#i didn't go into it but i think this should have interesting (re: concerning) effects on his ghost half. he has an even stronger hold on hi

[starry-bi-sky]

Starry's ALWAYS making more aus, it's becoming a problem sjhf 😔

The greatest appeal in Danyal Al Ghul aus (to me) will forever and always be the effects of growing up in a league will do to Danny. I think I've only got one DAG au where Danny didn't grow up in the League -- my stillborn Danyal au -- and he's got so many issues.

But yes!! I agree with everything you've said here -- especially on the whole 'when someone wears a mask all the time, it's hard to take off' thing! I was thinking that same thing too, I just didn't get into it on my post since it was like, midnight when I posted it.

I def think the batfam would be prepared for something with Danny when they first meet him -- they're thinking that they might run into a carbon copy of Damian when they finally meet Danny. Only to find out that's.. not... the case? Like oh yeah, they definitely think something's up, nobody who grew up in the League of Assassins comes out THAT well-adjusted -- Damian's still pretty prickly on his best of days -- but it quickly rounds out to them assuming that Danny's mild cynicism and sarcasm is just him lowering pretenses. He's like a declawed version of Damian.

I can picture very mild, brief jokes about hey maybe they should've had Damian go live with civilians for a little bit too, before saying that nah, it would've ended up in disaster. Not thinking about how it ended up in disaster for Danny too; look at him. He's too acclimated to civilian life. The true self is hidden behind the false.

I'm also thinking about how like, Damian is the only person Danny feels truly comfortable around enough with to let pretenses drop. And even then, it takes weeeks of Damian slowly chipping away at Danny's mask when they're alone for him to finally start, willingly, loosing his hold on the persona.

"I don't want to talk to Danny," Damian tells him bluntly, harshly, every day when no one's around, "let me talk to Danyal. Where's my brother."

"I'm right here." Danny lies, and Damian can see right through him.

"No, you're not."

Until eventually Danyal starts peeking through, and Damian is so relieved. He's been peeling layer after layer back to find him, and now he's standing right in front of him. Still hiding, but now with proof he's there. It's like coaxing out a feral animal out from under the porch. When Danyal gets too exhausted with keeping up his lies and masking, he goes to Damian's room and locks, double locks, triple locks the door and draws the curtains, and heaves a shaky sigh.

"يوم طويل؟" Damian asks him where he's reading a book from his bed, watching his brother cocoon himself worse than their father does. It makes his heart hurt a little, to see him hide so much. ("Long day?")

His brother groans, ragged and drawn out, and drags his fingers through his hair. Inadvertently, symbolically, pulling it out of its normal 'danny' style. He looks exhausted. "طويل جدًا." ("Too long.")

He's still hiding chunks of himself away, the both of them sit in Damian's room and it's like watching a broken TV glitch between channels. He can see Danyal fluctuate between masks even when it's just the two of them. Instinctively hiding before realizing belatedly that he doesn't need to.

Damian keeps trying to encourage Danyal to come out of his mask more, and each time it blows up in his face. He's incredibly frustrated by it, and Danyal keeps brushing it off and insisting that it's for the best. He doesn't need fixing, they don't think he needs to be fixed.

Don't get me started on Danny's morals either. I firmly believe they should be messed up. Like sure, Danny doesn't believe in killing and thinks it's wrong and all that jazz, but Danny is just a mask. Danyal thinks you just shouldn't be foolish enough to get caught. He never actually deconstructed those League ideals, he's just pretending he did.

By 14, I think Damian would still make bodily threats of harm against people, but he's less likely to actually go through with it than he was when he was 10, especially if the more graphic they are. Meanwhile, if Danyal wasn't wearing his Danny mask, he'd actually go through with it and then tell you to walk it off. Damian, by 14, would warn before stabbing, Danny would stab as warning.

because, as my delightful best friend @the-navistar-carol put it last night when I was ranting to her about this au/idea: "once he carves out the mask of Danny, he has no reason to take the world at face value as Danyal". Danyal is not outright more vocally violent -- largely in part of trying to keep his mask in place as Danny, even as Phantom since Phantom is Danny's alter ego, not Danyal's -- but I firmly imagine him being more ruthless than Damian. Because he's just, not gone through any deprogramming in the last four years. Not anything significant at least.

They're back to square one with Danny and they don't even know it because he's not showing it.

There's a lot of nuance here that's easier to show in writing than it is to explain it. But TL:DR: Damian is, funnily enough? The kinder brother between the two of them.

And I imagine that when it's finally revealed that Danny's been acting this entire time, it's when something or someone directly puts Damian in significant harm's way. The life-threatening, 'he can't get out of this on his own and needs rescue' kind.

You know Antinous' song excerpt from Jorge Rivera-Herrans' musical "Epic"? The "hold him down while I slowly break his pride, his trust, his faith, and his bones." line? Danyal's energy right there when Damian's life is endangered. All bets are off, the gloves are off. He's saving his brother by any means necessary.

I gotta stop here before my response gets too long, but yeah I totally agree with everything that you've said 🫶. It's a nasty, unintentional feedback loop that Damian can see and is struggling to break.

this just in: danny fenton is just as much of a mask as Brucie Wayne? - another danyal al ghul au

Turns out, being placed in a civilian family who have no knowledge of your background is actually detrimental to the health and development of a child assassin due to lack of proper support! Surrounded by strangers in a foreign city, Danyal Al Ghul does as assassins do best. He hides. Espionage is one of many teachings one learns in the League, and it only takes half a day for Danyal to construct a new persona to hide behind: Daniel Fenton.

By the time dinner rolls around, Danyal al Ghul is safely and securely tucked behind the face of Danny Fenton; brand new adoptive child of the Fenton family who came from overseas. A shy, quiet little boy with a thick accent and curly hair, with brown skin and blue eyes, and an avid interest in the stars. The best fictions are always cobbled together in a little bit of truth, it's some of the only truth he ever lets through. He apologizes in a meek voice for his behavior early, he didn't mean to be rude, and he watches the three of them eat it up with coos.

Lies roll like silk against his lips, he struggles to meet their eyes and offers them his weakest, shyest smile. It's too easy. It's easy to go from there.

Danny Fenton, adoptive son, shy and awkward and unconfident but friendly. Who struggles in his classes and isn't the brightest, but tries his hardest. He makes bad jokes and has a quick tongue and a sarcastic mouth. He wants to be an astronaut. He's got the best aim in school, and is a terrifying dodgeball player. He's one of the least athletic kids in his grade.

It's like playing two truths and a lie, but there's only one truth, and the rest are lies. It's easy to pretend when he knows it's insincere.

Danyal Al Ghul, grandson to the Demon Head. Deadly, trained assassin. Has spilled blood, has had blood spilt from. Environmentalist, animal activist. He loves the stars. He owns a calligraphy set. A sharp tongue, an even sharper blade. He's clever, quick-witted, he would be top of his grade if he tried harder. He purposely doesn't.

He misses his family. He misses his mother, and he misses his brother. Mother visits a few times a year, so few times that he can count it on both hands. He cherishes every visit, as brief as they are. It helps remind him who he is.

Sam and Tucker are Danny's best friends. They've never met Danyal, but Danyal's met them.

It becomes routine to become Danny Fenton. As familiar and as easy as pulling on a shirt in the morning. Danyal wakes up and is always first to the bathroom in the mornings; stares at himself in the mirror until he can finally see Danny staring back at him. At night, he locks his door and sheds the mask.

Dying throws a wrench in his mask; splits a crack straight through the porcelain. He's able to smooth it over with sandpaper and liquid gold, but it's a little hard keeping his ghost form under wraps. It instinctively wants to shift to show his true self. Danyal can't have that, he's spent four years as Danny Fenton, he'll spend another four as him as well. Even if the feeling of the hazmat suit in his ghost form feels restrictive, like a too-small shirt suctioned to his skin that needs to be peeled off.

He'll live. Er-- well, you know what he means. It's frustrating however, trying to keep his Danny Fenton mask up even as Phantom - fighting in the air is something he needs to get used to, and the sudden propping of powers throws him off. But he is nothing if not adaptive, and he hates that he needs to slow his own skills down in order to keep pretenses up in front of Sam and Tucker.

The first time Danyal summons a sword when he's alone, is one of the few times Danyal gets to grin instead of Danny. He's fighting Skulker, and from an invisible hilt he draws a katana from thin air. It startles them both. Skulker takes a step back at the smile that spreads across his face.

They're both silent as Danyal examines his new sword.

"Do you know what people like me do to people like you, poacher?" Danyal finally asks him, the accent he began to hide a few months in slipping through. He drops all pretense, dragging the flat end of the blade slow and appreciatively against his palm. It's a good make, and when he cuts it through the air, it slices through like butter. He looks up at Skulker with a smile; "are you ready to find out?"

When Sam and Tucker ask about why Skulker seems so skittish around Danny now, Danny shrugs at them and says with a playful smile; "I don't know, I guess I kicked his butt too hard after our last fight." and he watches as Sam rolls her eyes exasperatedly, and Tucker snickers with his own joke.

By the time he reunites with Damian before their 15th birthday, Danyal is buried beneath so many layers of Danny Fenton that his brother will need a shovel to dig him out. He's not sure what he'll find.

[horizon-verizon]

The showrunners just continue to steal from TV Daenerys’s characterization and final storyline to improve their Rhaenyra (a self righteous Targaryen woman with delusions of grandeur ? Groundbreaking), but she remains completely boring and forgettable. Dust in the wind.

And even though TV Daenerys is radically and entirely different from her book counterpart (as much as I love Emilia Clarke), TV Daenerys’ daddy didn’t tell her she’s special, unlike Rhaenyra, Daenerys realized she’s special when she brought back dragons from extinction and walked out of fire utterly unharmed, please can people stop compare her to any of the mid characters from HOTD ??

Speak it again, anon, bc what?! It's quite obvious that they are trying to inject as much a literal magic layer of significance in Rhaenyra's story as magic was in Dany's Or they are trying to make Rhaenyra more "important" in the Targ lineage & "interesting" to those who loved Dany (which is most of the fandom, lets' bfr) to promote the show. And yet at every turn they have also excused D&D's atrocious illogical writing of Daenerys' core traits and convictions behind the ol' "GRRM has not finished his series".

We know that there are only 2 books left of this series and Dany is still very NOT like her show counterpart's more...demanding isn't the right word but for now, we'll go with it. Based on this fact alone, people are so much more willing to believe that Dany will turn a 180 somewhere in these last 2 bks and destroy KL or do something akin to Mad!Aerys "bc Targs are crazy and she seeks to be a white savior while profiting from slaves". That this extreme turn for her will not happen for someone like Jon Snow who literally came back from the dead after nearly all under his command killed him. That they don't feel it rather be Cersei, not Dany, who'd blow up KL despite all the comparisons and actions she has similar to Aerys in the text, word for word verbatim. No it has to be Dany, bec she is a "foreign invader" come to ruin the good town of Westeros with her slave-owning ways.

Ryan Condal recently said as much about the D&D defense on BigThink:

Besides, there were a lot other instances where it's clear the real reason why they demolished her was to move on from the project and they just didn't like Dany. Go on over to ozymalek/PhoenixAshes' Youtube and search through to see how they broke it all down.

And yes, Dany actually showed/has very good reason to believe her singularity and even this pseudo-religious quality from her revitalizing dragons, effectively patching up a lot of the magical balance of the world by doing so.

What's also pretty cool is that bk!her still doesn't think of herself as a "god" the way Euron Greyjoy is kinda heading towards/is already at.

So it's so fucking weird how they are trying to re-capitalize on Dany's effect and show!character (and before that, her nonviolenet ADwD arc about the pits) for their false version of Rhaenyra bc apparently we can tolerate and even like ambitious, vengeful, cruel, or just selfish men like Euron, Robert B, Robb (not evil, but went to war for his own ends and his armies also raped indiscriminately), TYWIN [Rains of Castamere, everything else], etc. BUT a woman who has even just the mere self-concern to want to claim back a throne that was DEFINITIVELY usurped?! Nah, apparently, that's too much. She's unsympatheziable.

For a woman, she HAS to be "unselfish", trying to prove a point to men--dead or alive--of her strength 24/7, but unable to settle with an idea of her own "strength" or worthiness, and thus eventually be lead into semi-unintentionally building some strange "cult" around dragons from Westerosi religiosity to feel in control & for people to sympathize with her. She HAS to--as one Twitter user said--have a problem with her gender identity so as to attribute "womanly" stuff as "weak" to want the same things as what a man are granted.

If the audience is stupid, does that mean you should be as well and perpetuate MORE sexist stereotypes/frameworks? No; HotD is for the money and comes form a place of ignorant "women guide violent men" narrative, no matter much it claims it is "feminist" or how lore-knowledgeable Condal says he is.

We all know this is a media company and Condal is more businessman than creator and that you need sorta both a business/production sense as well as a creative spirit for TV/film. Problem is that Condal is inevitably and attempting to build an ethos and ethical narrative while also treating the org stories and GoT as material to re-market through his own "vision" of what he'd personally like to see as a ASoIaF story.

Just bc this is a huge media company doesn't mean whatever they say is "God" for the actual story they were tasked to adapt! You can enjoy that and still recognize nothing about it or most of it informs the orig story or "proves" anything of it WITHOUT bringing up good reasoning and comparisons as to how-why!

Much of the characterization/writing/plot decisions he makes are not about feminism or making the characters palatable for others but to--like with a lot of censorship--just make it so that as many people as possible are watching and are comfortable with the most popular but incorrect ideas of what ASoIaF & feminism or sexism is about, etc.. those of which have already been in fandom and larger life/online circulation for YEARS.

Therefore, there is much superficiality as well as what could have been fleshed out and nuanced ideas or directions the current writing HotD has AS WELL AS Condal's/Hess' own biases written into the very fabric of this show that mark it as just ASoIaF "fanfiction" instead of a strict "adaptation". I know people get annoyed with the fanfic allegations, but if you have an "adaptation" that no longer has most-to-any of the core ideas, themes, characterizations, EVENTS, etc. as its original, you call that a fanfic, not an adaptation. Just bc it came from a prestige major studio/company and had a lot of money thrown at it, doesn't make it actually an adaptation.

If the author themselves--even though they should know better bc look what happened with Dany, Euron, Cersei-Jaime, etc.--say something is egregiously wrong with how they written a certain thing in the show, it is not actually using the orig lore and therefore it is more fanfic than adaptation:

Dany--unlike any other Targ, which includes Rhaenyra--has a relationship with 3 separate dragons even though she will only ride one. Vermithor should NOT have been as "docile" with Rhaenyra as they were in the show (saw another clip online, still haven't watched the episode). There is still a reason why Jace tried to get her out TWICE, why Viserys was upset at Aemond for going down to the Dragonpit alone, why Rhaena nearly died trying to bond with some, , why Nettles approach and SUCCESS with Sheepstealer is so amazing, why Baelon bumping a dragon on the nose gave him the moniker "Baelon the Brave", etc. Dragons are damned dangerous to anyone who aren't their rider! And Rhaenyra's "specialness" was evident in the plethora and rise of dragon eggs....you want to show her as such? Have dialogue about the trajectory of dragon eggs laid compared to now vs 40/30/20/10 yrs ago!

Yes, most of the Targ women are connected and esp through magic and fertility & expressed "Targaryen woman's strength" and agency in unique but still related ways. But as rhaenin-time once said:

HotD thinks it's somehow an improvement to insist that actually, no, they're all just (by circumstance) variations of a "generic targ girl" template.

You could have even have Rhaenyra stumble on something a GoT character later finds but not have her go into that deep about it bc she's focused on the war/usurpation if you really want to stick with the whole oversimplified "distracted by selfish stuff" going on. Point is, Rhaenyra's significance was meager compared to Dany's SPECIFICALLY when we talk about active and participatory spiritutality/magic. Passively and more subtly, Rhaenyra dying spelled the end of dragons...so be subtle about it and stop with the whole "religious cult" nonsense that really is just a continuation of the whole Dany-is-a-facist nonsense we got in the final season of GoT. "Targ madness" and all that.

Of course they won't bc this is Condal's "vision", but hey, got things off my chest.

[fateinthestars]

Right as I'm still working on fics in the background I guess I ought to post something else here. So let's go for one of the other special stories that got votes on my poll:

Pressuring the Gods: His True Feelings

This set includes stories for: Leon, Scorpio, and Zyglavis.

Spoilers under cut.

These three stories are all from the Point of View of the God in question. Unlike some special stories this one doesn't have specific titles for the different Gods but there is a description of all three in the summary: 'How does he feel when...'

1.When you're in the company of another man (Leon)

Pfft, Leon really does himself no favours when it comes to work. Even he himself seems to imply in several stories (including this one) that he can breeze through it in a few days if he really wanted to, he just doesn't see the point in schedules.

Which is why here poor Karno forces him to stay in the heavens until stuff is actually done for once! (Though to be fair there is also mention of the King annoying Leon which probably hasn't helped matters).

Also, Hue? You deliberately got Leon to look in the reflecting pool here didn't you! You already knew MC was having a good time with the other Gods.

Leon's way too self-assured about their relationship to let this kind of thing bother him though. If either Hue or Karno thought he'd actually be concerned that someone else might try and 'steal' her they couldn't have been further from the truth.

It falters a little due to something else but then... GOOD GRIEF The King here! What the hell was that?! Why would you do that to poor Leon?

Despite the summary of this one this isn't one of those jealousy stories. If anything this is a showing of how much faith Leon has in MC and the strength of their relationship. Even his brief faltering is because he thinks she's being inconsiderate about something rather than having any issue with her spending time with the others - in fact the only problem here is The King and I'm on Leon's side with that!

2. When he's intoxicated (Scorpio)

This one has some nice moments between Scorpio, Dui, and Ichthys at the beginning and being from Scorpio's point of view it clearly shows how much their friendship actually means to him, in his own Scorpio way at least.

What might be more interesting about this part of this story though is this small detail about the heavens: that there's a forest that can grow all fruit that you could possibly imagine but it's only there for a limited time. It's no surprise that Scorpio heads to the apples and Dui heads to the cherries, but it seems Ichthys' favourite are peaches.

Pfft. Poor Scorpio just cannot handle his alcohol - or in this case an apple with alcohol like effects. Also it doesn't matter how often you deny it to yourself and insist even internally that you're not lonely, you clearly are Scorpio.

This is a sweet one with some nice interactions with all of Punishments as well as some details about the heavens themselves.

Though speaking of interactions with all of Punishments...

3. When he can't meet you due to being busy with work (Zyglavis)

Oh Zig, you always pride yourself on making sure work is done efficiently and properly and yet despite you ignoring the other's goading you were clearly already having slight doubts over what they were implying, even before Ichthys' 'prank'.

Re-reading this just now... I've noticed something odd. It might be a translation error but: "(Perhaps I should have at least left a shadow of myself to stay by her side)" not 'left my shadow' but 'a shadow' ? Does that mean Zyglavis' power of manipulating shadows mean he can create ones other than his own? Hmm...

Poor Zyglavis is really grappling with himself here. He believes that doing anything rather than the work after the way MC saw him off would be a disservice, but he even messes up his neat pile of paperwork whilst lost in thought here. Though I think part of the problem is what the others were saying earlier (especially you Ichthys, and Dui you weren't helping either).

Talking of Ichthys: You might be somewhat annoyed at him Zyglavis, but I'm not. I can see exactly what Ichthys was trying to do here and it worked. I think you know too really.

This is something I want to cover in a post of its own at some point but: Ichthys is a massive enabler in routes that aren't his own. A lot of his actions are actually things that either help MC or her God and helps their relationship because of it or is directly to help the relationship in the first place.

I mean Scorpio even asks Ichthys for advice at one point during his main route.

Anyway, I absolutely adore this Zyglavis story and there's another thing I want to point out regarding his character here: You know how he crashes through a window in Hue's main story? Zyglavis' usual demeanour clearly vanishes when he's panicked about something!

And the example in this story is one of the clearest of that happening I can think of:

Zig, hon, you were in your room… there was no need for you to go anywhere to do this… you have your own fountain! Why use the reflecting pool? Sheesh. 🥰

There's so many nice little details in this one too like him getting so worried he's clenching his fists so tightly the paper he's holding crumples.

Also, it may be my imagination, but it feels like this one is longer than the other two in this set? Leon and Scorpio's stories are both nice heartfelt fluffy stories that are a very nice read, but there just seems a little more to this one.

Or maybe that's just my Zyglavis bias showing. 😅

[ratstuckinamarble]

All right, lets talk about Pyramid Scheme! Because why not.

So the episode starts with Cleo being as pompous as ever (don't get me wrong, I love that about her) while talking to her diary-eyeball thing about the school play. She wants to audition for the role of Cleopatra, and we get to see her practice in front of Clawdeen and Frankie. And can I just say, I love her personality this gen, because it even shows in how she's practicing her lines: "I have immortal longing! In meee. And then some- other words!"

It's great. Frankie looks so happy to be there, they even stood up while clapping for her. We all see you Frankie.

Clawdeen does not seem quite as impressed ("Wow Cleo! That was... Uhm. Anyway."). They're looking for the mummy talisman, and I'm exited to see that storyline continue. But Cleo has other priorities.

It isn't in her jewlery box, so she stopped looking. Yeah that seems about right for her.

She outright says that she was named after Cleopatra, which made me really exited on my first watch. Because we all knew that's why she was originally named that, but it's cool that it's canon.

Nefera was studying abroad in Scaris, and I really hope we one day get some kind of special or something where they all go there, cause that seems fun. Apparently, they both have an interest in acting, but their parents only ever supported Nefera in that regard, while Cleo got to be... The tree.

Ouch. No wonder she doesn't want to see her sister, if she can only associate her presence with getting sidelined.

Before she arrives, Cleo talks to her heart: "Cleo + Cleo's heart forever!" Which is stronger, Frankie's feelings for Cleo, or Cleo's love for herself? Does Frankie have a shot?

Jokes aside, I do think Cleo's behaviour is a symptom of her self doubt, and it'd be cool to see that explored some more. Definitely shows how parents not showing enough pride for one of their kids can effect them.

Frankie's manner of fact speaking once again shines through: "Do you have another sister? (...) Cause you said Nefera's in Scaris, but that girl behind you looks a lot like you. But even more royal." Damn.

Nefera makes her entrance, very exited to see her little sister. Cleo does not share the sentiment. She was invited to audition for Cleopatra as well, and Cloe is desperate to find a way to get the role.

Aside from that, we get to see her room for the first time! Neat.

"We all know what makes you royal! Jewles." I think you might have gotten the wrong message there.

She thinks she can get the role by dazzling everyone with Cleopatras necklace, which is why she wants to sneak into her families tomb. The passageway is a small pyramid, and once again, Frankie has the best comments: "Should we tell her that's a paperweight?"

Nefera barges in before they can leave, and asks if Cleo "...Join(ed) the track team, cause you ran out of there like you wanted to set a new record!" Girl, either you're oblivious, or in De Nile. Hah.

Cleo and Frankie rush off to the tomb, leaving Clawdeen to come up with an excuse: "Urgent snack break." Based.

Followed by Frankie's iconic line: "Anything for you Cleo." Right before dematerializing. Okay, so they just get sent back to Cleo's room, but it's still amusing. To give Cloe some credit, she does look concerned.

Cleo takes the necklace and it all goes wrong, because it has to be replaced by something of equal value, a.k.a. not the random rock she picked. The tomb starts falling apart, and Nefera, Clawdeen and Frankie go after her, because they know Cleo is putting herself in danger. But then Nefera is the one who falls down.

Something interesting, Cloe looks to her for what to do. I think she does look up to her, to an extend, and would like her a lot more if she didn't get so overshadowed by her.

Their conversation after that is interesting too. Cleo admits to taking Cleopatra's necklace, and Nefera asks: "Why do you have to do things like that? If you're just-" Things like what?

Cleo says she knows, she'll never reach her high bar, but she's trying. Seems like Nefera had some expectations of her she couldn't meet? I'd really like the context to that.

We find out that the necklace is the heart of Cleopatra, so if you want to replace it with something equal... It has to be a heart. Cleo is about to put it back, but doesn't. Because the mummy palisman is on it, and helping Clawdeen get her mom back is more important to her. She throws it to her, and Frankie does not know the right time to simp. "Impressive throw Cleo!" jhgfdkj

Cleo puts her own heart there to stop the tomb from falling apart on them all, effectively dooming herself to being emotionless and cold forever. Gotta show you her monologue: "Goodbye heart! It was super cool that you let me feel emotions all these years. I'll miss that! If missing is something I can do without you nearby."

The destruction stops and they all get Nefera out of the pit of doom. Cute little scene, she helps Cleo fix her bandages.

Of course, Frankie can't let Cleo go heartless, so they, uhm. Bite a rock into the shape of a heart.

Are their teeth made of steel or something? Gotta love what they say before that though: "Gonna try something. Sorry if it traps us all in here forever." They're so nonchalant about it. Still, it works and they announce it as their own heart. I don't know what kind of passion they put into making that thing for the tomb to recognise it as equal to an actual heart, but I'm sure the Francleo shippers have their theories (I say, as if I don't ship them too).

The talisman ends up showing that Cleo is the mummy representative, because her sacrificing her heart was so selfless. Which makes me think, it seems like the other amulets match with the main cast, right? So maybe they all find their respective amulets, and have to do something selfless so they can be the representatives when they all open the portal again. Just a thought, I haven't looked at the episode summaries, so I don't actually know.

Also; "No ones ever chosen me over you." That is so sad. Frankie you better pick her right now >:(

And try not to kill your friends.

So yeah, fun episode, I liked it a lot. Also big thanks to bluebelleisabelle for sharing all the episodes on her pinned post, we all really appreciate it.

[oliviax727]

I finally gotten to it, I am finally going to start learning a language (Spanish)

Wait, why should I care?

You don't need to care at all. I just want to keep a public record of my progress and see if I can pull off the effort for long enough to achieve my goals.

If you're not interested, there's no shame in scrolling past this post once a month. And dw, these posts will be at most monthly. So if you're here for something else, this won't clog things up.

If you're concerned about the physics, reminder this is my personal account, and there's another one exclusively for those who just want the science without the shitposting/personal/political stuff.

Though if you're like a linguist or something - or are interested in language stuff in general, I'm sure you can find some value in this post perhaps.

What language will it be?

tl;dr Spanish

Also I love putting all this colour in my post. It satisfies my autism so much.

Now, I've come from a very multilingual background. I learned mandarin between age 5 - 13, and latin in grades 7 thru 8.

Mandarin was a language I could never get the hang of.

It probably had to do with some child-like racism combined with a lack of motivation.

Buuuuut it most likely was a consequence of when I moved from Hong Kong to Australia, my new school did not accomodate the fact I was already experienced.

Nevertheless, I feel as if my Mandarin skills have been overshot, and I don't think I'd be motivated to re-learn it unless I overwhelmingly succeed in this.

Latin was just a dud - I decided to do it because I thought it would be interesting, but dropped it after I realised I had too much on my plate heading into 9th grade.

But Spanish on the other hand, well, there are three better reasons why I choose to learn it:

I never really got an opportunity. I stopped wanting to learn from my abuela when I was 3-5 yo, and my Australian high school also didn't offer it either (my high school's curriculum was dogshit)

A big portion of my relatives are tied to Argentina, with my mum being born from Argentine immigrants. She spent her high school years doing ESL as Spanish was her second language

Aspiring to do Astrophysics is likely going to land me in Chile, as the Andes is home to telescopes-a-plenty

I could've also gone with other languages I'm interested in, like:

German (because my abuela was born from German immigrants - no they were not Nazis, they actually fled in 1936 to avoid conscription)

Croatian (my abuelo was born in Yugoslavia and fled in the 1950s)

Greek (I don't know why it was my "latin is cool" phase, so I guess I wanted to do ancient greek but I don't know how much drift there has been over the last 2000 years thanks to the romans)

And thus I go with Spanish.

But what about regional dialects?

I am very aware that there are various dialects of Spanish within Latin America, and generally, most online methods of learning will teach you Spanish Spanish.

But I think it's more important to first learn a bit of basic vocab, and the grammar, before worrying about my regional dialect. I'm still pretty sure that the most common and important grammar conventions are still shared between languages.

And I already know that people will tell I'm a foreigner, because I'll have an "English"-like accent to it. Learning a specific dialect will only make it harder to tell, not eliminate being "language clocked" entirely.

So what's this going to look like?

Every month or two I'm going to personally report, to myself, via tumblr, my progress in learning. I'll list what I learned, what I still need to work on, and what I wish I could do next.

Effectively this is going to be a public journal of sorts, to make sure I feel like I'm doing this productively.

What's the weather like now?

Given that I've already attempted to learn Spanish twice previously, and being exposed to cultural influences, I already know a bit of Spanish.

Most of it is just random bits of vocabulary, that sound a lot less impressive if you were to try and make me say a sentence:

Custom greetings "Hola", "Buenos Noches"

Expletives "¡Ay caramba!"

The basic conjunction "y"

"Niño, niña, hombre"

Agua (with the "con gas" or "sin gas" tacked on too)

Counting from "uno" to "treinta-nueve"

Some month names like "Mayo" or "Diciembre"

Some colours like "Rojo"

Some utensils and tools like "Boligrafo"

Other stuff that I won't be able to recaly suddenly

And I mostly only understand the pronunciation, most of the spellings I had to look up on google translate. Extra I's like in December or thirty, or that there's no "ph" in pen.

There are other simple grammatical rules that I know of:

Gender i.e. words that end with a you tack on a "La" and for o's you tack on "El". More generally you have to pay attention to grammatical gender

As an educated guess from knowing a bit of Latin, I'm sure there are noun and verb declensions that interact with gender as well

Word order, much like English, is SVO

Clearly, I have my work cut out for me. But I also have a head start over a lot of people primarily because I have experience in other languages related to Spanish, which can help inform me on grammar and common vocabulary. I also have some (minor) knowledge in linguistics.

Another one is that I don't just assume that Spanish is a 1:1 translation of English, where you can just swap words for others. This seems like a trivial fact. But you'd be surprised at how much "English-speaking privilege" can blind people who don't require learning second languages.

It can be much more effective to learn a language when you know your expectations.

What are my Goals?

Well, in the spirit of a SMART goal, I don't really know. Because I don't actually know how long it will take me to get to a desired level of fluency.

Sometimes a language can take years to learn, sometimes it can be picked up in just one. And there are so many different "levels" of acheivement.

Which is why my goals in the long term will be more vapid:

At some point, I want to have a semi-fluent conversation with my abuela in Spanish

I want to be able to speak and understand a proper, unbroken sentence within a few months or a year

Now, what I mean by "Sentence" is really finicky. I don't mean "Las mujers leen; ¡Soy una de las mujers!" (see I'm already learning ha ha). I mean a sentence you'd normally say like:

"Hey X, I'm gonna go to the store, what do you need me to buy? Ok see you in half an hour."

That will be a bit difficult. It requires a lot more vocab to get to that level. But of course, I know it's do-able because millions of people have done it already!

What are my short-term goals? And how will I learn?

For the short term, my goals are a little more simpler. Primarily because there will always be a course or an app that will help me learn.

And for the first few months, my goals are most likely going to align with whatever the app has designed for me to do.

The problem is that I feel like most apps will act as if they can take you from no-knowledge to fluent speaker in like 5 months tops, which for an adult sounds a little fishy if you ask me.

When reading through the recommended applications, I came across two that were appealing:

Duolingo, which is more fast-paced and short-form. It gamifies language but may not be great for formal education

Rosetta Stone, which is advertised as better for natural language learning. And requires more effort.

I decided to use both, mainly because I'm lucky enough to afford it ... for now. I don't have much other means to spend my money regardless.

The reason I choose to use both is simply because I want the best of both worlds, and that I can't tell which one is better until I try it. Duolingo makes it entertaining, Rosetta Stone makes it serious. Sort of the balance I'm looking for.

At some point I hope to stop using at least one or the other. But for now I have nothing better to do.

Anyways, that's all I gotta say on the matter for now. Wish me luck!

[td-frog]

thoughts on dcas e6:

the songs

honestly wasn't expecting much (tho i didn't think they'd be bad) but those were actually really good

stylistically i think magenta was my favorite but they were all really good

tom+jake+aiden

this plot is so so funny to me. *tom voice* if i avoid my problems for long enough they definitely won't become infinitely worse

also theater kid aiden going "i need to think about it because i do have a boyfriend, but stage kisses are a thing and we don't have feelings for each other so i can be okay with it"

while tom's like "ah fuck. i really should've talked to jake by now. nothing i can do i guess!" and then afterwards is like "wait do you think he was mad at me?" comedy GOLD

like to be clear so much of the humor for me here is that aiden is Not Interested. literally the entire problem is that tom is not communicating and therefore jake has no reason to know any of that. and especially now that aiden's started picking up on drama it's like. how long can you run from this? maybe you should stop running? oh, no. no he's running faster.

magenta team

i really like ally/ashley friendship. very easily could've been an us vs. them thing even with hunter out, but it makes sense that ashley wouldn't go for that.

also i really like that ally doesn't miss hunter. i think a lot of the problems with their relationship they've been hinting at so far is that ally struggles a lot with personal identity outside of other people, and hunter didn't understand or accommodate that. regardless of whether they stay together in the end, they very much needed a break so she can figure out who she is without him again and whether she actually wants to be there (and i wish her luck).

yellow team elimination

connor vs. yul as the elimination makes sense, and the fact that it was connor also makes sense (especially since yul is now getting production help with his image)

i really really like the detail that alec betrayed connor for his own good. their alliance concerned me because i like the friendship, but with the villains alliance it seemed really dangerous. and alec going "i like this man and i want him around, but being here is bad for him" is actually a really honest and mature approach.

(i also can't be assed to check handwriting, but i did notice it wasn't confirmed riya betrayed him- one vote wasn't read and it could've been against yul- but also i don't expect that to really mean anything)

rest of yellow team stuff

grett :( baby :(

she does not deserve this treatment and i know yul's going down in the end because he is so intentionally designed to be so so terrible but in the meantime :(

riya fucking up was telegraphed so hard (not a bad thing) and i appreciate how it a) makes her the obvious boot from a single challenge perspective and b) has no actual effect on the elimination.

other thoughts

don't really like what they're doing with trevor and derek. i'm sure it'll work out fine in the end but for now i'm largely ignoring it out of mild squick.

predictions

cyan team is due for elimination, although idk that they'll get it. if they do i'm guessing ellie or tom- either because ellie villain plot finally goes down against her, or tom if the love triangle plot plays out. i could see others but tbh i think this team drama works better with them making it to the merge.

if it's magenta team it's probably fiore, which makes me think it won't be magenta team.

yellow team as always is such a dumpster fire of drama. if they lose it's probably yul vs. riya but they both could have plot armor protecting them so idk.

don't have much else rn because i need to leave but hopefully e7 is able to come out on time, and even if not that the difficulties the team is facing re: leakers aren't too devastating.

[devsgames]

happy covid!!

what are your thoughts on demos?

Unhappy COVID to all those practicing 😔 Thank you for the ask!

As a player:

I like playing demos if I really don't know what a game is and still need to see how it feels to play. Generally though I think I know what I like well enough to gauge whether or not I'm interested from the outset, so I don't play them all that often. As a kid I downloded demos like crazy because...well hey, free games right? I liked timed demos the least in that respect because they felt like too much pressure for little kid me. :3c

As an indie dev:

Conventional wisdom is that demos are a double-edged sword.

If your game shows well and can be summarized in a small (~1 hour long) chunk of gameplay then a demo format is perfect - users can try it, get sold on it and wishlist it immediately. Great! BUT if your game doesn't show well, or has more nuance or takes longer to understand in a small chunk of gameplay (or is multiplayer), it can have the opposite effect where less people engage with your game because the experience feels lacklustre in the demo. So it really depends on the game whether or not it's worth it.

I struggled for a while to figure out if I should make a demo for Bombing!! 2 because I had never made one before to know if it was worth it. It was the first title I shipped with a demo, and honestly I was more motivated by the prospect of showing people exactly what they can expect from the game rather than selling them on it. I've always had huge hangups and concerns that people would somehow thing my game was way bigger or grander than it really is and be angry about it in reviews or whatever (we all kmow how Gamers get), so for me a demo was a good way to set expectations for users. After all, no one can claim I'm decieving them or whatever if part of the game is right there for you to play!

In the case of Bombing!! 2 it was also super helpful so players know that there wasn't a ton of crazy gameplay happening they should expect. The game is very much *about drawing* and I wanted people to understand that clearly from the outset. It also helped that I had an archtecture set up that allowed me to easily isolate some content into its own chunk and I didn't have to re-work a portion if my game to make a demo - that would've certainly made for a lot of work.

It definitely resulted in more wishlists, but I did hear sentiment from some people who "played the demo and it wasn't for them" - which is good because it meant the demo was doing its job! I'll probably keep it case by case going forward with projects, because I can definitely see some of my ideas (like my mech game) maybe not demoing exceedingly well. We'll see!

As a studio dev:

Gosh they're annoying.

For anything that is a discrete chunk of gameplay like that there's always some level of having to design around exceptions (e.g. "the demo story is its own thing", " the demo needs its own tutorial", "the demo needs specific assets and text copy", "we need to build an encounter specifically for the demo" etc.).

This is a pain as an indie but in a full production this is a whole thing on its own, and some people split people off into their own teams specifically to manage and build this stuff. It's pretty annoying if not handled right and I'm glad I don't have to do that anymore :')

[fourseasonsfigs]

Light on You - Word of Honor x EZ Studio Official Set 1 (Good Sword)

There were actually two different official Word of Honor fan fig manufacturers back in the day - Tofu, which I blogged about previously and which is more commonly known, and EZ Studio.

The EZ Studio figs were, as I understand it, fairly unpopular in the beginning, and certainly always remained less popular than the Tofu figs.

The heavily stylized art and the marketing seemed to have been the main reasons. Perhaps these just didn't resonate with the Chinese public.

To no one's surprise, they resonated just fine with me. In fact, I actually love these. I enjoy that they look a little different than the rest of my figs, I love Lao Wen's stylized look in particular (his hair, the eyes - gorgeous) and the ombre shading on the costumes is just lovely.

Which is not to say these figs are perfect by any means. I wish each individual set (there are three) was completely specialized instead of re-using the base molding - there's no reason for A-Xu to have his robes drooping off his shoulder in every single fig set, for instance - but I also am not that picky of a buyer where this most beloved TV show is concerned. As long as the fig looks good and makes me happy, it works for me.

A-Xu arrived with all kinds of cool things! We have his straw hat, complete with some errant peach blossoms, and Baiyi at it's bendiest. A-Xu is not, as one might expect, in his hobo disguise (which surely was a strike against it from the more discerning fans), but does have the disguise scar across his face. As much as I, like Lao Wen, vastly prefer A-Xu in his non-disguised form, I would actually have preferred Hobo-Xu here for canon's sake.

A-Xu's hat fits on his head via these pegs that fit into the holes in his head. What's nice is that there's definitely a front and back side, which makes it fit a little more securely. Baiyi is fairly posable - you can kind of tilt it up and down in his hand to position it in front of his face or lower down.

Lao Wen also comes with his white scholar's fan as a separate piece. You might not be able to tell, but that little bendy piece that is supposed to be the handle of the fan is NOT particularly handy. The fan is quite difficult to get to solidly into his hand, and falls out constantly. I should probably put a bit of the Museum Wax in his hand to get it to actually stick.

Here they are! There's a beautiful ombre effect to the robes here that's a little hard to see.

A-Xu has some peach flower blossoms on his robes, which go beautifully with the peach blossoms on his hat. I think Lao Wen looks particularly rakish from this angle!

You can see the peach blossoms even better from this side. I wish we'd gotten Lao Wen's ginkgo hairpin from the first few episodes here instead of this one. I have yet to see that hairpin executed successfully in fig form. One day I'll get it!

It's interesting they have the hair colors reversed here too - in the show A-Xu is the one with pure black hair, with Lao Wen's hair slightly more brown.

The script on the left side (their right feet), translates per MTL as "a literary creation". The roundish writing on the right side is Koitake's branding. You can see their boots and Lao Wen's pants (sorry Lao Wen). I really like how well their boots are detailed on these figs.

The box cards. Oh, that's how Lao Wen is supposed to hold his fan! Oops. It does look much better that way. It probably fits just fine in his hand that way too. Shoot, I haven't looked at these cards in forever. Let me, uh, check that out.

Alright, a bonus extra pic. I realized I also hadn't taken an overhead shot, so it's the perfect opportunity to put his fan in his hand the right way, and showcase the top of A-Xu's perfect head. I was at least gratified to see that I wasn't totally clueless - Lao Wen's little PVC hand doesn't hold his fan any better this way. In fact, it won't stick at all. So, I did end up putting a bit of Museum Wax into his hand, and the fan sticks just fine now.

Material: PVC

Fig Count: 162

Diorama Count: 9

Snowglobe Count: 1

Rating: Perfect as a spring day! And it is a beautiful spring day in the jianghu, isn't it. A perfect spring day to have a drink. A drink on a boat.

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

[evelhak]

I am interested!!! So...

🔥+ alternative nutrition (bugs flours, genetic modified veggies ecc...).

Thank you so much babe!

Vesper

I'm so sorry that I might be totally underprepared to answer this question. My first thought was literally... "I had grasshopper bread once, it was bread". But it also didn't stay in stores for long, because no one bought it. I guess I've had too many acute problems in my life to think too carefully about anything where the effects don't come close to me yet? (I mean that mostly in the sense of immediate bodily needs, I do think about broader experiences and abstract stuff quite a lot even if it doesn't concern me specifically.) I just don't have enough energy I guess. I spent so much of my life not being able to eat much that now that I can, even though I have been for more than ten years, I still haven't really branched out from just being enamoured with everything I can eat. 😂 All this to say that I know I should be thinking of possible eco catastrophes but I haven't really, not in high detail, because there's no shortage of food in my country, 80% of food is local, and yes I get the bigger picture but also my own energy is very limited... So I have no wise detailed perception of good specific solutions for a future food crisis.

Soo... I think it's great that people are developing alternatives, because they will be needed at some point, in some places sooner than others. I don't think there can be one-size-fits all solutions since environments are so different. I think solutions should always be based on the particular environment if at all possible, and I think people need to (re)learn to live with the changes and fluctuations of their home instead of looking for some absolute solution.

However I don't have a particular opinion on different alternative nutrition sources? I've barely thought about genetic modification, since it's so restricted in EU anyway. I know there's some grasshopper farming in Finland, which is probably a good thing? I tend to think anything local is good and if it could balance the overuse of meat that would be great.

However I'm kinda sceptical that people will start to truly consider these alternative sources before it's absolutely necessary, and that means a big portion of people are probably gonna die. Yes, I know I'm part of the problem. Relative to most people I probably don't have a huge carbon footprint (like I don't drive and most of the meat I eat was hunted by my dad) but I'm also not going to pretend that I'm gonna think about the future of earth when I want a burger.

I am very concerned about the suffering in front of me, and can go to great lengths to try to change things sometimes but... also when I think about the human race destroying itself or even the earth, I'm like... so what? I know that may seem contradictory because it's like every life is inherently valuable but simultaneously no species or a planet as a whole is inherently valuable? 😅 Like, my life matters to me, but when I think about myself not getting to do some things or not existing, it's like... Well, it's okay, because someone else still can do those things and exist. And when I think like that far enough, then nothing matters, because there's probably always gonna be some form of life and someone experiencing the world, and in thinking that I can always be content. But that's not practical so then I always find my way right back to just enjoying what I get and what's in front of me, because thinking like I do, I can't commit to living for the future.

This became mostly about why I haven't bothered to think about or do research about your question. Sorry. I know I'm thinking a lot of this because I feel powerless and like the end is gonna come, so I might at least enjoy myself waiting for it, or something. I know a lot of people have a different experience but I'm used to responding to problems as they rise, and it's not really something I can change about myself at this point.

[journalist-jared]

Day 15 of ADHD Vyvanse

So I've been neglecting my attempts at blogging my journey with ADHD meds and running Monster of the Week which does not bode well for the effectiveness of the treatment.

I've been avoiding writing further because the blogs I wrote got very long and rambley. Also, I still find it very difficult and just commit to doing 1 thing at a time. As I write this I'm playing a mobile game and watching youtube, so sitting down and just reading the Monster of the Week rulebook has been very difficult. I'm still filled with the same nervous, fidgetey energy that made reading a book or just watching a movie very difficult. Further more I've found that going to sleep is harder, my mind is still full of racing thoughts and connecting random ideas. I find myself remembering small tasks I had forgotten to do in the day, like adding a card to a magic deck or taking out a tool for a task to do tomorrow.

I know that meds aren't a silver bullet for all the executive dysfunction issues that I have. I knew that they could not magically fix my poor memory, but I had hoped that they would fix my ability to just do one thing at a time, like read a book, watch a movie, or play a game. I still feel like doing any one of those things is like I'm not doing enough. If I'm playing a game I feel like I'm not using my full attention and wasting my time because I could also be watching my shows or listening to a podcast/audio book and getting through all the things I want to. If I'm just watching a show or listening to a podcast/audio book then I'm not doing anything with my hands and I need to be moving in some way. Similarly with books, just staring at the page is not enough to hold my whole attention and I need to be moving or playing something as well.

On the other hand, Monster of the Week is going great. While I may only be 2/3rds of the way through the rulebook, we had our session 0 character creation session. I was worried that I had not prepped enough of the game rules to help coach the players through and I thought I should have prepped a small adventure to draw the players together, I'm glad I didn't in the end because we ended up going long.

My hunters are Emily the Spooky who has psychic powers and discovered the Stargate Program by mind reading someone and getting recruited. Isabella the Monstrous, she's a Wraith receiving periodic injections of the retrovirus to suppress her Wraith DNA and making her human, she's posing as a scientist for the SGC and being closely monitored in case her wraith powers re-assert themselves and she lets loose. Gary Jones the Mundane IT contractor for the SGC, I think this is so funny and perfect. I'm going to be making so many situations where a random IT tech needs to assist the more traditional heroes to save the world. Caroline the Flake, she's a Staff Sargent with the Air force in the SGC but she's been moved around departments so many times that no one really knows who her direct superior is nor which specific role or department she's in and she just sort of floats around and takes on whatever duties interest her. I'm so happy with this idea, there's something so Catch 22 about the situation and reminds me also of the NRD from Stargate. Any time the National Intelligence Department have to write down what agency is requisitioning something they write down NRD for No Real Department. I'll also be playing a Keeper PC of Alec Peters, call sign Flux, the Professional. I feel like the players themselves need a chaperone as they are unfamiliar with Stargate and the team also needs a character connecting and driving them all into adventure, they're al fairly new to the SGC as well and Alec has been in there for some time.

My biggest concern is fitting Emily's telepathy into the cosmology of Stargate. There are telepathic monsters in the show like the Wraith, but no humanoid ones that I can remember. She could be more evolved and closer to ascension, but I've always had a problem with the nature of Ascension in the show. Sometimes they talk about it like you have top be physically more evolved than contemporary humans but other times Ascension is a thing that people can be coached into. I prefer the latter and I think the player will too. I have a few specifics to work out with my players still about their characters and make sure they're on the same page as I am with regards to how they fit into the setting.

As for where and when my players will be entering Stargate, I had originally thought they should be part of a Forward Operating Base, similar to the Alpha or Beta sites in the Milky Way Galaxy. I really like where the show ended off for Season 10 of SGC and Season 4 for Atlantis. The Ori are still a threat even if they don't have a firm foothold in the Milky Way, there are Goa'uld factions and the Lucian Alliance are fighting for control over parts of the Galaxy. The Wraith are still a threat even if they haven't made it to the Milky Way and Atlantis flying to Earth, running out of power upsets the power balance in the Pegasus Galaxy. The Tau'ri no longer have a base to operate from in that galaxy but have allies and interests to protect. They didn't outright state that they don't have the power to fly Atlantis back to the Pegesus Galaxy but I feel like it's implied from the fact that they had to land and cloak the city instead of just re-establishing orbit. So in my head, the 3 Zero Point Modules they used to fly Atlantis to Earth and protect it from the Wraith Super-hive are completely drained and the city is now stuck on earth and cloaked just off the coast of San Francisco, which is objectively hilarious.

So I had this idea to set my games on a distant planet from Earth that's the last habitable world, closest to the void between the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies. They would act as a re-supply point for the Tau'ri ships making the 3 week journey to Pegesus and back. they can re-supply from the planet to the ships and themselves be supplied from the Earth Stargate. I also had vague ideas about being an outpost to conduct diplomatic and educational expeditions for the newly freed planets in the galaxy. I would have liked to see what kinds of efforts the Tau'ri made to support and uplift the Jaffa and other free societies, it's important to me that Earth does not simply abandon those that it could offer some form of aid and I want to make it happen in my story.

These where all pretty loose ideas and while I had the hooks for some adventures I had no concrete details for this base or any reason my players must be there. Now that we have completed character creation I think it would be best if the Hunters where just part of the Earth SGC. Gary being an IT contractor would probably not agree to be posted off-world and while it would maybe be safer for a suppressed Wraith to not be on Earth, Earth is also the safest place to monitor and eliminate her should they lose control. The new status quo of having Atlantis on Earth sets up plenty of reasons for these individuals to be thrust into adventures together, even if they're not formalised as an SG team for some time.

I like the idea of Gary working on integrating the Atlantis database with other earth systems, Isabella playing at being a scientist without having all the memories and experiences of one as part of the retrovirus gives the subject amnesia. Emily trying not to read everyone's mind and also not being used solely for her powers to benefit the SGC. Caroline just finding something interesting to do and avoid being noticed. With Alec being somewhat onto Caroline but also assigned to be Emily and Isabella's handlers unbeknown to them and constantly having to go to for tech help because of the situations that keep coming up. Eventually I think that the SGC should recognise how well they work together and formally assign them as a SG team.

The Hook for the first adventure I've planned is for SG-9 to return from some off-world mission on a populated world that is being preached to by a Prior, but they get whammied and come back to SGC brainwashed and compelled to stealing information for the Ori and eventually sabotaging Atlantis.

I've got lots more reading to do, the thing that's I'm finding most helpful for me as I read through Monster of the Week is the advice on adventure planning. Coming up with a hook, planning out 3-4 Witnesses and Bystanders, setting up locations the adventure is likely to take place in (or just the function of those locations so if the team follows up with a trip to a minions home instead of the library the players will still get the same things from that investigation). The Countdown is especially helpful to me for plotting out goals of the baddies in a given adventure. So I can keep those things in mind for when I plan what I expect the Hunters to do and improvise with when they do anything but what I expect.

[casspurrjoybell-33]

Unlikely Places - Chapter 20 - Part 1

*Warning - Adult Content*

Chapter: 20 - Chicken

I re-entered the numbers into the spreadsheet and sighed in relief when it finally gave me the numbers I wanted.

I placed my elbows on my desk and leaned my forehead against my palms.

That was the third mistake I had made in less than an hour.

That wasn't like me at all.

I closed my eyes and let my mind drift.

I should have known where it would take me.

**********

I was once again back at the wedding, sitting at the round table surrounded by well-intentioned friends.

Well-intentioned, incredibly nosy, overly concerned friends.

Their faces when I had said Pierce's name had almost been comical.

Other than Archer and Percy, the other three could not hide their initial show of dislike and frustration, even though they had known what I was going to say.

They had tried, for my sake, to swiftly disguise that show of distaste but I had already seen it.

Had already expected it.

In truth, after their initial response, they had mostly shown worry and concern.

There had been warnings voiced and caution advised and there had been pep talks galore.

Those had pretty much added up to 'don't worry there are plenty of fish in the sea' like anecdotes.

Then there had come the big whispered question by none other than Branson.

Blue eyed, blonde haired, all American boy Branson had asked the question I guess they had all discussed at one time or other about me.

'Are you gay?'

I have to be honest and say the question caught me off guard.

I guess I should have expected it and I definitely shouldn't have been surprised Branson had the audacity to actually voice it and at the wedding no less.

Archer and Percy had reacted with affronted frowns and scolded him immediately.

He had looked shame faced but I could tell he was curious and I could tell Noah's and Mick's thoughts and question were on par with his.

After a moment's thought I didn't think they were being unreasonable.

I did think Branson could have been more circumspect and picked a better time to ask but I didn't resent him asking.

All of us had shared openly over the years, though I was more reserved than them.

Also, I simply had less to confess?

As I had never dated, never shown interest, it wasn't surprising nor wrong for them to be curious about me especially as I had just admitted to them that Pierce was having some sort of effect on me and considering Pierce was who he was and had acted the way he had, my friend's concerns couldn't be seen as invalid either.

Thankfully though I hadn't had to say a word because in the next moment Archer and Percy were being called for as it was time to cut the cake.

I had watched as Percy crammed a huge chunk of cake into Archer's mouth while Archer had followed that up with smearing mostly frosting across Percy's lips.

A pretty heated kiss had followed.

Needless to say, in the end Percy hadn't needed a napkin.

After the cake cutting I had decided to kill time at the buffet and had tried to circumnavigate our table for the rest of the reception.

It had meant I had to talk more, which didn't exactly make it my best plan ever but it had allowed me to avoid any more personal inquiries.

The moment that stood out for me most though was towards the end. It is what had been lingering in my mind ever since.

All of the single females had first been lined up and Archer had thrown them his boutonnière in their own variation of the bride throwing the bouquet.

Many giggles were exchanged as a feisty curly haired girl had snatched it out of the air, her towering height giving her an edge.

Then unexpectedly, all of the single males had been called up. Evidently, in their continuous fight for everything equal, Percy had decided he would throw his boutonnière for all single males.

I hadn't gone, choosing instead to linger somewhat hidden by a tall white pillar.

Unfortunately for me, Archer hadn't agreed.

He had started calling my name and searching for me.

My unsuspecting self never felt Noah's approach.

He had snuck up behind me, wrapped his arm around my neck in an affectionate choke hold, and that was what it had been, and pulled me up along with him.

He hadn't hurt me but it was clear he had no intentions of letting go either.

He had applied not so subtle pressure to get me moving to join the others.

To make it worse, he had led me straight to the front and stopped me dead center.

Before anything else could get said, Archer had literally pitched the boutonnière straight at me.

To my chagrin, I caught it.

The person who never ever caught anything, caught the blasted thing.

There had been a lot of laughter and good-natured ribbing.

Percy had winked at me while Archer flashed his big toothy smile.

I could see how pleased he was with himself and I didn't have the heart, on his wedding day no less, to glare.

Instead I had saved that for Branson when he had tried to tease me.

**********

Lifting my head from its leaning position I glanced over at the boutonnière that now lay on my desk.

My first instinct had been to throw it away but a second instinct had kicked in out of the blue.

An instinct created by the melancholy individual I had become yesterday as I watched two of my closest friends dance as they shared a union that had never once enticed me.

The individual was a little enticed.

I was a little enticed.

Thoughts of not being alone, no longer attending stag, sharing my life were starting to become more commonplace.

Out of the blue and after one chance encounter my solitary life style seemed less enjoyable.

Being alone had never felt lonely.

At least it hadn't.

[captainmdhridoyhossain-blog]

[ad_1] The filter makes users look younger and more glamorous. Some TikTokers are concerned that the tool promotes unrealistic beauty standards. (Story aired on All Things Considered on March 8, 2023.) STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: What you see on social media is not necessarily real life. Many people use filters when they're posting photos on social media - filters that change the light and maybe make people look brighter, more attractive. If you don't know, now you know. TikTok has unveiled a new filter powered by artificial intelligence which might be too good. NPR's Bobby Allyn takes a look.BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Annie Luong (ph) noticed it right away when she opened up TikTok recently.ANNIE LUONG: I just saw a lot of girls turning on this filter and their reactions to the filter and how it was such an advanced filter, so I wanted to try it.ALLYN: Luong is talking about TikTok's new beauty filter called Bold Glamour. It's become a viral sensation because it's different than past beauty filters. It uses advanced artificial intelligence. Instead of just putting a digital layer over your face, this filter completely re-creates your nose, chin, cheeks and eyes using a process known as machine learning. Luong, a 28-year-old who works in management consulting in Toronto, looked at herself in the Bold Glamour filter and thought...LUONG: OK, this looks pretty cool, but it just didn't feel like reality. And maybe that - it's because I know that it's not reality, where I'm like, I know that's not how I look in person, and I know that's - I'm not even going to try to look like that.ALLYN: Some of the tens of millions of TikTokkers who have tried the filter have had similar reactions.(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Like, this is hard to tell that it's a filter.UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: This is just so scary. Like, it's so realistic, this one, and so damaging for people that think that this is what everyone should look like.UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I don't know what kind of sorcery that filter is...ALLYN: Not only is the filter creating a glossier, skinnier, more movie-star version of yourself, but people have been freaking out because it's just so persuasive.Luke Hurd is a consultant who works on filters for Instagram and Snapchat.LUKE HURD: It is different. It's not cartoony. It's not drastically aging you or turning you into a child or flipping your gender on its head. And there are a lot of times where you have to kind of look down in the corner and see, wait, is there a filter on this person? And lately, it's been yes.ALLYN: That blurring of the line between reality and fiction is something that can have a lasting effect on your sense of self, says Renee Engeln. She's the director of the Body and Media Lab at Northwestern University.RENEE ENGELN: So your own face that you see in the mirror suddenly looks ugly to you. It doesn't look good enough. It looks like something you need to change. It makes you more interested in plastic surgery or other kinds of procedures.ALLYN: Engeln says some might see a TikTok filter as a playful thing, but it should be taken seriously.ENGELN: It's not like a TikTok filter directly causes clinical depression, but I think it adds to this culture where a lot of young people are feeling really alienated from themselves.ALLYN: Whether creating freakishly good images out of scratch or chatbots that can hold sometimes disturbing conversations, artificial intelligence has been taking the internet by storm, and TikTok and other social media companies are trying to incorporate the latest AI magic into their apps to seize the moment. TikTok wouldn't comment on the design of the filter, and they wouldn't discuss how the feature could potentially worsen people's image of themselves. Luong, in Toronto, says she's happy to see so many people on TikTok - mostly young women - using the filter to talk about how social media perpetuates unattainable beauty standards.

Many who commented on her video using the filter said, you know, I prefer the version of you without this filter.LUONG: But then there were a few comments where it's like, oh, it improved so much; like, you look so much better; like, you should always keep that filter on.ALLYN: Another TikTokker said, as she turned the filter on then off, no wonder everyone feels so ugly all the time.Bobby Allyn, NPR News. Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. [ad_2] #AIpowered #TikTok #filter #sparking #concern #NPR

[firespirited]

Breakfast with mum, we both geeked out about new information about meteors and turning things to glass (she added: including parts of the stomach which led to them finding from the life cycles that it happened in spring) . She told me about non extinction meteors also leaving glass beads in oysters and she's recently been hearing a lot about the Gray fossil site in Tennessee which led me to searching 'tapir tennessee' then "tapir tennessee -gray -zoo" and still being unclear whether there are tapirs still around. I guess not?

We talked about fatphobia in books we held up and she mentioned Pratchett writing about a fat witch sometimes veers into mean for comedic effect and he might remove a few jokes to recenter the character if he were around now as it hasn't aged well. But Pratchett's hardly the worst offender, at least his fat people are proper characters not just villains or the joke.

I talked about holocaust films that end up being actively uneducational and the difficulty of finding stories that center the people concerned without turning into misery porn. We disagree on whether the dude who wrote the boy in the striped pyjamas should have stayed in his lane and not profited massively off a naf both-sidey book but she's right that we shouldn't police who writes stories (i was thinking about tyler perry not being good rep despite being black and the recent Natalie Fall liberal pile-on but didn't bring those examples up) and said so. We agreed there should be certain standards on what makes good educational stories for school and she cackled at Maus banning getting the book to have record sales. I was able to open up a bit and say how moved I was that they weren't perfect victims or perfect survivors. How impactful and humanising it was to hear a different narrative from 'holocaust survivor who accomplished incredible things' to survivor who had trouble loving his kids and a deeply messy relationship with jewishness.

She thought re: striped pjs that they often included a character like us to help humanise and translate a foreign and unusual culture but i just broke out in passion for stories of such alien concepts, hard to understand cultures and even the protags belief systems... So long as the character is fleshed out and has things they hold dear, a 'translator' character comes across as taking away attention from our main protag who we can learn to care about. But before I could finish that thought, we had both ran out of steam.

Ah well. Was nice to sit with her going "oooh oooh yes isn't that cool! Wait, let me write that down for later research.". We're both physically and emotionally drained so instead of exchanging news, love is stored in the interesting facts we've learnt lately.

[angelinthefire]

Director’s commentary on the scene in fypo where Cas and Sam discuss Cas’s death? That was one of my favourites

Also a free choice if you like as well!

Thanks for asking!

The scene where Cas and Sam discuss Cas' death was interesting for me, because I almost didn't include it. I wasn't sure if I could do it in a way that didn't re-tread the ground covered in Cas' discussion with Eileen. And I didn't want to cut Cas' discussion with Eileen in favour of his discussion with Sam, because it's an important couter-point to what Cas is overhearing in Sam's talk with Dean. But I ended up deciding that I wanted Cas to be aware (even if he hasn't truly internalized it) of how much his absences effect Dean when he tells him he has to go back to Heaven, and you can't get the same level of emotion talking about Dean with Eileen as with Sam. So I just pulled back on the Eileen discussion, so that at the end Cas was dismissive instead of concerned, and used it more as setting up the scene with Cas and Sam, rather than really accomplishing anything on its own.

Regarding the scene itself:

1) Cas dying like that was really shitty and it is really fucked up that his happiest moment was Dean's worst moment, and it's always fun to highlight that.

2) On the topic of Sam: I generally don't like it when a scene is set up so that Character A is telling Character B something for B's benefit. You know what I mean? Like, "this is my opinion on your relationship and what you should do about it" or "you should realize this about yourself so this is me telling you." Like that. Those types of scenes satisfyl a certain kind of wish fulfillment regarding B, but they tend to feel artificial imo.

It was really important to me in this fic that while it's very Cas-centric, the other characters all have their own motivations and their own stuff going on. And that makes it more interesting to me. So Sam asks to talk to Cas to satisfy his own curiosity, and because Sam and Dean are used to being up in each other's business, and then when he's telling Cas about what Dean's like when Cas is dead, it's not so much because he wants Cas to know, as it is because he's putting the pieces together for himself and realizing just how bad Dean has had it for Cas all this time.

And then that also means that Sam isn't focused on how Cas is taking this information, because that's not what this interaction is about for him. And that allows him to be much more blunt.

3) Dean is praying at the same time. Something I do quite a bit is have parallel, simultaneous actions or discussions within the same scene. It makes things feel more grounded for me, because the rest of the world doesn't stop while the scene is playing out. And it also opens up oportunities for imagery and juxtaposition and dramatic irony etc etc.

With this scene specifically, hearing Dean's prayer at the same time, it makes the connection between Dean's current emotional state and the fallout from Cas' death very explicit. Cas suddenly has all this addtional context that he didn't have before. So when he first hears Dean's prayer, it's reassuring, but then with more context, (and also with Dean genuinely getting more distressed), it becomes worrying. And it puts in a place so that in the next scene, he's being very soft with Dean and very sensitive. And Dean and Cas are both coming at each other feeling like they've done something wrong or screwed up in some way.

And then when Cas brings up his death with Dean later, Dean's just like, "don't think about it too hard". Which is one of Dean's defining character traits in this fic, lol.

4) And despite having this big discussion with Sam, the fact that his abseces fuck Dean up doesn't really stick with Cas for very long. It can be hard to change, and it's especially hard to change how one views one's self. So it takes more than a couple of talks for Cas to really get it. He has to actually see it for himself.

5) My favourite part of the scene is this: "Cas wants to say that it’s not the same. That Cas loves Dean in the way that Dean cut off pieces of Castiel, fashioned them into a heart, and put it back in a place that had no room for one. And his love hurts, and bleeds, but it beats, and it makes him feel alive like nothing else. And Dean can’t possibly love him the same way, Cas wouldn’t want him to. It’s too painful."

Because it's a gory description, which I think is fitting for the way Cas feels. And it makes Cas a creature of Dean's creation, Dean's Frankenstien monster, which is a really neat concept, and I think it captures something about how Cas views his relationship with Dean (even though I don't actually agree that that's what Castiel is. Too much heart was always Castiel's problem, after all). And I don't think I've written a better description of how Cas feels than "his love hurts, and bleeds, but it beats, and it makes him feel alive." And of course Cas thinking it's impossible for Dean to love him the same way.

If I talk about another scene this post is going to be monstrously huge, so I'd better stop there, lol. Thanks for asking!

Fic link

[caranfindel]

Episode recap/review: Walker 1.14

I didn't expect to recap 1.14 and yet here I am, still avoiding my unfinished Summergen fic. I'm actually writing this in real time, as I watch the episode. So for once I'm not pretending I don't know what happens. I literally don't know.

We begin with Cordell and Grandpa clearing up the crime scene. How much do I love Cordell saying "Daddy?" A lot. And not in that way, you perverts. It just really brings out the Texan.

Liam is in bed, recuperating. He gets a call (note that he calls himself William professionally, which is news to me, and I like it for whatever reason) from someone asking for a comment, which he starts to angrily refuse before Gramma Walker grabs his phone and hangs up. Gramma Walker going all Mama Bear for Liam is also interesting, and unexpected. But Liam says "I can take care of myself" and she says "No, you can't. None of you boys can." And then looks sadly out the window, where Cordell and Grandpa are taking down the crime scene tape. I just have to think "none" and not "both" means she's thinking of poor dead Hoyt, who she obviously loved like a son, if not more so. (More evidence for the Hoyt is her lovechild file? Maybe.)

Geri shows up, wearing an unnecessary cowboy hat and Hoyt's old jacket. She's bearing Hoyt's last will and testament, written on a bar coaster! Oh, my heart. And in case you can't read it:

If I get shivved in the shower or some old horse kicks me upside the head. For real Liam stamp it and everything - I leave everything to Geri/"Geraldine Broussard"/angle [sic] face sweet lips etc. So that plot I bought over in Tanglewood is for her and whatever I got in my pockets or elsewhere. See ya in the next life.

Angle face!

I'm not sure this would stand up in court, since he didn't even sign his last name, although it is witnessed by William Walker. Anyway, it's a moot point, because the land Hoyt intended to give Geraldine "Angle Face" Broussard is transferring to new owners, effective tomorrow. Which makes no sense. The deal fell apart because he died, and yet it's so soon after his death that the police tape is still up. New owners wouldn't be in the picture that quickly. Reverting to previous owners, because it was owner-financed? Sure. But not new owners. (Whatever, Caranfindel. Move it along.) She asks Cordell to go with her to gather his personal belongings. And to bring the kids. Hmmm, let's see how Stella can mess this up. (Tanglewood is 71 miles from Austin. Of course I looked it up.)

But first, Cordell has to sign paperwork to begin his leave of absence. So he didn't actually intend to quit. I mean, we all knew he'd be back, but I kind of thought he was, at the time, intending to quit for good. Does Connie the HR person have a big old crush on him? There is hand touching and deep, serious gazing.

Touch him, Connie. Touch him for those of us who cannot.

Micki is sitting right outside the conference room where he signs his papers but still acts surprised that he's in the building. Did she not smell the rosemary mint shampoo as he walked by? He thanks her for the flowers and apologizes for not calling her back. And then cancels their lunch plans so he can go off with Geri and the kids.

Someone said this on Tumblr, and I think it bears repeating here. It's interesting comparing Cordell's grief, over his wife and now his best friend, to Sam's grief. Cordell is clearly deeply affected, and is also clearly moving on. Sam is just unhinged.

Elsewhere. The gang stops for lunch and reminisces about Hoyt dressed as Santa, wearing assless chaps. Well. That's memorable. (Also, I know people who did the whole leaving horse manure and pretending it's reindeer poop thing. Some people are just a lot more into Santa than I was.) Trevor (Travis? Whatever) called Stella. She's apparently avoiding him. Probably a good call, sis. Maybe the only one you've made in 14 episodes. (To be fair, I didn't watch the first four.)

Micki shares tacos with her boyfriend, whose name I can never remember, having been stood up by Cordell. She tells him Cordell seemed "off," which is great now, Micki. Why didn't you pay more attention to that feeling last week? The BF thinks Micki herself might be off, because she misses her partner. And she calls him family. Captain What's His Face comes to talk to Trey (that's his name, dammit) and asks if he knows a guy who goes to the same physical therapist's office. Friends, when I've done PT, I don't even know people who go to my therapist, let alone just go to someone in the same office. But maybe folks in Austin are just friendlier than they are round these parts. Oh, wait. The guy is missing, and was last seen in a heated discussion with Trey? What's up with that, Trey?

Tanglewood. Cordell asks the nice lady (realtor? owner?) about Hoyt's "personal affects," and she says "they are probably out grazing." Because Hoyt's personal effects are four horses and a llama. Which Geri owns now. "Where am I going to board four horses and a llama?" she asks. Cordell is oddly befuddled (and adorably, cause y'all know how I feel about befuddled Jared), as if he didn't live on a ranch. With horses. The family business, remember? The kids are entranced. I would be too. It's a damn cute llama. One of the mares actually nursed the llama, so they're family. (Watch out for falling anvils.)

Micki's house. Trey says the "heated discussion" was the missing guy showing him a judo move. Captain asks Trey to ride along and help him investigate, and poor partnerless Micki asks if she can come with.

Tanglewood. Apparently Hoyt's personal affects also included gear for the four horses, because everyone is saddled up. Geri doesn't seem like an experienced rider - she keeps her hand on the pommel of the saddle, which I always heard was a rube move. (At least she's not clutching the saddle horn. No shade. It's hard not to. It's a perfect handle and it's just right there.) Cordell, of course, rides perfectly, as he does everything perfectly.

Everything except his job. And raising his kids. But do I care about those things? Not so much.

Geri thinks the llama looks unwell. What is she, a llama expert? A veterinarian? And what are they doing on this trail ride anyway - taking the herd back to the Walker ranch? It's 71 miles away! It's an hour and a half driving! How will they get the truck? Why didn't Cordell just say "let's go back to the ranch and get Daddy's cattle trailer?" WHY.

(No one cares. No one but you thinks about these things.)

Stella is on her phone, but it turns out she's (allegedly) re-reading Hoyt's last text, not chatting with friends. And then she says she was "responsible for everything." Oh, wait. We're going there? Stella is finally going to face the music? Cordell says it's not her fault, but they're interrupted by the llama, who apparently is in distress. Cordell wants to leave him at a random homestead. Permanently? Like, "excuse me, ma'am, but can you take this llama?" Or just while they get the horses home? I dunno.

August doesn't like this, because the llama and the horses are family. Geri distracts him by claiming Hoyt wanted him to have the jacket she's wearing, although I find this rather dubious, because why did she wait so long to mention it? Why is she wearing it herself? It's a lucky jacket he won from a tarot card reader and card hustler named The Mystifying Mehar, who was "infamous for getting out of trouble because of that jacket." Cordell then asks Geri to go off with the kids while he hangs back and tries to ditch the llama. Oh no, Cordell, don't do that. He's family!

Back at the ranch, Grandpa chases off some more journalists. He also ignores Gramma's concern about his cancer.

Trail ride. We skipped the whole bit where Cordell found someone willing to take in a goddamn llama, caught up with his kids, and told them what he did. They're mad that he wouldn't even try, and then Stella impulsively rides off, almost falling into a revine.

Team Sassyboots 2.0 questions the missing guy's wife. Turns out he left a note. Doesn't sound like he's as missing as they thought. He said he would "fix everything," i.e., their upcoming foreclosure. They check his workshop and find evidence that he was a military contractor, and apparently this means he should have no money problems whatsoever, because they don't understand how money works. His gun safe is empty, so they figure he's on some kind of "black ops" job. And if it's going to be complete by Monday, I assume it's something local, and not a military operation.

Walker Ranch. Someone who is Liam's "political opponent" comes to take care of him? And he's bringing barbeque? Is it poisoned? Gramma says Liam can't have barbecue because he's on bedrest, as if one had anything to do with the other. And... Grandpa wants to go mushroom hunting with her? Is that what the kids call it these days?

Trail ride. Cordell found someone to keep the horses. Temporarily? I'm still confused. Stella and Geri talk about Hoyt, and Stella asks about her forgiving him. Thinking about some forgiveness toward your own bad boy, Stella? She says "the two of you were always kind of like the dream to me," which is odd considering they were off-and-on, while her parents were very much on, and definitely seem more like couple goals. But okay. Stella confesses again that she is responsible, and Geri says "you let love in, maybe; that's your worse crime." I wonder if Stella blames herself for the fake truck crash that started the whole domino effect, or if she even realizes that's what happened. Obviously Geri wouldn't. Hmmm, I wonder what August thinks about all this?

Walker Ranch. Whoever this political opponent is, he must be a family friend, because he gave a toast at Cordell and Emily's rehearsal dinner. "Hey, when did your brother have such long hair," he asks, looking at a picture of the happy couple. Liam is growing facial hair again. I like it. Opponent suggests the spicy barbecue will put hair on Liam's chest and Liam tosses it aside and says "no, dammit, after I spent all that time waxing?" And Liam might drop out of whatever race he's in. I don't really care about that part. Let's talk more about Liam's chest.

I love that they can use actual Padalecki family photos as Cordell and Emily photos. No bad Photoshop needed!

Team Sassyboots 2.0. I don't really care about this missing guy either. Skipping it. You know, I understand this is meant to be an ensemble show, and Jared Padalecki and his stupid pretty face and long legs are not going to be in every scene. But Micki working a case with her boss and her boyfriend just bothers me and I don't want to be a part of it.

Trail ride. They're bedding down in the barn for the night? What the fuck? Where are they? Why didn't they just drive home? I'm so confused! Cordell and Geri talk about Hoyt some more. Cordell makes an awkward comment about "us together" and then amends it to mean all of us together, as in you and me and the kids camping right now, not, like, you and me together together, and then does a little eyebrow thing like whoo, good job, talked your way out of that one. NO, CORDELL, YOU ARE NOT AS SMOOTH AS YOU THINK YOU ARE. Anyway. There's a lot of guilt about poor dead Hoyt. Cordell tells Geri her name is still on the Sidestep lease (lease? I thought they owned it?), as if being part owner of a bar is always going to be a good thing, with no liability at all. And they don't kiss, for which I am grateful. The horses are really acting up. I hope nothing's happening.

Cordell checks on the horses and apologizes to the mare for leaving the llama behind. He realizes he made the wrong choice. "You know what," he says. "Let's go fix this."

I adore him.

Walker Ranch. Grandpa and Gramma have been mushroom hunting and are now getting silly. Um, what kind of mushrooms did you two find? And then Grandpa says "tonight's about Hoyt," which I do not understand. "I saw the joy he gave you," Grandpa says. Yes, Grandpa, and do you not find that even a little bit fishy? And then he decides to build something.

Trail ride. Cordell went and retrieved his llama! He is precious. I love him so much. He has some pratfalls in the same ravine that almost caught Stella, and then his family shows up and rescues him. (Can I point out that his "a-ha-ha" laugh is the same one we heard when he opened his gift from Dean in "A Very Supernatural Christmas" and I'm not sure it appeared in any other episode?) August offers the Lucky Jacket to use as a llama harness to haul the little guy out of the ravine. Oh, and it turns out the llama is about to give birth.

And, while I'm skipping Team Sassyboots 2.0, it's hard to ignore that Micki is now in a UFC fight. That might have been an interesting story after all. Y'all can fill me in.

Walker Ranch. They're building a little stable. Because this big horse ranch doesn't have enough stables. Liam, who was bedridden to the point of not being able to eat barbeque yesterday, is now helping build. He gets a text from his former fiance, who wants to talk. And Grandpa has decided to treat his cancer. Happy endings all around!

Micki's house. She says she was passive-aggressive with Walker because she's afraid of losing him. I get it, sweetie. He's someone you don't want to lose.

Trail ride. August is carrying the newborn llama, wrapped in the Lucky Jacket. Geri wants to cut out before they get to the ranch. She's going to ride the bus home? Seriously? Isn't her car at the Walker Ranch? She and Cordell talk abou their unfinished business. Yeah, like the fact she was probably involved in your wife's murder? That unfinished business, Geraldine? Grandpa meets them before they get to the ranch and informs them he has a strict no-llama policy on the ranch. But luckily, he just built an alpaca stable. They’re alpacas, not llamas. So, Geri called him, but how did he know they were alpacas? Did she send pictures? I am so confused. Anyway. The new family goes into their new home. They name the baby alpaca Hoyt, of course.

Little Hoyt, guys, he's the sweetest thing.

Breakfast. Political Opponent gives Liam a contribution. Oh, I get it. They're running for the same office, and he thinks Liam will draw votes away from his other opponent. Shrewd. Stella calls Trevor and says she might need to leave the past behind. And you are the past, Trevor. Cordell sees a truck pull up and runs out to meet Micki. She apologizes for holding a grudge over him leaving. She tries to shake hands and he hugs her instead. She thinks they can just be friends now instead of partners, and he says they're not friends, they're family. And then she oohs and aahs over the alpacas, which she recognizes immediately as alpacas and not llamas, and also points out that little Hoyt is actually a girl. Oops. Awkward. Cordell is surprised she can just tell. "Most people can." Yeah, you are the worst rancher's son ever. Then Cordell sees the fence is carved with a memorial to Hoyt. Aw.

He is also the sweetest thing.

So. Less drama than last week. More warmth. A ridiculous B story that was as annoying as giving Cas his own plot. Will I still watch next week? Yeah, probably. I have questions. How did Grandpa know they were alpacas? Where is the baby daddy? Can Cordell and his rancher father really not tell the difference between a male and female alpaca? Why is Geri riding the bus home, when her car is at the Walker's? Why is she avoiding the Walker Ranch? Will August ever get his own plot again?

It's just a shame that this episode didn't have any shout-outs to Supernatural, like the last one did...

[strangertheory]

"anti-Mileven"

I know you submitted this as a message and not an Ask, but I hope you don't mind if I answer your question with a longer post because this is a topic that is important to me but is complicated. I've meant to do a post about this, but kept putting it off because it is a very layered topic for me and my thoughts about Mileven are probably not what a lot of fans want to hear.

I respect that everyone develops an attachment to their preferred couples in stories for personal reasons, and as such any criticism of the dynamic between two characters that are dating can feel like a very personal criticism. I respect everyone's head-canons and favorite ships as sacred ground: I don't want to tell anyone how they should or should not relate to a story. That's unique to each of us as fans, and we will all enjoy Stranger Things for different reasons.

However: I do have some thoughts regarding the way that the narrative has established the dynamic between Mike and El. And I personally do not find their dynamic *as it currently is* to be one that is ideal for either of them yet.

I really care about Eleven and I really care about Mike. They are two of my favorite characters in the story.

To say that I'm "anti-Mileven" is a huge oversimplification of how I feel about Mike and El's dynamic.

I am very much anti:

overlooking the fact El has been treated as a lab rat and abused and isolated from society for the majority of her existence and her ignorance of her own identity and her own desires is repeatedly reinforced canonically. ("How do I know what I like?") El has spent only a few months out in the world beyond her cell at the lab and beyond Hopper's cabin, she knows very little about the world yet, and she is being taught much of what she now knows by her boyfriend who also happens to be one of the few people she interacts with in her daily life. The power difference and social difference between them is huge currently regardless of whether Mike is a nice kid with good intentions or not, and they are both fourteen years olds.

overlooking that it is superficial and not representative of a "deep" relationship to only kiss and make out with a significant other and not do other meaningful activities that establish a real day-to-day relationship (like hanging out with friends and other loved ones as a couple.) There's a popular misconception that the act of two people kissing is inherently romantic and a sign of emotional closeness. But kissing becomes romantic psychologically when two people share a deep affection for one another that is based on shared experiences and emotional and psychological connectedness. If two characters can be shown to care about one another without ever physically touching, they have the potential for a deep connection that is based on more than the thrill of physical affection. Give me a well-developed relationship first, and then kissing will seem romantic to me. Without an established psychological and emotional connection between characters, kissing is merely a superficial representation of the idea of intimacy between characters without any actual substance underneath. Sure that's what kids do when they're figuring out how dating and feelings and physical intimacy work and it's not harmful in itself provided that they are both comfortable with it, but keep this in mind within the context of the other concerns I list here.

trivializing Mike's dishonesty and blaming Hopper for Mike's lying when the truth is Mike could have easily explained to El that Hopper didn't want them spending as much time together and having some space would be better. El is well aware of Hopper's dislike for their time spent together. This should have been a very easy conversation. As Lucas rightfully asks as Mike is ranting about the situation he got himself into: "Why lie?" Good question, Lucas. Good question. El asks Mike this again later at the mall. "Why do you lie?" Mike stares back at her with an awkward expression, and does NOT answer her. Why is this answer not an easy one? Why has Mike still not addressed things with El? I think there is more going on here than just Hopper's threats.

I am very in favor of:

El learning more about who she is and what she wants to do with her life outside of the desires and expectations of other people.

Mike figuring out how to effectively express his thoughts and feelings honestly. He is clearly struggling to do this throughout season 3, and it is uncharacteristic of the kid who defiantly said and did what he wanted frequently in seasons 1 and 2. Clearly Mike is not comfortable and is nervous, which is understandable for someone exploring new emotionally vulnerable territory like dating for the first time, but he needs to learn to be honest and tell people how he is thinking and feeling or else he is also putting himself and his feelings and needs at risk and potentially establishing an unhealthy relationship that will hurt him and hurt others even if he doesn't mean to. Mike's nervousness is STILL present in the final goodbye scene in which Mike and El talk, and El tells him she loves him and kisses him. He is still stumbling over his words and anxious, and he seems notably confused after El kisses him. These small details are not trivial, they are clearly intentional.

Recognizing that Mike is the first person her age that was kind to El when she escaped the lab, and given that she has only known pain and abuse her entire life and has never known friendship let alone romance that her psychological readiness for understanding a romantic relationship is NOT the same as an ordinary 14 year old's and this cannot be stated enough.

Recognizing that societal pressures and personal insecurities might be a huge factor in how Mike clings to El's attention and affection for him, and that there is evidence in the story that supports this interpretation. We know that Mike is bullied frequently, and that there is a layer of homophobia often involved. (Even if James and Troy were speaking rudely about Will, they were still directly confronting Mike. The implication is there.) We know that Lucas yelled at Mike "No Mike. You're blind. Blind because you like that a girl's not grossed out by you!" This reveals that Lucas knows that Mike is insecure and wants validation. Just because Mike has a desperate desire to be loved and liked by a girl does not mean that his appreciation of El's attention is based on his genuine romantic affection for her. Mike might be dating El because he enjoys the attention, he likes being liked, and he likes how having a girlfriend makes him feel more accepted and normal.

Recognizing that every moment that Mike has tried to share something that he is passionate about with El (the Yoda figurine, the dinosaurs) she has been completely disinterested. Since El has no cultural connection to the pop culture stories Mike loves and she lived in the Lab her entire life, it makes perfect sense that she will have no interest in these toys. Her lack of interest in what Mike is passionate about, however, is worth noting: not because it's a bad thing, but because it's just one of many reasons they are "not even from the same planet" and cannot bond and connect easily. El has lived an incredibly different life from Mike, has suffered through so much, and is still learning about the outside world and about herself. She is severely behind in social and personal development. She needs time to learn and to grow and to heal so she can live her best life and recover from what she has been through. (She doesn't really care about your Star Wars toys, Michael, because she just learned what a phone is and is processing a lot of other things right now.)

*I want to credit @kaypeace21 for pointing out many of these particular observations listed above: you can read her very detailed and extensive analysis in her post here: El is Not in Love with Mike.

These are just a few of many thoughts I have regarding Mike and El's dynamic together, and why I find the romanticization and idealization of their dating relationship to be more suited to fan-canon and fanfiction. For El to have a relationship with Mike that I would personally enjoy and appreciate, the story would need to convincingly allow her to establish a notably better understanding of who she is and what she wants, and have time to heal from her trauma and learn a lot more about the outside world. While I suspect that the Byers moving away will be very difficult for Will, in many ways I think it will benefit El tremendously and I hope that she is given more opportunities to learn and to grow.

I also agree with @hawkinsschoolcounselor 's hypothesis that Mike is projecting his feelings for Will onto El. It's impossible for me to see Mike's dynamic with El as entirely separate from Mike's relationship with Will because El was found in the woods when they were looking for Will in season 1, El helped everyone find Will in the Upside Down and saved his life, and El reappears at the end if season 2 and saves Will from the Mindflayer. Until season 3, El's appearance in Mike's life has been directly tied to Will's survival and safety. I do not think this is a trivial aspect of El's narrative. El's importance within the larger story being told is repeatedly tied back to what Will is dealing with. The reason that El and Will's narratives are so deeply intertwined has not been revealed in the story yet, but I suspect that there are some important aspects of El and Will's stories that haven't been fully revealed yet that will bring all of these seemingly isolated plot threads together. The creators of Stranger Things repeatedly tie El and Will together visually and narratively (re: @kaypeace21), and I believe there is a very specific reason for this.

I look forward to seeing what happens in season 4. Whether my interpretation of El and Mike's dynamic is fair or not, I trust the writers have a compelling next chapter in their story for us all to enjoy.