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tsukiyadori · 7 months ago

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Reading (Watching) Log 2024.02-2024.03 - February-March

Previous: Reading Log 2023.12-2024.01 - December-January

Finding the good things be just like chasing after elusive bubbles and wondering how long they'll last

Reading languages: German, English, French, Japanese, not listing which was what

Titles are as I’ve read them either first or most and thus remember it for that title mostly

Not going to bother putting in the original titles of translated reads unless there is something worthy of note to it

Cursive titles have been completed

Tumblr's four thousand so and so max characters per block is annoying as hell

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FEBRUARY

JNC Nina licenses Unnamed Memory both in French in February and German in March. And so now I am reading it for a second and third time simultaneously and also got a subscription for it and then you gotta not waste the buffet, do you?

The reason I never subbed to the JNC English site was because I feared I'd never read my other backlog if I'd get roped into chasing expiry deadlines over all the time, so there was extra zeal on that too avoid the nightmare scenario.

And soooo the LN pile read off has had an increase not seen in years.

Light Novels:

Anime Supremacy

Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki LN 8.5-9

Hell Mode v1-2.7

I Met You After the End of the World v1-2

See You When the Snow Falls

Spice & Wolf v21

The Apothecary Diaries v1-2

The Eminence in Shadow v1

Unnamed Memory LN v1.p1

Manga:

100-nengo ni Tenseishita Watashi, Zense no Juukishi ni Kyuukonsaremashita: Heika wa Watashi ga Moto Oujo da to Okizukidenai you desu ch15.1-3

A Certain Scientific Accelerator v10-v12

A Certain Scientific Railgun v17-18

A Kingdom of Quartz ch1

A Side Character's Love Story ch35.2-50.1

After God ch53-54

Alabaster ch5.3-10.2

Ano Natsu ga Houwa suru. ch15-16.1

Beauty as the Beast ch36-49

Black Butler v31

Bloody Bites at Boarding School v1

Boku no Diamond Star final chapter

Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki Manga ch8-24.2

Buta no Liver wa Kanetsushiro ch33-34.4

Captain Ken ch1-7

Close to your Skin

Daijuukou to Unicornis no Otome ch14.1

Dance Dance Danseur v1-3 (JP v1-6)

Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu ch104

Der Geschmack nach Melone v1

Diamond in the Rough v1

Die Braut des Wasserdrachen v8-9 (out of order read)

Gebt mir mehr, bitte sehr v2

Geliebter Wetterfrosch v2ch6-11

Girl Crush ch62-63, ch81-82

Give Her Back to Me

Gleipnir v2-9, ch59-88

Haikyu v34-39

Harebare Biyori ch23.1

Hari to Hitsuji no Fune ch9.1-2

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Meguri ch19.1-2

I have a Crush at Work ch1

I'm cute enough to get away with it ch20

Iki Dekinai no wa Kimi no Sei: Super Pink

In the Sunset ch0-12

Isekai de Ane ni Namae wo Ubawaremashita ch17.2-4

Kakan no Oukoku no Hanagirai Hime ch10-11.2

Kijima-san & Yamada-san ch1-6

Knitter's High ch25-26.2

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata ch79

Kono Koi wo Hoshi ni wa Negawanai ch11.1-2

Lust auf ein Date? v9-10

Miryou no Otome to Katabutsu Hittou Majutsushi no Hatsukoi Kiroku ch18.2-4

Mr. Villain's Day Off ch54-64

My Awkward Senpai ch1-37

Okaeri Aureole

Okazari Ouhi ni Nattanode, Kossori Hataraki ni deru koto ni Shimashita ~Usagi ga Iru node Hitorine mo Sabishiku Arimasen!~ ch23.2-3

Oshi no Ko ch139

Our Dedication

Porno Superstar

Porträt eines Vampirs v2

Ran the Peerless Beauty v4

Reincarnated as the Daughter of the Legendary Hero and the Queen of Spirits ch19.4-58

Rental Girlfriend v19

Requiem Of The Rose King v9-10

Resist Destiny v3ch10-15

Ride-On King v3

Sakura, Saku v3ch11

Sasaki and Miyano v7

She is also cute today ch52-75

Shinde Miro to Iwareta no de Shinimashita. ch9-10

Shuumatsu Touring ch35

Sky Link v1

Snow Fairy v1

Snowball Earth v2-5

Solange wir zusammen sind v1

Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch64-66

Sooper Spooky ch1-4

Spice & Wolf - Die Abenteuer von Col und Miyuri v1-2

Suicide Notes Laid on the Table ch1-9

Sweet & Tart Boyfriend Ch39-53

Take Over Zone v1ch5

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten ch13.3-14.1

The Diamond of Heart v3ch11-15

The Heroic Legend of Arslan v12ch71-76

The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl ch16-38

The Killer Inside v1-6, ch53-97

The Villainess's Guide to (Not) Falling in Love ch12.2-15.1

To be Winner ch76-114

Together Forever ch36.2-42.2

Tomorrow, make me yours

Unnamed Memory Manga ch34.1

Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi ch35.1-36.1

Zombie 100 v10ch38

Webtoons:

Breed my Dear Enemy ch92-110

Can the Grand Duke and the Marquis be Friends? ch13-32

Flowers in the Secret Place ch1-52

Ice Lamp: The Chronicles of Kira ch8-41

Marry my Enemy ch8-60.5

SOS My Love has a Bug ch0-3

Spirit of Peach Blossom ch49-80

Taberare Usa ch88-92

The Giantess wants Love ch96-170

The Mermaid Wears a Dress ch38-60

The Villainess Behind the Mask ch1-53

To be or not to be ch12-36

Non-Fiction:

Some Greek mythology book (ISBN 9789463598965)

Notes:

Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki LN 8.5-9 Wow. Wow. So I thought volume 8 was kinda really not too great for me, but ultimately that (and v8.5) are built up to volume 9, and ho boy was this a surprise. It even starts right off with doing the right thing about dating - talking it out - then root issues and problems are being pointed out and then there is also still the Popol and the Fireling analogy going on. And Kikuchi's then even in world essentially totally realizing that she is effectively up against narrative fate. And then there is Hinami. And it's not like Tomozaki has a crush on her, like he does with Kikuchi. While he can perfectly be attracted to her, it's not like he has all the crushy feels he has for Kikuchi. But that bond is there. And it's so paramount, most important he's ready to let go from Kikuchi, when it looks like he can't have both without some sort of suffering happening somewhere. At this point I steadfastly declare this series as being pretty much queer. I thought this before already, that Tomozaki isn't really all that straight, like he is easily attracted to a lot of the girls, but also he's got the heart flutter moment with Misuzawa already and just generally looks up at him copying it. If this had wanted to take a BL turn, this wouldn't really have come out of nowhere either. While this potential route probably is not ever going to be explored, what he has there with Hinami just screams queerplatonic to me. They have all the issues of naming and describing it, the next best thing they can tangibly go for is, she is his mentor in the game of life. But there is definitely more going on from both sides, and at least for Tomozaki it's overly clear how huge her existence is in his life. And he longs to keep it. But it's not the same thing he has with Kikuchi and what's more Kikuchi just.... gets it. And yes, it's a queasy and axiety inducing, but ultimately that ending being like all in the break up mood and she being like she's gotta make a decision herself, so asks him to let her make the request - how often do we get a girl finally stands up to make a decision for herself to end things? Not Kikuchi, she does the entire opposite. Rather than ending it, she reinforces that ending of v7, that this is a selfish wish, but she desires him. And it's not just her crush, it's because he also is her ideal Popol. Which he wouldn't be without Hinami being there as such a paramount existence. And it's just this whole great thing about that ultimately decisions and what one makes out of it is the most supreme thing of all. And what Kikuchi did is, she gave narrative fate a middle finger.

The thing with the badges is kinda a bit of sappy cheese, but it definitely feels well earned. And next to that, there is also this whole setting of boundaries with Hinami, too. When Tomozaki just goes and requests Hinami to shut up, when she is saying her logical, but not empathetic reasoning and he makes it clear, that this is not rejection, not rejecting her, not rejecting her values, but self-preservation, that he needs that distance to protect his emotions and to prevent himself for developing bad ones towards her. It's just so really beautifully respectful while drawing that important boundary. And he also follows up with that game meeting, just to prove, it wasn't just empty talk. He still fully intends to have her in his life. That makes it just buyable. And that also makes the ending clear, that he is upset with her for using him like that, but he does not even contradict her on her methods of working. He just doesn't agree with her attitude and motivation in this. And it's a clear telling off, but it also doesn't feel salty, because clearly after all this, he's not just going to let her walk out of his life AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING ROMANCE. (In a RomCom(Drama), set up a bit harem-like no less.)

You have all that talking with Mizuzawa about you can't have it all, things are spilling, you gotta at least be aware and deliberately toss something and usually this is where people go and pick Za most important loved one to become the OTP and what does this guy do? Starts ditching everything that by all means logic is transient and "replaceable" - until Mimimi makes it clear to any reader she is way too good to let go - is all ready to ditch his new self he has come to like himself, is ready to ultimately ditch the notorious supreme SO. breathes in ISN'T THIS OUTRAGEOUS??

Like completely outrageously rare. I did not expect this. I was all whining that I didn't want to see it end on Tomozaki and Hinami winding up the OTP simply by virtue of the narrative fate of first girl to show up, and the Kikuchi just comes and trashes it down. This is great stuff. And then it is even more, it's talking about compatibility, it's talking unbalance, it's talking about how the solution ultimately was Kikuchi sucked it up, but it's not entirely one sided, either, as it also was her deliberate intentional steadfast choice to put an ideal over her anxious feelings. And it's just so neatly full circle to v7. And it also manages to level up Rena who really was slap worthy in v8. She really is in it to push the limits, but once Tomozaki clearly tells her off, she backs away. So all you have to be steadfast, for everything else, you only deserve to be her prey. That's an interesting one, too, especially considering, who she really comes off as somebody who doesn't respect any boundaries, but all it needed was steadfastness? And then her and Mr. Professional Player talk about relationships from an adult perspective, it being about setting boundaries for the partner meaning relationships and it's all really interesting and convincing for a healthy relationship and Tomozaki is pondering about it and it all looking like it completely falls apart, but then Kikuchi finds a different way that does away with the conflict. .... Isn't that kinda quintessentially queer(platonic)? To not be all following whichever norm was out there set by your predecessors. But not necessarily denying all and everything of it either. And then it ALSO brings in the subject of what loser or winner means in life and that line about how Tomozaki actually is a winner type - because he can recognize status and value, but it entirely not attached it so has no second qualms to just let go it, because he doesn't see it as something that propels himself forward - was really a thing to think about, while it finally tied the gamer aspect into it the rest. Tomozaki never had a need to validate himself, and it was actually something he's had from the beginning. But since he had such a self-sabotaging resigned attitude and approach it perverted it into merely being an arrogant loser. But turns out it actually was just lacking the toolset and guidance to make use of what he's always had. And really just the sheer miracle of meeting somebody, who is equipped with an eye to see that value and then confront and nourish it, even if it may be out of questionable motivations (but it's not like they are exactly harmful to him), it's just so so grand, and.... I think I'm rather jealous of it. Does this even happen in reality? This series makes it buyable that it may actually be possible.

Hell Mode v1-2.7 Here we go with a case of you just read it, because it was there. One of the few current titles on JNC Nina and it just felt like a waste to not make use of it. Turned out, it's not so bad, although it's nothing I'd ever actually pick up on my own. The steady leveling up and checking out stats and experimenting with it is quite like By the Grace of Gods, just without any of it's healing compf properties. The protagonist kinda reminds of the one from Gamers!, just in less of a pathetic loose-type. Maybe that makes him more like the protagonist of Shangri-La Frontier, but in terms of personality he's a bit off. But it takes its very decent solid time to establish actual stakes, the one major thing that made Shangri-La entirely not work for me. The MC even mentions it himself, it's a whole pain to have been reborn and spending all these years, but though it he has a bond with them (which kinda is like Ascendance of a Bookworm, now that I think about it), and these are his stakes. He doesn't just do things because of his gaming obsession, but also because he wants/needs his family to get into better conditions. Not a bad read, it solidly does what it sets out to do so far.

See You When the Snow Falls Uh, hmmmmm. This tried to jug multiple genres and then none of them were exactly terrible, but somehow though the split none of them managed to shine. The split was actually fairly even, too. The mystery bit turns out to be an actual murder mystery, and it was even guessable to the reader, but because it's always background focus it ends kinda anticlimatic, despite being fairly round. And to begin with, nothing about the premise (and the compf cover) looks like a murder mystery.

Cheese wise it was, err, uncommon, I guess? Meets the ghost, looks like a the fated person, meets another girl, also has an air of a fated person, actually starts dating somebody entirely else, and after some detour winds up with his future wife. Some lines really weren't bad, and there is some of the ugly side of relationships depicted quite down to earthly, but maybe it was just way too matter of factually reported, this hardly qualifies as romance as in the genre either. And as a coming of age drama of something who lacks any direction and purpose in life it's too entangled to those two subplots than to shine, he kinda gets dragged around by them and big dramatic moment happens and then just happens to do his thing, because why not.

It has a nice realistic sense to it at places, but somehow it's completely not what you'd think it'd be from the cover and blurb.

(Also has nothing to do with that other 2 volume series, which I only found out after finishing this one.)

As an oel otherwise it was a bit weird at places. Aside from "a kuro tech company" it uses words like chikan, keiko just like that in Japanese with italics and those are words that really need not have to be Japanese, next to some Nee sentence starts (why not simply "groping", "honorifics", "hey"?). Not too many lines, but they have a strange weeb show off effect. At some point it also has a bit of an air about flaunting knowledge of that culture, like how it comes around with explaining how onsen were used for talks because nude means you can't hide weapons. I'd guess this is an obvious snippet of knowledge to any native writer as I've never seen it show up explained anyway beyond No Game, No Life where it was just in a tirade to distract from the main topic and Zombie 100 where the weeb foreigner comes to flaunt her knowledge. 🤔

I Met You After the End of the World v1-2 And there I thought these were all the volumes of this series, but apparently there's gonna be a v3… I was surprised by this series. It was present already in See You When the Snow Falls, but it's clearer here. This writer's style has a distinctive male gaze, and it doesn't shy away from sexuality and being just a bit philosophical contemplating. This kinda reminds me a lot of Asano Inio or Haruki Murakami or Oshimi, but it's not like…. as wrecked. Not that it is to say that there isn’t lots and lots of doom material by premise and setting, as well as plenty of assholes, but the few that are there are kinda all side characters (who get their just desserts by plot). The MC is quite upstanding instead and treats the female MC very respectfully. And it starts off with a mood that comes to a close around a third to half line in the first volume. They are alone in a Tokyo, where everyone died of a virus. It takes months until the stink of the corpses emerges and then it needs the electricity network breaking down for them to properly have it sink in, that they were spending their whole time next to corpses en masse and now need to leave the place. I was thinking the reason why there was no stink was kinda hard to buy at first, but then it's maybe not entirely impossible either. And you'd think, why are they such idiots and didn't prepare stocking up on fuel before gas station electric pumps would fail, why not stock up on battery charge, but not look for this and that. Didn't they know this was gonna break down sooner or later? They even mentioned having feared it before. But it all seems so plausible with the mood. You have this guy, who just is totally burned out from life and was all ready to simply wait for his death by the virus and the girl has her own share of issues and they just are there enjoying the luxury of modern life without its responsibilities and artificial social pressures and they just spend their time to… heal. Did they know to be more clever in preparing more? Probably. Somewhere in the back of their heads. But they also looked to me entirely not being in the mental state of actually following up on it. And this is just the worst thing about extended periods of exhaust. You lose that onlook or care about even a mildly midterm future. Just floating in and out of the days. I didn't even know I'd find that mood interesting, but here were are.

After this it turns into a road trip and the obligatory romance was gonna progress, too. Heads up for a perspective of, the female character can get horny as well and that being solidified as something perfectly not shameful. (Even if the phrasing of “people have their needs” used to cement it is a clunky one that can go to hell.) And some meetings are almost always mystery cases, in between. (I find it rather funny that she'd carry that book about cults of all things all the way from Tokyo to the south, just to have it ready at the right time, lol.) All the hints of more survivors being there is a nice set up for potentially something grander and will be interesting how this is going to weave together with the romance between the two. It gives me slight Eden It's an Endless World vibes there. The end of the world, humanity and everything…. but look there, after a while you'll see humans still survive after all and you gotta see how to live in this world where some things just never change. Could imagine that coming in as a theme, too, but we're not there yet. The MC is already contemplating personal true value vs. artificial social value and the whole thing about it already was dead, but the tsunami comes and and sinks everything down and even the hubris is gone. There was just such a solemn mood about it, like all the things you hated, but you also realize you were attached to it nonetheless. And just how that hits down as a very lonely thing. Kinda reminded me when I heard that my old school was torn down and I looked up some pictures taken from the teardown side filled of rubble. AND THEN volume 2 comes in with…. a ghost and a deity. Huh???? Suddenly it's also Fantasy???? I have no idea where it is wanting to go. But not even a date for v3 yet…

The Apothecary Diaries v1-2 I have to say the beginning was a bit dry and if there was anything at all it was just the narrator’s cheeky tone going for me. It was like the narrator has a personality entirely of their own, while omnipotently knowing about everything past and future and present and sometimes doing a little commentary. (Unfortunately that one vanished quite soon enough.) It requires its time to set up all the characters and especially Maomao. I was expecting that it would just utilize the fact that she is just too into her special interest and doesn’t see anything else of the world trope to justify it until said interest would shift, but surprisingly she is not wholly obsessed about it for larger parts of the first volume at all. And her being so entirely in the know about the Red District certainly doesn’t make her the too innocent-trope. So when the narration goes to state she expressly has no interest, despite the ability to see the attraction by common standards my eartips perked up. This increased with all the weary moods over watching other people’s marriage going right or going wrong and there is just this whole mood of like Ah-Dou and the emperor not really being lovers but bosom friends and confidantes and her just being a strong support to him rather ever really be his concubine. Or Maomao and her adoptive father and just how remote romance and sexual indulgence can be from a home to get back to. At that point I thought that would have been interesting with Jinshi being an Eunuch and that being mentioned as 'losing sometime vital', something that isn’t at all so vital to Maomao herself. If Maomao was pretty much as good as ace, that could have made an interesting match, of one who is dumbly in love and the other entirely not, but slowly finding some intellectual and emotional ways to connect. Like she did with her entire found family. But duh, of course that couldn’t stay that way.

I raged at that v1 epilogue. WTH do you mean she got pink cheeks, blushing from a darn cheese move? At the end? This last minute?? It felt so entirely like, that v1 was set up to work standalone and then it’s just bait, like, imagine the rest of that ship on your own. Which felt entirely like betrayal to the set up of Maomao herself and also if that was where it was gonna go, then it was just half-baked. My best guess was that it was just being bait, and look there volume 2 just goes and essentially retconned it. And then adds a comment in that volume to have Maomao say it was she left everything love in the womb of her mother. Now that’s a really cool phrasing that I’m inclined to use for myself if a need may pop out. In any case, Maomao is such a mood (just replace poison with rabbits for me), her facial descriptions about Jinshin’s cheese advances or the deadpan expressions of exhaust, resignation to annoyance when others have gossips are so quintessentially me as a teenager and her aloofness about just really knowing a whole lot about worldly flesh matters (but all theoretical) and then being stared at is similar to my adult self now. I was surprised how quickly that escalated with everyone getting headaches and Jinshi even resorting to wall punching. What I found too bad about v2 is that ultimate her poison hobby obsession got played as the expected trope after all and then Jinshi just has to be the Ugly Duck (or more like the swan among ducks?) that he is and I was kinda disappointed that Maomao wound up being blood related to her adoptive father after all. Like it was really interesting how things interconnected with the mystery cases, but then it says that coincidences piling up like this suggest something intentional and things in her surroundings and family are also all too coincidentally also very connected and who’s the mastermind there? (It looks a bit like the former empress?) Anyhow. Volume 1 and 2’s mood and tone does feel considerably different at places, I’m not sure which one I actually like better. (What I think is also kind of funny is how it’s like a sort of reverse Jeweler Richard? Both guys are described has heavenly beautiful defying gender and having everyone turn their heads and the narrator and even Maomao can’t stop making mention of this, but Maomao and Seigi are at complete opposite extremes of reacting to it, and yet Jinshi is already like a v6 Richard and Maomao is like a mix of dofus Seigi and early volumes Richard?)

Later I found out that the shousetsu ni narou version was still up and it looks like v1's content is largely the same to the WN. So looking up the phrasing of that v1 epilogue it says utsuru for her thought esclamation that it's catching on to her and then she gets those pink cheeks. Now utsuru is a word descibing catching diseases other things contagious. Which is to say, this is reminicent of that explanation Oda does in One Piece about Ruffy having a reaction at nude Nami, simply because he is in a group and the group mentality caught on. I still entirely don't like that bit of the epilogue, but I suppose this makes it look a bit less disappointingly baity.

That and that the author writes in a postscript to WN v1 that from then on it'd be all about raising flags and then destroying them. So maybe that was intentional. But then it was also one comment I'd have wanted to read right after the epilogue, because darn, was I annoyed/disappointed by that last minute titbit. ._.

The Eminence in Shadow v1 - Another one, read because not reading would be a waste of the subscription, but helluva what even is this. I don't know.

Unnamed Memory LN v1.p1 I said I was gonna be quick to sub if for example UN showed up and then it actually did show up on JNC Nina. Okay, so sub done and started reading it. And I have ??? about the translations. Like I'd say my French sucks, so at some places I had the English version next to it as a crutch for double checking. Which inevitably makes me notice that it differs at some places from the English one and it's not just the name romanizations. And when I compared some of them with the JP preview and looks like the French one.... actually looks more accurate by those samples? That was interesting, but now I am in doubt about the English translation, which on its own actually had read itself just fine.

Black Butler v31 After Zombies, Titanic, Harry Potter Houses, Cricket, and Idol Group (WTH?) Now we have HAZARD SUITS. I don't even with this series.... It’s boldly thick skinned in doing whatever it wants, that much is for sure. Also, I somehow managed to buy volume 23 again instead of buying 32. How the hell did that happen...

Dance Dance Danseur v1-3 (JP v1-6) It’s a very good sports series. It’s been utterly exhausting however. If one had to sum up the first 4-5 volumes it’s like TEENAGERS. All the stupidity, all the worries, body changes, nervousness, and attraction and horniness and lots, lots, lots of it. That’s just everything I do not resonate with because I never really had that phase. In between it shows some really assy prejudices, but also goes to kick them in the ass. While the latter is rewarding the former still happens and just makes me go yuck right of the first pages. But it does a fair job of not just demonizing that side and even the characters with that assy attitude turn out to be really just human in their own way.

German ramblings from right after reading v3: Wandert auf die wird weitergelesen (wenn auch nicht mit Prio) Liste. Ist zwar immer noch so voll mit Elementen zum Weglaufen für mich, aber es ist mittlerweile nicht mehr ganz so übel TEENAGER und wie das alles zusammenkommt mit den Nebenfigurenelemente ist echt schickt zusammengefädelt.

Die Doppelbände bleiben aber ein Krampf zum in der Hand Halten q_q"

Es hat leider sind es immer noch weitgehend Zutaten, die bevorzuge ich eher in kleiner Dosis, selbst wenn es gut verpackt ist…. Beim Pantyshot und dem "mach doch was männliches" oder den Mobbinszenen hatte ich schon paar 🤢 Momente. Das ganze Pubertäts-Hormonmoster-blabla, ist teilweise auch sehr OTL, vermute mal einigermaßen realistisch getroffen? Hatte das halt nie und dann das ganze hin und her mit Miyako oder er ist nur bei der Schule gelandet, weil der Pantyshot im den Kopf verdreht hat. ufffffz. (Bei Bakemonogatari fängt effektiv auch alles mit einen Pantyshot an, aber da ist es durch die Eskalation der Ereignisskette so extra absurd, dass es was passend sureales hat.) Und das Thema um Passion/Talent wiederfinden/verfolgen/fördern ist halt auch bisschen weiter weg als jemand der gar weder das eine noch das andere hat. Und mit Tanzen kann man mich IRL eigentlich jagen gehen. 🩸

Aber ist schon gut eingebaut mit Nuancen und aufeinander abgestimmt, sieht man selten so, aber auch, Band 2 war echt bisschen zu viel TEENAGER HORMOOOONNEEEEEE. Die Richtung seit Band 3 war mir da echt willkommen. Grad auch dass das mit dem Mobbing wieder kommt. Das hatte sich zwischenzeitlich recht verwässert und unter den Tisch gekehrt angefühlt, aber dann war es doch nur die Ruhe vor dem Sturm.. Also erzählerisch macht es eine sehr gute Figur und bei so vielen Bänden sieht es nach Mehrgängemenü aus~

Diamond in the Rough - Finished It is a pretty solid Shonen read, with an interesting setting, but hell, what is this ending? Did it get axed? It totally just feels like an arc ending shortly before a post time skip part 2 and then it’s suddenly simply just the end.

Girl Crush ch62-63, ch81-82 I found out that it actually has a web serialization elsewhere than just Line Manga (which is geoblocked), so straight shoot at it even if it meant gap jumping. It's still rock solid and great, also it's clearly in the build up stages for the next fireworks. Tenka is just so gorgeous.

Give Her Back to Me That was... creepy, in an intended way. It was interesting, but also just slightly brain frying. I suppose that was also intended.

Iki Dekinai no wa Kimi no Sei: Super Pink I also call this 'the horny porny that shouldn't exist'. It's a spin off doujin by the author from Iki Dekinai no wa Kimi no Sei/Breathless Momentum and it's, well, been quite honest about what its content was going to be about from the preview of the thing. Which is to say it has no plot only plot. All I had when I learned of this release was a jerk reaction of WHY. Didn't the author tweet before there were never gonna be ero scenes in her work? And isn't Breathless Momentum really great, because it's just so utterly unabashed horny, but manages to be that while also never being porny or smutty? (You don't usually get this.) Why now this. I'm all whiny. That being said, as for PLOT it was still one of the better ones I guess. You don't just get horny, it's not just about shanking another up till insanity, but it's also about foreplay and really just enjoying the whole thing with their minds still all sound (you also rarely get something like that) and it's just two who are really hot and horny about another, it's far from their first time, and there is just this sort of self-evident natural playfulness to it. And there's even funny little panels and humor in between. And visual cuteness (they get all hearts in their eyes as pupils over their delectable snacks.) So now, please can I have all the elements like these without the need of beams and holes and overly explicitness and also have it actually be integrated into a main plot please? At least it established the horniness in the main series already, unlike say What did you eat yesterday? - which is also to say, unlike some doujins there, where I wanna scream why it wasn't part of the main plot, because of very important emotional characterization, Super Pink is entirely neglectable to the main plot. But some of its seasonings would have peppered the main series nicely, too, if they were spread out more and not going deep into the horny pot like that....

Isekai de Ane ni Namae wo Ubawaremashita ch17.2-4 This series got licensed by Yen Press. Everyone go read it. It's good~

Lust auf ein Date? (How do we Relationship?) v9-10 Finally the How to we NOT relationship manual turns into a How DO we relationship advice box. But ho girl was the path to it exhausting. A very good series that does lots of things right and well written, but that are things I just don't manage to really like. But how the two mains are going for and knowing how people are gonna likely misunderstand it and one of their girlfriends being all like “you can’t have enough harbors outside of just your lover” just really really makes it looks like it’s going for some queerplatonic angle and I think I’m gonna whine a whole lot if those two wind up being a couple after all in the end.

Okaeri Aureole This is 50% cute-wholesome and 50% the guy deserves a bloody punch. Like how can you have things like this:

And then also have one go and assault the other one in some run in the mill-bad nonCon trope?

Reincarnated as the Daughter of the Legendary Hero and the Queen of Spirits ch19.4-58 This was a surprise and probably not one I would have touched if I couldn’t have tried checking it out on Manga Up. the title is kinda really unfortunate as is its isekai reincarnation premise. It’s kind of pretty irrelevant to the plot and MC literally goes like “but that’s not relevant so story for another time” (which probably will never really happen?) Well, anyway. It has a nice mix of badass girls and mums, intrigues and politics, an interesting fantasy world with some lore, two parents who are just dumbly in love with each other (they remind me of Spice and Wolf, but just more stupid-funny-cute), who can be funny, idiots, dorks and then entirely mature and serious at the switch of a button. The art is cute, too and in general it just has this playful air about it, being very compf, while it’s still interspersed with darker bits of the world and it’s a really nice balance of savory and compf-cute-sweet.

Ride-On King v3 I am not sure what I read there. Probaby same stuff as v1-2, but it has been a while.

Sasaki and Miyano v7 I closed the gap from print and web-reading. Good heavens I’ve read this as it was chapter-serialized in JP, so I already knew what was coming, but darn it is this cheese death worthy collected in a book like this. How to despair as you gotta rereaed the last few pages every 5 pages because your brain just chimed out.

Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch64-66 I’m entirely not sure where this is going to go. The premise conflicts are more resolved than not, so a new character comes in to retrace some of it and then it opens up new themes. Which is like…. gender/trans/nonbinary themes? One scheming girl who’s not below selling her own body?? I’m not entirely sure, as I dumbly missed out on reading some chapters in time before their free reading expired. The kuudere MC teenager's starting to go cheese, while her mother is finding all her sappyness back? Ok.. But it’s kind of interesting how Ichika went from “I’m just on their way, they can spend more cheese twosome time with each other” to But if she went back, she’d not have as much time to spend time with her cheese-subject.

This was still cute tho and absolute nothing I'd ever have expected from this series:

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten ch13.3-14.1 TINY BITS OF FLUFF FODDERRRRRR, where is the next chapterrrrrr q_q But anyhow! The release date of v1 in German is out and there’s a limited edition with extras and a variant cover, everyone go buy the fluff perfection (for as long as it lasts to be that)~

Ice Lamp: The Chronicles of Kira ch8-41 This has turned into a slight surprise hit so far. The art is solid and knows to be pretty when it needs to. The premise is very fantasy and gender bender driven, but frankly, if this wasn’t fantasy and Kira simply was a boy, it still would have a lot going for it simply by virtue of the art, character interactions and the politics and norms of the world spinning around. Unfortunately I'm now caught up on comikey and have no idea when there’s gonna be more chapters… (until finding out the month after they seem to come regularly now.)

The Villainess Behind the Mask - Finished This seemed like it started with Shinde Mirou to Iwareta Shinimashite x 7th Time Loop at first, it’s like the former in the MC having all that special magic, it is the later in terms of the MC’s character and personality, just not as rich and optimistic and more vengeful. It’s decent enough, but the ending was just a tat anticlimactic and in terms of romance it has a few moments, but they never really got enough room to build up enough chemistry and there’s a whole “buts…!” raised up only to be smashed down at an ending that does feel a little bit too much like axed. Too bad.

To be Winner - Finished. From beginning to end this has positively cute to gorgeous art. The later has been fairly abundantly with the fantasy game settings, but ultimately, it’s just characters on a screen in the world of this story that is just like everyday contemporary RL life so it just felt a bit dissonant. In terms of its actual plot it’s a sports-plot with a romance side-plot with solid execution. E-Sports really is anything but my field of interest, but the rest kept it going regardless. The ending feels round enough, but also a bit like being on the fence about between stretching it on or just finishing on a side plot in the last arc and by the time it decided to be the last chapter it didn’t feel like one whatsoever…

——————————————————————————

MARCH

It is a whole scrumble to keep up with expiry dates on JNC Nina already.

Reading in French is slow business, as is Japanese compared to Englisch and German, and darn it. q_q

One little accidential anime slipped in. Actually I did feel like watching Apothecaries and maybe something else, too, but somehow in the end I just wound up putting all their soundtracks into the playlist to listen to instead...

Anime:

Winter Memories Honkai Impact 3rd Concept Animation

Light Novels:

7th Time Loop V1

Fushi no Kami V1

Hell Mode v2

How to Survive As a Villain Novel ch1-41

Spice & Wolf V21-22

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard v13p10-14

The Eminence in Shadow v2p1-6

The Executioner and Her Way of Life v1

Wolf and Parchment v4

Your Forma v4

Manga:

100-nengo ni Tenseishita Watashi, Zense no Juukishi ni Kyuukonsaremashita: Heika wa Watashi ga Moto Oujo da to Okizukidenai you desu final chapter.1

A Side Character's Love Story Ch49-50.1

Akuma to Keiyaku v1

Ano Natsu ga Houwa suru. ch16.2

Are You Okay with a Slightly Older Girlfriend? Ch1-2.3

Arte Ch84-85

At 30, I Realized I Had No Gender

Black Butler v32

Captain Ken Ch1-16

Cherish v1

Daijuukou to Unicornis no Otome ch14.2-15.1

Domestic na Kanojo v4

Frieren - Nach dem Ende der Reise v4

Girl Crush ch82

Goblin Slayer Year One v9ch61-70

Haikyu v40ch357

Harebare Biyori ch23.2

Hari to Hitsuji no Fune ch10.1

Hiso Hiso v2-3

Horimiya v14-16

I Cannot Reach You v6

I Got Reincarnated in a (BL) World of Big (Man) Boobs ch1

I'm cute enough to get away with it Ch20-23

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Chronicle Episode Freya Manga v1ch4

Josou Joushi no Nakasekata v1

Kakan no Oukoku no Hanagirai Hime ch11.3-12.2

Keine Cheats für die Liebe v9-11

Kemutai Hanashi ch13-16

Kijima-san & Yamada-san Ch4-17.2

Knitter's High ch26.3

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata ch80-81

Kono Koi wo Hoshi ni wa Negawanai ch12.1-2

Koroshi Ai After File prologue, ch1

Küss den Kater v5ch20

Living With My Brother's Wife Ch1-11

Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru ch30

Love and Fortune v6ch31

Lovers High - Meine beste Freundin, ihr Freund und ich v1-2

Marry my Enemy Ch59-60.5

Miryou no Otome to Katabutsu Hittou Majutsushi no Hatsukoi Kiroku bangaihen1-2

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Elma's Office Lady Diary v4ch36

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Kanna's Daily Life v8

Mr. Mallow Blue ch29

My Awkward Senpai Ch28-54

Okazari Ouhi ni Nattanode, Kossori Hataraki ni deru koto ni Shimashita ~Usagi ga Iru no de Hitorine mo Sabishiku Arimasen!~ ch23.4-25.2

Oshi no Ko ch140-144

Repeating Your End Together ch5

Sasaki and Miyano v7-9ch46

She is also cute today Ch60-125

Shin Henkei Shoujo Ch1-2

Shuumatsu Touring ch36.1-4

Sick v1

Solange wir zusammen sind v2-v7ch28

Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch67

Sooper Spooky Ch1-17

Spring, Love and You v3-5

Suicide Notes Laid on the Table Ch8-19

The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses Ch71-80

The Heroic Legend of Arslan v13-v15ch94

The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl Ch39-56

The Strongest Tank's Labyrinth Raids Ch1-2

Unnamed Memory ch34.2-35.2

Urban Prince and the Amazon Girl Ch1-4

Victoria's Electric Coffin v1ch4

Virgin Road v2ch13

Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi ch36.2-37.2

Wind Breaker v1ch5

Webtoons:

Breed my Dear Enemy Ch99-181

Flowers in the Secret Place Ch45-87

Ice Lamp: The Chronicles of Kira Ch42-44

Taberare Usa ch93-96

The Blind & The Homeless Ch1-7

The Giantess wants Love Ch164-218

The Goddess of Healing Ch54-66

The Mermaid Wears a Dress ch50-60

To be or not be Ch24-122, 1-23

You Are My Lovely Dragon King Ch1-16

Non-Fiction:

Some Greek mythology book (ISBN 9789463598965)

Notes:

How to Survive as a Villain AKA This Villain Emperor's Gotta Charm the Male Lead to Survive! AKA To Be or Not to Be AKA Please Decide on a Title Already The former is the closest translation to the Chinese title, while the second's length and summary-in-title does all the justice to it being an isekai and the last is a bit ??? in hindsight after reading it, but then it's apparantely the official English subtitle and also what made me pick it up on Comikey in the first place, so I should not complain. This is also a series I can dub as 'how to get interested only really at chapter 41 of 122 and then get hooked at chapter 88ish after having everything before read with pretty much just half attention' and it's another specimen to prove that me getting hooked tends always to happen rather late, which makes finding the next great thing really complicated beyond grinding though as much of everything as possible by sheer brute force and patience. (What do I envy people who can judge that right from the beginning.) Well, I'm gonna have some fun rereading it.

Anyway, this series by premise is a bit like My Next Life as a Villainess, but the isekai'd main doesn't have baka trait of Bakarina, then the world being reincarnated to isn't a tropey heavy otome-game thing, but a novel set in Ancient China (no cultivation and other fantasy elements there as a bonus) and the whole thing is also a BL and the narrative has slices of Romeo & Julia, but without that one's teen pathos (stupidity). The isekai'd main Xiao YuAn is a bit ridiculous and funnily goofy at times, but not dumb and stupid either. It's also been strangely weird, but convincing to me how it takes like 60ish chapters for him to notice he's fallen in love with his favorite novel male lead-turned real, and that it doesn't even occur to him until it's being spelled out in clear words and to boot, he is being transmigrated into the body of an emperor known to be gay and everyone's being thinking the thing for far longer and even his beloved male lead Yang HeQing caught onto his own feelings by what, chapter 12? And yet it felt strangely buyable to me at the same time. Very slow burn and organic progression. In the middle there is even a dish of melancholic facing your impossibilities in the world. (Maybe that’s some Weltschmerz and what the Hamlet quote title tries to reference? The vengeance part probably is less so.)

It sets up a lot and then develops it until it reaps its payoff. Which is to say, the series has 3 parts/seasons and the first two and beginning of the third are really rock solid, but the third is there to reap off all the payoffs from before and does it well, but in comparison feels weak because unlike the prior two parts it doesn't set up anyone or anything for itself much beyond the minimum and just reaps previous buildups. There's no new side character beyond the sister of a side character (Hong Xiu kicked ass really) that got killed off and really she is just a paler, meeker Hong Xiu 2.0, which is really too bad, because it could have integrated another new Kingdom into the spotlight, have some mentioned original novel side character show up or have some more side characters come back like they did from part one to two. The overarching plot is also not has interweaved with all the side tales going on and as a result it feels--- a bit simple I guess. That also makes the focus on the pair's lovey dovey shenanigans more heavy and Xiao YuAn is actually just about as silly and goofy as ever, just now knowing what he wants and entirely unhinged about it, and otherwise it's not so very different to the beginning, but due to the extra spotlight it has with not much more else going on it looks more lower dimensional than it needs to be.

Also somehow the last part seemed a bit visually weaker. And I've been really wondering why. Because it wasn't the art's lines or coloring itself. Was that because his second transmigration has made him get a more manly body than that slender, sickly more androgynous body and I maybe liked that style better? But then this never came across as one of those BLs that just shoves a female strereotype on one of the guys as often the case and if it did I'd likely hate it. Or was it the completely unhinged air? Or that he has a more sturdy body that far better can fend itself, but gets all those princess carries and doesn't even complain about them? Was it the thicker eyebrows? Eventually it turned out to be.... Eyelashes!!! The two mains of them, they both have fairly long eyelashes. And supposedly his second transmigration's body is pretty much like his original body, same face and everything, but!!! Every show up of that one at the beginning totally also has him have those longer eyelashes!! And yet in the third part the only times he mostly gets to have longer eyelashes is when he makes pretty eyes for his guy and it's... it's strangely weirdly irritating. Where is the consistency!!! Or well, I didn't know I found longer eyelashes aesthetically pleasing. What do I do with that titbit of knowledge now... Anyway, to my chagrin I had to find out that there was a Japanese print release for this series, but weirdly enough they only released one volume which has firm 1 cipher plastered on its cover and then no further volume afterwards. It's also licensed in English, but by Monogatari Novels who apparently still haven't released any of their releases in English and keep pushing the dates. :/

The art is also really nice, tho I have to moan about its key illustrations that really really look a bit misleading in terms of vibes and the third main key illustration is basically either misleading or a big fat spoiler. (And the fourth that also is being used on Anilist apparently is mostly used as a merch illustration?) Artwise it's really nice to look at, a really nice color palette that freely uses vibrant to darker parts of the spectrum, lots of wardrobes and because guys in Ancient China also all had long hair, lots of wavy fluttering bangs and ponytails in the wind or hairdos or decorations. And long sleeves and robes, too. It looks good (and just made the special chapters in contemporary times look immensely boring in comparison. Where's the wavy hair!! (and the eyelashes!!). (.... I'm getting ridiculous about this.)

That bit in the middle about the conflict of being yourself but also being that new entirely different identity after being isekai'd and the limited amount of people knowing that is also a quite nice mood I feel like that has gone lost from many of the genre from the modern wave. There's also a nice conversation about how the man's caught up in choices and how he's all doubting to being guilty about the choice being made and how ultimately it was never about doing the right thing, but making a choice and feeling bad, because all choices were important, but he had to pick. Also choices are the thing that defy fate literally. There is something soothingly comfy about it there.

How to Survive as a Villain Novel As it goes, the webtoon on Comikey has.............. parts of overtly dubios translation and editing quality and then also other parts with fairly interesting side notes (clearly these parts have to be from diffrent staff working on it??) and while the translation overall feels more clunky than not, it definitely made hints of making a fair number of literary or cultural references that all got lost in translation. And then I found out there's a novel and also there is a fantranslation and that it was taken down because an English release was licensed in Singapour by a somewhat new publisher and pre-orders closed on that on in January, like 2 darn month before I discovered this series. How cursed. Well, not like that the fantransation isn't to be found elsewhere, and it's worth already just for the footnotes on all the literary references and idioms and occasional contemporary slang. Really interesting. But aggregator rip off sites are still all cursed, because there's a good bunch of chapters that have annotation number markings but they haven't copied the footnotes over. Dang it, I'm interested in those!!!

Anyway. The webtoon definitely cut and changed a good few of things, which makes for a more smooth read and at places with additional flourish. Especially the beginning of the novel is equal parts of wtfh and lmao. And it then it dawned on me why it seemed strangely convincing to me that the main Xiao YuAn gets transmigrated into the body of that gay emperor and while he perfectly knows that fact, he doesn't even ever really think much about his attraction to his favorite male lead (that he has been fawning in a few ways over from the beginning). The way he is introduced in those beginning chapters of the novel pretty much introduces him as never having fallen for any woman, his family goes nuts, tries to ship him with some women, but then he's like bolting and running and family goes like wait, no, is he gay then?? and try to ship him into dubious BL ships and he is running and beating them up and like just. Nope. There's nobody. Probably. Anway, onto more important things!!! How about just focus on work and be a useful person to society. Which is such a mood. And add how it takes him a while to accept that Ancient-China-from-the-novel world as properly a real thing of its/his own now and his not even considering the idea despite being perfectly acquainted with the flags kinda feels like more than just the usual amount of density. Besides he really isn't dumb about it, he quickly gets it once it's been clearly spelled out and he gives it its due thinking over, so like just the whole air of him having all the pieces before his eyes all along but not even considering it at all in that way that's not even exactly dense or phobic of some sort is kind of really interesting.

The other part is how he had already killed himself in his original life to begin with. More or less because he was terminally ill and doomed anyway, but also because some brother asked him to. Which is a bit ??? It checks with how the big turning point in the third part plays out and the man may be whiny and a scaredy cat and all silly with his fear of death but actually doesn't even think twice about facing death in all the serious moments that count (which thinking about it is very reminicent of Haku from Utawarerumono Maskt of Deception/Truth), but him just jumping off the fifth floor in those beginning chapters also feels just random. The webtoon definitely did a good job kicking that brother character out of the plot. Apparently the sheer ludicrousness of attempted shipping offs by his family still made it to the webtoon in post-chapter extra scenes; at least I saw some on chinese raws, but the comikey version has them all cut. (And he's got long eyelashes in his original body there!!) Anyway, less than 1/4 read so far and I'll probably space it out for it to last longer. Also, darn it, somebody license the book already. With lots of translation notes and everything please!

Breed my Dear Enemy Ch99-181 So, apparently that’s actually two completely separate series under the same title belt and the first one finishes here. (with a completely nuts numbering order at the end of it on Comikey.) Isekai-transmigration into the body of a child, spanning over a decade, that has a short reverse-isekai adventure, court intrigues, knowing the novel contents already-cheats and there is a deal of courting and romance and a slice of cultivation and some really pretty art at places (especiallyfemale MC Ye Mu’s wardrobe). Ye Mu is also pretty cool in being just absolutely badass in wits and kicking ass herself. The isekai cheat is a bit excessively convenient though - She hasn't even read the book on her own accord, but while she accidentially trips into the book Fushigi Yuugi-style while doing a military raid and gets sucked into that world she literally gets the book contents downloaded into her brain. It does more with the isekai that you'd expect at the end, but somehow that plot device for plotline cheat skills was still extremely deus ex machina. What I also thought was a bit surprising between this and To be and Not to Be both having it was how their last thirds are both quite so very unhinged at being horny and explicitly things happening but without them being graphically explicit. Also both are from China. I did not expect this level of unhinged horniness from that country at all. What happened.

This panel background otherwise was almost phone wallpaper worthy:

It also had some nice ones ones with bamboo trees.

Domestic na Kanojo v4 I am not sure I know what I am even reading.

Frieren - Nach dem Ende der Reise v4 Fern deserves some sla… stern talking tos about her treatment to Stark and no Sein, I very much disagree, they should totally not be together already like that at all.

Fushi no Kami V1 The isekai premise is so old now it is annoying the MC himself already and lots of cheats, but the world’s cultural mystery hook is not too uninteresting, but everything Maika side it a whole slog and I feel like wanting to drop it out of the window every time a PoV change comes to this cheese stricken girl.

Girl Crush ch82 It’s good, it’s still good!

Hell Mode v2 This is strangely keeping me interested enough to stick to it despite it not really having anything outstanding. My best guess is really just that it’s my surrogate to By the Grace of Gods after all.

Horimiya v14-16 - Finished That took some years to get to these last few vols. But I was taken off guard. First I don’t remember any of the side characters anymore. Second. Was Hori always this bad of an obnoxious violent tsundere despite the guy clearly suffering from it? And you can’t even slap her for it, because she’d enjoy it!!

I Got Reincarnated in a (BL) World of Big (Man) Boobs ch1 I’m crying. In “What a whole darn waste!!” So I am still following Adekan. And when it’s good it’s gorgeous in its art and just all that morbid twistedness of human nature and desires so when it’s good it’s usually really good and when it’s bad it's also atrociously bad to my tastes. This one from the same author ditches any chance of a setting to flaunt or otherwise exhibit her talent for all that gorgeous dreamlike, fantastical artwork. And it’s so dumb and it’s kinda bad and it knows it, which I suppose makes it more bearable than the worst parts of Adekan due to the self-aware 4th wall element. But also it’s just such a waste!!! and yet you can clearly feel, this is what the author has fun with and plenty of fun Nao Tsukiji has with this particularness and who am I to criticize a person doing what they like, but still. I cannot help but cry out: What a waste!!!!

Kemutai Hanashi ch13-16 It's been a great series already and now it addresses yet another thing that is hard to put in words, but was captured brilliantly in its mood design by sheer power of character expressiveness. It will be very interesting if it does go on to capture it in words, too, like that brilliant conversation I raved about last time.

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata ch80-81 Wow. So we had this Aishiteru Game-ish arc, but it quickly moved on to the theatre play arc and frankly that was sweet and solid, but lacked any sense of a wow effect and probably that was the whole point, because wow did that twist (caused through one of the most old trodden tropes boring tropes at that!) hit at the end. It’s like… of course that was always in the cards. But somehow it managed to catch a surprise anyway and wow does it well circling back to one of its main messages it had been delivering so very well across all the series before.

Sasaki and Miyano v7-9ch46 I died a few cheese deaths and I had even read the web version before. I am regressing in my cheese resistance. Help!

Spice & Wolf V21-22 It was easy enough to get back into that after all those years it took me to pick it up again and the Holo-Lawrence bantering just really doesn’t get old. And everytime at the end of the books, where there are stories about Myuri and Col it just strikes how much less engaging that duo is as main characters. Also, seriously, at the end of all the church reforms it’s just gonna be like marriage is allowed for priests and those get together, is it? Hurry up and please get it over already. sigh.

Wolf and Parchment v4 Actually in their own series, it’s less of a slog to read, as there is still a mystery plot to be had around politics and the setting and everything. But I retain, those two are a bit exhausting…

Spring, Love and You v3-5 I had read v1 and actually thought it was surprisingly pretty aroace and also describing how the friction of being that way and the world not being that way can be hurtful and then I read v2 and OF COURSE this was a shoujo and she was gonna fall in love and then I dropped it for years. But now with having read the rest of it… Not like it ever addressed it as such, but the two mains impress a bit as demi or otherwise still a good deal as still on the aroace spectrum and cluenessness about ok, so they are dating and now? and then there is a side character who really looks like very aroace to the end and there is this girl having a crush at him and confessing in a really respectful way of not making him feel guilty or indebted and there’s a really wholesome part to her being kinda in pain, but also just placing good wishes and hopes for him to have somebody special to him, if it comes to that. And the guy goes like instead of feeling happy about any such a confession he feels like he lost something important and ultimately it ends on him hurrying after her, because he doesn’t want to lose her, a really close, trusted friend so far. And then they are dating and the series ends and the girl is happily blushing in the midst of her crush and he is entertaining her crush with a romantically coded gesture (that he does with a completely straight face), but if you ask me, this looks so much like an act of despair of not wanting to lose something precious and not because it winds up he fell for her like that. It would have been really interesting if that could have been explored, because this setup is bound to have all sorts of challenges, but then this series never was gonna be about something like this, was it? Which is a bit sad, because to me it unfortunately will be the only thing I will actually remember about this series. The characters aren’t exactly bad, they are buyably realistically portrayed, but they are also a bit (very) unmemorable and there isn’t much of an actual plot in this school setting to hook you in either.

She is also Cute Today - Finished (??) This was supposed to be some GL, but then it was more like deep friendship and finding your crowd, with a bunch of opposites attract comedy but after some dozens of chapters it's having more clear hints about being more romantic than not, but before it really ever went to get into that more deeply it says end of part 1 and somehow no more other chapters. (According to Anime Planet it's finished??) Well, in terms im GL that's now kinda like what you get from most GL. Something that just barely has a little bit more than a regular deep intimate friendship. But it does introduce a gender NC theme across the series that has a clear queer message said out loud, so just when I starting to think it could go beyond the usual fare but.... Where is Part 2? :<

Taberare Usa ch93-96 Just what the hell am I even reading there now…

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard v13p10-14 I ACTUALLY STARTED. Meanwhile even v7 in English has arrived and I haven’t even touched v6 after that disappointing peek into it.

The Giantess wants Love - Finished It turned out to be a nicely decent read. There’s some solid art throughout and once the romance is official it actually is mature and makes no big deal out of it. The fashion industry setting is nicely used for a number of pretty outfits. One of the last chapters also just barely turned the scales around over at humanizing a gay side character who went to be all like this predatory asshole criminal. There’s quite a gap between the villains and the good guys, with a few having feets on both sides, but like some of these villains just are a bit taxing on patience to sit though.

The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses Ch71-80 Seriously, this series and all its cheese is above my wits.

The Goddess of Healing Ch54-66 picked it up where I originally went on a binging frenzy to the end. It’s still good and the MCs bantering is cute, dorky, wholesome and fun, but the villains are getting a whole deal more annoying now. There is also less ambivalence in character being virtuous or not. While motivations are being shown how the villains became that way, there is still a clear divide between the good guys and the bad ones. Looks like I like the ambivalence more that How to Survive as a Villain offers in that same Ancient Chinese setting.

Your Forma v4 Solid. But one plotline was unfortunately super obvious already right at the beginning of the book. It still managed to play with it and put another twist over it, but the first one was unfortunately a bit too obvious to not guess. But then, actually that was already the case in the previous volume, so maybe it’s a bit of a pattern?

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companionjones · 3 years ago

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Arrowverse Masterlist

*Barry Allen*

A Shake And Turbulent Ride ~ ☁️Remember, before they got the Speed Lab, that truck in that wide open area they used to test Barry’s abilities in? Well this is a story of a ride to that wide open area in that truck.

*Cisco Ramon*

Safety Net ~ 📝You were captured by Team Flash after helping some people rob a bank. Cisco comes to your cell to check on you after you scream for hours (maybe just to piss them off).

*John Constantine*

Here ~ 📝John comes to you for help in a place where you definitely don’t want him to.

In A Couple Seconds ~ 📬I will like to ask you for a Constantine debating with himself if he spend the night with this girl who he is having feelings for, risking her since demons are always chesing him or if he does as he always do and dispear into the night.

Legendary House Guests ~ ☁️One day, a strange group of people show up on your doorstep. Of course John Constantine would be behind it.

*Leonard Snart*

Cards and Conversations ~ 📝Pretty much as the title suggests.

He Couldn’t Lose You ~ ��️You’re hurt on a mission. Leonard’s separated from you when you are, and he finally makes it to you while Gideon is working on fixing you.

Husband and Wife ~ 📝Leonard’s life keeps him away from you often, but today he found his way home to you. This visit means a lot more now that you two are newlyweds.

Mr. Snow Miser❄️ ~ 📱Snart texts you to tell you he’s back in town.

Speed Vs. Fire and Ice ~ 📬can you do a imagine where the reader is the twin sister of barry allen and in a relationship with Leonard snart she has fire powers please

Those Difficult Words ~ 📝Leonard needs to tell you something.

*Oliver Queen*

Visitor ~ 📝Oliver’s in prison, but you’re keeping things under control on the outside. You check in on Oliver, and catch him up on what’s going on.

*Querl “Brainy” Dox*

Ben and Jerry’s and Tom and Jerry and Brainy and Y/n ~ 📝You and Brainy have a lovely night in together.

Time Wasted ~ 📬May I request a Brainy x Reader Imagine? The reader has been dating him since the beginning of season 4, so maybe the episode (4x21) where he gets rebooted, instead of him acting cold towards her, he isn’t, meaning when he and Nia were kidnapped by the Children of Liberty, they also took the reader because she had been with them. The CoL kept her and Brainy together, since they figured out that the two were together. They made her watch as they tortured Brainy, and after he was rebooted and he fought the CoL, he saved the reader because he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.

*Ralph Dibny* (I wrote this well before those old tweets from Hartley Sawyer surfaced)

Talk To Me ~ 📝Ralph is concerned about you.

#arrowverse masterlist

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fromtheringapron · 5 years ago

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WCW Starrcade 1990

Date: December 16, 1990.

Location: Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, MO.

Attendance: 7,200.

Commentary: Jim Ross and Paul Heyman.

Results:

1. Bobby Eaton defeated The Z Man.

2. Pat O’Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament, Round 1: The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) (USA) defeated Col. DeKlerk and Sgt. Krueger (South Africa).

3. Pat O’Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament, Round 1: Konan and Rey Misterio (Mexico) defeated Chris Adams and Norman Smiley (United Kingdom).

4. Pat O’Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament, Round 1: Mr. Saito and The Great Muta (Japan) defeated Rip Morgan and Jacko Victory (New Zealand).

5. Pat O’Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament, Round 1: Salman Hashimikov and Victor Zangiev (Russia) defeated Danny Johnson and Troy Montour (Canada).

6. Michael Wallstreet (with Alexandra Yorke) defeated Terry Taylor.

7. The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious and Danny Spivey) defeated The Big Cat and The Motor City Maniac.

8. Tommy Rich and Ricky Morton (with Robert Gibson) defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael PS Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) (with Little Richard Marley).

9. Pat O’Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament, Semi-Final: The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) (USA) defeated Konan and Rey Misterio (Mexico).

10. Pat O’Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament, Semi-Final: Mr. Saito and The Great Muta (Japan) defeated Salman Hashimikov and Victor Zangiev (Russia).

11. Texas Lariat Match for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship: Lex Luger defeated Stan Hansen (champion) to win the title.

12. Street Fight for the NWA World Tag Team Championship: Doom (Ron Simmons and Butch Reed) (champions) (with Theodore Long) fought Arn Anderson and Barry Windham to a no-contest.

13. Pat O’Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament, Final: The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) (USA) defeated Mr. Saito and The Great Muta (Japan).

14. Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sting (champion) defeated The Black Scorpion.

My Review

The 1990 edition of Starrcade is an outright bad show. Amusingly bad, yes, but it’s still a pretty resounding failure. The cherry on the shit sundae, of course, is The Black Scorpion, one of WCW’s most infamous creative blunders. The storyline leading up to Starrcade was a lot of pulpy early ‘90s hokum⏤a mystery man, who may also be some sort of wizard, haunts world champion Sting for months with a groggy voice provided none other than Ole Anderson. It was completely ridiculous and demanded an equally ridiculous payoff.

What makes it suck so bad, however, is that not only is the reveal underwhelming, but it’s also boring. The Scorpion, first and foremost, is dressed like a masked jobber on an episode of WWF Superstars. Then it’s revealed the Scorpion is Ric Flair, the same man who Sting had already faced off with a billion times in the past two years. It’s admittedly interesting watching Flair try to completely abandon his style to play a new character, but the match itself is a by-the-numbers chore. Oh, and Dick the Bruiser is here as a terrible special guest ref who adds completely nothing. At least the Scorpion has the decency to enter the Kiel Auditorium through a spaceship that looks like your grandmother’s antique lamp.

But that’s not all, folks! We’re also treated to the Pat O’Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament, featuring teams from all over the world. A noble ideal, but the talent pool is, um, underwhelming to say the least. For example, we get wrestlers billed from “South Africa” who clearly aren’t from that country. Not that it winds up mattering anyway, because the whole point is for the Americans to beat them all. The matches are also hindered by some blown finishes that really kill the mood. It’s just a series of missed opportunities that could’ve been much a cooler concept if they’d thought more outside the box than “Welp, America wins LOL!”

It should be noted this is the second out of four consecutive tournaments WCW would book for their biggest show of the year. This is firmly ensconced in the era where the booking for Starrcade started to get a little wonky, anyway. I’m not sure how much of it had to do with them trying to distance themselves from the NWA name as much as possible or what, but it took away from Starrcade’s standing as a marquee show. It says a lot about this time period for WCW⏤constantly throwing one gimmick out there after another in hopes something would eventually stick.

It’s kinda sad, because it’s clear they didn’t need to go so far out of their way to establish their own identity. So many pieces of the puzzle are present in this show, from the production to the roster. It’s when they work overtime in competing with the WWF that things falls apart, a mistake they’d go on to repeat several times over. Collision Course is a fitting tagline for Starrcade ’90, and I’m not talking about the tag tournament. The show is a hodgepodge of half-baked ideas and, like any collision, the result is a mess.

My Random Notes

Apologies for the blurry quality of the poster above. It’s practically the best version I can find right now. Cut a queen some slack in the midst of pandemic, eh?

A few production notes: 1.) Why is the WCW logo on the entrance way always crooked? 2.) I love the blue and yellow ring apron, but the red and yellow ropes are a weird fit. 3.) We’re treated throughout the broadcast with Starrcade Stats, a cheeseball yet time-period appropriate concept giving us trading card details on each of the night’s competitors. For example, the Z-Man does a missile dropkick “if possible.”

Spot of the night goes to Col. DeKlerk who damns it all and hits one of most ill-conceived front flips of all time, which causes Rick Steiner to visibly corpse on camera.

Laugh at Team Russia all you want, but they absolutely would be at a singlet party in Provincetown during Bear Week if it were 2020.

I’m pretty supportive of having filler matches on pay-per-views, but what the hell was even the point of that Skyscrapers squash? Did they forget to book it on WCW Saturday Night and need to make up the minutes?

We get our first taste of the highly acclaimed commentary duo of JR/Paul Heyman. It’s a slightly awkward first outing. Heyman isn’t really the Heyman we’d come to know yet so he sometimes comes off as a second-rate Bobby Heenan. He tries making a joke that the Midnight Express broke up due to Yoko Ono, which is every bit as painful as it sounds.

You mean to tell me the best Canadian wrestlers they could find were Troy Montour and Danny Johnson, whom I’m not even sure are actual wrestlers?

This should go without saying, but the Fabulous Freebirds and their fetishization of the Confederate flag is, um, a huge amount of yikes in a 2020 context. I don’t know a whole lot about about the point of them having Little Richard Marley as their sidekick, but I don’t think I want to know.

As with the dawn of any new decade, the ‘80s were still alive in 1990 and you need to look no further than the Dynasty extras they put on this show as the flag-bearers, with hair almost as tall as those big ass stars on the entrance way.

This, amazingly, marks the first time I’ve seen Rey Misterio Sr. (or Rey Misteric, as he’s referred to in the Starrcade graphics). I’ve honestly never even Googled his name to see what he looks like. It does seem like his nephew has a much better handle on the high-flying maneuvers. He inexplicably launches himself over the top rope after his Round 1 match is over. I’m sure it made Col. DeKlerk proud.

#wwe network #wrestling #wcw #sting #ric flair #90s wrestling

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a-lucha-brother · 5 years ago

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Fantasy-Booking Concept

A scenario in which Seth Rollins wins the WWE Championship off Drew at MITB and it actually benefiting both parties between Money In the Bank and Sumerslam:

So, as things stand, Seth should in no way shape or form win that title at MITB. As things stand, it hurts both guys more than it helps, and would most definitely anger the fans (not that WWE cares two hoots about us).

How can this be fixed? By simply adding more goons to Seth’s faction (at MITB). There’s already Murphy, but I think that Seth should also add The Forgotten Sons (it would have (and should have) still been AOP but they aren’t on tv for the long foreseeable future so their roles will be drastically changed) AND another mystery man as his “Lieutenant”, totaling his number of followers at 5, 6 including him.

Now, picture the scenario, Drew is kicking Seth’s ass all over the shop at MITB with little to no offence from Seth making any sort of distinct damage to Drew, so Murphy comes out and does enough distractions to allow Seth to hit Drew with a Stomp that he obviously kicks out of. Murphy is taken clean out by Drew here with a Claymore that turns him inside out. Seth then in a violent rage berates Drew for selfishly denying him what is his, to which Drew starts beating him down again. Only now Seth signals to the back again asking for help, which Drew laughs off saying how nobody cares and no one would follow a maniac like Seth. That is when The Forgotten Sons come out to Drew’s utter amazement. They spend a fairly decent amount of time fighting with Drew with mixed results while Seth recovers on the outside the entire time. After now taking significant amounts of damage, Drew finally manages to take out The Forgotten Sons, only for Seth to surprise attack him with another Stomp that he just manages to kick out of. After the two battered men sluggishly trade moves on each other, Drew somehow digs deep, using his Scottish power to once again topple Seth, only for a surprise interruption to happen:

Jinder Mahal

Now, I know that doesn’t sound like the most glamorous thing, but hear me out.

Like it or not, that guy was WWE Champion for a long-ass time, the guy’s a perfect Heel, has no beef with Seth, has HUGE history with Drew, and oh so desperately craves that WWE Championship after tasting its sweet nectar all that time again (which you write into the story was his driving motivation to train so hard to get back, to the point of madness).

This works also because he then essentially has the exact same motivations and beliefs (I guess) as Seth does. So as much as it is a shock for Drew but it’s also a shock for Seth cause he never knew this would happen.

Jinder comes down to the ring, face like thunder and batters into a heavily battered Drew. Now, we all know that if Drew were at 100% he’d paste Mahal, but he’s not at 100%, and Jinder knows Drew inside and out because of their time in 3MB (which WWE loves referencing but doing nothing with), and ends up overpowering him and countering him time and again before hitting him with The Khallas. He then drags Seth into the ring and tells him to take him. Seth looks at him confused before Stomping the hell out of Drew, winning the title all the while keeping his confused eyes on Jinder.

Next night on Raw, we get the answers as to why (stated above). And for once WWE remembers that it has a no instant rematch policy, so Drew instead decides he’s going to plow through each and every one of Seth’s disciples every week, which will eventually with his winning streak (because I unlike WWE remember that that is a thing they wanted to do to seem more sporty but haven’t bothered their arses with) being what allows him to get his hands on Seth. All good?

So he starts off with The Forgotten Sons, which will kill off 4 weeks of tv because you can easily write that as him facing them one at a time before having to face them collectively in a handicap match (which may damage TFS credibility, but if you’re smart you can make this work, with a little help from a certain angry Canadian man which I’ll get to later). Raw after MITB is May 11th, Backlash is the next ppv on June 14th, funnily enough FOUR whole weeks away.

All this while you can have Seth, Murphy and Jinder just beating random people up for fun, totally dominating their space.

At Backlash, Drew on his conquest gets to go toe-to-toe with Murphy (which I think you’ll all agree considering the storyline is ppv worthy for a show like Backlash, especially considering the theme). He obviously batters him, and then Seth and his goon squad come out to gangbang Drew (not like that you filth).

Who should then make the save?

Stone Col-uh, I mean, Kevin Owens. The angry Canadian man.

You may be saying, “oh but he won’t be on tv with the whole Coronavirus thing won’t he?”

Maybe, but in my fantasy booking world, by the time mid-June comes around, people like KO may be more willing to come back to tv.

And this is how you set up the next 4 weeks between Backlash and Extreme Rules. Because now Owens has entered the building as a Face but not technically on Drew’s side, we have two guys with HUGE beef towards Seth and his goon squad, but also opposing elements who both want the title. The boss fight they’ll be reaching towards at Extreme Rules is of course “the Lieutenant” Jinder Mahal, with which the match at Extreme Rules will be a Triple Threat obviously between Drew, Kevin and Jinder.

So for the 4 weeks between that, you effectively have Owens go through the same trials as Drew only this time much quicker and with more tension brewing between Drew and KO (1, because KO is mooching on Drew’s thing and 2, because Owens is doing it better). The two of them clash and assist and hinder each other for weeks with Seth actually narrowly escaping their wrath on a couple occasions.

Then the Extreme Rules match happens, which writes itself in all honesty, with Drew pinning Jinder to get to Seth at Summerslam.

At this point KO kind of cools off the championship scene for a bit, maybe to fued with Sami to get the IC title to use that route to challenge for the WWE title (which I could fantasy book if you want).

So now in the time between Extreme Rules and Summerslam, Drew actually cools off a bit because the match is set in stone, but we also have the Jinder double-cross to deal with, which fills the 4 weeks up. Jinder reveals to Seth on the Raw after Extreme Rules whilst he is being berated by Seth that he only lost because he wasn’t focused on Drew and KO, he was actually focused on Seth. And that belt.

Jinder then beats the hell out of Seth before the goons come out and he runs up the ramp (this ends Raw obvs). Then for the next 3 weeks, Jinder and Seth actually have a couple matches, even so far as to have a legit championship match on the go-home Raw for Summerslam where Jinder comes dangerously close to beating Seth, until the goons come out and save him.

Seth and Drew finally have their long awaited rematch at Summerslam, it’s the main event and before the match Jinder comes up to Drew and wishes him luck, before telling him that no matter who wins, he’s coming for them next whilst still keeping things jovial, until Jinder turns a bit sour to Drew and tells him he really hopes that Drew wins (setting up the immediate fued after Seth for Drew).

Drew then batters Seth at Summerslam in a cage match (which I forgot to mention but only really just thought of now) because it has to be 1-on-1 and it needs to be clean with no shenanigans.

And that’s how you book Seth to win, nobody to get hurt, and to get multiple storylines and wrestlers on screen and over quite successfully.

#personal #wwe #raw #monday night raw #smackdown #friday night smackdown #money in the bank #blacklash #extreme rules #summerslam #fantasy booking #wwe fantasy booking #mine #wrestling fantasy booking #wrestling edits #drew mcintyre #seth rollins #kevin owens #jinder mahal

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sometimesrosy · 6 years ago

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Can u state all the stuff u speculated on that turned to be right....? 👀

I don’t know. It’s hard. There’s a lot and I forget stuff. Some stuff becomes accepted and people start thinking it was obvious. Some stuff I think is obvious but no one agrees with me about. Some stuff I said and was confirmed by the writers to be correct, but people pretend I never said it and say the writers are wrong. Some stuff was kind of a group thing where I built on other people’s ideas or they built on mine. Some stuff is about themes and allusions that have never been confirmed, per se, but have continued to be valid interpretations as the series has continued. Some stuff has been confirmed by, say, film students who see what I see narratively in the cinematography. I’ve had a LOT of theories. A LOT of spec. A LOT of interpretations.

My first realization is probably about Dante’s inferno. I thought s3 would follow Virgil’s descent into hell. It did. And then it continued along that story and followed the whole Divine Comedy, and we’ve been through purgatory w s4 and s5 and now I believe we’re moving into Paradiso. We even have some matching imagery from the William Blake illustrations.

Then after Hakeldama, while fandom was crowing/despairing that Bellarke was dead, I looked at the story and realized that the head/heart symbolism and “together” phrase was a sign that in order for anything on this show to work, Clarke and Bellamy had to come TOGETHER, so that far from dead, Bellarke was the central relationship, the yin yang, the backbone of the story. This has been proven EVERY season. If Bellarke are apart, it all fails, if they are together it work. And they are always together in the victory, even if they don’t stay together after that. It’s about UNITY, and Clarke and Bellamy represent the light and dark, opposite sides. This was confirmed by JR, he called Bellarke the central relationship and the backbone of the story. Using those exact words. And that everything falls apart if they aren’t working together.

I also said that Bellarke were soulmates, because some CL said that CL were soulmates and I was about to be like “oh i don’t believe in soulmates and neither does the show” until i realized that with the together/unity/yin yang/head heart stuff, they DID believe in soulmates and that means BELLARKE were the soulmates. Since confirmed by JR.

I said that Bellamy was the hero, no matter how people said he was the villain of the story. I said he needed s3 to face his demons and CHOOSE to be the good guys. By season 5, the narrative has proven me correct.

I said that Clarke’s story in Polis was a dark psychological journey in which she was confronted with her shadow (lxa) and needed to reconcile with her darkness in order to recover from her trauma. This was confirmed by the writers, although the people who she told declared it bad writing that they missed it and they blamed the people who called CL abusive (me) for them not looking at the dark psychological journey, even though we personally had a debate about it and I told them that was the story. So. Like, not only did I get it, not only was I right, but people BLAMED me (who was right) for their inability to understand. :/ okay.

I guessed that they’d save everyone in the COL although we were all terrified everyone was going to die like MW.

Before season 4, I came up with a crack theory for surviving Praimfaya. I said they would find cryo pods and ride out the apocalypse in those. It took two seasons, but I was right.

I said that The 100 was a mythic story, and using mythology, religion and archetypes to tell the story, and was even a kind of origin story of Clarke and Bellamy’s mythic status as the heroes who bring about the rebirth of humanity. This was before s3. Since then we’ve gotten “Wanheda” (and I’m still waiting for Bellamy to get a title) and the s4 concept of phoenix risen from the ashes, and the s5 concept of fairytales and heroes and mythic figures.

In season 4 when people said octavia was an abusive villain, i said she wasn’t, she was a girl in crisis and at risk of becoming an abuse but was not painted as a villain, but as a hero and if they refused to watch the story they’d miss it. She was a hero in the story and then in season 5, with MORE trauma, she sunk farther and did indeed become the abuser, tyrant and villain. But s4 she was not. She was osleya and saved everyone.

I said the bunker would be a nightmare. It was. That was obvious though, right?

I suggested they would actually use MULTIPLE ways to survive praimfaya, not just one solution, because people were mad that nothing they tried was working and they said the plot was pointless. And indeed, they had the bunker, nightblood AND space as the solutions.

I said that Clarke or Octavia would become a mother, and Clarke got Madi. She’s a mother. Someone said I was SO WRONG because I said Clarke would get pregnant with Bellamy’s child. But like, the essence of the prediction was that she would be a mother over the time jump, and I didn’t get HOW she became a mother right but I got the story. And Madi was immediately adopted by Bellamy, so he kind of is her father.

I said b/e could very likely be a thing and if so would be used as a romantic obstacle to Bellarke to set up the canon romance between them. It was. People don’t see the romance, but that’s because they’re not looking.

I said that s5 would end with Clarke and Bellamy taking their people into the desert in an exodus. As the season went on, it became clear that the desert would be the waste of outerspace. I was dead right. AND they used my original cryo theory.

I said that they would lose the battle for Eden, but win the war for their souls as they refused to fight. That is exactly what happened.

I apparently described Marper’s happy ending exactly, when I imagined what a happy ending would look like for Bellarke if it happened. Which works, because Marpe was set up as a parallel for Bellarke, and Bellarke were instructed to used their lives as an example. Someone saw an old post of mine and told me. I only vaguely remember writing it.

I described the final scene of book 1 exactly, with Bellarke standing together looking out of the window at the two suns planet.

There’s a lot more but I think these are the major ones about themes and structure and the over all story. Also a bunch of stuff I speculated for in the new season is already part of the story, but I’m not doing that because i’m tired and s6 hasn’t happened yet.

it sounds like bragging, but I have people constantly saying I’m delusional and always wrong. So like. I’m not. I’ve analyzed themes and structure and predicted endings and got sci fi elements years and months before they showed up.

I’m not always right, and that’s okay. But I’m watching this story and I”m paying attention to what it’s saying and doing, and breaking it down and analyzing what is being said and where it could go next. And I have a good grasp of what the larger story IS. When new info comes I adjust my theories to fit. Because that’s what you’re supposed to do.

#the 100 #in defense of me #i don't always remember the things i got right because a lot of the time they seem obvious to me #but they don't seem obvious to other people so idk

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tonkimidwest · 2 years ago

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Nhl 21 pro clubs

NHL 21 PRO CLUBS HOW TO

NHL 21 PRO CLUBS PRO

The game will also be available on Sony's PS5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X/ Series S at launch.

NHL 21 PRO CLUBS PRO

If you are really keen to try out the FIFA 21 Pro Clubs glitch, it is suggested that you do it right now before it gets patched with a new FIFA 21 update.įIFA 21 has been released on all major platforms including the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. This is because only League matches will count the game when you leave during an on-going match. However, before you drop into the game, you need to make sure that you have set the match type to ‘League Match’ as a Friendly Cup as any other matches don’t support this exploit. FLA wins 4-2 TBL wins 4-3 CAR wins 4-3 NYR wins 4-3 COL wins 4-0 STL wins 4-2 CGY wins 4-3 EDM wins 4-3 TBL wins 4-0 NYR wins 4-3 COL wins 4-2 EDM wins 4-1 TBL wins 4-2 COL. You will need to play plenty of league matches and quit mid-game to ultimately get the max skill points.Īlso Read | FIFA 21 Release Time: What Time Does FIFA 21 Release? If the match has been counted, you will know that the glitch has worked. After quitting the game, check out the matches you have played. Once you have done that, you need to find a friend as the glitch actually requires at least two people for it to work. Now, play a league match with your friend for more than five minutes and leave. The first thing you need to do is create a Pro Club.

NHL 21 PRO CLUBS HOW TO

So, let us quickly show you how the glitch works and how you can use it yourself.Īlso Read | Apex Legends Sentinel Glitch: How To Do Sentinel Glitch? How to get max pro clubs skill points fast? Carve your path to superstardom in an expanded Be A Pro mode and go down as one of the league’s greatest. While this may sound a bit frustrating, there is also a new glitch that is allowing players to reach max XP within just a few hours. This year, we’re introducing Ranked Seasons where you’ll compete across each of the four modes to earn rewards and play in the new EASHL Club Finals. Apart from this, many users have also reported a few glitches that they have encountered over the past few days. However, there have been a few complaints from fans who don’t seem convinced with the core game modes in the title. These improvements clearly make the title seem more refined than what we have seen in earlier entries in the popular football gaming franchise. The video game is available across all major platforms and offers an array of enhanced features including the more realistic player movements, authentic athlete behaviours, and a new dynamic attacking system, among other changes. FIFA 21 quickly became one of the most talked-about football simulation games since releasing a few days ago. Order/Item/General Inquiries: Monday - Friday 9:00am - 4:30pm PST Visit Our Store 5070 W.

#Nhl 21 pro clubs

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cpdevos · 4 years ago

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3/27/21: Stop Making Jesus a Priority

Hey everyone!

It's been a minute since I've sent a devo out haha but I hope you all are joyous in Christ and are hanging in there during these tumultuous times by leaning into the sufficient grace of Jesus!

***author's warning: I just finished writing, and this devo is too long lol so, to spare your eyes, mind and time, I want to point you to the application part of this devo under the title: Consumed by Christ. I've attached to this devo a document that explains and gives in much more detail my thoughts and the Biblical basis for my arguments; use it at your disposable as a resource and let it serve as the backbone for the reasoning in the rest of this devo***

Take some time now to just be alone and center your heart on the Lord. It's easy to let your racing mind lead your thoughts, but ask God to help you focus for the next few minutes as we look at the christian's union with Christ I will discuss today. Pray to begin.

"What's the greatest advice you could give me Moses?"

I realize the title of this devotional is pretty controversial (intentionally), but I hope you will bear with me as I explain more of my thought in writing this. A few weeks ago, my roommate asked me, "If there was one piece of advice you could give me that has changed your life and would change mine, what would it be?" My roommate is a Christian, so sharing the gospel for his salvation - which is what I would have answered for anyone else - was not necessary (although recitation and the study of this glorious gospel, unto which angels even look into, is absolutely needed - 1 Pet. 1:3-12). So I told him to give me some time to think about it. Besides sitting under the wondrous teaching about the Holiness of God from R.C. Sproul (which had shattered and reframed the paradigm of my understanding of God), I wanted to share a more personal answer as to the way God had taught me what my relationship with Jesus ought to look like and what the purpose of my life was and is about. I ended up giving my roommate this answer a few days later, "Stop making Jesus a priority, make Him your life".

A Magisterial Christ

This is the portion of Scripture for today's devo:

2 Corinthians 3:18 (New King James Version)

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

What do I mean by "Stop making Jesus a priority" and "make Him your life"? As I look at the different facets of our Christian life and holy living, the reality of our relationship with Christ, or rather "union with Christ", is the most prominent and dominant theme there is, especially in the New Testament. We must savor the Christ we serve in order to lead a life exemplifying our love for Him. In church we discuss spiritual disciplines, going to church service, going to Bible study and making sure we have quiet times in the mornings and evenings. But I want to contend that we can never draw life from those moments (and others) until we realize the truth that Christ is our life and any moment apart from living for and walking beside Him isn’t true living.

(in the attached document is my analysis of 2 Cor. 4:18)

Ponder, wrestle with, and meditate on this passage again. Scour every word and chew on the truths in it. Essentially, within the progression of this passage, we are called to this: “by the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit who unveiled our eyes, we now are being transformed to be like Christ by savoring His glory and staring at His majesty as our Lord through the sanctifying work done through the Holy Spirit.” We look upon Jesus and the more we treasure the beauty of His kingship and His mighty authority over our lives, we then begin to see that Christian living is not one area of life; it is all consuming.

A Pervasive Christ

I hope now that we understand how glorious Jesus is and how worthy He is to savor. Now, we must realize that we are deeply connected to Him at every avenue, in every road we cross, and with regard to every aspect of life. Thus, the Bible focuses in on our union with Christ. While I’m no studied theologian, here are some of the most relevant ways I see the Bible speak about Jesus’ rootedness in our lives and the way He plays a role in every facet of it:

(refer to the attached document for the list)

Obviously, this list is nowhere near exhaustive, but indeed, Jesus is the sole focus of the Bible. Even within the OT, we can’t escape it. Notice from now on, wherever you read Scripture, how every aspect points to Jesus. I especially love finding the hidden “in” word between every verse in Paul’s epistles. Almost all the passages we read and study within them include “in Christ Jesus” or some form of “in Him”. Whether it’s the blessings we receive from Him, or the identity we are given, or even how we live in newness of life (Rom. 6:4), we find it all in Jesus. Truly, there is no greater joy than singing ‘In Christ Alone’ while shouting it with confidence in meditation of these verses.

Consumed by Christ

Finally, we must ask the question: how can I live with this mindset? The reason I say “stop making Jesus a priority” is because we treat Him as if He is one. We love to say in church “just prioritize Christ over (fill in the blank)”. Sometimes I wonder why we put Jesus on a list. Granted, I must qualify that statement by agreeing that, in our busy lives, we need to make time for Jesus and as we schedule our days with tasks, we need to include our quiet time with Christ. However, we get into this mode where Jesus only becomes part of our lives. We associate Him with church, with bible study or fellowship groups and with our own quiet times. But what we often neglect, is that He is pervasive in every area of life. If indeed Christ touches the wholeness of our new being, we must consequently actively pursue Him. Renewing our minds (Rom. 12:2), which is an idea we throw around in church, is not just occasional. From the moments we rise to the moments we lie down to sleep, we must have given our best to allow Jesus to act as the exclusive sovereign over our every decision, our every word, our every interaction and our every impulse. This isn’t to say we should neglect our schooling, or our jobs or our social lives. I say this to exhort us all to the high demand of picking up our cross, and letting Jesus be the driving force behind every motive in our lives. So how do we do this? Here are some practical steps:

1. Study Jesus

This is easier said than done, but what we must start with if indeed we want to live out Jesus BY savoring Him, is to actually know Him. I think of Colossians 3:16 when I am reminding myself of being Spirit-filled and Christ centered. It reads, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom". It goes on to explain how we use it to teach and admonish others and sing praises to God in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (echoing Ephesians 5:18-19). This is the fruit of a Spirit-filled life: Christ-centered theology that leads to Christ-centered doxology. When we study Christ's teaching and His words as the passage commands us to do, we know how we ought to live. We know what we ought to set our minds on (Col. 3:1-4). Knowing Jesus and His teachings is the crucial first step to living a life that makes Jesus our lives instead of a priority. So, study the gospels again! (I recommend John) And fall in love with the Christ we so often forget.

2. Praying Christ

What do I mean when I say "praying Christ"? I mean that we ought to include Jesus in our every day thought processes and our actions and most importantly, our prayers! Now that you've taken steps actively to know Jesus (and be reminded, this never stops in your life), you can start to incorporate it daily. Whether it's waking up and checking your phone, doing homework or being at work, cooking, hanging with friends, reading a book, playing games, etc. make sure to "pray Christ". Let Him dwell in your heart by faith (Eph. 3:17) and ask that He would, through His Holy Spirit, guide you in your actions. As you practice this discipline, I believe that Christ's words and His teachings will start to permeate your thinking, and this happens as the Holy Spirit sanctifies (grows) you to be more like Him.

3. Commune with a Sister or Brother In Christ

This step is one that I've been learning lately. A sermon I heard recently on Gal. 6:2-5 was about what it means to be Spirit-filled in terms of its outpouring into the church. Too often we find ourselves believing that our growth happens only internally. That the fruit of the Spirit in Gal 5 only refer to personal sanctification. But I was reminded so graciously that this is not so. We are being transformed unto Christ ALSO in the way we love others, especially those in the church. So, going back to our mission "making Jesus our lives, not just a priority", we must seek accountability (as with most if not all other things). I can say from personal testimony that this has been a wildly life-changing step to my growth. Whether it was addressing personal sin, learning from others, sharing in my burdens and griefs, or just exercising patience with another, I learned that in doing life together, God uses our brothers and sisters in Christ to sharpen us. Similarly, when we make Christ our life, we should do it with other believers. My challenge to you, if you have read this far lol, is to write on your planner a day of the week you would like to text or email another Christian in your life. Reach out to them, ask to call, see how they are doing, or even grab a cup of coffee (if permissible, because guess what y'all, COVID is real and not something to joke about). Whatever it is, tell them about your endeavor to pursue Christ wholeheartedly. Share with them something you're learning and ask them to text you a few days later to check up on you (and you can do the same for them). This will foster a culture of active pursuit of Christ within fellowship that is fruitful for everyone.

4. Write It Out

This last step I would recommend (there honestly are many more, but this devo is getting so long lol) is to make a dedication with this practice: Once a week, find something that relates to our union with Christ (whether in the OT about the salvation not yet realized and God's sovereign hand over it, Jesus' teaching and His life as recorded in the gospels, or the epistles which always have "in Christ..."). Write that verse or passage out and reflect on its ideas. Using this week's passage for example, I may write out in my journal: "Glory of Christ...What does that mean? Where does the Bible speak about Christ's glory? What even is glory? How is it used in the Greek and Hebrew texts? What does the heaviness of God's glory mean for me? etc." Remember, we are bondservants, slaves of Christ now. Jesus is our savior and the one we will exalt forever. It is time we awake from our slumber and focus on Him and His glorious return. So, go through some of the places I recommended above (Jesus' "I AM" statements in the gospels are crazy) and at least once a week, write that passage down you found that was unique. Then, pray over it. Study it. Break it down. Plunge your Bible with notes and questions. Survey the whole Bible and the full counsel of God. Look up commentaries and study resources. Whatever you do, remember to write it out for the sake of remembering it throughout the week. This final step, which may be more intensive, will bleed into the other steps. As we dissect Jesus' life and let the Holy Spirit illuminate Scripture and lead us into all truth, we can begin to lead a life that holistically encompasses Jesus and evidently displays gospel-transformation.

There are many things I've learned in my walk with Christ (even though I have only walked with Him seriously for the past few years) but so far this has been the biggest lesson. We are called Christians for a reason: we follow, worship, and serve Jesus Christ. Nowadays, the idea of worship is obscure. God is a myth. Religion is flavorless. Sin is a made up idea. But as Christians who have been saved by the gracious hand of God we know how beautiful Jesus is, and our calling now is to worship Him in the fullest and know Him intimately by beholding His glory. We were made for His pleasure, and so the fulfillment and meaning of anyone's life is found in Christ and Christ alone. Our relationship with God isn't dry. God isn't a distant God. We now have all the resource by God's Word and through His Spirit to bring Jesus to the ends of the earth and proclaim His gospel not only in evangelism, but also through the fruit in our lives. So, stop making Jesus a priority and make Him your life.

Truly,

Moses

cpdevos 3/27/21

#moses #2 Corinthians #christianliving #discipline #march2021

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gokul2181 · 4 years ago

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Rafael Nadal: Djokovic, Nadal face new-look Roland Garros road-blocks | Tennis News

New Post has been published on https://jordarnews.in/rafael-nadal-djokovic-nadal-face-new-look-roland-garros-road-blocks-tennis-news/

Rafael Nadal: Djokovic, Nadal face new-look Roland Garros road-blocks | Tennis News

PARIS: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, with 36 Grand Slam titles between them, are both just two wins away from creating more tennis history at Roland Garros but standing in the way in Friday’s semi-finals are Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman. Tsitsipas is the first Greek player to reach the last four in Paris while the diminutive Argentine has put sport in perspective this week with his moving story of how his great-grandfather survived the Holocaust. Head-to-head: Djokovic leads 3-2 Djokovic is chasing a second Roland Garros title and 18th Grand Slam to become the first man in half a century to win all four majors twice. It’s such a rare achievement that only Don Budge and Rod Laver have managed it in the history of the sport. The world number one has four titles in 2020, carved out from 36 wins and just one loss – his now infamous default at the US Open. However, is the pressure beginning to tell? He dropped his first set of the tournament in his win over Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals and required treatment on his neck and shoulders.

The new kids on the block up against the giants of the game.Who will it be that reaches the final on Sunday?… https://t.co/2U2GsB7Khn

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) 1602208801000

“I had some neck and shoulder issues. I don’t really want to get too much into it. I’m feeling okay,” said the 33-year-old who was champion in Paris in 2016. Djokovic is bidding to make the final for the fifth time and a 27th at the Slams. Tsitsipas, 22 and playing in his second semi-final at the majors having also reached the last four at the 2019 Australian Open, has got stronger as the tournament has progressed. After dropping the first two sets of his opener against Jaume Munar, he has swept the next 15. Tsitsipas is bidding to become the youngest man to reach the Roland Garros final since 2008, when Nadal won the title and youngest to reach a Grand Slam championship match since the 2009 US Open, when Juan Martin del Potro won the title, 10 days short of his 21st birthday. The Greek has only met Djokovic once on clay, a straight sets loss in the 2019 Madrid final. “An opponent is an opponent. Doesn’t matter if he is injured or not,” said Tsitsipas of Djokovic. Djokovic 1st rd: bt Mikael Ymer (SWE) 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 2nd rd: bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 3rd rd: bt Daniel Galan (COL) 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 4th rd: bt Karen Khachanov (RUS x15) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 QF: bt Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP x17) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 Tsitsipas 1st rd: bt Jaume Munar (ESP) 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 2nd rd: bt Pablo Cuevas (URU) 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 3rd rd: bt Aljaz Bedene (SLO) 6-1, 6-2, 3-1 – retired 4th rd: bt Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x18) 6-3, 7-6 (11/9), 6-2 QF: bt Andrey Rublev (RUS x13) 7-5, 6-2, 6-3

Two 🤩 matchups for two remaining spots 🔥Who will be the last ones standing?#RolandGarros https://t.co/o9cVnqrIU7

— ATP Tour (@atptour) 1602180300000

Head-to-head: Nadal leads 9-1 Nadal, the 12-time champion, arrived in Paris virtually writing off his chances of equalling Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles. However, the 34-year-old stands on the brink of a 13th Roland Garros final without dropping a set and having spent three and a half hours fewer than Schwartzman in getting to the semi-finals. He remains cautious over his chances at a tournament being played in the cold and chill of autumn rather than its traditional May-June slot and after finishing his quarter-final against Jannik Sinner at 01:30 on Wednesday morning, he said it was “dangerous for the body with these very heavy conditions”. Nadal’s late night on Tuesday was mostly caused by Schwartzman needing more than five hours to defeat US Open champion and third seed Dominic Thiem in five sets to reach his maiden semi-final at the majors. By contrast, Nadal is in his 34th. However, Schwartzman will be buoyed by defeating Nadal for the first time in 10 attempts on clay in Rome on the eve of Roland Garros. Affectionately known as “El Peque” (“shorty”), 28-year-old Schwartzman is a mere 5ft 6in (1.68m) and the smallest player in the world’s top 50. “I was perfect today. I think I’m going to be perfect in semi-final,” said Schwartzman, having won his first Grand Slam quarter-final after three previous failures. Schwartzman 1st rd: bt Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) 6-0, 6-1, 6-3 2nd rd: bt Lorenzo Giustino (ITA) 6-1, 7-5, 6-0 3rd rd: bt Norbert Gombos (SVK) 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-3 4th rd: bt Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 QF: bt Dominic Thiem (AUT x3) 7-6 (7/1), 5-7, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 Nadal 1st rd: bt Egor Gerasimov (BLR) 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 2nd rd: bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 3rd rd: bt Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 6-1, 6-4, 6-0 4th rd: bt Sebastian Korda (USA) 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 QF: bt Jannik Sinner (ITA) 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-1

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wazaux · 7 years ago

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The Incredible Exploits of Wazaux and RALF: we set the stage.

Hello friends, and hopefully soon to be readers! This is a blog about a dandy guy in space trying to scratch his way to the top with a cutthroat syndicate of pirates. It was inspired by the outstanding work over at @kitty-and-razgriz and takes place in the same canonical universe. And now, without further ado, let’s meet Commander Sulimon Wazaux: the Slave King.

General Information

Full Name:

Sulimon Wazaux(Formerly Yedid Chernovsky)

Nicknames/Aliases:

Waz, “the slave king”, Grifter (call sign), and Dandy

Age:

Birthdate:

February 4, 32??

Gender:

male

Pronouns:

he/him

Place of Birth:

Unnamed Imperial Ice-world

Current Place of Residence:

the “Aloha Oe”

Relatives:

Current status unknown; presumed dead.

Previous Profession, Occupation(s):

slave, corporate saboteur, mercenary, smuggler, transport pilot

Current Occupation:

Noirceur Executive.

Primary Ship(s):

Cutter: “Aloha Oe” a high end cutter filled with various luxuries and antiquities from through the galaxy. The “Aloha Oe” is operated by a cadre of drones linked to a “dumb” AI: the R. A. L. F. (Robotic Assistant for Logistical Functions). Of course such automation comes at a price and the system was incredibly expensive; even with Wazaux’s considerable underworld connections. It also means that in combat the “Aloha Oe” must rely on its thick shielding and fighters. This ship serves as the primary ship and base of operations for CMDR Wazaux.

Courier: “Little Aloha” a gift from his former teacher: colonel Kurtz. It is a modified courier with retracting nacelles allowing it to be stored on the Aloha Oe.

Character Appearance

Eye Color: right: cybernetic replacement. Left: Blue-green

Hair Color:Brown with purple accents

Build:6’6” and a solid build, could be described as “stocky”

Scars:One vertical above and below the right eye continuing to the upper lip

Distinctive features:

CMDR Wazaux’s right eye and arm are cybernetic replacements. He also has a sub-dermal mesh and neural lace.

Visual Description

CMDR Wazaux is a a large man standing at 6’6” and weighing 250lbs. His skin is rather pale due to his time in space. He also has Brown wavy hair and a well kept beard. He typically wears fine, but worn, imperial clothes: a long black coat with intricate gold filigree with a white shirt/tunic underneath. At his waist there is a sword on his left hip and a pistol on his right. The sword serving more as a symbol of imperial status than a weapon. Though it can be used as one when times are dire. His pants are black like his coat with matching gold details at the cuffs. Underneath this all of course is a standard remlock suit.

Character Personality & Details

Strengths, Talents, Skills:

CMDR Wazaux is an exceptional pilot and brilliant tactician. Wazaux is classically educated and trained in the finer points of imperial society, including swordplay. He has three degrees from the imperial academy in early earth history, political theory, and philosophy. While he operates best independently he does not have any desire to lead others. Wazaux is also a very logical and calculating individual; this has given him a reputation for being cold and aloof. These traits makes him a loyal and dedicated associate to anyone he does business with.

Fears:

As a child of an ice world CMDR Wazaux had never seen an ocean until he was 6 years old in the imperial academy. The site of that much water made his blood freeze and to this day he has an innate fear of large bodies of water.

Wazaux also greatly fears failure and mistakes sometimes leading to inaction.

Flaws:

Wazaux’s chief flaw is his independence. He tends to forgo flesh and blood copilots in favor of black market “dumb” AI software and various automata. This antisocial behavior has led to problems with Narcotics and alcohol, usually bast snake gin and any number of exotic psychedelics. Besides his social flaws, Wazaux also tends to take enormous risks in combat which has led to spectacular results, not always positive. Wazaux also struggles constantly with self doubt; fueled by his background as a slave and his innate fear of mistakes.

Handedness:

Right handed.

Alignment:

True Neutral

Motivations:

Wazaux’s motivation stems from his early life as a slave. The son of a once powerful imperial dynasty, he struggles to reclaim his family’s honor. A struggle made even more difficult by his stolen identity. Wazaux’s ultimate goal is to gain enough power and influence to rival the Emperor through whatever illicit means necessary.

MBTI Personality Type:

INTP

Quirks/Mannerisms:

When agitated Wazaux has a tendency to pace and smoke. When he is uncomfortable he will begin tapping his foot rapidly. Wazaux is also often described as a man of few words, however when he does speak it is always an exercise in elocution. A product of his time in the imperial academy.

Religion/Philosophy:

Wazaux is not a particularly religious man, though he does hold to a few superstitions. He values logic above all else and views emotions as a hindrance. An Existential Nihilist; his philosophy can be best summed up by the phrase: “What’s in it for me?”

Sexuality:

Wazaux is Pansexual

Public Rumors or knowledge about you:

There are rumors about Wazaux’s origins as a slave though no records or proof can be found. This has earned him the title of “Slave-King” and has given him some minor fame with imperial slaves. Despite this there are also rumors that Wazaux has made money from the slave trade.(true) one of the more fanciful rumors about Wazaux is that he isn’t a man at all but rather a sentient machine. This comes from his lack of social interaction and his robotic crew.

Miscellaneous Interests:

Likes/Hobbies:

Wazaux maintains a strict regiment of sword practice, firearms practice, and flight maneuvers. When not engaged in some form of training he spends his time reading ancient texts and playing the flute. A passion he acquired in the academy. Wazaux also has a love of old-world books and music and has a small museum aboard the “Aloha Oe”. He is particularly interested in the post classical era of earth music known as “disco”.

Wazaux also spends a great deal of time improving on the design of his semi-autonomous robotic aid “RALF”.

Dislikes

Wazaux has little tolerance for people and things he deems “useless” or “obsolete”. Concepts like religion and tradition infuriate the CMDR as he believes they only hinder progress.

Favorite Food(s):

Double cheeseburger with extra bacon and ketchup.

Favorite Drink(s): Coffee or tea with milk, besides that anything with alcohol; preferably a very dirty gin martini.

Favorite Color(s): Blue, purple, gold, silver, Black.

Character History

: Childhood: Sulimon Wazaux was born Yedid Chernovsky on an ice planet under imperial rule in 3277. Yedid was born to a former nobleman who was accused of treason and forced into slavery with his pregnant wife. They were sold to the king of the small ice world. His father was put into hard labor while his mother, formerly a brilliant physician, became the doctor to the king’s children. When Yedid was three years old his mother killed the King’s son in his sleep and replaced his biometric data with that of yedid. That was the moment Yedid became Sulimon Wazaux. After this she crept to the King’s wing of the palace and murdered him as well. The fire she lit in the master chamber turned the entire palace into a roiling inferno. Using her last remaining connections in Imperial society she managed to have her son placed in the care of an imperial patron. At the age of 6 however Wazaux was placed in the prestigious imperial academy on Facece. At the academy Wazaux learned all that an upstanding imperial noble should: classic literature, multiple languages, fencing, political theory, and more. At the age of thirteen he was selected for the imperial naval academy.

Adolescence: Much of Wazaux’s adolescence was spent at the imperial naval academy. It was there that he met his most valued teacher: Colonel Archimedes Kurtz. Colonel Kurtz was a harsh teacher. He instructed Wazaux in the history of warfare and strategy as well as hand-to-hand and ranged combat. At the age of 15, Kurtz decided to teach Wazaux his most valuable lesson. During an exercise in swordplay Kurtz deftly cut off Wazaux’s right arm and slashed his face gouging out Wazaux’s right eye. Kurtz explained that Wazaux was too trusting of the man and that “trust in anyone but yourself will get you killed.” It was then that Wazaux had his first cybernetic surgery to replace his missing limb and eye. Kurtz had given him the option of simply regrowing the limbs but Wazaux refused, opting instead to have cybernetic replacements. He intended to carry that lesson with him. As a parting gift the rarely sentimental Col. Kurtz gave Wazaux his former Imperial Courier: “Titania” (later renamed “Little Aloha”). At the age of 18 Wazaux left the academy and joined the Imperial Navy.

Adult: Wazaux’s adult life begins in the Imperial Navy. He was first stationed on a majestic interdictor; operating a fighter via holofac. During a particular battle the holofac system malfunctioned and Wazaux was ordered to fly his fighter manually. His fighter was struck by a glancing beam laser and the cockpit caught fire. He was able to bring the fighter back to the capital ship but his body was horribly burned. It was then that Wazaux was fitted with a sub dermal mesh capable of healing minor wounds and applying painkillers or stimulants as needed. It also served as the base for his skin regeneration. After his recovery Wazaux served the final two years of service as a glorified chauffeur to the imperial high command. While this was ideal for making contacts in the upper echelons of imperial society Wazaux felt his time was being wasted on these old desk jockeys. After his service was up he left the navy with his courier “Titania” and began working as a corporate saboteur. Operating out of Slipher Hub in Faust 68 Wazaux would accept contracts demolishing security drones and turrets at ground instillations throughout the sector then the corporations of Slipher Hub would offer new and improved security systems for a moderate price increase. This occupied Wazaux until he felt a desire for something more and a rift in his soul that only power could fill. Using his connections in the Faust 68 underworld he began building a black market cartel. On the surface Wazaux was the head of a respectable transport company: Fhloston Paradise. Under the hood however Wazaux oversaw the smuggling of anything from slaves, to Narcotics, to military weaponry. It was around this time he Acquired the Imperial Cutter:“Aloha Oe” in a high stakes wager from a drunk imperial Duke. He quickly outfitted the vessel with top of the line modules and prismatic shields all crafted by the reclusive engineers. He also renamed his courier the “Little Aloha” and modified its nacelles.(edited)At this point he moved his headquarters from Slipher Hub to the opulent “Aloha Oe” and purchased his black market “dumb” AI R. A. L. F. Robotic Assistant for Logistical Functions. RALF was technically an illegal AI but only a copy of a much more advanced program. His status as “dumb” came from his purposefully limited memory which caused him to develop something akin to personality. Wazaux is able to communicate with RALF via his neural lace. In early 3304 Wazaux received a very rare invitation to the Noirceur Syndicate. After observing the syndicate’s methodical expansion and lack of moral scruples Wazaux was convinced that such an organization would be the perfect stepping stone and a powerful ally as he attempts to claw his way upward. Currently Wazaux is an executive in the Noirceur Syndicate operating as a smuggler, saboteur, and information broker

#elite dangerous #space #spaceship #oc rp

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cfijerusalem · 4 years ago

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ISRAEL: THE SETTLEMENTS ARE NOT ILLEGAL.

The annexation of lands in Judea and Samaria is not contrary to international law The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples... adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007, by a majority of 144 states in favor, 4 votes against, and 11 abstentions, recognized that indigenous people...have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired...and that the exercise of these rights shall be free from discrimination of any kind...”.

“...According to international law, the Jews are the indigenous people of the lands referred to as Judea, Samaria, Palestine, Israel and the Holy Land, and therefore fulfill the criteria required by international law. The Jews are the ethnic group that was the original settler of Judea and Samaria 3,500 years ago, when the land was bestowed upon the Jews by the Almighty. Leaders of this world, who chose to make abstraction of history, misleadingly refer to Judea and Samaria as the "West Bank" of the Jordan River (which includes Israel) or the "Occupied Palestinian Territories...After the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), British Mandate for Palestine (1922), San Remo Resolution (1920), and Treaty of Sevres (1920) created international law, and recognized and re-established the historical indigenous rights of the Jews to their land... the League of Nations recognized "the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country". The Jewish people's right to settle in the Land of Palestine, their historic homeland and to establish their state there, is thus a legal right anchored in international law...

The right of the Jewish people to "settle" in the so-called West Bank, and Israel's right to annex parts of Judea and Samaria (part of Palestine) derive from the Mandate (Levy Report of July 9, 2012).

Pursuant to the Mandate, the right to annex some parts of Judea and Samaria is a direct consequence of the right of the Jews to settle in all Palestine i.e. the territory of the 1936 Mandate...Jewish rights of "settlement" in the so-called "West Bank" therefore exist; it cannot seriously be contended, as the EU, France, Britain, Russia, China and other states do, that Jewish communities in the West Bank are illegal and that annexation is contrary to international law. This position is political, not legal. Despite UN resolutions to the contrary, the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not inconsistent with international law.

Israel, the Jewish State, as a member of the international community has the right but also the duty to fulfill the Mandate that most nations disregarded, fearing terrorism and the Muslim world, and animated by 2,000 years of religious hatred and anti-Semitism. One hundred and three years passed since the Balfour Declaration, 73 years since the 1947 UNGA Resolution 181 was rejected by the Arab states, 52 years since the 1967 Six Day War, and 27 years since the Oslo Accord. The Oslo Accords of 1993 and 1995 were signed but did not lead to peace. The Palestinian Authority (PA) does not want peace; they refused Israel's offers, made in 2000 and in 2008, for a Palestinian state and to live in peace...Israel has the duty to draw the logical consequences of this behavior and annex all or some of the territories in Area C, to secure the existence of its population within secure borders, and to be able to receive those of the millions Jews still living in exile who wish to settle in Israel...According to international law, the Jews are the indigenous people of the lands referred to as Judea, Samaria, Palestine, Israel and the Holy Land. Jewish rights of "settlement" in the so-called "West Bank" therefore exist; it cannot seriously be contended, as the EU, France, Britain, Russia, China and other states do, that Jewish communities in the West Bank are illegal and that annexation is contrary to international law.

Michel Calvo was born in Tunis, Tunisia. An expert in international law, he was a member of the International Court of Arbitration representing Israel. He is the author of The Middle East and World War III: Why No Peace? with a preface by Col. Richard Kemp, CBE. Published by the Gatestone Institute in French, German, Spanish and Czech. The Honorable Michel Calvo is a personal friend of Christian Friends of Israel since 1980.

What Does the World Say about this Controversy?

The world, the European Union, the German Foreign Minister, the World Council of Churches, leading international lawyers, and many others are scrambling to condemn Israel. Why? It seems when Israel takes one step forward the world wants to push her ten steps back. Why does the world turn a blind eye to terrorism perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists on Israeli private citizens, innocent people trying to live normal lives while the Islamic world and the west go crazy with anger if Israel tries to defend her citizens. The World Council of Churches appealed for a firm stand by the WU against any annexation by Israel. The world seems to be drawing up Israel’s map for her...the European Court of Justice is protecting the BDS movement, the Palestinian Authority continues to incite terror attacks and violence in different degrees against the Jewish people, while the world also continues to feel sorry for those in the Gaza Strip ignoring the prosperity in Gaza and do not want the rest of the world to acknowledge. Now we also see the Gulf States pressuring the United States to push Israel onto their timetable...the controversy over Israel never seems to stop.

How should Christians be responding?

As Christians living in Israel if we listen close enough, we can hear the Judean hills alive with the sound of music to our believing God is also singing over Israel at this time. “He will celebrate with singing...” (Zephaniah 3:17). The Bible is replete with many references to the restoration of Israel, which should be a key subject in the Church today. If the trees of the field truly clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12) then much rejoicing should be able to be heard in Heaven as some Christians in Israel plant trees in Judea-Samaria and contemplate how they can be a blessing the Jewish people as they arrive home, settle into life in Israel and contribute positively in Christian love to community life in Israel in these Biblical heartlands. “For Christians, the prophets promised that the children of Israel would return to these mountains and rebuild Jewish cities and Jewish towns. And that is what is happening now, with around 400,000 Jews living in the Biblical Heartland – whether Israel “annexes” the territory or not.

The Jewish people’s claim to the historic Land of Israel was recognized by the international community of San Remo Conference in 1920 and in the League of Nations mandate decision in 1991”. (ICEJ). ‘”This was not the granting of a new right to the Land, but recognition of the Jewish people’s pre-exiting claim as an indigenous people seeking to reconstitute their national sovereignty in their ancestral homeland. Nothing since has abrogated or voided that right to sovereignty over the Land of Israel, including those areas now commonly referred to as the West Bank...” (Christians for Israel). And finally, the Jerusalem Post headlines recently read: “Annexation is not a Christian issue”. For Christians, the prophets promised that the children of Israel would return to these mountains and rebuild Jewish cities and Jewish towns” (Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, JP). Where should we be standing? Alongside the Jewish people. Biblically, Israel has the “right of redemption”, the title deed from God to the Land and purchased much of it through signing deeds, signed, sealed and delivered according to the law and customs of ancient Israel. (Study Ezekiel 37:25, Pg. 1298 along with footnotes (The Israel Bible) along with Jeremiah 32:6-8, 9, 10,42-44 for extra study on the right of redemption and inheritance. Let’s be found in the Center of God’s Will when He Comes. ” I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.” (Jeremiah 32:41, NIV).

Sharon Sanders

CFI News Insights.

Pictured: The Israeli city of Ma'ale Adumim, at the edge of the Judean Desert.

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weekendwarriorblog · 4 years ago

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The Weekend Warrior Home and Drive-In Edition June 26, 2020 – MY SPY, IRRESISTIBLE, THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS and more!

June comes to an end as we passed through the summer solstice over the weekend. The 4th of July is next week, and the opening of movie theaters in New York and L.A. is edging closer, yet it still feels like the summer of 2020 will be forever known as the summer that never happened. I’m not even sure if I’ll be trying to predict the box office until things settle down, and we get into some semblance of normalcy, and that may never happen if scientists are to be believed that COVID will return in the fall.

The big release for the week isn’t actually coming to theaters but to Amazon, and it might be the biggest movie to air on the streamer to date. As you may have guessed from the title, I’m talking about the STXfilms action-comedy MY SPY, starring David Bautista, which was one of the first movies to be delayed when COVID hit back in March, but that was after it was already delayed a number of times before that. The simple high-concept premise has Bautista playing super-spy JJ, who is demoted to keep an eye on the wife of a suspected gunsmuggler with his tech assistant (Kristen Schaal). No sooner do they start this surveillance mission, the woman’s 9-year-old daughter Sophie (Chloe Coleman) catches them and she blackmails JJ to teach her how to be a spy.

Yup, this new comedy from Peter Segal (Get Smart, Second Act) is as high concept as you can possibly get, and yet, and quite surprisingly, My Spy is rated PG-13, as opposed to be a straight-up kiddie friendly PG, but you can read more about that in my review.

Mini-Review: It seems like every potential muscle-bound action star has to have one of these movies in their filmography where they’re teamed with a young child co-star that inevitably steals all their scenes – I won’t bother to list them all. Former WWE star and Marvel regular, Dave Bautista, has a precocious co-star in Chloe Coleman, who is so delightful as Sophie you can easily forget that this is straight-up formula comedy

I’ll be honest about the fact that totally unironically, I’ve been looking forward to seeing My Spy since I first saw a preview at Cinema-Con back in 2019. It was a bummer to miss the press screening in March, because it meant having to wait three extra months to finally watch it on my computer. Surprise, surprise, the movie more than met up to my expectations, as I found it funny, cute and from time to time, it even throws in a few unexpected surprises.

I’m definitely in the camp that Bautista hasn’t done anything particularly great as an actor outside playing Drax in the MCU, and JJ isn’t that much smarter or less muscle-bound. The set-up for his character to connect with Coleman’s Sophie is pretty obvious, but there’s no denying that Bautista and Coleman are so adorable and hilarious as an on-screen duo that it more than makes up for any of the misgivings one might have about what is meant as an accessible movie with mainstream appeal. (In other words, this was never meant as an artfilm, so if you’re one of those snobby critics who gushed all over last year’s Uncut Gems, and you refuse to accept that there’s an audience for My Spy, then you’re a fucking hypocrite, plain and simple.)

Speaking of the F-word, I have to mention My Spy’s rating, which is not the PG one might normally expect, though it’s not due to violence or bad language or anything that awful that you couldn’t watch and enjoy this with your 8 to 10 year old. I felt I should get that out there in case any parents have misgivings.

Besides the main duo, there’s some nice added comedy from Kristen Schaal, as well as the seemingly obligatory gay neighbors, played by Devere Rogers and Noah Dalton Danby, who somehow manage to avoid stereotypes while providing a recurring bit of humor.

The movie starts getting a little predictable when Sophie pushes JJ to start dating her now-single mom, and things start losing a little steam as the movie gets away from the JJ/Sophie bonding and back to the actual plot, and that’s where the movie’s biggest problems lie. When the “villain” of the piece shows up, things get back into the usual formula that most will be expecting anyway. I will add that director Peter Segal seems to be particularly well suited at directing this, particularly when it gets into some of the action in the last act.

Sure, some of My Spy’s funniest jokes have shown up in various trailers, but turns out that it’s a fairly warm and funny movie that does its job in providing solid family entertainment.

Rating: 7/10

Jon Stewart returns to political comedy with his new movie, IRRESISTIBLE, (Focus Features), starring his former “Daily Show” correspondent Steve Carell as Gary Zimmer, the Democratic strategist who failed so horribly running the 2016 Presidential election. Undaunted, Zimmer hopes to revive the party by rallying behind a likeable everyman, Col. Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper), as he runs for mayor of the small town of Deerlaken, Wisconsin. It would seem like an odd decision but clearly, the Republicans know that Zimmer has something bigger planned so they send their own strategist, Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), to get behind the incumbent Republican mayor.

It’s pretty obvious this movie is probably more in Stewart’s wheelhouse than his previous film, Rosewater, but it also has more mainstream appeal and could help Stewart continue to get directing work in the future. Sure, there have been many similar political comedies like this that have tried to find the audience -- Bob Roberts, Primary Colours, Wag the Dog,Swing Vote -- but I’m not sure any of those came out when the country has been as divided as it is now.

It’s pretty nice seeing Stewart reuniting with Carell, who does a decent job in this fish-out-of-water comedy that mostly relies on how a DC bigwig might acclimate to a sociable smalltown – think Groundhog Day to the Nth level – which makes this comedy fall more into the vein of Matt Damon and John Krasinski’s Promised Land, which I thought was a very underrated political film.

I’m a big Rose Byrne stan, and once again, we can see how delightfully funny she can be when playing such an awful person like Faith Brewster, but there’s quite a bit of fun awkward sexual tension between her and Carell. Another part of the equation is Hastings grown daughter, played by Mackenzie Davis, and most people watching this will probably hope this doesn’t go too far into that romantic realm, and thankfully, it doesn’t.

Irresistible may be a little predictable at times, but there’s a nice turn towards the end that makes up for some of the more obvious aspects of the storytelling, and Stewart certainly seems to be enough in his element to make this not too horrible an experience.

This week’s “Featured Film” is Peter Medak’s documentary, THE GHOST OF PETER SELLERS (1091), about how Hungarian filmmaker ran into problems with Sellers while trying to make the 1973 pirate comedy Ghost in the Noonday Sun, an experience that almost ruined the filmmaker’s career. It’s kind of interesting for a filmmaker to take an in-depth look back at his own failures, but Medak’s story is particularly touching, only because it didn’t seem like he stood a chance when Sellers refused to show up on set and then brought in his equally eclectic best friend Spike Milligan to work on the script and create even more chaos.

Honestly, I have never seen Ghost in the Noonday Sun, but I enjoy a lot of Medak’s films that followed, including The Changeling and the excellent Romeo is Bleeding, so I went into this doc knowing that this incident didn’t completely kill Medak’s career, but obviously, it had a huge effect. It ends up being a fairly emotional film as Medak interviews some of the producers on the film as well as Milligan’s widows and others who were around during that period. He also learns new things about how he was dismissed from the project and used as a scapegoat for all the problems faced by the production, which began when the boat built for the movie crashed upon arriving in Cypress. I generally like movies about the making of movies even when I haven’t seen the original movie, and Medak finds a way to offer some true sentiment and emotional insight into his tenuous relationship with Sellers.

Out now on VOD is Laura Holliday’s DADDY ISSUES (Gravitas Ventures), starring Kimberley Datnow as a Henrietta, a 20-something stand-up who has moved from London back to L.A. to take over the family business after her father dies and leaves her the company. She takes on this challenge in hopes of earning her now dead father’s approval.

I knew from almost the minute this started that I was going to hate this twee high concept indie that seems like so many other indie movies where the person putting it together had so many ideas but not enough actual story glue to hold all those ideas together. It’s fairly obvious from the slice of “Henry’s” stand-up set that begins this movie that she isn’t particularly funny. On top of that, she seems like another one of those spoiled and entitled Millennials who just isn’t happy unless she’s getting her own way. When the story quickly shifts to L.A., and she’s surrounded by even more annoying Millennials, it gets even worse, especially because it feels the need to follow her best friend and housemate on their own journeys as well.

I have to say, as someone who didn’t automatically hate the recent Valley Girl remake, that Daddy Issues is infinitely worse, not only because it doesn’t have the fun musical numbers but just because it seems like such a precious endeavor that doesn’t seem like it will really be able to connect with anyone other than the filmmakers. I found Datnow’s Henrietta to be so pathetic and again, not very funny, so getting through this movie was grueling, to say the least. At one point, Henri falls for an asshole named Hunter whom she had one date with. When that doesn’t work, she tries to reconnect with a couple other idiotic guys, but then she goes back with Hunter, and the whole time I was watching this movie thinking, “What’s the point? Are there really people this stupid and annoying on the planet?” (That’s rhetorical.)

Jon Swab’s RUN WITH THE HUNTED (Vertical) stars Michel Pitt, Ron Perlman and Dree Hemingway, and it will premiere On Demand this Friday. At first, it follows a young boy named Oscar (Mitchell Paulson), who commits a murder and runs away from home, leaving his childhood friend Loux wondering where he went after saving her from an abusive father. Oscar joins a band of misfit kids who pick pockets and commit crimes, but 15 years later, Loux goes looking for Oscar (now played by Michael Pitt).

I’m not even sure where to begin with this indie crime-thriller that’s so flawed from beginning to end, it was tough to get through most of it. The first hour deals with the younger Oscar and much of it deals with him getting in with a teen girl named Peaches and a young gang of hoodlums, led by Mark Boone Junior and Ron Perlman. It’s kind of interesting seeing Perlman playing the leader of a group of young pickpockets and thieves since he played the protector of those sorts of kids in one of my favorite movies, The City of Lost Children. That’s really the only thing those two movies have in common, as this feels like another poorly-realized attempt at… possibly modernizing Oliver Twist? (I mean, the band le by Pitt’s character are even referred to as “The Lost Boys,” so it’s obvious that Swab didn’t care too much about originality.

The sad truth is that Pitt has been fairly mediocre as an actor lately, after showing so much promise in his early days, and Run with the Hunted doesn’t really offer anything particularly new to what’s generally a pretty tired genre. Perlman is one of the better parts of the movie along with Isiah Whitlock (last seen in Da Five Bloods), and they have a fine scene together, but otherwise, the material is weak, and it leads to a dull and often outright dumb offering.

I still haven’t figured out what Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga is, but apparently, it’s a spoof comedy starring Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams that will debut on Netflix this Friday. It also reunites McAdams with her Wedding Crashers director, David Dobkin, so I’ll definitely check it out, since it looks very funny.

Mini-Review: I have to admit this movie seemed to come from out of nowhere. I really felt like I only started hearing about it when the trailer debuted last week, but otherwise, I had no idea that Ferrell had reteamed with his Wedding Crashers director and with that film’s romantic lead, Rachel McAdams. What this spoof comedy has going for it is that it combines a number of things I enjoy, including music and Iceland.

Will Ferrell plays Lars Erikson, one half of the synth duo Fire Saga, with his childhood friend Sigrit (McAdams), the two of them having the life-long dream of representing Iceland in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Lars also has to contend with his disapproving father, played by Pierce Brosnan, but in general, everyone in their Icelandic town thinks they’re awful. They seem like longshots to represent Iceland in the song contest but an unfortunate incident leaves them as the only option.

We might as well get out of the way the fact that this is essentially a one or two joke comedy that follows the formula of so many other Will Ferrell movies, including Blades of Glory, but if you’re a fan of his comedy, then you’ll probably enjoy his latest offering, which he also co-wrote and produced. When Dan Stevens shows up as the Russian competitor, Alexander Lemtov, who has machinations for Sigrid, it’s pretty easy to figure out where things are going.

Either you like what Ferrell does while in full-on “idiot mode” or not, and Fire Saga’s on-stage mishaps probably offer the biggest laughs. The other level of humor involves just how silly the actual Eurovision is, even though it’s obviously more of a European thing than it is something that Americans will understand. I’ve always loved Rachel McAdams, and I generally think she’s better when she’s doing comedy, as she makes for a great counter to Ferrell’s zaniness.

In general, the movie allows actors like McAdams, Stevens and Brosnan to goof around and have a fun time being as outlandish as Ferrell. (Just watching Brosnan trying to pull off an Icelandic accent may be worth the price of admission alone.)

Make no mistake that this is not a small movie, and it’s quite a huge production when you consider all the enormous musical numbers representing the different international contestants. I could have easily seen this doing decently in theaters, although its 2-hour run time does seem a bit frivolous since there’s also quite a bit that could have been trimmed.

As much as Eurovision Song Contest leans heavy on its main overall joke about Fire Saga being quite inept, particularly Ferrell’s Lars, I generally enjoy this type of spoof of comedy even when it ventures into very predictable territory. In the end, Eurovision Song Contest offers as many laughs as Popstar: Never Stop Stopping, even if it’s not quite as heady as a movie like Walk Hard.

Rating: 7/10

Former lawyer turned filmmaker, Cam Cowan’s documentary, Madagasikara (Global Digital Releasing), takes a look at three women in Madagascar fighting for the survival of their families and education of their children amidst domestic political instability and the poverty that’s been caused by it. Cowan made his first trip to Madagascar in June 2014 and spent four years filming and doing post on the documentary which will debut on Amazon Prime and Docurama Friday after its festival run, but will be available platforms down the line.

The Blind Melon/Shannon Hoon doc All I Can Say (Oscilloscope) has the singer returning from the grave by compiling the many videos he filmed of himself between 1990 and 1995 before his death at the age of 28. Co-directed by Danny Clinch, Taryn Gould and Colleen Hennessy, it will hit virtual cinemas as well as record stores and music venues this Friday. (Not quite sure how that all works, but hey, I was never really a Blind Melon fan anyway.)

Coming to Virtual Cinema on Friday is Ina Weiss’ The Audition (Strand Releasing) that follows a violin teacher named Anna Bronchy (Nina Hoss) who finds talent within Alexander, a student at the music-focused high school, neglecting her own family in the process.

Opening in Virtual Cinema Friday through almost 50 arthouse theaters across the country, including Brooklyn’s BAM, is the British-Nigerian drama, The Last Tree (Artmattan Films) from filmmaker Shola Amoo, which received a number of awards at the British Independent Film Award after its Sundance 2019 World Premiere.

Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema will present Three Short Films by Sergei Parajanov (FilmLinc), featuring work by the Armenian-Georgian filmmaker that range from 1967 through 1988. FilmLinc will also premiere Bora Kim’s 2018 South Korean film, House of Hummingbird (West Go USA/Kino Marquee), a Berlinale prize winner set in that country I 1994, as it follows a 14-year-old through a series of romances and indiscretions.

Film Forum’s own Virtual Cinema will conclude its Alaistar Sim trilogy with the 1951 comedy, Laughter in Paradise, directed by Mario Zampi, as well as screen Zhang Yimou’s 1995 film Shanghai Triad, starring Gong Li. (There’s actually a lot of movies available via Virtual Cinema that will end this Friday, including two series of Kid Flicks shorts, so definitely try to go through the listings and catch what you can!)

This week also sees the third and final volume of Time Warp: The Greatest Cult Films of All-Time with Volume 3 looking at “Comedy and Camp,” once again hosted by Joe Dante, John Waters, Ileana Douglas and Kevin Pollak. Some of the movies covered in this volume include Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Rock and Roll High School, Office Space, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Showgirls with guests that include Gina Gershon, John Cleese, Fred Willard, Jon Heder and many more. I really have enjoyed this documentary series, and if you’re a fan of movies that are just a little outside leftfield, this is a great addition to your library.

Available on DVD this Friday is the documentary No Small Matter (Abramorama), co-directed by Danny Alpert, Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel, which looks at early childhood education and how that has changed how kids learn, now at an earlier age than ever.

This week’s big virtual festival is the 25th Nantucket Film Festival, which will be running from June 23 – 30 with a combination of films and events like a number of “In Their Shoes..” talks with Norman Lear and screenwriter Eric Roth (both hosted by my pal Ophira Eisenberg), as well as one with improv comics, Thomas Middleditch and Ben Schwartz, that one moderated by Michel Ian Black. Also, the Oxford Film Festival will screen two features virtually starting on Friday, Mindy Beldsoe’s The In Between and Braden King’s The Evening Hour, although the latter can only be viewed in Mississippi.You can get tickets for both on Oxford’s Eventive site.

Also this weekend, there are a few returning shows, but they’re coming to HBO Max only, and that includes the third season of Search Party and the second season of Doom Patrol, which originally premiered on DC Universe. So yeah, there’s definitely a lot to watch this weekend.

Netflix will also release George Lopez’s new stand-up special, George Lopez: We’ll Do It In Half on Saturday and the third season of the German series, Dark.

Next week, it’s the 4th of July weekend, and we’ll have more movies not necessarily in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

#theWeekendWarrior #MySpy #Irresistable #TheGhostOfPeterSellers #DaddyIssues #RunWithTheHunted #Movies #Reviews #Streaming #VOD #eurovisionsongcontest

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pegasusdragontiger · 7 years ago

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The Stupid and Moronic things Steve Rogers Has Done List

Pairing: Pepper Potts/ Tony Stark, Thor/Jane hint at Darcy Lewis/James Barnes/Steve Rogers

Rating: G

Warnings: Fluff and feels, Laughter.

Summary: Well someone hands Bucky a list and things don’t turn out so well. No Super Soldiers were harmed in the writing of this fic.

Okay so I got this Idea from this post that was sent to me by @queendivaofthedark pegasusdragontiger sent a photo post omg #22 whoever created the cartoon is a gem and I want to hug them so much! Cause it was like an idea buzzing in my head and told @bolontiku about and she said to me write it and tag her! Also I like to shout out to @glynnisi I sent out a call like months ago for a list of all the Stupidest and moronic things and funniest things Steve has done from the moment he rescued the Howlies and Bucky to meeting up with Bucky again and it must have been a day or too afterwards or maybe three? Anyway I tagged @mcgregorswench to help and she was like the one person to ask @glynnisi and it must have been like 4 mins later BAM I HAD THE LIST! which I have copied and saved so the list I give credit to her so If you want said list I can post that too. Lastly to my bestie/my friend/ my sis from another mother she is like a rock filled with sunshine you is has been and meant so much to me we met on Ao3 randomly and been besties ever since. By the way still planning on ruling the world or plotting can’t remember which but we will get their with our fics! This awesome funny, hilarious person beta’d this fic which I hope, I hope lives up to everything. anyway to my beta @littleplebe HERE IT IS PEOPLE!

It was early morning when Steve and Bucky came in from their daily morning run, all tall, sweaty, gorgeously built men slightly puffing from their 15 km run. Sam hunched over, trying to drag air into his lungs. “You guys do this to me all the time, god… damn you both! I can’t breathe, I can’t move!” He collapsed on the floor. “I’m dying! I’m dying!”

Chuckling at Sam lying on the floor gasping for air, Bucky teased, “Sure you are, birdy!” He walked into the kitchen to get started on breakfast. It was his turn on the roster of kitchen duty. As he bent down getting all the pans, knives, chopping boards and the ingredients needed for what he was going to be cooking, he asked Jarvis to wake the others and notify them about breakfast.

Only a select few of the Avengers could cook. Steve, Bucky, Nat if she ever felt inclined to, which wasn’t often, and Bruce. The other person was Darcy, who was not an Avenger but her food and deserts were legendary.

While Steve prepared the pancakes, Bucky worked on scrambled eggs. He chopped the onion, bacon, tomatoes, cracked the eggs, added milk and a bit of butter, His left hand quickly whisked all the ingredients in a bowl Once the pans were hot, they started to cook.

“Jarvis, can you heat up the oven please?”

“Of course sir!”

Bucky heard the sound of the ovens turning on and watched the pans while waiting for everyone to arrive.

The smell of scrambled eggs and pancakes brought in Nat, Darcy and Thor with a struggling Jane behind him. The scientist was still in sleep mode and mumbling science equations under her breath. Next came Bruce, also drowsy from the all nighter he had pulled with Jane and Tony. All threw a half-hearted good morning to each other before grabbing a glass of juice or a mug of coffee to start their day.

Sam, having just recovered from their morning run, got up from the floor and greeted everyone before heading off to his room to have a shower before breakfast. He walked a bit bowlegged, which made Bucky look up and smirk.

Rhodey and Pepper ambled in. Pepper had her power suit on for her meeting with her team in the morning before she was due for a conference with Stark Industries’ board for their annual meetings.

The last person to shuffle in was Tony, hair all over the place, eyes half lidded, with two posted notes on his face which he didn’t seem to notice. He made a beeline for the coffee machine, simply grunting at everyone as a form of greeting.

Plates and silverware were placed on the table; Sam and Nat started removing the food from the oven, placing them on the table; and Bucky finished the last lot of bacon in the pan. Steve flipped the last pancake and placed it on the already towering stack. Making sure everything was on the table, they moved to take their seat when the vent above him popped open and out dropped Clint, looking like he’d just woken up, hair tussled, yawning and rubbing his eyes. When his eyes landed on Bucky, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a booklet which looked like it had been stapled together. He handed it to Bucky with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Here’s a list of all the stupid things Steve has done while you were gone!”

All conversations at the table stopped, eyes wide and forks with food hovering in the air, every gaze fixed on Clint and the two super soldiers. Grinning like a loon with a death wish, the archer quickly went and took his seat at the table, greeting everyone and piling food in his plate, making sure it rivaled the mountain of food set before Thor.

Nat looked between Steve and Bucky with open interest. She nudged Clint and tilted her head towards the two men yet to sit at the table, her amused eyes silently asking ‘what is that booklet?’ Clint simply winked and tapped his nose in a secretive gesture.

Steve gaped at Clint, then at Bucky, seeming nervous to utter a single word. Bucky frowned and turned the booklet over to see Clint’s recently uttered words in block letters like a title. Underneath, it said, ‘Written by Agent M. Carter, Howling Commandos , Col. C. Phillips. Edits by N. Fury, Agent M. Hill and Agent N. Romanoff.

Bucky’s mind was going a mile a minute, his brain trying to compute what the hell kind of things the list would reveal. His Winter Soldier side scoffed at the silliness, thinking this was the most ridiculous thing he had heard of! But his Bucky side, once he had skimmed down the detailed list, tried to calm his mind down, reminding himself to take deep breaths, to force the air from his lungs, to breathe in and out. In his poor mind, the Bucky from forties was in shock but also wanted to stare really hard at Steve and give him a scolding.

No, that won’t work on Stevie, Bucky thought. I need to do what Steve’s mom used to and cuff him over the head for his stupidity.

“Bucky? Buck?” Steve’s worried voice sounded as if from a distance.

Bucky looked up at his friend, his expression changing from cool best bud to dark and stormy like the Winter Soldier in a span of a few seconds.

“You okay, Buck? You need to breathe?”

Not realising he was holding his breath, Bucky took in an unsteady breath. He locked eyes with Steve and finally spoke, forgetting their audience, “What’s this, pal?”

Steve looked nervously at the booklet. “Um… I don’t know.”

“Whaddaya mean ya don’t know, you punk?”

Steve looked shocked at Bucky’s tone, then narrowed his eyes. “Means I don’t know, ya jerk.”

Both glared at each other. Then Bucky shoved the booklet under Steve’s nose and demanded, “Then why does it say Here Is A List Of All The Stupid And Moronic Things Steven Grant Rogers Has Done While He Was Captain America?”

Steve gaped at the booklet like a fish out of water, mouth opening and closing, eyes wide as they carefully read the title and the names below it.

Bucky was on a roll as he continued, “Why does it say written by Agent. M Carter? Huh! And Howling Commandos? Col. C. Phillips? What the hell, Steve?”

Steve’s mouth was set in a comical O. He shook his head in denial, trying to form words to answer Bucky. At that moment, an old memory hit him like a bullet. A conversation between Peggy and Gabe, long ago, when they were planning an assault on Schmidt's base in the Alps. They were all sitting together, laughing and joking, when Gabe teased, “Wouldn’t it be funny if we made a little booklet on the stupid things Cap has done since he rescued us?” Everyone snorted and Peggy shook her head before letting loose a smirk which hinted that she might already be planning on making such a silly list! At the time, Steve had thought Bucky would have liked that even though it would have gotten him into trouble! Now, though, after having done several more ‘stupid things’ as they said, Steve wasn’t so sure about Bucky calming down so easily and seeing the humor in it.

Steve shook the memory from his mind and realized Bucky still stood before him reading the booklet. Steve couldn’t believe they did it. The loons actually made the list! They actually sat down with each other and wrote all the crazy things he did, with a few updated things added. Mind racing, yet his breathing staying calm, he oh so slowly backed away from Bucky, knowing what was going to come. He decided a quick getaway was in the cards, knowing Bucky was reading the list, he backed further and further away.

His stupid shoe made a squeaky noise and Steve sighed in frustration, wanting to burn his shoe into nothing but ash. He looked up as Bucky’s head slowly glanced up, eyes blazing, mouth turned in, eyebrows scrunching up. Bucky slowly counted one to ten in his head before saying incredulously, “It’s twelve pages, Steve, twelve pages!” He looked down and when he looked up again, Steve had made more progress in moving away from him. “It’s double sided, Steve! DOUBLE SIDED!”

Steve stayed where he was. “Ah hehe,” he tried to laugh it off, pulling the innocent smile he used on all the ladies in the neighbourhood, the smile that got them both out of trouble a few times back in the day when they were kids. That smile could get him away with anything and everything; all he had to do was the “aww shucks ma’am” routine and bam! The little old ladies didn’t know what hit them. Even Bucky’s own Ma didn’t catch on till Stevie’s Ma talked to his, and then little Steve and Bucky didn’t get away with some of their stuff anymore in his home.

“Now Buck, it’s,” Steve started eagerly. “It’s not that bad, really. Only a few... just a few things I may have done? Nothing like near death experience!” He moved to put himself past the table and behind Darcy who was raptly watching the morning’s entertainment.

Bucky took murder struts closer to Steve and the table, waving the booklet that he got turned to page 4, or was it 5? Who cared? “Nothing near death?” Bucky’s voice rose. “Not too bad?... Just a few things, right? So jumping out of a plane while said plane was being shot at isn’t near death? How about signing up for an experiment program without knowing if you will live to see it through or DIE?”

“Now hang on a minute,” Steve interjected quickly. “That was Dr. Erskine and he was confident.”

“Confident, eh? His only other test subject was Red Skull and if I remember correctly, his SKULL WAS RED! AND HE HAD ANGER MANAGEMENT ISSUES PLUS BEING INSANE! Oh but wait there's more! YOU CRASHED A PLANE IN THE ARCTIC? WHEN DID YOU LEARN TO FLY A PLANE? Look at these, Stevie, look at them! This is insane!” He waved the booklet around everyone at the table.

They were all watching the scene like a tennis match, eyes flitting back and forth, seeing who won each point. Tony was so riveted, he had asked Jarvis to slyly keep score. Clint wiggled giddily in his seat and smiled while shoveling food in his mouth.

“I didn’t! I just took a guess is all!” Steve stammered, fidgeting under his best friend’s furious gaze.

“GODDAMIT STEVE!” In a bid to calm down, Bucky closed his eyes. “And don’t you dare move from that spot, you punk! I’m not through with you!” He remembered something and his eyes opened in a glare. “YOU JUMPED OUTTA PLANE WITH NO CHUTE YOU ARE A GODDAMN MORON!”

Steve, looking suitably ashamed, nodded his head. “Okay, that one I admit was stupid but it was in the middle of the ocean it was reckless I admit.”

“Oh, reckless now, is it? Didn’t ya Ma tell ya to not be so damn stupid? You could have died, you have a death wish huh, Steve? Jeez, you have more sense when I’m with ya than when I’m not!”

“Look at this, STEVE parachuted (on plus side, he used a parachute!) into the middle of a pissing contest between Iron Man and Thor; argued with a somewhat unstable narcissistic philanthropist playboy genius to the verge of fighting him in armor; nearly plunged to death off back of helicarrier, but managed to hold on by one tiny strap while dodging bullets; broke into super top secret Phase 2 SHIELD weapons storage (should have been guards there); aced down an entire squad of alien army guys and got blown out window to crash onto car; let Tony Stark blast shield with repulsor rays in hopes they would bounce off and hit baddies (yay! it worked even tho we had no time to practice/test that); and this one has to be my favourite of all -- elevator fight, 10 men and one hand behind his back most of it, then elevator JUMP through girders to marble floor nearly 150 ft below with only shield to dampen fall.” Bucky paused and turned wide eyes to Steve. “WHAT POINT IN YA GODDAMN MIND MADE YOU THINK JUMPING OUT OF A LIFT WAS OKAY?”

“I had no choice--”

“No choice! STEVE, YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE! IT’S JUST THAT IT ENTERS YOUR BRAIN BUT IT WON’T COMPUTE!”

“IF YOU’D LET ME FINISH, YA JERK! I HAD NO CHOICE! THEY HAD HYDRA SWAT COMING DOWN THE HALL TO THE LIFT AND I HAD NO WAY OUT. JUMPING OUT WAS MY ONLY OPTION!”

Both of them huffed and puffed, staring each other down, too furious to say words. Bucky threw the booklet on the table and moved toward Steve, who jerked and darted away as Bucky chased him around the table.

It was a funny sight,one man trying to escape and the other trying to catch and whack him hard for his stupidity. Not really hard, but to cuff him over the head for being a moron and to make up for what his Ma couldn’t do! God bless her soul, she would be rolling in her grave for sure at Steve for being so careless.

The rest of the Avengers watched with varied degrees of shock and amusement while their food sat uneaten.

Clint giggled like a loon and said to Nat, “Wanna bet Barnes gets Stevie good?”

Nat, looking on in her Black Widow way, side-eyed Clint. “How much you willing to bet?”

Tony, having heard them, piped up, “Hang on, hang on, are you saying that Barnes will be the winner of this esteemed fight, not our fearless leader?”

Clint smirked as if he was seeing dollar signs before his eyes. “Yes, got something to say about do that, Tony?”

Pepper looking between the three of them. “Tony, don’t you dare!” she warned. “Every bet you go into with Clint and Nat you never win! And I have to listen to you whine and complain for three weeks, Tony! THREE WEEKS!”

Tony looked affronted. “But...but Pep, I can’t not support our Cap!”

Clint and Nat were grinning like a grinch at Christmas time. “Scared, Tony?” Nat asked slowly, chewing on her piece of bacon.

“No! Jarvis you will look after the bet and the money.”

“Of course, sir.”

“I bet 150 on Cap to kick Barnes’ ass!”

Clint rubbed hands together. “Oh yeah, 250 in favor of Barnes, Jarvis!”

“Of course. Anyone else want to place a bet?”

“Goddamnit, Tony!” Pepper looked pissed with each minute passing by.

Rhodey looked on in equal horror and entertainment. “Now I can’t let you say that without backing my buddy! Jarvis, make note, 100 on Cap!”

“Noted, sir.”

Thor laughed. “This is the best entertainment I’ve ever had during a meal” Smiling widely at Jane, he asked, “I would also like to make a bet my love, do you approve?”

Jane was shoveling food into her mouth and chewing while muttering equations. She took a while before her head came up and said, “Hmm what...what?”

“Tony, Rhodey and Clint have made a bet that either Barnes or Steve will win this mighty battle, was wondering if I could make one?”

“Oh ..um? 200 on Steve.”

“Oh a good suggestion, mighty Jarvis, I would also place 500 Asgardian gold coins!”

“No, no! Jarvis, place 150 US dollars on... who did you pick?”

“Oh, can’t I use Asgardian coins?”

“No, Thor. Asgardian currency doesn’t work here!”

“Such a shame. I was going to pick mighty fair Steven!”

“Jarvis! Please can you?”

“Done, of course, Dr. Foster”

Sam was looking on in amazement. He grinned and said, “100 on Steve please, Jarvis.”

“Done, sir.”

Darcy was trying not to daydream and moon over the hot men chasing each other around the table. “200 on a draw!” she said.

Everyone looked at her in disbelief.

Tony complained, “That’s not fair!”

Bruce said, “I’m not getting involved.”

Tony and Clint whined, “Please come on, it’s not fun without you!”

Bruce sighed, giving in. “Fine. 50 on Barnes! Okay can I get back to my food, please?”

Tony and Clint jumped in their seats. “Pepper, darling Pep, are you going to…?”

“No Tony! You know betting isn’t my thing! 50 on Barnes, Jarvis.”

Tony stared at her, stunned and betrayed. “You? You went against me!”

Pepper smiled. “I did it to teach you a lesson.”

Nat, still not having bet, said, “250 on a draw, Jarvis.”

“What?” Clint exclaimed. “You can’t do that!”

Natasha looked over at Clint with her murder stare. “I can and I just did!”

Clint sulked while going back to the action going on around him. “It’s not fair.”

Steve took a chance and ran for the lifts; Bucky noticed the slight change in direction and did an impressive leap over the table and over people’s head to go after him, yelling, “YOU CAN’T RUN OR HIDE FROM ME, STEVE! I WILL GET YOU, MARK MY WORDS!” He caught him before the entrance into the hallway and with his strength on display pulled him back in a wrestling move to the floor. Everyone at the table all stood in shock, including Clint with mouth open and food tumbling out, stood to watch as the two very grown and adult men wrestled like 4 years olds over a toy or the last piece of Mrs. Barnes or Mrs. Rogers’ cake. Grappling with each other... hits, kicks, and punches thrown in with the occasional grunt.

Their Brooklyn accent came out as they yelled at each other and Tony asked if Jarvis was recording this for movie night in the future.

“Of course sir, would I ever let you down?”

Thor said to Jane, “This is the best breakfast I have ever had, we should do this more often!”

Darcy finished her food and looked at the two men she had a crush on for so long! It wasn’t everyday you see your crushes get all annoyed, mad, pissed to the point they were fighting on the floor. Everyone got up and cleaned everything up, leaving them some food for when they finished their little fight.

One everyone went their separate ways, both Steve and Bucky slowed down to a stop. Exhausted, they stayed on the floor, looking at each other. “This is why you don’t ever do missions without me! I stop your stupid from taking over and making you do moronic things!” panted Bucky.

Laughing at each other, Steve nodded. Nat, walking by, shot them a grin and said, “ You really think, Steve, that all that stuff would only take 12 double sided pages? Really? Oh Steve, we have so much more to share with everyone!” Smiling serenely, she turned around and walked out with a spring in her step, calling out to Clint to wait up.

Bucky looked at Steve as if to say what! Darcy coughed to let them know they weren’t alone. “We left you some food on the table. Just make sure you clean up after yourselves!” Smiling at the both and praising herself for not making an absolute fool of herself, she sauntered out of the room not noticing the two soldiers watching her walk away. Two dreamy sighs were heard as they watched the one person whose opinions mattered. Darcy Lewis made them feel warm and homey.

Bucky laughed at the expression on Steve’s face. “You’re mooning again, punk, stop it.”

Steve huffed in annoyance.“I’m not mooning, you are.”

“Am not, you are.”

“No, you!”

“You!”

They glared at each other, not moving. Then, sighed and pulled each other up from the floor and walked to the table to have their hot breakfast.

Bucky chewed his food and said, “I know you love her, ya punk. Just make a move!”

Steve sighed. “I will. Just let me get a chance to work up to it!”

“What in heaven's name do you have to work up to? Just walk down there and tell her how we love her to bits and bits! And want to date her that will lead to an Asgardian marriage and then little Darcy/Steve/Bucky toddlers running around getting into mischief like we did!”

“If you’re so confident of saying all that to her then why don’t you do it?” Steve challenged.

“Cause I’m a deadly assassin and she wouldn’t like to hear it from me.”

They stayed there for a long time, arguing over who should go down there once they are done to ask out their dream girl.

The End

Tagging: @bolontiku @magellan-88 @always-an-evans-addict @ilovethings-somuch @littleplebe @mcgregorswench @glynnisi @ryverpenrad @aenariasbookshelf @anais-ninja-blog @phoenix-173 @wahwahwaffles @mee2themoo @idontgettechnology @theycallmebecca @mycapt-ohcapt @cinnaatheart @leftennant @hollyspacey @holdmecloseandfast

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timalexanderdollery · 5 years ago

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Live: The impeachment inquiry’s first public hearing

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William Taylor and George Kent will testify at the first public hearing in Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.

Update: The first impeachment hearing has concluded. The next hearing will be on Friday, November 15, and feature testimony from former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

After that, there will be hearings on Tuesday, November 19. The morning will feature Jennifer Williams (a State Department official advising the vice president’s office) and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (a National Security Council staffer). The afternoon will feature Kurt Volker (the former US special representative to Ukraine) and Tim Morrison (a National Security Council staffer).

On Wednesday, November 20, US Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland will testify in the morning. Defense Department official Laura Cooper and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale will testify in the afternoon.

Then, on Thursday, November 21, former National Security Council staffer Fiona Hill is scheduled to testify.

Original post: The first public hearings in the House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry will kick off at 10 am ET Wednesday, when Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee call their first two witnesses: William Taylor, the top US diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, a State Department official. You can watch them testify on CSPAN or other major networks, as well as streaming live on Vox’s Facebook.

Led by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the hearings are intended to publicly spotlight evidence and testimony Democrats believe is quite damning for President Donald Trump — evidence that Trump tried to urge or coerce the government of Ukraine into investigating Trump’s rivals for political reasons.

Both witnesses, Taylor and Kent, extensively testified behind closed doors to the committee last month and are now expected to reiterate their accounts for the American public.

Taylor had a front-row seat for events at the heart of the scandal as he was working with State Department officials who were trying to get Ukraine to commit to the investigations Trump wanted. And Taylor criticized the effort in real time. “As I said on the phone,” Taylor wrote in a text to a colleague, “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

Kent was based in Washington but he was aware of some of the current scandal’s episodes while they were unfolding. More broadly, he has deep experience in Ukraine and has strong views about what’s happening here: namely, he believes that corrupt oligarchs and former Ukrainian officials won Rudy Giuliani’s ear.

As the first public testimony in a presidential impeachment inquiry, Wednesday’s hearing will naturally be historic. However, few are expecting dramatic new revelations, since these witnesses have testified behind closed doors already. The hope, for Democrats, is to throw more of a public spotlight on what Taylor and Kent are saying — and, in contrast, Republicans are hoping to discredit them.

The scandal: Trump and Ukrainian investigations

To recap: Democrats launched their impeachment inquiry in September after a scandal broke about President Trump pressuring the government of Ukraine to investigate the family of his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden.

Initially, concerns were raised inside the administration by an anonymous whistleblower, who filed a complaint in August — a complaint the administration initially tried to withhold from Congress. “I have received information from multiple U.S. Government officials that the President of the United States is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 U.S. election,” the whistleblower wrote.

The story first told by the whistleblower and then corroborated and expanded on by other witnesses, documents, and reporters since then, goes as follows:

Shortly after Ukraine elected a new president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in April 2019, Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani began urging Zelensky’s team to launch certain investigations Trump wanted.

Specifically, Trump’s team demanded investigations into Burisma (a Ukrainian gas company that Joe Biden’s son Hunter sat on the board of) and into purported Ukrainian interference with the 2016 US election.

When Trump talked to Zelensky on the phone on July 25, he brought up both investigations specifically and urged Zelensky to talk to Giuliani and Attorney General Bill Barr about them.

The Ukrainians were seeking a White House meeting between Trump and Zelensky. Trump officials told them that they wouldn’t get it unless they committed to those investigations: a quid pro quo.

Trump also blocked nearly $400 million in military assistance Congress had approved for Ukraine’s government. One official, Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, admits telling the Ukrainians that they wouldn’t get the aid unless they placated Trump by launching the investigations.

Democrats’ argument is simple: This was an attempt by Trump to solicit foreign help interfering with the 2020 election, it’s a corrupt abuse of power, and they are now seriously considering impeaching Trump for it.

Trump and his defenders, meanwhile, have offered a shifting series of arguments — either that the facts on certain matters, such as the withholding of military aid, aren’t clear, or simply asserting that even if Trump did do all this, he shouldn’t be removed from office for it.

The hearings: How they’ll work

After announcing their impeachment inquiry in late September, Democrats conducted the first stage of it behind closed doors — asking various current and former administration officials to come in and give sworn depositions about what happened between Trump and Ukraine.

The effort proved fruitful — surprisingly so. Some key officials obeyed a White House instruction to refuse to testify but others, mostly from the State Department or the National Security Council staff, showed up anyway and answered questions. One, Kurt Volker, even turned over a set of text messages that have become key to the investigation.

Democrats used this phase of the inquiry to gather facts about what happened, away from the cameras — as well as to figure out which witnesses would be most forthcoming and knowledgeable. Meanwhile, Republicans complained about these closed-door hearings — but those Republicans who were on the relevant congressional committees were permitted to attend and participate in the questioning.

So now, Democrats are moving to the next phase: the public hearings. And they intend to run things as follows.

The first round of questioning will be 45 minutes each for Schiff and Devin Nunes, the committee’s top Republican. However, both Schiff and Nunes are likely to delegate significant amounts of questioning time to staff attorneys — specifically, Daniel Goldman for the Democrats and Steve Castor for the Republicans.

This will be a change of pace for congressional hearings. They’ll start off with a lengthy block of time for a professional questioner with ample time for follow-ups, rather than the traditional five-minute segments trading off between Congress members of each party. (Democrats believe this approach, which they experimented with at the end of a hearing in September, will be better suited for telling a coherent story.)

After that first 90 minutes is up, the hearing will revert back to that traditional format of five minutes per member of Congress for questioning. Democrats expect things to wrap up sometime between 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm.

The witnesses: William Taylor and George Kent

Democrats have decided to begin their hearings with two witnesses who they have good reason to believe will be helpful to their narrative. Both are State Department officials with long careers and deep experience in Ukraine in particular, and both are rather appalled by what Trump did with Ukraine.

William Taylor’s official title is chargé d’affaires of the US embassy in Kyiv, making him currently the top US diplomat there. His background includes stints in the US Army and in various diplomatic posts (including serving as Ambassador to Ukraine under George W. Bush).

Taylor was asked to reenter the government this year to replace former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch (though he does not have the ambassador title). He testified that he had some trepidation about accepting the job — due to a “web of political machinations, both in Kyiv and in Washington.” And indeed, soon after he took up the post in June, he realized that there was a separate, “highly irregular” channel of US policymaking, one that included Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, as well as US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.

Taylor testified that Sondland told him early on — all the way back in late June — that the Ukrainians had to commit to certain “investigations” if Zelensky wanted a White House meeting with Trump. Referring to detailed contemporaneous notes he took, Taylor chronicled how his concern over this increased as the summer went on.

By early September, Taylor said, he grew even more concerned because a colleague told him that Sondland was now linking hundreds of millions of dollars in withheld military aid for Ukraine to the investigations. “Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations?” he asked Sondland in a text. Taylor says Sondland soon spoke to him on the phone and confirmed that he was doing just that — at Trump’s behest. He said something similar in another call on September 8, Taylor testified:

Ambassador Sondland tried to explain to me that President Trump is a businessman. When a businessman is about to sign a check to someone who owes him something, he said, the businessman asks that person to pay up before signing the check.

Finally, on September 9, Taylor put his concerns in writing again: “As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” he texted Sondland. The ambassador then called Trump himself to discuss how to respond.

For a sense of what Taylor will say, check out his full closed-door testimony from last month at this link.

George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, will be testifying alongside Taylor. Kent is a career foreign service officer who has served two stints in Ukraine over the years and took up his current Washington-based post in the summer of 2018. Ukraine is currently one of six countries in his portfolio.

Compared to Taylor, Kent wasn’t as personally involved in the events that transpired in Ukraine this summer. What he will bring to the hearing, though, is deep knowledge of the country, combined with strong opinions on the machinations that have been taking place. Kent made clear in his closed-door testimony that he believes Giuliani has been working with several corrupt current or former officials in Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office to push allegations that have no merit.

Kent will also be able to speak authoritatively about the Bidens’ role in Ukraine. He testified that, in early 2015, he did tell a member of Vice President Biden’s staff that Hunter Biden’s board seat on the gas company Burisma could be seen as a conflict of interest. However, Kent said, he was told that because Biden’s other son Beau was dying of cancer, there was no “further bandwidth to deal with family-related issues at that time.”

Kent will also debunk the claim from Trump allies that Vice President Biden pressured the Ukrainians to fire a prosecutor general, Viktor Shokin, to help Burisma and his son. He testified that the idea to push Shokin’s ouster came from the US Ambassador to Ukraine at the time, not Biden. He also testified that Shokin was extremely corrupt — when an anti-corruption unit in Ukraine went after his former driver (and seized a cache of diamonds from him), Shokin “went to war” to try to retaliate against anyone involved in the investigation, Kent said. That is why the US determined he had to go.

For a sense of what Kent will say, check out his full closed-door testimony from last month at this link.

What’s next after the first hearing

After Wednesday’s hearing wraps up, the next planned hearing is on Friday, when former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch is slated to testify. She was ousted from her post back in April so she wasn’t around for many of the key events of this scandal. But her fate is a sort of prologue to the story since she is viewed as the victim of a smear campaign from Giuliani and his Ukrainian allies.

The Intelligence Committee is expected to call more witnesses for further hearings next week but this phase of the inquiry will likely conclude before Thanksgiving. After that, the House Intelligence Committee will write a report summarizing their findings.

Once Congress returns in December, the action will shift to Rep. Jerry Nadler’s House Judiciary Committee, which will review that report and likely draft articles of impeachment against Trump.

Any articles of impeachment approved by the committee will then be sent on to the full House to be voted on. Democrats hope to hold those votes before Christmas. If a majority of the House votes to approve any article of impeachment, then Trump is impeached and the process moves forward to the Senate, which will hold a trial determining whether he should be removed from office.

As for what will happen, the current state of play is that Trump is quite likely to be impeached in the Democrat-controlled House as even most moderate Democrats profess to be disturbed by the Ukraine scandal.

But it’s tremendously difficult to actually remove a president from office. It takes a two-thirds vote in the Senate (a threshold that has never been reached), and that chamber is Republican-controlled anyway. And so far, nearly every Republican senator — Mitt Romney being the lone exception — remains supportive of President Trump. Democrats hope their hearings will create a public uproar that will reshape that political situation, but that will be a tall order.

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