#i have an analysis to do. i wanna draw a ton. play games-

[lucidd-the-weirdo]

SO SORRY for not posting as much recently btw guys!! I have TONS of art saved up but idk if I'm ready to show some, or like, I just forget to post- ALSO ALSO I've been TRYINGG to work on FYH but my mind is BGFHDSJ- Procrastination + wanting to make new projects every second is KICKING MY ASS!!! I know I should take my time with everything but I can't help but to feel bad- Have a Hearty in the mean time to hold u guys over!!!

[eegasleega-will-change-this-l8r]

-OUR FOUNDER-

⚙ THE CHAIRMAN ⚙ OF COGS INCORPORATED EST. 2003 ---------------------------------

So I've never talked about this on here before, but Toontown was one of my absolute FAVORITE games as a kid (despite never having membership so being locked out of 99% of the actual game jlkjfsakj) Like it was absolutely formative for me, I drew the cogs a bajillion times and they inspired a ton of my own stuff later on (and still absolutely do) Then the game closed and Rewritten came out so I could actually play the whole game for the first time (haven't gotten anywhere close to getting to the end though) To this day I have an on again off again interest where once or twice a year I'll suddenly get absolutely smitten with it again haha

So, if you're also into Toontown, you'll obviously be familiar with the mysterious, unseen overarching villain The Chairman This is my own take on his design that I came up with a few years back ^^

We don't have much to go off of from the original game for what the Chairman might've been like, so I had a couple of different inspirations

Obviously the giant head in the Sellbot Factory, since those old Chairman pics with that head pasted onto a cog body were absolutely what I was most exposed to as a kid, but it's also not a 1:1 lift

In some of my earliest sketches trying to come up with the ideal design I tried making him look like he had the giant robot from the old installer video underneath his suit, so he had like lanky, cartoonish proportions, toonier hands, etc It looked really bad though and I couldn't do what I wanted with the head since it would've had to fit over the shorter, wider robot head, so I just ended up scrapping it (i do take some inspiration from the video for my vision of Toontown's story, but i've just scrapped the robot entirely) Oh I also gave him the eyes from the Field Office since I thought that could be neat, but it looked out of place so I simplified them to what he has now (they're still stylistically similar to the eyes on regular cog buildings, so i don't think i'm really losing any of the meaning behind them at least)

By far the biggest inspiration was when the FY11 plans got released

Holy FUDGE did this blow my mind when I saw it for the first time All those years as a kid of the Chairman not even being ACKNOWLEDGED except by the CEO's final words and a couple odd references in obscure magazines and whatever Desperately speculating and grasping onto all those tiny pieces of some mysterious, horrifically evil entity behind everything And then this??? This awesome, ominous silhouette?? Plans for something huge??? Seeing it is what drove me to go and draw him in the first place, it still gives me chills just looking at it

So yeah, I wanted mine to have that same aura of cold evil, that striking silhouette, while also having a bit more character to him Like most cogs are frozen in the same screwed up scowl, where there's not much room for expression If I could, like, make an actual model for him, I'd want him to have the same sort of capacity for different expressions as the toons have (even some you wouldn't expect from the head of the cogs)

He's ruthless, calculating, doing everything he can to maximize the profits and efficiency of Cogs Inc and expand their operations to the entirety of Toontown, with no regard for ethical business practices or the wishes of the people he plans to subjugate (But does it work? Is he happy?)

I'm absolutely gonna do an analysis of the cogs as a whole at some point (as long as my interest doesn't plummet for a little while longer), there's a ton of stuff I wanna get into about my interpretation of them as villains because oh my god I love them so much

OTHER STUFF - He's not as massive as the other boss cogs, but he's still absolutely huge (iirc the highest level cogs are all canonically like 8ft?? and he's got a LOT of height on them) - He's drinking oil in the pencil drawing - I happened to watch this video where one guy talked about the way the villain in Tarzan held a glass of wine and how it left a huge impression on him, so I just arbitrarily decided to emulate it in my drawing XD - Oh yeah a big reason for the main drawing in the post was that I really felt like I was getting too attached to a single style in my digital stuff (literally just using the same default pen tool for everything, never changing the size), so I wanted to force myself to try something new - I drew the frame myself, just kinda winged it so it's. not as good as it could be but it works fine I think

[simply-trash5]

What's up? Sorry in advance since this is gonna be kinda long. If it isn't too much trouble, could I please get a Trigun Stampede matchup? multiple characters are okay, if you think it's fitting or necessary.

I'm 21, non-binary pansexual/romantic, and polyamorous (no preference for gender)

General personality stuff:

MBTI is INFP

Ennegram types 2, 4 and 8

Zodiac Taurus sun, pieces moon and rising

Not sure if appearance matters but- 5'3, chubby and kinda muscular, lots of scars on arms, chest, and legs. Fashion consists of graphic tees (with puns, memes, and trippy art) and jeans or shorts. I'll wear lots of different kinds of jewelry, and don't really have a set aesthetic.

Hobbies/likes- going to the gym, roller skating, playing video games, driving, listening to music (and singing along.. Badly), smoking weed, watching TV shows and movies, hanging out with friends, drawing, Writing, reading, going to museums/amusement parks, taking care of/watching animals

Positive traits: my friends have told me that I'm smart, funny/goofy, sarcastic, polite, thoughtful, strong, patient, trusting/trustworthy, empathetic and compassionate. My friends generally come to me for advice and I've been told I'm a good listener. I also like make myself useful (doing dishes, wiping down counters, laundry, etc) I'm passionate and very excitable and it makes me pretty talkative (when I want to be). Sociability depends on my mood. Sometimes I sit back and enjoy group dynamics, other times I participate more in conversation

Negative traits: tendency to be envious. I'm very self conscious/ insecure, and indecisive because of it. Bad habit of taking stuff personally and dwelling on issues that I should let go. can get annoyed/frustrated easily, especially if I'm overstimulated. also jumpy and gullible. Communication is very important to me in all my relationships, but when I get depressed, I tend to isolate.

Diagnoses: depression, anxiety, PTSD, and ADHD

When I first meet people, I'm overly formal and will crack a few jokes, but once I'm familiar with someone, I cuss a lot and enjoy playful teasing, but I always encourage to set boundaries if they need to.

I collect a lot of stuff. I have a Ton of comfort items- my posters, stuffed animals, collectible figures, etc. I'm a big over thinker. I can be pretty independent and self sufficient (sometimes) but I'm also very very insecure and doubt myself a lot. Big on current events and media analysis. I've got lots of vocal stims and am pretty fidgety.

I show my love through acts of service and prefer words of affirmation. I enjoy doing things for my loved ones and making sure they can relax, feel safe, and be happy

I know this is pretty long, so I apologize if it's overwhelming. Please don't feel pressured to answer. Take care! 💛

First off—we honestly sound eerily similar. Like down to the mental health diagnosis’s and I’m also a Taurus sun. ☺️ so if ya wanna be friends✨✨😌

ANYWAY ON TO THE EVENT:

After careful consideration I’m putting you with both Vash and Nico!

I see you having a smoke sesh with Nico then talking with Vash about what’s going on in the world.

Both of these guys have some really awful trauma but they would both love nothing more than for you to talk with them about what’s bothering you! Vash would embrace your stimming, because let’s face it—he’s ADHD too. Nico would do everything he could to put all of your insecurities at ease by always telling you how beautiful and special you are to him.

Please shower them with love and expect it in return.

[voidscarredadjudicator]

Drizzle Season 2023 is out for Splatoon 3. You know what that means?

(Long post warning)

It means me having the totally normal immediate reaction of, "what new ingame content can I use as inspiration for Humanity's Endling and it's side stories?"

This post is gonna sorta double as both a very surface level analysis of new stuff in Splatoon 3 (mainly the new maps) and a brief look into my creative process for how I go about taking what's shown in the game and applying it to the canon of the world Kaleb finds himself in. One of my goals is to keep what happens in HE as close to the canon as presented in the game as possible, while still making very healthy use of the blank space that is things the games nor extended lore don't necessarily address, and quite obviously bending the rules a bit here and there to make the story... well, happen? 'Cause if I were 100% dedicated to preserving canon, the series would look something like this.

they wasn't lyin, them humanitys really do be endling

Jokes aside, basically what all that means is I enjoy filling in the blanks to make the game world feel more full. Like, if possible, I wanna have the series written in a way where you could easily headcanon it as something that's happening in the background of Splatoon 3 as you are playing it.

...At least until we get to the later acts. HE ain't just a slice of life. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves here :)

But as that statement ominously implies, I have a general idea of the overarching plot for all five acts, and the process of writing is basically me ironing out the details and stringing it together into a cohesive narrative. Luckily for me, details are sometimes filled in for me by Nintendo. Speaking of which, let's look at Crableg Capital!

You can kind of already see it just barely peeking from behind the crane on the right, but Hagglefish Market is visible from up here, and they actually added this stage into the background of Hagglefish as well, so you can actually see it from down there, too.

From up here, you can more or less make out the exact route Kaleb came from in Act I, Ch7

I know for certain Crableg wasn't there before; I spent a frankly weird amount of hours doing recon on Hagglefish for Act I. Can't wait for this to become some New Mandela Effect meme or something. Anyways, you can see from up here that there's a lot of green grass in this city that's meant to be in the middle of a desert, so I kinda have this feeling that an ungodly amount of the city's water supply is fed right into keeping that greenery. I can see Kaleb drawing a comparison to Dubai, or maybe even Las Vegas to a lesser extent. Speaking of Vegas, you know what it has? Tons of ads. You know what this stage also has? Tons of ads!

shoutout to the paragliding jellyfish btw

Okay, well, obviously it's nowhere near as bad as Vegas. But I needed a segue, dammit. Now to be fair, I can't read any of these signs, so they might not actually be ads. Like, clearly at least a couple of them are company logos on the bigger skyscrapers. But the concrete building at the end of the clip? I don't know what those signs would be otherwise.

Like, who are they advertising to? The people in the neighboring buildings? The ads face outward, so it couldn't be that. Maybe it's extremely cheap ad space because basically nobody would see it, but then whatever in-universe powers that be decide these stages decided, "yes. of course. the actively under construction highrise. the perfect spot." I'd imagine that ad space probably skyrocketed in value, because there's no way these ink sports aren't televised to at least some capacity in canon.

Speaking of absurd spots for stages...

Shipshape Cargo Co. At first, it looks like you're on some platform underneath an oil rig or something to that nature. Then you realize that you're somehow moving. Then you notice the bow of the ship on the far end of the stage, then it's like, "Oh shit I'm on one of those half-submersible cargo ships!"

So not only did the folks running these ink sports decide that an active construction zone was a good spot for a stage, but they also decided to set up a stage on the back of a presumably en-route freight ship. And it's far enough north for there to be goddamn icebergs floating around. If anything, this season's maps have convinced me that an organization equivalent to OSHA does not fucking exist in the Splatoon universe. I'm aware that culturally, turf wars were at first backstreet sports and very unofficial/disorganized, and also there were stages in Splatoon 1 and 2 that would raise the same concerns (i.e. old Hammerhead Bridge, Saltspray Rig, Piranha Pit, etc.), so I really shouldn't be surprised by all this, but... I dunno, it's almost 4 am at the time of writing.

I don't have much more to say about Shipshape, though. Like, it's a very cool concept for a map, and if for whatever reason I need Kaleb to freeze to death, I'll have it in mind. Crableg is... very helpful, though.

Y'know, isn't it interesting that a lot of stories end with the hero scaling a huge tower?

Just a thought. 🙂*

Oh yeah, I also spotted this in the catalogue!

Lola got to be a model! I'm so proud of her! 🥰

I don't have much else to say right now, though. I might do a follow-up for Big Run if Um'ami Ruins has a cool enough atmosphere to warrant it; otherwise Undertow Spillway having that alarm blaring during the last Big Run was the coolest shit ever and I can't believe I accidentally predicted it as a stage w/ it being half flooded in Act I.

By the way, I am going to be grinding the shit out of this upcoming Big Run for that gold helicopter figure, so if you wanna play with me, I'm still in the 'Endling' pool. Again, if you spot Lola herself, that's me! I tend to go pretty hard in Salmon Run though as it's actually my favorite mode, so uh... if you're not EVP and you join me, it might average out the hazard level to something a lot harder than you may be used to. So fair warning!

*all ominous foreshadowing is subject to change

[fantomette22]

(Do not respond if it makes you uncomfy, reading is enough) I am late for the party but IMO it is really hypocritical when people say you can't ship ghrmria if traditionally mourning dolls were made for children and then turn around and ship mria with a woman who addresses her as her superior and is a victim of nasty experiments mria is covering up. Everyone only bothers with nuance instead of just letting people enjoy things when it is the ship they dislike.

Hello anon! Ah I know what post you read hehe (it resume really well the situation!) Thanks for the support as well ! Some people (one person in that case, can really be hypocrite yes).

I want to talk about this. I mean it's been a part of the harassment I got but you understand I don't wanna scream it out loud everything either. I don't wanna discuss some stuff publicly either so I will keep it to the essential. And well I hope I won't get bother bc of this again. (putting the rest undercut it's a big long sorry 😅)

Alright so I never actually show the ask in question I got. Only in dm to some mutuals & friends. Idk if I should share it publicly so if you want just ask me privately there's no problem I will show it. I got tons of other dumb things too but I won't share them publicly. I'm not playing that game. I'm not answering to hate with hate.

Basically, like you read before the person "ask me" more details on my view on their relationship if I think the Doll is a mourning doll (that parents made for their children) (see my essay/analysis I made a few months ago on the Doll. I will need to update it one day XD so this person might have read it). I mean yeah I think she's similar/have a similar purpose as a mourning doll but she's special. She's not your typically victorian child morning doll TM. Then, they wanted to know more about my different interprets, AUs etc

Love when people disagree bc they don’t like you but then agree with people they like who said the same thing as you… genuine evolution ? Hm…

For real I would love to talk about my many interpretations /stories about this 2 characters (with multiple interprets contradicting each others) but I want a genuine question from someone I know / someone I can put a name one. (even sending the ask on anon but telling in dm who is it is ok too! 👍)

Not someone hiding being anon and with vicious intend. Not someone who's stalking my blog (not a follower), previously (and after) fake approval of my ship content* and harassed me repetitiously for weeks if not months because I interact some times to times with someone they don't like.

*before that I got a "backhanded fake approval" over some drawings I did. Telling me "oh it's cute and all. You're doing it the right way" but then twisting it in a disgusting way with some awful sexist comments... trying to pass the fans of the pairing (and myself?) for bad people I guess? I did answer to it but call them out a bit too. It's on private now. I might have a link somewhere (because well I did spend some times writing cool ideas I want to keep for later)

At first I wasn't sure it was the same person (the fake approval, thoughts about the morning dolls and the harassing asks). But I had doubt so I never answer it. I'm glad I did because surprise ! IT WAS THE SAME PERSON all along ! (when I block ip address it was all deleted) Like wow harassing me, trolling me and trying to fake a genuine question before harassing me more? wow people are sure fascinating. (I really want do believe in you bud ! hope you become a better person !)

I took some precautions as well after all of this. That would be a shame to go private or disable anon ask for 1 bad behaved person. I hope it will be alright now and that I won't get bother anymore.

So about the other ship you mention... at first I was positive toward it but because of a few persons well I tend to be way neutral towards it now (and it's still the main thing in a minor AU of mine lol). Personally, I think, because of my view of Blood.borne world, the healing church, the research hall... that after the experiments began on her it doesn't really work/make sense for me anymore... But I won't go bother people who imagine/interpret a softer version just to be happy and have fun ! got for it guys!

But for real the wort ship experience I had so far was in Kingdom H/earts fandom XD (love this series too) imagined you follow smn cool (twi.tter) and they indirectly punch you? "oh I know the difference between who's a friend and not if you ship characters a&b or not" 💀 like wtf sure you prefer them being friends but don't insult people liking the paring ? specially when there's clues about it idk??

I feel it's more a problem of respecting other people (& their thoughts) than proving they're not canon/ accurate or not. it's not even analysis against facts it's just how I think your ideas (and you) sucks because it's my ideas are not the same.

It’s impossible to 100% agree with everyone about everything. But if it’s not hurting anyone/ dangerous ideas just minimum respect pls. That already hurt enough people throw history and still today (but well the internet..)

I would love to talk more about the characters I love really but all this is making me exhaust mentally. Even when people are nice and calm about it I'm still concerned smn is gonna understand things wrong and just decide to go bother instead of just ignoring it.

[telekitnetic-art]

11, 15, and 28 for the artist asks!

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what?

Oh I definitely listen to stuff while I work (Autism moment). It depends on what I'm in the mood for; sometimes I'll put a playlist of video game music on shuffle and listen to it play (Some of the games include Animal Crossing, Nier Automata, Hades, Transistor, all 3 Splatoon Games, Apex Legends, and Monster Hunter). Other times I'll listen to video essays, usually about obscure topics. My go-to for those types of videos are usually Izzzyzz or Defunctland (I've also been listening to Johnny2Chelos Bojack Horseman analysis videos, despite not having an interest at all in the series). Sometimes I'll listen to podcasts too; sometimes i listen to the live special episodes for TAZ or The Magnus Archives. Critical Role is one I've been meaning to get into but it's such a hefty series that it's hard to make the commitment :') sometimes the mood of the piece I'm working on effects what I choose to listen to, but generally if all else fails I just put on one of those really long lofi compilation videos and let it play.

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

Honestly, "at home" is the only answer I have off the top of my head lol. Now that I have an actual desktop setup, I spend a lot of time drawing at my desk in my apartment. Before I did, I had a touchscreen laptop that I'd bring around nearly everywhere and just set up and draw till the battery was dead, but unfortunately it's 5 years old at this point so the keyboard is beginning to malfunction. I might save up to get it repaired eventually, I don't wanna get rid of it.

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

I was in the MAProject (Multi-Animator Project) community for a while! I stopped participating as much as I just don't have the free time for it these days, but I would like to get back into it to make OC animations... other then that, I have participated in one zine before, the Evening Star Native Artist Zine!! It was a lot of fun and I'm really proud of how my piece turned out; I'd love to apply to more open-ended or maybe even fandom zines to try and do experimental character illustrations but again I don't have a ton of free time :,,,)

[sugary-sheep]

An Analysis of How Deltarune Chapter 2′s Soundtrack Made Me Feel, Copied From My Discord Thread

Girl Next Door - a very good track for the beginning of the game. It serves to strongly establish noelle as a familiar, friendly character, since you might not have bothered learning too much about her in chapter which makes sense considering the later revealed fact that kris and noelle are chidlhood friendsIt doesn't have any strong hints of bittersweet, it's just a plain happy melody. You're just starting the game after all.

My Castle Town - this is where the first twinges of bittersweet/nostalgia come in.It's meant to bring back memories of your adventure three years ago, chapter 1. You're back "home," at least from the player's point of view, and the player is the one that all the music panders to. (which wouldn't be a thing to note if the game wasn't so meta). It isn't very strongly bittersweet though. It's a calming melody, meant to ease you into the world, and doesn't draw too much attention to itself. If Girl Next Door is a warm breeze, then My Castle Town is the pleasant chill of fall.

Queen - this song is a wacky and fun melody, borrowing both carnival rhythm and instrumentation. It has twinges of deeper emotion and all that but it's mainly just a funny clown theme for everyone's favorite clown: Queen.

A CYBER’S WORLD? - it starts off with the main melody outlined on a chiptune low-res synth, which drops into a rich collage of higher-res synths. It evokes emotions of adventure and energy and anticipation, while also being neutral enough to act as a backdrop for all the silly things you do in the cyber fields. it's a really damn good song. it doesn't tug on the heartstrings necessarily but it just. it's so nice to listen to.

A Simple Diversion - it’s. a simple diversion. chip tune rendition of the queen motif. it's good. nothing much to analyze.

Almost To The Guys , Cyber Battle , When I Get Happy I Dance Like This - (combined since basically the same instrumentation and the same motifs) god I fucking love these songs so much. they are so happy and sensitive and soft and warm. They are like the auditory version of a hug. idk what drugs toby fox put into these songs but it fucking. they fit these funny guys so perfectly. it's just a silly fun theme about these fun little dudes. it's energetic and happy and makes you wanna dance. It doesn't take itself too seriously and it's just. It solidifies that this is a Silly game with Silly things that happen and fun people that you can be friends with.

Cool Beat - too short to analyze.

When I Get Mad I Dance Like This - same as Cool Beat

Berdly’s Theme - bringing back the CLOWNS, this time without a harpsicord though. it's a synthesizer melody and emphasizes the silly gamer antagonism that berdly provides, while not painting him as a bad person. just an antagonist.

Smart Race - this is a particularly tense battle theme, playing off of the semi-betrayal and kind if indignation you feel towards berdly since like. He's a lightner like you! and he's working for queen! what the FRICK.

Faint Courage - an uplifting melody that (tries) to soothe the pain of getting a game over. The crunched nature of the synths is notable though, compared to other soothing songs on the soundtrack.

Welcome To The City - This is the first song that really starts to dip into the nostalgia. It's still an upbeat and adventurous melody, but like. Your friends just left you, and you're exploring the city alone. It has a lot of flourishes and flair that reminds you that you're in a cool exciting city, and slowly becomes more uplifting as it goes on, but still keeps the distinctly minor sound. (if it's in a major key shut up I don't care). It's also the theme for the time you spend with noelle, and like. in that context, it feels more like a friendly nostalgic melody than a bittersweet feeling. the familiarity of Girl Next Door is back, and honestly it borrows a lot of emotional cues from Girl Next Door. They are double edged and the feelings they evoke are very context sensitive. it can be a friendly warmth, or a wishing for better, older days. 

Mini Studio - a return of the resistance motif. noticably lower res synthesizers but like. your funny little dudes are here :] 

cool mixtape - Clown to the MAXIMUM. not in that it's the most carnival inspired but like. it's really bombastic and fun while also being built around queen's clowny and wacky motifs. The instrumentation also adds to the non-serious quality, making it sound like. well, a shittily recorded mixtape. Lol. It’s great.

Hey Every ! - This song evokes all the emotions of as corrupted seen on tv advertisements with a dash of clown. Very distinctly wacky upbeat song.

Spamton - This is where the creepy factor of spamton starts to kick in. It brings on the menacing atmosphere of being in this alleyway with an unstable puppet salesman who jumped out of the dumpster, however the silly vocals do take a LOT of the edge off the creepiness. Which is fitting for spamton. because he would more intimidating if his dialogue wasn't so ridiculous and silly, and if he wasn’t such a silly little guy.

Now's Your Chance to Be A - a very groovy and slightly menacing battle theme that makes you wanna get out of this situation, but it's not like. scary. it's just a little bit creepy. Like a haunted house. it's a really fun song though. the edge mostly serves to accentuate the wacky and fun qualities of the song, like salt enhancing the sweetness of a dessert.

Elegant Entrance - This has the same menacing/eerie quality as spamton’s battle theme, but much more genuine. it takes the formerly clowny harpsicord used with Queen’s themes, and makes it sound much more regal. It's not bittersweet though. just intimidating.

Bluebird of Misfortune - a VERY strongly minor sounding song, and while it's not a super deeply resonant sadness, it does minimize the wacky/funny factor.

Pandora Palace - the first majorly bombastic song. It's the buildup to the climax, and has a very unique blend of regal, groovy, and energetic sounds with a small sprinkle of bittersweet, mostly to build tension.

KEYGEN - really cool and gives an appropriate feeling for unlocking the door into the SECRET BOSS.

Acid Tunnel of Love - very relaxing, very happy melody. it almost dips into bittersweet at times, but is a solidly uplifting and soothing melody. It's a rest for the soul.

It's Pronounced "Rules" - Rgal in a way very different from Elegant Entrance and Pandora Palace. It's a kind of pretentious regalness, and is a big return to clowniness. Because Roulxs is a pretentious clown man.

Lost Girl - It’s. very bittersweet and nostalgic. It has solid uplifting moments to balance it out, but it's. not a super happy song. it's not a super sad one either. it's just. contemplative. emotional. it'd be a good song to cry to.

Ferris Wheel - A combination of Lost Girl and Girl Next Door, both in mood and actual motifs. It's got a lot more warmth than lost girl, and the chiptune main melody gives it the silliness it needs to take the edge off it’s bitersweetness. The upbeat and kinda whimsical harmonization helps with this too. It's a theme for two girls having an awkward but really nice and fun gay moment.

Attack of the Killer Queen  - oh man.oh MAN.Such a good song. It's absolutely bombastic, fulfilling all the promises of epic finality and regal power that have been set up throughout the mansion section. It makes queen feel like a POWERFUL and intimidating villain for honestly like. the first time in the game. It also has the emotional quality, the feeling of un-rightness, once again driven by berdly being an antagonist, but the context is stronger, since you had just had the emotional connection with him and bringing him to your side.

Giga Size - this song does not let down any of the pressure from killer queen. it has all the menacing strength that you would expect from it, and takes the regal intimidation up to another level. it's supposed to make you feel like you've lost, and as far as the player knows, they have. Also it's a lot longer than you would expect??? the soundtrack is honestly filled with really short songs. but Giga Size is one of the longer ones, despite the short amount of time it actually plays. I don't remember ever being in that portion of the cutscene long enough to hear the full thing. it's worth a listen to if you haven't already.

Powers Combined - the uplifting counterbalance to Giga Size. It gets you pumped, and it has an air of finality stronger than attack of the killer queen. This is the final push. you're on the precipice of victory.

Knock You Down - This theme continues everything from Powers combined. It's less bombastic than Attack of the Killer queen, though bviously it's still very energetic and cool. It's serious in a more uplifting sense, but also quite tense. there is a lot on the line. This is the do or die moment. It both hypes you up and calms you down, and evokes a very particular emotion, especially given the context. Really good for getting in the zone.

The Dark Truth - another song that, while more emotional, doesn't hit super deep. Imo it feels like it’s going for an "exaggerated" sense of danger and sadness. Which makes sense if it's meant to instill some doubt in ralsei's credibility. it's still a very serious song, but it feels like it's trying a little too hard. (not necessarily in a bad way)

Digital Roots - a very menacing song, and probably the most truly menacing song in the soundtrack. Sets the atmosphere for the basement perfectly.

Deal Gone Wrong - This is the climax of Digital Roots and the whole process of getting the secret boss. You're in real danger now. The puppet man wants to make a deal, and he wants your soul.

BIG SHOT - woooh boy. This song carries a lot of this menace, but brings in a ton of bombastic energy and a little bit of clown as well. it's like Now's Your Chance To Be A, but more intense. The vocal editing really adds so much to this track. The motifs are very well used, and it's just an incredibly fun and dramatic song. it's groovy! it's wacky! it's intimidating! It gets you pumped! it's a very good song

A Real Boy - This one is a really nice song. it's got a very nice uplifting quality and there's a very subtle and like. almost angelic sharp pad in the background of it that you wouldn't immediately notice adds a lot to the texture of it, combined with the crunched and low res main synth. the background of that scene fits it perfectly. Childishly painted sun and sky and all that. He’s a real boy now. You freed him :). He can escape his strings now :) 

dialtone - It’s like if you took one of the more emotional songs in the soundtrack and made it a little silly. Which makes sense. You're supposed to feel kinda bad for him, but he's still a weird wacky guy who just tried to kill you.

sans. - what do I need to say. it's sans's theme. it's wacky in an extremely chill way. it contrasts with basically all of deltarune's wacky characters, and that's perfectly cool. sans is a chill guy, especially in this game.

Chill Jailbreak Alarm To Study And Relax To - this one is just toby having fun. It's napstablook's theme with an alarm in the background. it's funny, it serves it's purpose as a gag. it's great.

You Can Always Come Home - this one has the nostalgic quality that I've been talking about very strongly, but the melody is just. It's so soothing and uplifting that you can't help but feel warm inside. it might be cold and snowing outside, but for now, you're home. you're with your family, you're sipping hot cocoa. Everything is right with the world, if only for a moment. You can always come home.

Until Next Time - another soothing melody, being a corrupted version of Don't Forget, and it evokes a lot of the same emotions, if a bit less strongly. It plays into the mystery of the ending, and would probably suit the snowgrave route pretty well. It's a good ending song in general though. It doesn't drown you in emotion. It lets you feel how you felt about what you just experienced.

Before the Story - really strong song. It's hard to fully analyze it given like. there isn't a lot of gameplay context. but it is a very dark and rich song. it's really good.

Berdly (Rejected Concept) - This song sucks ASS. it's like. pretentious. but also so cringe fail at the same.

[barbaracleboy]

So, because I’ve been seeing a few different takes and opinions on Vi’s relationship with The Hive, I thought that maybe I could give my take on it too, because why not? Please keep in mind that I’m a little stupid, and I tend to not dig deep when analyzing things: I like watching or reading in-depth analyses, but I tend to think about stories or gameplay mechanics largely on what I can see, and I don’t think that hard about the complexities or realities or whatever of most things. So forgive me if many of my points are obvious, or if some of what I say isn’t that well-thought out or anything like that. Also, as always, I have absolutely zero intention to insult anybody or tell them they’re viewing the game wrong: we all view things differently, and I thought it’d be nice if I talk a little about how I viewed Vi’s story, if for no other reason than to just explain why I say or draw or do what I do. With that in-mind, hopefully my analysis isn’t too simple or whatever…

Vi didn’t like The Hive, we know this. The reasons she gives, if I remember, are mainly that nobody believed in her dreams of being an explorer (and many made fun of her for it). With this “analysis” I wish to get into why I felt the Bees didn’t believe in Vi and why Vi said what she did.

To start off, the fact that The Hive discouraged Vi’s exploring, and the behavior of The Hive in a couple other ways, seems to be based on IRL beehives, and how Bees in general aren’t aggressive. As such, it could make sense that they didn't approve of the idea of one of their own going out to go exploring, potentially looking for trouble and getting themselves hurt. A more unique, in-universe reason also exists: Snakemouth Den. Now, while Snakemouth Den has also been known to be scary to the Ants, they had a reason not to discourage exploration: it held an artifact that the Ant Queen wanted. The Bees clearly didn’t care as much about the Sapling or anything that can help them obtain it (considering they used an artifact to make their factory and didn’t even know it), so when they heard of their kind going to Snakemouth Den and never coming back, their reaction was likely something like “Holy shit, stay away from that place and any place like it.” They didn’t want treasures or immortality (at least most of them didn’t), and if trying to get it meant death they’d rather stay away from it. Speaking of Queens, Bianca probably also plays a hand in why the Bees were so against Vi becoming an explorer. By Vi’s own admission Bianca is a pacifist, and that coupled with Bianca (trying to) treat her subjects more like her children than most Queens seem to points to the idea that she feels her little babees would be safer and happier at home than exploring. This care for safety can be seen as soon as and even before you enter The Hive: there’s a little room to scan for anything that could potentially be harmful to The Hive, and you can’t even enter without having a guard start the elevator for you. They clearly want danger as far away from them as possible. “Why does Bianca have a military if she’s a pacifist and cares for her kids’ safety, then?”  Honestly, that’s a good question, and the best answer I have is that it’d be stupid not to have a defense force, especially in the Lost Sands (which are home to all sorts of Bandits and monsters) and with the close proximity to with The Wasps (who are known to usually be aggressive, and have particularly been so since some time before the start of the game). That’s not even getting into Vi being a teenager, which would probably further discourage The Hive from supporting her wanting to be an explorer: you should support the dreams of young people, but there’s a difference between a kid, I don’t know, wanting to be an engineer and wanting to be a bounty hunter. One is notably more dangerous (and probably less common) than the other, and while stomping on a kid’s dream is mean it’s perhaps better, in some scenarios, than encouraging them to do something that can get them killed. Hell, a large part of why Vi became as successful an explorer as she did was that she had a team to help her out, and she initially didn’t seem to want that. A young girl, in a society that cares a ton about being safe, trying to go off and fight monsters and bad guys on her own (probably just in the hopes of getting rich)? It’s no wonder her peers wouldn’t support that.

All that said, do I think Bees were justified in denying Vi her dream? That she should have just shut up and sucked it up? No, of course not. They clearly cared too much about safety, to the point that they let one of their own leave anyway due to her feeling so out of place for thinking differently. There was clearly a lack of empathy for her, and I highly doubt that their responses to Vi were all variations of “Now, now, don’t hurt yourself!”, there probably was a lot of teasing and even some bullying. Now, I don’t think Vi is invalid or wrong for leaving or being upset...but I also feel like she may not be too reliable a “Narrator”. 

That’s not to say she was lying, that she never experienced anything bad in The Hive...but to be frank, she is a [bit of a stupid d:] teenager. She’s a little selfish, she’s a little reckless, and she probably said and did a lot of what she said and did due to big teen emotions. She talked about Bees like they were all bullies, and pompous, but does The Hive really give that impression? Do the Bees? When she returns almost none of them seem to bring up anything bad, they don’t seem to be making fun of her, there doesn’t seem to be any animosity towards her from them, despite how bad she tended to speak of them. “Well, Vi probably didn’t know a lot of them, and vice versa.” That could very well be true, but most of the ones we see in-game seem to have experience with Vi: even ignoring all the ones that have a notable amount of screen time or mandatory dialogue, Vi seems to know multiple of them by name, and many of them know Vi’s name too, and if she’s been gone so long you’d think one would have forgotten the other unless they had spent a non-insignificant time together. She seems to have formed relationships with multiple bees, and while few if any of them were as close as the one she formed with Jaune they probably existed, it’s not like she got along with nobody but Jaune. The point I’m trying to make by talking about relationships is that you’d think there would be multiple Jaune-type situations, of Vi being very mad at one of the bees and vice versa, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Vi’s anger is mostly general, she mostly talks crap about The Hive as a whole, while few if any of the bees seem to hold a grudge against her. This leads me to think that Vi makes a big deal about all the other bees bullying her out of hyperbole, and her emotions making her think the situation’s worse than it is: I mean, she claims that all bees are pompous, but really only Beette fits that description, right? And even Beette is noted to not be that bad, for selling you the key to the house of whatever (though personally I feel she still seemed pretty rude, but eh). Vi is very upset, to the point that she says things that aren’t entirely true and kind of throw multiple people under the bus (I know that type of anger, let me fuckin’ tell you). This anger, of course, comes because she was so close to Jaune, and enjoyed time with her more than any other Bee. I assume Vi was hoping Jaune would support that dream more than the other bees would, but when she didn’t Vi was really hurt, and in her anger she said bad things to everybody in The Hive and left. She probably wasn’t thinking about what she was saying or how leaving would affect her or whatever, she was just having angry teenage angst and she wanted out (having said that, you could totally make the argument that Jaune was a jerk for being so upset about a little insult, but again, eh). I feel like Vi might have even felt she was being irrational, at least deep down, but what she was feeling at the time of her leaving took priority. When Kabbu falls through the trapdoor in Snakemouth, Vi says something along the lines of “This is the perfect time to go home.” It’s probably a throwaway line, maybe I’m overthinking things for once, but what if that was her going “Okay, I know I said all that stuff but things are really bad now and I just wanna go home.” I can believe that, when I was young I said and tried to do some stupid things, but it didn’t take long before I decided to at least try to calm down, do something less intense maybe. I can believe that a kid like Vi would try something crazy in order to stick it to everyone who said she couldn’t, but would perhaps think twice upon seeing the dangers. Vi and Kabbu had barely spent any time in Snakemouth before he fell, so I imagine that when Vi saw there was some actual danger in exploring she at least briefly thought about how she behaved, thought that she might have been letting her emotions get the best of her, and considered going home where she probably was safe. Even if she didn’t intend go all the way back to The Hive, the point is that what she said and did when leaving could very well have been her just acting out in frustration. In the end it’s for the best that she continued with exploring (for a wide variety of reasons), but my point is that her initial push to do so came largely from that initial bout of frustration.

So, to make a long story short, I feel that The Hive cared very heavily about safety, for many reasons, and as such wished for Vi to not be an explorer for her own good. Things were not that bad for Vi, but when much of her society, including her closest sister, didn’t approve of what she wanted she threw somewhat of a fit and ran off, perhaps feeling that she was overreacting a little but being too young and headstrong to not do exactly what she wanted to do. Once again, my point here is not that The Hive was right, Vi was wrong. It’s more that the situation was complicated and bad, and both Vi and her peers had a lot to learn (which, in my opinion, they mostly did learn by the end of the main story). 

I don’t know, I think a big part of why I go to bat for The Hive so much is that I very, very much value family. It’s kind of how I was raised, I feel that the people that share your blood, that likely live with you and likely care for you and likely know about you way more than most other people are special, and that the relationships with them are also special, so it’s best to try and keep things as good with them as possible. I’m not saying that you should be a slave to people, or you should take abuse from people, or that you should support bad behavior, all because those involved are related to you. I just feel that it’s important to try and understand the feelings of those you’re close to, and that (when fair and applicable) we should always try to have the best possible relationship with our family. Vi initially failed with both of these, and so did Jaune and many of the other bees.

To go on a little tangent, I think the family stuff is a big part of why I love The Hive as much as I do. With how many of the Bees seem to know each other (compared to the Ants, where there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of interactions implied or otherwise), how Bianca views The Bees as her children, and how Vi’s formed a close relationship with one of her many, many sisters, The Hive just seems to be a family much more than any other kingdom: this is in both good ways like Bees being closer, and less than good ways like having unfortunate situations (failures to communicate, misunderstandings, and feelings of being ignored or unsupported) like many families do. I think I like all that a lot due to my aforementioned value of family stuff, and one can even give lore-y reasons for it being neat. Like, real life bug colonies don’t really do family stuff, right? They just work to care for the colony, that’s it. That The Hive holds much more in the way close bonds could be a sign of the change from crystals continuing, and having more effects than immediately obvious: not only are bugs losing limbs but living longer, they’re gaining their own wants, and they’re former closer bonds to each other than “This is my fellow worker, we both will make the honey.” I just find that sweet, I think, and with what’s shown of Vi and how she interacts with The Hive in-game I think it tells a sweet story of a girl feeling separated from her home and family but learning that things weren’t that bad, repairing bridges that could have stayed burnt, and probably bringing about changes that will make the people there happier. Bianca mentions how “We have heard of [Vi’s] exploits”, and how “the outside world did [her] some good”: from the sounds of it multiple Bees were proud of Vi for her success as an explorer, and one can imagine that leading to more explorers coming from The Hive, as well as the Bees learning to support unique ideas more. For as sad as the situation with Vi and The Hive was, it seems to have with her learning to like her old home again and it will likely lead to it getting even better than it was before.

Hoo, that was a whole lot of talking and I can’t help but fear that a lot of it is either rambly, repetitive, or illogical...but, uh, if you read all the way through it then thank you so much! I appreciate it, and I hope it wasn’t too difficult to read. I bet there’s all sorts of stuff we don’t know that could be for or against my reading: for all we know Bianca kept Vi in a cupboard back when she lived in The Hive, for all we know Vi set multiple Bees on fire on purpose. But, based on what we do know, that’s how I feel about the situation. Once more, I do not intend to insult anybody that thinks differently from me or anything (tbh I get the impression a lot of people may think different from me, ha): I just prefer funnier and happier stuff (as I feel I’ve said many times before), and I just felt like showing why I viewed the deal with Vi and The Hive to be a sad one, but one rife with misunderstanding (amongst the bugs involved at least) and one that ended quite positively. If you disagree that’s perfectly fine, I just hope I explained myself in a way that makes sense and isn’t like, stupidly simple or ignorant or whatever. Even if it is, I apologize. I just think the Bees are all cute and I like to think that they’re happy, ha.

[doritoflorito]

0-44 on ask meme because i love you and want to torment you

I WONDER WHO THIS IS0: Height-around 5'21: Age-192: Shoe size-5 and a half???3: Do you smoke?-very very occasionally when im steamin4: Do you drink?-LMAO ye5: Do you take drugs?-ive only done weed6: Age you get mistaken for-i've had 17 and ive had 22????7: Have tattoos?-not yet O:8: Want any tattoos?-A few!!9: Got any piercings?-firsts, seconds, helix, bellybutton10: Want any piercings?-nipple piercings are cool but i dont like the idea of actually getting it done :C11: Best friend?-a very very sweet bean!! who is super comforting and has a beautiful voice -u-12: Relationship status- ^w^13: Biggest turn ons- oh man uhhhh i have a few in mind but i dont rlly wanna go into all of them hah.. ill say nice arm muscles and good at kissing 14: Biggest turn offs- immaturity, stubbornness, unfaithful, too cocky, impatient, shallowness, unhygienic etc etc just all the displeasing stuff15: Favorite movie-dumbo!! i also love wall-e c:16: I’ll love you if...- idk like...... u respect me i guess???????17: Someone you miss-my great aunt elma!!!! id learn a lot from her if she was still alive18: Most traumatic experience-stuff thats happened with family that i wont get into19: A fact about your personality-im pretty optimistic c:-also apparently bubbly and sometimes airheaded heehee (thanks des and jess!!!)20: What I hate most about myself-various things about my face, im petty and really jealous which isnt good21: What I love most about myself-im great at making friends and my eyeliner is alright (most of the time) and i can draw decently enough!!! i also have an idea about what i want to do in life and ive been told i have a good personality -w-22: What I want to be when I get older-i'm currently studying to be a biomedical scientist!! more specifically a haematologist which is like blood analysis and stuff. i've also been toying with the idea of neurology but djfdg 23: My relationship with my sibling(s)-my brother and i have a lot of good banter between us!! we are both into the same kinds of video games so its nice to have someone to talk to about it since i didnt have many friends that were all that interested in video games growing up24: My relationship with my parent(s)-my relationship with my mum is getting a lot better, my father less so lol.25: My idea of a perfect date-travelling to an unfamiliar place, exploring, going for dinner and a few drinks at a fancy bar, exploring at night time, then video games -u- 26: My biggest pet peeves-clingyness, coming on too strong, untidy rooms if im staying with them, bringing up politics, mansplaining (the equiv for females too)27: A description of the girl/boy I like- very fukin generous28: A description of the person I dislike the most-well i cant fucking get rid of them because everyone else in the group likes them so i cant just cut them out, they have a very similar personality to me which i thought would bring us closer but it actually ended up making us dislike eachother more, theyve accused me of shit and kjdshfjd AAAAAAAAAAAA shhhhhhhh bye29: A reason I’ve lied to a friend-to get out of going places30: What I hate the most about work/school-less time to play video games tbh31: What my last text message says- "AWW Phoebe is so cute!!"32: What words upset me the most-unintelligent, cheating, grades33: What words make me feel the best about myself-adorable, clever34: What I find attractive in women-I LOVE short hair (AND LONG HAIR), freckles, teasing personality, thighs, buff girls are REALLY attractive too35: What I find attractive in men-cute eyes, good sense of humour, respectful, cuddly36: Where I would like to live-somewhere quiet, near nature but also convenient to get places37: One of my insecurities-my face and voice tbh38: My childhood career choice-i wanted to be a knight who slayed dragons lolol i also wanted to be link which is similar i guess39: My favorite ice cream flavor-toffee/caramel/butterscotch40: Who I wish I could be-a successful high up scientist with a stable job and TONS of friends whos SUPER DUPER SMART and if good at dividing their time between work and video games and healthy stuff41: Where I want to be right now-with my online friends tbh42: The last thing I ate-pigs in blankets43: Sexiest person that comes to my mind immediately-brendon urie came to mind but dhgdgn44: A random fact about anything-i just found out the earth supposedly has an underground continent called zealandia??????????

[leesh]

I took it upon myself to listen to 1989 and try to figure wtf happened in this relationship with Harry and from the songs on the album that I've gathered about him, I've also spied on some Taylor blogs to rule out which are def not him, I've come to the conclusion that Style, Out of the Woods, I Wish You Would, All You Had to do was Stay, How You Get The Girl, in pretty sure This Love, I Know Places, Clean, and Wonderland.

since there’s 10 parts and a couple of other asks to this, i’m putting it under a real more, but let me tell y’all... holy shit

also @anon... pls i welcome you back anytime

I also think her recent song Better Man is about Harry which came out right after her break up so people instantly assumed Calvin, there are some parts where I'm like ehhh this couldn't be Harry but there's a lot I'm like yes this is Harry and her basically saying bro we could still be an item. Anyways lol despite what you may think Wildest Dreams is not, it's about an actor she worked with while filming I believe The Giver like the music video basically tells us it's not Harry.             

A lot of these point to a very complicated relationship where he couldn't decide what he wanted until it was very much too late. They were both very scared and wary of the media, which is strange to hear looking at from the outside cause it seemed like the exact opposite. But she was very much scared of how it was going to effect this relationship. There was quite a bit of back and forth and stubbornness on would call or suck up their pride and talk to the other first, sounds familiar             

I'm going to go ahead and say that I personally believe most of the album is about Taylor, again just drawing conclusions from when I listened to her album and these theories just add to it. But I believe Meet Me in the Hallway, Two Ghosts (clearly), Woman, and From the Dining Table are about her. I'm still a bit iffy on Ever Since New York cause it could be while at the same time it could be anything.             

There's also a small part of me that thinks Only Angel is as well because just knowing her reputation as an angel and americas sweetheart that never gets her foot dirty and their theorized/rumored history of frequent hook ups, I could see but again not too sure. From his side, he definitely sort of admits to either just not showing enough commitment or not realizing what he had until it was gone or maybe a bit of both.             

There a lot of him being scared to show that commitment and it obviously had her very frustrated and annoyed and made it seem like he was playing some kind of game when really he was probably crying alone in his hotel room wondering wtf was wrong with him @ mmith. This kid still follows her on Instagram which means he literally put himself through seeing that crazy rare display of affection on her Instagram of her and Calvin before the two broke up like why did he do that to himself.             

A lot people like to make it seem like it's crazy or absurd that he could still be hung up on this relationship, but this relationship really sounded like it was something special to the both of them and Harry seems to have thought that he would have gotten her back by now and is confused and heart broken as to why she has moved on and seems unbothered by his presence at this point. It's not that absurd to think he could still be hurt or healing from this as    

1. He sees her everywhere cause she is one of the biggest pop stars and this last year she did her giant vacation with Tom which was everywhere 2. They have a lot of mutual friends, a lot, so he probably hears of her and her new boyfriend(s) 3. If it was something important, with how young he was, that's not something that you just stop having feelings for like both of them have said or danced around the fact they stay still have feelings for each other of some kind             

Taylor said that he's that type of person that comes in and out of your life and the she wouldn't mind if he crashed her wedding. He also said that this album was a tip of the hat to her which means he wanted her to hear these songs, probably in hopes that she would change her mind. So it's not that crazy of a thought. I'm not saying they're this epic love story of soulmates that don't realize they are             

If they had been hooking up Til bout 2015, then it's not that crazy to assume he hadn't completely moved on emotionally. Also he's probably expecting some cliche rom com ending. Also consider that Perfect was written with a crap ton of writers and was literally a song to promo the album cause 1989 had just come out like months or a year before like Harry would hardly even admit to doing any writing on that song and he's a guy that's very proud of any song he has a hand in when asked            

Im not a Haylor, that was my analysis on the relationship through the words they had given us. Last year, my AL english teacher had us a do an essay every two weeks with a song analysis cause she loves music and I did full analysis on every one of Harry's song from the music to the words to how he sang them and made a 100 one each, which is rather hard in AP, so if you wanna hear that I can also share that.             

I'm the multiple part anon and I somehow also forgot to add that Harry had also said when writing these songs song he dug into emotions that he had tried to forget or block            

[flauntpage]

The Clayton Thorson Game – Observations from Eagles 24, Jaguars 10

You probably felt the same way I did after Cody Kessler exited in the first quarter with a concussion.

“Oh God, we’re gonna get three quarters of Clayton Thorson, the guy who went 2-7 last week for ten yards and an interception.”

But the 5th round draft pick out of Northwestern took a big step up last night, completing 16 of 26 passes for 175 yards, a touchdown, and an pick on a ball that probably should have been caught by DeAndre Thompkins.

We’re gonna talk about Thorson, but let’s actually go through the Cody Kessler series before we get there:

Cody Kessler

Not a great opening series with his arm, throwing to a covered Charles Johnson and then missing high on his next effort, but the 3rd down scramble moved the sticks. Then he almost got killed when Andre Dillard slid inside on pass protection, which resulted a defensive end clobbering Kessler via the blindside.

So whose fault was that? Was it Dillard’s fault?

Here’s analysis from former NFL guard Geoff Schwartz:

The LT is doing his job here. Empty protection, they bring cross dog (his linebacker comes) so he squeezes down. This is on the QB once again. I doubt they'd seen a cross dog vs empty protection yet. https://t.co/AlqIBYegSi

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) August 15, 2019

And here’s another bit of analysis from Chiefs tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who is Geoff’s brother:

Based on protection and call, LT actually doing his job. They need to make a better call and/or the QB needs to know he’s hot on that blitz.

— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) August 15, 2019

Finally, for confirmation, the head ball coach Doug Pederson putting the play on Kessler and not Dillard:

“They pressured there. You really would like the quarterback to see that and get that quick throw. Held the ball a touch. We needed to get the ball out.”

There ya go, not on Andre Dillard.

Clayton Thorson

I think “settled” is a good word. He just looked a lot more settled out there.

Thorson took the Birds on drives of 95, 75, and 85 yards, and even though one was nothing but running plays, he looked rather composed and assertive on the others, going 12-16 in his passing attempts. I thought the backup linemen also did a nice job keeping Thorson upright and relatively protected for most of the night. On the 75-yard touchdown drive, the Eagles literally the ran the ball eight times in a row, so go figure.

I did wanna share this clip, which was the clear and obvious catch that needed to be reviewed for some reason:

This definitely feels like Thorson overthrew the underneath guy pic.twitter.com/POgpNsNfdi

— Tyler Jackson (@TjackRH) August 16, 2019

Hey, whatever works.

The pass interference challenge

So Doug challenged for pass interference for the first time this preseason, tossing the flag on an endzone look for Carlton Agudosi that was originally ruled incomplete.

Here’s the slow motion replay:

Doug Pederson challenged this for pass interference, and won: pic.twitter.com/oNh2StHZvN

— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) August 16, 2019

Pretty clear to me. The defensive back has a big ‘ole chunk of shoulder pad there and is restricting Agudosi’s movement and ability to jump for the ball.

Good call by Doug, a relatively brief review, and the correct decision in the end. I’m not sure why anybody would have any complaints about that specific sequence, yeah?

Miles Sanders

We wanted to see some shiftiness and explosion and we got that, beginning with a 12-yard run to open the game, sparked by a really nice block from Josh Perkins. It was a big, gaping hole that your grandmother could have run through.

Later, Sanders had the nice off-tackle pickup for eight or so yards after a good seal from Dillard, then the draw play where he was able to turn a loss of yardage into a short gain.

He also had an excellent blitz pickup on the Thorson to Ward touchdown pass, right here:

WHAT PASS BLOCKING ISSUES?! Miles Sanders stood UP 256 LBs AJ Edds on a full speed!!! A gap blitz on a 4th down TD pass! #SandersHypeTrain!!! #Moist! pic.twitter.com/AaKAcrQCl8

— Thomas R. Petersen 🦅 (@thomasrp93) August 15, 2019

Well done, Miles Sanders, and a nice job by Thorson to hang in there with the pressure coming.

Daeshon Hall

Big forced fumble, two sacks, a tackle for loss, and three QB hits.

Another big night for the converted outside linebacker who altered his weight to make the 4-3 defensive end conversion.

Is Hall Steven Means 2.0? Is he a good player who just has no spot on this roster? If he’s going to make the team, then 4th round draft pick Shareef Miller would likely be the odd-man out, since the Birds are probably going to roll with a 10-man group that includes these nine guys:

Brandon Graham

Malik Jackson

Fletcher Cox

Derek Barnett

Timmy Jernigan

Josh Sweat

Hassan Ridgeway

Vinny Curry

Treyvon Hester

That’s five tackles and four ends, so the 10th spot goes to either Hall or Miller at this point. If you think both of those guys deserve a spot, then Josh Sweat is the guy who is left out.

Linebackers

Zach Brown had a great read on the 1st defensive series and couldn’t finish his tackle for what would have been a sack. L.J. Fort finished with five tackles and Nate Gerry two, while backups Alex Singleton and T.J. Edwards got a ton of time in this game.

I didn’t see anything here to kind of change my mind from last week. Nigel Bradham and Zach Brown should be the linebackers in nickel, then your 4-3 look adds L.J. Fort to the mix. I just haven’t seen anything from Gerry that really stands out to me or makes me think that he’s anything more than a backup and special teamer moving forward.

The 5th wide receiver

Mack Hollins played last night and caught a five yard pass. He only had two total targets.

Who’s the 5th receiver at this point? Is it him? Do the Eagles roll with six guys in this department? Greg Ward had the big touchdown catch, but only two total receptions on the night. Marken Michel had the big 75-yard score last week.

I feel like Hollins still gonna be the guy, but he’s in a similar spot to Corey Clement, maybe just hanging on to a roster spot at this point because nobody behind him has really made a noticeable push. Perhaps that changes in preseason week three.

Jake Elliott

3/3 on extra points and hit a 52-yard field goal in the rain.

Quality night from him.

Ross Tucker

Sounded much better, nice to see the laryngitis is gone. He’s a good analyst and a Berks County guy, so shout out to Berks County, unless you went to Wilson or Exeter. Then y’all can sod off. Go Boyertown.

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[maysoper]

Setting The Record Straight

Since the CWHL closed its doors over a week ago, there have been many who have demanded that the NHL "do the right thing", step up, and fund women's hockey. Long before the CWHL closed its doors, the NHL and Gary Bettman have maintained they would not and will not get involved in the operations of either or any women's hockey league unless there were no other options available for women to play professional hockey. Including today, Bettman has held firm on his stance regarding women's hockey despite all the cries for them to help "grow the game" and whatever other catchphrases and colloquialisms fans use in their pleas for assistance. Deaf ears is all they're finding. Today, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman appeared on Sportsnet 590 and Rogers Sportsnet on a program called Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown, Stephen Brunt, and Richard Deitsch to discuss a number of issues including that of the status of women's hockey currently. Before we get to the interview, it's imperative that one be very aware that professional hockey is a business with the NHL being a very lucrative and profit-driving business. And like any other business, the NHL is not into giving out handouts or investing its hard-earned dollars into something it neither owns nor controls. This is how it remains profitable, and the NHL continues to invest in its own brand in order to ensure that year-over-year profitability. I have isolated the 7:20 of Gary Bettman speaking about women's hockey, and it is posted below. I'll let you listen as you read through the rest of this article. Before grabbing your keyboard and going full "online warrior" mode, you may want to slow your roll to gain a better perspective. Here's the interview.

I'll paraphrase a few comments here, but here are Gary's main quotations regarding women's hockey. 1. "We don't have a responsibility to fund the business of other leagues. They have investors. They have a business plan."

Gary is entirely correct here. This would be like asking McDonald's to fund your local mom-and-pop burger joint just because they both sell burgers. McDonald's, like the NHL, has zero obligation to put money into a business they neither own nor control, so they have zero responsibility to ensure its long-term success. The NHL has zero obligation to ensure the CWHL, NWHL, or any other women's league remains in business just as they have zero interest in ensuring the KHL, the SPHL, or any other non-affiliated league stays afloat. The business is NHL hockey which is owned in part by the owners of the NHL franchises, and that is to whom Gary reports and on behalf of whom Gary conducts NHL business.

2. "I don't want to be presumptuous or bully-like and say 'We're gonna start a league and put them out of business.' I don't think that's appropriate."

The NHL could likely crush the CWHL and NWHL like bugs on a floor if they wanted, but that's not going to win the NHL any fans nor would it be good for their brand. No-brainer here.

3. "If the NWHL is successful, great. That's terrific. I understand from Dani Rylan that we're their largest sponsor. I have told her that if she is successful, we will not interfere."

Again, the NHL isn't looking for trouble. They're simply staying out of the way. If Rylan makes it work, the NHL will continue to invest its annual $100,000 into the business. They're not looking to get into women's hockey to compete with anyone.

4. When asked if the NHL being the largest sponsor at $100,000 is concerning, Gary replied, "Draw your own conclusions."

To me, this answer reinforces Gary's statement that he believes the business models of the leagues were unsustainable. He's passively conveying that message by allowing Bob McCown and the listeners to draw their own conclusions regarding that amount of money. I think he made his point.

5. "I'm not here to kibosh that league. If they wanna make a go of it, great. If that suits the players' needs and feasibility-wise, ok. In the final analysis, I believe a sustainable model probably will require the resources and the platforms that the NHL has."

Again, Gary is allowing Rylan to make a go of this, but ultimately he feels that the NHL can give women's hockey the exposure and the resources - money, promotion, media - that it requires to become a self-sustaining model where ad revenue and network broadcast contracts keep the league afloat. He's likely right thanks to the partners and sponsors the NHL already has.

6. When asked about the WNBA-NBA model, Gary replied, "It's not self-sustaining without the NBA's support, and if we get involved we will not have the option of letting it fail. If that's our responsibility, there's a level of control we would have to assume."

Basically, if the NHL does get involved with women's hockey, it's going to work even if they lose money. That's the kind of dedication that one wants to hear with regard to the long-term future of women's professional hockey.

7. When asked about the NWHL's sustainability, Gary replied, "I don't want to cast dispersions on the NWHL. If they can succeed, they should. If they can't, we'll look at our options."

Gary wisely directs the focus off the sustainability by framing the answer as "we hope they are successful". This is smart bit of politicking here by Bettman.

8. "The highest profile the women's game has received in the last few years is because we were involved."

Of all the things Gary said over the last seven minutes, this might be the worst bit of gaslighting I've heard. His claim of not having the NHLers at the Olympics resulting in the women's game getting more exposure has nothing to do with the NHL being involved. In fact, there were a ton of other sports who directly benefitted with more viewers thanks to the NHL preventing their players from going. This is patently the opposite of involvement, Gary, so strike this one from the record. Second, the involvement in the All-Star weekend was never supposed to happen as per the NHL's mandate. Yes, the women were invited to demonstrate the events, but they were not supposed to be on-camera at any point in the evening's festivities. Had it not been for Nathan MacKinnon reaching out to Kendall Coyne to replace him in the Fastest Skater event, the women who participated would have been nothing more than a footnote on that weekend. Strike this one from the record as well because what Gary is saying had nothing to do with the NHL and everything to do with Nathan MacKinnon. Lastly, his claim of helping to get the Rivalry Series up and running has zero evidence at this time so there could be some validity to this contribution, but there's no definitive proof of how the NHL's involvement made these three games happen. At the very best, this one is unproven, so we'll have to take Gary at his word for now. In any case, he's one-for-three at most on his league's involvement in helping the women's game gain a higher profile.

The inevitable truths that one needs to take away from this are as follows:

The NHL is a business first, a business second, and a business third. The sport part makes them money, but the business side is what keeps the sport on the ice. Bettman's comments today leave little doubt that the NHL is all-business when it comes to the sport.

The NHL will not venture into women's professional hockey until there is no other option for the women. That means that as long as the NWHL is operating, if Graeme Roustan gets his league off the ground, and if anyone else decides to compete against one or both of these leagues, we're further from having the NHL and its vast resources available to help women's professional hockey than we are closer.

Asking, begging, demanding, and any other request sent to or made in reference to the NHL for any sort of financial support will be ignored. Stop demanding that they toss in money to "grow the game" because that's not their mandate. They grow their brand, they market their brand, and they protect their brand. Women's hockey, at this point in time, is not their brand.

The last thing that needs to be said is that Gary Bettman shouldn't be vilified for his comments. He's a businessman looking out for his business that has 31 governors on the Board of Directors who have made it clear that Gary's primary focus is NHL business. Professional women's hockey is not NHL business. As a result, Gary Bettman's statements about staying out of women's hockey until there are no other options falls directly in line with the NHL's view on the subject. Sorry, women's hockey fans, but help in any form from the NHL simply isn't coming until the NHL controls all aspects of the women's professional league. That's just good business. Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice! from Sports News http://hockey-blog-in-canada.blogspot.com/2019/04/setting-record-straight.html

[junker-town]

Donald Trump offers extended analysis of Liberty football’s jump from FCS to FBS

Trump was giving a commencement address to Liberty graduates.

Donald Trump was this year’s commencement speaker at Liberty University, the evangelical Virginia school run by Jerry Falwell Jr. The school’s football program is making the jump in 2018 from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top classification in Division I. At his Saturday morning speech, Trump used the Liberty football team as part of an analogy about dreaming big.

Trump likened Liberty’s athletic program to that at another Christian school, Notre Dame. He said “the future belongs to the dreamers” and got into Flames football.

Some of the transcript:

At Liberty, your leaders knew from the very beginning that a strong athletic program would help this campus grow so that this school might transform more lives. That is why a crucial part of Reverend Falwell’s vision for making Liberty a world-class institution was having a world-class football team, much like the great teams of Notre Dame — great school, great place.

Trump referenced a New York Times story from a few years ago (probably this one) about Liberty’s grand football ambitions. That letter, in Trump’s telling via Falwell, came from former Notre Dame university president Theodore Hesburgh. That letter described Notre Dame’s “meteoric rise,” Trump said, and passed along a message that Liberty was on the same “trajectory” to football greatness.

Then Trump talked about current events, noting that Liberty was making the leap to the FBS for the 2018 season. The crowd started to cheer, and Trump responded.

Don’t clap. That could be tough. That could be tough. I’m a little worried. I don’t wanna look at some of those scores here. Jerry, you sure you know what you’re doing here? Those other players are big and fast and strong, but I have a feeling you’re gonna do very well, right?

Trump read out future opponents’ names: UMass, Virginia, Auburn, Rutgers, Old Dominion, Brigham Young, Army, Buffalo, Troy, Virginia Tech, Ole Miss, and Wake Forest.

“Jerry, are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Trump riffed at one point. “Jerry, Auburn? I don’t know about that, Jerry. This could be trouble, Jerry.”

Trump said he might be at the Liberty-Auburn game and didn’t know who he’d be supposed to root for. (Probably Army, as he’s the commander-in-chief, but whatever.)

“Those are really top schools,” Trump said. Maybe in four or five years I’ll come to a game, right? You’ll build it up. Well, good luck.”

This was all part of Trump drawing a line for Liberty’s students about starting small, pursuing a “big vision,” and reaching the big-time. The whole speech is here, with Trump’s football talk coming near the end of his remarks.

Making the jump from FCS to FBS confers a status bump on a football program.

But in Liberty’s case, the move is a weird one. The Flames are moving to FBS without a conference, so they’ll go it alone as an independent, and it’s not clear that there’s much upside in the move. My colleague Matt Brown explains:

First, there’s the practical matter. What does a lower-level FBS independent hope to play for? At the FCS level, Liberty was a successful program, one that could compete for Big South titles and playoff appearances, and often did.

As an FBS independent, there’s no trophy. There’s no established postseason tie-in. With a small stadium and modest history, there are no home-and-homes with major, power-conference opponents. There’s no foreseeable path to the Playoff or even a New Year’s Six bowl game.

That’s a problem if you’re trying to continue to build fan interest, especially in a state with two ACC programs, a rapidly improving Old Dominion, an FCS powerhouse in James Madison, and lots of NFL fans. BYU — a program with fans all over the country, a national title, an ESPN contract, and a trophy case full of shiny awards — isn’t really a program Liberty can hope to emulate. And even BYU has struggled to secure meaningful bowl tie-ins. Instead, Liberty would just be another UMass, hoping to scrape together a schedule of cast-offs and the assorted paycheck game.

Liberty would also be without a lucrative conference television contract, in an era of even more dramatic gaps between the financials haves and have-nots. Even if Liberty is able to play into a conference in the next five years, changes in the industry may make those contracts even less valuable than they are now.

Liberty’s probably going to take tons of losses as an FBS program, despite being pretty strong in the lower DI classification. While playing in the FBS at all is indeed “the big-time,” like Trump called it, the Flames will have a lot of challenges. It’s possible that they’ll get whooped for along time before having any success at all.

[rogue--academic-blog]

as a heads up, this IS going to become more of a gen. andromeda blog rather than strictly a peebee rp blog. i just wanted to let you know so that if i don’t like/send starters it’s not because i don’t love you! i love you lots, i’m super excited to see what everyone writes about and comes up with! and go on this adventure with you all.

before you ask, NO this is not because i feel obligated or threatened or anything like that. it’s really just what i wanna do. the influx of people is definitely related, but it’s only related in the sense that as the game draws near the hype is getting realer and i’m feeling it too. i get overwhelmed very easily... there could be just a ton of people suddenly posting in the peebee tag, for example, and that would prompt the same reaction from me. there’s a lot more content to take in, and i wanna pace myself. the game is getting closer and it’s getting harder for me to focus. but it’s only one of many reasons.

i’m certainly not gonna just lurk, i’m super excited to chat with you guys and mess around if that’s cool with you! and i’ll of course rp if you hmu about it (even other characters, potentially. if you need someone to throw in haha). but mostly i just wanna chill. maybe i’ll respond to stuff ic if i have something fun, or post/reblog “musings” etc, but i’m just not gonna worry too much about it.

there’s a lot of reasons for this, including but not limited to: i want to focus on actually playing the game and not worry about creating new content, i’m starting to be kinda into a ship i HIGHLY doubt is gonna be popular and i wanna explore the dynamics of (this is one of the reasons i don’t play a lot of characters, all i wanna do is talk about their relationships with characters that aren’t present) that and of course, i’m just lazy & don’t wanna worry too much about keeping up with rp obligations in general lol

i hope this is all cool with you! this certainly isn’t going to turn into any kind of personal blog, and if you followed me looking to rp with me i am definitely down for it, but i kinda just wanna make crack posts and draw and stuff. which is what i do already. make speculation posts and draw little comics... literally every rp partner i’ve ever had will tell you that just bullshitting and doodling rather than actually writing is my m.o.

i’m honestly not much of a writer, i’m a lot more inclined to make detailed speculation/analysis posts on super insignificant details and draw lowest-common-denominator The Office parodies and stuff. so i’m just following my heart haha

so yeah! just making this post to let you know i’m not ignoring you at all, and if you’re like “why is she talking about other stuff and characters and probably casually liveblogging the game in posts under cuts?” that this is why. if like, i feel the overwhelming urge to write while playing then i will, but it seems...... unlikely. i’m a lot more likely to just gush, or draw.

i really am excited to get to know you all, and i know this is a weird time to be making this change, but i hope you’re cool with it! thanks for taking the time to read this and understand. <3

[flauntpage]

The Clayton Thorson Game – Observations from Eagles 24, Jaguars 10

You probably felt the same way I did after Cody Kessler exited in the first quarter with a concussion.

“Oh God, we’re gonna get three quarters of Clayton Thorson, the guy who went 2-7 last week for ten yards and an interception.”

But the 5th round draft pick out of Northwestern took a big step up last night, completing 16 of 26 passes for 175 yards, a touchdown, and an pick on a ball that probably should have been caught by DeAndre Thompkins.

We’re gonna talk about Thorson, but let’s actually go through the Cody Kessler series before we get there:

Cody Kessler

Not a great opening series with his arm, throwing to a covered Charles Johnson and then missing high on his next effort, but the 3rd down scramble moved the sticks. Then he almost got killed when Andre Dillard slid inside on pass protection, which resulted a defensive end clobbering Kessler via the blindside.

So whose fault was that? Was it Dillard’s fault?

Here’s analysis from former NFL guard Geoff Schwartz:

The LT is doing his job here. Empty protection, they bring cross dog (his linebacker comes) so he squeezes down. This is on the QB once again. I doubt they'd seen a cross dog vs empty protection yet. https://t.co/AlqIBYegSi

— Geoff Schwartz (@geoffschwartz) August 15, 2019

And here’s another bit of analysis from Chiefs tackle Mitchell Schwartz, who is Geoff’s brother:

Based on protection and call, LT actually doing his job. They need to make a better call and/or the QB needs to know he’s hot on that blitz.

— Mitchell Schwartz (@MitchSchwartz71) August 15, 2019

Finally, for confirmation, the head ball coach Doug Pederson putting the play on Kessler and not Dillard:

“They pressured there. You really would like the quarterback to see that and get that quick throw. Held the ball a touch. We needed to get the ball out.”

There ya go, not on Andre Dillard.

Clayton Thorson

I think “settled” is a good word. He just looked a lot more settled out there.

Thorson took the Birds on drives of 95, 75, and 85 yards, and even though one was nothing but running plays, he looked rather composed and assertive on the others, going 12-16 in his passing attempts. I thought the backup linemen also did a nice job keeping Thorson upright and relatively protected for most of the night. On the 75-yard touchdown drive, the Eagles literally the ran the ball eight times in a row, so go figure.

I did wanna share this clip, which was the clear and obvious catch that needed to be reviewed for some reason:

This definitely feels like Thorson overthrew the underneath guy pic.twitter.com/POgpNsNfdi

— Tyler Jackson (@TjackRH) August 16, 2019

Hey, whatever works.

The pass interference challenge

So Doug challenged for pass interference for the first time this preseason, tossing the flag on an endzone look for Carlton Agudosi that was originally ruled incomplete.

Here’s the slow motion replay:

Doug Pederson challenged this for pass interference, and won: pic.twitter.com/oNh2StHZvN

— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) August 16, 2019

Pretty clear to me. The defensive back has a big ‘ole chunk of shoulder pad there and is restricting Agudosi’s movement and ability to jump for the ball.

Good call by Doug, a relatively brief review, and the correct decision in the end. I’m not sure why anybody would have any complaints about that specific sequence, yeah?

Miles Sanders

We wanted to see some shiftiness and explosion and we got that, beginning with a 12-yard run to open the game, sparked by a really nice block from Josh Perkins. It was a big, gaping hole that your grandmother could have run through.

Later, Sanders had the nice off-tackle pickup for eight or so yards after a good seal from Dillard, then the draw play where he was able to turn a loss of yardage into a short gain.

He also had an excellent blitz pickup on the Thorson to Ward touchdown pass, right here:

WHAT PASS BLOCKING ISSUES?! Miles Sanders stood UP 256 LBs AJ Edds on a full speed!!! A gap blitz on a 4th down TD pass! #SandersHypeTrain!!! #Moist! pic.twitter.com/AaKAcrQCl8

— Thomas R. Petersen 🦅 (@thomasrp93) August 15, 2019

Well done, Miles Sanders, and a nice job by Thorson to hang in there with the pressure coming.

Daeshon Hall

Big forced fumble, two sacks, a tackle for loss, and three QB hits.

Another big night for the converted outside linebacker who altered his weight to make the 4-3 defensive end conversion.

Is Hall Steven Means 2.0? Is he a good player who just has no spot on this roster? If he’s going to make the team, then 4th round draft pick Shareef Miller would likely be the odd-man out, since the Birds are probably going to roll with a 10-man group that includes these nine guys:

Brandon Graham

Malik Jackson

Fletcher Cox

Derek Barnett

Timmy Jernigan

Josh Sweat

Hassan Ridgeway

Vinny Curry

Treyvon Hester

That’s five tackles and four ends, so the 10th spot goes to either Hall or Miller at this point. If you think both of those guys deserve a spot, then Josh Sweat is the guy who is left out.

Linebackers

Zach Brown had a great read on the 1st defensive series and couldn’t finish his tackle for what would have been a sack. L.J. Fort finished with five tackles and Nate Gerry two, while backups Alex Singleton and T.J. Edwards got a ton of time in this game.

I didn’t see anything here to kind of change my mind from last week. Nigel Bradham and Zach Brown should be the linebackers in nickel, then your 4-3 look adds L.J. Fort to the mix. I just haven’t seen anything from Gerry that really stands out to me or makes me think that he’s anything more than a backup and special teamer moving forward.

The 5th wide receiver

Mack Hollins played last night and caught a five yard pass. He only had two total targets.

Who’s the 5th receiver at this point? Is it him? Do the Eagles roll with six guys in this department? Greg Ward had the big touchdown catch, but only two total receptions on the night. Marken Michel had the big 75-yard score last week.

I feel like Hollins still gonna be the guy, but he’s in a similar spot to Corey Clement, maybe just hanging on to a roster spot at this point because nobody behind him has really made a noticeable push. Perhaps that changes in preseason week three.

Jake Elliott

3/3 on extra points and hit a 52-yard field goal in the rain.

Quality night from him.

Ross Tucker

Sounded much better, nice to see the laryngitis is gone. He’s a good analyst and a Berks County guy, so shout out to Berks County, unless you went to Wilson or Exeter. Then y’all can sod off. Go Boyertown.

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