects of the fanon version of her, especially her personality & how she looked. i totally wanna embody her. also the love is strange vn was so interesting to play, i love how she was written. i’d love to know more!

i stumbled across ur blog while i was doing my digging and i saw an old long post of urs saying how bts didn’t live up to the fandoms expectations, as almost everyone perceived her differently.

sorry for all the yapping LOL but what i basically wanna ask is,,, how *exactly* did the fandom perceive rachel back then (2015-2016). what were some popular headcanons for her? things you guys even considered to be canon? what were some of your own *personal* headcanons? (can be silly, realistic,,, just anything you thought resonated with her)

do you have any favorite arts from that time period that you thought really captured her? what were your hopes for the prequel/rachels character before it was released? what did you want to see in terms of story? was rachel’s style, appearance, & personality extremely different than what you expected? what did you expect?

i assume that rachels treatment in the fandom was different then than what it is now. whether it’s better or worse, i’m not sure. i was hoping u could answer that too😞. recently i’ve just been seeing constant hatred or lack of care for her character so i’m starting to think that if bts was written differently and based on the fandom’s interpretations instead, the hate now wouldn’t be this bad.

from my digging it seems like you guys had alot of fun sculpting rachel’s character on your own, and the interpretations were probably more realistic than what decknine put together.

anyway i’m sorry for the yapping essay on this random saturday, most old lis accounts are dead & i didn’t know who else to ask☹️. just trying to relive what you guys experienced the best i can. hope i’m not bombarding you with this. thank you so much if u respond !!

hiii u def did not bother me, i am not in a position to answer all of these questions, but although it makes me feel ancient, it's cute to see so much passion for rachel and pre-BTS fandom opinion, so i'll try answer some and for the rest (art, hcs, etc.) im just gonna have to direct you to my archive* (will continue under the readmore)

*(tumblr archive is so broken on mobile so you gotta go on pc for this, but also there's so many gifs from that time so it will Definitely slow down your browser). i was insane and 17 years old so like, just excuse all of the cringe content i guess. you can click tag and filter it by either #lis #rachel amber #amberprice or whatever to try and find stuff like art. and i got into lis sept 2015 so that's like, as far back as it will go, but i was fully lisbrained from 2016 through 2018)

to be honest, in alignment with pre-bts thought lmao, rachel is whoever you want her to be. there was less of 'this is a correct objective fact about her personality/history' and more 'yeah, this is an idea the fandom really likes and has become fanon, most likely because it is a nuanced and entertaining and realistic interpretation of what we have seen of her character in lis1' which means people whose opinions conflicted with that might've be contested/laughed at/unpopular, but they weren't wrong per se. there were plenty of people i'd criticise (and ridicule) back then for implying that this teenage girl was evil, and being a teenager myself back then, i'd call them morally reprehensible and cancellable and whatever, but tbh, as an adult now, i can just see that it was simply a boring interpretation of her character informed by misogyny

i'd disagree with the notion that fandom treatment of rachel's character was better before bts, back then there were plenty of people seemingly excited to characterise her as emotionally manipulative, a cheater, deserved what she got, etc. as well, bc tbh, the story did leave room for that interpretation, but it left room for so much more as well. i feel like bts just really locked in on a certain story they wanted to tell plot-wise, and didn't choose to explore a lot of the questions fans had about rachel as a person. it's hard to turn the ambiguity of a friendship turned situationship over a period of 4 years into a playable experience for an audience - so they didn't. regardless, it got people thinking about rachel more, putting a spotlight on her, hence increased attention both positive and negative. i feel like there's just a fundamental difference between what lis1 fans enjoyed about the potential for her character and how she related with chloe and the world around her, and what deck9 wanted to portray in bts (yes they hit the astrological headcanons, the charmingness, her rebellion, the emotional conflicts... but it personally felt hollow, contrived sometimes, i suppose). but there were a lot of people who loved bts (i enjoyed a lot of parts of it!). just, in my opinion, some of those were quite different people from who loved lis1, and with that wave it brought a lot of emotional immaturity to the fandom (like... ship wars, really? that was an insane change to fandom dynamics for me lmao, but maybe i was just spoiled by surrounding myself with people whose takes i respected)

anyway i highly recommend also that if you're hungry for that kind of content, read fanfiction on AO3 by the old fans - by Mogatrat (TON of rachel centric ones there), explosionshark and tippytypewriter, chicknparm (though Cusp is written post-bts, it's informed by pre-bts characterisations), vicepoint (me hehe), def many more good ones out there those r jus my friends so they come to mind first, e.g. i liked homecoming by kriegersan back in the day, but you could def find some more by sorting the lis ao3 page by kudos and reading the older ones that are highly rated featuring rachel. and lastly, my gf wrote a beautifully worded blog post called "The Assassination of Rachel Amber by the Cowards Dontnod and Deck Nine" which gets into some of this from a media crit perspective (not about fandom) in a very eloquent way thru comparison w twin peaks and i highly recommend that

rachel hcs that def started way before bts: skater rachel, stoner rachel, punk music listener rachel (but also like, fleetwood mac cranberries cocteau twins grungy hippy stuff rachel too), rachel's parents being distant and still living in california, curvy thick rachel, things that i've accepted as canon but were def created by diff people: bri explosionshark hc'd that rachel paid for chloe's sleeve, mogatrat (i think) hc'd that rachel initially went to get her nips pierced with chloe (that's a longtime fan hc now idk who started that one) but chickened out at the last minute, i think she also hc'd that chloe made the earring for rachel which is cute too

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Agitation 3.10 Live Reactions

(This is me, writing reactions as I read, because why the fuck not. They're not complete, mature thoughts taken after I sit back and evaluate what I've read. Consider them as such)

It's July 4th, work is dead, I've got nothing else to do, let's try to plow through a bunch of these, shall we? At the rate I've been going I'll be at this all year.

The rest of the battlefield was chaos.  Patches of darkness covered everything, and the landscape was distorted.  In some of the areas Vista had warped, the rain wasn’t falling in a straight line.  One spot in particular had the rain moving horizontally before it dropped to help fill a massive puddle thirty feet across, where her power had made an indent in the ground.

I do like Wildow's attention to detail here, and the way these powers just... absolutely fuck everything up like this, and stay like that.

Bitch screamed, and it was a long and primal noise, filled with rage.  I was still inside the bank, watching things unfold through the window, barely able to hear it, and it still made my skin crawl.  So he’d shot the dangerous psychopath with a blast that made her angry.  Someone would have to explain that one to me at a later date.

I'd guess Gallant didn't shoot her with rage, it's just that Rachel's kind of messed up. But I could be wrong.

Seems an odd choice though, if he did.

Apparently that was order enough, because Judas charged at the teenager that was dressed like a science fiction Lancelot.

I love descriptions like this because they both tell us absolutely nothing about how it looks... and also tell us everything. I once read a fic that described the armor of a guy from a culture that went from medieval tech to space travel in like, 100 years (sorta, long story) as being 'Lord of the Rings, with Sci-Fi bolted on' (the POV character was from Earth), and it both told us nothing, and yet, told us everything.

Descriptions are hard, ya'll. Worst part of writing. Props to Wildbow.

Was someone’s power at work, giving me a headache?  There wasn’t anyone in the Wards, I was pretty sure, who could mess with your head like that.  Gallant could mess with your emotions, but he had to hit you with a light blast to do it.  The person on the roof, then?  I was fairly confident there wasn’t anyone in the Protectorate or New Wave who could affect me like this.

No one suspects the healer!

(also no one knows the healer can do this, but)

.  A gun, no less than fifteen feet long, with a barrel three or four feet across, all turret mounted on a circular platform not unlike the board he was riding.

I know technically there is no overkill, just "Open fire" and "I need to reload" but also...

Overkill.

I jumped for cover the moment I realized what he was doing.  There was a muffled sound, more a very large person someone hitting a punching bag than what I’d expect a laser cannon to sound like, and the window exploded. What was he doing?  We had hostages inside.  I turned to check, and saw there weren’t any hostages near me.  Did he know that?  Heat sensors in his visor?  Was someone watching me through the cameras and passing him info?  Damn it!  There was too much I didn’t know, and Tattletale wasn’t around to fill me in.

You know, if Kid Win and Victoria were dating, he could be the Collateral Damage Ken to her Collateral Damage Barbie.

But JESUS Kid, what the fuck?

(Yes, CDB is an incomplete representation of Vicky, but she does earn the nickname fairly at the early stages. I'm also going to assume it's an unfair representation of Kid Win, but still, *Man* wtf?)

The bugs were slow to react, slow to move and some were slipping from my grasp, returning to their instinctive behavior.  Making matters worse, I wasn’t blind to the fact that every time I gave a command, my headache got exponentially worse.

Given that Amy's little messing with the Black Widows only affected them, I'm surprised? Or is this just some sort of Master headache? Is she doing more with the swarm than usual?

 Aegis didn’t try to run this time.  He stood his ground and reached for his utility belt.  He retrieved something that looked like a miniature fire extinguisher. Then he pulled the pin. For the second time in a matter of minutes, I dove away from the window.  It wouldn’t be a grenade, but the option that made the most sense-  I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears just in time.  The explosion the flashbang grenade

Flashbang. Much more responsible, Aegis usually is in fic, so presumably in canon too. Tracks.

and Regent was striding out of the darkness, in Kid Win’s direction.

With his outfit and mask that actually probably looks kinda badass.

I whirled to face the voice, and saw the freckled, brown haired hostage that had been glaring at me when we’d first taken control of the bank lobby.  After that, I saw only stars as she slammed something large and blunt into the side of my head.

AMY! :rofl: Finally!

Okay, so like, I get that Amy's not the MC of Worm, but like, I've been waiting for the Fire Extinguisher smash the entire time I've been reading this Arc, so bear with me.

Amy's blorbo, okay?

[imtooscaredforthis]

Entrapment

Chapter Eighteen: Keeper

Mentions of: Slight NSFW, Masturbation, Homicidal tendencies, Dark thoughts, Manipulation, Anxiety, and Danny plotting and being the sick bastard he is

A/N: Danny’s so evil…but I love him..sigh

Tags: @dead-bxxxtch-walking @froegis @vandeaad @moonshineinasippycup @mama-miya @stwbwwychan @the-fandoms-georgie

Danny stayed late that night, replaying your recordings over and over again. The fear in your voice was something he lived for, but he also enjoyed your rage a lot more.

A smart person would’ve been scared and moved far away, before Danny would track them down and kill them, of course. But a survivor stands their ground. Not only were you determined to survive, you wanted to catch him too. You wanted him dead. He’s never met anyone like you.

Fuck. He’s starting to like you too much. It took everything in him not to fuck you today, not to go grab his robe and mask and climb into your bedroom, and just when you get out of your shower he would grab you by your throat, pin you against the bed and just….let loose after how riled up you got him with that little interview.

But he knows he can’t. He needs to control himself. It was just hard, especially since he had the way you looked at him, the fear, anger and hatred in your eyes, committed to memory. And God, your shaky breaths, the way your chest heaved slightly when you remembered the murders, and how you fiddled with your fingers, looking at the floor when you described your guilt, it was amazing.

Not to mention how cute it is that you think you could catch him. He’s a fucking pro, and Jed has you by the throat. He can see the way you look at him when you think he’s not looking, the things you’ve written about him, and he can only imagine the fantasies you have about him. You’re far too blinded by your little crush to notice the signs, and he intends on keeping it that way. Then again, you’re very smart, and he looks forward to this chase.

Right now, he just needs to control himself, and he has been, going to the single bathroom and relieving some tensions when his thoughts of you went too crazy.

Speaking of, he could feel the discomfort between his legs right now. His cock throbbing and pushing against his pants.

“Fuck.” He muttered, deciding to take one last trip to the bathroom.

–

It didn’t take long for him to finish, especially considering all the thoughts of you he had racing through his mind, and how sensitive he was from previous visits. Thankfully, that managed to get him to calm down, but it didn’t stop his hunger. He needs to stalk someone, kill something, relieve the thing that you got all riled up inside him.

Just then, Jamison walked out of his office, making Danny remember he wasn’t alone. “Jed? What are you doing here?”

“I was writing the paper on Ghostface. I guess I was so deep in the story that I lost track of time.” Jed confessed, masking the murder hungry psychopath inside. “What about you?”

“I fell asleep trying to decide who I’m going to have as a secretary. Maya wants her job back after two extra weeks she spent using her vacation days. But, I don’t want to fire ______. She’s a good kid and a hard worker. Plus, it’s refreshing to have a young presence around here, and a pretty thing like her strutting around the office? It’s been…nice.”

Jed smiled awkwardly at Jamison’s words. Danny was disgusted.

Then another thought popped into his mind. He got an idea. A great idea. “Well, ______ wants to be a journalist right? Why don’t you have her work on the Ghostface papers with me.”

“I don’t know, don’t you already have Rachel working with you? And while she is a good writer, ______ is young and inexperienced. I wouldn’t want her to get in the way of things.” Jamison admitted.

“I’m not sure how much Rachel can take. Lucia, one of the most recent victims was close with her, and Rachel’s been taking it pretty hard. I think she could use a break.” Jed told him.

“She has seemed down lately. Alright, fine. But you’re responsible for her. You make sure she does a damn good job, like you and Rachel have been doing for the past couple of months. But if these don’t sell, that’ll be on you.” Jamison replied.

Jed nodded in response, doing what he could to hold back a grin. Oh, they’ll definitely sell. The kind of stories we’ll write…it’ll be impossible for anyone to look away.

He’ll hold off on killing you for a while. Instead, he’ll have you write about Ghostface with him, and be able to watch your little investigation, and Ghostface himself might even pay you a few visits too.

Oh, this is going to be fun.

–

When you walked into the office, you were surprised to see another woman sitting at your desk. Shit. Your time ran out. They already replaced you. You were so focused on this Ghostface stuff that you had hardly been able to prove yourself to Jamison.

“_________.” Jamison called, standing in the doorway to his office. He gestured for you to enter. You did as told, feeling the dread in your stomach.

The last thing you need right now is to lose your job. Fuck, you feel like you’re going to cry. You feel like you’re going to scream.

“Our secretary has returned from maternity leave, so you aren’t needed for that position. Fortunately, we have another opening. You’ll be working with Jed, on the Ghostface papers.”

You looked up at Jamison, shocked. You couldn’t believe what you just heard. “What?”

“Yeah, Rachel was struggling, so I’m having her reassigned, and I’m giving you the chance to show me what you’ve got.” He remarked.

“Thank you, sir. But-”

“Don’t thank me sweetheart, thank Jed. He was the one who came up with the idea.” He interrupted you.

“I’ll make sure to do that.” And with that, he let you leave.

You need a second. This is a lot to process. So, you walked outside, pacing around and taking some deep breaths. Then, you sat down on the bench in front and you thought. You thought for a long while.

“Hey, are you okay?” Jed asked, walking over to you. “Yeah, I’m fine I just…you got Jamison to hire me? To write the papers with you?”

“Of course. It wouldn’t be right to have you leave. You’re smart and you’ve got ambition, and I know you’ve been through a lot, and I wanted to help. Plus, I think we’d make a pretty good team.” He remarked.

“You think so?” You smiled, and he nodded with a grin. “I know so.”

“Thank you for this. I mean, you saved my ass. But, I don’t know if I can do it. I mean, if Rachel can’t handle it, then-”

“_______, what you told me during the interview yesterday..You’re strong and a fighter, I mean, you’re the first person I heard that wants to go against a serial killer, that wants to do something about this. Your writing could be an outlet, and who knows, maybe you’ll find some clues along the way. I mean, I’m sure you’re smart enough to crack it. But if you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to. I’m sure I can find someone else, not that they’d be as good as you, of course.”

“Okay, okay, you’ve convinced me. I’m in.”

[clonerightsagenda]

I was going to save this for one of my podcast girls week entries, but I wrote it out and then thought, why sit on it, so here is today's ladies night content before I go on a walk: Alien zombie Alana Maxwell is an underutilized concept and here's why.

She'd be cool with it. Maxwell works with AI who are ported between containers without that changing who they are, so she's primed to view her mind and memories being rebooted in a new container similarly. I don't think she'd have any identity crises. Also, her dad was a preacher, she's not on good terms with her family, and she tried to ditch the holiday party, which makes me guess she's ex-Christian. How better to spite your Christian parents than coming back from the dead in a distinctly non-God honoring way? This could generate some interesting conflict with Lovelace, who is significantly less cool with it and might be annoyed and dismayed to see someone else taking alien resurrection in stride. Bonus points considering I hc Lovelace as being raised Catholic and the soul question being an additional level of identity angst that Maxwell immediately dismisses.

The aliens have motive. It's clear that watching through their surrogates' eyes doesn't mean they understand what they see. Once Lovelace gets back to Earth, they might want help with context. They seem to have grasped that humans don't like multiple copies of a person running around, and of the others they have on file, they dislike Kepler and Cutter, and Rachel and Riemann were there when Cutter killed one of their meatsuits, so Maxwell seems like the one they'd have the least aversion to. Then she would immediately try to talk them into roadtripping to see things in person, which is how we can get all the other interactions I'm describing.

The aliens have opportunity. It's not stated what the crew did with Maxwell's body, but the likely options are either tossing her into the star or freezing her on the station, which later went into the star. Lovelace was frozen (albeit alive) when she got scanned, and Word of God is that the Dear Listeners are perfectly capable of creating a functioning surrogate from a corpse. If you don't want to go that angle, almost everyone got hit by multiple rounds of stellar activity in "Persuasion". However, the corpse angle creates an opening for...

Fun body horror. I am a 'came back wrong' enjoyer and think it would be very good if the aliens got their scanned corpse up and running but didn't fuss too much about the cosmetic stuff. Maxwell's skin is colder than it ought to be. She has a gnarly scar on her forehead. Neither of these bother her much, but she's not a fan of the tingling neuropathy left over from tissue damage or the brain fog from the bullet that went through her head. (A fun parallel to the issue she first helped Hera with. Hera is now in the brain damage club with Doug, Miranda, and Maxwell. She hates this.) She can fun-terrorize Jacobi with perma-cold hands and real-terrorize Minkowski by making her look at the hole in her head. She's honestly over it but it's still funny to watch her squirm.

The Hera thing. Hera was furious with Maxwell immediately after the mutiny, and although her opinions softened near the end of the show, I think she'd be furious again if Maxwell actually showed up. She embraced non-human solidarity with Lovelace and now here's Maxwell. What is she supposed to do, have non-human solidarity with her too?? Did Maxwell become an alien to spite her??? The nerve. I got the impression that Maxwell saw her actions during the mutiny as for Hera's own good - better than deleting her, right? - just as she was willing to ignore Hera's wishes and erase her memories in Memoria. She'd probably insist on that if they had a chance to argue about it, and I could see Hera throwing the restraining bolt incident in her face. ("If you're so comfortable putting something into people's brains to make them more useful to you, I'm sure you won't mind hearing how Jacobi got that scar on the back of his neck.") Could be juicy, is my point.

Meanwhile, Jacobi: Of course this is my very good friend Maxwell back from the dead. Yes this has implications for the version of myself I listened to die screaming. No I'm not going to unpack that.

Finally, I think it's a missed opportunity that Pryce and Maxwell never got to meet. I suspect pre-mutiny Maxwell would want to believe she was ethically better than Pryce while pre-finale Pryce would see Maxwell as a bleeding heart amateur, but after all that? I think they'd still get each other's hackles up, but there's room for some interesting interaction, especially as I think Miranda's memories would start trickling back after a while, and immortal alien surrogate Maxwell is basically her white whale. Miranda trying to navigate social niceties enough to determine an acceptable way to ask someone for tissue samples. Maxwell might be willing to swap some for custody over a few of Pryce’s experimental AIs.

In conclusion, while I enjoy postcanon scenarios dissecting people's trauma, I think it's fun if while everyone else is grappling with the Horrors, Maxwell is also there enjoying herself. *commercial voice* Add an alien Maxwell to YOUR postcanon today.

[andalitean]

Rachelcrantz and Tobiastern are dead: the compilation

in the words of @brechtian​, “what if we were two characters trapped in the narrative and spiraling towards an inevitably tragic ending. and we were in love”

aka every time these two took “all the world’s a stage” a little too seriously. inspired by this, where @lorenfangor​ quoted rachel in book 37:

[“So it’s a trap. An inevitability. You are who you are. Character is plot. Character is destiny.”]

#3 (Tobias)

["But part of me kept saying, ‘It's a lie. It's a lie. You are the hawk. The hawk is you. And Tobias is dead.’"]

#7 (Rachel)

["Jake’s voice in my head kept saying, <Rachel, morph out. Morph out. You’re out of control! You are OUT of control! Morph!>. / I was clawing wildly at the air, trying to kill the tiger that was suspended above me in the dropshaft. / Trying to kill Jake. / I felt as if I had snapped awake from a dream. / Slowly, as we rose toward the surface, I left the bear and returned to myself."]

["’I’m so sick of this,’ I said again, a little more softly. ‘What’s the point? What’s the point in anything? we know the future now. We know what happens if we decide to stay and fight.’ / I felt lost. The last ounce of energy just seeped away from me. It was too much. Too many things to deal with. And what was the point? What did it even matter what I did? / I flopped down on the grass and pine needle-covered ground, and rested my head in my hands. I was done. Done trying to make sense of a world where I could be jerked back and forth like a puppet."]

#17 (Rachel)

[“Everyone in a group has a role to play. At least that’s how it always works out. My role was to say, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go. That’s what we came here for.’ / But I was tired. And I’d had a really, really bad few days digging down to this stupid cave. / So I said, <Let’s do it. That’s what we came here for.> / Sometimes it’s hard to get out of a role once you’ve started playing the part.”]

#22 (Rachel)

[“I tried to remember, but it wasn’t like I was thinking about myself. It was like I was remembering some girl I used to know. Like she was an acquaintance I’d forgotten about until someone reminded me. It was like, ‘Oh, yeah, Rachel. I remember her.’”]

[“Then there he was. Saddler. David. He swaggered in like he owned the world and everything in it. I so wanted to wipe that smirk off his face. But that wasn’t in the script. My role was to seem chastised, beaten down. Defeated and humiliated. That’s what we figured he’d want. That’s what would make him happy.”]

[“I nodded, meek and afraid. David searched my face through Saddler’s eyes. Was he suspicious? Had I overplayed my part? / Then he reached across and smeared the re-fried beans down the sleeve of my shirt. And laughed. / So I did something I don’t do much. I started to cry.”]

#23 (Tobias)

["I mean, what was I thinking? Rachel’s a human. A real human. I’m a hawk. You think Romeo and Juliet were doomed, just from being from families that didn’t like each other? Well, you can’t get any more doomed than caring for someone who isn’t even the same species."]

#27 (Rachel)

[“If Cassie had said it, Jake wouldn’t have told her she was overreacting. He would have agreed. He would have thought she was being sensibly cautious. / Wasn’t I allowed to be cautious? / No, of course not, I thought bitterly. I’m supposed to be a reckless fighting machine and fighting machines don’t feel caution or fear. And even if they do, they don’t advertise it. / ‘Well, excuse me, I guess I’ll just shut up and follow orders,’ I said.”]

#33 (Tobias)

[”Rachel stared at the wall. I looked at the floor. In an instant, the bulletin board display had thrown our friendship into the harsh light of reality. Rachel was a girl who could, on occasion, become a bird of prey. I was a hawk who could, on occasion, become human. / Several big steps past being Montagues and Capulets like Romeo and Juliet. Remaining hawk meant meals of still-living mice.”]

[”<Guys. Wait a minute,> I interrupted. / ‘What is it?’ Jake asked. / I swooped down from the rafter to the floor. Loose straw swirled in small eddies as I touched down. A ray of light from a crack in the barn wall bathed my feathers in yellow light. It was almost too much. Too theatrical. I half-expected angels to hover up out of the hayloft and break into song. / <It’s me,> I said. <I’m the one who has to go.>”]

[”<Let go,> I mumbled to myself. <Let go of yourself.> / ‘What was that you said?’ Taylor asked. / Irrelevant. She was nothing, I was the hawk. / Deeper into the hawk. Go away, weak human boy. / I seemed to stand outside my body. Hawk, human - everything. My mind began to race, the manic frenzy of madness. Up above it all. / A wave of self-pity, followed by a wave of hatred, followed by the unbearable weight of despair. The pain sped everything up. Faster and faster. Panic, fear, sadness. / But somehow... / Using the half of me that was equipped to process pain, I was enduring it. Close down your human mind! It’s your only hope, I told myself. Focus on the hawk.”]

[“Focus on the part of you where the pain is less subversive. Less destructive. / Sink into your hawk self, Tobias. Deep into your raptor self. / But the images! / Fragments of memory. Random memory. Flashing uncontrollably across my mind’s screen. / Insanity! Madness! / A hyper-speed slide show. / Fleeting, Irrepressible. Dominating my reality and impossible to control. Turn it off. Off!”]

37 (Rachel) (this one is included mainly because she references Hamlet which is really funny to me)

[”’Not likely. I’m the one who does hard and fast. And relentless.’ / ‘And reckless,’ Marco shot back. / ‘While you want to sit around and think every stupid little step to death,’ I spat. ‘You’ve got a Hamlet complex, Marco.’ / ‘Yeah, and there’s a method to my madness. Which is more than I can say about your finer moments.’”]

43 (Tobias)

[”’Hey. No matter what you think, Tobias, Taylor’s not your responsibility. Besides, how often is it possible to see the big picture, really?’ Rachel said. ‘Things happen fast. You just have to make the best decision you can and then go for it. You know what? I’d do the same thing again, if I had to.’ / ‘How can you say that?’ / ‘With me, it’s about instinct. I knew we had to dig that tunnel. Turns out I was right, but for the wrong reasons. If we hadn’t gotten involved with Taylor, Cassie wouldn’t have known about the plan, wouldn’t have talked to Tidwell, wouldn’t have worried about us. But she did. And it opened up a course of events that couldn’t have occurred otherwise. It ended up saving the Yeerk peace faction. It was a good investment.’”]

48 (Rachel)

[”I felt like I was watching everyone from behind a Plexiglass window. / I just wasn’t there. I couldn’t relate, not to the teachers, the boys, the girls. I couldn’t even pretend to relate.”]

53 (Jake!!!) (i think this quote is the most tragic...)

[”’We blew up one Yeerk pool,’ Rachel said cockily. ‘So we blow up another. Badda-boom. Nothing to it.’ / She knew better, of course. She was just playing her part.”]

54 (Rachel)

[”I could see the viewscreen. I could see my best friend Cassie. Jake. Marco, funny Marco. Ax. / Tobias. / He had morphed. He was his human self once more. He’d done that for me. And because he was crying, I understood. Humans cry, hawks don’t. / ‘I love you,’ I said to the screen. / And oh, god, how could so much regret and so much sweetness and so much sadness all be present in that single moment. I was already dead and missing my unlived life. I was already dead and Tobias was mourning. / I tried to smile. For him.”]

[”I wanted to much to live. I wanted so much to stay and not to leave. In a moment no answer would matter to me, but just the same, I wanted to know what I guess any dying person wants to know. / ‘Answer this, Ellimist: Did I... did I make a difference? My life, and my... my death... was I worth it? Did my life really matter?’ / ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘You were brave. You were strong. You were good. You mattered.’ / ‘Yeah. Okay, then. Okay, then.’ / I wondered if-”]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lydia O'Connor at HuffPost:

The initial airing of a Fox News interview with Donald Trump last week cut out the former president saying he may not declassify federal files about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who maintained close relationships with dozens of politicians, celebrities and other public figures before being found dead in his jail cell. The discrepancy was first reported on Sunday by Semafor’s Max Tani, who found that the president’s June 2 interview on Fox & Friends only included the first part of Trump’s answer to host Rachel Campos-Duffy’s question: “Would you declassify the Epstein files?” In that airing, Trump replied, “Yeah, I would,” and the segment ended.

But Trump’s full answer played later on Will Cain’s Fox News radio show, revealing that he quickly hedged his response, Semafor found. “I guess I would. I think that less so because, you don’t know, you don’t want to affect people’s lives if it’s phony stuff in there, because it’s a lot of phony stuff with that whole world. But I think I would,” Trump said. When Campos-Duffy asked him if he thought declassifying the documents would “help restore trust,” Trump reiterated he’s not sure what he’d do with the Epstein files. “I don’t know about Epstein so much as I do the others,” he continued. “Certainly about the way he died. It’d be interesting to find out what happened there, because that was a weird situation and the cameras didn’t happen to be working, etc., etc. But yeah, I’d go a long way toward that one.”

Donald Trump hinted that he might keep the Epstein Files sealed, which is more proof that he is bed with the sick creep known as Jeffrey Epstein. Fox “News” edited it out in one of their interviews.

[lucasbarr]

Just finished Bees and yet again the Bree + Roger subplots are the least interesting to me but I’m glad we got more of William and of Ian and Rachel! It kinda dragged on a bit with the day-to-day monotony of the Ridge (which I usually like but this was a lot) but overall I enjoyed the book!

Major Spoilers under Read More

John Cinnamon is my new favorite character! He is such a sweet young man and I think I’m going to go back and read the Lord John series now too! Because it felt like I was missing something with the whole Percy subplot in MOBY + this book having not read it.

Like lowkey why is everyone other than Jaime and Claire’s immediate offspring (sans Willie) more interesting? Idk how Diana managed to create such an unlikeable little family unit with Brianna, Roger, and their kids (tho I do like Jeremiah, not so much Amanda) but such a rich supporting cast!

Also why give Brianna a heart condition if it’s just magically going to be fixed by her being pregnant?!

I will say though it’s interesting that Davy isn’t a time traveller like his siblings. Makes you wonder if Fergus (who I am also choosing to believe is La Comte’s son) is a traveller or not and what this means for Claire and her family. Also makes one wonder if Percy’s family that he married into or even Fergus himself might be one of her ancestors 👀

The Richardson subplot is…😬 Why would you make an abolitionist the main villian! Not to mention he has African American ancestry! Diana WTF? Your racism is showing in this book 🤦‍♀️ Not to mention the plot with Ulysses/Joseph Stevens… like Diana why???

I am also choosing to believe that Totis is Ian’s son! He is such a sweet addition to the household, even if the reasons were a bit strenuous in the book. Though I am also intrigued by the Jenny/Joseph Brant’s Uncle romance. Though I don’t know why Claire didn’t tell Jenny that the war would be over in a matter of months? 🤔

Makes me wonder why she’s decided to kill off Percy and what this means for the Percy & Fergus storyline.

And why in hell Hal want to see Ben! Like I was under the impression that Amaranthus was in cahoots with Ben and then she went to see him and saw him with a other woman which came out of nowhere. Honestly it would have been more interesting if she’d known and went be with him and left Trevor with the Willie and Lord John. Bye maybe the whole widow thing is a ruse and she lied about the other woman and maybe she is in on it?

Though it makes me wonder if Hal made the poison to poison Ben…

Like I wonder if William will take Amatanthus up on her offer and pass off his title and estates to their kid. Like obviously that’s what Ben did with her and why I thought that Amarantus was more involved with the plan than we saw (esp with her reaction when she went to see him) though I’m dubious about whether her account of the events is true or not.

I mean the way she brazenly suggested the plan that Ben had gone through with seemed suspicious to me!

I think Richardson is involved with Rob Cameron in some way and that the gold is going to come into play. Again, weird choice of villain with Richardson being an abolitionist but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

And also WTF happen to Ulysses? Is he dead? I know Duncan was one of his men but like why didn’t you just tell him she was in Nova Scotia? Just be vague and then he might not have tried to ya know oust Jaime and that whole skirmish!

Like I want to see less filler (or just more with beloved characters like Lizzie!) and more streamlining from the editor on the major plot points!

Also WTF happened to Buck!

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 151/310

2015 Chinese GP

I only have the race again. I'm sorry about that, it's going to be an issue all season. I'm trying to get that person from f1fullraces to reupload the 2015 season on their website because it seems the whole thing was there at some point but all the links are dead, for the whole season :( unfortunately they're not answering me. I've reached out by DM first in August 2022 and they didn't answer and I tried again not long ago and I also answered to some of their tweets because they answered other people there but no response. Kinda sucks. Anyway as always I'll check what I can find on YouTube and dailymotion after watching the race but it would be much easier if they answered.

AND THEY FINALLY DID SO HERE WE GO PRERACE CONTENT 

Lewis is on pole again! Nico says Ferrari is a threat, they have race pace. Simon says Nico was pretty upset he didn't get pole. Johnny says it was his best performance this season so far so he was grumpy indeed. In the drivers' parade, though, he says he's feeling good. Saturday was frustrating but still there's everything to play for. He can't talk about strategies because there's so many possibilities. Of course it would mean a lot winning here as that's where he first won and he needs to gain back points over Lewis and Sebastian. 

They talked with Bernie about Red Bull complaining about Merc's performance and even threatening to pull out of the sport. He says he spoke with Mateschitz a few days prior and he didn't mention any of that to his face. The journalist asks what Bernie thinks he wants, reg changes to bring Merc "back to the park"? Bernie says Mateschitz would be happy like most people if all the engines were more or less the same. "It's supposed to be a drivers' championship not a team, you know, constructors championship." Erm… that's. Both exist, Bernie, that's the point? Wtf is he saying. The journalist asks if that'd mean going back to a non hybrid engine or with less than a hybrid element. "So long as they're all the same," Bernie says. As the journalist starts another question he adds "It's the drivers' championship eh? Not the engineers' championship". OLD MAN THOSE ARE THE SAME THINGS. THEY ONLY HAVE ONE CAR. YOU CAN'T SEPARATE THE TWO CHAMPIONSHIPS. The journalist asks what about Toto Wolff because Bernie said he's partly to blame for killing F1 potentially (LMAO WHAT), so what does Toto feel about that? "He's waiting for the funeral." That's the most absurd interview I've ever heard. What an asshole. Apparently Niki said who cares if Mateschitz, Honda and Renault pull out of the sport, we'll provide everybody with Merc engines. Red-capped king.

Simon says they know Nico has been "effectively in Lewis Hamilton's pocket" and that senior management, particularly Niki, has said he needs to sort himself out. Hill thinks it's because they know they're under threat from Ferrari rather than Niki wanting him to challenge Lewis so they need Nico to be right on Lewis' tail the danger being of course that Nico still very much wants to win the championship and they might fight where Ferrari seems to have a good arrangement and there's no animosity between their drivers. (I mean sure but only one of them is competitive right now, so…) 

Lewis drivers' parade interview. They talk about how much support he has here, he points out to some banners in the crowd. She asks what's key to be successful on this track. He's not willing to talk. He hums. He says he doesn't know, you need to attack and drive your heart out, "I guess". She pushes a bit more asking what they need to do to make it more comfortable for themselves and keep the Ferraris behind. He doesn't answer, he makes her turn around to show her something in the crowd. She says "it's a marriage proposal". Lewis exclaims "Yeah it's crazy!" Rachel says she thinks the fan wants an answer. Lewis says he didn't see that one. He gets back to topic. You need to look after your tyres and they need to try and do a better job than Ferrari. "Attack at the start and get away well?" – "That's always the plan, but it's gonna be hard as always, but I hope that it's the outcome that I hope for." 

There's a Red Bull segment, for some reason Keanu Reeves is interviewing them? I'm confused lol. 

Time for the race! 

Oh and it's not the usual broadcast on top of it? Oh no wait… it's not in English. Yeah. I don't know what language that is. Ffs. 

Okay I've found the race in English but I think this season is gonna be a struggle. 

So Lewis is on pole again. Nico is starting right beside him. Then it's Seb and Massa, Valtteri and Raikkonen, Daniel and Grosjean, Nasr and Ericsson, and this time we do have 20 cars on the grid, for the first time this season. 

It's very, very hot. Hotter than in the FPs and quali. So there's a bit of a question mark on the tyres. 

Oh there's Sewis drama. Ted says Lewis feels like Seb blocked him on his practice starts at some point earlier. He says Lewis got agitated because of that but he's now calm. 

Formation lap 

Everybody except Kvyat and Sainz are on softs. 

Lewis is pointing towards Nico a lot. Brundle finds that extreme. Crofty thinks it might serve right into Seb's hand. 

And they're racing! 

Lewis gets a good start and is indeed ahead of both Nico and Seb. Valtteri overtakes Massa, he's very close to Seb. Raikkonen overtakes Massa as well. He attacks Valtteri and he's ahead! Sainz spins on his own. No damage. Nico sets the fastest lap. And again. But he's still 1 second behind. Kvyat has been told to not fight Daniel as they are on different strategies but he doesn't let him through. Then he does and Daniel locks up, and that's Kvyat back ahead. He does end up in front but that took much longer than it should have. 

10 laps in. Verstappen overtakes Ericsson for P10 and almost crashes into him in the process in what is described as a "REALLY aggressive move". Yeah, jesus. We have an overview replay and Ericsson comes down the straight, ready to take the corner, and Max moves himself right on his path, between him and the apex. They really should have crashed and it's unbelievable they didn't. Ericsson had to slow down so much to avoid him he basically stopped on track. It's just always been his style, hasn't it? I'll put my car there and if you don't wanna crash into it then move. Anyway. P9 is Nasr, P8 is Maldonado, P7 Grosjean, P6 Valtteri, P5 Massa, P4 Raikkonen, P3 Seb, P2 Nico and Lewis is of course still in the lead. Hulkenberg just lost the gearbox and DNFs on the side of the track. Yellow flags. Nico is still only 1.2 behind Lewis, and Seb is only 3.6 seconds down on him which is impressive. We're in for a good fight this season, I like it. Also Raikkonen is only 1.4 behind his team-mate so it's not just Seb, Ferrari is indeed doing well. Maldonado pits. The problem is that the medium is really not performing great, and the Mercedes are already under pressure. These pit stops might get messy. Seb is called in, they're going for the undercut. Weirdly both Mercedes stay out even though the radio comm was very early. Seb is indeed in. They're giving him another set of softs. Bono tells Lewis the gap to Nico is 2.5 and asks him what he thinks about going for another set of soft tyres for a longer second stint. Lewis says these tyres are lasting well. And so he comes in and gets out on another set of softs. He's out in P3, at the moment, behind Nico and Raikkonen who haven't pitted yet. Nico is called in and they're putting him on softs as well. Raikkonen also comes in. Lewis is back in the lead, Nico is still P2 but it puts Seb definitely closer to him. Ooooh and there's Kvyat, out on the gravel, in a cloud of thick white smoke. His engine has blown off. Horner is seen on the pit wall shaking his head. That's not gonna help the whole RBR-Renault drama. Nico's engineer : "So Nico gap to Lewis in front 2.6." Nico talks over him : "OK Tony, need to reduce the communication, please, I can see Lewis, I know what I have to do for now." Mmh. He's not enjoying it. 

Lap 20. It's another Max overtake, on Nasr this time, also less risky. The garage, again, erupts in applause. Brundle says "we've got a mega star on our hands in the making here… Young Max Verstappen. They told us to look out for him and here he is." Indeed. LMAO wait. I can't believe what I've just heard. Nico : "Lewis is driving very slowly so get him to speed up." Uh my man. Your job is to overtake him or did you decide to play second fiddle all of a sudden? If you're unhappy with Lewis' pace, overtake him. What the absolute fuck. Brundle says he's suggesting Lewis is gonna back him into the Ferraris but again. If you're not happy with that, get in the lead. Ah, it's so stupid. A little bit later we hear his engineer say "Copy that" in answer to something we didn't hear and again Nico is talking over him : "If I go closer I destroy my tyres like in the first stint, that's the problem." Lewis is told to pick the pace up a little bit, 43.7, when he was doing 43.9. That made me forget completely to give you the standings so let's do it now. The top 4 is obvious. In fifth we have Massa, then Valtteri, Maldonado and Grosjean, Verstappen and Nasr. Sainz just lost his gearbox, that's another Redbull car out? No he's going again. Okay. Back to the situation at hand, Nico is 2 seconds behind Lewis and Seb 1.6 behind him, Raikkonen 3.4 further. Oh but wait. Nico loses 0.2, and Seb gains 0.1. Crofty says Lewis is backing off Nico into the Ferraris again but Brundle points out Lewis is doing the times he's been asked to do. A bit later Lewis is extending the gap again and we hear a message from earlier in which Bono sets him a minimum target of 43.3, "otherwise we may have to stop Nico first". Oh are we threatening now? I don't like this vibe. Remember Belgium 2014 and my endless rant about Lewis needing to feel like people have his back? That's the complete opposite of that. As Crofty and Brundle now discuss, they ARE indeed threatening him to give the preferential strategy and undercut to Nico. Absolutely fuck this shit. Seb is asked if he can go faster than this which is such a funny question. He says not much. He is gaining on Nico though. Nico is complaining of his front left. 

Lap 30. Lewis. Nico +2.9. Seb +2.1. Raikkonen +4.3. Is that far enough for Nico now? Ffs. It's pissing me off, this thing, I swear. Here we go again. Seb is told to push and box. They're trying the undercut again. Ted says they've put him on the mediums as they have to and that Bono has told Lewis he's doing well and to stick to the plan and it'll turn out good. It better. Nico is called in. Lewis sets the fastest lap. It's the same result as last time. Seb is still behind Nico but much closer and on hotter tyres. 1.6. Lewis is called in. Of course he's also out on the mediums and it's a very good 2.5 stop. He's still way ahead of Nico. Lewis complains that his seat is getting hot. 

It's lap 40.The commentators are again busy praising Verstappen. He is indeed obviously doing a good job. And he overtakes Perez for P8, Perez fights back but it's not enough. That's Nico 4.7 behind Lewis, Seb 8.1 behind him, and Raikkonen 2.7 behind him. Then it's still Massa, Valtteri, Grosjean as Maldonado has spun, Verstappen as we just said overtook Perez for P8, behind him is now Nasr though, as Perez gets overtaken again. Nothing much is happening at the front anymore but at the back Jenson and Maldonado just made contact. Light damage. They both keep going. 

It's lap 50, we're almost done. Rosberg is 5 seconds down on Lewis, the Ferraris have completely dropped the pace! Seb is 12 seconds behind Nico! Then it's still Raikkonen, Massa, Valtteri, Grosjean, Verstappen, Nasr and it's Daniel in P10. Maldonado retires. And that's Verstappen stopped in the pit straight. Engine blown up. That's your second Red Bull car out. Safety car. There's just a couple of laps to go so things are probably gonna end just like this then. Ted says the car is now "lightly on fire" which is a fun concept. The marshals are trying to push it away but it's not moving. Brundle is explaining where the clutch release is like they can hear him. Here they go, they found it, but then they smashed the front wing into the gate. And again. Lmao. It's a struggle. And again, and again. Last lap. The safety car is still out. Lewis asks if they're gonna end under safety car and Bono says affirm, it looks like it. The fans cheer on the marshals as they finally made it inside the pit lane. As the commentators remind us of the Michael Schumacher clause aka you can't immediately start overtaking once the safety car comes in, Bono confirms to Lewis there won't be any overtaking. 

And it's the end of the race! 

Lewis wins ahead of Nico and Seb.

Ted asks Niki if the team truly needed the 1-2 and he says he definitely needed it because he was a bit depressed. He laughs. Ted asks if he knows what was going on in the middle stint when Lewis wasn't fast enough. Was he protecting his tyres? Niki says he has to talk to him but he thinks he did a good job. He heard there was some discussion going on, he heard it, "but I have to find out first from him what the problem was if there was one."

He's not hiding his hair anymore.

The guy who conducts the interviews asks Lewis what happened during the second half of the race. Lewis first starts by congratulating the team on their great work, "smooth weekend", and says it was really just about controlling the gap to Nico and saving the tyres for when he needed them. He says he had loads left in his tyres at the end and was looking forward to using them but then the safety car came out. He thanks the fans for their support. The guy asks about the safety car. Lewis says the safety car wasn't helpful to anyone because it's anticlimactic "but you know naturally as long as no one was injured and all the cars go back safely that's all that matters." As soon as we move on to Nico, Lewis moves to Seb.

Then the last question to Lewis comes. I don't understand what he's being asked. The guy is rambling a lot. In the end he says it's better to be good than lucky but he is going to need luck. Lewis says of course. But the team as he said has done a great job. He says he's massively proud and happy they could get the job done. And that's it. 

On Wikipedia, it is said that Nico then accused Lewis of slowing down on purpose. Lewis said in answer to questions about the radio messages asking him to pick up the pace : "I wasn't controlling his (Nico's) race, I was controlling my own race." Nico then said "It's just now interesting to hear from you, Lewis, that you were just thinking about yourself with the pace in front and necessarily that was compromising my race." Niki backed Lewis up saying of course they're all selfish "what do you think these guys are here to do? I call them egocentric bastards. That is the only way to win and the only way to win the championship, they are all the same." 

Which. I mean. Nico. Just drive better and stfu, your team-mate isn't here to drive for you, except if there's more at stake for the team or he's out of the WDC running anyway. 

Ooooh I've found the press conference let's see.

So yeah Lewis starts by saying that. He's very serious. Very closed off. He's happy, they thought the race would be a lot closer. He says he was just looking after his own car and he had no real threat from Nico throughout the race. He says the funner laps were the ones before the pit stops. He says it was a much smoother weekend than the last race and it made a real difference to the balance of the car. He's really happy, he says.

The camera pans out and Nico looks like he's dead inside.

The journalist asks Nico to talk about his race, he started second and finished second but he sounded at times like he was under unnecessary pressure maybe? That's when Nico says it's interesting to hear what Lewis had to say. "Because driving slower than maybe necessary in the beginning of the stints meant that Sebastian was very close to me and that opened up the opportunity for Sebastian to try that early pit stop, to try and jump me." Lewis is just staring into the void.

"And then I had to cover him so erm… first of all I was unnecessarily close to Sebastian as a result and also it cost me a lot of race time as a result." Lewis is staring at the back of his head with a bastard smile.

Seb looks like me when my parents fight at the dinner table. "Because I had to cover him and then my tyres died at the end of the race cause my stint was just so much longer. So I'm unhappy about that, of course today and um other than that not much to say." The journalist asks Lewis if he'd like to respond. He chuckles silently.

"Not really." Then he chuckles for real. "My job is not to… to… it's not my job to look after Nico's race. My job's to (inhales) to manage the car and bring the car home (inaudible) at the end and as fast as possible. And that's what I did. I didn't do anything intentionally to… to slow any of the cars up, I just was focused on myself. If Nico wanted to get by he could've tried but… he didn't."

Okay so I think it's safe to say Lewis has the upper mental hand so far. Also Nico is really acting very entitled there so yeah. Pisses me off ngl. I wouldn't expect him to do that for Lewis if it was the other way around so. Yeah. Shut up and drive like Rihanna said. 

Once they get to Seb he has a stupid grin on his face like "... Yeah" you can tell that being in the midst of the domestic disputes is not comfortable lol. Anyway he says he wasn't worried about Raikkonen catching up to him at the end because he was in control. He says he thinks it's similar, him and Kimi, Nico and Lewis… he tried to be very aggressive and put pressure on Nico, which made the last stint very long so naturally in the end his tyres were gone. 

Let's see what the post race broadcasts had for us. 

Toto says a 1-2 is all they hoped for after a difficult race in Malaysia. Simon says even though Ferrari seemed to be able to match them on pace on the softs as soon as the medium went on they seemed to switch them on better than them. Toto said they were worried for a bit but they managed to go longer than them and Lewis did some impressive laps at the end of his stint. Their pace was good on both tyres and that's why they deserved to win. He does admit Ferrari developed impressively over winter and they have to take them seriously. 

They play for him Lewis' radio comm complaining about Seb's move from before the race. So here's what actually happened because LMAO Lewis what are you complaining about. The cars are lined up to leave the pitlane to get to the grid and Lewis decides to overtake them because why not I guess. So he pulls up to Seb's level, who just got the green light to go, and then complains that Seb's in his way like he didn't put himself right there. Actually Toto couldn't hear it because he doesn't have an earpiece so that's stupid. Simon sums it up for him : he said the Ferrari is dangerous and got in the way. Toto says everybody's tense before a race and Lewis judged it as dangerous. He shrugs. That's all. Then they show him the start, where Lewis was angled towards Nico on the grid. Hill adds that it's the most extreme such angle he's seen but it worked for him as he got a good start. They ask him if he has a problem with that. Toto says no, as long as the rules don't have a problem with that. He says he's not even sure he did it on purpose, they'd need to look at him getting to the grid. Hill says the second stint with Lewis backing up Nico must have been stressful for him, "certainly Nico was a bit concerned." Toto says of course that they race each other as well. In that situation he thinks Lewis needed to manage his tyres because they didn't know how long they needed to go and it became a problem for Nico and it was certainly not optimal for him but if you're the lead car you need to do what you need to do. So they'll analyse it. 

They're really LOVING Max, they're already calling him a future champion and it's his third race. You have to say it's clear he has the stuff when you look at it. 

Ted reports what happened between Nico and Lewis during the press conference. Apparently after what I already wrote down, Lewis said managing your tyres during a stint is like starting with 100£ and you need to get to 0 at the end and Seb laughed and joked asking if he still had a bit of money, and Nico, still fuming, said that he had a lot of money left at the end of the stint and that's the problem. Hill says Fangio famously said the goal is to win at the slowest possible speed. The others nod. He adds you should be proud of Lewis because he did exactly what he needed to, while Nico has shown twice his frustration this weekend by finding someone else to blame. Ted says he's with Lewis (he calls him Lewis) on this (and that's also what I said during the race) : if Rosberg (he calls him Rosberg) was so aggrieved why didn't he speed up? Although he then says Nico did say on radio that if he did he got in Lewis dirty air so that would have made him even more vulnerable by damaging his tyres. 

Lewis is being interviewed by Craig who asks what was the key to staying in control of the race. Lewis says it's bright so he's keeping his shades on. He says he got the balance absolutely perfect, he couldn't have changed anything to make it better. His engineers did a fantastic job, he's grateful. It was a much stronger race than the last. Lewis says the Ferraris were closer but not quite in firing range, the key here is to make the tyres last as long as you can to make the last stint as short as possible.

Of course Craig brings up the controversy. He asks where the balance lies between him securing the win and the team securing the 1-2. Lewis is still not convinced it was an issue. It gets spicy, I'll post the snippet because it's amazingly shady. "I'm not quite sure… I'm not really quite sure how I compromised his– he was 4.4… 4.5… 5 seconds behind so he was never close. Therefore I was having no impact on his race whatsoever.”

“If he wanted to get closer and… and if he was right up my tail and then I was going the pace I was going, perhaps they could say something but I wasn't, I was just, I was on my own. If they wanted to pit him early they could have pit– or, or… Before me or after he– they could have easily done that because I had life left in my tyre to keep going." Craig asks if it surprised him he had the option to pit first. "Erm no. It wasn't a problem as I said because I had– (stutters a bit) I was really happy with what I did with my tyres I was ready to go when I– you know you always try and keep a little bit in your pocket so you can keep pushing and I said I was supposed to go to the lap 11 and I think I went to 15 or 14 or s– no I was supposed to go to lap 12 or something like that but I went to 14 in the first and then eked out more in the second so uh… Ultimately there should be no problem in the team we got a 1-2 so… I'm actually really excited to see what the interview– meeting will be like when we go back.” (He grins and looks over his shoulder where Nico, in the background, looking the other way, is also giving an interview. Then he pauses and smiles)

“Cause uh… (He turns around and look straight at Nico’s back then turns back, tilts his head to the side with the grinnest of grins.)

“He's pretty uh…" He chuckles. Craig says he's a competitor, he's probably upset, he wanted to win because he didn't have the start that he did or even Sebastian did. Lewis gets serious again. "No, no, of course. I mean I'm not– that's not my, what I'm– we're both competitors, both fierce competitors, but ultimately today and this weekend we had a fair shot at getting the win, you know? And uh we did ev– we both did everything we could to bring the car back as fast as possible so… I don't think either of us are at fault." He has a hint of a smile again.

The journalists are SIPPING THE TEA. They're loving every drop of it. And they're fully defending Lewis, because it's not his responsibility to take care of Nico. 

Let's hear from Nico then. (Spoiler : 🙂) 

Craig : "I know you're frustrated Nico, did you feel your race was compromised with the way Lewis drove in that second stint in particular?" 

Nico : "No I didn't FEEL, it's a fact that my race was compromised and this is a scenario we went through in details before the race that uh for the individual in front to make sure that you know, for his, his, himself, best possible race you back that guy who's in second into uh Sebastian Vettel. That was the best race for the guy in the front but not good for the team (bro you have a 1-2 the team literally can't ask for better than that) because it puts the guy in second into an unnecessary risky position uhm… Did Lewis do it on purpose or not I don't know. I can't answer that. He said in the press conference that he was just thinking about himself, that's an interesting indication, interesting statement. Uh… That's it and yeah of course I'm frustrated as a result because my race was compromised and in the end my stint was too long in the last one you know cause I had to cover Sebastian cause he tried to attack me with an early pit stop and so my tyres just died in the end of the race."

Craig is very brave and asks "is it not up to you though to go faster?" saying Lewis said he didn't take him on. Nico says the problem is they have the same car, as soon as he tries to take him on, he'll make sure he has a gap to him on the long straight so he can't get by. (My god, my god, listen, Lewis had his moments of bad faith but like. Did Lewis not overtake him plenty of times in the same car last year? And now Nico says he can't do it because they're in the same car? Shit excuse. IT’S MOTOR RACING ffs) And after 1-2 laps his tyres will be badly damaged, which is exactly what Seb was saying in the press conference when he said he was trying to overtake him because he was quicker but he couldn't get in the DRS zone and all he did was destroy his tyres. He says he learnt that in the first stint trying to stay really close to Lewis. It doesn't work. 

Craig says Nico is suggesting this is a strategy in the championship battle between the two of them. Nico reacts but Craig is not done. Won't Lewis be happy to see his reaction, him being upset about what he did? Nico says he didn't suggest that, he's just stating facts, "it's impossible to know from the outside what went on." He hums. "Other facts are that of course once we pitted his pace was a lot quicker or looking a lot stronger overall, you know, so that's another fact which suggests that it would have been good for the team if he would have sped up earlier on a little bit more." 

Last question, when will they discuss it, does it need to be sorted out? "It needs to be discussed of course, yes, we will do it now."

Somehow they decided to interview Lewis AGAIN. But Lewis is taking a photo with a baby (look at her saying bye 🥺)

and then signing something for a fan. They walk followed by a few of them as they talk. Brundle asks him if he thinks it might be a bit tense in Mercedes' hospitality. He says "uh I don't… I don't think so…" with the high pitched voice he uses when he knows he's in delicate territory. "I don't know why." Still high pitched. "We won! And we came one and two so…" Brundle says it was a walk in the park for him really. "I was enjoying myself," he says. They exchange a knowing look. They had a very good setup "so today was just… so fine in the way you drive," he mimics it with his hands.

"It was just kind of… It's funny cause my driver that's driving me this weekend, a Mercedes driver, he drives like this." He pretends he's steering a wheel by holding it between his thumbs and index fingers. “With two fingers on the steering wheel," he laughs. Brundle asks if he tried that today. "I tried the same!"

Brundle says he came past them this morning at a million miles an hour coming to the track. He says he was holding on for dear life in the car. He laughs. But then he stops joking. Today was about being smooth and not sliding and not killing the front tyres. Brundle asks if he meant to have such an angle on the starting line. Lewis says he didn't. He meant to point a little bit but he found himself facing the wall and was worried about it but it's not like you can reverse and park again. But ultimately it didn't get in the way of his start. Brundle sums up the whole issue at hand : Nico says he could have been jumped by the Ferraris with the undercut but Lewis' opinion is that's Nico's problem and not his, his problem being his own race. "Uh I think so yeah… and erm… at the end of the day he didn't so…" He shrugs.

Then they ask Toto AGAIN. Really quick : did Lewis do anything wrong? Toto says you need to be careful pointing fingers half an hour after the race. It was a difficult situation because he did have to manage the tyres and it did put Nico in trouble. They need to look at whether the race result for the team was ever at risk, what was the radio comm always proper and followed, and they need to do it carefully, internally, and make sure it's not escalating. Craig asks if Lewis' pace after Nico pitted doesn't answer that question about the race result, the answer being no. Toto says it needs to be analysed with all the data but the cars had the pace, Lewis had the pace, he was the quickest out there and made the tyres last longer so he thinks the order is right. Oooh Craig asks if Lewis' first responsibility was to win the race or to guarantee Mercedes a 1-2. Toto says the second one, because there's 1500 people working for that result, and equally he's a racing driver and he needs to look after himself and you need to balance it out all the time. "You can drive your race and you can race your team-mate hard, but never bringing it to a point where you risk the team result." Craig asks if Nico is just hurting because he hasn't had the same start Lewis and Seb have had this season. Can't Lewis be happy to see Nico angry with the result? "This is a rivalry and it was always a rivalry and it's gonna be very intense in the future. I think you need to expect these kinds of discussions and controversies, it needs to be contained and managed well without an escalation. Sometimes escalation helps and you can stop it then, but today I don't think there wasn't many reasons to say that mistakes were done."

[m39]

Doom WADs’ Roulette (2005): Congestion 1024

As of writing these words, I’m done with my indefinite hiatus. After playing the rest of the WADs spoiler-tagged by Dean of Doom, checking out the ones that might mind-fuck your brain, and watching some stuff not related to Doom, I am confident to come back and take care of the rest of the WADs from the 2005 roster. And considering what WAD I’m about to review, it will probably help me even further.

G6: Congestion 1024

Main author(s): Various (project kickstarted by Rachel Schmitz (Negatronica) and led by Thomas Lutrov (Lutrov71))

Release date: November 25th, 2005 (original release)/ December 2nd, 2005 (database upload)

Version played: ???

Required port compatibility: Boom (the text file recommends ZDoom and PRBoom)

Levels: 32 (standard 30 + 2)

Congestion 1024 is the second WAD on this shitshow that has restricted rules after 10 Sectors; this time making the playable parts of a map no larger than the size 1024*1024 (going larger when it comes to backgrounds was fine). It was inspired by Exquisite Corpse, a map with a similar gimmick but instead of one big map stitched together with twelve smaller maps, this WAD is basically structured like a regular MegaWAD.

Now the maps with 1024^2 size tend to be small (supposedly smaller than Dead Simple), so we will see what the mappers have to offer when it comes to the limited size.

The restriction definitely didn’t tarnish how the maps look. While most of the time the maps look just fine, some of them look incredible like Garden of the Descent and A Jagged Stroll, both maps taking place in a canyon-like area. There is also Nullspace Junior, a condensed version of the original map, and yes, it was created by the same person. There might be other maps with stunning visuals but these three are the ones that I can think of the most.

Without counting MIDIs from other WADs, rendition of songs/music tracks from other games, and Bantam (which has an unchanged track), the soundtrack was created by Rachel Schmitz, who we met earlier due to her Happy Time Circus map (she was also a founder of the WAD project). These tracks were good to listen to. Other tracks were (almost all the time) also good.

What’s funny is that this version of Death Bells (played in A Bridge Too Far), is the same, scuffed one from Alien Vendetta, missing bell noises. I don’t know if the track broke while this map was created, or was it from some rare version of Final Doom that I don’t know about.

I don’t really think this MegaWAD is convoluted (asides from Bantam during my first playthrough). Despite being small, these maps have something to offer to differentiate themselves from each other.

While you will encounter maps that are nothing more but a bunch of squares and rectangles squished together to fit the restriction, some maps like Claustrophobic Sting try to make something more uniquely shaped rather than introducing another squared arena/arenas.

House of Shadows is probably the worst example of squishing as many tight corridors as possible. Not to mention shitty chess stairs.

I guess some individuals still thought that such a thing was a good idea back in 2005.

There are three instances where you end up forced to Pistol-start the next map. The exits where you die happen in Gothika 1024, the previously mentioned Claustrophobic Sting, and Magus.

Caco District has a fun moment where some of the buildings in the background start to go down as you progress, implicating that these are crumbling down due to demons destroying them.

There is also another Dead Simple copy with barely any changes. And yes, this WAD does end up on another shitty Icon of Sin map. And this time you are forced to wait God knows how long before finally being able to press the switch that will end the last map.

Speaking of waiting, some of the maps think that stagnating the progress by shoving really long platforms to lower is a good idea. Well, here’s a spoiler for you: it’s not. It makes playing the map boring; not as much when fighting monsters but when there is nothing else to do... well, bring some snacks, pal. You are going to wait for a few moments.

Congestion 1024 is rather challenging, especially its last third; although I question the fairness of the difficulty since there are maps that tend to forget their sizes and shove as many monsters as possible to these already cramped maps, with the previously mentioned Magus being the worst case of being too cramped with monsters.

This WAD project isn’t really that buggy from what I’ve encountered, but there are at least a couple of these described on Doomwiki if you are interested in reading that. The worst case I encountered is definitely with Close Quarters, to the point of not being able to finish this map properly unless you noclip through a door that acts like an invisible wall for some reason. How did this was even greenlit to this project, is a complete enigma to me.

Congestion 1024 is a fine WAD, I guess. I would say that it’s good at best. Some of the maps are great, some are the opposite of great, and most of the time it was... eh.

Honestly, if I could choose between this WAD and 10 Sectors, I would still prefer Congestion 1024 because while it has bad maps, none of these come close to the awfulness of 10 Sectors’ MAP21.

Thankfully (for me), this is the last megaWAD with over 30 maps from the 2005 roster. The next one has seven of these, so hopefully I won’t spend that much time finding secrets for the second playthrough for the lack of better words.

I’ll see you then.

Bye!

[mania-sama]

so, i’ve been reading a GOD awful lot of fanfic recently after going through a relatively dry spell where i was reading real books for a change

i am really only reading like, one pairing right now (curse you iwaoi), and i have purposefully only tried to read the fics i know i will like. because i don’t want to read something that will put me into a slump, you know. what i’ve read is good, generally speaking. for example, i really, really liked the courtship ritual of the hercules beetle. i reflect on that fic and thing: “wow, that was really, really amazing with interesting characterizations, good humor/comedy, and so many insect facts that it balanced out the romance.” and, upon reflecting of how much i think it’s amazing, i’m left thinking: why isn’t it one of my favorites?

well, here’s where i come to my conclusion: i love reading ship fics when i get into a mood of them. but, on the same token, i am not someone who actually likes reading pure romance. this is why i tend to read getting together fics more than i like fics that already have a pre-established relationship. i just don’t care as much when the characters are actually, fully romantically involved. also, too much romance just isn’t my thing. so, then, following this rule, still why isn’t the courtship of the hercules beetle one of my favorites?

and here is my second conclusion: the stakes aren’t high enough. wow. shocker. if someone took a look down all my published fics, they would give me a dead-eyed look and say “seriously, are you just now coming to this realization?” anyway, this is to say, i like romance when it’s there. but i need it with someone else. and that something else should include either (preferably both): a character’s physical well-being in immediate peril, or a chatacter’s mental well-being in immediate peril. that is the higher stakes, the dramatics of it all.

because it really isn’t enough to have a character crying because their best friend won’t love them back. i need them fraying at the edges because their life is falling apart in a million ways. i need them in a coma from a literal, medical heart attack. this is why i think i have when i awake as one of my favorite fanfics versus the courtship of the hercules beetle. because while the latter is so overwhelming with beetle facts in improper places that i love it and think about it all the damn time, the former has a character that could die at literally any second, his entire corporeal form vanishing and leaving the other without a clue as to what happened.

yes. i love me some of the proper dramatics. the life and death of it all. give it to me NOW rachel

(and you may be thinking, what about those fics like in another life or the galaxy is endless (i thought we were, too). truth is, i have my own individual gripe with the galaxy is endless, and as for in another life… i don’t know. i actually really love bokuaka, but i was not attached to them in the fic. and in both, i was never stressed out enough. i knew they were going to die. with when i awake (a bungou stray dogs fic, btw) , the stakes are always there. an omnipresent force. i knew the ending of the galaxy is endless and in another life, so i guess i didn’t care as much.)

[5-7-9]

Oh yeah i finally remembered what Harves plots were in S3 or the sequel of my reclamation AU.

Near the beginning, Harves finally gets released. Bruce was there being all supportive for their rekindling friendship, and the instant they’re out Harvey hugs him! Physical affection is drained out from Arkham so i felt like he needed it 🤔 So Harvey goes out to- honestly idk because being a lawyer was a huge thingy but now idk if he can anymore, i’ll figure it out later tho 🤷 So Twotwo is setting up his thingy within the fashion club which includes Jack’s friends so there’s some interactions going on there. Actually that’s close by and sometimes overlapping with the art friend group, which Gilda is a part of. (Yes, I’m setting up a slow burn married twice again type of vibe, i’ve heard of that stuff happening and think it would be neat). (Speaking of which, i totally forgot but S2 also has Gilda and Bruce working together is convince Harvey to redeem himself. Bruce and Harvey’s friendship happens before that scene as a set up for that scene). Harves becomes a support character again but towards more than just Batman or Gordon but also towards Jack’s side with the activists club maybe. Harvey still has connections with the ADA (maybe DA?) Rachel, Renee, and all mafia stuff and other important city people to know. I can’t really imagine Harves doing vigilantism but idk how to describe- oh i guess he’s kinda like an anti-villain.

So Harvey gets framed, i didn’t think of a copycat but the comics canon did, so it’s in my story too. Harves is understandably freaking out and being worried while Bruce is just, “It wasn’t you, I know it.” Bruce already has lawyers and is finding evidence against him, he’s just making sure Harvey knows he knows, also to see how he’s doing. Twotwo goes over to catch the guy, while his public reputation is getting lots of mixed reactions. (Speaking of which, Harvey Dent’s reputation has always been mixed, about half of the city likes him, and the other half doesn’t. In any case, he’s sorta famous in Gotham so there’s always going to be at least someone who either wants him dead or helps him. I don’t believe Harves deserves the “society hates him” villainized treatment like every other Gotham villain got, considering he actually made positive contributions).

Fun stuff is Twotwo and Gilda getting to know each other (Harvey doesn’t share the same feelings or memories of Gilda with Twotwo). How often do you wonder fashion and sculpting can overlap? 🤔 I don’t think they’d date, but Twotwo would be fine with Harvey dating Gilda again. I have no clue if I should have Twotwo date anyone, so that’s gonna be left ambiguously 🤷 I will have Harvey+Twotwo & Bruce friendship moments happen! Harves has secondary (hah) “friend support” role in the narrative, ignoring the whole “ex ally betrayed turned enemy" role.

[theinsanecrayonbox]

Xmen Unlimited Infinity Comics #62-#67 “A World Without X” (aka Age of Apocalypse island of stupid edition)

heyhey, look who found a way to finally read this! so when this was announced, i was intrigued; AoA is my favorite Xmen story/setting, and to be fair the House of Stupid 90s edition wasn’t *that* terrible and it was fun to see how they could creatively mimic the island of stupid using only the 90s animated stock. so can the same be said for AoA?

this is long because i’m covering the whole story, so lets save some dash space with a cut huh

#62

so...Chuckie boy is annoyed that he’s over worked...or that no one cares about him/are too busy to care about him...idk, i have no sympathy for him to start with so i probably am missing the point. Logan tells him to suck it up while beating him up in a sparring match, so that’s nice. then him and Rachel are on the Astral Plane building something?? (why is the Astral PLANE now a physical dimension??) and Nightmare shows up to throw Chuck into AoA. 

so ok, this isn’t “what if Xavier had been killed off and Apocalypse rose to power” but “What a Wonderful Life”. i guess that can work, plus this is a short format so yeah that’s fine.

#63

Sinister just had Xavier clones...mk, and is surprised that this one’s awake because that’s the body Nightmare shoved Chuck into. ok, cool, that works. this Sinister is the more jokey one of the island though and not the AoA one, but alright... Chuck tries to call for Logan but...

uh yeah...Laura wasn’t in AoA. “but KP she didn’t exist when AoA came out so of course blahblahblah” haha i know that, but in the 2000s after she was created, there was an X-23 counterpart introduced in the anniversary stories, and she was not Laura. again, again, semantics i know, but like i said i like AoA. and again, this is the island of stupid doing AoA so they’ll use what pieces they have. plus...

i like how she looks very much like Kyle here

Havok shows up...i could’ve sworn Cannonball was on Gen-Next but maybe i’m misremembering (that was my least favorite part of the story after all)

yay Kyle!

even more yay at this panel!! Kyle, Laura, AND Victor! this was made for me ^^

hurray! it’s the correct AoA and not the terrible Battleworld one! this has just gotten SUPER good ^^

#64

i was going to make a joke about him eyeballing due to you not wearing a shirt, but then the rest of this dialog just slammed me in the feels. it’s official, i love this. also adorable to watch Kyle and Laura go play in the yard.

ok, so our X-team here is Rogue, iceman, and Sunspot as usual, so that’s good. Cypher and Proteus i can give them, because they’re island folks. idk who Tempus is, i thought that was Moira but...

Moira is Magneto???

so the explanation is a little weird but it works well enough i guess; plus it gives the baby Charles vibe without having it be Magneto and Rogue’s kid. anyways, Tempus is part of the Five i guess? and i just now realize that Chuck is Bishop in this, the guy that knows  the timeline is wrong and how to fix it. the good guys are then like “cool lets do the island of stupid here to fix everything” however...

Sinister says the same to Apocalypse with the added caveat of “hey let’s make a clone army to invade the multiverse”.

so the good guys are going to raid the pens for the missing Five members, the bad guys are planning to capture their members...

you are leaving Victor and Kyle out of this assault??? (Laura is on the Next panel and got cut off whoops). boo on you. you just lost your SUPER status. also where’s Blink???

#65

so fight time. Darkchylde (who i don’t believe was in the original, but island so hey) summons magic zombies of dead Xmen? fight time. Xavier waxing about being a teacher and how his Xmen are so much better because he taught them. blahblahblah

oh Victor and Kyle are here. good. the Pack is sticking together i guess

Moira gets a good line about not focusing on fixing the past or over thinking the future, just living in the now. so that’s a nice contrast to her murderbot normal self. i say they AoAed her well then.

Laura and Kyle take on Scott! yay!

lookit Victor being so proud of his pups with very fitting caption boxes across TWO panels! (have i finally found the person at marvel who follows me???)

so Chuck decides to take the fight to Apocalypse...and by fight i mean kaiju fight as they super-grow Krakoa into a big boy.

#66

kaiju smash! lol. has Holocaust been Nemesis for a while? or was that just changed for this? i’m not sure if that feels correct or not...

Chuck melts Sinister’s brain after Sinister beats him up. Apocalypse says he’s too smart for that...so Chuck manifests his wife and...blah. why is Genesis such a huge deal? if it was this easy to defeat Apocalypse all these decades, just gotta talk about his wife, why has he been so hard to stop. i know the answer is “magic of retcons” but still.

Chuck complains how mind wiping is totally a bad thing to do...despite the fact that he does that on the regular...the day is saved? Chuck seems to die (in a cliché La Pieta pose), so...happy ending?

#67

ah boo, there’s more. so Nightmare goes “haha that was round one of torture, lookit how evil and cool i am” and Chuck is all “nuuh looser i’m winning”

ok, i’ll give you that part of his argument, even though Moira seemed to have more lines, Victor kinda had more of the emotion even if it wasn’t the focus.

so blahblahblah, Nightmare trips an alarm and all the Grey-Summers ladies come in to save Chuck. Chuck talks about how the Xmen are an idea and will never die, because hope eternal even if he’s not there, blahblahblah.

so Logan takes him hot tubbing to unwind. ok...didn’t see this turning into a gay porno...

is that a nod to the AoA-esque 90s episode “One Man’s Worth”? because Logan was a main character of that

oh, oh great, he’s gonna try to invade other realities and convert them to his hivemind of terribleness. that, that’s just brilliant -.-

so we jump back to the AoA, which i guess is real and not just a vision created by Nightmare, cause their gang sets up an island seed? and is all “welp let’s wait for the real world to find us”. and Victor still refuses to wear a shirt XD

SO how did this stack up overall? you know, actually pretty good. it’s a super short read, and it’s own little pocket world, so it doesn’t affect anything in the grand scheme. it’s the stock Wonderful Life plot, and if it wasn’t done to rise up a character who’s so terrible, it’d’ve hit all the correct notes i’m sure. but it hit enough of the good ones. and it did a good job mimicking it’s inspiration using different pieces. if this story makes it to print like some of the other Xmen Unlimited ones have, i’d be willing to grab it. the art was good (turns out it was the same art team as the House of Stupid 90s edition, which i also really enjoyed the art on too), the writing was good. a very nice and quick one and done.

[abookclubofonesown]

the cloisters | katy hays | 2022

ann stilwell arrives in NYC for her summer associate internship at the Met only to find out that her supervisor has been whisked away and she is transferred to the Cloisters - an extension of the Met filled with Medieval and Early Renaissance works along with the eponymous gardens full of poisonous herbs. there she works with patrick and rachel on their research in Early Renaissance divination practices and the origins of tarot, ostensibly for a future exhibit, but we find out that the interest borders on obsession. 

---------------------------*spoilers ahead*--------------------------------

this one was tough. i didn’t technically finish it. i got to the halfway point and was like alright lets get this show on the road. there were a multitude of reasons why i didn’t finish this book: 

1) the characters were not at all likable or sympathetic. and the ones that were were treated with scorn basically. like i get it - not every character needs to be likable or like a Good Person ™. but i do need to feel for them in a way that keeps me engaged in the book, and these ones did not. 

2) a lot of the characters reminded me of the people i dreaded interacting with in college. i have bachelor’s in classics and a masters in art history so i’ve been around this cast of characters in many different iterations. i actually have applied to the summer associate internship that ann is in (i was not offered a spot lol). i’ve been the ann from some rinky dink small private school in the middle of nowhere who’s in the big city just trying to get their foot in the door. i was put in the worst mood after reading like fourteen pages of this because i’ve been there and i didn’t like it. but i really did want to give it a chance and see if it got any better (narrator: it did not). 

i did like the bits where they were actually at the cloisters and like being employees there - particularly one scene where ann is being shown around the gardens by leo the gardener and they were being a little flirty. but then it gets ruined by this rachel character who i really didn’t like. i know this girl and if i were in ann’s shoes, i would have smiled and nodded just to placate her. i probably would have been as thrown off by her as ann was, but i wouldn’t think it Hot or whatever ann thought. apparently rachel and leo were a thing of some kind and there’s this weird tangled web of relationships between everybody in this book - which i think can work, like in most books, but it added weird tension when the book and ann were already just so tense all the time. 

3) the mystery. i made it halfway through this book and we hadn’t made it past like the preliminary clues of the whole shebang. everything just felt like it was dragged out for so long. people would always been keeping pieces of info from one another without like earning the secrecy. idk. 

i stopped actively reading this half way through and i had been skimming pretty heavily starting about a third of the way through. it was a lot of rehashing the same points of trauma or just saying the same things again and again or giving more descriptions of idle actions than i really cared for. then i skipped to the last three chapters which revealed all i had wanted to know. the book starts of with ann talking about a dead body so i wanted to know who died and that was really it. my three guesses were leo, patrick, or rachel. two out of three are dead by the end (patrick and rachel) and only one explicitly by murder (patrick). and then you’re thrown the curveball that rachel knew and arranged the guy that ann was originally supposed to work with’s excursion to bergamo, leaving ann to be transferred to the cloisters, and i just rolled my eyes because like of course. of course it wasn’t really a chance meeting and of course it was the woman that had told ann throughout that she didn’t really believe or want divination to be real. 

there were multiple scenes of people getting their cards read and i think it would have been way cooler if they put illustrations of the card spread in the prose. there’s the index in the back that lists the cards and all that, but i think that visual component would have served the book well, especially since it’s such an art history heavy plot. 

i wanted to like this book because i loved my visit to the cloisters and i do like tarot, but the characters and the pacing killed my enthusiasm real quick. 

tl;dr: murder at the museum was foretold in the cards

[malfoys-demigod]

The One Where Chandler Takes You In

Chandler x F!Reader

Summary: Chandler lets you sleep in his and Joey's apartment after you had to evacuate yours. Chandler's genuine and over-the-top kindness results in confessing his feelings for you.

Word Count: 1.9k

A/N: My first Friends fic and it's on Chandler! I hope you like it!

Tag: @bellarkeselection

There was a knock on the door.

“That must be Y/N.” Ross suggested, noticing the clock. So there were times when you’d be late for anything, such as Monica’s daily dinner. But to be two hours late? That was something new.

Monica stood up from her chair from the dining table and walked over to the door saying, “It’s about time you showed up-“

As the door opened, she was met with a messed-up version of yourself, with wet hair, wet clothes, tired eyes, and a self-depreciating smile on your face.

“Hi, everyone.” You greeted the gang, who looked at you with worry.

“Oh my gosh, Y/N, what happened? Are you alright?” Monica gasped, wondering why you were all so relaxed despite looking the opposite.

You laughed at yourself as you entered the apartment, taking the empty seat beside Chandler, “As of tonight, I’m officially homeless! The entire apartment floor happened to have some caught fire. I wasn’t really aware of this until there was water sprinkling over me like crazy from the ceiling. There wasn’t any fire from my end but their sprinklers must’ve been jammed and continued pouring on my room until, well, everything started messing up my place. Hard-headed me didn’t leave the apartment without a few boxes of clothing and other necessary items so yeah, that’s why I look like I showered with my clothes on.”

“That’s terrible, Y/N!” Rachel said in despair, “Where are all your boxes then?”

You gestured to the outside of the apartment with your finger, “Just outside in the hall.” You said in a cool tone.

“How are you so calm about this? You literally have nowhere to go now!” Monica commented, wondering.

“The apartment company made arrangements for us apparently. I just have to call this number,” you said, withdrawing a piece of paper from your jacket and showing it to the gang, “And have them confirm where I’m staying for awhile.”

“Well why don’t you call them now?” Phoebe asked.

You shrugged, listening to her question. You stood up from the dining chair and headed over to the balcony, attempting to call the number.

After a few tries, nobody picked up. You weren’t having this. You turned around and went back inside, now irritated.

“Nobody picked up,” you announced, frowning.

Chandler, who wanted to be the first one with the proposition, proposed, “How about you stay with me, Y/N?” Then stuttered, “I mean with me and Joey? You know, we could take you in for as long as you want, you could take my bed and I could take the couch and it’ll be fine!”

There was a smile that grew on your face, heart melted from the kind gesture of your friend. You placed your hands on your heart, “Aw, Chan, sure, thanks. But I can’t let you take the couch.”

“Why don’t the two of you share the bed then?” Joey whispered to Ross, who chuckled like a child, which Rachel and Monica heard the both of them, rolling their eyes. They all may or may not have thought that Chandler had a thing for you.

“Hey, whatever floats your boat, Y/N,” he agreed, “Do you need help with the boxes?”

“Sure,” you nodded.

—

“Alright, and we’re all set!” Joey said, finally placing the couch into a couch bed.

“Thanks, Joe,” you said, patting him on the shoulder.

You turned around to see Chandler staring at the two of you from the kitchen, to which he started moving away from and towards you since he felt like a creep from the back, “Uh, I guess that’s it for the night. There’s a lot of water in the fridge if you’re thirsty, and if you really need anything, don’t hesitate to knock on my door, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks too, Chandler.”

Joey yawned as he stretched, looking a little tired now. “Well, I’m gonna head to bed. Night, Y/N.”

“Night, Joe!” You waved as he retreated to his bedroom.

Chandler gave you a small and shy wave, “I’ll get going too, see you, Y/N.”

“Sweet dreams, Chandler,” you said, smiling at him. He smiled, turned around, and headed to his room.

When everyone was gone, you tucked yourself into bed and closed your eyes shut with a smile, knowing that you’re being taken care of by your two good friends.

Sometime at 3am, Chandler woke up. He was quite thirsty, which was odd since it was in the middle of the night. He needed to satisfy his body, so he got out of bed and slowly made his way out of his room without making any sound.

As he made baby steps from his bedroom, his eyes darted to the couch-bed. Somehow, he wasn’t in the mood for water anymore. He was curious to check up on you.

He made his way over to you and found you looking like a sleeping beauty. You were dead asleep, but looking so graceful and at peace.

But he knew you could be feeling more comfortable if there was an upgrade to your sleeping situation. He did something he never thought of doing EVER.

He scooped you up from the couch-bed smoothly and made his way to his room. Like the gentleman he was, he placed you on the other side of his bed with ease, placing his blanket over you.

That should do it.

Then he made his way to his side of the bed and closed his eyes. He was at peace. Or at least thought he was.

Five minutes later, he felt your body near his. You were subconsciously snuggling with him, making him feel so flustered about him yet he felt happier.

“Sweet dreams, Y/N.” He murmured to himself, then closed his eyes.

—

Joey woke up to an empty couch-bed as he made his way to get a glass of milk from the fridge. Hm. That was weird. You weren’t the type to wake up early and leave. Well, why would you leave? Your stuff was here. Well, you could be at Monica’s for breakfast but again, it was too early.

An idea popped up in his head. He smiled at himself, hoping he was right. He tip-toed over to Chandler’s door, opening the knob slowly and pushing the door quietly to see you and Chandler, in the same bed together.

He noticed how your arm was spooning over his waist, as his hand was over yours. The both of you look so at peace and so comfortable that Joey wanted to take a picture of you two.

He couldn’t contain himself. Oh man, he had to tell the rest of the gang.

He slowly closed the door and rushed to Monica’s.

—

“YOU WOULD NOT GUESS WHAT GLORIOUS THING HAPPENED OVER AT MY PLACE!” Joey announced himself in a loud tone.

Phoebe, Ross, Monica, and Rachel looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Phoebe guessed, “You had sex with a girl!”

Joey pointed at her, “Good guess, but no!”

“Well, spit it out, Joey!” Monica demanded, now curious since it wasn’t that.

Joey sat in the dining chair with excitement over his jazz hands, “Okay,” he started, “Y/N started her night with sleeping on the couch-bed, right? Then when I woke up, she wasn’t there. So I checked over at Chandler’s room and SHE WAS SPOONING HIM! Oh man, they just looked so cute together, you know, especially with how Chandler likes her, and even his hand was over hers!”

Around the dining table, everyone’s faces became in awe, as they were surprised it finally happened - something between you and Chandler. Rachel’s opened mouth turned into a proud smile, clapping her hands together with joy, “Well that’s just great! I’m so glad something finally happened. Would you know if she went over to him or if he brought her over to his bed?”

Shrugging, Joey shook his head with no answer, “Nah, but I bet he made the first move. I can tell.”

“Well, are they still asleep?” Ross asked

“They should be awake in a few minutes probably,” Joey replied.

—

Over at Chandler and Joey’s apartment, you and Chandler had just woken up at the same time.

As your eyes started to open, you noticed that your surroundings seemed different. You sat up, quickly turning to the side to see Chandler flashing a small, awkward smile at you.

“Oh, Chan,” you said, as your heart was racing, “Did I sleepwalk or something over to your bedroom?”

Chandler sat up properly now, stroking his hair with a small laugh released from his system, “Uh, no,” he replied, “As a matter of fact I carried you to my bed last night since I figured you’d feel more comfortable here. I hope that was alright.”

“Oh, yeah,” you blushed, appreciating his gesture, “It was comfortable, thank you.”

“Of course,” Chandler replied, smiling.

You then looked away casually, not knowing where this conversation could now lead since there was a potential of it becoming dry sooner or later. There was one thing that you wanted to ask though, now that Chandler had done something out of the ordinary for you.

You looked back at him, feeling a bit stunned since he was staring at you this entire time. He then jittered and started murmuring things that you interrupted by shooting the question, “Chan?”

“Yes, Y/N?” He instantly replied, feeling saved from embarrassing himself even more.

Gulping since this may or may not have been an out-of-the-blue question, “I’m just curious but why would you do this for me?”

“Carrying you over to my bed?” He bluntly asked, raising his eyebrow. You shook your head, “No, I mean yes, but everything on top of that, you know - taking me in. I mean, I know Joey wouldn’t carry me over to his bed or quickly be willing to take me in. Either of the girls would’ve done that but you stepped in so genuinely. How come?”

Chandler looked down, feeling guilty but embarrassed at the same time. He started scratching the back of his head, knowing that it had to come out sooner or later.

“I guess it’s because I-I like you, Y/N,” he confessed, looking up to see your reaction with a hint of fear and anticipation in his face, “And you don’t have to reciprocate if you don’t feel the same way but I’d kinda do anything for you whether you like me back or not.”

You were internally gushing so hard that your heart started beating even faster, seeing how Chandler was basically giving you heart eyes right about now. You placed a hand over his shoulder, and another over your chest with a fluttering feeling, “Oh, Chandler, believe it or not, but I like you too actually,” you confessed back with a blush on your cheeks.

There was a wave of relief and happiness that came from Chandler’s body, as he exhaled with pure joy, “Oh boy, really?” He asked, laughing.

“Yeah,” you nodded, “I was probably just better at hiding it, but yeah, I like you Chan. I wished I started the night last night in bed already with you,” you teased. He smirked, gaining confidence to kiss you on the cheek as he said, “We can make up for that and stay in bed for as long as we want instead.”

“What about the gang?” You asked genuinely. He shook his head and threw a hand gesture saying, “Nah, I think Joey can take a hint and should be over there without us right now."

“Alright, I like the sound of that,” you said, laying your head back on the pillow, which Chandler imitated, as the two of you started getting cozied up again.

“As do I.”