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randomfandomimagine · 4 years ago

Note

To your rant: AMEN.

(Wrote a part of this to Ace while back but they apparently didn't receive it but I think it needs to be said so)

Honestly at the moment it starts to feel like people request wrong on purpose because they're bored or something and want to irritate people or test if they could get their request across even though it’s breaking their rules... because suddenly everyone seem to get a lot of requests which are breaking the rules. Like whenever I have my spamming events, I get 101 requests which are smut, romantic requests for 13 year old characters whose actors are also 13 and also celebrity requests are common and like those three rules are broken over and over and over again and now everyone else seem to get requests which break their SAME FUCKING RULES all the time. Also the fact that some are like “when your requests are open again, could you write a fic like this?” LIKE NO, REQUESTS ARE CLOSED FOR A REASON, BECAUSE THE WRITER HAS SO MANY REQUESTS THAT THEY NEED TIME TO GO THROUGH THEM BEFORE OPENING THEM AGAIN, AND IT SHOULD BE COMMON SENSE :DDDDD It isn’t like you’re writing only when requests are open.

FYI, WRITERS ARE NOT GONNA ROLL A FUCKING GOLDEN GLITTER CARPET FOR YOU WHICH IS ENTITLING YOU TO REQUEST WHATEVER YOU WANT WHENEVER YOU WANT.

So people please, if you can read all those long stories or binge 50 smaller pieces from a writer at one sitting, you can take time to check out their rules at least if you're gonna request………………… and the same goes for all writers. We. Are. Not. Machines.

And if it won’t go to your thick heads, you can think about what you did and whose fault it is when writers are gone after losing motivation for writing all these fics for you and getting only shit on their faces in return. We don’t even get paid by money, we are paid by feedback, reblogs, you interacting with our writing and btw that's a cheap price for writing your requests. If you continue acting like we’re machines and thinking you can treat us however you want, writers will start dropping out. My motivation to write is finally returning and I'm slowly starting to get back to the rhythm but tbh I’m scared to come back properly because of all these people being rude and breaking rules all the time. Tumblr is becoming a super toxic place and I hate it and I start losing hope that the boat can be turned around, and also started to lose motivation again the next day after I came back even though nothing happened, I just started fearing rudely formatted requests coming at me again, or guilt tripping or people being asses in general. But prove me wrong if you have balls to do that. Turn that boat around. We can all do it together.

We're in a sealed room slowly filling with water, and we have to work together so we can pull the lever to open that one door. But it won't work even if 100 mice (writers + those few who support writers) are pushing one sleeping elephant (readers-only) forward to pull the lever so they wouldn't drown in that room. That elephant has to wake up and help the mice, only that way they can get forward.

Also the fact that people finally got triggered about the fact that I don't feel comfortable to write for HP/Fantastic Beasts for now for obvious reasons :DDDDDDDD I got another last night after I blocked the first one. I can't believe I have such toxic, childish and petty people following me, and same kinds of people are following everyone in this community. People who take us as granted.

I hope things will get better and people learn some manners eventually. Every creator deserves it.

Thank you, Jenni! I know you’ve had to deal with some seriously stupid trolls and people that shouldn’t be allowed on the internet.

Sometimes it does feel like a few trolls are requesting incorrectly on purpose, I was especially frustrated when I saw Lacey answering some requests that had me going like ‘seriously, people?’ And the fact that people disregard the same rules over and over again (especially on your case) just tells me that they care more about their request being written than your comfort, and that sucks. Those people think they’re entitled to our content forgetting we do this for free!

This part you wrote especially resonated with me, it’s so true:

I especially try real hard and reread my rules almost every day to make sure they’re short and concise, that I put bold and colors on the absolute most important stuff and people still don’t read correctly or just don’t care.

Like, today I got an ask saying ‘what’s a prompt’. Just that. No question mark, no hi, no nothing. First of all, you can read my rules and my posts to know what they are, I linked examples and you can literally search the tag. It feels like a troll tbh...

You’re absolutely right that Tumblr is becoming an awful place for content creators and it’s up to people to start being more respectful and supportive if they want to avoid Tumblr becoming empty. Content creators make this website, not just us writers but also artists and gif makers and we all deserve some love!

And don’t get me started on the HP/FBAWTFT/JKR bullshit, I really have to restrain myself not to reply ‘shut the fuck up anon’ on every single one of your asks. I myself am thinking about not writing for those fandoms anymore because JKR ruined the series for me and I don’t enjoy writing for it as much as I did, so I will probably remove them from my fandoms list. For now I’m on hiatus for those fandoms, so fight me, anons!

*sigh* I hate that whenever we try to establish boundaries people either disregard them or guilt us for them, it really shows that those awful people only care about their requests and nothing else. There’s people behind the blogs, with real lives and problems and emotions! I do hope that things get better myself, if not I might actually quit one day since I keep thinking about it, and I know and I’m not the only one.

#non anon ask #mutuals #<3 #long post #swanimagines #ask

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smolbeandrabbles · 5 years ago

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Breakfast In The Afternoon - Director Keller x Reader (Captain Marvel)

A spiritual successor to Don’t Let Me Forget it’s the same relationship, anyhoo

Author’s Note: Considering we’re on permanent hiatus with his Space Girl, I figured I might as well go full flow with his Agent, because I miss writing for this man so much.

I won’t lie, a lot of this wouldn’t have happened without this post. I sent this song around literally the day after ‘Dont Let Me Forget’ came out and the general consensus was it was gonna work for a sequel. Breakfast in the Afternoon - Caitlyn Smith

Disclaimer: Gif not mine / lyrics not mine / Captain Marvel characters not mine / Shout out to the aviation page I found with all the innuendos on, honestly, peak internet content - I wasn’t sure there was such a thing and you didn’t let me down! 👌👌👌

Premise: You’re determined to make sure that Keller has only the best of lazy Sundays. He’s only determined to test your reflexes...

Words: 2672

Warnings: Sexual Connotations (+Pre-Amble) / Innuendos / Swearing

_____

I've been awake all morning Think I'll just stay in bed Listening to ya snoring Don't wanna wake you yet But I kiss you on the cheek, and you smile Before you open your eyes And you look at me and say, "Hey" Shuffle on in to the kitchen Put on some Nat King Cole Do up the dirty dishes Left from the night before You wrap your arms around me and sway Singing, "You're my Mona Lisa, babe" Ooh, and everything else just fades away If trouble's waiting, they can keep on waiting 'Cause we got the day figured out Wake up slow and make love slow And keep all the shades hanging down The world keeps spinning all crazy But let it keep spinning on without us, baby Just me and you, having breakfast in the afternoon

---

You hoped it was Sunday. It definitely felt like a Sunday. You’d probably had just a little too much to drink last night. You could feel the rhythm of his breathing, the warmth of his body under yours; so it must have been - or both of you were going to be very late to work. Not that you thought Keller had an off day, he was always checking his pager - you’d once thrown the thing across the house, when you’d got a little too annoyed at it going off every five seconds in the middle of a very important make-out session. You cracked one eye open to peer at his clock, happy that the day was already in double figures and he was still here. Your head was on his chest, one of his arms draped around you; and you had no intention of moving just yet. Instead you merely snuggled into him, closing your eyes once more. You didn’t fall back asleep, just listening to the sounds of the house, and his body, and every so often the world outside. Before long Keller was shuffling around under you, and groaned gently as he stretched; he drew out his exhale and you smiled, knowing he was looking at his bedside clock. “What time do you call this, Director?” “Oh, don’t act like this is my fault...” but he chuckled, hand running smoothly along your back and through your hair. “Good morning.” “Just.” His sarcasm was clear as day “Aw, a lie in won’t kill ya...” You kissed his chest, tracing your hands over his skin as you held him tighter. “No, but you might!” Your eyes were still closed but you could hear the grin in his voice. He groaned once more, rubbing his eyes; “I am too old to drink like that. It makes me wanna grab a pack of Marlboro again...” You lifted your head from his chest to look at him, “Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t let you drink then.” Keller exhaled sharply, “We better have a box of toothpicks I’m gonna go crazy...” he blinked slowly, and finally his eyes lingered on you, large hand shifting to frame the left hand side of you face. “Still...” Keller brushed his thumb over your lips, “You’re not such a bad thing to wake up to.” You chuckled, “Well Director, you’re not so bad yourself...” then you grinned, “Your vision must improve when you’re drinking too.” He scoffed, “It’s not that bad. It’s just better with glasses.” Understanding your meaning he chuckled; “Perish the thought, you’re gorgeous no matter when I’m looking at you.” You gave him a disbelieving look, which of course he had to kiss off you, pulling you to his lips. But the movement of your body across his made you gasp softly, and Keller smirked against your kisses, one hand tangling in your hair, the other tracing down your back as you supported yourself against him and continued your slow, needy kisses.

His hand moved to your hip and stilled, soon enough joined by his other, but you were half a step ahead of his gentle guidance, hooking your leg over his to straddle him. You released his lips to catch your breath momentarily; “Don’t you get tired of me wearing you out?” “Baby...” His voice was low and seductive as he looked between your eyes and your lips, desperately wanting them on his again, “How could I ever?”

***

It was at least mid-day by the time either of you thought about shifting out of bed to shower and get dressed. You wanted to be as comfortable as possible but Keller, raised the way he was, always wore a button up shirt and smart jeans, if not pants. At least he was merciful (or not as the case may be!) enough to roll his sleeves up. “Why don’t you just go to Church?” He gave you a pointed look, “I think you’ve already made me late for that. I don’t need Church to pray.” He tilted his head, “Besides, I do know a thing or two about what happens after Church on Sunday.” Without warning he picked you up and, placing a kiss to your neck, carried you down the stairs to the kitchen. Once there he sat you down on the counter, and you were already giggling. “What would you like for breakfast? At… 12:30, right, Brunch, then.” “I should just ask for cereal.” “That’ll get you far…” He pondered through the cupboards, pulling out ingredients and setting up before reaching for the case of toothpicks, sliding one out and placing it between his teeth. You watched all this from the side, swinging your legs nonchalantly and studying Keller’s every movement carefully. You knew his body and his mannerisms like nothing else, and that wasn’t just because you were together – you spent so much time with him, and watched him constantly in the field. Keller didn’t become a Director overnight - he didn’t get where he did without being excellent. There was so much you could still learn from him. Even here, in a comfortable domestic environment, every so often he’d do something that would surprise you. But he was memorised, engrained in you – so much so you knew you’d picked up a score of his habits. But to be honest, there was nothing much better than watching him make breakfast in the kitchen on a lazy Sunday. Especially as every time Keller passed where you were sitting to collect something else he would kiss you – and you knew that he ‘forgot’ things on purpose sometimes to do just that. Well, you weren’t complaining. Keller slid across the room to the radio, switching it onto whatever local country radio station he was choosing today, before turning back to his cooking. Sunday was also comfort food day – and you were dating a Southern gentleman, who liked to remind you of this fact often. He still had both his parents and his little sister, who you had yet to meet but had heard a lot about. And Keller must have talked about you to them, because he often told you that she said ‘Hi’. They were still all back in his home state though. He moved the toothpick skilfully to the other side of his mouth with his tongue, humming gently to the song on the radio and you couldn’t help but smirk and chuckle. Which made him turn back to you removing it from his lips, holding it between his fingers like it was a cigarette; “What?” You knew why he did it - for exactly that reason – just to have that feeling and stimulation, in his fingers, or lips or sometimes tucked behind his ear. But you just couldn’t help yourself, and gently bit your lip as you fixed him with your best innocent stare, “You know, if you need an oral fixation you could have something a lot better in your mouth…” Saying things like that never failed to make him blush; this time around he coughed and cleared his throat, “Shut up and sit to the table.” “Are you ordering me around, Director?!” He paused again and shot you another look, making you cackle, “Okay, I’m going!” Keller whistled you back to him, bending down to kiss you gently, “I love you.” You pulled him back by his collar as he straightened because you weren’t done with him yet; “I know. I love you too.” Breakfast was as incredible as you knew it was going to be, and he spent a lot of time sweet talking you – even though you’d heard it all nearly a thousand times, you couldn’t help but sit there and swoon over him. The way that he would smile at you or giggle whenever you’d pay him one compliment for every hundred he gave you. But you still couldn’t help but feel so lucky whenever Keller looked at you like that – and he made you feel everything at once, always at no less intensity than a supernova; Gosh he’s so perfect. Oh my god I’m so lucky. But also, geez, now I just want him to fuck me on the kitchen counter, he’s such a southern gentleman, boy just take me please-!! Drive me to a church right now, you’re so perfect… But Keller was always so bashful, and he’d always respond to everything you said with “Aw, I’m nothing special...” Although you didn’t believe he really felt that way at all with the shades of pink, through red, he turned. You’d felt his heart beat fast under his skin when you’d complimented him before. Sure, Keller would always want to act professional, and always pretend that you were the only one who deserved praises – but you affected him in exactly the same way. And you weren’t sure if that was meant to be a secret or not – even if it was for sure one he’d never tell – but you would keep it to yourself, as if it was the most important secret you’d ever been told.

***

A lot later in the day on your lazy Sunday, you were curled up on the couch. This time you’d actually decided to check something out on your own pager. This obviously wasn’t something you usually did, but that was because you rarely got paged at the weekend, so another member of your team insisting that something might be urgent was certainly cause to leap into research action. You were definitely curious, even when you knew the irony, considering how often you told your significant other off. Keller was in the room, but you hadn’t noticed him yet. At first he was trying to figure out what was going on, staring curiously at you from his bookshelf - as soon as he caught the device in your hand he could do nothing but smirk; ‘Oh?! What’s this? She’s working!? When she’s always chiding me?!’ Of course he wasn’t about to let you get away with that, and laughed to himself silently, ‘Girl, you just wait!’ He had years upon years of S.H.I.E.L.D training, and he’d been an agent longer than you had (before you even counted his time in the Airforce); therefore Keller had no problems using his sneaking skills to stealthily make his way across the living room to you. Or so Keller would think, problem was, as you were also a top Agent, you hadn’t failed to notice his presence at all. All you were doing was pretending to be oblivious to his presence. His approach led to him studying you closely, and he couldn’t help but soften his expression, when you concentrated on your tasks like that you always looked especially beautiful. He liked watching you work hard for similar reasons – to him you genuinely had it all. You deserved all the love and affection he showered you with, and much more. Keller smiled gently, and leant over – after all, how could he resist giving you a kiss? You were, unfortunately, prepared for him (or at least what you thought he was going to do) and he just about caught your grin before you grabbed him. Getting his head into a comfortable lock and supporting his shoulders you tugged, and before he really had time to react, Keller found himself flipped over the couch with you pinning him down beneath you; hand on his throat, nails digging into his jaw line. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to sneak up on a S.H.I.E.L.D Agent?” He blinked a couple of times, that delightful shade of pink already threatening; “I’m just glad my best and brightest would be able to handle such an attempt on their life.” “Uh huh.” You raised a disbelieving eyebrow, before leaning forward to kiss him harshly without warning; leaving him breathless. “That’s what you get for sneaking up on me!” Keller couldn’t help a small smile of delight; “Uh. That’s not really deterring me. In fact I might keep testing your reflexes-!” “Careful.” You breathed, digging your nails in a little harder causing Keller to bite his lip, a curious look in his blue eyes as your own stare hardened. “You wouldn’t hit a guy with glasses would you?” You tipped your head, pushing him further down into the couch and removed them from his face. He raised an eyebrow as you slid them over your own eyes. You blinked a few times and then squinted looking around, pushing them up with your fingertips; “Good god! How bad are your eyes-!?!” Keller chuckled, and shook his head; “You always make the same joke!” In all honesty they weren’t bad, they blurred things for you a little, but were near perfect, and not as bad as anyone might think considering that he wore them as much as he did. He was Airforce previously, so you imagined they were once 20:20. You didn’t know very much about The Accident - which was exactly how he referred to it if he ever referred to it at all. You knew that Nick Fury had more details but he was sworn to silence, out of respect for his boss and good friend. And you would never pry anyway. What you did know is it was the last time that Keller had ever flown as a fighter pilot. And he’d been hospitalised for an undisclosed period of time. But they didn’t revoke his license and he still flew now; a fact for which he was very grateful. Planes had always been his life since he was very little, it would have broken his heart to take them away from him completely. Taking them off carefully you watched the way Keller tried to suppress his smirk with a lip bite and completely failed. “If you like me in your glasses…” you placed them gently on the table behind you, “You aught to see me in your clothes…” He opened his mouth to respond, but didn’t get very far before your lips were back on his and your hands were running through the buttons on his good shirt. “It’s a little disappointing that I don’t get to undo a tie and waistcoat…” you grazed your lips to his again, “But I’ll take what I can get…” He groaned gently into your kiss as you lay him back on the sofa, straddling his hips and grinding yours against him. You pushed your body to his and continued to run your hands over him; Keller’s were back in your hair and he could do nothing other than pull you closer. Still he broke the kiss, breathing heavily as your hands moved to his belt; “What? Geez again?! Why don’t I just talk dirty to you instead?” He took your hands in his, placing them on your thighs, tracing his eyes slowly over your body as he ran his tongue lazily over his bottom lip, “Cuz, baby, you can pressure check my pitot static system any day…” That was exactly why usually you wouldn’t let him dirty talk you. Because he always said things like that, leaving you more quizzical than turned on. “Yeah. That usually goes along the lines of comparing me to technical aeroplane parts and things that I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He smirked, with a cocky raised eyebrow; “There’s some pretty sexy aeroplanes out there though, trust me.” You scoffed, well, if it worked for him! “Sex and aeroplanes should only go together if we’re getting into the mile-high club-!!” Keller grinned, cupping your face in his hands before kissing you gently, and making himself more comfortable under you; “Well. I am a director, and I’m sure I could charter a private plane and fix that...” You couldn’t help your momentary stunned silence, looking at him with wide eyes; “Don’t you dare tease! That better be a promise!” “Oh baby, it’s a promise.” And before you could say any more, he grabbed you – pulling him flush to him to make sure those steamy kisses continued. What a Sunday…

---

Thank you for reading-!💙

@happyskywhale @wltz-bby #MendoTagSquad

#The toothpick thing will forever be a Keller theme.#Keller #Captain Marvel #Ben Mendelsohn #Director Keller #Director Keller x Reader #141 #Keller x Reader #I really like this relationship they're total cuties #Did I study his office too much? Yes #Did I fill this with a bunch of fanon/head canon... ALSO YES!#Ben in glasses gets me so we're talking about them #Jonathan Richard Keller #I got in a Maliyah reference #AND a Wreak-It Ralph reference #I'm on a rooooollllllll #I do have a skeleton plot for that mile-high-club scenario too. FYI...

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mxmeiyun · 4 years ago

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Doctor Who season overviews

My friend is embarking on the wonderful journey of watching of “Doctor Who” and asked me for a rundown of what episodes she absolutely has to watch, my favorites, and ones that can be skipped. I thought I’d share them here in case anyone else was interested. Also I’m curious what anyone else’s thoughts on some must-view episodes.

(Will be updating as my friend reaches each season.)

Series 1

Definitely watch 1 because it’s where everything starts and you start to get a vibe for how the show goes. A fantastic place to start, if you will.

2 is a fun one with a plethora of aliens. If you’ve seen gifs of the Doctor jamming to “Toxic” by Brittany Spears, this is where that’s from.

3 is the first “historical” episode of the revival. Ok episode overall. Has ghosts and a bit an unintentional easter egg for future episodes/series.

4-5 are a bit silly but also I think have some good characterization of the Doctor and why sometimes he needs a friend to keep him in check.

6 introduces you to a classic DW alien so you should watch it.

7 is good to watch because it sort of sets up some stuff for the finale but I also find the guest characters kinda annoying.

8 is good if you want to learn more about Rose and that becomes more important to later stories and the next season.

9-10 is an all around fan favorite (certainly one of mine) and introduces a re-occurring fan favorite character. The reason why gas masks will forever make me uneasy.

11 follows up after the events of 4-5 (all three could be skipped if you want to go along faster).

12-13 are the finale and should be watched.

Series 2

0 (the Christmas special) is the first one with David Tennant as the Doctor, a muse-watch in my books. (Also, some things happen that become very important in later stories but I won’t say more because spoilers.) Introduces a new important character and re-introduces something

1 has cat people.

2 is a fun one and has an easter egg of sorts for future stories/characters but isn't necessary for major plot line. It’s one of the ones I like to rewatch.

3 sees the return of an old fan favorite companion from Old Who (before this still ongoing revival).

4 is skippable unless you like some fancy French aesthetic or are into automatons.

5-6 you should watch. Re-introduction of another classic Who monster.

7 is kinda weird.

8-9 are a good, kinda creepy story. Sees the introduction of the Ood, which are one of my dad’s personal favorites, who will also pop up later.

10 is literally one of the dumbest eps ever.

11 I literally don’t remember at all but the internet tells me it involves a small child, and Doctor Who does have some good, creepy episodes playing on stereotypical childhood fears.

12-13 are the two part finale so you definitely have to watch those. Prepare for some serious emotions, though.

Series 3

0 (Christmas special) introduces Donna Noble. Must watch, but I won’t say why.

1 introduces the new companion. Also introduces a kind of goofy alien that will pop up again.

2 is a fun one with Shakespeare and witches.

3 sees a return to New New York on New Earth (same setting as 2x01). Should watch because of [spoilers redacted] at the end. (Hint: think of who mysteriously disappeared in that previous episode.)

4-5, as the titles suggest, feature Daleks and imo all Dalek episodes should be watched.

6 is ok. Honestly kind of predictable plot-line.

7 is also ok. Not particularly memorable, but it is the first episode written by Chris Chibnall, who took over as show-runner for Series 11 (first season with Jodie Whittaker, the first female Doctor).

8-9 is a two-parter and is a fan and personal favorite.

10 is unusual because the main characters are not actually the Doctor and Martha, but this is another much-loved episode. Also introduces one of my favorite and most scary (imo) aliens.

11, 12, and 13 all kind of go together. Sees the re-introduction of an important character from the show’s original run. All pretty memorable and Martha is a total badass.

Series 4 (tl;dr: watch all of this series)

0 (Christmas special; you get the drill) is a good one. Sometimes there are episodes where the Doctor meets someone where you just know they’d be a fantastic companion.

1 is a must-see because [spoilers redacted].

2 is another must-see. It’s a solid episode of Who, is yet another good example of why the Doctor shouldn’t travel alone, and as a fun fact, we see two actors who will pop up in later series.

3, as the title implies, sees the return of the Ood! Watch this for some foreshadowing.

4-5 we see a new-to-New-Who alien who is another one that will come to pop up again over time. Honestly the plot and guest characters follow some predictable tropes BUT we also get to see some of [redacted]’s family, which is always good fun.

6 I think is only an okay episode. But meeting the “Doctor’s daughter” (not a spoilers bc its the episode title) is kinda fun. And I think it gives us some interesting insight into companions post their travels with the Doctor.

Also, weird DW fun fact: David Tennant and the actress who plays his daughter is the real-life daughter of actor Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor back in Classic Who, are now married with kids.

7 isn’t integral to any major plot lines, but it’s no doubt a fun one, especially if you like murder mysteries or Agatha Christie.

8-9 are another must-see two fan and personal favorites for many reasons why, but I can’t go into because spoilers! Some good spooky eps that are really downright chilling at times, but not completely without some good comic bits. Love watching this with friends who are watching it for the first time.

10 does an excellent job of being creepy, which is good if you’re into it, but you can skip it if not.

11 is a good one with a timey-wimey plot. Also yay because [spoilers]!

12-13 are an excellent two-part series finale and that’s all I can say.

The Specials (mini series between Series 4 & 5)

1 is good if you like Cybermen

2 has a spunky one-off companion who is a lot of fun

3 is creepy af

4-5 are a must-watch two-parter. If you liked the Series 4 finale (and let’s be real, how could you not), you’ll enjoy this. Also, it’s the last episodes with Russel T. Davies as show-runner.

Series 5

1 introduces the new Eleventh Doctor and their companion, so definitely have to watch that. (Side note: fish fingers and custard is a weird combination but, speaking from personal experience, it’s not terrible.)

2 is a good one with debatable ethical questions and some good insight into the Doctor.

3 is another Dalek episode, but it’s only okay as far as Dalek episodes go. It’s a historical one, if you like those. Fun fact: it’s written by Mark Gatiss, a collaborator of new show-runner Stephen Moffat and guest star from “The Lazarus Experiment.”

4-5 you have to see because spoilers. But it’s very good. Also, has some plot points that are related to the overall story of the Ponds.

6 you get the gist from the title and honestly it’s not terribly exciting. Some fun bits about the new group’s dynamic.

7 is a pretty weird one tbh but should be watched we get companion character development.

8-9 introduces some fun characters that will pop up again every now and then and has a very important plot point. (Fun fact: this one takes place in the year 2020!)

10 is one of the more emotionally-driven episodes and deals with mental health. One of many fan favorites.

11 is lighter fanfare after some honestly pretty heavy episodes that precede it. Not really important to the overall plot, but it’s a fun comedic one.

12-13 are the finale, so obviously definitely watch that. Gets a little timey-wimey.

Series 6

0 is fine, as the Christmas specials go. I’m a little tired of the “man makes it his purpose in life to save his dying love who is kind of helpless in her own story” but the ending’s alright.

1-2 set the stage for the whole series, so those have to be watched.

3 has pirates, which is fun but not necessary to the main story line.

4 has such an intriguing title, so how could you not watch it? Will we finally find out if River and the Doctor are married? Spoilers.

5-6 are key plot points. Love a good doppelgänger.

7 follows immediately after 6, so I can’t say much about it.

8 is a pretty weird one but hold on to your butts for a wild ride.

9 is a properly spooky one. Like, actually low-key terrifying. But not related to the main plot line.

10 is emotionally painful but in a good way.

11 is another creepy one that plays on common fears. Inspired by some Greek mythology, which is fun.

12-13 are the two-part finale, so you know the drill.

Series 7, part I

0 is another only-okay Christmas special. They’re just not as fun as they once were, in my opinion.

1 you have to watch for plot reasons. It’s a good one because [spoilers redacted].

2 is pretty much what it sounds like. We are now also accompanied by Rory’s father, which is pretty amusing. Sees the return of a previously-met alien species. (Fun fact: one of the guest stars is David Bradley from, among other things, the Harry Potter movies.)

3 has some fun moral quandaries.

4 is fun because we see the Doctor having a go at normal Earth life, as well as thee return of some familiar arguably badass faces.

5 is a must-see for plot reasons (and the return of one of my favorite on-again-off-again companions).

Series 7, part II (don’t read below if you haven’t finished part I)

5.5 you have to watch and is a sort of mid-season Christmas special. Sees the return of an Old Who monster as well as several New Who faces.

6 follows up the events of the above special, so you have to see that, too.

7 is good because gives some backstory to Clara.

8 sees the return of another Old Who alien, whose species will pop up later in New Who. I didn’t particularly like nor dislike this one.

9 is a ghost story, which we haven’t really seen in Who for a while. It’s ok.

10 is also only ok but you should watch it for overall plot points.

11 we see the return of the Paternoster Gang, who I find quite amusing, but otherwise I didn’t really like this episode. It’s a little gross.

12 is written by Neil Gaiman so you should watch it. It’s also only fine, but better in my opinion than most of the other episodes in this part of the series.

13 is the series finale and has a rather intriguing title and wraps up this half of the series’ major story arc. Honestly I’m not a fan but you should watch it anyway.

Series 8

1 sees the return of the Paternoster Gang and more dinosaurs, but is also the first episode of the new Doctor and as such should be watched. Also have to keep an eye out at the end for some important scenes.

2 introduces a friend of Clara’s and reintroduces the Daleks but with a bit of a weird twist. Not super key to any main plot lines.

3 is pretty much what the title says it is. “Robot of Sherwood.” It’s meh.

4 is a little timey-wimey and develops some intercharacter relationships but overall isn’t exactly mandatory viewing.

5 is a robbery heist with some sci-fi twists. It’s alright.

In 6 we see Clara trying (and failing) to compartmentalize her life with the Doctor and her regular human on Earth life. It’s decent and there’s a snippet at the end that hints at some overarching plots.

7 tries to make some arguments about ethics but isn’t too convincing. The plot’s kinda fun, though.

8 is another one where the title, “Mummy on the Orient Express” pretty much sums it up. It does have a couple small throwbacks to older New Who seasons.

9 isn’t key to major plot lines but it’s a decent and kind of spooky episode.

10′s kinda dumb but has some weak environmental messaging.

11-12 wrap up the season’s major plot lines.

Series 9

0 is like a Christmas-themed reworking of a previous episode but I won’t say which one because spoilers.

1-2 are a pretty strong two-part season opener, I think. We see the return of some of the Doctor’s oldest friends/enemies.

3-4 are a properly timey-wimey, fairly creepy story. It’s a good one that honestly I wouldn’t want to watch by myself late at night with the house to myself.

5-6 are also timey-wimey AND introduce a character played by Maisie Williams (of “Game of Thrones” fame) who is actually pretty complex for a female character created by Stephen Moffat.

7-8 sees the return of, no surprise here, the Zygones. And also UNIT and Osgood, who is fan service personified but I’m ok with that.

9, in a way, is about the evils of capitalism but in space!

10 is important for plot. (Sees the return of some new old friends.)

11-12 has some good timey-wimeyness and a healthy dose of angst. (Also, the ending is gay and you can’t convince me otherwise.) It’s frustrating, but in an understandable way? I guess?

#doctor who #dw blogging #the doctor #ninth doctor #tenth doctor #eleventh doctor #rose tyler #martha jones #donna noble #my stuff #amy pond #rory williams #river song #paternoster gang #madame vastra #jenny flint #strax

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pratikboipawar · 4 years ago

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WhatsApp's Privacy Policy changes explained for my dumb friends. Should you uninstall WhatsApp?

Note: This is long, so go down to point 16 if you want simple explanation. I've tried to keep it as simple and accurate as possible, apologies in advance if some things are incorrect.

1. Privacy on the internet is a myth.

2. Your data is not at risk. Files, photos, chats etc. are secured. Your WhatsApp metadata is transferred to FB servers, like: mobile model, OS, IP address etc. Most of them are shared to improve user experience and for security reasons, according to WhatsApp. 3. Breaking News: WhatsApp already has been sharing data with Facebook since 2016. In 2014 FB had "promised" that nothing would change in privacy policy of WhatsApp when they had acquired it. But, as expected, in 2016 they changed the policy, where sharing data with Facebook was "optional". At that time you could opt out. Many people agreed without checking, or had ignored it (auto-agree). Now in new policy there is no opt out, you have to agree, else uninstall. 4. The reason for new policy is because of many new things Facebook and WhatsApp have now, namely the WhatsApp Business Accounts, WhatsApp Payments, Facebook Pay in USA etc. It is just clarifying things in general. 5. Another reason is due to Facebook's focus of interoperability of FB, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. FB and Instagram were integrated long back. Instagram and Messenger already have interoperability, when in Oct 2020 they merged both. Now time for WhatsApp. 6. Facebook has monopoly of sorts in social media, only other strong competitor being Snapchat (w.r.t. personal communication). It also recently acquired Giphy, a gif sharing platform, integrating it with Instagram. Hence US Federal Trade Commission is considering splitting, which could force Facebook to sell Instagram and WhatsApp. Some people believe this is the reason WhatsApp is being rushed into the Facebook universe as Facebook will get all of the metadata of WhatsApp personal and business users before the split (the split has low chance of happening, but still a chance). 7. Another problem is they may come up with something they have being doing with Facebook Shop in USA. Your metadata or third-party integration with WhatsApp may affect your experience in Facebook Shop or other Facebook Universe apps. They mention this in privacy policy:

WhatsApp currently shares certain categories of information with Facebook Companies. The information we share with the other Facebook Companies. includes your account registration information (such as your phone number), transaction data, service-related information, information on how you interact with others (including businesses) when using our Services, mobile device information, your IP address, and may include other information identified in the Privacy Policy section entitled ‘Information We Collect’ or obtained upon notice to you or based on your consent.

8. So in the end nothing really is changing, just that WhatsApp's entry in Facebook interoperability plan is official, and some clarification regarding people-to-business communication.

Their statement is:

"We’ve updated our policy to be transparent and to better describe optional people-to-business features. We wrote about it in October -- this includes commerce on WhatsApp and the ability for people to message a business"

9. The need for change: Google and Amazon etc. also have reputation of bad privacy practices. Amazon's business itself is to sell things, they track your basic data and try to sell you more products, so nothing much here. And lets be honest the saying is true: Google knows more about you than you know about yourself. Google is integrated in Android and multiple web apps, so getting rid of it is impossible right now. (We can start with DuckDuckGo, privacy oriented search engine, there are other replacements for other Google apps)

10. Hence the need for change is now, people have now become aware that our privacy is at stake, plus Facebook has bad reputation of privacy issues (Cambridge Analytica, targeted advertising, surveillance, list is long), so it is right time to move on.

11. Another breaking news, FB and Instagram can use your images and videos for their own purpose.

For example in Instagram's terms of use:

When you share, post, or upload content that is covered by intellectual property rights (like photos or videos) on or in connection with our Service, you hereby grant to us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to host, use, distribute, modify, run, copy, publicly perform or display, translate, and create derivative works of your content (consistent with your privacy and application settings).

12. You need to remove all Facebook Universe apps along with WhatsApp for complete privacy: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger. This is going to be tough, as massive amount of people are already on these platforms, forcing them to move on will be a tough task. Switching from WhatsApp for freelancers and small businesses may affect their business with clients. Elders who are already struggling with tech and had to learn Facebook apps will get frustrated when we tell them to learn a new app.

But people have migrated before, Orkut and Myspace are the examples, so there is hope.

However, moving from Facebook has become tough, as it has acquired it's competitors or copied them (ahem ahem Snapchat ahem) 13. Uninstalling WhatsApp would be great, but a good start would be people starting to use other messaging apps simultaneously, as some might argue such apps are essential apps and we can't risk privacy in that aspect. Currently good alternatives are Telegram and Signal (there are many, but others don't have much popularity)

14. I recommend Signal as it is built by a non-profit organization and hence can't be sold to organizations like Facebook, Amazon etc. Telegram has bad reputation of being loaded with movie piracy and can be acquired by another organization in future. Plus Edward Snowden, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk recommend Signal. 15. Another solution is Indian government steps in and tells Facebook what data can be shared and what cannot be shared, which is the case in Europe (EU).

People in EU did not get this privacy policy notification as WhatsApp is legally bound to not share data with Facebook in the European Region because it’s a contravention of the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

16. TLDR: Whatsapp has been sharing metadata with Facebook since 2016, nothing major in policy changes. If you care about privacy, get rid of all Facebook apps, you can start with WhatsApp first as it is a personal messaging app. If you are OK with sharing your metadata with Facebook and trust them, then just accept the Privacy Policy. Best case scenario is the metadata will be used for better targeted advertising.

Links: https://twitter.com/wcathcart/status/1347660768225841152 https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/whatsapp-says-latest-update-does-not-change-data-sharing-practices-with-facebook-11610194605143.html https://faq.whatsapp.com/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/09/facebook-lawsuit-antitrust-whatsapp-instagram-ftc

#whatsapp

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voicesfromthelight · 4 years ago

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How to Effectively Initiate Positive Alliances With Appropriate Spirits Outside of Your Immediate Sphere

Today, I want to write a bit about something very useful I’ve discovered about initiating positive, tangible relationships with spirits who are (at least seemingly) outside of your immediate circle of spirit guides, for purposes of guidance and magical collaboration.

Aside from sometimes collaborating in readings with my clients’ departed loved ones, as a medium who occasionally practices “emergency magic,” up until recently, my spirit guides never let me work with any spirits who weren’t part of the circle of guides assigned to me at birth, or ones sent to me by them for a given purpose, such as helping me predict the future more accurately. This “forbidden list” included saints who are often petitioned in popular forms of practical magic, such as St. Expedite, as well as employing the magic of other practitioners (often working with other spirits) by ordering candles from them, etc. These restrictions existed, and mostly still do, for my own protection, in order to ensure my spiritual and energetic integrity. I know better than to second-guess my guides’ advice.

Luckily, once these restrictions had been established, I came to realize that any magic I had practiced before, without soliciting spiritual helpers, which would involve fairly elaborate manipulations of physical objects as energetic focal points, would pale in comparison in effectiveness to the results I would get from simply going through my channeling preparations, clearly and passionately telling my guides what I needed, and then asking for help.

Sometimes, the results would be dramatic and nearly instantaneous - and if not, my guides would be sure to inform me that results would take a while. Coming to realize just how simple effective magic could be was incredibly liberating!

However, magical work aside, I would sometimes wonder what it would be like to receive guidance or help from a spirit who held a particular cultural or emotional significance for me. Mostly, these were departed artists with whom I felt a kinship.

With the possible exception of murder investigations, etc., the conventional wisdom on evidential mediumship is that you can only successfully interact with a departed person who knew you or your client in life. So, this spring, I decided to do an experiment with an inspiring artist with whom I had a fleeting in-person encounter in life, and about whom I had been thinking about a lot during quarantine: David Bowie. The personal connection may have been tenuous, but it was there.

What I discovered turned out to be an extremely effective way to form new, rich relationships in the spirit world.

One day in May, before it felt safe to get on the subway, after 100 days of not leaving my home borough, I walked all the way from South Brooklyn to Manhattan. When I reached SoHo, I realized that I was not far from where David Bowie used to live. So, I took a little detour.

As I came up to his house, I focused my mind inward, as I would when asking a question of my spirit guides, and silently addressed him:

“Hi, David! It’s Emily, here. Remember me? I’m the teenage girl who quietly interrupted your lunch back in the summer of 1998, at French Roast on 6th Ave., to thank you for all the inspiration you had given me as a musician and artist. You were so touched, you blushed like a beet! I never forgot about it. I’ve been thinking about you a lot, lately, and could really use some inspiration and guidance from you again. We are kindred spirits! Musician to outsider musician, can you hear me? I’d love it if we could interact, and you would accept to be my guide.”

Within a couple of hours, David sent me a synchronicity in the form of the gif below, posted by my friend right around the time I made the connection. (In these cases, I don’t believe in coincidences. My guides pull off stuff like that all the time, and it isn’t limited to random internet posts.)

A similar process has subsequently helped me form several new, extremely satisfying spiritual connections, including with Frida Kahlo, whose birthday party I posted about earlier, and even a couple of saints I never thought I had a connection to before.

That is how I found out that under the right circumstances, there is some flexibility in my “collaborative restriction,” and it is sanctioned by my personal guides. However, it isn’t arbitrary.

When you wish to form a relationship with a spirit outside your immediate sphere, the key is that there needs to be an affinity, cultural, familial or even personal connection between you and what you know of this spirit. This holds true whether it is a person who was known as a prominent spiritual teacher, an artist who passed away relatively recently, or a saint or spirit whose existence has taken on a more “storied” status. (Religions of the African Diaspora such as Santería, Vodou and Espiritismo - which I have no affiliation with - affirm this in their teachings, as well.)

So, here is my technique for forming new alliances with spirits you’d like to work with.

1. Identify the spirit, and define for yourself why you wish to work with them. Look into the spirit’s history, and the various ways in which people have defined and worked with them before. Do you feel comfortable with all of the connotations of what this spirit stands for?

2. Define the connection between you. What is it that you have in common in your temperament, your likes and dislikes, your interests, your cultural connections, your life experiences, your “life missions,” and your general energy? Why and how does your energy “match” theirs? (This is super important!)

3. If the connection isn’t immediately apparent, is there a work-around? For instance, say you wanted to work with The Virgin of Guadalupe, who is a Catholic patron saint of Mexico, and particularly a protector of indigenous peoples, but you weren’t Mexican, indigenous, or even Catholic. Guadalupe is also known as “Empress of The Americas,” and is an apparition of the Virgin Mary. Mary was Jewish. In my case, I’m Jewish-American. I’m a Jewish daughter. Mary is a Jewish mother. I’m part American, and live in the USA. She’s Empress of The Americas - not just Mexico. That would be an effective approach to initiating the connection.

4. Find a way to focus your energy on forming the connection. This could be through setting up a little altar with a picture, a candle, some water and flowers, or simply meditating in a quiet place or sacred space, especially if that place is directly connected to that spirit.

5. Address the spirit with love, trust, enthusiasm and respect. In your own words, explain the connection between you, and why you wish to work with them. So, for the above example, I might say: “Dear Guadalupe, I would love to work with you and your gentle, motherly energy. You’re a Jewish mother, and I’m a Jewish daughter - that makes me your daughter! People love you in my neighborhood. You rule over the Americas. I know your presence is strong here. Would you help to bring peace and love into my home?”

6. Look for a sign of acceptance. In my case, that will usually come in the form of a synchronicity, a dream, or having them straight-up announce themselves in my channeling sessions. (Often, it will be more than one sign!)

7. Once you receive your sign of acceptance, especially if they happen to grant a request, GIVE THANKS! I love buying flowers for my spirits. It’s also great if you can thank a guide or spirit ally with charity or a good deed that benefits people or causes you know are loved by them. In the above example, I would make sure to buy the flowers for Guadalupe from the ladies in my neighborhood who are immigrants from Central America - and possibly undocumented. I might also make a contribution to charities that help detained immigrants at the border. Sometimes your allies will telepathically let you know what pleases them.

And that’s it!

You can maintain your ongoing connection to these spirits through practices such as meditation and channeling, and also doing good deeds in their name. If you only wanted to form a short-term alliance, that’s OK, too. Just be sure to thank the spirit properly for their help, and politely say your goodbyes.

As a final note, it isn’t completely clear to me whether the initial lack of connection to spirits such as these is only skin-deep. One might have past-life alliances, or other unknown connections to these spirits from the get-go. Sometimes, if you feel pulled to a particular spirit, but can’t figure out the connection, if you ask your guides, and the connection is genuine, they will explain why!

We all have “inner circle” guides assigned at birth, whom we can most easily connect with, and especially if we work in the spiritual arts such as mediumship, a whole network of “outer band” helpers in our “team,” who may prefer to remain anonymous, but help us coordinate communication with our clients’ loved ones, etc. You won’t always know immediately who is helping you “behind the scenes”!

Explore these concepts for yourself, and see what you think! ...But do choose your allies wisely, and protect yourself by keeping your energy high, joyful, compassionate, optimistic and loving, and by properly opening and closing your communication sessions. Don’t fall for impersonators! Look for tangible signs.

Any questions? Let me know in the comments!

Good luck!

Love,

Emily

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kindabraveandlittlestupid · 6 years ago

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Why Tumblr Chooses Censorship

It’s a strange day to jump online and suddenly hear about a major policy change on Tumblr from a few people I talk too. Words like “Total Bullshit”, “End of Tumblr”, “Burning Garbage Heap” and so on tossed among them to describe the policy change. Curious enough I logged on began reading over all the purposed changes and I admit I am a bit disheartened. Usually when a digital institution like AOL, Yahoo, Napster, or MySpace falls it because they didn't evolve and became stagnant in what they were providing the internet. I can’t think of a time where a site willfully regressed its own freedom of speech on a broad scale and basically swallowed a poison capsule that destroys their user base (perhaps deservingly so) but here we are.

That point aside, I am trying to have insight and hindsight to understand how/why they were pushed to this reckless conclusion (I will be leaving foresight out because I think Tumblr lacks foresight, the exodus from Tumblr will dramatically change the culture of this site likely for the worse). Tumblr like any social media medium is struggling in the current age of the internet; Bots, Far Right Extremists, Fake News, Illegal Porn, Data Theft, and so on. Many companies are walking this fine line between trying to combat these problems while preserving freedom of speech.

I struggle to find my own footing on this topic because I believe that society with LESS censorship historically does better. You look to countries in the past that repressed sexuality, individual thought, and so on; those countries were often the ones to invite the rise of repressive groups doing atrocious acts in history. While on the other hand because of this open and free social media platform we all see the echoing of those same repressive groups (who are also on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, and Youtube) and to simply say/do nothing about their posts will inevitably allow them to rise still. This is where I struggle as I believe in that concept of a free society but I do feel that removing fake new stories is essential for the health of democracy.

I imagine the reason why sexual images are the target is that Tumblr makes things so easy to post. It's not hard to imagine pictures of minors getting liked or reposted from one blog or another happening. The problem is many of those pictures will circulate for a long period of time not being flagged as underage and there is good chance that every user has knowingly or unknowingly looked at an image like this on the web. I explore the porn side of Tumblr and have once or twice encountered a Tumblr full of these images at which point I couldn't close that tab fast enough and get the hell out of dodge. So Tumblrs solution of handling this problem instead of playing whack a mole with these underage accounts? Ban all adult content.

I can understand this motivation being a foolproof way of making sure there is no underage porn because there will be no porn. I imagine the result will be very effective, so effective that the various members of the community be they straight, bi, or gay who had their own private collection of legal adult material on Tumblr will stop visiting the site. A slow-moving exodus of users from Tumblr this site to perhaps a new blogging alternative that isn't so restrictive. I don’t suspect Tumblr will be closing its doors the week after the policy kick in (though they will see a HUGE decline in traffic) but even the PG accounts will likely move on because a sizeable user base shifted away and people want to be where the party is at. And much as I love Tumblr, it will not be here (sadly).

PC Culture VS Censorship Culture

One thing I noticed on the various posts is some people attempting to blame this policy change on the PC Culture. I am not sure I believe that as a valid argument. While I don't get along with PC Culture all the time (part of my free society is believing that humor is apart of it and PC Culture doesn't always like humor), I do think PC Culture has a broad/accepting view of orientation and sexuality. Just important is people having the right to explore those thoughts and feelings of their own free will. Tumblr has been one of those sites allowing emerging gay men and women to find others like them but also explore their sexuality with images/gifs/videos. What Tumblr might have not noticed is that the site itself is kind of a cultivation of the best images from the web, sure you can find some pretty hard porn on occasion but of all the adult sites on the web, Tumblr provides an almost artistic lense to the images that come thru the site.

Censorship can come from various political/social/religious groups but this sort of censorship against the human body, sex, and sexuality, in general, comes from a very conservative mindset. People who don’t wish to see nudity in any form on any medium; people who think a woman's nipple is lewd, that breastfeeding publically is disgusting, and that anything remotely sexual is a sin. And by the nature of Tumblrs policy change their beliefs align themselves alarmingly close to these individuals.

There is a thin veneer of progressive views on the site that remains where they say they are ok with this and that like gender orientation surgery but its just that a veneer. Once a person has transitioned anything that is shared of their new body (nudity or sex wise) beyond the initial transition falls into the realm of ‘smut’ by Tumblrs policies. I imagine the perception they are trying to sell us is “Hey we are still the same progressive safe haven for LGTBQ community! Stay with us!” but secretly thinking “Everything you enjoy in the bedroom is horrible and we fucking hate you.”

Perhaps I am being hyperbolic in that statement but damn if it doesn't feel like a vast policy of censorship on the human body. And whenever this happens (historically) it always comes from hyper-conservatives.

A General Attack On Expression and Orientation

I touched on this topic a little bit above but I feel it's worth stating again that Tumblr might be losing its safe-haven status for gender expression and sexual orientation. When scrolling through Tumblr you will likely see those new expressions of genders that is beyond that of ‘traditional’ male and female definitions. And while I don’t have any attraction to some of these new expressions, I understood why they are there and don’t get upset if/when the cross my feed. Like two men having sex my mind thinks “Not for me but I am sure that will make someones day”. I view sex (in all its forms) as natural, I don’t have to be into it for me to be ok with it (if that makes sense). It’s visual participation if that image you see isn't a turn on for you and does nothing for you, simply move on.

Tumblr’s policy doesn't seem to care about this concept of visual participation and while it is taking away my straight/lesbian porn I enjoy. It is also sweeping up all these new forms of expression and orientation in the process.

I am not sure what else to say... I am a straight male and I try to have a deep empathy for other people when I can. I feel this argument can be better structured but I also come from a position where I don’t know all the details. I add this to the post because Tumblr seemed to go out of their way to suggest that they would protect this community but from a long view that doesn't seem to be the case.

A Lessons To Be Learned

I am not going to say fuck Tumblr. I don’t want to see them fail. I liked what this space was about and what it provided. I prefer they reconsider changing the guidelines and consider a different course of action but I also understand why they want to do this. It’s “The Easy Way” to do things. If they ban all porn then it simplifies managing underage nudity and allows the site to have less criticism drawn to it.

I do, however, think this broad censorship approach will ultimately hurt the site and the community though. People will leave, alternative websites will arise and Tumblr will eventually become no more. I am not going to tell anyone to boycott or delete their accounts. I plan to collect my writing and images, backup my favorite adult gifs (might need to buy a hard drive) and settle into this new reality. I know I will personally be visiting the site less as I used to look at porn here at some of the better cultivated Tumblr archives. That lack of traffic by me and all the other users will hurt the company. I hope they understand eventually I won't show up at all and over time, eventually, no one else will either. Maybe the site will survive and change into something else but right now under these conservative policies of censorship, Tumblr won't last.

Sad Regards, Michael California

Update: Posted this originally with a woman in a shower with large censorship bars over the naughty bits. Flagged despite the fact she was more covered than most Sports Illustrated models. I know I just wrote above I am not advocating leaving the site... but after all this and the fact that Tumblr Support finally responded to a far-right Tumblr blogger photoshopping/doctoring a PM conversation we had before posting it to his blog. I feel as though Tumblr A) hates sex and sexuality B) not only enables but protects racism and harassment on this website. I think it’s time to move on.

#Tumblr #Tumblr Suppor #Staff #Policy Change #Tumblr Policy #RIP Tumblr #Censorship #Tumblr Ban #Tumblr Purge #Community Guidlines #Tumblr Community Guidlines

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britesparc · 6 years ago

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Weekend Top Ten #368

Top Ten Things I Kinda Hope Will Happen Now Disney Owns Fox

So this week the merger of the millennium finally went through, and the mouse ate the fox. That is, Disney completed its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, bringing a diverse range of film and TV IP all under one roof. A big, domed roof, with two circular ears on top.

What to make of it? There is the knee-jerk fannish joy at the thought of the X-Men finally being able to join their Avenger cousins under one MCU roof; there is also the worrying prospect of one company holding so much power being able to wield that power uncharitably. Job losses are inevitable; maybe up to 4,000, I read. Fox 2000, a subsidiary production company that has made a name for itself with a slew of critically-acclaimed movies with an indie sensibility, is already being shuttered. So I think there is probably a degree of caution to be exercised when contemplating Mulder and Scully investigating Doctor Strange or the Na’vi turning up in the Galactic Senate.

However, for the time being I’m allowing myself to think of the positives, of the IP mash-ups or events that could transpire both in fiction and “IRL” as they say on the internets. So here, then, are ten things that I’d either like to see happen, or will happen, or would be cool but are incredibly unlikely.

Now to rewatch that Patton Oswalt filibuster from Parks and Rec…

Restore the Fox Fanfare to all Star Wars movies: probably won’t happen for new movies going forward, but I still think it’s not Star Wars without the “barump-bada-bump” Fox theme at the very start. Personally I think all Star Wars should have it, even the new ones.

Bring the Marvel Universes together: this is inevitable, isn’t it? The Marvel characters for whom Fox has historically owned the cinematic rights – principally the X-Men and Fantastic Four – are absolutely bound to appear in the MCU. Quite how and when this will happen I don’t know; I’m hoping for something a bit beyond “oh, Thanos accidentally created mutants,” if I’m honest. And I think the plans for the MCU in the early stages of Phase 4 are probably already kinda sorted (the film line-up looks like it’s taking shape, and I reckon the Skrulls will be the Big Bad of the next Avengers film, not Magneto or whoever). Really, I’m more interested in a rebooted Fantastic Four (go on, set it in the ‘60s! You know you want to!) and with Doctor Doom being a major MCU villain, the next Thanos if they do it right.

Reboot the Alien sequels: I’ve got a fair bit of time for Alien 3, and I’ve been told to give Alien: Resurrection another chance, but let’s be honest: after two masterpieces, the various Alien movies have been a seriously mixed bag. So why can’t Disney “do a Halloween” and decide to make a new Alien 3 that disregards all the other films that take place after Aliens? I mean, it sort of almost happened with Neill Blomkamp’s project, before Ridley Scott’s renewed interest in the franchise scuppered a return to the world of Hicks, Newt and – of course – Ripley. It’s currently fashionable to make “decades-later” sequels – even Ghostbusters appears to be getting one – so this could be not only fascinating but also hugely profitable. Get to it, Mickey!

Make “The X-Files: The Next Generation”: confession time, true believers: I’ve still not got round to watching the two recent X-Files mini-series, despite being an enormous “X-Phile” in the ‘90s. I know they got mixed reviews, but that’s neither here nor there to me. No, I want a regular series (but stick it on streaming so it can be gory, scary, and only 10 episodes), and I want it to feature a new raft of agents who are investigating new X-files. Maybe give Chris Carter a vanity credit and hand it off to someone else. In a lot of ways, The X-Files was the new Star Trek, so giving us a look at “the future” and the next group of people who’ll keep the flame alive, would be a good way to build the brand. And, yes, it’d still be in continuity, so Mulder could show up at some point!

Deadpool 3: I know I’ve already sorta talked about the X-Men, but that was more about incorporating and rebooting the characters within the MCU. Deadpool is a special case. He should still be Ryan Reynolds, he should still look and act the same (and, yes, he should still be R-rated). But how the fourth-wall breaking foul-mouthed ‘merc will react to being rebooted will be fascinating to see.

Stop making Die Hard films: just stop. Don’t reboot it. don’t make another sequel. Don’t do a prequel. Just stop. Do a gif search for “Simpsons he’s already dead”. Die Hard is, sadly, over. And I say that as someone who flat-out adores the first film. It has ceased to be. It is an ex-franchise. I’m sorry, Bruce, but that’s the truth.

Cancel The Simpsons: speaking of The Simpsons…! Yeah, I feel bad for saying this. As much as I love Die Hard, I love The Simpsons more; I think I love The Simpsons more than anything else Fox has ever done. And picking on them now, after thirty years? It feels like bandwagon-jumping; like trying to be cool and edgy. The fact is, I’ve not even seen a new episode for about ten years. How crazy is that? It used to be my favourite show of all time and there are probably over a hundred episodes I’ve just never seen. But that’s sort of my point. It’s not about whether it’s still good, or good enough, or as good as; it’s been going too long. the relevance it had, the cultural cachet; that’s gone for good. The Simpsons can never be The Simpsons again. I think give it a rest, cancel the series, but if you still want to keep the flame alive, make the odd movie or mini-series or TV special or something. I don’t mind more Simpsons, just make me really want it, y’know?

But bring back Futurama: as one door closes… Futurama was probably better than The Simpsons during the time it was on the air (although I don’t think I’d say it was ever quite as good as The Simpsons was at its height). So good, it’s an utter shame it had to stop when and how it did. I know Matt Groening might be busy with Disenchantment on Netflix, but maybe he can be persuaded to come back for some more journeys with the Planet Express crew? The opportunity to skewer the present day with futuristic barbs is right there for the taking.

De-Specialise the Star Wars Special Editions: I don’t mind most of the changes made by Lucas in the Special Edition trilogy. Obviously cleaning up the matting and removing the “force field” underneath Luke’s landspeeder are welcome additions. But the extra Wampa footage is unnecessary; Han shooting first really does cheapen the character, I don’t care if that’s a crying manbaby/edgelord/neckbeard/incel sorta thing to say; but the biggest flub is the utterly redundant Jabba scene they stuck back into A New Hope. Get shot of that; it gives us nothing the Greedo scene didn’t give, but clunkier and with not-entirely-convincing effects. Unaltered, and separate from the movie itself – with the human actor in a shaggy coat playing Jabba – the scene is a curio, a lost gem; but it serves no purpose in the narrative and the whole “stepping on Jabba’s tail” bit is, well, shite. If that’s the only thing they lose, fine, it’ll be worth it. I’m inevitably going to be buying these buggers in 4K, though, so I’d rather they offered a cleaned-up theatrical cut if they’re not prepared to pick-and-choose a “definitive edition”.

Don’t just close Fox Animation: from Anastasia through the Ice Age movies to Ferdinand, Fox’s animation department isn’t quite Pixar but they’ve done a really good job. Buy with Disney Animation and Pixar, does the company need another animation house? I hope they can find room for Fox, maybe as a slightly more grown-up or edgier place; after all, Pixar and Disney co-exist and there seems to be room for both.

#top ten #disney #fox #merger #animation

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the-real-xmonster · 7 years ago

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(Probably) Last Mass Post on Olympic Technicals

I saw a GIF of Nathan's 3A from his Oly FS. Has he gone back to the toe-pick release, from the skid that Raf was teaching him? (Can't seem to link GIF, sorry! But the Olympic Channel has his FS.)

This is the moment I realized, with mild horror, that I’ve forgotten to DVR any of Nathan’s performances at the OG. And my current Internet connection is so crappy I can’t even get the Olympic channel video to play in full HD. But, yes, I also remember noticing that he went back to the toe pick takeoff for his 3A in the FS. Probably because the skid takeoff sure didn’t work out that well for him in that competition. Let’s wait and see what he chooses to do at Worlds this week.

Hi, I really appreciate your posts! You've made figure skating so much easier to understand with your gifs and explanations. I was wondering something, if you don't mind answering, and it was in concerns to step sequences. I remember hearing somewhere that Nathan Chen got a level 4 during his Long Program at the Olympics while Yuzuru got a level 3? If true, why is that? It doesn't seem like Nathan's is more complex at all. Thank you in advance for reading this inquiry --- @mystictrillium

Hi, it’s true that Nathan got a level 4 for his FS StSq at the OG and Yuzu got a level 3, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that Nathan’s StSq was more complex than Yuzu’s. Yuzu’s planned technical content for the Seimei StSq is highly difficult (more details here) and should be more than enough to earn him the maximum level if everything is executed correctly. The reason why Yuzu lost a level at the OG was because of one mistake that happened to occur during a turn, which, under ISU rules, was crucial for level evaluation purpose. I’ve discussed this here, in case you are interested in the technical details.

Hi Alice! I was wondering, if Yuzuru got a Lv4 on the last spin of his SP from the Olympics (same GOE) would he have broken the WR?

No, a level 4 spin wouldn’t have been enough. He was 1.05 points away from a new WR. The difference between Base Value of a level 3 and a level 4 combination spin is only 0.50 points, and there is no difference in their Scale of Value, so Yuzu wouldn’t have got any extra GOE if he had received a level 4 for that last spin either. He, in fact, received higher GOE for that spin at the OG compared to at Autumn Classic. Well deserved, I’d say, not least because I love that variation he did for the A-spin when he placed his hand flat on his back instead of on his knee as usual:

(Aside from being pretty, this variation also affected his balance and actually made the spin harder to execute. But of course when you are Yuzuru Hanyu, judges hold you to an apparently much higher standard so, despite added difficulty and whatnot, if you miss your rotation by a hair’s breadth, you lose a level, no negotiation allowed).

Hi Alice! This ask is regarding spin. I understand Hanyu got only Lv3 on his last spin for SP for lacking rotation. But then Shoma Uno in his FS' FCCoSp, if I am not mistaken, lacked rotations on both his camel and upright position. So,,, why was that still counted as a lv4 spin? That's 2 basic position lacking rotations. I know counting spin is not my forte, but did I really make that big of a mistake there? Thanks! (also, if it's going to unleash the you-know-what, feel free to not answer)

No I don’t think you are mistaken about Shoma’s spin. At least if you count spin revolutions the same way I do. For a basic camel position, I count from the moment both the skater’s spinning knee and free leg are fully straightened, I stop counting when they start bending their knee to move to the subsequent position:

For a basic upright position, I’d count from when their body is fully upright (duh) and the spinning knee also fully straightened, same principle as camel spin for when to stop:

So, from how I see it, neither of those positions Shoma had was held for 2 full revolutions. As to why the tech panel didn’t invalidate his spin or give him a V sign at least, your guess is as good as mine.

In case anyone is curious, this is how I count the revolutions for Yuzu’s inside to outside edge feature: start when his blade is completely outside, stop when his blade is completely flat:

I remember Shoma said that if he had landed the 4Lo, he could have higher chance of winning, and Yuzuru replied that even if Shoma did land the 4Lo, Yuzu would still have won. Could you calculate/ explain this please?

Wait, when/where did this conversation happen? Just asking because it sounds very out of character for both of them.

But, well, the calculation is not hard to do. The final margin between Yuzu and Shoma was 10.95 points. Shoma got a total of 8.00 points for his 4Lo (fall), if he had landed the jump, and landed it perfectly so that he received the maximum GOE for it (which has never happened, mind you), his total point for that element would have been 12 in BV + 3 GOE = 15 points. So that’s 7 points added to his TES. Now you can also tell me that the fall on the 4Lo affected his PCS, so if it hadn’t happened his PCS would also have gone up, but it order to even the gap with Yuzu, Shoma would need an extra 3.95 points in PCS, which would mean a total PCS of 96.67. Considering that his personal best PCS in international competition is (I think) 94.42 at WC17, 96.67 is extremely unlikely.

So, the summary is, even if Shoma had landed his 4Lo, Yuzu would still have won.

Hi Alice, I have a question about commentators, do you know who were the commentators for the official Olympic broadcast (the ones with the phrase 'liquid gold'😍)? They seemed so lovely and I could hear them clapping after Yuzu's fs, which was just heart warming.

The female commentator (she of the “liquid gold” comment) is Belinda Noonan, former Australian national champion. Thanks to @chibura for the info :) I’m not sure who her partner was. Does anybody have a clue?

Hi Alice! Hope you're doing fine. I've heard people saying a lot that Javi should have got silver instead of Shoma. I haven't watched yet Javi's performance but I've seen a fancam of Shoma's and I've checked their protocols. Shoma's technique is flawed, that much we know, but there were a couple of jumps that were pretty nice. Javi has like 5 points advantage over Shoma in PCS but he popped that 4S and lost a level in one of the spins (besides less one quad). What do you think? Thanks :) --- @puniyo

I also think the Silver should have gone to Javi, mostly because in the FS, Shoma’s 4Lo was clearly under-rotated and he shouldn’t have got the full BV for it. His 4T was borderline UR as well (more details on his 4Lo and 4T here), and as you see above, his flying combination spin was also dubious. Considering the very thin margin between him and Javi, any of those mistakes, if called by the tech panel, could have resulted in a different final standing.

Please excuse me if this question seems silly, but I have not understood fs enough to withstand a debate, that's why I really need your help. I saw on an ask page someone raising questions about Yuzu's 4T in Chopin, so aside from the argument that 4T has an inherent degree of prerotations, how else can I prove that his 4T was not UR? And while Kurt said that it was not quite the 'perfect' landing, how would you describe that landing on average? Thanks a ton

I think you’ve got PR and UR mixed up there :) PR is about whether or not the skater rotates on ice before the takeoff, where as UR is about whether they do that after they land.

So it’s true that a toe loop always has some degrees of PR inherent in it, more than most of the other jump types, because of the way the skater's hip is completely open to the rotational direction. Here’s Yuzu’s 4T takeoff in his SP:

You see there, with the way this jump works (left leg swinging behind for the pick), a skater can’t help but point their toe at an angle for the takeoff, and that’s what causing the inherent pre-rotation. However in Yuzu’s case, he picked and then left the ice with minimal timing delay, so his blade was fully off ice at no more than 90 degrees of PR, which made his takeoff completely valid in scoring terms (in order for a takeoff to be called “cheated”, it has to be done with 180 degrees of PR or more).

As for the landing of that jump, no, it wasn’t perfect. It was slightly under-rotated:

See how he clearly did have to finish his last rotation on ice? It was not called by the technical panel, likely because they deemed the lack of rotation not enough for a call (less than a quarter), but it was reflected somewhat in his GOE. 4 judges out of 9 gave him +2 only for that combo. With him hitting almost, if not all, of the 8 positive GOE bullets for that combo, a +2 can only be justified by the judges taking into consideration the mandatory deduction of -1 for the UR (yes, judges are allowed to, and are supposed to, deduct GOE for jumps lacking rotation even if there is no call from the tech panel).

Here’s how a perfect 4T landing looks, from Yuzu’s FS :)

(Straight up +3 for this one)

Hi Alice! I was wondering on yuzu’s SP (and really the FS as well tbh) when he was jumping his 4T-3T the foot picking the ice as he was jumping wasn’t his usual ‘quick hitting motion’ as I think you put it. Do you think it’s just bc he hadn’t been training his quads until 2 weeks before and he was just getting used to it or it could be something else?

He did put a bit more pressure on the ball of his picking foot for the takeoff of that 4T (as you can see in that gif above), and same goes for his (planned) solo 4T in the FS.

I think it had to do with his right ankle not in its best shape: for a toe loop takeoff, while the majority of the push comes from your picking left foot, you do need to use your right foot’s ankle and knee to stabilize the takeoff. If you have some nagging unease in your mind about your right foot, it can lead to you taking a split second more to fully stabilize the takeoff, and therefore, a split second more of your toe pick being kept on the ice.

Or, he was actually altering his takeoff in that manner as a way to put a certain limit on the size of his toe loop so that it is easier to control, also because he was worrying about his right foot, which plays a crucial role in the landing. This alternative theory of mine came up because I noticed that in the second 4T he did in the FS, he used the usual fast takeoff and ended up with that step out:

For what it’s worth, his subsequent triple toe loop takeoffs in combos were all picture perfect though, as usual :)

#figure skating #yuzuru hanyu #shoma uno #nathan chen

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avengersohyeah · 7 years ago

Text

Trace

Part 12

Masterlist

Trace Masterlist

(No pics or Gifs cuz my internet has been crappy this past week. it won’t upload)

A/N : This whole series is nonsense! It’s all just crappy fantasy stuff. There’s no such thing as the son of time, the rating game, or anything said in this series.

But that’s the point in fanfiction.......

(Y/N)’s POV

Crazy… just crazy… I know she is, but this is far beyond that “Father tell me again why can’t I fight against her ?” I’m fumming by now. He had informed us all that Cosmos already get everything for the game ready. And by everything I mean we just need to step into the place, and the game would automaticaly begins.

“Son… you have to calm down, this game would never begins without the agreement on both sides… Let’s just meet the judge first…”

“You mean God ?.....”

“For humans yeah he is, but for me he is a friend…” he opened a door that lead you to one of the many converence hall in the castle. As soon as I stepped into the room, I can’t help but to notice the very blue of eyes staring right at me. There, stood very shocked Castiel right beside his Father, God himself. He’s looking at me with wide eyes, as if he knows me. But that’s impossible right ? I mean their reality have been changed, he never met me before. The voice of my father brought me back from my wandering mind. “So he’s the Angel that you told me about ?”

“What? What HE told you about the Angel father ?” I cut in

“This game would be the last rating game son, you already know the agreement between me and my sister. That’s why this game will also be the bigest one that could ever happened.” From his words, I just raised my eyebrows in question. “My sister has told me her condition for the game….. We can use any other place to battle aside from the τη γέφυρα της διάστασης (ti géfyra tis diástasis) The bridge of dimensions. And you know what that means ..”

“The innocents would be in danger too….” I clenched my fist tight holding my anger. How could she ? Damn that bitch !

“That’s why, My friend here, as the judge of the game agreed to my condition…. To protect those innocents, by sending HIS angels to protect them, and he told me that he would ask someone to lead them in that duty.”

“And that’s him ?” I turned my head to Castiel who still had this shocked expresion on. Then I looked to God, HE nodded. “I.. I need to go…” I left the room running. The fact that Castiel was there, and God does he looked shocked to see me only means one thing. He remembered, and if he did, Sam did too, Dean.. my Dean did too. Oh God ! why did this happened, i bet he hates me now, he should be, because of all the things he told me not to do, I did the worst one. I left him, and even worse I made him forget about me, about us, about what we had. I hate myself, I hate myself for leaving him, I hate myself for made him forget what I’m sure he never want to forget, I hate myself to make him hate me. As I walked down the hall with these thoughts, I failed to notice something in front of me until I bumped my head to it. Or him, there, stand tall, with the same cocky smirk and those armors that made his body looks bigger than it’s already is. I looked up to see none other than the queen’s knight himself, Templar. I chuckled to myself and say

“It’s funny how I always manage to bump into you when my thoughts is not with me.”

“Not my fault that that pretty little head of yours is empty…”

“Now you’re saying I’m stupid…. Anyway I’m not in the mood for argument right now, so I’ll just leave..” I walked past him purposively bump my shoulder to his.

“Watch out….” He said shortly, I turned around and ask him

“Of what ?...”

“We might be threatened by your power, but the queen isn’t… just know that she’ll do anything to make sure that she would win the game…..” Before I could ask for more he already leave.

Akeno’s POV

“Remind me again why we’re here ?” I asked to (Y/N).

“We’re here because you like Arthur…” He said indifferently, I smacked him hard on the back of his head. He knew right away that I developed a crush for the knight and won’t let me go easily.

“Don’t say that kinda thing again, or else I’ll kill you, a prince or not!” I threatened, and He just chuckled on that.

“You know, after all of this over, you gotta promise me you’ll say something to him..” To his sudden serious tone, I couldn’t help but to stare at him in worry. It felt like those years ago when he would asked me to do something different from our plan, as if knowing something wrong is going to happen if we stick to that. And he alwas right, back then I’ll ask him about it and he would say that his power allowed him to see the possibillities of the results from our plans. But now I know for sure, he saw something is going to happen. I know exactly that his power now, doesn’t just show him the possibillities, but the real future of what is about to come. And when he get’s serious like this, I know for sure that I don’t want to know what is about to happen.

“I… I promise…” I answer him in a whisper.

“Good, just know that I love you Akeno…”

“I know… How about that angel ? He remembered you right ? Means they all do…”

(Y/N) exhaled the breath he’s holding “Yeah and I’m sure by now they hates me because of that..”

“No they won’t…” To my statement he froze, but a moment later his shoulder slumped

“You don’t even know them..”

“But I know you… everything you did is to protect people that you love. And we’re not that blind, they’re not that blind. From what you told me about them, I know that they care about you, they love you. So they won’t hate you (Y/N) trust me…” He squeezed my hand and muttered ‘thank you’

Before I could say anything else, there’s a voice coming out of nowhere.

“The time has come, for the battle that would change it all. The battle that would keep everything in existence as it is, or destroy it to begin a new start. Here, in this place… where all places in all time connected. Here, in this place, the bravest people gather to fight for keep and to fight for kill, for those that couldn’t do it for themselves. And here, in this place for the last time.. I stand as the judge of the battle between the time and the space, two of my good friends fighting for what they belive is ri…” I didn’t hear the rest of the”God’s” opening speech, I didn’t hear anything else in fact. Everything is muffled around me I’m too engrossed in watching my best friend’s expresion. He looked strong so strong, intimidating no less, just like those time we fight together. He would wear his battle stare on his eyes that I’m sure could shake anyone’s nerve with just a glimpse of it… But I knew better, behind all of it hidden a broken hearted men that only want to keep everyone he loved save. A men that ready to put himself aside to save everyone he cared about. Soft pat on my shoulder pulled me back to reality. The cruel reality where I choose to fight side by side with (Y/N) to protect the earth, people that we care, people that we love, people to comeback to, to protect our home. I looked to the side and met with the pair of clear blue eyes.

“You ready Akeno ?” Arthur asked with his impossibly charming smile.

“I..I ..yeah I’m ready let’s get this over with..”

Normal POV

Ninety minutes.

It’s been exactly ninety minutes since God anounced the beginning of the game. Ninety minutes since the the queen made a move, and lost a pawn. Their bishop’s pawn, the one that could multiply himself. Right after God left them, the said pawn attacked Akeno in hope to figure out her power since they never saw her fight before. Given the fact that it’s just over two months Akeno been there, and everyone was busy preparing themself for the game. It was pretty smart actually, to try to find out your enemy’s strength that you don’t know as early as possible. However it didn’t end as they planed. (Y/N) knows exactly what the pawn intended to do, attack Akeno, make her use her power, then move before her power deals any damage to him. But they didn’t expect her power to be able to stop the pawn’s movement, she stunned him with her low voltage lightning and doesn’t hesitate to strike him again with much stronger one a second after. Everyone was in utter shock, not only her power is dangerous, but she doesn’t even hesitate to kill. More over she smiles innocently after that, making her them visibly squirmed in place. They went to the fortress that protect king and his pawn inside, just like what queen have. It is one of the many rules of the game where the king and the queen could only choose to fight right away from the beginning of the game, or they would let their pieces fight first. In this case, they choose the later.

Two hours.

Two hours since they sent Aria to spy on them, and Pegasus to watch from above. Both pawn hadn’t comeback nor gave them any contact through the necklace they all wearing. Everyone is getting restless, but none of them shows any sign of it. Everyone is sitting as still as tone, until (Y/N) stands abruptly and pace the length of the room.

“Calm down your highness, they would back..” Hilda tried to asure him.

“I know they’ll be fine, but I can’t help it…” (Y/N) knows that both pawns would be fine, it is other people that he’s worried about. Sam and Dean, if they remembered him they would do anything in their power to get to him. He’s worried that they would put themself in danger in trying to get to him. He knows, he know somehow, something is going to happen but he can’t see what. Even with his power. He couldn’t see anything about the future, even any possibilities that could happen. And he doesn’t like it one bit. It’s just like his power having a set back to years ago before he met the brothers, the time when he could only see just a glimpse of the past. He knew that worriying about something else outside the battle would only ruin his focus. And loosing focus while fighting against these crazy powerful people is not good. But he can’t help it, all these things were too sudden to him. He thought that joining the rating game after he made everyone he knows forget about him is the best thing to do. To protect them, to prevent them from butting in just like he know they would do. Besides, he’s the one that made Dean killed. He brought Dean back with the cost of erasing all of him from their memories. And he was dead set to win this game no matter what. But then Cas had to show up looking surprised like a deer caught in a headlight. (Y/N) could see that those blue eyes the angel have recognized him. And when he know something, the brothers knows too. Now he’s worried that the brothers would hate him forever. While worriying about people that would shortly risking their life to protect universe from Cosmos’s vile plan. So much is going on, he feel like he could faint at any moment now. These things just too much, he started to breath heavily, panting while clutching his chest. Everything felt so heavy around him. why now? Why of all time this happens now ? He couldn’t give up or he could ? The weight that he carry this whole time, he felt it now all at once. his whole body is heavy, his legs are giving up on him. He fall to his knees, tears streaming down freely from his eyes, he’s sobbing uncontrolably. Every intake of breath he do seems only intensify the tightness that he felt on his chest. Here, two hours since the game that he thought could save everyone he loved, (Y/N)’s having a break down.

Seeing their prince in such state makes them want to launch themselves to help him. To try to assure him that everything is alright, they always were, and they always would. They want to try to ease any pain that he felt, because he’s not just a prince. He’s a friend. But they can’t because someone stoped them. Someone that knew (Y/N) more than anyone in the room. She stoped anyone from even getting near him. When they asked her why, she responded

“Let him be, let him feel all the weight that he refused to feel before. Let him deal with his own demons. Let him fight his own battle to be stronger, because we can’t do anything to help him.”

“But Akeno.. he’s in pain, he’s barely breathing..”Arthur protested

Akeno only stared at him and ask him “Do you believe in him ?”

“What it has to do with this ?”

“Just answer me !”

“I do.. I believe in him”

“Then trust me when I ask you not to help him in his own battle. He’s strong, we all knew that, and we all believe in him. So now let’s keep on doing that, believe that he would be alright because I know he would…”

They did as Akeno said, they let (Y/N) to cry his heart out. Each and every sobs trigger their own tears. Only they cried silently, never they imagined that someone as strong as (Y/N) would break down this way. He was the strongest men Arthur ever fought with, the kindest men Hilda ever met, a good friend that Aria and Pegasus could ever ask for, a brother that Akeno never have. For a good ten minutes, they cry silently along with their prince. Until they see his shoulder is not shaking anymore, no whimpering, and heart wrenching sobs coming out of him. He looked up and meet their eyes. Puffy, blodshot, and wet from his tears. They expect to see his (E/C) staring back at them, but they met with bright purple irises instead. They knew it anywhere, your power is in work. They knew right away that he saw something, he’s now seeing something. It was only five seconds, the longest five seconds they ever have in their life. His eyes back to his (E/C) one, filled with nothing but fear.

“They will do it, Akeno they will do it…..”

“Do what (Y/N) ?”

Before he could answer, Aria and Pegasus came through the door rushing in.

“Hurry, we need to stop them…!” Aria said rushing

“Stop them from what ?” Hilda asked

And then (Y/N) and Aria answer at the same time “Going to the earth”

Tags : @thegreatficmaster @supernaturalimagine @supernaturaldaily @waywardwinterfics @buckyywiththegoodhair @angryschnauzer @mrgrant9559-blog @kaylzjordan @rawritsmeh @supernaturalfanfiction-com @after-avenging-hours @winchesterenthusiast @themerlintrashcan @wayward-warriors @themorningtrashcan @izzywinchester @avasparks @eve05glee @izzywinchester

#dean winchester x male reader #dean winchester x male! reader #dean winchester x reader #dean x male reader #dean x male! reader #dean x reader #dean winchester fanfiction #dean fanfiction #dean winchester fanfic #dean fanfic #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fanfic #male reader #supernatural x male reader #trace the series

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changachino-blog · 4 years ago

Text

28 february 2018

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45392/ulysses

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45364/the-lotos-eaters

Ulysses and the Lotus Eaters: A Dichotomy Between Life and Living

In two poems, Lord Alfred Tennyson depicts two outlooks of life: the Romanticist view in “The Song of the Lotus Eaters”, and the Victorian ideals in “Ulysses”. More specifically, their views regarding a pause, a lull, in living are in stark contrast with each other. Using imagery, repetition, and simile, Tennyson proves the virtue of the Victorian ideals of his era using both perspectives.

The Lotus eaters and Ulysses are both set in stagnance. The island upon which the Lotus Eaters lay is representative of their sloth, even the air that they breathe is “languid...swoon[ing]”, in a state of perpetual afternoon. This builds on the image of stagnance, with the afternoon representing the transitional state of travel that the Lotus Eaters were mired in; between sun and moon, Troy and home. Afternoon on a tropic island brings to mind stifling heat, adding on to the day’s sun and toil that would wear on these mariners. However, the mariners rejoiced upon this piece of sand, “they sang, ‘Our island home is far beyond the wave...”, celebrating their freedom from weary travel. Using a repeating rhyme scheme at the end of the first choric verse, with the words “deep, creep, weep, and sleep”, he pulls the reader into some sort of a loop, resembling the loop, the trance, the travelers are bound in.

On the contrary, Ulysses has been filled with a dread for his life, as an “idle king, / By this still hearth, among these barren crags…”. Using the words idle, still, and barren, Tennyson establishes the king’s existential malaise within the first two lines of his poem. Ulysses’ life no longer has much of a purpose, after peaking many years before, “Far on the ringing plains of Troy”. This begs the question of whether life is worth living after a definitive peak. Ulysses answers with a resounding YES, exclaiming “How dull it is.../ to rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!”. Stagnancy is death to Ulysses, a dishonorable degradation, a sword not dulled by use, but by its scabbard, betrayed by the respite of his home.

The Lotus Eaters expose the flawed nature of the Romantics, the dreamers and consumers too occupied by the “watch[ing] (of) the crisping ripples on the beach” to advance, to trailblaze, and return home in a wash of glory. They try to rationalize their sloth, preemptively alienating themselves to their homes, wives, children and slaves, figuring that “...all hath suffer’d change..”, but that is a lazy alternative to the truth Tennyson presents through Ulysses. Ulysses has a fervor for life, a chance at another adventure and expanding the self. Tennyson shows us the difference between merely living and having a life, and while the Lotus Eaters indulge themselves in material comforts and absorbing the nature around them, Ulysses delights in burning a legacy in the annals of history, in spite of all of he has already accomplished. Tennyson urges us to expand our horizons, both internally and externally, to fight for another peak in life.

***

11 June 2020

Two years later, this essay is helping fend off the evils that come with stagnancy. As long as one is breathing, one has potential, and it’s a waste of energy and life to live a day in which you don’t try to get better at something.

A paraphrased quote from my AP English Literature teacher at the time, Ryan Miller:

“If you’re on your phone, you’re basically asleep.”

This really redefined the way I view the information age, because it really is a perfect analogy for my experience with content aggregators and sleep. Dreams flit through my mind in little flashes, and only some truly carry any feeling that carries through to the morning, and therefore any memories I have of those dreams are unreliable. In a very similar way, content aggregators (in my case, mainly reddit) flood my eyes with a veritable onslaught of information. Most of the time, I don’t remember what I don’t save to my account or device.

What even is the worth of information without any ability to recollect it?

I typically want to use reddit to distract myself and find fun content that I can share with my friends, but in many cases it seems to become a timesink that gives me loads of impressions, and headlines, and little easily consumable nuggets of information, like well-made gifs, or innovative infographics, which are all tailored to my tastes. It’s a buffet of knowledge, but the problem is simple: you can’t eat like you’re at a buffet for your whole life.

Just like food, information needs proper digestion, reflection, to truly permeate into your memory and become a part of yourself that you can rely on for the rest of your life. In every minute of everyday, we have the opportunity to learn about what is happening to people all around the world, all around our nation, and all around our community. Social media is designed to be addictive, and it works, because it is a very human tendency to want to learn more about the world and connect to more people.

Our brains are not designed to operate on this level of social involvement.

Let’s talk about dunbar’s number.

“According to the theory, the tightest circle has just five people – loved ones. That’s followed by successive layers of 15 (good friends), 50 (friends), 150 (meaningful contacts), 500 (acquaintances) and 1500 (people you can recognise). People migrate in and out of these layers, but the idea is that space has to be carved out for any new entrants.” -linked article

The idea of a hard limit to mental capacity is not novel, and it explains a lot of how the information age has adversely affected the mental health of millions of people. Being a “good citizen” in the age of the internet entails many tiers of communication and information processing as a result of globalization and the current ease of communication:

At the most personal tier would be your loved ones, your immediate family, your closest friends. With distance, the pressure to stay connected is kind of immense, given that it’s so easy to do so, but when life gets busy, people get overwhelmed and need time to charge. Our connectivity adds an unnecessary level of guilt in mild cases of estrangement. As a contrast, my mother’s relationships with her closest friends are built over years, and they personally check in month to month.

The importance of this tier is on par with that of the next, but I think that there is a lot of tacit pressure to catch up with older family members and record their wisdom. The whole point of family and reproduction is to make each generation better, but if this knowledge isn’t captured, it slips away with each death.

The next most personal tier would be your involvement in your community, whether it’s through your protests, sports, college friends/clubs, local charities, or churches. These are your tribes, and as social creatures, we tend to become a blend of whoever we surround ourselves with. The information age already pressures us to be as connected as possible, and I find myself straining to maintain involved in my current communities as I try my best to stay connected with my loved ones.

As I mature more, I’m becoming more aware of my responsibility to get involved with community legislation, and local government. I guess this would fall between community involvement and legislative participation.

As we start to zoom out, the next tier would be our involvement in state legislature, voting on bills and representatives in our counties and states. This is where my citizenship fails, I consider myself a patriot but I haven’t prioritized my right to a vote as a citizen in a democratic republic.

Performing as a national citizen in the United States is also fraught with disappointment and disillusionment in your voice, and bipartisanship has led to rampant tribalism and polarization. Conversations about the administration, especially across people of opposite parties, are rarely nuanced and productive. Mass media on both sides tends to twist words and fails to truly inform. Fear-mongering has always made more money, and gets more awareness, so spreading a more negative depiction of the world is how many media outlets have found their success.

Learning more about international human rights issues, climate justice, and staying informed about our world and affairs is another burden on the mind

I find humor in the irony of privileged internet users reading about unprivileged people’s plights and hurting in sympathy for them, to no net good in the world. The adage that ignorance is bliss is based in reality

We get more and more jaded as we learn about how the world really doesn’t make sense, and as we learn more about how bad humans can be and have been to each other.

Six tiers of investing yourself, your mental faculties, your resources, and your time fall beyond your actual person.

So much of our presence and identity is invested outside of us, that it’s easy to be overwhelmed and forget to love and nurture ourselves. Every piece of trash information that we have to process stands as an obstacle in our path to a better self. Striking the balance between awareness of the world and mental health has been such a complicated task that we all have to juggle. While a quarantine during the information has posed serious implications for mental health, I’m jazzed about the ramifications of this quarantine.

For many people whose lives have been uprooted and tossed around by this pandemic, this is a time of introspection, discovery, and a re-evaluation of what we want to live for. The potential for the my generation is staggering.

As a contrast, I truly felt like I was mired in a time of stagnancy during my depressive spells for the past few months. I felt like I was wasting my valuable time as a young adult, and the added guilt became a positive feedback loop that glued me to my bed for far too long. Writing out and processing my thoughts about what has led to these depressive spells gives me more answers and insights, and I’m excited that this is the first of many essays that seek to alleviate my headspace and free my mind for greater pursuits.

To link my two essays together, here is the main theme I would like to impart to whoever wants to carve their own hope for their future:

A quote from Tennyson’s poem Ulysses:

“How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!”

It’s far too easy for me to grow comfortable in a non-growth-centered way of life, and it’s up to me to leverage the privilege that I have: a loving, financially secure family that feeds me. I must take ownership of my life and make the most of what has been given to me. I owe it to my parents, the universe, and the people I love to lead a life of growth.

“Stagnancy is death to Ulysses, a dishonorable degradation: a sword not dulled by use, but by its scabbard, betrayed by the respite of his home.”

#alfred lord tennyson #ulysses #the lotos eaters #ap lit #information age

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fatesinthenight · 7 years ago

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Dark's Heart (part 2)

The next day it was all over the internet, the picture of you booping Dark's nose. People had taken a video of you when you talked to Dark and posted it that day. A lot of people commented that you provoked him and some said you must be really brave enough to talk to Dark like that. Google goes through the comments in the video and the ones for the photo of you booping the nose. "This is really trending right now from the community." Google looks at the three screens looking through the comments. His brothers are also looking it up on other social media outlets. Dark is standing in the room with them, hands behind his back watching them work.

"This is humiliating." Dark does not look pleased as he notices Yellow found so many gifs of the boop on Tumblr. He woke up to the sound of Willford laughing so loudly and he bursts into Dark's room to show him the photo. From there Dark called the Googles and made them search it immediately. "What do the comments say?"

"Some find it funny, then we have others who find it rude for some reason, the ones who say "who do they think they are", and those praising their bravery." Green saids. Red snickers, "I like their style." That gave him a dirty look from Dark. "I don't like that some of the people are being rude. I don't think they did anything wrong.", Yellow saids looking at some hate comments. Dark looks over Yellows shoulder and reads some. Some were pretty rude and some were just childish jabs.

"They should have thought of that before doing anything." Dark saids. He looks at the picture of you with him. He is still curious about you then shakes it off thinking why would he want to know about you. "Look someone found out who they are." Green saids. Google pulls it out to a bigger screen, sure enough there you are in a photo. "Some of these fans are relentless... kind of scary..." Google saids. Dark looks at your Facebook profile, "So (Y/N) is it. Hmmmm"

"Should we do something about this?" Google looks up at Dark. Dark is usually in charge making some calls when it comes to things like this. The Googles go through online for anything going wrong in the community. They cant stop hate comments since more would come but they do make an effort to stop some bullying to the fans. In this case it was people wanting to know who you were after the event, the really intense ones. Dark was more concerned over his image rather than you but he does for some reason think of how you feel about this. "I suggest just to keep people from looking into (Y/N) for now. Mark would not want them to feel targeted, like I care they did this to themselves." , Dark said. The Googles get to work on it and within a minute they are able to hack the internet together to get your page protected. "There crises averted. And while you are at it delete what happened that day." Dark commands. Google looks up at Dark from his seat, " Dark that would take at least five hours to do even with all of us working on it..." Dark just gives him a look and Google turns around and starts deleting.

Dark leaves the computer room where all the Googles work at and heads to the kitchen. He gets some water and Willford comes up from behind him. "Well well who knew there was someone out there who wasn't going to take your shit. Besides me of course." Dark drinks his water and looks at Will, "They were foolish to do so. It got them targeted by some fans." Willford shrugs, "You know sometimes there are those too intense fans. I mean some of them still say mean things about Amy." Dark thinks about the situation. He thinks about what you said to him. He thinks abut how you just smiled at him even when he was threatening you. Dark didn't know what to think of you, a fooling person or someone who was trying to get to him. Did you know that someone was most likely going to film them and take pictures? Were you looking at the aftermath and what were you thinking about it? Dark thought of this curiously then just took his cup and started to go to his office. "Well anyone who doesn't give care what you say is good in my book!!!" ,Willord yells at you laughing.

Dark goes to his office. He makes Google allow him access to your Facebook page. He looks through it, he sees pictures of you with some friends, some with family. He sees you being goofy and make silly posts about things you are doing. The things you like and dislike, your favorite things like color, season, shows, movies, books, and music. He sees you posted a new photo of you in your new Dark shirt smiling. the post read you had a good time and that Dark wasn't as bad as people say he is. Dark sees comments instantly piling up, some were asking if you were crazy and others nice boop. Dark chuckles when you post a comment ignoring the mean comments and answering to the friendly ones. "You are an interesting one. Taking the high road aren't we?"

You are at home looking at your laptop. You see some hate comments but scroll past them. Although you were puzzled when some of the people sending some bad messages on other sites you have an account are being deleted suddenly without you doing anything. You already read a few and some were pretty nasty like you only wanted attention or you were just trying to act badass when you were not. It didn't matter to you but the constant mean comments did annoy you, you were just trying to have fun. Then you laugh at how Dark just looked up at you surprised. He has probably never heard that from anyone before by the look of it or someone didn't have the guts to tell him to his face. "First time for everything." You say to yourself. You get up and decide to head out for a walk.

You walk to a park and sit on a bench looking around. You see some families playing around, joggers pass by, couples laying on the grass or under a tree, and some children in a playground far off. It is a nice evening out and you take in the fresh air. A breeze comes in and you love the coolness of it taking a deep breath. Then you hear a group of footsteps behind you coming closer, "Hey your that one from the event." A girl looks at you annoyed. You turn around in your seat to see two girls and three guys giving you a judging look.

"Ummm can I help you?" You tilt your head at them.

Girl one flips her hair and looks at you mad. "Are you serious? You totally made us look bad."

You are confused raising an eyebrow, "I don't understand." Guy two answers, "You showed we were being a bunch of babies because we didn't go up to Dark."

"Yea whats up with that? You think your cool or something?" Guy one said.

You notice girl two has her phone out, "Are really recording this?" Girl two huffs, "Its live so people can see your actually a dork and all talk."

You stand up, "Umm look guys I didn't mean it to look like that. I was wanted to meet the guy, I was looking forward to the event just like anyone else. So can we just get past it? I got to go now." You start to leave but then girl one takes your arm.

"What's the hurry? We just want to talk or are you too good for that now your some internet star." Girl one saids. You look at the others around you who look like they are trying to block your way. "How unfair are you? Outnumbering me one to five? Come one guys." You say casually, but inside you think I am so screwed.

"Whatever you started it by-" Guy three gets cut off. The area feels cold suddenly like something ominous is in the air. You feel it and look around and notice that the others look nervous. They start to shiver and feel uneasy looking around like something was going to pop up behind them. The group hears a voice whisper in their ear, "Leave." They all get chills down their spines and run off. You stand there confused not hearing the voice. You still feel a dread in the air. It does not consume you like it did the others that ran but you wonder why you feel this way.

"How are you still here?" You turn around to find Dark standing behind you his hands behind him. "Usually my presence makes people uncomfortable yet here you still stand." He gets up close to you looking you in the eye. "What are you?"

You look back at him and smile. "I'm different that's all."

"So it seems." Dark looks at where the others ran. " You have become quite popular it seems." You follow his gaze and sigh, "Yea I guess so. It sucks to be honest. I didn't know just being me was going to end up like this."

Dark raises an eyebrow at you, "So it wasn't for the attention. What was your purpose then?" You look at him studying him for a moment. "Nothing. Just wanted to let you know I like your character. That's all." You then realize something, "How the heck did you get here?"

Dark shakes his head. "For someone who is suppose to be a fan of mine you don't know what I can do." You just shrug, "Am I suppose to know everything?" Dark rolls his eyes. "I can go where ever I please through a dark portal as long as I picture where I want to go." You look at him eyes big, "Really that is so cool. That must make traveling so much more easier for you. Wait if you can do that then how do you know I was here?"

Dark takes out his phone. "The Googles were keeping an eye on how your little stunt was progressing in the community. They saw that someone had found you and was filming you via live trying to possibly hurt you. So here I am." You laugh, "Wow the Googles can do that? Nice.." Then you think of why did Dark show up. "Not that I am not grateful for you saving the day and all, I thought it would have been Silver instead, but why did you come here?"

"I came because my stupid creator would throw a fit knowing a fan was being harassed and I rather not deal with that, its annoying. Besides..." Dark leans into you his face inches from yours making an evil smile. "If anyone is going to make you miserable its going to be me... You owe me and now I am going to collect my payment."

#darkiplier #willford warfstache #googleplier #red google #yellow google #green google #markiplier #marks egos #fanfic #story

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bthenoise · 5 years ago

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Here’s The Best of 2019 As Picked By Members Of The Used, Periphery, Counterparts, Killswitch Engage, Grayscale & More

Well everyone, we did it. Somehow someway we all survived yet another 365 gloriously trying days on this place we call earth. In about two more weeks, we will officially begin a brand new decade with hopes of starting something beautiful and life-changing for the human race. Until then, we’d like to take a second to look back on some of the finer things that came out of 2019 – you know, like the best album, best song, best movie, etc.

Like we’ve done in years past, we’ve completely turned our year-end best-of list over to the artists we cover on a daily basis because let’s face it, their opinions are the ones we all really care about, right?

Right.

To check out what bands like The Used, Counterparts, Periphery, Killswitch Engage, Fit For A King, Grayscale, Atreyu, Wage War, Boston Manor and more have all been obsessing over for the past year or so, be sure to see below. We hope you enjoy this final list as much as we do and wish you all the most peaceful and positive holiday season ever.

Enjoy!

Jeph Howard and Dan Whitesides - The Used

JEPH HOWARD

Best Album of 2019: Sampa the Great - The Return And Knocked Loose - A Different Shade Of Blue

Best Song of 2019: “Blow Me” - from The Used and yes I’m biased.

Best Music Video of 2019: Wendall - “The Power of Wings”

Most Underrated Album of 2019: Sampa the Great - The Return. Her vibe reminds me of my favorite era of hip hop.

Best Movie of 2019: Dr. Sleep, great book too. Must have been tough rewriting the story just enough to mix both the book The Shining and the film adaptation Kubrick made and then making a movie based on both origins.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: The OA season 3. So unfair that never happened.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Epstein was an inside job and also the cat playing the cell phone ring tone 😂

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: HodgePodge Superfest 2019 Indonesia, mostly because I got to hang with a couple family friends I haven’t seen in years.

2020 New Year's Resolution: For 2020 I want to worry less about things I have no control over.

DAN WHITESIDES

Best Album: The Knocked Loose album A Different Shade Of Blue is great and so fuckin heavy! On the other side of things, the Billie Eilish album is really good front to back. Saw her live in Salt Lake and it was pretty sick.

Best Song: Honestly, it’s “Blow Me” by my band The Used. I’m not just saying that because it’s my band. It’s a great fucking song and it has all of my favorite elements in it.

Best Music Video: Blink 182’s “Darkside.” Love the stick tricks and the dancing kids.

Most Underrated Album: All the albums I liked in 2019, I rated them pretty high.

Best Movie: Dumb and Dumber has been the best movie every year since it came out. All the kids movies that came out in 2019 were good. I see them all. I didn’t really like The Addams Family though.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Atypical and Fuller House and I’m not fucking with you. I laugh out loud at Fernando every time!

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): When the deaf baby hears for the first time. I almost cried but I couldn’t because I’m a man and men don’t cry. Just playin! I did tear up a weeee bit.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Saw Rob Zombie and damn he puts on a great show. Back To The Beach was my favorite show I played in 2019. We did a cover of Linkin Park’s “Shadow Of The Day” at that show and it started raining. People were crying. It was nuts!

2020 New Year's Resolution: I don’t really do resolutions but I wish people could just get along despite their beliefs. Life is too short.

Misha Mansoor - Periphery

Best Album of 2019: Mordial by Carbomb Best Song of 2019: “F it Up” by Louis Cole Best Music Video of 2019: “Genesis” by Devin Townsend Most Underrated Album of 2019: Forever, A Fast Life by Infinity Shred Best Movie of 2019: Jojo Rabbit Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Barry Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Gamer Girl Bath Water Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Attended - Deadmau5 Cube V3. Played - Sold Out London headliner at O2 Kentish Town 2020 New Year's Resolution: Drive more cars

Brendan Murphy - Counterparts

Best Album of 2019: Better Off - Reap What You Sow. Luke is probably the best songwriter I know personally. The album is an absolute fucking hit. I literally begged him to send me the masters before the album came out and I’ve listened to it non-stop since. Was hard to keep that album a secret.

Best Song of 2019: Gotta go with what my Spotify wrapped tells me and aside from the 1975’s discography, my most listened to song of 2019 was “Slingshot” by Better Off. The song is amazing, the lyrics rock, chorus is fucking huge. Like I said, Luke can’t write a bad song.

Best Music Video of 2019: I’ll be honest, it’s rare for me to watch any music video that doesn’t have the 1975 in it so I’m gonna go ahead and pick their video for “Frail State of Mind” because... I mean look at him, he’s so cool. If we could get away with making videos like that I might actually not dread shooting them haha.

Most Underrated Album of 2019: BETTER OFF, YET AGAIN. ARE YOU SURPRISED? I don’t understand how they aren’t the biggest band on earth.

Best Movie of 2019: Midsommar. I’m a total A24/Ari Aster fanboy and I love movies about freaky cults and this movie ticks all the boxes. It’s not as much of a “deep dive” as Hereditary, very surface level, but I mean it’s creepy and it’s shot beautifully and there’s flowers everywhere and in case you forgot I sing for Counterparts so it’s right up my fuckin alley haha.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Barry without question. Blake made me watch an episode when we were recording NLTL and I binged watched the show so hard I’d be up all night watching when I was supposed to be writing lyrics. Last time I was physically unable to stop watching a show was Lost, so that should say something.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): My own twitter hun xox 😘

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: I mean it’s hard to remember our shows because not only are they all fun, I’ve usually had a few chardonnays by the time we go on stage BUT one that stands out is the last day of Private Room 2.0 in Worcester... simply because for all of “Love Me” I didn’t have to say a fucking word, the crowd did the whole damn thing. I think there’s a video where I get so stoked I start screaming “YOU’RE GOD DAMN RIGHT” and jumping. It’s fun and honestly, it’s 10 fucking words don’t make me do it by myself.

2020 New Year's Resolution: Stop accidentally calling my teacher “mom.”

Mike D'Antonio - Killswitch Engage

Best Album of 2019: He Is Legend - White Bat Best Song of 2019: He Is Legend - “Resister Resist Her” Best Music Video of 2019: Death Ray Vision “Just Let It Die” Most Underrated Album of 2019: He Is Legend - White Bat Best Movie of 2019: Joker Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: The Mandalorian Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Yoda/Toyota meme Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Field Day played in Connecticut a few months back. 2020 New Year's Resolution: Refuse the new world order

Porter McKnight - Atreyu

Best Album of 2019: Angel Du$t - Pretty Buff Best Song of 2019: “The Dead Don’t Die” - Sturgill Simpson Best Music Video of 2019: Rammstein - “Deutschland” Most Underrated Album of 2019: The Act - The Devil Wears Prada Best Movie of 2019: Midsommar Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Watchmen Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Paul Rudd “Look at us” on Hot Ones Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Attended - Nothing More - New Orleans March 2019 Played - Mr’s Smalls Theatre - Millvale, PA 2020 New Year's Resolution: Establish a consistent physical art practice

Ryan Kirby - Fit For A King

Best Album of 2019: Just for the purpose of nostalgia, I am going to go with Shaped by Fire by As I Lay Dying. It doesn't re-invent the wheel but it's just some good ole metalcore that brings me back.

Best Song of 2019: I absolutely cannot stop listening to "Masochist" by Polaris. This band is going to be huge!

Best Music Video of 2019: I feel like I have to say our own video for "When Everything Means Nothing" is the best strictly because we all almost died of hypothermia while getting sprayed by a fire hose.

Most Underrated Album of 2019: I think The Valley by Whitechapel doesn't get talked about near as much as it should. Phil's cleans are fantastic and they keep bringing the heavy.

Best Movie of 2019: I feel like this will be a lot of people's favorite movie but The Joker was an absolute masterpiece.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: This one is EASILY The Boys. It might be the most well-done superhero show OR movie ever made. Once you watch the first episode, you are sucked in.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): This one is really tough because at this point, I don't even know which meme is from what year. I guess I'll go with Baby Yoda since I know that’s 2019 but with a disclaimer: There are a lot of NOT funny Baby Yoda memes out there.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: The show in Cologne, Germany with As I Lay Dying was the biggest club show we had ever played, and at the same time, probably one of the best live performances I've ever seen. Amazing night.

2020 New Year's Resolution: I want to be able to run a half marathon with my dad. It’s pretty simple but he is out here running full marathons all the time and is double my age. I feel like I need to step it up.

Valentino Arteaga - Of Mice & Men

Best Album of 2019: Gideon - Out Of Control Best Song of 2019: Kublai Khan TX - “Self Destruct” Best Music Video of 2019: Ghostemane - “Bonesaw” Most Underrated Album of 2019: Ithaca - The Language of Injury Best Movie of 2019: Yesterday Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Cold Case Files Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Spotify Wrapped 2019 Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Wacken Open Air Festival 2020 New Year's Resolution: Eat less meat & make more music

Matty Mullins - Memphis May Fire

Best Album of 2019: Dermot Kennedy - Without Fear Best Song of 2019: Papa Roach - “Feel Like Home” Best Music Video of 2019: Asking Alexandria - “The Violence” Most Underrated Album of 2019: He Is Legend - White Bat Best Movie of 2019: Yesterday Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: This Is Us Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): @catatonicyouths IG Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Warped Tour in Atlantic City was LEGENDARY! 2020 New Year's Resolution: Write the best MMF record of our career

Nick Ventimiglia - Grayscale

Best Album of 2019: tryhard by The Band Camino and Fear Inoculum by Tool Best Song of 2019: "No Age" by Rich People Best Music Video of 2019: "Mantra" by Bring Me the Horizon was pretty wild Most Underrated Album of 2019: Third Eye Blind - Screamer Best Movie of 2019: Big fans of Us and The Irishman Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Peaky Blinders and Mindhunter Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Big fan of the Kawhi Leonard “Hey, hey, hey” memes. Really anything but that lady yelling at that fucking cat. Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Our headliner in Philly this past October at The TLA. 2020 New Year's Resolution: Rock harder than we did in 2019.

Cody Quistad - Wage War

Best Album of 2019: tryhard by The Band Camino Best Song of 2019: “See Through” by The Band Camino Best Music Video of 2019: “Resentment” by A Day To Remember Most Underrated Album of 2019: In Darkness by Varials Best Movie of 2019: Peanut Butter Falcon The Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: The Office, duh Favorite Internet Moment of 2019: The Epstein memes kill me Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Can’t Say I Ain’t Country Tour: Florida Georgia Line, Dan + Shay, Morgan Wallen 2020 New Year’s Resolution: Write the best songs I’ve ever written, love on more people, and be healthier

Boston Manor

Best Album of 2019: Death Is A Warm Blanket by Microwave. This record is the best guitar music to come out in years. As our contemporaries, Microwave is constantly challenging and inspiring us to make better art.

Best Song of 2019: “The Brakeman Has Resigned” by Microwave. This song could not be more relevant to us, both instrumentally and lyrically. It’s just fuckin’ perfect.

Best Music Video of 2019: “DIAWB” by Microwave. You get the point.

Most Underrated Album of 2019: Foreign Language EP by Can’t Swim. Always love to see friends changing up their riff game.

Best Movie of 2019: The Irishmen. I’ve watched it like three times in the van now and can’t choose which Tony is my favourite.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Rick and Morty. You son of a bitch, I’m in.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Eric Egan from Heart Attack Man.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Best concert we played would have to be Download Madrid. Right off the heels of ADTR in America, the airline lost our gear so we had to cobble together a backline and ended up playing after Tool to an insane amount of people.

2020 New Year's Resolution: Continue our world domination.

Mike Foley - Varials

Best Album of 2019: Feels Like You by Whirr Best Song of 2019: "Nothing Left To Love" by Counterparts Best Music Video of 2019: Tie between "Lips Like Lemonade" by Nick Prosper & "Mistakes Like Fractures" by Knocked Loose. Most Underrated Album of 2019: Deceiver by Diiv Best Movie of 2019: Joker Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: I Think You Should Leave Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Kombucha girl Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: The best show I attended was definitely the Balance & Composure farewell show in NYC. RIP. Best played was definitely the Atlantic City Warped Tour date. Also RIP. 2020 New Year's Resolution: Tour more internationally / spend as much time traveling as possible. Really hoping we make it to 3 different continents this year.

Kory Gregory - Prince Daddy & The Hyena

Best Album of 2019: Remembering The Rockets - Strange Ranger Best Song of 2019: “Mono No Aware” - Great Grandpa Best Music Video of 2019: “Must Be Wrong” - White Reaper Most Underrated Album of 2019: Super Enthusiast - Macseal Best Movie of 2019: Parasite Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Been really enjoying Mandalorian Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Baby Yoda forever and always. No questions asked. Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Our record release show in NYC was really special! That’s my favorite one I played. As far as the ones I attended, this Culture Abuse/Tony Molina show I went to in Boston was pretty legendary. 2020 New Year's Resolution: I just wanna keep writing songs that are better than the last!

Yvette Young - Covet

Best Album of 2019: The Japanese House - Good At Falling Best Song of 2019: “Shrugging Match” - Bobbing Best Music Video of 2019: Don Broco - “Action” Most Underrated Album of 2019: Town Portal - Of Violence Best Movie of 2019: Midsommar Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: I Think You Should Leave Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Discovering bandmemes666, Chibson, catatonicyouths and allgasnobrakes on IG Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Orlando summer headliner show at The Soundbar 2020 New Year's Resolution: Make a dope full-length album

Carter Hardin - Chapel

Best Album of 2019: Album of the year for me is KIN by Electric Guest. Every song is a bop and the production is so clean.

Best Song of 2019: I would have to say “Friends” by CHAPEL. The band is pretty cool and the song is a slapper.

Best Music Video of 2019: “Panini” by Lil Nas X is mine. It’s the most memorable one I’ve seen this year.

Most Underrated Album of 2019: Pep Talks - Judah & The Lion. Not enough people are talking about that record.

Best Movie of 2019: MARRIAGE STORY. This movie broke me & I can’t stop thinking about it.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Fleabag is amazing. you need to watch it.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Baby Yoda memes are the best memes in the world.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: I saw Cherub recently and they always put on the best show. This recent one was super inspiring.

2020 New Year's Resolution: Release more music

Alex Biro - Selfish Things

Best Album: The Act by The Devil Wears Prada. Genre-defying and innovative, this was one of my favourite albums of the last decade. I’ve been a TDWP fan since Zombie EP but the growth they’ve shown on their latest release while still staying true to their roots was sonically refreshing.

Best Song: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X. This speaks for itself. I’ve never been one to shy away from popular music, but it’s Lil Nas X’s “love everyone but fuck everyone” attitude that kind of impresses me most? He’s punk as hell. He breaks stereotypes. He pissed off 90% of the country music industry. I hope he continues to succeed.

Best Music Video: “bury a friend” by Billie Eilish. I mean, it’s been Billie’s year. We all know that. But the whole “monster under your bed” motif coupled with her wanting to not shy away from the dark side of things in a genre filled to the brim with bubblegum songs and visuals speaks to her innovation as a creative and an artist.

Most Underrated Album of 2019: Everyone I’ve Ever Loved by Valleyheart. This came out a week and a half before 2019 but I’m including it here. “Agnosia” is one of the best songs I’ve heard in years. This band is fucking amazing. Don’t sleep on them. They deserve better than they’ve been given.

Best Movie of 2019: Peanut Butter Falcon. Shia LaBeouf is a true artist, and he’s at the peak of his game here. If you’re a fan of Garden State, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Rocket Science or any other emotionally devastating indie films, this is a movie for you.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: The Simpsons. God bless you Disney+. I can’t even put into words how nice it is to watch all of my old favourites with my daughter. Treehouse of Horror forever.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Colton jumping the fence during The Bachelor. We admittedly got snowed in during the “snow cyclone” in Wyoming and binged this whole season. I’ve never been more disappointed. Still impressed by his agility, though.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Atlanta, GA w/ Microwave, Boston Manor and Heart Attack Man. We’ve never had that many kids over the barricade. It was one of those “wow, maybe our band isn’t totally shit” moments. We all got off stage and knew it was one to remember. I’ll never forget it.

2020 New Year's Resolution: Learn to be happy with who I am without letting the toxicity of social media cloud my self-perception.

Ryan Donovan - Red City Radio

Best Album of 2019: Mannequin Pussy - Patience. "Who You Are" & "Drunk II" are some standout tracks on that record for me! It's just filled with melodic anthems that have killer soft harmonies and is kind of a technically ambitious record compared to their older stuff, which I also love!

Best Song of 2019: The Menzingers - "America (You're Freaking Me Out)." They fucking NAILED it with this track and our current climate in the US, socially/politically/economically etc. They seamlessly always write some killer tunes!

Best Music Video of 2019: PUP - "Free At Last." No one had heard the song yet. They posted the lyrics and chord chart to the song and took all submissions of everyone's interpretation of the song and edited that down. You just gotta watch it for yourself, IT FUCKING RULES. Most Underrated Album of 2019: Decent Criminal - BLISS. I love this band and their tunes/sound. Small indy label release and I hope they take some more strides forward and keep growing. They rip.

Best Movie of 2019: Favorite movie I have personally seen so far this year is Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. I heard it was a lot of either "love it" or "hated it" kind of reviews but I personally thought it was a killer film.

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Ah man, with so much time on the road touring this year for RCR binge-watching older shows was a lot of my downtime when I got back home so here are some favs: Admittedly I had never seen Breaking Bad, that has now been binged and completed. Game Of Thrones (hadn't seen it until this Summer, I know, I know whatever). Animal Kingdom, Succession, Punisher, Jessica Jones and I Think You Should Leave.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): I LOVE THIS MEME and I do love pizza.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: Probably the last show of our short tour with Hot Water Music over in Cologne, Germany. It was the largest capacity venue show we have ever played as a band - that wasn't a festival - at 4k humans, sold out! It was also extra special because Rockpalast had a 10+ human camera crew on hand and filmed the whole thing with live edits as it was streamed for anyone to tune in and watch. The edits and camera/audio/streaming quality was A+!!!

2020 New Year's Resolution: Better self-care.

Brett Boland - Astronoid

Best Album of 2019: HEALTH - VOL. 4 :: SLAVES OF FEAR Best Song of 2019: Dinosaur Pile-Up - Thrash Metal Cassette Best Music Video of 2019: Billie Eilish - “bury a friend” Most Underrated Album of 2019: Nightmare Scenario - Beyond What is Real Best Movie of 2019: Midsommar Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Succession Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Sonic The Hedgehog Movie debacle. Best Concert You Attended: Final Slayer show in MA Best Concert You Played in 2019: Exit 111 2020 New Year's Resolution: PUT OUT MORE MUSIC

Conversation

Best Album of 2019: Copeland - Blushing. I’ve been a huge fan of this band for years and years and years; to say that they shaped my songwriting is an understatement. I was lucky enough to catch Copeland for the first time on this tour and it was a truly tectonic moment for me. Blushing was a perfect step for this band in terms of tone, emotional maturity and instrumental creativity. I was just so happy to hear every single song.

Best Song of 2019: “Make It Better” by Anderson Paak. This track just puts you in a good mood!!

Best Music Video of 2019: Our music video for “You’ve Made Yourself Perfectly Clear” where we accurately and tastefully re-created the opening scene of Wayne’s World to perfection. I know it seems like a bit of a brag to say you had the best video of the year, but truth be told, nothing else even came close.

Best Movie of 2019: Joker - I’m sure this will be a pretty common response but IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!

Most Binge-Worthy Show of 2019: Letterkenny - A hilarious show about small-town Canada. If you don’t know, now you know.

Favorite Internet Moment of 2019 (Viral Video, GIF, Meme, etc.): Jonathan Frakes Asking Questions.

Best Concert You Attended/Played in 2019: A close tie between Arkells at Scotiabank Arena and Barr Brothers at Mod Club

2020 New Year's Resolution: To tour all of the USA and Europe for our new record. We are all so excited for the new music that we’re about to put out into the world and our undying dream is to show our live show to the entire world. SO THAT’S WHAT WE’RE DOING!!!

0 notes

wackygoofball · 7 years ago

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Hiya! You're such a positive person in the JB fandom and I'm kinda disillusioned right now after this week's episode... I think I was caught up in Nik and Gwen's interviews and the hype and started to believe JB is happening this season but maybe not? I haven't kept up with the leaks but I'm starting to think that Nik and Gwen knew the JB fandom was bound to be disappointed and were trying to give us something to smile about... :/ how are you feeling about the whole thing??

Hi there, anon!

To start out with your last question first – I thinkyou are implying two things with your question, right? On the one hand, what Ithink of the Gwen/Nik interviews in connection to the episode and an overallassessment of L’Episode du Blegh. Ihope I got that correctly.

So, to turn to the first part of the question that Inow interpret to be a part of it… I tend to read too much into things, so youhave to excuse me in that regard, LOL. Anyway, do I think that Gwen and Nikhave been riding the JB Hype Train only just to please us JB shippers?

Nope.

Why?

For a number of reasons.

First of all, as much influential as the JB Media™ maybe (we control the internet, guys!), we do not wield that much power that our mostprecious, dorky Dane, who is still finding out how social media work, and ourmagical unicorn of wonder will mean to appeal to *us* in that way. So, theassumption that they were trying to brace us for Le Blegh presumes that they’d feel a personal need to keep us JBshippers tuned, prepare us for the inevitable Le Blegh. And I don’t think that is the case.

Hand in hand goes that Gwen’s also been going on aboutthat Wildling Fellow with the Beard™ in connection to Brienne (now, whether that was herpersonal choice or something communicated to her by HBO/managers/producers/whatnot is up to debate and not the topic just now). She wouldn’t have done that ifher agenda was to somehow reassure JB shippers – or to prep them up for yetanother scene. She would have chosen another language during that point of timeto reflect on that matter, which she did not. So that, to me, already worksagainst the hypothesis that she’d have interest or feel a need to brace JBshippers for something inevitable such as a short-lived, comical relief TBscene or Le Blegh.

Another reason – Nik is an epic, good-looking(epically good-looking) troll when it comes to spoilers. He is really good atsaying a lot while saying nothing at all, so not to reveal anything spoilery. That is his kind of style, but it’s notreally his style (as far as I have seen in the retrospective of his interviewson previous seasons) that he’d push one thing as a reassurance for fans to staytuned.

Nik’s usual turn is to talk about Jaime at the pointof time where we left off the past season before the new season airs. Which isa smart thing, because it makes him less vulnerable to reveal big spoilers – heonly ever speaks of Jaime based on what is *common knowledge* and iscanonically true.

So, I just don’t believe our two precious celebs woulddo that. On the contrary, I believe that they have been as JB-friendly as theywere because a) both enjoy playing that relationship, b) Nik ships it, let’s bereal…, c) Nik is happy to talk about anythingbut his character’s incestuous relationship with his twin sister for theumpteenth time – and who can blame the man, really??? and d) judging by anotherinterview Gwen gave (when yet again asked about the Wildling Fellow who ShallNot Be Named and responded in a way that came across to me as her being ratherannoyed on her character’s behalf that it should be about Brienne’s feelingsand not that of said character not tobe named), I also think that she is rather happy to talk about her character’s*deep* relationship with another character instead of that throw-away scenethat got way more hype than likely anyone ever anticipated.

The point thus is that I just don’t feel like Gwen andNik would do that. Nik loves trolling, but that is not trolling, really. It’sjust not their style, as far as I can judge.

But anyway, the big point I didn’t yet speak of isthat there comes another assumption with this assessment – that JB shipperswill be disappointed this season, which they meant to brace us against byflooding us with some JB goodness in the interviews.

And I don’t think they will be in the longrun of theseason.

I think we are going to get JB candy, even if we hadto swallow some Blegh.

A lot of Blegh.

That is what makes most sense to me *at this point* -though, mind you, that is just my personal observation, I am no psychologist,behaviorist, or what not, I am not inside Gwendoline Christie’s or NikolajCoster-Waldau’s heads. I am just basing this on my reading of their pastinterviews in connection to the seasons that aired following their ipromos.

Anyway, moving on to the second part of the question.

… But, another thing I just want to addressbeforehand:

I guess it may have been obvious to some of myfollowers (btw: thank you for staying around, you guys. I don’t know how youput up with my random posting!), but I have been *very* absent ever since L’Episode du Blegh aired. I have beenstaying off of most social media, safe for some random posting in-between, andotherwise have stayed in the safe haven called JBO, precisely because I am a positive JB-shipper, asyou say, and I didn’t want to (and still don’t want to) engage in thenegativity I knew I was going to be met with ever since L’Episode du Blegh flicked across the screens.

By that I want to make clear that I get it, that Iunderstand the reasons, that people have valid points and criticism they wantto voice, but that I just do not wish to engage with that sort of discourse. Ihave no interest in ranting about the show either. Just like I have noparticular interest in trying to convince people of the contrary (for neitherdo I find it my duty or within my powers).

Everyone his or her own, and my own is the positivityand the hype.

Where was I? Right, L’Episode du Blegh and the Hype and how to sensibly connectthat.

So, stating the obvious: I rather would have donewithout it. I am still not yet sure just why they keep bothering both theactors and the viewers with something that long since lost its OMG moment thatis rather naturally associated with incest scenes. It’s not shocking anymore,really, so… it’s basically just yet another eye roll moment every damn time.

And that is also the first take-away for me – it wasnot shocking for me. Ever since it was clear that they’d keep Jaime in Cersei’sclutches for a good part of the next season (for whatever greater purpose theywant to see achieved), I was prepared for that to happen. So… I was notshocked, I was prepared, and thus not nearly as freaked out as I presumablywould have been if I had just walked into that situation *unprepared*.

How was I prepared, then?

Because let’s be real, sex was and is the basis oftheir relationship since ever. It’s the one thing that connects them, becauseeverything else… they are just wanting to believe to be a unity, but thefictional reality portrays it as it is – there is no connecting material beyondthe factors of their familial ties, the sex, and the illusions they built up tomake it more than it ever was (aka delusion).

I mean, what struck me ever since the new season airedare those little yet powerful clues. Rewatch the throne room scenes, and lookat how they keep Jaime out of almost every frame when you see Cersei on thethrone, where you should see her whole *gang* (Qyburn + Frankengregor) – butlook who’s so far off to the right that you don’t even see him in the fuckin’frames! Right, the Kingslayer who’s supposed to be *on her side*! Instead, weget reaction shots of his that are Fifty Shades of WTF.

(Sorry, didn’t find a fitting gif from the throne room, but this is one of the wtf faces he has for Cersei right now and I love it!)

Then, as this episode showed just as strongly: Thetwins’ ways of dealing with enemies. We’ve seen it at Riverrun/King’s Landingalready past season (Jaime ending the siege without bloodshed, Cersei… SEPTKABLOOM).

However, this made it ever the clearer, ever the more visible – Jaime*refused* Cersei’s demand/order to give Olenna a violent death (like, the wordinghe used makes clear *to me* that it’s not just a secret choice he’s made, butsomething he actively told her he would not do), gave her a painless poison anddidn’t *reconsider* even when Olenna tossed the truth bombs at him aboutJoffrey’s death (like, he could have stabbed her, then, too, to express hisanger, let it out – which is what Cersei probably would have done, let’s bereal… if chick knew how to use a sword…) in contrast to Cersei’s way of dealingwith Ellaria. I don’t mean to imply that Ellaria didn’t deserve to die – inthis universe, the one punishment was death. But Cersei makes her sufferthrough however long the torment is going to last. She doesn’t just do thiseye-for-an-eye politic or quickly disposes of *threats*, she lives out her sadism on a woman she *justifiably*feels hatred towards, but in ways that go way beyond any measure of being aproper payback. So, the narrative purpose of that was surely to highlight their difference rather than their similarities in that regard. Which is an easy but effective way to signify dissonance.

… *side note: It is forever funny that Cersei talksabout (bad) choices Ellaria made, when Cersei’s choices inevitably led to that huge parts of that mess, it’s just that she won’t recognize her own role in this beyond e.g. whatshe said to Olenna. Cersei doesn’t get how she *indirectly* always has herhands in her children’s deaths through the choices she makes, which I take tobe one of the big upshots of her prophecy – even when she tries to protect herkids, she leads to their downfall, to their ending up with golden shrouds thanks to bad decisions.

Anyway, where was I?

The point of my previous rambling is this: Yes, therewas Le Blegh, but there was a shitton of other things in that episode that should get those people hopeful whowish for Jaime to finally step away from his sister, and embrace the man he canstill become (and FINALLY shake it up with Brienne).

If you are looking for a shit ton of great analyses,please go to the JBO thread about the episode. There are great points thereraised that shed many different lights on the matter. You should check it out!

As to the scene itself, even that showed to me somebig points that speak for what Nik and Gwen have been promoting with JB,basically.

For instance, the very fact that Jaime now tried thefamily’s coping mechanisms (alcohol) prior to Le Blegh. Quite excessively for his stanards, I may add.

Or the fact that his first impetus is to put the golden handback on, because he *knows* that *normally* Cersei wants him to wear it (veryconsistent with what Nik said in previous interviews on the matter, by the way,just like Clapton when asked about Jaime’s costume piece, the golden hand).Sure, I rather would have had her put it on because it would have transmitted*more clearly* that she is not really fond of that *blemish* of his and ratherwants to see it covered up in something golden to conceal that.

But I am not writing the scripts, so who am I to say?

Yet, that does not negate that the subversion will notbe as powerful once JB shake it up. I still hold on firmly to the (up untilproven right or wrong – I hope to be proven right of course!) headcanon thatBrienne will particularly touch the stump in a loving way. I also hold on tothe headcanon that if we get a morning after scene between the two, she willhave grasped his stump. That would make for a perfect subversion of preciselythat scene.

Anyway, moving back from the fanfic mode…

Another point worth raising is that I tend to readthat scene in a certain way (as expressed in that most wonderful thread Imentioned), which is that Jaime *tries to desperately hold on to thisrelationship*. He tries to hold on to the sex. Because that is the only thinghe has left, basically.

Let’s be real.

This episode proved that he deliberately gave up onthe Rock, which he cared about more than he ever let on until now (see his lineto Olenna about this place being important to him personally wrt childhoodmemories etc.). He gave up on it for strategic purposes.

He is a high lord who is to give up on his castle tosee a certain purpose achieved.

Remember Jaime as he rode to Riverrun and talked toBronn about how he could be his Hand now? That man was rather enthusiastic fora moment or two, dared to be, now that he realized himself as Lord of Casterly Rock, and liked it.Contrast that to the man who conversed with Olenna. Jaime is a lord withoutcastle. He is nto even a bodyguard via Kingsguard anymore. He is a guy who admits to a dying woman (he has no real reason to lieto at this point of time) that it has indeed gone out of his control, that whatCersei does is beyond his control, basically.

And this man thus has… basically nothing that he cansee within his possibilities other than what he has made great sacrifices forin order to keep – that relationship.

I know, sucks,but… man, divorces are often LOOOOOONG processes: You deny, you hold on eventhough you probably should let go, you want it to work, you want it tocontinue, especially if you invested *so very much* into that relationship.It’s nothing you just walk away from, particularly if you have… nowhere else togo.

I mean, sure, that is not what is directly transmittedin that scene – I really think Jaime just wants to believe, wants to numb thatpain, so he does what he always does, he bottles up, focuses on what he has(which is twincesty blegh), and tries to make himself believe that this is allhe needs or is the best he’s ever going to get.

However, if we see this in the larger context of theepisode, I tend to read it in that way that Jaime really has nowhere to go. TheRock – gone. The rest of the realm – not really on good terms with theKingslayer. Like, what other option does Jaime see for himself? What sense ofpotential other options does he have available to him?

He has none *at this point of time* (but that willchange eventually!!!). To him, there is just one sense, and that is that thisis *it*, that this is the best he can get, will ever get, he’s conditionedhimself and let himself be conditioned to regard this as the one thing in hislife that matters, the one thing to hold on to.

So… from Jaime’s POV, holding on to that, holding onto Cersei *even though* he does not approve of most/all of her choices(question remains just what version Jaime believes in wrt Sept Kabloom – I havenot yet figured if he knows the whole truth or only knows of the version Cersei’sbeen telling to Mycroft of the Iron Bank or something entirely else…), makessense (even though we are annoyed by it). It makes sense that he is in denial.Jaime is big in denial. He is big in bottling up, putting away.

At the same time, the (despite all of its grossness)wonderful set-up of that morning after scene is Cersei’s ego-tripping all theway through. We started out with her murdergasming over Sand Snatch No. 1.which she had to put to use by shaking it up with her brother. And the next morning,sure, to Jaime, it must feel really good to believe that she is now standing upto their relationship (which he’s asked of her in previous seasons and in thebooks), but I think to Cersei… it was *way more* and *quite another* matter.For Cersei, this was total ego-trip. She feels powerful now an that makes herfeel REALLY good (yup, reference to her going about Unella and how sex with herbrother feels good and all those things… she is enjoying herself in hermurdergasmy, egomaniac ways). And she likes it. Loves it, even.

In a way, she is doing things in a subverted way theway her dear first husband (fat may rest his soul) who’s had the whores in hischamber by the dozen and not even making an attempt of hiding it from thegeneral populace or anyone around the palace. Cersei, as queen (as she remindsJaime… with that smile… she is so high on power… it’s like shrooms for Cerseigiving her many egogasms), beds whoever she pleases, just like Robert beddedwhoever he pleased, no matter what was conventional/ruled differently byconventions and laws.

However, the implication is *not* necessarily that sheactually wants to be out in the open with Jaime, to my understanding, theimplication for her is that she just gets to do what Robert did, that she getsto do what she was judged for so long she was the Queen to a King instead ofQueen in her own right (via Sept Kabloom). Neatly, that leaves Jaime under thebelief that she is totally invested and is now out in the open about theirrelationship, when really, I don’t find it unlikely that she’ll give it awaywith her making murdergasmy eyes at Euron/Hot Danish Pacey.

If he wants her to make good on the promise and movetowards marriage even before the war’s ended, I wouldn’t put it past Cersei tobe willing to do that. I don’t want to go into spec mode here, but the point ismore on a hypothetical level – I don’t put it past Cersei at this stage to bewilling to marry Euron, and tell Jaime in the same breath that they can stillcontinue to have sex because she is Queen and as such, she can do however shepleases, and that she’s gonna get rid of Euron eventually, and that Jaime, forthen, will have to live with things the way they were under Robert. Pointbeing, my reading of that scene was not Cersei’s displaying that she is nowwilling to be open about the incest, to marry him the way the Targs did, butshe leaves him under the belief that the option is now available, and leavesherself under the belief that Jaime isn’t going to get any better than that andthat he wouldn’t ever want to get anything else but that kind of jam.

And I think therein lies a big crux – Jaime can getsomething else for himself. And I think it will materialize itself in the shapeof a tall woman walking around in a custom-made armor and with a wedding swordaround the waist.

ENTER Brienne of Tarth.

Like, all the Blegh aside, this is potentially *great*set-up for JB. Think about it!

Jaime, right now, has no sense of future orpossibility beyond what lies between him and Cersei. Whenever he sees Brienne,whenever he waves her goodbye, he is under the belief that it’s going to be thelast time they see one another, that he can’t have her, that she wouldn’t wanthim, that there is no way for him despite his attraction that he cannot voiceother than cryptic messages such as “It’s yours. It will always be yours.”

Jaime doesn’t let that thought happen, and thus, hissense of opportunity and personal fulfillment remains tied to whatever Cerseidoes and whatever it is that they currently make of their relationship.

If things turn out the way some people (myselfincluded) believe it to go, next episode will feature Jaime doing aself-sacrificial move that may get him killed, but he does it anyway. And thatwould neatly tie in with the assessment that he sees no future for himself,that he is *really* earnestly depressed, seeing how everything has spiraledbeyond his control.

Just like it would be such a wonderful, wonderfulset-up for, yup, guessed it:

JB.

Brienne, particularly on the show, has been a primarymarker for Jaime to push his character. Through being around her, he makescritical decisions that tie in with questions of honor and who he wants to be.She is a good catalyst for that, the message clearly being that she brings outthe best in him, and being the one to inspire *hope* in him.

And if that is what Brienne is to do, then that is the*perfect* contrast. If Jaime finds a reason to live and dedicate his life to*through her* - well, what a clear message that would be as opposed to himsuccumbing to the existence he’s been portrayed to have alongside Cersei, onlyever caught up in false beliefs and illusions about himself to somehow justifyhis staying with her despite him being well aware that she is a terribleperson.

To me, this episode only ever cemented my assessmentthat Brienne will come to stand for hope and life for Jaime, will inspire thatin him, whereas Cersei seems to inspire contrary ideas in him, that her actionsput him on the opposite scale of hope and future, only ever allowing for Jaimeto perceive his future at the length of what Cersei permits or what Jaimepermits himself in connection to Cersei. Like, this episode can very well cometo serve as a wonderful set-up for future JB content.

Jaime is hitting rock-bottom right now. And that issooooo begging for Brienne of Tarth to stride in and set the record straight.

And the fact that he spirals down *right now* is sucha wonderful set-up, really, because that will put JB much closer to endgame(aka they grow safer and safer and more likely to be one of the relationshipsto last through the Long Night).

So, sure, I rather would have done without it. Irather would have had it narrated in a slightly different way *based on what Iknow up to this point* - but again, I don’t know (and no one else here knows!) towhere the writers are headed with Jaime on the show. I am perfectly convinced that there isa way to make his arc come full circle in a satisfactory way. However, that issomething that will only reveal itself once the last season has aired.

At thispoint, I tend to focus on what the episode gave us beside the Blegh. And therewas a lot. Not just Jaime looking hot as fuck, riding on that white horse.

Damn.

I thinkthere were many indication that are ripe for subversion. I think that there isa sense of distance between them despite the fact that they were united in theblegh. I think there is a sense of Jaime’s being depressed, which signals to methat he is not happy, even when he tries to make himself believe that he is. Ithink that a lot of that is rooted in his apparently low self-esteem that seemsrather queer on a man who’s also arrogant: He doesn’t have a sense of future orthat he can get better *for himself* in a relationship with someone who is… nothis twin sister… and much closer to his goals, codices, world views, etc.,because he doesn’t think other options are available to him.

And I think that this is the mindset he is put in *asstrongly as possible* this season to make for an epic turn-around for when hemeets up with Brienne. Because if he is to realize that he has a shot with her…he has an option available to him.

He will get to choose who he loves.

And I think that this choice will be made by the endof the season, putting us JB shippers to the happiness that Nik and Gwen madeus enthusiastic about in the promos.

So… I get it that people are down. I get it that youare down, but I hope that this mad rambling shed some light on the situationthat may allow for another way of reflecting on it – in a more hopeful manner.Because there is reason to hope, I am most certain of that.

I hope that answered your question… in a very longpost. Very long. VERY long.

So yeah, stay tuned and CONTINUE TO FEEL THE HYPE!!!

#jaime x brienne #got spoilers #got season 7 #jaime lannister #meta #mad ramblings #FEEL THE HYPE

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obshimchan · 7 years ago

Text

munday

wow did i do all three??

Preferred name: Kaylee Preferred pronouns: she/her Timezone: MST B)

Preferred writing style (script, para, either): I prefer para the most, definitely. I have not used script in awhile, but I would accommodate my rp partner if they felt more comfortable with it :3 Preferred writing genre (light themes, dark themes, domestic/ship/familial themes, etc): I honestly... love them all haha! They are all really good. I enjoy having a mixture of absolutely everything. Genres you’re less interested/would rather not partake in (sexual nsfw, violent nsfw, ships, etc): As stated above, I am all right with everything. It is all enjoyable to me, and if there is an issue, I will probably inform you prior to starting a thread that may entail some issues. Any other writing preferences (icons, small text, etc)? I just like small text, but otherwise, have no other preferences.

Favorite color: Purple! I really love lilac and lavender. Favorite/lucky number: 9 A song/show/drama you’d recommend: I would recommend you listen to Blind by Topp Dogg and Real Eyes by DMTN! I am not much of a tv person, but Wolf’s Rain was and still is my favorite anime, so definitely check it out! Fill in the blank: “You’re always free to message me about ___!” Literally anything. I think I am fairly nice and enjoy talking online. If you could choose a species in Obscura that you’d like to be, what would it be? Why? I would like to be a fae! I feel that faes have more.. freedom? in a way. Their concept is also really interesting. What is your ultimate weakness; what makes you feel all soft and squishy inside? Cats! B.A.P! Write the first thing to come to mind in caps: THAT DOG THAT DANCES ON THE DANCE TILL YOU DIE VIDEO Three random facts about you: I really like floral patterns. When I was younger, I was playing mini golf and while I was going up a set of stairs, I tripped on either the actual stair or the golf club, and now have a small scar on the bridge of my nose because my glasses had dug into my skin. Sylveon is my favorite pokemon!

How long have you been rping? I have been rping for about 8-9 years now. I started roleplaying Warriors Cats in a guild on Neopets. That was a dark time.. I was so terrible hahaha. Do you write outside of rp? I do not currently. Which days/times do you get the most writing done? It is either in the afternoons on rare occasions, or after a nap (rare for me to take a nap lately), or at night/morning around 11pm-3am.

If your muse(s) could describe you in a few words, what would they say? He would probably think I am just a normal, quiet girl. I am not that interesting at all, lol! What is the most wicked thing you could imagine your character doing? He is too nice, I cannot imagine him doing anything wicked on purpose :c Maybe know the repercussions of shifting at a given moment and shifting anyways because he thinks his interests are better than others’, which may end to some loss of life.. If your muse(s) were real, would you fight them? No. I would not, and even if I wanted to, I would probably not be able to land any punches, lol!

What object would you erase from existence if given the opportunity? I was honestly thinking so hard, but now that I am asked if I could erase anything, I cannot think of anything.. Can we really erase an object without causing any issues in the world? I know it says existence, but I am confusing myself, lol. Erasing onions may bring the world to shambles, you know? If you had a billion dollars and could only spend it, what would you buy first? I would buy my parents a house wherever they want, then probably focus on paying all bills/debts associated with my family, get all of my family that I know of nice little gifts, pay off my college tuition... then maybe think about a family trip to another country LOL. If you could play any sport, what would it be? Soccer! I used to be able to play it, and, honestly, it is the only sport that matters to me. Do you have any fun hobbies or talents you’d like to share? I perceive myself as talentless idk. Do you have/want any pets? I had a cat and dog. My cat’s name was Indy, and she was a calico/persian mix and always looked grumpy, but she was a sweetheart. My dog was named Odie (yes he was named after the dog in Garfield), and he was an Irish wolfhound mix (with terrier or something) and was also reaaaaally sweet and afraid of everything. They got along fine. Odie was actually scared of Indy LOL. They passed away last year within months of each other, which was.. really unfortunate timing.. We got another dog, Kiba (we didn’t name him, but in case you were wondering, yes, he is named after Naruto), who is a pomeranian/poodle mix. He really loves to play ball... a lot. He is sweet when he wants to be, but he was abused as a puppy and as such has issues.

What’s the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to you? I got to get a photo op with B.A.P! The set-up was horrible, but, hey, at least I got it? If you could attend any concert or event right now without any obstacles, what would you choose? I like seeing B.A.P c: It would be cool if I could finally see VIXX, though...... What’s your dream vacation? This is honestly hard, because I don’t see myself going anywhere anytime soon, so I have not thought of where I would like to go.. Probably Germany or Japan. Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? Any style preferences? This is going to sound unbelievable, but none. I am not really a coffee person, at all. I like tea to a degree, but I never drink it anyways. Hot chocolate is kind of hard for me to drink nowadays. I guess tea? Because while I never really drink it, it is my favorite. A game you love ( traditional, video, etc )? Ohohoo. I love Okami, American Mcgee’s Alice series, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, Blinx series, Halo series, LoZ: Twilight Princess, Splatoon, Petpet Adventures: The Wand of Wishing, Pokemon series, Yokai Watch series.

Favorite/Number one go-to internet meme? I still like the Spongebob mocking meme LOL. Least favorite internet meme? I am not a meme hater smh. I cannot think of one that I don’t like at the moment. Something that makes you want to flip a table? WHY ISN’T B.A.P MORE POPULAR AND GETTING ALL OF THE ATTENTION AND VIEWS THAT THEY DESERVE YET????

In your opinion, do you fit the stereotyped traits of your western zodiac sign? Do you believe that another sign fits you better? What about your muse? I really do... I am a cancer, and I am indeed a crybaby that is very moody, but affectionate. Himchan is an aries. I think he does, yes. He is really cocky and kind of reckless. Post a gif of what you’re currently feeling right now.

#obs: munday #ooc #(( i should have bolded the questions but i did not and kind of dont want to go back and do all of that work... lol ))#(( bolds them anyways))

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