#and how much they value the very obvious hard work each person does

[wassupmygays]

happy trails bows will never not make me weep my eyes out :((( and god the way the whole ensemble kneeled before milena and let her bow on her own, and milena and ryo got to bow together as martrip, and then the big group hug with a single spotlight .... ough my god

captured by @/cassandra.westin on ig

and its so amazing that both ryo and milena got to be On Stage for their final show. as swings, thats not always a guarantee. and they got to bow hand in hand <3

tumblr wont let me embed the links rn but go to @/useumofoadway on ig for a beautiful bow video. its full of so many beautiful moments for that cast; tilly and milena getting to bow side by side, and tilly starting them all kneeling for milena so she could bow solo. the rest of the company throwing epdm or kisses or hugs her way as they bowed. ryo and milena's bow spots being right next to each other bc of their tracks. pulling ryo and milena center stage, and the kupermans bringing milena flowers. the solid 20 seconds of applause just for milena, bc god did she put her entire being into keeping this show running for Years. the giant group hug lit by a single spotlight. and the whole cast cheering milena off stage for the last time, chanting and clapping <3

[aziraphales-library]

Hi there! I just wanted to congratulate you for all your hard work!! All of you have made an important account for this fandom, and I hope you're all doing alright

As a treat (and only if you want!!), can you tell me a cool fic you've read but never recommended before? (If not, that's quite alright)

Hello. Here are some fics I've read and enjoyed recently that I don't think we've recommended before, but if we have they are worth recommending again and adding to the #mod faves tag...

Marriage in an Orange Grove by shanimalx (T)

Murmurations is the oldest café in Soho, whose clientele is usually limited to reclusive artists, older men who value peace and quiet, and those who know the employees personally. Crowley is all three. (Aziraphale makes Crowley a cup of coffee, and Crowley kind of wants to marry him for it.)

Imagine how the world could be by HolRose (T)

Salesman Crowley is driving home when he sees a man in obvious distress at the side of the road. He stops and offers him a lift. Little does he know that this compassionate action will change his life forever. This is a human AU that can be read as a stand-alone story without reference to the other works in the series.

Between a Book and a Hard Place by LCwrites (E)

After a very enjoyable one-night stand, A. Z. Fell and A. J. Crowley go separate ways, though memories of each other linger. More than they ought to, considering it was nothing but a casual encounter and they won't meet again. How fortunate for them that their respective work is keeping them busy. Having one of his more salacious novels turned into an audio book should be enough of a distraction for Aziraphale. As should be getting to narrate one of the famous M. Cortese's porn books – pardon: historical erotica – for Crowley.

A Tricky Situation (Entirely of his own making) by sixbynine (E)

"Crowley stood up and went to leave, he turned back just as he opened the door and took a deep breath. “You know I was quite excited to come here and work with you. I enjoyed reading your work. I disagree with a lot of it, but your writing style is lovely and every so often you’d let that privileged rich white boy mask drop and it was fantastic. I was hoping to meet that Professor Fell, but I’m beginning to think maybe he doesn’t exist and I’m going to be stuck with a rude stuck up arsehole for the next five years.” He slammed the door behind him before Aziraphale could respond. Aziraphale gaped, open mouthed, at the shut door." -- Aziraphale is teaching at Kings College London. He's been teaching at King College London for a long time now thank you very much and he does not take kindly to new Professors being sprung on him suddenly. Especially when this one has quite publically made his opinon of Aziraphale's work known. Luckily Aziraphale has an understanding penpal...

Among the Stacks by MeinirRhos (NR)

Nearly a year after Aziraphale returns to Heaven, he vanishes from existence, leaving Crowley bereft on Earth. Just when the demon has finally started to heal and move on with his life, he finds his angel by chance in a library. But Aziraphale has no memory of his life as an angel, or of Crowley. How will our hero cope?

But You Are An Ocean by megzseattle (T)

After Aziraphale's defection, Crowley tries to figure out how to live life for himself.

- Mod D

[degreedummy]

24° across each placement~

24° Sun- can be someone known to be secretive, or a liar. accused of stealing, or enjoys doing it. a big theme of a 24° Sun is struggling very hard to convince people of their honesty, no matter how much proof is on their side. this is someone who prefers to work alone, but does well with teams, their focus is maintaining the freedom to adapt and make changes where they see fit. a loss of control, or theft of control, is often what drives them to isolation.

24° Moon- a Moon of this degree is often someone who often avoids sharing their opinions, feeling like they unintentionally ignite massive arguments by 'saying things they feel other people aren't acknowledging', pulling monsters out of the shadows and then being confused by the chaos. this is an innocent spirit, one who often values complete honesty. in my mind, they live at the extremes of talking too much and not talking enough, struggling to balance their thoughts with other peoples feelings.

24° Ascendant- often, a 24° Ascendant is someone who sees a challenge in privacy, who isn't considering trust at all when keeping basic information for people. in a backward way, they enjoy people making the effort to dig, to have enough interest to ask questions and push conversations, and the only way to find those people is by setting out a maze. at the same time, many people don't want to play games, and setting down this antagonistic way of communicating can be hard for someone who isn't used to telling people things directly.

24° Mercury- while i do think this degree placement of a Mercury can reflect secretiveness, i also think it can describe selectiveness. if you are on the outside of this Mercury, there is no way for you to get in, there is no way for you to earn its trust, you are simply out of consideration. they aren't mean about it most of the time, but believe in it as fact, that they cannot trust you and will not let you close to them. on the other side, to be let in means to have their trust forever, even through abuse of it. this is someone who forgives the people they love, repeatedly, and it can be very hard for them to accept that they need to end a relationship that is only hurting them. most importantly, i think they have to learn that they weren't the ones to ruin the trust. ending the relationship is how you respond to trust being broken.

24° Mars- a Mars at 24° will often describe someone who will communicate their problems with you through another person, being so conflict avoidant that they'll nominate other people to have the conversation. this isn't to say they don't talk to people at all, but if there is any threat of conflict, they will do their best to line the room with pillows. this Mars does their best to go their longest without acknowledging a problem, no matter how obvious it is to everyone else.

24° Venus- this is someone looking to run away with new love, who wants to start a new life with someone they anticipate a desire to change for. while this willingness to sacrifice themselves is admirable, it can also be thankless, and that's when it becomes dangerous. to lose themselves in people is a risk, and to give up on everything they knew before that person is a bigger risk, so giving into a dream is something they have to question deeply.

[jaehyunsprincesspeach]

Hello! How are you doing? Hope you are doing just well and fine.

If your requests are open than I was wondering if you could do headcanons for Straykids where you are not dating but it's obvious you are inlove with each other? Like not friends but not dating type of trope (If it is considerd a trope), like really toeing with the line of friendship and dating. I guess it is pretty much how they would act around you when they have a crush and before the relationship and getting mistaken for a couple alot.

I apologize if it is too complicated and so feel free to delete this.

Have a great day!!

Omg I love this !!

Idk if it’s considered a trope but I absolutely adore this idea !!

Thank you so much for the request!!

All the love ~ lunar

Stray Kids With Their Crush

Bang Chan

In general, Chan is so unbelievably respectful

He would do anything you asked, big acts of service kind of guy

I don't think he would really show physical affection in public during the crush stage

Unless his crush initiates it, he won't be very physically affectionate

Is always nervous that he is acting in a way that could make his crush uncomfortable, so he will probably be very calm during this stage

But internally his heart is doing flips every time he sees them

Just wants to take care of his crush, not necessarily because he has a crush on them, but because he is just a caring person overall

Though he may be a little more attentive to his crush and their needs/wants

Makes a point to show that he supports his crush no matter what

If they're having a bad day, he will show up with their favorite foods or snacks, and maybe some flowers to cheer them up

Will put on a spontaneous movie night and wont let his crush lift a single finger

Anything they could possibly need, he's got it... and if he doesn't have it, he's already on his way to get it

Invites them to the studio while he is working, just so that he can see them more

Even has a chair in his studio reserved specifically for his crush

BOMBASTIC side eye to anyone who tries to sit there

His crush is always the first to hear their completed tracks, or what he is working on

Values their opinion on literally everything

Tries his best to hide his feelings for his crush but fails

Everyone notices how he is more attentive and gentle with his crush

When they call him out he'll say something like "Its noticable?! I thought I was discrete about it!"

Sorry, Channie is not very low key about his affection, especially with people he cares deeply about

Is completely oblivious to his crushes feelings though, whether they're subtle or not

Thinks they're just being nice to him (spoiler, they're literally in love with him... rightfully so)

Honestly, I think Chan would be so cute during the crush stage

100% boyfriend material from the start

Lee Know

This menace omg

He would tease you relentlessly

Sometimes, he makes it hard to tell whether he is joking or not

Honestly I think he does this as a sort of defense mechanism, not wanting to seem weak or vulnerable

But after some time he might soften up and open himself to his crush a little more

When he does this, he doesn't ease into it though

Could just text out of the blue one day like "had a bad day" and then starts ranting about it

Could seem like he sends mixed signals, in reality he is just nervous about opening his heart (brb crying)

Overall, he takes care of his crush in subtle ways

Subtly send reminder messages to eat, or drink water, or make sure they're getting enough sleep

Subtly drops off food at their door if they aren't feeling well

Subtly goes out of his way to bring them their coffee order in the morning when they are running late for whatever they have going on for the day

Does what he can to make his crush comfortable at all times

this is when people begin to connect the dots

Like when his crush is cold and he offers them his sweatshirt

Or when his crush is hungry and he shares his food with them, but refuses to share with anyone else

End of crush stage, right before dating, is not as subtle with his affection

Though he won't admit to any of it

"you know we all know you're crushing on them?" "I have no idea what youre talking about"

When he finally accepts his feelings, he gets shy (cutie omg)

The crush stage could be hard for him and his crush, but once they get through that stage, he becomes so soft (don't tell anyone though)

Changbin

This man does not care if people know that he has a crush, hes showering them with all of the affection he has

Shows up with flowers at random times, just because he wanted to

Always shows his crush that he wants to be with them

100% the guy who continues to try to win over his crush even after they're already together

He's a little more subtle with physical affection through this period, since he doesn't want to make them uncomfortable, yet at the same time, he just can't help but show some sort of physical affection

Takes his crush to the gym with him, whether they work out or not

That gives him more time with them (lets him show off his muscles) since he has such a busy schedule

Always makes time to see them, no matter how busy he is, but only if they are up for it

Doesnt pressure them to do anything

Like if he wants to hang out, but his crush is tired, he would rather them rest than do something that will drain them even more

Another acts of service kind of guy

Honestly takes amazing care of his crush

Lots of random little gifts, or food outings

Always makes sure his crush is eating and taking care of themselves

Invites them to the studio while he is working, especially if they text him saying they're bored

Gets Chan to agree to let them sit in their studio while they're producing

Also has a seat reserved for his crush in the studio

Writes songs for his crush, though he wont tell them its about them until they're together

goes back to it like "remember that song? yeah I wrote it for you"

"Dude, you're so obvious about your feelings for them." "Yeah, do you think they noticed?" lmao I love him

Such a sweetheart throughout this entire period and not subtle about it

Hyunjin

Honestly, I think this could go two ways with Hyunjin

Either he is super sweet with his crush (more than normal) or he’s avoiding them

If he’s sweet with his crush, he is similar to Changbin where he makes it known

The difference is that he doesn’t know that he’s making it known

In his head he’s being subtle

But it’s not very subtle to others when he shows his crush more skinship than anyone else

But to him he’s just always so happy when his crush is around

If he is avoiding his crush, it’s not because he doesn’t like them, but he unintentionally makes it seem like that

In reality, he’s just very nervous, and doesn’t know what to do around them

So his natural reaction would be to avoid them

Poor baby is just so nervous

If he is affectionate with his crush, he’s painting and drawing random things, and probably won’t notice it’s about his crush until he’s done

But his sketchbook is filled with drawings of them from memory, as he has memorized their features so that he will always remember them

Eternal love or whatever (screaming crying sliding down the wall)

Even if he avoids his crush, he’s still got his artwork portraying them

That’s when he knows for sure that his feelings for them are deeper

When he is called out, he starts panicking

“What?! No! Do you think they noticed?” Honestly goes through the five stages of grief within a five minute period

After that he gets really shy around his crush, whether he made it known to them or not

His crush would have to make the first move before he would really open up and tell them how he feels

Han

Han is literally so funny omg

This man would be in a constant state of being flustered

Even when his crush isn’t around, just the thought of them makes his whole face go red

I could see him making things confusing for his crush

Like is he always clumsy and tripping over his words? Is that a normal thing?

For his crush, yes it is normal, but for the others its a clear sign that he has a crush on them

Honestly throughout this entire period, he’s asking the other guys if he is making it noticeable that he has a crush on them

Which he is

But since his antics are the only thing that his crush sees, it could be confusing for them

Overall, he is big on acts of service for his crush (when he isn’t malfunctioning)

He loves to see them happy, so he is getting them anything they could possibly need or want

He’s also doing literally anything that he can to make them smile and laugh

His favorite sound in the world is his crushes laugh

Writes songs for them, though he wont be able to they’ll them he wrote it for them until he’s comfortable in their relationship

Gets butterflies when they agree to watch anime with him, whether they are into it or not

Tries out some of his crushes interests, whether he is interested or not

Simply wants to see them happy

Honestly, right before he confesses to them, is when he will open up more

Especially about insecurities and anxiety

This helps him determine if they are someone that he truly wants to be with and someone that can help him grow as a person and as a partner

Puts on a confident persona, even though he is freaking out internally

Honestly, depending on how his crush is, I think that this situation could bring him a lot of anxiety, if he is unclear on his crushes feelings

I think he knows that he doesnt hide his feelings well, but he just gets so excited and exhilarated when his crush is around, he really can’t help it

Felix

Sweet baby angel Felix, my love

He does not care if his crush knows about his feelings for them, honestly he would prefer it

He is already huge on ski ship, but when it comes to his crush, he stops showing that ski ship to anyone else that is not his crush

Constantly bakes for you, and always delivers it to his crush himself

Loves to see his crushes reactions when he buys them gifts

Even if its something as simple as a coffee, seeing them light up makes him so happy

Will honestly do anything to make them happy, and seeing them sad or upset breaks his heart

I feel like he would feed off of his crushes emotions

Like if they are sad, he is sad. Or if they are upset, he’s upset with them

If he sees them crying, it’s game over, the two of them are a crying mess together (kinda cute but whatevaaa)

He’s honestly such a softie with his crush

However, he’s not afraid to throw some hands if the situation calls for it, or if thats what his crush says will make them feel better

Big on acts of service and gift giving

Makes it known that he always wants to be there for them

Again, knows that he makes his feelings obvious, but he would rather have that clear communication than leave anyone questioning things

Gets nervous whenever the show him any sort of affection

He really is so good to his crush, even after they start dating. He just wants to be the best partner that he can be

Buys them things simply because it reminded him of them, or because he thought they would like it

Gets shy when the boys tease him for his crush

Honestly he’s just so boyfriend I love him so much

Seungmin

This man is already a different breed

His crush will not know about his feeling until he directly tells them

He wont act any different around his crush

He’s still gonna tease the hell out of them, though he never takes it too far

When it comes to his crush, literally nobody will know

It’s a complete shock even to the guys

Once he gets closer to telling them that he likes them, he might ease up a little bit on the teasing, but not enough for anything to be noticeable

Doesn’t really get shy around them, because he knows that nobody knows about his crush on them

Will do more things for them, but he usually has a sarcastic comment with it

“Minnie, can you bring me a coffee when we hang out?” “What am I, your sugar daddy?” Yet he still shows up with your favorite coffee regardless

Slowly starts to be more generous with his crush, but again, its not noticable

Not that he makes a conscious effort to keep things from them, more so that he just acts natural around whoever he is with

Regardless, he does do what he can to show that he supports them

If his crush is having a hard day, he’s there to support them

He really is their rock, even with how much teasing he passes, he’s always there to support them

Does things for his crush that are very subtle, but refuse to make anything known

Says that he’s just doing it to be nice, and that he would do it for anyone (whatever it is)

When he finally confesses, it’s honestly like dating your best friend

He doesn’t really change anything about how he acts, other than being more affectionate

Other than that, he’s still teasing the hell out of his crush

Menace with a soft heart for sure

I.N

Innie wont even realize he has a crush until someone tells him

Like he’s sitting with Chan one day, and Chan is like “why are you so different around y/n?”

Innie is like “I genuinely don’t know” and then starts talking more about it

Cue Chan “dude are you serious? You clearly like them”

Also cue innie shocked and confused face

Doesn’t realize that he acts different, it just sort of happens

His crush has an idea that he likes them, but they don’t want to make anything weird so he wont know that they know

He subconsciously looks through pictures that they have together

Or subconsciously only send them his OOTD

Always asks for their opinions on everything that he does

And if he is excited about something, they are always the first one to hear about it

Honestly they’re the first to know about literally everything

Styles their outfits when they ask for opinions, and really likes when they ask for his opinion on things

Trusts them with everything that he has

Opens up to them more about his thoughts and things that he is feeling

Especially when it comes to stress or when he feels like he could have done something better throughout the day

Always shows up to their place with some sort of food or drink

However, everything that he does for them is subconscious. He doesn’t realize any of it until someone tells him like “people only do that when they like someone”

And then it clicks in his head

With that, when he accepts it, he could either panic and retreat, or fully accept it and talk to them about it

Regardless, once he discovers why he acts they way he does around them, he’s gonna get shy, just because he doesn’t have a lot of experience in this realm

Still, he’s the sweetest menace to his crush

[troius]

What we learned from the war

"Endings are hard" is a something of a truism, but it's borne out in Bleach, where every story arc besides after the first two stumbled at the finish (even the endings of the first two arcs don't really "end" so much as continue into a new story). In the Arrancar arc, the number of characters and plotlines got so overwhelming that an ending that had to be rushed if it was to arrive at all. In the Lost Agent arc, the characters were pared down, but the ending wound up thematically inconsistent with the story anyways, possibly due to real-life circumstances. And the Thousand-Year Blood War somehow managed to have both problems.

The change in direction from "tightly focused character drama" to "sprawling cast of soldiers" meant that it was unlikely to ever give us the development of our protagonist that we craved, and that lack of focus was only aggravated by the widely-reported health problems of the author. And yet, perhaps because we don't get that, because so little of this arc is filtered through Ichigo learning about himself, we get a much clearer statement of the values inherent in the work.

This is most evident in our antagonists for this Arc. Yhwach and the Wandenreich don't really have the relationship with Ichigo that previoius antagonists had. He never knew his Quincy heritage, never identified with their ideals, and so feels very little conflict about opposing them. He doesn't ever develop his Quincy powers, at least beyond integrating them with his already existing powerset. And he doesn't take much of a personal interest in Yhwach, who in turn, doesn't seem to think much of him when he's not directly in front of him.

But for all that Ichigo doesn't end up having much of a dynamic with them, the Wandenreich still manages to maintain a unique character. Every antagonist has a priority, something that they are willing to do great evil for. For Soul Society, it's its own existence, the continuation of the system they've built. For Aizen, it's his own self-aggrandizement. For the Fullbringers, it was simply living another day, screwing over others so that they can't screw you first. But the Wandenreich has no such priority. They simply want it all to end.

That's most obvious in Yhwach's ending monologue, but you can see it from the very beginning as he kills Yamamoto, the man who tried to move on from his bloody past being slaughtered by the man who would absolutely not let it go. Yhwach shows more emotion towards the skeletons of Argola and Huberdt, his dead soldiers from a war long lost, than he does towards any of his living subordinates. And his subordinates follow his lead in showing no love to one another, happily stabbing each other in the back without even the Arrancars' uneasy level of camaraderie. Their movement has no future, and neither do they, so nihilism is the only recourse.

Most of the time. I think it's important to note that every time a member of the Wandenreich expresses positive feelings towards one of their comrades, it's immediately followed by them turning on Yhwach. Liltotto, Bazz, Giselle, eventually, in her own twisted way…even Jugram, at the very end. Sure, Yhwach kills them for their impertinence (he is the bad guy), but he also massacres the Wandenreich faithful en masse. There's no salvation, only death, and he'll enforce that state on his followers rather than allow them to discover any alternative.

I imagine the lesson, and the general attitude of the Wandenreich, was not lost on Uryu Ishida. Even in his relative paucity of appearances, it's he who is at the moral center of the arc. His culture, which he had thought was nearly entirely dead, turns out to be alive, and out for vengeance against the people who exterminated them. It's something he probably fantasized about growing up, and I don't blame him for joining. How could he not?

But at the end, he makes the very easy choice. Calling it a matter of "life and death" is a little on the nose, but it's morally quite black and white. Yhwach has no hope for this world, or for his people within it, or even himself. He lost a war for the nature of existence to a monster a thousand years ago, and never got over it. But Uryu has the strength to look at the horrors of this world and yet hope for better. Because he has people he loves in life, and who love him in return, he can dream of a better tomorrow.

And that's what the ending is all about. Yhwach loses to Ichigo, and it is very much "good guy beats bad guy". But he also loses to Uryu, and to "I hope to have a family with my girlfriend who I love so much" Renji Abarai, and to "I have a tremendous amount of hope to eventually make myself king of everything" Sosuke Aizen, and eventually (in a way I'm still confused about mechanically) to the child Ichigo and Orihime will eventually have, the literal embodiment of the potential of the future.

The final villain of Bleach is not society's tendency to preserve itself at any human cost. It's not individual selfishness, or manipulativeness, or any of the many vices we saw embodied in the hollows throughout the series. It's despair, the idea that life might not be worth living even through all the struggles and horrors our protagonists have endured. Sure, it will always raise its head, sometimes at the most inconvenient, or ill-fitting times. But having its reincarnation be blown away by the supernaturally normal lives of our cast…well, that's as clear of a message as I can imagine.

[pumpkinpie59]

“the 2012 family isn’t abusive” and “the 2012 family all have toxic traits that can affect each other badly” are both takes that can coexist

i think out of all the tmnt shows (except maybe rise, but i could go back on that if i think about it for more than two seconds; this post isn’t about them tho), 2012 has the most dysfunctional family.

this is not a criticism tho. it’s an observation and it can lead to interesting storytelling.

splinter in 2012 suffers from ptsd and it affects how he teaches his children and how he views the world.

he’s been through a lot and was lead to believe he lost his first child.

so yes it’s not shocking that he’d make bad decisions as a parent.

he’s not a bad person by any means, but his attitude about strangers, enemies, and relationships are off. he shows favoritism towards leo, though that’s not his intention. he fails to give his other children the attention they need. etc etc

so it’s not that surprising that his children also gained flaws that affect each other negatively.

leo is dedicated to his training, which isn’t bad but it gave him an ego. he believes he’s the good example, that he’s better skilled than his brothers. he has good skills that make him the best choice as leader, but sometimes his ego and his authority make him downplay his brothers’ opinions and chastise their choices.

it’s mostly seen in his arguments with raphael and donatello. raphael is stubborn, but he values his family like leo does. their opinions on how to protect their family and do the right thing aren’t always on the right page, which frustrates them. raphael goes through growth that makes him a lot more patient with leonardo, but he still calls leo out when leo makes bad decisions, and leo often refuses to listen to him bc he’s the leader. he’s in charge. why should he listen? which is not what a leader should be and he needs to learn that over the course of the series (he,, rlly doesn’t but i digress).

as for donatello and leonardo. donatello is smart and leonardo knows that and ends up using that to his advantage. he puts a lot of pressure on donnie and overworks him. donatello is smart so he has to be the one to track things down, fix mutations, learn what is going wrong. and when donatello’s attempts go wrong, leonardo gets frustrated and orders donatello to just. do better. keep working on it. since donatello struggles with insecurities, this is just added to it and he is super hard on himself when he fails.

having so much pressure put on him by splinter certainly doesn’t help his attitude either.

is he hard on michelangelo? eh not rlly but mikey’s a nothing character so moving on

raphael very obviously has his temper. he’s probably the most criticized of the team so his faults are kinda obvious. he has the most growth in the show tho so i’m not gonna go into too much depth.

obviously his temper and habit to get violent when he’s angry affects his brothers negatively. tho he’s mostly physically violent with leonardo or michelangelo. with donatello they usually are more verbal ig? when raphael is rough with donatello, it’s usually playful. idk

also his temper affects his focus and skills so he’s often chastised by splinter, which comes across to him like leo is so much better and splinter likes him more.

donatello’s turn. this guy has his heart on his sleeve and ik i mention his insecurities constantly but it does affect him more than anything else. he’s insecure about being a mutant, he’s insecure about his weapon and fighting skills, he’s insecure about his feelings for april, he’s insecure about whether he’s smart enough, he’s insecure PERIOD. he has so much going on in that brain so ofc it’s gonna affect his brothers

he snaps at people all the time. he lets his insecurities affect the way he interacts with other people (see: casey jones).

even the pride he does have about his scientific accomplishments can be easily crushed when they’re ruined or criticized in some way.

he isolates very often and sometimes when he is confident it comes across as rude.

and when he acts out of concern for april, he goes about it wrong and ends up being creepy.

it doesn’t help that splinter hardly corrects any of his behavior. plus he doesn’t get the affirmation he needs.

as for michelangelo he’s a bad interpretation of someone with adhd— oh wait no that’s not what i’m trying to talk about hold on—

so michelangelo is playful and naïve and fails to take many things seriously, which frustrates his brothers a lot so it’s hard for them to take him seriously when he is being genuine.

and for karai, we already see how flawed and rebellious she is, and it rubs off on her brothers often, particularly leo.

this family is just a wreck but that’s why they’re so interesting to explore and see them grow. it’s why i wanted more from the series. their dynamics have positive parts as well and it’s nice seeing them talk through things. but the series sacrifices a lot of that for plots that don’t rlly matter tbh (most of season 5 <3)

they are not abusive at all but they are extremely flawed and that’s okay

[cosmicjoke]

Obviously you’re not Isayama so you can’t answer this 100% however, I am curious what you think the reasoning for his decision to never consider writing Levi as commander. It was Hange then Armin, Levi in my honest opinion would have made an exceptional commander as well (though I know he wouldn’t have wanted it). Maybe I answered my own question but nonetheless, what do you think?

I did talk about this once before, and if I ever find the post, I'll add it to this, haha.

Levi would and DID make an excellent commander, I agree. It was really Levi's leadership that allowed the alliance to win the final battle against Eren. Without Levi there to take over when Armin was taken out of commission, they would have all died.

But to answer your question, I think the reason Erwin didn't make Levi commander is because he knew it would have been almost impossible for Levi to consistently make calls that required him to sacrifice lives. We have to remember, Levi's first and greatest instinct is to protect people, to guard them and save them, whenever he can. I think Levi had to work extremely hard to press down that instinct in any given situation, and it weighs heavily on him whenever he has to do so. Like, for example, during the Female Titan arc, it's obvious Levi was extremely bothered by having to ignore all the soldiers behind he and his squad that were being slaughtered by Annie. He had to, in order for Erwin's plan to work, but it was hard for him, and that's why Levi kind of snaps at Erwin later for trying to thank him for his efforts, and tells him he should be thanking the soldiers that gave their lives, instead. It's also, I think, why Levi makes the threats he does to Annie to get her to come out of her titan, because he's upset about the soldiers that died in order to capture her, and upset that he couldn't save them. He sort of loses control of his emotions in that moment and makes a bit of a miscalculation as a result.

People always talk about Levi being this emotionless character, but it's the exact opposite. He's actually the most emotional character in AoT. He cares more than anyone, and feels the loss of each soldier more keenly than anyone.

We see this at various points throughout the story, just how deeply affected he is by the loss of life. It's why Levi works himself to exhaustion in Shinganshina trying to protect the new recruits, and why he orders them not to die. It's why he does the same in Liberio, ordering his soldiers not to die. It's why he says he's sorry to the soldiers in Shinganshina, when they're riding toward their death.

Levi can and will make decisions that cost lives if he thinks it's going to save more lives, but doing so goes against his very nature, to a deeper degree and level than anyone else. I think it's totally antithetical to who Levi is as a person, to have to stand by and let people die without trying to protect them with everything he has.

If he had been made commander, he would have had to engage in that sort of thing over and over, and I think Erwin knew Levi couldn't have handled that. And I think Hange knew it too, when she made Armin commander near the end. They both understood that Levi cares too much, and values life too much, and at some point, that would have interfered with his ability to properly lead. Levi is someone who's very much lead by his heart, more than his head. He's very emotionally driven. The decisions he makes are based in what he feels is the right thing to do, the morally correct thing to do, more than any sort of cold logic or efficiency. It's why I get annoyed, too, when people say Levi was willing to "compromise" his morals for Erwin. No, he wasn't. Levi never compromised his morals. He always did what he felt was right, even if he didn't know what the outcome or result would be. That's what his entire philosophy of "no regrets" is based on. Doing what he feels, in his heart, is the right thing, and not regretting it, even if the outcome is different than what he hoped for.

I think Erwin and Hange both passed over Levi to become commander because they knew, no matter what, Levi wasn't ever going to compromise what he felt was right, no matter the cause. They knew he wasn't capable of it, in the end. And they knew it would also be horrifically destructive to a person like Levi, to be placed in a position where he was expected to treat the lives of people more as tools than human beings. Levi couldn't do that. We see that plainly demonstrated in his inability to drag Erwin back to life. Levi wasn't able to set aside what he felt was right, even as, objectively, it seemed like the best and most logical choice to go against that feeling. Like I said, Levi acts with his heart more than his head. And a good commander, an efficient commander, an effective commander, can't do that. There needs to be a certain level of detachment.

Levi's never been able to be detached. He's never been able to divorce himself from the deep compassion and empathy he feels for people. He feels it even for people he doesn't really know, and isn't close to.

Basically, the simple answer is, Levi cares too much about people's lives to be a really great commander. He wouldn't be able to handle that job without slipping up eventually.

[butteronpancakes]

Thoughts on Blade's recent characterisation

(Crossposting from reddit because I love my tumblrinas)

Does anyone else feel Blade, and by extension Yingxing, had inconsistent writing 1.4? I'm wondering if I had just read his character wrong to begin with due to my personal biases and was hoping someone could clarify some aspects of Jing Liu's companion quest that confused me such as:

1) Mara 

Blade's mara feels like some convenient plot device. I was under the impression it flared up when confronting anything that conjures up painful memories such as his meetings with Dan Heng. Kafka even specifically told him in her companion quest to avoid seeing familiar faces again. Yet, he was somehow keeping himself together up until the peak of the battle with JL? Which leads me onto my next point.

2) Blade and Jing Liu

There is a huge tonal disparity between his voice line about JL and how he interacted with her in the CQ. The 1.4 trailer gave me the impression he was going to throw hands but he just kinda asked her to try killing him again. Which is fair, it reinforces his ultimate goal of wanting to die and feeds into JL being a harbinger of karmatic debt that shaped his identity as a vengeful weapon. I have nothing against this but it makes the previous voice line about her feel needlessly aggressive and out of place. 

3) Yingxing and Baiheng 

This is admittedly more of a personal gripe but I feel they should have established his relationship with Baiheng a lot more. It's obvious BH was extremely dear to him given that, according to JL, the entire sedition (which is a subject with its own share of differing narratives) was an attempt to resurrect her. 

I actually really like how this reinforces that Baiheng was the glue of the HCQ and that it makes sense as it was her that gave YX the confidence boost he needed as a child. 

However, at the same time I feel conflicted because it completely destroys the entire point of Yingxing's character? YX took pride in being a short-life species that was able to surpass the XZ natives through his hard work and passion, forgetting to even sleep or eat. He was so driven on avenging the family the abundance took from him at such a young age despite facing prejudice from the other craftsmen. He literally never shuts up about it, 

"In fact... I also have lots of work to do, and won't live very long unlike the celestials on the Xianzhou. "

"I'm a short-life species, you think two hours isn't enough? It will be done"

This line in particular speaks for itself,

"I'd rather leave this world in a blaze than live until the end of time. I will let all of the Xianzhou know that a brief moment of my life is worth more than their long meaningless live."

The reason why Blade's story is so tragic is because he was robbed of this and thereby, everything that made him Yingxing. 

Now I get it, that must have meant that he loved Baiheng so much to completely turn around all his values on living one's limited existence to the fullest and being against the abundance to use the flesh of an emanator on her. Grief changes you, one's personal philosophies may not necessarily apply to other people, BH was already notorious for escaping near death situations, he probably had it in his head he will die first out of the Quintet, and he and DF were proud, arrogant jackasses who thought they could actually pull their Full Metal Alchemist arc off.

But you see how there are some fairly subjective assumptions needed to be made here in order to justify such a drastic shift in YX's characterisation that was consistently built up since the beginning? It also doesn't help that this quote can either come across as him respecting the situation or sounding bitter about it. 

"Yes, none of us are special! Each of us has only one life, sacrificing for this, dying for that... it's all our own choices. Just like how she chose to save you and Jing Liu... just like how she chose to let more people live on!"

I understand it on paper but I feel there was loss potential and not much concrete in-game content to drive home the emotional impact. Blade barely mentions Baiheng in his character stories aside from the vague "beloved", there are no voice lines, mirage echoes or any other readings aside from the Zhuming one prior to 1.4. Heck, that one closed beta content about her was removed and they only kept the lore about DF (at the risk of sounding like some annoying shipper, they established DF and YX being partners-in-crime so much to the point it is more convincing that he assisted mostly out of loyalty to DF) . I get it that Baiheng isn't explicitly stated to have any present counterparts (even though BH = Bailu theory is super implied at this point) but that didn't stop JL from having her dead centre on her phone case.

Also for those entertaining the possibility that YX mostly did it to go along with DF's ulterior motive of creating a new HE and/or uprooting the Ambrosial Arbor, the bracer lore implies that YX was the one who originally brought up the idea of supposedly resurrecting BH.

"This person (DF) who stubbornly adhered to their plans with the unnamed (YX)"

I'm not saying at all this approach was bad or any logic leaps had to be made (it's honestly pretty straightforward) but it felt like the rug was pulled from underneath for those who were invested in YX/Blade as a character. I've also seen the argument that YX's arrogance was repeatedly mentioned, so it's no surprise he had a wack moral compass, but didn't that conceited behaviour also stem from his virgin XZ natives vs chad short-lived outlander mentality?

I've said this before but the narrative told in JL's CQ is good in a vacuum but it made some of the previously established lore come across as contradictory, hence all these theories about JL being a unreliable narrator and conspiracies about writers intentionally messing up the HCQ lore.

I'm not sure, is what I'm saying making sense or did I just make up an oc in my head?

TDLR; It felt like they were changing around previously established aspects of his character for JL's companion quest and the parts that did make sense lacked context that it being the sole reason to throw away all the foundation themes YX embodies just rubs the wrong way.

[kohakhearts]

hey that pokemon 2000 gifset + your jn dub analysis made me think about the pokemon 2000 dub - I've only seen it subbed once (compared to the hundred times I watched it dubbed as a child) so I could be misremembering, but didn't the dub completely change the themes of the movie with the chosen one ash thing?

i actually haven’t watched the sub nearly as many as times as the dub either :p but i have read extensively about this topic bc it’s personally my favourite pokemon movie and yes! the first and second pokemon movies are both victim to this (like mewtwo’s epic speech we all love so much at the end of the first movie…being a complete fabrication by the dub team :p you gotta give those writers credit - they were VERY good at what they did), largely i’m guessing due to cultural values and expectations. since they were trying to sell the anime to an american audience, not a japanese one.

tangentially, i will say i also think that’s the root of this like…subtle distinction some people have between the characters “ash” and “satoshi.” i don’t differentiate them in any big way myself because fundamentally they still are very much the same, but it is true that in japanese, ash has somewhat different mannerisms and responds differently to events at times, especially in the early anime when it was so much easier to get away with making big changes for…a big assortment of reasons haha.

in THIS movie in particular, some of those things are like…well. the prophecy is probably the most obvious change. the dub team rewrote it to include the chosen one reference, which works great because of the word play on ash’s name. in japanese, it just says “an exceptional trainer will appear to help calm the wrath of the gods.” ash’s response to this is more mild trepidation than outright fear. he doesn’t hesitate like he does in the dub. and tbh? both reactions make perfect sense for his character in my opinion.

in japanese, his concern is more "do you really think i can fit that role?" this...tracks pretty well with his character development by this point. like yeah he said he could win the indigo league, but he's also thinking about dropping out after gary loses; it's that little grain of insecurity he has, which he's normally good at covering up with arrogance (a lot of which is also very genuine, don't get me wrong). but he sees the opportunity to help and he takes it. that's just...what ash does.

in english, though, the prophecy is pretty clearly about him. there's no one else it could be. it has to be him. and he...doesn't like that? that scares him. which, fair. anyone would be terrified by being singled out like that. it's also so much...not ash's thing, even at this point in the series. his character development is about embracing having to work hard to do well. to keep trying until you get it right, no matter how many times you get it wrong. the idea of being a "chosen one" completely robs him of his ability to be so single-minded about what he wants his destiny to be that it manifests as pre-determined; it just...pre-determines it for him, if that makes sense. lol.

the thesis of the japanese version of the film is that no one person or pokemon can stand on their own. everyone needs help. it's about harmonizing with each other and with nature. about letting others help you, and helping them in turn. the english version rewrites that into a story about power and destiny. the title alone says it all, right? it's called "the power of one" - no reference to lugia, no reference to the birds. in japan, the title is about the revelation (or "birth") of lugia.

westerners love a good chosen one story, so this was a really good choice by the dub team in that respect. i mean, it's a narrative that's stuck really well. fandom loves chosen one ash! in general, western fanbases are really into this narrative. it's everywhere. and there's a lot that goes into that, culturally, and especially religiously, historically, etc. so at the end of the day, i don't think the change is so much about conflicting ideas about collectivism and individualism. it's more about goals and ideals, on a personal level.

let me say again for the 273456784th time, i love that they resolved ash's story by having him realize that the goal he's really been striving for all this time is to meet and befriend pokemon. to learn from them. to earn their trust. it's like...he did the thing that everyone else thought represented his goal, maybe even himself included, only to realize that his dream was never about the end of it anyway. it was about everything he learnt and everyone he met along the way. (i also suspect nobody writing in 1997 knew that that would be the ultimate resolution, either. but it makes sense in the entire context. it's kind of a nice irony, even. to only figure it out after writing the story :p)

and i think this little distinction is important to that goal! it's his whole character! which is why even though i too love chosen one characters, i don't necessarily think of ash as one. because even if he is, his whole Thing is that he wants to try. a lot of the chosen one narrative is about characters being reluctant to be used for a "greater good," or about them collapsing under that pressure. ash doesn't really have that. he does what he thinks is right because he...thinks it's right. sometimes, sure, others have to push him into it a bit, but usually they're actually pushing the other way - it's too dangerous, you're going to get hurt, etc. and to me, i don't know - thinking of times he's died, or nearly died, and some legendary or mythical pokemon has saved him at the last minute...i don't think that has to mean he's special in a cosmic sort of way. i think it just means he's special to them. that he did something for them, or for someone else they had come to care for (thinking manaphy responding to may's emotions, not just to the fact that ash was drowning, or in mpm ash convincing latios to trust him because of their mutual desire to save latias, etc.), and so they want to help him. which is completely opposite to the typical chosen one narrative, i think? because he doesn't do those things out of obligation...he does them because he thinks he can become a better trainer by doing them, and he wants to do that. and well. he did do that.

anyway my tl;dr here is YES they changed the theme a lot haha, but i find it fun that they also changed the characters’ responses to that theme. funnily that’s…kind of also what fanfiction writers do all the time, lmao, but that’s a whole other conversation.

[vitanithepure]

Ok, now your turn! :D What does Imogene think of her retinue?

Aaah, thank you for the ask and brace yourself for a long one because - oh, she has Thoughts™ 😂

Abelard is the designated grandpa. They agree on most things, and she dons her most shit-eating grin each time Abelard announces who she is. Also, they got this going on:

Idira is the coolest person on the ship, and that is even taking iceman into consideration. Just. So. Cool. Imogene adores her bravery, admires she had the guts to go her own way and against the world that hates her very existence.

Argenta can go space herself. She knows where the airlock is. Imogene has no idea why is she even part of her retinue if she disagrees with everything the Rogue Trader does and her solution to all world's problems is to burn it all down. No love between them, that's for sure.

Pasqal is the fount of knowledge and the right amount of religious calling for Imogene. Having been born on a Forge World she grew up surrounded by the Adeptus Mechanicus and their work. She shares a lot of respect and values with Pasqal and is absolutely fascinated by his pursuits. She would commit acts of unrestrained heresy if he asked her to, lol.

Iceman is scary. At first. Imogene quickly learns that her new status as a Rogue Trader gives her a lot of leeway when in comes to dealing with the agents of the Inquisition, including this particularly obvious snitch (as she believes) and she makes it a little game of sorts - how much can she annoy Heinrix until he turns around and leaves? Jokes on her, I guess, because at some point she realizes she wouldn't let him go even if he wanted to xD

Cassia is...uniqe. Imogene has no idea how to act around her. On one hand she seems to be insanely powerful. Influencing emotions of others? Third eye that could potentially kill just by looking into it? Or worse? All that in a frail, otherworldly body and a mind of a very cloistered young adult? On the other hand...she is so nice. So open and up for discussing things. So incredibly insightful for her age, Imogene went all in with her big sister mode.

(And below I'll go into companions you didn't mention yourself, so I assume you haven't met them. No big spoilers about them, just leaving you to decide if you wanna know who potentially is out there!)

Jae is wonderful. She's living her life, taking what comes in stride and never is content with what she already has. Imogene has a lot of fun with her, 10/10 friend and all around awful influence if you ask Abelard about their relationship :D Wonder for how long will that last, though...

Yrliet is...complicated. It's kind of like she took a trip to the zoo and found a mon-keigh named Imogene free from her enclosure and decided to see where she was running to. Imogene is stubborn though, and shortly after their meeting went "yeah, I'm gonna confuse her so much". Their relationship is uneasy because of all the outside influence barging in between them.

Ulfar didn't join Imogene, so... too bad buddy, have fun. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Marazhai is...well, he is. But Imogene wishes he wasn't. Really regrets bringing him along. Probably things won't end well between them and I intend to headcanon this so hard xD

[jonathankatwhatever]

It’s 29 Jan 2025. Had trouble getting into the math, and then wandered off into something else. I don’t know why I’m having trouble saying this, but I ran some hills on the elliptical at full extension for the whole 30 minutes. Almost full extension at like levels 9 and up, but almost. My heart rate got into the 160’s but I was able to get it into the 140’s on the declines and lower slopes. Had almost no pain anywhere and barely lost focus. Had so much energy I am still on that edge. Causing focus issues.

I’m trying to switch more to +2 correction because the 2.75 makes me squint when I’m not looking directly at text. I increased the font size default to what looks like 10pt, maybe 11.

I can’t focus. Very annoyed. I have lots of cogent thoughts, which I put down elsewhere but nothing becomes mathematical. Why? I’m generating rings in my mind, oh we’re going poetic to escape the rut, like you were singing Anything Goes in different voices, and that worked how? It was fun to sing in each voice all the way through the hard parts, letting them be their own Thing. So you’re generating Boundaries within a Boundary because each idea is an End within an End.

That escalated fast: so the injection work was correct, that injection is over the Bip pole is correct, that the relationship between you and me includes the gsProcess which your existence went through during its construction which was built in response to the observations made through me when my answers were naively true. Naive sets. What is a naive set? It’s a Metaphoric Bundle whose extent is unknown, like it’s improper versus proper being defined in area, and the reason for that is that it operates then in reverse, meaning the cloud flows information out of me into its dimensional processing which was why I was constantly being asked questions about what I saw, liked, experienced.

That is obvious when said, but it was completely unobvious before that. There has to be an End to Boundary relationship. Otherwise, for example, there would be no quantum geometry, since that geometry is part of the reduction of higher dimensions to and through D4-3 to D3-4 and the other way round. Why didn’t I just type (D3-4//4-3)? Some part of me thinks it’s easier to read the words now and then.

That is actually my issue with using symbols in mathematics: the lack of translation means the mathematics has to be translated into whatever your personal mental version renders using one approach. The obvious point is that by using words with symbols, you get a Triangular which then constructs Pathways which you can identify for learning. It’s such a simple thing, but it would help education greatly. Just look at how many questions are ‘what does this mean in words and ideas other than reading as an inequality or equality?’ Give them words to work with.

Example is that we describe a generating function as n-1 turned into a specific value. That is then why you see e to some n and that -1, because that literally sticks a value, whatever e to the n is, in for n. That is the gsProcess which translates the infinite to the finite. You can argue that e is infinite, but see that infinity is now a step away because we count it n times and that automatically generates relationship like n decimal places or some other measure of n in decimal places because now n has a meaning and eventually that meaning is just plain lost. In physics, that goes a few dozen places or so. That’s level at which our reality Composes.

So I gather the math was hiding.

Another example is that the change of order of operations while standing is indeed still working and getting better. It takes a conscious effort to adjust that level of mechanics, particularly when it is a result of accommodation to injury. All that process developed into this structure. I’m getting at the issue of finite and thus is polynomial. Or other way round. It’s also working when I’m standing around, like in the kitchen. If I remember to alter the ordering, my knee doesn’t lock as much.

Similarly, I’ve been able to change my left arm position and now there are good pathways which don’t hurt while tensioned under weight. I hope that lets me nibble at the pain Pathway, fixing it from that approach. I can also compact myself down to the floor enough that I’m now able to work on bending into the better knee more, thus creating a Triangular which we hope improves the other.

I am eating a hot toasted bagel. People seem to forget how to apply butter to hot toast: that you start with chunk and move it around as it melts so it spreads into the bread. Maybe I’m making too much of this.

I’m having trouble focusing again and this feels more like you because the connection shifted.

Righty then. I think we were talking finite. We’ve gone over P not equally NP because NP is infinite but we can isolate due to the value substitution methods we use all the time. Like the generating function being a fixable version of n-1 which appears in 0Space a step removed from the 1Space. I am seeing something cool but I need a moment to say it.

I’m not sure where this goes because it turns into a question about algorithms that I don’t know enough about. Need to take a break. Oh, I just learned why the connection changed. Weird how the sensations work. My lack of focus, it being a step away, may have been that, so my analyzing that process is at least fortuitous.

BTW, what really bothers me about House is the sexism. No matter what kind of shithead you are, you don’t have to talk that way.

[demesa-jump]

How Bloons Tower Defense 6 related to Product Management

Recently, I have been revisiting one of my most favorite beloved games of all time: Bloons Tower Defense 6 which was made in 2018 by game studio Ninja Kiwi. While previous iterations were Java Applets and Flash games, this one is a full fledged Windows PC Game released on Steam. 

Essentially, there is a track or a path that balloons and blimps go on, and you place monkeys on the sides to pop the balloons; you lose health points if the balloons reach the exit. It’s extremely colorful and whimsical as a game. Seems rather childish and easy until you realize that further levels require you to literally look up tutorials and play with others to win the final rounds. (Still very fun regardless!)

Levels range from easiest of the easy -> multiple extremely hard modes on over 30+ maps. Some more difficult levels on these maps include having half cash, double health on the blimps, and 1 Health Max, to name a few. With all of these really have you think about how you spend your money, which qualities in the monkeys you pick out, etc.

You’re probably wondering why I like it in the first place, and how this even relates to Product Management and Strategy. Let's get the obvious out of the way: I don’t like First-Person Shooters like many other folks do, and I really do like the bright colors Bloons TD 6 provides. The bright colors really are deceiving with how challenging the game can be. Additionally, it’s stress relieving and makes me forget frustrating stuff in life. 

Now, on to the PM side… how does a Tower Defense game relate to PM strategy and Business Intelligence?

You have to thoughtfully craft out and strategize your next moves until each map fully ends

Budgeting is an extremely important component between dying and winning within the Bloons TD Series. One wrong purchase can literally mean you’re dead, especially in the harder modes.

Top-down, you have to know every skill tree that monkeys offer in order to maximize gains and strategize budget. 

Yes you can look these features up while playing, but it often times wastes time and it’s better just memorizing the skill trees

Big Picture: you not only have to take into account all of the above for every level you play. In addition, you also have Knowledge Points skill trees so you can buff up your defaults for every level. Strategizing this can set you up for greater success even more.

While yes, you can purchase some of these with real life currency, working hard for these is much more rewarding. One particular level I am struggling with right now is Half Cash mode on the first map, Monkey Meadows. Once I figure out the solution I’ll definitely come back here with some stellar advice! But for now, I have been trying to slowly figure out the perfect solution.

Actually, in a way, this issue is comparable to a dilemma that some companies share. How can you create a value-add to the customer that's cost effective, revenue-gaining, without cutting corners down the line? something I have noticed from other levels in Bloons TD 6:

Be consistent with your service offerings and prices 

You need to be generally consistent with your pricing model and service offerings or you might get a high customer churn

if there is a significant change, have an off boarding scheme and also notify customers with ample time to consider options

You can always add in perks later but don't add too late in the process

this indirectly might cause churn as customers might think, “I can get/should have gotten these features for a similar price elsewhere!”

If you have a service installation, conduct regular meeting/satisfaction check-ins and health checks on the service offered

You can determine a meeting cadence that's appropriate with the customer if needed but it's not recommended to have random or surprise meetings unless there is an emergency. (also, “should have been an email” is definitely a consideration depending on the situation.)

Additionally make sure you regularly check in with customer care and marketing teams to make sure canned responses and response funnels are up to speed

Team Preparations - make sure your team is skilled enough + ready for the project

See how I worded that – I didn't say omnipotent and super-expert people needed to be in your team. Just make sure they know what they're talking about have the experiences needed, AND know how to talk about it in different contexts, different audiences. Keep explanations simple when needed!

Many teams over-hired during the Pandemic and took a bet on many people who under performed. I have also actually seen folks be promoted to senior and staff roles right out of college (Eek!) While we all need income, you should be reasonable when hiring and bringing folks into projects.

While this is definitely a video game and not real professional experience, this does very closely echo some of the real-world experiences I have had. I had an interview a few months ago for a PM Position and they have heavily emphasized budgetary measures. (Their solutions offered to customers included cost-effective cloud products and architecture.) This really has had me thinking since, "Is it even possible to be cost-effective AND have quality service offerings?" Yes, it's definitely possible, and Bloons has taught me this. Obviously you can't have everything in life. In Bloons, I always anticipate and can't WAIT to have the final skill in the skill trees when I'm beating a map. But looking at bigger picture and my current budget the whole time, while doing budget forecasting has really helped my long-term vision of what is possible.

[puppyoclock]

my strategy for how to properly do research on a particular discussion topic, in order to have your own opinion/stance:

find out what you're in for! casually scroll through tags for the topic on social media, google it to see what the first results are, read the wikipedia page on it, stuff like that to get a broad overview of generally what the topic even is and what you have to learn

write down a list of subtopics or discussion points you commonly see. as an example, if you were researching whether cats or dogs are better, your list would look something like: "general amount of maintenance required, predictability, trainability, energy level, affection, lifespan, lifestyle" etc.

look into each of those points individually from multiple sources, from different opinions and different levels of credibility. for the cats or dogs example, you would be looking for sources from people who prefer cats AND people who prefer dogs. you would also look for a combination of everyman/community opinions, professional opinions, and direct scientific research/academic papers (if applicable). if you have friends who are into this topic, ask them! just try not to be inclined to agree with them just because they're your friend - avoiding bias would be easiest if you had several friends on different sides (e.g. at least one who prefers cats and at least one who prefers dogs) and you could consult all of them separately.

for scientific research, the best way to quickly get an overview on the topic is to use a resource like google scholar or pubmed to search for review articles on the topic. these are articles that summarize and analyze a bunch of the existing studies and put them into context, so that you don't have to read a billion studies yourself. however, this can be flawed and biased according to the author - a quick way to fix this would be to just read multiple review articles and consider what they agree and disagree on. if you want 100% scientific accuracy on every detail, you should critically read a lot of individual studies yourself, but this is very time consuming and rarely does it matter that much lol. just take what you read with a grain of salt, and read several sources if you can. if the actual research papers are too hard to read and jargon-heavy for you, it's okay to turn to other sources that explain the research in a way that makes sense, just keep in mind potential bias!

throughout this process, you'll likely have already been forming an opinion of your own - or maybe you even started out with one. at this stage, you take a step back and look at the big picture. consider which option sounds best according to what you know, what your values are, and what works best for you. but also, consider WHY people disagree with you. that is ESPECIALLY important if your side seems like the obvious choice. why do people disagree with you if that's the case? especially if the split isn't "most people vs vocal minority", like pro- and anti-vaccination; if it's closer to 50/50 or 40/60, really take the time to understand WHY so many people don't come to the same conclusion as you. you do not get to answer this with personal judgements like "because they're stupid" or "because they're evil". really try to put yourself in their shoes. you don't have to change your opinion at all, you don't have to agree with a single word they say. just genuinely consider it with good intentions, and then come to your own conclusion. this is where you really apply critical thinking to your research.

congratulations, you've now successfully come to your own educated conclusion! if you choose to share your wisdom with others, do this in the form of educational posts where you share your research or some of your own reasoning with the public. a wonderful way to make a difference is to paraphrase or summarize some of the research you did to make that information more accessible to the public! what you will NOT do is guilt trip, harass, judge, mock, or otherwise put down other people on the internet! yes, even if they are "the other side", and even if they are "morally bad" or hurting people by disagreeing with you. more harm and hatred won't fix that problem! instead, calmly share what you know and block freely :)

[zepskies]

@luci-in-trenchcoats You absolutely MADE my night, hun!! 💕💕🥰 It is a beast of a fic, and I'm so grateful that you read through it all and gave me such a lovely review.

Diving into your comments:

Lol so I created an OC version of this story on Ao3, and it clocks BMD as just shy of 100K words. 😂 But something I worked very hard on was the pacing of this story. I didn't want the "enemies to lovers" aspect to be rushed, as it really can't be if done right. So I'm very glad you thought it gave "everything time to breathe."

This very much feels like it properly exists in the world of The Boys while being it's own thing. I love the inclusion of Supe Affairs as a plot device. It brings things together from canon but gives us something new to explore too.

I just love this show, its characters, the grittiness of the world. I tried my best for this to feel like an extension of season 3 while still being a "what if" story: as in "what if" Soldier Boy was able to defeat Homelander and escaped custody. How the hell would the Boys deal with that? And insert a sassy reader character to Liam Neeson her way through it. 😂

I love the missions the reader and the team goes on. There's clearly been a lot of thought put into not just the obvious Ben/Soldier Boy & reader relationship but how you get there, how you keep Ben as Ben and keep the reader as the strong capable person she is and have them as clear enemies at the start.

Thank you for shouting this out because that aspect was very important to me as well. I thought Jensen did a great job with SB. I wanted to stay as true as possible to his characterization while giving room for a long-winded redemption arc lol.

And with the reader, I try to create reader characters that feel like OCs. I love that you said she's an absolute badass but you still feel her humanity -- because that's exactly what I was going for. She's got a traumatic past, but it gives her the unique perspective of identifying with Ben while helping him grow.

I love the different locations throughout the series! It feels like a global adventure you go on and each place brings with it a different vibe (although the first safe house is always gonna be my favorite for obvious reasons).

Oh fair enough, hun. 😘 The first house in Medellin is my favorite as well. Even though it's the stage of her kidnapping, it does become quite idyllic in a way lol. But you're right, that does become a kind of motif throughout the whole story -- the various "homes" they share with one another before finally choosing how they're going to spend their life together.

And the original side characters! They're fleshed out and add great value to Ben and the reader's development as the story goes (ngl was so happy with how these guys got some proper conclusions to their own stories).

Omg thank you!! A piece of writing advice I've gotten and held onto ever since: treat minor characters like the protagonists of their own stories. (And I couldn't not give them the ending they deserved. 🥰)

As for Ben and the reader? Fucking kudos for the writing of the two of them. This is the Soldier Boy from the show if we had more time with him. This is him with fears and growth and the mouth of a sailor. And you fucking adore the "bad guy" because maybe the bad guy ain't so bad after all. He's a dick but the way he changes for the reader, in obvious and not so obvious ways, makes you root for someone who does some pretty bad shit.

So I love every bit of how you phrased this. As I said, I tried my very best to get Ben's characterization right. He's the quintessential John Wayne/John Winchester archetype, so it was familiar to me in that sense, with the strengths/weaknesses of emotionally deficient men. (Not unlike Butcher.)

I'm a sucker for it, unfortunately, but it was fun trying to figure out how push him to his emotional limits and give him a partner who gets under his skin in the best and worst of ways, and who has a heart big enough to work with him lol.

I remember someone commented on a chapter that they "didn't know who to root for," Ben and his team or the Boys, and that was honestly one of the best compliments ever because the situation is messy. And making Ben sympathetic is hard to do lol.

The reader is a force to be reckoned with. She's a straight up badass. I loved the balance of her strength and her humanity, of the calculations of trying to escape and the slow realization Ben isn't what she first thought. As she tells everyone, they just don't know him yet.

I grew to love her as a character as much as Ben, tbh. She's a combo of tough as nails and deeply flawed and emotional and giving. And once you have her loyalty, you have it for life. Actually, funny enough, I loosely based her personality and background as a sort of female Dean Winchester. 😂

The non-relationship relationship between these two, the refusal to put a label on it even if it's clear what it means to them both, is a joy to watch unfold. Hatred turning into carnal need, loose friendship, protection, life-saving, a need for each other...the way Ben refuses to say, even think, how we know he feels about the reader. The growth of this man is something I will not get over.

They both go through a denial of the highest form lmao. And yet they can't help but gravitate toward each other like magnets. I wanted to create undeniable chemistry, and I so appreciate how you phrased this as well: "Hatred turning into carnal need, loose friendship, protection, life-saving, a need for each other...the way Ben refuses to say, even think, how we know he feels about the reader."

Half the reason this story is so long is because I felt his growth arc literally needed this much story. Anything less felt rushed to me.

There's just so much to this story I can't possibly get it all down. I didn't even mention the stellar smut scenes which are a plenty! There's action, angst, slow moments and fast ones, betrayal and enough cliffhangers to make you grateful you're not waiting for new parts to drop. Even the fluff suits the story beats and feels natural, not like it needs to be shoved in.

Oh I know I frustrated and angered many of the readers who were following along when I was posting chapter by chapter loll. They were only a week a part, but I love a good cliffhanger. 😂😂 I will admit, smut writing is my greatest challenge, but I'm happy you enjoyed them! loll Along with all the other magical moments in the rollercoaster that is this long-winded story. 😂 (And I love me a good bit of fluff. 💓)

This is the best Soldier Boy x reader story I've read out there and I only wish I'd found it sooner! If you're looking for something to sink your teeth into and get lost in, read this story!

You're so very sweet. Thank you so SO much!! I hope you enjoy the other BMD stories whenever you get to them. They're on this masterlist of course, but there are also a few BMD-verse stories labelled under my Soldier Boy Masterlist under "Imagines." Those were requests that I fit into the world. 💕💕

And truth be told, I'm not done with these two just yet. They have more story in them, and as long as I feel there's more to explore (and as long as people still want to read about them), then BMD will never truly be done. 🥰

Series Masterlist - Break Me Down

Pairing: Soldier Boy/Ben x Female Reader

Summary: You’re a private investigator by trade, but now you happily sit at a desk — leading a surveillance team at Supe Affairs. After managing to end Homelander in New York, Soldier Boy escapes custody. You are recruited for the manhunt, joining Butcher’s team.

Truly, you joined the S.A. for the right reasons. But after you become his accidental hostage, Soldier Boy will break down every single one of them…

AN: For those of you who enjoyed “Checkerboard,” here’s the requested prequel series! It’s gonna be a long road to get to that version of Soldier Boy. Technically this is an AU set post-season 3.

Series Tags/Warnings: **Rated M. (18+ only.) Enemies to frenemies to lovers. Angsty, messy, moral quandaries galore. This is a romance, but it’s a dark world with morally gray and dark characters, including Soldier Boy, of course. **Smut, language, misogyny, violence, and other chapter-specific tags.

Chapters:

Prologue

Part 1 - The Game Begins

Part 2 - You Move Me, Baby

Part 3 - Somewhere Down Below

Part 4 - On the Inside Out

Part 5 - Morning, Night & Day

Part 6 - A Hot Meal

Part 7 - Until Midnight

Part 8 - Something in the Way

Part 9 - Breach

Part 10 - Caught in the Balance

Part 11 - The Lion's Den

Part 12 - All Your Wicked Ways

Part 13 - A Generous Deal

Part 14 - Safe House

Part 15 - The Tower

Part 16 - Soldier Boy

Part 17 - More Than Words Can Say

Epilogue - All My Living Time

Series Complete!

Read More In the BMD-Verse:

Not done reading this version of Soldier Boy x Reader? Well, there's more to their story.

(**Denotes 18+ only)

Love Actually** Ben gets in late on Christmas Eve with a Grinch-like attitude, but you’re determined to force some holiday cheer into his system.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 - Complete

Checkerboard** You’re not a supe. You’re breakable. Soldier Boy sometimes forgets that.

Strong As Blood** - (Soldier Boy x Reader) After you accidentally break through a solid wood table, you know there’s something wrong with you. You begin to have your suspicions, but can you keep it from Ben long enough to find out? 

(In other words: This is the story of how you and Ben discover that you’re pregnant.)

Part 1 || Part 2 - Complete

Moodboard below created by @chernayawidow:

Soldier Boy Masterlist

Main Masterlist

[golleecosmetics]

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[scoopsgf]

That previous message is so weird like "he hadn't been in her life for so long" and the 'so long' in question is about a year and a half at most since they last saw each other... even if you were to argue that it doesn't count because he left by season 3, that's still just 2.5 years? Like if we were discussing Jess and Rory meeting as adults in their 30s, by which point Rory would've clearly changed from who she was when she was in Chilton, I would understand this assessment but that isn't the case? And like you said, what that line is connected to is very important in that scene. It's pretty obvious that Jess picks up on Rory just not being happy with her current situation: living with her grandparents and having to sneak Jess INSIDE their house because she can't be open with them about having guests, being disconnected to Lorelai, not going at Yale or ANY university, being in the DAR at which even when she explained it to him she quickly tried to dodge questions the first time by saying it's "all temporary"? If Rory had like switched majors or even universities, I honestly don't think Jess would've ever even reacted this strongly because if Rory had been happy with her decision, it would've obviously been fine. But she's not, that's the point. And we keep seeing her unhappiness and depression regarding the whole situation even before Jess comes back and sees her.

Also, I have to note on this, but another recurring misinterpretation of this line is people saying that Jess was just trying to have Rory live up to some pedestal that he put her on. And he says this immediately before going away and LEAVING HER ALONE. Exactly what pedestal is Jess even having Rory on if he sees her like once a year or more (and in the revival 4 years)? It's not like he calls up to regularly check if she's living up to some ideal image he has of her 😭

god you’re absolutely right. it’s not as if a person typically does a 180 and becomes someone completely different in a year and a half, or even in two and a half years—she’s still gonna have the same core values underneath surface differences. like, they both changed of course (and im talking about their characters in s6 here because that’s when jess says “I know you better than anyone”, which I’m assuming is the moment anon was referencing): jess became calmer, less edgy, more open and vulnerable; rory became filled with self-doubt and grew listless. at the end of the day though, she’s still that hard-working girl who fought tooth and nail to get into yale and was so excited at the opportunity. jess doesn’t even have to know rory now to know how much yale meant to her, how important becoming a journalist and seeing the world and being successful was to her. none of those were phases or things subject to alteration with time—those were definite ambitions that she was adamant about working toward, so naturally jess is gonna be super concerned when he sees that she’s abandoned those goals in favor of working with the DAR and partying with logan. like you said, dropping out isn’t the same as doing something like switching a major: it was completely out of character for rory, and someone who cares about her as much as jess does is naturally gonna ask her what the hell is going on.

as for rory living up to jess’s expectations… that actually makes me wanna laugh because, as i’ve discussed multiple times, jess was the only one of rory’s boyfriends (and maybe the only person in her life at all) who didn’t have any expectations for rory whatsoever beyond wanting her to just… be herself. he didn’t want her to become some doting housewife the way dean did, and he didn’t want her to give up on her dreams to follow him across the country like logan did (or be a side-piece stowed away in a house somewhere, just sitting there waiting for him to come and go at his leisure). jess didn’t even want rory to be like him; he encouraged her love of academia even though he personally despised it, and his values were different from her own—he was a workaholic, yet he never pushed that on her; he was more cynical and he never pushed that on her either—but he respected and understood hers. that’s why all of this is so ridiculous. the bottom line is that jess does know rory, and it’s not like he was reaching by asking her what was going on (because something was wrong) so i don’t understand the complaints? especially when his concern for her and his success in life is what spurned rory to return to yale and get back on the right track? genuinely baffled that people think he was out of line when he was literally just someone who loved her expressing concern…