#i wanted to add more people into this but comp was fighting me so

[froggtogs]

“welcome to Minish Village!”

[fumifooms]

Hien x unnamed canary aka Scar

Them: "Can’t stand this bitch" Also them: stand unnecessarily close to each other even after eveything went to shit

First time I ship an unnamed character but some people on twitter are jumping onto it too so!! Flock to me brethren. Hienbeni is my bread and butter you guys know this but it’s all about Beni to me franky, Hien is a foil in that for me. But Hien really shines in this dynamic imo… Hien’s all about getting stuff done so then, putting her with an obstacle, a challenge and a potential ally all at once… Someone who matches her intensity and might…….

Pitting professional confident rule-bound Hien against a fiery canary criminal would be interesting and ohh I am looking. Professional assassin who grew up with rigid training in a noble household, has never died ‘til a week ago and doesn’t have so much as a scar on her x slums girl who’s toughened it up and has the marks to prove it. She’s lived through some shit and most importantly she’s survived. Someone who overcomes and doesn’t let a thing keep her down for long. No nonsense squad leader who can take a laugh but is here for a job x prisoner here for a job against her will who likes to have a laugh but ready to throw down.

Also they have a matchy thing going on with how one has a scar going over her left eye and the other has dot tattoos under her right eye…

We don’t see Scar in flashbacks to Utaya or Mithrun’s rescue and Kui is big on continuity in background characters, but she was around by the time Rin was taken in a decade ago at the least. Erique is her warden. She has tattoos that do seem to have a magical purpose, but we don’t know what her magic is. [Edit: -hangs my head down- ok so looking closer it does seem like the "scar" is another tattoo… It’s ok I can work with this, not editing the rest of this tho. Even more matchy bc they are tattooed forever, marked by their line of work!!] I like to think she’s relatively new to the canaries because of this. The canaries are said to be understaffed and Misyl for example was recruited despite not having committed major crimes. Indeed Misyl’s "fraudl spread knowledge of ancient magic" is nothing next to Scar’s crimes, but it’s always possible crimes of the prisoners are exaggerated is what I’m saying. Arrest on false charges or overstate the crimes to justify sending to the canaries etc etc. Stuff that could be played with. I do think the murder adds something to hienbeni tho. It’s left ambiguous what the ninja girls’ past jobs have been but Hien is specialized in explosives and is trained to infiltrate places stealthily and fight, so! "Who was your first kill, why did you do it and was it worth it" girls night playing 20 questions.

There’s truly nothing on her so like. Have this comp. I’ll add panels if I notice her in any other shot.

Something something "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer". Something something respect growing from acknowledging each other’s abilities. Something something feeling the competency flowing from each other and "If shit goes down I want her on my side" and from a glance telepathically communicating "Ok let’s ally?" "Ok let’s ally" bc something in them already knows they’ll make a duo that gets shit done. Also Scar mocks Hien and Hien taunts Scar and they have a charged homoerotic competitive thing going on of impressing each other. Hien laughs about Scar’s crouched battle stance and promises to teach her a thing or two in sparring but then Scar sweeps the legs and whoops yuri wrestling

Girls I think the biggest threat your intimidation tactic is giving off is a kiss. Girls I think you should remember there is a world around you two and things are happening

[tmntseparatedaucompetition]

I’m new to the tmnt online fandom, what exactly is this blog? Stupid question I know considering it says in your name 🙈

I don't think its a stupid question. You will get a needlessly detailed answer however.

Basically on tumblr, when they released polls, people were like "omg lets make our blorbos* fight." The blorbos then "fight" by being pitted against eachother in a poll and fans choose who moves on and who dies.

Blogs were created to be able to organize the blorbos fight and gained a lot of traction on tumblr in general. They go through brackets, kinda like March Madness. This is a blog that hosts such a competition.

So Pollmaster Coral (@rottmntpeepawpolls) created the Peepaw Polls to have the Rottmnt Peepaws duke it out for all glory and it made polls very popular, especially within the TMNT tumblr community**. @tmntaucompetition (Pollmaster Shadow) started around this time and

These competitions*** pit AUs against eachother and for propaganda people create VERY cool art. (I love seeing the art so much). I forgot what I was going to add to this paragraph.

Separated AUs are AUs popularized by ROTTMNT. They are AUs were at least one of the turtles is raised separately from the other turtles and end with them usually becoming a family at the end. Like a refound family type trope.

So in summary, this blog hosts a competition between tmnt separated aus.

Currently most of the poll blogs are on hiatus because most mods run blogs on their own and need a break. From what I can tell there's going to be a lot more activity in this coming spring (in the northern hemisphere).

Currently @last-ronin-tmnt-competition @tmnt-oc-comp are actively doing polls if you want to check them out!

*character you like

**I'm not really in other fandoms so polls could be popular in them but I wouldn't know

***I am aware theres comps that have like canon poll stuff (like character battles like Big Mama vs Sloppy Joeseph) but there's a lot of them that are similar (and confuse me) so I am unware of how many there are. So this mostly a discussion of polls that regard AUs

[torturedblue]

Surprised no one’s added your and you’re 😂

Your = ownership, “is that your croissant?”

You’re = a contraction of you are, “if you’re not going to answer, I’ll eat that croissant”

Or in the words of Dr. Ross Geller:

These are some tricky ones too: anyone = any person or people, “anyone can bake a croissant”

Any one = the possibility of multiple people qualifying, “Any one of these people might have stolen my croissant”

What drives me the most crazy though…

“Could of” does not exist in grammar, it is could’ve, as in ‘could have’ in contraction form

Same with should’ve and would’ve

What’s really helped me with affect and effect is RAVEN: Remember, Affect is a Verb, Effect is a Noun. “This croissant theft will affect me deeply.” “The croissant investigation has left a disheartening effect on the town.”

Don’t even get me started on my new revelation of ‘another think coming’ and not thing… I’m sick. I mean autocorrect is literally telling me right now to change it 😂 And the fact is it actually makes more sense to be in a way… Dr. Seuss referred to ideas or thoughts as ‘thinks’ so maybe that’s why. (Oh the Thinks You Can Think). Although ‘another thing coming’ also made sense to me if implying “something unpleasant is coming your way” so…

Also, if I’m being honest it totally bothered me when I remembered it’s not ‘peaked interest’ considering peak does mean to reach the top of something/the highest point/for something to be maximized. So I feel like technically ‘peaked interest’ should be grammatically correct because the meanings together make sense. It’s just that the specific phrase used is “piqued interest”—which is also correct because ‘pique’ means stimulated.

So really ‘peaked interest’ could mean interest that has reached its highest point

And ‘piqued interest’ would mean interest that has been stimulated 🤔 oh the English language… Imma fight people about this now.

(Also want to add “they’re” onto the previous one: = they are, a contraction, “they’re going to burn their croissant”—ooh hey a double whammy)

(Or ‘complementary’ also meaning to make something whole: “they complement each other” “the crunch of this croissant and the flavor of the melted butter really complement each other”—or you can think of how we learn about complementary angles in school. Complimentary with an i does mean free though i believe, as in ��comp tickets to the croissant tasting”)

Loving this thread as a writer/lit nerd

IT’S NOT ‘PEEKED’ MY INTEREST

OR ‘PEAKED’

BUT PIQUED

‘PIQUED MY INTEREST’

THIS HAS BEEN A CAPSLOCK PSA

[foryouthegays]

Alright so my youtube time is up so imma make a list of techno Things (/stims, maybe) that ive noticed he does p often during streams

My FAVORITE is “bu ba daa” when he’s bored, waiting, or theres a silence/break in action and he wants to fill it. He does this a lot on his first smp earth stream, as its a lot of just wandering.

“Literally”. Its just. He says it a lot. And he says every syllable hes like lit er all y not lit trally

“LOUD EXCITED SENTE-same sentence but quieter” usually when something startling, unexpected, or cool happens, he yells something for a second and repeats it quieter

“Sentence, same sentence with “no” or “how” in front or after” usually the first sentence is when something is happening, and the second one is after its already happened.

In general he repeats a lot of what he says, especially when he says it loudly or fast, he says it slower and calmer

He cuts himself off to revisit a former sentence or comment on something else

“Welcome new channel member __, one of us, one of us,!”

Lightly hitting his desk when reading names, usually just once at a time

Clapping!! Again usually when reading names and its super light but i just *happy stim*

“Yeeeeahhh boy” when filling the silence when somethings happening

“Nooooooo, n o o o” when watching his team lose

Completely contradicting himself after he does something wrong (ex, “you cant bridge? K i c k e d. B a n ne d *fails at bridging* in this house we don’t bully people when they make mistakes, they can stay, they learned,” stuff like that)

A more breathy laugh (not AHAHHAHA and more hehehehhh) after being sarcastic, its usually further from the mic and softer, and only lasts a second or so

Rlly just his laugh in general ya know

“Give me your energy!!” @ chat when doing things ( smp earth streams trying to get another chicken for ex)

“OH GOD NONONONONONONOONNONON- not even close” when fighting

Judging peoples abilities based on their in game name

Again w the repeating things, laughing while saying a thing he said a second before

(He usually only repeats things once or twice)

Cutting himself off v well like watching streams sometimes sounds like one of those “perfectly cut screams” comps like hell yell and then just stop and continue talking like nothing happened

Going closer and further to the mic for emphasis

Alright thats it for now pls add more i k n o w i missed so e

[blairamok]

now that i’m home, i can properly process this… i’ve been fighting back tears for the last several hours. that probably sounds ridiculous to a lot of people lolll. but god this last season is the first time i really stuck with it start to finish and shoma was my highlight. i adore him as a skater and a person and i’m just heartbroken. happy for him, sad for me. the competitive scene will not be the same without him. next season is going to be very bittersweet. the world championships is going to be in Boston and that was my one chance to see him perform in person. i still want to go because there’s so many other skaters i want to see but… it’s just gonna be one of those things that i missed out on. his skating makes me feel…… so. much. it’s hard to put into words. i’m excited for whatever he does next of course but just going to miss him so much next season.

so here’s some of my favorite shoma moments and programs

starting with my all time favorite i love you kung fu // clair de lune

cant forget when in the end pose of this same short program at the Grand Prix final he looks to his coach to see his reaction

time lapse // spiegel im spiegel

come together EX

fantasy for violin and orchestra // ladies in lavender

mister plays Minecraft until dawn and every day is cheat day

oboe concerto 🤍🤍🤍

dancing on my own 😭

vivaldi’s winter !!!!!!

and lest not forget his four seasons duet with stephane

my favorite costumes

learning french with his coach stephane lambiel

and moments with stephane 🥺 the coach who likely gave us a few more years with shoma after his career low

tumblr won’t let me add anymore photos so i will stop here i guess. point is i’m going to miss shoma’s silly self at comps, and i’m in my feelings about it. i’ll be supporting him in whatever he decides to do next 🤍

shoma uno retired….. i feel like i have been kicked in the chest lmao.

[deadmunds-ghostbee]

Do you have more sensible thoughts on the “love triangle” news? I was pretty mad initially, however, I think it won’t ultimately be that big of a deal…I am more bummed that the book dynamic of Anthony and Edwina being comically indifferent to each other isn’t happening than I am worried the sisters will be “fighting” over him. I also saw some (naive and futile lol) speculation that Edwina is gay after all but she convinces herself she’s in love with Anthony because she should be…we can dream

I do have some new thoughts but they might not be in the same lane as the general discussion about this.

Most of it has to do with theme, arcs, and about the higher ups that make decisions.

I think the easiest place to start is Edwina. From what we’ve heard she’s super optimistic, sees the best in ppl, doesn’t speak up for herself. She’s a romantic and wants a love match and can be a bit wild.

We know she’ll be taken advantage of by the queen and by Anthony bc of these traits, and the betrayal will probably ultimately lead her to make impulsive and stupid decisions. But with all of this, her arc just sounds like a lot. Meaning they have time to focus on this thing with Anthony, this thing with the Queen involving gossip and LW, make her have a fulfilling “soulmates” relationship with Kate and eventually end up happy with someone/no one. It’s a lot for our little side character and we all know (and they’ve made it very clear) that this isn’t the Edwina show so either these subplots will overlap (Maybe the queen meddles in the courtship to cause drama to trap LW?? Who knows) or some of it is getting less screen time than the other. All this being said I think it’s great that Edwina has depth, but I don’t like short selling her with the naivety. Why can’t our diamond be more aware of the world around her? Overall this doesn’t upset me much I just wonder about how they’ll present it all!

I too am feebly clowning around hoping for an Edwina comp-het-hey-wait-let-me-kiss-this-girl-arc. Which really brings me to another point:

If we have genuinely this many NEW characters in addition to a huge principal cast and still have no queer characters???The higher ups can just like. Fuck way the hell off. Especially when, to put it poorly, it would be a great subject to mine for the show. They’d get their diversity clout, we’d get a love story. But moving on.

I think most of the article was great but there was one part that got a little lost in translation for me: the head/heart dichotomy EW was really driving home. I think most people would agree you need both in your relationship to even have a fighting chance to be successful. The stuff on how one sister represents each of them was just so pedestrian and vaguely demeaning to the characters and the audience. BUT I’m also sure the show wont be condemning duty, just critiquing societal expectation and Anthony’s fucked up head.

I also def think the head and heart will “align” so to speak in the end for Kathony, so maybe my problem is with EW and the talking points. whatever.

Last thing I’ll say is that I like that they’ll show things Edwina and Anthony have in common. It’s not romantic to understand someone else’s situation and sympathize. It’s a good idea to add something to that relationship beyond comical indifference. In-law relationships are great and it’s great to love them for more than just your sibling! Anthony and Edwina deserve that. Built-in homie, basically. There are other ways to to preserve the comedic tone of the book without details like that, that was very clear with that one group photo we got.

***

Also I closed asks again bc I don’t feel like answering more than three today and I’m not good at ignoring things so here we are.

[bluebellhairpin]

I had a though I figured you'd appreciate but what about an attack on titan AU but it was just them in haikyuu??

Okay I do appreciate this though so hold on for a second while I think some extra thoughts to go with this AU (sorry it got long, this excited me more than I anticipated);

Levi is a Libero. No, I'm not just saying this cause he's short yes I totally am lmao but people in this position on a volleyball team need to be fast, durable, and reliable. Levi is all three of those things and just like if I were fighting titans, in a game of volleyball I'd want someone like him to be watching my six.

Eren can't play. He's a horrible player. He's benched most games and switched out within like three sets. But he's got the spirit so good for him I guess. He tries to be an Ace.

Erwin I can see being a lot like Daichi. He's a rock, very grounding when it come to games, and he's able to keep up his team when they're feeling a little down. He's a Wing Spiker.

Bertholdt is a Middle Blocker, but unless Reiner is blocking with him his head isn't always in the game. When he is living the moment, he plays his part like a fucking machine.

Reiner can't block for shit, but he's got one hell of an arm, and just as good of an eye for aim. He's the best spiker the team has without a doubt - mainly because if he can't find a gap, he can power though and make one.

Connie - sweet, sweet Connie - has always been the Tanaka of the AOT universe in my mind so he is another Wing Spiker. He's got the energy, and with practice I think he could make some excellent spikes.

I have to add Miche in because (he's too tall to not be added?) I can actually see him being a really good setter. He's not much into talking, instead he watches and analyzes - both are things that make up a good setter. He knows his team, and he knows when to play what cards in order to come out victorious.

Ymir and Hange both managed to get on the team with all these men cause they both have the same wild, tough streak they can get while playing that means they can just keep up. They're also the most brutal and merciless players on the whole team.

Jean is another Middle blocker, but he's working to move into being the setter for when Miche leaves/if Miche is hurt and can't play. He's good at both, however he's unsure which he wants to continue with at the moment.

Armin is the team manager - along with Moblit. Armin works more on the team and it's strategies, while Mobilt is more morale and first aid.

Mikasa doesn't play because she doesn't want to upstage Eren and make him look bad. Or worse than he already looks.

Historia is Ymir's supper supportive girlfriend and makes a new banner or poster for every game they play. She may or may not bring snacks for after practice.

Sasha is another 'stand sitter' - her two besties are in the team, and they've been to every eating comp she's entered so she returns the favor and holds the other end of Historia's banners.

Masterlist

[post-modern-prometheus]

[1/?] oh, you want to know about In My Head Story, Coven while you wait for my beautiful rant? well let me share with you. When Zoe and Madison went to the frat party, Kyle approached Zoe (just like in the much inferior show, AHS). He tries to flirt with her, but Zoe turns him down, clearly looking at Madison laughing at something some random (respectful) man said. Kyle gets it, him and Zoe keep talking, and now they are himbo and WLW solidarity friends. This means a lot to Zoe, because this totally asshole looking frat boy accepted her so quickly, when usually she was the odd one out. He invites her to another party at his "frat house" (? idk about fraternities) knowing that she wants to make more friends in town, and Zoe promises to lend him a book she recommended (yes she is one of those literally but wlw, fight me). When Zoe and Madison show up to the house, they see a swarm of people crowding around what seems to be a bunch of flowers. After closer inspection, they see photos of Kyle and realized that he had died in a car crash. Zoe is visibly upset, and since Madison is a lesbian who has been comp het all her life she doesn't know how to interact with women she likes (Zoe, duh). So, she offers to bring Kyle back to life to wIN HER FAVOR?? MADISON JUST COMFORT HER YOU CRAZY PERSON!! I love them.

this is GREAT and i LOVE this but can i add that kyle stays alive longer and kinda hangs out with zoe (but she just. doesn’t tell him that she’s a witch or anything and he kinda just comically Misses all the witchy stuff at the house) and meanwhile madison takes it as they’re dating so there’s even more oblivious nonsense and that way there’s more of an emotional impact when kyle dies

[galaxygummy]

Shes very clearly leveraging her position as Chairwoman of the PL to keep her title of Top Champion because theres so many better picks for the title and yet she gets it?? This doesn’t add up.

I’m going to ramble about her terrible team comp and how i would have done it under the cut because her team comp makes me so mad

She'd be twice the challenge if she just used Glimmora as her lead. Toxic Debris at the start of the battle could actually become quite the pain to deal with. If we wanted to keep this as her ace, I’d change the ability to Corrosion, which isnt as good.

Espathra is already used by Tulip. While Oppurtunist is fine, it relies on the player using setup. Which you wont because you’ve already learned from Tulip what this thing can do, if you didn’t raise your own.

I’d personally replace it with Amarouge/Ceruledge and do a fun thing where she uses the one you can’t obtain in your games version. They both have incredible stats and cool designs.

Veluza has middling stats and is already used by Kofu. Mold Breaker is a great ability but I feel like its not great on Veluza since its got quite the limited movepool.

I’d replace it with Palafin. Its the strongest water type in the game in Hero Form and due to its strange evolution method not many people will have it if they’re not focused on the pokedex or wanting to raise one themselves.

Avalugg is really good defensively and has a really good attack stat. but its pitifully slow and doesnt fit the pace of a thrilling champion fight. Sorry Avalugg.

Give her Gholdengo. Great defensive typing, great offensive stats and and a decent movepool.

(I’m trying to go with a theme of rare, strong pokemon that show that she’s travelled the region and become Top Champion of her own merits and efforts rather than the title being meaningless with these picks.)

Gogoat has a similar problem to Avalugg where it thrives better in slower play, which for a thrilling champion fight against someone who states she doesnt hold back, doesnt really fit. Sorry Gogoat.

There are a lot of options for this slot, but personally I’d use a Psuedo Legendary to hammer home the fact that this is the Top Champion. Baxcalibur is already accounted for with Hassel, so I’d pick Salamence since Intimidate is a great ability, but really any of the available ones are pretty good. I wouldnt use Tyranitar or Hydregion because of overlapping typing with other pokemon on her team, though. Kingambit with a max powered Kowtow Cleave powered by a Dark Tera to nullify that 4x fighting weakness beats the pants off anything Glimmora can do in this team slot. Since the dark typing is literally the Evil Type in Japanese, it fits her well, I think :P

This might seem like overkill but considering Arven gave me more of a challenge than Geeta?? and the fact shes supposed to be the Best of the Best in the whole region?? She should be challenging! It’d fit her awful personality if she was actually a strong trainer, with her canon team shes just a joke.

(I totally think shes going to be the bad guy in the DLC because if not shes going to be the least impactful champion of all time, and I thought Diantha would never be knocked off that pedistal)

I do not like her half the gym leaders do not like her she just makes people do things for her (like Penny and the player) and the way she just shoehorns herself into things like the School Battle Brawl and tries to act humble but it clearly conceals an ego also her ace being Poison Type are they saying she's toxic?

Anyway Geeta needs to be fired and Larry needs a paid vacation and the League needs a post-Geeta overhaul because man is she just not good.

I mean, she's probably the easiest and worst Champion ever (also the most vocally disliked by the characters of any game) and yet when defeated she doesn't have to step down? Yes Paldea has multiple Champions but Nemona and the player have canned her ass more than once each!

2023 is the year of Geeta's Downfall

[bellaslilpapercut]

Eclipse reread part 3 bewr bewr bewrrr! Covering the entire rest of the book in ONE post so buckle on in baybee: 

1. Absolutely everything about chapter 15 (wager) is disgusting. To a certain extent I appreciate how successfully meyer captures how frustrating assault is as a woman, how futile it feels to fight against it. But at the same time the way she handles the aftermath is unbelievably disappointing and infuriating. Charlie doesn't get up to help his own daughter, Jake trails after Bella into the house and sticks around, there's just no relief or reflection that feels satisfying. Bella can ask where the justice is when she finds out Jake isn't aging but just ignores Charlie defending her assailant? And to some extent I get it, I've shut down after assault before to the point where it took years to recognize that some of the things that happened even were assault. But when there's a pattern within the series of men being narratively rewarded for assault and abuse and women being punished for reacting to abuse it feels like the narrative is reinforcing the status quo of women<men. I'm not stupid, I understand when a book is trying to make me uncomfortable and I don't need villains to be punished to know that they're villainous. This doesn't come across that way at all. Meyers handling of misogynistic abuse and violence lack the nuance to make me believe that she sees this violence as something to be critical of rather than something that just happens to women. And again, because it's a pattern in her writing, women getting no reprieve from gendered harm, I don't believe she's making a statement. There's just no self awareness and that's the key difference between a story like Brave New World or Lolita and Twilight.

2. Also this quote that precedes the assault is just so so frustrating:

Bella is not mean for setting boundaries! She isn't stringing you along! I would love to hit meyer in the head with a rolled up newspaper. Anyway.

3. Bella keeps saying things like "this would be annoying if it weren't so scary" in regards to having her clothes stolen by vampires that want her dead and having to lie to people around her, again because dozens of vampires want her dead. And y'know after the third time she said she would be annoyed if she weren't scared I'm just left to believe she isn't scared at all. I don't feel rising tension, the newborn army feels like a minor nuisance and even after they connect it to victoria (who still hasn't shown up at all) I'm just like...okay well get on with it then! Meyer makes bella "shudder" (I'm still tempted to make a comp of every time she shudders in this fucking book lol) instead of showing us her actual fear. I don't believe she's scared, I don't care about the "threat," and I don't believe anything bad will happen to Bella. There are Literally No Stakes here. I'm not invested in this story at all.

4. Alice is a bad friend lmfao

Girl, you're psychic you know she wanted to wear red why are you just dressing her up for your brother.

5. Okay returning to point 3 because I read chapter 17 and had an epiphany: Bella says she isn't scared for herself and I get that I do. But smeyer also hasn't shown us that she's selfless- just that she doesn't care if she dies. If bella actually cared for her human friends, in any way, I would believe that the newborn army was a scary threat because the people she loves might get hurt. But I don't believe that she cares about that I only believe that she- like Edward- has a weird martyr complex.

6. The Mirror chapter also reinforces this. I can’t stop thinking about how much more impactful it would have been narratively if it had been Angela in Bree’s position (because she’s the only human friend Bella seems fond of but if Bella showed interest in any of the other humans, honestly any of them would do). Imagine the moment where the newborn vampire first lifts her head to look into Bella’s eyes and it’s someone she knows. Someone she cares for. There should have been consequences for Bella beyond “Jake got some bones broken and now I feel bad :(” which was also a shitty punishment because smeyer is inflicting physical trauma on an indigenous character just to make Bella feel bad. Okay. Anyway, it would have built the tension I was missing for- quite literally- over 300 pages of this book if Bella’s friends and classmates and Fork’s residents had been going missing the whole time. Suddenly, at the end of the battle, there’s Angela. Or Jess. Or Katie fucking Marshall. Someone Bella knew should have been there and maybe I would have cared about this book at all.

7. Going back in time to this quote which comes before the battle:

UGH!!! SHUT UP SMEYER! She literally poisoned Jake’s character from the moment she made him a main character and she has zero self reflection to see the damage that she’s causing here. I’ve said before that I don’t think Jake’s actions were a romantic deal breaker and that stands out now more than ever after reading Eclipse. THIS is the moment that Bella realizes she’s in love with Jake too. Smeyer not only sees abuse and aggression as romantic, she also lacks the braincells and reflection to see that she’s playing directly into racist stereotypes. Edward got to grow up- marginally- but Jake had to remain aggressive. I still don’t think she ever once meant to villify Jake- I think that there was no way in a hell a racist woman could ever successfully portray an indigenous character. His tenderness is tainted by the aggression she forces on his character and in the end he never had a chance because- again- he was being written by a racist woman with fucked up views of indigenous people.

8. Okay, I get it. They’re like Cathy and Heathcliff. Fine. I buy it.  

This isn’t even the last time she compares them to Cathy and Heathcliff. Kate Bush isn’t gonna write a song about you, meyer! Give it a rest! (Also lol at “like wuthering heights”)

9.  Jumping right to the end here because to be completely honest the only actual event in the entire book was the newborn battle. Jane was a bitch, fine. Edward talked at Victoria and bored her to death (presumably) and the action never felt very action heavy. I knew if from the “best friend (and werewolf)” line that this book was presumably written for idiots given how little is left to the imagination at any given time. I can’t stand when books treat the audience like dummies and I especially can’t handle YA books that do this. Teenagers aren’t stupid!! Young adults can pick up on subtlety in literature!! AND young adults can handle suspense and action. smeyer doesn’t do either well and the editors never once said “hey you know teens aren’t stupid right? like your audience will pick up on hints that you scatter you don’t have to forcefully explain everything?”  

10. Smeyer can’t stop interrupting herself even in the very last sentence of the book proper:

What, pray tell, is wrong with “Where it would stay for the rest of eternity.” Why did you have to sow doubt in the sentiment right after Bella made her For Real Final Decision???? And why the em-dash!? Again: the editors of the twilight saga are my nemeses but also my favorite conmen. What were they paid for?

11. Back to the editors real quick: if i was given a draft of eclipse I would instantly say: this story is almost 400 pages of nothing, you need to play with the structure of the story. You need to build suspense and if that means playing with POV like you randomly start doing in the epilogue, then do that. Or you can play with the plot. Nothing happens for 300 pages. It takes 300 pages to get to the newborn battle and nothing that happens before the newborn battle makes me feel worried about it. Again, kill off some humans, raise the stakes, do SOMETHING. This was so painfully slow to read because meyer tried to center this book on a love triangle that I didn’t even believe in myself. And even then, it took 14 chapters for the love triangle to get real action (as in an Event, not necessarily physical action). 

12. The epilogue. Oh man. Was the r-slur really so acceptable in 2007 that not one single editor questioned its use? I won’t type the quote in full but Jake refers to his fake arm sling as r-word. Like??? What? And THEN smeyer has him call Leah a “bitter harpy.” Shut up. 

In conclusion, nothing felt like a bigger waste of time than Eclipse. Genuinely, to be completely honest. Two (2) important things happened, at least in Bella’s narrative (I agree with Vinelle that the Volturi debacle was important from Carlisle’s perspective, it adds nothing to Bellas and Bella learns nothing important from it.): 1. Bella made a decision, she chose Edward. Who could have seen that coming? Whaaaat? 2. Rosalie told Bella her backstory. Not that Bella even used that to reflect on her decision to become a vampire but hey, at least it felt like an important moment. Jasper’s backstory only mattered for the newborn battle which didn’t matter at all (and it never informed his character and no one ever brings up that the confederacy was a terrible dark stain on US history (along with the rest of US history but that’s a full dissertation or two on its own)). I can’t imagine a way to improve this book as a standalone book. You could split up the plot (using that term loosely) so that New Moon and BD are both a little longer and BD a little more organized. But without completely changing the plot beats in Eclipse, its just pointless.

[synoxshots]

The Master KOTET Adventure

Well at last, my journey is complete. This was some of the most frustrating, and at times hilariously so, content I’ve ever done - but at the same time there were some parts that felt really rewarding and, dare I say it, even enjoyable. 

So as with my Master KOTFE adventure, I’ve written it all up in case you should ever find yourself wanting a go. As with before, I play a Rage Jugg, 306 gear, Descent of the Fearless set, fully augmented but not min-maxed. Here’s how it went, and warning, it gets long:

Chapter I

I was hopeful about this chapter as it's the only one I'd completed on veteran,  and I was already much more prepared. On master though, it still caused me problems. The first death was an unexpected attack from a Knight that dealt like 140,000 damage, which, ouch... The first boss was the main cause of difficulty in this chapter for me, which was the PA-717 droid. The best tactic was basically just stay as close as possible to it, stay out of its blue conal and hope you don't get shoved into mines, and just hit it as hard as you can. Took a few attempts and the successful one was itself a close call, with Lana dying with probably around 15% health left (didn't get to check exactly because, you know, fighting for my life). After that there's quite a few mobs already engaged in battles with Mandos, I just ran through them, also ignored the bonus objectives which I don't think made any difference.

You have a cutscene where you catch up with Theron and then face swarms of Skytroopers in a building. It is probably beneficial to have range here as there are kolto stations which I didn't manage to use a lot because I was always chasing after the droids. It does give you a checkpoint before the Knights come along, and even if you die then the battle carries on around you (and I had to file a bug report as my heroic moment wasn't working properly, so actually kind of cheesed the boss a bit by letting others deal with it ha). Once revived though, it wasn't so bad.

The walker is everyone's nightmare in this chapter. I follow this guide every time now and it does save a lot of hassle. The final walker fight actually went the best it's ever gone for me, I found the mobs a lot harder than the Big Droid at the end which didn't really touch me that much. No real difficulties after that.

Chapter II

This is the one I'd been fearing from the start, as it's regarded as one of the most difficult things to do in the game solo. I remember trying it on vet mode with my PT and not even being able to get past the jungle creatures, i.e. the very first mob. The only slice of hope was that I've heard the difference between vet mode and master mode isn't massive, but. It was still horrible. Died once on the jungle creatures but it wasn't a big problem really, and that was a fight that didn't reset progress so I got it on the second attempt. Not easy, but manageable. The first big challenge is the Genoharadan Scout camp, and honestly several attempts with a few different tactics didn't seem to get me anywhere (though on one I did get reasonably close) - so I called in a friend and we got through it quickly. No problems from then onwards until we got to the last boss, the Genoharadan Leader plus two hunters. And that was a Time.

As 2 dps with 2 healing companions, we went for targeting the hunters first, and generally we managed to get both of them down, but our companions would either be dead or very close to it. I'm not great at micromanaging companions anyway, and that was something that was definitely needed with Acina to pull her out of the fire and on the ground and all that. So we called in a tank to join us, and we made progress but still struggled. We did discover that with the people you call in, if they die it's alright to go to the med centre and then run back to the room and rejoin the fight without it resetting - but for the phase owner if they die, they can't leave the room (leaving the room will exit the battle, and on this fight it does reset progress). So we decided the best course of action was to get a Real Person Healer to join us rather than Acina, who will stand in everything. Funnily enough, having an actual person proved much more effective and we got it first time! It's a very chaotic fight overall, you get chucked around a lot, there's lots of ridiculously high damage abilities, lots of things to stand in and die, and so on. I definitely wouldn't recommend going alone. Acina will stay with you, doesn't seem to matter what the group size is - she stayed with us when we had a group of four - her influence level is also at the start of the chapter though I raised it to 50 (she's another who likes delicacy gifts which is always good). It was brutal, but it's done.

Chapter III

A nice breather, no deaths at all. I even managed the mouse droid on the first attempt! Stealth squads of troopers bring health down a bit but nothing to worry about, was always in control. Vaylin fight doesn't matter so much as it cuts out early. No real boss fight.

Chapter IV

This one caused me more problems than I thought it would, as though there's no real boss fight there is a swarm near the end and after many attempts on my own, trying to raise Vette's influence further to see if it would help (it did, but not enough), I had to call in a friend. Still took a few attempts with the two of us. Initially we went for having both comps on heals, then we found it was better to have one healing and one dps to nuke it a bit, and eventually we got through it - though I only had 6% health left. It was another of those fights where it resets completely on dying, though your friend can go to medcenter and jump back into the fight. Jugg just wasn't the ideal class for that one I think. After that there were no problems, beforehand it was just the odd Compactor Droid causing me issues, though as long as I used my defensives efficiently it was fine as they lose health quickly too.

Chapter V

This one wasn't too bad. Quite a lot of waves of droid mobs again, they do take your health down quite a bit, but by this stage I'm used to that! It's just a chapter where staying out of red things is key really. When you face the giant droid you don't get hit too much, just watch out when it's the time the repair droids come along because being caught in the big attacks will hurt. The droid does lose health at a good pace though. When you go in the droid it's a pretty simple fight, just have to make sure you regen your health regularly (one time I did not and guess what happened?).

I didn't die on the fight against ARIES. From what I'd read, the key seemed to be staying out of melee range...not ideal for a Jugg. So I decided on keeping mobile and utilising my attacks that did have a bit of range as much as possible. (ARIES also tells you to stand still if you want to die, a good reminder if you still needed one!). It was a bit grindy but my health was never really a concern, I ran around a lot and stayed out of the red and all was well.

Chapter VI

So this one was another Experience. Half of it is a puzzle which is a nice change of pace, and no different from story. I would recommend at this stage doing the Bergola bonus mission - I'd never actually done it before, but it does mean you don't need to fight the extra pups when the beast pit starts, and instead have them on your side. Which is definitely a help of sorts, but that fight in the beast pit is definitely something. The best tactic seemed to be getting as many stuns in as possible, as he can be stunned and interrupted - I put Theron onto damage as well to use his stun, used heroic moments for the extra stuns as well. The beast casts a big circle around itself that takes out nearly all of your health, and he has a habit of hitting you as soon as you get out of it and killing you as well, in short it wasn't fun on melee and involved lots of screaming and running away. The other thing is kite him away from Indo Zal, just take him the opposite direction to keep him alive.

And then the very interesting thing. Because it was Hell I invited a friend to come along. HOWEVER, they were stuck in the Zakuulan Knight armour that you wear at the start of the chapter and couldn't do any abilities apart from a bit of companion micromanagement and a lot of emotional support. They also put their companion onto attack for the extra stun, then heal later in the chapter to try and throw some heals at me during the Arcann fight.

That Arcann fight...I chose the light side options in chapter II so I had him on my side, but that didn't make the chapter easier. You're not able to heal Arcann so I just tried to taunt things off him if his health was getting low. I focused on the Captain and tried to ignore the adds as much as possible, used Arcann's reflect to take them out, starting the fight with his taunt and then praying I hit the guard break in time so I could do damage...I had Theron on damage here as well as the plan was basically burn as quickly as possible. It may be better on a character that has some ability to heal Arcann as companions won't...or it may be better to take the dark side option earlier in the story so you're fighting against him rather than with him (though that's a trade-off with the final chapter fights).

This chapter was certainly a trial but we got there in the end. It's best to keep a level head and not panic, skills that I did not pick up from my class trainer and instead ran around in fear and at times forgot how to swtor.

Chapter VII

This is an interesting chapter without masses of fighting, there's 3 boss fights but not masses of trash in-between. First up is the Horizon Guard, which took three or four attempts but really the best strategy for me was nuke him with a heroic moment, stuns, and interrupts. The main challenge I had on this chapter was the two Twisted Experiments. They cast corrosive goo, which you see as a green circle. It can be interrupted, they can be stunned, so it was just a matter of managing that. It was difficult with the two of them there - with a Jugg I used intimidating roar to give me some time to blast just one, it may help to use a stealth class that can stun better, or a sorc/sage that can whirlwind. The good thing is that it was finally a fight in KotET that doesn't reset your progress, so if you take one down you don't have to restart the whole thing. It does bug when you die though - you end up behind a locked door and have to leave and re-enter the phase. That was only the case on the first death though. Or else I would have done it a lot.

Last up is the Corrupted Vault Guardian. Didn't die on this fight, though I did on the two elites before - mostly because I lost Lana early and couldn't use a heroic moment. I ran around the room, stunning/slowing and interrupting as I could, nearly got through without dying anyway and again it's not a fight that resets. The Guardian boss covers the floor in red stuff called morass, it doesn't go away, so manoeuvre him well or blast him fast. Or don't, like me. I just kind of kited him round the room, he doesn't move fast. Lost Lana at the end because she couldn't avoid the morass but I could, and by then he was nearly dead. Because I didn't die on this I didn't really read up on the mechanics, because on reading my go-to guide it looks like there's more - so er, that's probably a good thing to do if you have trouble! Overall though, this was a chapter with challenges but I found it had a better balance between being challenging and enjoyable.

Chapter VIII

One of the easiest chapters of the bunch. There's lots of trash, and quite a bit of it skippable - either as it is already in combat, or my manoeuvring around it. The walker is a pain but was never at risk of dying. Some interesting bits though. You face a guy called Tyrall Jerikko where the Gravestone is dry-docked, he has two droids with him so I yeeted one off - it disappeared but didn't die, I got through the fight...Tyrall and the droids then respawned so I had to do it again. Hmm. I still yeeted the droid again though, it also didn't die but the fight mostly worked properly at least, I lost Lana (not sure why) but I was never in much danger. The other minor issue I had was in the fight with the Knight just before rescuing Vette, not entirely sure what happened, the adds just seemed to overwhelm me. Used a heroic moment and the cannon you're given on my second go and it took a matter of seconds.

Vaylin is actually an easy fight, though it took 3 attempts - the first I didn't plan for her adds properly, the second I was yeeted. Having Arcann with me meant I got his abilities from chapter 6 again - the taunt and reflect - which took the adds out. Heroic moment also does the trick, though I didn't have it on my successful run. Stay at melee range - in her purple circle she keeps close and you're fine. If you're wiser than me, look for when she's about to do the explosion with the knockback and get yourself against a wall so you don't get thrown off. Or be like me, and don't.

Chapter IX

So the final chapter. It's in two halves basically - with the first there's no boss, buy there is a lot of trash. I had Arcann and Senya has my companions, which meant I had Arcann's abilities again which are brilliant for dealing with trash, and I was getting better at managing them as well. Use his taunt and reflect, it speeds things up. There's two major waves that end with two Knights coming along and it was on those where I had the trouble - it just got a bit too much at the end and with things on cooldown. But the fights don't reset, I put heroic moment on just in case, the Knights were blasted in seconds. It may be more tricky if you have Lana and Theron, but I think these are fights more of annoyance rather than being impossible.

The second half, then. First you fight Vaylin, it's the same mechanics from the previous chapter and not too difficult to deal with. I had Dramath with me so I had the healing, it may be a bit more difficult if you take the light sided decision in chapter 7. He's auto-boosted up to level 45. Again, watch out for the knockbacks.

If you saved Arcann, he's your companion in the final fight. After a quick death I ran to fleet and gave him a compendium so he went up to level 50 influence. Fighting Valkorion is very challenging, and involves lots of running around to get out of line of sight of his attacks - things like Project and Force Storm that will take two thirds or so of your health and leave you desperate to find a memory of healing, at which point you'll inevitably get slowed down by his Dark Ritual and not make it and die (this can be interrupted, but I was rarely within range to do so because...kiting).

The basic idea on this one is when he shifts to the light/dark, you follow suit - it seems to be random as to which one he goes to. When you're shifting make sure you hide behind rocks or something (under the stairs is the best bet I found) - so none of those nasty abilities wipe chunks of your health again. It became a bit of a game of hide and seek from there. The light side abilities seem to have faster cast times than the dark, where often he'd get me with a dark ritual whilst I was trying to hit him. You need to survive one of these phases, switch back to normal, use the holocron ability again, and on the second light/dark phase is when he dies. This took many attempts, though it doesn't seem to affect your repair bills too badly which is a plus.

Some final notes:

Going Commando once again proved a valuable resource, with plenty of tips and general experiences of doing it. My experience didn't always match up to theirs, in part due to the classes we used, but there's a wealth of information there.

I think experiences will vary depending on your choice with Arcann in the first chapter. He was a pain to use in chapter 6, but his abilities were very useful in chapters 8 and 9.

On average I'd say it's more difficult than KotFE - the hardest chapters are very hard, and I brought a friend along three times (well, two and a half, given the chapter 6 experience) because I was just not making progress - whereas I only had help once in KotFE.

As with KotFE, different classes are probably better suited to different chapters, and if you’re just seeking the achievement and have the options available - you might want to try different things accordingly. I think Jugg/Guardian is a decent all-round bet though, plus I made myself a Grit Teeth which gives me even more survivability. 

I think this has made me a better player! That may be up for debate, and I’m still prone to wild panic a lot of the time, but there were also lots of times I really found myself better at studying mechanics and finding the best strategies for me to beat them. 

Completing a master chapter completes the achievement for veteran (and story) as well, so it’s a great way to rack up cheevos - and now my KotET completion is at 100% which is incredibly satisfying. But it doesn’t grant a title, sadly.

Another shoutout to @sparkles-and-rust​ as my go to when I needed a helping hand or just some emotional support! 

[crystalelemental]

I don’t know of you have said this before, but which BP master pair would yo pick? I think that Coballion is the best, but I think Ill go for Evelyn simply for not being the protag.

I don't recall anyone asking, so I think you're the first. For what it's worth, I'm still slightly under 9k, so it will be a while before I can get any of them at all. But from my cursory glance...

Cobalion has crit buffing and accelerated move gauge, Team Fast Track, and what is a near guaranteed defense drop on Rock Smash. I'd say the only nodes substantially altering its performance are Ripple Effect and Synchro Healing, which is nice for stall teams and for just healing up in general. Everything else is pretty optional and limited? That said, I do think the reduction in physical defense at a 50% rate to the side allies isn't as valuable as it sounds, but that's also spoken from someone who much prefers stalling out and letting sync buffs stack up for damage.

There's also a really big issue, to me at least. Fighting type. There are exactly three. Wally, who does get Ramming Speed which is slowly and inconsistently buffed by Cobalion, and mostly uses Focus Blast which Cobalion can't support. Korrina, who does kinda like the defense buffs to get to that "in a pinch" effect, but otherwise doesn't get a ton. And Bea, who is specifically designed to partner with this, thanks to Inertia and physical offense and being slow as dirt with a 4-gauge move. Outside of that, the Fighting Teamwork passive is going to be super limited. So I really don't think it has great teammates right now, in that regard. And like, if you want to be real, Scyther Bugsy exists, packs the same move gauge acceleration, crit buffing AND attack buffing, and a consistent opponent team debuff in Leer, a similar rate of boosting speed passively, and a grid that confers First Aid and Syncho Healing as well. AND it gets Safety Tether for Endurance. Outside of the strict Fighting support bonuses, nothing Cobalion does is something Bugsy cannot, so I have a tough time saying Cobalion is altogether worth it.

Regirock's positives are that it's a consistent buffer of attack and defense, and has a signature skill that can heal, which is great. Potion but also with +2 defense and gradual healing is super solid. The problem is that all its good stuff is 3/5, and it really wants that, which means using 5* Support Candy. First Aid, Ripple Effect, a Master Healer and MPR on trainer move, Synchro Healing. All of this is 3/5. Which is damning. Because Regirock's base sets aren't great. Crit buffing is superior as a support, and none of its inherent abilities are interesting or all that good. And apparently even Sand Shelter is 3/5, which is really damning as a Rock support with the Rock Teamwork passive, because you'd want to support Rock types. And a good Rock type striker almost universally wants Sandstorm present. The only exception is Classic Blue. Who is specially offensive, and easily buffs to max attack anyway. Regirock just seems kinda bad as a pick.

Evelyn is my personal favorite, entirely because it's not the MU. But yeah she's also not that fantastic. She has exactly one buff skill, and it's a nice +4 to both defenses, but it's 1MP, doesn't get MPR until 3/5, and is in a really awkward spot in her grid. And First Aid 4 also only shows at 3/5, which is a massive problem. But. I do think she's got the best passives of any of the three. Revenge Boost 9 is fantastic gauge control, Quick Cure is nice for the tank, but Team Fist Bump is really what sets her apart. 40% chance to restore HP when a move is successful. It doesn't specify how much, but I'm guessing 20%. These kinds of skills are usually on the lower end. But that's still really good for a unit that can massively buff defenses, applies Gradual Healing to the team, and can pretty reliably burn.

I'm also gonna say it: I don't agree with people who argue she's bad on Fire comps. Blaine or SS Erika for sun setting (probably Blaine because of her passive), a striker, and Evelyn is perfectly acceptable for that kind of team. There's a bit of give and take though, and I think people are acclimated to the idea of making the support unit speed up SS Red or Leon's nuking so they don't spend much time buffing. But a buff to defenses to keep them alive is also a valid approach, and one I think is often overlooked. Especially when she can burn. Not to mention two Master passives at once if she's with Anni N or Leon. That's a lot of damage mitigation.

Short version: I think Evelyn's the most useful of the three. I do acknowledge her faults, especially with how many of her best tools are locked behind 3/5, and how a 1MP move is generally a disaster. Not having any support for pure offense is also kinda limiting. But I think she supports just fine for offensive threats that can self-buff, supplying them with survival, and is actually great for stall despite having no immediate heal moves thanks to Team Fist Bump (inconsistent, but 40% isn't bad). Cobalion is the close second, thanks to rapid crit buffing and the defense debuff support, but Fighting isn't a great type right now, and Scyther Bugsy does everything it does probably better. And Regirock is just kinda not great. Like it's fine, but debuffing speed is the least useful option, and it doesn't offer much without full 3/5 grid at all.

Personally, I'll likely take Evelyn, but I also might hold off a while. I don't necessarily need any of them, and if they add more Master pairs, I'd want to be ready. Especially since heads of frontiers seems to be the focus, and if there's even a chance of BP Master Caitlin, I have to be ready.

[copiouscouples]

Big Brother HGs Ranked

Who Will Win to First Boot

Kyland (29)

Seems like he’s into ALL the things - chess, parkour, movies, and the list goes on and on and ALL the mottos - who has 3 mottos in life?

I predict an all boys’ alliance for him

I think he has a natural charisma that’s going to serve him well in the house

I like how he realizes the factor that luck plays in life

Xavier (27)

Seems very personable and gregarious, but I can see how he could be strategic too

I worry that he might have his life TOO together compared to most of the others. He’s only 27 but he gives off early-mid 30s vibes with his maturity level.

I will try to look past his dislike of coffee. Coffee is life, y’all.

I could see him plowing through the competition in the right alliance, but I could also see him being a pre-jury target based on his potential comp beasty-ness.

I know Azah said she didn’t want a showmance, but I can see him winning her over.

Whitney (30)

She gave me Holly vibes from her picture (the cheekbones) but she seems more real and authentic than Holly.

These cast photos aren’t the greatest because so many of the cast looked way better on video. Whitney, in particular, looked tons prettier in the interview.

Like her “Why not?” philosophy but I still expect her to wind up a Floater. Don’t expect her to add anything to the game, but I think she’ll get along really well with others and will be a good sheep for whoever is her alliance leader.

Alyssa (24)

Girl most likely to get in a showmance

Says she’s outspoken like Jess Graf but we’ll see - I think it depends on the situation and whether or not she feels like she has people to back her up

The Office is her favorite show so she’s all right in my books.

Floater who makes it far because of a showmance

Travis (22)

Another young’un

Seems like a Brett wannabe with a side of BB17 James

Like Hannah worry about real life experience

Could see him in a guy’s alliance but will be a follower not the brains

Possible first HOH

Derek F. (29)

My favorite so far

Very personable and funny - he’ll be the entertainer in the house

As long as he doesn’t go too hard, too soon - I can see him making it far

Dad is boxing legend, Joe Frazier (the first guy to beat Muhammad Ali), that’s pretty cool

Christian (23)

Kind of sounds like he’s expecting BB to be like summer camp

Sounds like his strategy is similar to Tyler’s - come off as more clueless and dumber than he is

Winner of most random life motto “Sometimes your ice pop falls on a penny.”

I think the fact he’s only had one girlfriend is kind of sweet

Depends on others in the house as to how far he will get - I think if he gets in a group with other like minded individuals he’ll make it to jury easily

Tiffany (40)

“My strategy for winning the game is to learn as much as I can about everyone else and keep my mouth shut.” - Love this, BUT…use what you know to your advantage. Keep quiet about your plans but spread juicy goss about the other players

Her bio’s a little vague and we got a very short interview with her…I’m uncertain where she’ll land.

I can see her making it to the middle. She can cook and she doesn’t seem like she’s gonna be on anybody’s hit list right off the bat. 

Chill people make it far.

Azah (30)

Leader vibes

Looks like she’ll connect well with others

Strong game plan, but maybe too strong? Usually women that win surf on the coattails of others until jury and then some. THAT SAID it’d be refreshing to see a bold, independent thinker like her go far

Is she gonna keep her strategy to herself or overshare with others?

Claire (25)

Sigh, it’s another I really want an all-girls alliance hopeful… I want that too but the boys always get in the way

Hard to judge…I don’t know her personality since she was an alternate

Super fan! Super fan! She’s super fanny!

Depending on her personality she might bond with Xavier since they’ve got professions that are pretty demanding/intellectual

Hannah (21)

So young and very academic - concerned about how much real world experience she has

Side-eyeing her for listing Paul/Victor as one of her favorite duos

Good secret keeper - “Never give up all your information”

Wasn’t in the interviews so I don’t feel like I’ve got a very good read on her

Methinks I spy a potential floater

Sarah (27)

My fave female cast member so far - really like her vibe

She’s planning on being a floater which honestly when you’re not super athletic or outgoing is a good strategy

I think I’ll like her but not her game play - I imagine she’s gonna be a sheeple

Derek X. (24)

Please don’t throw anything at me, but he kind of gives off Ovi vibes. I think I’m gonna love him, but I don’t know how he’ll interact with other HGs.

Another bad photo that doesn’t do the HG justice

He gives off introvert vibes in his bio and that’s hard to overcome in BB

Brent (28)

He’s single and ready to mingle - not opposed to a showmance

Seems like a social introvert - likes being around others but needs “me” time - not sure how well that will work out in the BB house

May be overestimating his ability to be charming

Asked for note taking materials - may be more on the strategic side of things

I could see him being successful if he gets a group to follow him, but if not I expect him to crash and burn in the first 3 weeks

Frenchie (34)

I think he’s gonna be this season’s lone wolf. I’m not sure who else would have similar interests to him? I think he’s gonna fight for his life each week. Might make it far winning some POVs

That said…he might get in with a boys’ alliance

He came off better in his written bio than his interview. He sounded kind of fun in the bio, but he gave off a very serious vibe in the interview

Britini (24)

Girl is a talker

She’s either gonna be super annoying or super endearing

SO intense!

Another dancer

My prediction for first boot.

[jonathanraychapman]

Using Qin Shi Huang Effectively

This is just a quick discussion about how to use Qin Shi Huang in battles and what I think of him.  I’ve played through about 50 battles with him using various combinations of servants and I wanted to show my notes on using him.  I’m waiting on the Fous next month to give him another +1000 ATK/HP so please excuse that.  I am also working to 10/10/10 his skills as events come out.  Still, I’ve been able to experience the best team comps even with the emperor not as his best.

First of all, I see a lot of people talking about solo’ing with him.  I don’t think this is really the best idea since he’s just not speedy in achieving victory alone (i.e. with full support, I’ve seen him crit for 150-200K damage with just one buster card).  When you’re just fighting normal quests you’re not on any real clock and so the fact he’s a ruler (i.e. half-damage) with healing skills really helps in those cases and it seems like he’s almost overpowered.  And I’m sure that yes you can take certain challenge quests with him alone on the field (baring berserkers with break bars or something).  But I don’t really think that’s the right use for the emperor and the battles will take forever.  FGO is a team battle system and you should use your team.  And when you’re doing real challenge quests with servants firing off NP’s every other turn due to charge skills that invincibility every other turn might not be the greatest thing.

I’ve tried treating the emperor as a stall servant and just wasn’t satisfied.  It’s not different than soloing.  The battles take forever and it’s not feasible to win real challenge quests where you’re put on a clock.  I’ve also tried using him as an arts servant (using MLB Azure Magical Girl for the 30% NP generation and MLB Prisma Cosmos for 10% charge every turn) - focusing on NP charge and firing his NP as often as possible - and that wasn’t the greatest idea either.  The problem with that plan is that you want all three front-line servants hitting their arts cards in these teams.  And this dilutes the emperor’s own effectiveness.  You want to use those two buster cards and even the quick and if you’re playing arts then you’re not doing that.  You’re using two cards out of 5 so it really slows down the DPS and sort of dilutes the whole plan with his NP (and in the end I’m not looking for chip damage).  The arts strategy really works where your DP has an arts NP that deals the real damage.  That’s just not the emperor.

His kit isn’t greedy (like Jeanne Alter), but it also doesn’t really make sense to treat him as a semi-support when he’s capable of being a boss-killer.  Focus on Qin and he’ll win the day quite easily.  Like Jeanne Alter, he really wants to crit and naturally he wants stars to do so.  His NP really focuses this fact by giving him attack and star absorb.  He’s a ruler and gets a natural 1.1x damage multiplier as well as a base 100 star absorb.  He may seem weak due to the massive amount of HP on him over ATK but it works out to make him more balanced in combat (although I believe a 2000 ATK CE is a must).  He’s really a power-house and you don’t need to worry about protecting him.  Feed him attack buffs and stars and follow the ebb and flow of the battle (basically when his cards come up).  That’s the true nature of using Qin effectively.

Stars are the first thing to discuss, so let’s talk about 2030 (a CE that gives 10 stars every turn and 2000 HP).  Qin doesn’t need 50 stars every turn with his star weight and he doesn’t need additional HP (really at all).  So a three MLB 2030 CE setup is really consistent (trading 2000 attack on the CE for 10 more stars), but isn’t really optimal.  With the emperor, if you don’t hit at least 30 stars then you drop the chances of crits on turns when his NP effect isn’t up.  You really need to crit every time with the attacks to either maximize his NP charge, damage, or stars.  So for this reason, Talk of the Hot Sands is just a really good fit with Qin’s kit.  MLB’ed, it gives 600% star absorb (extremely useful with his 100 base star weight),  2000 attack (which remember gets boosted over and over through NP and skills so it’s really good to get that base higher), and a 25% critical damage boost.

And you can further make sure the stars go to the emperor by pairing him with casters (who already have half his star weight at 50).  Just to show an optimal team, I added Waver and Merlin here and let me tell you why.  Merlin’s kit really fits well with the emperor (I mean really really well).  His first skills gives NP and attack and the third skill gives a massive buster and critical boost (and the HP boost - which is sort of wasted).  So you can charge Qin into a NP on the turns where you don’t get the buster cards (often getting two of his NP effect’s durations to overlap) and then on the next turn or two be attacking for NP-level damage on each of those cards.  Waver is similar (and in fact can be switched out for many other casters - like Helena).  But - like Merlin - he offers Qin critical damage and attack boost as well as NP charge.  The reason I like Waver here is that he can keep Merlin’s NP level boosted as well so that he can fire his NP - which further helps Qin by creating more stars and NP generation (almost all of which go to the emperor).

This team works very well and gives you the strategy of knowing when to build up and when to let loose and be able to pick targets by card order and the first target.  Of course, there’s another option here - using Summer BB’s Moon skill to lock the cards for three turns (which seems amazing on paper assuming you have three of Qin’s cards up).  While I love that this skill also provides stars (to ensure the emperor’s attacks crit), it seems a little less effective than the Merlin/Waver setup because BB here is really a semi-support with an amazing third skill and so you’re either ignoring her cards to favor the emperor’s or using that skill to make sure her cards don’t come up.  Summer BB can really be a DPS all on her own and that’s where she shines.  By replacing Waver or some other caster, you’re leaving too many good boosts and NP charge skills behind.  It’s good and fun to play with, but just not optimal as far as damage output.  Also she has some star weight of her own for what that might matter.

Some more-budget-minded ideas here (not that it’s really my focus) are using Hans Christian Andersen and Helena.  Hans has skills to generate stars, his own NP charge and boost critical damage.  Also his NP boosts attack when it goes off (as well as boosting Qin’s NP in a chain).  It’s a pretty good fit and he’s cheap to field as a one-star servant.  Helena also has a skill to generate stars and a party-wide NP gain skill.  Both work well holding 2030′s (which help them survive) and both won’t pull stars away from the emperor.  But both are less effective than Waver/Merlin (of course since these are the best of the best supports).  If you’re at the point that you’ve got the 2030′s then you might not care about the budget options as much.  

Tamamo also seems solid, but Qin isn’t a loop servant and so - while the Arts up skill is great - it’s not super effective (although she can definitely work if you just want to use her).  At least her quick attack card has great stars and of course her NP is amazing with Qin’s skillset.  Sherlock seems like a good fit on paper too since his NP gives ignore defense and critical boost, but it also isn’t effective and it’s hard to keep NP’ing with him in this setup since you’re not going full arts or using the detective as the DPS (same problem with Summer BB really).

As far as Mystic code suits, I really prefer Mage's Association Uniform because of the 20% charge boost and the reshuffle ability.  The healing is sort of wasted I admit. Chaldea Combat Uniform would be good if you need to swap characters for some challenge quest.  Anniversary Blonde seems pretty solid with the buster boost and star skills, but since Qin isn’t necessarily going to go all in on a one-turn kill, those might not matter as much.  Arctic Region Chaldea Uniform is similar, but offers evasion like with Mystic Code: Chaldea.  Atlas Academy Uniform offers some good utility for challenges as well with the Invulnerability.

Well that’s it.  Emperor Qin is an amazing servant, but he needs a little help.  He’s really is a team player and - if you set him up right - you’ll get back amazing results.  This isn’t just the typical case of making a flawed servant useful. Qin isn’t flawed and by what you’re doing here is focusing or channeling your support skills into someone that will add their own magnification as well.  There’s a lot of synergy here and sustained DPS damage that’s hard to find outside of NP loop teams.

[rennyforpresident]

Renny’s BBSim: Second Chances Week 5: The Fake JUMPED Out

Welcome back to Biiiiiiiiiig Brother!

@brentrobinson​ @cirie-sandra-michaela​ @flopbb-22​ @flungevictee​ @fucklauryn​ @iantxrry​ @kaysarswhore​ @maxdoesbb​ @music-obsessednerd​ @pawn2393​ @paymeincashnottears​ @phylisisley​ @rennyforpresident​ @swampassthing​ @theminionjcfucked​ @wheremy--demons--hide​

Previously, @wheremy--demons--hide blew up the house on her way out, and everyone is still reeling. Will the explosion bring people together, or push people further apart?

As always, let’s see what those alliances look like

For the first time, our alliances remain intact! The bonds that are left are strong, and won’t be breaking anytime soon (except @kaysarswhore who just voted out her ally and he STAYED sdkfldsfadsf)

Anywhooooo!

Time to crown the next Head of Household. This person will not only guarantee their safety this week, but will guarantee themselves a spot on the jury!

Who has the courage and the strength to remain until the end? 

@swampassthing and @paymeincashnottears both are the first out, stepping out as soon as BB pours pig blood into their bathtubs.

@kaysarswhore drops after them, after the pig blood begins to congeal and gets nasty to sit in

@maxdoesbb and @fucklauryn both drop at the next item: heapings of mayonnaise.

@maxdoesbb in the DR: “It was disgusting. I’ve never been a fan of mayo, and to have it thrown all over me? I thought I could take it but I could NOT”

@phylisisley, @flopbb-22, and @rennyforpresident all drop at the next add-in: live earthworms

@flopbb-22 in the DR: “DISGUSTING. You can’t pay me to let worms crawl all over me. You just can’t”

These three are tough, and put up with a lot more crap being thrown in their tubs. Olive oil, macaroni salad, mashed potatoes, dead crickets. Eventually, @theminionjcfucked turns to the other two and says, “Let’s make a a deal. Who wants it?”

@pawn2393: “I do. I need that letter from home. I miss my family and I’ll stay here all day if it means I get to hear from them.”

They come to an agreement, and @pawn2393 agrees to keep both of them safe for the week. Which means this week’s HOH is...

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@pawn2393! You have secured safety for the week (and a spot on the BBSim Jury), and have earned the power to nominate two of your fellow houseguests for eviction.

It’ll be a tough decision, but let’s find out who’s on the block this week

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@pawn2393: “I have decided to nominate @rennyforpresident and @phylisisley. @rennyforpresident, you were on the block last week, and I feel like you’ve been walking around the house too confident. Maybe another time on the block will humble you. @phylisisley, you were one of the victims of the call-out speech. I don’t think you’re loyal, and I can’t trust you in this game. For those reasons, you all need to be on the block this week.”

@rennyforpresident in the DR: “Part of me is really pissed, but I have my alliance and I’m confident that I’m safe. I’m sure I’m the pawn this week, and @phylisisley is the biggest target in here. She’s definitely gone.”

@phylisisley in the DR: “I’m confused? I didn’t think @pawn2393 and @rennyforpresident were after each other? The only thing I can think of is that this is all an elaborate plot to take me out of the game, and I’m honestly pissed about it!”

After @pawn2393′s nominations, it’s time to pick players for the veto competition!

@pawn2393 chooses @kaysarswhore to participate, because she wants someone to win who won’t use the veto. He’s confident in his nominees and wants them to stay the same. We’ll see if @rennyforpresident and @phylisisley have anything to say about that!

The competition is tense, but there are some clear targets to take out early. After a few rounds of play, it comes down to three players

@phylisisley aims her pool cue at @kaysarswhore‘s ball, and knocks it in, eliminating her from the competition!

But now it’s @theminionjcfucked‘s turn. She lines up her cue for the perfect shot to take out @phylisisley.....

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AND MISSES!

@phylisisley takes the opportunity and knocks the last ball into the pool, securing the veto for herself!

@phylisisley will definitely be using the veto to save herself, but who will go up in her place? Will we have an epic backdoor?

Houseguests gather in the living room, and the veto ceremony begins

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@pawn2393: “This person is someone who has won comps and who has made waves in the house the past couple weeks. Last week, you saved @rennyforpresident from the block. Now, let’s see if you can survive it when you’re on the block against him. @swampassthing, take a seat.”

@swampassthing in the DR: “In this house, it’s fuck @pawn2393 all day everyday. Don’t trust him, don’t talk to him, don’t even look at him. I had his and his friends’ backs, and now he chooses to take me out of the game? No, he hasn’t seen the last of me.”

Tensions are HIGH in the house, and the events of the week SHOW IT

During the veto competition, @theminionjcfucked accused @kaysarswhore of targeting her unfairly. “You know you were aiming for my ball! Next time, mind your own business and take out the people who are actually gonna do something with the Veto!”

@kaysarswhore doesn’t take it well. “You think I’m scared of you? I know you’re coming after me, and you can go fuck yourself if you think I’m ever gonna listen to you.”

From there, the exchange gets even more heated, until other houseguests step in to separate the two.

In more positive news,

@phylisisley, knowing her position on the block, works to steal away votes from @rennyforpresident. “ @cirie-sandra-michaela, I’m really glad you’re in this house with me. I know we don’t talk too much, but you’ve always been a really positive presence for me here.”

@cirie-sandra-michaela blushes.

The energy in the house is calm and relaxed after that lovely exchange, until chaos comes back one more time.

@pawn2393 and @kaysarswhore were sitting in the HOH room, just hanging out and watching the cameras on the houseguests downstairs, when @kaysarswhore sees @swampassthing head into the backyard.

@kaysarswhore: “Do you know what we should do? What tradition we should keep alive?”

At the same time, both of them turn to each other and say: “FLIP THE BED!!”

This time, when @swampassthing finds their bed in the living room, they raise hell. “Who the fuck did it? Who wants to fucking fight?”

@pawn2393, from upstairs screaming downstairs: “What the fuck are you gonna do about it! Consider it your goodbye gift!”

The screaming continues, but @pawn2393 stays upstairs and @swampassthing stays downstairs. They fight for almost an hour, going back and forth with nonsense jabs.

Wow, what a week. And what better way to end it than with a live eviction?

Julie: “Hello houseguests! It’s almost jury season! It’ll be fun to see which one of you doesn’t make it!”

@rennyforpresident: “Guys, I know I’m a loud-mouth and hard to live with, but I really do want to stay here. @swampassthing, I will always be grateful to you for saving me last week, and I could never campaign against you, but I desperately want to stay and play with you all! I hope you vote to keep me here.”

@swampassthing: “I’m kind of over you all after flipping my bed, so really, all I’ll say is keep me. That’s it.”

Julie: “Wow, I wonder what happened between you all. I’ll never know since I don’t watch the show, but it sounds interesting! Let’s move on to the vote!”

(It wasn’t even close, I-)

Julie: “Remember houseguests, when I read the name of the evicted houseguest, they will have one minute to gather their belongings, say their goodbyes, and exit the Big Brother house.”

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@rennyforpresident, come on out!

Julie: “ @rennyforpresident! I noticed you only hugged @swampassthing, @cirie-sandra-michaela, and @fucklauryn​ on your way out. Hard feelings?”

@rennyforpresident​: “Oh absolutely hard feelings. I had votes promised from almost everyone in that house. The fact that so many of them lied to my face and voted me out anyway? Screw those guys.”

Julie: “The other vote to keep you was @phylisisley​. What are your thoughts on that? Surprised?”

@rennyforpresident​: “Honestly? That doesn’t surprise me. She’s always been real and honest, and I completely disagreed with her being called out last week. I’m sending her and all of my Alliance #1 homies all of my love and luck (which I apparently didn’t have a lot of sdf;lkj;slk)”

Julie: Well, it sucks to see someone from Old School BB go so soon, but it was lovely watching you play again!

Now that jury has begun, how will houseguests change their games? Find out next time. For now, from outside the Big Brother house, I’m Julie Chen. Goodnight.”

I HATE YOU ALL AND I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU (jk I love you all and I’m still rooting for you <3)