#also obvious joking nature of the tweet aside

[sonknuxadow]

also i am begging for people to realize that the "everything is canon" post from the sonic twitter account was a joke. it annoys me so bad that people use that tweet as a source in their arguments about sonic lore and stuff or just take it seriously at all ..... it literally means nothing it was just a silly comment they made when retweeting sonic and puyo puyo tetris crossover art but people always crop out the context when reposting it

[wirewitchviolet]

Gotta love that automation of moderation, don’t you?

So hey, it’s almost the end of the month, which means it’s time for my monthly tradition of making a little post over on that one website whose new owner is doing an amazing job of flushing it down the toilet, and look what I see:

Like nearly everything I post on that site, you will of course note that that’s clearly starting mid-sentence. I make a conscious habit of doing that specifically so that any time someone tries to take a single post out of context to defame me, it’s plainly obvious to onlookers that they aren’t seeing the whole thing. The full context for this for instance is here, if you’re curious. It’s part of a big post I made back in March on the Trans Day of Visibility, talking about how I don’t partake in the general tradition of posting a bunch of selfies and career highlights because stalkers are looking for ammo, you know, case in point.

So, first off it’s probably worth noting that this was actually flagged at 2:40 AM on November 23rd. A whole 8 months later, in the middle of the night, the day before Thanksgiving. So I’m going to make an educated guess that what probably happened here is one of the various foaming at the mouth bigots, probably living in England where it is neither a holiday nor a weird time to be up and looking to start crap, decided it was a good time to try and ruin my life some more, did a nice simple little search for my handle and the word “kill” and just punched through the “sending a death threat” form using a succession of burner accounts until the post stopped loading. Pretty standard tactic there.

This of course confirms my theory that while the entire staff of humans handling abuse reports is most likely no longer employed at Twitter, save for whatever skeleton crew is hyper-focused on permanently suspending people for making jokes at Elon Musk’s expense, the automated system that generates messages like this based purely on submission volume is still up and running.

So... here’s where this gets dicey. Before me are two buttons I can press. I can click that shiny blue text that says “appeal” at which point, as I understand all this, I will be given a little form where I can type a message along the lines of “hey, this was clearly sent in error. While part of what I was saying is cut off due to this being somewhere in the middle of a 50 or so post long thread, it’s still quite plain here that I am talking about being on the receiving end of violent threats, not making one myself.” At this point I would be locked out of touching the website in any way shape or form until this form is looked over by... someone who to my knowledge is no longer actually employed, nor slated to be replaced by anyone, plunging me into eternal limbo.

The second option is that I can click that big red “Delete” button, breaking this big long thread in half (which honestly doesn’t concern me too much, I’ve made much better versions of this sort of speech, and don’t really expect anyone to naturally find something from 8 months ago), but A- I’m pretty sure doing so would permanently flag my account as some sort of troublemaker, and much more importantly B- We have this little sentence above that button that says “By clicking Delete, you acknowledge that your Tweet violated the Twitter Rules.” Now aside from the raw pedantry of knowing damn well that it most certainly did no such thing, the rule it is erroneously claiming that I broke is... threatening to murder someone. Pretty sure, legally, that is not a thing you want to formally confess to doing if you didn’t actually do so. For that matter I’m also pretty sure that making a blatant false accusation that I did is libelous or something, but I dunno. If any lawyers are trying to round out their pro bono quota before the end of the year and want to explore that, let me know I guess?

So... I’m pretty terrified about what’d happen pressing either of these two buttons, and without doing so (or probably with doing so for that matter) I cannot post anything nor even look at anything on Twitter there for the foreseeable future. Which... is kind of a really serious problem financially. My two professions are journalism, which is just completely 100% tied to that site as the only way one can presently pitch stories to most editors, and game design, where freelance work is in the exact same boat where the only real way to get it is to pester editors on there. And it’s also kinda the place where I’d normally plug my Patreon, which aside from what freelance work I can find is literally my only financial lifeline, and is presently pretty darn low because people tend to unsubscribe to these sorts of things around the holidays to build up that gift money. And I am broke broke. Like, I have this last week of this month to find a little money somehow in a hurry or I won’t have enough to pay my rent and my electric bill. Next month, I won’t have rent covered even without electricity. Seeing as we’re heading into an unusually cold winter, there’s a chance I’m going to actually freeze to death because of this.

So if you’ve bothered reading all this... help? Like, share this blog post around, link to it on what’s left of Twitter and/or on whatever alternative you may have jumped over to? Pester whoever’s left on Twitter’s support staff about this clearly having been flagged in bad faith? Maybe try and get this in front of some media people? Or an editor willing to just commission me to write about it directly (or, you know, about anything else? There’s been a lot of recent stories in the news about transphobic laws and hate crimes and that’s explicitly been my beat for the past decade or so). Maybe throw some cash at that aforementioned Patreon to help buy me another month of barely scraping by? This is kinda life or death for me.

[cherrykindness]

wild tweets |

pairing: Harry Styles x Actress!Reader

summary: as newlyweds, you and harry read thirsty comments for buzzfeed.

warning: it's thirsty tweets, so below there is adult humor 😳

"It's a bright, sunny morning in Los Angeles, and there's nothing I want more than to be on BuzzFeed and read wild tweets alongside my husband."

"Thirsty tweets, babe." Harry corrected, laughing out loud with the producers behind the cameras.

"Thirsty Tweets." You said quickly, putting your hand over your mouth to stifle a giggle. "I'm terrible at that, I'm sorry. Can we start over?"

"Let's take a break for one to two minutes. You've given us a great introduction, Y/N."

You shook your head, smiling shyly before turning to Harry, who was already watching you with that easy smile at the corner of his lips. You liked how his hand remained firmly on yours, making those circular movements with the thumb that always served as a natural medice for your anxiety.

"You look so fucking beautiful."

The pleated dress with flounce sleeves fit you like a glove. You had made peace with the various shades of white since the wedding and knew that Harry liked to see you in that color too.

"Thank you, you're not too bad either, Styles."

You intimately suspected that Harry would always seem far beyond that "not bad" that came out as a euphemism from your mouth. He wore nothing but a pair of bell-bottom pants in a strong shade of blue and a soft vest printed with fluffy little sheep on a striped American collared shirt - in your opinion, no one could look better in farm animal clothing than Harry Styles and Princess Diana with her red "Black Sheep" sweater in the 1980s. In contrast, you knew your husband well enough to know that he was arrogant and knew exactly how hot he looked - you also made your thoughts clear enough when you kept him backstage beyond ten minutes in a rather heated kissing session.

"Are you anxious?" you asked curiously, remaining with downcast eyes fixed on the strokes that remained assiduous on your warm skin. "To read about how the whole internet dreams of fucking my wife?! Of course." Harry joked, leaning over to leave a small one on your cheek. "We agree on that, don't we? Although I'm a little nervous, I'm really interested to know all the crazy things they say about you. Everyone knows you're mine at the end of the day, that's enough."

At the end of the break, you and Harry made a silent agreement that you should be the first to pick up one of the scattered papers in the red pot. There were quite a significant amount of tweets, and as much as you were used to reading rather sordid things about your husband on the Internet, the excitement was there as if you were wading into uncharted territory.

"I would be a good girl all year round if Santa guaranteed me a threesome with Harry and Y/N Styles on Christmas Eve." You laughed, Harry staring at the camera with an expression close to the meme of the surprised Pikachu. "You guys are incredibly nasty, I love it."

"If that was the first one, I'm really worried about the next ones." Harry commented with a little corner smile, picking the next tweet out of the bucket. "I have an entire folder on Pinterest dedicated to Harry Styles' hands, and let me tell you why: those hands are art, and art needs to be recognized."

"What- Guys, you promised you wouldn't post my anonymous tweets here." You quipped with false reproach, laughing at your own stupid joke while everyone else in the studio did the same. "But I can't blame her, honestly." Shaking your shoulders, you opened another piece of paper. "Harry Styles finally confessed that he wrote Watermelon Sugar for Y/N!!!! Are you guys imagining the same thing as me?!!!!!! 🥵🍆💦"

"Exhausted emoji, eggplant emoji, and water emoji?" Harry frowned, staring at the tweet you held up. "I imagine you're in need of a vacation somewhere refreshing and you're craving a fruit that everyone eats like it's really a vegetable."

"That reminded me of that story-" You laughed, hiding your face on the table as Harry continued to offer a poker face to the camera, struggling not to keep up with you laughter. "I'm sorry, lovie, I have to share this with the rest of the world." You stated, wiping a few tears from the corner of your eyes. "Harry always wears those fancy suits to concerts, right?! Right! Turns out he looks really hot in some, like his ass molds perfectly into those tight pants and everything. I was home that night because I wasn't feeling well enough to face the big crowds, but I was still following everything on twitter. It was a concert in London, not so far from where we lived at the time, so it was obvious that he would come home after it was over. I follow some portals that do really fast updates of pictures, videos, etc; everything that happened at Harry's concert was on my timeline in a matter of seconds. When one of these profiles uploaded a picture of him with his back to the camera in a heavily accentuated black and white suit, I quickly sent him the image along with a peach emoji and then wrote "looks good tonight". He didn't reply to me until a few hours later, of course, but I obviously didn't expect a "ready for a Fifth Avenue peach salad for dinner?" and numerous cutlery emojis."

Harry rolled his eyes comically, indulging in laughter as did everyone else who occupied the backstage area.

"I'm against the eroticization of emojis." He said between uncompensated breaths, shaking his head negatively. "Let's go to the next ones, please, I'm already feeling exposed enough here."

"I like your old-fashioned spirit, baby." You assured him with a smile, laying on the sturdy shoulder hidden under the fluffy fabric.

Harry chuckled low, leaving a little kiss on the top of your head before selecting the next paper. The fans would die when that video aired, everyone was sure. You two easily forgot the cameras when you were side by side, and the public display of affection had never been a problem.

"My life mission is to look at someone the way Harry looks at Y/N and be reciprocated the way Y/N looks at Harry, then I could die happy." Harry read. "That was very good and healthy, thank you!" He smiled. "But don't settle for death in that case, please. Just make sure to keep that person around forever."

"Awn, we got so sweet now." You made a pout. "Thank you for sending us something so cute! I really hope you find the right person soon." Sending a kiss to the camera, you moved on to the next tweet. "I wouldn't want to get a golden ticket to visit Willy Wonka's factory, I would like to get a golden ticket to actively participate in Y/N and Harry Styles' Honeymoon.

"That was creative, so I will disregard the fact that you removed my last name from my wife's name." Harry joked.

"I will always be an Y/L/N." You flashed the tongue. "We had a great Honeymoon, but I know you guys already know all about it because there are pictures all over the internet of outings that I don't even remember existed."

"Even though we chose a rather reserved city, many paparazzi still managed to photograph some of our nights there." Harry agreed. "There was one particular day when we opted to have dinner at a restaurant near the beach. Y/N had found it even before the trip, it was pretty laid back and we could spend the evening at karaoke. I don't really remember what happened, but we woke up the next day with a terrible hangover, still wearing the clothes from the dinner and with several headlines saying that I was cheating on my wife in the middle of our Honeymoon with a blue-haired italian girl."

"That wig made me sexy, man." You blinked, laughing as you remembered the situation. "It's a shame the paparazzi only got low quality images, but I swear I looked really amazing that night. Italy, I miss you."

"We're coming to the end and I haven't had to ask production for a glass of water yet, thank you to whoever selected these tweets." Harry raised his thumb to the camera, smiling before turning his gaze back to the small paper he had chosen. "Y/N could literally punch me in the face and I would just bow down and thank them for it." He laughed. "She has heavy hands, so I would rethink that choice."

"It takes strong hands to be a superheroine." You blinked gracefully, referring to your works as a Marvel actress. "I move around a lot during the night, so I'll take this lovely opportunity to say that twitter can dismiss all the malicious theories about Harry always show up with a new bruise all over his body."

"Please stop making indecent assumptions while Y/N is aggressive with me at night only unconsciously, her father has access to social media."

You laughed, clearing your throat before reading the next obscenity aloud.

"I would sell all my possessions to have Y/N sitting on my lap for ten seconds."

"Oh my God." Harry laughed out loud, throwing his head back. "I should have said that in our wedding vows."

You shook your head, laughing low as you set the tweet aside.

"That was pretty funny and cheeky, I approve."

"Okay, looks like we finally got to the last one." Harry announced, waving the paper in the air dramatically before opening it. "Harry could literally crush me with those boots while fuc- I need that glass of water." He said dumbfounded, hiding his face between his hands after throwing the tweet over his shoulder. You laughed out loud next to the organizers, and meanwhile Harry leaned his head on your bust, staring at you still with wide eyes. "Please promise that we will be careful with our future children on the internet."

[littlefreya]

Saw this tweet that was like "if villain bad 🤔 then why sexy 🙄✋" *cough august walker cough*

Aye aye! The meme is not wrong.

But aside for the joke. Casting HenryBear as August Walker was a brilliant decision for several reasons.

Henry is an amazing chameleon actor, but looks always precede. August is tall, charismatic and otherworldly handsome. He looks suave with his hair freshly cut and wearing a clean suit. A man like August can have everything he wants, he is an alpha and you’d imagine he’d be living the life exploiting his traits to get what he wants for free, but he doesn’t care about these things. On the contrary, his point of view are much more complex. He has bleak, philosophical views on the way the world is and the funniest part is that the old world order he wants to dismantle is a world that benefits him the most as a good looking white man.

Having a character so good looking and convincing makes you question your own morals as a viewer. August is not just pretty in my opinion. He is also very likeable. During his dialogue with Sloane where he tries to frame Ethan, it’s quite obvious that August is the bad guy (he gives Sloane the device picked up from the fight with fake Lark only that we know that the device was shattered and the one he hands over is completely intact). It’s one of the only times in the movie where we get a hint about August’s decision to go rogue where he speaks about Hunt but refers to himself.   

For the target audience of Mi6 Henry is Superman. The ultimate good guy who fights men like August. So the dichotomy between good and evil is fairly emphasised and even though most people knew August was the villain before watching the film, you have no idea how cruel and cold he is until you actually get to see it.

Destroying August’s face at the end of the film was sad but necessary to expose August’s true “monstrous” nature and his duality. 

Seriously I can write an essay. I love August too much 🥺. He’s really a well constructed character. I wish they’ll bring him back 😭

[wtfzodiacsigns]

How to tell if your crush is reciprocated based on their Sun Sign.

GEMINI

Gemini may be flirting with you and you may think omg they like me back, but be careful. Look at their next interaction. Oh they are flirting with that person too? Yep, that’s a Gemini for you. Naturally charming and flirtatious so flirting with you is not a good enough confirming sign. Gemini is a sign of nervous energy & when they are with their crush this nervousness can become quite apparent. They will talk and talk and talk but about nothing really & will probably say all sorts of strange things. Their nerves compel them to speak and they feel that conversation is a good way to snare u temporarily so they may bask in ur glory. If your Gemini suddenly becomes a nervous wreck or has a personality change (maybe becomes silent/shy) in your company they quite likely want you. 65 - 85% of the time though you will know a Gemini likes you because they invite u to everything & message u lots, but this depends on how many crushes they have on the go.  U could also ask one of their friends, cos everyone else will have the gossip. Gemmy in love can’t stop talking about u when ur not around.

ARIES

If you’re wondering if your Aries crush likes you back then sorry they probably don’t. This lot are very open when it comes to admissions of love/lust/whatever. If they like u, u will simply know. They’ll have told u already 100 times or at least it will be ridiculously obvious. Aries are very straight forward and they hate dilly dallying. If you’re the one they want they will get the ball rolling immediately. Expect lots of texts and a keen interest in meeting up & organising dates whatever. Straight forward people! Will prob show off in front of you whipping out all sorts of weird party tricks & jokes, making sure your eyes are always on them. May get obviously jealous if they see you having a good time with someone else. If you’re still unsure, just ask. They’ll be upfront if it’s a go or no.

LEO

Leo will let you know they like u. They might not simply text u, “ur the one for me x0x0x” but they will show u how they feel. Every time u hang out with Leo they will be trying to outdo the last d8. These are extravagant types & will do anything to ensure ur having the time of your life with them. If you let Leo be in charge and control these dates they are bound to like you even more, they love to be flattered too so dish out the compliments. Make them the centre of ur world. If they like u back you will receive compliments right back. Leo compliments are very genuine & feel very good to receive. They only compliment people they admire so it’s a good sign if they’re telling u how smart they think u are or how kind u are to those less well off or sexy u r or whatever. Leo will want to see u every day and probably for the majority of the day too. They can become very jealous of u spending time with anyone else & u will see this clearly, it’s unhealthy af but a good sign ur their crush.

TAURUS

If your Taurus crush cooks something amazing and time consuming for you then u can betcha they love ya. These are people who like to indulge in the good things in life and when they like you they will 100% share with you. Taurus is good at setting a romantic mood so if they invite u over to theirs “to just chill” and there’s low lighting and cushions and drapey fabric everywhere and some ambient dance music playing and a bloody cheese platter and red wine, yep this one wants you. Aside from that though it can be hard to tell if they are into you. Taurus likes to take a long time to get to know someone. They’re trying to work out if you are worth the hassle. With time though all becomes very apparent. You will probably have to be the one who brings your feelings into the open first and they may need time to process that, but if they come back to you smiling (possibly tipsy) well, mission accomplished.

CANCER

Hmm this isn’t an easy one to call. Cancers are moody and with them u may feel like yesterday u were their favourite person, but today they’re ignoring u but ur sure u  did nothing wrong! I’m sure u are in fact still their fave, it’s just Cancers are worry warts & maybe are scared that u don’t like them back so in a way shut u out for a while. When it feels like they like you though u two are probably eating something really great together, snuggling up watching something, feeling very much at ease in each others presence. Maybe they will read u their fave poem. There will be a lot of fun & quick back and forth chatting. A Cancer who likes you wants you to have a fun time with them so will keep the atmosphere light and silly. This is another of the signs where if you don’t know if they like you or not, you’re the only one wondering. They will have told everyone around them & will prob be writing a tweet about u right this second. Cancer is a warm & caring sign, if u get a lil papercut they will fuss over you like u lost a finger. If they introduce u to their parents then yep you have them.

VIRGO

Super picky Virgo will come to you when they deem u worthy of their time. Not an easy one to chase. These people want their partner to be perfect. If they are giving u the time of day, giving up their time, then u can feel safe and know they are most likely very keen. Once they decide ur the one they become fidgety & nervous in ur presence. Initially anyway. Virgo is a smarty pants intellectual sign so ur dates probably involve long discussions about idk pretty boring things. Tbh this a test. They’re checking that u can stimulate them. That ur on to it. It’s unlikely that they will open up much to u for quite some time. Let them know they can trust u & if they do end up talking feelings with u that’s a good sign they’re crushing on u too. Virgo will want to look after u and make sure ur healthy, eating good & happy, so will cook some super food salad, take u on a hike then listen to all your woes and hug u tenderly. They will dote on u but without displaying tooooo much affection. If u really want to know how they feel about u just ask them. They’re great communicators.

PISCES

Lol Pisces will prob be writing u a long love poem right now but most likely never give it to u. If u do receive a love poem, or maybe a brief but totally cute note then chances are u make them feel all mad butterflies and likely heart achy love sick. Pisces will incorporate u into their art when they like u. Maybe write songs about u (for u), send u long letters or draw silly pictures for u. Creativity is very important to them & so when they include u in this work it’s a given that they think u are important too. These cuties will give u so much time and affection when they like you. They will let u know that they are always here for u. They will let u in on all their deepest thoughts & feelings and describe in detail all their wildest dreams. With a Pisces u will prob see their affection for u in their eyes. Tho it may be clear they like u this sign wants a confirmation that it’s reciprocated before plunging in any deeper. So go ahead, let them know!

LIBRA

If Libra likes u they will want to spend a lot of time with u. They are happy to hang in group situations but will make efforts to get u alone. Libra is a very social creature so them wanting to just be with one person a a time & not in a gang is a great sign. Libra will find ways to touch u when they like u, they become very affectionate. Lots of hugs, hand holding, they will lean on ur shoulder. They can be like this with ppl who are just their friends tho so look out for them giving u special treatment. Maybe at the end of the night they gave u a prolonged hug while everyone else just got a quick squeeze. Libra might like u but can take a very long time to make their mind up so patience is key here. It’s possible that they will have even told u that they’re into you but they’re still not making the next move or maybe have distanced themselves from u. Show Libra that u rule & are worth it. They will appreciate the display of confidence. These guys can play hard to get, but stick with. A Libra who wants u will dress very well when they think they might see u.

SCORPIO

When Scorpio likes you the world revolves around u. Ur the one they will message first if they think up something fun to do. In a group they will ignore everyone else and just chat chat chat to u. They will wake up & think of u so send u a text. But they never straight out tell u how they feel. They prefer to work u out first. If they think u feel the same way, then they divulge. If they appear interested in u then they prob are. These Scorpios don’t fake interest. They only bother with those they truly want to be around. Sometimes u will look up and ur Scorpio crush will just be looking at u. They don’t even look away when u catch them. Just eye contact. Tbh they are prob thinking ‘wow i could just eat them up’ Sometimes you think your Scorpio crush fucking hates you, they can be quite rude and hostile to u & say cruel things u know they don’t say to other people. Forgive them tho, they don’t mean it and in fact like u a lot & just aren’t dealing with it very well yet.

CAPRICORN

If ur hanging out with one of their best buds & they are complaining that they haven’t text back but ur phone is vibrating non stop with messages from them, well they most def like u. When u get on a Capricorn’s radar, they will try and find out as much about u as possible. So when u hang out and they know u have 3 brothers and went to Steiner school but u never told them that don’t be shocked. Them admitting they know this info is a way of them telling u they are interested in u & ur life. They can treat u a bit hot and cold, & that stems from a fear of getting hurt. If u can prove urself trustworthy, Capricorn will tell u all of their secrets. And when u start feeling a bit like their private diary u can be 100% sure it’s a match.

SAGITTARIUS

When this lot like someone they try very hard to get their attention. If they see ur online they will quickly send u a message. The way a Sag crushes is pretty playground actually. Like they will show off to you & try and make u laugh by pulling faces & shit. Very playful. Sagittarius is an honest and open sign. They are likely to just tell you they like u. Especially if u seem sort of clueless about it.  In the same way though, if they don’t like u they will also let uknow. When around you a Sag will just smile and appear delighted if they’re crushing on u. If they’re up to something awesome & fun they are bound to invite u along. It’s pretty easy to tell with a Sagittarius, they don’t play games & are very straight foward. So if it seems good it most likely is.

AQUARIUS

U two will have to be good friends already. Aquarians view the friendship element of a romantic pairing to be the most important. So you’re friends and u already know they like u as such. How to work out if they potentially want to do pashing with u? Well, suddenly they will be more interested in the mundane aspects of ur life than ever. In the past a story of u forgetting to put the teabag into cup before u poured the kettle would have bored them to death. But now, they’ve never heard anything funnier. When Aqua is hot on u you become the funniest most interesting person in the world. Now you’re off to dinner at theirs expecting the whole gang to be around, but it’s just u and them. And there are candles on the table. Aqua can be romantic in a very cheesy way. How endearing! Best sign is that you have long long conversations that go well into the early hours & they just never get bored of what u have to say.

[mimiplaysgames]

The Ocean On His Shoulders (2/2)

Pairing: Terra/Aqua Rating: T Word Count: 4,321

Summary: She’s been waiting for him for so many years. When he finally sees her, Terra realizes that instead of saving her from the Realm of Darkness, he must save her from herself.

Read on AO3

A/N: Based on @steadyknight‘s prompt of Terra saving Anti-Aqua from darkness by breaking his heart into pieces. WHICH IS SUCH A SAD CONCEPT TO ME. I took the opportunity to explore the consequences of losing one’s memory, which is something brushed aside so often in the games. I completely feel that the consequences of this action are sadder than the action itself. And if you saw my tweet about how I write notes on my outlines and how I had no idea why I wrote down “potatoes” in one of them - this was the chapter I was talking about. I never figured it out, but I improvised, lmao.

It was absolutely imperative that she covered the table in mounds of food. A full basket of toast, a pile of sausages, a stack of pancakes, eggs ready on demand – it was enough to feed a miracle. And she needed it.

All she really wanted, after all, was the right to enjoy breakfast with her family, just like every other normal person.

Terra was happy to sit with them, gleefully accepting more meat when he wiped his plate clean. He repeated five times too many that she was a perfect cook, who had this magical ability to know precisely how to please his stomach.

It wasn’t magic. She had about ten years’ worth of trial and error in understanding what made him tick. Yet this didn’t really dawn on him.

To him, they only just met three weeks ago.

Maybe she thought that feeding him everything he loved would finally make him remember. He never did, and so breakfast continued to make her feel alone.

The only appropriate response to his praise was to accept it, and keep the mood uplifting. Was it to save face? Perhaps. There wasn’t a point in making him feel guilty for something that wasn’t his fault.

“I’ll be steaming rice with coconut syrup for dessert tonight,” she said as she sat down to take her rations. Her smile felt nothing but forced. “Served with mango.”

He stumbled with his words at first, in awe. The Terra she knew would have seen through her façade. Would see she was in pain. “See, you’re a genius.”

If only she could say how much hearing that stung.

“We’ll see if I can cook a decent dinner. As long as someone remembers to bring the potatoes.” She leaned over to Ventus, the exact person who was tasked at supplying her with the ingredients. He was stuffing his face with an entire pancake.

“I’ll bring them, don’t worry,” he said, his words muffled by all the baked flour. “You can store your wrath for a later time.”

“Her wrath?” Terra asked skeptically. He leaned an elbow on the table, his grin hiding behind his fingers as he eyed her, like a sheepish boy watching the girl he had a crush on. “I don’t think you’re intimidating.”

This was probably one of the more surprising effects she discovered: this Terra was pretty open about his attraction toward her. Something stopped him from wearing his heart this much on his sleeve before… he was probably scared of ruining their friendship, since it was also the same reason why she never initiated anything. Now, he had nothing to lose.

And she used to assume he really didn’t reciprocate her feelings. How stupid was she that she scared herself into thinking it would have gone nowhere. How she wished she had done something about it before their Mark of Mastery.

“Oh boy,” Ventus said, swallowing a mouthful. “One day, he’s going to regret saying that.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” she said.

“You’re only the worst person in the world to pull a prank on.” He shrugged, his grin twisting.

She snorted, because it was true. She was at least grateful she could rely on him to make her smile – these days, Ventus was really the only one who could help her. And he needed the laugh, too.

But that was the thing about inside jokes. They were a highly classified language, shared only with those who were invited.

The only thing Terra could do at a time like this was smile politely, like someone who understood he didn’t belong but it wasn’t appropriate to make it obvious.

It wasn’t that he was a complete stranger. He wore his usual sheepish smile, and bore his usual sincerity when it mattered. There still existed certain mannerisms that were so Terra – the way he held his chin when he contemplated, the shrug of his shoulders when he teased. The kindness in his eyes.

She didn’t want him to pick up his plate to rinse off, and to leave the room when he felt he wasn’t wanted.

At least he left with an act Terra would actually do – ruffle through Ventus’ hair.

He nearly forgot to do that, stopping himself at the doorway before coming back to reach over from behind the chair and sifting his fingers vigorously through the blond hair.

Ventus was displeased, staring up at the clumps of hair now flattened in front of his eyes. When he knew Terra was out of earshot, he dropped his fork and rested his head into his arms with an exasperated sigh. “I hate this.”

“I know,” she said, picking at her food. She hadn’t eaten a single thing all morning.

He took out his frustration on his hair, fixing it back up the way he liked it. “The real Terra would know when to play with my hair – and he wouldn’t mess it up!”

It was a ridiculous excuse for him to get upset about. “What’s really bugging you?”

Ventus sighed, dragging it out as much as possible while averting her eyes. His unique look of shame. She prepared for the worst.

“That mission he and I went on together the other day?” he started. “I kind of snapped at him. I felt unsure if I could handle fighting these large Heartless, and I talked to him about it but… The real Terra always knew the right words. He’d say something like ‘you got this’ and pat my head. And I got angry when he didn’t do that – I did apologize to him later, so you don’t have to tell me to do anything.”

He still avoided her eyes. “But now he follows me around and rubs my hair any chance he gets.”

“He’s just compensating,” she said. It had to be so hard on Ventus. Only the stars knew how often she stopped herself from begging Terra to please come back.

“I know…” He shifted uncomfortably on his chair, eyes darting around like he was afraid to say more. “Something else happened, too… he stopped everything and went really rigid.”

She inhaled sharply, remembering that Master Yen Sid had mentioned to expect strange occurrences. “What do you mean?”

“Like he became a statue and he stopped breathing. He didn’t talk to me about it, or tell me if he remembered anything.” He rubbed the back of his hand, finally looking into her eyes for some solace. “I don’t know what I said to make him do that.”

On instinct, she reached over to gently squeeze his forearm, lending him a warm smile. “We’ll be okay. I know it’s hard, but we just have to be patient and wait this out. He’s not going to stay like this forever, I won’t let it.”

She wouldn’t let it.

Those words sounded like something she would say, but they were foreign. She didn’t know where they came from, as she had no idea how to fix any of this. It was natural for her to put on a brave face – after all, she relied on it for thirteen years in the dark. Lying to herself that she was going to be fine.

Here she was lying again, acting like everything was going to be fine. But she couldn’t allow herself to fall apart in front of Ventus. She only did that alone.

And she was alone now after he finished his meal, with her food cold and untouched.

The sausage tasted like nothing, her sinuses clogged up from her dry sobs.

Master Yen Sid examined Terra shortly after he woke up. The diagnosis was that he had split his heart into two pieces, and gave one to her as a shield to protect her from the darkness. His memories of course had no choice but to scatter, the chains that linked them together completely broken.

What went through his damn mind to inspire him to do that, she had no idea.

The team at Radiant Garden couldn’t help, either. Wielding a Keyblade against a heart was forbidden and dangerous – Terra’s condition being a prime example of the consequences. Forcefully removing his piece from her body could be permanently damaging, and who knew what scars were already there.

They knew a witch who could re-link those memories, and his heart would grow to fill the whole left behind.

But they had to find a way to make her exist again. Or something.

She wasn’t going to pretend to understand exactly what that meant. Only that they were alone in their predicament.

If only she was strong enough to keep herself up when she was hurting, strong enough not to fall to darkness. If only she didn’t attack him like a beast. If only he had traded something else instead of his heart, like his Keyblade or a limb to save her.

Maybe she was a horrible person for even entertaining the thought.

It was hard not to. She endured the Realm of Darkness to give him a chance. What was the point of surviving if she didn’t have her family back? Was there a meaning or a life lesson behind her having to say good-bye to everything she knew?

Master Yen Sid had warned her against saying too much to Terra, or forcing him to remember things. It could be throttling. Or painful. It was best to let go and let any traces come to him naturally.

Which was easy for Yen Sid to say. He wasn’t losing anyone. Painful indeed – she dealt with it when she remembered that Terra was with her the very first time she ever saw snow. That they knew every good hiding place in the castle back in the Land of Departure – some of which they never shared with Ventus.

She questioned whether it was the right approach.

But observing Terra sometimes made her realize why it might be. Without any memories, Terra didn’t know the meaning of terror anymore. No Mark of Mastery to beat himself up over. No Xehanort. He was cheerier now, so much like how he used to be long ago before the stress of becoming a Keyblade Master took a toll. Before they were separated. And he deserved to be this happy and worry-free.

She still questioned whether she was doing the right thing.

The only thing that stopped her tears from falling each night was a warmth in her chest. Terra – the one she knew, the one who left a part of himself inside – heard her. And the stir in her heart would lull her to sleep, like he was hugging her from wherever he was, to remind her that she was never alone.

She placed her hands on her chest after dropping her fork, feeling him again. “I’m trying, Terra,” she said out loud. She spent so many years talking to herself in the dark, and being in the light was no different. “It’s so hard.”

A moment passed before she calmed down. It was still the beginning of a new day, and it will be long. Days in Disney Castle lasted far longer than any world she had ever visited before. But it was the best place for Terra to recover, she believed. He was surrounded by inhabitants who were jovial, trusting, and kind. They lived in the moment, completely undisturbed by the wars with darkness outside. They looked for reasons to stay positive.

She found him in the library - which was considered a lucky event being that it was so huge, numerous civilians have reported getting lost in there for days. He was escorting Queen Minnie, reaching up to a high shelf to fetch her a book. A grin on his face, he lived for any chance to be helpful, especially to a Queen who only stood as tall as his knee.

But it was when he was thanked and left behind that it hit her. Sitting by himself in a busy library the size of their academy with a small stack of books to keep occupied – he, too, must be lonely.

… When he leaned forward to hold his chin with one hand while reading the book with the other, he looked so much like Terra.

He glanced up when she approached him.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt-”

“Don’t be,” he said, waving to the lounge chair across from him. “I’d rather talk to you, anyway.”

She took a mental note to be this forward with him if he ever got his memories back. The stack of books next to him was a pile of heroic epics. One of them was The Adventures of Robin Hood, his absolute favorite growing up.

“What are you reading?” she asked.

He furrowed his brow, inspecting the words on the open pages in his hand. “A love story.”

“A love story?” Not something he’d usually be interested in.

“I didn’t think it was at first. It’s about these two flames. One of them started to overburn its wick, and was going to flicker out. It was too dark to be the only candle, so the other gave its blue core away,” he said, each word making her realize that she knew this story. “This would give power to its friend, making it last longer. You’d think it would die afterward, but now they are blended together, making the room shine brighter. And they never separated again. Sacrificing its blue core… that’s love.”

He showed her the book, and the illustrations are exactly the way she remembered them from childhood. The Tale of Two Lights. Two flames with eyes, and one of pictures showed a flame pulling its blue core out from the inside, like it had reached into its mouth.

Their Master used to read it to them to teach them about the nature of being a Keybearer. To protect others from darkness meant to be willing to utilize their own hearts as a weapon. Bonds kept light alive, and so it was important that Keyblade Wielders were always supportive of one another, for the darkness will try and snuff out a single light.

But he made sure to teach them to never underestimate the power of one’s own personal shine – the blue core didn’t burn like the tip of the orange flame, but its warmth was the most important.

Not once did she ever consider it a love story. Most of the ones she read were stupid and shallow. The prince kissed the princess and the happy-ever-after was given easily like free candy at a festival.

Nothing she read taught her the meaning of it, or prepared her for the choice of jumping into the dark abyss after a possessed Terra.

“That’s an… interesting interpretation,” she said.

“You know it?”

She hesitated for a moment. “Yeah. The Master used to read it to us when we were kids.”

“What was he like?” He leaned forward, his eyes asking more than his voice.

She wondered if refusing to answer him was infantilizing or rude. If he deserved to know despite that she might trigger an attack.

“He was strict,” she said, her eyes searching the floor. She couldn’t help the smile pulling at her lips as she ventured into her memories. “He made us run laps if we woke up too late. And he gave us extra assignments if we weren’t listening to his lectures.”

But Terra deserved something nice to hold onto, too.

“He thought our birthdays were the most important days of the year,” she continued, “and he never missed them. He liked his coffee black in the morning, and sipped red wine before he went to bed.”

The more she spoke of Eraqus, the more she could visualize him, enough that it pained her to remember she’ll never make him coffee again.

Terra rested back into his chair, his gaze downcast and sullen.

“I remember him.” At the sight of her piqued interest, he corrected himself. “Just a small vision. There are only feelings… I saw him die in front of me. I don’t know why, and that scares me.” His voice lowered significantly. “I think I might have done something horrible.”

“Terra, you were only trying to save Ven-”

“Were you there?”

“No…” Not even Ventus saw what happened exactly, and this wasn’t a conversation they finished before the catastrophe happened.

It was a conversation she needed to have, but now that it wasn’t possible, she only had her beliefs to hold onto.

“You’re the kindest person I will ever meet,” she finally said. “There is no better word out there to describe you, Terra. You could never even think of harming the Master.”

She had to believe it. If she was going to be honest, Terra was always the favorite student. The Master was often way harsher on him as a result, expecting too much. It was to his detriment at the Mark of Mastery, and it was unfair.

But the bond they had was unique, and there wasn’t a way – a single, damn way – that Terra would have a sinister inkling to hurt the man who raised him, even if he was resentful. Even if he had darkness and it was as black as ink. This was Terra, after all.

“I’m sorry,” he said, scrambling to find a tissue. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“It’s nothing to apologize for.” She quickly dabbed her eyes and wiped her nose. “You know, death and all. It happens.”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, a nervous sigh leaving his lips. “Death and all.”

Like two strangers surviving awkward small talk.

Terra was fine, though – no attacks coming to threaten him. But it was so unlike him to be unbothered by the Master’s death, like he never had a father, and she couldn’t bear to think about it. So she sparred with him to take her mind off of these things.

She was the type to prepare for the future, and they were going to have a rocky one. The final battle with Xehanort loomed over them still, and with no memory, Terra was at worst defenseless.

Sparring with him was like teaching someone who had forgotten to practice for years. Most times, he had the right instinct, his muscle memory kicking in to get him into the correct stance. But gone was his knowledge of the way she moved, and it was too easy to dance around him and clobber him to the ground. And this Terra moved in ways she never expected, like he grew up fighting someone else.

The other Keyblade wielders would come over and teach him, as well. The more practice he received, the better.

He didn’t have the drive to be a Master anymore, but when he wiped his Keyblade clean, he asked, so I get to help people?

There were minutes when she couldn’t let go of how worried she was about the ordeal, so she busied herself with other, more menial things. She refused the Queen’s offer in using her animated broom servants, and did most of the cooking herself. The smell of food was intoxicating and a reliable distraction, and since she was preparing a huge feast today, it swallowed hours from her that would otherwise be thrown away to anxiety.

Ventus helped her cut the venison, and she looked around the large kitchen (four times the size of her bedroom back home) for ingredients.

No potatoes.

And she had to worry about feeding Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Lea tonight. Donald and Goofy were also coming. The King and his wife… it was going to take forever to prepare.

“You forgot the potatoes,” she spat.

He waved his hand like it was no big deal – clearly he didn’t know how long it took to boil them. “I’ll get ‘em, don’t worry.”

She was going to bark some more when Terra arrived at the doorway. He held his fingers to his temple like he was taming a headache, and his orange Wayfinder found a place in his other hand.

They froze as they watched him, too eager to interrupt whatever he was going to say about that trinket.

“There was…” he started. “We were standing together, under the stars one night.”

It was all he said. It could have been any night, but he held that Wayfinder like it mattered and it had to be one specific night above all.

Ventus saw this opportunity and took it like a landslide, running up to his friend while pulling out his green Wayfinder out of his pocket. “Yeah! She made these for us that night so we always stayed connected.”

She joined them, comparing her blue counterpart with theirs.

Terra was impressed. “You made these?” He inspected his, slowly taking in all the details of metal and glass. “They’re beautiful.”

It wasn’t something he’d normally say – beautiful just wasn’t a word he would use to describe anything related to her. But apparently he hid quite a lot when he told her things like Oy, you’re such a girl sometimes as he held his Wayfinder for the first time long ago.

“Thank you.” It was the most polite thing to say. “Was there anything else you remembered?” She held her breath, not expecting much.

“No,” he said, rubbing his neck like he knew he disappointed her. But he still smiled. It was pleasant at least. 

Even Ventus’ grin fell some. He really had to learn not to get his hopes up too high.

What she really didn’t need was to have the other wielders barge in on them like this. A feast wasn’t the place to witness letdowns.

“Well, the smaller things are worth celebrating, right?” she said, wiping her hands on her apron out of nervousness and putting her Wayfinder away. She looked around for something to change the subject. “Ven… the potatoes.”

He nearly snarled at her, but he was terrible at rebelling. “Fine, I’ll go get them now, your Highness.”

“I could help you carry them,” Terra offered.

Ventus looked as though someone just slapped him across the face. “I’m strong enough to carry them on my own.”

“Oh, sorry.”

She knew that wasn’t what Ventus wanted to hear. He was expecting Terra to tease him further about it, maybe even strike up a competition to see who could carry the most potatoes. Ventus would lose every time of course, but it was the bonding that counted. Disappointment sunk again.

To make up for it, Terra ruffled thoroughly through blond hair, and Ventus grimaced to save face when he fixed it. She wondered if he understood that Terra was sincerely trying so hard.

She decided it was a good idea to help him out, at least this one time.

When Ventus was out of earshot, she said, “I’ll make another potato stew, and you should stuff the sack with bricks next time. He’ll never talk back to you, again.”

Terra snorted. “That’s hilarious, you think he’ll be offended?”

“Nah, he likes pranks.”

“I’ll definitely do it, thanks.” He sounded like he was desperate for a way to break the ice with Ventus, and she gave him all the relief he needed. He hovered around the kitchen counter, watching her cut into vegetables. “Do you need help?”

She was going to reject his offer, yet she’d hate to see him left out again.

But she stopped herself from handing him a knife.

He froze.

Completely.

Staring off into her like he couldn’t see her anymore, his eyes fixated with a look of sheer horror, like whatever he was witnessing was disgusting and it frightened him so much that he was about to beg for mercy. He shuddered furiously. He didn’t allow himself to breathe at all, and tears gathered so much in his eyes that they fell without waiting for him to blink.

“Terra,” she called, but he didn’t respond. He wouldn’t breathe.

“I’m here, Terra,” she said, dropping the knife and reaching for his face. “You’re safe.”

He didn’t respond to her touch either. She nearly called for Ventus’ help when he took a large, sharp inhale like he’d been drowning, and he rubbed his face as he drew deep, heavy breaths. The movement scared her, and she jumped back to clutch her beating chest.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

At the sound of her voice, he grabbed her wrist and looked right into her eyes. This time, he was looking at her. Like he discovered something he lost.

“You’re Aqua,” he said.

He knew her name as a stranger’s, but now it was like he knew exactly what it meant.  He smiled widely, the tears falling right into his mouth but he was too busy at the brink of laughter to taste them. He searched her eyes as though he was examining something precious.

“Did I give you my blue core?” he asked.

It was futile to stop her tears, and she nodded, her own smile drawing out like it needed to be seen. It was more natural to hug him than to reply, and his embrace was tight, like holding her was a necessity to live.

“What do you remember?” she asked into his shoulder, making it wet with all her tears and snot.

“Not much.” His voice chocked, half in laugher. “Just that you were so stubborn, and I needed to beat you on the head with some common sense.”

She laughed, something that sounded like crying but it was all molded together in a heap of nonsense. He held her tighter, making sure she kept standing as he rocked her back and forth. She was finally home in a world where light burned brightly enough that she was sure her transgressions were all exposed.

To hear him define her fall to darkness, her feral beast, as simply stubbornness made her feel forgiven. Even if he didn’t know what her mistakes really were, yet.

It was such a Terra thing to say.

A/N: So a lot of the concepts in this are inspired by Joshua's words in DDD:

"By ourselves we're no one. It's when other people look at us and see someone... that's the moment we each start to exist."

I don't normally nerd over the writing process in these notes, but to illustrate this, I actually made it purposeful not to name Aqua at all in this chapter except for one time - when Terra names her. Just a little something I wanted to experiment with, which was tricky in narration, having to do all of this without naming her XDD.

[pitchlag]

Joe noticed my tweet :D

Maybe I should have rewatched the season in one go before writing this, but I'm me so it's better to get it all down when I feel like writing it and it's still fresh in my mind.

General s15 opinions below, finale spoilers included, criticism but perhaps not overly so? I prefer being optimistic when possible. Also this ended up kinda long sooo

Let's get over the negatives first

So as I mentioned in my episode 21 commentary that ending was in my opinion the weakest arc finale. In a waay you could say it still follows the pattern every other arc had, the villain of the season goes down, the future of the BGC is pretty open and some died. Except that in this case it was VIC so the impact was hardly as great as that of the former fallen ones.

A lot of what contributed to the season finale being pretty dang lackluster was the pacing, which is a fairly constant issue trough the season. The finale felt like there was two episodes worth of material that were fitted into one. Many things, that could produce an episode's worth of material were pretty much sidelined (Wash's injury was given like 5 whole minutes to wrap up, there could have been more about Grif's time alone, what Locus had been doing and what was the aftermath on Chorus) and things that could have been scattered throughout to keep the thing established were smushed together in few, far between and way too long scenes (Dylan's boss and husband ended up serving very little to no purpose).

The plot was also fairly unpredictable, both in good and bad ways. The payoff to Dylan reaching the BGC was amazing, Church seemed to be alive but he really wasn't, Loco's machine was theorized to be a time machine, but it wasn't, then it was. On the other hand there was our Unicorn Guy who was hyped in the trailer and ended up being nothing more than a punchier to a one-off gag.

Speaking of, there's the issue of Tucker's story particularly this season. In many ways it went a couple steps forward, several steps back, some in more justifiable ways than others. It's great to see he's more confident in his abilities and for a good reason, he is the most competent fighter aside from Wash and Carolina and it shows. However, things got out of hand with him falling for Temple's flattery and later him charging into a battle that almost got Wash killed. Not to mention the thing with the Tower of Procreation which is very much controversial for a reason.

Negative character development is very much a thing and there are issues that can't be solved in a satisfying manner in one season. It's true that a good amount of Tucker's - and Sarge's - recklessness can be attributed to confirmation about Church's death and simple lack of meaningful things to do, respectively (also Grif's departure). In my opinion, however, much of the negative developments or blunders seemingly happened because the plot called for a catalyst, not because the character would naturally be susceptible to fucking up. That sucks.

See Grif leaving the Reds and Blues vs Tucker falling for Temple's lies. Grif's frustration with his situation has been building up this whole time throughout the seasons and so when things finally blew, it felt like a drastic but ultimately a natural development. Tucker however, had just been fooled by Felix just two main season's ago so it felt really off for him to fall for flattery now. 

Same goes for, say, Wash and Carolina just walking into Temple's trap without their usual suspicion.

Same goes for folks just kinda letting Wash walk into the middle of a firefight without supervision.

There's been quite a bit of discussion about the animation usage this season. Personally I don't mind the small animated scenes, although I can definitely see why there are folks against it. 

In general, the earlier arcs used the animations differently and rather sparingly (aside from Freelancer flashbacks obviously). S8 and present time-moments of s10 used it for Monty's pretty amazing battle scenes only, and thus basically every one of those moments is pretty dang memorable. From s12 onward however, casual/non-combat motion capture was included in some scenes, so s15 doing it isn't all that new. However, the big difference here seems to be that a lot of the animations were used for jokes more than anything.

The big thing about Blood Gulch Chronicles was that using non-game animation was not an option, so they relied on other, mostly verbal methods to deliver the jokes, leaving most of the action to the viewers imagination (Getting on another's shoulders to reach a window and Kaikana's health inspection for example). Now that these jokes were made visual, they had a bad tendency to go on a bit too long (Sarge going rock, paper, scissors against Locus for example?)

I made a little breakdown about the issues with the Tex vs Carolina fight earlier here* (tl:dr; pacing is extra faulty, moves are too floaty, the character's actual fighting styles are nowhere to be found.) . I also added extra commentary about the usage of blood and timeline stuff/BGC vs BaR here. (I can say I did like the animation usage in episodes 19 and 20 though)

...btw at this point, can we say the Carolina vs Reds/Tex battle was ridiculous not just because of Temple but also Jax being an unreliable narrator? (I know it was stated what we saw was what happened but I'm taking that with a grain of salt. Basis of the events? Yes. Details, like fighting styles and stunts? Fuck no, that can't be how it went.)

*Also includes my thoughts on how canon handles hypothetical Carwash. Btw that's another thing that surprisingly didn't go anywhere yet???? Would have liked some continuation to it actually

Now then the positives

While there are the very obvious and somewhat detrimental pacing and plot thread issues, I think most of that is because this is Nicolosi's first season. That's something time should eventually fix if he continues writing more, which I'd be more than happy to see.

It's a good thing for him that RvB is a very character driven show (although bigger plotlines have been done fantastically earlier which I ranted about here almost a year ago) because he nailed it in the character interactions department.

Aside from constantly writing off Wash and Donut that is. One thing that makes me thirst for more is to see Nicolosi get better with writing these two. Goddammit he did so well with the rest I know he can manage these two with some more practice and I swear I will be there to see that day.

BUT LIKE

THE GRIMMONS INTERACTIONS queerbaiting aside Joe why The way Simmons dealt with Grif's departure, the way Grif reacted to being alone, the "Why are we here?" scene MMMMM That's the Good stuff

But wait, there's a lot more: Carolina's affection towards all her boys, Wash having caught the BGC's silliness, the trust between Wash and Tucker, Tucker defending his friends, TUCKER AND CABOOSE and how they deal with the loss of Church, SIMMONS AND CABOOSE WHAT, GRIF AND TUCKER, LOCUS AND GRIF

JUST. YES. YES TO ALL.

Also hugs.

Personal high points for this season include episodes 1,5, 6, 10, 15, 16,17, 19 and 20, 5 and 20 in particular. Very strong and fascinating start, I loved Dylan and actually wanted to see more from her, and again, when pre-established characters interact on screen it was pure beauty.

Aside from a little low in the middle and a pretty flat finale, the whole season kept me engrossed with ease. I couldn't wait to see what would happen, even though a good amount of plot threads were dropped. 

I have no idea what's next, if anything, but I would very much be willing to see more. I'm, cautiously optimistic about possible improvement in writing plotlines and there's still some stuff to expand on. 

How did the crew's reunion with Wash go? Where did Locus go? What did he do after Chorus? What's going to happen on Chorus now? Did Kaikana rejoin the BGC roster? What did Grif do when he was alone? What the fuck was that thing with Donut and the time machine? Has there been any talk about a future season? Main story or another anthology? I wanna knoooooooowwww

.... Boy if you had told me of three years ago that I'd be invested enough to write basically essay length things about a Halo related thing I would have considered you insane. If you actually read this whole thing then congrats, come blabber about this series with meeeee

[mageinabarrel]

[SPOILERS] NieR: Automata Thoughts

 SPOILERS AFTER THE READ MORE LINK - YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

So, I think the best way to tackle this game is just to go by ending/route. So I’ll talk about those, in order as I experienced them.

Route A: 

Highlight: This cannot continue. I tweeted about this at the time, but wow, this moment was absolutely visceral for me when I first experienced it. I was still getting used to the game’s controls (having never owned a console in my life until now and generally only playing turn-based combat JRPGs, this game was a stretch for me, especially early on), tense because I’d already been surprised by things chasing the machine, and completely enveloped in the atmosphere of the collected android corpses, the tunnel, and everything else. Then it was an insane rush of creepy repeated words, a cascade of enemies I wasn’t sure I’d be able to defeat, and then the incredibly disturbing conclusion to it all with the birth of Adam and Eve (right, that was them right?). I was shaking by the time it was done.

Ending: Again to repeat my Twitter thoughts, I was left a slight bit unsatisfied by this ending. With the C/D reveal that 2B was an execution type all along, I like it a little better, and I think the overall idea of it (especially the strange beauty of the blinking green machine eyes as 9S revived) was neat—but I still thought it was less moving than it could of been. That being said, I guess in the end it’s possibly my favorite ending?

Other thoughts on A: I probably had the most fun exploring the world this route! Although I got frustrated with the lack of a log that showed where you could obtain crafting materials, overall it was a pleasure exploring the beautiful world Platinum Games created. 2B was my favorite character to actually play as, as well, and some retrospect invested stuff like the YoRHa Betrayers quest with extra meaning, which was cool.

Route B:

Highlight: Adam’s taunting of 9S. The accusatory tone and the use of “you” (you the player or 9S, eh?) makes it more intense. That being said, having it delivered by text is... well. Not necessarily ideal!

Ending: When you gain control over 2B in the middle of the credits rolling was possibly the most exhilarating moment of the entire game for me. I was super excited, and felt like, “Oh, shit, here we go—for real now.” It was good.

Other thoughts on B: Probably my least favorite route to play through. I didn’t care much for 9S’s mechanics (that freaking hacking minigame, although I didn’t know about the lock-on function until almost the end of my full playthrough lol) & if I’m being honest I didn’t feel like going through all the same events as the A route really added all that much in the way of new perspectives on it all. At some points I really resented it, actually. Which... is honestly probably more of a reflection of my natural dislike of the “route” system than anything else—I greatly wished that my actions in A had had a concrete impact on the way B played out, but, well, that’s not the game this was. Oh, also I think I basically know the whole plot of NieR now?

Route C: 

Highlight: Walking out the door, refusing to cut off Pascal’s memory or kill him. His final, “How could you do this to me,” coupled with the immediate fade to black and switch to controlling 9S again gave the whole moment a feeling of, “I’ve done something I cannot undo.” And I felt pretty terrible! Even though I personally didn’t want to do either option and didn’t think A2 would be up for them either. But still, actually having to walk yourself out that door and listening to Pascal’s agony behind you... much more powerful than just selecting a “Refuse to help Pascal” choice out of three options.

Ending: Maybe I missed something along the way, but ??? A2′s final words about the world being beautiful came out of nowhere?? She sacrifices herself to save 9S because?? Surely I understand not killing him, as she obvious doesn’t care to kill her fellow androids, but as far as satisfying resolutions to her purposeless wanderings on Earth go, this was far from it. I felt like she was owed more than she got.

Other thoughts on C: I felt like A2 killing 2B should have been more moving that it was, but honestly I was more upset at the game for removing the option to play as her. And, you know, I was most invested in 2B as a character, so having to readjust my levels of caring for the characters was not a super fun experience. Otherwise, as you might expect, I enjoyed C (considering the A2 bits C and the 9S bits D) more than D because I liked playing as A2 – although her material felt somewhat directionless? Like the story didn’t know exactly what it was doing with her—something I suppose is borne out in the ending.

Route D:

Highlight: Devola/Popola’s backstory. As with the 9S/Adam conversation, displaying it in text was a bit eh of a choice for me, but I liked the material quite a lot.

Ending: So the choice you make whether to go with the ark or not doesn’t matter, huh? Anyways, can’t say I’m a huge fan of ‘everyone dies’ endings! It’s good A2 gets resolution in C, cause she gets jack squat in this one! 9S falls to nihilism and insanity... well... that’s fine I guess, but I guess I feel like there needed to be more for me to really be moved by it, my basic unfondness for the ending type aside.

Other thoughts on D: What was up with the Soul Box giving all the items (plus that weapon, Faith), though? An earlier Nier reference that I didn’t get? Lots of other questions, too? Devola and Popola made the Tower? It didn’t come from 9S after all? Or it did, as implied by the C ending? Idk...

Ending E:

Well, all games have to end, I suppose, and as far as “true endings” go this was a nice one. I suppose overall a 2-minute or whatever cut scene isn’t everything I wanted, but leave life after memory restoration up to the fan fiction, I guess! Yes I’m disgruntled. I’m sorry. It’s not enough for me! Although asking me questions like “is it all meaningless” in between deaths on the credits bullet hell is definitely enough to get me to stubbornly move through. Sorry to all the people who lost their data on my behalf.

—Overall Thoughts—

Needed more 2B, and if you think about this all from certain angles you might be a bit miffed that 2B got offed to let 9S’s story continue. Being less than happy with that decision from certain personal places, I’m certainly more sympathetic to that angle that, admittedly, I might be otherwise.

The hacking minigame was more frustrating than it should have been. It almost killed my Route D run for a week (thanks Twitter for getting me through that).

On the whole I felt like the game’s story delivery pacing was... hmm... not quite right? Like if I went off and did a bunch of sidequests and then came back to the story, it seemed really odd to just have it pick up again. But by the same token, just going from story point to story point felt like rushing through. The balance there could have been better. I like it best when quests just seemed to pop up in the middle of the main story and I could go off and do them, then resume what I was doing before.

2B’s swords were basically the only weapons I used for her and A2 all game lol.

I reconfigured my buttons after about the first 5 hours at it was sooo helpful. Quick summary:

X=light attack

Square=heavy attack/hack

Triangle=jump (duhhhh)

L1=lock-on

L2=pod function

R1=dodge

R2=pod fire

I think this is a good way to do things. Good set-up for me.

Overall, I was less enamoured by the game that I expected to be. I see the seeds of why people loved it, but to me it was not all delivered as effectively as it could have been. I might even say that the fact it was a game hampered my enjoyment of the story aspects (the final save delete option aside). I would watch an anime of this game and possibly enjoy it/find it more compelling than I did of it in game form. Anime is better than video games after all. It’s by no means a bad game and overall I enjoyed it (particularly the combat, especially during the mid-portion of the game when I’d just sort of got the hang of it but wasn’t perfect), but, I mean, if you don’t stun me into silence like Shining Force: Resurrection of Dark Dragon did, what’s even the point? (that’s a joke, although that game’s big reveal really did have a huge impact on me as a kid lol)

I suppose my thoughts on the game might evolve over time and as I read people’s essays/thoughts on it. But that’s my initial impression/experience of it.

Another thought that occurs to me just now is that some of the game’s questions about meaning and existence perhaps struck me as shallow and/or juvenile because they are such fixed, obvious quantities to me. Being a religious person I specially am, I don’t much struggle with such questions on a macro level. So interrogating them in this fictional context seemed a bit silly to me perhaps? Like the game was asking the wrong questions.

[jurassicparkpodcast]

Universal Studios Hollywood News Roundup! Isla Nu Bar, Jurassic World Gates + Bryce, Chris & BD!

Universal Studios Hollywood is getting closer to unveiling the Jurassic World themed area and Jurassic World The Ride in the coming months, but before that happens, we’ve got some decent updates to the progress. We covered all of the details here in Episode 190, featuring The Jurassic Wire. You can listen to that episode and follow along with the content here. So let’s start with the most recent press release from Universal that focuses on the addition of Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and BD Wong being added to the attraction:

"Universal City, CA, May 23, 2019 – Stars of the JURASSIC WORLD films Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and BD Wong reprise their roles as Owen Grady, Claire Dearing and Dr. Henry Wu, bringing their characters from the silver screen to Universal Studios Hollywood’s much anticipated mega attraction, “Jurassic World—The Ride,” opening this summer. This marks the first time the cast will appear as their iconic characters outside of the JURASSIC WORLD films for a theme park attraction. As part of original content created exclusively for the new ride, Owen, Claire and Dr. Wu will shed light on their interactions with the dinosaurs along with facts and information about the imposing prehistoric creatures that first roamed the earth more than 65 million years ago. This spectacular new ride will feature an original storyline that will take guests on a breathtaking excursion through the theme park as depicted in Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment’s film, JURASSIC WORLD. It will soar to new heights with the addition of iconic dinosaurs from the movie, including the colossal Indominus rex and the magnificent aquatic Mosasaurus in her natural habitat. For the first time, JURASSIC WORLD fans will have the chance to see this impressive creature and become immersed within her massive Aquarium Observatory. Appearing to span over 60 feet in length and tipping the scales at over 30K pounds through stunning state-of-the-art visual effects, the Mosasaurus is a sight to behold as she moves just inches away from guests throughout her glass enclosure filled with the equivalent of 3.5 million gallons of water. Universal Creative collaborated with Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to bring the Mosasaurus to life and to capture the realism of her underwater environment using a combination of spectacular visual effects and cutting-edge technologies, including the use of motion parallax, a technique that shifts the guest’s perspective of the Mosasaurus as she moves throughout the tank. The team also employed a series of lighting enhancements allowing the aquarium to intuitively shift from day to night, as well as visual changes to the environment during inclement weather, thus creating a variety of visual scenarios guests can experience based on when they experience the ride. “Jurassic World—The Ride” captures the essence of the blockbuster movie and comes to life in collaboration with the award-winning and inspired minds at Universal Creative, the Academy Award®-winning special-effects visionaries at Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucasfilm, Ltd., Universal Pictures and acclaimed filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Colin Trevorrow and Frank Marshall. When “Jurassic World—The Ride” opens this summer, guests will be welcomed to a dramatically reimagined space reflective of the hit films. A fresh entry statement, stonework landscaping, and a contemporary redesign of the iconic JURASSIC WORLD gates, illuminated with billowing flames, will create the framework for the all new aesthetics. Once guests pass through the queue, they will board specially designed rafts that will navigate the lush environs of dense vegetation and traverse new areas besieged with towering dinosaurs meandering at just an arm’s length away. Encounters with such docile creatures as the Stegosaurus and Parasaurolophus will quickly turn awry as predatory Velociraptors and Dilophosaurus begin to wreak havoc, turning guests from spectators to prey. When the Tyrannosaurus rex begins to battle one of the attraction’s new ferocious dinosaurs, the rafts will spill down a treacherous 84-foot waterfall as the sole means of escape. Located adjacent to the ride will be a new elaborately themed “Raptor Encounter” where Blue, the beloved Velociraptor from the JURASSIC WORLD franchise, will engage guests in daring face-to-face encounters. In addition, a new interactive “Dino Play” area will incorporate educational components within an inspired space where children of all ages can explore and excavate giant dinosaur fossils."

We been speculating on the podcast that the trio of Bryce, Chris and BD would show up in the attraction in some way. The most obvious inclusion would be in the pre-show video, a la John Hammond in the old Jurassic Park: The Ride queue video. I’d expect familiar looking Lab settings with information on the dinosaurs you’ll come to see on the tour, potentially provided by Claire Dearing and since the Indominus Rex is included in the ride, I’d expect Dr. Wu to be relaying information about dinosaur hybrids at some point. Owen Grady seems like a good fit for the safety instruction portion of the video. On the latest episode of The Jurassic Wire, I brought up a point about wanting to see an Owen Grady animatronic in the “Owen pose”, holding off a few raptor animatronics. Pipe dream, I know, but time will tell.

A few other tidbits in the press release that have me excited, such as the parallax feature giving a bit more life to the Mosasaurus viewing experience. Everyone is worried about more screens being added to another attraction, but from everything I’ve heard, they are seemingly adding much more than your typical screen based attraction experience. We’ve heard rumors about a new type of glass being used to enhance the glass cracking as the Mosasaurus begins it’s attack, now the parallax; let’s just hope it sells the realism. I’ve personally been perplexed about the indoor experience of the Mosasaurus encounter, so I’m glad to hear there are effects being used to replicate the atmospheric conditions. It’s something I haven’t seen before in a theme park attraction, transitioning indoors, but still showcasing the same weather you experienced outside. That would certainly help to sell the experience.

Interestingly, we see the new promo image Owen and Claire running away from the Indominus Rex enclosure, which depicts an alternate version of what actually happened in the film. They added Claire, changed up the proportions and added a bit of depth to the shot. So will we see them further in the attraction? Maybe this artwork lends some weight to that theory.

There’s also a chance we can see them running away or spelling danger for the ride-goers via screens in the attraction. That a complete assumption based off the new promo image, but it’s always a possibility. I wonder if either Bryce or Chris would take over for the Richard Kiley audio throughout the ride, or who knows, maybe even an audio cameo from Jimmy Fallon.

Next up, we finally have our first looks at the new Jurassic World gates in the land. The old Jurassic Park gates are long gone and the new concrete, sterile vibe of Jurassic World is here.

Universal tried to carry over the ascetic of the old gates instead of re-create the gates we’ve all seen in the actual Jurassic World film. I’ve seen complaints already in regards to the size of the lettering, the lack of depth and the color of the concrete pillars themselves, but I think thing will blend better once completed with fire effects and all. Of course, the lack of wooden doors will always signal an issue in theming, but they are definitely doing the best they can in a confined area. Hollywood doesn’t have the breadth of land that Orlando has for theming. I do like what I’m seeing so far though for Hollywood.

In the below tweet, we can see they’ve finally added the Jurassic World logo onto the ride building. It’s a wonderful sight to see. The massive logo now sits high above for all to see. This is a complete rebranding and they didn’t hesitate on pushing that branding in your face. Not only did they leave Jurassic Park behind, but they left it in the dust.

We finally get a really good look at the opening scene for Jurassic World The Ride featuring a fossil replica of Jurassic World’s iconic Mosasaurus!

This Mosasaurus fossil replica, along with “When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth” will be the first thing you see before heading into the Mosasaurus scene. It’s a bit odd that the quote below mentions “dinosaurs” but the fossil is a Mosasaurus, notably not a dinosaur. With that aside, that section of the ride looks very interesting and I can’t wait to see how that blends into the Mosasaurus tank scene.

Next up, we get a decent look at the kids play area, nestled away in the corner.

From the image by @Bioreconstruct, you can see that they are adding on new levels to the”Dino Play” zone in the Jurassic World section. The original play area was fairly small, so it will be nice to have a few more additions for the young ones. Jurassic Park/World is something meant for nearly all ages, so I’m excited to see they haven’t forgotten that.

Next up, is a fun addition to the land. Isla Nu-Bar!

I love the name. It's one of those names we’ve all joked about for years. It’s such an on-the-nose name, but I absolutely love the inclusion of it in the section. With that name, I’d fully expect alcohol to be served there, not just your standard concession stand. I’m happy to see they are embracing the fun of the series and intellect of the super fans. Not only is this a rebranding, but they are embracing the idea that this is Isla Nublar and not just Jurassic World in California.

Lastly, we can see some new merchandise has been floating around the parks.

The merch showing up in time to promote the ride has a interesting flare to it. It’s part Jurassic World and part Fallen Kingdom. You can tell they’ve crossed over the two marketing ideas here with the burning look of the Fallen Kingdom merch and renderings of Blue, along with the identity of Jurassic World merch. I’d be interested in picking up the merch either way.

That about wraps up our coverage of the recent updates to the upcoming Jurassic World section at Universal Studios Hollywood! I am very excited about the change. Yes, it’s always going to be disappointing to see Jurassic Park as a thing of the past, but everything they’ve done to embrace Jurassic World looks amazing. What are you most excited about with these recent updates? Let us know in the comments below.

To see Universal Studios Hollywood’s new marketing campaign, It Just Got Real in support of this summer’s opening of “Jurassic World—The Ride,” click here.

With so much to see and do at Universal Studios Hollywood, the new California Neighbor Pass invites guests to experience 175 days of fun for $149 when purchased online. Visit www.UniversalStudiosHollywood.com for more details. Blackout dates and restrictions apply.

More information is available at www.UniversalStudiosHollywood.com. Like Universal Studios Hollywood on Facebook and follow @UniStudios on Instagram and Twitter.

Written by: Brad Jost

[nickyschneiderus]

Just wait for confirmation hearings in the age of Facebook

If you thought the calendar defense was bizarre, brace yourself for the next couple of decades.

After an emotionally tense day—for both witnesses, albeit in different ways—many senators and onlookers may feel we’ve collectively come away from the Brett Kavanaugh/Christine Blasey Ford testimony having made little headway in the quest for the truth. Both Kavanaugh and Ford testified to the judiciary committee that they were 100 percent confident in their recollections of the day, each of which necessarily disputes the other’s. But Kavanaugh may have spoken the most profound truth in his opening statement when he characterized the last few weeks as a “calculated and orchestrated political hit” by Democrats to thwart his confirmation. He said:

“This is a circus. The consequences will extend long past my nomination. The consequences will be with us for decades. This grotesque and coordinated character assassination will dissuade confident and good people of all political persuasions from serving our country.”

He’s right, in many ways: The consequences matter. The consequences of his confirmation to the court, or his failure to be confirmed, will matter to a great number of cases yet to be decided by that judiciary body. The consequences of these senators’ behavior and comportment will be remembered by voters in November and for many election cycles to come. These consequences of this particular precedent, whichever way it goes, will be of great significance for decades, just as Ford has grappled with the consequences—or sequelae—of a single night in 1982 for the past 36 years.

The consequences of what he portrays as a “coordinated character assassination,” though, are just the beginning of technology’s expanding influence in modern American politics.

…

When Kavanaugh came forward with a defense from his summer 1982 calendar, many were shocked and suspicious. It is peculiar (but not unheard of) for a high school boy to keep a meticulous, handwritten calendar of his activities at all, let alone to retain that document for the foreseeable future.

But in reality, many present-day 17-year-olds are actively participating in that practice, willingly or otherwise. In the age of Facebook, Instagram (and Finstagram), Twitter, Tumblr, Kik, WhatsApp, Tik Tok, YouNow, and dozens of other social media sites and apps, there actually can be a detailed record of a teenager’s school day, afterschool activities, weekend parties, and breakups and makeups. Many millennials, Gen Xers, and others happily catalog their thoughts and feelings in microblogged diary entries, share photos of their friends and frenemies, and check in to places to mark their precise position for friends. It’s conceivable that you could reconstruct a summer from someone’s social posts from 2007, likely without breaking a sweat.

And as we’ve seen, social posts are increasingly under scrutiny for people in positions of power, celebrities and politicians alike. Daily Show host Trevor Noah was raked over the coals for racist tweets in his archives. Disney fired James Gunn after offensive tweets about rape and pedophilia were brought to light earlier this year. Even President Donald Trump regularly faces criticism for contradicting himself in an old tweet. (If nothing else, our Twitter-happy president has ensured that the significance of tweets will not wane anytime soon.) It is the first place many people look when the name of a mass shooter is released by the media: What did he tweet? Were there warning signs? Should his friends have known this was coming?

  Should we expect that a nominee to the Supreme Court in 2024 will need to answer for their 17-year-old self’s tweets and Facebook Likes? (At 51, Neil Gorsuch is the youngest justice currently serving on the Supreme Court, but someone as young as 32 has been confirmed. Joseph Story, who served almost 34 years beginning in 1812, ultimately died having spent more time on the court than off it.) Should a text or a decade-old post on Facebook carry as much weight as that nominee’s statements and actions?

Whether it should is practically irrelevant. We almost certainly will. In criminal trials, we already do.

…

According to American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Life of Teenagers, published in 2016, “ninety-two percent of American children have an online presence before the age of 2.” Facebook boasts 2.25 billion active users on its platform, and it long ago removed the barriers to entry for teens not yet in college. We’re a generation that’s always online, and we have the receipts to prove it.

But what happens when all those status updates, weird Reddit submissions, and moody Myspace photos become part of the public discourse?

It’s natural to want to have some answers about the content of someone’s character before handing them the reins to a government seat. Especially in the wake of the Me Too movement, there’s increased attention being paid to past indiscretions that, a generation or two ago, might never have seen the light of day. And that was before we started documenting our every move on public platforms, from #wokeuplikethis to lights out.

Sometimes, that immediately available level of detail could prove quite valuable. Many senators mentioned during yesterday’s testimony the power of “exculpatory evidence.” Could enough updates and check-ins from social media effectively have proven Kavanaugh wasn’t the man behind Ford’s assault? Or, to tip the scales toward Ford’s recollection, what if there were an Instagram video showing Kavanaugh and Mark Judge laughing about holding her down on that bed? There’s not, of course, and there never will be. But in a future version of this conversation and inquiry, the statements from Kavanaugh’s friends might read quite differently. “We don’t remember that happening” gets harder to stand by in the face of mounting evidence from countless classmates online.

…

There are plenty of problems with bringing this information into court proceedings and job interviews. Beyond the obvious questions about consent and invasions of privacy, there’s also concern about accuracy. There can be plenty of room for misinterpretation: Text lacks the nuance of spoken word, making it difficult to distinguish the connotation of simple updates. Is that tweet a suicide threat, a thoughtless life update, a sarcastic aside, an inside joke, or a pop culture reference? No one knows.

Online personas aren’t perfect, nor are they always accurate representations of the person in question. Some users intentionally misrepresent themselves on social media in order to convey a curated self who is more successful, attractive, intelligent, and so on. Countless articles have been written about the significance of this performative behavior.

So sometimes, social media will inevitably lead us to the wrong conclusions. Not that it stops people from trying to connect dots where they can. As the analysis moves to social platforms and more available social data enters the court of public opinion, it’s democratized in sometimes dangerous ways: Redditors infamously misidentified two suspects in the Boston Marathon bombings of 2013, leading one man to be bullied at school. An Anonymous Twitter account claimed to have the correct suspect in the Ferguson shooting in 2014, too, but it was also wrong.

…

But the human inclination toward curiosity and our desire for answers will not rest. The entry of social media accounts into governmental proceedings is inevitable. And ultimately, it’s just an extension of our innate curiosity.

Some people livestreaming the Kavanaugh/Ford testimony might have thought some senators pushed too far in their personal queries. When Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) pried with “Did you ever black out from drinking too much alcohol?” Kavanaugh himself snapped back “Did you?” But that intense line of personal questioning is not unique to this hearing.

Consider the following example questions, prepared for prosecutor Kenneth Starr by his deputy during the impeachment proceedings of then-President Clinton:

“If Monica Lewinsky says that you ejaculated into her mouth on two occasions in the Oval Office area, would she be lying?

“If Monica Lewinsky says that you masturbated into a trashcan in your secretary’s office, would she [be] lying?”

These are deeply personal questions, disgusting ones, and detailed ones, and they are questions that the president would have been expected to answer under oath.

They were also written by Brett Kavanaugh.

With more detail available, we’re only going to go deeper down the rabbit hole.

…

In 1991, when Anita Hill testified about sexual harassment before the confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas, the hearings were decidedly not livestreamed on YouTube. The senators hosting the inquiry did not immediately have their personal information doxed online—not least because the World Wide Web was still a very nascent thing, and the word “doxed” had yet to be coined.

Within our lifetimes, technology has completely unturned modern politics. Politicians are still struggling to keep up with the ramifications of streaming services on copyright law and the city codes restricting Airbnb, let alone contending with net neutrality, with gig economy workers’ rights, and with this newfound deluge of information known as social media.

READ MORE:

The shaking in Christine Blasey Ford’s voice has brought the internet to tears

Women sitting behind Kavanaugh become a meme—for the wrong reasons

‘Star Wars Resistance’ voice actress gets slammed for imitating Christine Blasey Ford

Maybe we’ll be spared. Maybe the privacy pendulum will swing the other way and all this concern will have been for naught. Indeed, some teens have begun to distance themselves from the neverending news feed, electing to keep their accounts private or limited, if not unplugging outright. The kids of Generation Z are disconnecting for a variety of reasons, including the concern that more time on social media leads to increased anxiety, stress, and depression; more than half of them take a break from their phones from time to time.

So perhaps by the time we’re picking another nominee for the Supreme Court, the laws will have sufficiently caught up, or the personal privacy settings will have been sufficiently clamped down, and the nominee will be spared the painstaking entry of each of their social updates into evidence.

But there’s not much time to get it right: Two of the sitting justices are in their eighties, and it’s likely another seat will open up before lawmakers have figured out how to balance the pursuit of the truth with the modern tendency toward oversharing on public platforms.

In the meantime, the “politics of personal destruction” are about to get a lot more personal. And that’s the truth.

from Ricky Schneiderus Curation https://www.dailydot.com/debug/social-media-supreme-court/

[wtfzodiacsigns]

HOW TO TELL IF UR CRUSH IS RECIPROCATED BASED ON THEIR SUN SIGN

ARIES

If you’re wondering if your Aries crush likes you back then sorry they probably don’t. This lot are very open when it comes to admissions of love/lust/whatever. If they like u, u will simply know. They’ll have told u already 100 times or at least it will be ridiculously obvious. Aries are very straight forward and they hate dilly dallying. If you’re the one they want they will get the ball rolling immediately. Expect lots of texts and a keen interest in meeting up & organising dates whatever. Straight forward people! Will prob show off in front of you whipping out all sorts of weird party tricks & jokes, making sure your eyes are always on them. May get obviously jealous if they see you having a good time with someone else. If you’re still unsure, just ask. They’ll be upfront if it’s a go or no.

TAURUS

If your Taurus crush cooks something amazing and time consuming for you then u can betcha they love ya. These are people who like to indulge in the good things in life and when they like you they will 100% share with you. Taurus is good at setting a romantic mood so if they invite u over to theirs “to just chill” and there’s low lighting and cushions and drapey fabric everywhere and some ambient dance music playing and a bloody cheese platter and red wine, yep this one wants you. Aside from that though it can be hard to tell if they are into you. Taurus likes to take a long time to get to know someone. They’re trying to work out if you are worth the hassle. With time though all becomes very apparent. You will probably have to be the one who brings your feelings into the open first and they may need time to process that, but if they come back to you smiling (possibly tipsy) well, mission accomplished.

GEMINI

Gemini may be flirting with you and you may think omg they like me back, but be careful. Look at their next interaction. Oh they are flirting with that person too? Yep, that’s a Gemini for you. Naturally charming and flirtatious so flirting with you is not a good enough confirming sign. Gemini is a sign of nervous energy & when they are with their crush this nervousness can become quite apparent. They will talk and talk and talk but about nothing really & will probably say all sorts of strange things. Their nerves compel them to speak and they feel that conversation is a good way to snare u temporarily so they may bask in ur glory. If your Gemini suddenly becomes a nervous wreck or has a personality change (maybe becomes silent/shy) in your company they quite likely want you. 65 - 85% of the time though you will know a Gemini likes you because they invite u to everything & message u lots, but this depends on how many crushes they have on the go.  U could also ask one of their friends, cos everyone else will have the gossip. Gemmy in love can’t stop talking about u when ur not around.

CANCER

Hmm this isn’t an easy one to call. Cancers are moody and with them u may feel like yesterday u were their favourite person, but today they’re ignoring u but ur sure u  did nothing wrong! I’m sure u are in fact still their fave, it’s just Cancers are worry warts & maybe are scared that u don’t like them back so in a way shut u out for a while. When it feels like they like you though u two are probably eating something really great together, snuggling up watching something, feeling very much at ease in each others presence. Maybe they will read u their fave poem. There will be a lot of fun & quick back and forth chatting. A Cancer who likes you wants you to have a fun time with them so will keep the atmosphere light and silly. This is another of the signs where if you don’t know if they like you or not, you’re the only one wondering. They will have told everyone around them & will prob be writing a tweet about u right this second. Cancer is a warm & caring sign, if u get a lil papercut they will fuss over you like u lost a finger. If they introduce u to their parents then yep you have them.

LEO

Leo will let you know they like u. They might not simply text u, “ur the one for me x0x0x” but they will show u how they feel. Every time u hang out with Leo they will be trying to outdo the last d8. These are extravagant types & will do anything to ensure ur having the time of your life with them. If you let Leo be in charge and control these dates they are bound to like you even more, they love to be flattered too so dish out the compliments. Make them the centre of ur world. If they like u back you will receive compliments right back. Leo compliments are very genuine & feel very good to receive. They only compliment people they admire so it’s a good sign if they’re telling u how smart they think u are or how kind u are to those less well off or sexy u r or whatever. Leo will want to see u every day and probably for the majority of the day too. They can become very jealous of u spending time with anyone else & u will see this clearly, it’s unhealthy af but a good sign ur their crush.

VIRGO

Super picky Virgo will come to you when they deem u worthy of their time. Not an easy one to chase. These people want their partner to be perfect. If they are giving u the time of day, giving up their time, then u can feel safe and know they are most likely very keen. Once they decide ur the one they become fidgety & nervous in ur presence. Initially anyway. Virgo is a smarty pants intellectual sign so ur dates probably involve long discussions about idk pretty boring things. Tbh this a test. They’re checking that u can stimulate them. That ur on to it. It’s unlikely that they will open up much to u for quite some time. Let them know they can trust u & if they do end up talking feelings with u that’s a good sign they’re crushing on u too. Virgo will want to look after u and make sure ur healthy, eating good & happy, so will cook some super food salad, take u on a hike then listen to all your woes and hug u tenderly. They will dote on u but without displaying tooooo much affection. If u really want to know how they feel about u just ask them. They’re great communicators.

LIBRA

If Libra likes u they will want to spend a lot of time with u. They are happy to hang in group situations but will make efforts to get u alone. Libra is a very social creature so them wanting to just be with one person a a time & not in a gang is a great sign. Libra will find ways to touch u when they like u, they become very affectionate. Lots of hugs, hand holding, they will lean on ur shoulder. They can be like this with ppl who are just their friends tho so look out for them giving u special treatment. Maybe at the end of the night they gave u a prolonged hug while everyone else just got a quick squeeze. Libra might like u but can take a very long time to make their mind up so patience is key here. It’s possible that they will have even told u that they’re into you but they’re still not making the next move or maybe have distanced themselves from u. Show Libra that u rule & are worth it. They will appreciate the display of confidence. These guys can play hard to get, but stick with. A Libra who wants u will dress very well when they think they might see u.

SCORPIO

When Scorpio likes you the world revolves around u. Ur the one they will message first if they think up something fun to do. In a group they will ignore everyone else and just chat chat chat to u. They will wake up & think of u so send u a text. But they never straight out tell u how they feel. They prefer to work u out first. If they think u feel the same way, then they divulge. If they appear interested in u then they prob are. These Scorpios don’t fake interest. They only bother with those they truly want to be around. Sometimes u will look up and ur Scorpio crush will just be looking at u. They don’t even look away when u catch them. Just eye contact. Tbh they are prob thinking ‘wow i could just eat them up’ Sometimes you think your Scorpio crush fucking hates you, they can be quite rude and hostile to u & say cruel things u know they don’t say to other people. Forgive them tho, they don’t mean it and in fact like u a lot & just aren’t dealing with it very well yet.

SAGITTARIUS

When this lot like someone they try very hard to get their attention. If they see ur online they will quickly send u a message. The way a Sag crushes is pretty playground actually. Like they will show off to you & try and make u laugh by pulling faces & shit. Very playful. Sagittarius is an honest and open sign. They are likely to just tell you they like u. Especially if u seem sort of clueless about it.  In the same way though, if they don’t like u they will also let uknow. When around you a Sag will just smile and appear delighted if they’re crushing on u. If they’re up to something awesome & fun they are bound to invite u along. It’s pretty easy to tell with a Sagittarius, they don’t play games & are very straight foward. So if it seems good it most likely is.

CAPRICORN

If ur hanging out with one of their best buds & they are complaining that they haven’t text back but ur phone is vibrating non stop with messages from them, well they most def like u. When u get on a Capricorn’s radar, they will try and find out as much about u as possible. So when u hang out and they know u have 3 brothers and went to Steiner school but u never told them that don’t be shocked. Them admitting they know this info is a way of them telling u they are interested in u & ur life. They can treat u a bit hot and cold, & that stems from a fear of getting hurt. If u can prove urself trustworthy, Capricorn will tell u all of their secrets. And when u start feeling a bit like their private diary u can be 100% sure it’s a match.

AQUARIUS

U two will have to be good friends already. Aquarians view the friendship element of a romantic pairing to be the most important. So you’re friends and u already know they like u as such. How to work out if they potentially want to do pashing with u? Well, suddenly they will be more interested in the mundane aspects of ur life than ever. In the past a story of u forgetting to put the teabag into cup before u poured the kettle would have bored them to death. But now, they’ve never heard anything funnier. When Aqua is hot on u you become the funniest most interesting person in the world. Now you’re off to dinner at theirs expecting the whole gang to be around, but it’s just u and them. And there are candles on the table. Aqua can be romantic in a very cheesy way. How endearing! Best sign is that you have long long conversations that go well into the early hours & they just never get bored of what u have to say.

PISCES

Lol Pisces will prob be writing u a long love poem right now but most likely never give it to u. If u do receive a love poem, or maybe a brief but totally cute note then chances are u make them feel all mad butterflies and likely heart achy love sick. Pisces will incorporate u into their art when they like u. Maybe write songs about u (for u), send u long letters or draw silly pictures for u. Creativity is very important to them & so when they include u in this work it’s a given that they think u are important too. These cuties will give u so much time and affection when they like you. They will let u know that they are always here for u. They will let u in on all their deepest thoughts & feelings and describe in detail all their wildest dreams. With a Pisces u will prob see their affection for u in their eyes. Tho it may be clear they like u this sign wants a confirmation that it’s reciprocated before plunging in any deeper. So go ahead, let them know!

Source: jerkstrology