#bonus points if he goes missing at crucial moments

[deadbaguette]

My personal favourite detail in any sort of modern AU of the Iliad/Odyssey is the idea that Odysseus has the uncanny ability to get lost or disappear for extended periods of time and they can’t find him/figure out how he disappeared in the first place

Agamemnon: has anyone seen Odysseus? I thought he lived like 30 minutes away from here

Diomedes: hold on, I’ll text him

Diomedes:

Agamemnon:

Agamemnon: well?

Diomedes: he’s lost and he’s somehow 5 hours away from his house

[gffa]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark, coming August 25, promises to be a beautiful tribute to the just-completed animated series. The anthology will collect 11 stories by 11 authors — Lou Anders, Preeti Chhibber, Zoraida Córdova, Jason Fry, Rebecca Roanhorse, Greg Van Eekhout, Tom Angleberger, E. Anne Convery, Sarah Beth Durst, Yoon Ha Lee, and Anne Ursu — including 10 retellings of memorable episodes and arcs and one original Nightsisters-based story.  So if you loved the tales of Ahsoka, Maul, and clanker-busting clones, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark will give you the chance to experience them again in a whole new way. Like Captain Rex on a recon mission, StarWars.com reached out to each author to learn why they love The Clone Wars, and which stories they’re telling. Lou Anders (“Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General,” based on the episodes of the same name): I love The Clone Wars for expanding the story of Anakin’s fall from grace. Skywalker really shines in the series, and we see what he truly was, and what he could have been, and by giving him so many opportunities to excel in the early season, his ultimate fate is that much more tragic. I also love the series for gifting us my all-time favorite Star Wars character, and one of my favorite characters from any universe — Hondo Ohnaka!      My chapter is a retelling of the first season story arc that plays out across the episodes “Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General.” I wanted to explore this storyline because I find Count Dooku a fascinating character. Sometimes pure, mustache-twirling, mwa-ha-ha evil can actually be boring to write, but a villain who feels they are justified, either because of perceived slights or intellectual superiority or the failure of their rivals or birthright are much more interesting, and Dooku is a bit of all of this. For research, I obviously watched tons of Clone Wars. But I also read up on everything about Dooku I could find, and I listened to Christopher Lee and Corey Burton’s interpretation of the character over and over, trying to internalize their speech patterns. Dooku is so gorgeously supercilious. It was just a blast to get in his head and see the world from his perspective. (And the fact that the storyline gave me another chance to write for my beloved Hondo Ohnaka was an added bonus!) Tom Angleberger (“Bane’s Story,” based on the episodes “Deception,” “Friends and Enemies,” “The Box,” and “Crisis on Naboo”): There’s a lot to love in The Clone Wars, but I think it’s Ahsoka’s arc that really stands out the most. Ventress’s arc does, too, and the way that these arcs cross at the just the right moment is really great Star Wars!      My chapter is based on the “Crisis on Naboo” story arc. It’s basically a Space Western. The baddest bounty hunter of them all, Cad Bane, is hired to kidnap the Chancellor. What he doesn’t know is that almost everyone is lying to him, especially a fellow bounty hunter who is really Obi-Wan in disguise. In the TV version, we see it all from Obi-Wan’s point of view, so we know that Bane is getting played. In this retelling, we see it all from Bane’s point of view and, boy, is he going to be mad! To prepare I watched both The Clone Wars AND old spaghetti Westerns starring Bane’s inspiration: Lee Van Cleef. Preeti Chhibber (“Hostage Crisis,” based on the episode of the same name): I love the story that the prequels tell, but because of the nature of what they were trying to do — tell a decade and a half worth of story in three films — we’re missing major moments in what the war really means to the galaxy at large, and in the Skywalker saga itself. The Clone Wars tells us that part of the narrative, it gives us the shape of what entire populations of people had to go through because of this war manufactured by the ultimate evil. And within that scope gives us the hope and love and beautiful tragedy we associate with Star Wars on a larger scale. (Also, Ahsoka Tano — The Clone Wars gave us Ahsoka Tano and for that I will be ever grateful.)      I’m writing Anakin’s story during “Hostage Crisis” — an episode in the first season of The Clone Wars. I decided to write the story entirely from Anakin’s perspective, which meant being inside his head before the fall, but where we are starting to see more of the warning signs. And then there’s also the romance of this episode! Anakin’s love for Padmé is real and all-consuming and, as we eventually find out, unhealthy. So, this is a romantic episode, but one that shows us Anakin is ruled by his heart. And that that’s a dangerous thing for a Jedi. In order to best wrap my own head around what was going on, I watched the episode itself several times, and read the script, and then I watched the chronological episodes of Anakin’s run-ins with Cad Bane, so I could get a real feel for where he was with his understanding of Bane’s character. E. Anne Convery (“Bug,” based on the episode “Massacre”): I love it because I think it’s a story that manages, while still being a satisfying adventure, to not glorify war. It does this mainly by following through on the arcs of wonderful, terrifying, funny, fallible, and diverse characters. From the personal to the political, The Clone Warsredefines the ways, big and small, that we can be heroes.      My chapter is the “original” tale, though it still touches on The Clone Wars Season Four episode “Massacre,” with brief appearances by Mother Talzin and Old Daka. If I had to boil it down, I’d say that it’s a story about mothers and daughters. Honestly, it felt a little like cheating, because writing new characters meant I got to be creative in the Star Wars universe somewhat unencumbered by what’s come before. I did, however, have several long text chats with Sam Witwer because I was interested in Talzin’s motivations. We talked about stuff like her capacity (or lack thereof) for love. I think I came away thinking she was more a creature driven by issues of power, control, and the desire for revenge, whereas Sam was a little kinder to her. I mean, he is her “son,” so you can’t really blame him for wanting to think better of her! I always love a story within a story, and I was interested in the space where the high mythology of Star Wars and the home-spun mythology of fairy tales could intersect. I drew on my own background in mythology, psychology, and the language of fairy tales, plus I did my Star Wars research. Re-watching the Nightsisters episodes was just plain fun. Zoraida Córdova (“The Lost Nightsister,” based on the episode “Bounty”): The Clone Wars deepens the characters we already love. It gives us the opportunity to explore the galaxy over a longer period of time and see the fight between the light and the dark side. Star Wars is about family, love, and hope. It’s also incredibly funny and that’s something that The Clone Wars does spectacularly. We also get to spend more time with characters we only see for a little bit in the movies like Boba Fett, Bossk, Darth Maul!      My chapter follows Ventress after she’s experienced a brutal defeat. Spoiler alert: she’s witnessed the death of her sisters. Now she’s on Tatooine and in a rut. She gets mixed up with a bounty hunter crew led by Boba Fett. Ventress’s story is about how she goes from being lost to remembering how badass she is. I watched several episodes with her in it, but I watched “Bounty” about 50 times. Sarah Beth Durst (“Almost a Jedi,” based on the episode “A Necessary Bond”): I spent a large chunk of my childhood pretending I was training to become a Jedi Knight, even though I’d never seen a girl with a lightsaber before. And then The Clone Wars came along and gave me Ahsoka with not one but TWO lightsabers, as well as a role in the story that broadened and deepened the tale of Anakin’s fall and the fall of the Jedi. So I jumped at the chance to write about her for this anthology.      In my story, I wrote about Ahsoka Tano from the point of view of Katooni, one of the Jedi younglings who Ahsoka escorts on a quest to assemble their first lightsabers, and it was one of the most fun writing experiences I’ve ever had! I watched the episode, “A Necessary Bond,” over and over, frame by frame, studying the characters and trying to imagine the world, the events, and Ahsoka herself through Katooni’s eyes. The episode shows you the story; I wanted to show you what it feels like to be inside the story. Greg van Eekhout (“Kenobi’s Shadow,” based on the episode “The Lawless”): What I most love about Clone Wars is how we really get to know the characters deeply and see them grow and change.      I enjoyed writing a couple of short scenes between Obi-Wan and Anakin that weren’t in the episode. I wanted to highlight their closeness as friends and show that Anakin’s not the only Jedi who struggles with the dark side. There’s a crucial moment in my story when Obi-Wan is close to giving into his anger and has to make a choice: Strike out in violence or rise above it. It’s always fun to push characters to extremes and see how they react. Jason Fry (“Sharing the Same Face,” based on the episode “Ambush”): I love The Clone Wars because it made already beloved characters even richer and deepened the fascinating lore around the Jedi and the Force.      I chose Yoda and the clones because the moment where Yoda rejects the idea that they’re all identical was one of the first moments in the show where I sat upright and said to myself, “Something amazing is happening here.” You get the entire tragedy of the Clone Wars right in that one quick exchange — the unwise bargain the Jedi have struck, Yoda’s compassion for the soldiers and insistence that they have worth, the clones’ gratitude for that, and how that gratitude is undercut by their powerlessness to avoid the fate that’s been literally hard-wired into them. Plus, though I’ve written a lot of Star Wars tales, I’d never had the chance to get inside Yoda’s head. That had been on my bucket list! Yoon Ha Lee (“The Shadow of Umbara,” based on the episodes “Darkness on Umbara,” “The General,” “Plan of Dissent,” and “Carnage of Krell”): I remember the first time I watched the “Umbara arc” — I was shocked that a war story this emotionally devastating was aired on a kids’ show. But then, kids deserve heartfelt, emotionally devastating stories, too. It was a pleasure to revisit the episodes and figure out how to retell them from Rex’s viewpoint in a compact way. I have so much respect for the original episodes’ writer, Matt Michnovetz — I felt like a butcher myself taking apart the work like this! Rebecca Roanhorse (“Dark Vengeance,” based on the episode “Brothers”): I always love a backstory and Clone Wars was the backstory that then became a rich and exciting story all its own. The writing and character development is outstanding and really sucks you into the world.      I chose to write the two chapters that reintroduce Darth Maul to the world. We find him broken and mentally unstable, not knowing his own name but obsessed with revenge against Obi-Wan and we get to see him rebuild himself into a cruel, calculating, and brilliant villain. It was so much fun to write and I hope readers enjoy it. Anne Ursu (“Pursuit of Peace,” based on the episode “Heroes on Both Sides”): The Clone Wars creates a space for terrific character development. The attention paid to the relationships between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Anakin and Ahsoka make for really wonderful and resonant stories, and give so much depth to the whole universe.      I was at first a little scared to write Padmé, as her character felt pretty two dimensional to me. But the more I watched her episodes in Clone Wars, the more dimension she took on. She’s such an interesting character — she’s both idealistic and realistic, so when corruption runs rampant in the Senate she doesn’t get disillusioned, she just fights harder. She has an ability to deal with nuance in a way that is rare in the Republic — and it means she’s not afraid to bend a few laws to make things right. In this chapter, the Senate is about to deregulate the banks in order to fund more troops, and Padmé decides to take matters into her own hand and sneak into Separatist territory in order to start peace negotiations. Of course, neither Dooku nor the corrupt clans of the Republic are going to allow for this to happen, so the threats to the peace process, the Republic, and Padmé’s life only grow. This arc is the perfect distillation of Padmé’s character, and it made getting into her head for it fairly simple. But I did watch all the Padmé Clone Wars episodes and read E.K. Johnston’s book about her, as well as Thrawn: Alliances, in which she has a major storyline. I really loved writing her. Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark arrives August 25 and is available for pre-order now.

[aion-rsa]

DuckTales Season 3 Episode 22 Review: The Last Adventure!

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This DUCKTALES review contains spoilers.

From the opening moments of DuckTales’ final episode it feels like the end. Almost everyone is here. There’s an extra care put into the scenes, a knowledge that we are in the last hour of their adventures. A last moment of uncomplicated joy before things get messy. And at the center of it all?

Webby. In the beginning she seemed to be the POV character of DuckTales, the one everything seemed to focus around. Some of that was caused by the original air dates of the episodes accidentally putting all her focus episodes at the start but it was a feeling that never left me. The show was an ensemble piece but there was something about Webby that kept her at the forefront. Something that made go, “if anyone had to lay claim as the main character of DuckTales, it’s her.” Boy, was I right about that!

The finale puts her in the middle of everything and finally pays off the mystery set-up at the top of the season. We finally learn about her past and as its slowly revealed it tugs on Webby’s biggest heartstring. Family. 

Her clones May and June press her with questions about the family. How none of the people she has connections with are related to her by blood. They aren’t her REAL family. Scrooge’s family isn’t hers. Her friends aren’t family. They play on a fear that’s been deeply held within her, that for all the talk of family is what you make it they still aren’t REALLY family.

It calls into question that critical core element of this new DuckTales. One could argue the show has done a LOT to say family is what you make it and this shouldn’t be a problem for Webby but come on, she has two sisters right in front of her. That would mess with her head and make her feel insecure.

This question of family extends out of Webby’s plotline and to all the others, especially Donald and Della. Donald wants to go off on a big trip with Daisy, intentionally leaving the family behind for the first time in who knows how long. This is a major step for him. He gave up his life to help raise Huey, Dewey, and Louie. He’s stuck by them even as they lived at the mansion. The guy deserves some time with the person he cares about without the weight of responsibility he’s carried for so much of his life.

Della though can’t take it. She tries to get him to reconsider. She has excuse after excuse but the real reason comes out, she doesn’t want to lose any more time with him. She was gone for so long why can’t he stay and make up for that lost time? He could, but as much as Donald loves Della he’s finally putting himself first. Of course Della accepts it because she’s Della and she’s great. I’m so happy they did this with Donald, the guy deserves it. Just because Della wants to spend more time with him doesn’t mean he HAS to. He can take time for himself, he can be his own person, he doesn’t have to be defined by the loss of Della anymore. Of course he’ll still see her and the rest of the family, he’s just going off to start his own part of the family. That’s a crucial element of family as well; you don’t always have to be together.

But of course when Webby and Huey get kidnapped Donald is right there to help and so is everyone else. The whole family rallies together, though Beakley is off on her own. Earlier in the episode Beakley revealed to Webby that she retired specifically because of her. That Webby was more important than anything else and, as we later learn, she gave up taking out F.O.W.L. to do it. There’s a running theme of how much you’ll sacrifice for your family here, as Beakley puts it, “when you find your family you’ll give up everything for them.” It’s well threaded throughout the episode, the biggest example of it of course being the giant mission to storm the temple.

It’s here the family comes up against the biggest nemesis of the series, Bradford. Bradford’s whole deal is that he was the first Woodchuck (and a terrible one.) He wants to rid the world of adventure, contain all the chaos it brings. What does all this mean? Why is he doing this? On first watch it’s a little unclear but when you zoom out Bradford wants to keep the world in order, in check. No deviations, nothing unexpected, no challenges, nothing unpredictable. He claims he’s a businessman, not a villain… but of course he’s a villain because a LOT of business people ARE villainous. Wanting to keep the world in check and playing by their rules is how they keep control. How they stay in power.

Adventures threaten that. They give power to those who don’t have it; they allow a wonder and mystery to fill the world. To give people hope, to bond them together. For Scrooge, it helped create his family. So of course Bradford would try to shut that down, he’s better served if people are unhappy and under his thumb as a businessman. Controlling Scrooge’s money was also a great bonus.

Bradford threatens the very heart of the series, adventures. He uses Webby specifically to gain the ability to take Scrooge’s adventures away… but of course he underestimated the family. He thought creating Webby’s clones would tear them apart, that separating everyone into cages would keep them from rising up… but you can’t stop the Duck family and Webby is the heart and soul of that. Even when she learns she was just another clone that doesn’t stop her for long. For anyone else that might have been a bigger blow but when she learns that Beakley saved her when she was a baby? That Beakley gave up everything for her so that someone would love her? That keeps her going.

That and the fact she’s (more or less) Scrooge’s daughter. Yeah she was made by F.O.W.L. but WHATEVER SHE’S REALLY A BLOOD PART OF THE FAMILY! At this point I was taken aback. Why does Webby NEED to have a blood relation to the family? Why can’t she just be a friend who became a part of the family? Isn’t that what DuckTales has been preaching for its entire run, you don’t have to be related by blood to be family and even if you ARE related by blood that doesn’t always mean you’re like family to someone else.

Some might consider this an easy cop out, a way for Webby to get what she always wants… but it’s so much more than that. Okay yes, Webby was sort of made from Scrooge’s DNA but that still doesn’t automatically make her a part of the family. They could easily reject her for not being “real.”  But everyone in the McDuck family loves her and that’s why she’s family, blood or not. Plus, the rest of the episode goes out of its way to show that damn near every good person the team has met is part of the family. So yes, Webby is now confirmed to be related by blood but that doesn’t undercut DuckTales’ message about family. Lena and Violet are part of the family, Gizmoduck, Darkwing Duck, Gosalyn, Launchpad, EVERYONE. As Webby tells May and June,

“Family are the people who stick by you. Fight for you. Blindly invade a sinister villain’s secret strong hold for you. Family would do anything to keep you safe and sacrifice everything to love you no matter who and what you are. Like Scrooge, like my granny, like you two.” That’s family and that’s DuckTales. Scrooge is willing to sacrifice it all, to give up adventuring… but FAMILY is the greatest adventure of all! It’s so powerful it breaks the most powerful magic contract of ALL TIME. BOOM, FAMILY! 

‘The Last Adventure’ was nothing short of an absolute masterpiece, the closest thing to a true 2017 DuckTales movie we’ll ever get. The action was big, damn near every character from the show made it in, and it capped off everything so beautifully. It’s stunning how many references and characters are squeezed in here but it never feels rushed or over bloated. All the references work, whether you know the deep cuts or not. My personal favorite was the revelation that Manny is no intern… he’s actually The Headless Manhorse of the Apocalypse AND HE LIVES AGAIN… voiced by Keith David. It’s such an elaborate Gargoyles reference but even if you don’t know that it’s hilarious to see this new side of Manny.

There’s too many moments to talk about. So many little bits that could deserve full articles on their own. Della using her leg like an axe, B.O.Y.D. being just a head, or Launchpad becoming Gizmoduck! If you’ve been reading all my DuckTales reviews you know how much I’ve loved the character of Lena and just seeing her there at the end as part of the family made me smile and warmed my heart. She went through so much and look where she is now, she has people who love her AND she’s a superhero. 

As the credits rolled and all the characters we’ve all grown to love soared past the screen for the final time, it hit me just how much I’m going to miss DuckTales. I’ve reviewed every single episode of the series and it has been an immense privledge. The level of care and creativity that went into every single aspect of the series did not go unnoticed. The people behind the scenes truly delivered something special, a series that will stand the test of time as not just a worthy entry into the Duck universe or just a Disney cartoon series, but as an absolutely wonderful show all on its own. It was incredibly funny, joyously warm, and knew how to hit you with some major life lessons. Lena’s story arc in particular will always stick with me and works as a gut wrenching portrayal of the effects of abuse. Her story was just an example of DuckTales as its strongest, when it was able to use it stories to hold up a mirror to our own lives and safely let us explore them. While also giving us a lot of laughs.

DuckTales has power; it’ll keep having power. Now that the show’s ended I have no doubt more people will check it out on Disney + and realize how special it was. How great it was. How even if it still had more stories to tell it still gave all it had. 

Thank you for everything, DuckTales. You’ll never be forgotten. 

DuckTales Quotes To Make Your Life Better

-“No, no maniacal laughter! We are not common villains.”

-“Come with me if you want DEW-live.”

-“Yes I was right! …. Oh no, I was right.”

-“I LIVE AGAIN… Again.”

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-“Please hold all startled utterances of disbelief for the end.”

The post DuckTales Season 3 Episode 22 Review: The Last Adventure! appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[aqvarius]

[REVIEW] Her Love in the Force: Shusuke Soma - Who I Once Was

Guys, I’m supposed to be dieting during this quarantine period but Voltage is keeping me FED with all this new amazing Soma content. 

HLITF fans, we have been blessed with amazing Soma content recently. Soma’s S3 Love’s Battlefield route was probably one of, if not the, most memorable HLITF routes I’ve ever played. I also adored his PoV despite it not covering all the moments that I personally wanted to read. (I understand disappointment over it, but I found that the bonus scenes they gave us made up for it, and it allows me to play with my own imagination a bit and potentially write up some fic for the scenes not in his PoV hehe.)

Like the manic Soma fan that I am, I had to IMMEDIATELY buy and read this route. I love him so much I am willing to do anything just to understand him even a little bit better. To my delight, I’m not even a little bit disappointed. And the route even made me spend 300 more coins to buy Goto’s Episode 0 so well done Voltage lol. 

I will summarise my thoughts on this story and then get into some more detail in the cut below. With that said, if you know Soma’s back story already, there isn’t much information to spoil. But I’ll leave some of the more surprising details under the cut.

This story shows us an unfamiliar Soma. This is a Soma that is far colder than even when we first meet him as a Special Instructor at the Academy. He battles with his conflict over his future and what he feels like his life’s purpose is, which is all sparked over his sister Kurume’s comment that she sees him as a hero. Throughout the route, he struggles with aimlessness and his futile attempts to investigate the metro gas attack even while doing his work in the Criminal Affairs/Investigations department, where he becomes the mentor for new recruits Ichiyanagi and Goto. That’s RIGHT, we finally get the Soma/Goto/Ichiyanagi Criminal Affairs dynamics that I have been waiting for years for ever since finding out that they all worked there together! (The only thing missing is Hayase but I guess he’s from a different timeline lol). 

This is something that makes the route super enjoyable to read because we get to see a Soma who isn’t as gentle and reticent as the one we know. He’s a bit colder, a bit harsher, and has less tolerance for antics. We also see Soma as a mentor before he became an instructor and it’s so cool to realise that Goto and Subaru are so capable partially because of the harsh but fair mentoring of Soma and the way that he’s not only drilled the fundamentals of police work into them but also supported them emotionally through the trials of losing a loved one. This route really helps you understand why Goto has so much trust and respect for Soma (and I’d like to see more Soma/Subaru interactions!) 

We also get to see Kurume for what I believe is the first time, which is incredible to be able to put a face to the name. I am such a sucker for big brother Shusuke and seeing more of his life with Kurume really adds depth to our understanding of his character and why/how losing him has made him lose perspective of his own life and identity. 

(I don’t know if I can explain in words how devastated seeing the two of them together made me feel...)

The route also gave some more insight into the Goto/Kazuki situation which was used really well to offset Soma’s own situation regarding vengeance and unresolved grief. We also get to see more of the relationship between Soma and Goto and how much Goto respects him as a senpai even though Goto transferred to Public Safety first (on the recommendation of a certain elite ;)). There are also some great Ishigami/Soma moments which I’ll elaborate on under the cut, as well as some things I discovered while cross referencing between this story and Goto’s Who I Once Was. 

I love that there’s a theme running throughout the story, which is about defining a hero. This is a crucial question which underpins Soma’s incessant yet pointless attempts to figure out his identity and purpose in life. I love that we begin to see him figuring out what being a hero means to him and that Goto’s own grief and slow road to recovery, and the way that he’s affected Goto’s life, is what sets him on this path towards figuring out where to go from here on out. This path is then what leads him to his MC, who we can see is someone who grabs him by the hand and pulls him ever forward. 

To put it briefly, this is a route you’ll enjoy if you love Team Ishigami. You get to see both Soma and Goto pre-trauma (you get to see a younger Goto than in his own episode 0), but then you see both of them forced to confront grief head-on, and then you can see how they both help each other to move forward in their own subtle ways. This story also showcases the best of Ishigami, a man who is collected and analytical but is always thinking of how he can help those around him who are hurt. Like how Ishigami and Kaga are saved by Namba, I would say that Soma saves Goto, then Goto returns the favour, and then Ishigami saves them both. 

Keep reading under the cut to see my further thoughts on Soma: Who I Once Was. I provide extra details about the story and provide some analysis on his relationships with his colleagues and his MC with lots of screenshots for evidence!

Okay so first off: Soma’s parents are ALIVE??? Why have we never met them?! You would think that they would come to Kurume’s grave on Soma’s birthday to see their children at least. For some reason I genuinely thought it was just him and Kurume but no it turns out that he’s had parents this whole time?! Either way, it’s so wonderful getting to see Soma’s home life from back when he was a teenager.

In the past, I’ve made joking comments about Soma being confused over familial and romantic love and wondering if he just cares for his MC like he cares for Kurume because how can you have sex with someone and then still wonder if you just care for them like a SISTER. But this story definitely helped me understand his mindset a bit better and why he sees similarities between his MC and his sister.

So I think we’ve discovered quite early on that Soma’s sister died on his 19th birthday. We also see scenes of them when Kurume is in high school and already having to fill out forms about her future. So she would be 15 at the very least while Shu would have been probably in his first year of uni? I think he’s mentioned that Kurume and his MC would be around the same age but I was really reminded of that in this route.

Honestly it devastated me to read that conversation because her future was just stripped away from her like that. And to see her get all excited about all the possibilities her future held just wrecked me emotionally. She was considering being a florist or a baker or a pharmacist. She would have been around the same age as the MC :’( To see Shu suggest that Kurume could consider studying agriculture made my heart ache because it made me think of how much care Soma puts into maintaining his plants and how much it means to him that his MC takes care of them for him when he can’t, especially because that’s what Kurume did. I also now believe that Soma is so invested in doing whatever it takes to guide his MC towards the best possible future for her because it’s his way of almost atoning for Kurume never being able to live out her dreams and future.

So rather than mistaking familial and romantic/sexual love, I think it’s rather that Soma sees his MC as symbolic of how his sister might have grown up. Rather than thinking of his MC as his sister, he wonders if he’s just fond of her because she’s similar to how she might have been, sort of like how you might make friends more easily with people that remind you of other friends or siblings/people close to you. That’s why he gets so confused when he feels more beyond just affection and can’t control his emotions, because he’s never felt love beyond just worrying and wanting the best for someone until his MC.

On a side note, Soma did a 4 year degree at a university before joining the police academy? What did he study?!?! I want to know!!!!!

I also love that we got to see Soma not really wanting to be a mentor. We get to see him at his most candid, and at a time in his life where he’s still figuring himself out and doesn’t have any goals except for getting to the bottom of the Crimson Wings case. So when he has to take two rambunctious young men under his wing, it’s so amusing to see how much they annoy him at first with their bickering. In the main stories, we only really get to see a bit of this when he deals with Kurosawa but when he does that, it’s kind of jokey and snarky but man Subaru and Goto really pissed him off at times LOL. Like I mentioned, we’ve only seen him as a seasoned instructor who goes out of his way to help you develop, but he is so reluctant to look after these kids at first. He calls them goons, the gruesome twosome, annoying, a pain in the ass… It’s so funny seeing this side of Soma.

I did think it was so cute that Subaru immediately jumped to calling him Shu and Goto was so polite and called him Soma-san but then somewhere down the line ended up calling him Shu as well (which is what he still calls him to this day. I would literally DIE to see some present-day Subaru/Soma interactions – will someone who’s played Goto’s Adversaries let me know if the two of them interact? Subaru is so alpha male especially now, I’d love to see him defer to Soma in the present day.) It was also so cute that they tried to throw him a birthday party (but also very tragic because his birthday is also the anniversary of Kurume’s death and none of them knew that).

I also loved seeing Soma’s response to Kazuki’s death and the way that Goto’s loss and Soma’s loss kind of play off each other. He knows how it feels to lose a loved one, he’s been dealing with the repercussions of it for at least around 5 years at this point with frankly very little progression. If Goto was not able to move forward because he was stuck in time, Soma is not able to move forward because he is lost. Goto’s grieving puts in in a static place where he can’t move, but Soma’s grieving has him constantly moving, but without direction. He’s haunted by Kurume’s words and even says as much: “I had no idea where I was supposed to go… I just let myself float along”. 

This is why Soma scolds him both in his own story and in Goto’s story, and it is Soma’s experience that allows him to guide Goto towards his growth. It’s also (at least partially) because of Soma that Goto ends up in Public Safety.

Ishigami approaches Soma for an evaluation of Goto, stating that “students raised by an elite teacher are elite themselves”. Soma’s evaluation sets the stage for Goto to eventually be able to confront his grief and develop as an undercover specialist through Ishigami’s guidance; Goto even calls him his “benefactor”. In Goto’s story, he says “It has to be him. The one who found me on the neon-lit street” and Goto then mentions a line about being blinded by revenge that I’m pretty certain is something that Soma said during their nighttime (and thus presumably neon-lit) back alley chat. So I’m not 100% certain who Goto has in mind but 95% he’s thinking about Soma, especially since he later thanks him for the transfer. 

 We know that Soma essentially helps Goto without trying because he’s confused when Goto calls him his benefactor. In evaluating Goto to Ishigami and cornering him in that dark alley, without even knowing it, Soma effectively helps to push Goto into facing his future – the two facets that Goto says makes someone a hero. 

We also discover that Soma is recruited to Public Safety through a recommendation by Goto, who is presumably “the elite who nominated” him.  I love that if Soma pushes the frozen-in-time Goto into moving forward, Goto helps the lost Soma begin to find some direction.  

For years, Soma has been chasing this elusive concept of “being a hero” without even knowing what that means, which is why he never gets closer to fulfilment, because he doesn’t know what it’s supposed to be like to “feel like a hero”. No matter what he himself does, he is never able to see himself as a hero either because he couldn’t prevent the death of the one person he wanted to save. I will say probably that the thing that first changed Soma into making him feel like he has more sense of purpose in becoming one step closer to the “hero” that Kurume said he was is that Goto basically called him his hero. I think it’s so special because here we can really see the links drawn between Goto’s life, Soma’s life, and the narrative theme of being a “hero”.

Something that I thought was missing was how Goto (and potentially Subaru?) finds out about Soma’s past. We never see him tell him about it, but I wonder if that’s the reason why he nominates Soma to join Public Safety? We know that Ishigami knows about it, but I think Goto would probably have found out through Soma himself?

On another note, I actually wondered why Soma, Goto and Kurosawa all have fairly similar strategies and strengths as detectives while Kaga and Shinonome have more specific specialties. Now I realise it’s because Goto trained under Soma, and Kurosawa trained under both Goto and Soma.

These two routes made me realise that Goto needed Soma, Soma needed Goto, and they both needed Ishigami and Public Safety in order to be able to keep walking forward without being trapped in neverending grief. I just need to talk for a little bit about how incredible Ishigami is. Ishigami’s judgement in picking his team is amazing. The fact that he finds these people who have personal vendettas who are working covertly and independently to achieve vengeance and then sees how they evaluate each other shows that he is actively building a team that respects each other and work well together. He sees that they have the skills for Public Safety work but also that they have personal issues that Public Safety can help them deal with, and then he does everything he can to help them attain their peace. Ishigami is unbelievably supportive. He works quietly and diligently within the system to get his subordinates to where they need to be and I LOVE THAT SO MUCH.

Okay with all this said, I cross referenced between Goto’s Episode 0 and Soma’s Episode 0 and found some timeline discrepancies? Right after Kazuki’s death, we know Goto spends a while completely depressed until Subaru drags him up to go to Kazuki’s funeral. Then after her funeral, he becomes obsessed with working independently to try to avenge her death. This goes on for long enough (weeks) that Soma has to corner him in a back alley to lecture him (which by the way happens surprisingly often with Soma lol). Goto transfers to Public Safety soon after Kazuki’s funeral. We know this because he transfers and we see him start doing work for Ishigami but when he goes to see her grave and Subaru says that he’s transferring to SP department, this happens on the monthiversary of Kazuki’s death (not even her funeral). Then, it says that Soma transfers to Public Safety a few weeks after Goto’s transfer (meaning it would have happened within a couple months at most after Kazuki’s death).

In Soma’s route, we know that he goes to see Goto a few weeks after Iijima (Kazuki)’s funeral with the bananas. This occurs while Goto is still at Criminal Affairs because Soma references “the other day” when Soma lectures him about his personal life getting in the way of his job. I’m assuming this happens after the back alley lecture when Goto has returned to normal life for that one week before he gets called to transfer to Public Safety. However, later Soma, still working in Criminal Affairs, says “Years have passed, but the one responsible for [Kazuki’s] case wasn’t caught”. This suggests that Soma was still at Criminal Affairs for years after Goto’s transfer to Public Safety rather than weeks? So what’s the TRUTH?

I also just briefly want to gush about how much I love the CG. We see those typical important Soma elements (his hair and the bonsai) but I just love the look on his face. I mean he looks impossibly handsome, but he looks so serious and determined while at the same time still lacking the warmth that we see in later CGs that he only develops after meeting his MC. Am I reading too much into this? Maybe, but let me PRETEND. 

Finally, I want to end my thoughts on how this relates to his relationship with his MC. Soma says that she’s helped him to face the future. As I previously discussed, I genuinely believe that part of this is because his MC lets him see glimpses of what Kurume could have been. Soma is attracted to her brightness, her bravery, her diligence, her conviction and her optimism. (He also starts enjoying everyday life with her when they pose as a married couple and let’s not forget that he does find her physically attractive even before he falls in love/realises he’s in love lol). But more significantly, I feel like this is because of how important he is to her.

Soma has previously said that he doesn’t trust Public Safety, but for some reason they seem to trust him. This reveals that he’s not sure of what his value is to his department or to his colleagues. While he has moved forward, he’s still working towards being that “someone who pushes you to face the future” and “helps people without trying”. Even though Goto basically implies that Soma is the one who has helped him face his future, Soma sort of interrupts so he doesn’t explicitly voice it. However, when his MC confesses how important he is to her with that unwavering conviction of hers, I believe in that moment he suddenly realises his own worth. His MC, who in some ways is a vicarious symbol of Kurume’s potential, helps him see that he has already been a “hero” to those he has saved through his Public Safety work and to his colleagues. This, combined with her trust in his colleagues and them actually coming to the rescue, is what makes Soma able to trust his colleagues. Because he finally knows his own worth, he can finally see how significant he is to his colleagues and how far they would go for him. I think this is also what makes him believe in Public Safety as an institution. For years, he’s been unable to trust or forgive Public Safety because of what happened to Kurume, but now he can finally see that they as an institution have actually helped people and saved people’s lives, and this is partially due to his own involvement.

Finally, the last facet of his relationship with his MC that I want to talk about is how mutually important their relationship is. I’ve already discussed how his MC sees him as a hero by those guidelines that Goto helped him set down, but by those same guidelines, his MC is also his hero. I mean first off, he first became conscious of her as a woman when she gave a ridiculous display of bravery. But more importantly, if a hero is someone who helps people without trying and someone who pushes you to face the future, she has done both of those for him. He says so himself: “With her, I think I can focus on the future and moving forward”. And she has helped him just by being herself. This theme really comes to a head when she literally throws away her own future to help him finally get closure. When he decides to cut his hair, he says this:

“I’ll make the cut, draw the distinction between the past and the future, because I love them both.

I have to let go of what I’ve lost and look to what I can still gain.”

He learns this because of her.

Soma: Who I Once Was is an incredible story that really helped me to understand my favourite character’s psyche, history and relationships just a little bit more. For that, I’m so thrilled and so grateful. I’m so pleased at the quality of this content and all the insight it provides, and I’m excited to see how Soma and his relationships continue to grow and develop in the future.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Share a Lair 16 || Thunderstruck Birthday Girl

This is basically just self indulgent Charlotte love showering. I generally write Charlotte as an April Taurus, because of when her birthday episode aired, so I figured this is around the time that I can just do a little cute, fun, show of love and stuff, and also give her a chance to get some nice things. It is mostly just filler, but does have at least one important piece of story and I’ll get back to the crucial parts with the next installment.

Charlotte liked a lowkey birthday. Usually, she had brunch and cake with her parents and spent it with the guys in the evening. This year, Max made a bunch of plans for her, and she was curious to see how well he would do with this, so she planned to have brunch with her parents and told the guys that she would touch base with them later in the night. At some point during making plans, the boys got competitive via casual conversation and so she was told that they were going to have a bake off and that as the birthday girl, she would be able to determine who baked the best cake. “So, you’re gonna have like four cakes?” Max asked.

“Knowing the guys, not a single one of the cakes that they plan on making will make it, whether due to calamity or them just eating all of the cake.” But, if there was cake, she was definitely having some of each.

After brunch, Max picked her up from the bistro, not really being that concerned that she wasn’t introducing him to her parents yet. He got a glimpse of them hugging her before leaving and they seemed extremely intimidating. He already didn’t like parents and hers were both successful in their own right and high maintenance from what he understood. Even the bistro that they were at was an exclusive place. Each guest had a personal server, and whenever the Pages came through, their Jamaican chef was given access to the kitchen to prepare their meals for special occasions. This morning, Charlotte had been presented with an authentic Jamaican breakfast and bottomless brunch drinks. Max couldn’t recall ever having had a brunch, much less one in an exclusive bistro, with a personal chef, personal server, and access to all of the bar.

Superhero life paid extremely well, but it was more of a trade off, since one’s body and health was on the line with each mission. Charlotte’s father was a physicist and spent more time working than he did at home. Her mother was a college chancellor and was home just as much as her husband, even though her job was only about an hour away. They tried to make up for the blank spaces with extravagant gifts and expensive celebrations, but Charlotte was simply always happy just to be able to see both of them at once for a little bit of time, even though half of it was generally spent with her having to update them on exactly how her educational career was going and have enough accolades and credentials to account for the time she couldn’t tell them about as a hero’s tech specialist. Learning that made Max understand her overachiever complex a little bit better, but he wanted the rest of her birthday to be as relaxing and rewarding as possible.

He took the scenic route back to the lair and she leaned her seat back and rested, watching everything and listening to a playlist that he made for her. He had several. One for when she goes to sleep, one for her workday, one for when she studied, etc. This one was one that he made for car trips with her. One of his favorite things about doing stuff for her was that she always noticed. The first time he’d made her a playlist, she’d said, “You had to have made this thing specifically for me, right?” He wanted to deny it, but noticed how excited that made her and confessed. It was an amazing feeling to do something for someone special and have them not only not take it for granted, but to really appreciate it. Max didn’t always receive that from his loved ones, but he usually did from Charlotte. He was confident that she was going to LOVE her birthday time with him.

She liked being around a lot of people less than he did. So, where he might be down for a party with his friends and loved ones, she was more like her family was over here for this amount of time, and her friends over there, for that amount of time. Everything and everybody had their time and place.

But, she told him not too long ago, “I never get tired of being around you though. It’s like… you’re practically a part of me.” She said it all casually, matter of factly. He couldn’t even hear her emotion in it, but he definitely started crying. Then there was this whole thing where she thought that maybe she said the wrong thing and tried to comfort him and apologize and explain better, “I’m not saying that you aren’t your own person or anything, just that like… my life is comfortable no matter how much of you is in it…” He had to compose himself to let her know that he was happy to hear it, not upset. He also apologized for crying, because damn… that couldn’t be sexy. Turns out, it was… as long as it’s warranted and not over every little thing! So, that was bonus scores for him.

.

Max made Henry “be scarce” from the lair for today, which was fine by him, because he had to “Serve these fools in the cakes department, anyway!” And Max just… Didn’t even WANT to know what that meant, but was relieved to later find out that it was about baking cakes and not the booty shaking contest that his brain automatically convinced him it would be. So, whenever Charlotte walked in and the place was set up like a spa, she gasped. “What’s happening?”

“You always want to grab a spa day, but you’ve cancelled like a dozen times because of work demands. So, I set up a home spa day for you… I did get funding from Dr. Page and Dr. Page, but they knew that you deserved it and since Henry asked, they just wired it to your birthday fund.”

“You and Henry got money from my parents for a birthday spa day for me?”

“I sent Henry to get money, yes. Is that alright?”

She covered her face, “That is SO SWEET! They could have eaten him alive. They’re very inquisitive people.”

“I sent him with an outline of all of the plans,” he said, with a shrug.

“You know me so well that you know how my parents are, even though I haven’t introduced you yet!” She was thunderstruck. He took her bags and handed her a robe and slippers…

After her spa treatment day, complete with Max playing guitar and singing her some songs during interludes while she waited for something to dry or settle, or whatever, she felt brand new. She hadn’t realized how stressed she’d been, even though Max does stuff for her whenever he can, she obviously had still been hella stressed out - probably because of Russia, graduation, Jasper and Henry, spa days being cancelled… But, she NEEDED this and Max giving her what she needed, right on time? She would miss that when he was gone. Now, she was sad for a moment.

“Time for gift presentation!” He said, distracting her from missing him before he was gone. She perked up, skin radiant, silky smooth curls popping, and her smile beaming. She was still in her robe and had her spa day swag bag next to her, which were packages of the products used today in her spa day treatment and also products from the spa that supplied the materials. “First of all, we have…” he spun his finger around and the kitchen island rotated to reveal where he had hidden all of her gifts, apparently (and she had forgotten that this lair had many secret areas, but he obviously hadn’t). He reached for a huge bag and beckoned it to her. “From the Hart household, warmth and comfort in the form of new silk sheets and pillowcases, plus fuzzy blankets and bamboo pillows!”

“YES!” She had been saying she needed these forever, but not getting around to ordering any because other stuff seemed more important everything she thought about it. She LIVED for luxury, though, she often talked herself out of it.

“From Henry, himself, an assortment of fine chocolates, a wine drinking accessories set, and a collection of gourmet cheeses.”

“Ooooh… He must’ve gone into his hero funds for this!” She said, pulling things out of Henry’s gift bag.

“He did!” Max cheered. “Jasper got you…” He gave her the bucket, wrapped kind of like an Easter basket, “A stationary pail.” There was something weird in his voice. He probably had asked Jasper to get something else and Jasper was having none of it.

She opened it to see a personal planner, a personalized pen and journal set, scented stickers, sticky pads, etc and she squealed. “He got them to match the scheme of my home office whenever I set up my new place after college!” Max furrowed his eyebrows and she explained, “You see, Max… You are very smart and pay attention to detail, but Jasper has known me for a really long time and sometimes has even the most menial of my lifestyle choices down pat.”

“Your work dads got you tickets to the Graduation Concert Festival,” he said, handing her an envelope and ignoring the declaration about Jasper. “My parents got you a kitchen set for your post graduation apartment… Well… actually, my Cousin Blobbin did, but it was my mom’s idea. Cookware and appliances!”

“That’s… nice!” She said. She had just realized that she hadn’t gotten anything for that, yet. Just an electric kettle, a spice rack, and whatever she was going to cop from her parents’ kitchen. This was a much better situation! She had a few more pretty great gifts that she appreciated, then they were down to the last few, which were all from Max. He sat down next to her and she set aside everything that she had and let him hold both of her hands, wondering why it got so serious all of a sudden.

“Charlotte… The past months that I’ve known you have been amazing to me. Even before we got together, just looking forward to experiencing and learning you everyday has been everything that I’ve ever wanted from another person. : Hesighed and looked at their hands, “I’m officially scheduled to go to Russia for three years.” His shoulders sank. “And I know that you plan to visit and that we plan to continue long distance, but that’s still so tentative for me and scary - the thought of you being tasked with waiting on me to come back. But…” He looked over at the counter and floated something to himself, “If you want, you can stay in my comeback home.” He handed her a set of keys with a SuperMax keychain attached to it. “I know that you’ve been looking for apartments and this is actually a house, but…”

“You are asking me to move in with you for 3 years from now?” She asked.

“No! I’m asking you to move in now and get comfortable and make it your own, then whenever I’m back… we can get used to living together again, and you’ll already be set.” Her eyes widened, “But, if you don’t want to, I understand! We haven’t even been together for a year and who knows how Russia will change us.” He pressed a button on the remote on her keys and a holographic image of the house projected from it, “But, if you want to, I’m welcoming you to.” It was an elevated house on top of pillars, a garden with stair rails on either side and a carport. “And you’ll have full access to my underground lab and lair.”

“This is a super cute house,” she said, in a tiny voice. “And a very sweet notion. I’ll… think about it…” Sensibly, she and Max had not been together long enough for this move, but also, their circumstances were special. They lived together already, basically, and their timeline was rushed for a number of reasons… But, just living with him alone, and actually moving in and keeping it while he was on tour was… a lot that she had to rationally comb through. He understood, and was grateful that she didn’t flat out say no and tell him that he was crazy for thinking she’d even want to.

“On a lighter note!” He changed the subject, “I present to you, some of my most inspired works of art…” He gave her a portfolio of several portraits that he had done of her, some very casual and cool, some extremely detailed and graphic, some as herself, some reimagined in other forms and styles. “They’re mostly from the pining days,” he said, bashfully. “But, I’m working on a big piece to hang in the comeback house.” She flipped through pages of her face, beautifully rendered and covered her heart.

“These are really good, Max.”

“I usually just draw project schematics and costumes, but I was having a phase where every time I tried, I had to draw you first, or I’d be distracted the whole time.

“I love it.”

“I figured that I did need to get you a REAL gift, though, so…” He reached for a jewelry box and opened it. It looked elegant, like fine jewelry - a set with a necklace, earrings, bracelet and a ring. “Shapeshifting jewelry!”

“I’m sorry, what kind?”

He put the ring onto his pinky, because it would not fit anywhere else and it lit up, then it reformed itself, unbuilding and then rebuilding to look like a skull and crossbones ring. She gasped. “It scans your body and gets a record of your outfit and accommodates it. Very fun technology to have.” He took it off and handed it back. She put it on her ring finger and once again, it reformed and became a cute, thin band with a tiny pink jewel.

“This is amazing! I’ve never seen it before.”

“Experimental tech being used for facial imagery reconstruction whenever supers get unmasked. I took the principles and put them in your jewelry!” He said, proud of himself. She was proud, too. She honestly had THEE BEST BOYFRIEND. “And, in case you felt like that was a little too much, or whatever, I have backup gifts of a simpler nature. There’s this coupon book of treats and services, yes several of them are sexual, because I made it and I can,” (she laughed) “There is this HUGE concentration candle, I mean… LOOK at this thing! Oh, and this.” He handed her some folded paper. “It’s a handwritten love letter, basically me being kind of a loser and telling you all of my feelings, but on paper, like a madman…”

“Yes,” she said, snatching it.

“Yes, I’m a madman?”

“No… Well… yes, but… yes, I’ll move into your comeback home after college graduation.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

“To clarify… Was it the letter?”

“It was the… Max. You’re perfect, Dude. I just…” she shrugged and rested her head on him.

.

Whenever Charlotte made her way to the Man Cave, she heard the hijinks as soon as she stepped off of the elevator, and what she saw was four grown men and a young girl all fussing and covered in cake. “Did any of you save any cake?” She called from the elevator. They didn’t stop fussing or even seem to hear or notice her, so she looked around and saw a plate wrapped in saran wrap with assorted slices of cake, “I’m gonna presume that this is mine and leave with it if nobody notices that I’m here!” she called out. They were still fussing at each other and then Ray slapped Jasper in the face with a glob of icing, to which, Jasper growled and charged him and Schwoz, Henry and Piper, began to try to break it up, but all that could be seen was cake and icing flying everywhere. Charlotte left and whenever she did, she heard as the elevator door was closing, “Did any of you hear Charlotte’s voice?”

“Nice try, Henry! You don’t get away from this that easily!” Piper screamed.

“I honestly don’t want to know,” Charlotte told herself. But, she honestly did, too.

Shortly before Midnight, whenever she came back, everything was cleaned up and she announced, “Bringing back the plate!”

“SURPRISE!” Everyone jumped out and screamed, making her scream and drop the plate which shattered on the floor.

They ignored it and began to sing the happy birthday song to her, gathered around a cake platter that Schwoz was holding, only it had an amorphous cake on it, and could hardly hold the candles. It looked like a disaster from a cartoon. She blew out the candles and looked at them, suspiciously, “So, is this the only cake? What happened to the bake off?”

“Bake off?” Ray repeated. “We don’t have to prove that any of us are any better than the others. Besides, it’s YOUR birthday! Today was about you.”

“Did you all fight the entire time, have a huge cake fight, then gather up which pieces of cake that you could and cover it in icing to present as my birthday cake?” Everyone’s face showed that they were caught! That was EXACTLY what had happened. But Ray scoffed and said, “No! And quite frankly Charlotte, it is insulting that you would accuse us of such…”

“I saw you earlier. I took that plate of cake,” she pointed to the broken plate on the floor.

Henry began to fuss about how HE KNEW he’d heard her voice earlier, while Ray was fussing about the broken plate and Jasper was asking which cake was the best. Upon hearing that question, they all became more interested in that, “Yeah, which one? Which? Huh? Bet it was mine…”

“Ummm… they were all actually delicious, but I preferred the lemon one…”

“YES!” Jasper cheered and began to gloat in everybody’s face. “Max liked the chocolate one that tasted like a 5 year old just threw all their favorite things into a cake.”

“I TOLD ALL OF YOU THAT I AM THE CAKE COMMANDO!” Ray yelled. She figured that was his, because it was just a bunch of different chocolate things in a cake - chocolate cookie crumbles, chocolate chips, chocolate candy - she felt sick after one bite of that.

“Yeah, well, he’s probably gonna order one for his dad’s birthday.”

“Thunder Man? He’s still alive?” Ray asked.

Piper asked, “So… you didn’t like the pineapple right side up cake?”

“I did.”

“The chocolate covered strawberry cake was a delicious masterpiece!” Henry fussed.

“It was.”

Schwoz offered, “I think that you may have misjudged the dreamsicle and pickle cake.”

“I did not misjudge it, because I didn’t know what it was and refused to try it. Max said that he didn’t know how it worked, but it somehow did.”

SHe held out her hands, “I enjoyed everybody’s cake…” She pointed at Schwoz,’ “Except for yours.”

“Awwww,” he said, crestfallen.

“But, Jasper asked which one I thought was best and…”

“And she said it without much of a thought that she preferred the lemon icebox layered sponge cake with whipped white chocolate cream cheese icing. TOLD. YOU. GUYS!” He fist bumped her and she just laughed a little bit.

Henry commented, “I got beat with an egg beater for nothing.

“Not for nothing!” Charlotte said. “I completely want that chocolate covered strawberries cake programmed into the auto snacker for my next monthly.”

“My dreamsicle and pickle cake was the only one that used organic ingredients,” Schwoz pouted.

“I will NEVER try it. You won’t EVER tell me anything to make me try a Dreamsicle and pickle cake, Schwoz!” Charlotte said.

Jasper said, “Well… I’m gonna have some of this birthday cake,” and grabbed a plate and the cake cutter.

“Cut me a piece, too!” Henry asked. They all sat down and had a plate with fallen pieces of their various cakes on it and turned on a movie to watch.

“This was actually my best birthday in a while,” Charlotte noted. She didn’t need to go into detail about Max and how perfect he was. Her friends were all happy and full of cake and even that, in it’s own way, was equally as perfect.

[neshabeingchildish]

Thunderstruck Birthday Girl

This is basically just self indulgent Charlotte love showering. I generally write Charlotte as an April Taurus, because of when her birthday episode aired, so I figured this is around the time that I can just do a little cute, fun, show of love and stuff, and also give her a chance to get some nice things. It is mostly just filler, but does have at least one important piece of story and I’ll get back to the crucial parts with the next installment. Tagging, so I don’t get fussed at lol @kiddangers @adorkable-blackgirl @chenoahchantel @famousflowermagazine I THINK that’s it? Sorry if there was someone else.

Share-a-Lair 16

Charlotte liked a lowkey birthday. Usually, she had brunch and cake with her parents and spent it with the guys in the evening. This year, Max made a bunch of plans for her, and she was curious to see how well he would do with this, so she planned to have brunch with her parents and told the guys that she would touch base with them later in the night. At some point during making plans, the boys got competitive via casual conversation and so she was told that they were going to have a bake off and that as the birthday girl, she would be able to determine who baked the best cake. “So, you’re gonna have like four cakes?” Max asked.

“Knowing the guys, not a single one of the cakes that they plan on making will make it, whether due to calamity or them just eating all of the cake.” But, if there was cake, she was definitely having some of each. 

After brunch, Max picked her up from the bistro, not really being that concerned that she wasn’t introducing him to her parents yet. He got a glimpse of them hugging her before leaving and they seemed extremely intimidating. He already didn’t like parents and hers were both successful in their own right and high maintenance from what he understood. Even the bistro that they were at was an exclusive place. Each guest had a personal server, and whenever the Pages came through, their Jamaican chef was given access to the kitchen to prepare their meals for special occasions. This morning, Charlotte had been presented with an authentic Jamaican breakfast and bottomless brunch drinks. Max couldn’t recall ever having had a brunch, much less one in an exclusive bistro, with a personal chef, personal server, and access to all of the bar. 

Superhero life paid extremely well, but it was more of a trade off, since one’s body and health was on the line with each mission. Charlotte’s father was a physicist and spent more time working than he did at home. Her mother was a college chancellor and was home just as much as her husband, even though her job was only about an hour away. They tried to make up for the blank spaces with extravagant gifts and expensive celebrations, but Charlotte was simply always happy just to be able to see both of them at once for a little bit of time, even though half of it was generally spent with her having to update them on exactly how her educational career was going and have enough accolades and credentials to account for the time she couldn’t tell them about as a hero’s tech specialist. Learning that made Max understand her overachiever complex a little bit better, but he wanted the rest of her birthday to be as relaxing and rewarding as possible.

He took the scenic route back to the lair and she leaned her seat back and rested, watching everything and listening to a playlist that he made for her. He had several. One for when she goes to sleep, one for her workday, one for when she studied, etc. This one was one that he made for car trips with her. One of his favorite things about doing stuff for her was that she always noticed. The first time he’d made her a playlist, she’d said, “You had to have made this thing specifically for me, right?” He wanted to deny it, but noticed how excited that made her and confessed. It was an amazing feeling to do something for someone special and have them not only not take it for granted, but to really appreciate it. Max didn’t always receive that from his loved ones, but he usually did from Charlotte. He was confident that she was going to LOVE her birthday time with him.

She liked being around a lot of people less than he did. So, where he might be down for a party with his friends and loved ones, she was more like her family was over here for this amount of time, and her friends over there, for that amount of time. Everything and everybody had their time and place. 

But, she told him not too long ago, “I never get tired of being around you though. It’s like… you’re practically a part of me.” She said it all casually, matter of factly. He couldn’t even hear her emotion in it, but he definitely started crying. Then there was this whole thing where she thought that maybe she said the wrong thing and tried to comfort him and apologize and explain better, “I’m not saying that you aren’t your own person or anything, just that like… my life is comfortable no matter how much of you is in it…” He had to compose himself to let her know that he was happy to hear it, not upset. He also apologized for crying, because damn… that couldn’t be sexy. Turns out, it was… as long as it’s warranted and not over every little thing! So, that was bonus scores for him.

.

Max made Henry “be scarce” from the lair for today, which was fine by him, because he had to “Serve these fools in the cakes department, anyway!” And Max just… Didn’t even WANT to know what that meant, but was relieved to later find out that it was about baking cakes and not the booty shaking contest that his brain automatically convinced him it would be. So, whenever Charlotte walked in and the place was set up like a spa, she gasped. “What’s happening?”

“You always want to grab a spa day, but you’ve cancelled like a dozen times because of work demands. So, I set up a home spa day for you… I did get funding from Dr. Page and Dr. Page, but they knew that you deserved it and since Henry asked, they just wired it to your birthday fund.”

“You and Henry got money from my parents for a birthday spa day for me?”

“I sent Henry to get money, yes. Is that alright?”

She covered her face, “That is SO SWEET! They could have eaten him alive. They’re very inquisitive people.”

“I sent him with an outline of all of the plans,” he said, with a shrug.

“You know me so well that you know how my parents are, even though I haven’t introduced you yet!” She was thunderstruck. He took her bags and handed her a robe and slippers…

After her spa treatment day, complete with Max playing guitar and singing her some songs during interludes while she waited for something to dry or settle, or whatever, she felt brand new. She hadn’t realized how stressed she’d been, even though Max does stuff for her whenever he can, she obviously had still been hella stressed out - probably because of Russia, graduation, Jasper and Henry, spa days being cancelled… But, she NEEDED this and Max giving her what she needed, right on time? She would miss that when he was gone. Now, she was sad for a moment.

“Time for gift presentation!” He said, distracting her from missing him before he was gone. She perked up, skin radiant, silky smooth curls popping, and her smile beaming. She was still in her robe and had her spa day swag bag next to her, which were packages of the products used today in her spa day treatment and also products from the spa that supplied the materials. “First of all, we have…” he spun his finger around and the kitchen island rotated to reveal where he had hidden all of her gifts, apparently (and she had forgotten that this lair had many secret areas, but he obviously hadn’t). He reached for a huge bag and beckoned it to her. “From the Hart household, warmth and comfort in the form of new silk sheets and pillowcases, plus fuzzy blankets and bamboo pillows!” 

“YES!” She had been saying she needed these forever, but not getting around to ordering any because other stuff seemed more important everything she thought about it. She LIVED for luxury, though, she often talked herself out of it. 

“From Henry, himself, an assortment of fine chocolates, a wine drinking accessories set, and a collection of gourmet cheeses.”

“Ooooh… He must’ve gone into his hero funds for this!” She said, pulling things out of Henry’s gift bag.

“He did!” Max cheered. “Jasper got you…” He gave her the bucket, wrapped kind of like an Easter basket, “A stationary pail.” There was something weird in his voice. He probably had asked Jasper to get something else and Jasper was having none of it. 

She opened it to see a personal planner, a personalized pen and journal set, scented stickers, sticky pads, etc and she squealed. “He got them to match the scheme of my home office whenever I set up my new place after college!” Max furrowed his eyebrows and she explained, “You see, Max… You are very smart and pay attention to detail, but Jasper has known me for a really long time and sometimes has even the most menial of my lifestyle choices down pat.”

“Your work dads got you tickets to the Graduation Concert Festival,” he said, handing her an envelope and ignoring the declaration about Jasper. “My parents got you a kitchen set for your post graduation apartment… Well… actually, my Cousin Blobbin did, but it was my mom’s idea. Cookware and appliances!” 

“That’s… nice!” She said. She had just realized that she hadn’t gotten anything for that, yet. Just an electric kettle, a spice rack, and whatever she was going to cop from her parents’ kitchen. This was a much better situation! She had a few more pretty great gifts that she appreciated, then they were down to the last few, which were all from Max. He sat down next to her and she set aside everything that she had and let him hold both of her hands, wondering why it got so serious all of a sudden.

“Charlotte… The past months that I’ve known you have been amazing to me. Even before we got together, just looking forward to experiencing and learning you everyday has been everything that I’ve ever wanted from another person. : Hesighed and looked at their hands, “I’m officially scheduled to go to Russia for three years.” His shoulders sank. “And I know that you plan to visit and that we plan to continue long distance, but that’s still so tentative for me and scary - the thought of you being tasked with waiting on me to come back. But…” He looked over at the counter and floated something to himself, “If you want, you can stay in my comeback home.” He handed her a set of keys with a SuperMax keychain attached to it. “I know that you’ve been looking for apartments and this is actually a house, but…”

“You are asking me to move in with you for 3 years from now?” She asked.

“No! I’m asking you to move in now and get comfortable and make it your own, then whenever I’m back… we can get used to living together again, and you’ll already be set.” Her eyes widened, “But, if you don’t want to, I understand! We haven’t even been together for a year and who knows how Russia will change us.” He pressed a button on the remote on her keys and a holographic image of the house projected from it, “But, if you want to, I’m welcoming you to.” It was an elevated house on top of pillars, a garden with stair rails on either side and a carport. “And you’ll have full access to my underground lab and lair.” 

“This is a super cute house,” she said, in a tiny voice. “And a very sweet notion. I’ll… think about it…” Sensibly, she and Max had not been together long enough for this move, but also, their circumstances were special. They lived together already, basically, and their timeline was rushed for a number of reasons… But, just living with him alone, and actually moving in and keeping it while he was on tour was… a lot that she had to rationally comb through. He understood, and was grateful that she didn’t flat out say no and tell him that he was crazy for thinking she’d even want to.

“On a lighter note!” He changed the subject, “I present to you, some of my most inspired works of art…” He gave her a portfolio of several portraits that he had done of her, some very casual and cool, some extremely detailed and graphic, some as herself, some reimagined in other forms and styles. “They’re mostly from the pining days,” he said, bashfully. “But, I’m working on a big piece to hang in the comeback house.” She flipped through pages of her face, beautifully rendered and covered her heart.

“These are really good, Max.”

“I usually just draw project schematics and costumes, but I was having a phase where every time I tried, I had to draw you first, or I’d be distracted the whole time.

“I love it.”

“I figured that I did need to get you a REAL gift, though, so…” He reached for a jewelry box and opened it. It looked elegant, like fine jewelry - a set with a necklace, earrings, bracelet and a ring. “Shapeshifting jewelry!” 

“I’m sorry, what kind?”

He put the ring onto his pinky, because it would not fit anywhere else and it lit up, then it reformed itself, unbuilding and then rebuilding to look like a skull and crossbones ring. She gasped. “It scans your body and gets a record of your outfit and accommodates it. Very fun technology to have.” He took it off and handed it back. She put it on her ring finger and once again, it reformed and became a cute, thin band with a tiny pink jewel. 

“This is amazing! I’ve never seen it before.”

“Experimental tech being used for facial imagery reconstruction whenever supers get unmasked. I took the principles and put them in your jewelry!” He said, proud of himself. She was proud, too. She honestly had THEE BEST BOYFRIEND. “And, in case you felt like that was a little too much, or whatever, I have backup gifts of a simpler nature. There’s this coupon book of treats and services, yes several of them are sexual, because I made it and I can,” (she laughed) “There is this HUGE concentration candle, I mean… LOOK at this thing! Oh, and this.” He handed her some folded paper. “It’s a handwritten love letter, basically me being kind of a loser and telling you all of my feelings, but on paper, like a madman…” 

“Yes,” she said, snatching it.

“Yes, I’m a madman?”

“No… Well… yes, but… yes, I’ll move into your comeback home after college graduation.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. 

“To clarify… Was it the letter?”

“It was the... Max. You’re perfect, Dude. I just…” she shrugged and rested her head on him. 

.

Whenever Charlotte made her way to the Man Cave, she heard the hijinks as soon as she stepped off of the elevator, and what she saw was four grown men and a young girl all fussing and covered in cake. “Did any of you save any cake?” She called from the elevator. They didn’t stop fussing or even seem to hear or notice her, so she looked around and saw a plate wrapped in saran wrap with assorted slices of cake, “I’m gonna presume that this is mine and leave with it if nobody notices that I’m here!” she called out. They were still fussing at each other and then Ray slapped Jasper in the face with a glob of icing, to which, Jasper growled and charged him and Schwoz, Henry and Piper, began to try to break it up, but all that could be seen was cake and icing flying everywhere. Charlotte left and whenever she did, she heard as the elevator door was closing, “Did any of you hear Charlotte’s voice?”

“Nice try, Henry! You don’t get away from this that easily!” Piper screamed. 

“I honestly don’t want to know,” Charlotte told herself. But, she honestly did, too.

Shortly before Midnight, whenever she came back, everything was cleaned up and she announced, “Bringing back the plate!” 

“SURPRISE!” Everyone jumped out and screamed, making her scream and drop the plate which shattered on the floor. 

They ignored it and began to sing the happy birthday song to her, gathered around a cake platter that Schwoz was holding, only it had an amorphous cake on it, and could hardly hold the candles. It looked like a disaster from a cartoon. She blew out the candles and looked at them, suspiciously, “So, is this the only cake? What happened to the bake off?”

“Bake off?” Ray repeated. “We don’t have to prove that any of us are any better than the others. Besides, it’s YOUR birthday! Today was about you.”

“Did you all fight the entire time, have a huge cake fight, then gather up which pieces of cake that you could and cover it in icing to present as my birthday cake?” Everyone’s face showed that they were caught! That was EXACTLY what had happened. But Ray scoffed and said, “No! And quite frankly Charlotte, it is insulting that you would accuse us of such…”

“I saw you earlier. I took that plate of cake,” she pointed to the broken plate on the floor.

Henry began to fuss about how HE KNEW he’d heard her voice earlier, while Ray was fussing about the broken plate and Jasper was asking which cake was the best. Upon hearing that question, they all became more interested in that, “Yeah, which one? Which? Huh? Bet it was mine…” 

“Ummm… they were all actually delicious, but I preferred the lemon one…”

“YES!” Jasper cheered and began to gloat in everybody’s face. “Max liked the chocolate one that tasted like a 5 year old just threw all their favorite things into a cake.”

“I TOLD ALL OF YOU THAT I AM THE CAKE COMMANDO!” Ray yelled. She figured that was his, because it was just a bunch of different chocolate things in a cake - chocolate cookie crumbles, chocolate chips, chocolate candy - she felt sick after one bite of that.

“Yeah, well, he’s probably gonna order one for his dad’s birthday.”

“Thunder Man? He’s still alive?” Ray asked. 

Piper asked, “So… you didn’t like the pineapple right side up cake?”

“I did.”

“The chocolate covered strawberry cake was a delicious masterpiece!” Henry fussed.

“It was.”

Schwoz offered, “I think that you may have misjudged the dreamsicle and pickle cake.”

“I did not misjudge it, because I didn’t know what it was and refused to try it. Max said that he didn’t know how it worked, but it somehow did.”

SHe held out her hands, “I enjoyed everybody’s cake…” She pointed at Schwoz,’ “Except for yours.”

“Awwww,” he said, crestfallen.

“But, Jasper asked which one I thought was best and…”

“And she said it without much of a thought that she preferred the lemon icebox layered sponge cake with whipped white chocolate cream cheese icing. TOLD. YOU. GUYS!” He fist bumped her and she just laughed a little bit.

Henry commented, “I got beat with an egg beater for nothing.

“Not for nothing!” Charlotte said. “I completely want that chocolate covered strawberries cake programmed into the auto snacker for my next monthly.” 

“My dreamsicle and pickle cake was the only one that used organic ingredients,” Schwoz pouted.

“I will NEVER try it. You won’t EVER tell me anything to make me try a Dreamsicle and pickle cake, Schwoz!” Charlotte said. 

Jasper said, “Well… I’m gonna have some of this birthday cake,” and grabbed a plate and the cake cutter. 

“Cut me a piece, too!” Henry asked. They all sat down and had a plate with fallen pieces of their various cakes on it and turned on a movie to watch. 

“This was actually my best birthday in a while,” Charlotte noted. She didn’t need to go into detail about Max and how perfect he was. Her friends were all happy and full of cake and even that, in it’s own way, was equally as perfect.

[goodlucktai]

4+28 for Klance maybe? Bonus points if 28 is used as a pick up line!

two-part drabble game4: at a bar+ 28: “if i kissed you right now, what would you do?” 

x

“Seriously, dude,” Hunk says, lifting his drink in a solemn toast. “Legend.”

“I am what I am,” Lance says humbly. 

After close to three years in space, Lance has become the Alteans’ unofficial favorite Paladin. Allura would never say as much, but Coran would, and has, and the collective reaction from the rest of them could be summed up as “yeah that’s fair.” 

So when Keith’s twenty-first birthday began to creep closer, Lance wielded that favoritism like a blade, and somehow – and Pidge is very, very sorry they missed that conversation – managed to convince Allura that it was a crucial (”no, integral!”) coming-of-age ritual on Earth to go out in public and get unapologetically smashed with your friends.

Shiro looked so unimpressed with the rest of them when Allura docked at the nearest inhabited planet that Pidge couldn’t keep the stupid grin off their face. 

Trying to change Lance’s mind once he’s dug in his heels about something is an exercise in frustration and futility. Trying to change his mind once he’s dug in his heels about something for Keith is even worse. 

“You didn’t have to do this,” Keith says at that point. He still looks a little overwhelmed, like the idea that his friends would go to all this trouble is a foreign concept. Three drinks in, and he’s starting to loosen up a little, enough to say, “But it’s – thank you.” 

Pidge busies themself with ordering another Coke – or what they’re calling Coke, anyway – from a passing waiter, so they won’t have to look at the sappy expression Lance is wearing.

Keith is better now than he was when they first fell into this war together. Sure of himself, of where he stands with the rest of them – less a wild, wounded creature biting at helping hands, and more a young man with healing scars and the strength to smile past them most days.

And just how much of that has to do with Lance, Pidge isn’t sure they can say for certain. They’ve been close ever since Keith returned from his stint with the Blade, training together and staying up on the observation deck after the rest of them went to bed. Maybe they’ve been close even before that, when Keith was struggling to find his feet as the Black Paladin and Lance was there for him to lean on.   

“Aw, buddy,” Hunk says, reaching across the table to squeeze his shoulder. “What’s the point of having three best friends if they don’t take you out for your birthday?”

Keith grins, a little shy, mostly pleased, and that’s about when Lance says, “Okay, next order of business: drinking games.” 

“Are you kidding?” 

“Pigeon, we’re doing this right,” Lance says with haughty importance. “We’re doing everything. For science.”

Struggling to keep a straight face, Pidge says, “Explain.”

“Gladly.” Spreading his hands, Lance says, “This is going to be our baseline, okay? Keith is our guinea pig. By the time Hunk’s birthday rolls around, we’re going to be a streamlined machine. We’re going to be masters of the craft.” 

“And by the time your birthday rolls around after that?” Keith puts in, raising an eyebrow.

“By that time, samurai, I’ll feel secure in leaving the reins in your capable hands,” Lance says, with one of those courtly bows they all had to learn for diplomatic parties. Then he looks up, goofy grin firmly in place, and says, “So drinking games.”

“I’m not drunk enough for that yet,” Hunk says quickly. “And you’re not even buzzed, dude, where are you putting all this?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re older. Okay, Red, it’s all you. What game should we start with?”

Keith flounders for a moment, out of his depth. Then he says, “Truth or Dare?” in the manner of someone who has no idea what he’s suggesting, and Pidge chokes on their space Coke. 

“I mean,” Hunk says, “I guess that counts?”

“What the birthday boy says goes,” Lance concedes, and maybe he’s trying to sound long-suffering but it doesn’t come across as anything other than fond. “We’re not allowed to cause a ruckus, though – on strict pain of being barred similar shenanigans in the future – so we’d better make it Truth or Truth. And since baby Pidge can’t drink, we’ll let them go first.” 

“Heck you,” they say without heat. “Hunk, truth or truth.”

“That’s gonna get redundant really fast,” the engineer says. “Truth.”

“What’s your actual favorite movie? And don’t say The Princess Bride just because Lance thinks you love it as much as he does.” 

“Wow. Uh, okay – it’s The Neverending Story. Sorry, Lance.”

“I thought I knew you!” 

It continues in that vein for – longer than Pidge would have guessed at the beginning of the night. The older Paladins drink, but not enough to get ‘unapologetically smashed’ and the viscous purple liquid looks more like juice than hard liquor anyway. It’s tame, and it’s fun, and they sit there around a table and swap truths and tell stories, and it’s the most like normal Pidge has felt since they were fourteen. 

When Lance’s communicator pings, he sighs without checking it and says, “That’s our cue. One more truth before we leave – how about it, Keith?”

Keith’s face is faintly pink from too many cups of the sweet drink, his eyes deep and dark, and he looks at Lance the way he’s looked at him since they were nineteen years old. 

“Blue,” he says, a nickname Pidge has only heard in passing.

Lance grins. “Go for it.”

“If I kissed you right now,” the Red Paladin says, with measured daring, “what would you do?”

Lance’s expression shifts into one of surprise, but honestly, he’s the only one. Pidge isn’t shocked. Neither is Hunk, hiding a grin behind the rim of his glass. Lance and Keith have been dancing around the idea for ages, gravitating closer and closer, until the next step either of them took would have to be this one. 

Keith is open-faced and fearless, so far removed from the vicious lost boy he used to be, waiting for Lance’s reaction without fear of losing him, or being laughed at, or getting hurt. 

It’s his birthday and he’s with his friends and he’s in love. This is just – where they are. 

And Lance’s surprise melts into something sweet, something wondering, something pleased. He grins, and props his elbows on the table, and says, “The game’s called Truth, cowboy, not State the Obvious. On what planet in this universe would I not kiss you right back?”

And Keith may be a lot of things, but he’s still Keith. So when he all but lunges across the table to get his hands on the Blue Paladin, and tips over cups and plates to make a big mess and a bunch of noise as he goes, and embarrasses the quiznak out of Hunk and Pidge and the other nearby patrons at the bar who have a full view of the romantic scene suddenly happening in the middle of the room, that’s not surprising, either. 

Annoying, maybe – but it’s his birthday, and he’s laughing, and Lance is laughing, too. So just this once, Pidge gives them a pass. 

[writing-vld]

Hunk x Reader: Needed a Hug

Summary: You are the most anti-social teen the paladins had ever met, and you hated physical contact with a passion. No one knew why, and no one asked. Despite those two crucial aspects about you. Hunk fell head over heels for you within hours of knowing you. One day, Lance convinces him to hug you out of the blue. Hunk thought it was a horrible idea; you hated hugs! But little did Hunk know that you were in desperate need of comfort and affection.

Word Count: 1347

Warnings: Death mention, this fluff with rot the hell out of your teeth.

Written by: Ren

A/n: I was inspired by these Hunk Hugs HCs to write this; the HCs belong to @paladinfeathers ! I would also like to dedicate this fic to @loverbug1123 : I hope things work out and I hope you feel better, boo!

You stared at the family picture you slipped into your pocket watch long ago. The constant ticking of the second hand didn’t bother you whatsoever; if anything, it brought comfort. But not the kind you needed anymore.

’Hugo (L/n)’

Your father’s name engraved on the back started a lump in your throat. You shouldn’t have this. It should be in his pocket, going wherever your father went with every step he took. Not in yours.

The small picture inside shouldn’t needed to be taped back together. Its edges shouldn’t be singed and tattered. The golden watch shouldn’t be dented and the shine should be brighter. Cars shouldn’t bend and burn like yours did. People shouldn’t leave the bar after drinking too much like she did. You shouldn’t be in space with no one to go home to like you were.

To everyone else, it looked like you were simply working on your watch and other doohickeys at your workstation. But you were actually sitting there with tears in your eyes as you remembered what it was like to be loved by your brother, kissed on the cheek by your mother, and hugged like your father. Your team didn’t know much about you; just that you didn’t like being touched, talking wasn’t your favorite sport, and that you truly wanted to be here. At least you had that going.

“Just hug her, Hunk!” Lance hissed and he peered around the corner. “Just walk up behind her and wrap your arms around her. If she likes it, she’ll cuddle. If she doesn’t-”

“Then she’ll beat the crap out of me and will never want to talk to me again.” Hunk argued against it each time Lance came up with a new argument. “Lance, I am positive that this is a bad idea. We’re trying to get her to like me, not despise my existence.” He liked you a lot, but there was literally no way for any of them to tell if you felt the same way. Or if you felt anything at all, on occasion.

Lance groaned/sighed and he was clearly grumbling. “You know what, think of it like this. You see how (Y/n)’s slouched in her seat? She could be sad. And she’s sitting alone, with no one to talk to. Now I think it is a great idea for you to go be her hero and make her feel better with one of those hugs of yours.” It was his best argument so far. And it was probably all he had left in him before he resorted to the completely unethical reasons. 

That struck something in Hunk. It was stereotypical and he knew it. But just thinking of your being sad and alone made him want to run to you and make your troubles go away, but he came to his senses before that could happen.

“But what if she isn’t sad? What if she doesn’t like me-”

“You’re a nice guy, Hunk. You need a girlfriend, she needs a friend and a love interest. It’s good both ways!”

Hunk was so conflicted. He could see and understand what Lance was saying and he definitely wanted to hug you, but he was also concerned about what you were and weren’t comfortable with.

“I swear to God, Hunk, just go!” Lance got so impatient to the point where he shoved him in your direction.

Hunk turned around to snap at him, but Lance’s scowl was enough to stop him in his tracks. Your attention was completely on the beaten-up pocket watch on the table in front of you, but all Hunk could see was you.

He stared at you with slowly-growing heart eyes. It was like you two were the only ones in the universe. You were his everything and you had no clue. If you glanced at him in that moment, it would all be so obvious and clear. But you were too absorbed in the memories that haunted your heart and mind behind your beautiful (e/c) eyes.

This is such a stupid idea.

Hunk walked forward slowly and quietly as he cringed with each step. He was certain that he was going to die from an injury, embarrassment, and your eternal hatred. 

She’s going to hate me... Here goes nothing...

It felt like your world exploded when a pair of arms gently wrapped around your midsection. You looked down at those arms and you realized they were Hunk’s arms, but that wasn’t what you honed it on. You were being hugged.

Hunk was more nervous than when he first faced the Galra. “You looked a little sad, so I thought y-you would want a hug...?” His voice trembled but it held sincerity. He thought he was wrong, but he was so awfully right.

It had been so long. Granted, you attacked Lance when he first tried it, but you were vulnerable now. You were in need. You forgot what receiving affection was like and you now had a reminder.

You both stood as frozen as ice, and just as he started to relax upon realizing your lack of aggression, you started to squirm. Hunk was terrified, until you turned around and... hugged him back!?

This was shocking to Hunk and Lance. 

This has to be fake, there is no way (Y/n) is hugging me.

And then his heart broke when he heard you sniffle. It turns out you actually were sad and upset. He calmed down immediately and gave you a real hug no one else but Hunk could give. His hugs were special and unique, and this was just the beginning for you.

You buried your head in Hunk’s chest and you started to cry. You weren’t crying alone anymore. Someone was finally there for you. For the first time in a while, you felt safe in someone’s arms. You felt loved and cared for.

And that’s what Hunk did; loved and cared for you. "What’s wrong, (Y/n)?” He asked quietly, not caring that you were still latched on to him. He wasn’t surprised; it was obvious that you were very touch starved.

You just shook your head and sobbed. You weren’t ready to tell him yet. A part of you wanted to, and told you that it was okay to trust him and you believed that fully, but you refused to spill everything about you all at once. 

Hunk respected that fully. There was no way in hell that he was going to push you until you told him. He wanted you to do it on your own time, not by force. If anyone dared to pry, he made it his mission to punt them away from you.

“It’s okay. I’m here, (Y/n), I always am.”

Those words resonated deep within you. You gave him a jumbled form of gratitude and you just stood there, reveling in the warm and comforting embrace. Oh how you missed this. 

He didn’t protest as your tears dampened his shirt; it could be washed easily. His shirt be damned, you were more important than a replaceable piece of clothing. A smile from you was a sight he only saw once, but he vowed to get you to smile again.

“I forgot what hugs were like...” You whimpered against him, finding comfort in his heartbeat. “I needed one.”

Hunk was startled by your voice (you didn’t talk much at all) but he didn’t miss a beat. “I’ll always give you one. Just come to me and I’ll have one ready for you in seconds, free of charge.”

Your giggle was pure music to his ears. Hunk always dreamed of holding you in his arms. You always dreamed of being held again.

And to think that a relationship that would be brighter than the brightest star all started with a simple hug. 

BONUS: ”Did that jus- no way! That is so not fair!” Lance wailed as he trudged down the hallway to give you two some time alone. “I get a broken nose, a busted lip, and a black eye. And he gets a hug back!? What kind of-”

I hope this was okay! I finished this at 3:22 AM, so I have no idea what the quality of the ending is. I hope this meets some damn good standards and I hope this makes you feel better, Jenny!

- Ren

[suzu-kun22]

My Top 10 Favorite Video Games

This is basically gonna be the same as my ranking of the V3 characters. I’m going to list my top 10 favorite video games and then write a small paragraph on why I love them so much. 

Spoilers for the games mentioned.

10. Pokémon: Alpha Sapphire

The characters of Alpha Sapphire are very fun to hang out with and very endearing (since I chose the female protagonist, I found Brendan particularly likable). Plus its endgame content is some of the best of any Pokémon game I’ve played to completion. The Delta episode is just incredibly fun and rewarding to complete, and it ends with a very nice ship moment for my biggest ship in the game. It was nice to revisit a region I love so much with such beautiful graphics and likable characters.

9. Minecraft: Story Mode

I honestly don’t know why I like this game so much. I know it’s dumb and that most of the choices don’t really change the story that much, but I find the characters so endearing and the story so weirdly compelling that I’m willing to ignore most of that and just enjoy the game for what it is. And what it is is a fun ride with really likable characters who actually have well crafted and well-explored dynamics. A lot of it feels like watching a TV show where I have some input, and that isn’t a bad thing.

8. Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

Most of the first three games on this list’s appeal chalks up to characters for me. However, THH has the added bonus of an intriguing plot and satisfying twists sprinkled on top. The characters all have standout personalities and designs as well as phenomenally developed dynamics and personal histories. The twists are mostly unexpected, and you can tell that a lot of love went into crafting it, even if the actual art is probably the worst of the series.

7. Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls

The main thing that pulls UDG ahead of THH is the fact that I prefer UDG’s protagonist. Komaru is just more relatable for me and her dynamic with Toko is utterly adorable. I always found that Toko never got enough focus in the main game and this game remedied that with ease. Yuta Asahina was also an added bonus, even if he only lasted about five minutes. The only reason this game isn’t higher is that the 3D graphics can look really awkward some(all)times.

6. Doki Doki Literature Club

The Gakkougurashi of video games. Need I say more? Yes? Even with its fake-out cuteness and actually evil characters, the game still manages to get you to love them and become invested in their fates. Of course, the darker second act of the game wouldn’t work so well without the relationship you build with the characters early on. It also wouldn’t work without the game’s amazing art and unsettling music. A game that is almost perfectly designed on both a technical level and a story-level.

5. Pokémon Black Version

I must admit that this one is mostly here because of nostalgia. It was the first Pokémon game I ever completed (and I think the first video game I ever completed) and thus will always have a special place in my heart. The Gym Leaders are cool and interesting, the Pokémon are cute, and the endgame content is on par with that of Alpha Sapphire (A whole other side of the map to explore and battle through!! That’s pretty awesome!!). There’s even a cameo from my favorite champion (Cynthia my girl!!)! For a 2D Pokémon game, you can’t get much better than this.

4. Pokémon X

This is my favorite Pokémon game. The difficulty level is just right. The characters are fun and vibrant, and the world itself is laid out in a very cool way. The Pokémon themselves are all cool and cute, and the endgame content (while not as good as Alpha Sapphire or Black Version), is pretty cool. Working with Looker to get rid of crime in Lumoise city was really fun, and all the restaurants and other areas that become available once you beat the champion are interesting to explore. A truly well-designed and fun-to-play Pokémon game!

3. Super Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

This one all comes down to characters. The characters all have even more personality than those in THH or UDG. The twist is much more compelling and surprising and even more meta. The murders are more interesting to solve and appear better planned out (though you can still guess the killer most of the time, but there were a few times where the killer legitimately caught me off guard). Chapter 5 on its own was better than the entirety of THH, even if the reveal of the mastermind wasn’t nearly as satisfying because we all knew who it was from the start. However, the Izuru Kamukura and Ultimate Impostor twists were easily enough to make up for that. Just a well-made, well-written, clever game all around. Loved it to death.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Link.

Okay obviously that’s not enough.

Breath of the Wild strikes a perfect balance between being challenging enough to be rewarding to complete, but not so much that it’s impossible to figure out how to do it. Games like Borderlands, while very fun to play, often miss this crucial balance for me. While those games may be fun to play and very rewarding if you actually manage to complete them, they are so challenging that actually completing them is often not worth the rage, pain, and time I know it will take. Breath of the Wild hits this balance perfectly with a difficulty curve that doesn’t actually exist, but really feels like it does just from how the game goes about getting better gear into your hands. The characters are slightly lacking (Sidon and even Link are well-characterized), but that’s part of the point. The game creates a beautiful feeling of melancholy in the player, which I’ve talked about in more depth in a short analysis I wrote on the emotional impact of the game.

1. New Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

I think the characters pull this one ahead (no surprise). The characters in this game certainly act the most human of any character in any Danganronpa game. They cry when something happens to their friends, they get angry when someone insults them or betrays them, and they’re suspicious of pretty much everyone. Pretty much all of them are completely fleshed out and interesting to watch. The twists are fun and unexpected (even if there are hints towards them early into the game), and there’s even more to do than ever before, with events between trials that aren’t only about getting the characters into a location to find a body. Chapter 5 is yet again the best chapter with the most entertaining and compelling trial in the entire series, culminating in one of the most effectively emotional executions in the entire series (the first one of this game may have this one beat, I’m still not sure). Kokichi Oma specifically is probably one of the most interesting characters in a series filled to the brim with interesting and unique characters and I legitimately missed him once his role in the game was over. This game has so many layers beneath its surface that one could probably spend all day collecting hints to determine if the ending was real or not. The cases of this game are also a lot more complex, with one trial that even goes for THREE HOURS BEFORE THE KILLER IS FOUND OUT!! This is when the focus really shifted from ‘okay we gotta figure out who could have done this’ to ‘okay we have to figure out HOW the killer did this and then figure out who in our group is capable of both coming up with a plan like that and carrying it out without getting caught.’ And the killers themselves are never characters you would expect to kill someone (chapter five is sort of an exception but meh). All of this, plus the detailed art of the characters and environments, (and excellent voice acting if I do say so myself), make this my favorite game that I have ever played to completion.

[the-a-factor-fs-blog]

Kiss & Cry - Episode 6

Welcome to the sixth Episode of “Kiss & Cry”, Max&Angelo’s Podcasts.

If you missed previous Episodes, you can catch up with it here (x).

This fifth podcast is 121:06 minutes long, and it’s available to be listened in Italian here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/talk-sport/puntata-6.

In the following translation, (M) indicates when M. Ambesi is speaking, (A) indicates when A. Dolfini is speaking.

Translated by The-A-Factor Team. Please do not repost without permission.

Table of Contents

1. Cup of China and Skate Canada Recap & Analysis

Ladies: After a lacklustre Skate Canada, we witnessed fireworks at Cup of China. Through the analysis of some of the most interesting programs we saw there, we’ll try to see if and how much final results can be influenced by the judgement meter of the technical panel and judges.

In Pairs, hierarchy seems to be delineated.

In Men, some big names already out of GPF.

Ice Dance. Focus on Virtue/Moir’s and Papadakis/Cizeron’s performances in their GP. GP Standings and possible GP Finalists.

2. Preview of NHK Trophy.

An event with Yuzuru Hanyu and all other current World Champions. For Italy, Carolina Kostner and Cappellini/Lanotte will be there.

3. Q & A Session

Part 1 - Cup of China

1.1  Ladies - Cup of China

(M): I’d like to start today’s episode by discussing about the Ladies, because at Skate Canada and Cup of China, we witnessed two completely different competitions: the former with lots of mistakes, a very strict technical panel and relatively low scores; the latter full of high quality free programs, very high scores and clear indications on who will qualify for GPF. (A): Cup of China was just incredible, I agree, surely the most exciting competition we’ve had so far in the Grand Prix. There were some mistakes in the short program for everybody, and there were seven skaters with almost the same chances of success, very close in terms of scores. This made the free program even more exciting to watch, especially because we witnessed some extraordinary performances there. I’d say it’s the Ladies field in general that was really intriguing so far, and yes, maybe Skate Canada wasn’t as good as Cup of China, but Rostelecom Cup was superb. (M): In Canada, Osmond’s supremacy was unquestioned. She skated a flawless short program that earned her the highest SP score of the season, Medvedeva aside. She made some mistakes in the free, but she was still superior to the competition there and she got very high PCS as well. Only Osmond, Kostner and Medvedeva were able to score more than 70 so far. But today, we would like to highlight the differences between the two technical panels and, most importantly, how much does GOE impact the scores in Ladies, especially looking at the most important competitions of the season. Very often the Grade of Execution is underestimated when commenting on scores, but nowadays it is the real key to understanding results. Truthfully, in some cases, it’s the base value that makes the difference, but it depends on which skaters you want to compare. Angelo, in my opinion, we should start with the unevenness of the technical panels of the competitions we mentioned above. (A): Talking about singles (both men and ladies), the indicators we should look for when discussing uniformity of judging in different technical panels are: underrotation/downgrade calls and edge calls. Skate Canada’s panel was strict for sure, in the context of a low quality competition though. Such a panel didn’t really favour the Americans - I should say the American ladies were quite disappointing so far, even considering Helsinki’s results. In China, the situation was slightly different. Some rotations were scrutinized, but there was a lot more tolerance on edge calls, and both Radionova and Higuchi benefitted from it. Daleman’s Flip was called wrong edge - and I think it’s correct - even though it’s not really different from Higuchi’s. On underrotations, I’d say Radionova was the one who benefitted the most from the panel’s tolerance and probably Zagitova too. (M): The role of the technical panel is extremely important for some skaters who, depending on the panel’s strictness, can fight for a medal or fall outside of top 5 just as easily. It’s especially Ashley Wagner’s and Karen Chen’s case, since they are the ones who have the biggest issues with rotations right now, and with the score they got in Canada, they would have placed 8th and 10th in China. Such unevenness is unfair in my opinion, and they need to find a solution, because there should be a common standard among the various panels, you can’t have one panel judge in a way and the next one completely the opposite. By the way, the technical panel we had in China will judge the Men’s event at the Olympics.

(A): And this is indeed interesting. This was a test event for them, they need to come together, create a good team in order to work well not only at the most important event of the year, but maybe in the most anticipated competition of the entire Games. On the other hand, having these fluctuations from one competition to the other makes everything a lot more difficult, even for the skaters themselves, because the lack of a common bar impacts their strategies, it confuses them in a way. Let’s take Higuchi as an example, she got away with her Flip edge so far, what if she gets a wrong edge call at her next event? You confuse the athlete and her coaching staff too.

(M): And she has all the means to replace that Flip with a Loop! Yes, you lose 0.2 on BV, but how much will you gain on GOE? We said it earlier, for many skaters, GOE is the real key to their success, and Higuchi is one of the skaters who got the highest GOE up until now, despite the obvious hardships on Flip - it’s really hard to give +1 or +2 on that jump to be honest, even the single judge notices the unclear/wrong edge and it’s very hard for them to reward that element with a +2 GOE, contrary to the rest of her jumps.

(A): Yes apart from the Flip, her jumps are spectacular, she goes into them carrying a lot of speed, they’re high, that’s remarkable. Then again, she receives contrasting calls on her 3+3 combination, that triple toe loop at the end is always borderline, so as I was saying before the technical panel isn’t giving her clear indications. Had the technical panel called the underrotations more consistently her coaching staff might have considered changing strategy and plan one 3Lz3T and a 2A3T in the free program, rather than two 3Lz3T. So, this is a big matter of discussion, undoubtedly, but I don’t think they can find the uniformity of judging we’re wishing so soon.

(M): So there’s only one solution at this point: technology. (A): It could be a solution, yes. Of course it’s not easy to implement, it should be studied and tested thoroughly, you need to have exact entry and exit curve on a jump on video, the take off, etc.. I think it’s not that easy, but in my opinion a lot could be done with a technical specialist’s training: trying to set a standard at the beginning of the season, creating more uniformity in judging, educating the specialists and controllers more. I believe this is a crucial step as well. (M): Leaving costs aside, an electronic goniometer could be useful for both of the most debated issues: prerotation and underrotation.

More and more often, we see skaters getting +2 on quad jumps that are in fact short on rotation both in takeoff and landing. When you cheat half a revolution on the take off and more than a quarter on the landing, what kind of a quad is that? It’s little more than a triple to be honest! These jumps represent a serious problem that needs to be solved, and I don’t think it can be done this season, even if the Olympic Games are near.” (A): No, I think nothing can be done this season, nor in the near future. They need to start studying the problem and find a solution though. Yes, electronic goniometer might be a good tool, but it’s not easy to implement. Sometimes even watching the videos it’s hard to figure the exact moment when a skater lands on the ice: one frame he’s still in the air, the next one the whole blade is on the ice already. It’s not easy! (M): Angelo, let’s explain how the technical panel works, taking Mihara’s 3F in the free program as an example. I am the Technical Specialist, I watch the jump and call it “3F”. What happens next? (A): Basically, if the Assistant Technical Specialist and Technical Controller agree with your call, you go on to call the following element. In case someone has doubts on the element, they can call a review, namely the possibility to see a replay of that specific element at the end of the program. Usually when they call a review, they also specify why they’re calling it: unclear edge, underrotation etc… so that the Data Operator can choose the right segment of the video to show the panel. (M): True, but I can call a review for an unclear edge and then notice the jump lacks rotation as well, this can happen quite often. Anyway, in our case, Mai Mihara had planned to execute that element in the second half of her free skate. Let’s explain what the rule says here: the duration of a free program in Ladies is 4 minutes +/- 10 seconds, but they don’t measure it from the time the music starts, right Angelo? (A): No, the chronometer starts when the skaters begins to move on the ice. That’s what matters, performance duration, not music duration. In Ladies, after 2 minutes of performance, the computer automatically attributes a bonus to every jumping pass performed after that time.

(M): So, even if your music time is 4:09’’ every jump executed after 2:00’’ gets a bonus, despite that not being the exact half of your program. Going back to our case: Mai Mihara takes off precisely at 1:58’’ and some tenths, and lands at 2:00’’ (2:00:1 maybe). So take off in first half, landing in the second half. What happens here?

(A): Eh… It depends on when exactly the Specialist calls the element and the Data Operator inserts the element in the computer. In case they are both ready and fast they might have called the element before the 2 minutes and make you lose the bonus. (M): And in our case, Mai Mihara didn’t receive the bonus on her 3F which arguably affected her final result. We picked it as an example, because it highlights some of the problems we had in this Technical Panel. At this point, after explaining how the Technical Panel works, we can start analyzing the Ladies free programs better, because there are some interesting aspects involved. You have already mentioned something about Higuchi, what’s the real problem with her? Strategy, both in the short and the free. In her short program, that opening 2A makes no sense and actually makes her lose precious points. In her free, that opening 2A could make sense, mainly if you don’t plan to execute all of your jumps in the second half. Which, to be fair, is what the rules would require. Right, Angelo?

(A): That’s true. The rule actually says “Credit for highlight distribution” and you can find these very words on protocols as well. So, jumps are referred to as “highlights” of a program, since they’re the most characteristic and spectacular elements, and you’re given a bonus for their distribution. A legit question though: what if you place all the jumps in the first half (like we used to do when I skated) or you move them all in the second one? Could that be considered “highlight distribution”? As a matter of fact, there isn’t a uniform dissemination of jumps throughout the entire program. (M): Now we have skaters who, in order to move all the jumps in the second half, fill the first one with the two sequences (Step Sequence and Choreo Sequence). Somehow, that could be an advantage, since the skater is well rested at the beginning of the program and could perform that element with more precision. By the way, there was a study that demonstrated how skater’s heart rate increased the most during the step sequence. Of course it doesn’t mean that step sequences are the most difficult elements, but it’s the longest and probably the most demanding. Zagitova executes those elements, plus a spin, in the first part of her program, so to have room to fill the second half with jumps. It’s clear that - from a choreographic point of view - a second half with only jumps, it does lose something.

(A): Transitions gets fewer, entries can’t be that hard, jumps are closer one to the other. It’s true that Zagitova’s program remains enjoyable and it isn’t just a collection of run-up - jump, run-up - jump, but the elements are distributed in a not homogeneous way. And here it enters into discussion one of the component of the program. When we speak of “Composition”, how and where elements are put in a program should be taken into consideration.

(M): This is something that we don’t see in men’s field. Some tries to do as many quad as possible in the second half, but distribution is for the great part of them a 3+5 (three jumping passes in first half, five in second one). Back to Higuchi, which are the issues? First of all, twice the same combo: 3Lz3T. Why is it an issue?

(A): On principle, to do that 3T on any jump, it still gives you the same BV. But it can give you problems of composition on how to fill all the jumping passes, and indeed the best option - for those who are able to do it - is to do a combo with 3T and one with euler-3S. Then there is the GOE.

(M): Exactly. The topic about GOE is linked to 2A. Why? Because 2A - if not done in a combo with a triple - can get a max of 1.5 score on GOE [t/n +3 on 2A gets factored by 0.5], contrary to triples who can get a max of 2.1. If you do two 2A without a triple attached to them, it’s clear you’ll have less points on GOE. That’s what happens with Higuchi, who does a very huge 2A as first jump, but with nothing going into it, while he does a 2A from a backcounter in combo with other two double jumps. This is another strategic choice that I find hard to understand. Especially for an athlete who should have no trouble to complete a 2A3T combo, even if it’s true that even when she was a kid, her combos of choice have always been others (than 2A3T), but considering her level and her jumps it shouldn’t be hard to work on such a combo.

(A): We often spoke about this combo, 2A3T, that made the fortune first of Lipnitskaya and then of Miyahara. And that could have made Mao’s fortune (had she used it), some years ago. It’s an element that can give you leverage in ladies’ field. If you are able to do two of them, with good quality, in the second half of the program, like Miyahara did, you can bring home a lot of points. Should Higuchi do a 2A3T in second half of the program along with her 3Lz3T, and attaching that 2T2Lo on any other jump without having to worry about repetition, she’d raise her scoring potential by quite a bit.

(M): If we check the actual top skaters (who have skated so far in the season), Medvedeva is one of those who does two 2A without any triple, but she has margin on GOE and PCS and her BV is one of the lowest among them. Zagitova does a 2A3T. Higuchi same as Medvedeva. Kostner does a -lo3S. Mihara, who in my opinion has the smartest program, layout wise, does a 2A3T. Osmond and Honda the same. Tuktamysheva is another matter, we will talk about her later. Sotskova has two 2A alone. Daleman, we need to wait and see what she will do later on, right now she has a 3S2A sequence. And Sakamoto a 2A3T again. So of course we have different strategies, but you do your layout based on each skater’s weak and strong points: what you lose on jumps, you may able to gain on spins and steps, for example. But it’s also true that when the prize is as important as this season’s, you need to try and reach the maximum on everything. Speaking of which, Kostner deserves an applause: I’ve always criticized her for some illogical layout choices in the past, but now she is one of those who could teach a thing or two to the others. If we look at spins, with level 4 on all of them, she has the highest BV. Compared to Medvedeva she has +0.50 more.

(A): Not a small gap, she manages to do it thanks to two combination spins with change of foot, which are those with the highest BV. If level 4, they give you 3.5 points on BV. And a flying camel, which is the second highest spin on BV, as always, if level is 4. To sum up, you can’t have a higher BV on spins as of today’s requirements.

(M): And the only one who follows the same route is Daleman. This strategy is dictated by two considerations: first to get the highest BV, second to take out the layback if it’s not a spin on which the skater can make a difference.

(A): As it is for Kostner.

(M): Then, athletes from Kobe: Mihara and Sakamoto, they do two combination spins and a flying sit, which is worth 0.2 less than a flying camel. The Base Value is again high, 10 points in a free program.

(A): Carolina’s BV is 10.2, 10 is still a very good BV on spins. The flying sit is not a common spin in ladies, usually it’s more common to see a well done layback, but it’s for sure a smart choice. Of course, again, to see which one is the best choice, it depends on the skaters. Because Radionova, for example, has a layback with a BV of 2.70, but with GOE, can get to 3.84.

(M): You went straight to the point. Because many could wonder: but why do others decide for a lower BV? Because it’s shared opinion that on some kind of spins, it’s is easier to get higher GOE, if the spin is well executed. And it’s what happens with Medvedeva, Zagitova… it’s not what happens with others, who have a lower BV but also low GOE for their issues in completing those elements. See Tuktamysheva or Honda.

(A): Tuktamysheva  really struggles to get high levels. Oh, not that Honda didn’t show us that too, but more for her lack of focus than other issues; although she is not one of those who can make a difference on quality there. Radionova is in the middle. She can’t make the difference on some types of spins, like combinations spins where she gets level 4 but not high GOE, but you can’t argue against her decision to include the layback, where she can get almost 4 points for it. To get 4 points with a flying sit or a flying camel… it’s not easy. So you need to consider also all these factors and not just the BV when speaking about layout choices.

(M): If we speak about Tuktamysheva we have a problem of choices, too. She does a layback…

(A): Which isn’t her forte.

(M): A combination spin and a flying sit. 9.2 points on BV. One point less than Kostner.

(A): If she manages to get level 4, which isn’t a given.

(M): And she trains with Kostner, who is not a specialist on spins, all the contrary. Kostner manages to get the highest BV and I wonder: why don’t they make the same choices for Tuktamysheva? Are those positions on spins that Kostner does so out of reach for Liza? Maybe yes, but other positions and features can be found. There’s no reason to have a layback in Tuktamysheva’s Free Program, and yet she always has that.

(A): If we look at the last Cup of China, she only got a level 2 on the element. In a competition of that standard, a level 2 is really a disadvantage. We said how much Radionova can get on the element, almost 4 points. Liza got just above 2. To have a deficit of almost 1.8 points on a single spin element… it’s a lot. We are speaking of athletes whose total hypothetical BV vary in the range of 2 points, so you need to make the difference on GOE and by choosing those elements that can give you leverage.

Of course, there are many things to consider: how much time a combination spin with a flying entry takes up? Maybe too much, and that is another consideration. But I think it’s fair to raise the question (about the correctness of those choices)

(M): So, we said Kostner and Daleman were those with highest BV at 10.2. Then Mihara and Sakamoto at 10. Medvedeva, Osmond and Radionova reach 9.7. Higuchi, Zagitova and Sotskova – 9.4. And Honda and Tuktamysheva – 9.2. One point difference on BV (between lowest and highest) before GOE. And on GOE the scenario is different. The two athletes with the highest GOE in these first three GP Events are Medvedeva - who is in second place - and Zagitova - who is in first place. 3.21 for Medvedeva, 3.36 for Zagitova. The others don’t go over 2.50, reached by Kostner and Mihara. And I repeat, those data for Kostner are exceptional. The clear signal of her willingness to go after [elements that weren’t her forte in the past]. Many others are around 2.29: Sakamoto, Higuchi, Osmond, Radionova. And then you have those who get really little: Tuktamysheva, Honda, Sotskova. In Sotskova’s case, her troubles with spins are notorious.

(A): I still remember a Junior Grand Prix Event in which she already had programs very mature (for her age), she with an already grown up body, very elegant to see, technically strong, with her triple-triple combinations… and those spins that weren’t even built to get level 4. It’s not that she did mistakes on them, but they were ill-thought through and didn’t even have the features. It was really baffling. She improved on them, but just bringing that up to underline how spins have never been in her portfolio.

(M): Daleman, who we listed as first on BV, struggles too on GOE, not reaching even 2.00. In the end, summing BV plus GOE on spins, the race is won by Medvedeva, for a change. But other athletes, like Kostner, are close.

Then, let’s go on analyzing Step Sequences and Choreo Sequences, later we will speak about those for Ice Dance too.

So far, on Step Sequence, the best one has been Medvedeva. Rightly or not, she easily gets level 4 on her sequence, she missed it at Nepela Trophy and it was news because really she has always gotten level 4 since her senior career took off. GOE has been 1.8, which means an unfactored GOE between 2 and 3, considering the maximum achievable would be 2.1 for a level 4 StSq where factorization is by 0.7 (so +1 GOE = 0.7, +2 GOE = 1.4, +3 GOE = 2.1). All in all, she brought home 5.7 points on the element summing BV and GOE. What’s important to consider on StSq is you can get 2.1 on GOE only if you get a level 4. If you don’t get a level 4, the factorization is lower: 0.5; so the maximum decreases to 1.5. Not to lose the level is very important. And why am I saying this? Because it’s important to analyze what happened with Higuchi. She got level 4 with +2 GOE (1.40) in Moscow, but she got only level 3 in China, again with +2 GOE on the judges’ part (1.00)

(A): Meaning the quality has not changed across the two events.

(M): And yet there are 0.40 points’ difference on GOE alone due to that level. Back to our standing, after Medvedeva, the second one on StSq has been Zagitova. Those two train together, probably this result is not by chance. Zagitova does this StSq in the first part of her program, by the way. Mai Mihara got 1.30, Kostner 1.1, level 4 for both. The same for Sotskova. As we said, Higuchi has quality, because even with a level 3 she got +1 points, but again, the number one is Medvedeva. But Medvedeva hasn’t been the best when it comes to the ChSq so far, as Osmond was the lady who got more points for her ChSq. But let’s explain how the ChSq works, Angelo, because the BV is always the same, it never changes.

(A): Yes, there aren’t levels. Basically, you can either execute the ChSq and make sure you fulfill the requirements – and in that case you get the two points of the BV and high GOE, which can make a difference – or you can execute one that doesn’t fulfill the requirements and get a no level, therefore getting zero points for it. There are no levels, so these are the only possible differences.

(M): In this case, Osmond has been the best so far, with +1,8 [GOE] – the max GOE would be 2,1 – so she got 3,8 points for it. Then we have Higuchi with +1,7, Kostner and Zagitova with +1,5 and Medvedeva with +1,4.If we sum up the scores they have achieved for the StSq and ChSq so far, the best is Medvedeva. Although Zagitova came close in this case, just as she did when it came to spins. The fact that these two girls have the same coach and team does mean something after all.But let’s get back to how their programs are built. Why do we say that Mihara Mai’s FP is one of the cleverest in terms of strategy? First, the elements are distributed well, there’s balance between the first and the second halves of the program. There are many triples in the second half, like the Lutz - Flip too should be in the second half, but it accidentally ended up being in the first half here – and the Rittberger, so all the triples with the highest BV -  Axel excluded, as Tuktamysheva’s the only one to try the triple.And there’s also her spins to consider, we talked about them earlier. She does a 2A3T too. In the end, her BV is 64,15, the second highest after Zagitova. But Zagitova has an advantage: she does all her jumps in the second half of the program and she does two Lutz and two Flip. Let’s compare her with Sotskova, as Sotskova, like Zagitova, plans two Lutz and two Flip in her FP. But what is the main difference between them? Sotskova distributes her jumps throughout the whole program, she doesn’t have them all in the second half. If you compare her to Zagitova, she ends up losing three points on BV. Three points of BV are quite a difference.

(A): That’s a lot of points, especially considering that she [Sotskova] does two jumping passes – three triples, so almost half of her triples – in the first half of the program. Considering all of this, we can understand how much of an advantage Zagitova has over Sotskova. We talked about the advantages a 2A3T can give you, well, not for Sotskova, because her 2A is quite a problematic jump. Of course there are girls who can’t really use a 2A3T, therefore they need to find a different use to rack up the points. Sotskova tries to do it by planning two Lutz and two Flip, which are definitely good weapons; all of this to say that not everyone can use 2A3T to gain an advantage, but Higuchi could definitely do it, which is why we were criticizing her strategy.

(M): Higuchi’s BV is 63,11 so 2,90 points less than Zagitova. One of the biggest doubts of her strategy in the FP is the fact that the 3S is in the first half of the program, and just by a handful of seconds, which doesn’t make much sense.

(A): Yes, less incredible than Mihara’s 3F, but still quite close to the second half.

(M): Well, for Higuchi it’s a planned strategy – probably a wrong one anyway – but for Mihara it was just an accident. That’s the difference. It isn’t accidental that Mihara has one point more than Higuchi in terms of BV, which isn’t a trivial difference. Why? We are talking about 12 athletes; the one with the highest BV is Zagitova, with 66.01, the one with the lowest BV is Kostner – but Kostner’s strategy is to execute two 2A and six triples, so it’s obvious that her BV is lower since she has one less triple. Kostner aside, the BV range of these girls goes from Zagitova’s 66.01 to Daleman’s 61.66 – she made some mistakes at Cup of China, but her plan could have reached a BV of 61.66, not to mention that she will change the planned content through the season. The difference between these two is 4.65 points; if you add the GOE to it, the difference between them might get bigger, because Zagitova is the one who got the highest GOE – 12.6 points overall. Higuchi got 11,59 points through GOE, but what’s the difference? In terms of percentage of the highest possible GOE they might have achieved, Higuchi got something more than Zagitova. But Zagitova could have scored 22,8 points through GOE – and she got 12,6 – while Higuchi could have gotten 21,6 points through her GOE. Why 21,6 instead of 22,8? She lost 0,6 because of that 2A left alone, without a 3T, and another 0,6 points for that level 3 on the StSq. So, if we think in terms of +1s/+2s/+3s they received, Higuchi’s program was appreciated more than Zagitova’s. This isn’t easy to understand, but if you think it over you will understand. And you will understand why Higuchi’s program is criticized. Not in terms of music choice, nor for the choreography, but in terms of strategy.

(A): Yes, that has been Higuchi’s biggest problem since last season. She has improved in some aspects, but her programs aren’t built with the same precision [note: in terms of strategy not choreo itself] we see in the Russian girls’ programs, that are built to make the most out of the scoring system. Then of course, one might like it or not, but they do meet the scoring system’s requirements, in order to get the highest GOE and to execute the jumps where they could get a bonus for them. There’s an attention for details we need to highlight, and it’s a pity that Higuchi’s programs lack that, because she’s an athlete with maybe even more potential. She’s been very solid lately, and she showed she can keep up with the Russian girls; this is a girl who got three extremely high scores this season, so she has been skating very well.

(M): In particular, her FP’s scores are proof of this. She got 141,99 at Cup of China, she lost 2,45 points if compared to Zagitova in the FP. And those are the points she lost not because of the BV she managed to bring home in China – because Zagitova got an underrotation call for her 3Lz, and she could have gotten two more – but because in terms of planned BV, Higuchi’s BV is 2,9 points lower than Zagitova’s. And considering Zagitova’s quality when it comes to many elements – spins and steps in particular – the only way to bridge that gap is by hoping she might make a mistake. Because you can’t make up for a 2,9 points difference through PCS alone. Then, the fact that Higuchi got lower PCS than Zagitova is debatable – and many did not agree with these scores – but the difference might be minimal in terms of PCS, so we have to go back to BV.

(A): It won’t be easy to make up for a 2 points difference through PCS – in this case she got lower PCS – but anyway, it will be difficult to get much more in terms of PCS. I believe Higuchi’s PCS will rise through the season, but the same can be said about Zagitova’s, because if they keep being solid, they’ll convince the judges just like Medvedeva did. They are plausible rivals for her already, but Medvedeva still has a solid gap over them, so paying attention to all the details is necessary. Their PCS will grow, but if they want to win a medal at the Olympics, nothing should be overlooked. We’re talking about athletes who are among the contenders for medals in the most important competitions.

(M): We gt a question about Higuchi: “Who is the fastest, Osmond or Higuchi?”

(A): Good question; they are probably the fastest athletes out there. I would say it’s probably a tie. Higuchi really impressed me, but they’re the fastest girls. The comparison is spot-on.

(M): Although Higuchi probably manages to keep that speed even after three minutes and a half, while Osmond slows down a bit. That is quite noticeable, so Higuchi’s physical preparation is better, probably because if compared to last season, she hasn’t had injuries nor physical problems. One of our listeners said, “Zagitova’s elements are distributed like that also because they reflect the music’s crescendo. It might seem as if it lacks balance to those who look at it without thinking of the ballet itself, but it does reflect the music.” I don’t think that Zagitova’s choice when it comes to the distribution of her elements is linked to the music choice itself, though. This strategy is due to the fact that she can do what the others can’t do: executing all her jumps in the second half. Then of course they choose a piece that can emphasize this strategy, a music that has a crescendo that might help her hide the lack of balance.

(A): Yes, of course, and we said that – I do agree – the program is still pleasant. But I was referring to the rules actually. Zagitova’s program is pleasant, the choreography does fit the music – a music that I really like by the way, and that is suitable for skating in my opinion, like many other ballets. It’s Minkus’ DQ for those who don’t know – it all works in her program, in fact she deservedly won the competition; that said, we were talking about the rules earlier in the podcast. Although, this remark is relevant too.

(M): And it allows us to highlight how great Zagitova’s team is, because they know their skater’s qualities and they know how to build a program that highlights them. Two listeners asked how Tuktamysheva’s layout might change. We’ll get there: let’s talk about Mihara’s program first. We thought her program was underscored by the judges. We have highlighted how clever her strategy is, since she’s the one with the highest BV after Zagitova – if she skates without mistakes – and she’s able to execute it all – hats off to her because of that, especially considering the physical problems she’s had in the past. Which is the aspect in which Mihara has improved the most? She skated very well last season, but she’s added quite a lot to her skating. How?

(A): Her FP was extremely complex in terms of TR, but in a different way if compared to Zagitova’s. Zagitova’s choreography is rich, but there are less creative entries because of how the program itself is built, with all the jumps near the end. And it’s true that you gain something more in terms of GOE with difficult entries, but those entries also help make the program more intricate. We’ve said several times that Medvedeva is the best when it comes to having TR out of her jumps – and we need to highlight that – but Mihara really impressed me because many of her jumps are preceded by difficult steps, and even those that aren’t preceded by difficult TR fit into the choreography very well. Only her most difficult jumping passes have a longer set up: 3Lz3T, which is the first jumping pass, and 2A3T, which is her first jumping pass in the second half of the program. There’s a lot of attention to details in this program, and it is a really difficult program to skate because of all these difficult TR; yet she was able to skate it very well.

(M): Some criticize her by saying she still skates like a junior. But probably it isn’t her skating that is juniorish, but her “stage presence”. Her personality, let’s say.

(A): Yes, she still lacks charisma. She lacks what people call “projection”, the ability to convey a message to the judges, the crowd, those who are watching, with your movements’ intensity too. The ability to project what you feel through the choreography itself. Mihara still lacks that, so her movements look a bit juniorish, even though she’s an elegant skater. She doesn’t have that refinement, that maturity, that we can see in Kostner, Osmond, and in the other girls who manage to have that charisma in their movements throughout their choreography.

(M): That said, hats off to her, because of what she did in China and because this program might make a difference. She was fourth at Cup of China, she paid the price because Radionova’s 3Lz3T in the SP wasn’t called underrotated, like it could have. Mihara was fourth, which makes qualifying for the GPF quite difficult for her, because she will be in France, with Zagitova and Osmond, who are able to reach over 210 points. It will be extremely tough for her.

Let’s talk about Tuktamysheva now. We’ve received many questions about Elizaveta Tuktamysheva’s scores: some thought it was too low, some too high. It’s a complex topic. Let’s start with her BV: many would expect her to have a very high BV, because she has one more weapon if compared to the others: the 3A, which she executed quite well at Cup of China. She landed it with a step out, which still means you get -2 GOE, but a 3A with a step out is still worth a lot of points. Yet, if you look at her BV, it’s around 2,30 points lower than Zagitova’s. At this point the 3A isn’t another weapon, but rather a tool that she needs in order to make up for some shortcomings. That’s where her situation becomes quite complex, because Tuktamysheva – because of the kind of skater that she is -  needs to make a difference in terms of TES if compared to the others. Therefore she needs the most extreme program possible: she should either do a program with two 3A and 3Lz, or with one 3A and two 3Lz. At that point, she’d have a higher BV than Zagitova and that would allow her to bridge that gap there is in terms of PCS. But if the program has a lower BV, it’s obvious that you’ll lose. In fact we’ve seen the best Tuktamysheva of the last two years and yet she ended up far from the podium.

(A): Yes, because they don’t use this 3A - that gives you an amazing advantage in the SP in the ladies’ field, but isn’t as beneficial in the FP – to build a program that might give her an advantage. But she needs this 3A because, among the top 12 ladies, she’s one of the weakest in terms of PCS, if not the weakest. At Cup of China she got 63.5 PCS in the end, which is 3 points lower than Radionova, and even lower than what Mihara got, who was judged like a “juniorish” skater. Yet, Tuktamysheva got less PCS than she did. With such low PCS – and PCS make quite the difference in a FP – she really needs to use all of her weapons. I believe it’s crazy to make her do only one Lutz, considering the kind of Lutz she has. Even without revolutionizing her planned content, it would be better to leave out the Flip, which isn’t as good, and do a Lutz instead. Although in the end what she really needs is to do the 3A, two Lutz, and to find a way to replace the weakest element of her program: this 2A sequence that does allow her to do 2 double Axels and seven triples, but with a disadvantage, because the 2A sequence gets the 80% of the points the other ladies get for their 2 double Axel. She loses some points there, then she does only one Lutz, and only one 3-3 combo…at that point, the 3A doesn’t become her secret weapon, but rather a way not to lose too much in terms of BV if compared to the others. And considering the gap between her and the others in terms of PCS and the fact that she takes more risks, she can’t compete with the others if her BV is lower than the others’. Considering that she has some fierce domestic competition, I think she’s in trouble.

(M): 3A aside, we must consider that she also has a disadvantage when it comes to GOE: we have already talked about her problem with spins, and she also has problems with some jumps, not in terms of technique, but because she lacks what we call “bullets”, those requirements you have to fulfill if you want to obtain a high GOE. I’ll give you an example: her 3S in the FP is a weak jump.

(A): Yes, it doesn’t have a difficult nor a creative entry, she doesn’t execute it with a tano…we’re still talking about an excellent skater, but an athlete with her 3A should be in the elite of this sport, so we must compare her with the skaters who actually do those things. They can execute a 3S rippon, like Rika Hongo herself for example, like Mihara Mai - actually Mihara Mai’s 3S is also preceded by a difficult step – or like Medvedeva, who does a 3S3T with lots of speed and flow. At this point she ends up having a disadvantage on GOE, on spins. And we’ve said she needs to make a difference with her TES, so now we need to reword it: she must make a difference with her jumps, with her 3A. So better make it two or even three [3A’s] between SP and FP. That’s how she could have an advantage in terms of BV.

(M): So, the solution to this problem is: a 3A in the SP – because the 3A in the SP really does make a difference – and no less than two 3Lz and one 3A in the FP. If she’s clean with this kind of technical content she can even hope to get higher PCS. Without it, she has too many weak points: we’ve talked about her spins and the lack of TR in her programs, and sadly in this quad, quality is what makes the difference – see Medvedeva. Among the best 12 ladies in this field, Tuktamysheva’s probably the last one when it comes to this.

(A): Yes. That said, this is all in theory, if she isn’t able to do this kind of program – which is something you can see in practice – then her current BV is the best she can do, but it isn’t enough to compete with the other Russian ladies nor with the best Japanese ladies, that’s just how it is. Then of course we must say that we’re talking about extremely difficult things, we’ve rarely seen programs with two 3A in the ladies’ field. I can only recall Asada, no one else. Right now, with this layout, Tuktamysheva can’t reach much more than 130 points, while the others get 140.

(M): So, the only way to try [to be competitive] is to have two 3A and three 3Lz spread over the SP and FP. Without them, she can only hope for the others to make mistakes; and not only one mistake but several.

Let’s get to the next of the questions we got: someone asked: “If there’s a tie in the SP, the one with the highest PCS goes first, but what happens in the free?”

In the FP, the PCS make a difference, while if there’s a tie in the overall score it’s the FP that counts.

(A): Exactly. And if the FP scores are the same, you have to look at the FP’s PCS, and the skater with the highest PCS wins the tie.

1.2 Cup of China - Pairs

(M): Let’s get to the second topic of this podcast. The ladies’ field was an interesting topic, as we’ve seen competitions of the highest level, but there has been also another interesting competition: right now we have an idea of the current hierarchy when it comes to pairs, with Sui/Han in first and then the other pairs trying to catch up with them. It’s obvious that there are seven contenders for the Olympic medals: two pairs from China, two from Russia, one from Canada, France and Germany respectively. The others will fight to be in the top 10. Between these seven couples, there are some noteworthy differences in terms of scores: there’s almost a 30 points difference between Sui/Han’s score in China and Stolbova/Klimov’s score from Cup of Russia.

(A): Yes, the difference is actually close to 30. Although we must say that Stolbova/Klimov didn’t look to be in good shape, we are waiting for them to get close to their best again, because they could be among the favorites. However we must also highlight how Sui/Han has already shown to be in great condition: in the SP they were close to perfection – it isn’t easy to get 80 points in the SP this season because of the required elements. They started their program with this perfect side-by-side 3T that’s still clear in my mind, executed with the kind of unison that’s rare to see. But there’s quality in everything: 3Tw with an arm above the head, amazing 3FTh. They seem unbeatable in the SP, thanks to the quality of their elements. In the FP, they might leave the door open for other couples, because they struggle with side-by-side jumps, with the 3S actually. In this case, Sui Wenjing managed to execute it decently, but it’s a jump that has always been a struggle for them. Although they also have a 4Tw so they’re very difficult to beat, but there are couples with better side-by-side jumps, so they have a bigger chance to beat them in the FP.

(M): But they also got the highest score [of the season] in the SP and in the FP. In the SP they were the best in every single element, in the FP they received the best PCS, but they didn’t reach the best TES, because they lost levels on some elements – we know that Chinese pairs have always struggled with spins, which is what happened at Cup of China too – but scores aside, we got the impression that they might do even more. Which speaks volumes about their potential. Their strategy seems to be the same as what Volosozhar/Trankov used in 2014: it seems like they have abandoned the idea of executing a 4STh, because that’s what the structure of their program says [note: 3STh is later in the program]. They planned two triple throws in the second half – although there’s no bonus here – in order to try to reach the highest possible GOE. Basically the same strategy that helped Volosozhar/Trankov dominate the field in the Olympics: they won with 3STh and 3LoTh.

(A): Yes two throws that are quite “simple” in theory. Not the most extreme ones, let’s say – Duhamel/Radford planned a 4STh, for example. The bar has been raised, but in pairs the 4Tw and the quad throws don’t make as much of a difference as quad jumps do for men. Even more so because the best pairs can easily get +2/+3 GOE for their triple throws; so a quad throw is worth the risk only if you can get at least 0/+1 GOE for it: if you fall, you get way less for it than what another couple might get for a triple throw that has great quality and fits the choreography. This strategy seems the best one.

(M): Yes. There were even rumors of wanting to lower quad throws’ BV, which would basically mean to eliminate them from pairs – which might even be their plan, we can’t know that – but as you said, it isn’t worth the risk now, especially considering that Sui/Han can get all +3s GOE for their 3FTh and 3STh, therefore reaching the highest score possible for them. There might be one +2 instead of all +3s, fine, but it doesn’t change anything: you’d need a good quad throw to keep up with them, otherwise you won’t make a difference with it. If you make a mistake, we get the same situation we saw in Sochi: Savchenko/Szolkowy trying a 3ATh and ending up behind the other two, who won with a good margin.

(A): Yes, it’s a similar situation, but it’s also true that there are even more extreme pairs now than how Savchenko/Szolkowy were back then. Some try more difficult side-by-side jumps and throws; let’s not forget that Sui/Han still have a quad, the 4Tw, so it’s not like they focus only on quality.

(M): Yes but their strategy has changed if compared to the past: the “old” Sui/Han were much more extreme than they are now. Now they have clearly decided to follow a different route, which seems the best one. Regarding GPF: Sui/Han will be at the NHK trophy this week, their best rivals will be Stolbova/Klimov. If they end up being first and second, they will both qualify for the final. It will be more difficult for the other couples. James/Cipres skated really well in Canada, but they ended up in third place, so they must make a difference in their next GP, which means either winning or getting second with a high score. Then at Skate America, we’ll have the second Chinese couple [Yu/Zhang], Savchenko/Massot and Duhamel/Radford. It’s very probable that the last spot at GPF will go to a couple who has one second and one third place: the weakest pair seems to be Yu/Zhang, who gave a fine performance in China, but only reached 205 points, a lower score than their main rivals’ for the final, who seem to be James/Cipres.

(A): And James/Cipres got 214 in Canada, in spite of being third, a very high score.

(M): James/Cipres could be second in France, and then we’d have to wait for Skate America, but Yu/Zhang are one step behind Duhamel/Radford and Savchenko/Massot. So they [Yu/Zhang] either manage to beat one of the other two pairs – and at that point, the tie break would be between James/Cipres and either Savchenko/Massot or Duhamel/Radford – or they will probably end up not making the final. There might be injuries but this is how the situation looks like at the moment. Regarding the Italian pairs: they didn’t reach the podium in the end, as DellaMonica/Guarise were fourth and Marchei/Hotarek were fifth, but DellaMonica/Guarise got the highest FP score ever reached by an Italian pair in the GP. Moore-Towers/Marinaro were third, and deservedly so, as they skated a great FP with an element that might make a difference for them, which one?

(A): It was this great side-by-side combo, 2ALo3S; it’s a three jump combo with a 2A and one triple jump, so if you plan a side-by-side solo 3T in the program you end up planning two triples and a 2A, but without using a sequence, so you can sum their BV – and you also have an Euler – and make quite a lot of points through side-by-side jumps. In fact they were among the best in China, when it came to side-by-side jumps. Maybe even the best overall.

(M): Yes, they were the best in terms of scores.

1.3 Men

(M): Speaking about Men’s Field, the big news is Javier Fernandez’ debacle. His results were disappointing at Beijing. It seems he had some kind of alimentary issues, probably a food poisoning. Anyway, he made costly mistakes in both programs and the end result basically already excludes him from the Finals. This is big news, since Fernandez in previous GPF’s almost always ended up on podium and, in this last Olympic quad, conquered the World Title twice. He really seemed to be at loss.

(A): Indeed. Starting from the Short Program, where he missed his quad-triple combo, instead doing a triple-double – a combination of very little worth for an athlete of his level. Then he landed a good 4S, but not one of his best, and had some other struggles with the 3A. The Free Program was much more negative, but already in the Short Program he found himself clearly behind Kolyada. And when was the last time a European skater managed to make trouble for Fernandez?

(M): Since a long time. And Kolyada’s score has been sensational. Because if we look at historical records, only Hanyu, Fernandez and Uno managed to score more in a Short Program. Kolyada opened his program with a very huge 4Lz, but on that element we have the usual issue: step or no step? No step, but it’s clear that if a definitive solution is not found [to consistently call the steps or lack therefore], even athletes are at loss to really understand what to do. And it can’t be so.

(A): It’s true. Kolyada is not even the worst example of lack of steps, but for sure that lutz has a very easy step that is way before the jump itself. Then, the Lutz itself was beautiful, a treat to see. If we remain in Russia, we should also mention Samarin’s 4T that is an even worse case than Kolyada’s. He doesn’t even try to propose anything that resembles a step into his entry. There’s not even the pretense of a step. So, yes, there is the need to find uniformity of judgement because otherwise - as we always say - the ones that are penalized are those who actually put steps before the quad, taking the risks while the others get the same rewards [t/n rewards = high GOE]. Because if we look at Kolyada, his 4Lz was judged +3 worthy by two different judges.

(M): Samarin got (on his 4T) from +2 to -3 on GOE, with a jump that couldn’t be anything else but -3, rulebook in hand. From +2 to -3 there’s a big difference. I can’t explain that if not with a word: “confusion” (in judges’ minds).

I’ll go back to my usual proposal, now at least 5 years old: it’s the technical panel that must call the steps/choreographic movements before solo jump. It is the one that has to say “jump with steps” or “jump without steps”. And when it’s without, it’s -3. When it’s with, judges can range their scores (according to GOE bullets). Because otherwise, let’s take away the “with steps” rule and call it a day.

(A): And at that point everything is good. Let’s not forget that the rule about steps before solo quad or solo triples made [athletes abiding to the rule itself] change strategies. Athletes who couldn’t do a quad with steps put out a quad-triple combination, instead. While others put a quad without steps in the first half, moving an easier combo in the second half and gaining even more points thanks to the bonus. All the while athletes like Patrick Chan did the combo in the first half while having an “easy” 3Lz preceded by real steps in second half, losing on BV.

So properly evaluation of a jump with or without steps has a strong impact on how strategies for a Short Program are laid out.

(M): Indeed. Then, Kolyada was rightly ahead, his short program is of high technical level, his 3A one of the best in the whole field, the 4T3T combo finely executed. On spins, he messed up his camel spin with change of foot losing a couple of points there, but he can show good quality on the elements. The value of this skater (finally) fully on display. What’s his issue? He struggles to put together two good programs. When he has a great SP, he struggles beyond reason in the FP and vice versa. If he manages to find good consistency, he can become an athlete that even the top skaters in the world would need to pay attention to.

(A): This is what came out of Cup of China. It will be interesting to see Kolyada vs Fernandez showdown at European Championships, with the hope that Fernandez can be back at the top of his form by the beginning of next year. Back to Kolyada, to have another athlete who can go up to 103 in the Short Program means we have another contender for medals, another athlete who can potentially be in the last group in the Olympic’s Free Program. And that’s big news for Russia, a nation that lacked any real contender in last few years.

(M): Fernandez is not the only big name out of the Finals. Patrick Chan will also be missing, Chan who won two GPF titles in his career, since he finished in fourth place at Skate Canada and then decided to skip NHK to focus on recovery for his real goal for this season, Olympics. That Olympic Gold that Canadian men never won, contrary to what happened in other disciplines.

At Skate Canada the winner was Shoma Uno. A decisive win, with a huge gap on his opponents. He went again over 300 points overall, and it’s starting to become a habit for him, but we have a question [t/n from a listener] about this skater: “Could you explain to me the scores Shoma Uno has been getting in Skating Skills and Transitions since last Worlds? If I compare (what he does) with the average of what I can see in Hanyu’s or Fernandez’s programs, I don’t understand those valuation.”

On my part, I’m not able anymore to answer this question, honestly. You do try, Angelo. Not much with Fernandez, put Patrick Chan there with Hanyu. On those components, Skating Skills and Transitions.

(A): On Skating Skills… let’s say it should be analyzed in depth. He has good flow, he hits without a doubt the requirements about rhythmic knee action - both of them are quite a trademark of all Japanese skaters - these qualities are there. He does use multidirectional skating, he has some transitions. He has good spread eagles, ina (bauers), his typical cantilever, all of them are transitions. On PCS, his best skills are for sure on interpretation, musicality and on his clear and neat usage of upper body movements. We must say many of his jumps have difficult entries: 3A from a spread eagle, an inside spread eagle which may be even more complex than an outside one, 4Ts have different entries, and it’s fair to highlight it, because it shows his skills on edge work. Why is he then often considered overestimated? Because he is often on two foot. Again, we need to go a bit deeper here. He has this technique on forward crossovers that brings him to stay on both feet. It’s how he does crossovers, not a great nor beautiful technique, that’s true, but it’s not the only thing that gets valued in Skating Skills. So, there... I tried to explain what might be Shoma Uno’s strength on Skating Skills. On Transitions, it is still valid what I said before about Skating Skills. He also has his limits, but do not forget that [jumping content wise], his programs are one of the most extreme.

(M): There are also some contradictory situations. If we look at the Short Program, you have a harder and more complex entry on the combo than on the solo jump, where the 4F is preceded by something, but well before the jump itself.

(A): Absolutely. The entry on the 4T3T is much more complex than his entry on the 4F, where he pretends to do something - and there are those who don’t even bother to do that - but we are talking about the same level as Kolyada. At least they try to do something, even if it’s not close [to what is required].

(M): He has two aspects that have been rewarding him in PCS: speed - he got faster than in the previous season -  and what has always been his main selling point, a complete ownership over upper body movements, arms especially. A use of arm movements that maybe allow him to deflect judges’ focus on what he is doing with his feet. Starting with the fact that he is often on two feet. He is probably not in the same league as Hanyu and Chan on Skating Skills and Transitions. On Performance, we can talk about it. With Fernandez, if we speak about Interpretation and Choreography or Composition, where in my opinion Fernandez has something more than Uno, there is no comparison.

(A): That’s true, although we haven’t see the best Fernandez so far this season [to properly and fully judge IN and CO]. Sinatra’s FP (t/n Guys and Dolls) seemed better suited to him and his character. But those two components are his strengths.

(M): A listener asks us, “Judging by these first stages, Shoma Uno is the favourite for the Final in Nagoya. Even though I heard some criticism about it, I would have kept last season’s Tango (for FP), which was a little choreographic masterpiece in my opinion, instead of going back to Nessun Dorma. What do you think about Turandot 2.0? Is it worth those PCS?”

Well, we already spoke a bit about it. In my opinion, Turandot 2.0 is clearly a strategic choice; because it’s a kind of music, with that distinctive crescendo, that can easily impress judges once the program is well skated. There’s nothing more to say about that (choice). There’s the decision not to take a risky choice, contrary to last season’s FP. Turandot 2.0 is something already seen but that gives him some insurances. I’m convinced that this is the sole thinking that went into (picking) that music.

(A): Anyway, I agree that last year’s FP was a little masterpiece. Because it was a not-banal choice for a Tango. A peculiar musical choice. A splendid program, that I appreciated a lot. I agree also on what’s been said about Turandot 2.0. It’s - let me say so - a mainstream choice. It’s one of the most famous pieces of music, you can’t go wrong with that.

1.4 Ice Dance

(M): Let’s go to dance, because a lot of World Records have been broken over two events. Once in Short Dance, once in Free Dance, and twice Overall. Protagonists of this chain of records: Virtue/Moir and Papadakis/Cizeron. And of course the first question we got about it was “between them, who will win?”

A question we won’t answer, because it’s impossible to say. What we can do, instead is to analyse those scores.

In SD, V/M did better than P/C on everything: GOE, BV - where they got one extra level 4 with their most important weapon, the No-Touch Step Sequence -  and PCS. In FD, V/M did better on PCS, P/C had BV and GOE. If we go and check out the GOE, we find out something interesting. On Step Sequences, they are more or less even, P/C slightly ahead. On Lifts, V/M slightly ahead. On Twizzles, V/M again slightly ahead. Lifts plus Twizzles put V/M on the same level on GOE as P/C summing everything but two elements: the choreographic elements. There, P/C gained a lot on V/M. So, it’s peculiar that the difference on GOE was due to GOE on the elements with lower BV. It’s impossible not to wonder when the gap on those elements was almost a whole point. It’s clear P/C took greater care of those details.

(A): The TES difference in FD was about 2 points, and V/M lost 1 point just on choreographic elements. Incredible. Something we didn’t expect. Back to the original question, it’s hard to say which of the two is in the lead in the judges’ eyes. PCS is important for that evaluation, so that’s a point in favour to V/M. P/C got a very impressive result, 200+ in total by November, something sensational. And yet, three scores out of four (SP TES, SP PCS, FP PCS) went in favour of V/M.

(M): We can’t forget V/M did skate at home, and that can have its importance, too. I think that in the end, only the performance on the day will matter and whichever couple shows that quid more when it counts will win. Then there are those who prefer V/M’s Moulin Rouge, and those who prefer P/C’s Moonlight Sonata – they are two different demonstrations of excellence in this discipline. A discipline that many would like not to see at the Olympics, due to how difficult it is to judge. That’s what you can hear going around in many rinks, but anyway it’s impossible to answer this question. Maybe only after the first show-down in the same competition would  we have some more clues. I think on SD, V/M have something more, even though some say that the Rhumba should be skated to a slower pace (than what V/M do). Anyway, I don’t think there’s a definitive answer. For sure, it will be the leitmotif of the season. This week at NHK, Cappellini/Lanotte will start their GP season too – a delayed start due to an injury Anna Cappellini sustained. What do they need to get a spot in the Final? If they finish second, they will be almost guaranteed to be in Nagoya. With a third place, they would still have a chance, but they would then need a second place at Skate America and check then on tiebreak scores. C/B getting second place at Cup of China was good news for C/L’s chances, since B/S would have been guaranteed the final with two second places. Instead, B/S will go to tiebreak and with overall scores that aren’t that high. C/B will be in France with P/C and W/P. C/B and W/P both have a second place in their first event and that means one of them will for sure have a second + third, going again on tiebreak. That said, it won’t be easy for C/L to get a second place at NHK, since V/M aside, H/D, who have been confirming everything good they showed last season so far, will be there too.

(A): C/L’s path won’t’ be easy, but they can’t complain about this season’s assignment. Should they end up as one of the six couples in the final, it would be a great result. They have the skills and tools to do it. Especially considering the field at Skate America.

(M): A listener asked us what we think of C/L’s programs and if we think their FD is competitive. Well, we saw it only once at Minsk. I think, for their characteristics, they have to make the difference in SD. Those rhythms are historically a strong point in Italian ice dancers. FD is a more complex topic. We have already seen many going over 110 in FD, and that must be their goal too. Music is from La Vita è Bella soundtrack. So a movie linked to our own country. To talk about its real value, we need to see that program skated in an important event, like NHK can be, having the chance to see them skate just before or after other high-level skaters.

(A): Yes, also because at Minsk they weren’t in top form. But it was a good move to start there, to shake off competition nerves there before the first important event. Now we need to see if their form improves and if they manage to put behind them all the troubles they had during the off-season. I think they can show their skills during this GP and compete in the Finals.

(M): Compared to Minsk, we expect improvements and richer programs, but they still need to recover the time loss due to Anna’s injuries. What we can add is that 2 of the top 8 ice dance couples won’t reach the final. And considering that we will have V/M, P/C, S/S, two of the other five will stay home. For C/L, the best result at TEB would be if W/P get second place, since C/B have lower scores for an eventual tiebreak. But that said, we can only wait and see what happens in the following weeks.

Part 2: NHK Trophy Preview

(M): Next GP is, as we have already said, NHK. All current World Champions will be there. Impossible not to think it was a conscious decision to have all World Champions there. Of course, all eyes on Yuzuru Hanyu, who has only won either the Finals or the last GP Event in his career. Should he win, it would be a first. He is clearly the favourite for the win. He is expected to be in better shape than in Moscow, and if Yuzuru Hanyu is in good shape, world records can be broken. Especially if he manages to execute well the solo jump preceded by steps in the SP.

(A): I’d say the same, considering how he already managed to break SP WR this season. Then, we can only wait and see. He didn’t win in Russia, but it’s not like he did skate badly.

(M): Not at all. Rittberger escaped him, there.

(A): Indeed. But it was a Yuzuru Hanyu in great shape, considering where we were in the season, way better than his usual condition by mid-October, even if he didn’t win there. The start of the season was good, so expectations for NHK are big.

(M): An event with many veteran skaters: Rippon, Bychenko, Brezina, skaters with great experience. And there will also be some very young skaters who are expected to show their own potential, like Aliev. Hanyu is clearly the favourite, if we have to give a second name, Jason Brown. Jason Brown who would qualify for the final with a second place. In Ladies, there will be Medvedeva and Kostner once again, Miyahara will do her comeback after a long hiatus, and there will also be Polina Tsurskaya, who could be the dark horse in this event. A Polina in good condition can aim for 205/210 points. And with those scores, you get on the podium, and then you wait to see what others do. Kostner will qualify for the final with a second place, probably even a third place would be enough as long as the score is not too low. Yuna Shiraiwa will debut in her senior Grand Prix, too. We’ve already spoken about Ice Dance. In Pairs, Sui/Han are the overwhelming favourites. We expect some improvements from Stolbova/Klimov. They must not lose ground to Astakhova/Rogonov. Knierims will be there for USA and we expect a comeback from Seguin/Bilodeau. Anyway, an event headlined by Yuzuru Hanyu, whatever will happen. Because he is one of the most followed athletes not only in Figure Skating, but the whole Winter Sports universe. One of those who make journalists, sponsors, and fans move. A following that is easily explainable with what he has done in his career so far. Hanyu who is the current Olympic and World Champion, not to say the winner of the last four Grand Prix Finals. Only Davis/White in Ice Dance manage to win 5 finals in a row.

Part 3: Q&A

(M): Let’s answer the last questions we received and that we haven’t already answered during this podcast.  “How important is it to have a psychologist in the team? And is it the Federation that provides the opportunity for a skater to consult one, or do athletes need to arrange it by themselves?”

Here it depends on each nation. There are nations that have been employed psychologists for years now. Russia, for example. But often you find these professionals amongst the coaching team itself, especially where there are big numbers and big clubs. In other nations, with fewer athletes at the top level, the Federation itself may employ one or more psychologists to be at their athletes’ disposal.

(A): It depends also on how a federation is structured. A nation like Italy can do enough with only one psychologist for all. A nation like USA, or Canada, with many more high level training centers, needs a different plan. But psychological help for athletes is important. I think the USA is probably ahead in this domain, compared to other nations. You can also see it in the way their athletes speak. There’s also great care in their instruction of how to speak with journalists, and it’s another thing you can clearly see.

(M): In the German-speaking world – so, Switzerland, Austria and Germany, it is required for coaches in some winter sport disciplines to have a degree in Psychology. It’s believed that to best handle an athlete, those kinds of studies are mandatory. And often when an athlete incurs a potentially career-ending injury, it’s preferable that he speaks with a team of psychologists, not even only one. (t/n skipping a tangent into athletes from other winter sports who managed to successfully return to competitions after tough accidents).

In Russia, it is a bit different, because it isn’t the Federation, but rather that those roles are filled by the clubs themselves - Sambo 70, CSKA, Mishin’s school, et cetera. And in their teams, they not only have psychologists, but also nutritionists, many professionals of various fields, to try and maintain/manage the health of their athletes as much as possible.

On to the last question, from a reader of the translations of our podcast. “In the previous podcast, you briefly spoke about how young kids’ training should be monitored too. Can you please go a bit further on this topic?”

(A): Trying to be brief. If we think about how we have athletes that are 13-14 years old, already able to execute programs with the hardest technical elements, that means those teens have lived and trained basically as professionals in their younger years. Now, is it right to push kids that are so young to do so much, to take time away from school… as a coach, that’s a question that I ask myself. And then, not all nations are the same. There are also nations where you have built-in limits – in their school system, but also cultural habits. So, of course, this is not doping, but is it fair? Are we all playing on an even ground? I don’t know, but I think it’s a question that anyone should ask himself. How fair is it to push a young kid with the risk of burning them out when they are not even teens.

(M): It’s clear that a system like the Russian one pulls everybody up. Because the competition is so intense that the skater themselves has different goals compared to skaters (of the same age) in other countries. Also, there, the school system is integrated with high-level competitive sports, especially compared to what happens in other nations. It’s a big advantage, also from a logistical point of view. If we speak about Italy, also because of a lack of sports culture, the school system does not understand what the needs of an athlete may be. So it doesn’t happen here.

(A): In Italy, there has been some effort lately to find a solution, but it still means to exit the normal school system. It means being followed by tutors and not attending schools with other kids of your age, which may impact your personal development.

(M): It’s a very complex topic. In Italy some are trying to create something similar to the so-called “ski-colleges”, typical of the german winter sports world. Those schools – and Carolina Kostner attended one of them too, at Oberstdorf – are at the basis of German and Austrian winter sports. In this domain, they are much further ahead of Italy. Those structures are part of society, they have been existing for half a century. If your kid gets accepted there, you pay a fee, and then he goes to school in a regular context while being coached by some of the best coaches in the country. So, should the sport career fail to flourish, those kids would still have a complete school career to rely upon. And this is one of the greatest strengths of the German system (t/n skipping a tangent into the German “Gymnasium” system that supports children’s sports & scholastic careers]

To sum up, it’s clear that to be ready when you are a teenager, you need to make a lot of sacrifices since young. Whether that is right or not, I’m not in the position to say. But it’s true and valid in any sport, in any field, and it’s a topic too complex to be analysed as the last question in a figure skating podcast.

That’s all for Podcast #6! Biggest thank, as usual, to our hero and proofreader: Gladi!

Sorry again for the delay, hopefully translation for Podcast 7 won’t be so late.

Cheers,

The A Factor Team

[thedegenerateasexual]

this used to be on my main, but i wanted it here instead so i could be honest about my rarepair. now with 6B in the ranking here we go:

3B - nogitsune is a truly terrifying villain, the “darkness” in the first few episodes was genuinely frightening, kira and malia, two of my favorite babes, get introduced (THEY SHOULDA BEEN GIRLFRIENDS), derek and chris touch each other like a lot this season and also get handcuffed to a bench together (i could list all their interactios but that'd take awhile...), peter hale gets his finger hacked off, and the end reveal with kate had me fucking #shook (if you didn't watch live you missed out), if we pretend nothing bad happened to allison this season it would be BASICALLY flawless.

4 - my son derek hale got himself a beautiful girlfriend who did not kill anyone later, he got to turn into a real wolf, and he got to scare the hell out of kate argent for once instead of the other way around. bonus combo points: peter gets to be an actual villain again (i hate Good Guy Peter) and also parrish in general Ha Ha lights up my life, and OH YEAH SCOTT MCCALL KICKS SO MUCH ASS IN THE FINALE derek hale is president of the scott mccall fanclub in season 4 and honestly has anything ever been more relatable?? shoutout too to this season for having the second-most derek & chris content after 3B.

6A - every time i remember this season exists and it is like it is i weep a little. you couldn’t have paid me enough to ship stiles and lydia before i watched this because it invoked the creepy nice guy tropes but after watching it they remind me so, so, SO MUCH of claire and ben from @cambionverse i have completely reversed my decision. the running themes of grief and letting go were A+, the villains were fascinating and scary, and this season even made peter hale interesting for thirty entire seconds when he did One Good Thing, everything in it is just so unexpectedly well-done. it’s the only worthwhile season of teen wolf that doesn’t have derek hale in it.

1 - my beautiful son scott mccall is at peak floppy-haired adorableness, the introduction of all the plotlines were tight, there wasn’t a lot of loose material (almost none in fact), everything came together really well, and kate argent, one of the villains of the season, is my absolute favorite teen wolf villain ever she is TERRIFYING and completely steals whatever screen she’s on

3A - this one is okay on the surface, but frankly there were too many killed and written out side-characters to really enjoy it (cora came out of nowhere and i STILL have more questions than answers, erica and boyd deserved better, and derek got screwed over, AGAIN, JUST because he tried to make a genuine emotional connection with someone. does include a few iconic moments tho such as stiles talking scott down from hale-ing himself, lydia finding out what she is, and oh yeah MY SON SCOTT MCCALL BECOMING AN ALPHA I’M SO PROUD OF HIM 10/10 FOR THAT PLOTLINE but overall it's a collection of cool moments where the overarching plot is like :/

2 - while this season IS largely “technically” flawless, tightly plotted, introducing many perfect sidecharacters whom i will forever be missing bitterly after their untimely demises, a villain somehow scarier than kate (even if he is less fun), and the blurring of the battle lines when everyone started realizing just how fucked up the hunters code was…it just kinda goes below the others because a). it always bugged me that they key to saving jackson was his humanity but it got pulled out of nowhere at the last second and we never saw him be even a little nice to anyone he wasn't trying to manipulate b). i don’t think my son derek had a very nice time this season. no. he got kicked around a lot. held the idiot ball for a little while. i love him but he was bad at being an alpha and so not very many good things happened to him. great season but lacked that very specific hale content i always long for. c) lydia didn't get much justice in this season either she spent most of it being terrorized s m h

6B - so the concept of 6B on paper is great - fear is the enemy, we must all learn to be brave - but instead of going that way we used 10000 dumb logic leaps to have everyone turn on the people who've been saving their lives for years. and no one ever pushed back or reminded us of all the good they've done, they just...went with it. this season should have been a tribute to scott mccall and how far he's come and how great he is, but instead it takes away the pack's future by denying them college to have them continue fighting in a war that makes no sense. (also, the scott malia was pushed on us way too hard and absolutely uninspired. like, jesus.) that said i'd still watch it before most of 5 because a lot of old favorites came back for the curtain call and that was admittedly pretty cool, but 6A had WAY more nostalgia. this season just about ties with 5B (ranked directly below it) but in the end the tiebreaker for me is derek hale + his comebaack episode being ENTIRELY spent with chris argent. like, i could not have ASKED for more - not only does his comeback not get ruined with st*rek queerbait but my rarepair gets in one last moment instead. i was not even for a second hoping they'd get to interact AND THEY DID. so, this one, just barely, goes above 5B.

5B - only barely watchable. on paper la bete is a great villain but the CGI is so bad it kind of cancels out how scary it could have been. i’m glad mason is OK and that everybody more or less got their shit together after the shitshow that was 5A but it was mostly just bad. lydia in the asylum with the rapey needle guy is bad, bringing back gerard was really bad, writing out kira is SUPER HORRIBLE and also the skinwalker thing was RACIST, it’s mostly just passable because you’re so fucking glad to be done with 5A. crystal reed’s reappearance as the first argent was nice but i'm too bitter about allison being dead to enjoy it

5A - easily the worst one. the dread doctors are scary but they’re more gross than scary and they’re not FUN villains, you know - they introduced and quickly killed a lot of characters in this season and 5B combined (i know some people don’t separate the halves of 5 since they’re so intertwined but god do they both drag), so by the time we actually started caring about them and wanted to know more about them (and we never get to know more) they were gone, every member of the cast holds the idiot ball in at least one crucial moment, including scott, who would never in his life do such a thing. the only good plotline was the stiles and donovan one and it didn’t get half the time it could have for being the only compelling part of the entire fucking season. also, theo is the fictional character i hate more than any other fictional character. i’m talking dolores umbridge levels of hated. he is VILE. every moment he spends on my screen i hate him more. very glad i saw him getting tortured in 6B. he could have been so great - someone smart enough to manipulate such a tight-knit pack - but instead they made the pack stupid, which TOTALLY ruins the suspension of disbelief. revealing he was evil to us, the viewers, right off the bat, was also a dumb move because it takes away the suspense. what a trainwreck of a season

[otp-bumbleby]

Do you hear that? Bzz bzz. It’s the sound of another Bumbleby reasoning post! I’m focusing on coincidences, similarities, and links. And a whole lot of everything. Bonus points for being a bee shipper true and true.

I’m warning you now, this is like over three fuckin thousand words long plus pictures. Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, go!

Okay so look

Is this purely coincidence?

Their outfit’s accent colours yes I count a robotic arm and makeup as accent colour ok:

Are each other’s eye colours:

Right, right. Everyone knew that!

So…

“Yang has two eye colours!” I hear from the back.

Well my friend, what colour is that? Red you say? What colour was Blake’s ex-partner’s accent colour? OH THAT’S RIGHT, red!

Her ex-partner? Argued to be the beast to Blake’s beauty in her Beauty and the Beast story.

Except: Blake has definitively left him behind. Before the show even begins, she abandons him after realising that he had become somebody she didn’t recognise. She said it herself in ‘Mountain Glenn’:

“When I realised my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran.”

So, Blake’s a lone beauty. Hold up! Not really.

Enter Yang!

In the Yellow trailer, we see Yang using her good looks and charm to mess with Junior. Yet underneath this exterior, we see a raging monster burning with rage. Literally. She’s on fire.

Hell is unleased upon Junior’s henchmen, the Malachite twins, and his club.

Then, Yang loses it when Junior pulls out some of her hair; her eyes turn red, she finishes him off with a devastating right hook to his face and he flies out the window like a chump.

Did I mention she was a raging beast? That’s how Yang fights. Her semblance allows for this. Energy-absorption; which she stores and uses against opponents. It is a little unclear the details of it, as she often just becomes angry and her eyes turn red and boom.

Like at initiation, where an Ursa cuts a little bit of her hair – she goes on a one-woman rampage before Blake cuts in and finishes the fight off.

And it feels like nay a moment passes before she’s angry again; with Nora riding in on an Ursa and Pyrrha running towards them with a Deathstalker on her tail. Yang wants two seconds of peace before something crazy happens again but ya know, that’s impossible.

Or when RWBY fights the Paladin that contains Roman; Yang is smashed through a highway pillar, comes out strong enough to stop the giant robot hitting her in its tracks, and executes a one punch hit that destroys it (with Blake’s help of course).

Let’s not forget the well-discussed scene in ‘Burning the Candle’; she is angry outside of battle when Blake is running herself into the ground over the dangers of the White Fang and Torchwick. Blake refuses to listen to her, and she even goes as far as physically shoving Blake to get the point across that she’s too far gone. Also, “coming out” is mentioned.

And in ‘Never Miss a Beat’ we have Neon Katt aggravating Yang by taunting her with jabs at her obvious bust size and boiling rage as a consequence. Here, Weiss and Yang had trouble with the opponents they faced off against. Weiss was defeated by Flynt, and Yang couldn’t hit Neon. Yang trumped Flynt (get it? That’s not a Trump joke, by the way), and Neon literally tripped up to give Yang the easy win.

Then things start to go wrong, big time. In ‘Fall’, it looks like Yang’s finally shown how much of a Beast she can be. In the 1v1 versus Mercury, she taps into her semblance at a very low aura level (16!) after he unleashes some sort of super barrage of bullets. She punches her way to a win – even though we can’t be sure if Mercury deliberately lost, or went into the fight not expecting he would lose without throwing the match. But he loses, as is crucial to Cinder’s plans.

And in typical Yang fashion, she hits Mercury first, and asks questions later, when she sees - what is Emerald’s illusion – him trying to attack her after the fight is finished. The whole world watching sees Yang break an innocent kid’s leg, after she defeated him.

Those watching thinks that she is a ruthless, violent, monster. An interesting parallel to say the least. Blake, a Faunus, judged because of something she cannot change. Yang, judged because she was tricked.

They share a sad truth – the world doesn't like them.

Not to mention, once again, Blake’s partner has become what she fears most.

(If only she had seen Cinder, Mercury and Emerald when they visited Adam while she was still with him; this might have been avoided! But, plot)

But we have Yang trying to convince her team she saw Mercury attack first – Ruby and Weiss easily believe her. Blake has trouble because, “this is all just very familiar”.

“But you’re not him.”

So, Blake chooses to trust Yang. She does not see her as the Beast.

Thus far, Yang has won almost every fight we’ve seen using her semblance. Her semblance is dangerous. She takes hits and deals them back at twice the power. But to take hits, is to take damage. She’s not invincible.

Yeah, let’s touch on the even more discussed scene in ‘Heroes and Monsters’.

After dealing out some physical abuse to Blake, Adam Taurus, mister Blake’s ex-partner, delivers this chilling threat:

“I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love,”

“starting with her.”

Aaaaaaaaaand Adam stabs Blake to bait Yang, Blake pleads to deaf ears for Yang to not do the thing; Yang charges in eyes red fists blazing and does the thing anyway (say that to the tune of Vanessa Carlton’s ‘A Thousand Miles’) and her arm is dismembered for her effort. Blake knew she’d do that, and she knew Adam would hurt Yang just to punish her.

Suddenly, Yang has become the victim, and she’s become the victim because of Blake’s past betrayal of Adam. Not to say it’s Blake’s fault – it’s not – but it is to say that Blake believes it’s her fault and she totally feels guilty.

No longer is Blake Beauty; she’s become the Beast that has brought this misfortune upon her friend.

What’s my point in all this? That they fit together in the basis of Beauty and the Beast. Not just that Blake is Beauty, and Yang is the Beast, but they both fit both roles.

This one’s a bit more symbolic:

The song ‘Red Like Roses’, which plays during the Red trailer, describes each colour (and thus also each member) of team RWBY.

Red ‘like roses’; White ‘is cold and always yearning’. Ruby’s surname is Rose; Weiss comes across as cold, but obviously has deeper reasons for this.

But the point lies in the next two lines.

Black ‘the beast descends from shadows’; Yellow ‘beauty burns gold’.

So, Black is the beast here. During the Black trailer, the song ‘From Shadows’ plays, which is the ‘theme song’.

Blake is Black – the beast descending from shadows.

Yang’s colour is Yellow (or, gold, same thing yo).

Yellow Beauty burns gold – the song that plays during the Yellow trailer is ‘I Burn’ - well, the remix. Which consists of excerpts of ‘Red Like Roses’, ‘Mirror Mirror’, ‘From Shadows’, and finishes with ‘I Burn’. But it’s still ‘I Burn’.

The text that prefaces the Yellow trailer reads:

A spark becomes a flame in most cases, and again we have the motif of burning fire and beauty associated with Yang.

Because let’s face it. Typically, Yang is beautiful. I don’t have to explain this one. Her symbol is a burning heart. Hot and…hot. Two kinds of hot.

Blake is her beast, the Faunus that the world thinks ill of. The Faunus that was part of the White Fang. The Faunus once partnered with the dude that cut off her arm.

I feel like I’ve made the Beauty and the Beast argument here, not to mention it’s been made a lot already. These are all details; big and small; obvious and subtle, that surely cannot be coincidental. (SURELY????)

Now, I gotta take a small thing from the Yellow trailer’s preface text, this discussion’s not really that significant, but I had to do it anyway.

“Scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical” and “misshapen spark”.

The public wants symmetry – but we have Yang, that shows off anything but symmetry. She must be that misshapen spark. (FORESHADOWING!! WHY MONTY?!)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LET’S PLAY!: spot the asymmetries!

Obviously, Yang’s arms are technically are asymmetrical now. That one’s a given!

But, let’s take a look at Yang’s original outfit, y’all:

Her symbol is on her left breast; it is a heart after all!

That belt, girl! Satchels on the left, a bit of fabric over the top on the right. Burning heart on the right, as well. Even a bit of fabric that I don’t know what to call that tapers off to one side only.

Then you got them socks. The left one is above the knee, and the right is below. And a piece of purple fabric peeking outta the left boot for good measure.

Then we have the Hunter outfit featured in ‘Painting the Town’:

It’s a little less prominent in this outfit, but we have an overcoat that crosses over the torso, rather than doing up right in the centre. This one even tapers off to her left hip at the hem!

She’s also got another belt with a satchel just on her left side.

Then that piece of purple whatever the heck it is attached to her left hip. This one’s all left (insert arm joke here).

A little observation of her ‘don’t give a shit’ outfit:

 Ya gotta notice the sleeves being different lengths accommodating the loss of her right forearm.

The left sleeve bears her father’s emblem.

There is an extra pocket on her right thigh, above her emblem. A little Grimm patch is on her right hip too.

Her current outfit which debuted in ‘No Safe Haven’ combines a little of everything to me. It’s hard to get a good look at every angle with what little we’ve been given, though:

Ditching the scarf, Yang’s now got a collar that buckles up on the right.

It looks like her overcoat/vest zips up on her right side, that opens across her chest diagonally. It’s not in the center to me, at least.

I can see her belt has brown fabric attached to it, and on her left hip the fabric folds over the belt and reaches around to the back.

The purple fabric is back at it again on her left knee!

Never symmetrical.

Who else has got some asymmetries in their outfits? (EVERYBODY, I HEAR YOU SAY?)

Yeah, there’s something odd in everyone’s outfits. But if we look at team RWBY, it’s most prominent in Yang’s, and then Blake’s.

Blake’s original outfit:

She’s only got one asymmetry, which is fairly obvious. There is a long black sleeve she wears on her left arm.

The ribbons on each wrist only differ slightly, and I mean slightly, I barely count that.

Her intruder outfit, that’s almost completely symmetrical:

There’s one oddity on her belt – a satchel on the left hip.

The belt itself is a little lopsided.

There’s also a similarity here though, one of those fabric skirt things that I still don’t have a name for!

Blake’s current outfit has a little more asymmetry than the rest:

There’s a strap that she uses to carry Gambol Shroud. This goes over her right shoulder, rather than the pack she used to have on her back.

Then her belt, yet again, has a satchel on the left hip.

And on her boots (the longest boots probably in existence or they’re just accessories I really can’t tell I’ve tried to see if they’re not actually all boots and still am undecided), there’s another strap on her left thigh.

And I also note here that Blake’s got some major coattails going on too. Another similarity!

I hear you though, “THAT AIN’T SHIT”

Yeah, you right, the outfits aren’t such a big overlap. But that’s where they fit in the flow of this post; I still find that the outfits play a part, however small, in all this.

There are a lot less asymmetrical features in Ruby’s and Weiss’s outfits overall. Combat skirts, y’all!

But I suppose we need a bigger link between these two for this to seem worth it. I’ve seen plenty of arguments against why these two shouldn’t be together.

Recently, I saw something that went along the lines of the main character’s stories don’t have to focus on romance; a sub-plot is okay, but to say that their stories are so definitively focused on a romance between them isn’t right (okay that’s probably really inaccurate but it’s close enough to the point).

Except I think that’s kind of a lame argument. I don’t think this story focuses on romance between them. It focuses on all the things that are similar, or are a link between them, or how they balance each other out enough for it to seem part of the story without taking away from it.

Blake’s main flaw is that she runs away. She ran from her parents when her father stepped down as leader of the White Fang. She ran off with Adam to try and fight for the Faunus’ cause, but eventually she ran away from him when she couldn’t face what he had become. When Blake let slip she was a Faunus, she ran because she didn’t know how to deal with the reaction from her team. When Adam cut off Yang’s arm, Blake ran in fear that he’d come back to finish the job and then some if she stayed.

Her semblance, as Blake so eloquently described:

“I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself, an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away.”

I felt the way she says this makes it seem that she’s almost ashamed of this, like she’s enabling herself and this is a defect that allows cowardice.

In her face-off with Adam in ‘Heroes and Monsters’, he begins by criticising this as she looks fearful at the sight of him,

“Running away again? Is that what you’ve become my love? A coward?”

Blake fends him off a wounded student, angrily stating,

“I’m not running!”

His response,

“You will.”

And she does.

This fault of character is “coincidentally” what Yang has the biggest issue with in life!

Yang’s birth mother, Raven, abandoning her – she left without giving Yang a chance to stop her. Yang was a baby; she couldn’t stop her as a newborn infant, but she’s still asking the question of why.

Summer Rose, however unintentionally, left her as well.

Her father was devastated by this, and so he mentally checked out of life for a while and the parental role in her own and Ruby’s life fell to Yang.

Yet Yang’s search for Raven is the purpose of her visit to Junior in the Yellow trailer. She’s still searching for answers as the show progresses.

Yang explains to Blake the story of Summer Rose’s and her real mother’s disappearances, she describes that when she was a young child, she almost got herself and Ruby killed trying to follow a clue,

“My stubbornness should have gotten us killed that night.”

In the moment, that line is to reason that Blake is exhausting herself to the point where, if she had to fight, she would die. Just like Yang did as a child searching for her mother.

Yet it looks like it could have been more foreshadowing. Yang’s stubbornness is a part of why she relies on her semblance in fights. That’s just the way she does it.

When Adam cut her arm off, he was going to kill her. She was defenseless! Her stubbornness should have gotten her killed. But once again, someone swoops in to save her – this time, it’s Blake.

Yes, she wouldn’t have been in that situation if it weren't for wanting to help Blake. But she wouldn’t have been in that situation as well if she tactfully approached fights. (ADAM WOULD HAVE SLAYED HER ANYWAY. PROBS.)

Blake knows Yang has an issue with abandonment. Yang knows Blake tends to run. And here they run into an issue, because Blake runs from Yang, and Yang is angry that she ran. It’s like star-crossed lovers or some shit!

In ‘End of the Beginning’, Ruby and Yang have a little catch up when Ruby wakes up. Yang tells her that Blake ran, and Ruby questions why.

You hear how devastated Yang sounds when she says,

“I don’t know,”.

She looks like she’s about to cry, actually. Remember the last time she cried?  When she was afraid Blake didn’t trust her? Yeah…

Anyway, Yang then stops herself. She becomes bitter and claims,

“and I don’t care.”

Poor, innocent, sweet, naïve Ruby says there has to be a reason why Blake left.

“No there doesn’t. Sometimes bad things just happen, Ruby.”

Yang’s resigned herself to be somebody people just leave. For no reason. And she’s upset.

I mean, we’re all like 1000% sure that Yang totally cares why Blake left. She just can’t admit that she cares that she’s been abandoned. Again. Did you hear ‘Armed and Ready’? I think Yang cares. (I’ve written care so much it doesn’t look like a real word anymore)

IS THIS ALL JUST A COINCIDENCE? (IS THIS THE REAL LIFE, IS THIS JUST FANTASY? CAUGHT IN A LANDSLIDE, NO ESCAPE FROM REALITY, OPEN YOUR EYES, LOOK UP TO THE SKIES AND SEE. I’M JUST A POOR BEE, I NEED NO SYMPATHY.)

Is it just a fucking coincidence that Blake runs and Yang is run from? (Better fuckin not be)

This isn’t a focus on building a romance story between them. It is crucial to their character building. This is building the foundations for the fuckin plot. The core of their characters, yada yada.

Their team is split apart. How will they become team RWBY again if they don’t sort this out? They’re going to have to sooner or later. The show is literally called RWBY.

They’re gonna have to address the Goliath in the room. Yang lost her arm to protect Blake. I think there’s gonna have to be some “you leaving hurt me more that losing a stupid arm” talk. Sun already said the whole, “you pushing us out hurts more than anything the bad guys could ever do to us” line, and he makes a lot of sense! Blake seemed to have a good reaction to that. And Yang’s talked sense into Blake before, and I can see that happening again, since Blake’s all guilty about her.

She hopes that her team hates her for leaving, so that she has an excuse to stay away, even though she misses them. That’s guilt.

She wants to deal with the consequences of her choices, apparently. Sun tells her she can’t make the choices for her friends.

Because that’s the exact same way that Raven left Yang. Without giving her a choice. Blake left before Yang even had the chance to ask her to stay! I bet Yang’s sick of that, huh?

Remember when Blake said,

“They were my friends. I loved them like I never thought I could love anybody.”

(Cue the tears. Arryn did such a good job VA in V4).

Blake’s gonna go back to them. It’s just a matter of time.

Ahhhh. What was my point again? I’m so caught up (USHER!) in all this analysis of things that my brain is just overloading. Every day, I think of something else. I really tried to consolidate my thoughts on the topic for real, just so I could get a new perspective and see if I make any sense.

There’s been so many sneaky hints in this show. So many.

Which is why we all kind of freaked out when Yang left Patch and went on that fuckin boat:

THAT. FUCKIN. GAY. BOAT.

Because it had to be the same boat Blake traveled on, didn’t it?

TELL ME IT’S NOT (BUT DON’T. I KNOW IT’S THE SAME BOAT. THIS ISN’T SOME TITANIC CONSPIRACY THEORY).

YOU HAD TO DO THIS TO US, DIDN’T YOU, CRWBY?

This post is a mess and so am I!

After all this talking, I gotta leave my real opinion here.

I just happen to think that this all makes a pretty good reason for a realistic situation where they realise that Blake found someone she does not want to run from, and Yang has someone that she really doesn’t want to lose.

Then you factor in things like they level each other out; Blake is mellow and Yang is boisterous; Blake is reserved and Yang is an open book (thank you Arryn for pointing that one out [RWBY ladies podcast from yonder years ago]); Blake’s dry sarcasm and Yang’s bad jokes; black and yellow is a good colour combination; “I love it when you’re feisty!”; *insert your favourite bee moments here*; etc.

Maybe it won’t turn into a romantic relationship, but the possibility is there.

I mean, you don’t have to want it, but you don’t need to be negative about it. If you don’t like a ship, just ignore us that do. I ignore all those people that argue for a ship I don’t see happening, because who am I to go there and crush all the things they believe in? Did we notice how I did nothing but talk about Bumbleby here? No other mention of any other ship. No hate. Just love.

People write these posts to give insight as to why they enjoy and choose a ship. Not so they can be pulled down and ridiculed; I don’t come on here trying to find common ground with people and celebrating a possibility that two badass chicks might be a little bit gay for each other.

You celebrate your ships, I’ll celebrate mine. And we can all bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone can eat and be happy, no matter what happens.

I just have a lot of feelings.

(Okay, go home.)

[kai-keda]

hey so i'm watching around the same part of dbz as you are (w/ majin vegeta) and i find it really hard to believe that vegeta would let himself be controlled... goku said it himself and i feel like all the things vegeta said about wanting to let go of his attachments and return to his former heartless glory is fake, or at least influenced by bobbidy's control. theres no way he would let someone help him right? regardless of how sick he is of being second best.. it seems really ooc of him to me..

I think you’re missing one crucial detail.

The nature of Babidi’s magic.

So this thing is kinda long, right? There’s a lot of juicy and complex stuff here about Vegeta’s character in this ONE MOMENT.

Babidi’s magic doesn’t create feelings out of nowhere. He draws the dormant feelings out and uses them. Let’s also not forget that Babidi never got full control of Vegeta. Vegeta took the bonus of the power to get what HE wanted, which was a fight against Goku that he could win. Even while under Babidi’s control, he believed that this was all HIS power HIS right HIS strength. Even if we as outsider’s looking in and the power-scaling people of the fanbase can debate that and argue it, I find it hard to believe that Vegeta saw the power as anything more than just drawing out what he always had within him.

Just for you, I pulled out my manga because I know the subtitled version will change things at times and coincidentally the dub will be more accurate to the manga in those instances.

Dabura: “One of them has a very wicked soul… surely wicked enough to turn to our side.”

Argue all you want how “wicked” Vegeta’s soul is or isn’t (or even what constitutes as “wicked”) but what’s important to take from this statement is that Babidi can’t control those who are unwilling.

Honestly, just typing that out made me realize, Babidi’s magic might not be magic at all, but rather, hypnosis.

I’m not sure how credible this source is but it’s the first one I found that feels legit so let’s go with it.

Something interesting to note from that source and from my understanding of hypnosis is that you are in a trance and in that trance you are more than likely to go along with what your hypnotist suggests. However, you WILL NOT do something that goes against YOUR morals and YOUR ethics and if you didn’t volunteer to be put in a trance for a specific reason, you are less likely to go along with that reason.

Babidi’s magic has an added fantasy element of stating that if there is the slightest sign of someone possibly wanting to be put under Babidi’s control for any reason he can do it.

Vegeta’s reason?

He wanted to fight Kakarot and in the midst of Babidi using his magic, he convinced Vegeta that if he relaxes and falls into that trance, he will get to fight Kakarot.

Babidi: “You’re right! This one’s not like the others! His heart is dripping with evil! He didn’t come here to do good!”

Blowing up the tournament and killing all those people? At this point, there’s no reason to believe that was completely against his moral code. He was simply behaving himself and starting to “like the comfortable life on Earth” thanks to Goku’s “influence” “making [him] softer.”

Checking the manga, yes, I was right, Goku telling Vegeta that he changed and was different and all that is exclusive to the dub. I’m not saying there’s not reason to believe he was different, after all, Bulma was freaking out and yelled “Vegeta! What’s wrong with you?!” but that doesn’t take away that Vegeta tells Goku in his fight “At the tournament […] I thought… maybe it would close the difference between us…if I let him control me…and I was right. Though I hated what I had to stoop to…”

Which honestly, this all makes me wonder if Vegeta’s comment about how Buu would’ve made a fine Saiyan has any more weight than we all initially believed.

Now here’s the REAL kicker.

Goku: “Vegeta… you surrendered to Babidi’s spell on purpose…to make me fight. Is that right?”

Vegeta: “If I hadn’t, I’d never get to fight you.”

Given what we know that Vegeta was able to deny Babidi’s magic - which I am now dubbing Wizard Hypnosis - purely because of his pride in that Babidi couldn’t COMPLETELY control him at all, the idea that Vegeta gave in to Babidi is not so far-fetched.

And with the added addition of Vegeta telling Goku a small part of him was hoping for it long before Babidi even knew he existed, it’s REALLY hard to deny.

Now, what does ALL OF THIS mean for Vegeta’s character?

It means that his redemption where he sacrifices himself

Piccolo: “For the first time ever, he’s fighting for something other than himself and he’s giving his life for it.”

Vegeta: “Goodbye Bulma, Trunks and Kakarot.”

is all the more powerful, meaningful, beautiful and brilliant.

Vegeta’s character arc hit a climactic battle of fighting off the redemption as hard as he could due to his pride.

It came to an end and completed finally when he let said pride go for the sake of others, as Piccolo stated, for the first time in his life.

His first completely and wholly selfless act was the most selfless act anyone could comment. Sacrificing ones life in the name of saving another’s.

And when it didn’t work.

He came right back and without him, the Earth would not have been saved.

The Prince who once sought to destroy the Earth and was defeated by a team of heroes, was now a necessary part of the team that saved it.

And he accepted it.

[entergamingxp]

Gears Tactics review – brains and brawn join forces as the fight against the Locust goes turn-based • Eurogamer.net

Gears of War has always been built around its cover system, with almost 15 years experience when it comes to squeezing its muscled heroes behind bits of wall, or whatever’s at hand, as they exchange fire with their equally muscled, subterrestrial counterparts. Once slotted into place, it’s then been up to the player to figure out how to gain the upper hand, perhaps lobbing a grenade to push enemies out of cover, or rushing forward to take advantage of an exposed flank. When described in these sorts of terms, it makes sense that the Gears series would eventually dip its considerable toes into the world of turn-based strategy, but how well does it actually translate?

Gears Tactics review

Developer: Splash Damage/The Coalition

Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios

Platform: Reviewed on PC

Availability: Out April 28th on PC

Eager to answer that question for us, Tactics is very quick to reintroduce another Gears of War staple: executions. Things may be a little slower paced here, but look, you can still chainsaw people in half! Downing an enemy will occasionally see them drop to their knees, allowing one of your bulky lads to jog over and bash their head in with a pistol, or gut them with a bayonet. As a visual spectacle, I’m a little less excited about this than I might have been in 2006, but as a game mechanic, let me tell you, executions allow for some brilliant decision making. That’s a very odd sentence to have typed out. Let me explain.

In Gears Tactics, each soldier in your squad has a handful of action points to spend per turn, whether that’s through moving, taking shots or using abilities. Once everyone’s out of actions, the bad guys get their go. It’s standard stuff. Landing an execution, however, changes things. Once you’ve finished beating the poor Locust to death with their own limbs, your entire squad (aside from the one performing the execution) is rewarded with an additional action point. There are even times where you’ll be able to chain a string of executions together and essentially double the number of actions you were meant to take that turn. This alters the game in a pretty significant way.

For a start, it means that Tactics is able to pit you against many more enemies than you’d typically expect. The odds are often stacked against you, quite considerably, with the hopes that you can claw your way back into control with a few well-timed decapitations. The first time this really clicked into place for me was during an early mission in which my squad was surrounded by Wretches, a fairly weak enemy type that can prove deadly when encountered in large numbers. With his last available action, Sid Redburn (one of the game’s named heroes) managed to execute a nearby Drone and in doing so, gifted his squadmates a fresh round of actions. This allowed another soldier to revive a downed teammate, which proved crucial, as she was the one carrying the frag grenade that could deal with the Wretches before they descended upon my squad. What a hero!

The right execution at the right time can sometimes turn around even the most doomed situations and these moments are the game at its very best. If you’ve played Into The Breach (and you should, it’s superb) you’ll likely recognise this sensation, as you suddenly glimpse a way out of what seemed like the most impossible scenario just moments beforehand.

Aside from these Eureka-worthy executions, much of the Gears Tactics experience in combat borrows heavily from the Firaxis XCOM games. Your squad may enter the battlefield courtesy of an armoured car rather than a Skyranger, but the end result is a similar one. You’ll take and miss shots, you’ll use Overwatch (albeit this time with cones of vision!), you’ll complete objectives and race to evacuate before being overrun. There’s some fun reimagining of the Gears weapons and abilities (the bayonet charge remains a highlight, even here), but I do wish the enemy units had more to offer. Unlike XCOM, where every alien usually has a couple of different tricks up their sleeve, here, your opponents feel more limited.

Compare the Sectoids of XCOM: Enemy Unknown with the Drones of Gears Tactics, for example. Both units can move, open fire and set up overwatch, but on top of this, XCOM’s Sectoids might use suppressive fire to pin one of your soldiers in place, or merge minds with another alien, improving their stats but also exposing them to further danger. They’re both units that you’ll encounter frequently throughout their respective campaigns, but one is quite a bit more interesting than the other. This comparison can be felt across many of the Gears Tactics enemies, unfortunately.

The exception to that rule comes with the boss fights at the end of each Act, in which you’re pitted against some of the more deadly monsters of the Gears universe. Brumaks and Corpsers, the big guns. These fights offer much more variety, with multiple attack types that’ll force you to keep moving your units and scramble to new cover as you chip away at an intimidatingly large health bar. Boss fights can work in the turn-based space, says Gears Tactics, and I’m inclined to agree.

Outside of the missions themselves, Gears does drift away from the XCOM formula more substantially, opting to do away with base building, research and the strategy layer all together. Your soldiers still level up and unlock new abilities, but their weapon and equipment upgrades are found in crates that you’ll need to pick up during missions, or earn as rewards for completing optional objectives. There are no microtransactions here, but these crates still carry with them the distinct feeling of loot boxes, even down to the opening animations.

Some of you may be delighted to hear that you won’t need to research new weapons or hire engineers to create them for your squad, but these colour-coded crates never feel like much of a replacement. Although I appreciated the added incentive they provided to take risks during the missions themselves, opening them and sorting through all of the various weapon attachments I’d unlocked afterwards tended to feel like a chore. I never felt any real ownership over what I found inside, I suppose that’s the real problem. These weren’t weapons or armour I’d set out to craft, it was just another scope or rifle barrel that I’d found in a loot box, seemingly at random.

The campaign is separated into story missions that need to be completed and side missions that you’re able to choose between. These side trips often present some of the more interesting setups, as they’ll come with their own modifiers like +100 per cent damage from Wretches, or increased movement range for your squad. You’re also limited by the fact that you can’t take the same team with you for every mission as sometimes they’ll need to rest, or you won’t have access to a certain character for narrative reasons. This means you’ll need to recruit enough units to flesh out a small roster and then switch between them as you go.

In theory, most of your soldiers should be the run-of-the-mill Gears who’ve been recruited along the way and as is now the norm in the world of turn-based tactics, you’re able to customise these men and women to your heart’s content, with different names, armour and colour schemes… only to see them die permanently should you put them in harm’s way.

But in practice, it’s the game’s hero units that always matter the most. They have to survive for your campaign to continue (forcing you to restart missions if they die), as they’re key to its storyline and you’ll usually be required to bring some of them with you on most missions. This means there’ll be at the very top of your priority list when it comes to which soldiers you’ll want to focus on leveling up and kitting out. In fact, given that I’d also received Augustus Cole (AKA The Cole Train) as a pre-order bonus, I rarely used more than one or two non-hero units in my squad at any one time, as I felt it’d be a waste of experience points to do so. I can’t help but wonder if I’d have had more fun managing my squad, mixing and matching the different classes, if there had been no ‘heroes’ whatsoever. At least it would have felt like a choice I was making.

As for the storyline itself, Gears Tactics is a prequel to the original Gears of War, set 12 years before anyone has decided to pull Marcus Fenix out of jail. Actually, I suppose he’s not in jail yet, is he? Lucky him! You’re tasked with hunting down a Locust scientist, “a monster who makes monsters”, and there’s some mystery to the politics surrounding this whole operation, but I found it all quite uninspired in the end. Your squad jumps between trust and distrust of one another with alarming frequency, with the end result being that none of it feels particularly genuine.

There are moments in which Tactics does manage to be the successful marriage between Gears of War and XCOM that you might have hoped for, but as a whole package, I’m not convinced it’s ever quite as good as that. I applaud it for experimenting with some brand new ideas, as well as providing another solid entry point into the turn-based strategy genre for those who’ve not been convinced in the past. But with the likes of Enemy Unknown and XCOM 2 having paved the way before this, Tactics had some big shoes to fill and not even Sid Redburn (who looks to be a size 16, at least) could quite manage it for me. But that execution mechanic! What a fantastic idea.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/04/gears-tactics-review-brains-and-brawn-join-forces-as-the-fight-against-the-locust-goes-turn-based-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gears-tactics-review-brains-and-brawn-join-forces-as-the-fight-against-the-locust-goes-turn-based-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[charly-ra]

How to Use Quora to Establish Thought Leadership and Credibility

B2B marketing has hit a wall. Audiences are getting harder to reach, campaigns are fractured across channels and, for many brands, performance is flatlining. Whatever audiences want, they want it now.

We already know that the B2B journey is powered by content as prospects want to self-educate. Which is why so many B2B companies are turning to thought leadership to build brand awareness, enhance decision makers’ trust, open the conversation, and help close business, according to research by Edelman and LinkedIn. It kickstarts the momentum for brand awareness and credibility while strengthening lead generation efforts.

Thought leadership marketing is the art of positioning your company as a leader in its field. 56% of B2B marketing executives stated “positioning our company as a thought leader” as their top objective in a recent Economics Intelligence Unit study.

“Brand really matters,” remarks Alicia Tillman, SAP’s chief marketing officer. “It matters in people’s perceptions and it leads people to decide whether or not they’re going to buy your product and become a customer for life.” (Source AdExchanger).

Depending on your industry, demonstrating thought leadership can take different shapes. In general, B2B decision makers are looking for content about new trends, industry analysis, and key statistics they can use in their work. And they’re willing to spend time consuming content. According to Edelman’s study, “35% of respondents are spending about one to three hours per week reviewing thought leadership content.”

The point of thought leadership is to demonstrate expertise, not simply talk about it. Seth Godin shows up every day demonstrating thought leadership in the form of his blog. And if you want your brand to earn respect from your audience, provide value upfront. But what’s valuable? The short answer is offering your audience the content they want and need – when and where they’re looking for it.

Quora’s High-Intent Audience and Context

According to the 2019 study of B2B content marketing from the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, 9 in 10 of the “most successful” B2B content marketers prioritize their audience’s informational needs over the sales/promotional message. Since the questions on Quora are demand-driven, it’s an excellent platform for marketers looking to address the informational needs of their audience.

The truth is, thought leadership doesn’t have to be costly or difficult. One of the best places to establish thought leadership and earn credibility is on Quora. The platform provides the right context and a high-intent audience.

What makes Quora’s audience unique is how people use the platform. It’s the exchange of knowledge that is so conducive to people being receptive to new solutions and discovering new products including reliable information about your company, products, services, competitors, and industry. It’s within this context that thought leadership is welcomed and rewarded by the community.

Quora not only provides the perfect context for thought leadership, but also a highly engaged audience with the intent of looking answers. People don’t come to Quora to passively scroll. 300+ million people come to Quora every month to prep, research, evaluate, ask for tips, and learn more about the world around them and that includes the products and services you offer. Don’t miss out on this crucial point in the buyer’s journey by ensuring your brand is present.

Building Thought Leadership on Quora

Why do thought leaders come to Quora? They’re here because of the ability to reach a very large audience not just now, but years from now with evergreen content. It begins with your followers; which, when you first join, might be low, but has the potential to reach the right audience.

Aside from the potential massive reach, here at Quora, we’ve worked very hard over the years to really build a platform and a system that is optimal for readers, writers, and seekers of information. Here are a few ways you can leverage the platform for maximum results.

Fill Out Your Quora Profile

An easy way to gain credibility is by filling out your Quora credentials and bio. By adding your title, company, bio, and interests you’re signaling to people who are and why they should trust your answer. It also helps people find you when they are looking for experts and/or the best people to answer their questions on Quora.

In this example, Michelle Zatlyn added her title as well as a company description before she provided more of her background. 

Answer Questions

To get started, simply answer questions relevant to your industry and expertise. Look for missing information in available answers and provide additional informational value. Authenticity and credible answers will help grow your following which in turn will increase answer views.

What makes you an expert or thought leader and why should others care? If you’re an expert in HR Software, don’t just talk about how much you know. Write an in-depth article or provide an unique point of view tackling specific challenges in the world of HR Software. Not only will your audience be more interested in reading an article that could help them, but you’ll earn their trust and gain credibility.

Jason Lemkin, SaaStr & SaaStr Fund; ceo/co-founder at EchoSign, is a great example of someone who has really made the Quora system work for him. He’s been a writer on Quora since 2010, and has written over three thousand answers on Quora, earning 43k followers and over 43 million views.

Your answers demonstrate your expertise and give you credibility as a thought leader. They give you a voice in questions being asked about your organization or products. Being the best answer is key for driving success on Quora.

Here are a few guidelines for what makes good content on Quora:

Demonstrate credibility and make sure you’re factually correct.

Clear and easy to read (formatting, actionable items, images, etc).

Anything unique or interesting that you can offer is great as well — personal stories of failures, mishaps, successes do really well and are very accessible and humanizing and will greatly increase your Quora following.

Bonus: It’s a good idea to try to answer a question as quickly as possible after it has been posted. The question will be fresh in the mind of the person who posted it, and they’ll be more likely to upvote your answer or engage you further. Writing the first answer also means that you won’t risk repeating someone else.

Plus, answers continue to be useful on Quora, even years after they are written. If you write answers that don’t “expire,” they will continue to be read and useful! They get seen by people following the topics you write about, meaning people who are genuinely interested in what you have to say. And they can lead to further exposure, since many Quora answers show up in Google searches, or sometimes get picked up by the media.

In addition to taking part in Quora’s advertising beta, Asana, a web and mobile application designed to help teams organize, track, and manage their work, built a presence on the site through the voice of their co-founder and head of product, Justin Rosenstein. His answer to a 2015 question on top productivity tips has been viewed more than 453,000 times and was featured in articles from Forbes, Inc., Time, and Quartz.

Quora Sessions

Also consider conducting a Session on Quora. It’s similar to an AMA (Ask Me Anything). Have you ever wanted to ask a question to a specific expert, artist, or group? Or thought that it would be fascinating if a certain someone answered a particular question? Sessions are when these individuals and groups answer these questions and you can be the host.

Take advantage of sessions as an easy way to show your expertise on relevant topics by answering community questions. The first part of a session is when hosts take questions. This period usually lasts for a few days during which people can ask questions or build demand for others. At the end of this period, the host comes online and answers questions they find the most interesting.

Promoted Answers

Lastly, many businesses are already acquiring customers organically through their answers on Quora, and with Promoted Answers they can reach a wider audience. The format provides a flexible canvas to share detailed information about your product or service that goes beyond the characters allowed in normal ad copy and helps to facilitate engagement through upvotes, comments, and follows. If Quora users are already discussing your business, Promoted Answers are a great way to join the conversation surrounding your brand.

Brian de Haaff, CEO of Aha!, has over 5 millions views across 330+ answers with the help of Promoted Answers.

Measuring Performance

How do you figure out where to spend your time on Quora? Quora offers a free analytics tool that allows you to track your questions, answers and blog posts by clicks, views, shares and upvotes. Use this information to determine what works best on the platform so you can focus on sharing content that engages the community.

If you’re looking to increase awareness of your Quora content consider these two ideas:

Amplify distribution with social media: Share your Quora answers with your existing social media audience. You can do this easily by clicking the Facebook or Twitter icons below the answer.

Direct your customers to your answers: Share links to your Quora answers with visitors to your website, or email subscribers. It’s a great way to help them learn more about a question or topic without having to fit all of the information in a small text field.

Summary

As marketers we have an obligation to earn our audience’s attention. Channels never mattered to the consumer. People move back-and-forth through stages, across multiple channels using different devices. These stages are made of ‘micro-moments’ or brief instances in customers’ decision-making process where a brand can step in with a piece of interesting content or helpful information.

And Quora provides a great opportunity for B2B marketers to step in with helpful information and content in the form answers to demand-driven questions. Brands that focus on delivering high quality, engaging and inspiring content can positively influence the buyer’s journey on Quora.

Writing on Quora can be a fun, interesting hobby or personally rewarding, but also is something that every business and leader should be investing time in. Marketers that focus on delivering high quality, engaging, and inspiring content can positively influence the buyers journey to purchase.

About JD Prater

JD Prater is the Quora Evangelist and a regular speaker at conferences across the globe such as INBOUND, SaaStr, BrightonSEO, and SMX. JD is also the podcast host of Grow with Quora and The PPC Show. He’s an award-winning marketer with a passion for organizing data into actionable stories. JD is an avid cyclist, proud new father, and weekend traveler in his spare time.

from http://bit.ly/2YKsxwZ

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Respark The Romance Review

Respark The Romance Review

Respark The Romance Review

Respark The Romance Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lYpPQhOYhI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7iDBOYw67U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbCxHETasM4

In general, personalities are creatures that are known to be social by nature. It's simply one thing that is programmed inside us. We usually return across the requirement of meeting other folks and obtaining social with them; obtaining to know the person they're, the things they are doing, their likes and interests and what they dislike and such. Whenever we have a tendency to are ready to make a connection with such people, a relationship if cast. Just as different things on the face of the earth, relationships additionally evolve. Give them time, and you may start realizing some amendment…either for the best or worse. lovers kissing in bed Within the worst case state of affairs, majority people realize it a challenge to house the reality and we have a tendency to are left frustrated thinking our relationship has reached its endpoint. Something unhappy is trying to picture a relationship whereby plenty of energy and fun has been invested into turn awry and trashed. 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He could be a renowned relationship consultant, relationship knowledgeable and best-selling author. Parts Of The Program     Half One: Building Romance And fervour During a Relationship In the first section of this program, the author majors his concentration on ways that through that you'll be able to re-establish romance effectively in a very relationship. He additionally focuses on obtaining a lot of passion. Useful facts on passion and romance that are quite interesting also are contained in this half. Methods that are proven to figure are then given following the facts. These are;     Emotional Hunger Technique     Emotional Turbulence Formula The ways will lead to a man falling deep in love like the terribly 1st time or presumably deeper. This half has sections that conjointly show the mistakes that are created by most girls in relationships. a way to respark the romance review     Part 2: Understanding Romance And A Passionate Relationship In an exceedingly Deeper Level In this guide’s section, the author dwells deeply on the must recognize as so much as passionate and romantic relationships are involved. An approach kind of like that in the first part, is employed here. Facts on passion and romance are laid forward and goes on to allow strategies that are helpful keep the 2 vibrant for the whole duration you're with each different. Tested and proven psychological tricks that employment in actual life for you as a girl are provided in this section. The tricks psychological work on individuals from all age brackets. It works irrespective of whether your partner is previous or young. Complete Package Of How to Respark The Romance The want of the author is for you to any boost your success with men. This is in view of getting that committed relationship you have continually dreamt of. As such, he went on to present you with a variety of valuable bonuses that complement the guide pretty well. These are; Bonuses Bonus #1: The Advanced Enchantment Report – Revealed in this report are 5 keys towards awakening of your man’s inner romantic being and enchant his own heart permanently. The keys are ideal for all girls no matter age or relationship stage. Bonus #two: Long Term Attraction – Here you'll be instructed on how long-term attraction will be reignited and maintained. You may get to be told the advantages of laughter, the way to be happier, keeping hot of your sex life, and much a lot of. Bonus #3: Fast Begin Romantic Black Book – This bonus product presents you with an overview of the crucial points of vital recommendation or Brian. The quick-start guide is fitting to users of The way to Respark the Romance that are done with reading the manual yet would like for quick reference material. date Bonus #four: Unleash His Hidden Passion Secret Notebook – Released appropriately are secrets that men want perpetually during a relationship, creation of such safe moments useful keep your man comfy in, triggering enhanced passion and intimacy, flirting with a man, seducing him using your body language and generating a never ceasing burning fire. Bonus #5: An audio version of Long Term Attraction. Final Verdict The planning of this course was with the aim of serving to ladies by teaching them how to increase their sexual bond with their partner. A relationship that is passionate is also established at the identical time. By using methods based mostly on psychology, the online training course is ready to teach you the way to own your partner reignite the love, passion and want that they had for you. >>> Don’t Miss It – Click Here Now – See The Special Price! <<< Pros • The strategies and facts that are presented in the guide don't seem to be a scam. They need been tested, tried and proven. • The program is sort of comprehensive. With it you get arguably the most effective worth for the money you spent on buying it. • The program is effective to people from all age brackets. You do not have to stress that perhaps your partner is simply too young or a bit previous. • A money back guarantee sixty-day long is additionally offered. Within the event the program turn our contrary to what you find in reviews, you'll be able to get a refund of your cash inside this window. Cons • Only available within the PDF format. You are not going to urge a hardcopy to the present program at any store you visit since it's only offered in the digital kind. Summary: The way to Respark the Romance comes as a chronological program providing insight, tips and tricks that have been proven effective in reigniting the flame of passion and love within a relationship. It is simply the program you need so as to create your spouse fall in love with you again.