#anyway hi :) i love cyberspace levels. this one is pretty good!

[couch-house]

i love putting animals in Extra danger in 4e

[skaruresonic]

Wow, it's amazing how much I agree with a lot of these. 1.) I also think Jason Griffith is highly overrated, as both Sonic and Shadow. His Shadow isn't... great, to say the least.

2.) omg I don't understand how Vandalize made it into Frontiers and I hate it, get me off this ride rofl. Everyone waxes poetic about the "fuck the pain away" part, which got edited (but they all went nuts over it anyway, so how effective could the censorship have been in the first place?) but not the "smashing bottles on the sidewalk" part, which DID make the cut. Because I know when I think Sonic the Hedgehog, infamously an environmentalist franchise, I definitely think "alcohol-fueled littering,"

3.) Yep. Everyone's like, "Why are you being so hard on Frontiers when Cyberspace levels exist?" with the unspoken implication being that Sega's throwing me a bone even if I wouldn't like traversing the overworld (which is not a negligible part of the game). And it's like no, I think almost all of Frontiers sucks, for one thing, and for another, if the only real Sonic-feeling stages are relegated to side stages that aren't even real, what does that tell you? 4.) Agreed. I like my hard rock, but Frontiers' tracks just leave me feeling cold,

5.) THANK YOU, FINALLY SOMEBODY SAID IT. I feel like I'm going insane from all the praise people are giving this mid-ass game lmao. 6.) Agreed. Forces is definitely not the trainwreck '06 was. People just had their expectations way too high and then turned the game into an easy scapegoat to vent their frustrations on. It's not great, but not irredeemable trash, either.

7.) Never finished Colors but I do appreciate its art direction. I remember being very pleased the first time I played it. 8.) Sorta agree? I do think Pontaff could be rather off-base with their characterization and their jokes could be hit-or-miss on occasion, but at the same time, they more or less retained Sonic and Eggman's core characterization. When taking the bigger picture into account, Sega could have honestly done worse.

9.) Never played them. :o

10.) Hard agree lmao. ShTH is very enjoyable even in spite of its tryhard jank (or maybe because of it...?) and I love how "lived-in" the universe and characterization feel. Don't @ me. I know this game is awful. That's why I love it. The heart wants what it wants lol

11.) For me, whether the win goes to Secret Rings or Black Knight depends on whether you're talking about story or gameplay, because SatSR's gameplay is horrible while SatBK's is serviceable-to-fairly-enjoyable. However, I think SatSR has a better-constructed narrative than SatBK's, if not one of the strongest in the series.

12.) Kinda agree, kinda not. Werehog levels could really drag on and on, especially later on in the game... Although it was fun figuring out how best to employ Sonic's combat skills in Eggmanland. Each fight felt like a new puzzle to be solved.

13.) Overall I'd say SA2 has the tightest controls of any Sonic game, even after accounting for mishaps like mapping the Light Speed Dash and Bounce to the same button. Heroes has a pretty good control scheme, though. (I honestly don't understand the complaints that it's janky and horrible; what are you guys trying to do?)

come, let us be contrarians together :P

I actually have a ton of Sonic hot takes and rare opinions outside of Eggman related stuff btw

a few examples-

Keep reading

[marinaiguess]

SONIC FRONTIERS TRAILER ANALYSIS + SPOILERS (I mean, what did you expect)

this trailer was all I was hoping for. I had high expectations for the next mainline sonic game and until now, sonic frontiers hasn't disappointed me. so, here's why I'm so hyped

the animations and the graphics look absolutely gorgeous, my boy finally has expressions!! (I know it's cgi but still)

all the different starfall islands + the cyberspace levels look very interesting and fun and beautiful

sage's: "submit" and sonic's: "fuck u bitch, I'm going anyway" yeah I loved that (he actually doesn't say anything but his face says it)

he goes so fast lol, this goes out to the ones who would complain about Sonic's lack of speed in this game

all the new gimmicks look fun, the bouncing off the walls, the new fighting techniques

oh don't get me started on these robots, they are unique and they look pretty challenging so I'm excited about that

the suspense is real, we see a locked up Amy, I wonder how sonic will save her and tails and knuckles (apparently they all lost their memories)

THE GODDAMN VOICE ACTING. honestly, I never found Roger's voice fitting for sonic. I always have respected his work however, don't get me wrong. but the delivery of that single line... PERFECT. I hope it's the same for the rest of the game, I've been dying for some good voice acting/good voice direction and good writing

speaking of good writing, as soon as I learned Ian Flynn is the writer for the frontiers' story, I was relieved and until now his work on the game has been proven to be damn good

idk what sage's powers are (atp I'm just assuming her name is sage) but wtf did she do to sonic, his arm went red and one could say his arm went null space (that red just reminds me of the phantom ruby and infinite's power, okay?)

wait, did his arm glitch? did sage glitch? bcuz I know for a fact that the cyberspace levels have some glitchy effects here and there. (sage is the glitch confirmed and if you know, you know)

oh I can see the pain in Sonic's face! and his anger! he has emotions! (lol)

she summoned a giant anthropomorphic robot vulture, almost 19 times bigger than sonic (maths), that's great :')

also, 60€? it seems fair but I ain't buying it for a little while it seems oops

I wasn't expecting that cover but I'm not complaining, it's pretty cool

the soundtrack? gorgeous. (judging by what we've heard) but it's a sonic game, ofc it will have a banger ost

also, it's a lot different than that Japanese trailer we saw a few days ago (which looked so pretty), I'm just saying

go visit the official website for sonic frontiers, there are some nice screenshots y'all should check out :)

and with that being said, I hope I can get this game sooner or later, I'm so hyped.

[jawnjendes]

the fog will clear up | shawn mendes

chapter 13/?, university au, shawn x goth oc

AN: sry its short and definitely a filler im sry its boring but it helps build up stuff thatll happen next ok ok im sry

*let me know if u wanna be added/removed from the taglist

masterlist | playlist

Annalise woke with a start. She was wide awake immediately. There was no room for sleepily rolling around the sheets, her eyes weren't heavy like always. She didn't know what dying and coming back to life felt like, but she was pretty sure it felt something like that. She had a weird urge to go for a jog.

Staring at the ceiling, Annalise reached towards the nightstand next to her, intending to grab her phone. Her hand touched the bottle, and she picked it up anyway, reading the prescription label.

Annalise Flores SERTRALINE 50MG TABLET Brand name: Zoloft

"You don't waste anytime, huh?" she murmured before setting it back down. Then, she grabbed her phone and checked the time.

8:47am. A new fucking record. Annalise rolled out of bed, unable to stay still.

In the 2 hours she had to kill before work, she tidied up the dorm, ate a decent breakfast, took a shower, and got started on the course work she had to make up. The energy levels were through the roof, she had never been so on edge and productive at the same time. Why wasn't she put on sertraline sooner? Sure, she felt hyperaware and borderline anxious, but that was apart of the process of getting on a new antidepressant. She was getting things done this way. Sure, she jumped when the lock on the door jiggled, but she was up and running anyway!

If she wasn't, she wouldn't have seen Stella entering the dorm. She was surprised to see Annalise on the couch, looking like a deer in headlights.

"Oh… I thought you were asleep. I'll, uh, I'll come back."

"No, wait!" Annalise sounded a little too frantic, but it did stop Stella from leaving. "Uh, come sit down! Please!"

Stella narrowed her eyes slightly as she went to the couch. At least she was willing to listen.

"I, uh, I'm sorry," Annalise began, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm sorry for what I said. A stupid guy isn't the only good in my life. I have you. You matter to me, and I'm sorry for making you feel like you don't." She really couldn't stop herself from rambling. "I miss you. I miss seeing you here between classes, and I miss your optimism because a bitch could use some of that. And, and I'm sorry for the negativity I've brought in here. I'm working on it now, I swear. Just… come back. Come home… because bro, you're my wife, dude."

It could have been funny, but there was nothing funny about the way she said it. Her eyes were wide and pleading, and she was rubbing her hands together. Stella merely blinked her hazel eyes, nearly overwhelmed by that string of words.

"Look at you, expressing your emotions," she said after a while. "I can see why you hold it back."

Annalise nodded rapidly. "It's my first day on a new medication. Got me all sorts of hyped up, but I'll mellow out in a couple of weeks. And I'm taking therapy seriously again!"

Stella was surprised. "Oh, I see. Well… I've missed you too. Bro…"

"Bro?"

"I'll come home too. Camila's bed is too small for the two of us."

"Bro…"

"I know. I have to update you on all that."

"Br-"

"Okay!" Stella broke out a smile and stood up. "Dame un abrazo, puta."

That was much easier than Annalise had anticipated. She stood up and hugged her best friend, relieved. Stella wasn't one to hold a grudge, nor was she as stubborn as her roommate. It was another person to cross off the list.

~

Shawn had social media mainly to get his music out there. Yes, he interacted with his friends on Snapchat, and some fans on Twitter. Most of the time, Shawn just tweeted when he had new music coming out. He didn't check any of his social media very often, not even to stalk Ann's accounts because she was rarely on her's. He didn't even have his notifications on, purely to keep himself from the possibility of getting too attached to the opinions of random strangers online.

That was why he woke up that morning to a number of texts from Camila.

"SHAAWWNWNN"

"SHAWN IM LKTERSLLY BALD RN"

"CHEKC UR TWITTER RIGHT NOW!!!!!!"

"YOIR FOLLOWERS!!! AAHSKSKSK"

"SKSKSK SHAWNMM IM SCRAMING"

So to Twitter he went. Shawn rubbed sleep out of his eye as he went to his profile. He had around 10k to begin with, that he built up on his own over the last couple of years. He nearly dropped his phone on his face as he read the new number.

50.2k

"What… the fuck?" he breathed out as he sat up in his bed. He scrolled through the list, making sure this wasn't a series of spam bots.

His mentions were just as wild, and it explained the sudden blow up.

@hollaestor: @shawnmendes hiii bella told me to follow you

@samxriv: @shawnmendes i am free to hang out on tuesday to hang out when i am free

@gisellenjh: @shawnmendes bella sent me here and im glad she did! loving your music!

And there were plenty more like that. There were so many tweets, Shawn couldn't even get through all of them. It was making his head spin. There was only one Bella he knew about too… He just couldn't spell her last name. Thankfully, her handle was just @bellasanti, and it was the first one to pop up when he typed it in the search bar.

Right under Bella Santiago's name and the blue checkmark were the two little words: Follows you. Shawn refreshed the page ten times before it sank in. This YouTuber, who has over 2 million followers, somehow found Shawn's music… and she liked it. She liked it enough to tweet about it… 3 days ago.

@bellasanti: underrated spotify artists: @shawnmendes. give him a listen. send him some love. truly talented guy💖

Shawn had only overheard Bella's videos when Ann was watching them in the other room. He never really watched any of her content. But he wanted to pass out at the fact that she took the time to listen to his music and tweet about him. He wanted to jump on the bed. He wanted to call-

He texted Camila back. "Wtf why did no one tell me sooner?? This is so crazy!!!!!"

"We thought you knew and you were keeping it from us!! LMAO congrats rockstar!"

He couldn't believe it. His follower count was rising. He was getting emails from Spotify saying his songs were being added to many different playlists.

@shawnmendes: @bellasanti wow thank you so much! Love you bella❤

He deleted the last bit before tweeting it. Holy shit. Shawn lied back down on the mattress, completely breathless.

How does someone like Bella Santiago find Shawn out in cyberspace? What Spotify rabbit hole did she go down that led her to him? How many of his songs did she listen to? How many songs did she save to her library? How many of those playlist emails were from her? Shawn had so many questions.

~

There were two things Annalise noticed when she was out on the courtyard after Biology. The first thing was a table on the side of the walkway, with a handmade banner hanging off the front. It read in big letters: Shawn Mendes: Live at The Cameron House. Brian, Alessia. and Camila were all sat on the same side at this table, talking to a student who was interested in the little display.

"The lounge called back," Annalise muttered to herself.

The other thing Annalise noticed was Patrick sitting under a tree nearby, reading a book. She went to him first.

The last time she had spoken to Patrick was when they cut up flowers together. He was never one to explicitly state when something has upset him, and he has seen Annalise in a depressive episode before. Annalise knew him well. Patrick kept his distance because he didn't like the negativity around her, and he couldn't afford any more of it himself.

"Hey," she greeted.

His blue eyes tore away from his book to meet her gaze. "'Sup?"

"Trying to be less fucked in the head," she told him.

Patrick nodded in approval. "Cool."

That was all that was needed for the two of them. Content, Annalise turned and went for the table. A small line had formed when she wasn't looking, so she waited behind the last person. However, with three people running the thing, Annalise got to the front fairly quick.

"Oh, she actually showed up," Brian chimed, amused.

"Meaning?" Annalise asked.

"Thought you were too pissed at Shawn to care about his show, that's all."

She swallowed the pit of annoyance, discovering that even more people knew about that. Brian is his friend, though, of course he'd know.

"Selling tickets or something?" Annalise turned her attention to the two girls.

"Yeah! Ten dollars a piece!" Alessia explained.

"Cool, I'll take one."

Just as she opened the flap on her book bag, Camila spoke up.

"Wait. I'm pretty sure Shawn said he wanted to buy you your ticket himself."

Annalise rolled her eyes. "Well, he's not here and I can do things for myself." She pulled out her wallet and paid her own goddamn ticket.

Camila breathed out a laugh. "Are you ever gonna let him do anything nice for you?"

None of your fucking business.

A new thought occurred to Annalise. "Why are tickets being sold for this show? Aren't his gigs usually free?"

"There's more production going into this one," Brian told her. "The lounge gave him the option to make it a ticketed event, and we need to make back what we already put into it. So now, it won't be a performance, it'll be Shawn's performance."

Shawn already knew how to make an audience his bitch, but…

"Alright then." Annalise shrugged and then accepted her ticket and receipt from Alessia.

The ticket alone was already quite extravagant. There were little red roses designed around the edges. This boy really loved his fucking flowers.

"I'm guessing rose petals will fall from the ceiling or something?" she guessed with a chuckle.

"I was given strict orders to not spoil anything," Brian told her, folding his arms.

The two had a mini staredown until Annalise shrugged again. "Whatever."

Then, Camila piped up again, suddenly excited. "Ooh, Ann did you hear? Bella Santiago followed Shawn on Twitter!"

"She what?" Annalise stupidly replied.

Camila practically squealed. "She gave him a shoutout too! He's blowing up on Spotify! Isn't that awesome?"

Annalise wanted to say something, but her brain wasn't quite caught up yet. So she just walked away.

The other three students watched her leave. Needless to say, they were confused.

"Is she ever gonna be happy for him?" Alessia wondered.

"I think she was excited?" Camila said tilting her head.

"I can't believe Shawn is going through all this trouble for that," Brian said with a scoff.

"I can still hear you!" Annalise called over her shoulder as she kept walking.

All three of them went red in the face, embarrassed. Brian would have made a comment about her being a vampire with supersonic hearing, but he didn't want to be called out again.

_______

taglist: @normalcyisoverrated-beyou  @ilsolee @mendesromano @1-800-khalid-mendussy @kitykatnumber @strangerliaa @iloveshawnieboi @goldenmndes @shawnvvmendes @shawnsunflower @shawmndes @ruinhoney @someoneunimportantxx @calyumthomas @yourdeflightfullyleft @havethetimeeofyourlifee @wronglanemendes @chillingbythesea @softmendesss @mutuallynotmutual

[imma-lil-teapot]

Each TMNT Incarnation and Where They Stand With Me :)

(Nervous chuckle) ... Yeah no, I suck at titles. Moving on! 

Y’all can go ahead and skip this part if you’re not interested in senseless rambling and just wanna get to the TMNT fun~ ;) 

Soooooo, I’ve recently updated my Tumblr page to a blog dedicated to all my fandoms (musing, headcanons, writing, gifs, pics, the works, basically anything and everything in relation to them) since I wasn’t really ever doing anything with it other than using it to share pics mostly. But ever since I stumbled back into the TMNT fandom, I’ve been searching Tumblr for fan content and OMGOSH, did I hit the jackpot! Headcanons, fanfics, Turtle x reader stories, so much juicy stuff! Am hooked! Dunno why I never tried searching for similar stuff in the past for my other fandoms! I guess I just... didn’t realize there was so much content here. :O But anyway, I always wanted a place to share ideas and thoughts regarding my fandoms outside of sites like Deviantart and Fanfiction.net, and heck, it’s been here under my nose all this time... Y’all gonna have to forgive me; I’m an old fart. ;P (Insert image of Slowpoke for reference) So without further ado... 

LET’S GET THIS PIZZA PARTY STARTED! 

Imma start this blog off really simple and, as the title states, just give you all a small-ish idea of where each TMNT universe stands (or ranks?) with me, personally... Note the ‘personally’ part so please don’t feel offended if I don’t share the same opinion as you on a particular verse. ^^; I have my own tastes and will respect the next person’s when it comes to them. ;) Also, please beware the typos (which there most definitely will be)...

IN RELEASE DATE ORDER: (Hopefully they’re right)

MIRAGE COMICS~

Imma just say it: I haven’t read any of them yet. :/ There probably are sites out there that would allow you to view them online for free, but in truth, I’ve been a little slack about trying to find any... That may however change someday as I always tell myself I should really seek out the source material so it’s only a matter of time. What I do know, however, is that they’re of course a lot darker than most incarnations (which I don’t have a problem with personally) and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious as to exactly how much darker. X’D The closest I’ve come to ‘knowing’ these Turts comes from watching the Turtles Forever movie and they weren’t in it for a long time so it’s very difficult to say what they actually mean to me, so we’ll just put these guys down in the ‘not sure’ column for now. ;)

1987 CARTOON~

HAHA~ I think any fan of the franchise as a whole knows this little gem! The series that really hit it off and spawned over a 190 eps! Quite an impressive feat for a Saturday morning cartoon! It made its way to TVs the year before I was born, but it would take another few before it would reach our tubes (we’re always a few years behind the rest of the world :/ ) so I was around four when I was first introduced to it and needless to say, I loved it back then! Michelangelo was initially my fav due to him being my older brothers’ fav and the one they mainly spoke of, but it didn’t take long before my favering gravitated towards Leonardo (even at such a young age) and has been that way ever since. ;) But where exactly does the series stand with me as an adult nowadays with so many other verses we’ve been exposed to? I do hold a lot of nostalgia (as many older do) for it, and I mean, come on, that theme song is ageless, and I even started watching a lot of vids involving the original VAs and the shenanigans they get up to and seriously, it’s so heartwarming and fun to see them! But I have to be honest...

It’s not my fav verse, honestly. I will always adore them, of course, because of the nostalgia and the goofiness... But it’s the latter that’s mostly the reason for it being placed a bit lower on the favoritism ladder. While its a fun watch if you want something lighthearted, I still prefer the idea of the darker undertones that comes with being associated with ninjas. It’s just a preference. Plus, the Turtles designs are big one for me, and I’m sorry to say, but I keep seeing these fellas as more frog-like than turtle, despite the shells. X’D So yeah, no big reasoning for it, and even if someone were to ask me if I like these guys, I’ll still say yes, just that they’re not my ultimate fav is all. ;)

Also, we won’t talk about the Japanese Anime Ninja Turtles: Superman Legend or something to that extent... We’ll just let that one be gently swept under the carpet. ;) Only ever saw the trailer for it and that’s all I’ll ever need to see in my lifetime.

1990 MOVIES TRILOGY~

Now funny enough, I really don’t remember ever seeing these movies as a kid, though it’s possible I did and just maybe blocked the memory, but I highly doubt it... So yeah, I saw these movies as an adult already. The first is praised by most fans, and honestly, I can see why: it’s pretty good! :D The acting is very decent and the humour’s brilliant! The two sequels... not so much but still okay. ;) Where they sit with me... Not too far on the ladder again I’m afraid. :/ While I do really enjoy and appreciate the acting and that humour (”I made a funny.” X’D) it mostly comes down to the Turtles designs again... I really can’t see past them being actors in costumes rather than characters. :’( Granted, good actors. ;) And heck, Jim Henson did a phenomenal job! They’re just not really the movies for me is all, even if I do go back and watch ‘em every now and then. X’D I do however melt every time at the scene in the first movie where Raph wakes up in the bath and Leo’s there and apologizing and all... Makes me all gooey inside! X’D The feels are real! Speaking of Leo, though, he sounds even younger than Mikey. Small nitpick, that, but... why? X’D

But yeah, let’s just say, they’re good movies, just, not my favs.

Also, Coming Out Of Their Shells tour... Yeah, I’m gonna just... pretend that doesn’t exist for a minute. 

THE NEXT MUTATION~

Nope.

Saw one ep as a kid and am not interested in seeing anymore.

Although, VA Matt Hill voices Raph. That’s one good thing.

2003/2k3~

Well it wasn’t already apparent by my avatar... Ladies and gents, I present to you... My fav TMNT verse to date! Oh my goodness, where do I even begin with this delicious series?! :D Firstly, animation: so appealing, comic book-y style! Their designs: without sounding pervy, veeeeeeeery appealing (hehehehehe), no seriously, they sometimes have a bitta bulk to them but it honestly works, and dem muscles, and the cool eyes! The VAs: spot on! Perfect! Wouldn’t have ‘em any other way! Make me melt, Mr. Michael Sinterniklaas~ (cough) Their personalities: Omgosh, just yes! So perfect! They’re easily differentiated and yet still work together so well. Leo’s mature and level-headed (well, most of the time ;P ) yet still gets tested a lot and even has a fun side that’s shown on occasion. Raph’s grouchy and violent but is shown on more than one occasion that’s he’s total softie and really does care. Don’s just a sweetheart and freakishly smart and even has slips ups from time to time. Mikey... omgosh, best Mikey ever! So much fun! So hilarious! And just a bundle of energy, but not at all an idiot like he’s sometimes portrayed in other verses. He’s witty, mischievous and just so adorable! Heck, even Master Splinter, April, Casey, the lot of them are just awesome in this series! And wow, they really do lean more towards the source material (or so I’m told) when it comes to the plots! It’s darker than the other previous verses yet still remaining kid-friendly (although I question it at times XD) and omgosh, it’s just everything I want in a TMNT universe! Granted, it’s not perfect perfect, but it nailed it for me. ;) It really showed so lovely character developments, alsortsa different genres, the humour will leave you in stitches, the Turts are all just so lovable, I can’t get enough of them! This series was really my high point and I’ve yet to find one that tops it~

Btw, this even includes Fast Forward and Back to the Sewer (BTTS). The former being my least fav of the series simply due to the setting and again, it’s just preference. I even liked BTTS, even though I’m not overly fond of a cyberspace setting, but I found myself really liking the art style and the general plot. :D 

2007/2k7~

As with the last, if you’ve picked up on the page’s header/banner, you’d have probably guessed that the 2007 movie is also a good candidate for one my favs... And you’d be correct. ;) I’m actually very fond of this movie, and it’s largely due to the Turtles designs. I love how they were done! They just look so cool! <3 Subtle differences tell the viewer who’s who even if they didn’t have a mask or weapons. The VAs were also pretty good~ Now, the story isn’t the greatest, I’ll admit. Personally I thought it was okay, but know many fans think otherwise. But I did like the confrontation between Leo and Raph! It got real there, peeps! :O Now here’s also where it falls a little on its face for me: I didn’t really like how they handled Leo’s personality (if you haven’t already picked up on it, yes, I’m a Leo fangirl and I’m picky when it comes to how they handle his personality) but it’s a nitpick again, yet, I still feel compelled to state my opinion: the whole “I’m better than you.” comment really took me back and made me think they pushed it. I honestly like to believe he’d never actually say something like that... at least, 2003!Leo wouldn’t. X’D But that’s just my problem: I’m comparing a different verse’s Leo to this one and whether I like it or not, he said it. :/ Oh well, it still made for some fun action scenes and I’ll still always like the movie.

Bit of a goof on my side: I honestly thought that this movie was made to tie in with the 2003!verse due to the timeline in which it was produced, but turns out, it’s actually closer to the 1990′s timeline although still considered it’s own verse.

2012/2k12~

Oooh boy, lemme prepare for the backlash real quick... I’m uhhhh... not a fan of these boys. :/ I don’t mind them, but I’m honestly never gonna watch the series again. It’s hard to top your fav when you’ve kinda already hit your high point, ya know. Now before you light your torches and sharpen your pitchforks, hear me out: I will never bash the series, or make fun of anyone who likes it! Or anything to that extent! It’s just wasn’t for me, plain and simple, and it’s got nothing to do with it being ‘new’ or I’m just an old fart stuck in my ways. Heck, If you’re still reading, you would’ve found out that even nostalgia couldn’t beat the series that grasped me in my teens! So no, it has nothing to do with age. But if you do need a reason: I wasn’t overly fond of how they handle the characters. For one, they look and act a bit too young, Mikey is just... wow, something else. Donnie’s... sheesh, pretty snappy and antagonising. Raph’s well... okay, he’s meant to be angry half the time, and they did give him some more layers with Spike and Mona Lisa and whatnot, but he still kinda never learns his lesson if I can say that? He’ll learn that he shouldn’t cause issues with others, yet next episode he’s back at it again. :/ Leo’s... wow, just not like other Leos. X’D Best way I can describe him is... young? Very childlike. And even when he was progressing to becoming this better leader, I honestly couldn’t even see the change. My mind was just stuck on this “He’s a babeh.” notion. Also, I’m not even gonna start on this April and Casey. Just. No. Most of the characters were annoying and I just kept seeing recycled plot after plot. What I did like was the romance that blossomed between Raph and Mona (albeit far too rushed) and even Donnie liking April was adorable (but seriously Donnie, you can do so much better), and there were some really heartfelt moments, like Splinter telling Leo to leo his brothers with his heart and not his head, and the scenes when they were Tots will always make me squeal... But yeah... without leaving any spoilers.... about Splinter... just... thanks, Nickelodeon. Y’all know what I mean. Not once... But twice.... Really? So yeah, look, I realized some of those reasons might even be petty, but again, it’s just not the series for me, but anyone who’s a fan... You keep being a fan! ;) I’m glad you can enjoy something I can’t. ;)

2014/2k14/2016/2k16 AKA BAYVERSE~

HAHA~ Every fan’s favorite... If only. X’D Jokes aside, despite many fans claiming the Bay movies ruined the franchise, these two films gathered a small following... And I’m apart of it. :) Funny enough, I honestly didn’t know what to think of them when the movie first came out. I think I was just taken aback by the sheer amount of detail and all that went into their designs. I didn’t not like them, but again, their designs were a lot to take in. :O Even now after seeing the movies quite a few times over, I find myself constantly discovering something I didn’t notice on them before, be it a strap or a scar etc. And it honestly took some getting use to their sizes, I mean, sheesh! :O Not to mention the different background story, and Megan Fox’s wooden, expressionless acting, but despite all that... I found myself actually growing attached to these hulks of Turtles. They still have a lot of that heart in them and plus they’re just so much fun, I mean, can we say ‘Elevator scene’? X’D Now again, not perfect by anys mean, but still fun and pretty decent incarnations to add to the franchise. Again, Leo’s been given this ‘Better than you’ a bit which irked me to be frank. Not always but it’s there sometimes, but otherwise alright. Raph’s a decent Raph. Even had some tender moments. Donnie’s adorable! X’D This slightly potty mouthed geek that you just gotta love. And Mikey... although given that bitta ‘idiot’ feel, is also just as lovable and you want to hug him every time he’s onscreen! 

In short, I like ‘em. :) They’re actually closer to the top of the ladder than some others.

RISE OF THE TMNT/ROTTMNT/2018/2K18~

Yeeeeeeeeuuuuuuh... no. Sorry. Not for me. :/ Again, gonna remind y’all, nothing to do with age. Nothing to do with change. I will say that the fluid animation is nice, and the fact that they chose 2D animation. :) Buuuuuut, wow, they were certainly a lot to take in. Almost as much as Bay’s Turtles. After watching a few eps, I will conclude that they really just aren’t what I’m looking for. I found that the constant joking, while sometimes funny, got a little bit much, plus such short eps. Raph being leader was a switch and one that took awhile to get use to and honestly, I’m just not for it, I don’t even know where to begin with Donnie, Mikey’s okay, Leo... (deep breath) I don’t know what they were thinking... Let’s not even go to Master Splinter. But anyways, I get that change was what they were going for and that it was more so based on the 1987 toon with the silliness so that’s fine. I’m glad it’s got so many fans. :) And honestly, I wanna end off just by saying...

That no matter what your thoughts on what I’ve said, I hope you can respect my opinions and choices cause at the end of the day, they’re just my own, and I will always respect yours! :D If you adore the verses I’m not too crazy about, that’s great! :D I want you all to love the heck out of them! And honestly, this is what’s so great about this franchise: there are so many verses to choose from! So many options and tastes to suit any and all! You don’t have to follow the masses! You go enjoy whichever incarnation(s) you want to! ;) 

And there we have it, my first fandom bloggy thingy~ Hope there’ll be many more where that came from! :D

This is Drag0n-Mistr3ss signing off~

[lazaefair]

I SAW YOUR "#cyberpunk baze x chirrut?" TAG AND NOW I'M THINKING -- chirrut as the badass techno-monk still loyal to his destroyed order, baze as a Bodyguard For Hire With A Big Gun, ughhhhh i can see it so clearly in my head and i love it

Star Wars is basically one step away from cyberpunk anyway, just add more neon and stick everyone on one planet instead of a billion, et voilà.

Chirrut works as a technomancer, able to communicate with and manipulate computers directly without needing code or terminals or cybernetic implants. He came by his abilities not through the self-taught survival-of-the-fittest lessons of the street, nor through sinister experimentation by one of the Megacorps, but through good old-fashioned techno-religion. His bond with the very web of cyberspace becomes the stuff of legends on both the mainstream and shadow ‘nets. This flickering presence known as The Monk, who slips through firewalls and cyber sentries like so much tissue paper, who runs his digital fingers through classified archives and top-security files pretty much whenever and however he pleases, whose reported exploits far exceed the number of places he’s actually been in.

Even glimpsing his avatar requires feats of hacking accessible only to the top tiers of hackers, the legends say, and a confirmed Monk sighting goes onto a person’s net profile like an elite badge of honor, good for both reputations and credit accounts. The legends have also embroidered the description of Chirrut’s avatar way beyond the actual mask of bits and bytes that he assumes when he goes into cyberspace - he particularly enjoys the fanfics that feature flames, or improbably giant swords, or improbably glowing armor, or all three at once - but most of them eventually boil down to a few common threads: a beautiful man with Chinese features, wearing traditional robes, disarming your defenses in a single glance of his eerie, blank white eyes.

But as invincible as The Monk may be in cyberspace, commanding the very hardware of its machinery to bend to his will, he has a weakness. Which is simply the weakness of any hacker, down to the most ordinary - when he’s plugged in, he can’t defend his own body.

Company enforcers know that. Rival hackers know that. Anyone Chirrut has ever crossed, from the Megacorp that bought out and razed his religious order, to the most recent two-bit mob boss he humiliated and laid bare to the sharks of the underworld, and continuing on down the list, knows that.

So that’s where Baze comes in. 

Baze - to put it in the simplest terms - has a really big gun.

He started life as a fully organic, ordinary genetic human. That’s all ancient history by now, seriously - the reason why his Wuxing IST-Tech 45 plasma-cell cannon has so much concentrated firepower, and why it’s so deadly accurate in his hands, is because strictly speaking, there’s no boundary between the cannon and his hands. Cybernetic implants in his limbs, his body, his eyes - even his brain - turn him into a living weapon, one that maintains the firepower and accuracy even if by some miracle he’s separated from his primary weapon. 

His reputation takes longer to grow and spread than Chirrut’s, in part because it’s a fair few years before anyone realizes the quiet-but-menacing mercenary with minor-but-solid street cred operating in a single medium-size city within the Sino-Pacific Trade Group is connected to the much-rumored but somehow even more elusive bodyguard of the internationally-famous Monk. Is, in fact, the same person. (Chirrut still likes to gleefully send him text strings from shadow ‘net forums regarding wild conspiracy theories pulling together highly improbable shreds of evidence to pinpoint the entirely wrong person as the identity of The Monk’s Protector.)

As Chirrut’s daring deeds spread across cyberspace, undermining corporate structures, propping up rebellions, sabotaging exploitative operations, declawing predators and giving teeth to prey, so too does the manhunt for The Monk. Over the years, Baze stops taking as many merc jobs that require him to leave Chirrut’s side, because he simply cannot trust that his partner won’t hook into the ‘net while he’s gone, dancing with wild abandon across the strands of the matrix that runs their world. And, incidentally, leaving himself a completely empty physical shell lying comatose amongst cushions on the floor of their shared apartment. A heavily fortified apartment, but still.

After one particularly long week, which features three highway chases, four days of hopping from safehouse to safehouse, thirty hired hitmen (spaced out over the week), too much expended ammunition to bear thinking about, and a fuckload of cleanup - flesh-eating nanobots do not come cheap, let me tell you, and neither do plasma cartridges - Baze decides to say something. 

“You could at least take a few paying jobs, since I can’t anymore,” he grumbles while he takes one of his guns apart for maintenance. “Thanks to you,” he adds, because sometimes it takes many repetitions of an idea for Chirrut to come to grips with it.

“Yes, we will eventually starve. Soon I will be nothing but an insubstantial ghost, just a spirit swaying in the digital breeze, blown wherever the matrix wills it. I think I’d make quite an attractive ghost, don’t you think?” Chirrut says, leaning back from his meditation pose and stretching, tilting his chin up and exposing a delicious stretch of throat that has Baze clamping down on a highly annoyed spark of lust. “You, on the other hand, would make for quite a large lump of a corpse, come to think of it. Hmm.”

Baze snorts. “You didn’t act like you were kissing a corpse last night,” he says, and Chirrut waves a hand.

“No, no, you’re right. I prefer you in non-corpse-form. Very well then,” and he unfolds with the startling grace that he has - the same physical capability that’s stymied more than one assassin expecting an infirm, out-of-shape hacker - and bounds over to fold into Baze’s lap, who hastily retracts the gun into his arm compartment. Chirrut cups his cheek, running light fingers over exposed metal ridges and surgery scarring. “For you, my beloved, I will take a paying contract. How much should the Monk charge for his services, I wonder?”

Baze raises an eyebrow under Chirrut’s hand, not bothering to conceal his surprise at his partner’s easy capitulation. “For you? You could probably ask for anything you want. Couple million creds, to start with, and going up from there.”

Chirrut’s pupils contract in the way that indicates he’s pulling something up on his internal HUD. “I have here a humble request,” he says, stretching out the word ‘humble.’ “From someone designating herself Mon Mothma. Came in just a few hours ago.”

Baze raises his other eyebrow. Mon Mothma of Alliance Corp? Everyone in the shadow world knows by now it’s just a front for one of the many proletarian movements seeking to break the grip of the oligarchy. Ironic that she’s funding it with wealth gained through her own corporation. But she can pay handsomely. 

Chirrut bends forward to kiss his eyebrows. “I take it you approve.”

“You’ve vetted it already,” Baze says. 

Chirrut scoffs. “You could have left that thought unvoiced and saved yourself the energy,” he says, and Baze rolls his eyes.

“When’s the verification meeting?”

“Tomorrow, in the Prosperity District. At a very nice café for the finest tea in the region, the reviews tell me.” 

Right in the heart of downtown, in the shadow of every major Megacorp skyscraper in the SPTG. Baze sighs. “I’ll get out your good suit. Try not to get yourself killed.”

“Mon Mothma asked for you, too. By name.” Chirrut smiles radiantly, inordinately pleased for no reason Baze can think of. 

He grunts and wraps his hands around Chirrut’s waist. “We’ll have to pull the rich-asshole-and-his-bodyguard act again.” Baze’s visible modifications aren’t unusual in the bowels of the city, down at street level, but would stand out as unspeakably gauche if he tried to pass himself off as a plutocrat on the 200th floor of some shiny fuck-off corporate complex.

“If we must,” Chirrut dismisses. Then he pushes Baze flat on the floor and slides down, grin glittering wickedly, and proceeds to make Baze prove - repeatedly - that he is very much, definitely, decidedly not a corpse.

(Sidenote: Baze does in fact own a super rad cyberpunk motorcycle that leaves neon streaks in the darkness when he and Chirrut ride through the rain-soaked alleys of their city, because the Rule Of Cool turned the knob up to 11 on this pair, and everyone knows it.)

[cameiotmagazine-blog]

a look at the the Confucius Institute

Ah, the Confucius Institute. Known through American colleges as,

"Oh boy, we don't gotta work with paying. We don't gotta work at paying to educate people in the Chinese language or culture. We can just let some other people do that,"

has been quietly popular in US universities for years, but has recently begun to receive some criticism, which seems unfortunate, but, you know, I'm an honest and forthright reporter who likes to do my own research, so I signed up. Really, I actually did. This is a real thing I did and not a fake thing that I'm just making up as I'm going along, because, what do you think? The magazine that told nothing but fake news stories? Are you saying that in some way I might be exaggerating purposefully?

Purposely for humorous effect to make fun of things? That's crazy. You're a crazy person who's crazy all the time. Anyway, I totally enrolled in some classes and the Chinese government funded institutes that are teaching Chinese culture and language across the world. I don't think Chinese government has ever been known to be underhanded and like to censor things to make themselves look better. That's simply not true, and I got these fun textbooks and stuff, so I thought I'd share a few choice passages. Okay.

This one's about human rights defenders. They don't call them that in this one. They call them cultural malcontents who are trying to destroy our national identity. When I asked the teacher about it, he simply said that that's crazy. What am I talking about? Everybody loves being in China and anybody who doesn't is a liar and a filthy one at that and they deserved whatever happened to them, and then one student was like ... Also they were creating disturbances and disturbing the social order.

Then there was a thing about I don't know. That seems pretty convincing to me. Then I asked Then another student asked, " What about Meng Han and Zeng Feiyang  human  rights activists Meng Han and Zeng Feiyang “ ? One of the students asked, and I was like,

"Boy, you seem to know specific a lot about humans rights violations in recent years in China,"

and the student was like, "Stop staring at me. Say something."

I was like,

"What?" I guess I didn't say anything to them, but the teacher was like,

"I don't know who you're talking about. They were just ... I don't know what you were talking about. They were just gathering crowds to disturb public order."

The student, whose name was, I think, Sally, was like, "Wasn't that like the definition of a protest?"

The teacher was like, "I don't even know what you're saying. Why would anybody want to protest?" Then the teacher went on to say, "Well, they used funding from abroad."

Then Sally was like, "Well, were you gonna help to fund them to stay to protest? Was the Chinese government ever gonna help them to stay to protest?"

They were like, "No, why would we do that?"

 So, you know, whatever. I don't know, I wasn't totally convinced. I think it's pretty fair. They didn't call him whatevers, like bad words or nothing. They just said that they deserve to be in prison and beaten. They didn't say that part, but he kept hitting his fist into the palm of his hand really hard, so I'm pretty sure that's what that meant.

Also, apropos of nothing, he mentioned that executions were totally down. They were like, "Okay." Then they went on to There was also the section in his book talking about the freedom of expression, and then he said that there hasn't been any problems with freedom of expression. Everybody gets to freely express whatever they damn well feel like, but because China's just so gosh darned wonderful and full of hope and light and everybody God damn loves it so fucking much, that there wasn't any issues. Then he said the thing of Lee Yang's dad ain't really that big of a problem because some people ... Because they totally film shit now, like the police, when they arrest crap.

So, problem solved. No, you can't see it. Stop asking for it. It's only some of the time. Not all of the time. It's only some of the time though. Not all of the time. That's crazy. Why would we want to see the police officers doing everything? You're a crazy person. Stop being so fucking crazy. Crazy. Everybody's flipped down to the loyalty. That's crazy. That's crazy. All the major media outlets in the country pledged absolute loyalty. Anyways, stop fucking asking questions, you big fucking idiot. Look how fucking stupid you are. You're a fucking moron. Never did text message so many curse words.

I like the edginess of it all. It made me feel like I was watching a fun TV show where I was yelled at for not doing things right, but like really yelled at. It also reminded me of browsing internet, which I think everybody can totally do in China, said the next part of the sentence. The cyberspace administration only forces ads to keep user logs for 60 days to reduce the spread of illegal information. Legal information like xi jinping is not a honey loving bear that wears a red shirt and no pants. It's totally okay. You're also free to say that xi jinping, if he was a bear at any type, would be a strong, sexy, confident bear who looks good in slacks and he can even pull off shorts which many men can't. Many men of his age can't.

The only reason they shut down Sohu, Sina, Netease, and Ifeng. in July was because they weren't radical enough. Stop fucking asking questions. What are you, some sort of fucking idiot? Have you never taken improv? Don't you know that you're not really supposed to ask any questions? So, that pretty much convinced me that they're doing pretty good. When the class got to Hong Kong, I thought, "Boy, it'd be fun to learn about Hong Kong," and they say Hong Kong is totally still ... has 100 percent autonomy in everything, and they said, "Don't you worry about the Causeway Bay bookstore," and then I asked, "What's the Causeway Bay bookstore?" The teacher was like, "Nothing, stop thinking about the Causeway bookstore

Lee Poe, who are from Sweden was all disappeared from Thailand because he didn't. He's just on a very long fishing trip, and Lee Poe, who's British, you know, disappeared from totally autonomous country Hong Kong. I said, "I mean, he didn't disappear. I mean, he did because he was kidnapped by ... he didn't disappear. He was, you know, he's on a high stake gambling tour of various nations. Yeah, that's what he's doing right now. I don't even know why you're bringing all this stuff up, man.

I was like, "I didn't bring it up, man." The teacher was like, "Oh, okay. That's cool. Anyways, let's move on to how you say "water" in Mandarin Chinese, which is the only language that will ever be spoken in China. What about racial harmony in China? Let's just say racial harmony is beautiful in China. Everybody gets along and it doesn't matter what those fucking Tibetans said. This started the very interesting chapter on China's relationship with Tibet. It went on to say that Tibet is super fucking happy and that China totally has a rightful claim over Tibet. Also, just because the Tibetans can't, you know, like move or go outside the country or practice religion, it's all a fucking lie by fucking assholes. They're a bunch of fucking morons who are fucking worthless.

Also they're crybabies and snowflakes and cucks and you're a strong alpha male, which then goes on to women's rights, which I guess leads us to the discussion in class we had about women's rights. Sally, once again, asked a question about it. They said it threatens civil society. Boy, Chinese civilization seems to be in constant flux. Seems so ready to just fall over at any second. You know, and then Sally then really pushed and the teacher was getting sick of it, so mad, and he said, "Listen, you don't know what you're talking about. Let me explain to you what women's rights is."

Then he went on to explain how it's great, all the shit that women have been doing, but come on. You don't gotta be so Come on. Don't you think it's gone a little too far? I mean, look at Just recently the court gave a woman who sued two companies for discriminating against her in practices like a whole hell of a lot of money. Like 300 dollars. What's so bad about that? Anyways, back to my book, which then talked about freedom of religion. Since everybody's free to practice any religion they want, except the ... You know, but then again, don't disrupt civil authority because you can't disrupt civil authority. Maybe all those people you had believe shit ain't real.

You know who's really a cool dude? xi jinping What if we said it was less like President or make him more of a king. A God king almost, you could say. God king who's also really powerful, who's strong, sexy bear who could totally crush people like crazy. I also said to the ... They said, "No guys, like pay attention because legitimately LG rights have improved somewhat," which was like, "Good," but also China was like, "Hey, you know what's also really cool? China's totally reviving the Silk Road," and then once again Sally spoke up and it was like, "Well hasn't that been a large failure on many levels and it's actually in massive debt?" The teacher was like, "Shut up, Sally."

I was like, "I guess." Then of course then I was like,

"You know what? I'm gonna contribute to the conversation," and I asked the teacher,

"What about the Tienanmen Square protest?" He was like,

"That's not real. That didn't happen." I was like,

"Really?" He said,

"Yeah. You're crazy, that never happened. I mean, it's crazy." I was like,

"There's a famous picture." The teacher was like,

"Oh, you mean the cool poster for the hit new Chinese film? The adventures of tank and cool, obedient, bag holding guy?"

I was like, "Okay," so all in all, I say there's no way that the Confucian Institute is sponsored by the Chinese government whatsoever. It's a totally cool place, and that they gave me ice cream also at the end of every class and I loved it. Anyways, out.

 via politico

via human right watch                

via the guardian            

via the time of india