#he would have to risk it during a daytime bottoms outing. apparently (and even then the risk is still not nonexistent)

[fisheito]

... peace on planet bottom, then there's whatever this is

[greyias]

FIC: Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter 18

Title: Smoke and Mirrors Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Theron Shan/f!Jedi Knight Rating: T Genre: Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn Synopsis: Something’s rotten on Carrick Station, and Theron won’t rest until he  finds out what. But picking at the frayed threads of suspicion quickly  unravels a conspiracy much larger than even the Republic’s top spy can  handle on his own. (A mostly canon-compliant retelling of the Forged  Alliances storyline, as seen through the eyes of Theron Shan.) Author’s Notes and Spoilers: See Chapter 1.

Chapter Index: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Crossposted to AO3

The Heorum Complex technically stayed open twenty-four hours a day, because intelligence work never slept. However, the office experience varied wildly depending on the time of day. In the daytime, it was abuzz with activity. Agents sat at terminals working through reports and intel, analysts dutifully sorted through the steady stream of data being fed in from across the galaxy, and all the office support staff bustled about in the typical work day grind. The aroma of fresh-brewed caf would sometimes waft from the various kitchenettes and a constant background buzz of chatter filled most of the rooms.

Nighttime was a decidedly different mood. Darkened terminals and stations replaced the bustle of workers, doused in shadow after the overhead lights switched off for the evening. The shadows of the abandoned desks and chairs stretched across the empty rooms, like long, spindly fingers reaching out. The hum of constant chatter gave way to the clank and hum as the cleaner droids made their rounds on each floor. The sharp, antiseptic scent of the droids’ cleaning solution would overpower everything else. It was almost as sharp and jolting as a steaming mug of caf, although not nearly as pleasant to take in. 

If Theron were being honest, a steaming mug of caf wouldn’t go amiss right now. He needed to focus and had a long, grueling task ahead of him.

Tonight wouldn’t be the first night that he’d lost track of time and been the last one out — although the previous instances were unintentional. Today he’d made a show of getting too absorbed in his assignment; decoding some intercepted transmissions from an Imperial base that Marcus wanted a rush on. Theron had cracked the cipher earlier in the day, but feigned ignorance to draw out his time on the terminal as long as possible. He’d grabbed a station in the far corner of the room where no one could easily sneak up on him and spy the second set of coding he was working on.

Getting into the backdoor of the SIS mainframe was a tough task — as it should be. Technically, Theron shouldn’t have been able to do it himself, but it seemed like every time they closed up one vulnerability, he would nose out another exploit. He’d report this one… just as soon as he wrapped up here. Now, technically he still had access to these files via normal channels, but that would have left a record of him looking into a closed investigation. He needed to keep his inquiries into Darok off the radar until he found the proverbial smoking barrel. Meaning he needed to be very careful about what network activities they could trace back to him.  

Most of his work during the day had been meticulously finishing his code. He’d kept the decryption up just in case any nosy coworkers wanted to stop by for a chat, although most seemed content to leave him be. Jonas once told Theron that he got a certain look in his eye when he was “getting obsessed with a job” — whatever that meant. Of course, Jonas was always saying things like that. Theron was pretty sure his fellow agent made half of it up just to get a reaction.

No matter.

As the chrono edged past the hour and the whir of the cleaning droids faded into background noise, Theron decided he was truly alone. He dropped his subterfuge and used his backdoor to access the data on the Tython and Korriban investigations. With Highwind’s clue in mind, he pulled up the archived security footage from the Jedi Temple. The recovery team managed to save several recordings in addition to what Theron had during the operation. He used Highwind’s liberation of the temple as his starting point and slowly rewound the footage. Even though he’d witnessed it all live, there was something still a little mesmerizing about watching the whirl of her lightsabers, even in reverse. She truly was a master of the form, that was hard to deny. If the action was difficult to follow in holo form, it must be positively dizzying to witness in person.

Her part in the footage was over quickly enough, and he focused his attention on the entire picture. He watched as the imperial figures on the recording in their attempt to set up their doomed attempt at a trap for the Jedi Master and her crew. Some stirrings of angry feelings tried to resurface, but he pushed them away. There was no time to indulge in that sort of nonsense. He had a much more important job to do. 

It was a painstaking and at times infuriating process to watch as the Imperials ransacked the temple in reverse march. But he remained focused, steadfastly analyzing the images until a flash of something caught his attention. He paused the footage and shuttled it until he found it. He grabbed a still frame and brought it over to another piece of software to enhance the image and zoom in on the activity right outside the library. The details were a bit obscured from the cropped image, but was able to just make out a tall, imposing Chagrian in robes handing off what looked like an artifact of some sort to a group of Imperial soldiers. 

Frowning, Theron zoomed in on the artifact more, and ran it through a program specially designed to enhance blurry and pixelated images. It used a combination of algorithmic predictions and artificial intelligence to fill in the blank pixels at higher resolutions. The processing power required by the program was intense enough that it was prohibitively expensive to deploy into the field, so Theron didn’t get a chance to use it much. He watched the screen in fascination as the software worked its image reconstruction magic in almost real time, seeing the pixelated details of the artifact slowly sharpen into focus. If he was a betting man, he’d put a few credits on this being the missing Rakatan artifact. 

Target confirmed, he grabbed a few stills from other angles and repeated the process, until he gathered enough high-resolution stills to stitch together a rough, fully dimensional holographic representation of the stolen item. None of this told him the function of the artifact in question, or even why someone would go through the farce of storming strongholds of the galaxy’s most powerful Force users to retrieve them.

He pursed his lips together and set up a database query on his reconstruction and let it run. As the numbers and results flew by on the screen, Theron let his mind wander to the best way to determine the function and importance of the artifact. There were a few archaeologists in the Republic who specialized in Rakatan culture and tech who might have some insight. There would probably be too many questions though if some agent showed up at their office with an image of some old ruins, asking about their potential destructive capabilities and security risks. There was always employing a disguise, maybe an amateur archaeologist, a writer doing research for the next sensational holonovel. It could definitely yield some answers on why the Empire would go through the trouble of raiding Tython to get the artifact — or it could expose his investigation.

Theron decided not to risk it. Best to see what information the SIS database had and go from there.

While the query ran, he pulled up a report that someone in Analytics appended to the Tython incident. They’d scrubbed the comm logs and been able to get a clean image of the Sith Lord that Highwind had spoken with. Theron couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the numerous comments scribbled in the margins about the Jedi in question. Most of it was speculation about the Hero of Tython’s ridiculously competent combat capabilities, which Theron was becoming fairly familiar with at this point. It was the notes on the identity of the Sith Lord that Theron found more interesting. Apparently it had taken quite a bit of cross-referencing, but the report writer identified the figure as one Darth Arkous, a member of the Dark Council in charge of the Sphere of Military Offense. It made sense for someone in his position to be involved in the raid on Tython, but…

That funny niggling feeling that had plagued Theron from the start of all of this reared its head again. On a hunch, he pulled up the mass of data he’d siphoned off from Korriban. The nerds in Analytics had yet to finish delving into the virtual playground of potential intel, and the security footage that he’d obtained looked like it was on the bottom of the priority list to process. It suited him just fine, especially now that he knew what he was looking for. 

Once again he started at a common reference point. This time was the stormy expression of his Jedi Knight Extraordinaire marching out of the Academy after Jensyn executed the Dark Council member in front of her. Theron tapped his finger on the desk, watching the angry set of her jaw and the dramatic fluttering of her cape as she made her way off camera. He blinked, but kept his eyes on the screen, curious to what he had missed after he’d looked away from the Academy’s interior. As the footage scrolled forward, he watched the dizzying activity of the SpecOps secure the temple. From this angle, they almost resembled little ants darting about. In fact, there was so much activity he nearly missed the elevator doors on the second floor opening as Jensyn stepped out. Theron paused his shuttling and cross-referenced the timecode as he paged through the various files to see if there was a better angle. The third recording that had a clear, unobstructed view of Jensyn handing off an artifact to one of his men. The soldier tucked the artifact under his arm and immediately headed for one of the shuttles leaving the surface. Theron viewed the entire exchange with a deep, troubled frown.

He repeated the process he’d used on the Tython footage, cobbling together various angles of the artifact together into a holographic representation. He pulled up his reconstruction of the other stolen artifact from the Jedi Temple and laid it and its Sith Academy counterpart side-by-side. They were an exact match.

His jaw ached as his teeth ground together, that familiar anger bubbling up from deep within his gut. The brooding session was cut short by an alert letting him know that his database query had finished. A quick reshuffling of his programs had everything up on screen, and Theron stared at the twin stolen artifacts alongside a readout from the SIS database confirming they were Rakatan in origin. The liner notes were sparse, as there was scant information available. No confirmation on their function, but a suspected origin from the Lehon system with a possible excavation date from nearly three hundred years prior.

“Gotcha,” Theron muttered in grim satisfaction.

There was no one around to hear it. And this sort of circumstantial evidence probably wouldn’t be admissible in any court, but it was enough confirmation for Theron that his suspicions had been warranted. Darok lied about the reason for the raid on Korriban. Or, as it was becoming clear, a robbery. 

He made a few discreet copies of all the files pertinent to his investigation, being sure to diligently scrub each step of his data trail. It had edged past dusk into evening by the time he completely wiped his activities from the system. It was late enough that the commuter traffic thinned out, and the hovertrain ride back to his apartment was quiet, with only the occasional drunk swaying in the corner that paid him no mind. The trip was just long enough to mull over the evening’s revelations, and plan to dig further into his files back in the safety of his apartment with some leftover takeout.

A plan that, like most of his well-thought out ideas, derailed the moment he got in the door to his apartment. His implants sent him a ping — the HoloNet trace on Darok had picked up activity. No rest for the weary, nor apparently time for a meal of stale takeout. He pored over the details of the alert. Apparently Darok had arranged for some ships for travel. It was the destination on the manifest that made Theron quirk an eyebrow: Manaan.

“Now why would you be heading there?” Theron mused aloud. Much like in the empty office, there was no one to answer. It was just as well, because there was only one way to answer that question.

It was well past midnight by the time he’d made his own travel arrangements and a craft a proper cover story for them. He was about to close up everything for the night and catch a few hours of sleep, but as he stared at the screen, he hesitated. He sat in contemplation for a few moments, before opening up his mail terminal, and began typing.

To: Greyias Highwind  From:  Theron Shan Subject: Noteworthy

It looks like our old pal is on the move in a few days here to Manaan. I’m gonna tag along — at a distance — and see what our friend is up to. I also found some rather interesting things in my research today. One might even call it noteworthy. If this lead pans out, I’ll have my astromech contact you with the details. Hopefully you’re all rested up and recovered after your little adventure.

I think things are about to get really interesting.

[vicunaburger]

Imperfect and inhuman, are we?

Fandom: School of Rock: The Musical (AU Verse) Chapters: 1/? Pairing: Dewey Finn x OC (Magdalena Newton) The Players: Dewey Finn, Magdalena Newton, Ned Schneebly, The School of Rock Students Word Count: 1,978 Warnings: M for Future Things

Notes: Y’all remember when I said I was going to play in in the Dewey Finn + vampire universe? WELL...here we go. Trying out a new “free-form” scene by scene chapter format, rather than a standard chronological order. We’ll see how this plays out

Chapter 1 - Night - Routine

The alarm went off at precisely 8:14pm.

From under the massive pile of blankets covering the twin-sized bed, an arm slithered out, feeling along the nightstand in the dark. The vibrations from the cellphone led the fingers toward their goal, tapping the screen - a few misses - before the noise finally ceased. Finished with its task, the arm retreated under the blankets, tucking itself inward like a snake retreating to its den.

At 8:17pm, the alarm went off again.

This time, an entire body followed the arm out of the blankets, turning off the alarm with one hand, and turning on a small desk lamp with the other. With a wide yawn, they stumbled out of bed, shuffling along the carpeted floor until they reached the bathroom. Luckily, this room had an automatic light fixture, the space filling with a soft white glow. Another automatic feature kicked on around the same time; a TV screen built-in to the vanity mirror taking up most of the wall. At once, the familiar voice of the weather channel anchor echoed around the tiled bathroom.

Magdalena Newton looked a mess when she woke up.

Her only saving grace was the fact she had the forethought to plait her long hair into a braid every night, or else she would have to deal with a rat’s nest besides the general unkept-ness of her appearance first thing in the morning. Absently, she untied the ribbon in her oil-black hair, watching the weatherman as she started to untangle the strands.

Sunrise was at 6:28am that morning; a good amount of time to take care of her errands.

Magdalena tapped the center of her vanity mirror and another screen snapped to life, along with some ring lights attached to a small camera. Within a few seconds, she could see herself in the mirror’s surface, as clear as though she were looking in the actual glass.

Technology was a marvel.

Her reflection was always such a strange thing to look at, to be honest. There were moments it didn’t seem like she was the one looking back at herself, only recently getting the ability to see herself within the past few decades. It was centuries before she could recall what she truly looked like, relying only on a painted portrait or a lover’s descriptions.

Both of which were never accurate.

Wincing at her haggard appearance, Magdalena started to work on fixing herself up for the night. No use going out looking like you just rolled out of bed… even if it were true. She was raised to be a proper lady when in view of other people, and that took some care and effort on her part. Besides, one never knows who you might see wandering the streets so late at night, or whom you might be looking for.

—

Was it just him, or did the sliding door of his van sound louder when it was dark outside?

Checking his watch in the circular beam of the streetlamp, it was just around 9:00pm when he parked his van outside of his apartment building, sliding open the door to start moving equipment from the vehicle to the home. It had been another late-night practice session at the concert venue with his students, which meant he had spent the last hour or so of practice getting berated by parents for keeping their kids so late.

The gods of rock care not for simple mortal concepts like time. Or calling parents in advance. Or responding to the last 15 text messages you got.

Eh, he knew they would shut up about it once they saw all the hard work the kids were putting into the show. It was shaping up to be quite the epic mid-summer concert spectacular he had seen in his dreams. The uptight little bastards were really doing him proud.

Dewey Finn stuck the handle of his guitar case between his teeth, trying to balance the bottom half with his knee, and simultaneously grab his satchel from under the front seat. It was a good idea, in theory, had it not been for the fact that the angle of the guitar case was preventing him from reaching into the van. He wasn’t about to set his prized guitar case on the street, nor did he feel like making two trips up and down the building’s stairwell.

He lost count of how many times he had sent angry emails to the supervisor about the busted elevator, only to be told it would “take some time” because it was a “historic building”.

Historic was a polite word for collapsing at any given moment.

Dewey couldn’t complain too much, all things considered; the apartment’s mysterious landlord company gave him a break on the rent due to him using the space for education. Apparently, whoever own the place was a fan of music, which gave them an upgrade in the landlord scale from Hell spawn to Minor Annoyance.

Shifting his weight to keep the guitar case balanced, Dewey tried again to reach the satchel, muttering a slew of curses with a mouthful of leather handle.

—

Magdalena heard the van door before she even rounded the corner, which made her take pause during her speedy trek down the sidewalk. Pulling out her phone, she checked the time: 9:07pm. He was a little earlier than she anticipated, putting a significant kink in her plans for that evening.

For the two and a half weeks, she had clocked him arriving at his apartment no earlier than 9:39pm, which would leave her plenty of time to scale the fire escape until she reached his floor. Nothing scandalous ever happened during her vigils; she was more than content to listen to the sounds of life from his apartment. His weighty footsteps padding around the creaky floors, rummaging around for something to eat, playing video games late into the night. Speaking with other people either in person or on the telephone.

And her favorite hobby of his: singing.

Was it still considered voyeurism if one didn’t actually look at their object of affection? Listening was more than enough. Hearing him plunk out little tunes on his guitar and sing classic rock ballads were something she could have listened to all night if she had the opportunity. She would risk staying out beyond daybreak if he had stayed up all night singing; her own private concert, and he didn’t even know anyone was listening.

For now.

Still, she was debating if it was too early to introduce herself. What is in doing so, she was committing a grave miscalculation of her plans and would therefore have to resort to… unpleasant measures? What if he didn’t want to know her? What if he ended up not liking what he found out?

What if it was something mundane: she wasn’t the right type? The right build or height? The right gender? He hadn’t brought anyone into his apartment save his friend - Nathan? Nolan? - that she could tell. However, his daytime activities were as of yet a mystery, which could have meant this entire plan would end in utter disaster if he were spoken for.

Nope. There was no use thinking the worst of things without even making an attempt.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

—

The more he struggled, the more his jaw began to ache.

Dewey was stubborn more than anything, which his best friend Ned always pointed out just how illogical it was for him to be such a damn slacker 90% of the time when he would get into his hellbent fits of motivation. He was going to make it up the stairs in one go, and he wasn’t going to make a fool of himself doing it.

Such delusions of grandeur can only go so far before one’s hubris decided to take the driver’s seat.

Dewey’s jaw finally gave out, causing his guitar case to tip over across his knee and gain a bit of air before starting to fall to the dirty sidewalk below. The whole thing was like a slow-motion sequence in a movie; Dewey reaching out his hands, fumbling for purchase on the leather case, and ultimately sending it further away from him when he failed to grasp it tight.

Unable to watch the carnage, he screwed his eyes shut tight, waiting for the inevitable crashing of his precious instrument hitting cement-

-which never happened.

Cautiously opening one eye, he peeked out in the darkened space beyond the streetlight, seeing his guitar case being held oh so carefully by a pair of delicate hands. Fully opening his eyes, he followed those hands up their respective arms until he came face to face with his savior. A woman, about his height, stood next to his van with the case secure in her grip. It was hard to see her in the shadows, even more so with her face obscured by the neck of the guitar case.

“Clumsy.” The woman said, her voice clear and crisp in the still air.

Dewey was immediately taken aback by her speech, his overly sensitive musical ear picking up a mix of accents he couldn’t place, and a soft, rounded lisp near the front of her mouth. Within a few seconds, however, he was far more concerned with the welfare of his guitar, reaching out and gently taking the case from her.

“You… you saved Tawny from certain death. My precious axe. My baby.” He cradled the case like a small child, setting it down in the van with great care. “I was such a fool to treat you so carelessly.”

The woman tilted her head, “Tawny?”

“Tawny. Ya know, like the girl from the White Snake video? Only the hottest woman to ever dance on the hood of a car.” Dewey replied, “Not… not that it was her only quality.”

“Never met her, so I couldn’t say.” She replied, a bit of laughter lilting through her voice this time. “She was attractive though, no shame in saying it.”

Whirling around on his heels, Dewey finally turned his full attention to the woman, almost falling over into the passenger door of the van once he got a good view of her. He didn’t know what he expected, but it certainly wasn’t… her.

“Snow White” was the immediate image that popped into his head. She looked pale as a ghost in the dim shadows, with dark hair tied intricately with braided bits gathered into a low ponytail, and her bright blue eyes catching the light like some nocturnal creature. The stark difference between her skin and her inky hair, coupled with her all black ensemble gave her the appearance of a living black and white image. The only color visible in the darkness with a bright, robin’s egg blue scarf tied in a bow around her neck.

“Uhhh…. I… you… wow…” Dewey leaned against the van, trying to act casual. “I mean, w-what’s a girl like you doing on a sidewalk like this? It’s late for a casual urban hike.”

“Protecting defenseless musical instruments from certain death.” She mirrored his stance, placing a hand on her hip. “I moonlight as a vigilante.”

He nodded, holding out his hand in a friendly gesture, “Ah, well, consider me a grateful citizen oh Superhero- Lady- Ma’am. Wow- you know what? That was lame. I’m just gonna show myself out before I embarrass myself any further.”

Dewey started to take his hand away, but not before the woman took hold of it, shaking it with a firm grip, “All in a night’s work, fair citizen.”

The woman - reluctantly- let go of his hand, stepping around him and continuing her way down the sidewalk. As though finally discovering that: yes, he had a brain, and yes, he should use it immediately, Dewey jogged a couple paces to try and catch up to her. She stopped when she heard him approaching, which made him bump into her softly, having not anticipated the sudden pause.

After steadying himself, Dewey ran a hand through his hair awkwardly, “Listen. Maybe… maybe we can start over? Because this whole night is gonna keep me up for weeks if I don’t try and regain my dignity. I’m Dewey Finn.”

Laughing softly, though she covered her mouth delicately with the back of her hand, she nodded. “Fair enough, Dewey Finn. I’m Magdalena.”

Writing Tags: @amywright @mrgeuse  @hoodoo12 @mr-geuse @paxenera @leiasolo77 @go-commander-kim @a-subconscious-manifestation @asriells @missihart23 @heknowshisherbs

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S2 Ep 23-24: Escape From Box Fort

Currently trying to stop checking twitter more than once a day, and I’m getting legit twitter-shakes so I’ve decided to stave it off by watching nonsense television. So, last update I said that this was a 3 episode game arc yada yada, but that was apparently me just assuming that Yugioh had a formula. Because, to my shock, this one game was 4 episodes long.

It was 4 episodes mostly of Pharaoh rolling his eyes to the sky every time Kaiba said anything.

According to my bro who actually cares about the rules of this game, they broke basically a whole lot of established game rules in this particular match but like, I was all over that fast forward button so if I didn’t catch it, no harm, no foul. I was more interested in Tea and Mokuba’s very bizarre meet up at the box warehouse.

And while they formulated their half-brained plan (which is still better than Yugi who is always two halves of a brain) Marik and his snuggie villains tied Joey up in some dark room full of just one million cupboards and no light bulbs. Even Joey was not entirely sure of the purpose of any of that effort.

He also threatened to beat them all up so I assume he was just going to start bouncing around and headbutting everyone? His hair isn’t sharp enough for that - that’s a Yugi move, who probably greases those weird bangs with gel and then wipes all 4 of them it through a knife sharpener every morning.

There goes Marik, tying people up when he was just going to possess them anyway. Congrats Marik, now you have to untie the guy you only tied up like 3 minutes ago.

It really does feel like this villain just has zero idea what he is doing, and I’m guessing that probably happens a lot when your sister can see the future all the time. Why make plans or decisions when you have Ishizu to over explain everything to you? Honestly he wouldn’t even have had to tell her his fast food orders, she’d just show up with tacos when he starts feeling munchy. The life. Maybe he’s only been kind of a mess ever since he decided to embrace that whole cursed boy lifestyle?

Luckily for him, everyone else on this show is just as incompetent, and his big rival is a dead Pharaoh with amnesia who is currently squatting in the body of an angsty teen who plays the slowest card game I have ever seen played.

Anyway, speaking of ridiculously wasteful plans, will Tea decide to make a box, fort, again, although it really, really didn’t work the first time?

(read more after the cut)

So like, if Tea does it, she’s too heavy, but if Mokuba joins in--a kid who probably only weighs twenty pounds less than Tea, then...it works? I mean maybe this time they used tape?

I mean Mokuba is a genius child, so maybe he’s just better at building stuff. Maybe that’s what he learned from whatever vague genius orphan program these two underwent that still somehow landed Seto in public school. Mokuba learned to put the heavy boxes on the bottom.

And the moment Mokuba’s gifted feet left this box tower, Tea fell right back on her butt.

It took Yugi and Seto so long to play a card game that Tea and Mokuba had enough time to formulate a plan, follow it out, and actually succeed.

This is Mokuba.

They took so long Mokuba escaped. The kid who has been some sort of tied up/in a cage for over half of this show so far.

Anyway, Tristan narrowly avoids missing his train, which would have saved them both from what I’m guessing will be a hell of a lot of trauma.

Such an awkward train ride.

This show just can’t get anyone together, huh? Not complaining, mind you. Just...noticing. First it was Yugi/Pharaoh who really didn’t even blink once when Tea friendzoned them. I mean I think he just sweat a single forehead droplet or something. Now we have Tristan and Serenity, who haven’t even been on a real date--one of which is still in bandages from a very severe operation--and it’s like “we gotta break that one up waaaaaay before it starts.”

Who knows, maybe this anime was like “we can’t risk a Sailor Moon on this, we are already too much in hot water. Can’t be pulling out relationship stunts if we also gotta tie Tea up in a weird bondage chair and somehow still stay on the air during daytime kid’s TV.”

Which really happened, by the way.

How tall is this Odion guy PS? 11 ft?

Anyways, that’s one episode. Rip Joey. Other than that, not much to say about that one, so, lets jump into the next one.

On the other side of town things are still effed up but slightly less effed up as we are about to yes, absolutely, still blow a hole through the ceiling of this well populated building whether the team wins or loses.

So, they decide to work together. Well not really. They decide to trust that the other one won’t screw it on his turn. Considering these two are both card masters, this really was the lowest bar ever as far as trust goes. Can Yugi trust that Seto will play cards well? Y...yes. That’s literally all this kid does other than skip school and run a multicorp that only exists to invest in even more cards.

And he played them so well that this happened

I mean there are a lot of kid’s shows where villains fall to their deaths, but something about how realistic all these characters are drawn and how it’s put in a realistic-enough location to make it feel a lot darker than lets say Gaston falling off of Beauty and the Beast’s tower, you know what I mean?

But no matter, because Marik got these evil snuggies custom made and it is freakin weird.

I mean sure, whatever it takes to keep your 15 yo from doing a murder, Yugioh, I’ll take it, I guess. Even though like...I keep getting flashbacks to Mannequin. I never really wanted to remember Mannequin, so thanks for that.

Anyway, this began a really bizarre fight where Yugi wanted to interrogate the last guy standing--as if this guy knows anything--and Kaiba just wanted to straight up kill him for abducting his little brother. Both ideas were bad, so it’s fine that Marik nipped this in the bud.

Again, standing here next to Magic Muto, Kaiba is just refusing to admit that any of this is even slightly magical. Maybe he was such a bad wizard in his past life that he was cursed to not even believe in the concept of magic in this reincarnation. Not like it really matters, since Kaiba’s tech is basically magic.

Also get a load of this effect.

Hell yeahhhh it’s getting real 2001 now! Mm, probably took them like 4 computers to render back then. Glorious.

So, they both decide to drop this guy and he passes out on the roof of this building. No need to move him or anything. No need to disable the three other bombs. Just like...just loot his body and leave. I love this kid show’s weird ass morality.

So after ALL of that, Mokuba arrives. Good thing Kaiba didn’t actually murder anyone in revenge for his little brother (though he did try) or that would have been...awkward. Though, probably not the first time.

Since Tea saved his brother, Seto decides to help Yugi out by saving the lives of Yugi’s friends (of which, two are in the finals of Seto’s tournament, so he does actually need them.) He makes a note that he’s only doing this so he won’t owe Tea anything, and that Yugi did absolutely nothing at all. Which was kind of true, this entire match was a bad idea that gave them nothing but broken glass.

That’s right, it’s anime food time. Yes yes yes, my favorite time.

Just kidding, it’s all in boxes.

Thanks 4 kids, for not allowing us to think that people in other countries might not eat the same food we do. I guess they figured that the triangle shaped rice ball that Serenity had in the next scene looked enough like a taco to trick us.

Real talk, if my Taco Bell came in a fancy real wood box all cutely wrapped like that, it would be NUTS. Can you even imagine if Taco Bell decided to make Burrito Supremes into cute bento boxes? Hell. I would eat a Burrito Supreme again for the first time in 3 years. I would even eat it if they somehow put a burrito in that nasty Nacho Cheese Dorito flavored shell (though tbh that Cool Ranch shell was absolutely delicious and 10/10. Nacho cheese Dorito shell: bad)

Sorry I’ve been thinking a lot about Taco Bell ever since I realized you could go online and customize your burrito and I’ve been going down the rabbit hole of other people’s mad quesalupas and freaky deep-dish crunchwraps (one guy said he just gets a plain 5layer burrito and shoves a bunch of Doritos in there with extra nacho cheese sauce and he asked “Is this weird?” and the top comment was “no, you are God among men”)

Anyway, I just want you to imagine that spectacularly awful custom 5 layer burrito smothered in extra queso sauce and lovingly wrapped in a box with adorable wrapping paper and being given just two chopsticks to eat it with. And you do. On a train for everyone else to smell.

And then a few weeks ago I asked rhetorically, does Yugi and Seto get to go on a bachelor-style helicopter date and the answer is--YES.

Bless this storyboarder. Get this cross-stitched so I can hang it over my fireplace. Maybe it’s just me who thinks this shot is maybe the best joke in Yugioh, but I mean. Look at it. It just keeps giving. Yugioh characters are just so bizarre when they’re shoved into very small, very normal looking spaces.

And FYI I totally checked twitter four times while writing this so like...so much for that life goal. Boy, I have a twitter problem.

So, next week, on Yugioh:

Does anyone else in Marik’s troupe get real hot, so they take off their hoodie and we find out that nearly everyone else is also wearing the same exact pastel pink crop top sweater as Marik? Do Marik’s snuggie parachutes accidentally go off at embarrassing times? Does Seto pull out a neck pillow and just pass out for a few episodes while stealing Yugi’s arm rest? Does Mokuba offer to watch a movie on the copter and all they have is just Serendipity and Sleepless in Seattle?

And for those new here, this is a link to the Yugioh recaps in Chrono Order from Ep 1 so you don’t have to scroll through comments and stuff

[gizedcom]

Incredible pictures of monster storm systems over America by photographer Adam Kyle Jackson

When it comes to weather, there’s only one thing we all like more than talking about it – and that’s looking at it.

Especially when things get dramatic.

And so it’s little wonder that storm-chasing photographer Adam Kyle Jackson, from Texas, has garnered almost 60,000 followers on Instagram – because he posts absolutely jaw-dropping pictures of extreme weather.

Storm-chasing photographer Adam Kyle Jackson, from Texas, has garnered almost 60,000 followers on Instagram. This incredible image was taken in Perryton, Texas. One of his followers commented: ‘Wow, wow, wow’

The stunning image on the left was taken in Abilene, Texas. Adam captioned it ‘one 30-second shot into pure darkness’. He described the image on the right – taken in Perryton, Texas – as ‘the calm after the storm’

The pictures Adam is most proud of include these two, taken in Roswell, New Mexico. The image on the right, in particular. Adam said: ‘[It’s] a perfect bolt that filled the frame, did not spider off into the clouds and split the sunset downburst perfectly down the middle’

His portfolio includes breathtaking images of lightning strikes in the likes of New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, Monument Valley and his home state – and the most mesmerising storm-cloud formations.

The 39-year-old explained to MailOnline Travel that a love of dramatic weather formed and as he grew up in Texas.

He said: ‘Having grown up in West Texas witnessing extreme thunderstorms every spring and summer, I grew a natural affinity to the weather and to the chase.

‘I recall standing on the back porch with my mother as a child watching a tornado touchdown in the distant horizon and us frantically running to the truck to go alert my dad who was working in the cotton fields, unaware of the potential danger.

‘I have been chasing storms for over a decade now with the primary goal of staying safe while photographing lightning, mammatus clouds, and Milky Way thunderstorm photos.’

Almost inevitably, though, things haven’t always gone to plan.

This breathtaking image was taken in Big Bend National Park in Texas and produced using one 30-second exposure

The picture on the left shows a ‘nice little wall cloud and its tail hovering over the Oklahoma/Texas border’. Adam said that it transformed into a ‘baseball-hail-throwing monster storm from hell, with winds of close to 150mph’ and ‘multiple tornadoes’. The mesmerising shot on the right was taken in the inimitable Monument Valley

Adam said: ‘I lost situational awareness once in Nebraska where my cell phone signal was poor, and the radar update was delayed. I was driving in between two hail-producing 70mph-plus-gust mesocyclones [a region of rotation within a thunderstorm] where one shifted course rapidly and boxed me in merging with the other storm.

‘I suddenly found myself in the core of the new storm with extreme hail and wind losing complete visibility of the road. I stopped the truck and as I did, one extreme gust seemed to have shifted the pickup truck perpendicular to the road. 

‘I think my heart stopped at that moment and I vowed to never be “in” the storm ever again and since then have done so with zero incident.’

Tornado warnings were issued for this supercell outside Tecumseh, Nebraska. The rainbow contrasts strikingly with the ominous darkening skies

Adam said of the image on the left, taken near Houston: ‘Chasing tornados can lead you to some interesting places, where you often don’t get a photo of a tornado but find a beautiful supercell in a pasture – that went on to produce a tornado while I was getting a necessary Red Bull’. The lightning image on the right was taken in Perryton, Texas

His training has helped.

Adam, who’s a photography contributor to the official City of Houston Visitor’s Guide, continued: ‘I have completed the official “National Weather Service Skywarn Spotter Training” and registered with the Spotter Network. Regardless of the motives for being in or around the storm, the training stresses we always maintain an escape route, situational awareness, and form of communication to notify others of potential hazards and of your location in the event of an emergency. Never put yourself or others at risk, especially for a photo.’

A big truck helps, too.

Adam drives a black Z71 4×4 Chevrolet Suburban with modified suspension and 33-inch tyres ‘to battle the unruly and often mudded-out backroads’.

This image was taken in Galveston, Texas, and was apparently the only one during the shoot – ‘out of hundreds of lightning strikes’ – that worked

The striking picture on the left is of a supercell over Elkhart, Kansas. The picture on the right of a supercell was taken in Bassett, Nebraska, with a vehicle in the shot ‘to show the sheer scale of the thing’

The ‘go-to’ spots he drives it to for good storm pictures include northeastern New Mexico and West Texas.

In these areas, Adam said, ‘storms can pop up as single cells and rage into the late evening as monster multicellular systems producing large hail, beautiful lightning displays, and the occasional tornado’.

He continued: ‘Some of my best photos are taken just outside of Clayton, New Mexico, and Lubbock, Texas, where I’m from.’

His favourite storm photos are within his Roswell, New Mexico, ‘lightning series’. And his overall favourite picture from this set is presented here – an image of a ‘perfect bolt that filled the frame, did not spider off into the clouds and split the sunset downburst perfectly down the middle’.

Fancy having a go at taking storm pictures?

Then heed Adam’s do’s and don’ts.

He said: ‘Do decouple from the tripod and go handheld. I have captured my most dynamic weather images this way.

‘Do take the widest-angle lens you have and make use of cropping in post-processing. This will ensure you bring home the data to work with later versus leaving it in the field. I shoot most of my shots at 14mm ISO 64. With this method, one shot can often yield two or three good images from the same exposure cropped multiple times.

Adam said that if you want to take great storm-chasing pictures, ‘don’t frantically drive around from thunderstorm to thunderstorm’. Instead, ‘pick a target and stick with it’

The image on the left, taken on Follets Island, in Texas, shows a supercell forming over Christmas Bay. The image on the right was taken in Kansas. Look carefully and you’ll spot a house bottom right

‘Do plan using weather models, moonrise and moonset data, and sunrise and sunset data. Also, once you’ve selected a general geographic region to target for your photoshoot, utilise Google Earth to roam the country backroads before you get there. I often use Google Earth to plan out visual interest of the image such where the contiguous wheat fields are, avoiding wind turbine farms and the blinking red lights.

‘Do experiment with daytime lightning shot captures using the high-frames-per-second mode of your camera. Nighttime lightning photos are relatively easy to capture. Set up your tripod, get your exposure dialled in, and set it for 30 seconds and hope for the best. Daytime lightning takes a bit more finesse and a steady hand, but also the challenge is worth it visually since not all the scene is clearly in view and properly exposed.

‘Do plan for photos after the storm. There is nothing prettier than taking photos of the mammatus clouds and crazy lightning on the backside of a supercell during the golden hour sunset.

‘Do be there early and don’t frantically drive around from thunderstorm to thunderstorm. Pick a target and stick with it. The weather models can be wrong and I’ve often watched other professional spotters’ live feeds where they are staring into blue skies with little white puffy clouds 30 miles away and me thinking “what on earth are they doing there when the crazy storms are right here right now?” 

‘And sure enough, just like clockwork, the storm I was on inevitably dies and I’m playing catch-up to get in front of some of the craziest storms you’ve ever seen.

‘Trust your instincts, give yourself time, and network with others who have been doing this in some cases 30-plus years. They know what they are doing. If there is a cluster of storm spotters reporting on the Spotter Network GPS in an area, you might also want to be there too.’

Adam recommends using Google Earth before a storm-chasing escapade to scope out the country roads. This image was snapped in Kansas

On the left is a picture of a multi-tornado-producing supercell storm system right overhead in Rock County, Nebraska. Adam captioned the picture on the right, taken in Texas: ‘I’ve always wanted to take the kind of mammatus photo that would make your mama proud… well I hope you’re proud mama’

Adam kicked off his ‘don’ts’ list with some important safety tips.

He said: ‘Don’t be “in” the storm to take photos of the storm.

I made this mistake early on and often got rained out, exposed to crazy winds, and the car battered senselessly by hail, all the while getting zero photogenic weather scenes for my efforts.

‘My favorite storms to track move to the southeast while I comfortably and continuously move to stay a few miles ahead of the storm to the southwest. Make sure your parked vehicle is pointing in the direction of your escape route always.

‘Trying to turn around on muddy roads with limited visibility is a difficult task, especially in a frantic bid to escape the storm.

‘Don’t get caught up in the thrill of the chase and forget to take the photos. There is a big difference between chasing tornados and building a weather photo portfolio. Some of my best weather photos have been taken nowhere near where a tornado would have formed.

 I used to take photos on my cell phone all over the country and now regret every minute of it

‘Don’t stand in the road and get power lines or weeds in the ditches in your shots. Get a little muddy if you must and walk into the field to get the clean shot. Ideally line your shot up with something that shows scale on the horizon, a road for perspective, or reduce the foreground in the shot to capture more of the storm.

‘Don’t take every photo in landscape. Switch often between portrait and landscape. Portrait shots help capture the sheer size and scale of the cumulonimbus cloud towers, especially when there is something of known size on the horizon to demonstrate scale. Most of my weather shots are portrait.’

The biggest mistake amateurs make, said Adam, is not using a ‘full-frame DSLR camera’.

He said: ‘I used to take photos on my cell phone all over the country and now regret every minute of it. Storm photography requires serious dynamic range due to frequent inadequate lighting conditions and extreme contrasts between the highlight (lightning) and shadows (cloud bases) in the scenes.’

Becoming obsessed with the ‘rule of one-thirds’ and the foreground are other errors Adam sees a lot.

He added: ‘You are there to photograph the clouds and hopefully lightning. Some of the most visually appealing storm photos include only a sliver of foreground. The foregrounds out in the country often include telephone poles, weeds, and just plain dirt, none having visual appeal.

Instead of thinking rule of one-thirds, think of demonstrating scale of the approaching storm by using the horizon line to your advantage.’

Follow his advice – and you’ll no doubt end up on cloud nine.

To see how your pictures might look if you follow Adam’s counsel, visit his Instagram page. 

Credit: Source link

The post Incredible pictures of monster storm systems over America by photographer Adam Kyle Jackson appeared first on GIZED - Breaking News Worldwide.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2WvWu4t via IFTTT