#also yeah i made this wallpaper sized on purpose

[psychicthepsychic-daily]

Change his colors to what your favorite color is

(Ignore if its also purple)

❤️

[katerix]

Hey @pinyapple​! I’m your Secret Cupid! Here I am jumping from the horse into the last wagon of the event train:D I hope that the story is interesting, and you’ll enjoy it! @rdr-secret-cupid​ 

Pairing: John Marston\f!Reader Warnings: fluff\angst&comfort\a hint of smut - 3in1: a little bit of this and that Words: 3434 (picture is not mine \ credits to the author)

“Morning, my dear girl,” said your father when you approached a big wooden table in the middle of the kitchen. “Good morning, dad,” you smiled, sleepily rubbing your eye.

It was a Saturday morning and today you woke up exceptionally late, about 1pm.

You were living on a small farm with your father. It was located a few miles away from the nearest town and it would’ve taken a half an hour to ride there.

You loved to take an old Travis the horse from the stable and ran away where the sun was waking up early. You liked to dream about travelling, adventures and far lands in the shadow of a big tree not very far from your house.

“I’ve been in town this morning,” said your father. “Did you? You never told me that you were going to. How was the ride? Everything was fine?” “Yes, sure. I saw Mrs. Anderson. She sent her regards.” “Oh, I appreciate that, thank you,” you smiled at him.

Mrs. Anderson was a nice woman who had a small flower shop and always gave you some flowers when you attended the town.

“I will drop in during the next visit,” you said while making yourself tea and sliced some more bread. “That’s what I’d like to hear!”, he replied.

Mr. (y\second name) was conservative when it came to the questions of manners. You were always expected to be a polite girl from a good family and you definitely were. But the young blood always desires venture. May it be caused by the stars location or chaotic decision of capricious gods, but something led you to the meeting with a man called John Marston on that fateful evening.

You opened the newspaper which was on the corner of the table and looked through some articles before you turned to your father.

“Dad? I wanted to go for a walk tonight. I heard that this evening will be special and the starfall must be observable from our part of the world!” “What do you say!” “Yes! I heard it from Mr. Douglas a week ago.” “You want to go out alone at night? You are a grown up lady and it’s not my privilege to tell you what to do, but don’t you think it’s a dangerous idea? There’re criminal elements in this area, you know that." “Oh don’t worry papa, I won’t be alone. I arranged to get together with our former sheriff’s elder son. He likes astronomy, do you remember that?” “Sure I do,” - he kept silent for some moment then said, - “Well. I think I can agree on that.”

Sheriff’s elder son was a man in his early forties and was married to a town girl and had already earned himself time to do astronomy, so there was nothing to worry about. Of course, getting such an alibi was a bold action, because if your father decides to ask about observing the stars, just from the point of good manners, the truth will be brought to the light. Your actual plan was to meet with John today. You also wanted to discuss a family dinner. The truth was that none of them knew about it - that’s why you were feeling a little nervous about the upcoming meeting. You wanted to introduce John to your father, but he always wanted you to unite for life with a noble young man from a prospective family, occupied in, let’s say, sales. Somehow you and John could hide your relationship for more than a year. His lifestyle, his bonds with the gang were making you question the possibility of your fine peaceful life together one day. And the fact that Mr. Marston never protested against these dreams of yours, was inspiring a warm feeling in your heart. 

“So when do you want to leave?” “Around half past nine, it must be almost dark.” “You sure you don’t want me to escort you there?” “No-no, there’s no need for such sacrifice,” you giggled. Your dad gave you a delicate smile and sipped from his cup.

*** There was nowhere to rush now, when the father approved your little prairie voyage, so the rest of the day you spent in the garden behind the house. The territory of the ranch was quite big but the main part of your property rendered suitable land for agriculture. A small piece of it was gifted to you in order to plant flowers there. A lot of seeds were bought from Mrs. Anderson's, and sometimes you even brought her some of your own for sale. Roses of any kind and size, some tiger lilies and peonies- that all made your flower garden look great.

The closer to the time, the more excited you were. You dressed in a shirt and trousers with boots, with a thin fur jacket - for the night ride it was the best option - and took a creamy pink rose to put it in your hair once you are beyond the fence. You went down to find your father and say him goodbye.

“Dad, you here? I’m leaving!”

You looked into the living room, expecting to see him there with a book or at the table, writing another business letter, but it was empty. Then she heard a noise from the second floor and saw your father on the staircase.

“Already going?” “Yes, it’s high time. I’ll do my best to come back before dawn!” “What are you doing to your old man, young lady!” he laughed, making his way down the stairs to give his daughter an embrace. “Don’t worry, I will be fine, I promise. Please, you should think about your heart, papa,” you smiled widely, hugging him in an answer. “Be careful, my dear.” “I will,” you waved with your hand.

*** You almost approached the meeting point, when you felt your horse getting worrisome and saw the skies turning dark quickly. Rains in this area were starting as fast as they finished and you could only wonder “why now?”. Deep dark heavens didn’t condescend to the answer, so you just rubbed your legs in disappointment and continued riding to find a hideout before the first raindrops. You purposely avoided the Thieves Landing, so there were not many placed to hide from the rain on her way. During your and John's last meeting some days ago you decided to meet in the woods in West Elizabeth where there was a perfect spot upon the cliffs to watch the grand river from a distance, where not a single soul could disturb them.

Suddenly she heard a horse neighing then she saw a rider coming from behind the hill. At first you were dismayed as you didn’t have any weapon, but a moment later you recognized a familiar figure.

“Hey, sweetheart, isn’t it dangerous for such a pretty lady to ride alone at night?” then a low laughter followed.

When John’s horse got closer, you couldn’t help but resent:

“You scared the hell out of me! I thought it was a gangster who tracked me down.” “Well, actually I am a gangster, you see!”

As he hoped, your frustration was softened by his silly joke. It always gave him a warm feeling, because his sense of humor left a lot to be desired, but you always found it funny.

His horse drew level with yours, and he leaned down to kiss you, grinning when he saw how modestly you hid your smile.

“Oh no, y\n, do not hide this beautiful smile from me!”

You raised your head and looked at the man. His hand reached out to you and gently touched your chin, leaving a deep kiss on your lips.

“How was the road? Got without troubles?” asked John, picturing the way from the ranch to this point in his head. “As long as troubles don’t follow me - it’s fine by me. Why?” “It’s nothing really. On the way here I saw some gentlemen, heading west.”

John looked up in the sky and his eyebrows got together as he noticed how lightly you were dressed and how the sudden gust made your hair fly. “I know an old abandoned household not far from here. If we move right now, we can reach it before the storm.”

“I feel that something worries you.” “No-no, that’s totally fine,” he replied, taking a last look in the direction you came from.

After a while you finally reached the mansion that John was talking about. In real life it turned out to be bigger and more of a manor than “an old abandoned house”. Suddenly the skies split up in two by bright lightning, then a remote thunder hit your ears. You shuddered. What got into you? You were never afraid of thunder or darkness but this time something was scratching your heart with little iron claws.

You didn't notice that John had already dismounted, came over to you and put his hand on your leg, gently running it up and down.

“We going? Or you prefer to stay under the rain?” “Ah? Yeah,” with these words you tried to get down from the horse, only to end up in his arms, as he readily caught you up. You felt your heart beat faster against his chest, so you even wondered if he felt it or not, when you saw a dorky smile on his face.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. That, obviously, was not the most non-banal compliment, but he couldn’t help but admire your features and the flower in your hair, which so perfectly accentuated the color of your eyes. John didn’t let you stand on the ground and carried you all the way to the mansion.

When you entered the building, you stood on the floor and looked around. Tall walls were covered in old, almost destroyed by dampness, dull red wallpapers. You walked around the room and stopped next to the beautiful, probably, handmade sofa. John walked up to you and cuddled you from behind. His hand traced along your stomach and slid to your leg. You felt his warm breath on your neck. You turned around and kissed his jawline, moved up to the lips. He answered with a deep, passionate kiss. Then, with a sharp movement, he lifted you up and put you down, pinning down onto the couch.

*** “John?” “Yeah?” his voice sounded low and lazy. “I need to tell you something.” “I’m all ears, sweetheart.” “Do… Do you love me?” you felt how your cheeks were becoming hot. You also realized how silly this may sound, but you couldn’t take your words back.

John looked down at you lying on top of him and thoughtfully twirled a lock of your hair around his finger.

“Of course, princess. Why’d you ask?”

You were not sure how to reply so you didn’t rush to look in his eyes.

“You remember my father? Mr. y\sn.” “I’ve seen him in the town once. But never after that. Is that about him? Did anything happen?” “No, everything is fine. I just wanted to ask if… Would you come for a family dinner tomorrow? I’d introduce you to my father…»

He kept silent for a while. So you started to feel nervous and asked yourself why you even initiated that conversation. But then he answered:

“I’m not in my best shape to show up in higher society, you know..”

Again you looked up at him. Then smiled and gently touched his cheek, fingertips slowly stroking his fresh scars.

“I absolutely love your current shape, John.”

You felt him pressing you against his chest closer, rubbing a little invisible patterns on your bare back.

“It would be a great pleasure to come, but… You sure your father would enjoy my company? Because I’m not sure at all.”

Now it was your turn to make a pause.

He chuckled:

“Let it be.” “So will you come tomorrow?” “I’ll be there. I promise.”

The second you heard that, you felt like a huge rock got down from your shoulders, finally letting you breath.

You spent some more hours together in each other's embrace.

*** You were sitting on the doorsteps when you heard a noise from behind the barn. You didn’t expect John to come so soon and also why he didn't choose an open road to the ranch. After a long talk your father agreed to have dinner all together, so there was no need to sneak. The next moment you saw two riders, coming around the corner, your eyes got wider. Suddenly you heard the sound of a cocked gun to your left and shuddered.

“Hello, ma’am. Mind if I come in?”

You looked at the source of the sound and saw a middle aged man with shirt red hair and a whisker. You never saw him before, but you had no doubt that he was some gang leader. His hazel eyes were looking cold at you and it seemed obvious that an argument was not an option - a weapon pointed at you was a thing to be scared of.

“Move,” he ordered.

Two riders who were supposed to divert attention got closer, and you recognised two customers from the shop a week ago. Their leader with a rifle repeated in low tone:

“Go.”

You followed the order without saying a word. Men entered the house after you.

“Tie her up. I don’t like her sight, and I don’t want any surprise.”

Three more men entered the house and God knows how many of them left outside. One of the newcomers took off a rope and tied your hands up - you felt a slight pain caused by rough material.

“Good. And now, Mr.(y\sn),” he turned to your dad, “let’s talk.” The ginger man made an inviting gesture. You looked at your father and saw fear in his eyes, but he was acting totally cool and calm. Two men, standing next to the door, were holding rifles at the ready. Your dad nodded and went to the kitchen, followed by the ginger man.

You stayed alone in the living room, other gangsters were standing outside. You didn’t hear the conversation and had no idea about the reason for this attack, so you focused on the rope. An attempt to get rid of it has proven unfruitful, so you looked around to find any tool.

When you were about to stand up and search the desk drawers, a loud shot rang out behind the window. You saw three gangsters running out from the kitchen, swearing and shouting curses. You carefully approached the window and looked out. A splash of bright red blood covered the window glass and you staggered back, breathing heavy and fast. You heard a familiar voice from the distance:

“Don’t hide, cowards! Are you afraid of just one man?” taunting his enemies was so much like John.

You already started to worry - what if he would have changed his mind and would never showed up? You were happy that he appeared, and did it right in time. The sounds of battle continued unabated, and you thought that now was the best chance to get to the kitchen. The moment you were already next to the door your sight faced a dark shadow suddenly appeared in the doorway. You looked up and with a horror recognised the ginger man. You wanted to step away, but he grabbed you faster than you could blink.

“Let me go!” you tried to escape this tight grip but he was stronger.

You saw your father making an attempt to hit the bastard, but he didn’t seem to even notice that. He turned around and knocked Mr.(y\sn) down on the floor with his revolver.

“You son of a bitch! You will regret this!” you shouted at him. That was not a wise thing to do, but seeing him hurting your relative made you mad in a second.

“Language, lady,” the gangster chuckled, making an effort to hold you still, as you were kicking furiously, “Relax. I won’t hurt you,” his left, spare of a gun palm touched your cheek.

You were breathing heavily. “Where are you, John» you thought. Another one shot rang out louder , and you heard a voice screaming curses. For seconds you couldn’t hear anything from the outside. All outlaws were probably dead or wounded. But three gangsters were still inside the house - one behind the door corner, two others were next to the windows.

“C’mon, be a good girl,” said the gang leader and pulled you after him. Together you returned into the living room and the man stood behind a small purpur sofa, facing the doorway - the revolver at the ready. You couldn’t see your father was sitting beneath the wall, holding his hand on the forehead, a thin blood line was going down the temple.

The sound of shooting was getting closer, you heard how two or three bullets hit the wall. If earlier the gang leader was a picture of self-confidence, now this confidence of his started fading away. You kept quiet just continuing to fidget slightly.

The minutes seemed endless but the voice ripped you out of your thoughts:

“Hey mister, let the girl go. You don’t want problems, believe me!” “What about you taking your cowboy ass out of here, now?” “I’ll let you live if you free her.” “Put your weapon on the floor so I can see it and step inside. Or I'm gonna shoot this pretty face.”

John hesitated but then followed the order and put the rifle on the floor, slowly pushing it inside.

“I’m coming in. Don’t shoot.”

You felt how the ginger man swallowed loudly. He was nervous. You saw John entering. His right hand was close to body, another one slightly aside, demonstrating that he was disarmed. The gangster revolver was following the cowboy as he was approaching. He said something else, but you already stopped listening. You didn't have time to think that it could be dangerous but suddenly you kicked him hard on the leg with the heel.

Then everything happened too fast. You didn’t notice how John took out a gun with his right hand and shot right between the gangster’s eyes. 

“John!”

He rushed toward you, held your tied hands and hurried to untie them with his hands shaking.

“Shh-shh, you are safe, y\n, you are safe now, everything is fine,” he whispered.

Once you were free, he pressed you against him tightly, burying his face in your hair. You crossed your hands behind his back.

“You came!” “How could I not come?” he looked down at you, cupping your cheeks, and kissed you gently. 

You hardly kept a smile back. You two remained this way for a couple of minutes until your breath became calm and quiet. You were too overwhelmed with emotions that you didn’t even see a bloody wound on his shoulder.

“Oh no, your arm! You are hurt!”

“It’s just a scratch, baby,” he smiled at you, clumsily hiding a pleasure of you being so lovely and cute, and worrying that much about him. “Let’s help your dad,” said John and kissed your hand.

He stepped aside holding your hand in his and headed to the corridor. Your father was already back on foot and, when he turned to you, you saw an expression of relief on his face.

“Oh, you are safe, my dear girl, thank God!” you ran towards the oldman and hugged him.

John was standing a couple of steps aside with his head slightly bent down and a faint smile on his lips, leaning on one leg, left hand on his side. Only now you noticed that he was dressed not casually, but as festive as possible.

Mr.(y\sn) looked at John and you saw respect in his eyes. He approached the cowboy and held out his hand in order to shake in gratitude.

“To my knowledge, our hero must be John Marston,” he gave a fast glance in your direction, “you saved our lives, young man. I can never thank you enough for that.”

John shaked your father’s hand with a friendly smirk.

“Don’t worry, Mr.(y\sn). That was my duty to protect unarmed people from this bunch of bastards.”

“Well, don’t you mind going to the kitchen? Everything was prepared an eternity ago. Do you like whiskey, Mr. Marston?”

You came a little closer to them to be a part of a talk too.

“Sure, sir.”

Your father went away, and John softly touched your waist to let you go first.

[fertileimaginationvault]

I Never Even Told You (part 1) - Superbat (DCEU Series)

“Ma?” Clark called as he passed the front door of the farmhouse. “Yeah?” Martha answered absently, busy in the kitchen.

“I've fixed the leak in the barn roof, and the fence between our farm and the Lang's. Their horses will no longer try to eat our... corn... What the-” Clark froze in his walk past the living room noticing the sudden change. The few furniture and the old couch were relocated to make room for a large flat-screen TV, almost taking up all the wall space on which it had been fixed.

“Bruce...” Clark sighed the other man's name as if asking to a higher being to be bestowed with divine patience. ‘Is that why he’s here?’ Clark thought. He had heard Bruce's heartbeat since he was still at the Lang Farm, the unmistakable sound of Bruce's heart flooded his ears and left him on alert. For a moment, Clark assumed his presence was due to an emergency that would require the Justice League to act. He even stretched his hearing to get part of Bruce's conversation with Martha but realized that the other man did not seem to be in a hurry to leave and had not even asked to see Clark (which bothered him a little although he hated to admit it). Clark kept working on the list of repairs that needed to be done around the farm, he could catch up with Bruce as soon as he finished. Now the TV of obscene proportions hanging on the wall of his mother's living room had answered all the questions he might have about Bruce’s presence there and even made him regret for not being able to stop the other man as soon as he arrived. Clark turned away from the tv, walking into the kitchen to find Bruce sitting at the table, his hair properly combed back, dressed in a well tailored three-piece suit that perfectly accented his silhouette, white shirt, black tie and a blue pocket square, which caught Clark's eye for being the exactly same shade of blue as his Superman uniform. He tried to ignore the erratic way his own heart started beating as soon as his eyes found that single spot of color in the sea of graffiti and black. That was not the first time Clark has seen Bruce wearing a tie or a pocket square of the same color of his Kryptonian suit or cape. Clark couldn't help the warmth spreading through his chest as his heart struggled to return to its usual rhythm. It was almost as if Bruce did this on purpose, to drawn Clark’s attention to him whenever they were in the same room... “Good afternoon.” Bruce greeted Clark from behind the cup of tea he was quietly drinking, yet his brown eyes studied Clark with some hesitation, like he was unsure that his presence in the house was desired or not. Clark cleared his throat, trying to keep his stance. He should be preparing to scold Bruce for one of his many extravagances involving him and his mother, not daydreaming about Bruce’s wardrobe choices having something to do with him. “What is that gigantic tv doing in our living room?”Clark asked folding his arms, narrowing his eyes to deflect any excuse Bruce might give regarding yet another extravagant gift. “Your mother needed a new tv.” Bruce answered, his voice flat, keeping a calm expression and his eyes away from Clark as he played with the handle of the teacup. “Bruce," Clark come closer to de table, “you can't just buy us expensive things like they're nothing.” “It is nothing.” “It’s a 4k smart tv almost bigger than the entire wall!” “It’s a gift.” “The screen matches the wallpaper! ” Clark sighed once again letting his arms fall beside him. This couldn’t be really happening. “Why did you buy us a tv?” “Because,” Martha intervened, coming to the table with a plate full of biscuits to place in front of Bruce, “the old tv has broken the last time Bruce came to visit. He was kind enough to try to fix that old junk but there was nothing left to do about it... and now he appeared here with this modern tv, even though I insisted that he didn’t have to buy me another one.” “It was only fair to give you a new tv, since I couldn’t fix the other.” Bruce shrugged exchanging smiles with Martha. Clark opened his mouth to say something, but his shock made him close it immediately. What was going on? Since when did Bruce and his mother have such a close relationship? And Since when Bruce made visits to the farm? “Ma, why didn’t you tell me the tv was broken? I could have gotten you a new one... well, not one of the size of an open-air cinema screen...” he mumbled, smirking triumphantly as Bruce rolled his eyes in response as continued to drink his cup of tea elegantly, “but still...” “I know you’ve been busy lately.” she waved off with a gesture while taking a tray of apple pie out of the oven to set on the counter so it would cool off. “I didn’t want to disturb you for an old tv that has seen better days. I could’ve handled it on my own... maybe go to the Sullivans’ store and get a new one.” “But I’m supposed to take care of those things, Ma. What would Pa say if he knew I left you here without a tv for... how long?” “Two days.” Bruce muttered discretely before taking another sip of tea, already suspecting Clark's next reaction. “See? Two days! Wait... “ Clark stared at Martha and Bruce, his blue eyes wide with disbelief, “Were you here two days ago?” Bruce remained silent, serving himself of some of Martha's biscuits, still unable to face Clark. “Clark, calm down, would ya? There’s no need to make such a fuss about it.” Martha took a seat in front of Bruce, also pouring herself some tea.“Bruce always comes to visit when he has the time...” “Does he... always?” Clark stood in the middle of the kitchen, trying to believe that that was his life and the big and scary Bat of Gotham was sipping tea and eating biscuits in his kitchen, with his mother. “I understand you might be upset...” Bruce finally took his eyes off the teacup to find Clark's. although his face was almost expressionless, Clark could feel the hesitation in his voice, like an apology hidden in millimeter-calculated words to sound as neutral as possible, but being enough to obliterate Clark's irritation completely. “I’m not upset. I am... surprised? I mean, that wasn’t exactly what I expected to see when I woke up this morning...” Clark said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, ashamed of his own reaction. However seeing the way Bruce’s eyes softened made that feeling fade away pretty fast. “Uh... Is there any chance I’ll be invited to join your tea club?” Clark mumbled with a smirking as he saw Bruce rolling eyes again, trying not smile, then turned to Martha giving his best big puppy eyes. “Maybe have some pie?” “Well, if you stop being so melodramatic, you may have a slice.” “Unbelievable! Since when did he become your favorite?” “Since I gave her a new tv.” Bruce allowed himself a slight smirk before hiding it behind the tea cup in one last gulp of tea, too fast for anyone to notice except Clark. “And since he’s not the one walking around the house with muddy shoes! Clark Joseph Kent I better not see footprints on my carpet!” Martha used the dishcloth to playfully whip Clark's legs who instinctively levitated in the air so he could escape it, laughing out loud. “Okay! Okay!” Clark lifted his hands in surrender, still floating a few inches from the kitchen floor, sitting on air while still laughing. “I’m gonna take them off! I’m going upstairs to take a shower and y’all better save me some pie for when I get back!” “Only if you stop flying inside the house!” Martha said, also laughing while seeing Clark floated to the stairs. “I’m not flying, I’m floating! There’s a difference!” Clark yelled back, making Martha laugh even more.” “No, there isn’t! I swear to God,” she turned to Bruce, “I have no idea who did he get that attitude from...” Clark quickly returned to the kitchen, still without letting his feet touch the ground, placing a kiss on her cheek, saying: “I got it from you.” Martha tried not cry for Clark's gesture. She has been doing that a lot for the past two years. Every time she sees Clark smiling, walking around the farm, playing with Dusty in the backyard. Every time he hugs her and say “I love you, Ma”. Every time Clark's on tv for saving someone or a entire city. Now that Martha knows how it is to lose her son, every moment with Clark has become even more special and also not enough . And to think that she could spend the rest of her life without seeing him smile again, if it wasn’t for the man seated in front of her. If it wasn't for Bruce. “Alright, muddy shoes,” she said, fighting the instinct to cry, patting Clark’s cheeks, “go get yourself clean, so we can eat.”

[crystalninjaphoenix]

A New Visage

An idea for the Branded AU that I’ve had for a while. This was a bit difficult for me to write, but I think it came out alright. Anyway, this is for all the people who are wondering what happens to someone once they get masked. And also, how do the masked even work? How do they operate? All those questions and more will be answered soon.

Branded is created by Jay, @blade-of-memeora! Check out more on their profile!

The room probably hadn’t been meant for people to stay in. It was rather small, and it didn’t have any windows. One of the walls had clearly been added in somehow, made of plywood instead of plaster. But regardless of its original purpose, someone had dragged a cot with bedding into the room, and that was where he was sitting now, cross-legged with his hands in his lap.

He wasn’t sure how long he was supposed to stay here. He must’ve been here for at least a couple hours, and there wasn’t any sign of anything changing. There was a strong temptation to get up and just leave through the closed wooden door, but he wasn’t supposed to. That was the overwhelming thought in his mind, that he should stay and wait. Whenever he thought about leaving, the notion was soothed away, and he kept waiting.

When the door opened, he immediately tensed, eyes flying toward it. Two people walked in. One had shoulder-length rose-red hair, and the other had undercut bronze-orange hair. They were both wearing masks, with orange’s being shaped like butterfly wings and red’s being a simpler one that covered the upper half of their face. He stared at them. The two of them stared back. And then the orange one scowled and muttered, “Why do we always get the cats?”

“We don’t have that many,” said the red one.

“The Seamstress just sent us another pair,” the orange one countered. “Guess what? More cats. They’re not house cats, but my point stands. I think we have enough cats to form a pride.”

“Does it really matter?” The red one stepped further into the room. They smiled at him. “Don’t mind Monarch, she’s a bit fussy over details. You’re the new one, then? We’ve been assigned to fill you in. Call me Lightshow.”

He stared at them for a moment more, then slowly stood up. “Hello. It’s...it’s nice to meet you.” Instinctively, he opened his mouth to introduce himself, but nothing came out. Come to think of it...his mind was fairly blank in that department as well…

“You look confused,” Lightshow said. “Don’t worry, we all were at first. It’ll make sense the longer you’re here. Come on, we’ll show you around.”

The three of them came out of the room into a long hallway lined with doors. Some of the doors looked like they belonged, others looked more out of place, sitting in sawn-out door frames. The beige wallpaper was faded and peeling, the red carpet was dirty, and the lights overhead flickered. It looked like the hallway was part of what had once been a nice house, but had been run-down and abandoned for a while. The room they’d just come out of was sitting near the end of the hallway, which extended before them for a long time before it turned. The hall was empty except for two more people in masks, one yellow-haired, one cyan-haired, who were talking to each other.

“Where is this place?” he asked, the words coming out hushed.

“Just some abandoned building on the edge of this town,” Monarch replied, shrugging. “We’ve repurposed it. Unfortunately, there are quite a few of us in this area, so the ones living here had to...remodel it a bit. Hope you get used to it, you’ll be living here unless you’re wanted somewhere else.”

“Really?” He looked around, reconsidering his surroundings. Not exactly what he was used to, but he supposed there were worse places to live, especially if it had to be an abandoned building. “How will I know if I’m wanted somewhere else?”

“You’ll know, kitten,” Lightshow said simply. They started walking, Monarch by their side. One he realized they were walking, he hurried to catch up, but stopped short of walking even with them. He wasn’t supposed to do that. “There are three floors to this building, and this is the second one. Here, we have everyone’s personal spaces.”

“Like bedrooms?” he asked.

“Not exactly.” Lightshow glanced at him. “Bedrooms are for sleeping. You’ll find you don’t really need to do that anymore, but you can if you want. The personal spaces are just that: spaces for privacy. People function better if they have something of their own.”

They passed the two masked who’d been standing in the hallway. He stared at them as they walked by. The yellow-haired one flashed a wicked grin, while the cyan one’s smile and head tilt was a bit softer. “How many people are in here?” he asked, speeding up a bit, barely stopping himself from being even with the other two.

Monarch hummed. “I dunno, I think you make it nineteen?”

“Twenty,” Lightshow corrected. “You always forget about them.”

“Oh yeah. But maybe they don’t count.” Monarch glanced behind them, back at the two others they passed. “A word of advise, by the way? Keep your personal items close while around that yellow one back there. They like to snatch things. Even managed to get away with the doc’s coat once.”

“Whose coat?”

“The doc.” They turned the corner, and Monarch pointed down this new hall towards a door at the very end. “You might meet him soon. He’s one of the ones who travel a lot, in contrary to those of us who stay in one area. Not around now, but he stays there when he is. You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”

He bristled. “Well, when I’m in a new place I try to find out as much as I can about it. Sorry if that’s rude or something.”

Lightshow laughed. “Kitten’s got a tongue. That’s cute. You might want to keep that to yourself around here. It could get you in trouble, and not everyone’s willing to overlook a slight.”

His immediate reaction was to snap back in retaliation for the cute remark, but that faded away the more he thought about it. It was something he shouldn’t do. That made sense. So instead of saying anything, he just nodded and rubbed his wrists, which suddenly felt odd.

They came to a pair of staircases, one leading up, and one leading down. “I say up,” Monarch said. “I don’t feel like walking up two pairs of steps when I have the option of only walking up one.”

“No, we have to save that part for last.” Lightshow was already heading downward, not even bothering to look back at her. “Just in case something happens.”

“...ah. Right. You know I really think if that was gonna happen, it would’ve by now, but yeah, good point. Come on, whiskers.”

He started after them. “What could happen?”

“Oh, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Lightshow called. “Hurry up, you two.”

The first floor of the house was in a similar state as the second one. It must’ve once been nice, but it was now worn down. The carpets were stained, and when there wasn’t carpet the wooden floor underneath creaked. But the place was still livable. He figured that the people who lived here must keep it fixed up and maintained. Maybe there was a chore wheel. The thought almost made him laugh, but it didn’t get beyond a small grin before it was quieted.

The rooms on the first floor had various purposes. One was announced as the storage room, full of boxes that he wasn’t allowed to look inside of, though he did manage to see a pair of masks sitting on a shelf by the door. One was full of maps, showing various places all around the country, and even the world, all marked up. Again, he wasn’t allowed to look too closely at the contents. There were a couple doors that they walked right past, also based on the principle that he wasn’t allowed inside there. And, somehow, he was okay with that. He wasn’t high up enough yet. He shouldn’t even want to go inside until it was time.

There were only really two places he could stay in for long. The first of which was a sort of common area, apparently the one place people could socialize in this house. There was a fireplace in this large room, as well as a few chairs, sofas, and low tables. It was mostly empty, though there were a couple people in masks chattering in the corner, one blue and one purple. He couldn’t catch much of the conversation, but the one with steel-blue hair seemed to be pretty exasperated.  “You can check this place out once you’re ready,” Monarch said. “It’ll be great for you to get to know the rest of us.”

The other room, Lightshow introduced as the mission room, a medium sized room with a map of the city on one wall and a desk with a computer leaning against the other. There were also coat hangers lining the walls, with various articles of clothing, “In case you need to be subtle,” Lightshow explained.

“Um…what exactly are the missions?” He ventured to ask.

Lightshow looked shocked. “Oh, I thought you’d have figured that out by now! After all, it was a mission that brought you here.”

He blinked. “What?”

“Don’t you remember? They actually sent six out for you, anticipated trouble. Honestly a bit overkill, in my opinion, could’ve gotten away with maybe half that. We really should get someone who can organize things better around here. But I’m not in charge of making the teams, or of deciding who’s next.” Lightshow smiled at him. “You were chosen, kitten. The master thought you’d be useful for the cause. It’s a great honor, but not many people see it that way, so when we go out to recruit them, they don’t exactly appreciate it. They always come around though. Like you did.”

He remembered it now. Every moment, from seeing those people in his house to having the mask put on his face. He remembered being scared. But...why had he been? Nothing bad has happened to him in the whole time he’s been here. And it was an honor to be chosen...it was amazing to be found useful. He had nothing to be scared of. If anything, he should be grateful. He nodded slowly. “That makes sense...so we always go out to recruit more?”

“Oh, not always,” Lightshow continued. “Sometimes we need to get more supplies. And sometimes we have to get rid of the enemies to the cause.”

Of course. “And...that’s how we help the cause? Which is...to get more people?”

“The cause is to help the master, kitten,” Lightshow said, smiling. “And getting more people does just that.”

He nodded again. “I think I get it…”

“Good. This was the last room on the floor. It’s time to go up to the attic.”

Monarch smiled. “This is the best part.”

The top floor looked unfinished, with wooden floors and rafters spanning the ceiling of the one large room. Pillars supported the roof and there were what looked like random crates scattered about. There were also punching bags dangling from the ceiling and simple mannequins lining the edges of the room. The room was empty except for a single white-haired mask sitting against one of the pillars, who quickly stood up and left the moment the three of them entered, mumbling something about “good luck.”

“Alright. First things first.” Monarch grabbed his arm and pulled him to the center of the room while Lightshow meandered over to one of the crates and sat down. “We have to figure out what you can do.”

He was still rather confused, but he just stared at her. Answers would come soon.

“Everyone has magic, you know,” Monarch continued. “But it’s a tiny amount, unable to do much of anything. Until we’re given these.” She tapped her mask. “They amplify our abilities, and connect us to the master and each other. Fascinating, right?”

He nodded. It did seem kind of cool to have actual magic.

“There are a couple different types: allure, illusion, healing, teleportation, creation, elemental, and…” Monarch grimaced. “...chaos. You can only have one, and we need to find out which one you have.”

“Okay…” he said. “How do we do that?”

Monarch grinned. Her orange hair was suddenly glowing, and her eyes lit up with the same color. He barely registered this fact before something hard hit him in the gut, knocking the breath out of him and throwing him hard to the floor. He was winded for a second before managing to push into a sitting position. Monarch was still grinning at him, but not there were wisps of what looked like orange smoke whirling around her. “Well, you see,” she said, “We’ve found that magic tends to kick in when you’re in danger. So the easiest way would be to—”

Some of the smoke broke into small shapes, darting toward him. He yelped, throwing his arms over his head to protect it. The smoke darts hit his skin and poofed away, but they left behind a stinging pain. He glanced up just in time to see more coming. “N—stop!” He scrambled backwards, not nearly fast enough to avoid the next round. He could practically feel the bruises forming.

“Make me stop!” Monarch yelled. The smoke grouped together into larger segments and shot toward him.

He scrambled to his feet and started running, but he wasn’t faster than the smoke. The new, bigger wisps hit with an oof-inducing impact. Make her stop. Once the notion took hold, it wouldn’t go away. Of course, he had to make her stop. But how? The smoke still followed him; even when he tried to hide behind a pillar it managed to flow right around and hit him again. He ducked around the pillar, saw more smoke zooming toward his eyes, and ducked behind it again. The smoke still stung his eyes and he teared up. He squeezed his eyes shut. Somehow it had to stop. Monarch was controlling this, if he could somehow get her away, get her out of here—

Something clicked inside him. He gasped, and opened his eyes. They were now glowing green to match his hair. He circled around the pillar, eyes locking on to Monarch on the other side of the room. Make it stop. There was a splash of green light, a “Hey wha—”, and when the light faded away Monarch was gone.

He stared at the spot where she had been just seconds before. Then, there was the sound of clapping. Lightshow stood up. “Very nice,” they said, walking toward him. “See, that’s the teleportation we mentioned earlier. Good, I was hoping it would be something like that. Most people in this location are elementals or creators, have enough of those around.”

“Where’d she go?” he asked, still staring at the spot of blank floor.

Lightshow waved away the question. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you teleported someone else! Usually teleporters can only move themselves around, and need practice to move others. But you were able to do that right away!”

He felt a flicker of pride at that. “Now what?”

“Well, obviously, you still need practice. You just sent someone away without a destination in mind, usually not something you want to happen. But don’t worry, if this was any indication, you’ll improve quickly.” They smiled. “Very good. I was worried you’d be one of the chaotic ones. Those cause some trouble. This last one we picked up basically destroyed their first location, and before that we had one who vanished on a mission. But you? You’ll be very useful to the master.”

That was good. That was all he wanted.

“Now.” Lightshow grabbed his wrist and started pulling him toward the stairs again. “We’re done for today. You can go back to your personal space and wait until we’re ready for practice.”

“Okay.”

And so he ended up back in that same room he’d started the day in. He could go out and explore the building again. He could try and practice more with his new magic. He could do any number of things.

But he wasn’t supposed to. Maybe there’d be time for that another day, when there was nothing to do. Now? There was something to do, and that was to wait. So he sat down, folded his legs, and waited to be called on again.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

9x06: Details - A Lot of Them!

Okay, you know how yesterday, I said I didn't have much to say about this episode? Yeah, I lied. I re-watched yesterday, when I wasn't super tired and hadn’t had such a long day, I found TONS to talk about.

And yes, this will be kind of long. 

***As always, spoilers abound for 9x06, so don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

Daryl:

Daryl’s tent at the beginning reminded me a lot of the tents we saw in 4x01 and the parking lot at Grady. Just saying.

Of course he was fishing, which I naturally want to relate to Oceanside. But more importantly, we saw him standing in water, and Beth = water.

Then there’s his new poncho. I honestly hadn’t thought too much about it until I saw an edit someone made on IG. They changed his poncho to red and gave it a “Little Red Riding Hood” caption. Now, some of you may remember me doing Little Red Riding Hood posts a long time ago. (X, X) Like, before S6 aired. Mine were based around Red Poncho Guy in 5b. But when I saw that edit, I realized something. We saw a red poncho in Beth’s cell and then Red Poncho Guy in 5b, who Daryl saw briefly and then lost track of. Kinda like Beth. So, what if the red poncho represents Beth’s missing/kidnapped arc? Then maybe Daryl’s green poncho (opposite color) represents that she’s about to return.

I think I've talked about Songbird enough for you to know what I think it means: songbird = Beth and Beth is about to appear.

One thing I didn't talk about it in as much detail as is the walker attached to the tree that Daryl sees. This is a major parallel to the blonde woman he and Aaron saw in 5x15 that was tied to a tree. You’ll notice a pattern as we go along of symbols we saw in S5 and haven’t seen since that are cropping up now in S9. Seems to me like things that happened in S5 are about to come back around.

Michonne:

Michonne finds the van in the woods. The box she digs through is a cigar box, which is a callback to Abraham. But the box itself really reminded us of the music box. The color and size are roughly similar. The things she takes out of it are all highly symbolic.

We see Rick's ring on Michonne’s necklace. (Wedding Ring Theory)

1). The sheriff. I think this could feasibly represent two different things. A) That the new sheriff is about to appear. In other words, it represents Beth. B) Obviously Rick. It definitely represents Rick for Michonne. I think it also foreshadows Rick's return. In a way, she's holding onto this in the same way Daryl holds onto Beth’s knife.

2) The four-leaf clover. (X) Not only is it green, but represents Luck (X), and then there’s all the Irish symbolism, such as Paddy Reilly, etc. Like maybe the person all that symbolism ties to is about to appear.

3) The yo-yo. I totally didn’t catch this when I first watched the episode, but they talked about it on TTD. It must be important if they’re drawing attention to it. The only other time we saw a yo-yo on the show was in S5. They made a big deal about it in the show, but then we never saw it again. The only thing I could think of back then was that, because yo-yos go down and then come back up again, it represented that the person about to go down (Beth) would bounce back up again at some point. Once more, we haven't seen any yo-yos since then. Now, were suddenly seeing one. That's a big deal.

 (I tried and couldn’t get a non-blurry pic of the yo-yo, but it’s red and green.)

Michonne finds toilet paper. See the Toilet Paper theory, plus I talked about this in THIS ASK. I'm not sure what it means but I have a halfhearted forecast for it. I’ve noticed that toilet paper is often seen at the beginning of a long journey. Could that mean a long journey for Michonne? In the comics, Michonne is with Ezekiel rather than Rick. When Ezekiel dies, Michonne leaves TF for a long time. I wonder if they'll keep that arc, but in this case, it's Rick that “died” for Michonne, rather than Ezekiel. If Michonne leaves, that might be what the TP is about. It would also leave leadership of Alexandria wide open.

This is yet another reason why I don't think Ezekiel will die. It could be that Rick's "death" replaced Ezekiel's death, especially where Michonne is concerned. I also noticed that just before this episode, the official TWD account did posts saying, “Who Will Lead?” They had one for each Daryl, Carol, Ezekiel, and Michonne. Asking who will lead is very interesting because it's basically asking who will step into Rick's (or the sheriff's) shoes. 

I found Michonne’s post to be particularly interesting. The caption says, “She’s got what it takes, but what will she choose?” As though she may choose specifically not to lead. I think that will have something to do with her arc this season and I'm interested to see where it goes.

We see that the bridge was never fixed. Again, I need to re-vamp my Bridge Theory, but it’s become clear to me that the bridge represents the community or TF as a whole. Basically, as I said before, it broke when Rick blew up the bridge. It has never been fixed. Which is a symbolic way of saying that the four communities have fractured and have no cohesion anymore. Ezekiel says, "If we could bring the communities back together as full partners…" So, the communities definitely aren’t working together anymore.

Michonne is being very negative in this episode and refuses to give Magna’s group the time of day. I did like the she was sharp as ever and knew Magnet was hiding things, but she's definitely being close minded. Rosita later tells Gabriel that Michonne knows prison doesn't really mean anything and she riled up the crowd on purpose.

We don't really understand the reason for Michonne’s actions until Judith hears her talking to herself.

I breezed over this yesterday, but I think it's important to know what’s she saying when Judith listens in. It's obvious that Michonne is talking to Rick, who she believes is dead. The “him” she mentions is obviously Carl. This is what she says. "Thought I was done with this. Done with talking to you and never hearing you answer. But I watched what you did to protect him…nothing else mattered except him… And I need to be that now for them. And I know it's not what we planned, not what we wanted, but you weren't here. Neither was he. You didn't have to go through the…". At that point, the floorboards creak under Judith and Michonne cuts off.

Okay, a couple of takeaways from this:

1) Michonne is acting as she is because she believes she needs to protect her children at all costs. She’s basically become ruthless Rick in order to protect Judith and RJ. It’s what she believes she needs to do right now, even though it's not the future she and Rick envisioned together.

2) Then there's that last line. Something definitely went down in the six years since Rick left, and from this, it was something that happened after he left because she said he wasn't there for it. I'm willing to bet whatever it is, how she got that X-scar, and also is the reason for what Carol says about people going out and never come back. We just don't know exactly what happened yet.

I wonder if this entire season is going to be full of flashbacks telling us what happened during those six years. I kinda hope so, because essentially what we’ll have to see with Beth. They skipped over whatever happened during those missing 17 days, and they’ll have to go back and show us what it was. So, if the entire season is structured around figuring out something that was skipped, maybe we’ll see other things that have been skipped over as well.

Incidentally, Michonne has done this before: talked to the dead. Remember, she told Rick early on in 3x12, Clear, that she has. “I talk to my dead boyfriend sometimes. It happens.” So I thought it was an interesting continuity of her character to show her doing this with Rick, now. Also a very obvious way to show that she 100% believes he’s dead.

I thought Judith and Michonne’s conversation on the stairs was heartbreaking. It made me sad when Judith said she was starting to forget Rick’s and Carl’s voices. “I’m not trying to, but they keep fading away.” But Judith is a lot like Carl. She’s growing up in this world, so it’s second nature to her. That makes her strong, but also less sentimental and utterly unapologetic about who she is. I’m loving Judith so much!

When we saw the X scar on Michonne, I also noticed a butterfly picture of some kind of butterfly picture on the wall behind her. (Transformation?) 

And the curtains in her room look a LOT like the wallpaper at the funeral home in Alone. They’re black and white, rather than green and yellow, but covered with a very similar bird and vine/tree pattern.

Let's talk about callbacks season four. There's a Council ruling at Alexandria, much as there was in S4 at the prison. Also much like at the prison, there's no clear leader. Remember in S4, the council led because Rick stepped down from leadership. He didn't really become the sheriff again until after disaster struck in the MSF. So, perhaps we won't see the sheriff emerge until then.

It's also interesting to note that Michonne is in pretty much the same place she was in at the start of S4. She's obviously more angry right now, but her horse is almost exactly the same color as the one she rode in 4x01. We even see her ride into Alexandria at the beginning of this episode in a similar fashion. 

So, Michonne isn't really leading. She's going outside the walls a lot and still struggling with things, much as she did in S4. She’s KIND OF leading in name (FG calls her the “head of security”) but hasn’t truly stepped into Rick’s leadership shoes either.

Carol:

Carol sees a flower. My first (and somewhat rebellious) thought was that it's definitely NOT Cherokee Rose (Hehe). But it’s growing up through cracks, which goes with the theme of light coming through the cracks.

Henry calls Ezekiel and Carol Mom and Dad. We also see an entwined-fingers hand hold for Carzekiel. All is right with the world. ;D

They’re holding some kind of fair at the kingdom. Not sure what that's about, but they keep talking about it. Henry leaves with Carol to go to Hilltop and apprentice to Earl (that's the guy that tried to kill Maggie but she ended up letting him out of prison). Henry says he'll be back before the fair starts. Sounds kind of ominous to me.

They also talk about dreamers. Henry is a dreamer. Carol says he gets it from Ezekiel, but it's not a bad thing. And the world could use more dreamers. Beth was most definitely a dreamer. Once again, we’re seeing that Daryl and Carol are very alike, which is why they wouldn't make good romantic partners. They’re too alike. They both need someone more optimistic to complement their tendency toward darkness. I’ll illustrate in a second how much Henry is like Beth.

Ezekiel also makes a point here of saying that Hilltop is distant. Remember in 9x05, Daryl mentioned, just before Rick blew the bridge, that the walker horde had run right through Hilltop? So, I’m thinking Hilltop probably had to be completely rebuilt. I think we can assume it was, because Michonne is taking Magna’s group there. Still, I’m curious to what’s happening at Hilltop these days.

After Jed’s group gets a hold of Carol and Henry, we get a quick look at the vegetables Carol was transporting. They include tomatoes and carrots. I think the tomatoes represent the communities prospering and moving forward. But the carrots? They’ve always been a Beth symbol. Remember, The King of Carrot Flowers from Alone?

Here, we got more information about stuff that's been going on during the six years we don't know about yet. Jed, chewing on a match, says the Sanctuary went bust. Before Rick blew the bridge, they talked about how nothing would grow there, so it’s not surprising it would be defunct now, but still, it’s something else we didn't see.

Jed also said they got hungry and ate horses. Carol says they could have joined the other communities (and several of them did; Laura and some other recognizable saviors are at Alexandria) but obviously Jed and his followers opted for a Negan mentality and don't want to be a part of a community. They’d rather just take people's stuff.

Then Jed said, "You spared me back in the day, so I'll do the same for you." He’s probably referring to when Rick and Carol got the better of them in 9x04, but we still don’t know what happened between Carol and this group in 9x06. The last we saw, shots were fired that brought the walkers toward the bridge and led to Rick blowing it up. I’m wondering if what Carol does to them has to do with her blaming them for Rick’s death. Not sure, though.

Obviously Carol burning the Savior is a callback to S4 with Karen and David as well as to Carol burning Saviors in 6x13.

I’m very curious about what Carol is doing. Even before they were tricked by the saviors, she’d already told Henry they were going somewhere other than Hilltop first. She'd always planned to go visit Daryl, and I wonder why. She must have a reason.

Then we get to Henry and Carol making camp for the night. This is where I became convinced that Henry is something of a Beth proxy. He said, “I don’t get it.” The opposite of Beth’s, “I get it now,” but still. The parallel is there. He also tells Carol, “That’s bullshit.” He’s calling her on her crap, and he’s 100% right because she says she let Jed and the Saviors go, but then goes and kills them while Henry sleeps. Also, Henry and Carol hang cans for an alarm. We saw that prominently with Beth and Daryl in Alone.

I’m kind of thinking we might lose Henry. I hope not, but I just felt an ominousness in his story line this week. There was a lot of emphasis on Carzekiel and him as a family, on keeping him safe. They didn’t like the idea of him going to Hilltop to train with Earl. I really hope I’m wrong, but I’m wondering if we’ll lose Henry, which would put Carol and Ezekiel in a super-dark place again. Let’s hope not.

Rosita, Father Gabriel, & Eugene:

Just for an instant, we see feet running at the beginning of this episode. 

Even though it's just feet that we see (not arms or torsos) it reminded me of the opening credits Beth-flash. In this case, it was Rosita, Aaron, Eugene and Laura looking for Judith.

Eugene carries a deer. This could be an example of the Deer Theory. I'm not sure who it would apply to here, but Luke calls it a buck, so I think it works. Maybe foreshadow of Beth about to appear? Or it may extend into further episodes. Not sure yet.

Magna’s group calls walkers “sickos.” That struck me as hilarious because my 4-year-old nephew is going through a phase where he calls everybody sickos. ;D

They show the passage of time by the length of people's hair. Michonne’s dreads are longer, Daryl's hair has gotten really long in the back, though you can always tell that from the front. 

Obviously, Judith. Eugene is sporting a long braid, Native American-style.

Father Gabriel wants to use a radio to find more people. I noticed a lot of symbolism that we saw in FTWD this past season, and this reminded me of that. This could also be part of the Communications Theme.

Rosita and FG are a couple. I know not everybody is a fan, but I thought they were kinda cute together.

Father Gabriel says, "I think Michonne is wrong. I think they're good people." So, more of Beth's “there still good people” theme. But that's just the beginning. Rosita and FG’s conversation was super interesting.

Talking about the transmitter, Rosita says, "But trying to find people and reach out to them with that thing? It's like stumbling around in the dark." It reminded me of Beth stumbling around in the dark with Noah when they were trying to escape Grady.

FG then answers, "But think what we might find. Who we might find. What else might be out there." So, we have several different references to Beth in the scene. There's the “good people” remark, the “stumbling around in the dark” remark (which may or may not be around about Beth; I may be reaching).

Plus, we had the broken picture in the background. 

Remember this window was broken when FG and Sasha fought over the gun in 5x16. So, yet another S5 reference (we seriously haven’t seen that picture since) plus we’re pretty sure the picture represents Beth. It has white cypress trees and it was shot with a bullet. My point is that we have a lot of Beth references in this scene, and FG says with emphasis, “Just think WHO we might find.” I think that’s super-significant.

So I’m feeling like this relay Eugene and Rosita set up may be how the group comes back into contact with Beth again.

Eugene is trying to get up his courage to tell Rosita how he feels about her. I thought it was interesting that she seemed to want him to tell her as well.

I felt like there was a lot of symbolism in what they said about the walker tracks. They notice hundreds of walker tracks heading East. Eugene is comforted by the fact that he and Rosita need to head west to get to the water towers, where they set up the relay. Then the walker herd ends up coming toward them anyway. Eugene says it must have done a U-turn. I'm assuming that's probably be because the Whisperers are doing something to push the walkers back that way. Still, we have the east-west symbolism.

The more I watch it, the more I think this sequence with Rosita and Eugene is super-significant and a major foreshadowing, which is not necessarily a good thing. First, they’re near graveyard. I had to look two or three times very carefully, but the water towers are directly next to a graveyard. 

So, we have the Communication theme (because of the relay) a water symbol (the towers) and a graveyard that looks a lot like the graveyard in Alone.

We also saw a ladder fall and Eugene hurting his knee. 

We saw a ladder fall around Maggie in S6, and I don’t think we ever nailed down exactly what the ladder symbolizes in TWD. But at the least, it means they're in danger. Maggie almost died when the ladder fell in S6 and Eugene almost died here because the ladder fell.

Okay guys, I’m gonna put an unpopular opinion forth here. I think we saw a lot of foreshadows in this episode that Eugene is going to die. I love Eugene these days, especially his long hair and seeing him as a bad ass, so I don't want him to die, but I'm worried he might. I mean, there's the graveyard, there's him falling and hurting his leg, the ladder, him offering to sacrifice himself for Rosita and trying to admit his undying love for her first. It all felt really ominous to me.

Then there's the fact that they used Rosita and Eugene to introduce the Whisperers. I feel like whoever they used, it was always going to be significant. The could’ve Daryl and Carol to introduce them, Magna’s group, or any character on the show, but they used Rosita and Eugene. So I’m wondering if, rather than Rosita and Ezekiel losing their heads to the Whisperers, it might be Rosita and Eugene. Again, I hope I’m wrong and, you know, nobody else dies EVER on the show, but I feel like that's what they might be telling us. Guess we’ll find out soon whether I’m right or not.

One more thing about this scene with Rosita and Eugene that made my jaw drop, though I’m actually not 100% on it. I noticed at one point, they focused on a shot of Rosita and Eugene’s feet as they ran. And I thought I saw something on the ground. So, I looked more closely. I’m not sure what this is, but there seems to be something metallic on the ground where they’re walking. I even think there might be two things, one on each side, and Rosita and Eugene walk between them. Is it possible that…this is a bear trap? If so, that’s HUGE! It’s a major symbol of Beth that TD has known about for a long time. But again, I’m not positive that’s what it is. Any insights?

Magna’s Group:

We always love music references, and Luke is a music teacher. What really jumped out at me, though, was when they asked him, “Who are you now?” he answers, “I’m still a music teacher.” You know, like “I still sing.”

And we can link the title to Beth as well. Remember when she talked o Daryl in Still, she said, “You gotta stay who you are, not who you were.” So the question, “Who are you, now?” goes along with that theme.

I thought Magna’s prison tattoo was interesting. Michonne said the four dots represented the four walls and in the middle one represented the prisoner inside. It made me think of Four Walls and a Roof (5x03). There's been plenty of conjecture about what the title meant. Maybe the whole time, the idea was that it represented a prison. (Also another callback to S5).

Which brings me to my next point. While arguing against letting Magna’s group stay, Michonne says, "I remember." 1) It has to do with what happened during the six-year time jump that they haven't told us yet. Michonne seems to be referencing a point when they let someone in and it went wrong. Probably the same thing she’s talking to Rick about later. 2) It hearkens back to the title in 5B. 5x12 was called Remember, so yet another reference to S5. 3) Beth said the exact same thing to Daryl in Still. "I remember."

Siddiq says the injured woman in Magna’s group (Miko) has a concussion and is dehydrated, but should be back on her feet soon. That made me think of Beth at Grady because she was also told she had a concussion, which she probably didn't. Can you see the parallels? Miko is part of a group, has a head injury, and wakes up in a new community.

Not sure what my opinion of Magna is yet. So far, she seems like a little bit of a loose cannon. She was about to break into Michonne’s house with the knife necklace. What did she plan to do? It was only when she saw Michonne’s son that she stopped, changed her mind, and went to knock at the front door. Hmm.  

I also caught another theme at this part. When her and Michonne are talking, she says she’s done terrible things. Michonne answers that they all have. It’s the only reason they’re still here. Then Michonne says, “They aren’t always easy to live with.” To which Magna replies, “But it’s better than losing everything.”

I think that will be a theme this season. They have to learn to live with the things they’ve done. It may not be easy, but if they don’t, they could lose everything.

Reasons I think still Rick will be back:

1) In the opening montage, Michonne says, "I'm still here too." The “I'm still here” is a theme we've heard a lot in the show. When someone says it, it means they've survived and are still fighting. Michonne says, "I know you're still here. I'm still here too." She doesn't necessarily mean she thinks is alive, but I feel like it's symbolism that Rick will be back.

2) There's also the 7x12 symbolism. Remember Michonne thought Rick was dead and was utterly devastated, but he came back out through the yellow door (yellow equals escape) and they had a reunion. It's really only a matter time before he shows up again.

Judith and Negan

She reads him her math problem, and we get some more A/B symbolism. She says, “Airplane A and Airplane B are 1000 miles apart. If airplane A is flying east at 500 mph, and Airplane B is flying west at 650 mph…” She doesn't finish the question because Negan cuts her off. If the writers wanted us to hear the question, we would have. The only reason to hear the rest of the problem was to get that A/B and east-west symbolism in. Negan says she should book a seat on Airplane C because it sounds like one hell of a collision.

So, the idea is that these two planes are on a collision course. We have A, which we think represents leadership, and B, which is more like a follower. But we've also thought B might represent Beth and C represents TF and/or where they’re living. So, together with Daryl saying a storm is coming, it seems like a lot of things are about to collide here. Just not sure what form that will take yet.

Negan tells Judith his twisted little story about how he used to bring home stray dogs. Okay, so first of all, DOGS! (Sirius/Dog Star Symbolism). He uses his story to illustrate that even if the people seem to be good, it only takes one to kill everybody. That could most definitely foreshadow something.

Finally, the timeline was really jacked up. We saw three days in the Michonne/Alexandria story line. The first day where Magna’s group is brought to Alexandria, the second day where the trial is held, and then the third day where Michonne offers to take them to Hilltop and they set off.

Carol/Henry only went through two days. We saw them in the morning of the first day when they left the Kingdom and ran into the Saviors, at night, and then the next day where they meet Daryl.

For Rosita and Eugene, we saw only one day, and it wasn’t over yet at the end of the episode. No idea if that will be important moving forward, but I’ll keep an eye on it.

Okay, I’ll shut up now. Lots of setups in this episode for the coming arc. But definitely lots more interesting symbols than I thought there would be. Thoughts?

[my-meant-to-find-blog]

Peter Parker - One Shot “The Truth”

REQUEST - What about a Peter Parker image, where the reader has a secret and Peter tries to find out what it is, because he likes her and wants to become closer friends. The secret is that she lives in a poor block with lots of criminals, because her parents are poor. Idk just that he finds out and tells her that he doesn't care if she has money or not, because she is still the same person. Angst and fluff pls 😙 (ANON) 

 A/N - Hello beautifulsssssss! I am so sorry this took so long to come out. I won't lie, I’m not 100% happy with it, but I couldn't figure out another way to write it, and it is fluffy and angsty I guess! If you could give me constructive criticism that would be great! Oh and remember, REQUESTS ARE OPENNNNNNNNN! I love you all!

 (F/M) Mentions - Briefly drugs, and a light stabbing.

WORDS - 2059

You pulled at the too short sleeves of the sweatshirt that was just about keeping you warm enough on your walk to school. Keeping your head down you didn’t see the running geek behind you trying to catch up. When the hand grabbed your elbow you froze, used to drunk idiots in your apartment block trying to make passes at you, so seeing the warm gleeful smile of Peter Parker looking down at you felt like a huge relief.

 “Y/N! You live the other side of school? What are you doing this route?” The goofy smile never left his face as the two of you started walking in the direction of the school. But the one that had grown seeing him soon slipped off your face, he’d caught you.

 “Oh-oh-oh you know, stayed at my cousin's last night, he lives this way.” You internally cursed, you knew Peter knew you had no other family in the city, the confusion that crossed his face reflected that notion, but he didn’t press on. Instead, his fingers looped with yours, causing a warm blush to creep across your face as he dragged you into the local cafe to grab some coffee before school like you knew he had started to recently. The emptiness of your pockets felt so heavy as you had to make up some lie about not being thirsty as he ordered his drink, the barista turning to you. Peter only frowned more, as he knew your love of coffee, from all the cups you drank during decathlon training when Mr Harrington offered it from his office.

When the two of you started on your way to school again, you tried to keep your fingers curled up in the sweatshirt, to stay warm, but they kept slipping out, it being too physically short. Without saying anything, Peter passes you his coffee, saying he didn’t want it anymore, watching carefully as you silently let out a sigh of relief as the warmth of the cup hit your fingertips. Without realising it, he found himself watching you closely for the rest of the walk as you sipped silently, the coffee hampering the hunger pains just enough. Peter could see something wasn’t right, and he wanted to get to the bottom of it, but first, he needed to get closer to you.

 “Y/N, I was wondering if we could catch a movie sometime?” Peter found himself stuttering out, blushing immediately as he realised what he had said, the romantic nature of it, but the excitement that filled him instantly at the thought, made him grin. He’d like a date with you.

 “I-I-I can’t Peter.” You whispered, your voice cracking with sadness. Your huge crush on Peter was getting to the painful stage now, but you knew he would leave you the second he found out you were living a lie. He would never speak to you again, and that would mean Ned and MJ too, and you would be left all alone again.

 “Oh, yeah that’s okay, maybe another time.” The small sad smile that flashed across his face didn’t go unnoticed by you as you went back to sipping his coffee, trying not scream out how much you wanted to date him. The rest of the walk to school was silent, but it was no longer comfortable between you, Peter trying to get you to look at him, your eyes glued to the pavement in front of you. The second you walked into school, you slipped away into the crowds, leaving a sad Peter Parker to go find Ned before his first class.

 The lunch bell signalled it was time for you to hide in the library, where no one would question you not eating anything more than the free fruit that was available one per student every morning, and drinking from the reusable water bottle you carried with you everywhere. You stuck your nose into the book deeper, ignoring the growls of your stomach as you tried to read. The bag of Dorito’s that fell on the pages made you squeak in surprise, looking up to see MJs retreating figure leaving the library, never once looking back at you. It had become a regular occurrence for her to leave you little snacks. Neither of you ever acknowledged it, but somehow she knew, but she never pressed it, for which you were thankful. You ripped into the bag and all but sucked them up, there has been less than normal food in the fridge, that you had packed for your mum's lunch, knowing how stressed she’d been recently.

 Decathlon wasn’t on this afternoon, so you headed out of school ready to take your long walk home. Walking in the opposite direction of your home for 20 minutes every day really tired you out, but you couldn’t face the truth, not as you walked past everyone with the latest Stark phone, or the expensive makeup palettes girls held touching up their make-up, or even the Starbucks they frequently walked around with. There was no way you could ever afford it, but you needed to keep up a level of pretending, so saying you lived in the nice part of the city, was enough to keep people off your back. So, you pulled your sleeves down once again, the temperature had dropped more, as you started your 1hr round trip, dreaming of Peter Parker in your head as you walked, not really paying attention to your surroundings. Never once seeing a red and blue figure fly over ahead, watching you curiously walk home.

 Peter knew he was spying, using Spiderman for his own personal reasons, a morally wrong thing to do. But he was so drawn to you, he couldn’t help himself. So when you started walking down a dark alley and turning back on yourself, a few blocks later, his curiosity peaked. You walked all the way back past the school, albeit a few blocks over, and started towards the end of the city, few students of the school lived. The further you walked, the more the hairs on the back of Peters' neck stood on end, he knew it was dangerous around here. Tony and May regularly told him to not patrol these streets, so seeing you walk father down them, caused his heart to sink. He didn’t have to have enhanced hearing to hear the chattering of your teeth, the long walk in the winter freezing you to the core. He shook his head softly, about to turn around, to give you the privacy of your home, the overwhelming guilt of what he was doing became too much when he heard your scream.

 Looking back down at the streets below, your body had disappeared as he heard your screams again, when he found you in an alleyway, being cornered by 3 men twice your size. If Peter had seen the knife one of them was holding, he might have called Tony for back up, but not seeing it, only the terror that struck your face, he soon swung into action, webbing two of them up before they could touch you.

 “Y/N RUN!” Without realising it he screamed your name, in his Spiderman suit, the confusion of why Spiderman knew your name, freezing you before you had a chance to run, distracting Peter enough, he didn’t see the man running up behind him, stabbing him in the thigh before running off.

 Watching Spiderman fall to his feet in front of you, was a sight you would never erase from your head, as you ran to support him, the confusion of him knowing your name fleeing from your thoughts. Without thinking you pulled off your thin sweatshirt, leaving you in ae eve thinner shirt, tying the sweatshirt around his thigh to help slow the bleeding.

 “M-my apartment is in that building, i-i-t’ll be warmer to wait there, for an ambulance.” You didn’t want to also admit you didn’t have a phone to this superhero, in your arms, that you’d have to go home to be able to call help for him. You watched the red-masked man briefly nod at you, as you helped him up all his weight leaning on you as you walked him into the building. You were so caught up in attending to your hero, you didn’t see the masked man take in the drug needles across the stairs as you walked up, the torn wallpaper and gunshots in the wall, as you fumbled for your keys to your apartment, the only clean door in the building.

 Peter could barely breathe, and not from the searing pain in his leg. His advanced healing was already fixing the wound that was barely seeping now. No, he couldn’t breathe as he saw the circumstances of which you lived, the barely furnished apartment, was somehow colder than outside, the numerous blankets around the tiny room attesting to the fact this was common. Peter looked up at you behind his mask you gently helped him down onto the sofa, rushing to the small Nokia phone on the corner.

 “Don’t call an ambulance!” He barely got out before you pressed dial on the phone, your terrified face whipping to look at him as if he was crazy.

 “You need help, Sir, you saved my life and got hurt!” You could feel yourself shaking, not only from the cold now, but the adrenaline that was almost pushing you into a state of shock. You watched your hero move his hand to his mask and go to pull it off, but you found yourself stopping him.

 “Don’t feel like you need to show me your face, you keep your identity secret on purpose, I’m not worth knowing your secret.” You whispered gently sitting beside him going to push the mask back down his face, but his hands were stronger and you were soon looking into familiar eyes.

 “PETER?!?!” Clamping your hand over your mouth you shot up in surprise, guilty-looking eyes looking up to meet you shocked ones.

 “Y/N, love, I can explain.”

 “T-that’s how you knew my name…” You were violently shaking now, about to go into shock, before Peter pulled you into his arms wrapping the closest blanket around the both of you as he softly told you the story of how he became Spiderman, rubbing his hand on your back soothingly, his melodic voice and touch gently calming you back down.

 “So how did you find me?” Your eyes flickered around your flat, an overwhelming sense of panic now hitting you once again as you realised he knew where you lived.

 “I-I followed you. Please Y/N know I didn’t mean it creepily. But something was just telling me that something wasn’t right, and I was worried and I just started following you…I understand if you hate me. But why did you lie Y/N? I thought you lived near Ned and Flash? Why didn’t you tell us you lived here?” You looked up expecting to see the disgust in his eyes, why wouldn’t he be disgusted when he saw how you lived? But all you saw when you looked up was warmth and kindness, and a slight note of sadness, as he took in your thin cheekbones as if for the first time with a new light.

 “I didn’t want you to hate me.” You couldn’t stop your voice from breaking as a few tears rolled down your cheeks as you explained how you had gotten into Midtown on scholarship, and how your Mum worked 3 jobs to try and look after the two of you, but it was barely enough. “I understand you want to go now, I won’t stop you.” You said heartbroken as you stood up expecting Peter to dart out of the door, but the soft hand pulling you back down shocked you, but when soft lips pressed yours, you were literally thrown you off your feet with surprise.  

 When Peter finally pulled away for air, he grinned at the blush that spread across your cheeks. ‘I could never hate you, your home doesn’t determine who you are. All I see is a fearless, beautiful lady who is the smartest person I have ever met. Just don’t tell MJ.” He winks at you before pulling you in for a kiss after kiss after kiss.

 Maybe you could get used to this.

[sanctferum]

Steven Universe – A Single Pale Rose reactions

Oh boy, time for what is undoubtably a really really interesting episode…

We start with a few things we’ve heard. Ruby’s testimony regarding Rose shattering Pink Diamond, Blue Zircon’s questions about how Rose got close to Pink, that dream flashback thing from last episode of Pearl drawing her sword. Steven’s eyes fly open and he’s on his living room couch.

Enter Pearl and Amethyst, talking about Pearl’s phone. She’s had it for a month, and she’s used it merely as a clock.

Amethyst IS the kinda person who would literally say the word “sigh” instead of sighing, yeah. That checks out.

Amethyst changes Pearl’s wallpaper to a selfie of the purble herself. Classy.

Meanwhile, Steven is about to burst at the seams with questions for Pearl. Amethyst dismisses him when he tries to interrupt her. Pearl learns how to send text messages, and immediately sends one to Steven.

Amethyst suggests getting a case for the phone. Pearl pulls a briefcase out of her gem. That’s a bit big for a phone, Pearl.

Amethyst leaves to get an actual phone case, and Steven seizes his chance.

Wow. That was awfully blunt.

Pearl’s conditioning or whatever it is that prevents her from talking about that particular subject kicks in and her hands cover her mouth and her phone drops to the floor. Good going Steven.

“It’s OK, you can just tell me!” It’s pretty clear she physically cannot tell you, Steven.

Amethyst comes back with the phone case. With the change of topic Pearl takes the opportunity to grab her phone, put it in her gem, and skedaddle, leaving behind Steven. And Amethyst, who didn’t get to give her the phone case and is very confused.

Later on, Steven is out for a walk, finishing off The Bits over at Peedee’s repurposed mayormobile stand thing. His phone makes an incoming text sound.

Wait shit, I just had an idea. Pearl can’t talk about the truth behind PD’s shattering. Could she communicate it via texting? Is that what this is gonna be?

“I want to tell you, but I can’t.” With a monkey covering its mouth emoji at the end.

Steven runs back home to ask Pearl about it. But…Pearl hasn’t used her phone since she put it away.

SO THEN WHO SENT THE TEXT????

Pearl tries to grab her phone and check it for herself, but keeps pulling random other objects out of her gem instead. As she gets frustrated at being unable to retrieve the right thing from her gem, Steven gets another text from her phone. Another emoji. A rose petal? I’m no flower expert but that doesn’t look like a rose petal to me, so maybe not.

Pearl freaks out and tells Steven to go inside her gem and find her phone. Something weird is going on with it, and Pearl has an idea of what’s going on, but physically cannot tell Steven the details…

Inside of Pearl’s gem is…Pearl?

“There’s a Pearl inside Pearl’s pearl?” Apparently…?

The Pearl within the pearl attempts to file Steven with other objects.

Can I just appreciate that giant Pearl Point for a moment? You know, the stickers from Steven vs Amethyst, but Steven has presumably been shrunken down enough to fit in Pearl’s gem that it’s the size of his head.

And here are…a bunch of papers with phone numbers, including Mystery Girl’s. Some of them have hearts and lipstick smooches and etc on them. Besides “S”/Mystery Girl’s, there’s one from “RH”. One from “Yeva”, one with an indecipherable gmail address…no phone. Pearl switches to another segment of the filing system, where the cellphone should be. And indeed, there’s an empty space exactly where it should be. Wait, what?

“Some other me”? Is Pearl a matryoshka doll of mini-Pearls…?

After warning Steven about wherever it is these other Pearls are, Pearl sucks Steven into her gem. Now Steven is two layers deep into Pearl’s mind.

This area takes the form of the beach in front of the Temple, which noticeably lacks the house Greg built for Steven and the Gems.

“This doesn’t look like a mess. This looks like…the past.”

Right after Steven says that, he sees a third Pearl crying behind some rocks. And she looks different somehow.

Wait. Are all these Pearls…different regenerations? Which would make Pearl the current version, Pearl 2 the version that got poofed in Steven the Swordfighter, and Pearl 3 a Pearl from before the show began. I’m gonna have to check whether Pearl 2 has Pearl’s design from the original episodes…

OK, well in between that last sentence and this one, I had two doctor’s appointments as well as lunch. But I’m back! So, looking back on the episode so far…Pearl 2 has the same design as Pearl 1. Pearl 3’s design is definitely a Pearl from before the show began, though – I specifically recognize it as her design from “Story for Steven”.

So why is Pearl sobbing? It’s because of Rose, of course.

“What was she thinking?! She can’t have a baby…” Yeah, about that. Have you noticed you’re sitting next to Steven? As in, Rose quite definitely did make the decision to have a baby, and the boy next to you is the living proof that she did.

Yeah, this particular Pearl is from the past all right. After Rose’s decision, but before Steven’s birth. Those awkward nine months where it’s clear that Rose is perfectly fine for the time being, alive and well, and also clear that when those nine months end she is going to die, for good.

“I’m going to lose her. Just like I lost my…what was it you said?” Oh, nothing, Pearl 3. Cellphones haven’t even been invented yet from your frame of reference.

“I think I know where it is.” Is it…inside of your gem, by any chance? Being used by yet another of the matryoshka doll Pearls? Are we gonna have to go even deeper inside?

Where’s the Pearl with a Myspace titled “Welcome to my twisted mind”, I wonder?

Here we go!

Pearl 4’s environs are the Strawberry Battlefields. But strawberries won’t be growing there for thousands of years. This battlefield has just been recently decimated. It glows in a blood-red light, Bismuth’s abandoned weaponry and the remnants of the Diamonds’ army’s technology being all that is left.

No, that isn’t right, actually. There’s gems, too. Gems, lying everywhere. Whole gems, not shattered ones, but broken nevertheless – when they reform, it will be into the first corrupted gem monsters.

Pearl 4’s design is a new one. Well, OK, it was leaked a while back, along with stuff like Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding outfits, but in-show, I’m not sure we’ve ever seen it. We might have gotten a glimpse of it in Your Mother And Mine, possibly? That’s the only war flashback I can think of that hasn’t been shown in a stylized fashion.

“Is this really about your phone or what?!” Obviously not, Steven

Do WHAT, Pearl? Are you allowed to tell us yet, or do we need to talk to Pearl 5 to get the details?

Pearl 5 it is!

Those sure are flowers that look like the emoji sent from Pearl’s phone. And shards of what appear to be a pink gem. Is this…the moment immediately after PD was shattered?

And there’s Rose, or at least someone who has Rose’s appearance, in a cloud of pink dust, with PD’s death cry still echoing…

Rose? stands up, tears streaming down her face, as PD’s screams continue to echo. Steven approaches where she stands next to the palanquin, only to stop as Rose’s eyes open, revealing what are unmistakably Pearl’s pupils.

OK, so that seems to confirm that Pearl shattered PD, but…why is she crying? Why is she shapeshifted to be Rose? Does this mean the sword she used to shatter PD was part of the disguise, and as such didn’t have whatever adjustments Bismuth made to the real thing that prevented shattering? Was the sword a fake, is what I’m asking? Both the sword and Rose herself?

OK who is screaming? PD’s been dead for at least half a minute, this can’t still be her death cry…right?

“Rose” opens her hand to reveal…to reveal…

Pink Diamond’s gem. Huh?

Then…whose gem is on the ground? Pink Pearl’s, perhaps?

Steven begs for answers, but gets sucked into Rose/Pearl 5’s gem instead. Um. OK.

Pearl 6’s memory places Steven on PD’s throne, within the palanquin. Strange whispers echo off the walls Behind the throne, Rose and Pearl are talking.

“…And then it’ll be done. It’s going to be easy.” So…did Rose plan the assassination, and Pearl carried it out? But why not just have Rose do it herself?

And Pearl is clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing. Rose is pressuring her into it, in the belief that this will end it all, that Blue and Yellow care little enough about what happens on Pink’s colony that killing Pink will cause them to just give up the colony without a fight. Cut their losses and scram.

Well, that worked out great for you and your army, didn’t it, Rose.

“Your status…my purpose…none of it will matter anymore. This…will change everything.” “I know. Isn’t it exciting?!” “…It is.”

Sure, Pink might’ve been an awful brutal authoritarian brat who wouldn’t have cared a damn if the planet and its people died, but…there’s something unsettling about seeing Rose and Pearl get so hyped over a plan to kill someone.

“We can leave our old lives behind. If this is really my world, I want to give it to the Crystal Gems. I want to live here with human beings! I want to live here, with you! We’ll both finally be free…” But…you already are living here with human beings, Rose. And what do you mean, if this is really “your” world? It’s either Pink Diamond’s world, or everyone’s world. Why would it be yours, in particular? And aren’t you part of the Crystal Gems? Their leader, and founder, and…? This isn’t leading to some “Rose was Pink Diamond all along” kinda twist, is it? Cause that wouldn’t make sense, would it? I thought we already went over that particular fan theory with a fine-toothed comb.

“I can’t exactly shatter myself…” ??????

Rose shapeshifts into PD. Or…PD shapeshifts out of Rose? At this point, I…I don’t know.

Can…can she do that? Shapeshift her own gem? Huh?

That flower again…

She…changed the dirt into broken shards. The shards Steven found in the last memory.

“Wait…there’s one last thing I need to do. No one can ever find out we did this…I never wanna look back. So…for my last order to you as a Diamond…please…let’s never speak of this again. No one can know.”

I am so confused right now. My current thought process is something like this, though:

Pink did used to be a brat. But Earth changed her. Changed her, to the point where she wished to abandon the responsibility of her position. To the point where she fell in love with Earth and its people. Disenchanted with the gem empire and her fellow Diamonds and their plans to hollow out the planets they used as colonies until nothing but an empty shell was left, she staged an elaborate production, with both the heroine and villain played by herself. All to fake her own death and become able to live freely.

And if that’s true, the Rose Quartz who we all know and love never existed. The person who started the rebellion against Pink Diamond was…Pink Diamond. Pink Diamond, shapeshifted into the form of a Rose Quartz, creating what was essentially a façade that would stop Blue and Yellow from searching for her after she disappeared.

That’s why Pink Diamond never managed to track Rose down via last episode’s lunar base orb, in case that wasn’t clear.

And. If all this is true, Steven was right back in Your Mother and Mine. Pink Diamond, in a very real sense, is still out there, under a different name. The name “Steven Quartz Universe”.

Also, that explains how Rose’s sword could have been the “fatal” weapon. As a sword unable to shatter gems, it was the perfect weapon to use to “shatter” PD while actually leaving her gem intact. Not only does it now make sense for it to be the weapon, this revelation means that it HAD to be the weapon, due to being unable to actually shatter her.

Holy fucking shit. Of all the fan theories to turn out to be right…and even those fan theories didn’t go far enough to claim that both PD and “Rose” were the same person.

Oh, and um. Here’s Pearl’s phone. Thanks Pearl 6.

And now to go back! Pearl shapeshifts into Rose, takes the sword and leaves. “Rose” “shatters” Pink Diamond, keeping her intact gem hidden within her hand. Garnet and Pearl fight on the battlefield, as the sky suddenly lights up with the corruption blast. Pearl sadly places her hand on Rose’s pregnant belly. Pearl sits outside the temple crying as Amethyst and Garnet attempt to comfort her. All this happens in a blur, and then Steven lands on the floor of his house.

Steven and Pearl share a moment. A moment which doesn’t last very long at all. Because, well. Garnet and Amethyst are standing right there, and they just heard Steven say Rose was really Pink Diamond, and this can only end poorly.

The episode ends with a preview of the fallout. Amethyst freaks out, but in a similar way to the way I am freaking out. That is to say, she takes this a lot better than some others, namely Sapphire, who defuses from Ruby in an ice-cold rage that quickly melts into a puddle of betrayal and, tears streaming down her face from her one eye, makes for the warp pad and fucks the hell off, leaving Ruby behind.

Yeah, that’s right. The reason Garnet exists in the first place is Rose Quartz. It was an attack by Rose on Blue Diamond that lead to their first fusion, and Rose’s advice that lead them to decide to live the rest of their lives as Garnet. w e l p

And that’s that for this special, I guess? More SU episodes coming this summer.

I…suppose I need some more time to gather my thoughts before I can say anything on what just happened.

[attract-mode-collective]

Just Another Late Night At The Game Center

And just another massive dose of game culture, as originally shared on the Attract Mode Twitter account, (most of) everything that was shared in the latter half of February. The first half was covered here.

Before I forget: the above is courtesy of erickimphotography.com.

Again, given how short Feb is supposed to be, I figured this post would be too... and it's not. So am wonder if going weekly might best going forward?

Anyhow, where did I leave off last time? Oh yeah; Valentine's Day. And here’s Amy Rose, from the day after, reminding us all that, as great as love can be, it also hurts (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

Check out this devastating big boot from Mario, one that would make the WWE's Undertaker or Kane proud (via suppermariobroth)...

You're no doubt familiar with Julie Bell's work, but are you aware of the close resemblance between her art & the artist herself? (via slbtumblng)...

Some nice, pixelated sukajans we have here (via kauzara)...

Look at these hipsters...

Look at these hipsters standing around, on a Brooklyn rooftop...

Look at these hipsters standing around, on a Brooklyn rooftop in leggings based upon the interactive menu for the Super Famicom's satellite modem peripheral. (via minusworld.co.uk)...

Am legit thinking of getting this shirt covered with quotes from people trying to figure out which Metal Gear character is gay (via kotaku.com)...

Am rather fond of Data Weave, which has more than a passing resemblance to the Eliss scarf that helped put the Attract Mode shop on the map (via prostheticknowledge)...

When you go to bed, don't forget to never use your Dreamcast as a pillow (nor should you ever place it on a bucket filled with leafy greens either, but you probably already knew that one; via posthumanwanderings)...

Not sure which SNK 40th Anniversary shirt I like more (via miki800.com)...

It's just Hidetaka Suehiro, playing... I think The Last Blade? Criminally underrated Neo Geo game btw (via nintendu)...

And the late, great Robin Williams playing Ground Zero Texas for the Sega CD (via celebgames)...

Plus the President of Turkey, circa 1990, playing Galaxy Force II for whatever reason (via historium)..

Pro-tip to any & all custom arcade cabinet sellers: if you're going to photograph someone playing a game on your thing, have said person actually play the thing (in this case, Robotron utilizes dual sticks and no buttons; via arcadephile)...

Today's recommended reading is a follow-up to another older post, one that's all about Willie Williams, who not only inspired Virtua Fighter's Jeffry McWild but also Tekken's Paul Phoenix (via lordmo)...

After seeing this gif of a young woman punching a dinosaur (or possibly a dragon) in the crotch, I may have to give Capcom Fighting Jam a second look (via kazucrash)...

Sticking with the subject of crotches for just one bit, everyone out there's familiar with PuLiRuLa, right? (via kazucrash)

Just a friendly reminder of how wacky commercials for the PlayStation 2 were back in the day (via kurhl)...

Back to the subject of dinosaurs... yet still sticking with fun under the sun (via sidestorygaiden)...

If I'm gonna share fan art of unofficial PlayStation 1 era mascots, then I have to pass along this rendering of Abe (via it8bit)...

Seen countless folk play music with a Game Boy or a NES... but a Dreamcast? @slowmagic is the very first, and with a Hello Kitty edition Dreamcast no less...

Does anyone know if these figures of Dorimukyasuko & friends were commercially produced or if they were just made for the Sega no Game wa Sekai Ichi~i~i~I ad that the image comes from? (via vgprintads)...

We've gotten snowfall here in NYC over the past few weeks, once during during sunset, but alas it wasn't nearly as pretty as this (via kirokazepixel)...

It's been ages since I've posted any Game Culture Snapshots, despite countless promises that I'd fix that. Well, until that finally happens, here just one, from IndieCade East 2018. Which was an epic bust, but hey, at least I finally got to play that Bill Viola game I first encountered at GDC 2008...

PLEASE tell me that GBA Video carts are the new hot means of distributing bootleg Hollywood flicks (via @katribou)...

This part from The Thing always reminded me of Asteroids on the Atari 7800 (via pixpunk)...

I posted this on Twitter, not realizing that I had shared it on the blog once before. But since I can’t find that original post, and since it's so damn nice, plus totally worth looking at again (via humanoidhistory)...

I also need to re-share that Tron movie poster cuz it's the first lead up to this Blade Runner-related spread from Joystik Magazine (via mendelpalace)...

As someone who fetishizes old video game magazines, I'm legit ashamed that I didn't know about Joystik sooner (via here & here)...

Please enjoy a healthy helping of scans from Lovely Sweet Dream, the dream journal that would become the basis of LSD for the PlayStation 1 (via here & here)...

Sorry, but I still think the idea of a multi-billionaire sending his sports car into space just cuz he can to be kinda cringey, yet that doesn't mean I'd don't think this pixelated recreation is any less pleasant (via it8bit)...

I've never been to Beverly Hills, so I have no idea if this portrayal according to Super Chase: Criminal Termination is accurate or not; maybe it was when the game was produced? (via obscurevideogames)...

Meanwhile, closer to where I am (somewhat; am not all that far from Long Island) is Mario & Yoshi & the Book of Revelation (via greathaircut)...

Are you playing Mario? Or is Mario playing you? (via suppermariobroth)...

Game Boys. And Game Girls. Mostly Girls. (via contac)

Before anyone asks, no, I do not have a bigger/wallpaper appropriate-sized version of this super sexy image of a couple of Wiis (via klaus-laserdisc)...

I think I kinda need to do this to my PlayStation (via dreamcast.tokyo)...

... Which reminds of those fancy, souped up by audiophiles PSXs I mentioned a whiles ago...

I celebrated Cat Day in Japan by posting this fave official King of Fighters illustration (via videogamesdensetsu)....

... along with this Monster Hunter fan art (via kerriaitken)...

... plus this highlight of a fave WarioWare: Twisted micro game (via suppermariobroth)...

So yeah, Flash sucks, I get that, but as the platform fades away, so does the opportunity to play games like Fear Less! (via zombie-chaser)...

Thankfully, WORLD OF HORROR, "a love letter to the cosmic horror work of Junji Ito", is something that's much more accessible (for now at least)...

I don't know much about Dujanah, which has you assuming the role of a Muslim woman with grievances against a military force that's occupying her Islamic homeland, other than it looks extremely compelling...

Yet another game I need to check out is CONTINUUM, which is a shmup that combines time manipulation and Tetris? (via alpha-beta-gamer)...

It's a legit shame that Jetpack Squad has seemingly fallen off the map (via shmups)...

Another shmup that I really, really want to play (though it's starting to feel increasingly unlikely) is AEROBAT, which looks just as gorgeous (and insane) today as it did the first time I laid eye (via shmups)...

Yet another game that was never meant to be, and the only thing we have here is some incredible looking concept art; if it ended up happening & was any good, I wonder if I'd be a PC-FX owner? (via videogamesdensetsu)...

If a Tokyo Dark Souls was ever to happen, which artist's take do you prefer; this one (via visor-visual)...

... or this one? (via mendelpalace)

You know about celebrity roasts, right? Well, a comedy club in Long Island City had one for Mario, though I have no idea how it went; I had kung fu practice that night...

Me, when the coffee kicks in (via anthony10000000)...

I had no idea that Typing of the Space Harrier was even a thing (via posthumanwanderings)...

It's a bit unsettling how some of Dreamcast Magazine's advice on how to survive Y2K are still useful today, in particular their words of wisdom regarding Seaman (via posthumanwanderings)...

Megadora Man, a Tokusatsu-esque take on the Mega Drive, for Beep! Mega Drive; am assuming his foes are inspired by the Famicom and PC Engine (though am not totally sure which is which; via obscurevideogames)...

Question: how hard would it be for someone in the US to get the first three issues of Famitsu from the Japanese Kindle Store? (via miki800.com)

Been well over a decade since first laying eyes and I FINALLY know the identity of the artist behind a series of Mario illustrations that has long left me stupefied: his name is Ishihara Gōjin (via videogamesdensetsu)...

I woke up the other day with a sense of purpose, with the knowledge that I finally have a mission in life: to do whatever I can to make this dancing kid from Sega Splash Golf a viral sensation (via sonicthehedgeblog)...

Though speaking of morning, been feeling run down as of late, though it's my own damn fault for not having breakfast. Which is why I can't wait for my Persona 3 toaster has yet to arrive (via gasp-theenemy)...

Had no idea that MAME can also emulate those crappy, Tiger handheld games; naturally there's not much to look at, since none of the background is part of the game's code (via lanceboyles)...

Eggman has a sense of humor (via voidirium)...

Eggman also has aesthetics (via posthumanwanderings)...

When you mess with the textures in Wind Waker for the sole purpose of making Vaporwave Link (via pmpkn)...

Man, I really wish each and every mech in Tech Romancer actually had its own anime (via ultrace)...

Before Mappy was a video game, it was a physical game involving real deal robots (via namcomuseum)...

And I swear, one of these days, we'll make available online Zac Gorman's print from Comics Vs Games 2...

In my time I've encountered lots & lots of BMO fan art, so much that it has become increasingly difficult to take notice and be impressed, yet this one managed to do so regardless (via it8bit)...

Let's all take a moment to appreciate the instruction manual for Cubivore, shall we (via skincoats)...

Cubivore's Japanese box art is also very nice (via gaygamer)...

An important message for all parents out there, concerning Minecraft (via reddit.com)...

When you can't afford the licensing fees for Miami Vice, Ghostbusters, Barbarella, I think... and maybe Logan's Run? (via mendelpalace)...

Given how Platoon ended up as a NES game, the idea of the Terminator on a Tiger handheld isn't totally far-fetched (via rewind01)...

And finally, PUT THAT CONTROLLER DOWN, NOW! (via fuzzyghost)

[itispossibleihaveissues]

Another Perfect Catastrophe -2

Another Perfect Catastrophe -2

(yes, already, lol)

AUTHOR: Mikimoo PAIRING: JayDick RATING: Mature

WARNINGS: Non Consensual drug use, Non Consensual touching, Non Consensual kissing, humour, slight mayhem

SUMMARY: Dick goes undercover as himself in order to catch a gang of international thieves. Jason reluctantly tags along as his long suffering bodyguard. During the ensuing mayhem they get to know each other again and build a few bridges.

Thank you to burkesl17 for the beta!

Notes: An embarrassingly long time ago, the amazing and very, very talented Pentapus invited me to do a reverse bang style exchange, and drew me an amazing prompt. I have no idea how this story was the one that emerged from the many options I had, but such is the creative process I guess! Anyhoo, many thanks to Pentapus for both encouragement and patience, and of course the incredible art! (which will be included at the end of the appropriate chapter)

Chapter 1

It was raining when they landed at Heathrow, and it continued to drizzle in a sad grey mist as their car finally entered the city. It didn't exactly put Jason in a party mood, but at least the hotel was conveniently located. And as fancy as all hell.

Their suit was outrageously opulent of course, with grand furnishings and a layout that was twice the size of Jason's Gotham pad, bigger even than Dick's beat down Bludhaven apartment. The living area was just oozing money and the master bedroom had a huge bed with almost offensively busy wallpaper. Dick seemed thrilled with the ugly swirling pattern and threw himself down on the bed, practically disappearing into the huge pile of pillows.

Jason left him to it and headed over to inspect his adjourning room. To his relief it was slightly more to his taste, less chaotically decorated – more in line with the expensive hotels Bruce favored. For all his many, many faults, Bruce had impeccable taste, in Jason's opinion. Except when it came to women and orphans. How he had raised Dick, a man so completely lacking in personal style he was practically a walking advert for color blindness, was a mystery.

He dumped his case on the bed and inspected what horrors Dick had packed for him; three Captain America T-shirts – funny Dick, real funny. And a Winter Soldier one, which was just rude. The rest of the shirts and pants were reasonable. And the underwear was ridiculous, how he had found every possible variety of Justice League boxers in such a short time was a testament to his inventive ability and vindictive nature.

The pyjamas had little Nightwing symbols on them. Dick clearly thought he was some kind of comedian.

There was a complimentary bottle of champagne on the table in the living room, as well as a brochure for free treatments at the spar and use of the pool and gym. How the other half lived. Although he had enjoyed life at the manor for a few short years he had never really adjusted to the idea of being rich, and displays of excessive wealth got his back up. Why, if you thought nothing of paying $1,000 for a bottle of bubbly, could you not give the same for the homeless kids eking out a living in the Narrows? At least Bruce funded projects and education for the disadvantaged in Gotham. Jason bet most of the shmucks who stayed in these rooms didn't even spare a thought.

All of the positive thoughts about Bruce were very unnerving, so he went to see if he could pick a fight with Dick to take his mind off things.

Dick was asleep, sprawled over the ugly, expensive green bedspread, sunglasses dangling from his fingers and his beautifully coiffured hair a mess on the pillow. His mouth was slightly open and there was a smear of drool on his cheek. He looked like a dope, a ridiculously attractive dope. Maybe because he was much easier to deal with when he was asleep.

 Jason was reading in the sitting room when Dick finally woke and wandered in, dishevelled and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Sorry, Jay,” he said, flopping into a plush armchair with more grace than was really fair. “Travelling really takes it out of me.”

Jason grunted and tried not to remember how long he had spent staring at Dick's dumb sleeping face. “Do you have a plan of action, or were you just planning to reel them in with excessive laziness?” he growled.

Dick ignored his combative tone and stretched like a cat, yawning and flexing. “I thought we could check online for some good spots to hit, maybe start with drinks at the bar here to get the lay of the land and then go paint the town red?”

“And we’re going to get noticed I take it?” 

“Yeah, money, party's, outrageous behavior, the works.”

“Sounds like fun.” Jason said dryly. It might be fun if he was the one getting to be the party animal, rather than the muscle that stood around looking scary and stopping his charge from doing anything too damaging to his reputation. Still, it might also give him a few good opportunities to watch Dick make a fool of himself, and he never turned down those.

 The hotel bar was beautiful, and their choice of whisky was extensive. Jason eyed the bottles with a certain amount of yearning as Dick took a seat and picked up the drinks menu. He would probably choose something horrible and insipid.

“You have a thing about scotch, don't you?” Dick asked. Jason was surprised, they had never discussed such things except for that time when Jason had got horribly drunk sneaking booze from Bruce's drinks cabinet when he was fifteen. He had thought Dick would tattle on him, but he had just grinned and said that it was something of a right of passage to debase Bruce's fancy alcohol. Dick had slapped Jason's shoulder as he wobbled around the pool table, and then told him not to choke to death when the inevitable vomiting happened. And although he had refused to allow Jason to drink any more, he had stayed all night, just to make sure he survived to endure his hangover the next morning.

“I do,” Jason ventured.

“Let’s get some then, we can't get drunk obviously, but we can have a taste or two before dinner. What do you want?”

Jason scanned the menu while Dick took a casual look around the bar. As they were on Bruce's dime, he was going to have to go for something outrageously expensive. Perhaps the 21 year Old Poultney or a Bruichladdich Octomore.

“You order, we're in luck,” Dick murmured, rising out of his chair with the lean grace of a panther and heading towards an older man in a sharp suit. He reached out and shook the guy’s hand while the man eyed him curiously.

By the time Dick came back Jason had sipped thoughtfully at both drinks, making a mental record of each for the tasting notes he would deny keeping with his dying breath.

Dick looked a little unenthusiastic as he eyed the glasses. “No ice?”

“No, Dick. No ice.”

Dick sipped at the Octomore and made a comically disgusted face – a motion that caught the attention of the waiter.

“Everything to your satisfaction, sir?” he asked.

“Yes thanks,” Dick said, still eyeing his drink with a vague expression of offence. “Can I get a coke to go in that?”

“Of course sir.” the waiter said, with a barely perceptible pause. Jason felt the emotion behind the blank veneer of politeness was one of both scorn for the stupid heathen who would do such a thing to a good scotch, and silent anguish for the destruction of a single malt that probably cost as much as a day’s pay.

“God-sakes, just get him a JD and coke, don't sully the good stuff,” Jason said, unable to watch any more, and pulling the drink towards himself protectively.

The waiter looked at Dick who smiled up at him with guileless enthusiasm, “Actually, do you have cocktails? Maybe a strawberry margarita?”

“Of course, sir.” The waiter shot Jason a look of pity before heading to the bar.

“Dick, you are an embarrassment to mankind. An embarrassment to Bruce and his wonderful collection of world whiskeys, and an embarrassment to me.”

Dick stared at him. Jason returned the look, suddenly doubting himself.

“Oh my God, Jason,” Dick grinned at him with the most honest and open expression Jason had seen on his face in forever. “You're a whisky snob!”

“I am not! I just have standards.” Jason couldn't help but feel he had laid himself open in some way. But he was simultaneously enthralled by the expression on Dick's face and pleased for being the one to put it there, as baffling as it was.

“You were the same way about books as a kid, do you remember? So opinionated, you would argue anyone into the floor about whatever you were reading, whether you liked it or not.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Jason said, sullenly. “My teacher hated me, said it was disruptive to disagree with him.”

“Your teacher was an idiot,” Dick sniffed. “Bruce didn't shy away from telling him so, either.”

“I had forgotten that.” He had blocked so many memories out, so he only remembered the bad. It hurt less that way, but it probably wasn't doing him any favors. Suddenly uncomfortable he desperately wanted to change the subject. “Who was that man you were with?” he asked, hoping Dick would take the bait.

“Jerry Peters, he's a guy who knows people,” Dick said, vaguely. “He meets with another guy we might want to connect with who can get us into parties.”

“Fortuitous we met him then,” Jason said dryly.

“Forward planning, and a dash of luck.” Dick sipped smugly at his cocktail, thankfully it had been served in a very respectable looking glass and not in the monstrosity of umbrellas and nonsense Jason had been anticipating. He suspected Dick ordered stuff like that on purpose to get a rise out of him. Maybe, he was really a stylish guy with a sophisticated palette, and only pretended to be a walking embarrassment as some sort of self depreciating bonding mechanism.

Probably not though.

“Here's our guy,” Dick said, without turning.

He was a well dressed white man, approaching fifty and trying to look fifteen years younger, he greeted Peters with a nod and a brisk handshake and they bent their heads together to talk, glancing across the bar towards them. “Looks like you made an impression,” Jason said. “Your man's heading over.”

“Cool,” Dick smiled like a shark and unsubtly tangled one of his legs with Jason's, something that would be clearly visible to the approaching man.

“Hello, I'm sorry to interrupt,” the guy said, as he arrived at their table.

“No problem,” Dick withdrew his leg from where it was resting against Jason's and radiating heat.

“My names Ed Garner,” He reached out at shook Dick's hand.

“Richard Grayson,” Dick said, with a smile that was less sparkly than Jason had anticipated. Apparently this job called for arrogant rather than outright friendly.

“It's a pleasure to meet you,” Garner said with a smarmy smile of his own. “I know of you of course, you're Bruce Wayne's boy.”

The fact that he said boy rather than son was not lost on either of them, and Jason could see a glint of steel behind Dick's answering smirk. “That's right,” he said.

Jason wasn't sure if he was imagining the slight leer in Garner’s expression, but he knew he wasn't missing the significance of the brief look Garner had given their intertwined legs.

“Are you here for business or pleasure?” Garner asked.

“Pleasure,” Dick practically purred the word, his eyes flicking towards Jason and back to Garner “It's been a long time since I've been to Europe, I felt it was time to see the sights.” He made it sound like those sights were pornographic in nature. Jason was proud of how impassive he managed to keep his expression under the full force of Dick's sex voice.

“If you're looking for entertainment while you're in London, I arrange events. There's a party tonight, and one tomorrow at a hot new club – very exclusive, are you interested? I can get you on the list for both without a problem,” Garner said.

“And my bodyguard?” Dick's face was polite, but Jason felt he could sense the dislike oozing off him. Whether Garner could also sense that was irrelevant – he was interested in hooking a hot rich guy to attend his party, and that was it.

“Of course,” he gave Jason a once over that lingered on his biceps, practically bulging out of the ridiculous t-shirt Dick had given him. Jason was not particularly comfortable with the expression on the guy’s face, but a small part of himself, which he hated with a low key intensity, was kind of thrilled that he was someone people thought Dick Grayson was banging. He was slightly disgusted with himself that this was the kind of bullshit his crappy self-esteem was based on.

“That would be great. Send me the details, I'll give you my email.” Dick handed the man a card and then turned back to Jason, completely dismissing Garner in the rudest way possible. “Have you ever had oysters? They have good ones here, I think and maybe a bottle of the good stuff.” He waved at the waiter, leaving Garner to awkwardly smile and leave, returning to his friend at the bar.

Dick ordered them the oysters, which Jason had attempted to eat before, and disliked intensely. Although watching Dick delicately squish lemon onto them and then swallow the slimy little suckers was inexplicably filling Jason's head with bad thoughts. This mission was going to be a potentially embarrassing one, he could tell. Especially if all his pants were as tight as the ones he was currently wearing.

Dick's arrogant playboy persona seemed to work though and within five minutes of Garner leaving their table he had emailed them details of his parties. One in Mayfair, and another in Soho.

“We going to head to this place then?” Jason asked. He had it up on google maps, it wasn't that far to walk and Jason was quite keen to see a bit of the city, especially as it seemed to have finally stopped raining. They would have to probably get a cab though, for show.

“Nah, we just needed this guys attention, we should play hard to get, we don't want to seem too keen. Let’s stay in tonight, do a bit of research and lay a bit of ground work.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Jason said in the most provocative way he knew how. He was extremely gratified to see an expression of surprise flitter over Dick's face and the slight darkening of his eyes.

 'Laying the ground work' turned out to involve being as obnoxious a hotel guest as possible, mostly by ordering extravagant food and playing very loud gay porn on the 72 inch TV in the suites lounge. Dick seemed to both be enjoying himself and feeling guilty over the hassle he was causing the poor staff. It was quite funny to watch him struggle between the two very different feelings.

“Just tip them really, really well – a bonus will make up for the trouble. And it’s giving them something to talk about. Your name is already popping up on gossip sites, I'm sure by the end of tonight you'll have the start of a good scandal,” Jason said.

Dick grinned and placed an order for Mojito flavored condoms with more eagerness than was really appropriate. “We could always give the gossips a nudge, too.” 

Jason found himself grinning back.

Tarnishing Dick’s name on the Internet turned out to be very entertaining. And as they weren't going out on the town, Jason had treated himself to another scotch and was feeling pretty mellow. His headphones blocked out the porn and he had just started a fight on ONTD over whether Richard Grayson was Bi or just Gay for Pay. He sort of understood why people like Lex Luthor kept trying to take over the world; orchestrating mayhem was fun. He was also amused that Bruce and Dick seemed to have a bunch of sock puppet accounts on social media for just this sort of thing. Bruce on LiveJournal was almost as funny as Bruce on Tumblr.

[oosteven-universe]

The Electric Black #1

The Electric Black #1 Scout Comics 2019 ​By Joseph Schmalke & Rich Woodall     The Electric Black is a cursed antique shop, appearing in any time or space, soliciting customers it hungers to corrupt or devour. The mysterious Julius Black is the store's demonic proprietor and narrator. He, along with his psychopathic employees, regularly manipulates patrons for their own devious purposes. Inside the eerie emporium, all of the forbidden objects have secrets to unlock. The poor souls that enter never leave without something. Its dark light will shine on macabre mysteries, grisly murders, and other frightful occurrences. Dare you step within its sinister halls?     There is plenty here to like in Scout’s new anthology series. To me this feels like Tales from the Crypt meets The House of Secrets in all the best ways possible. Our enigmatic host Julius Black who feels like a vampire to me is in in his cursed antique shop which exists between time and space and appears when and where it needs to as those who deserve to find it. Then the other thing about this that I really liked is that it had only two tales inside. So there is plenty of time to get into each story and really get into them. Moving forward I wonder if we’ll get this much time spent getting to know Julius and June Bug and I hope we do there’s too much to learn about them not to.     I do like and appreciate the way that this is structured. While the stories are being told to showcase lessons that people need to learn I think how and which are decided up is sensational. By this I mean the first visitor we see to the Electric Black wonders around waiting for someone to help him, as he meanders through something catches his eye and that item is the first tale we hear. So it is very much an organic set-up and it can be based upon the visitors need or just coincidence that they pick up or are attracted to a specific item. Yes I am aware that I always say there are not such thing as coincidences and there aren’t, so the item they are drawn to is more destined for them to be drawn to. Also it is a very nice way to break the ice when Julius introduces himself.     I am very much enjoying this interior artwork! We see the style this is going to take and seeing June and how the linework is utilised to bring her to life compared to her surroundings made me think of Marilyn Munster. Also there is something almost hypnotic about the wallpaper pattern we see here and I am here to tell you the kind of precision and skill it takes to see that in so many panels from so many different directions is utterly marvellous and skilful. The creativity and imagination on display is mindbogglingly good and I say as a fan of horror because these vignettes made me think of the old horror films my cousins would put on to scare men when I was little.     The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show us this superb eye for storytelling. The way backgrounds are utilised makes me so very happy as they flesh out the moments and bring this size and scope to each story. The colour work is stunning and the colour gradation or how it varies depending on the light is brilliantly done. Plus each story has it’s own style attached to it and the colour work for each is so well suited to the individual story. From the red eyes to that purple glow, yeah it really finishes things off perfectly. ​     Finally an anthology series that I can support, enjoy and rejoice in because the stories aren’t short and they have this beautiful structure to fit in their allotted space and most of all feel complete. The horror is old school and the scares are now so don’t wait make sure your shop is carrying this because sometimes you just want to be bricking oneself!

[not-your-everyday-smol]

The Witch and the Borrowers

Chapter 1

“We’re running out of food, Cynthia. There’s hardly anything left!” Sighing, she ran her fingers through her hair. “I know. I’ll have to go out tonight. There’s obviously not enough coming from the crumbs, so I’ll just have to go directly to the kitchen this time.” They both knew the dangers of being in the kitchen. That place was a trap waiting to snatch them up. She knew she couldn’t afford getting caught and couldn’t take any chances. She’d gone out plenty of times, but that didn’t make her any less wary.

Being only 4 inches tall doesn’t leave much room for error. As a result, the two siblings living together had trained their senses to notice anything possibly dangerous lurking in the shadows. It also didn’t help that the human in the house was a witch. It was a relatively small place on the edge of the woods. Neither Cynthia nor Logan would ever dare venture outside, lest they encounter any bugs, wild animals, or storms. No, being inside the cozy home was a much better option than being out there. That didn’t mean it was easy or any less terrifying. A normal human was bad enough, but a witch? Who knows what horrible things she’d do if she got her hands on them.

“Be careful. I’d go out with you, but one of us should stay here, just in case,” Logan said. “Yeah, right. You’re just too scared to go out.” She gave him a disapproving look. “Aren’t you?!” He retorted. Of course she was. In all honesty, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into her pile of cloth and stay there forever. But, that’s not living. No matter how much she hated their constant fear of the huge and daunting world, it was still life, and she still had her brother to look out for. Instead of answering truthfully, she flicked her hair over her shoulder and put on a smirk. “Me? Scared? Psh, I’m not scared of anything.” Logan shook his head in response, but dawned a small smile in return. Seeing that her efforts payed off to get him more relaxed, she got up from a small wooden block and grabbed her bag. “I’m gonna go check all of my tools to prepare for the trip. You get some rest or go work on something. We could always use more clothes, or maybe new tools.”

The living space in the walls they shared was decently spacious. Their rooms sat at the opposite ends for privacy, with curtains in place of doors. Logan didn’t keep too many things in his room. He loved to draw so there was a smooth stone for a portable desk and paper scraps. He usually used either pencil lead or paint on his works. Living with a witch did have some perks. For one, she loved plants, and they were all over the house. Great for cover and climbing. Secondly, she took to drawing as well. Sometimes it was for sigils. Other times, it was purely for the sake of creating her pieces. Logan’s trips outside the walls allowed him to catch glimpses of her art and he loved it. Her technique was so flawless and her paintings came to life. Her sketches alone were wonderful. While he was terrified of her, he could appreciate good art when he saw it.

Cynthia’s room, however, was filled with materials and miscellaneous things. There were small bits of colorful crystals in a pile in one corner. Her pile of cloth for the makeshift bed was in another. And then there was a pile of clothes. Lastly, there was a pile of anything and everything, from hair ties, to safety pins, to earrings. Most of that pile was for climbing aid and other contraptions she could come up with.

Between the two rooms was an open space that held a shelving system for the food they could find, a tea candle, a small plastic container filled with water, matches, and a kind of table with different seats. The table was used for eating as much as it was used for crafting. The jar held the water for their drinking and bathing purposes. Though, bathing was more so using some water on the dirtiest areas and soap they’d scavenged. They made do with what they had.

After checking the knots tied to her climbing gear and making sure there were no holes in her bag, she began to devise her route. While it may seem like one could just go out and wing it, she didn’t have the luxury of thinking that way. Every turn and climb had to be mapped out to find the route with the least open areas and most coverage. The general plan would be to use the plants and pots as hiding spots, along with ducking behind any crystals nearby. She’d make sure to stay out of the hallways and try to avoid counters. Though, she’d have to be extra careful in case the human decided to use one of the objects Cynthia happened to be using for cover.

After everything was planned and she knew what she’d have to get, she took in a deep breath. “It’s okay. Everything will go fine. In and out, that’s it. Safe as can be.” Trying to convince oneself wasn’t easy and, quite frankly, didn’t work as much as she would’ve liked. Standing up, she grabbed her supplies and put them delicately in her bag before going to Logan’s room. Knocking on the side of the opening, she waited patiently. “You can come in.” They always respected each other’s privacy to the best of their abilities. While they were brother and sister, it wasn’t like a usual human relationship. They didn’t fight much or roughhouse. It was just the two of them, so they were very close, almost like a team. What one lacked, the other made up for. “I’m gonna head out, okay?” He looked up from his paper, but didn’t look at her. Even though he was the older sibling, she took over that role most of the time. He’d always been confident and strong, they both had, but he relied on her. She could always be counted on to make him feel better, do things for him that he wasn’t comfortable doing himself, like going out scavenging.

“Logan. It’ll be fine. I’ve done this plenty of times before! I’ll be as quick as a cockroach.” She put on her best smile, trying to ease his worries. Noticing the effort, he looked up and smiled back. “Do you think we could get some cheese this time? I don’t want you risking your life for it at all. But, maybe if she’s left out the block again?” Also like the witch, he loved cheese and rarely got it. In all honesty, they had a lot in common. The major difference was obviously their size. ‘If only we were big too, ’ Cynthia thought, ‘They’d probably be really good friends.’ In all honesty, the giant was really cute, but she’d never admit that to anyone, even herself. “Of course we can. I expect to see some great art when I come back,” and with a wink, she left the room.

Steeling herself at the opening to their home, she pushed the piece of stone, serving as their front door, out of the way. After putting it back, she started her long journey through the walls, jumping from nail to nail and shuffling across small ledges in complete darkness. It most definitely wasn’t for the faint of heart. Eventually, she made it to the closest opening that lead directly to the kitchen. Carefully peaking outside of the wallpaper, she detected no sign of movement and couldn’t hear anything. “So far, so good,” she told herself. As fast and softly as possible, she ran across the hallway. Milliseconds seemed like minutes as she remained out in the open, vulnerable and unable to hide. Reaching the opposite side, she didn’t stop to take a breather, instead opting to start her climb. There were vines growing from the floor and onto the walls throughout the house, accompanying all of the other plant life in the place. It was easier to use than a rope because of the footholds, so she made it to the counter in record speed.

'Please let there be cheese out,’ she hoped. Looking over the entire area, she spotted on the other counter, a block of yellow cheese and some slices to the side. “Yes!” Cynthia cried out in joy. In an instant, she covered up her mouth and held her breath. Nothing changed. Relieved, but more aware, she began her path to the dairy goodness. On the way, she picked up a few things they were in need of- sugar, salt, crackers, herbs, etc. There were some small puddles of clear water near the sink, so a jar or two were filled. After arriving, she wrapped up enough cheese to fill them up that night, but small enough to go unnoticed by the giant. “A job well done, if I do say so myself.” She smirked.

Not a moment later, footsteps could be heard. They were heading straight for the kitchen. The smile dropped from her face and she looked around for the best hiding spot. Deciding on hiding behind a small succulent plant, she darted towards it. 'Please, please, please don’t let her see me. Oh god, what if she does.’ Her small face went white with fear. 'No! No, I can’t think like that. It’ll be fine.’ Her thoughts all dissipated the moment of the human’s arrival.

With a yawn, Lily rubbed her eyes tiredly. 'I wonder what time it is?’ She wondered. The kitchen was lit up only by the moon, casting its white light through the window. The room was almost blue, and quite comforting. Sighing, she looked at the clock. “3am? No wonder I’m so exhausted.” With a flick of her wrist, a few candles were set aflame. She walked over to the large walk-in pantry and looked inside. “Please tell me I have some left.” A moment went by. “Aha! There you are!” Pulling out a nearly-empty jar of lavender, she walked over to the stove. After setting a pot of water on top to boil she leaned against the counter. “Shoot! I forgot to put the cheese away!” In her sleepy state, she was completely unaware of the tiny person not a foot away, hiding behind the plant.

Poor Cynthia’s heart was beating erratically. She thought she was about to be discovered when the witch had rested against the counter. Her mind was a scattered mess, her brain turned to mush, her heart thumping away, her body filled with adrenaline. When Lily had noticed the cheese and moved away, she had reminded herself to take a deep breath. Everything was okay, and she would be just fine. At least, that’s what she failed to convince herself. She waited patiently as the giant put away the food and returned to her previous position. Both were completely silent when a white moth flew through the window. 'Poor thing, ’ Cynthia thought, 'it’ll die here.’ She knew what happened to pests. All of her kind did. That’s what they all feared would happen to themselves.

Fluttering about the wide space, the moth went a long its merry way, not knowing that it had gone inside of a house. Lily watched it fly in. 'How beautiful.’ It’s small, fragile wings were lit by the moon. It looked like a white fairy as it flitted about. She reached out her pointer finger and it landed. Bringing it close, she whispered, 'May you live a long and fruitful life, little one,’ before letting it go out the window with a smile on her face and a glimmer in her green eyes. She heard the popping of bubbles from the boiling water and put out the fire before making herself some lavender tea. “Let this tea bring tranquility and a restful nights sleep,” she spoke aloud.

Cynthia was stunned. Not from the blessing put on the tea, that was common. No, she was shocked from the witch’s reaction to the moth. Why was she so kind to it? Isn’t it nothing more than a pest to be rid of? Confusion clouded her mind. 'If she’s so kind to small bugs like that, maybe she’s not so bad after all.’ Of course, that wouldn’t mean Cynthia would reveal herself. Maybe just make her a little less frightened. Only a little.

“Do you need anything else?”

Silence. After those words, the house was completely quiet. The question that floated in the air wasn’t directed at anyone, was it? Who’s she talking to? Maybe the moth is back? Looking at the window, there was nothing. A breeze hadn’t even come through the small opening. Even more confused, she decided to peak her head just slightly out to see who the witch was looking at. Turns out, the witch was looking at her.

Panic. Terror. Those were the only two things Cynthia could feel. 'How did she know I was here?! Why is she just looking at me and not grabbing me?! Maybe she’s drawing it out because she feeds on fear? Oh god. I’m going to die. She’s going to crush me and use my bones and blood for a spell. She’s going to torture me. What if she burns me?! How do I know she doesn’t want to eat me?!’ She couldn’t move. Time had slowed to a stop and she couldn’t breathe. 'This is it. This is the end. I’m so sorry Logan.’

Noticing the aura around the tiny person, Lily knew she had probably chosen the wrong time to reveal her knowledge of her existence. However, she knows she has to work with what she’s created. “I’d tell you not to be afraid but I think that won’t change anything. If it helps, I’ve known about you and the other boy for some time now. I haven’t done anything to either of you even though I knew. Does that help at all?” No response. “I know how you’re feeling right now because I’m an empath. But please, don’t take me for face value. I know I’m big to you, but I can’t change who I am, can I? Just like you can’t.” Still, the girl was frozen. “Please say something. I’m sorry for scaring you, I really am. I just thought we could be friends. I get lonely out here sometimes and I always perk up when you come out of the walls.”

The words began to register in Cynthia’s mind. The only thing she could manage to get out was a simple, “W-what?” She was honestly, truly dumbfounded. Terrified still, but thoroughly shocked. That one word brought a smile to the giant’s face. In all truthfulness, the witch looked quite friendly. Everything she had said was to calm Cynthia down and she hadn’t reached for her once. It could all be a trick, but no matter what, the other outcomes wouldn’t be great. If she was faking it, then the poor girl would have no chance of escape anyways. She could only trust that the presented expression wasn’t a falsehood.

“I don’t know what you thought I might do to you, but I promise on my life that I would never intentionally hurt you or anyone else. I’m not a bad witch and I don’t hex people. I use my magick for all good things! And when I’m being lazy, but that’s beside the point.” She chuckled. It was a comforting sound, putting Cynthia a little less on edge. Noticing the improvement, Lily continued, “My name’s Lily. It’s nice to meet you.” Taking the risk, she extended a finger out for the girl to shake.

Seeing the approaching hand, she jumped back with a cry, “NO! DON’T GRAB ME!” Her eyes were squeezed shut, waiting for the inevitable. After a few seconds had gone by, nothing had happened. Slowly bringing her arms down and opening her eyes, she saw a finger in front. It wasn’t moving, just staying there. She looked up at the owner of the hand to find a sad smile. Taking a few more seconds, she breathed in deeply, held her breath, and grabbed the fingertip. It moved up and down slightly before retreating, so she let out the breath and sat down. “You… you don’t want to grab me and out me in a jar?”

Lily felt saddened by the reaction she had gotten out of Cynthia. Either something happened in her past, or it was one of her greatest fears. She hoped it was only the latter. “Why would I? You may be a fraction of my size, but that doesn’t make you any less of a person. I’ll admit that there are a lot of bad people in the world who would love to get ahold of someone like you for a variety of reasons, but you can relax because I’m not one of them. Now, back to my first question, do you need anything else? Any food or supplies I can get you?”

Cynthia couldn’t believe her ears. The witch knew of her AND Logan, yet she never did anything. To add to that, she hadn’t grabbed, and now she was offering food to her?! She can’t decide whether this is a nightmare or a dream come true. “U-um. I think I’ve got everything I need. T-thank you.” Earning a polite nod from the giant-no, from Lily, she decided to introduce herself. “My name’s Cynthia, and the boy is my brother, Logan.” Gathering up the courage, she asked,“Would it be okay if I could go home now?”

Lily sighed, “Cynthia, I’m not trapping you or keeping you hostage. You can come and go whenever you’d like. Try and think of yourself as my roommate! We both live here, and that means you can go wherever you want here. Even my bedroom, if you really want. Just… let me know where you are. I’m always careful, but I don’t want to slip up by accident.” She hoped to see Cynthia again, so she added, “Actually, why don’t you come to the table tomorrow for dinner? The one in the living room. And you can bring your brother as well! I’ll have a nice meal planned for the three of us!” She knew it was asking a lot, but she waited so long to actually meet them, face to face.

“Uh…I’ll…um… I’ll see if we can make it. The best I can guarantee is bringing myself. I’m not sure how Logan will react.” Lily seemed to brighten at the assurance of her presence for dinner. “Is there anything he likes? I’ll bring it as a gift… or as a peace offering? To show that I really mean no harm!” Thinking for a moment, Cynthia responded, “Well, he loves art and cheese. He’s always wanted to paint, like you, but he only ever had paper scraps and pencil lead.“ The witch was practically glowing after hearing about the common interests. "That settles it! I’ll bring a journal for his sketches, along with paint and brushes.” Cynthia wondered if Lily realized that there’s no way Logan would be able to use her own huge tools, but decided to gloss over that fact. “Well, I’ll see you later then.” She said with a wave.

“Looking forward to it!” Lily was full of joy as she waved all the candles to go out before returning to her room. It hadn’t gone as smoothly as she hoped, but she was honestly too thrilled for the next night to care. As she tucked into bed, she drifted into a restful sleep.

Hey everyone! Sooo you know how in my blog description, I mention that I sometimes draw and on the rare occasion, write? Welp, here’s that rare occasion! A story introducing three sparkly, new OC’s! Lily, my lovely witch; Logan, my tiny artist and cheese enthusiast; and Cynthia, my brave younger sister to Logan (who takes on more of an older sister role). I might have detailed character descriptions and drawings in the future, but who knows!

[terryblount]

ASUS ROG Strix G G531GU Gaming Laptop – Review

Tis the season of the gaming laptop refresh for 2019. And in Malaysia, the refreshes has now only begun.

ASUS ROG continues to shower the market with a big variety of gaming laptop ranges. Now, they are adding an even lower entry point to the ROG lineup with the ROG Strix G. Purely premium no more, as the ROG Strix G line offers brevity of variants for specs that most reasonable people would- and could- pay for.

After weeks of testing it out ahead of its launch in Malaysia, we can say with authority that the ROG Strix G is the new benchmark for great gaming laptops within a reasonable budget.

Note: The particular model we review here is the G531G-UAL078T for Malaysia- a distinction we need to make as features and specs vary for different regions.

Hardware

The whole ROG lineup this year has a new bold design. Partnering up with BMW Designworks, the laptop looks like a simple, muted grey rectangle from afar, but boy does it have details that only will be appreciated with your hands on it.

There is a series of flowing lines on top that is part sticks to the base of the laptop. Brushes of two asymmetric parallel lines make up the texture of the top of the body and its keyboard surface. Those brushes made it look more premium than its plastic shell suggest. For an even more subtle detail: the bottom piece has this subtle ROG motif, the pattern seen in the default wallpaper.

But more importantly: all the vents are functional. There’s two on the back, and one on the right side located the furthest possible from your hands.

There’s another point of asymmetry that serves both form and function. The oddly-shaped bottom bezel there has a purpose. Close the laptop lid and you can see your usual indicator lights like the AC plugging in and hard drive activity, through that gaping hole.

It’s a neat aesthetic, and from afar it’s not anything tryhard or overtly designed.

That said, ASUS didn’t just forget to put the flashiness here. Around the bottom front and sides of the laptop is a long strip of RGB lighting. Though it’s a one-zone RGB lighting.

Essentially, it’s RGB underglow. Yeah, like those neon lights you can put on cars in a Need For Speed game. You can disable it of course, but putting the laptop to sleep and have menacingly glow and blink in red tempting you to fire it up again is pretty cool.

The keyboard lacks a numpad, but the keys are big, sturdy and also a bit clicky. The touchpad is also surprisingly good too. The mushy-feeling touchpad buttons actually have a good click to it.

As for I/O ports, the ROG Strix G has you covered.

1 3.1 Type-C USB

1 3.1 USB

2 USB

LAN

HDMI

However, I have one gripe: there’s no USB port on the right side. I mean, having a port-less side looks sleek, but it also means if you don’t have a wireless mouse and right-handed then you will have a cable crossing over the laptop. Not a deal-breaker, but definitely annoying. It would be fine if there’s one regular USB port at the back alongside some of the I/O ports there.

There is no built-in webcam either.

Software

The ROG Armoury Crate is a one-stop app for all your unique software features on the ROG Strix G. Monitor CPU/GPU usage and temperature? Check. RGB customisation? Check. Adjust the app settings from an app on your mobile device? Ooh. Install other apps on top of the app? Huh. Install simple games through the app? Wait, it can do that too, for some reason.

Anyway, the main functionalities of the app should be enough for most of your needs. You can set up multiple profiles bounded to specific games, and if you have an Aura Sync-compatible device, then you can have those RGB patterns match up with the ones on the laptop too.

And if you don’t like the huge thump sound effect on boot up and the menacing red glow, you can turn those off too in the app. There’s a lot of options available here, and options are always a good thing.

The only drawback here is how incessant the McAfee Antivirus software pre-installed in the laptop can be, prompting you with huge boxes to subscribe to their services.

Gaming Performance

The ROG Strix G G531G-UAL078T is the highest spec of the Strix Gs with a 15.6″ display in Malaysia. And here are the main specifications you need to know:

CPU: Intel Core i7-9750H

GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX1660Ti 6GB GDDR6

RAM: 8GB

Storage: 512GB PCIE NVME M.2 SSD

Display: 15.6″ 1080p IPS panel, 120Hz refresh

Price: RM5,499

So how good is the GTX 1660Ti? A big bump of power compared to the previous gen’s GTX1060. Paired with the 9th-gen Intel Core i7, this baby can run AAA games at 1080p at Ultra for 30fps with ease. If you prefer 60fps, 1080p at High is also pretty much guaranteed.

Playing new games like The Division 2 should not be a problem, even in Ultra settings

The Division 2, a game that was released this April, looks so, so much better than what I saw on the PS4, and it runs so much smoother. All of the usual suspects in our regular games benchmark, ran well, hitting 60fps for the most part. The ones that don’t is mostly due to its RAM capacity.

Even without dedicated ray-tracing hardware, games can still look pretty good- a good thing to know if you cannot afford those laptops with RTX cards. The CPU is blistering fast, waiting for the AI to finish their turns in Civilization VI is so quick you don’t have time to check notifications on the phone.

And I have to say, this thing handles the heat quite well. The hotspot during intense gaming is anything above the keyboard and the ridges on the right. These are where the big copper heatsinks are letting off the heat, and anywhere else on the surface is fine for the touching.

Even in the highest load we could throw, the ROG Strix G sits around not more than 80 degrees Celcius. This is some great thermal management here.

Besides that, the 120Hz screen should be a big plus for esports goers and competitive players, Of course, the power under the hood is still not enough to push AAA games at the 120fps cap, but low-spec requirement games like Warframe or esports games like CS:GO, Overwatch and Dota, which requires lower specs (and usually played on low settings) should reap the benefits of the fast refresh rate. Faster movements, better reactions, better gameplay. As long as you get good, that is.

One bit of concern is the size of storage and RAM. The Strix G comes with a 512GB SSD. Thankfully, the SSD is blazing fast so running Windows 10 is a smooth operation. Loading up a one-million-pop city in Cities: Skylines takes less than a minute. Texture streaming or in-game loading issues rarely happened.

The downside is, 512GB is not enough. Our list of 11 benchmark games easily took up all the space, and if you’re going to use this other than just gaming, that space is too limited.

We don’t see any major bottleneck with the 8GB RAM from our time with the laptop. But there are dips in framerate when running a very populated park in Planet Coaster or a city in Cities: Skylines. So you better gear up for an upgrade when the next generation of consoles, and next-generation games, arrive, which will probably need double the RAM.

On the positive side, you can totally upgrade both storage and RAM. You will have to open the whole back panel, but there are extra screws and a SATA cable included if you need to plug a regular old HDD. And there’s another empty slot of RAM.

However, don’t expect a big battery life. Our usual Le Mans 24 Hour video stress test has the battery run flat at 3 and a half hours, but daily light usage can take you more than that.

Pricing And Value

Now, the pricing. The ROG Strix G G531GU is the second-highest variant available in Malaysia.

Having the GTX 1660Ti rather than an RTX card surely helps it priced under the RM6,000 mark- anything above that should be premium gaming laptops. So this one sits in the sweet spot of a reasonably enough pricing for most people.

But the GTX1660Ti instead of the one-step lower version GTX1650 puts it comfortably above the RM5,000 range. So this is in the upper tier of the mid-range gaming laptops price-wise. We haven’t tested a GTX1650 ourselves to see how big of a difference the two GPUs are. So we can’t tell if the price bump between the two is justified enough with the price hike.

On its own, the ROG Strix G G531GU is well worth the money just for the fact that it can still run new AAA games at relative ease. It’s a good bump of performance compared to the previous generation’s offering of the 8th-gen Intel Core i7 and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060, which occupies the same price point last year.

Again, we recommend investing in an extra stick of RAM.

Verdict

Equipped with the newest generation of the tried-and-true Intel CPU and Nvidia GPU, The ROG Strix G is a solid choice for any gamer out there. In particular, the ROG Strix G G531GU is definitely the new benchmark for mid-range gaming laptops capable of AAA gaming.

The sleek design and underbody RGB glow is a striking look without getting too gaudy, though there are a few compromises that stop it from being perfect. But that’s the nature of gaming laptops- there’s always a compromise.

But what ROG didn’t compromise is gaming performance. Want to play AAA games on a laptop, not spend over RM6,000, have it look pretty and run games all smooth? There’s plenty of good choices out there, and the ROG Strix G G531GU is one of the best.

Review unit provided by ASUS Malaysia

ASUS ROG Strix G G531GU Gaming Laptop – Review published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[tune-collective]

An Intimate Conversation with Danny Clinch: His Latest Exhibit & Love Song to Asbury Park

An Intimate Conversation with Danny Clinch: His Latest Exhibit & Love Song to Asbury Park

“You’ll have to excuse me,” smiles Danny Clinch. “My head is hurtin’ a little bit, so maybe we can hang on the couches?” With a cup of coffee in hand and bleariness in his eyes, the famed music photographer explains that he had only gone to sleep a few hours ago. After a performance with his musical group, The Tangiers Blues Band, at a Howard Johnsons-turned-supper club in Asbury Park the night before, Clinch wandered over to his new gallery space at the Asbury Hotel. Sometime around 11:30pm the band had, as the photographer puts it, “a bit of a jam.” Former E-Street Band percussionists Vinny Mad-Dog Lopez and Richard Blackwell stopped by. Another musician dressed in a Safari outfit got on stage at one point and “started barking at people, telling them what to do,” laughs Clinch, who plays the harmonica. Hangover aside, he beams, “it was incredible.” 

Though photographers often operate within the binary of “artist” and “subject,” Clinch, 53, has come to inhabit the same world as the icons he captures. In the process of building an oeuvre of work that has offered intimate glimpses into the lives of superstars like Bruce Springsteen, Tupac, BB King and Johnny Cash—Clinch’s own life has become deeply shaped by the road, late night jam sessions and the process of making music. “Transparent,” his newest exhibition that will remain on display at the Asbury Hotel through April, offers a stunning and immersive depiction of this symbiosis. 

The light-flooded gallery that also has a stage for musical performances, offers a genre-bending assortment of both Clinch’s most iconic and lesser-known works. There is a story for every image: Green Day after their mudslinging shenanigans at Woodstock ’94 (“One of the security guards was pushing around the fans, so Mike got off stage and went down there. Security thought he was another kid, so they started beating on him”); Willie Nelson recording his 1998 album Teatro in California (“Daniel Lanois told me to come out there so I booked a ticket a few hours later); Springsteen at home playing music from Devils And Dust (“it was the first time anyone had heard the songs”). 

For Clinch, who attended the New England School of Photography and worked as an assistant to Annie Leibovitz, the incubation of his dual interests in music and photography began in Asbury. As a teenager he drove from his Toms River hometown to catch sets and take photographs of acts like the Stray Cats and the Greg Allman Band at the now legendary Stone Pony. But when Clinch began focusing solely on music photography in the early 1990’s, Asbury once again became his playground. “When I moved to New York and people didn’t want to shoot in the city, but wanted something that was still gritty, I suggested Asbury,” he recalls of the beach town that was then suffering from high crime rates. “There was nothing here, no businesses. I would go into Convention Hall [on the boardwalk] and there are big huge windows so the light floods in. You could just walk in there and own the place.” 

Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball photos were taken at a little bar over on Cookman—the Boss also drove Clinch’s 1948 Pontiac onto the boardwalk one afternoon for a series of images. “I was like, ‘Are we allowed to drive it up on the boardwalk?’” Clinch remembers of the shoot. “Then it was like, “Oh yeah, you’re Bruce Springsteen.” 

  You’re the first artist to have an exhibit at the new Asbury hotel. How did this collaboration arise? 

The hotel had this empty space and winter was approaching, so they offered it to me and put me in touch with a company called Baron and Baron to help plan it out. As soon as we began brainstorming we were like, “How can we make this different than just a regular gallery?” The huge windows in the entrance allowed us to do beautiful transparencies of my work. We also had my friend Tina Kerekes, who sells mid-century furniture and who I met on the boardwalk, come in and curate all the furniture. She helped set a vibe. We decided to put a stage in here to have some music. The idea was to have it be an experience–come in, hang out, bring your coffee in. We wanted to maximize the wall space, so we also brought in moveable walls.

How did you settle on the set-up of the images?

For the biggest wall in the space, I wanted to do a salon-style wall. I was going to frame all of this stuff and then I and then I discovered this board with foam-backing, so I thought it would be cool to come in and freestyle it a little bit. I chose the images and the sizes and we sat here the other night and made a little pod of photos here, a little pod of photos there. I also purposely included some local folks like Nicole Atkins, Brian Fallon and Joe Grushecky. 

At The Light Of Day Festival here in Asbury, Joe plays and usually Bruce [Springsteen] comes out and pays. A few years ago Joe invited me to play with his band, who usually ends up backing Bruce. So Joe says, “Bruce is coming out–let’s find out where you fit-in on the list!” I was freaked out, I was going to play “Murder Incorporated” on my harmonica. So I’m watching the set list and the song is coming up and coming up and then Bruce and Joe are talking and they’re looking at me and they go: “Alright! We’re doing ‘Pink Cadillac’ in G!” [laughs] Fortunately I had the right harmonica because I had to play the right key. I came back to Bruce saying something like “And here’s our friend Danny! He can sure take a photo but I don’t know about his harmonica playing. [laughs].” Then  he rips into Pink Cadillac [sings the opening notes] and looked at me like “Go ahead . . .” [laughs]. I laid it all out on the table. I love Joe forever for that. 

When did you start working with Bruce?

I had done all the stuff for The Rising in 1999 when he got the E Street Band back together, that’s when I started photographing Bruce. Being a guy from New Jersey I was like, “Ok I can die now” after that. And then he was doing Devil’ And Dust, and I was like “oh man, it would be so cool if he hired me again.” He hired Anton Corden. and I was like “Drats! I got my chance, so it’s all good.” And then I got a call from management saying “Hey Bruce wants to make a short film about this new record and he wants you to come to the house and film him playing some of these songs.” So I went to his place and that photo, [the one in the front of the gallery], comes from that session. I shot it all on super-16 and he played eight songs off the new record; nobody had heard these songs before. When I look at that photograph, it reminds of the moment I was looking through the camera and taking that photo. I remember it being the point in my career when I thought, “How did I end up in Bruce Springsteen’s house making this film and taking these photographs.” 

Of all the concerts you’ve been to, which sticks out as most epic of all?

Hmmm. The ones that come to my mind immediately as I start to run through my head are some early Radiohead shows that were really spiritual experiences. It brought all of the things that I love about music together. It was rock and roll but it was something unexpected, and then you’ve got Thom’s voice and Johnny’s guitar playing. Everything just locks in and it’s pretty incredible. I also have been lucky enough to be in some really intimate settings. I remember photographing Johnny Cash and asking him to play something so that I could photograph it, and he played “Bird On A Wire” for me and my two assistants. 

  Who has been your greatest teacher?

My parents. My Dad passed away in March and my mom will be coming in a little later today. They were always open minded people who were always welcoming to everyone. There was never any discrimination against anyone for any reason–they were always looking after people, helping people. They gave way more than they received and were really content with that. Simple folks, hard working and also they were just really supportive of what I do, regardless of what it was going to be. My father quit school in the eighth grade and became his own business man–hanging wallpaper and painting houses–and they just really showed me that hard work pays off. Being nice to people pays off. They treated people fairly and never judged a book by its cover. 

What about creatively?

Creatively, I think I am really inspired by music and by the musicians. It’s great to collaborate with Tom Waits. He shows up to a shoot and he has all these toys and all these ideas that he’s bringing to the table. And I’ve got my ideas that I’m bringing to the table and its really a joy to get to do that. Im not a person who ever tries to make someone do something that they don’t want to.  And I really admire people like Bruce and the Pearl Jam guys who are constantly building a community and giving back to their community. What they do is incredible. I did a film on the Dave Matthews band recently about where they are from and what their charity does. The list of people that they have helped out is ridiculous. I couldn’t believe it. 300 charities or something like that. 

Your vintage Pontiac is eye-candy. Where’d you find it?

I always joke around and say Tim McGraw bought me that car. I got a great job shooting Tim McGraw and had just moved into our house and had a garage. I was online looking around on eBay . . . it had to be 12 years ago. And I saw that car while we were waiting for Tim to come out to soundcheck. I was like: “That’s the car!” It was trained it to the border because it was in Sesaqatchuan, and then flatbedded to my house. 

  Transparent will be open every day through April 2017 at The Asbury Hotel (210 Fifth Avenue). The exhibit can be accessed through an individual entrance on Kingsley Street. All furniture and artwork on display are available for purchase. Photographs range from $500-$5,000 (Asburyparknow.com/danny-clinch).

  Source: Billboard

http://tunecollective.com/2017/02/09/an-intimate-conversation-with-danny-clinch-his-latest-exhibit-love-song-to-asbury-park/