#john wills

[spilladabalia]

Loop - Collision

[tinynavajoreads]

Currently Reading: Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West edited by John Wills and Esther Wright

I'm on my last day on a family trip to Japan and it feels like the first day to fully slow down and just chill. It helps that my family is out exploring and I'm in the room alone cause my gut wasn't feeling to happy with me.

Anyway, seeing if I can finish up this book of essays on the Red Dead Redemption series by Rockstar Games. I got this at a library conference last year and just now getting around to reading it. I love playing RDR2 so when I saw this I knew I had to have the book! It's definitely fascinating to see what others things about the series and about RDR2 specifically, and I can still enjoy the game and the academic thoughts and essays surrounding the games as well.

[tremendously-crazy]

i was supposed to be cool and mysterious like sherlock holmes but instead I can't stop yapping about anything and everything that interests me in the slightest. like sherlock holmes

[laswells-ashtray]

One day, someone makes the mistake of mentioning Kate's wife when she's on the field and Gaz, Ghost and Soap expect her to be fine.

John knows better.

It takes John, Ghost, and Soap between them, with Gaz holding a hand over the guys mouth to stop Kate from genuinely being at risk of killing him. John actually lifts her off of the ground and walks out with her kicking and fighting to get out of his grip.

Ghost has to guard the door when he drags her out, Soap and Gaz can be heard getting a little hands-on with their interrogation. John’s grip on Kate is so tight that she'll undoubtedly bruise, but she'll forgive him when he stops her from losing her job.

"Kate- Kate, stop fucking- CALM DOWN- Think about it, it's a scare tactic. Sarah is at home with the cats, and she's fine, he wouldn't tell you about it if he wasn't going to touch her. She's alright."

"You don't fucking know that, you've seen the pictures, John. You know what he does to people-"

"Kate, calm down. Call her, phone Sarah right now and listen to her voice. She's fine, you'll be fine."

Even Simon has an undeniable picture of Laswell in her head. She's unshakeable, she's calm and she's fucking funny when she feels like it. But he's never seen this before, she's downright vicious and he can't help but watch with wide eyes as John grabs her phone out of her pocket and forces it into her hands. Can't help how his lip twitches into a frown that none of them can see as her voice shakes when she talks down the phone to her wife. How she slumps against Price and he holds her up, muttering quietly to her as her wife's voice speaks through the phone.

"She's fine. You're fine. He's a lying git, Kate. Nothing's going to happen to Sarah, you'd never allow it and neither would I. Hell, neither would Nik. The big bugger loves her."

Simon knows better than anyone that they're all human, despite all the rumours and the hero worship everyone gazes at them with. They're people. But sometimes even he forgets that Kate Laswell isn't a Station Chief, she's a woman with a wife at home and a group of cats that John likes laughing at pictures of. It's for that reason that he looks away, offers her the dignity of calming down in peace and slipping back into the Watcher persona without his eyes on her.

He pointedly ignores the grateful look John shoots him.

[s0fter-sin]

soap's whole deal being sniper and demolitions gets me going bc on the surface they sound so different but when you get into it, you realise it's bc soap's smart

sniping is all math; calculating distances and wind interference and bullet drop. something i think people overlook is he was listed as a sniper first so it can be implied that he's better at it than demolitions. he does more sniping in both campaigns than demolitions work; in capture or kill, ghost specifically calls on him to take down the aq snipers

and demolitions is math with a hit of chemistry; knowing what mixes with what, knowing how much to use, recognising environmental factors and adjusting accordingly. it's not just about the boom; so much work goes into contained/ planned explosions. especially when having enough power for a breacher charge and not bringing down the whole building is the difference between mission success and failure

the chemical bombs he makes in alone can't just be any old cleaners, they have to have the correct reaction to each other; he just knew off the top of his head what would mix with what to create what reaction. he would also potentially have to recognise them by sight/smell bc they would’ve been written in spanish

soap would also have to know architecture; recognising structural integrity and weak points so he knows exactly where to plant a charge to bring it down and how it'll come down

he has an incredible soldier's mind people just forget that bc he's sociable which itself is a skill

we know he tends to buck against orders he doesn't agree with like when he pushes back against ghost in capture or kill and shepherd when he tells them to release hassan

he gets closer to people and sees if he can trust them and that's when he follows them without question. really think about how he talks to alejandro and rudy; he asks about their home and alejandro's family and rudy's relationship with him. those aren't questions you ask a stranger after a few hours of knowing them. that's not even touching on his relationship with ghost

he also deliberately brings people of higher ranks down to his level; talking informally with ghost and giving him a shoulder punch, addressing alejandro (a colonel!!) by his first name and rudy by his nickname despite literally just meeting them. he personalises all of them and it’s in direct opposition to the reason most characters do that; it’s not due to insubordination or lack of respect, the more he respects and trusts someone, the more casual he is with them

he digs into people; he wants to know what makes them tick and that determines if he can one, trust them and two, follow their orders. once he decides that, he's the ultimate soldier; he bleeds loyalty which makes him vicious when that loyalty is taken for granted

he isn't naive or bubbly or insecure; he's an incredibly smart and aware soldier. he's aggressive and bloodthirsty and loyal and intuitive and i love him so much

[lambmotifz]

thinking about this scene and how 2009 dean is appalled at his future self’s actions (“you just shot a guy in cold blood.”)

also thinking about how in 2.09 croatoan dean was ready to shoot duane…and sam’s desperate “you might kill an innocent man, and you don’t even care! you don’t act like yourself anymore, dean.” and dean went to shoot duane and changed his mind at the last moment. which is a direct parallel to 2.03 bloodlust, when dean wanted to kill all the vampires, but because sam begged him not to, he didn’t

sam is canonically the only person who can pull dean away from identifying as a ruthless killer. 2014 dean lost his sam & fully gave in to his violent side

[smallenoughtopurr]

John Kramer either had no idea that the Angry Twink and the Repressed Dilf he kidnapped were going to get gay and recreate the Titanic together or he knew EXACTLY how they'd act around each other and I don't know which interpretation is funnier.

[megatronusprimedecal]

"Aren't you tired of being treated like we're nothing?"

Transformers One (2024)

[serzperntblood]

I just want a military man to grab me and throw me over his shoulder so I can be his little housewife.

throwing food together, taking off his grimy sweaty military clothes after he comes back from deployment, fixing him that good ass dinner that I barely make for myself.

only want him to bend me over and make me feel pretty, please fill me with child???

[cod-dump]

*Soap and Ghost sneaking in a room they’re not supposed to be in*

Soap: *knocks something over, making a loud noise*

Soap: Fuck!

Ghost, covering his mouth: SHH

*silence*

Soap, slowly removing Ghost’s hand: You think anyone heard us?

Price: MACTAVISH ARE YOU IN THERE?

Ghost, quietly: He heard you

Price: MACTAVISH! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! IS GHOST IN THERE WITH YOU?

Ghost: *stares at Soap*

Soap: … Just me, Cap!

Ghost, in a low voice: Good boy

Soap:

[fipindustries]

some comments on my second read of the locked tomb trilogy.

*it truly cant be said that you have actually read these books until youve read them twice. suddenly the whole experience is much more seamless, so many things make much more sense. now you can actually follow along what the hell is going on and appreciatte the characters for who they are.

*cytherea really did dulcinea dirty. i didnt notice the first time around but now on a re-read i can see how she played her as this hapless, subtly bitter, seductive nimphette. a picturesque wasting waif who all she can do is philosophise about how unfair her life is. and then you go to the second book and you see how proactive, mischevious and likeable in an honest way the real dulcinea is and you realize cythereas was being either lazy or kind of a bitch

*john comes off as so much more clearly an asshole in everything he says and does. specially in the fact that he obviously goes to great lengths not to admit to himself that he is an asshole.

*there are SO MANY fucking nods and clues and foreshadows of what is going to happen in the following books that its ridiculous, gideon talks about doing friendship bracelets in book one

*going slower through gideon's and ianthe's interaction in book two you can see much more clearly how they would end up as genuine friends by the end of book three. yeah they are squabbling but they are clearly having so much fun even though they wont admit it. gideon genuenly appreciates ianthe's jokes at least twice and they actually form a little bit of a bond shittalking other people and commiscerating over the fact that harrow is not interested in them romantically. i think guideon is impressed that ianthe is not just a snob or a prissy princess or a nerd and that she actually has a sense of humor that is actually very similar to hers and a genuine grit and willingness to get her hands dirty. but also is fucking hilarious that ianthe was actually fucking with harrow when she acted like she couldnt see the bodies harrow was seeing

*i can also see much more clearly how ianthe was kind of justified in saving john, yes a bit part of the equation was her wanting power and being in good standing with the god emperor but also i think she was genuenly concerned when mercy "killed" john and they told her that the entire dominicus system was about to die because of that. i think ianthe is not an idiot and she is capable of thinking longer term than we think.

*this time around i could actually follow the absolute batshit insane mess that was john and alecto and mercy and gideon 1 and pyrrah and guideon 2 that ends with "harrow" having guideon's eyes that were actually alecto's that were actually john. jesus.

[the-witchhunter]

Main reason Danny doesn’t have to do anything about John’s soul situation

John met God in the form of a dog named Tom who cleared it up, Satan can’t take his soul

Yes this is real, yes this is Canon

[tinynavajoreads]

Tiny Navajo Reads: Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and Violence in the Video Game West

This is the last day of the year and this is my last review of the year! We have made it through another year and most of us are prepping for the year to come. I hope it to be much less exciting year to come. I’m very tired living in exciting times. I would like for there to be less exciting times. But, we shall persevere and continue moving forward! Red Dead Redemption: History, Myth, and…

[lemonwrap]

Soap was lucky enough to meet his soulmate at twenty four. The thing is…they didn’t get along great. That’s not completely unheard of for soulmates, but it didn’t make Soap and Connor get along any better.

They didn’t hate each other, no. Some days they got along well. The conversation flowed, the laughter wasn’t so strained, and the sex was good—but things always seemed better when they were apart.

They clashed on nearly everything. Connor thought Soap’s mohawk and callsign were childish, and Soap thought that Connor was overbearing and that all of his friends were assholes. Soap’s talkative nature often annoyed Connor, and Connor’s nitpicky personality often annoyed Soap in turn. Connor didn’t like Soap’s job because it kept them apart, but the military was what held Soap together and provided structure when he didn’t have much else. Soap felt out of place at Connor’s large family gatherings, where his entire family was formal and a bit cold, but Connor felt suffocated by Soap’s small but lively family.

Soap and Connor’s soulmate status didn’t seem to matter much whenever they argued. They fought until they mutually decided to break it off a few years later, and although Soap was upset, the relief vastly outweighed it. He hasn’t attempted to seek anything else out, though. How can he be right for anyone if he isn’t even right for his soulmate?

Soap tries to keep this attitude when he’s recruited into the 141 and meets Ghost, but Ghost is…well, he’s Ghost.

Soap is pretty sure he could write a whole book about his lieutenant, starting with the way Ghost kept him grounded with jokes while he was sneaking through the streets of Las Almas and ending with how the first time Ghost took off his mask, it was to kiss Soap.

They get along startlingly well, even in shitty circumstances—two peas in a pod, two halves of a whole, two pieces from different puzzles that just happen to be a match—Ghost and Soap are a fantastic team. Their arguments don’t usually last long, and they’ve never been over trivial things like Soap’s haircut or Ghost’s habit of hoarding tea well past its expiration date.

On the field, they have each other’s six, and sometimes Soap doesn’t even need an order from Ghost. He just intuitively knows what Ghost needs, on and off the field. They just work, and Soap didn’t realize that he could ever get along with someone this well.

Ghost has revealed little of his past even to Soap, but he said that his soulmate died before they even met. Trauma after trauma and a few failed relationships made Ghost eventually decide that he wasn’t going to bother, and he kept to himself until Soap joined the 141.

Soap is damn glad he somehow found his way into Ghost’s heart like he did. Soap thinks of Connor sometimes, and he’s sure Ghost thinks of his own soulmate occasionally, but neither of them truly loved someone until they met the other.

Maybe your soulmate isn’t someone who the universe chooses for you—your soulmate is someone you choose for yourself.

[menlove]

Andy: Just like most artists, really. I mean, there’s obviously no reason at all why you should answer any questions about what your songs are about, because the songs should be the statement, and obviously when you start talking about the particular meanings of something, without the music, without the context, it doesn’t sound right.

I certainly noticed with Brian Ferry’s songs that he expresses, reveals, far more of himself in songs than ever in a conversation, and he does it in a way that it’s always surprising – a quite extraordinary amount of revealing things. That’s particularly him. I know that that doesn’t apply to you.

Paul: But, you know, isn’t that what a lot of stuff, this “so called art” is about, isn’t it? You know that someone in a picture will be able to do something, express something you can’t do. Yeah, I think I find it easy, I mean, the same way a lot of people have stutters but don’t stutter when they sing a song. That always amazed me that, and I think it is the same way that you can have things said in a song. I mean, I would never have looked at John Lennon and kinda said, “I love you”, because it wasn’t about that, you know, it was nothing about that. But in a song, in the particular way they’re written today, I kinda easily say, “I love you”, almost as a throw-away, because it doesn’t seem embarrassing in that context. I can always deny that it was ever written about him. Burn the tapes, and delete the…

Paul McCartney, interviewed by Andy Mackay in 1982 about his album "Tug of War" (source)

(note: bold mine, but he did trail off there/was interrupted by Andy by another question. it's unclear which one from the transcript. but nothing has been cut off)

[meilas]

I was looking for a good shot of Cudia but I got distracted

this one's for you @nerdywriter36