#i was doing so well gene pool wise

[ridiculously-over-obsessed]

Thrilled that my genes have caught up to me and I am now officially at risk of early onset artheritis rather than just potentially susceptible to it, so every fine motor task (including and especially writing) now has to be done with these compression glove thingys on 🤡🤡

I am officially an old man now ✌🏻

[try02line]

Hunter & Smol Philip Wittebane

Next hunter & Philip art

Here we are- with something i have never really seen fanarts of-? BUT OH WELL- a friend of mine is doing a (couple of) rps with this concept and I am all for it, and I will keep spamming about it until this smol hyperfixation doesn’t die.

The plot more or less is: a young philip wittebane falls thru some space-time pool and ends up in the canon of the series (a couple of years earlier the events of TOH), and is picked up by Belos, ending becoming a sort of special guard in his own right (is kind of more complex than that tho from what I understood). Him and hunter do not really get a long at first, but eventually grow closer and the canon events of series change accordingly. The bits they shared with me are really nice, and they are still looking for rp partners if any of you is interested into that, just pm @randomaccount95

Soooo- yeah, that is Philip wittebane and that is hunter, and their are sleeping on the Knee after a long and life-threatening mission where they had to obtain stonesleeper lungs, and they are absolutely adorable! Hunter has big brother genes literally in his bones, and with time they develop a very nice bond.

Artistic wise- i am trying to understand how to do backgrounds as they are by far my weak point. AND I WAS SO PROUD OF LIGHTENING HERE- it just looks so soft i am very happy with it! Hope you like this, and have a lovely day 🦊

[ohhicas]

Just a thought, but what do you think apprentices' and Ansem the Wise children would look like if they ever had them? Would they have the same appearance, character?

i went through an emotional journey about this ask today

My real answer is: I'll need an egg donor for this, because blonde tends to be recessive and I'm SURE silver/grey is recessive. and Red sure as hell is recessive. Dilan's about the only one passing a hair color down without a gene fight. (and lets not get into the mess of EYES COLOR. Where does ORANGE land? What about Dilan "Tumblr's Alexandria's Genesis" ass Vibrant Purple???)

I'd like to personally imagine that Even & Ansem's genes would try their hardest to pass down their straight, thinner hair. Ienzo's hair is thick for how well it holds shape at such a short cut/weird comb-over style, so anyone mixing with him would be 'break a comb' thick. Aeleus's hair is a crinkle, shellacked down, escaping into a Final Fantasy bomb fire poof out the back. Curly hair is vicious in the gene pool, whatever he produces is getting at minimum a slight wave. Dilan is a difficult one; he keeps his hair braided but he has a LOT of thick braids, so unless he's wearing extensions he's probably team "Break a comb" so that's another thick hair team. his little wispy that flies around freely at the forehead seems ??Slightly Wavy?? but only as Dilan; as Xaldin that shit is pin-straight and might as well double as extra lances.

Shoulder Width being XXL seems to run the gambit through all five; Ienzo's broad for his bishounen looks. Dude can suplex people as Zexion.

my JOKE answer is "silly Anon, we've already seen their children" Ienzo was basically emotionally adopted by Even and Ansem as a child; at minimum he's their ward. With actual canon he calls both of them as father figures (in the chara files, they're the two he names as such. Those two only.) 'What does their son look like' he's right there, and he's a very snarky adult man who bench presses novels for fun

and Vexen has an army of puppets/dolls/replicas you can consider his Children; all of them in varying shapes and sizes but all created by him. What is that if not a father?

my Extra Stupid Joke Answer, entirely My little AU Universe is

Ienzo has a son already and it's this creature (made/summoned of his own brain in attempting to tap back into his lost Zexion powers)

[cryptidclaw]

What are the cultural differences between the Orders? Sorry if you have anwser this before

I need to make a good in depth lore post some day but in simple terms I think politically/ personality wise the orders are like so:

Wind: Small, tight nit, least battle oriented, specialize in speed and evasion, most pro outsider, they often let outsiders join due to their small numbers and gene pool. This Order finds allyship very important as they believe that a good relationship with the other Orders is a great asset to have (this kinda gets fucked up by Onewhisker though).

River: one of the largest, well fed, known for being the most well groomed with beautiful silky pelts, they take great pride in this, most appearance/beauty obsessed, seemingly neutral on outsiders, but they absolutely despise inter Order relationships and kits. They have a long going feud with Thunder and they DO NOT get along well.

Thunder: Bravery and brute force are their way of life, the majority of Thunder cats are huge and buff, they take great pride in strength of mind and body. Pretty neutral about outsiders, but they have a deep seated bias against kittypets and River Order, kittypets because of the effects Star Oakbark had on the Order's opinions and River becasue of their long going feud.

Shadow: I like the idea of them being nearly nocturnal, choosing to do most work during the later parts of the day and into the night. They are by far the most battle oriented, they take pride in battle scars and often even name themselves after them. they are the most isolated Order, choosing to keep to themselves and they can very hateful towards outsiders and the other Orders due to their isolation

Blood: The most "woke" they love outsiders and will take in any cat in need. To them a powerful and scary exterior is very important, they refuse to be looked down upon or thought of as weak. They take pride in their accomplishments and adorn themselves in trophies from their hunts and battles. They are very tight nit, similar to WInd, and while they seem scary they are actually one of the kindest Orders.

[chaoticgremlinbrainspace]

ive got little to no biology knowledge all I have is the deep obsession with the wild kratts and nature documentaries to propel my rotation on the thoughts of pokemon breeding and how different it would look as people and pokemon were not as close in whatever time period PLA is in like much like how dogs and people have changed with their partner ship surely the same has happened to pokemon? like selecting for certain disarmed traits and maybe even how pokemon breed and stuff? not to mention the impact of the growth go the human population had on pokemon populations and behaviors, along with extinctions of certain variations due to like exposure to new pokemon (I am thinking of the rifts) and people bringing over pokemon and maybe even reckless reassessing of caught pokemon into a new ecosystem. and like the breeding itself do different pokemon have different egg laying rates? or is it a new development that was recently bred for to have one big egg, it could be like the one survival strategy of making a bunch of lil guys and then leaving them to fend for themselves or it could be more like the parental approach having a litter and raising the lil guys until they are able to survive. like I dunno its just fun to rotate the idea that people bred pokemon to only produce one lil guy over time and maybe further along in Development because of the bigger size. I also just think it would be hilarious if people breeding pokemon accidentally fucked up the egg groups even worse than before lmao. maybe with time will and bred pokemon have bred much like the thing I. heard about wolves and coyotes and dogs having so much interbreeding theres not really a true coyote anymore. it could like that so much interbreeding between wild and bred pokemon making it so the population of truly wild pokemon is minuscule especially in areas near or around cities and such. I also think it would be neat if maybe wild pokemon were different looking not by a lot especially with the about of inter breeding but like you could tell if some one caught a pokemon or if someone had it from an egg they got at a breeder. maybe wild pokemon are bigger and domesticated pokemon are smaller than theyre wild counterparts due to living indside homes and thus the smaller pokemon were favored over time. kinda like how if you stick a dog and a wolf side by side you can see the difference in appearance. I also think that the wild pokemon who live in cities are much more open to human intervention when they need it, maybe like if they need help with their eggs, I like to think wild pokemon have been affected by domestic pokemon population gene pool wise by decreasing the amount of eggs they produce to a handful with the number varying with egg groups. but yeah I think that theyre more chill with people taking their eggs in the sense theyre aware that having a trainer is a pretty sweet deal for lil guys because the chances of them being eaten goes wayyyyyyyy down. and like not all of the are chill of course people still as a rile try to avoid taking random eggs out of random pokemon nests thats just a great way to get jumped by a really angry mon. I do think that the interbreeding is the reasons the modern pokemon world stopped seeing alphas after a while lmao. im referencing a lot from dogs because I was and still a a big dog fan. and its aloe the thing im the most casually aware of. I do think that theres probably a pokemon breed golden standard and then theirs lil guys who look a lil funky(I really like pokemon hybrids and pokemon based off of real phenomena in the natural world jsfbiadnlkvsbjk) I like to think that theres an entire breeding scene for pokemon contests and such maybe even a dog show type thing where people show off how well bred theyre pokemon are. I do think theres also different levels of breeders, the professionals are the ones who own or work at daycares usually but also work independently to offer up pokemon partners or show Pokémon.

[darkwood-sleddog]

Yes! When Trapped Neutrophil Syndrome was discovered, the working collie people said it was a "show-only" disease. They blamed the ANKC and NZKC. Then it showed up in Aussie and kiwi working dogs, so the disease became a "Aussie" thing. The goalpost shifted when North Americans reported the same in their working dogs, then British working BC lines started blaming everyone but themselves. Turned out TNS is rampant in ISDS-only lines in the UK as well.

I'm not super up to date on everything border collie these days (because oh lord...) but this is not the first time I've heard of this and not the first time, even recently, I've had some in depth discussions on breeders waving away health problems as "random" or "not in their lines" or whatever.

I think the hard thing is for purebred dog people is 1.) breaking that cycle of thinking about genetic diversity and 2.) taking responsibility for the genetic issues bred into dogs (because much of purebred dog breeding is upheld on either preservation of improvement of said breed) and 3.) lots of us, myself included, like purebred dogs for their predictable conformation and temperament and even doing breeding of the same breed, but as unrelated as one can get in a closed gene pool, can sometimes provide unpredictability.

I really wish that purebred dog people would focus less on the consistency of dogs beauty and conformation, but their longevity. A dog that does not meet the standard perfectly, but still has good temperament and has a long life span should be considered a breed worthy success imo (note that i understand the ISDS does have more a focus on working/trial ability than conformation bred BCs and have a greater diversity of looks, but that I still find them very recognizable specifically as ISDS BCs looks-wise).

[mastimio]

I am tired of the misconceptions around nasuverse magi.

The consensus around fate tumblr, reddit and other such places is that every single mage that isnt the protagonist would kick a puppy and eat a baby. Tbf, there are elements of truth in it. But its to the point where, people, if they see that the character in question is mildly related to the clock tower they will instantly dismiss them. Its simply too much of an exaggeration. I remember when people said that having some of the crypters in FGO being genuinely alright people a retcon, because they were supposed to be the evil magus that opposed our plucky protagonist.

There is just a blatant refusal to critically examine magi characters like Kayneth or Tokiomi even when the story talks about them positively. It gets very embarrassing at times

When Mash and Leonardo gave the crypters glowing, five star reviews to our self insert protagonist, there were people who would rather believe tamamovitch in that they were somehow jealous of your accomplishments.

There were people who claimed Goredolf being a good man deep down was a retcon, and Kirchstaria being a gigachad was false, despite the part 2 prologue and crypter interludes showing otherwise.

When a magus character is given character traits beyond being a power hungry megalomaniac, it is talked about as if they are the exception to a rule. It prevents any discussion about magi from going anywhere.

People than ask why is there so many magi villains then? Its pretty fuckin simple. Nasu and other writers needed a villain, and there was an easy pool of unnamed characters they could pull from.

The problem with making exceptions out of protagonist magi characters is that they don't hate magi society. Rin still desires to be a part of the clocktower and study there. Luvia is an amazingly fun character, and has a frankly adorable crush on Shirou. Even her family can be designated as generally cool people, given Luvias younger sister is marrying for love rather than genes.

Luvia still threatens to kill Waver if he reveals her family's magic to the clock tower. Waver, despite being fate tumblrs pet boy who cant do magic very well, despite their idea that, wow wanting magic in this world is the worst thing ever, still thinks that being a magus, and reaching for the root is an incredibly noble goal.

Why cant it be down to the culture that magi were raised in? Why is it that these people are the exception, and the rest of magi society should burn? Why are so called good Magi thought of as protagonist/good person first, and Magi second, and why are antagonist magi hit with the magi first, shitty person second? Hell, even Touko Aozaki bounces from role to role depending on what story you are reading. Shes the villain of Mahoyo, a wise mentor in Kara no Kyoukai, and just somebody having the time of her life in Case Files: Grace Note. Aoko was planning to kill Soujuuro for witnessing magic, only stopping when he helps her fight against toukos puppet.

Even the traits that people like to shit on magi for are just traits prevalent in all Nasu villains, magi or not. Arrogance? Gilgamesh, BB, tamamovitch and Kiara have it in spades.

Sociopathy? Lio and Ryuunosokeare serial killers, as well as Jackie and Reika from apocrypha. Kirei is literally just like that ™️

Not caring for human life? Shirou Amakusa, Twice Pieceman, Kiara, Goetia, The Lion King, all grand visionary villains.

You could do the reverse for magi villains as well. Manaka was connected to the root and fell in love with Arthur. Shinji is an asshole and he cant even do magic that well.

Speaking of the root, there are very few magi villains who do anything to get to the root. Zouken, before he went bug man dementia guy, wanted to reach the root so he could help humanity. He lost touch with his goal and simply wanted immortality. And he is the example most people point to for evil magi stomping on anybody to get to the root. His treatment of Sakura was because he wanted to get back at their ancestor which he knew.

The Einzbern are barely even human anymore, just Homunculi following the directives of their long dead creators. Im not kidding, even irisviels father is another homunculus. There are no living magi in the Einzbern family.

Roa fell in love with Arcueid, which is what drives him in tsukihime. Cornelius Alba was a fucking incel who fell in love with touko, but was also jealous of her, which made him want to kill her. Zepia wanted to help humanity and save the world, but went insane when he couldn't figure out how. He decided to become an antagonistic phenomenon, in the hopes that might change the fate of the world. Dust of Osiris wanted to save humanity's future (and her girlfriend) by preserving it as a record, frozen in time in the philosophers stone.

What magic weed do they smoke, that most Magi villains want to save the world?

Touko is a villain in Mahoyo, she wants to kill her sister out of jealousy. Atrum Galliasta doesnt care about anything except the benefits magic can bring him. The american magi from Strange Fake and the japanese magi from Type Redline want to use their magic for nationalistic purposes.

The only magi who fit the popular image that I can think of are Souren Araya, Darnic Yggdmillenia, Nigel Saward, and some of the antagonists of Case Files, specifically from volume 1 to volume 3, including the original villains of the anime.

Even with Araya, he wants to destroy the root and find the happiest moment in human history to preserve it. Just like Goetia, Dust Of Osiris, and The Lion King.

Darnic wants to reach the root so he can gain enough power to make his mega family/faction secede from the Mages Association. The other guys are doing their thing so they can do their experiments in peace. They are escaping sealing designations, which are only leveled on the people who may expose the magic world by experimenting on random non magic people.

So, that talks about a general fandom perspective on average magi. But what of the Mages Association? The organization that will gladly turn a blind eye to the extermination of innocents, as long as you dont get caught?

Or they would. If it wasn't against their fucking laws that crime by magic or involving innocents were incredibly punishable. Its more a problem with the western fandom having a lack of official translations, but there are unofficial ones.

This may not be out of the goodness of their heart, as these are in place so as to not expose their existence to the rest of the world.

But, they still take care of these problems. They handled Jack the Ripper, and took care of mages like Heinrich Zepter whos experiments affected many civilians. Why dont they do anything in japan? They dont have much surveillance there. Its a whole plot point in garden of sinners.

Even in fate/stay night, the reason the grail war takes place in fuyuki is because it is so far from the watchful eye of the association.

[nukenai]

I'm dealing with Too Much at the moment with losing Oma, suddenly being responsible for all house maintenance and expenses, losing Yarrow while I was on vacation, and now Barnaby is having health issues. He's only around 2 and a half (as far as I know) but hedgehogs are just so tragically fragile and prone to health problems. I'm getting him into the vet ASAP but energy/behavior-wise he's acting entirely normal so he seems to at least feel okay. This is unfortunately the reality when you have a lot of exotic pets. They tend to hide symptoms really well until things get Bad. Hedgehogs have the unique problem of coming from a very shallow gene pool of imported hedgehogs back in the 80s or something, so cancers are very prevalent with them. And even without illnesses, they have an average reported lifespan of 5 years. They're amazing and adorable little critters but you really gotta prepare for heartbreak with them.

I'm trying to relax about The Expenses because I just got a pretty nice raise at work (they finally decided to adjust our wages to actually be competitive), so a huge stress off my mind is that I no longer have to job search, which I was planning to do when I got home. So that's nice. I just start panicking whenever I have to use my credit cards, though I'm trying to tell myself that this is the kind of situation they're for.

[princess-of-the-corner]

Actually, speaking of blaming izuku for the overpowered child, what does he add to the equation power wise? Like does the one for all in his system just kind go, "you know what? All those quirks, let me just dial those up to 11 for ya" without actually passing the quirk itself on?

Or maybe little menace actually gets a stronger version of Inko's quirk so on top of all the other bullshit going on they're also telekinetic.

Okay so uh.

Reminder: In my AU, I am rolling with not just 'Dad for One', but 'Izuku actually inherited AfO and didn't realize it'. So this man is a full ass Musketeer having AfO and OfA.

Now. Izuku can't really add OfA into the genepool because of how it only transfers with intention. Even with the 'Build-A-Baby' thing used to make Little Menace, OfA only transfers if the user wants it to and Izuku very much Does Not Want To Do That Right Now.

AfO on the other hand..... well, he got it through being made so it is inheritable on accident.

I think that what I'm going to have is that the usual 'Build-A-Baby' thing would have, under most circumstances, resulted in how Quirks normally go when making children. The child would inherit one Quirk or a mixture mutation of the parents' Quirks.

However. Throwing a 'Quirk that yoinks other Quirks' into a Quirk-made gene pool with several other Quirks to pull from results in all the Quirks getting passed down directly rather than one or two or everything mixing.

I think I will nerf LM enough to not give them full access to AfO by default, but they did at least inherit the capability to hold multiple Quirks without being fucked up by it.

[puppyexpressions]

5 Toy Breeds That Worry Vets the Most

Guest Post by Dr. Marty Becker

Let me say this up front: I love all dogs. Every single one I see in my practice brings a smile of joy to my face. But I often have concerns about certain small dog breeds, either because they may be prone to specific health problems or because they have reached such heights of popularity that mass production by puppy mills or careless breeders has put them at risk of overpopulating shelters instead of homes.

Because of this, there are some dogs I would like to see less of in my practice. Not because I think they’re bad — there’s no such thing as a “bad” dog in my book. Instead, I would like to see fewer of these types of dogs, and I would like them all to have better health and ample opportunities for loving, lifelong homes.

Lovable but Trouble

Teacup Cavalier King Charles Spaniel: You might be surprised to hear me say this — Cavaliers are wonderful little dogs with sweet temperaments. They easily capture the hearts of their owners, but it’s their own hearts that I worry about. Because of their limited gene pool, Cavaliers are prone to early onset of a common heart problem in dogs: mitral valve disease. Because of this, their life spans can be as short as six to 10 years. These dogs should live up to 14 years or more. Some of them do, but not enough. Veterinary researchers and breeders are seeking an answer to this health concern, but until they find one, I’d like to see this breed’s skyrocketing popularity come back down to Earth.

Teacup Chihuahua: The great thing about Chihuahuas is their long life spans. It’s not unusual for these tiny dogs with the ginormous personalities to live 15-plus years with regular wellness care. Some of them even live into their 20s. For a dedicated owner, that’s a huge bonus. But it worries me that so many of these entertaining but bossy little dogs end up in shelters. There are so many in states such as California and Arizona that they are often airlifted or trucked to other states, where they are less common and in higher demand. Until that problem is solved, I’d like to see fewer of them walk through the doors of my practice.

Teacup Yorkshire Terrier: The terrors, er, Terriers of the Toy Group, Yorkies are mischief makers who are full of themselves — and that’s saying a lot, given their minuscule size. I love their independent nature and their sense that they are as big as Great Danes, but they can have health and behavioral problems that get them into trouble. Among their health concerns are portosystemic shunts, luxating patellas and collapsing tracheae. They’re also easily injured because of their tiny size. Behavior wise, it’s all too easy to ignore house-training or training in general. That can turn what should be a smart, highly trainable, well-behaved dog into a little tyrant. These are all among the reasons that it’s not unusual to find Yorkies and Yorkie mixes available in shelters or through rescue groups. As a veterinarian and dog lover, I’d love to see fewer Yorkies, all with better health and good homes with people who will give them the combination of love and training they need to thrive.

Teacup Puggle: This popular hybrid, or designer, dog (a combination of a Pug and Beagle) has a lot going for him. For starters, he’s cute and sweet. But as a blend of two very different breeds, he can have some issues that may become prominent and problematic after the cute factor wears off. Take his shedding — please! Both Pugs and Beagles shed heavily. When you combine the two breeds into a single dog, you’re going to wind up with a shedder — and often, people don’t realize this before they get one. Another factor is size. It’s not unusual for Puggles to grow bigger than buyers expect. And they can have the breathing problems associated with Pugs, as well as the high energy level associated with Beagles. Those are all problems that can land them in shelters or with rescue groups, seeking a family who recognizes and understands their quirks.

Teacup anything: It’s easy to understand the appeal of teeny-tiny dogs. We humans are attracted to extremes, and the idea of a dog who fits into the palm of a hand is almost irresistible. But it must be resisted. Micro dogs weighing three pounds or less at adulthood are more prone to serious health problems and generally live shorter lives. It’s hard on them, and it’s hard on their families to lose them at an early age. There are plenty of small dogs who are healthy; let’s not encourage the breeding of tiny, unhealthy dogs simply so we can have bragging rights about whose dog is the smallest.

[doqteqs]

Is Catholicism comparable with eugenics

Yes, absolutely, but apparently almost no one understands how, because they treat eugenics as a dirty word that just means hating and killing people for their skin color/disabilities/sexual proclivities (not Catholic!), rather than understanding eugenics as what it actually is: an inevitable part of the development of the human race.

Catholics (like G. K. Chesterton and his "Eugenics and Other Evils") have been some of the strongest and most vocal opponents to eugenics. If you're Catholic, you have to believe in monogamous marriage, not using birth control or performing abortions, not gene-editing people, not gassing people, and so on. And that's all well and good. So in this shallow sense, the answer is almost always given as 'No'. But in the strict sense, that 'No' is totally misplaced...

What many do not realize is that it was actually the Catholic Church ITSELF that directed at least one, and debatably two or more, of the largest and most successful eugenics programs in all of human history, to the great benefit of all mankind. One was the genetic pacification of Western European states in the Middle Ages, when, under the auspices of the Church, they started hanging violent criminals instead of simply fining them. Law and order, rigorously applied over long periods of time, is itself a eugenic process as such, because you weed out individuals with high aggression and low impulse control - and the Church, to its credit, helped impose that law and order. (nb: you don't need to kill people for this to work, just make it a little harder for them to swim in the gene pool. I think sterilization & penal labor is a more Christian sentence than the death penalty, and I think many caths would agree...)

The other great Catholic eugenics program is the breeding of the Ashkenazi Jews for intelligence. This was accomplished through Catholic laws forbidding usury, which, combined with Jewish laws allowing usury and discouraging intermarriage, had obvious selection effects for Jewish intelligence. Some of my antisemite followers will get mad at me for saying this but even if you don't like Jews, those niggas gave us a lot of inventions n sheeit, so credit where credit is due. See chapter 7 of this book (also by Henry Harpending) for the full argument.

For a more formal, official Catholic answer or to fact check me, check out Dignitas Personae: On Certain Bioethical Questions, and a lot of Pius XII's encyclicals on Nazi matters, like Humani Generis ('we're all one human family, guys'), Summi Pontificatus, ("The Church hails with joy and follows with her maternal blessing every method of guidance and care which aims at a wise and orderly evolution of particular forces and tendencies having their origin in the individual character of each race, provided that they are not opposed to the duties incumbent on men from their unity of origin and common destiny... A disposition, in fact, of the divinely sanctioned natural order divides the human race into social groups, nations or States, which are mutually independent in organization and in the direction of their internal life. But for all that, the human race is bound together by reciprocal ties, moral and juridical, into a great commonwealth directed to the good of all nations and ruled by special laws which protect its unity and promote its prosperity.") and Mit Brennender Sorge ('don't gas your Jewish neighbor, guys').

[pick-em-pool]

WEEK 15

Buckle up, everyone, because we have a BARN. BURNER. FINALE. Coming our way 🔥🛖 🔥 as we have at least 6 viable contestants battling it out for the top prizes 😱 Who has the clutch gene these last 3 weeks?!

GABBY - 12 POINTS

Oh lord sweet baby jesus christ in a manger cuz the inn was too full 👼 Gabby once again inches closer 📏 to the top spot 😱 it's going to come down to the wire and I cannot wait!!!

RUSTY - 12 POINTS

The three wise men - Rusty, Jack, and Daniels - followed the stars to a 12 point week 💯 and now they're only FIVE points away from third place and some money 💴💴 can they do it?!

JULIETTE - 12 POINTS

A fantastic week is not quite enough to pull JuJu out of the last-place-pit-of-doom-and-despair 😔 She has kept a calm demeanor throughout the whole ordeal of this season 😊 She'll definitely be hungry for success next season, taking Jesus' advice to "Grind Hard, Shine Hard."... Actually, I think that quote is from Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson 🪨

ABBY - 11 POINTS

She's been able to stay in the top THREE, orchestrating her picks from her little town in Bethlehem Stanford 🌆🌆🌆 MONEY ON HER MIND 💰 Though I am pretty sure at this point in the bible, king Herod ordered the killing of all the infants in Bethlehem Stanford, which, frankly, was not very cash money of him. So, Abby, go stuff some babies under your bed and keep on pickin!

VAL - 11 POINTS

Val is still juuuuuuust outside of the money right now in 4th place 😬😬😬 I think it's time for her to get a little more aggressive in these last few weeks, SCHEME a little 🦊 You know what they say, if you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'. If you think that a little too far, you might ask, "what would Jesus do" - and I'll say that grabbing a whip and beating up a bunch of merchants is NOT out of the question! DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO VAL

LISA - 10 POINTS

Well she's weathered the storm so far 🌩️🌩️🌩️ and has now been in first place for FIFTEEN WEEKS 🤯 Are we sure we believe she's not cheating??? Women have been KNOWN to lie before: oh yeah, "Virgin" Mary, I'm suuuuure god just put a bun in the oven for you 🤨 I'll bet Joseph was gonna drag the family to Jerry Springer of Nazareth and see what yee olde paternity tests had to say about THAT 😤

JJ - 10 POINTS

We all know that Jesus could walk on water 🌊 but GUESS WHAT? So can JJ... assuming that the water is frozen... and that he has ice skates... ANYWAY the point is that JJ COULD potentially nab a top three spot... assuming some other people mess up... and that I sneak him a few extra points 🥷🥷🥷 ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN

PEYTON - 1O POINTS

Just as Jesus fed 5,000 with two fish, Peyton fed six years of schooling with four years of eligibility ⚾⚾⚾ will he be able to turn three more weeks into a top 3 finish 🤔🤔🤔 the final picks are going to be for ALL the marbles 🍙 (<- there is no marble emoji)

JANIE - 9 POINTS

No one better call out Janie's poor performance this season to her face or I can tell you that she's going to be making meatloaf for Christmas. With EXTRA mushy carrots 😵😵😵

The pick-em pool never disappoints 😎 I don't know about y'all but I'm going to need another chair because I'm on the edge of my SEAT waiting to see who's going to claim victory! 💰🫰💰🫰💰🫰 See you next week!

[afr0-thunder]

[Disrespectful Replies Pt. 1]

Starting a new tag series. I will be responding to the latest controversial/idiotic topics or thoughts I come across. Starting with height.

“If I was 6’_, I would’ve went to *insert pro league*.”

No you wouldn’t. Team USA just got their ass handed to them by Team Germany which consists of what looks like a bunch of white dudes and 5’11 Africans. Also, you still should be able to shoot at whatever height. Remember, there are FEMALE basketball players standing at about 5’6. You just either aren’t athletic or can’t shoot. Also, you’ve clearly never experienced the strength difference of a growth spurt. It’s like 10,000 bricks to 1 free throw.

“I’m only short because my dad made me like this.”

I’m about to have all my baby mommas be short to debunk this bullshit. How does it prove anything? You only need one tall gene to accomplish this. It’s also because BOTH your parents are short, dumbass. Your genetics are assigned based on necessity in comparison to the opposing genetic. Meaning the genetics you have fit BEST with the ones you get from the opposite parent. Example: Long legs, small feet. Sounds ridiculous right? How is that best for survival? DUMB ASS THOUGHTS. My father and I are 3 inches taller than my 6’0 grandfather. My other grandfather is about 6’0 or just under. It is possible for an individual to be taller than their parent (or same as). It just has to be the best genetic combination. You all are idiots. Also, some of you aren’t strong enough (NATURALLY, dumbass) to support the weight of the human body, if tall. In addition to this, are you aware taller people (statistically) live shorter lives? Some of us are already dead. Genetics are about strength and survival. Not the life you wanted. Life is not supposed to boost your mental strength into forming an ego because of your genetics or physical strength to allow you to become a bitter villain. Adding, joint pains are not typically a short person issue.

“It’s because they’re tall.”

There are fat, skinny, ugly, pretty, athletic, non-athletic tall people. Have you watched sports? Someone has to be the loser. Not all tall people luck up in the gene pool. Some of us are just average talent wise or looks wise, even below. Taller people do not receive special treatment. Those over 6’0 are taller than over 80% of the world and 90% at 6’2. We do not receive special treatment. We are not approachable. We are not well liked, other than when envied.

These are not issues. It is just not something to complain about from the outside looking in (short). Not every instance of being tall is as great as you believe…better than climbing on counters and complaining though. In the modern world, you may benefit more from your situation. The world feels you are approachable. The world FEELS they can manipulate you based on your size, take advantage (employment). As opposed to us being consciously or subconsciously assessed right away. The world is majority money focused today, so in a world where you are seen as a better option, in whatever way. Stop looking at unique opportunities like sports, “success” and “relationships” as a privilege we have over others. In sports, we can’t ALL make the roster in professional sports. We can’t ALL be the best. We can’t ALL have the absolute best opportunities. We can’t have all our problems solved by seeing over crowds and refrigerators.

The world is unique. What is the difference? Every life has it’s challenges. Shut the fuck up. You have never experienced SHIT. Not even in your own life. What do you know about being successful in someone else’s life?

EDIT: 6’0 or under is short (to me). The 5’10-5’11 mafia complains so much about “feeling” short/not tall enough that I have to consider them as short as everybody 5’3-5’9. Shit is ridiculous.

[moved-please-leave-me-alone]

Everybody shut up, woo! Everyone listen up! Hey, hey, hey, uh Hey, hey, hey

If you can't write in the proper way If you don't know how to conjugate Maybe you flunked that class And maybe now you find That people mock you online

Okay, now here's the deal I'll try to educate ya Gonna familiarize You with the nomenclature You'll learn the definitions Of nouns and prepositions Literacy's your mission And that's why I think it's a

Good time To learn some grammar Now, did I stammer Work on that grammar You should know when It's "less" or it's "fewer" Like people who were Never raised in a sewer

I hate these word crimes Like I could care less That means you do care At least a little Don't be a moron You'd better slow down And use the right pronoun Show the world you're no clown Everybody wise up!

Say you got an "I", "T" Followed by apostrophe, "s" Now what does that mean? You would not use "it's" in this case As a possessive It's a contraction What's a contraction? Well, it's the shortening of a word, or a group of words By the omission of a sound or letter

Okay, now here's some notes Syntax you're always mangling No "x" in "espresso" Your participle's danglin' But I don't want your drama If you really wanna Leave out that Oxford comma Just keep in mind

That "be", "see", "are", "you" Are words, not letters Get it together Use your spellchecker You should never Write words using numbers Unless you're seven Or your name is Prince

I hate these word crimes You really need a Full time proofreader You dumb mouth-breather Well, you should hire Some cunning linguist To help you distinguish What is proper English

One thing I ask of you Time to learn your homophones is past due Learn to diagram a sentence too Always say "to whom" Don't ever say "to who" And listen up when I tell you this I hope you never use quotation marks for emphasis You finished second grade I hope you can tell If you're doing good or doing well About better figure out the difference Irony is not coincidence And I thought that you'd gotten it through your skull What's figurative and what's literal Oh but, just now, you said You literally couldn't get out of bed That really makes me want to literally Smack a crowbar upside your stupid head

I read your e-mail It's quite apparent Your grammar's errant You're incoherent Saw your blog post It's really fantastic That was sarcastic (Oh, psych!) 'Cause you write like a spastic

I hate these Word Crimes Your prose is dopey Think you should only Write in emoji Oh, you're a lost cause Go back to pre-school Get out of the gene pool Try your best to not drool

Never mind I give up Really now I give up Hey, hey, hey Hey, hey, hey Go away!

IS MY GRAMMAR SO BAD THAT I NEED TO BE SENT WORD CRIMES………. OR ARE YOU SIMPLY CONTRIBUTING TO THE AUTISM

[floofe-trans-doggie]

That's perfectly fair; I think the core of what made Half-Life so good was that it encouraged you to engage with your environment and the enemies' behavior to turn things to your advantage, and most of your weapons were tools to do just that or in some way specialized for specific situations. It encouraged you to think more than just run fast and shoot good. Y'know, hence the tagline, you know the one.

Opposing Force has a very different set of weapons that honestly aren't as well thought-out and don't do this in the same way. The pistol is almost useless because you get the Deagle first and generally encounter plenty of ammo for it. The Displacer Cannon, while I absolutely love its design as a concept, is basically a dice roll on its alt fire between literally refilling your health and some of your ammo for free and outright killing you unless you memorize the maps, which just isn't great. The Barnacle Grapple is next to useless in combat and is only used in places where it's your only option and super obvious. And also the Gene Worm just throws Shock Troopers at you constantly, which is really annoying, and has a healing pool right outside as a sort of bandaid fix that just kills the pacing of the fight. Gameplay-wise, it's just not as clever and well-thought out as Half-Life 1 was.

Blue Shift is laughably short, has no new weapons and very few of the more fun and interesting Half-Life 1 weapons, and ends on an anti-climax with no final battle of any kind. Plus so much of the game is waiting on NPCs that despite a casual playthrough being 1/5th the length of Half-Life 1, the speedrun is nearly the same length.

Decay never even got ported. I can't speak on how well it plays with 2 players, but on singleplayer there isn't even AI for the player you aren't controlling, and the weapon lineup is similar to Blue Shift's with nothing new. Also Half-Life without save scumming is frankly a crime.

Hey is it better or worse if i think that none of them are very good but that blue shift is best

Are you talking gameplay-wise or in terms of the full package?

If you just mean gameplay-wise, I can't fault you for that, none of them were as well-designed as the original in that regard, though I have to wonder where the hell Blue Shift became your favorite there.

If you mean the full package lore and all, I'm officially putting you on the blacklist for all of my future birthday parties. Half-Life: Decay is the most important thing ever; all the little details and the more interesting character roster and the way it ties up everything so nicely just makes my Half-Life obsessed heart soar.

The only things that could've improved Decay (outside of the gameplay, which I honestly can't speak on because I've never played it multiplayer as it was intended,) are if they'd managed to work in the cut chapter where you save Gordon from being shot before he's tossed into the trash compactor and if they actually released the completed PC port Gearbox made that they never let out into the world because Valve hates their fans so so so much.

We might honestly stand on even footing when it comes to Blue Shift, though; it hasn't gotten the same updates and fixes Half-Life and Opposing Force had which only compounds with the utter lack of any gameplay variety or new ideas, and its ending is a huge anti-climax. However, I do still really like it with how it sets up Barney's story and introduces Dr. Rosenberg (he's awesome.) So I think your favorite of the bunch and my least favorite we might hold similar opinions on.