divineseoservices

[teal-skull]

An proper analysis of Käärijä's chess game against himself.

Okay so I play chess a little so I wanted to take a look at the genious pro gamer moves he does in this chess tik tok.

So he is starting with rook to d3, which lichess knows to tells me is Mieses opening.

So he is not off to the strongest start. As he is playing against himself, he coutners with rook D5. This migth actually be a good move, since according to lichess statistics is the most popular response to Mieses opening, and it is taking more control of the center. E5 could've been good as well.

But then Käärijä shows his tomfoolery by playing a nasty trick...

He first pretends to move his knight to F3, which is what black would expect white to do, but isntead he is marely summonign the levitation powers of the knight to fly his king to E3. For this to be achieved, he had to give up bishop for blood sacrafice. While black is frozen by the sheer audacity of this move, Käärijä uses his feet to push his rook into battle against the black rook!

But oh no! The king had too much levitation and he is yeeted across the board, landing on his face, the king dies instantly. How tragic! Meanwhile, black decides to put all in and move his king to the front lines, the queen and rook follow, but get shot by a rook sniper in H2. However rook in D4 despite their bravery, gets black rook's sword through their chest.

????

Profit! Käärijä wins the game!

[halcyone-of-the-sea]

AHHHH CONGRATS ON 5k!!! Ok ok, hear me out on this request because I think it might make a good little fic. I can’t decide between Hesh or Price for this one but I got a general idea: stoned Hesh or Price. You know those videos of husbands waking up from surgery and not recognizing their wife right away but knowing they’re the most beautiful person in the world (something like this: https://youtu.be/kV8KyeApBJY). Well maybe it’s something like he got hurt from a mission (hurt enough to require drugs/anesthesia for the plot) but is recovering back at base and imagine their wife is their medic and she’s trying to update his team on how he’s recovering and you just got a stoned Hesh or Price completely hopped up on drugs following his injury, just fawning over her and he just goes bananas when she “reveals” they’re married. The team got a kick out of it

—Keep The Sheets Warm, My Love Is Coming Home

⇢ ˗ˏˋ 5k Drabble Masterlist ࿐ྂ

╰┈➤ ❝ [If this wasn't enough to prove that you were the only person for Hesh, you didn't know what did.] ❞

You walked around the room, tidying up what you could if only for the simple fact that it could distract you from the unconscious body in the bed. Realistically as a medic, you knew he would be fine—he was in the best hands possible—but Hesh had a track record for being unpredictable. 

He’d gotten into some trouble out in No Man’s Land again. Broken arm and ribs; a bullet through his thigh. He was so pumped full of medication and anesthetics from surgery that you doubted that he would be waking up soon.

But then again, Hesh was always surprising you. It was one of the reasons you’d married him, after all. Never a dull day.

Elias’s voice calls from the doorway. 

“You’re going to fall over at this rate,” you blink quickly, turning with an extra blanket in hand to spread around your husband’s comatose state. 

Your father-in-law has his arms crossed, and Logan slinks his way through the doorway with an arm looping your shoulders, a head pushed into your scalp silently. You sigh deeply, tension that you hadn’t realized was on your face lessening.

“Only if he keeps me from seeing those greens of his.” 

Logan huffs a laugh, squeezing you as his father grunts—the stern man’s eyes softening in a way they only would for you and his boys.

“He’d be more worried about you than himself if you did. Put my mind at ease, okay?” Your eyes roll but you nod with a small smile. You don’t argue with his point in the slightest. 

So, that was how you ended up here, in a seat by Hesh’s hospital bed—your hand in his and your head nodding back and forth with fatigue. Elias and Logan are casually playing a game of chess from across the room when David’s eyes flutter; his mouth releasing a low groan.

Your lids snap back, spine straightening, but before you can get a word out, your husband is pulling his hand from yours. His green eyes are loopy, pupils blown wide. 

He mutters something under his breath, lips grimacing and face pulling in at the sight of you. 

“Hesh?” The two men stand as you check his vitals, heart hammering until there’s nothing out of the ordinary and you can sit back down with a sigh and a relieved smile. “Take it easy, alright? You got out of surgery a little while ago—everyone’s here for you—”

“W…Where’s my wife?” His words slur, jaw loose as he rotates it; the unbroken arm with an IV chord stuck in it raises as jerky digits rub at his eyes. You’re left at a loss, blinking slowly in confusion before sharing looks with your in-laws. “No offense, Miss, you’re pretty and all, but…shit, why’s everything spinning?”

A hand covers your mouth, heated embarrassment lighting inside of your veins. 

“Hesh, Sweetheart,” your arm reaches to the brunette, trying to grab his wrist that he weakly moves away. 

“Stay away from me,” he grunts, head limply lulling on its pillow. “Thought I told you to keep it to yourself. My Wife’ll rip,” Hesh’s voice fizzles, a loud yawn peeling his bandaged face back, “you to pieces.” A pause. You hear Logan trying to hide his loud laughter behind his lips. “Did…the doctor send you?”

Your body turns to Elias, face beaming and expression exasperated. 

“Now that he’s awake will you get the other three? It’ll be easier to give the news to all of you at once.”

“Already commed ‘em,” the man states, watching his eldest with a raised brow and a slow smirk. “Least we know he’s a loose cannon on anesthesia.” 

Merrick, Keegan, and Ajax all file in, and as you continue to watch over a loopy Hesh, his small noises and babbling continue even when you give the breakdown of the patient sheet. You stand just shy of brushing the bed’s lower frame. You won’t lie and say it isn’t hilarious.

“He needs to keep out of the field for at least two and a half months, boys, and I’m not joking about that, alright?”

Your husband’s slow voice slashes through your speech, and the rest of the Ghosts snicker, sharing knowing looks as Hesh tries to lift the hand currently wrapped to his chest to keep it still. “You’re a real beautiful lady, Doll, y’know that? I’m sorry you like me so much, but I love my wife, you hear? Please don’t be angry with me.”

“Hesh, Darling,” you walk closer and bend down carefully. He blinked owlishly at you, finger coming up to poke at your cheek. Your hand grabs his as you hear Ajax make a quick remark to Keegan about the man being ‘totally whipped even when he’s high.’ 

“David, hey,” your voice prompts him to smile, perhaps now only realizing the familiarity of it. “I’m going to tell you something, hm?”

“Okay,” he watches, petting your neck with his thumb. 

“I am your wife.” The man’s eyes widen comedically as everyone shares a long laugh with one another. 

“No way,” Hesh breathes after a moment, awe-stricken. “Really?”

“Really.” There’s a moment of silence, and then the heart monitor begins to pick up its pace to a fast pound. Your face goes hot with love, and you bend your head forward in a long and honest laugh into his shoulder. 

Green eyes shift to the men, and Hesh beams, cheeks red and heart racing as he slurs out, “This is my wife?!”

It was safe to say they were never going to let him forget about this.

[voydhund]

um. big TINAWDC spoilers.

LOTS of shit im gonna piss. this was made /w a ton of help from @neorails, and a friend!

Last warning, all spoilers!

. ~ △ ~ .

1: PASSWORDS

"AD ASTRA PER ASPRA" - Two images of pages written by Ford, with stickers and doodles on it from Mabel.

"AXOLOTL" - "YOU ASK ALOTL QUESTIONS"

"BABYBILL" - An image of, [you guessed it,] baby Bill in an ultrasound, with text that reads "CONGRATS, GUESS WHATS GROWING INSIDE YOU RIGHT NOW! SEE YOU IN 9 MONTHS PAPA!" [I giggled at this one way too hard]

"BILL" - opens Triangle - Wikipedia

"BLINDEYE" - An image of an eye test, with a code that reads

"BOYFRIEND" - An image of a book called "The Love Triangle" with audio of a woman reading it.

"CIA" - "YOUR WEBCAM IS ON. WE ARE WATCHING"

"CIPHERTOLOGY" - "CURIOUS?"

"CRYPTOGRAM CODEX" - Downloads a file with Bill's fonts.

"CONSPIRACY" - A video of someone talking about the site while it was on the page with Soos, stressing out trying to figure out the meaning. Me too.

"DEERTEETH" - "FOR YOU, KID"

"DOGE" - "LIFE PRIVILEDGES REVOKED. NOW RELEASING POISON GAS."

"DORITO" - Screamer jumpscare [i jumped]

"DUCKTECTIVE" - "DUCKTECTIVE STARS IN ''LOVE, QUACKTUALLY'' COMING TO: ''OI, ITS THE COCKNEY CHANNEL, INNIT?'' THIS FALL"

"EVENHISLIESARELIES" - An image of Ford's chess piece. Under it, Bill is talking with someone about Ford in the theraprism.

"FORDTRAMARINE" - An image of a file by Ford, talking about colours that cannot be perceived without 'Continued contact with extradimensional phenomena.'

"GIDEON" - opens either sweat resistant bolo ties on google, or audio of him 'singing' a song, before whispering 'I love you forever Mabel.' [I hate this place.] May also lead to "sweat resistant bolo ties." [I never got this, but Neo said it did]

"HECTORING" - A record of a song about Bill, and someone who fell for his tricks. Mentions to 'Leave him behind,' and the fucking "im a little different" shirt.

"HOTXOLOTL" - An image of Dimensional Authority Most Wanted, talking about Bill and the henchmaniacs. Red pen X's out Bill, writing "DEAD?" above him, circles the last seen and writes "WHERE DID THEY GO??"

"JUSTFITIN" - A video of a father and son playing a game called 'Perfection.'

"KINGSOFNEWJERSEY" - Downloads a file with Stan and Ford's secret code.

"LIES" - a REALLY long popup by Bill. At the bottom it reads "LIE UNTIL WHAT YOU WANT TO BE TRUE BECOMES TRUE. LIE UNTIL YOU CANT REMEMBER WHATS A LIE AND WHAT ISNT." and then in large, glitchy text, "LIE UNTIL YOU ARENT LIVING ANYMORE."

"LLIB" - Opens Jazzy Triangle Meets A Square Square (1969)

"LLIBREHPIC" - Opens Jazzy Triangle Meets A Square Square (1969)

"LOVE" - An image of a book called "The Love Triangle" with audio of a woman reading it.

"MABEL" - Stickers decorate your lab with a nice 'POP!' sound. after a few times of using it, text reads "LAB NOW FULLY MABELIZED."

"MCGUCKET" - Opens Cotton Eye Joe [🙂<3]

"MORALITY" - An image of a paper with 9 drawings of animals fighting or eating another animal. Text reads "CAN YOU FIND MORALITY IN THE NATURAL WORLD?"

"NAITSUAF" - An image of an article about selling your soul [For FUN and PROFIT!] written by Bill.

"NOTHING" - "SOMETHING"

"PAPERJAM" - An image of Tyrone, text reading "Here, he's your problem now! Just keep this guy from liquids!" under it.

"PINATA" - A video of someone whacking a Bill pinata while it protests

"PINES" - "A GOOD FAMILY TREE"

"ROMANCE" - An image of a book called "The Love Triangle" with audio of a woman reading it.

"SCIENTOLOGY" - "SUPPRESSIVE PERSON DETECTED"

"SHAVEYOURGRANDMA" - An image of a chapter of a book talking about the human life cycle, written by Bill. [The children yearn for the mines.]

"SIXER" - An image of a case report on Ford talking about his extra finger. There appears to be a word written under "Placebo" in small text. Also notably reads "If i could kidnap him and bring him to our secret cloning lab" obscured by a black marking.

"SOMETHING" - "NOTHING"

"SORRY" - An image of McGucket and Ford in collage(?). Ford is covered in sticky notes. [☹️]

"SOOS" - An image of a really long note from Soos, talking about Bill and his experiences as The New Mr. Mystery. Lots of cute doodles.

"SPOOKEMUPS" - An image of a book titled 'SPOOKEMUPS: The Book Of Bill" written by B. Cipher, with audio of a man reading it. It's about a boy getting scared by things and assuming it's Bill.

"STAN" - opens one of seven ebay pages that lead to Brass Knuckles, Colonel Sanders Tie, Shriner Fez, Male Girdle, 8-Ball Cane, Dogs Playing Poker, Gold Chains For Old Men. After going through all of them, the WHEEL! OF! SHAME! made by Bill appears, exposing some random secrets and shames. The last option reads "HOW HE BEAT ME," and when pressed, a note reads "He didn't! IM STILL HERE, SUCKER!"

"TOURISTTRAP" - An image of a page of a pamphlet, talking about 'The Caves Of Mystery.'

"TYRONE" - An image of Tyrone, text reading "Here, he's your problem now! Just keep this guy from liquids!" under it.

"VALLIS CINERIS" - A video of Baby Bill with his parents, only silhouettes of static. a text to speech says "Why did you do it?" three times.

"WADDLES" - Opens Pig Placement Network

"WEIRD" - A video of Alex(?) trapped in the screen, shouting at Bill to let him out.

"WEIRDMAGEDDON" - An image of a newspaper titled 'THE GRAVITY FALLS GOSSIPER,' with articles about how absolutely nothing happened. Never mind all that!

"WENDY" - An image of a note from Wendy that reads "Whatuppp cursed book! I've got a totally legit way to ward off evil triangles, and I wrote it in the bottom right corner of the book. It's totally worth it, I promise! Stay cool dork!"

"WHOAREYOU" - "I COULD ASK YOU THE SAME QUESTION"

"XYLER" -

. ~ △ ~ .

2: CLICKABLES

The golden tooth of the skull:

The Book Of Bill:

The Bill on the dagger in the book:

The 'McGUCKET LABS' on the top of the computer:

The eye in the bottle:

. ~ △ ~ .

3: CODES

this segment is a little iffy,

On page two of The Book Of Bill clickable

Solved: uh. maybe. check my blog?

During lightning strikes:

Solved: Vallis Cineris. It's a password!

The colours on the blindeye eye test probably arent codes, because they read "euclmriannrepttgccvisignnsuwepvisidnn." you can try though. ARE a code! they read "EUCLIDEAN DEPT OF VISION SUPERVISION" !

The blindeye eye test itself is apparently a ceaser cipher, but i havent found an answer to it yet.

working on adding to this, theres a LOT.

[the-unrelated-theorist]

Some Undertale gamer headcanons:

Someone said that Toriel would be the world Tetris champion, and I'm not sure why, but I agree with that. And not just Tetris, but bubble-poppers, match 3, marble-shooters, all of those kinds of games. She's the new Candy Crush mascot.

I've also seen people say sans would be into rhythm games, and... no. Why would you think he would be into something that takes that much effort? Seriously, come on. What sans is into is farming sim games. He's written dozens of online strategy guides for Stardew Valley, all of them under different pseudonyms.

Papyrus is into online multiplayers. All of them, any genre- Fortnite, Apex Legends, Fall Guys, Elder Scrolls Online, Runescape, you name it. He sucks at all of them, but none of his online friends is willing to tell him how bad he is because he's so darned innocent and nice. Nobody really wants him on their team because he'll always make them fail the mission, but he's so upbeat and uplifting that no one has the heart to tell him they don't want him.

Undyne loves Souls-like and dungeon crawlers, but she struggles with anything that requires stealth, she just doesn't. do. stealth. She says it's stupid to have to sneak up on enemies, she should just be able to barge in with guns or swords or spears blazing in any and all circumstances. Don't ever even suggest Metal Gear to her. Or Breath of the Wild- she rage-quit after the Yiga Clan Hideout quest (although it did leave her with the impression that bananas give you strength in battle, so she now always keeps a bunch of bananas on hand).

Blooky plays solitaire and Mah Jongg, and even those stress them out.

Maddie plays casino and slots games. On an unrelated note, she's always broke.

Mettaton is the rhythm games master. You will not change my mind on this.

Alphys is HEAVY into JRPG's. The more anime it looks, the more she loves it.

Asgore has no idea what a video game is. Well, ok, he has some idea, his kids both played games, but he never could figure them out. He thinks Sonic and Crash are both Mario characters and that Link is a girl- you get the idea. But he did used to play card and board games with Toriel. Especially chess (she totally owned his ass in every match). Ever since Toriel left, he can't bring himself to play chess. He plays checkers a lot, tho. He usually loses (he plays against himself).

Asriel and Chara were into action/adventure games. Asriel's favorite characters were Yoshi and Link, while Chara's favorites were Samus and Shadow the Hedgehog. What? No, I'm not projecting my favorite games onto the Dreemurr kids. What are you talking about?

Frisk has only ever played the hit indie game Undertale. About 500 times. Always Pacifist, they've never even tried a Geno run. They've been thinking about playing that Deltarune game, too, but they kinda wanna wait until the whole thing is released.

[cleolinda]

Weekend links

My posts

I have been amorphously unwell (migraines, dizziness, aches) this week, which is super great. I am, in fact, daunted by the complexities and unknowns.

See "Personal tag of the week" at the bottom for updates on the Tumblr happenings.

Reblogs of interest

Thousands of Israelis protest in Tel Aviv, demanding a hostage release/ceasefire deal and new elections.

I never know how to segue from a serious news item.

Theseus liveblogs the labyrinth, and it’s heartbreaking.

Before hbomberguy was going after plagiarism, he was playing Donkey Kong for trans rights.

“to touch is to interact, and when you put your hand on your dog the universe does not know that you are separate”

The universe knows you are separate from this cat’s Absolute Terror Field

Cats named Pigeon

The most dramatic cat

Figure out what starts your engine and ride the waves of your brain

This is not van fundamentalism

Lawful good werebears

The Godmother is not committed to the kindness

Escape room employees reveal the worst, or best, things they’ve seen on the job.

“So I explained to him the story of ‘Alice’s Restaurant,’ and he began to get MAD”

It seems that y’all do not understand that the Better Call Saul ads are just how we live in the US, and that I pass five Alexander Shunnarah billboards just to get a quesadilla. 

1) Don’t take your native animals for granted. 2) This jay is the bluebird of happiness, apparently.

Wisdom from a Tumblr longtimer

Benign chain posts: the Money Garf

Video

Every now and then I fall apaaaaaart

Click through for a massive gothic rock playlist on YouTube

It’s a great dance contest entry--but then they tell you it’s also randomly-paired improv

Capybara capybara (capybara)

The sacred texts

You have not seen a sacred internet text until you have seen the Lolrus (2006)

Personal tag of the week

“the happenings” is my tag for all internet platform bullshit. This week, it’s Tumblr, as CEO Matt Mullenweg lost his shit and started harassing a trans user (including on another platform). This is a factual explanation early in the week of what happened and how it started: 

predstrogen (the first blog) was allegedly deleted for “sexually explicit material” despite any posts that may have been labelled as such being marked with a community label and her blog recently being manually approved as NOT containing adult content. she also talks in this post, as well as here, about how she has had a support ticket open for several months for harassment she was receiving that has not been dealt with

the CEO of tumblr made a post wherin he publicly aired information regarding her deletion and threatened legal action against her , showing examples of the alleged death threats where no actual threats were made and telling people in the replies to just leave if they were unhappy with the moderation of the site

Specifically, he was upset by the expressed wish that he perish in a car covered in hammers that would explode multiple times, a serious threat that could surely come to fruition in reality. If you can't tell that I'm being sarcastic, congratulations, you're CEO material.

It spiraled from there, but suffice it to say, it ended with trans employees posting on the Staff account (reblog here with commentaries):

The reality of predstrogen’s suspension was not accurately conveyed, and made it seem like we were reaching for opportunities to ban trans feminine people on the platform. This is not the case. The example comment shared in the post linked above does not meet our definition of a realistic threat of violence, and was not the deciding factor in the account suspension. Matt thereafter failed to recognize the harm to the community as a result of this suspension. Matt does not speak on behalf of the LGBTQ+ people who help run Tumblr or Automattic, and we were not consulted in the construction of a response to these events.

While the post is sincerely emotional and brave, the real chess move is this part:

We appreciate the space we have been given to express our concerns and dissent, and we are thankful that Matt’s (and Automattic’s) strong commitment to freedom of expression has facilitated it. We will continue to fight to make Tumblr safe for us all.

Matt Mullenweg now either has to nod and go, “Yeah, yeah... I’m a great guy committed to freedom...” Or he can, I don’t know, shut the site down in a fit of defiant pique? All I’m going to say about this is that the day all this first went down, I started archiving any posts I’d put significant effort into last year, and I’ll be crossposting them on Dreamwidth and Patreon. I don’t want to lose Tumblr’s culture and unique platform--I mean, I think the Weekend Links themselves make a case for the fact that there is nothing else like Tumblr on the internet. And shutting down is not even necessarily the most likely outcome--but I’m not gonna be caught unprepared, either. 

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1113 - Initial Thoughts

It is time

One Piece is back again and the big announcement is almost underway. The Gorosei are circling though, much of the Straw Hats are cornered, will the revelation turn the tide?

Let's find out

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release too!

A chess-themed colour spread this time; Robin playing chess with the crew as chess pieces

Contrary to the message the King should not be the attacking piece but other than that I did find it funny that Usopp is a Bishop with a bow and arrow, this cleric does harm!

Also lil Chopper pawns!

Picking up where we left off, Markus Mars has been stopped in awe of a sight in Punk Records

The remains of Vegapunk's humungous brain, as big or maybe even bigger than a giant, kept in a pod and still working even after his death

Mars does wonder if this is more Vegapunk's true self, which I guess if it has his brain it's probably the main part that's biologically living

People around the world brace themselves though

Syrup Village! Kaya, Merry and the old Usopp Pirates get a cameo

Despite her wealth being enough for Kuro to plan a murder/retirement spree, they do not have a Video Den Den Mushi

Though it seems like it's more size than price, and Kaya is already keen to hear what Vegapunk is saying, given his role in the medical field

Also lil' Merry details on the Den Den Mushi

The Marines are monitoring it too

Laboon and Crocus cameo!

And we even get to go to Baldimore, birthplace of Vegapunk

Some dialogue from the group that found Franky during the separation too

'I heard he's turned himself into a ship now' XD because of the bounty poster, and the bad timeline SBS image maybe, though I still think we could in the future get a Sunny mecha

Also got Chopper's bird and medic island listening in

The tribespeople even know about Vegapunk, they call him a 'king of modern science'

Even despite the Garp and SWORD attack, some pirates from Fullalead are listening in - some still wanna fight each other though

Mars tries to stamp out the Den Den Mushi, but it's of course a fake! It shatters to reveal just another regular Den Den Mushi

Fooled again motherfucker!

Vegapunk does introductions once more but now everyone wants him to get on with it XD

For the most part the more obscure world shots seem somewhat familiar, I couldn't tell what the rainy place was but it could be Water 7, the other one looked a bit familiar, the Longarm place looks like to have Brook's old talent agents too

But this campfire one, a child is hushed back to sleep by their likely mother, they're in tipi tents, what's interesting is the other person there, almost like Oda's pulling something sneaky

Through their collective telepathy, Mars announces his failure, it was a decoy so they have no leads

They wonder what Vegapunk intends to say, fearing that he'll carry on what Clover started before he was silenced

Back to Sanji and he hears a woman's scream

Bonney is being targeted by V. Nusjuro, Franky standing between them but Sanji demands to be the white knight

He jumps off the sword to kick him in the jaw

By comparison V. Nusjuro is pretty damn huge

His body sets on fire - fitting to his Yokai lore - but then the horse's head comes out to bite Sanji

Lots of crackling of bones, I wonder if his Healing Factor is still a thing

As Oimo and Kashii tackle V. Nusjuro (about the same size as them), Vegapunk's broadcast begins, admitting to committing two grave sins

Bonney turns into a giant with her fruit to attack V. Nusjuro, who has returned to his hybrid form

Vegapunk's broadcast admits that he is likely to be executed, and that this broadcast would start when his heart has stopped

Sabaody reacts first, realising that this means Vegapunk is dead

Duval has trouble processing this, since the news said that he was a hostage for the Straw Hats

Caesar's also mad, he and Judge went through that whole cover story alliance for nothing, so now they can promptly fuck off

And Morgans is angry because Vegapunk is giving BIG NEWS without him like it's not in his name

Interestingly, Vegapunk is quick to state that his killers should not be portrayed as 'evil' - because they're looking pretty damn evil to me

It seems maybe this is because he expects Luffy to have been pinned as to blame for his death, though it could be scanlations saying 'him'

Saturn faces off with the Labophase group, demanding they move away

Saturn and Robin however recognize one another, Robin from his voice back in Ohara and Saturn by her image

Seems Saturn blames Akainu directly for Robin's escape, I mean he did blow up the hostage ship but still, there were more marines out there

He goes to attack Robin, so all the other Straw Hats go into protection mode

Brook cuts a few limbs, but worryingly Chopper blocked some with his Guard Point - those limbs are poisonous remember? Though it's impressive that he could suppress a claw that could go straight through Kuma

Nami also remembers that she can use Zeus to block attacks

Mars is still on recon, but his senses can't pick up any 'telepathic waves' - wonder if that's a Haki feat or something relative to the Gorosei's shared thoughts?

York is also having trouble figuring out where the Stella would've put it, since her position as a Celestial Dragon is on the line

Vegapunk's about to deliver his mission statement, which is putting the Gorosei into a panic

Mars considers blowing up the entire place, but Saturn and Warcury are weighing it against the possible losses; men, equipment, and any chance of recreating the Mother Flame

Wait. What?

"Our World...is going to sink into the ocean!"

Well you can't deny it: Global Warming is Real.

It's not just Water Seven and Aqua Laguna then, it's all going to sink, there's a lot of thematic consequences to that when you think about it.

Did the World Government ostracize the Fish-Men because of this? Knowing that they would inherit the world? Does this have any connection to Devil Fruits and why the Ocean really saps their strength? Did the ancient kingdom like Old Wano sink to the bottom of the sea?

It begets a lot of questions, in true Oda fashion.

The rest of the chapter was a lot more jam-packed than the last, even without Luffy. The carried tension of the announcement is followed by Saturn and V. Nusjuro's confrontations with the crew, giants and Bonney. As expected, Sanji took on V. Nusjuro, the hit didn't seem to do much in the long term as expected, though I kinda wish Franky also got a hit in but the extent of his own injuries is worth wondering.

I'm glad the Labophase crew are stepping up against Saturn, at least until the expected arrival of Zoro and Jinbe, but it does show their furthered growth versus Enies Lobby if they can successfully repel Saturn from Robin - her injury being validated by this scene, though I still wish we saw a flashback of the Straw Hats vs Seraphim and them uncovering York as the traitor.

Still it's bad PR from the Straw Hats either way, they're likely to be accused of killing Vegapunk, who was last deemed their hostage by the fake news machine (is Morgans still going to Egghead? I mean with Vivi with him we continue to tease a reunion), and while Punk Records still has a chance to live on this is definitely going to be something each crewmate will have to re-evaluate given the bigger picture. Still, that can come after getting off the island; Edison and the Sleeping Giant are still at play after all, Stussy still needs to release the barrier, it's looking more likely that we might finish up around 1120.

Still there has to be more to the announcement, if Vegapunk was waiting for a video display it means that there are visuals to corroborate his revelation - I wonder if the Gorosei are more open to this reveal coming out than what they expected with the Ancient Kingdom reveal they destroyed Ohara for? Like did Vegapunk dupe the WG into Buster Calling Egghead over a reveal they didn't care much for? He mentioned two grave sins too so there seems to be much more to his announcement than just the opening statement.

[bookburners]

AFTG chess au head cannons pt. 2

- Kevin is currently #2 in the world and has been purposely loosing (not consciously ) to Riko sense 8

- Mary and Neil played on the run a little bit but she stopped when she realized exactly how talented Neil really was.

- Coach Hernandez still sent video footage of his playing rather than his stats.

- Andrew is easily bored and fucks up on purpose to make it interesting .

- The Ravens are a college club who have been dominating the chess world for thirty years

- Kevin (ranked two in the world) never actually competed in the world championship, opting to be Riko’s second.

- Allison always wanted to play chess but her parents didn’t think it was a suitable career/hobby for her especially after it intimidated the son of one of her fathers colleagues who he was trying to get her together with.

- Allison wears bright pink and stilettos her matches.

- Renee plays like a god damned general. She massacre’s and tears down and destroys her opponents from the get go. She’s horrifying,

- Andrew likes risky moves he’s most noted for winning a game exclusively with pawns.

- Kevin is brilliant, this is a science and an art to him. He was rumored to be held back by Riko who when they played 1v1 won but people pointed out obvious blunders he made Riko release fake info saying he cheated in past matches.

Pt. 1

[youling-the-ghost]

silly (and some not-so-silly) Julian Ramis headcanons

he's on the aroace spectrum, though he's never really cared about his sexuality and labels

his leg bounces when he sits

he likes gardening, it helps him relax when he's stressed

he plays a lot of video games, but mainly games like stardew valley and animal crossing

he wrote poetry when he was younger and posted them online, but stopped after he saw them on r/im14andthisisdeep

he starts living at Gabriel's place after hear my cry (this is my absolute favourite hc of all time it's canon in my mind)

Gabriel initially wanted to legally adopt him but Julian refused beause he feels like it would be like replacing his father

he hangs out at the GPD with Gabriel sometimes and even helps out with some cases

he likes to show off the fact that he knows the GPD personally at university

he pulls his beanie over his face when he doesn't want to engage in a conversation

he knows how to play chess

he likes to joke about his criminal record with Jones and only Jones ("I'll do this if you clear my criminal record", "remember I have the ability to clear your criminal record" etc.)

he babysits for Sammy sometimes and has a tradition with Alex where they play a round of mario kart when he and Cathy return and Julian gets payed double if he wins

he's working on a crime novel based on cases that the GPD has solved

Julian's mom died during childbirth and he's always felt guilty for her death

he struggles with regulating his emotions and has occasional emotional outbursts (which Gabriels helps him with)

he had to wake up early everyday in juvenile detention and that habit extended to after he was released

his dad and Ramona visited him frequently when he was in juvenile detention and the first thing that he said to both of them was sorry

[o-chunks-appreciation]

I would like to hear your in-depth thoughts on O'Chunks, Count Bleck, and Super Paper Mario as a whole!

Woah this is just gonna be a big ramble on how much I love the game and why.

I’m gonna start with Super Paper Mario as a whole, I’m a really big fan and I have been since maybe around 2016 or so. I was vaguely aware of it as a kid but after watching a cosplay chess (its where you get a bunch of cosplayers to roleplay and they’re on a big chessboard and they act out in character to defeat each other until there’s a winner or sometimes even a subversion of plot) video that had a Dimentio cosplayer in it I decided to look into the game. By that point I was no stranger to jester characters, I used to rewatch the Marx fight from Kirby Super Star Ultra all of the time so I was immediately going through SPM play throughs, fanfic, fanart. It’s a game I seem to be thinking about all of the time for months and years on end without a break lol. It admittedly catches my attention more than the other Paper Mario games, I’m not sure why, perhaps because it’s so visually different in aesthetic and character design. I enjoy its silly moments and it’s dramatic lore, but I also have a very specific issue with some parts of the lore being vague in Carson’s stories specifically. He’s always ending his stories in a question or talking about how much of a mystery these stories are. Maybe it’s on purpose and maybe this is also wishful thinking on my end, but sometimes I theorize that maybe they were going to reuse some of SPM’s lore for another game. I uhhh can’t say much about the game play because I’ve been enjoying SPM through play throughs.

On to O’ Chunks!

I think he’s in last place in terms of fandom popularity in terms of the Castle Bleck cast. Honestly I sort of get it, he’s not conventionally attractive and most artists sort of struggle with drawing older, bald, and bearded characters. Especially back in 2007 when the game was released when the anime art style was very popular on Deviantart. You could turn everyone else in castle bleck into a cutesy attractive anime character since their designs are just vaguely human enough for you to make your own little interpretations but with O’ Chunks you can clearly see he has a very human design so you can’t really make a Gijinka of him like you could the others. I think there’s something cool yet funny about that though, like he’s some unchanging force throughout everyone’s interpretation of the cast. (But I think it would be really cool as well to see people stray from his main design and interpret his design in the same way people would the rest of castle bleck)

He’s played off as sort of a joke character and then you read up on Carson’s stories of him and then it’s all like Woahh this is the same dude we’re talking about?? Funny characters that are secretly tragic is a trope I really like.

I think it’s really silly how everyone plays into his “chunking” catchphrases like Count Bleck saying: "Very well, O'Chunks. I'll leave the hero-chunking to you. Do not fail Count Bleck." Or Dimentio saying: "Mmm... I do enjoy a good chunking...", it’s really fun that the other characters are willing to hype up O’ Chunk’s catchphrases.

Also I think everyone sort of just glossed over the fact O’ Chunks was begging to die because he didn’t want to go back to Count Bleck and tell him he got defeated for the second time and only changed his mind after Dimentio shows up and talks a bit and afterwards he’s all like: “yeah I wouldn’t kill myself unless the count told me to.”

In conclusion he’s a really cool and underrated character and I like him a lot!! (If you couldn’t already tell by the blog theme and name lol)

Finally on to Count Bleck!

Wahhhh I love his lore and story it’s sooo bittersweet I want to fall to my knees dramatically anytime I think of it. He definitely seems like the type of guy that thought he didn’t care about his crew and everything they’re all doing was purely business because he’s just so caught up in his whole depressive world ending shenanigans that by chapter 8 he’s sort of surprised that he likes his minions as much as they do.

He’s still very much a bad guy, wiping out whole worlds and also lying to his very loyal group about making a way cooler world afterwards, and also on top of that even manipulating some of his minions unfortunate circumstances to get them on his team. (I.E: O’ Chunks) but I will let it slide this time because he’s a cool character to me.

All the memory sections of the game are so cute until it hits chapter six and then it’s like….ouch my feelings. He was mourning her so bad he would’ve unknowingly killed her if he’d succeeded, damn. But he didn’t so they got their nice little happy ending, and they’re just so cute together yaayyy!! (I’m in love with the picture of them under the tree at the end of the credits and I totally start to tear up when I see it with the credits music)

He’s a really interesting character and I can’t find myself finding another Mario character that inflicts this same emotions his lore gave me.

[vine-and-fig-tree]

Here's the full text of the article, because I really think people should read all the details.

By Maya Mirsky | October 30, 2024

Jonathan Hirsch said he didn’t know he was walking into trouble when he stopped by the Jerusalem Coffee House in Oakland on the afternoon of Oct. 26.

Hirsch, who lives in Oakland, said he was looking for a latte after he and his 5-year-old son grabbed hot dogs at a stand across the street. He’d paid for his order and was playing chess with his son when a man, who he later learned was Abdulrahim Harara, the shop’s co-founder, accosted him.

Hirsch provided video to J. that shows Harara approaching Hirsch, who was wearing a blue baseball cap embossed with a white Jewish star. The cap is a piece of New York baseball memorabilia, Hirsch said. 

“Are you a Zionist?” Harara demanded.

“I’m going to call the police if you don’t leave,” he also said. 

The Jerusalem Coffee House is a year-old cafe in North Oakland that celebrates Palestinian culture. It was recently in the news because of two controversial drink offerings on its menu, which is festooned with inverted red triangles, a symbol used by Hamas to mark Israeli military targets.

One of the drinks is called the “Sweet Sinwar.” Yahya Sinwar was the Hamas leader and architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history. After receiving negative attention for the drink, Harara denied that it was named after the terrorist leader. (Sinwar was killed in Gaza on Oct. 16, days after the cafe released its new menu.)

Another drink is called the “Iced In Tea Fada” (pronounced “intifada”).

Hirsch said that while he had heard about the controversy, he did not know he was entering the café in question. He saw that it had Arabic lettering but said he didn’t anticipate a problem.

“It’s not my experience that Muslim equals conflict, or I’m not welcome, or something like that,” he told J.

Hirsch said he didn’t even know that the man who approached him worked at the café.

“At first I’m like, oh, he’s a patron in here and antisemitic and I’d better start filming him, right?” Hirsch recalled. “So I start filming him. And it just escalates from there.”

Hirsch said Harara brought another man over during their confrontation, and the other man grabbed him.

“The guy grabs me by the shoulder and back, and I think, ‘Get your hands off of me, what’s going on here?’ He’s like, ‘You’re trespassing,’” Hirsch said. “And the second he put his hands on me and my son is in the mix, I decide, OK, the safe thing for me to do here and de-escalate the situation is to sit back down in my seat.”

The video shows Harara continuing to demand that Hirsch leave the cafe. “This is a violent hat, and you need to leave,” he said.

Hirsch responded that under California law, religion is a protected class and a business cannot refuse to serve customers because of their religion.

“I’m not asking you to leave because of that,” Harara replied. “Are you a Zionist? Are you a Zionist? Leave!”

J. reached out to Jerusalem Coffee House but did not receive a response.

Hirsch told J. that he was sitting quietly with his son when he was first approached.

“I never engaged with him,” Hirsch said. “I didn’t get into a conversation about apartheid. I didn’t get into a conversation about Israel or Zionism or any of those things. I simply asserted my right that he wasn’t allowed to kick me out for a Star of David.”

Harara said he would call the police, and Hirsch said he would wait.

Video shows Oakland Police Department officers attempting to de-escalate the situation. Hirsch said they were confused by some of the terms being used.

One of the police officers “was asking me to spell Zionism, to spell Israeli. She asked me, she’s taking notes, ‘Tell me what Zionism means to you.’ I said, ‘Why are you asking me these questions? Why, did I say anything about Zionism or Israel?’”

He said he was deeply disappointed in how little the officers seemed to understand about what was going on or how to handle it. Hirsch said he also called a synagogue acquaintance who was an attorney to come by and help out as he talked to police.

Hirsch said the police recommended he leave when protesters started arriving.

“There’s people pulling up into the parking lot screaming ‘Free Palestine’ at me. Some woman pulls up with a car, opens up the trunk and starts taking out signs, like cardboard signs that say ‘Free Gaza’ and ‘Zionism is racism’ and all these things, and the sergeant says, you know, we’ve got all your statements.”

In an email to J., Oakland police said they are investigating the interaction as a “disturbance.” “When officers arrived, they learned that an argument occurred between two individuals inside a business,” the email said. “Officers responded to the scene and are looking into the incident to determine if it meets the criteria of a hate incident.”

“The cops told me there was zero chance that they were going to prosecute a simple assault under these circumstances,” Hirsch said, adding, “I’m desperate to know what institutions here are still going to protect us.”

Hirsch said he felt terrible that it all happened in front of his son, but also felt it was a moment to show that Jewish people aren’t spineless.

“Just in that moment, I was like, I can’t leave here, not for my son,” he said. “I can’t show him that, uh-oh, an antisemite is screaming at me, we better scurry, we better run off.”

Hirsch said the situation shocked him in deep ways and has left him in real doubt about his future in Oakland, a city he moved to because of its reputation as a vibrant and inclusive multicultural place.

“I need to know, does the city actually not think that the Oakland I believe in is real, that it’s supposed to be safe and inclusive for everyone?” he said. “Because I just don’t understand what is going on here.”

[klmwrites]

Bishop takes Rook (a pre Black Ops 6 Story)

ao3

Directing his attention back from the room to the chessboard before him, Adler now raised a hand to make his move. On the opposite side of the stage from where the pair were seated one of the staff members near the giant board, upon placing down a pair of binoculars, reached for the cutout of a white bishop and moved it diagonally upwards - replacing the position of the black rook before it. 

The audience visibly stirred.

“Bishop takes Rook.” he heard the younger woman murmur under her breath, her mouth set in a firm line as Adler moved a finger to press down on his side of the Fischer clock. Chewing her bottom lip, Bell now turned her attention towards her one remaining rook and king. 

“I should tell you Adler, survival is now the main priority of ours now. Her eyes now flicked upwards, gaze directed at Adler as she switched the positions of the aforementioned two pieces with ease.  “My job is to do anything to make sure it stays that way.”

AU in which Adler - on the run from the CIA - goes undercover as a competitive chess player where he is made to play a match against a ghost from his past in front of a live studio audience.

In the spirit of respecting those who have yet to play Black Ops 6 (it has only been a week since its release as of this post) this fic will be spoiler free. So go ahead and read to your hearts content 😊

song recommendation (this song slaps ok and for some reason in my head it fits really well don't come @ me lmao) :

Russell Adler

Moscow, Union of Social Socialist Republics

20 March 1990 - 10:00 MSK

Seated at the back of the state-provided saloon car, Adler watched as the huge crowd gathered consisting of the media, adoring fans and curious onlookers alike appeared in the horizon, the once small black blob was now becoming discernibly larger as the vehicle drew closer to its destination. Retrieving a cigarette and his zippo from inside his suit, Adler rolled down the window on his side before lighting the nicotine stick and taking a long drag from it, watching the evidence of his vice float out into the open and vanish from sight.

The speedy little devil that was the maroon coloured automobile sped down the remainder of a seemingly vacant highway before making a sharp right turn, parking itself right before the end of the pavement in what only could be described as in a cartoonish fashion. Opposite stood a building sporting gothic style architecture and right above the pair of twin wooden doors that marked the entrance was a huge banner with the Cyrillic Words ‘Annual Soviet Chess Championship, Moscow’ accompanied by the silhouette icon of a knight chess piece. As soon as he opened the door and stepped out onto the red carpet the flash photography and videographers came into full swing, all of which he had expected at such an event. He was however pleasantly surprised by the cordiality of everyone else around - not once had any member of the public rushed up to him in an attempt to take a photo or sign an autograph. For that Adler was grateful, as the last thing he needed as an rogue agent was close up pictures of his face taken for the world to see. He had changed his aviators and hairstyle in a fashion that he would still be unrecognisable in pictures and videos taken from afar, but any closer and he ran the risk of being identified.

Though he never liked any of the countries behind the iron curtain (for more than just ideological reasons) he was begrudgingly grateful for the match to be taking place in Moscow of all places. Had it been Hollywood or any other western country it would have been a completely different story, and it would have been much harder for him to remain inconspicuous for long given the strong alliance the authorities had with the United States.

Adler made his way into the building with haste and after a quick pat down was escorted by a member of staff to a nearby sitting room to wait for his registration to be confirmed. In this building he was no longer Russell Adler, the framed CIA operative but Lev Balashov, a former KGB agent and aspiring holder of the ranking of Candidate Master in his hobby of competitive chess. Adler only knew of his existence thanks to Belikov, whom he contacted before entry into Moscow. Despite the former's defection, Belikov still knew people on the inside and not only managed to arrange the necessary papers to get Adler into the country, but also gave the former clandestine officer the profile of the man he was to replace. 

“Why him of all people?”

“Because my friend, Balashov is a notorious recluse. Only a handful of people have seen his face and they will most definitely not be present at the tournament because he has beaten them all to get to where he currently is.”

“And you are certain that she will be there.”

“Most certainly. Her injuries post Solovestky were serious, so I reckon she is currently taking a much needed break from the field.”

Adler was rudely pulled away from his trip down memory lane upon hearing a member of staff at the door of his assigned dressing room calling out his alias name. 

“Mr Balashov? The tournament you are scheduled to participate in will begin in 90 minutes.” 

Adler nodded in acknowledgement and after requesting for a cup of coffee, proceeded to light another cigarette as soon as the staff member’s back was turned. He allowed his mind to drift back to her; he had always wondered how she had been doing after all those years. He remembered the surprise he felt upon realising that she had survived what was supposed to be a fatal shot - one which he justified to himself was done out of mercy. It had been sheer luck that she had not gone insane already after being exposed to the many rounds of MK-Ultra, and figured that it was only a matter of time before that would come to fruition. 

No doubt she will be livid upon seeing his face again, but for the sake of the free world he was willing to take the brunt of her anger. 

Adler chuckled mirthlessly to himself as the familiar smell of arabica wafted into the room. There was no longer a point in reminiscing about what could have been or the many questions he had repeatedly asked the imaginary figment of her in his head - for now he has the privilege of hearing the answers to all his unanswered questions straight from the horse's mouth.

.

.

.

.

.

When it was time, Adler was escorted out of the dressing room and backstage where he was made to listen to what seemed to be the announcer presenting the current tournament lineup of the day in Russian through a set of thick curtains. As soon as he heard his alias name being announced he stepped forward and into the limelight in front of the adoring crowd. Giving a half-hearted wave, Adler made his way to his designated seat, where the nameplate “L. Balashov” was placed facing the audience, along with a small table red coloured flag of the Soviet Union. In the centre of the ornate wooden table that was to serve as the mental battlefield for the next few hours lay a wooden chess set, pieces already put into place. 

Another round of applause now sounded and from the opposite end of the stage came his opponent - a Miss Yelizaveta Ivlev. Dressed in a simple dark blue dress and a pair of pearl-studded earrings, Ivlev walked across the stage with a small smile, waving her hand towards the audience cheerfully. She then turned to her side with the intention of greeting her opponent when she realised who it was. Adler noted that Ivlev was careful not to let any shock show on her face and the only indicator she gave as to knowing his true identity was the small drop to her beautiful smile, perhaps in part due to the sheer number of cameras around recording both players' first encounter with each other. 

Ivlev’s eyes flicked downwards to look at her opponent's name plate. “Mr Balashov. A pleasure meeting you.” She simply nodded her head, tone slightly harsher than normally how an introduction should entail. “The pleasure is all mine.” replied Adler, playing along. 

Once both players took to their respective seats, Ivlev picked up the black velvet pouch that sat inconspicuously towards the right side of their shared table right next to the Fischer clock. Shaking it slightly, she allowed its contents to drop into the palm of her hand: a single coin.

“Heads or tails?”

“Heads.” Adler now watched as the rounded object flipped in midair and landed once again into the safety of her palm. “Looks like you get to pick the colour, Mr Balashov.”

Adler’s eyes now flipped back to the chessboard with disinterest. “I don’t mind keeping it the way it is now.”

“Very good.” Ivlev now turned her head and made eye contact with a member of staff, nodding her head as she did so. This prompted the staff member to walk over to their table, giving it a quick once over before walking over to a giant board - in which a replica of the current chessboard configuration has been made - and writing down the names of both players in the blackboard above.

White –  L. Balashov

Black –  Y. Ivlev 

“Shall we begin?” Ivlev’s voice prompted Adler to once again focus on the woman currently sitting in front of him bearing a deceptively neutral look on her face. Adler did not respond, choosing to proffer out a hand to her instead which she accepted. 

For a third time, a round of applause thundered around the auditorium. But Adler wasn’t paying attention to any of it, for his eyes were currently on his actual prize - the sole reason why he was here in the first place. 

.

.

.

.

.

Truth to be told, sitting in this auditorium, Adler felt like a fish out of water - and it has been a while since he had experienced such a feeling. Though he played the game occasionally and knew the basic rules and moves, he knew that he was widely unprepared to be playing in such a professional environment. Still, he has come too far to fail now - he will achieve his objective by hook or by crook. 

Despite his limited understanding of the game, Adler knew that being able to take control of the middle was vital for eventual victory - the player that controls the centre has the best vantage attack point on the rest of their opponents pieces. With this in mind, Adler’s opening move was to move his pawn to d4. Ivlev responded by moving her knight to F6. Seeing her motive, he pushed another of his pawns to c4. Where is she going with this? Seemingly unfazed, Ivlev simply moved her pawn to e6. She really is that insistent on wanting my d4 pawn huh. Adler now brought forward his knight to c3 in hopes that it would deter his opponent from their current objective but instead what it did was embolden Ivlev to bring forward her bishop to b4, effectively not only threatening his knight (and in turn the king) but also preventing Adler from taking control of the centre by moving his one of his other pawns from e2 to e4.

It took a while for Adler to realise what Ivlev had just done: the Nimzo-Indian defence. In his rush to control the centre, not only had he given away his strategy early on, but placed Ivlev in a position to not only develop her pieces earlier but also play them aggressively should she so choose, possibly gaining potential control over the centre as the game progresses on. 

“Interesting that you didn’t open using the queen’s gambit.” Ivlev suddenly remarked, possibly in response to Adler’s surprise. “You are a habitual gambler, no? And very apt at giving away your pawns when needed. Frankly I’m quite surprised to see you here. I thought you were all brawn and no brains, just like the CIA lapdog you once formerly were.” Ivlev’s voice could only be fittingly described as a sheet of ice - calm on the surface, but arguably emotionally tumultuous underneath.

“Formerly?” Adler raised an eyebrow as he moved another one of his pawns to a3. As Ivlev focused on her next move Adler waved his hand up in the air, making a motion with his hand for a cigarette. “What makes you say that?”

“I might be physically out of the field, but it doesn’t mean I am out of the loop information wise.” Ivlev now tutted as she moved her bishop to take his pawn. “Also, you are not as subtle as you think you are.”

Their conversation came to a temporary halt with the arrival of said item - a cigar surprisingly - balancing precariously along its edges of an unused ashtray. “You mind?” asked Adler rhetorically as he placed the item between his lips, flicking the cap of the provided zippo open. Ivlev simply snorted back in amusement, shaking her head. Taking a much needed drag of nicotine, he now moved his own pawn to take Ivlev’s bishop. “It seems that word travels fast. Either that or you have been keeping tabs on me….Bell.” Adler saw the woman’s composure break slightly at the mention of that name, her body physically tensing up. 

“Don’t test your luck here, Russell Adler. We are being live streamed for the whole of the Soviet Union to see; I could unmask your identity right here and you will be arrested by the KGB within a few minutes.” Sensing the man’s scepticism, Bell elaborated. “The USSR has changed over these past 10 years - especially since our little stunt in the Lubyanka Building. Now with some of the Eastern Bloc Republics expressing disillusionment, the Motherland is ramping up efforts to keep the collectivist culture and ideology alive.”

Adler hummed in acquiescence. “So why didn’t you do that from the very beginning?” he now asked, to which Bell elected not to respond.

.

.

.

.

.

The game dragged on for longer than expected. The silence in the room changed from being comforting to suffocating, save the occasional cough from a spectator and the constant ticking of the Fischer clock near his right elbow. From the corner of his eye Adler watched some of the moderators and judges fidget in their seats as did some members of the audience, who by his standards were doing rather well in keeping their impatience at bay given the games seemingly lack of progress. 

Though not one to always practise what he preached, Adler could appreciate the art of patience - many years of being in intelligence taught him the value of it. Besides, it was good to exercise that brain of his once in a while - even if admittedly he would have preferred being out in the field shooting at something or someone instead. 

“Why did you shoot me at Solovetsky, Adler?” Bell asked abruptly, eyes never leaving the board or the pieces before them. Ah, the inevitable question that needs to be answered. Adler opened his mouth to respond, but realised that the words he had rehearsed in his head were now stuck at the back of his throat. Did he actually want to tell her the truth? Was there even a point in lying at this stage regarding all that happened 10 years ago? “And please don’t lie, that would be extremely low of you to do so. The least you owe me is the truth in that regard.”

“I don’t owe you jack shit, Bell. I did what I had to do for my country.” 

“The country that now turned its back on you when you were clearly framed?”

“So you believe that I’m innocent.” Adler saw an opportunity to deflect and gladly took it. Bell simply laughed in response. “Russell Adler, willing traitor of the CIA in exchange for blood money? Not your style, and certainly not your modus operandi.” Bell moved another of her pieces and like clockwork pressed down the button on her side, folding her hands on the table before her afterwards. “Humour me, Adler. You clearly want something from me - that’s why you are here playing a chess game for the past 3 hours, no?” 

Adler took a puff of what was now his 5th cigar, tapping it at its end as more black flakes dropped into the ever growing pile of grey in the middle of the ashtray before setting it down in favour of moving his piece. “It was supposed to be a mercy kill.” There, this was as close to the truth as he could master. When one lies on a regular basis as part of the job requirement, suddenly telling the truth becomes a tall order indeed.

“Who did you take me for, A chained up dog? One you can just simply get rid of as soon as the work gets done? Even the process of euthanasia has rules and guidelines and doing that with your reasoning fails the eligibility criteria!” Bell took a deep breath in, before her calm mask of composure returned once more. “Give me one good reason why I should work with you now after what you have done.”

“I don’t have to. Clearly your handlers see a mutually beneficial outcome by us working together: if not you would not be up here with me right now.” Adler smirked. “Your handlers are the two men seated at your 4 o'clock, are they not? I’m frankly surprised Perseus took you back after all the shit that went down, how we thwarted their plans and all.”

“I’m frankly quite surprised too. And grateful.” Adler could hear from her voice that the sentiments were genuine. “Враг моего врага - мой друг”.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Their previous campaign against Perseus in the 80s must have set them back quite a bit; to the point that they feel threatened by simply the presence of another prominent paramilitary group. But why Perseus and this particular group are antagonistic towards one another is something that Adler mentally stored in his head as needing to be further investigated upon. 

“Now that we are on the same page, I’m going to give you a code phrase that you must keep to yourself until the time comes.” Directing his attention back from the room to the chessboard before him, Adler now raised a hand to make his move. On the opposite side of the stage from where the pair were seated one of the staff members near the giant board, upon placing down a pair of binoculars, reached for the cutout of a white bishop and moved it diagonally upwards - replacing the position of the black rook before it. 

The audience visibly stirred.

“Bishop takes Rook.” he heard the younger woman murmur under her breath, her mouth set in a firm line as Adler moved a finger to press down on his side of the Fischer clock. Chewing her bottom lip, Bell now turned her attention towards her one remaining rook and king. 

“I should tell you Adler, survival is now the main priority of ours now. Her eyes now flicked upwards, gaze directed at Adler as she switched the positions of the aforementioned two pieces with ease.  “My job is to do anything to make sure it stays that way.”

“I understand.” was all Adler simply responded with ease. He could easily read between the lines, and he knew that a cornered animal is always a dangerous one - not that he was currently in the position to corner them any further anyway. The subconscious weight he had been carrying left him both physically and mentally. With his objective now fulfilled, he could finally fully focus on playing regularly just as he was sure Balashov would have if the latter were currently in his shoes.

.

.

.

.

.

After another tedious hour of nothing but back and forths, the match was eventually brought to a standstill and declared inconclusive by the panel of judges present. Despite the outcome of the match not being significant Adler, it was mostly out of professional pride that he refused to withdraw after getting what he needed - besides, It would have been the same thing the real Balashov would have done after all. 

As soon as the panel made the results of their judgements known, the media personnel, who were no doubt restless and itching to move after the tiresome four hour long match, seemingly leapt up from their seats like people possessed and approached both players with their endless barrage of questions. This was promptly ignored by both Bell and Adler as they made their way backstage unscathed thanks to the diligence of the security personnel present. 

“Stay here.” Adler broke the silence between them as he led Bell into his dressing room, closing the door behind him and he swept the room for cameras. Once he determined that they were not being watched, he opened his bag and from it revealed a nondescript looking file which he passed to Bell promptly. “Everything you and your handlers need to know about the organisation I am tracking is here. I’m presuming your handlers would know more about them though than I, given Perseus’s  implied history with them.”

The woman opened the folder and stared at the papers inside unimpressed. “There’s nothing much to go on.”

“I know. They are very good at infiltration; I believe they have multiple moles in the CIA. Elusive fuckers, they have already dug their claws in deep which is how they were able to produce fake irrefutable evidence of my so-called betrayal. Mason and Hudson are dead because of them.”

Bell’s face fell slightly. She wasn’t Hudson’s biggest fan, but she and Mason did share an amicable relationship. The latter was someone she actually enjoyed having conversations with, so it was sad to know of his fate. “Mason has a son right? What’s going to happen to him?”

Adler looked up at Bell grimly. “I don’t know. I can only hope he will be well cared for by the state, or whoever Mason had placed as the next of kin.” The duo continued to look at each other, either side seemingly hesitant for the conversation to continue or their time together to end for that manner. Perhaps they knew that they eventually needed to discuss what happened at Solovetsky and both sides are reluctant to bring that up; or maybe because this is the first time they have seen each other face to face in five years, and the feeling of seeing someone who had attempted to brainwash you (Bell) or was a ghost from your past (Adler) standing  in the same room as you in the flesh was simply…overwhelming.

Luckily for Adler, the awkward silence was eventually broken when Bell’s phone rang. Adler watched as the woman removed a flip phone from her pocket and answered it with much haste - a call from her handlers, no doubt.

“ I’m currently in contact with him, he’s passed me a file with the information we need. Are you sure - yes, Comrade, at once.” Bell placed the phone back into her pocket. “Change of plans. You are coming with me.” Adler raised an eyebrow in genuine surprise. “What do your handlers want with me?” 

Bell shrugged. “I will go get my purse from my dressing room; they said to meet us outside in five.” And with those words, Adler watched the once timid and non-verbal woman now exited the dressing room with her head held high. Feeling the man’s gaze on her, Bell turned around abruptly once more with a gaze which sent an involuntary shiver down the older man's spine. 

“C’mon Adler, don’t dawdle. After all, we've got a job to do.” 

[adamwatchesmovies]

Atlas (2024)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

I’d wager before the production companies and Netflix settled on Atlas, this movie was titled “Generic Sci-Fi Evil A.I. Movie”. This film feels like it would’ve been released 20 years ago when artificial intelligence (or what passes for it) was only a theoretical concept. It’s got nothing new or relevant to say or show, which makes it frustrating and often tedious.

In 2043, android Harlan (Simu Liu) hacks and reprograms all artificial intelligence on Earth and starts a war against humans that leaves 3 million dead before disappearing. Twenty-eight years later, Atlas Shepherd (Jennifer Lopez), the daughter of the woman who designed Harlan, learns the murderous robot is hiding on a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy. Certain the team sent to take Harlan out will underestimate its capabilities, she joins the mission. When their arrival goes bottom up, Atlas is forced to navigate the planet by entering a mech and piloting it with the help of its artificial intelligence, Smith (voiced by Gregory James Cohan).

Theoretically, Atlas asks whether artificial intelligence is good, bad, or a mix of both. While Harlan is evil, before it came around and screwed everything up, life was much easier for everyone. Even post-human-machine war, people still use artificial intelligence. An example is Smith and the other A.I.s that help the humans pilot their mech battle suits. They’re not the same brand of mechanical brains as Harlan, but they’re artificial nonetheless and the film makes it clear that if Atlas would just stop being so stubborn and synch herself with Smith (through a series of questions about her preferences, among other things), they would be practically unbeatable. The thing is, nothing about this movie addresses or even touches the big questions we’re asking about “A.I.”. People aren’t worried about losing their jobs, angered because their work was stolen to throw in “the pile”, Harlan didn’t go rogue because it was fed countless videos from incels, etc. It’s just an evil robot and Atlas doesn’t trust Smith because she has a grudge against all mechanical beings.

Atlas’s survival depends on opening up to Smith’s programming/algorithm. If the two aren’t synched, getting back home will be hard enough. It’ll be impossible with Harlan’s soldiers crawling all over the planet's surface. When we first meet Atlas, she’s beating a computer at chess for the Xth time in a row. This makes her the dumbest smart person in the entire movie. The whole time you see her arguing with Smith, you’re supposed to hope she can get over the mysterious trauma that caused her to turn against A.I. (as if the 3 million dead wasn’t enough) instead, you become impatient. You know she’s going to cave in eventually. Just hurry up and do it. When we learn why she distrusts A.I. so much, you’ll roll your eyes. Jennifer Lopez is fine in her role. She’s taking the material seriously and commits to it. There’s even something kind of cool in seeing her in a sci-fi action film (her first by my count) but she’s nearly identical to Will Smith’s character in I, Robot, a film that was cut from the same cloth as Atlas. I don't mean that in a good way.

As much as I criticize Lopez's character, she’s got the depth of Hamlet compared to Simu Liu’s Harlan, who is so basic as an evil robot I’m not sure if it was a brilliant or brain-dead move not giving him a Terminator-like metal skull face. Maybe it was a budgetary choice. Maybe without the ability to emote, he was even duller than he is now so someone chose to bring in the canadian actor to try to bring some life into this flic.

On the more positive side, director Brad Peyton makes the good choice to cast Abraham Popoola as Casca Decius, one of Harlan’s agents. The thing is, because Popoola plays an android, his character can be “killed” and reappear again later, allowing a “grudge” to develop between Casca and Atlas. The action scenes are also well done. This movie’s got money and you can see it on-screen with the disastrous arrival and Atlas & Smith’s battles with the robots on the planet surface (which showcases a variety of environments).

Atlas has the money and the star talent to be a great sci-fi action film. If it had looked at the current environment and tackled what many people would say is one of the biggest issues of our time, it could’ve said something and been topical without being preachy or forced. Instead, it’s bland and forgettable. (July 15, 2024)

[fraeuleintaka]

AAIC Mind Chess Trailer

This is the 59th post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 22 days left until release!

Today's topic: the Mind Chess Trailer for the Investigations Collection!

Previously, the official Ace Attorney account has released a trailer for Logic that I've talked about in a previous countdown post, now they also released one to showcase the Mind Chess gameplay and it's just as precious! Starring Kay this time instead of Gumshoe the trailer doesn't waste time with long explanations but gets almost immediately into the demonstration with, again, completely new and unique dialogue.

Apparently, Miles thinks Kay is acting suspicious and trying to hide something from him, specifically whatever happened while he was gone from his office. Kay denies this and says that noone came by while Miles was away. However, Miles passed a delivery person on his way in and Kay lets slip that no Samurai Dogs were delivered at all. When Miles questions her further on this (including the usual chess piece attack and destruction visual) Kay admits that she ordered some for Miles (who can't resist saying "Checkmate", that dork). They were meant as a surprise to celebrate the Investigations Collection announcement but Miles found her out. Miles apologizes for ruining the surprise and then proposes they should go see Gumshoe because he's sure the detective would want some as well.

As far as Mind Chess segments go, this is incredibly simple, of course, but otherwise it'd take way too long to fit into such a trailer. I do love how they did it though, you get a basic impression of what the gameplay is like and can imagine that it's going to get a lot more complicated and challenging in the actual game. Works perfectly well as a short little trailer. And that dialogue is so adorable!

I love the thought that Miles just goes around in his day-to-day life "playing" Mind Chess with people - friends, colleagues, whoever - when he discusses normal stuff with them or wants to get some information from them, even apart from solving cases. That's just the kind of thing Miles would totally do 😄 I take that as canon! And it makes perfect sense that a Mind Chess segment between Kay and Miles would be so short. She may be a Great Thief but Miles in particular can just see right through her (shown in a few scenes in the games). I think the only one that would possibly be shorter is one between Gumshoe and Miles. Kay ordering some Samurai Dogs for their little team in honour of the Investigations Collection announcement is a wonderful idea, she would definitely try to make that a surprise. What better way to celebrate it? And I love Miles taking care to include Gumshoe in the celebrations! Considering how often he's focused on other stuff and almost tends to neglect him it's especially wholesome when he thinks of him like this especially when it includes eating together. Just their entire team dynamic, I love it so much! They're my favourite protagonist team in the entire series so getting these additional little interactions for them is an exceptionally special treat! Hopefully we'll get even more videos like this, they're amazing!

[cinnaminsvga]

hi bestieeee

ive been following & have had notifs on for years. i actually dont even pay attention to kpop anymore AIDBBFHFDISO but ive always wanted to know sooo badly: how does LOOH end?

I know it's on indefinite hiatus but it doesn't seem like itll ever be completed, and the curiosity has always killed me 😭

"it doesn't seem like itll ever be completed" PLEASEEEEE i screamed but yeah youre 100% right LOL

its kinda hard to say how looh was supposed to end because i kinda write smaus on the go without indepth storylines lol (i.e. basically i bullshit on the go and fake it til i make it)

fair warning also that ive forgotten almost all of looh by this point... i used to have a notebook with my ideas for the smau but i lost it during my last move so this is what i can remember. apologies if there are inconsistencies but i genuinely dont remember LMAOOO its been (8)4 years...

i can give you an idea of how i was thinking of ending looh... under the cut for the sake of people who dont give af lol

i do know for a fact that i planned jimin and y/n to be endgame. it was going to be a long process of "will they or wont they" because of jimins underlying insecurities and y/n's inability to introspect would always be a hindrance in their relationship

i know i framed y/n as like a "really good person" but she really isnt perfect. i was gonna lay more groundwork to "expose" her for some of the fucked up shit she did in the past (i forgor 💀) and i was planning on exploring her internalized "holier than thou" complex

that was gonna be the second main conflict after the whole jimin vs tae conflict... kinda like a season 2 lol

BUT BACK TO SEASON 1... tae vs jimin lol so yeah tae releases that slander video on jimin and he runs away... y/n is supposed to have a big altercation with jin and make him release a statement proving jimin's innocence... jin ofc says no and y/n + jimin (+kook on the side) have to figure out a way to improve jimin's public image

my initial idea was that he tries to pivot towards becoming a professional dancer and joining hoseok's crew... i was planning on introducing a new character (likely seungkwan haha gotta keep with the seventeen member cameos) who was gonna be like a PR manager... they'd make a youtube channel and post content about their dancers. not just their dances, but interviews, challenges, etc. just to "prove" jimin is the good guy or something.

on the side, the seungcheol/jeonghan/yoongi drama... yeah seungcheol gets dumped by y/n like an additional two times LOL and for funsies, jeonghan confesses his feelings for seungcheol to y/n (shocker) and its all very messy mwahahah (yeah they both end up sad in the end my bad). as for yoongi... OH BOY

so yeah he got rejected by y/n which RUINS his ego and he doesnt give up for a while. then he starts crushing on seungcheol (who previously had a crush on him lol) and it gets very messy but overall he gets called out on his power tripping ways and ends up alone at the end teehee (he was gonna get an epilogue scene where he goes to the club all drunk and shit and a younger guy hits on him but calls him "sir" after seeing his face properly lol)

as for jin/hoseok/namjoon... uhhh yeah 2seok dont end up strictly together... theyre both chaebols with fucked up senses of humor (they both enjoy playing with people like chess pieces) and jin gets super pissed when he finds out hoseok has been playing with HIM on the side. they have a heated argument that causes the collapse of bang ent (hoseok has more money/influence than him and essentially grabs the company off jin's hands) and BOOM friends to lovers to enemies to ???

oh and namjoon is there. uhhhh yeah he becomes jin's little puppet for a while. essentially namjoon spies on y/n for jin and breaks her trust. this further strains kook's mental state because he feels super guilty about everything. i was planning on kook being pro-joon and breaking y/n's heart, but i wasnt sure. it all depends on how i was feeling tbh LMAOOO sometimes i like making jungkook cry (all the time)

as for tae... yeah he wins LOL he's essentially the main antagonist (its not jin... surprise) but he actually succeeds in becoming a very popular pornstar. even when hoseok grabs the company, he keeps tae on their roster and tae becomes very rich. he continues trying to slander jimin but he eventually stops when hoseok forces him to stop (out of guilt? bribery? revenge? who knows lol)

umm back to jimin and y/n... yeah they get together blah blah y/n confesses first, jimin gets hurt a lot, y/n is bad at relationships (shes got bad interpersonal skills), they have a large argument where y/n accidentally dehumanizes jimin (ouch)... so many things. all that matters is that they do end up together... maybe not so happily, but they'll get there. i think.

SO YEAH THAT WAS SO MESSY idk how coherent this was... again like i said, i kinda write smaus on the go so a lot of these things arent necessarily canon. i only consider things canon when stuff gets posted, but again like u said thats probs never happening LOL but in the meantime, if u have more questions about any of the points listed above, lemme know!! i'll try my best to explain further (sobs i am so rusty at writing u dont even know) anyway blessings be upon ye!!

[givemeanaccountalready]

Mahiru 14, Kotoko 8, Haruka 7

7. Favorite relationship with another character if they weren’t in Milgram, the way you imagine it would like them to be.

Hmmm… probably Haruka and Fuuta would be the most likely to happen and I do like their interactions. It’s been implied in the timeline conversations and in Fuuta’s interrogation questions, that the two of them hung out quite a bit before Kotoko’s attacks (as liberally as I can use that phrase since they are in prison with limited options). Fuuta says that he looks out for Haruka since Trial 1 Haruka is very timid and shy. And I think that if Haruka had been voted guilty during Trial 1, he would have latched onto Fuuta even harder. What with Fuuta’s deteriorating mental health, he probably wouldn’t be the best option for Haruka, but Fuuta does treat him like a peer on equal footing rather than a child and cannot keep his mouth shut, so he would push back on Haruka’s Es/you are my real mom shit. Fuuta probably has his own mommy issues, but he has a better idea on what relationships look like than Haruka so it’s the “I lost my glasses with the coke bottle lenses” leading the blind instead of the blind leading the blind.

But outside Milgram? I think the two would have had a good friendship. Maybe not the healthiest because of their own issues, but I think they could help each other become better people. With Haruka, Fuuta could learn to soften his edges, or at least learn to show more patience and grace to those who make mistakes (which seems to be why he went after Killcheroy? I’m not totally sure on what Killcheroy did to be gifted internet cancellation). With Fuuta, Haruka could learn to be more assertive and sure of himself. I would like for this blue blorbo to have a hobby that doesn’t involve sleeping or killing animals and children. Fuuta defines friendship as two or more people getting hype over the same things, so I can see him introducing Haruka to video games, Twitter, and soccer and seeing what sticks. Haruka needs some positive attention to grow confident, and again, Fuuta cannot shut his mouth, so he would give Haruka some much needed pushback. You know that meme where there’s two people and one goes, “Excuse me? He asked for no pickles?” I can see Fuuta going, “Excuse me? Haruka. What did you ask for?” “It’s okay, I’ll eat around them.” “No, what did you ask for?” *cue more insistence that he’s fine until Haruka finally goes, “… no pickles please.”

Honestly, I’m fine with Haruka meeting any of the other prisoners IRL except for Muu (who feeds into his bullshit) and Kotoko (who will kill him).

8. What is your theory for their crime? If there’s a general consensus within the fandom, do you have any other, not-so-wildly-accepted thoughts on it?

Kotoko’s murder. Based on “Harrow” I think that her killing the serial killer was her first kill, but her earlier acts like bribing the journalist for info and beating up the thief were all escalating behaviors leading up to it. She worries me the most because she’s the one I am most convinced that would kill again if released back into the general population. Haruka is my blorbo but he is also a murderous, little bitch who deserves jail time. But he’s also dumb and will most likely caught and arrested quickly because he boasted to his mother about his kills like a cat bringing dead mice and voles to its owner’s doorstep. Kotoko is clever, and I can see her outfoxing the cops like she’s a chess prodigy playing checkers. Despite John’s bluster about being an uncontrollable monster, I do think that he knew his victims and viewed them as threats to Bokuto’s life and/or current position. Kotoko’s methodical nature and dedication to her role as a tool of violence inflicting ‘righteous’ judgment worries me more than that. I’m all for addressing the flaws of the justice system, especially when it is used to let dangerous people off, but I don’t believe the death penalty should be the decision of one person (even if they were held accountable to the law and a code of ethics), if that makes sense. I can understand and sympathize with her motives, but I don’t agree with her actions and I have enough faith in her to have wracked up quite the body count by the time she is arrested by police. Home girl gets shit done, and has enough distance from her (criminal) victims to elude the police longer than someone who knew them.

I am curious as to how she got into this. I definitely think that the serial killer she killed worked the area where she lived, so I can see her growing frustrated with police for not stopping him and taking matters into her own hands. Kotoko emphasizes in her first trial interrogation questions that she is not a victim. She is someone who sympathized with their plight and wishes to protect them. It’s emphasized enough that I think, “Keep telling yourself that.” The theory that the serial killer abducted and then killed her sister may have some weight because Kotoko wouldn’t be the victim, it would be her younger sister. Semantics. I have thoughts on the glitchy trailer lines, and I think her line is her talking to someone who disapproves of her plan and her snapping back at them to shut it because they’re too weak to do it.

If you’re going to pick your first human kill, a serial killer is always a good pick.

14. Any headcanons on their appearance?

Mahiru is definitely one of the most fashionable Milgram prisoners. Yuno and her battle it out for the number one spot lol. Mikoto trails close behind them. She almost certainly is someone who has been reading fashion magazines since the fourth grade and knows how to best coordinate outfits and accessories in accordance to the weather, preferred colored palette, and the formality of the occasion. The only reason I wouldn’t want to go clothes shopping with her is because it would take too long!

Based on her comments about always being the one confessing versus being confessed to, I’d reckon that she doesn’t have much confidence in her own looks, which is a shame because she is pretty. Naive she may be, but, I think she has good insides to match her outside.

She seems like someone who has an in-depth skin routine. If the fashion magazines comment doesn’t count as a headcanon, I would say she definitely has a whole skin care routine that she does and coming to Milgram wrecked it since she doesn’t have access to her things. She’s probably a little miffed about it, but she’s got bigger problems so it is a back burner issue.

[rathologic]

sorry if you've discussed this in detail b4 but I'm curious how you feel about marble nest as a game/text especially compared to P2...

I don't have a ton of thoughts on it really! I think it's frustrating that the "all a dream" nature of The Marble Nest makes it hard to connect into any discussion of how it reflects on "real" p2 - its being subjective to Dankovsky is kind of an excuse to retcon any of the game. its 2019 (bundled) release was a huge downgrade; beyond cutting out a lot of content including the House of Death quest, rats, and the "break marat's neck with your bare hands" cutscene, and making the lighting/shaders homogeneous with release p2's shaders, its addition of the stamina bar turns walking around from a necessity of motion where the player didn't need to worry about their speed into a pointless stamina management minigame that constantly diverts the player's attention. just visually and ludologically 1.5 stars worse and yet IPL asks you to pay for that version & also the 2016 one isn't downloadable anymore. 👎

I enjoy the focus on townsfolk/unnamed NPCs over the People list (and am excited to see this continue in the upcoming route), especially the portrayal of the major characters as chess pieces implying that they're seen in a strategic-manipulation kind of way, and how the same treatment extends to the NPCs you interact with in order to get the true ending. in short, the way that having to select specific actions and get specific endings for plot threads overrules the Bachelor's personal will and his care for people in the pursuit of "winning" / the truth, in the same way that his tooltip thoughts about the adherents are secondary to their roles and usage in the game he's been playing... very characteristic of him :-)

tmn is 95% of all characterization we have for p2 Georgiy so as a note, I love Georgiy's writing in the marble nest, he's awful but he's one of the only p2 characters who has a defined philosophy and will actually explain it to the player and attempt to achieve his own goals at your expense. it's literally not georgiy's fault that haruspex route copied his deal for its OWN antagonist. similarly, Aspity's great in it it's nice that she got to have a character and express her view of death at some point before being flattened into a mother figure for the haruspex. eva comes pre-fridged in this one so we don't get to see the hole generated by her absence, only how sad the bachelor feels walking past her house, which could've been at least mentioned in the cathedral part but my theory is the writers just didn't know what they wanted to do with her yet. other notes:

the graveman is one of the best and coolest game design features they could've added & fixes tmn's most annoying aspect in a way that adheres to the bachelor's constant themes about time

the meta aspect of being a video game played by the player is handled much more cleanly IMO by the time loop than by 2's theater play framing

even with unlimited sprint, walking is The weak point - while it's mitigated a little by having so much wandering NPC dialogue and frequent event changes, it's a lot of time and attention spent without even the reward of (having a use for) trash pickups, and I think the district's sound design could've been improved to add variety. boats fix this in the haruspex route

the graphics and mechanics don't take precedence over the narrative content / dialogue so it feels way more solid and put-together. including how every piece ultimately fits together... the use of limited characters and physical space works to ensure that each conversation brings in something unique :-)

AND the kids have a high measure of control over the game situation & ability to speak for themselves, as it were. & it even connects to and ultimately explains a piece of lore (the nuts) and introduces characters (marat and dora) beyond the bounds of what 1 had established, without breaking anything fundamental

in general I think it was excellent as a demo, pretty good as a game in the pathologic franchise, and definitely a worthy use of (checks notes) 8.15 gigabytes of hard drive capacity. and the important thing is that it's fun