#doesn't matter much- I don't really like co-op either I'm just doing it for more rewards and stuff

[sweet-herba-mystica-archive]

Lmao love Pokemon Masters but also sad that the co-op mode is so unused that I don't get matched with anyone when I play

[raayllum]

what's the worst that can happen

Going into s6, we know it's the show's 11th hour in a lot of ways. I expect the mid-point of S7 will also have some terrible shit happening, don't get me wrong, but going into S6, there's a lot of things that are probably going to happen and here's some of 'em, and then we can check back here in two weeks and see what was shaken out!

Janai loses her kingdom. This would be especially devastating because 1) Janai has called for reinforcements through both Ezran and Aanya, and 2) it means Kim'Dael could be freed as well. I'm not expecting this to be the end of the plot line either per se (Sol Regem + Pharos corruption sleeper agent infecting more Sunfire elves)

Aanya dies. We know that Aanya has an older adoptive brother, and I've been wondering for a while on why to give her one in the first place. The most obvious reasons would be for him to provide her with a confidant (perhaps some Aanya angst or uncertainty) and as a parallel to the broyals. The other most obvious reason would be for her or her brother to die, thereby leaving the other alone; if Aanya dies as well, he would also inherit the throne, and this would possibly leave Ezran with a weakened or non-existent ally as well.

Katolis falls. Katolis has been a safe base and starting point throughout arc 2. We also know Ezran is staying behind there in early S6 and that Claudia, at some point alongside Terry, makes her way to the Valley of Graves in Katolis as well for some kind of spell. If Katolis fell, and Ezran and co. had to leave (maybe with the castle under siege, and a character like Opeli also dying), this would be a big blow to the status quo as well as for Ezran's character to deal with.

The quasar diamonds don't work. One is missing, or the Star magic isn't enough because of the nature of the coins. This doesn't mean the Moon fam + Kpp'Ar doesn't get out, per se, but that more creative solutions (dark magic, a quasar diamond substitute) have to added in order to have a real shot at releasing them. Alternatively: the quasar diamond star magic is all that's needed, but it leads to disaster such as the possession.

Aaravos takes the Nova Blade. Big bad who is notoriously angry at other Startouch elves, and the sword that just happens to be the main thing that can kill Startouch elves? Yeah, it's a recipe for disaster in terms of "collecting mega dangerous objects that Aaravos could have a reasonable vested interest in" and a classic "the tool you hunt down to use on your enemy is then used against you" (perhaps literally, if Callum and/or Rayla are also stabbed with it).

Callum is possessed. This is a matter of when, not if. There are a few different orders this could go through, the most dramatic probably being either escalated choices Callum makes or random happenstance leading to his possession, Aaravos isn't out yet, Rayla refuses to hurt him despite everything being on the line, Callum stabs her (with the Nova Blade?) but snaps out of it, and sets Aaravos free in order to keep her alive. I could also very much see Aaravos being released and then Callum being possessed if they want to go full throttle on the "possession is a kind of death (you chose)" deal.

Claudia is Claudia. Do I really have to explain this one? Poor girl, but the world is definitely going to be worse off in S6 for having her in it. Still love her though.

[terastalungrad]

BB20: Wednesday 11 October

"You don't have to be clever to be in a boarding school, it's all down to your parents, what they can afford."

Big fan of Farida explaining this to Zak in front of boarding school-educated Henry.

Shopping task is to pretend to be a company. Yinrun, Trish and Henry become bigwigs, so they're in charge. And they wear big wigs. Those are two Steff faves, and the Tory himbo.

Four days in, Hallie continues speak directly into the cameras to address Big Brother. Iconique. We have no choice but to stan. Etc.

Bigwigs get to decide who will be middle management, and who will be the Bottoms (language that reassures me that ITV haven't forgotten Big Brother's core demographic of filthy queers).

Instinctively, I feel like the right choice is to make middle managers out of the housemates most likely to sulk. Olivia, Chanelle, maybe Kerry. I bet that's not what they've done.

Okay, wow, the only one of those three they've picked is Kerry. This will cause discord, you mark my words.

Dylan, Zak and Paul will be solid Bottoms I reckon. Yep. I said what I said.

Aw, I'm so right about Zak. He's been amazing so far, actually. Very good for morale, very good at ending conflict before it begins.

Oh no, the power of middle management has gone right to Kerry's head. Calling a meeting when there's nothing to discuss - except for her disapproval of Zak's approach of being nice to the Bottoms so everyone's on side. Kerry favours an approach where the middle managers make every decision and force the Bottoms to do what they say.

Meals are provided - more luxurious food for those higher up the food chain. Kerry complains about her perfectly lovely middle manager meal.

Kerry's going to cause a lot of conflict this series I reckon. On the first night, she was asked to pick the worst-dressed housemate. She picked Jenkin, who lost his suitcase, and I thought she'd failed to understand the premise of the game - that the housemate she picked would face a punishment.

Now, I've changed my mind. I think she knew full well - and it simply didn't matter. She's a no-nonsense person, by the book. You ask her to pick the worst-dressed housemate, that is exactly what she'll do. She won't pick a second choice instead, even if her first choice has already been given multiple punishments.

Kerry's told to be a middle manager, and that's what she does. Doesn't matter that this isn't really a company - that this is just a task within a TV show. The moment she's given that role, she expects absolute obedience. Not only from those underneath her, but from her fellow middle managers too.

Henry has a Big Brother mug with the new logo on it. Let me be very clear that I want one of these mugs.

I wonder who wins this sort of Big Brother? I'd love it to be Hallie. I reckon Jordan stands a very good chance.

People on the internet hate Olivia, so I'm automatically on her side. Not fun seeing her clash with Zak, though. The Bottoms are all doing a tedious job - sorting hundreds of paper clips by colour - and Zak comes to keep up their spirits.

Olivia's annoyed by his presence - but that's unreasonable, so she needs to think of a good reason to resent him. "I know you love being in charge," she says. But - he isn't here on a power trip. He either wants people to be happy, or he wants to be liked. Either way, he's absolutely not motivated by wanting to rub people's nose in his status.

Tell you a video game I like - KeyWe, which Tumblr recommended to Elanor. Co-op game where you play as two kiwis who get a job in a post office. You obviously cannot single-handedly do the job of an actual human, but with two of you, you can get basic tasks done. Anyway, the task where Paul and Zak sort through post IS this game, down to the final detail. It even has troublesome animals, in the form of pigeons who shit on you.

Interesting - Yinrun feels like nobody except Trish and Henry speak to her very much.

Now listen. I love Farida and Kerry. But I would not stay in a job where if they were my managers.

"I honestly thought we were going to be bored," says Farida of the show so far. She really hadn't banked on the ITV version being so full of action.

Aw, Hallie checking in on Kerry is adorable.

A really sweet generational thing. Hallie wants to offer physical comfort, but only on Kerry's terms. So even as Kerry starts to tear up, Hallie doesn't hug her - but holds out her arms, which Kerry can choose to take or not.

And Kerry doesn't take Hallie's arms, because she's a different generation. Instead, she says, "Have you smelled this?" and offers Hallie a nice-smelling product. And then Hallie DOES hug her.

Ahh, Hallie has absolutely clocked Farida's need for control.

Fair play to Kerry - she has the idea to let the Bottoms decide on the shopping if they win the task. That's really nice.

Oh no, but Farida is dead against the idea!! Actually, maybe I've been too quick to judge Kerry's management. She's really good here.

Zak comforting Hallie. Steff faves unite! ... oh, is Zak a Steff fave now? I suppose he is!

The bigwigs talk about demoting Farida, since she wants to do the Bottoms' pointless busywork. But that's not going to work, is it? Farida's not going to become easier to manage when she feels she has less control.

Who gets voted out in a show like this?? On Channel 4, we'd lose the most-hated housemate. Sources of drama would be in trouble - probably Farida, since Olivia's immune.

On Channel 5, we'd lose the least-loved housemate. Someone who's failed to stand out. Noky could be in trouble, just because she's not been especially prominent.

Farida thinks Kerry is conniving! She isn't, Farida. You're annoyed about Kerry wanting to let the Bottoms choose the shopping. That is ... the opposite of conniving? Right? That's Kerry wilingingly conceding power and control to reward the hardest workers. The most cynical possible reading is that Kerry wants to be liked.

[mamamittens]

How to (try to) escape a yandere in One Piece

Okay, so an old ask keeps popping up in my head so I might as well address it semi formally and out loud, yeah?

The problem with One Piece characters as yanderes is that the world is so batshit nearly every character could canonically be yandere as it stands. And you'd be fucked several times over a majority of the time.

Safest yanderes to escape from?

Your average civilians with little to no 'bigger' friends. I'm talking folks like Makino. Maybe they know someone that would be willing to help but the distance and relative difficulty getting a hold of them gives you an amazing headstart and without a lot of evidence you can safely assume you're getting away baring terrible luck. Average fishmen and mermaids, as well as minks or any other more exotic species counts here too with the added benefit that they can't afford to travel in certain areas without being sold as slaves (as terrible as it is).

Tricky but maybe not impossible?

Average marine and pirate. Your small fry background characters not imbued with special abilities or strong devil fruit powers. They could get a leg up by allying themselves with a stronger marine/pirate just sadistic/amused enough to entertain their crush to track you down but it's unlikely they'll put all their resources into it. Marines could put a bounty on your head, Which makes things more difficult, but unless they can get enough sway they're basically just getting you arrested and locked away out of their reach. Which if you ran away you probably won't see too much of a problem with. More well connected members of other species are also here as long as they're small fry that can't quite overpower more... Greedy interests.

Yikes my guy, I think you might be screwed here.

Smaller pirate crews/captains with a good amount of heft to their name but not really warlord or yonko status. As well as Marines under more unhinged superior officers that like them or can be convinced how important it is you're 'rescued'. Like, Coby or the Hearts pirates before they allied with Luffy and co. There are still options, they're probably busy with more pressing matters than the apple of one of their member's eyes (though the captain is another question) so you can probably get a good distance away. With enough dedication you might even succeed at disguising yourself forever. World's a big place but... If they spot you once it's unlikely you'll get the chance to run away again. So uh... Make it count yeah?

RIP to you, the clock is ticking and I hope brief freedom was worth it.

Uh, about any of the big pirate crews and I'd say warlords, admirals and up, as well as yonkos go here. This includes the Strawhats but double cause they're tenacious and very willing to help each other out with a lot of friends to help do it. While not... Strictly impossible to get away or even necessarily impossible to stay 'gone' you're going to need some big strings to pull it off. I'm talking fade away to obscurity on a random island in bum-fuck-nowhere-(insert random blue here) kinda gone. And travel in OP in a right bitch so you better be quick and determined. Or at least faster than your yanderes' fastest friend. Certainly don't run to known friends, unknown allies, or any family no matter how removed.

Possible escape routes? Deep and secretly with rival crews/organizations and hope they don't learn about it cause they won't give a shit about wrecking hell to get to you then. Amazon Lily if you're a woman and hope it doesn't get out cause unless Boa Hancock is also yandere for you, she likely won't risk her whole island your one person. And I wouldn't recommend it if your yandere is Luffy cause then you're either dead or just going right back to his side. If you're running from a marine, world noble, or celestial dragon the Revolutionary Army is a pretty good bet. Just hope tricky politics doesn't mean you get cut loose too (or an RA member gets a little too fond of you as well). Reverse if your yandere is part of the RA and hope they don't manage to track you down with their information network.

Are you sure you actually got away or is this just a game of cat and mouse for them?

If the yandere is strong and capable of independent travel under their own power they probably go here. Jinbe, Marco, Ace, (a few others with powers or devil fruits that make traversing the seas alone not only possible but a breeze) and probably highest ranking Marines. Even without using allies and friends your odds are getting dicey. How you escaped is a miracle and unlikely to happen twice. I'm not even sure you actually got away unnoticed to start with. This might be a 'game' to teach you how impossible it is to leave the yandere in question. The moment you're in danger (possibly just after it if they're sadistic) or exhausted and pathetic they'll sweep in and carry you back 'home'.

With an incredible amount of luck you could get away. But if they got this far in OP they're probably hella stubborn and determined. So even as the years go by, they won't forget you. But they'll sure as hell remember what you did. One wrong move... One bad stroke of luck... And that's it. If even a friend of a friend sees you and opens their mouth, you're liable to come back home to see them chilling in your living room scowling at the lackluster accommodations. They probably won't understand why you ran away.

But they'll certainly put in the work to make you understand why you never should have left.

The 'X' factor that may make it better or worse when you try and leave.

Naturally, depending on their temperament, they may take your leaving.... Better? A little? Delusional will convince themselves you were just so scared! You didn't understand! This of course adds a bit of desperation to their actions and may lead to more severe restrictions until you get it through your silly head that you're safer with them. It does mean that they won't check the more 'dangerous' escape routes first because there's no way you really know what you're doing... This train of thought won't last long though. More sadistic yanderes will relish the excuse for punishment--arguably its more important than ever that you disappear really well because retrieval won't be a gentle process. Level headed yanderes will likely think through your actions. Might even understand... But except for very rare circumstances, you're not likely to just be let go. They need you... Just like you need them (and you'll understand eventually that they're right).

One Piece is just the definition of 'the world feels a hell of a lot smaller when it counts'. The only real barriers are politics and the sea. So if they can bypass one or both your escape routes dwindle quickly. Lack of communication between islands only goes so far when there's a lot of movement between them. And a clever enough pirate can abuse the system to locate you faster than you think.

By all means you should strive for freedom but... It's better to be mindful about how far you'll need to go once you realize the situation you're in before acting recklessly. If you were caught once you can be caught again.

And if uh... You 'left' with something you better hope they didn't know about it beforehand. I don't see that going over well. Just... Add a little timer to your escape plan cause they probably had more eyes on you than you think.

[hologramcowboy]

In response to the double standard anon, that's not true. And just to clarify, I'm not an AA or a Danneel stan. I could care less about either one to be honest nor do I want to hate on one or defend the other in any way, but I feel like I need to speak on this to show how that point of double standards is incorrect. I don't know if I consider myself an anti, but I definitely am a part of the 'critical' crowd all around.

I have two instances that I think are worse than my alleged husband waving at Hooters' waitresses, where I absolutely would have lost my crap in this type of scenario if I were married to Jensen myself. Or if this had say happened with Jared and I was in Gen's position. Or with whoever I was married to, celebrity and non-celebrity alike.

One, the Liv Likar thing. Whether people agree or disagree with me, it doesn't matter. What happened with her was disrespectful. Not the whole noncon thing AA's like to claim (puh-leeze, if he had truly been uncomfortable, he would have politely or not so politely pulled away). No, because the man is married, this girl just met him, she knows he's married, she asks for a picture as a fan which should mean there are automatic boundaries in place due to the dynamic/context (again he's also married and that's public knowledge), and then she purposely kisses his cheek in an area that had he turned less than a quarter inch towards her say not knowing what she was about to do, her lips would have connected with his or at the very least touched the corner of his mouth. (for doubters, watch that video again, she even purposely makes the kissing sound which isn't necessary for the action she's doing) And regardless of however she acted, he knows better and I would hold him fully accountable. If my husband had done that when I wasn't around and then liked the post she made on social media on top of it (especially when he doesn't really interact with fans on SM all that much) and saw that same girl agreeing with a comment someone made on her post saying my husband has more chemistry in a photo with her more than he does me, I promise you anon, that wouldn't fly with me. At all. I don't care if he was surprised by her actions or he was playing fully to the public persona he represents or what. Not. Cool.

Secondly, there is one photo op that has circulated out there with that girl named Abichristine -whatever her name is- that imho is also disrespectful. It's pre-pandemic and she is sitting on Jensen's knee and she's lifting his chin with her finger as he looks up at her I think it is. His hand is resting on her bare upper thigh, granted right above the knee and they keep a respectable distance for her requested pose and his other hand is in a safe area, but his other hand could have been on her knee if needed for balance or the pose or whatever but it's not. While this, to me, is a little less disrespectful than the one I mentioned above, I still wouldn't be okay with it. Especially knowing that this girl is present at every single convention, taking photo ops with him, and is always present as much as possible at every social event Jensen and I would attend, especially in our hometown. I might not be as humiliated or pissed off as I would be above (it is only a photo op after all) but still I would turn to my husband and go "wtf is that? Why is your hand there?" Especially considering that it's obvious that she's one of those "superfans" and is around him every chance she gets. Again, I would hold him fully accountable because he should know better and he obviously has total control over what poses he allows to be done in his photo ops.

And it should be mentioned that both of these happened in the public eye, not just in front of their families or friends or co-workers, and while she wasn't even there. (imagine how much worse the demeaning would have been if she had been)

I just rolled my eyes at the photo op thing when it happened but when the Liv thing happened, you can bet I was very vocal on how wrong Jensen was for that one. His wife may suck as a person (she does, again see the hooters video) and he may not be in a happy marriage (he's obviously not) but if you want to talk about respect and double standards and all of that crap, trust me, Jensen is no saint either. And a lot of people in this crowd, including this blog, have no problem saying that and have, often. (see this blog's posts on how Jensen and Danneel met & what happened with Riley for instance, Danneel isn't the only one that is stated as being wrong in that scenario, the blame is placed on both parties equally so your double standards theory goes right out the window)

Here's the thing, if I was married to Jensen or whoever, you would never see me handling it on a drunken livestream number one, and you would never see me being abusive towards him. An argument might ensue, sure, but I wouldn't demean him. I wouldn't feel the urge to point out that these attractive women might not have wanted to talk to him, whether to him himself or to the people around us. I would instead handle it between him and I, most likely when we're sober. If I needed to talk to my girlfriends because I was upset, I would do it another time. I know everyone is different and would handle this in their own ways but I myself would lock that shit down as tightly as I could and then deal with it with him in private. I might not be able to go about hunky dory the rest of the night until I dealt with it but I also wouldn't make it everyone else's problem either. No one should have their night ruined just because my husband might be an inconsiderate asshole at times. But I also would keep in mind that he's been drinking, all he did was wave, and while it might be embarrassing, hey it's not like the two examples above. But, if it had embarrassed me like it did Danneel, then that's how I would personally go about it.

Because if you yell at him and tell him "omg stop looking at them! I'm right here!" then it causes a scene, you look mad jealous and it might come off as you trying to be controlling (not that you care about your image in that instance unless you are public figures but it also invites everyone else into something that should be discussed between the two of you), and it's not going to accomplish what you really want: letting him know how much that embarrassed you, how much it might have hurt, and for him to hopefully be more considerate in the future. So now imagine what Danneel said in this video and what it accomplishes (which also shows her actual intentions). What is the purpose for it? Simple: to demean him, to save face in front of their friends, and to make herself feel better by putting him down because she is embarrassed and jealous (evidenced by "none of the girls in Hooters would wave to Jensen" said to her friends laughingly after the situation passed & then her shirking his hand off of her later on and telling him to stop, then acting annoyed to her girlfriends). Which anon, her comments are indeed abusive, bullying at the very least. Which again, bullying is abusive. Google it if you need to. It's time all of society was schooled on what actually constitutes as abuse and how our attitudes towards it need to change.

I hope I don't come across rudely here, that's not my intention, but I can't stand that whole double standards/misogyny claim especially when it's baseless and incorrect (like here on this blog for example) and total bullshit as a whole because people dare to call a woman out for her abusive behavior for the right reasons, not because her husband is "hot" or whatever. There's way worse shit he could have done than drunkenly waving to waitresses, and it still wouldn't justify what Danneel said to him and about him. Had Danneel been in his position and did the same thing like you claim, and he said those things to her and about her, I promise you no one here would have a problem calling him out about that type of abusive behavior.

"It's time all of society was schooled on what actually constitutes as abuse and how our attitudes towards it need to change." Especially since a lot of people take abuse without knowing it qualifies as that and then they blame themselves thinking they are not enough instead of realizing they are being gaslighted, emotionally abused, etc. Jensen needs exames of healthy, thriving relationships so he can learn the difference and realize his marriage is far from ideal. He needs to stop advertising his home life because it comes across as extremely toxic and I don't think he realizes that. I think to him that's all normal because he doesn't know what a healthy relationship is like.