#i would love to actually make a goal that'll make a difference in things

[most-likely-fandom]

so i'm gonna start up my queue again

[sindri42]

hey man i forgot why i was following you, and i saw your post against the dems in america. i was wondering, is your solution the republicans or something further left?

Here's a little secret for you: the republican party and the democratic party have the exact same goals, just different PR departments. If you skip past the meaningless rhetoric and propaganda and look at what these politicians actually do, it's a single unified party.

But as long as they can keep the public convinced that there's two sides fighting each other, nobody ever has to convince anybody that you should vote for me because I'll be good, or halfway decent, or even not all that terrible, they just have to convince the public that the Other Guy is worse somehow.

As for my solution? I don't have one.

If a single third-party candidate ever got into a significant office (doesn't even matter which party, I would take one of the really crazy and stupid ones at this point), then maybe we could start having actual elections again, where a candidate needs to do or say something to convince you that they're actually going to make something better in order to stand out from the crowd. But that'll never happen, because the two big parties know that if they keep swapping back and forth every eight years they get to keep absolute power forever, so they'll work together to prevent anybody else from even being on the ballot in the end.

If we actually held politicians accountable for their crimes, even like 5% of the time, we might at least be able to get back to the point where they were covering things up and pretending to not be the most evil bastards imaginable, but everybody in office has gotten so used to never facing a single consequence that they'll openly admit to treason and molest kids on national television and everybody just shrugs and insists it's better than the alternative.

If we executed everybody with a rank higher than mayor, that would probably make the world a much better place in the long run, but I don't see how we would pull it off outside of an all-out war.

And that's really what it comes down to, isn't it? Allowing the current situation to continue is not more harmful to innocents than a violent revolution would be. Yet.

Anyway, join a union, buy a gun and learn to use it, vote for what you actually believe in even if you know it doesn't make any fucking difference, love whoever you love, try to make life suck a little less for the people around you, never excuse evil in others just because they're on "your team", and refuse to comply with anything you know to be unjust regardless of what the legal authorities or their paid shills tell you.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

obviously, we don't know what exactly solomon is planning, but I find it hard to believe that he seriously thought mc would go against the brothers if it came down to it. if he truly did believe that he hasn't been paying attention. this is the same mc who was willing to use the dagger on themselves if it meant keeping lucifer alive. if they're willing to give up their own life for them, what makes him think they would be any different this time?

I actually believe Solomon when he says he isn't planning on actively fighting the demons or angels. That he's only making contingencies. And that all he is doing is for the sake of humanity. Because he is right, humanity is caught right in the middle of two superpowers & should another full on war break out humans will be at a major disadvantage.

But he put his faith in the absolute worst person.

General MC settled freakishly fast in the Devildom from day 1. They like the Devildom food when humans are not even supposed to be able to eat it. And they've always put the brothers before any sort of common sense.

Solomon might not have been there to see them try to stab themself for Lucifer (and I don't think he would have been told about it) but he was there to see them sacrifice a portion of their life span to save Beel, with 0 hesitation.

But he thought that, even after all that, as humans he would understand MC best, that they'd share a similar goal and ideals and values. And, as it turns out, he was wrong

Also I think it says a lot that this is present Solomon who's still looking for ways to take down the brothers & demons & angels if it came down to it. Present Solomon who has started seeing demons as friends rather than as pawns. Who is very close with Asmo and Barbatos and Simeon and Luke and even Levi & Raphael. Who has seen how the views of angels, demons & humans, regarding each other, has changed. How slowly, they are starting to see each other as something approaching equals. It's this Solomon who, despite all that, despite genuinely being friends with everyone, is still willing to collect the resources to take them down should it ever come to that. Batman Behaviour💅 ✨️

Also can I say, I love that we got a protagonist who was asked to choose between humanity and a second option and went ummmm actually

Diavolo defined demons as being free (which is where their major difference with the angels come in - seeing as the celestial realm is extremely strict). Demons do what they want, they indulge in their sins, and are chaotic because of it. MC has done what they wanted from S1 itself - no matter what they always did what they wanted and they got what they wanted and are stubborn enough to keep working for those things, and because of that they tend to be blunt and chaotic.

Of course they fit in with demons. Of course they made the choice they wanted, the one that'll make them happy, the selfish one rather than the one that was for the good of humanity

Om really gave us the most protagonist of all time <3

[possiblylando]

Whats the deal with the death devil? (YOSHIDA REAL?)

I made this fucking 'joke' back when 146 came out and I keep fucking thing about it cause its so fucking funny and I can one piece this theory into making sense hang on

I went ahead and made this chart to show the feelings towards the death devil. Both Makima and Fami wants the Death Devil dead however its unknown if they do that out of any animosity as their motives seem to be saving humanity from death. Yoru doesn't give a shit and Nayuta is in the same boat as Fami except she has no hatred towards DD. So that leads to the question, What did DD do to make them that mad? Here are the options based on what we know; 1. They don't hate DD at all they just want her to stay in hell because theoretically her presence on earth would mean the extinction of all life. 2. They HATE DD because she did something in the past that REALLY pissed them off. 3. Its a misunderstanding 4. Something else. Will the arrival of the Death Devil cause all extinction of life? (By Extension, Is She evil?) Using what we know of the other 3 Horsemen its a fair assumption to make that DD isn't pure evil or a natural disaster. For the most powerful devil to be a blank evil slate, It would be kind of boring. Even if it's something like the Darkness Devil, We've seen it happen before. We know that Primal Fears are weird and different as well because Darkness and Falling is completely different from each other. Given that I doubt DD's goal is to cause the extinction of all life, Especially because without humans there would be no fear, Thus there would be no devils.

Do they HATE the Death Devil? I think this one can be ruled out given the information we currently have as their reasons for wanting her dead seem to fall into the "Stop humanity from going extinct" angle. We could get some big reveal that DD ate the entire thanksgiving turkey one year but I doubt that'll happen. Could it be a misunderstanding? Given Fujimoto, This is a definite possibility. However I doubt the final antagonist of the series will be so easily resolved as 'Oh you're not actually evil mb'. There would be more too it. DD is probably malicious to some extent but not as much as it seems. It's also possible DD is completely uncaring for destruction and has no evil plans what so ever and just wants to visit her sisters. Because Death itself is cruel and impartial to who and what it takes. So what else could it be?

By FAR the funniest fucking option is that Yoshida actually IS the death devil and the rest of the horseman hate him because he's Trans and ruins their Sisters of the Apocalypse Gimmick. I'm not joking when I say this could ACTUALLY be the fucking solution and it's so fucking funny I keep fucking giggling at this stupid fucking One Piece Theory ass idea. Given what we know about War and how quickly Makima was reincarnated into Nayuta, It's likely that the Horsemen all have true devil forms similar to War and Pochita.

The bodies they currently inhabit aren't actually their Devil bodies and are instead hosts. Again, Given what we know of War, It can be inferred that Horsemen possess the ability to create a special kind of Fiend which is what Nayuta, Fami, and Yoru/Asa are. They're probably on par or only slightly weaker than their pure forms. As such these are more akin to host bodies than anything else. So then what if Yoshida (DEATH DEVIL REAL) is actually just DD's current host body? Yoshida is a weird case in general because he has basically no backstory yet seems related to Kishibe in some way. What if its a Nayuta and Denji situation? But then why would none of the other Horsemen recognize him as death when they met despite the fact they seem to have an intuitive knowledge of their sisters. It's possible that they don't recognise Death as Yoshida because he's actively hiding his identity as to not get outed. The Control Devil's one desire was to truly be loved and understand humans. So it's to go against their primary directive as a Devil; Be loved without control. Fami's motives are still a bit weird but they seem to just be "Eat a bunch of stuff that tastes good." Which again is against her MO as a devil; Feed the hunger instead of succumbing to Famine. Yoru, Who knows shes just a little freak. So thus the idea that the Death Devil's wish would be something like "Live among humans and keep them from dying" would somewhat match an inverted directive. Yoshida is a devil hunter after all who by extension stops humans from dying. So Illustrate how funny this would be if it was true:

But this requires Yoshida to not get fucking pwnd next chapter by another weird Queer Woman.

Time is a flat circle

[inventors-fair]

Important Tips!

Huh? Oh, shoot, that's right. I'm not exactly around for stuff right now, sorry, this is a queued post.

So, uh, I thought I'd say some stuff about what to keep in mind for when you're submitting cards, because I've noticed a couple things that I'd like to pass on.

1. The more effort you put in, the easier it is to talk about your card.

This is something that feels strange to say, because I want to feel that everyone puts in as much effort as they can when they submit. I'm no professional critic, so I'm not going to tear everyone's dreams down and say that only suffering creators are worthy of positive feedback. What I'm trying to say is that it's always better to push for the limits and then dial it back than to push up to the edge and say "good enough."

It's far easier than it might seem to see which cards reach that "good enough" point when they are, indeed, good enough. And goodness is good! What that means on our side is that there's a functional card that ends up being particularly hard to talk about because its presented goal is to be functional. Again, that doesn't make for a quote-unquote "bad" card—but a card that's got effort, no matter what kind, gets that hook where we can actually talk about it. Talking about a card's weirdness opens up dialogue, whereas function alone ends up inadvertently stifling it. If you're worried about a card going too far, at the very least you're pushing for a conversation, and that's where the crux of card creation as an art lies.

2. It's okay if it's been done before—just make me care.

Then again, you'll also hear me say that simplicity is the way to go for winning cards. That's a bit of a hard line to balance, because on the one hand I do like talking about the kooky nonsense that people submit here from time to time, but I also love a well-executed trope. I suppose the challenge here is where "well-executed" lies.

For some people, that'll be enough just to reference certain characters or planes or events or the fact that there's a Saw in the set about murder-house-clown-horror. That much never gets my engine going. No, it's the matter of choice, of circumstance, of history, of all the possibilities that the mechanics and/or flavor are depicting that matter. Cards have action, and cards also have impact, and cards also-also have their own little world where this all takes place. If I could break down how every part of a card mattered, then I sure as hell would, but that's a post for another day when I don't have the world on my shoulders.

All I'll say is that you gotta consider, for any given trope, what the emotional hook is for someone who may not otherwise care about the trope. You're making an argument, and you're here to win me over.

3. Ambiguity is the mind-killer.

And by that, I mean that "I don't get it" will create frustrations upon frustrations. Where are there the biggest potential ambiguities? Great question, me, let's see.

Name: If you're going for something esoteric in the name, the rest of the card's gotta explain it. Actions need to be connected to the name.

Flavor text: Is there someone talking? Is it related to the action of the card, or something before, or something after? Does it flow well off the tongue? Show it to someone else—do they understand?

And most importantly: how are these elements connected?

4. Don't add flavor text if you don't need it.

If you have a lot of rules text on your card, you're good without flavor text. If you can't think of anything that's not already being expressed, some up with something different. If you're not confident, keep writing until you are. Creative writing is hard. Really hard. Trust me. In the end, you're just gonna have to keep at it. Pro tip: read more if you want to get better at writing. Read beyond what you usually read and it might surprise you.

5. And if nothing else, add an art description.

Art is integral to a lot of Magic cards. Seriously! If you feel that you're missing anything, use your words to say what you wanna say. Or if you're really not sure how to describe it, draw it yourself! Draw it badly! I'm a terrible artist and I still absolutely love drawing because sometimes you just have to get those ideas out of your head. It matters to your vision and it matters to the card.

Adding mood, placement, color, etc. can create the context that cards need that otherwise can't be depicted on the text or even the flavor text. Treat it as part of the main dish, as it were.

I know I've said some of this stuff before, but I hope you're still reading and learning like I am. Lord knows I've got a lot to learn.

@abelzumi

[itsclydebitches]

I... don't even know what to do with that episode. That was far worse than I was expecting. Look, I might not agree with how they're framing the Paper Pleasers, but at least they're non-human civilians of the Ever After whose ultimate goal is to improve themselves. You cannot compare that (which is what RT is doing with Ascension as a whole) to Ruby having an intense grieving arc, being tortured, and then deciding she didn't want to be Ruby Rose anymore - she needed it all to stop. That's a suicide attempt. And it's treated as such! The issues with the team just standing around while Ruby drinks the tea aside, there's a reason why we get that horrified closeup on Yang's eye. Why many fans are pleased that now she has someone romantic to comfort her in her grief. Why the Cat is desperate to get Ruby back and is surprised to find her later in the tree. Why Neo suddenly gives up because, supposedly, she now has no goal. Because Ruby is gone. The Cat's plans, Neo's emptiness, the team's horror - ALL of it stems from the understanding that Ruby has just done something irreversible and (outside of expectations for a story's protagonist) is not coming back.

So to then open the next episode with pep-talk fun times is??? Oh look, the Paper Pleasers are now gem people and have no memory of who Jaune is. Isn't that great? Didn't allowing them to drown themselves make them so much better? Because after all, "better" is to be stronger, physically, impervious to fire and flood, never mind their memories and personalities. Who cares about those? Who cares about incremental self-improvement gained through hard work? Who cares about reframing supposed weaknesses as unique strengths under the right circumstances? Nah, forget all that. Evil Jaune was being so selfish for trying to keep a village of friends from killing themselves. And yes, we need to focus on that because why would anyone be worried about Ruby right now? She's fine! Putting aside the fact that they don't know what Ascension does to a non-Afteran, clearly suicide attempts = power-ups, so yay circumstances forcing Ruby to a place where she wants to die. That'll be useful in defeating Salem. C'mon, Yang, you were so cheery a moment ago. Why the sudden doubt while seeing your little sister encased in a tree? This is her choice and nothing matters more than letting people hurt themselves if that's what they want to do. Obviously Ruby will come back better than ever, so just chill about her being so broken she wanted to end it all, yeah?

This could have EASILY been avoided by just presenting Ascension as a kind of self-reflection - similar to the Caterpillar's smoke - wherein the girls can all choose to drink the tea with no suicidal implications, have a chat with the armorer, and come out with a power boost before they return to Remnant. Simplistic, but easy. So WHY did we spend all Volume taking Ruby through a deep depression, culminating in her becoming so hopeless that she decides to end things despite rescue standing right in front of her... and then presenting that as a celebratory moment of growth??

This is, for me, where RWBY officially jumps the shark. They really did that. Local girl tries to die after being horrifically tortured, but that's a good thing because she'll come back better than ever, wielding her mother's weapon which we've never seen before. Love that for Ruby. So the rest of the team should try to hurt themselves too now, right? After all, there's nothing to be afraid of with this wonderful tree. Just engage in a little inconsequential self-harm and come out a new and improved huntress.

On the WIP docket: write a fic where Ruby, in keeping with canon, comes out with no memory of who anyone is, with a radically different personality, and no intention of being a huntress anymore. I want the story to follow its own rules and implications, resulting in the group having a serious reality check about what Ruby actually did and the actual impact this should have based on what they've seen in the Ever After. The Cat is right: it's not Ruby Rose that comes back out - because that's what she wanted when she drank - and the team has to grapple with the fact that they're never going to have their leader/little sister again. There's someone new standing there, sure, but she's a complete stranger in Ruby's body (if even her body comes out the same, ie the King).

Ruby Rose is dead.

[too-many-blorbos]

I like making demons who can feasibly work with heroes without being actually good themselves. I've talked about Mindy the World's Worst Succubus before, but today I wanna talk about--

Kjarl: a cambion who is, simply, too PRACTICAL to be evil.

(Hear me out)

Being evil isn't actually very efficient. Kill a soldier for bringing bad news? You now have one less soldier. Slaughter a defenseless village? You used more resources than you gained. Backstab an ally? Now no one will want to ally with you and that'll limit your options in the future. There's a difference between ruthless efficiency and just plain wastefulness.

Kjarl is too practical to be evil. He's a cambion, the lowest on the hell hierarchy, and the only way he can gain more power is by using every resource he has to the fullest, and seizing every opportunity he finds. Even those opportunities that require acting a bit less ruthless than he normally would.

Because heroes are an unutilized resource. Demons love exploiting human emotions like greed and lust, but why limit yourself to those? Why not exploit honesty, honor, compassion, to get what you want? Heroes can accomplish things that villains can't, and if they're willing to deal with a demon, then Kjarl will be a reliable dealer.

He's still ambitious. He's still opportunistic and scheming. He feels no guilt over slaying the innocent or cheating people, he dreams of vengeance on those who wrong him. He simply puts his long-term goals ahead of petty indulgences, and that effectively makes him more neutral than evil.

[pttucker]

SCREW YOU SECRETIVE PLOTTER! GIVE BACK OUR DOKJA! 😡

Some small, wishful part of me is hoping that it's a big ruse or a big misunderstanding or something. I'm really trying to recall if he ever outright said that Dokja had to die or if Joonghyuk just assumed that was the end goal of egging him on. Because he specifically took him saying that he needed him for something when he could have killed him right then and there.

Granted, that something may not be good, but it'd be a little strange for him to want Dokja dead if he had a scheme in mind that required him alive. Unless something that's happened since their big fight has changed his plans?

Oh man though, Secretive Plotter calling Joonghyuk out for going against his ideals, and Joonghyuk himself knowing that he's being a hypocrite and not following his own vow to kill all Constellations. He gets so upset when Secretive Plotter points out that if he succeeds in his goal of destroying the Star Stream, Dokja will die.

It's actually kind of ironic because Dokja himself has had the goal of destroying all of these terrible Constellations and likely would have joined Joonghyuk in destroying the Star Stream, even if it meant that he would die in the end (because it's Dokja), except he has also realized that maybe various Constellations aren't actually bad (and atm he finally wants to live). Like, he's super hard on himself and blames himself for being no different from all the Constellations he hates, but that's not how he sees others (now) and that's not how Joonghyuk sees him.

Even if Secretive Plotter actually made a really interesting point that I'd never thought of before...and don't necessarily agree with, but a point nonetheless. No wonder Joonghyuk was so angry at Dokja when he found out about TWSA if he construes him reading the novel as being no different from being one of those despised Constellations, just watching on for their own enjoyment. Or in Dokja's case, for his own self-preservation, which Secretive Plotter equates to Constellations consuming another's life to extend their own.

And they even mentioned the comments! Which is something I thought only Dokja would ever mention, especially in regards to him potentially making things worse and just meddling in the world in general...sort of like how a Constellation does by creating scenarios and bounties and sponsoring Incarnations and so on...

Of course, I don't think this really translates 1:1 because there's a huge difference between watching a real person suffer for your enjoyment and doing nothing and watching a character that you would never think is a real person suffer, not to mention the fact that you don't actually have any way of helping them. Dokja could try with his comments but ultimately what happens in TWSA wasn't his decision and, again, none of it was real from his perspective so why would he even try?

And when it suddenly was real he started doing everything in his power to make sure his companions, both "real" and "not", got to see their happy endings.

So yeah, I love that Joonghyuk may have been upset before but now that he's cooled down he absolutely sees that Dokja is not one of the Constellations that he swore to bring down with the Star Stream, and honestly I wonder if even Secretive Plotter sees him as that, or if it was just him trying to goad Joonghyuk into giving up on him again.

Sorry Secretive Plotter, Joonghyuk may not be able to verbalize his feelings for Dokja, even to himself, but he at least knows he's never abandoning him again.

All that said... I guess now we start the epic rescue mission?

Oh, and now Joonghyuk gets to explain to everyone exactly what (and who) happened to their precious Kim Dokja. That'll be fun.

[vinxwatches]

the bad batch season 3

well the fallout show was shit. hopefully the bad batch is better. getting back to Omega who i 100% head cannoned as trans will be nice. last season ended with the death of Tech, but i still call bullshit on that.

episode 01 confined

of course Omega is her usual optimistic self. but did Crosshair lose his sharpshooting ability? that's can't be good for his psyche.

aggressive paragoning. i love it. she's growing into the roll of leader.

she really is the goodest girl.

damn, an entire episode of setting shit up. and showing the the work method of both Omega and the people she's up against, and demonstrating who will win.

also damn i missed that music.

episode 02 paths unknown

this is something you can only do with a big multiseries world like starwars. crossing the pikes means something. you can just say it, tell don't show, but it works because of all the setup for it.

insane number of last seconds, i love it. WAIT?! the carlack pit?!

setting up a clone savehaven. nice ultimate goal for the series.

ep 03 shadow of tantiss

kind of odd general grievous is in the opening considering how he's dead and irrelevant.

damn, are we going to find out what's wrong or right with Omega? i'm still thinking jedi, even if the series has shown no sign of it, it's the only thing that makes sense.

"we were in need of a shuttle, thanks so much for bringing one to us"

is it just that she's a perfect clone? didn't we already know that?

ep 04 a different approach

wait... m count transfer? m for midiglorian? so i was right?!

a confrontation that happened multiple times, finally on the same side again (sort of)

ep 05 the return

i love the Omega Crosshair banter.

time to relive some Crosshair trauma.

ep 06 infiltration

energy crossbow is cool, but i miss the energy bow.

i'm beginning to think Tech may actually be dead. since no one talks about him anymore. they moved on, and that stage of grief is rare if he's alive. but why kill him? too powerful? group too big? i don't understand. especially since he seemed to be in the middle of a romance arc.

well shit. the resistance v0 is about to die a quick death. NO YOU CAN'T END AN EPISODE THERE AT 0.07 FOR ME!!!

ep 07 extraction

you know when clones are around people are going to die.

i love some convincing the enemy to not act simply because it's the right thing.

OH SO HE GETS TO SURVIVE A FALL FROM HIGH!

ep 08 bad territory

they keep mentioning Tech. now in part this makes sense: he was one of the central cast that had a huge impact on every other main character. but on the otherside it gives the vibe that they don't want us to forget the character for one reason or another.

oh love the personal mission Omega gets.

"you don't like anything" "true" such great lines

betrayal? or asking someone to deliver info in person? probably the former.

ep 09 the harbinger

ventras? IT IS! i like her redesign. and i like that she didn't disappear from the universe, as we now see she found a new life.

like how she started not lit, but now is half lit, i wonder if that'll continue.

guys, seriously? stop it.

she and crosshair would be a fun pairing.

but surprisingly few answers for an episode that seems so set up to give answers. it seems to suggest that yes, she is force sensitive, but is lying to her about it. but not quite?

ep 10 identity crisis

is this Omega being in crisis between being a clone and a jedi? also if this is about Omega add it to the pile of Omega is trans.

oh this suddenly feels a lot more star wars rebels, the episode of protecting a kid from the empire going after those force sensitive.

we have seen her softer side, so her getting a higher position is quite positive. wait... that was behind the big ol vault door? also what's "project necromancer" about this?

do, it's not that Omega is force sensitive, but she can replicate it. in the creepiest way she'd the perfect host... the perfect artificial jedi mother.

oh no, not him.

got to love that they made the stormtroopers bulkier to make the clones we've grown to see as friends evil again.

oh. it's just an entirely grim episode. also not about Omega, but about the other female clone, so my trans reading persists (even if it was about hunter it would still persist)

ep 11 point of no return

that title does not instil confidence.

haven't seen Omega's girlfriend in way too long, and that was way too short.

well... fuck. they really just blew up the ship. their home.

oh this is weird. these aren't the new ships. this is the old, the stuff the good guys used to have.

i remember seeing a clone trooper with that big gun and thing "fuck yea big gun" and now it's terrifying. it's so cool how everything transitioned.

well... fuck. everything is awful now. they don't even have a ship to hunt for Omega anymore.

ep 12 juggernaut

they won't have Omega be stuck for 3 episode until the end of the finally... right?

"they'll detect our electronics if we got close" "not if we turn of all electronics" "but... we're flying in the direction of a planet?"

they used to be 5, often 6. now they are 3, and it feels so small for them to be able to do things.

the terrifying thing now is that wrecker can totally be killed. like Omega is save, hunter is the leader which makes him really hard to kill, and crosshair has an arc to complete. but wrecker? he's in the same position as Tech, and well.

also i was fully right on my last hypothesis on Omega

ep 13 into the breach

ok, i Love this Omega. like how her blood can grow with the midiglorians of others she has grown with the power of the team. she's now a leader like hunter, exploring smarts reminiscent of tech, and is likely going to hack into the droid controls like echo can innately. but where will we see wrecker in her?

don't make me hold my breath like that, i only have so much.

ep 14 flash strike

god i love the absolute trust in echo.

half way through, and it's now i learn that this isn't the finally, that's the next one, which doesn't appear to be out yet... fuck

ends in an evil laugh from me.

ep 15 the cavalry has arrived

final episode hype. please let it end on a positive note for once.

50 min episode? that bodes really well. that means they have time for a more complicated story, or a larger victory.

and setting up wrecker for death... please no? longer episode can also mean more complete defeat.

fuck, multiple escape plans at the same time resulting in some failing.

ouch the self condemdantion. and more setting up death with plan 99. "echo's handy work? or Omega?" in unison: "Omega". such good lines. same with Echo's line "because that's exactly what i would have done."

i don't like how calm he is. what is your plan that hasn't been countered? a clone? what could make these clones that good?

oh no. they have their own clone force 99, i guess clone force 100.

god damnit i came to this show to get away from living amputation. i get it, it's star wars. it's tradition at this stage. but still WHY!!!!! (echo may have a spare hand for you to use.)

Echo doesn't argue with Omega not leaving yet.

oh no i know what you're going to do with one of those. and why are you still with the empire. you could have joined the injured and left.

fuck yea Omega will stab a bitch.

the end of this project will mean the start of the death star. but it means clones will probably be left alone. those that are left that is.

the message of the show is that it's good to be able to be whatever you want. with that as message/theme of the show it only makes thematic sense for Omega to be trans and/or lesbian. to go against conventions, to go against what the while old men want you to be.

FUCK YEA ADULT OMEGA!!!

[hjellacott]

They say genitalia isn't important when choosing to date someone. As a bisexual woman, I consider biological sex to be essential for me to decide whether to date or not, even if it's not about having sex. Here's a list of things I consider when dating a man or a woman, that to me are entirely biologically sex-based:

IF MALE

Is he sensitive? Because if he isn't, not interested.

Is he physically strong? I need to know I could defend myself if I needed to.

How's his voice? I get PTSD triggered from very loud, strong male voices, so it's got to be something that sounds gentle.

How's his temper? No way I'd date a man with a strong temperament.

Is he protective or over protective? Because I'll take a bit from a man, but there's a limit.

Is he going to treat me like property?

Is he a sensible man, that'll make the right decisions? Because many men aren't, they get too cocky.

Am I comfortable talking about sensitive topics with him? Does he have enough empathy and compassion, or will he laugh?

Do I feel safe with him?

Can I hold intellectual debates with him without causing an argument?

Is there a chance he'll get physical in an argument, even a slim one?

Is he a feminist?

Does he love his mother/sisters/other females in his family?

Is he kind to gay men?

Is he an attention seeker?

Is he too happy with being sexually admired by other women, that he'll be constantly seeking that even if we're together?

Is he the jealous kind? Will he try to end my friendships with other men?

Will he demand my consent for sexual things, and respect that it is my body, my choice?

Would he be a good father? (because if you're having sex, accidents might happen).

Is he good with animals?

Does he like poetry?

How does he feel about guns?

What would he do if he had a homosexual child?

Is he good with children, while also respecting their space?

Would anyone feel safe around him?

How does he respond to witnessing violence and possible harassment?

What kind of friend is he?

Will he be respectful if I reject kinky sex? Will he respect my sexual decisions in general?

Is he honest?

Is he mature and responsible?

Does he have a job he's committed to?

Is he the kind of guy his friends/relatives trust for babysitting or pet sitting?

Is he a good carer?

Is he academic? Does he enjoy reading novels?

Will he sit playing videogames all the time?

Will he put sports above spending time with me, my family or my friends?

Will he be kind towards me and my period, or act like it's something disgusting he ought to stay away from?

Will he be patronising and mansplaining?

IF FEMALE

Is she emotionally grounded? Is she emotionally dependent?

Is she too fucked up by past relationships?

Can she be reasonable in a fight, or will she bring up every past relationship?

Will she move too fast, or respect my pace?

Is she woke?

Does she have personal aspirations, passions, and goals she's committed to?

Does she have good self esteem?

Does she take care of her own health, even if it means not being too thin?

Does she rely on make up at all times? Because I want to see a woman's real face and fall in love with it.

Will she judge my style, or the kind of woman I am, or will she support me and appreciate our differences?

Is she excessively sappy?

Does she think violence is OK if it comes from a woman? Because no thanks.

Is she strong and independent, like a cat?

Can we live like two ships moving side by side, without trying to overpower the other?

Being bisexual and actually getting to gain romantic and sexual experience with both men and women is quite enriching, because it actually gives one great knowledge about what makes someone who they are, and how deeply someone's biological sex can influence them, whether they realise or not. It goes well beyond breasts and penises, biological sex is in every part of you, your sensitivities, your physicality, your can-do attitude, your confidence, so on. Depending on your biological sex you face brutally different challenges in life, which shape you into different kinds of people. That is what I'm trying to show.

I want you to see that whether one dates a man or a woman, you have different concerns and things to think about. Mine are these, yours might be something else. Notice I haven't put things like religion or race, because they don't depend on sex, I am always going to worry about someone's attitude towards those no matter who they are. What is important is to see how experiences with men and women differ, even if you don't know what's under their trousers.

Notice, for example, how I think of far more things and have far more concerns when it comes to dating men than I do with women. Notice how my concerns with men are more about my safety and well-being, and stereotypes that are associated to men for a reason (and that I've noticed continuously when it has come to relationships with men), while the things I worry about with women, based on past experience, are more related to their emotional and mental stability, and how well can we be two women with our own lives who don't try to become each other.

Biological sex matters, even if you're not having sex. Because it's the essence of you. It's your DNA. It's you, just like bulls and cows are brutally different, so are men and women, genitalia aside.

[wittreviews]

i have decided to review movies from my childhood that nobody my age remembers

as a 16 year old raised by three VHS 90's kids, I have experienced so many different different movies that nobody my age seems to have watched. So I have no made it my goal to write reviews for those movies to encourage my peers into watching them because I literally have nothing to relate to with my generation.

I will be ranking movies based on four things: movie poster, plot, acting, and generally whether I liked it or not

The first movie on the chopping block is: lion king 2 Simba's pride

Category 1 - movie poster

I feel like this poster is kinda basic, but it gets the point across that it's a sequel. It shows the old characters to get the old fans in and out shows the new characters to add a little bit of spice.

All in all - ⭐⭐⭐ three stars

Category 2 - plot

The plot is very reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet based one the way that there are two different lion families and the two that aren't supposed to be together fall in love with each other. I mean, I've never read Romeo and Juliet but I'm pretty sure the title characters die, which doesn't happen in this story, so pretty good.

All in all - ⭐⭐⭐ three stars

Category 3 - acting

The acting from the new cast is great. You can really tell there's emotion coming from Kovu and Kiara and you can see and hear the rage coming from Kovu's mom (I forgot her name) when she sings "that's my lullaby". The original cast is kinda bland though, especially with timon and pumba. They were there to review their roles as the comedic relief, but the writers clearly didn't put enough effort to make sure that they were actually funny. I'm gonna include the songs here real quick because there is a lot coming from those. I already mentioned how that's my lullaby is really good, but that's not the only good one. All of the songs in this movie are very top tier but the best ones in my personal opinion are "upendi" and "one of us". I feel like those songs really show the extent the animators could got to with those songs.

All in all - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ four stars

Category 4 - did I like it or not

Yes, I loved this movie. I used to watch it all the to me when I was a young little lad and I still consistently watch it now as a teenager. This was an integral part of my childhood, I remember watching this more than the first movie. I watched it to the point that my parents would have to turn the TV off in the summers and make do something else because I would watch it so much.

All in all - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ four stars

Lion king 2: Simba's pride was a great movie from start to finish, and that'll give it a Witt rating of: awesome sauce

[ode-to-odes]

IFComp Reviews: We're Not Sailing in Circles... Right?

Here's the next three reviews from the comp! For some reason, all three of these involved going back in time/UNDOing/time loops. Makes you wonder how random that randomizer is.

Last Valentine's Day by Daniel Gao Polished little time loop. Fun to play, thoughtful commentary on love, romance, and relationships. Short and sweet; I actually couldn't find any meaningful difference between options (this one is choice-based), which I don't love, but if you're looking for a ten-minute piece that'll make you think, this is the one for you.

One King to Loot Them All by Onno Brouwer TLDR: Linear parser about wearing a loincloth and swinging an axe. Fun to play, and I'd actually recommend this to players just starting out in IF (though you should probably play a game with standard commands first).

DICK MCBUTTS GETS KICKED IN THE NUTS by Hubert Janus TLDR: Don't give up after the first ending you reach. Nor the second. Nor the tenth. And if you see flashing neon lights, you've got the wrong file.

Full reviews (and spoilers!) below the cut.

No full length reveiw for Last Valentine's Day. It's so short that what I wrote above is really all I have to say.

OKtLTA: My favorite part about this game was actually the custom commands. They added an extra element to the tone of the game without being so outlandish as to confuse the player into checking the command list every other turn. The writing was very consistent with no obvious mistakes (the combat scenes were especially engaging and fun to read), and I encountered no bugs while playing.

The game is very linear, with no red herrings; don’t go into this game expecting a puzzle adventure, because that’s really not what the focus is. The one thing which was unexpected and moderately confusing (moreso to a seasoned player than a new one, which is interesting) was [SPOILERS] the use of the UNDO command in the game. I struggled with how far back I had to go with it before the end goal became obvious. This was mostly confusing because it’s a new use of a mechanic which is typically unused or relatively ignored within games, so seeing something different done with it was jarring. However, once you get used to it, it’s actually really cool. Make sure you read the descriptions as you’re going.

To players used to twisty, puzzle-y parsers, this game might feel a little too linear. That was certainly how I felt, but I don’t think it makes it a bad game: just one that I didn’t feel as engaged in as some other parsers I’ve played. I do think it would be a great game for a beginning IF player or a player looking for some more slashing and hacking than they might normally find in a parser game. The helpful hints and storymode contribute to that rec for beginners as well. It’s clever, funny, and a strong debut work which I had fun playing, so. There you go.

DMGKitN:

Okay, I’ll be honest: this game wasn’t next in my randomly assigned list. But after reading through the confusion regarding the two versions of this game floating around, I just had to play it. I managed to access both versions of the game. When I chose the “Play Online” version, I was given the crazy one, with flashing colors and words and general confusion. I do think this version is elevated by the fact that there’s an actual game to be played elsewhere, or else it would definitely be a very confusing entry (as we’ve seen already). To be so honest, as someone who’s never used twine, I actually thought the flashing colors and weird changing perspective of the page was kind of impressive, but maybe that’s actually easy to do. I wouldn’t know.

The longer and visually calmer version of the game was fun, though. This one I got by downloading the game file, by the way. I did suffer through a few iterations before realizing that the undo button was not there for decoration and I could just go back if I made a choice I didn’t like. That said, I saw quite a few of the endings, and I’m pretty sure I made it to the fullest ending, which was definitely worth the wait. While it took me a minute to get into the story, once it’s really going and you’re exploring the different options, it’s actually a pretty funny experience.

And as a checkmark, all the writing, grammar, coding, etc. was perfect. Points for polish.

[mrmistoffles]

i have decided to review movies from my childhood that nobody my age remembers

as a 16 year old raised by three VHS 90's kids, I have experienced so many different different movies that nobody my age seems to have watched. So I have no made it my goal to write reviews for those movies to encourage my peers into watching them because I literally have nothing to relate to with my generation.

I will be ranking movies based on four things: movie poster, plot, acting, and generally whether I liked it or not

The first movie on the chopping block is: lion king 2 Simba's pride

Category 1 - movie poster

I feel like this poster is kinda basic, but it gets the point across that it's a sequel. It shows the old characters to get the old fans in and out shows the new characters to add a little bit of spice.

All in all - ⭐⭐⭐ three stars

Category 2 - plot

The plot is very reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet based one the way that there are two different lion families and the two that aren't supposed to be together fall in love with each other. I mean, I've never read Romeo and Juliet but I'm pretty sure the title characters die, which doesn't happen in this story, so pretty good.

All in all - ⭐⭐⭐ three stars

Category 3 - acting

The acting from the new cast is great. You can really tell there's emotion coming from Kovu and Kiara and you can see and hear the rage coming from Kovu's mom (I forgot her name) when she sings "that's my lullaby". The original cast is kinda bland though, especially with timon and pumba. They were there to review their roles as the comedic relief, but the writers clearly didn't put enough effort to make sure that they were actually funny. I'm gonna include the songs here real quick because there is a lot coming from those. I already mentioned how that's my lullaby is really good, but that's not the only good one. All of the songs in this movie are very top tier but the best ones in my personal opinion are "upendi" and "one of us". I feel like those songs really show the extent the animators could got to with those songs.

All in all - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ four stars

Category 4 - did I like it or not

Yes, I loved this movie. I used to watch it all the to me when I was a young little lad and I still consistently watch it now as a teenager. This was an integral part of my childhood, I remember watching this more than the first movie. I watched it to the point that my parents would have to turn the TV off in the summers and make do something else because I would watch it so much.

All in all - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ four stars

Lion king 2: Simba's pride was a great movie from start to finish, and that'll give it a Witt rating of: awesome sauce

[cookinguptales]

did someone already request the last tarot reading? i imagine someone did so no problem but... if not, well, id love to sjsksksjskj

Sorry for the delay! Those painkillers really knocked me on my ass. lmao

But no, you're just in time! You get the last reading. :)

I ended up just grabbing a random deck out of the box for this one, and ended up with the Modern Witch Tarot Deck. This is one that I'm a little conflicted on, if we're being honest. There's so much to love about this deck, and for the most part I love the art and design choices... But it's always a punch in the gut when a project is specifically aiming to be as inclusive as possible, it explicitly says it wants to make people feel seen and empowered, people who are not usually featured in these decks... but then it does not include disabled people. It has a way of making me feel even more lonely than when the mainstream ignores us, y'know? (Especially because tarot decks tend to have dozens of seated figures, too... A single wheelchair would have been so easy to incorporate...)

I probably wouldn't have bought this deck if I'd realized, honestly. (I actually thought that The High Priestess was disabled, but once I got the deck in hand realized that it was specifically stated to be a moon in the booklet, not a wheel.) But... nevertheless, I don't believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater, and I do still love the things they did choose to put in.

So uh anyway, mini rant aside, let's crack in.

Hmm.

This, I think, is a story of struggle.

The Seven of Pentacles and the Seven of Wands are both cards of stubborn perseverance, but very different kinds.

The Seven of Pentacles is about diligence. It's about making small investments now that will pay off in the future. It's about making small gains every day. It's about watering a seed for years until you've got an entire tree. And typically, this card coming up means that all that effort is about to pay off.

That said, the Devil card is next, and in this case, the devil is you. It's a card of temptation and luxury and materialism and indulgence. It's a card of addiction. It's in some ways the polar opposite of the Seven of Pentacles, I'd say. It's about instant gratification and losing sight of your long-term goals (and occasionally your moral compass) because you're after something brief and hedonistic that will make you happy now.

Finally, we have the Seven of Wands, which is a card about persevering in the face of opposition. This is a card that usually comes up when you've achieved something (or are about to) and you need to protect your turf, so to speak. Others want a piece of what you have, or they want to tear you down for their own benefit, and you need to protect the progress you've made.

In this case, though... with all three of these cards together, I think the Seven of Wands is a little different than usual. This is usually a card about protecting your gains from outside forces, but I think in this case, this might actually be cautioning you against giving into yourself and some of your baser desires. It feels like you've been building up to something good for a long time. You've put a lot of time, effort, and potentially resources into achieving this goal and building the life that you currently have. Don't throw it all away for something that'll feel good for a minute!

Personally, I don't believe in austerity. I don't think it's good to deprive yourself of everything because you're trying to be strong or frugal or "good". I think it's important to spoil yourself a little. That said, it is possible to go too far, especially if things start to stray into addiction or you're spending/giving up more than you should.

Moderation in all things, friend! Don't deprive yourself, but don't give up everything you've spent so long building, either!

[letpaimonbitepeople]

Childe headcanons pt 3

featuring demiromantic demisexual Childe, his viewpoint on love (romantic and otherwise), his thoughts on his parents and siblings, him planning to become immortal, speculation on effects of Delusion use, and some shipping that could be with anyone

————————————

He always assumed...

No, it can't be love. Not in [their] heart, and certainly not in his own. He is as incapable of loving as he is incapable of being loved. It doesn't hurt him to admit that, he would insist, because it's a foregone conclusion. It was never a possibility. Maybe if his life had gone differently, maybe he would have developed those types of feelings for someone eventually. Or, maybe not. Either way, it would have been a matter of nature. But the Abyss purified him, excoriating away any potential for such unnecessary baggage so that his potential as a weapon could be unfettered.

Even his love for his family will be mere selfishness in the end, when he overstays his welcome in their lives. Feeling like he has anything good to give them is a joy for him that will never die, whereas Anthon, Tonia, and Teucer's joy—at receiving his visits, letters, and gifts—depends on a false pretense. None of it is real. Or at least, they won't think of it as having been real, and he won't disagree.

As for being loved? He sees the evidence to the contrary every time he meets the eyes of his parents and older siblings. The Abyss also preemptively freed him from the fear of being missed if his pursuit of power met an early end.

None of that makes him feel pain or regret, when he thinks about it objectively. (When he thinks about it 'objectively.') It is freedom.

————————————

"As a Harbinger I don't get many genuine compliments. Not on anything aside from my combat prowess, which, don't get me wrong, I do enjoy! But I get my satisfaction from my successes at vanquishing ever stronger foes."

————————————

"I'm not going to let petty things like death and aging stop me. Not until I've achieved my goal."

"You plan to obtain immortality, then?"

"Most likely. I'll have to do it before I'm past my prime. My ambitions may be greater than even I can accomplish in just a few decades, I'm aware of that. Signora was five hundred years old, did you know? It's well within a Harbinger's remit to pursue power that defies mortality. The Tsaritsa herself would approve, I think. After all, a weapon that wears out too soon isn't that useful."

————————————

"It's very sweet of you to recreate something of our first meeting as foes," Childe says, "even if everything else around us differs. You're as sentimental as I am."

"You admit it, huh? No hiding behind motivational quotes about how a warrior should live, or how a weapon should be?"

"Pfaha ha! I don't hide behind them, I'll have you know... They're the aspirations that are worth reminding myself about."

————————————

With a significant effort he has made very efficient through practice, he creates a dome of water around himself that'll protect him for a few seconds even after he swaps his Vision for his Delusion. That process he has also perfected: he takes off his Vision first, opens the pocket inside his jacket where he keeps its counterpart, and with a dexterous trick of the fingers he flips the Delusion up into his other hand at the same time he drops the Vision in. While he's attaching the Delusion to his belt he's also snapping that pocket shut and pulling the mask into place just in time for the Hydro dome to fall away.

It's hard to believe the Delusion actually drains him in any way when, every time he uses it, it gives him a second wind. As reliably as ever, he feels energy surge through him. It's a thrill that tops off his battle-euphoria and makes him wish he had something to kill.

————————————

[Shippable Character] is a student of Childe's eyes. They fascinate [them] endlessly. [They] witness so many expressions anchored there that betray emotions Childe seems to prefer to hide. Emotions he pretends he doesn't even have, or wishes he didn't, judging by his 'motivational quotes.'

————————————

He's used to physical pain, treasures it as lessons learned and life proven, but... He never gets used to the deep sting of knowing he'll always be a disappointment to his family no matter how many strong foes he vanquishes and no matter how high he rises in the world. He never gets used to the dread that even his dearest siblings will hate him someday soon and that he'll be alone after that, forever. He just buries and reburies those things in fake-it-'til-you-make-it acceptance and his own version of positivity. And, though he sleeps well at night despite the things he's done, every so often it gnaws at him that he has, perhaps, lost control of a large portion of his life.

————————————

The closest he's come to [adrenal fatigue depression] in recent memory was when he decided he'd make himself scarce while Shiki rediscovered himself. His mood had taken a pensive turn that, in part, led to him comparing the Traveler to the stars but not having the guts to say it to [their] face.

————————————

Blushing makes otherwise-invisible freckles appear across his cheekbones. They just redden more than the rest of his skin; they show up in the cold of Snezhnaya's outdoors, too. He's not embarrassed by them... Actually, he is, and that's the problem: he knows he has no reason to be, so the embarrassment is itself embarrassing.

————————————

he cried so much in the Abyss at 14 that his body stopped letting him cry for sadness, fear, or pain, but his eyes still produce tears for other purposes ofc

[the-firebird69]

She's trying to take over a lot of items that have gone into disrepair we plan on still using rather than wet society to grade and a lot of people are resisting us doing that and they're trying to shut the industries down and doing so so we're doing is taking them over and revamping them and putting them back in service for instance the football stadium this is plenty of them the calf of them are not in service and half the teams are retired. We're putting those back into service and we're creating football teams for the areas because those areas are considered to be shut down but we took them over three quarters of the areas the others are hours completely and we're going to make sure that it works and this coming season we have out of the NFL lineup and there's American food League which is AFL out of both of them we have 50% of the teams that were present two years ago they dropped 40% of them and 10% we just took over because they were going bankrupt and they were still in action by the way and we know how to juice them up. We are doing tryouts for the football teams and we're starting now and they're going all summer and the sun says he wants me to get him on the list but he has to get in shape and he's going to try a middle linebacker and Garth going to come along you can play on two teams different strings or what have you as a wide receiver and but he has to be bigger that's the only stipulation and wanted to see if you can try out that'll be fun to get that goal going and he wants to do football because when he's bigger he won't get hurt they will and true he won't be that much bigger at 7 foot the next players like six foot three except he will be a lot stronger and harder and meaner and they'll try stuff and they can get hurt doesn't want to hurt him that bad just wants to defend himself but they make a lot of money and they can drive fly cars and stuff if he works for 2 months and he says probably work that long they make like 200 million dollars real famous linebacker and but he says a season is how long it's not 8 months it's pretty grueling if you go to each game you're only required to go to like 30 out of 40 games so I said okay there's a start.. probably have excuses he won't let me out of town she probably go to like 20 or so this is 20 games isn't bad and the team will probably get beat up because of him and they themselves want to stay home well a few of us will have to be on the team for sure and he wants his own private locker room and they do that so we're going to try and do that and it's going to be fun. He said they can think of other things but he thought of the circus too and a lot of football players used to do that and they say it's kind of apropos and he thinks it's good idea so it doesn't get so much attention. And he wants to do all sorts of weird stuff how our drinks and formula he wants to make a meal drink and we have had some out there but we know why sometimes you just don't have damn time to eat and it helps him a lot he got his strength back with it and he has to say boost okay job except for the sugar, and there was another one that was for people who had diabetes they like that didn't have sugar tons of people are drinking them now and it's it's real good without sugar. You like his idea and we want to try it we have a whole bunch of football teams the colts for instance we know he likes it he likes the team and they used to be really strong and he still like watching them play little bit and they're from Chicago but it says that might not be a proposed the time apropos and he's actually right it might not be around for next season and it would probably won't entertaining them around so there's other teams in that 10%, one of them actually only one of them is from the outside and it is up in Oregon he says it's perfect as long as I have to train there and it would expect you to but we're going to listen to me

Thor Freya

I'm in love again he's making jokes and making people laugh and smile and they like the girl too so it was kind of a break. You said Tommy F would be a good QB first or second string and he started laughing and said that's not bad and then he said we could change the football team to Delta for so don't change the football team name really this is a great idea he wants to do it just for a short time or maybe a season if he can he shows up for 15 games they penalize them unless he has excuses for the did he really had to show up for and really they don't have to play him every game they probably play him half the time or less cuz he probably just sacked the quarterback and start calling him the assassin you have to put shades on and stuff.

Hera

It'll be funny cuz they probably have to list like the football game teams you played for went with doesn't have one and they're going to call it Boston college they make up this resume cuz there's a lot of people that don't have history it was not true at all but with you they'd have to in order to get you in there and you didn't have the red devil's football on there from westborough high School football and come some fake college bro stuff he says University of Massachusetts is a big football team and I used to work out with him and let me know I'm in there working out with them in the gym and then say this is a guy who started imitating you so it's going to be harder for them to break out of it and they did pretty good that year is there a psych you were there and they won the whole thing actually they won the state finals they went on to the national finals and didn't win no they won so they're going to go ahead and do that it's kind of weird thing what happens it's my career as a football player but she didn't mind it and she thought that the girls attention was good because it helped you it helped her a lot he like talking too nice you like being there girls and you like her a lot more and she's your special lady and you treated the other ones like just acquaintances and you're related to girls and treated them like they were related even though one of them abused you a little and it was good she loved it this is going to help is a rough sport though but he wants to get a little rough and to be able to withstand it and we won't be able to do it too we did it when he was young and we're going to go ahead with it and see how it goes

Thor Freya

It says just wait till this 14 we'll get it they're going to have to like it's 14 they're going to have to build up people probably join it and famous people it's true too Max will probably try and push it away in

We are already we know which team you own and we're going up there and we want to see a minute it's all summer long to recuperate says I have to grow if I don't grow it's going to be a scar there and it's not going to work and we know about that it's true if you do grow it could still be scarred but he says probably not it's a massive number of stem cells is it into you when you're young it says oh yeah

Mac