#i'm certainly not one to not give credit to the team but it was very clear from listening

[thissying]

did he just take away credit for max's call for inters?

[jonnywaistcoat]

I'm really glad to see that everyone seems to be having a good time with The Magnus Protocol, and my heart is very full with all the wonderful comments people are making, but I do need to flag something up.

For some of these episodes, a lot of folks are giving me credit for stuff I did not actually write. The cases for episodes 3 and 4 were both by guest writers, Graeme Patrick and Cole Weavers respectively, and they really deserve some love thrown their way.

That's not to minimise my own part: me and Alex certainly do editing work on them, and add in a few bits here and there to make sure everything cohesively fits in with the overall story and tone of the show, but if you enjoyed these episodes, then Graeme and Cole are the ones to thank for it.

And for that matter, Alex wrote episode 2 and deserves more of the accolades for how good that one was than I think he got (my edits just made it a bit... squishier).

Protocol is much more of a team effort than Archives was and so while, in a broad sense, you can still lay most of the blame for bad things happening to characters you love squarely at my feet, it's genuinely important to pay attention to the "written by" section of the credits this time around, 'cause often it's not gonna be my name there, and someone else deserves the thanks for giving you a horrible treat.

[b-skarsgard]

https://parade.com/movies/bill-skarsgard-nosferatu-interview-exclusive

Skarsgård's vampiric transformation does make him virtually unrecognizable. Combining full-body prosthetics and elaborate costumes, the actor built the character with Eggers over a 10-year period, even working with an operatic vocal coach on a completely new voice. If you're able to spot Skarsgård in the film, hats off to you.

Of course crafting a new version of Dracula/Orlok was certainly a momentous task. Skarsgård's been told there were already over "170 different adaptations" of the character prior to his own. He's humbly giving much of the credit for his own transformation to Eggers' screenplay, though.

full article at the link and under the cut

"I read Robert's Nosferatu script almost 10 years ago, and it hasn't changed all that much in those 10 years," he says. "So the version of Dracula was already different on the page."

Step one in the transformation was the voice. "I was really enamored by Orlok's language," Skarsgård says of Eggers' script. "He's technically speaking German in the movie, but it's English. I think he's learned German just from reading all of these texts and old books. It's this awkwardly constructed English that came out of that."

Orlok's voice was especially important in this film as the character spends much of the film hiding in the shadows to keep his true form hidden from Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult). "The movie monster tends to not have much dialogue, but in this case he has a lot," Skarsgård reflects. "So the voice became my way of expressing the character."

The deep gravely voice in the film was the product of acclaimed Icelandic opera singer Ásgerður Júníusdóttir. "We explored the voice together, but also the technicality of using your entire body when you speak and placing the voice as low as you can in your body," Skarsgård says. "It's a new world for me, and I love voice work. I was just absorbing all of these tools that I'm going to use as my career progresses."

Layered on top of the vocal work were Linda Muir's costumes, what Skarsgård describes as "historically accurate costumes that a 16th-century Hungarian nobleman would have worn. They're the clothes he would have worn when he was a man."

While Focus Features is keeping Orlok's appearance under wraps for as long as possible, you can see the massive fur coat Skarsgård donned in the shadowy poster.

"I knew the shadow was going to be an ally for Orlok, especially in the scenes with Thomas, where he's hiding his appearance," he says. "So he lives in the shadow, and he uses his big fur cape and the hat to not give away what he is. The shadow became a friend."

Perhaps the most impressive element of Skarsgård's transformation, however, was David White's prosthetic makeup, which took hours to apply each day, was difficult to act through and painful to wear. When I ask if he was able to cheat on days he was in the shadows, Skarsgård says no with one exception: "Every single shadow in this movie is also me puppeteering behind camera. That was the only time where I didn't need to have the full regalia on.

"The full prosthetics would take six hours to apply. "It's just uncomfortable," Skarsgård says of having to sit in the chair that long. "And any sense of privacy goes out the window. You become very close with the team that's applying this makeup. They're really getting up in there with a brush in your ass crack. They become your little safe space."

And the six-hour application process was just the beginning of what could be long, physical days on set. The film's final moments involve a sex scene between Orlok and Lily-Rose Depp's Ellen Hutter, which Skarsgård performed in head-to-toe prosthetics.

"I don't know her perspective on, 'I'm going to kiss this monster,'" Skarsgård says about his (fully clothed? skinned? suited?) sex scene, "But for me, when we shot, I was Orlok, and I really, really, really wanted to devour her."

If performing a sex scene in a hot latex bodysuit sounds miserable, that's because it was. "The actual final moment of Orlok was incredibly physically exhausting because there was a lot of technical camera work," Skarsgård says. "What's in the movie, I had to do that 30 times." If you've seen the film, you'll know how truly arduous that experience must have been.

The most difficult day on set for Skarsgård, however, involved a sequence filmed on a boat during Orlok's transfer from his castle in Transylvania to the German harbor he plans to terrorize next. In one scene that involved "pretty tricky advanced camera work," a seaman descends into the hull of the ship to "rid the boat of this demon." As the camera follows the sailor, Skarsgård's Orlok is initially seen behind the man in the shadows.

"Then I have to exit frame, run around and enter my position for when the jump scare pans down to the rats and then pans up and I'm standing there," Skarsgård remembers. "So it's very physical, but I was covered head to toe, except for my eyeballs and the soles of my feet. Even my palms and my hands are covered. That was a 12-hour day."

With that many prosthetics on, there's nowhere for all that sweat to go. "It doesn't breathe, and I don't think it's healthy," Skarsgård confides. "Your body's probably absorbing all those f--king toxins and glue and sh--, plastic and latex and whatever."

During the 12 hours running around the hull of a ship, Skarsgård remembers thinking, "I don't know what's happening, but my body is not doing well."

"You know the skin is your biggest organ right," he says. "So it needs to breathe. I got flashbacks from that urban legend about the woman in Goldfinger being covered in gold and actually dying. I'm like, 'Okay, this is how I go.'"

Obviously, Skarsgård did not die of heat exhaustion in a latex Dracula suit like that one cameraman in the 2022 film Babylon.

"At that point I told them—because it was a long day and I was waiting around—'We need to open it up so my body can breathe,' and then they found the pockets where I could open up and my body started to breathe."

Skarsgård compares the agony of the shoot with what he thinks childbirth would feel like. "They're not on the same level, of course. I've seen childbirth, but it's as close as I can get to giving birth as a man, as these f--king monsters I'm portraying," he says.

When I ask him if there were any other iconic monsters on his bucket list, he says he's done for now. "To play Orlok in Robert Eggers' Nosferatu is the holy grail," he says. "It's kind of the peak and, in a way, the nail in the coffin."

[yukidragon]

I'm a bit curious was it ever confirmed that Shaun and Ian interacted with one another or met before the eventual breakup between Ian and MC. If not what are some of your headcanons on this matter would they have gotten along at all?

Actually, yes, it has been confirmed that Shaun and Ian knew each other before Ian and MC broke up in this comic posted over on the official Sunny Day Jack twitter!

Credit as always to Sauce for their awesome artwork and for giving us this hilarious glimpse into college age Ian and Shaun. Consider supporting them and the rest of the SnaccPop Studios team by joining the patreon for even more lore tidbits I can't even mention publicly. Just remember, don't share anything privately posted!

While a lot of teaser/development art should be taken with a grain of salt, if it appears on one of the official pages, it's a pretty safe bet that it's canon to the timeline of the game.

So this comic, also drawn by the awesome Sauce, while hilarious, may or may not be canon.

I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that Ian did not pass Shaun's vibe check.

The first comic certainly makes it clear that Shaun didn't find Ian attractive considering the way he reacted. Maybe it's due to jealousy (I don't think Shaun wants to think about his crush having sex with someone else) or maybe it's because of Ian's bad taste in anime. Who can say?

Content Warnings: This post contains talk of cheating, jealousy, drinking in excess, (unintentional) self-harm, near death experience, SA, issues with sex, and toxic relationships.

I suspect that these two just didn't get along. Between Shaun suffering from jealousy due to his crush and the two of them having different tastes, they were probably only friendly to one another for MC's sake.

I would imagine that Shaun's opinion on Ian took an extreme nosedive when they found out Ian cheated on MC.

Man... can you imagine how much pain Shaun has been through? He had to watch his best friend/crush be happy with someone else... then get devastated by being cheated on. The worst part was if he had bad vibes from Ian from the start, but he ignored his gut feelings for MC's sake.

When it comes to my personal headcanons that I use for Sunshine in Hell... Shaun and Ian had friction since the first day Alice introduced the two of them.

It wasn't just Shaun being jealous of Ian either. Ian was jealous of Shaun too!

Ian has always suffered from a low sense of self-esteem. Shaun, by comparison, is much more well put together, more outgoing, and has this natural charisma that draws people to him. Shaun is just so likable that he gets a lot of attention and friends. For years, Ian was the exact opposite of that, which led to him being bullied and degraded often.

So one day Alice, his childhood friend and partner, is super excited to introduce Ian to her new friend. Shaun and Alice have a lot in common, and it was very visible in the early years of college when Alice was in the middle of her pastel goth phase. Shaun and Alice had a love for horror movies, cats, the goth aesthetic, and a whole bunch of other things. They clicked so quickly, and it scared Ian a little.

It didn't help that Alice had trouble making friends like Ian did. They had that in common, something that gave them a sort of understanding that no one else could intrude on. Now that they were in college they started making more friends, and that was a good thing, really! But Alice clicked with Shaun about as fast as she did with Ian.

In the 1st grade, one day Alice mustered up the courage to talk to Ian in order to cheer him up. After that they started talking every day and they were besties ever since. From there, they started dating. She's never really clicked with anyone else so fast like she did with Ian...

Until Shaun, that is.

Ian kept comparing himself to Shaun, unfavorably. He kept worrying about Alice falling for Shaun instead since, well, clearly Shaun had so much more than Ian had to offer. Why wouldn't she? What didn't help his insecurities was the fact that they had been a couple since high school, but they still hadn't had sex yet.

I integrated the comic into part of Alice and Ian's troubled sex life. The depicted instance was Ian's attempt at making things romantic so that they could finally go all the way.

It took them a while to start being sexually intimate due to their mutual lack of practical knowledge and Alice's SA trauma. She was very cuddly with Ian, not afraid to kiss him or go into a make out session, but she struggled to go further than that for a long time. It left Ian struggling with insecurities, fearing that he wasn't attractive to her despite her constantly reassuring him that wasn't the case.

Really, it was that insecurity and self-blame that pushed Alice to go further than she was ready for, to pretty painful results that she learned to just accept as part of the experience.

Alice is the type of person who can't be comfortable with people touching her unless she trusts them. However, when she gets close to someone, she can get pretty cuddly, even with her friends, giving them hugs often. So, for Ian, seeing his girlfriend get comfortable hugging another guy... someone he might have noticed looking at her a certain way...

Well, getting cockblocked on his rocky road to losing his virginity didn't help Ian see Shaun in a more favorable light.

Really, this was an incident that pushed Ian to be a bit more possessive of Alice. He was already struggling with the fact that his partner was sharing a dorm with someone else, but for Shaun to just casually walk into her bedroom like that without knocking? Ian certainly had permission to come in there without Alice knowing since he's her boyfriend, and he was planning to surprise her with a romantic evening, but how long had Shaun been just letting himself into her private space so casually?

Ian didn't believe that Alice was cheating on him, but what if Shaun decided to take advantage of her? What if this casual blurring of their living space led to feelings blooming?

What if Alice realized that Shaun was so much better than Ian in every way?

This led to Ian asking Alice to move into an apartment with him, even if it cost them money. He was able to feel more secure when they were living together, and he could be the one going into her bedroom at any hour of the day to be with her instead of someone else.

Shaun did try to befriend Ian, but it seemed like every time they hung out, something would rub him the wrong way. He did his best to be happy for Alice and Ian in their relationship, but it wasn't just Ian's shit taste in anime that struck Shaun as a red flag.

It didn't take Shaun long to notice a pattern in Ian and Alice's relationship. Ian would be down on himself, even cry and apologize for being inadequate, and Alice would reassure him. It seemed like every day, he saw this happen at least once. He tried reassuring Ian as well when he could, but after a while it gets tiring to try and lift someone up who keeps dragging himself down. Shaun would suggest Ian try therapy, and Ian would insist it wouldn't work, he was hopeless, and it wasn't worth wasting money on.

It was only when Alice showered Ian with love, and when their mutual friends bent backwards to cheer him up, that Ian would perk up again.

Shaun saw the red flags going up, how Ian was so needy for Alice and it was wearing on her. She went out of her way for Ian all the time, doing so much more because Ian "needed" her.

What made it worse was that Shaun saw how unbalanced their relationship was, how Alice gave Ian so much more than Ian gave back. Because Ian was so clingy, Alice had to often cancel meet ups with friends at the last minute, citing that he was having a bad day and needed her. Yet, on days when Alice was feeling like shit, she just kept powering through, pretending nothing was wrong. It took Shaun a lot of effort to pry her into leaning on him, and he'd even go out of his way to do stuff for her without her asking, like buying her lunch when she was so overworked she forgot to bring any.

Shaun worried for Alice because she was his friend, and she didn't deserve this sort of treatment. It was like she had become Ian's emotional crutch. Regardless of his attraction towards her, regardless if they could ever get together, he wanted her to be happy.

Shaun's opinion of Ian slowly deteriorated over time, but it turned into downright hate when Ian cheated on Alice, especially after she almost died because of it.

It was just a normal night when Shaun got a phone call from Ian. It was about Alice of course. It was the only reason Ian ever called Shaun - to check up on Alice. That night was different because Ian was in a panic. Alice wasn't picking up for him, which was unusual enough, but Ian was insistent that Shaun needed to check on her to make sure she was okay.

It was lucky that Shaun had the spare key to the apartment Alice and Ian shared. The sight of her lying unconscious in a pool of blood in the bathroom is a scar that'll forever be etched in his memory.

Shaun spent an entire night terrified, wondering what had happened. Did Alice try to kill herself? Why? She might have been missing Ian after he moved across the country, but she always reached out to Shaun and others when she wanted company. What happened that night? When he mentioned Alice's state to Ian, he just wailed that it was all his fault and Shaun couldn't reach Ian after that, as Ian was busy trying to book a flight back home to see her at the hospital.

Shaun had to be the one to call Alice's family too, but he had no answers to give them. The doctors would only let family or her legal partner see her for a while. It was only the next day that he learned that it was all because Ian had cheated on Alice, and she drank to dull the pain, only to hurt herself under the influence of alcohol poisoning.

Shaun could've kicked himself. He saw the problems in their relationship, but he didn't think it was his place to say anything. He worried his jealousy was coloring his perspective, seeing things too negatively. Now he wished he pushed harder like his gut told him, got Alice to see that the relationship was no good for her.

When Alice forgave Ian and tried to make it work, Shaun couldn't just sit back and let it happen.

So, yeah, Shaun's opinion of Ian in the present day is very negative. He views Ian as a toxic, manipulative, cheating scumbag who didn't deserve Alice. It was a relief when he managed to help Alice see that too so that she could finally end that toxic relationship. He was there for her so many nights when she cried over Ian and missed him. He saw the pain Ian put Alice through, and it just made his hatred of Ian grow.

Ian is grateful for Shaun being there to help Alice and even getting her to the hospital, but that doesn't get rid of his jealousy. Shaun and Alice are still talking even though she never picks up the phone for Ian anymore. He sees their exchanges online. They're still close. Shaun could one day sweep in and...

Ian can't let that happen. He can't let Shaun steal away the person who means so much to him. He can't let Alice just let him go like this. He just has to apologize to Alice, keep apologizing, and everything will be fine.

Sooooo... yeah, suffice to say, Ian and Shaun do not get along, and I doubt that they ever will... at least in my headcanons.

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur @kurokrisps

[fakescenariosbeforesleepblog]

I'll never be with you.

Alex Keller x Reader (Y/N) x Captain John Price.

Alex saw you a long time ago at the subway station, you were certainly beautiful, but then he lost you. Now years later he finds you again, in someone else's arms.

Warning: spelling and grammatical errors, I think there's nothing dark here so no more warnings, oh, images not mine, credits of them to their creators.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the images used nor do I claim to own them.

He met you during a rainy night waiting for the subway, you had a very short and common conversation, nothing special, weather, time and the inefficient subway service.

You looked like a beautiful angel, your voice was soft and full of kindness, also your sense of humor was delightful, some jokes were enough to make him laugh like he never laughed before. Both took the subway and exchanged some more words but then a sea of people took you away from him, he couldn't see where you were, that was the end of the story. And he, honestly never thought about the possibility of seeing you again, but the memories of that moment live in his mind.

Another successful mission for Alex and the 141 team, all of them were landing in the base, Soap and Kyle had some injuries but nothing serious, there were jokes and insults in the air.

- Hey Cap, is your queen of hearts waiting for you already?

- Careful Soap... (He chuckled)

- Who? (Alex was clearly confused).

- it's Y/N, for all of us it's our medic but for the captain well... it's something else. (Gaz answers while looking at the captain with a malicious smirk)

Meanwhile Ghost observes through the window of the helicopter and sees you.

- And In fact, the doc is already waiting.

Everybody Laughs scandalously even Alex, he feels out of place tho. But once everybody is out, you approach Price and give him a long deep hug.

- You smell like cigarette... Have you been smoking?

- Just one, my love.

- Is there no hug or at least a Hello, for your children?

Soap jokes all the time about you always acting like the mom of the team.

- Ha-ha, thanks for bringing the captain alive.

You give a fake laugh to soap while you friendly punch him in the arm. Price takes your hand to get your attention and you see a familiar face.

- Love I want to introduce you to...

- Subway guy!

Alex sees you well, for the first time in years he has a second chance, looking at you, you're still as beautiful as he remembers.

- Jesus! It's you...

- the world is so small sometimes.

- So do you know each other?

Price doesn't have that bright smile that always has for you, in exchange he has a serious face.

- Yes, he's the guy I talked to you about before! He was very funny that night.

- I could say the same about you, so... You're Y/N, I think that night I didn't even ask you your name...

- yes I am, and you're...?

You turn back to Price and he quickly finishes to introduce Alex to you.

- Keller, Alex Keller, an old friend.

- Nice to formally meet you, Alex.

- Pleasure is all mine.

That's all he says, everybody walks inside the base, you check the injuries and all about the health of your team.

You were finishing the paperwork with all the reports of your patients when Alex appears in your door.

- Hey Doc!

- Alex, hii, come in, I'm still very surprised to see you here!

- As much as I am, that night I really never thought you were a doctor and that you worked for the army and all this...

- Oh well, I started to work here a few years ago, I met John and well... Now I'm the medic of his team and also his fiancee.

Alex froze at the moment he heard your last words, fiancee? He stays quiet for a while, he suddenly remembered that night once again, you were a sunshine in the middle of that rainy night, in the middle of the storm that his life was in that moment. You gave him more joy that night than somebody else in years and now he simply sees you with someone else, you belong to someone else, he never had a chance to make you his, it wasn't meant to be, It never was.

- Alex?

- Huh?

- Did you hear me?

- Yes, congratulations, John is very lucky...

You laughed.

- What?

- Thanks but I was talking to you about that night...

- Oh sorry, I'm all ears, tell me again.

Maybe there's some hope, he says to himself. Maybe you're not really happy after all, maybe he still has a chance.

- I was telling you that... I thought about that night for a long time, even for a while I was just waiting in that subway station every night, same hour, same spot, but you weren't there, so eventually and after I met John I realized we weren't meant to be, you know? We just met fortuity, and I'm glad it happened that way because if something was different I wouldn't be here with this job and that wonderful man.

Alex simply smiles and nods, he can't deny it, price is an honorable man, a good person and as a friend he has been incredible, so Alex feels a little bit guilty for thinking about stealing his friend's girl.

You and him talked about some other things for a couple minutes more and then he says goodnight and leaves.

He didn't want to stay more time, he wanted to leave and go back to his life he wanted to pretend you were still a memory full of possibilities not a story that actually never started, he was going directly to John's office to let him know he wouldn't wait until the next day.

He's out of the office ready to knock on the door when he listens to your laugh, then silences and soon some soft moans full of 'I love you' 'you're mine, all mine'. The drop that spilled the glass. He didn't dare to interrupt, he simply had enough, he left without saying goodbye.

[summers-art]

I know there’s some good Metamy juice in it so I’m gonna ask an explanation for Love Like you please.

🎵Song #35 Love Like You by Rebecca Sugar 🎵[Full playlist]

YEAAAA! We're at the end so what's more fitting than to have a literal end credit song to wrap everything up with? This one is specifically from Volume 2 which is different, it has this longer intro which I love the build up for and though not all the verses but the ones that are there are the most important so it's still perfect lyrically. I also mentioned this in the prev post but I also just really wanted this song bc of how it sounds musically. I have my playlists on repeat and this song flows very well back into Song #1 Digital Love which was epic, the ride never ends baby!!!

SO! Before we end the story there has been a time skip from the prev song #34 Too Long, that's the only way that song makes sense to me, as things seem to finally look bright again. Overcoming the strings and wires, if not fully then at least enough to feel like Metal is at the place he wants to be, which would then be with Amy. This song is sweet but it's not like a "I'm 100% fine and everything is okay now" way, the past hasn't been magically erased and there is still work to do after all. But at least it's hopeful! Though I love my drama, angst, divorce and bittersweet endings I decided to go with something more positive here... I can't help it that I am a true hopeless romantic at heart 🩷🥹

LYRICAL BREAK DOWN BELOW 👇

I just want to push again on the build of this song, I LOVE THE AMBIENCE, THE VIBE. The slow build up is so tasty, literally half of the song is just instrumentals until the lyrics finally kicks in 1,5 minute in after this building crescendo it's awesome. Also the dolphin cries in the bg are so funny, I love you whoever mixed this, that's so epic.

I always thought I might be bad Now I'm sure that it's true 'Cause I think you're so good And I'm nothing like you

I like that the first lines are already like a sledgehammer to my heart. Like OOOOKAY BESTIEEEE, yea you kind of did do all that horrible shit as part of the villain team and being a pawn for Eggman and almost ending the whole world as Metal Overlord or whatever- BUT COME ON, IT'S OKAY BABY GIRL DON'T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF. It's totally okay to commit all those crimes because you looked cool while doing it, just look at Neo's highlights they slay 💅 (I'M JOKING, MAYBE)

Also comparing yourself to Amy Rose is just asking yourself to lose tbh. She is a beacon of pure love and hope, stubbornly and fiercely so, she's so awesome. No one does it like her. I wouldn't say they have nothing in common, but from Metal's view there might be little to nothing (because you're gay and putting your crush on a pedestal, girl...) The only way to fix this; time to learn some compassion!!! Download it, google is free 💾

Look at you go I just adore you I wish that I knew What makes you think I'm so special

CRYING, PUNCHING THE WALL, CRIES MORE 😭😭 Amy is so stubborn of course she wouldn't be the first one to give up on someone. Metal has tried and failed and tried and failed- and yet here she is! Still by his side!! I don't think he could ever really figure out exactly why she would do that, but it certainly means the world to have someone who refuses to give up on you. Eggman is also stubborn, but the "love" he gives feels very conditional and well- artificial? Compared to what she would be able to give.

I also think that any previous jealousy or doubt that Amy was just dating Metal Sonic because she couldn't have the Real Sonic (eluded to most heavily in #8 Washing Machine Heart: "I know who you pretend I am / Do mi ti / Why not me?") have been wiped away at this point. Spending enough time with Metal it's clear they are two different people who are both worthy of love in their own way for being who they are 💙

If I could begin to do Something that does right by you I would do about anything I would even learn how to love

There is something about Amy specifically befriending robots that is just really cute to me, starting all the way back with Gamma. Girl has a heart so big she can turn the machines into people capable of love. She has the power of love and incredible violence with her hammer on her side. Iconic, tbh 🙂‍↕️

"I can fix him" actually succeeds in fixing him. LMAO, nah its not that simple. I think Metamy could easily slip into that trope, but I would argue that here it's more that it's more about inspiring someone to be better. Like the lyrics say that about making better choices and taking action, instead of someone else fixing their messes and forgiving every single wrong doing that would actually make them not have to change their previous behavior at all.

When I see the way you look Shaken by how long it took

HEY, THERE IS THE THING I TALKED ABOUT BEFORE so I'll just keep it brief! A callback to Tomorrow Comes Today as well as Too Long, the two songs before this. Which also!! Makes the timeskip thing also makes the most sense. ...How long is the timeskip? Shit, idk, however long I need it to be 🤷 I'm open for suggestions lmao, but leaving it up in the air is fun so anyone can decide on how old the robot yuri should be. It ages like a fine wine, I think.

I could do about anything I could even learn how to love like You You You You

Crazy thing with this version of the song, and not just the intro, is that it SKIPS the line: "Love me, like you" but I think it's kind of appropriate here tbh. Self-love is important, and tying it with Metal's whole identity crisis arc makes sense and here it hasn't been completely resolved even at the end of the story. That is something that still needs work because that shit takes time especially, after all the shit they've been through. A relationship might not magically fix it but I don't think it will hurt it either. Like, I kinda hate the saying that at least floated around when I was growing up about "Ooh, you need to learn to love yourself before you can love others <3" like... HUH?? As if people who are struggling with mental health and/or trauma that makes loving yourself difficult can't be allowed to fall in love or be loved in a relationship, like lol, lmao even, miss me with that shit.

Metal continuing his arc about finding an identity outside of Sonic sounds like something that Amy could help with a lot, like- GIRL SHE'S BEEN THROUGH THIS CIRCUS BEFORE. She was obsessed with him too after all and had to learn how to grow more independent. ALSO, I like to think Amy has some issues of her own with abandonment. Despite being so outgoing and loving she carries her own insecurities about "What if my friends are only friends with me because of Sonic? What if they don't actually care about me or want to have me around?" - which I don't think is true (Amy's friends love her very much), but how true something is doesn't always solve the problem if it's all in your own head, y'know? And though Metal might learn to tolerate Sonic's existence I still think he would hate him enough to make a fear like that a complete non-issue for Amy. So they could help each other a lot with their struggles me thinks, and that's sweet. Love that for this ship 🩷💙

These cartoon animals can be projected onto with so many real life struggles HAH, it makes them so #relatable. I love art, I love playing with my touys, we're having fun here 🫶😌 and I think I'm done rambling about why I love these two and this song for them heheh. THANK YOU TO WHOEVER ARE READING ALL MY RAMBLES, I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN WITH ME ❣️

[wearevillaneve]

Sandra Oh (Kinda Sorta) Finally Wins an Emmy!

It only took Sandra 19 years and 14 nominations before she got her first Emmy, but it was announced she won as a producer for the Hulu comedy, Quiz Lady. So...yay?

It's kind of bittersweet though, isn't it? Jodie Comer won for Killing Eve during the primetime show and for her individual performance. Sandra's "win" for Quiz Lady is for the movie itself, not for her acting in it. She wasn't even present when the announcement was made.

What this is like is when a film wins a Best Picture Oscar, but none at all for the directing and acting. It's nice, but a little hollow.

Technically, Sandra finally received an Emmy, but it is very much a shared award as part of a team, not as an individual like Jodie's. I would bet Sandra is pleased but hardly satisfied. Nor should she be.

She was nominated for playing Eve Polastri in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. She lost to Claire Foy, Jodie, and twice to Zendaya. She was also nominated five times for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Grey's Anatomy, and she lost twice in 2018 both to Comer and for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy to Jane Lynch. It always surprises KE fans to learn it was Oh, not Comer, who was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama for all four seasons of Killing Eve. Oh has also broadened her resume to receive Emmy nominations as a comedic actress, as a host of an awards show, and as a producer on Killing Eve. In 2019, Oh was up for no less than four Emmy nominations in different categories and lost ALL four.

Long story made a little shorter, Sandra has waited a long time for an Emmy, and not to diminish the Quiz Lady win, because any Emmy has to be better than no Emmy at all. Right? Except for the fact, that Sandra did the work on Grey's Anatomy. She played Cristina Yang for only nine seasons of a show about to begin its 21st, yet remains its most popular character. Except for the fact, that Sandra was nominated not only for acting but producing Killing Eve. Except for the fact Sanda was the first Asian woman to host an Emmy and for her comedic work on Saturday Night Live, Quiz Lady, and even the lone season The Chair received. The thing I want Jodie stans or Ellen Pompeo stans or anybody who isn't a Sandra Oh stan is she is so good at what she does, she doesn't have to be the star or even the emerging star of a show to shine. She's short. She's small. She's not blonde. She's not built. She's not fitting the conventional Caucasian image of what is beautiful or what is sexy. That's because Sandra Oh's acting accomplishments, commitment to her craft, and untapped talent are given neither talent nor the credit she deserves or the accolades she has earned.

Sandra isn't always the best thing about any project she does, but she's never the worst. I believe Sandra is an actor other actors respect. Certainly more than all these dipshit award shoes who kept giving White actresses the glory until the Emmy decided Zendaya was the Person of Color most deserving of a victory. No shade to Zendaya, but Sandra has been grinding at this for DECADES. I'm happy she finally has one even if it's not for her acting abilities, but when the fuck IS her Emmy acting award coming?

Not for Grey's Anatomy. Not for Killing Eve. Not for Quiz Lady. Not for The Sympathizer. So what will it be for? When will Oh be recognized for the work she's put in and what she's done?

[batsplat]

so i’m kinda new to motogp, i started watching it from this season and your account has been very helpful. i have a question, i’ve seen a post on insta where they were comparing marc and pedro results from the first race to the fifth races (i think?) in their rookie year. and a lot of people in the comments where talking about the fact that you cannot compare their results because they’re two whole different situations. but are they? ‘cause at the start of the season everybody was calling pedro the next marquez and a lot of motogp legends were talking about how talented he’s. which i’m not entitled to discuss. but if you compare the results, i wouldn’t say pedro’s season is disappointing (because it’s still early and he has two podiums), but i think it’s pehraps underwhelming compared to marc’s. so what i’m trying to understand is why are their situations considered different and why some people kind of “discredit” marc rookie season when they compare it to acosta’s? (like i thought that winning a title in you rookie year was the most impressive thing you could do)

welcome to the sport, and that's really nice to hear!!

so, I did do my 'comparing between eras is impossible' thing here, but obviously this isn't particularly useful. I'll get over myself and give you a proper answer, but fwiw I still believe that direct parallels can only ever be of limited use. here's a few things to keep in mind when comparing the two:

factory vs satellite: factory teams will always have at least a little bit of an advantage over the satellite squads. even if it's not in equipment... it's also just about the amount of resources that are being mobilised to help you get your results, the experience of your team, etc etc. now, I put this first because I don't think this is a massive factor here. ktm's whole thing is that they want to essentially run four factory bikes, see the rebrand next year, and obviously they're very motivated to help pedro out. I'm sure he's getting a lot of backing - in terms of historical comparisons, it's a bit more valentino 2000 than it is casey 2006

bike quality: the honda in 2013 was the best bike on the grid. pedro's ktm is... well it's certainly not in the top four. after that, the pecking order does get a little tricky, but it's certainly not decisively clear of either the aprilias or the gp23's. we do know pedro basically has equal machinery to the other ktm's. now, those are the first riders he has to beat... and he's beating them! going into this year, binder was getting top three rider on the grid shouts and pretty much everyone thought he'd be outscoring acosta at least in the first year (not me tho <3). I think these acosta performances have sparked a bit of a debate over 'was the ktm better than we thought all along and the riders were just being overrated, or is acosta just that good'... makes it kinda easy to forget how people talked about binder last year. but crucially even people who rated pedro very highly generally didn't think he'd have the upper hand this soon. pedro is p5 in the standings (behind three gp24's and marc marquez), versus the other ktm's at p7, p...16? jesus. and p17. marc's teammate in 2013 was p3. now, yes, nobody is saying binder is as good as dani pedrosa and he's been having a very rocky season - but at least some of binder's issues seem to be bike-related... definitely a bike that seems to have some serious gremlins and pedro needs to be credited for mitigating those. also, this is an era in which the bikes are more complicated than ever and generally considered to be even trickier to adapt to than in times past, which makes pedro's immediate consistent pace pretty much everywhere, every session particularly noteworthy

spread of field: related to the previous point - not only is pedro's bike worse, but the field as a whole is more competitive. in 2013, if you weren't on one of four bikes, it was going to be really hard for you to fight for wins. in 2024, there are a lot of bikes capable of fighting for wins, and you see that in how mixed up the order is race to race. it's just a different era... from around 2007 to 2015, there was a clear disparity between a few bikes and the rest, enabled both through technical regulations and other external factors (e.g. the impact of the financial crisis and smaller teams struggling as a result). the average level of the field is also higher nowadays, there's a lot of very strong riders - which means if you're having a slightly rougher weekend, your floor is considerably lower and you will have to accept you might not be in the podium fight at all. the margins are smaller now in both qualifying and in races... small swings of performance in both bike and rider can have way more dramatic repercussions

the eye test: for obvious reasons this one's a bit harder to put words to. but... pedro just passes it, with flying colours. it's the way he throws himself around on the bike, the obscene amounts of lean angle, the ridiculously late braking and the way he somehow still gets the bike turned, how he keeps taking lines that nobody else is taking, how it's allowing him to fight his way through the field (notoriously tough in motogp these days)... in the same way in which marc in 2013 was clearly just riding differently to all the other riders that preceded him, you see this stuff with pedro, you see he's the next step. you can tell he's just got that special something that allows him to do stuff with his bike that nobody else can. also, this isn't quite the same as rating his rookie season, but obviously everyone already knew what a hyped prospect pedro was headed into this year. he hasn't shown any sign whatsoever of succumbing to the hype/pressure and letting it get to him, which is also a great sign for the future

how good his results are: so, obviously he hasn't won a race yet - even though he's now secured multiple podiums. but again, unlike with marc''s 2013 there is no single weekend in which the ktm has been the strongest bike. sometimes it's been a bit closer and sometimes it's a little further away... yes, pedro has started making a couple of mistakes, but also that may just be the result of putting the bike in places it doesn't really belong. marc only had one race crash in the rookie season, but he also knew he couldn't afford to make mistakes - he was in the title fight. pedro is playing around with a worse bike and if he thinks he has the pace to win, it makes sense for him to just push that little bit extra, come what may. it's now been quite a few weekends since pedro hasn't decisively been the best ktm on pace - and, really, what more can you ask for? unless binder's suddenly forgotten how to ride a bike, it's reasonably likely that the ktm is at least a little worse than it was last year, which makes these results even more impressive

the rookie title question: yes, a rookie title is uniquely impressive! it's a particularly tricky situation to deal with... marc really had to be operating on a very high very consistent level that entire year, and in no way should it be diminished what kind of performances he had to put in week to week to claim that title. (though, of course, marc did get a little bit lucky that year, in particular with his rivals' injuries.) the thing is, we'll never know if pedro would manage the pressures and travails and ebbs and flows of a title fight in his rookie season as well as marc did... because he hasn't had the opportunity to fight for it. we just don't know! which makes it a bit hard to penalise pedro for not being able to match that... you just have to find a happy middle ground where you acknowledge how impressive marc's title was, while also allowing that on pure performance pedro might be shaping up as every bit as impressive

marc is very marmite in most online motogp fan spaces, whether those detractors are partisan valentino fans or think he's too aggressive for their tastes or don't particularly fondly remember his dominance or just don't like his vibe... so I'm sure there's plenty of people on instagram who would like to discredit him!! but I don't think calling pedro's rookie season comparable should in any way be used to discredit marc - the only point is that if you look at his current performances, it's completely plausible to believe he can match/surpass marc in the future. what he's doing right now is really impressive! it's not quite the same headline numbers, but there's weekends where he's quite plausibly on. like. the joint 12th best bike or something. so it really is all very tight and he is doing very well! but also you can't compare eras and all of these comparisons easily break down and sometimes you can just treat two things as separately impressive without attempting to definitively determine which is 'better', especially in motorsports where so much isn't determined by the actual athlete themselves and instead by factors they have zero control over

[spade-riddles]

I agree this situation is unpredictable, and as an old hand at this, I feel like you do. This could go either way. But one thing that is clear - and of some interest - to me is that Taylor is really throwing Joe under the bus here.

That decision alone gives credence to the idea of him as the 🎃 recipe thief. How many times did we here in the fandom say Toe seemed like a nice guy overall? That he was the best of all the beards? That message about people pretending to be nice is certainly one I'm looking at in a different light, given the actions of the last few days. It's impossible to know how pre-planned the decision to strike at Deuxmoi could have been - but the release of You're Losing Me, "Sweet Nothing was about Paul and Linda", and Jack poking holes in the Toe narrative, all feel very much orchestrated.

The normie interpretation I'm seeing, IRL, is that Toe were on the rocks for a long time because Joe didn't value Taylor's emotional needs. People are connecting "I wouldn't marry me either" with the "pain and trauma" Tree says the marriage rumors caused, and turning on Joe hard. MH and TK are being interpreted as rebound relationships. Moving too fast and being too public out of nowhere. Fans have turned on Joe (which I think was the intention) but pushing these stunts so hard in the aftermath of the "break up" has made it look like Taylor is still hung up on him, and trying to make him jealous. Which I don't think was the intention.

The casual fans I know had mostly forgotten about Joe until the events of the last few days. All this drama has thrust him into the spotlight again in their minds. I know some in the fandom are saying Taylor did this to erase Toe and give an upcoming TK "engagement" more legitimacy - but if that is the plan, I think it's backfiring. Everyone and their mother is going to believe she's rushing into an engagement to make him jealous. It only adds to Joe's perceived importance in her story - and again, I'm not sure that was the plan.

If it was me, I would tone down the Travlor and give people something else to talk about. Now would be the perfect time to poke some holes in the feud narrative, by having Jack or Blake or someone post some unseen Kaylor images. That maybe hint the pretender wasn't the real muse for Reputation. Hit him where it hurts by stripping away his connection to the album that made Swifties so besotted with him. They're already reevaluating their perceptions. Why not blow their minds a little further? We already have one perfectly meme-able image of our understudy side-eying the real muse, just waiting to go viral, if Tree wants to pull that trigger 😘

(By the way, if Joe is the recipe thief, it's been staring us in the face all along. The recipes = the songs. We witnessed that particular theft happen in front of our eyes with his "producing credits" and the Grammys speech. We even speculated at the time that it was what his team demanded as the price of sticking around during the pandemic, when he lost work and stunting opportunities were limited. And speculated again that he'd jumped ship early before the Eras Tour began. Maybe we should have gone with our gut and teased out those suspicions a little further.)

Just some thoughts, percolating as we await the next move.

[bokettochild]

I find myself in a conundrum

I've been working at a clothing store for over a year now. I was hired as part time but tend to work somewhat full time hours (roughly 35-40 hour weeks). I'm getting paid just short of $12 an hour and most of the work I do is very physical. There's a lot of folding clothes but I also work a lot with our shipment team.

When new stock arrives I count the boxes, wait for the manager to sign off on the delivery, and then it's my job to move all 200+ boxes from the delivery zone to the unpacking zone sorting them by department as I go. I then help to open the boxes either starting day of arrival or at 6 am the next day. I frequently help with moving large fixtures in the store, cleaning, and processing outgoing orders, as well as the standard upkeep of the store and working register. In short, I've picked up how to do anything that isn't a manager's duties.

But I'm barely saving anything for school.

My last job was for almost $11 an hour, and I would sit in a kid's jewelry store all day waiting for customers to come in. I still worked with reorganizing the store (often alone), processing incoming stock (receiving/unpacking/placing) and I still kept the store in order and cleaned, as well as piercing ears on weekends (It was a Claire's so yeah) and while the pay was a dollar shorter, I spent a good portion of my time at work writing fics because it was so darn slow! And I had manager approval to do that!

Thing is, they're hiring again at my old job, and offering $14 an hour to do the same job I used to do. Management has changed, so I don't know if it's as lax as when I worked there, and they're only looking for part time workers, but I'm technically part time now.

My issue is that I actually enjoy most of my work currently, and my coworkers and boss are all really great! The only issue is the pay, otherwise I wouldn't want to leave. But, I have bills to pay and keep having to dip into my college savings, so I really do need another job. The circumstances at Claire's weren't great, but we were also between managers and I hear it's really improved (from the current staff). It still has downsides, of course, but up-selling and piercing is less stress inducing then having to get credit cards every day in order to maintain standing (which I fail at). Talking down panicking kids is easier than de-escalating an Karen, and often involves the parent's help. It was generally a pretty chill job before, and I'm genuinely considering going back, as long as I can assure that I can get at least 30 hours a week. Besides that, I know they never open till 10 and they close by 7, so I wouldn't have any really early hours, I know how they operate, and I have previous experience so I might be able to land the job with ease (not that I didn't the first time).

I don't know!

On one hand, I have great co-workers and managers, I enjoy most of what I do and I'm assured plenty of hours on most weeks, so I'm averaging at least $1,000 a month. On the other hand, working the same number of hours at my old work place would bring me $1,200 instead, on average, and make things less tight (I could afford health insurance!). The issue is though that I won't be assured the great managers or co-workers I have, or a minimum of hours.

I think I might send in an application all the same though, get an interview, and see where things lay over there and what it would look like if I did, even if I didn't decide I wanted the job. It'd certainly be less physically intensive! Which is great because my knees keep giving out on me these days.

Honestly though, I hate uncertainties and having to change things, but this is a needed change. I need a new job, the only question is, is this really the best I could do?

[skylertheminish]

Even more inane dog water writing! Please read tags for credit... can't wait to find typos and awful grammar later on lol.

A rumor and a bad guy.

The past few days had been awful. Case after case had been springing up and all with concerning records. Considering staff had rescues to take care of after hours, such as myself, this increase of workload was worrying indication of something sinister. While there was no evidence to confirm the suspicions of my boss. There was plenty speculation among staff that an organisation was the cause.

Galar has a Team for sure. But this wasn't Team Yell's kind of thing. And sure they were a headache to deal with, sinister they were not...or cruel for that matter! And it certainly wasn't Team Rocket. They got disbanded...right?

I finished off the last bit of work I could before clocking off. My bones cracking as I rose from my chair. Heading down the hallway I met up with Kate.

"Ya look awful. Like something dead warmed up" she commented while handing me a cup of tea, rather something passing itself off as tea. Don't know what the centre got for drinks but I'd wish they'd spend a little more on tea that had greater strength than 3 tea leaves.

"Aye" I sighed along with my thanks. Taking a sip of the weak tea water tea. Weak but welcoming.

"So have ya heard?"

"Hm? Heard what?" I asked before taking another sip.

"About the rumor going about. Thought you'd of all people would know" she gave a rather confused look at me.

"If its anything about whom is behind all these new cases then I have an idea or two. But anything outside of that I dunno. Been drowning in work."

This for some reason just prompted her to give a small smile. Which only confused me even more. She clearly knew something about this rumor.

"Well I've got something for ya to think about on the drive back home! Not exactly a change of scene, but I'm sure it will catch your interest to say the least."

"Aight what's the word then?"

As per usual for these rumors. It started off with someone who knew a relative of someone else with a gammy leg or whatever. Although in this case it was true. A member of staff has a relative who fits the description, and they were the source of the rumor. Kate was on the money about it catching my interest too.

"A missing Ceruledge you say?"

"Aye. Kinda odd we'd hear about this while you have your wee ones don't 'cha think?"

"I think it's just a coincidence. Odd for sure, but nothing more than that" I finished the tea "I'd best head off before traffic gets worse. Cheers for the tea Kate!"

"Take care!" I heard her say as I made my way to collect the Ceruledge infant and her brother from the daycare in the centre. Thankfully the drive back home was calm with only moderate traffic. Perfect for mulling things over! Kate knew full well that rumor regarding the percular Ceruledge would hold my interest, and get my mind somewhat off the recent cases. The person who rescued the pokemon from the lake was set on finding out more about it and its trainer. Knowing there was someone going out of their way for this Ceruledge cheered me up somewhat.

The drive home almost flew by before I knew it. If not for the few spells of traffic it certainly would have! Arriving back home, I went to preparing my Pokemon their dinner before loading a game to play and relax and distract myself from the past few awful days.

A good hour or so had passed. And Ceru decided she wanted to watch me play the game by climbing up onto my lap. She seemed to enjoy what was being played on the tv. Or at the very least was interested. But her response to a particular npc caught me off guard.

"Rrrrrr"

Her growling prompted a chuckle from my tired self. I knew this character she was growling at. It was the main bad guy currently disguised as a rotund, joyful mayor. "You don't like that man?"

"Rrrrr!" Hissss!

Oh she really didn't like the funny round man on the tv! And her hissing got me into a fit of chuckles. "Oh we don't like that man huh?" I commented while giving Ceru pats in an attempt to calm her.

"Don't worry lass. He is the bad guy and we won't let him win!"

Ceru crossed her arms and gave a nod. This video game character wasn't going to win. Not on her watch!

The past few days had been awful. But seeing Ceru look so determined, and hearing her adorable growls cheered me up and reminded me why I do what I do. They're worth fighting for.

[bonni]

Listen. Regarding this situation with the Taylor Swift concert. I am trying very hard to be objective and sensitive, and to not let my dislike of Taylor Swift taint my perception of the situation. I know that what happened is the fault of the people who organized the concert, and I don't doubt that Taylor was handing out water or that she expressed some level of concern. But I'm really not loving the mindset that Taylor tried soooo hard to prevent this and there was nothing more she could have done. There are certainly celebrities out there who are beholden to the whims of their managers and teams, but Taylor Swift is not one of those celebrities. She's one of the most famous and powerful celebrities in the world. She could have ended the concert when she noticed that people were getting sick. Again, I'm not saying what happened is her fault, but don't give her so much credit just because you buy into the image she's built around how much she supposedly loves her fans.

[bluisgayandmoregay]

I'm just gonna say it. Linus Media Group is just another shitty company owned by another shitty rich white guy. Maybe Linus is "nicer once you get to know him" or some other bullshit like that, but everything that has happened and has been happening with them is down right sad.

No one should ever be dismissed or told off or belittled or shamed for coming forward about assault in the workplace, hell anywhere, and Madison deserved much better when coming forward to higher-ups.

If LMG responds to Madison's allegations the same way they've been responding to all the inaccurate videos callouts and the whole Billet Labs controversy, then Terren should consider taking a long hard look at who he employes while he gets situated as CEO

On related topics, first my opinions about the "mandatory meeting" video from

this link (credit u/Nitazene-King-002 on Reddit. It was originally posted 6 months ago around when Madison left, however the comments on the original post are upsetting).

This is the most corporate bullshit response Linus could've given. I've heard some of these exact phrases a dozen times working for Big Corporate™ before.

The fact that barely anyone knew about an internal anonymous reporting feature is highly concerning as that implies no one told them either purposely or accidentally. And either way is shady.

James's "joke", while maybe funny to some of a certain inner circle, was very clearly poorly timed and disgusting given the circumstances of the meeting itself.

Second, my opinion about the Billet Labs waterblock prototype scandal.

In LTT's video addressing the data inaccuracies and "how the company will move forward from this"

(credit: Linus Tech Tips on YouTube)

They say that they simply misplaced and mislabeled the waterblock and auctioned it off at the LTX convention, and, after finding out that it was supposed to be sent back to Billet Labs, handled refunding the auction in a very unprofessional way.

Third, my opinions on the inaccurate graphs and lazy post production fact checking.

While LMG is certainly not the biggest tech company trying to give people data on products, they most certainly have the time, money, and effort to fact check everything in their videos, despite what Linus has said on both the LTT forums and the WAN show. While they do address and focus on this topic in the above YouTube video, it is once again filled with corporate copypasta phrases and empty feeling promises as they try to calm everyone down. The video feels half assed and like most of them aren't taking it seriously as they insert inside jokes to the script. (but that is just my opinion)

Fourth, my opinions on Madison's allegations.

A link to Madison's thread

(credit: @suuuoppp on Twitter. It's a long read and heartbreaking, but worth it if you still believe LMG is a good company)

explaining everything that happened to her while working for LMG, and exposing higher ups for how they dismissed and belittled her for feeling attacked by other coworkers.

In my opinion this thread alone should be enough to tell people that something is wrong at LMG. She did not deserve anything that was mentioned there, whoever dismissed her cries for help should be fired for putting an employee's mental health in danger.

I believe Madison without a doubt, the behavior of some of her coworkers is completely unacceptable.

All in all, I expected better from LMG. I feel bad for Terren for having to deal with this right as he joins, but perhaps he's going to be part of the problem later.

I hope some of the smaller teams in LMG like TechLinked/GameLinked and Mac Address come out ok. Maybe Riley takes the linked writers and an editor to make his own tech news channel, or Horst can do the same with Mac Address.

And I genuinely hope the best for Madison. She was a wonderful part of any video she was in and never deserved anything that wronged her during her time there.

(Small explanations for certain parts:

Remember that these are opinions about facts, while I do literally state that Linus "is another shitty rich white guy", that is my opinion. I've never met him nor anyone who I'm hating on in this post.

It is entirely possible that Madison is lying, but knowing what it's like to be a woman in the corporate tech industry. Right now I believe her 100%.

I am aware of and have seen Gamers Nexus's video calling out LMG about the inaccurate graphs and lazy fixes and the Billet scandal. This post is essentially in tandem and agreeing with their video, while also adding Madison's allegation.

And for those confused as to why James's joke "Are you gonna dance on that table, or just stand on it?" is bad. That line is a reference to someone performing in a place like a strip club, and the way it was said was (in my opinion) satire on the way people in a club might say it in a demeaning way to a performer. I'm not sure who he said it to or why he said it in the first place, but closing a meeting about discussing assault or harassment in the workplace with that line is very disgusting.)

And of course I don't know everything, I'm just putting my opinions on the Internet™. If I've missed anything you know about you can reply/reblog/send an ask and I'll edit/add it on. Same for if I've gotten anything wrong.

#tl;dr I think Linus Media Group sucks right now.

Love,

Brie

[beatthegame]

I just beat Rampage! On original hardware with the Nintendo Entertainment System. Back in 1989, we would have slumber parties at my cousins house. Trying to beat this damn game. After countless levels, we came close but never had the chance to beat it. Either we fell asleep or the game would crash out. Victory was never an option...until now!

In a nutshell: King Kong and Godzilla team up and destroy America! Based off the arcade hit. The NES tried their best to bring the Rampage experience at home. With unlimited quarters/replays at your disposal. What's not to like?

The Good: You are blessed with the power to control giant kaiju monsters. Demolishing REAL American cities. The 80's were a different time! LOL! You can choose a giant gorilla named George or a giant lizard named...Lizzie. You can climb buildings. Punch holes through walls. And bring down buildings like a living wrecking ball. There are plenty of soldiers and police cars and tanks trying to shoot back at you. There are stringent laws in place that prevent folks from punching holes through buldings. So the opposition seems fair. There are no dialogue options. So the only thing you could do is knock down buildings and eat people. And it's a lot a fun! Destroying one city at a time. From San Francisco to New York City. Check out the Twin Towers in one of the screenshots! Even Alaska and Hawaii can eat shit. Bring a friend! Punch every building into dust and grab a fruit bowl out of a window. It's all good. You can even beat the piss out of each other to see who's the top monster. It's simple yet fun. But for how long?

The Bad: First of all, where's Ralph?! In the arcade version, you can also choose a giant werewolf named Ralph. But that is not an option with the NES version. Weaker hardware by comparison? Sure. Aside from that... if you played one level of Rampage? You played them all. Give or take a subtle change in background? You hop around building to building and punch holes into walls until there are no buildings left. Next level. Repeat. It's certainly fun for a few levels. In between, you'll catch a scene with Lizzie punching a hole through the map of the United States. Implying that you wiped out that state? Ok. But after a hundred or more levels? The game becomes very monotonous. And I get that this is an arcade game designed to eat quarters and entertain for a few minutes. But the game does not hold up well for extended play. The ending was pretty weak too. Just the same bit with Lizzie punching a hole through the United States. "Congratulations" And that's it. Roll credits. I'm surprised I was able to grab a photo, it happened so fast! LOL! Not exactly worth the hastle but it felt good being able to slay that old dragon once and for all.

Overall: Rampage is a classic. Not an all-time great like a Mario or Bomberman. It's a simple game that anyone can pick up and play. It's not gory, so kids could play this. But if they decide to climb buildings and punch holes through walls? I would still blame the parents. They should've kept an eye on their damn kids and played some Rampage with them instead of playing on their phones. But not for TOO long because it gets boring after a while. Go read a book if that happens. Or you can watch the Rampage movie with Dwane "The Rock" Johnson. Personally, I'd rather play the game instead. The original arcade version would be nice. But if you're looking for something quick, simple and fun at home, Rampage is a good time.

B- Class

[dollhouseirl]

((A slight palette change for Ms. Doctor Pravd and a chance to spend a little more time in her headspace for more writing ahead of my VN's release. Art assets are coming together so I swear something new will be here soon.)) "There now! That's MUCH better~" After the incident in the old laboratory, a change of clothes had been necessitated. These sorts of, let's call them, chemical reactions were no danger to her but her wardrobe had not tasted of the same story that she had. In fact, Pravd was rather certain, fairly certain, certain enough to shelve the thought, that wardrobes did not taste of stories at all. 'Note to self,' she thought, 'Give a wardrobe a reason to live.' The purpose would of course be to revoke it, harass it, make it rue the day it had ever acquired such a thing (for SCIENCE, if you can believe it). There would be a whole process, a theorem, everything would be trim and proper. She would likely have to twist the universe's arm or find some arm of some kind to twist but she was becoming quite the interdimensional debutante. "I am the belle of the ball," she mused with a smile. "I am the queen bee although they do not know it yet." Pravd giggled with an almost innocent glee. They soon would and these colors she now wore would help impress it upon them. 'I wear any colors well,' she thought, 'but these put everyone on notice: bow before your new girlboss icon queen and stan or be slain.' Words were sparking in her mind. The reaction. It had revealed something to her. She'd seen something that intrigued her and could swear it had a kind of familiarity to her. 'Like a place I would certainly know how to find if I'd...goodness, hehehe, haha, aaaaaaaaahaha! I mean, I'd had to have known it existed? 'YASSSSS KWEEN'? I can't tell if you'd kill whoever came up with that or kill to be it that's a lie I could easily opt for both forms of killing ;)' Something was taking shape in her head. A plan of sorts. A diversion. Her true aim would take time; it was not quite ripe yet. Perhaps she herself, star of this show though she was, was not ripe yet either. "I have decided," Pravd said, moving to the door of the old lab without physically moving at all ('space is a suggestion to me; i cannot ignore it but it knows i'm dead serious'), "I am about to become HORRIFYINGLY annoying. I think we will call this my..." Brilliant mind though she was, master virologist, one who was a chrysalis harboring something fair and terrible, for a moment she halted. Self-doubt? Chastened, perhaps? Her smile for a moment began to flatten. What might be on her mind? It came back within instants, one more fragment from the 'incident' she would be investigating promptly. "We will call it my 'engagement arc'. Oh my yes, I do like that. I certainly would love to be engaged...kay, thanks, hi~"

______________________________________ Still waiting on some things to come together, although I actually have two more in the chamber to share perhaps, more of this type of thing, but I wanted to write this character a little more. You can consider this something of a prequel to the VN of sorts. I do not know if it will be obvious how this all connects but I don't consider myself someone who is writing to be obscure on purpose. Also we had a palette change for Pravd, a favorite of mine, and I wanted to make an excuse out of it to have her switch palettes. So I hope this is enjoyable and that Purple Prose with Purple Hearts, out by the end of the month for sure, will be. I am fortunate that my team includes someone I have been working on voice acting with and I am very very excited to get that shaped into something; they know who they are and I will be crediting when I talk more about it. ^^ Extremely good stuff is happening for what amounts to my crude amateurish first effort.

[tealeves]

I think I've realized the thing about FFXVI that frustrates me so much, and it's that it's not weird enough.

FF as a series has always been weird, from its hodge-podge mix of high fantasy and science fiction, to its anthology-esque structure where no one game is repeated (though the individual elements of plot, setting, and character are often reused and remixed), to just the series' weirdass sense of humor (whether intentional or unintentional).

Even XIV, largely created by the same creative team and predicated on the need for a consistent MMO world for its userbase, went some weird fucking places (Catholics who secretly lust over dragons, to orientalist Hamilton, to "oops all your friends are in an alternate dimension now," to a hopepunk odyssey through time and space to comfort a very sad bird).

But XVI... it's just so boring. You'd think it would be hard to normalize something like characters riding on giant yellow chickens, but somehow even that fades into the backdrop of this overwrought, over-complicated, Game of Thrones derivative. I mean I gotta give it credit, it's certainly breaking from previous FF tradition by being so normcore.

Even FFXV, which was flawed and sticky and also criticized as boring upon release due to being not very well-written or thought out, was at least unique (vaguely polyamorous bodyguards go on a road trip and experience the trauma of growing up in the face of an insurmountable existential threat).

I dunno, I'm only halfway through XVI. Maybe it gets weirder and less... well, less boring. So far it feels like I'm playing a generic, three-star fantasy ARPG. Not fun & creative. Not an FF.