#dr tana

[best-star-trek-character]

Quarter-Finals

[keyotos]

face-to-face

summary ↯

aventurine has a bit of a staring problem while shopping

tags ⎯ unestablished relationship. like we are in the baby stages of their relationship. minor jealousy. lots of banter. lowk dialogue heavy.

word count ⎯ 3.3k

tana's thoughts ⎯ aventurine has taken over my brain so here's a snippet of the series i'm writing

over the years, it's become easier for you to notice when someone stares at you. before, it was an uncomfortable feeling. you felt eyes peering over your shoulder as if you were a pest–it made your skin churn and shoulders twitch up self-consciously. now though, gazes move past you like air. you don't care as much about the opinions of other people–it's not like you'll be seeing them for long anyway.

except, today is different.

you can feel aventurine's colorful eyes trail your every move. from the moment you chose the necklace, to the moment you took it up to the cashier. he wasn't being as inconspicuous as he assumed to be: that died after the fifth glance that he shot your way while you were inspecting said necklace.

even through his glasses, aventurine's stare was burning and heavy. you never thought that such light-colored eyes could install such a hefty weight on your back, but aventurine proves you wrong.

while the cashier rings up your necklace, you look back at aventurine. coincidentally, he was already eyeing you before you even turned around. so when you catch him, he thinks that the other pieces of jewelry in the store are far more interesting than your face could ever be.

you scrunch your eyebrows and shake it off. by now, you're quite used to his unusual antics, so you brush him off. the cashier engages in light conversation with you, and then you feel it again. the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and everything feels like it's weighted down.

you bid the cashier goodbye, and aventurine follows you outside. his hands are in his pockets while he whistles, almost like he wants you to start talking. you shoot him a confused look back, your eyebrow raised and nose crinkled.

when he only whistles louder, you decide to poke the bear.

"okay, what is it?" you stop and turn to face him.

"what? you don't like my whistling?" aventurine responds with an innocent tone; he even shrugs his shoulders like he has no idea what's going on.

you huff, "not just the whistling. what's up with your staring?" you raise a hand up to his eyes, "we're supposed to be acting normal. i don't think gawking at the person you're shopping with is exactly normal."

aventurine's jolts back, like he was accused of murder instead of ogling. "i wasn't gawking."

you nod, "yeah, you were staring."

"those mean the same thing."

"i think you've been hanging out with the doctor too much," you roll your eyes and continue walking. aventurine quickly marches up to you, matching your pace sooner than you thought.

"are you trying to compare me to him? we're completely different people, you know that, right? i don't act like him at all," aventurine rambles on. his head is turned to you so that his mouth is directly next to your ear, meaning you hear all of his words. you can't tune him out like usual.

"first of all," it's your turn to look at him, "i just said you hang out with him a lot. and you do, don't you?" aventurine's lips fall into a flat as you say that.

"and second of all, stop changing the subject. why were you staring at me back there?"

the man next to you huffs, and it sounds nearly childlike, "i'm not changing the subject. i'm just trying to tell you that i'm nothing like the doctor," he says with disdain.

"you are changing the subject, otherwise you wouldn't be talking about dr. ratio as much as you are now," you glance around at the various stores surround the two of you, and for a second, you swear that you see aventurine's eyes linger on you once more.

"you did it again!" you fully stop, pointing a finger at his eyes.

aventurine has to catch himself before he falls over at your sudden stop. "what? what are you talking about?"

"you keep glancing over at me! do i have something in my face? my teeth?" a large smile blossoms across your face as you beam at aventurine. for a moment, his annoyed facade falters, and his face relaxes.

"no, and if you did, i'd tell you," he swats a hand in your face, "i don't know what you're talking about."

you roll your eyes. it's obvious that he's hiding something, because usually his lies are more believable. but when you're catching him in the act, denial is not a good way to refute false claims.

"yeah, whatever," you look around the plaza the two of you are currently in when another store catches your eye. your face instantly brightens, and you wander towards the doors.

it's another clothing store, similar to all the other ones on the planet. except, something specific drew you here, and it was the display of hats they had near the window. you walk up to it, spinning the shelf around a few times to grasp onto all the options. your eyes are wide and your mouth is slightly parted as you examine each hat with awe.

unbeknownst to you, aventurine catches up to you and finds you fumbling around with each hat on the rack.

he sneaks up behind you, mumbling, "now, that's what you call gawking."

you jump up in surprise, hitting your head on something more soft than the hard shelf. aventurine quickly redacts his hand from the top of your head.

"i'm just doing what any normal shopper would do," you rub the top of your head before going back to the hats. aventurine's long sigh rings in your ear as you browse.

"yeah, okay," he looks at the selection of hats beside you, "i doubt anything you do is normal, but–" aventurine doesn't get to finish his sentence. he hears your boisterous gasp, and his eyes are on you once more.

"do you see this!!" you lift a fedora up to his eyes, "we could match," you whisper it like a secret, as if matching would be your thing. like matching would only be a tangible thought between the two of you, and no one else.

"yeah, no," aventurine lifts the hat down and places it back on the shelf, "sorry sweetheart, but the hat is my thing."

you grimace at the pet name, "mkay. so, you're gatekeeping fedoras now?"

aventurine sputters, "what? what is gatekeeping?"

you heavily sigh, and aventurine is pretty sure you're putting on an act right now. "are you serious? how do you not know what gatekeeping is?" you shake your head as you grab the hat from the shelf, "anyway, i think i know the real reason you don't want to match."

"because it's childish? and totally not my style?"

you turn around and flick your partner on the shoulder, "no. and you really have been hanging around the doctor too much." you shudder and place the hat on your head, "i think it's because you know i would show you up in it."

aventurine muffles a chortle when he sees you put on the fedora, "keep in mind that we're in the land of dreams."

your lips curl up in the way that they always do when you're annoyed. you are not very amused by his bits today. "you suck," you take the fedora off and continue browsing for different options.

you hear aventurine's footsteps gradually get softer and softer as you keep browsing. that's fine, you think, this is his shopping trip too–he's allowed to find things for himself.

one hat after another: that's your current predicament at the moment. you're glad aventurine is off doing his own shopping, but you also wish that you glued him to the ground so he could give you a second opinion. unfortunately, he is nowhere to be seen, and you are having trouble deciding between two caps.

"do you need any help finding anything?" a voice perks up from behind you, making your shoulders jolt up. it's not the voice you want to hear, instead it belongs to a lovely retail worker.

"ah, no thank you," you smile politely and turn back to the two hats in your hand.

"okay, let me know if you need anything!" sometimes, you wonder how retail employees are able to maintain such a chipper tone of voice for hours on end. do they really want to help you or are they just saying that because they have to?

and that's when the thought hits you: either way, they're still offering themselves up. your eyes widen and you rush towards the employee.

"actually, wait!" he turns around when you touch his shoulder, "i do need help. and this is gonna sound super random–and possibly weird–but what do you think of these two hats?"

you put one hat on–a red one that seems to flop on your head, "this one is nice, right?" the employee in front of you just nods. he's a bit tense and stiff; it seems like he's trying not to offend you.

"yeah, i think it's nice too. only thing is that it's kinda flopping on my head, and caps aren't really supposed to flop," you take it off and hold it in your hand.

you're surprised the employee hasn't made his break yet, because he's still standing in front of you when you grab the other cap.

"and this one," you hold your free hand up to the new, black hat, "is the one that belongs to my favorite team. well, i guess the other one also belonged to another one of my–"

"what are you doing?" you can recognize that voice anywhere. that voice that carries a slightly whiny tone. that voice that always seems to have some judgement sprinkled throughout it.

you and the worker both seem surprised. well, the employee seems to be more intimidated than surprised, but either way, his entire face had gone pale.

"um, trying on hats?" you take off the cap and hold it up.

"i can see that," he looks over towards the employee in front of you, "but is it seriously a two-person job?"

you scrunch your eyebrows together, "i needed a second opinion."

"you could've asked me," aventurine whispered, though it sounded more like a hiss.

"i think someone else needs help," the employee takes a few steps back from the both of you, "i hope you find everything!" there it is. he tries his best to sound cheerful, but his voice quivered as he moved away from the two of you.

"he was such a nice guy," you said as you waved goodbye. aventurine did not look as pleased as you did.

"we're supposed to be laying low. you know that, right?" the blond emphasizes.

you shake him off, "yeah, and tell me how a regular retail worker is gonna rat us out? what about us possibly screams 'sleuth'?"

"we're buying hats." aventurine isn't very proud of his answer, and he can tell that you thought it was weak as well.

"so everyone that buys hats are suspicious?" you retort, putting on the cap you previously took off. "do i look like a murderer to you?"

aventurine sighs. his fingers go to his temples and you're sure that you've brought him to his last nerve.

"this hat is better than the other one," he puts the red one back onto the shelf. "the other one practically fell on your face. i doubt you could even see with that one."

you look at the red hat and then look back at aventurine, furrowing your eyebrows together. "that was a specific answer. i never even showed you what the red hat looked like."

aventurine cleared his throat, and the ceiling must look extra nice, "i overheard the other guy talking. you're loud, y'know that?"

your face immediately breaks out in a huge grin, so wide and bright that aventurine looks back at you for a mere second, before turning back to the ceiling.

"you were doing it again!! the staring! goodness, i thought you were good at lying," you laugh, slapping him on the shoulder to garner his attention, "admit it. i've caught you."

"i'm being serious. you're a little loud," aventurine crosses his arms, biting on the inside of his cheek.

"la-la-la-la. can't hear you. guess i'm speaking too loudly to notice," you put the black cap on again–the brim sticking the opposite direction–and look in the mirror. "hey, since you're here, can you give me another opinion."

aventurine nods for you to continue, and you smile, "perfect. does this make me look like a cool galactic baseball player?"

this is what takes him aback, "huh? why would you want to look like that?"

"well, i'm going to a game soon, and i didn't want to look like a fake fan," you shrug and look in the mirror again. "but now that i'm really looking at myself, i think i’d be an amazing galactic baseballer. what do you think?”

you pretend to hold a baseball bat in your hands, getting into a hitter stance. you make sound effects as you swing your pretend-bat into aventurine's chest, aiming for the open hole in the middle.

aventurine reaches over your head, "well first of all, i'm pretty sure baseball players wear their caps the right way." he grabs your hat and places it on the right way, but not without making sure the brim covered your eyes.

"are you serious right now?!" you yelp, quickly pulling up the hat so you can regain your vision.

and there aventurine is, staring at you again.

you briefly gulp before broadcasting, "you're staring!" you march closer to him. "i caught you!" you're only inches apart now. "and it was obvious!" your finger is pointed at his eyes, but unlike earlier, your finger is much closer.

if you had gotten only an inch closer, you would be able to feel aventurine's heartbeat, despite not even being chest-to-chest.

"okay, okay," aventurine is the first one to step back, and you feel something sinking, "but that was only once."

"yeah, whatever. 'once.' not like i haven't caught you a million other times," you shook your head and regained your baseball posture, "you can't hide from these sharp eyes. told you i'd be a great galactic baseballer."

the blond chuckles, and your eyebrows raise up at the sound, "keep dreaming."

"well, a really weird guy did tell me earlier that we are in the land of dreams. so, if i dreamt that i could be a galactic baseballer, it'd actually happen."

aventurine tilts your hat down once more, dismissing your cries while he does it.

"remember what i said about acting normal?"

"this is actually pretty normal for me," you take the hat off.

"can't argue with that," aventurine looks towards the cashier and then back at you. you raise an eyebrow, as if to raise the question, "is there something wrong with my hair?"

if there is, aventurine doesn't do something about it. surprising, since he's practically been doing something this whole trip. "are you ready to go up?" he asks you.

"you're not gonna get anything?" you look around the store, "we can look at stuff for you. there's tons of things here."

aventurine shakes his head and gives you a wink, "i've got everything i need." you suck in a sharp breath, and you try to focus on anything else other than how fast your heart begins to beat. when aventurine turns his back away from you, then you gulp.

when the two of you get to the cash register, you stand next to aventurine, preparing to pay. you're well aware of how costly things on penacony are–after all, this whole planet is like a tourist attraction. that's why you're paying with card instead of the usual credits.

"did you find everything?" the cashier asks you. you smile at the woman and nod, making idle chatter with her while aventurine idly stands next to you.

the woman turns over to aventurine, "i'm guessing you also want to pay for your item too?"

it's aventurine's turn to plaster a smile on his face. from what you've gathered from being with him so often, his smiles are often sly. some would compare it to the cheshire cat, but you thought he rather resembled an evil cartoon villain.

"yes ma'am," his saccharine voice masked his villain grin, "do you still have it?"

"that i do," she responds, grabbing something from underneath the counter. your eyes fly from the woman to aventurine. you simply couldn't believe what you were looking at.

"you're buying the freaking feodora?" your posture straightens and you beam up at him, "i knew you wanted to match!"

"slow your roll," aventurine puts a hand up to you, "who said i was buying this for you?"

your smile drops and you shove his shoulder, "are you serious? i thought you didn't like that hat."

"i didn't not like the hat. i just didn't like the thought of us matching," he tilts his head to smirk at you.

the cashier's eye's bounce between you two, not knowing whose side to take. eventually, she settles for ringing your cap and aventurine's feodora up, not even wanting to say a word.

"alright, who's paying?" she looks up at the both of you.

"i am," you and aventurine say in unison. your face contorts while aventurine displays a confused expression.

"um," you whisper, stepping closer to the blond next to you, "i'm paying."

"um," aventurine mocks you, "you're broke."

"not broke!" you kick his shin, and aventurine grips onto the counter in order to keep his balance, "just budgeting."

"yeah, and you know who don't have to budget? people that aren't broke."

"so he's paying?" the cashier interrupts. you step away from aventurine out of shame. he can have this.

when aventurine sees you put away your wallet, he proudly hands his card up to the woman in front of you. when she looks down to scan his card, he shoots you a sly look and a wink. your mouth rests in a flat line and your eyes show no signs of hilarity.

the moment the two of you step out of the store, you immediately go for aventurine's bag. before he could even catch you, the hat is already in your hands.

"we can switch!" you try to reason with him, "you would be a great baseball player. just, y'know, not as great as me."

"and..." you sing, "we wouldn't match. wouldn't that suit both of our goals?"

aventurine looks over at you, and his gaze is softer. this time, you don't get onto him for gawking. how could you, when he's looking at you like that? you don't think you've ever seen him like that... ever.

you squint your eyes, trying to decipher his real expression. but there's nothing for you to investigate.

"what?" you ask.

"you can keep it."

immediately you take a step back, nearly bumping into a bystander walking behind you. you shout a quick apology before returning back to aventurine, "didn't you buy this for yourself though? what's the point of me keeping it?"

"i just realized that it didn't go with any of the outfits i have," he sighed, looking into the distance, "what a waste of money. so, it's yours."

"what kind of bullshit is that?" you scold the blond, "you always have to think about whether or not you'd actually wear the item before you buy it. that's like... number one rule of shopping."

"i don't shop that much," aventurine shrugs, glancing at you one last time before focusing on the street ahead. he bites the inside of his cheek and tries his hardest not to look to the side. you'd give him hell for it.

but you're not focused on that. everything's slow, and it feels like the street is empty.

"well, then we're gonna have to go more often."

[lunastrophe]

Drow Lore 🕷️ Dangerous Merchants

Drow merchants are often not who they seem to be. Some of them are more or less independent information brokers, selling not only goods, but also knowledge to those who can pay for it. Some others secretly work for noble drow houses, occasionally serving as their spies, agents or assassins.

Normally, the drow merchants' first and foremost priority is to ensure the prosperity of their business, but they are often fine with taking an additional assignment now and then - for a fee, of course, or in exchange for other benefits.

In the Icewind Dale series we can meet a great example of a prosperous drow merchant who is much more powerful than he seems to be at first glance - Nym.

🕷️ Polite Drow Merchant - Nym can be found in the hidden svirfneblin village in the Lower Dorn's Deep and after being approached, he greets the player characters in drow language:

"Mallan uss, dis malli usstan tal tanas talthalra. Usstan zha Nym."

This line contains some drow words from canon sources and some others that seem to be distorted - but it can probably be translated as: Honoured one, you honour me with this meeting. I am Nym.

Nym is always exceptionally polite while talking to adventurers, referring to them as "honored customers" - however, soon it becomes clear that under this veneer of politeness and almost-friendliness, there is a cold, cunning and manipulative mind.

🕷️ Profit And Self Above All Else - when the player character points out that it is strange to see a dark elf in a village of deep gnomes, since svirfneblin typically hate drow, Nym replies casually:

"Dire need overcomes simple hatred in periods of duress. I am a businessman. Petty racial differences are irrelevant in my dealings. The deep gnomes have gems. I have goods. It's an excellent relationship. Most profitable."

Since svirfneblin from Lower Dorn's Deep are in deplorable situation, doing business with them - or maybe rather taking advantage of their misfortune and lack of other options - must be "most profitable" indeed.

Nym also tries to take advantage of the visiting adventurers: he buys even quite valuable items cheaply, but his prices are high; he offers special services (enchanting a shield), but demands an outrageous amount of gold as a payment; he is also a slippery negotiator - if you are not careful, you may end up paying him way too much for a simple dagger +2.

But as it turns out, in the past Nym was doing much worse things for a profit.

🕷️ Skilled Thief - the player character can ask Nym about his profession, commenting that being an Underdark merchant sounds like a possibly dangerous and short career. Nym replies calmly that for many, it is, but then states:

"However, I have been in this trade for over four hundred years. I have seen my way into and out of places that no other dark elf has ever seen. You'd be surprised how powerful a single merchant can be."

He is clearly proud of his accomplishments and cannot resist boasting a bit:

"I have seen many things, been many places. The gem mines of Thay aren't quite as frightening as some might lead you to believe. The depths of the Moonsea aren't filled with undead. Oh, and the treasury of Dorn's Deep wasn't very secure even when it was inhabited by the dwarves."

Why is the information about the treasury of Dorn's Deep so important?

🕷️ Nym's Stratagem - sometime after 900 DR, the elves from the fortress known as Hand of the Seldarine and the dwarves from Dorn's Deep formed an alliance and together they created many powerful artifacts. At some point, though, many of those artifacts mysteriously vanished from the treasury and inexplicably fell into the hands of enemies - orcs and goblins. The elves accused the dwarves for secretly supplying the orcs and ultimately, the alliance was severed. The war that came after destroyed both nations.

The vanishing of artifacts was apparently Nym's doing:

"The darthiir [elven] and dwarven artifacts produced by the so-called "Time of Cooperation" were too valuable to resist. Selling the artifacts to the goblinoid armies was the best business decision I ever made. It had so many angles to play. The stupid goblins went bankrupt just to buy artifacts that they couldn't use properly. The dwarves who were threatening to attack some drow outposts were implicated, and the darthiir slit their own throats when they decided to wage war against the goblins and dwarves. Silly elves."

🕷️ Drow Cause - Nym's words about "dwarves threatening to attack some drow outposts" suggest that he was acting not only for his own benefit, but also for the benefit of some local drow community - likely Rilauven, drow city located below the caverns of Lower Dorn's Deep.

Was Nym supported, or maybe even employed and sponsored by Rilauvenian drow? Or was he acting independently - and making the entire drow city owing him a debt was only a side consequence of his plan?

It is not really known - but when we meet Nym several decades later during the events of Icewind Dale II, he seems to be on good terms with Rilauvenian leaders like Malavon Despana and he even works for them...

Also, in one of the books that can be found in game, we can find this note:

"It is rumored that a dark elf by the name of 'Nym' was the individual truly responsible for the fall of the Hand. Through magical means he entered the vaults of the dwarves, stole their artifacts, and sold them to the goblinoid armies. He then sat back and watched as the elves and dwarves destroyed their alliance with accusations of guilt.

It is speculated that Nym did this to remove a significant threat to the drow population in the area of the Hand. With the elves and dwarves vanquished, the drow were free to claim their territory as their own with no consequence..."

🕷️ So, to sum things up - beware of the Underdark drow merchants... especially the ones who somehow manage to stay in this dangerous business for centuries.

For more of my drow lore ramblings, feel free to check my pinned post 🕷️

[boag]

Should the Philly portal flasher be put on the sex offender registry? could be funny

“The philly portal flasher” omg u don’t know Ava Louise like I do . This girl has been on Dr Phil several times and has almost 17 million streams on Spotify from her hit songs “Skinny Legend Anthem” and “Puff Bar Pussy” and she’s also the one who started that whole rumor about Kanye West and Jeffree Star and she’s like an onlyfans celebrity whose current schtick is “MAGA porn” even though just recently she was on tiktok like me and my gay best friend taking an Uber to the courthouse to watch Trump get arrested😂 and also one time she accused Blac Chyna of holding her hostage in a room with Nickleback blasting for hours and then trying to sex traffic her . And I’m pretty sure she’s like frenemies with Tana Mongeau and also she tried to steal Addison Rae’s man once and there was this whole deeply unserious tiktok drama over it

Anyways yeah I do think they should put her on the sex offender list

[user-without-a-cool-acronym]

I‘m sure i am not the first to notice this, but Dragons rising season 2 seems to actually be the first season without a collectible/mcguffin object. Previous waves always had a specific object, where there was one in every set, often in different coloured variations and if you bought one of the big sets, it had all of them:

Pilot: golden weapons

season 1: Snake staffs/Fangblades

season 2: elemental blades

season 3: technoblades

season 4: jadeblades (although their variations didn‘t appear in the show)

season 5: the ninja‘s aeroblades

season 6: the different variations of the djinn blade, with the different ninja and Wu trapped in it

season 7: time blades

season 8: Oni masks

season 9: golden dragon armor

season 10/legacy: golden weapons (again)

season 11: staffs/scrolls of forbidden spinjitzu (although, since there are only 2 of those, one could argue the forbidden spinjitzu variants of the ninja could also count as collectibles

season 12: Key-tanas

season 13: blades of deliverance

season 14/the island: storm amulet

season 14/15/seabound: storm and wave amulet

season 15/16/crystalized: golden weapons (AGAIN) or, if you make the same point as for season 11, the dragon form ninja

dragons rising season 1: dragon energy cores

However dr season 2 does not seem to have something fitting with that theme in any way. This could be the show breaking with tradition once again, as dragons rising is after all a new show, or it could just be the sale-value of the collectibles/mcguffins being relegated to the mechs with the combination gimmick, either way it is nice to see some change in that area

[soojinieshifts]

storytime ab le serrafim dr?

Imma do a Coachella storytime!

So we weren’t preforming rn this just downtime and me and Yunjin decided to check out the rest of Coachella together. We met so many people like omg..we met Lisa, Sorn, Tara Yummy, Tana, Mai Pham, Hannah Bhang. (I SCREAMED SO LOUD WHEN TARA YUMMY SAID SHE THOUGHT I WAS SO PRETTY)

At one point we had run away from our manager and we saw a tent. We thought it was one of these tents we had saw earlier that was selling bracelets. Eunchae had told us to get her 2 because she wanted them for her and Danielle (cuties😞).

We walked in cause usually that’s what we do when it comes to the bracelet tent and OMG…IT WAS NOT A BRACELET TENT YALL😭🧍‍♀️IT WAS A RANDOM TENT AND WE UM….

WE SAW 2 PEOPLE FUCKING. We saw ALL parts of it too..needless to say we ran out so fucking fast. Like we ran all the way back to the stage/golf cart area.

And no we did not get any bracelets for Eunchae that day😞 all we got was memories we did not want AT ALL..

[puroresu-musings]

NOAH "THE NEW YEAR" 2024 Review (Jan 2nd, 2024, Ariake Arena, Tokyo)

1, GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Title 3-Way Elimination Match - Alpha Wolf & Dragon Bane (c) vs. Alejandro & Ninja Mack vs. YO-HEY & Tadasuke ***3/4

2, Jake Lee, Jack Morris & Anthony Greene vs. El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr., Titus Alexander & Vinnie Massaro **1/2

3, Masa Kitamiya vs. Tomohiro Ishii ****1/2+

4, Go Shiozaki vs. Satoshi Kojima ****

5, Great Sakuya & Nagisa Nozaki vs. Haruka Umesaki & Miyuki Takase **1/2

6, Takashi Sugiura vs. Ulka Sasaki ***

7, Hiroshi Tanahashi & HAYATA vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinari Ogawa ***1/2

8, GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Daga (c) vs. Eita ***

9, NOAH/NJPW vs. House of Torture 12 Man Elimination Match - Kaito Kiyomiya, Shota Umino, Daiki Inaba, Shuji Kondo, Ryohei Oiwa & Junta Miyawaki vs. EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo ***3/4

10, GHC Heavyweight Championship - Kenoh (c) vs. Manabu Soya ****1/2

11, Naomichi Marufuji vs. Kota Ibushi *

This was my first full NOAH show I've watched in forever and it was a great watch. They pulled in a great crowd of over 5K, it had very good matches up and down the card, two fantastic bouts, but unfortunately it ended with one of the worst matches you're likely to see all year...

Things started hot with the Jr. Tag Title 3-Way. You know what to expect here; lots of crazy spots, not much in the way of traditional "psychology", and 100mph action. The crowd loved this and it was a great way to kick things off. There was confusion over the elimination nature of this one, and had it ended after after the first fall, I think I'd have liked it more, but it was a great little opener with the GLG duo of YO-HEY and Tadasuke eliminating both opponents at 8:48 and 12:24 respectively to win the straps. Things cooled down a tad with the next match, which was decent enough but just your standard 6-Man, which saw the GLG were victorious again.

The next match was something of a Dream Match for me, one that's been teased for a good couple of years now as Ishii and Kitomiya, two of my favourite guys from their respective companies, had an absolute war that is a strong MOTYC only two days in! You know what to expect here, it was tsandard Ishii big match fair, which is always tremendous. They pounded each other with chops, Lariats, headbutts, forearms punches and suplexes for 15:04, before Ishii got the win with the Vertical Drop Brainbuster. Amazing. The next match too was excellent as Go Shiozaki went over ageless veteran Satoshi Kojima, in a battle of the Go-wan Lariats! This was great, and kept relatively short at 13:56. Shiozaki won after an exchange of Lariats. Go formed a new faction called Team NOAH in the post-match.

Next up we got a couple of interesting debuts. "The Great Muta's daughter" Great Sakuya (Riko Kawahata) debuted in a doubles clash which ended in a DQ after she blew the dreaded Dokukiri in poor Umesaki's face. This was very silly, and the crowd were dead for it, but whilst it certainly wasn't great, it certainly wasn't bad either. The next match was better as former MMA fighter Ulka Sasaki battled NOAH legend Takashi Sugiura in a nice little exhibition. Sasaki looked good here, and it featured some good sequences, before Sugiura naturally won at the 11 minute mark with the Olympic Yossen Slam.

After intermission we got the ZSJ/Ogawa vs. Tana/HAYATA tag match. This was really good, as you'd expect, though at nearly 18 minutes it was a little long. They teased a lot of stuff with Zack and Tanahashi for their TV Title match at the Dome tomorrow. Sabre Jr. won for his team when he submitted HAYATA with a crazy leg stretch. The GHC Jr. Title bout was decent enough, as Daga retained over Eita in exactly 13 minutes. I expected a bit more here, and it ultimatly came off as a bit of a squash as Daga dominated the whole thing, despite the crowd really wanting Eita to win. The 6 on 6 Elimationation match was actually a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it. Like everyone else, I'm at the end of my tether with this HoT stuff (and don't even get me started on Narita's inexplicably asinine inclusion in this nonsense), BUT, this match proves if done right, it can be pretty great. Obviously we got all the token House silliness like the never-ending stream of low blows, interference and incompetent refereeing, but it built really well as it boiled down to Kaito and EVIL, with Kiyomiya looking like a hero as he overcame the odds and sent EVIL to the floor with a Shining Wizard at the 26:14 mark to win for the babyfaces.

The first half of the Double Main Event; Kenoh's GHC Heavyweight Title defence against former tag partner Manabu Soya came next and it was another fantastic, hard-hitting war, and another early MOTYC. We all know Kenoh's great, and I've always been a fan of Soya since his All Japan days, but he's kind of lingered in the NOAH mid-card since arriving and gotten lost in the shuffle somewhat. Well this was a coming out party if ever there were one, both guys looked fantastic here, and I was worried someone was going to get legit KO'd at points, given how hard they were hitting each other. Kenoh missed a Moonsault knee drop by a considerable margin at the end there, but recovered well by devastating the big man with some headkicks and got the submission win at 28:36 with the Kenoh Special. Excellent, excellent match. Shiozaki came out in the post match and challenged Strong Fist to a title match, which will be happening on January 13th. Count me in as these two always have great matches together. And this is where I'd recommend everyone just turn this show off...

The Marufuji/Ibushi main event *sigh*... look I'm sure everyone already knows about this match, something that once upon a time was a dream match, but in the harsh realities of 2024, was an abject nightmare. This match was all kinds of bad, as Ibushi came into this thing banged up to oblivion and physically incapable of doing... anything, really. AND IT WENT 33:26!!! Which honestly felt like a good couple of hours watching live. Ibushi announced he was working through a broken hand and foot in the days prior, and when he made his entrance with tears streaming down his face, I feared the worst. The reality is this match shouldn't have happened, or if it did, have it go like 10 minutes maximum or something. And certainly don't have it be the main event! It was total insanity to book this to go north of 30 minutes. But even then, nobody made Ibushi try to do his signature spots in this thing. The guy couldn't even get himself up to go over the ropes on a backdrop, so what made him think attempting a Moonsault to the floor was a wise move? Well, he seemingly broke his ankle doing so, and the match only descended into more of a train wreck from there. The crowd were dead, almost like they were at a funeral, the "action" was a level lower than snail pace, and watching it was a profoundly sad experience. I never thought I'd see the day when the Keiji Muto of 2023 looked more mobile and having more business being in the ring than Kota Ibushi ever. Ibushi won with Kamigoye to put everyone out of their misery, none more so than the two guys in the match, then there was a totally bizarre post match where Kiyomiya and Jake Lee came out and seemingly banished Ibushi from NOAH. Ibushi could barely stand or walk on his way to the back, and this is a match I'll never watch again in my life. I had thought about giving this a DUD, but I couldn't be that harsh given the circumstances. Also, Marufuji did try his best out there, bless him. But the fact is Ibushi needs some time away from the ring to heal. I mean, this could be the end of his illustrious in-ring career, which is beyond heartbreaking, and he's looked a shadow of his former self since he returned to wrestling last Spring, but he wasn't even the same person out there on this show.

All in all, this was a great supershow from NOAH, marred slightly by a catastrophically bad main event, for obvious reasons. But I recommend everyone check it out up the fab Kenoh/Soya match, and just pretend the Ibushi/Maru match never happened.

NDT

[fehtism]

Hi,

Do you have any advice on how to build Fee? I like her a lot, and I tried to bs a build with what I had lying around but it's far from ideal... I can't really afford to pull Marth (the new Lyon is taking all my orbs how foul), but I'm grinding codices to give her vital astra, probably? I sometimes run her with regular astra instead of galeforce

Last time I tried to properly read what skills do in heroes was years ago and the wall of text genuinely hurt my eyes, so I'd really appreciate the help!

Thanks in advance

hello ! thank you for your ask

i'd like to let you know that vital astra is only inheritable by /infantry/ axe lance and sword units.

here is a pretty premium build but i will give some other options for skills

the +atk iv isn't so important to bother using trait fruit for it

arcane devourer is infinitely better for her than arcane eljudnir but it is not the end of the world if you cannot get it. eljudnir is good enough for the cooldown acceleration alone

please refer to this post for a more in depth explanation of the difference between the two arcane swords : )

no quarter as a special is the definitive best choice for any melee unit that 1) cannot access damage reduction pierce (i.e. flier/cav without dr pierce in prf weapon) and 2) is not running a gambit build

it is however extremely contested fodder and incredibly hard to acquire currently due to it being locked to winter dimitri. iceberg is a good option in the meantime as well as moonbow, glimmer, and ruptured sky (scores high in arena).

i cannot recommend running galeforce on her without arcane devourer's special charges as she will have an extremely difficult time having more atk than her opponent to get the extra cooldown charges from heavy blade 4. this mostly locks her options for extra special charges to legendary hinoka. as a flier she is unable to get the effects of infantry pulse or run a skill like flash sparrow (outspeeding would be far easier for her) or atk spd pledge or a tempo skill. this makes it extremely difficult to precharge her galeforce without the usage of like . velouria or askr combined with the quickened pulse sacred seal.

atk/spd unity allows her to boost her most important stats in both enemy phase and player phase as well as turning debuffs into buffs. this can be stacked with legendary robin's grand strategy effect. you can inherit atk/spd unity from a few units but i would recommend inheriting from rearmed tana as you can get guidance 4 at the same time (probably a better option than rein snap for her c slot).

atk/spd unity is also available on attuned peony (allowing you to inherit atk oath echo attuned skill), fallen maria who is in the standard pool, and on some other limited units.

a cheaper option for her a slot would be atk/spd catch as it is available in the divine codes.

atk/spd catch 4 is available on the summer dimitri combat manual in divine codes 4.

guard bearing 4 is fee's best damage reduction b slot option as it doesn't rely on a difference in stats and it allows her to run low cd specials. guard bearing 4 is unfortunately locked to rearmed ingrid (arguably a waste of her fodder due to just how Good arcane luin is) and nabata juno, neither of which are in the standard pool.

until you can acquire guard bearing 4 feel free to stick with flow feather 3.

fliers have a lot of c slot skills they can run currently and her best options are guidance 4, soaring guidance, and s/d rein snap (not in any particular order). the guidance skills allow for warping for allies and s/d rein snap both debuffs foe's spd and defense and combat and grants +1 movement to some allies.

other options she can run in her c slot are: pretty much any tier 4 smoke skill (i.e panic smoke or fatal smoke), def/res or atk/spd ploy (ONLY WITH STILL WATER SACRED SEAL), and atk/spd oath 4 (available in divine codes.

atk/spd oath 4 can be inherited from the m!shez combat manual in divine codes 4.

she should run either distant counter sacred seal or atk/spd catch if on the same team as a far save armor. still water 3 should only be used with ploy and it will hurt her already middling defense.

hope this helps !

[skjam]

Pulp Crossover Fodder: Doctor Death, Seeker of Souls

SPOILER WARNING: This entry has massive SPOILERS for the movie Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls (1973) so fans of schlocky horror movies might want to check it out on Youtube or other perfectly legal sources before having all the twists revealed here.

Okay, ready?

The man sometimes referred to as "Doctor Death" was originally an alchemist/magus working in an unidentified European area in the Middle Ages, pursuing the goal of immortality. Having realized that attempting to make his original body immortal was a dead end (pun intended), he focused his efforts on "selective reincarnation."

He discovered that a recently-deceased corpse could be reanimated (and the cause of death fixed) with the soul of another recently deceased person. The alchemist, already near death, murdered his young apprentice and then committed suicide to test the process. It worked!

He had a long life in his second body, but planned poorly, so when the crisis came again, the only available victim was a young female servant. He enjoyed...some...aspects of being a woman, but overall female bodies don't suit him (we'd call it gender dysphoria these days) and switched again as soon as he could arrange it.

Over the centuries, Doctor Death has had many bodies, including sometimes small children, and at least one each black dude and East Asian woman. Sometimes he was able to keep wealth from previous lives, sometimes not. A source of income for him was the ability to provide "selective reincarnation" for other people in exchange for cash or later favors.

By the early 1970s, Doctor Death had been living for some years in the body of a man who strongly resembled actor John Considine and going by the name Dr. Brilliant. He'd gathered a small cultlike following that allowed him to live comfortably.

But then he met Fred Saunders. Fred's wife Laura had recently died, and he'd become obsessed with the belief that she wanted to come back to him. Fred rapidly discovered that most mediums, psychics and mystics are complete frauds. At the end of his rope, he was approached by a woman named Tana (Dr. Brilliant's "wife") and invited to a performance.

Doctor Death put on what looked like a cheap stage magic act, transferring the soul of a disfigured woman into the body of an extremely beautiful young woman who'd been murdered by a jealous lover. Doctor Death named the hybrid girl "Venus." Despite looking and sounding like a charlatan, "Dr. Brilliant" was clearly the real deal.

Fred paid $50,000 to have Laura revived, despite reservations about the ethics and actual outcome of the process.

Doctor Death had elevated Venus to his primary lover, much to the jealous rage of Tana. Since Tana had become an inconvenience now, Doctor Death decided to murder her to revive Laura. For the first time ever, the body refused this soul.

Baffled, Doctor Death tried again and again. Even after Fred withdrew his request, Doctor Death insisted on completing the revival of Laura, no matter how many pretty ladies had to die. Up to and including Fred's secretary and his new love interest Sandy.

Fatally wounded, Doctor Death finally succeeded by transferring his own powerful soul into Laura's body--and that's the last we see of him. (There was no sequel.)

Powers: In addition to several lifetimes of knowledge and the "selective reincarnation" process, each of Doctor Death's bodies has highly corrosive black acid for blood. (This appears to be a side effect of multiple reincarnations, as none of the other reincarnatees have this issue.)

Personality: As might be expected from someone who murders people on the regular to fuel his immortality, Doctor Death is very self-centered and callous about death. He can be quite charming when he wants, but is quick to drop any relationship he's not profiting from. His mannerisms are theatrical. Doctor Death is also very horny and has an eye for pretty women, sometimes letting his lust override his better judgement.

Associates: In the early 1970s, Doctor Death's primary henchman is Thor, a large, muscular one-eyed mute. He had been with the Doctor for at least two decades, and possibly more than one body, having sworn service after Doctor Death swapped him into this powerful form. He'd ripped out his own tongue to prevent Egyptian authorities from making him tell the Doctor's hiding place. He often did the actual murder, having no qualms about this, but died for real during the Saunders affair. In addition, Doctor Death has a number of hidden contacts he's either reincarnated or contracted to reincarnate at a later date that he can call in favors from.

Oh, and Tana was his "wife" during the early 1970s, doing recruiting work as well as presumably all the housekeeping chores.

Fanfic uses: Prior to 1973, Doctor Death is probably not suited to a primary opponent role. He's more of a background explanation for why another baddie has come back from the dead in a new body, and the fellow who gets out of town fast when the unexplained corpses start getting too hot an investigation. He hasn't knowingly met other immortals in his backstory, so be careful about that. He might be encountered, but not fought.

After 1973, Doctor Death will probably want to ditch the Laura body pretty quickly despite all the trouble he went through to get it. That's when more modern adventurers can get on his trail. Doctor Death can look like anyone, but that trail of bodies is pretty noticeable as records get automated and centralized.

There are a bunch of souls that he ripped out to try to stuff in Laura--it's never explained what happened to them, so that's a good story thread.

Thoughts, comments?

@krinsbez

[cagethenergy]

girlhood is watching tana’s response to brooke’s tweets with four other girls and drinking dirty dr peppers and eating nerds clusters.

[superman86to99]

Super Titles Round-Up (June 1994)

This month: Superboy fights Silver Sword (and the Clone Plague)! Steel fights his nephew! Brimstone fights alcoholism!

Superboy #5 (June 1994)

Introducing Silver "Don't Call Me Surfer" Sword. Superboy #4 ended with the Kid collapsing in his kitchen from the deadly virus that's running through the Superman books. In this issue, his friends take him to a Navy base so he can be transported to Project Cadmus in Metropolis, where they'll hopefully cure him. It's there that Dubbilex informs them there is no cure. Which sucks, but hey, at least the Kid gets his first consensual kiss out of it (courtesy of Tana Moon).

Rex Leech's tactful reaction is "There goes the best meal ticket we ever had, Roxy," but Roxy herself seems genuinely heartbroken about Superboy's likely death (and/or that kiss).

Anyway, the Navy can't send Superboy to Cadmus right away because they're bombing an island as part of some tests, but the tests are interrupted by a flying guy covered in silver metal. This is actually Dr. Kaua, the guy who got mad at Superboy for misplacing a magical spear in Superboy #3 because he wanted to use it to become Hawaii's first native superhero. Kaua later got his wish when he stumbled upon a mysterious receptacle that blew up on his face and bonded him with some sort of alien metal that gave him powers. He's now using those powers to get back at the Navy for bombing his beloved islands and the goats who live there.

Dubbilex thinks Superboy should sit this one out, given the whole "You're currently dying" thing, but of course he doesn't listen.

After a fierce fight, Superboy manages to knock Kaua out right before collapsing (again). Kaua, or Silver Sword as the Navy nicknames him, is locked up in a secret government base full of scientists who can't wait to cut him open, but Superboy's example inspires him to keep resisting them. The issue ends with Superboy and Dubbilex finally reaching Metropolis, only to find the city turned into a war zone, which leads right into Man of Steel #34.

Steel #5 (June 1994)

Steel's nephew Jemahl finds out that his gang members "friends" were the ones who shot a little kid, ran over his sister Natasha (she's okay, other than her leg), mugged his mom in an alley, and now plan to take out his grandma. Jem takes some of that Tar drug the gangsters have been using to become superhumanly jacked and intends to kill the leader of the gang, but he ends up fighting his disappointed uncle instead.

(Side note: This issue's cover should have been a remake of the Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 one, but with a muscular Jemahl instead of Speedy the smackhead.)

Steel has to contain Mega-Jemahl until the drug wears off and the kid collapses. During the fight, John Henry learns that all the hits on his family aren't just an unfortunate coincidence: they were actually orchestrated by his old boss/mentor, the Colonel. As he holds Jemahl's body in a Pieta-like pose (lots of that going around these days), John swears that he's taking the Colonel down. Permanently.

This issue also features a seemingly non-sequitur appearance by Fred Bentson, that weird mailman guy we met in Man of Steel #34. Fred is dutifully driving his mail truck across war-torn Metropolis when a bomb goes off and causes him to hit head on the wheel. Suddenly, he finds himself in a completely different city called Dakota, where he's immediately hit by a truck and grabbed by some sort of shadow demon. Just as suddenly, Fred is back on Metropolis, getting saved from that explosion by Superman... who looks weirdly cheerful for someone who is currently watching the city he loves get blown to pieces (see Superman #90).

Incidentally, someone who looks just like Bentson also shows up in Milestone Comics' Hardware #16, which came out this same month and is set in a city called Dakota. What a curious coincidence.

The Ray #2 (June 1994)

Part 2 of the Superboy team-up, this time featuring some actual teaming up. Last issue, we left Superboy unconscious and Ray about to be smashed by that burning mountain man called Brimstone. Luckily, Brimstone suddenly decides to ditch the fight and go for a beer; apparently, a "defect" in his programming has turned him into a gigantic frat bro. Once he's alone, Ray feels bad about apparently killing Superboy and buries him under some rocks, but as we've established by now, nothing can keep that kid down.

At this point, DC's most prominent jacket-wearing, earring-sporting superheroes actually bond for a bit...

...before going off to prevent Brimstone from emptying every brewery in Hawaii. They come up with a plan to turn Brimstone off by dumping liquid nitrogen on him, but Superboy gets confused and accidentally douses the villain with a truck-load of orange juice, leading to the moment depicted in the cover in which Brimstone eats Ray. Superboy gets it right on his second attempt and Brimstone is neutralized before his fiery insides can digest Ray, but by now the teen heroes are back to arguing like a couple of, well, teens.

Gotta admit Superboy and Ray are a pretty fun pair in this issue. Can't wait for them to meet again in like 8 years, when Ray joins Young Justice!

Showcase '94 #6 (June 1994)

One of the stories in this issue is written by Karl Kesel and stars Sparx, the girl with lightning powers from Superboy's "Bloodlines" annual. Sparx's family disapproves of her decision to become a superhero, so she left them and went looking for an aunt who is also estranged from the clan. The most interesting parts of the issue are: 1) Sparx continuing to display powers that Superman will eventually gain when Kesel turns him electric (like intangibility), and 2) Captain Boomerang referring to the Flash as a "red wanker".

At one point, Boomerang manages to knock Sparx out, causing her to revert to her girl form. Upon noticing that she's "a young one," Boomerang creepily says: "Could be ol' Boomer'll get some pleasure out of the evenin' yet--!" The aunt then turns into a spider-like creature and almost kills Boomerang, but Sparx zaps her with energy to stop her. Sparx is like "Wait, you tried to kill that pervert who attacked me? This must mean you really are evil like the family says and also killed your husbands!", so they part ways. Sparx and her family will appear again in the future, but I don't think the aunt ever will. Good for her, they don't deserve her.

[best-star-trek-character]

Round One

[higaneion]

toa anniversary munday.

Celebrating TOA and the people who contribute to make our group what it is.

Repost, don't reblog. Only fill in what you feel comfortable sharing!

Happy anniversary, TOA! Here's to many more years spent together.

Name: mirae

Pronouns: she/her but idm anything

Birthday (no year): oct. 11

Where are you from? What is your time zone? est

Roleplay experience: however long i've known annie (since i was 14ish)

Got any pets? two cats two dogs :)

Favorite time of year: autumn, the outfit layering is peak and the weather is so good (when it is true autumn)

Some interests and things you like: fashion, reading, video games when i have the extra time

Some funfacts & trivia about you:

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play? aa/dgs/dr has me in its clutches, professor layton/ghost trick may be next (really cheesed by the logical puzzle/crime solving games), jrpgs

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon: recently i've been a big fan of poison and ghost & piplup but cyndaquil and growlithe have been giving it a run for its money recently

How did you get into Fire Emblem? i saw nat's celica pfp and thought it was georgia from hm:tot then went from there

What Fire Emblem games have you played? none!! for a large majority of my experience - though i have actually played sov, 3houses, and started engage

First Fire Emblem game: fire emblem echoes: shadows of valentia (soft smile)

Favorite Fire Emblem game: fe7: blazing blade

Any Fire Emblem crushes? raven and berkut are the main ones i'm thinking of rn...

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? n/a

Favorite Fire Emblem class: have always been a big fan of wyvern riders and archers, but mages have a soft spot in my heart

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class? i'm pretty squishy so probably a mage, but given my personality probably a cleric?

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation? i think by personality and maybe status... GD

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with? i don't know what all emblems are there but... i'd like lyn

How did you find TOA? through jae and nat's [sfx of a large truck passing by] if u know, u know.

Current TOA muses: lilina

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again? gray from sov, and no. LAKGJLA;FJ once i drop characters, they're kind of dead

Have you had any other TOA muses? in order: gray, elincia, mae, tana, l'arachel, rinea, silque, raven, sain, petra, rutger

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards? yes... soft girls, cheery girls, moody bois (though this one has taken a bit of a backseat); plus the occasional outliers like the more stoic ones or cheekier ones

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most? after writing lilina for quite a few months, i've been really having fun with the short, snappy interactions that can be a little silly... reliving teen years in a sense...

Favorite TOA-related memory: out of character - any events like watching on rocky horror picture show halloween and karaoke; in character - i really enjoyed more recently the member run event harmonia (blows a kiss to tsu and n)

How do you pronounce TOA? tee-oh-ay

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day in TOA that you’d like to share? [redacted], [redacted], i always think about bringing mareeta or homer because each of them have very fun things to explore especially with the explosion of jugdral muses. i have also toyed with the idea of minerva with a michalis and maria here as well. i've thought about berkut so many times, but.. maybe one day. and many others who just haven't surfaced on the internet.

[elshells]

7 Snippets 7 People

Tagged by @sam-glade and @writernopal (here and here)! This is such a fun one!!

So it sounds like I need to match snippets of my writing to the people I tag, which sounds cool! I can't explain my process here, because I don't have one. This was all based on vibes and intuition. Hope you enjoy it nevertheless!

Sam and Nopal, you're getting tagged again because you both are wonderful, but since I know you've done this before there's no pressure! Just sit back and enjoy haha

@bitchin-beskar (EMBR of the Earth, Chapter 1)

Sidney sighed. "That sounds boring. No offense. But when you're done with your boring job, we can play chess." Sidney had been obsessed with chess ever since their father had taught her how to play when she was six. And, being one of the youngest passengers at nine years old and unable to work a job, it had become one of the only ways for her to occupy herself. Only the digital version was available on the satellite, but she frequently complained that the AI opponents were too predictable. Tana shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't today. Ask Miles." "But he's too good," Sidney groaned. "You're tough. Go kick him in the pants." Sidney giggled. "Really?" Tana arched an eyebrow. "No, not really. Not in the way you're thinking."

@writernopal (Agent Ace, Chapter 2: Harley)

“Harley Manalis? I know her!” The familiar voice behind her caught her attention. She grinned and spun back around. "Is that you, Jade de Soto?" Jade was already at the end of a dead sprint, meeting Harley in a spine-crushing embrace. They receive odd looks from a couple of passersby, but Harley didn't mind, laughing as she threw her arms around Jade. Her hair was soft and smelled like coconut. "I got all of your letters!" Jade's voice was muffled into her shoulder. "I'm so glad you're here!"

@sam-glade (EMBR of the Earth, Chapter 2)

"So, you got a bot back this morning?" Dr. Clay asked, strolling in behind her. "Yes," Tana said. "I checked it as soon as it arrived. I, uh—" "Save it; everyone else will be here in a couple of minutes," he told her. He gestured towards the thermos. "And what's that?" Tana felt her face redden as she twisted open the lid. "Soup." Dr. Clay chuckled. "Go ahead, Tana. Just try to wrap it up before we start." Tana took a seat at the far end of the table next to the screen, spooning the hot chicken noodle into her mouth. The soup left behind a stinging burn as it slipped down her throat, but she barely noticed it. Tight loops were beginning to form in her stomach, driving away all other trivial thoughts. Dr. Clay pulled a tiny remote out of his pocket and pointed it at the screen, which flickered to life. "IAN, pull up image four." Another satellite image appeared on the screen. it was similar to the one Tana had seen, except this one was zoomed out to feature all seven continents. The heat signatures were not yet visible, but Tana knew they were there.

@captain-kraken (Agent Ace, Chapter 3: Sophia)

Janus scoffed. “Agent Colbo, you wound me. But regardless, I have news for you.” "I don't care," she retort. "What are you going to do to Jet? Where's Max?" "I told you, that's none of you concern," he repeated firmly. "And before you dismiss me so soon, try to hear me out. I think you're going to want to hear what I have to say. Would you like the good news first, or the bad news?" "Good news for me, or good news for you?" "Depends on your attitude." Sophia fixed him with a withering look through the window. He grinned down at her, which only irritated her more.

@crowandmoonwriting (Agent Ace, Chapter 7: Harley, Part 2)

“The question is,” Jester continued flatly, “when you arrived at the apartment, what did you see? Anything out of the ordinary? Perhaps a suspect fleeing the scene?” Harley shook her head, sitting forward with her shoulders hunched and her eyes glued to the table. "They were gone by the time I arrived. The door was locked, but once I got in, all I—" "Wait." The agent cut her off. "Locked? The door wasn't open?" "They came in through the window." Harley showed him her bandaged hand. "There was glass everywhere." He gave her a puzzled frown. "The window?" "I think so. They must've." "How?" Jester demanded. "That window was on the second floor." "I know." Harley folded her arms across her chest and fiddled with the tips of her hoodie strings. "But they didn't come in through the door. I'm positive."

@mariahwritesstuff (Agent Ace, Chapter 9: Sophia, Part 2)

[Sophia] held up one finger. “First rule you learn in Guard training—when jumping from a great height, make sure to keep your knees bent. You don’t want to be too tense. Land on the balls of your feet, then tuck and roll, don’t stick the landing. And try not to look down, that won’t help you at all. Any questions?” Max stared back with a stricken face. "Uh, I—no?" "Believe in yourself. You can do this," Sophia insisted. She walked over to the edge of the rooftop to stand below the window. "If it looks like you won't make it, I'll be here to catch you. Whenever you're ready."

@ceph-the-ghost-writer (Encore, Chapter 2: The Magician's Contract)

"Can you put that down?" Cece snapped. Red raised an eyebrow, but she slammed the book shut. Cece took in a deep, shuddering breath. "There'a a reason I never looked back at that book after I finished writing it," she said, keeping her voice calm and steady. "I've spent so long reminiscing about the darkest moments of my life. But I've healed. I've moved on. I've been through the five stages of grief, gone to therapy, the whole deal. I want to forget it." "The five stages of grief describe how a patient processes a terminal prognosis," Red said as she set the book to the side. "It's not the experience of a person coming to terms with the death of a loved one."

[boag]

Ava Louise (that “my pussy tastes like a puff bar” girl who was on Dr Phil years ago) flashed her tits at Trump at a rally and posted this video on her story with a secret service agent escorting her out and laughing with her and saying she had a “great set” and now she’s doing MAGA porn on her OF and this is all just after Tana Mongeau spilled about how a bunch of influencers got offered money to show Trump public support . This country is insane😭😭😭😭😭

[period-dramallama]

There will be some surprises in the film, she [Gabrielle Tana] added, because “history is open for lots of different interpretation.”

I'm calling it now: Katherine Parr is going to poison Henry with the help of Dr Huicke.

In the novel, Katherine NEARLY kills Henry by giving oblique hints to Dr Huicke. But he doesn't act on them because he knows she doesn't really want it. Which made that thread kinda pointless IMHO. I think the movie spotted an opportunity in the novel and they're going to make Katherine kill Henry.

Source: https://deadline.com/2023/04/firebrand-alicia-vikander-first-look-jude-law-henry-viii-film-1235339058/