#like i guess the two 'main' users of the form(s) were brothers

[stingyslegslookweird]

y'know i'm just now realizing how weird it is for the Hell Bros transformation jingle to have motorcycle revving noises considering neither Hell Bros nor its individual halves (Engine & Remocon Bros) ride motorcycles.

[dillydedalus]

march reading

kinda forgot about this i guess. anyway feat. uh, magical ships, dubious mental health institutions (plural) & a parisian building with 99 rooms. 

the forever sea, joshua phillip johnson (forever sea #1) i firmly believe that more fantasy lit should be set on ships bc ships are inherently a sexy setting & you could have pirates which are extremely sexy. this has ships (and pirates) and also a sea made of grass? a magical plant sea on which ships sail via magical fires, so conceptually i’m very into it all. the plot is fine, but the protagonist kindred has a very bad case of Main Character Syndrome so prepare for mild annoyance throughout. also while i generally enjoy book magic vs wild magic i wish more works would treat them as two ends of a spectrum rather than ~book magic bad and boring, wild magic cool and *~natural*~. but overall i think this series has potential. 3/5

jagannath: stories, karin tidbeck ([partially?] translated from swedish by the author) really cool collection of sff stories by tidbeck, many of which veer into mild horror and some of which are influenced by swedish folklore and especially swedish fey stories. i enjoyed most of these a lot, especially the existential call centre horror story, the ‘god won’t let me die’ one, and a taxonomy of a cryptid that goes a little off the rails. 4/5

annette, ein heldinnenepos, anne weber a novel in verse about anne beaumanoir, a real person who was a résistance member during world war 2 and later supported the algerian national liberation front, for which she was sentenced to 10 years in prison (she escaped to tunisia and later algeria). she’s clearly a very impressive and interesting person & i conceptually enjoyed the idea of writing a modern hero(ine)’s epic, but i feel like the language could have been a bit more stylized to match the form. 3/5

salvage the bones, jesmyn ward (audio) bleak but ultimately hopeful novel about a black family in the days before and during hurricane katrina, although the focus is on the family dynamics, the 14-year-old narrator discovering that she is pregnant, and the kids trying to keep the puppies their dog china just had alive and well. enjoyed this, altho i did it a bit of a disservice but listening to it a lot of short chunks. 3.5/5

regeneration, pat barker (regeneration trilogy #1) set mostly at a military hospital for soldiers with shell shock during world war 1, this novel explores the existential horror of war, psychological treatment (& the horrible absurdity of treating traumatised men just enough so that you can send them straight back to Trauma Town), and the meeting between siegfried sassoon & wilfred owen. i find i don’t really have much to say about it, but it is very, very good. 4/5

how to pronounce knife, souvankham thammavongsa a short story collection mainly about refugees and migrants from laos to canada, many focusing on parent-child relationships and being forced to work in low-paid jobs, often ones that are damaging to their health. the stories are very well-observed and emotionally nuanced and detailed, but with 14 mostly very short stories, the collection as a whole felt a bit samey, which i guess is something i often experience with short story collections. 3/5

faces in the water, janet frame horrifying semi-autobiographical novel about a young woman stuck in new zealand’s mental health system, moving to different hospitals but mostly from ward to (more depressing) ward in the 40s/50s. while there is a shift in attitudes during her stay that sometimes makes the wards more tolerable, mostly the patients are neglected, abused, and the threat of electric shock therapy and lobotomy always hangs over them. 3/5

the upstairs house, julia fine fuck why did i read so many books about mental health conditions this month??? this is another entry in my casual ‘motherhood as horror’ reading project, in which a new mother develops post-partum psychosis & imagines the modernist children’s book writer she’s writing her dissertation on and her poet sometimes-lover haunting her and her child (margaret wise brown & michael strange, who are real people i was utterly unaware of). this does pretty good on the maternal horror front, but i wasn’t entirely sold on the literary haunting. 2/5

1000 serpentinen angst, olivia wenzel a very interesting novel about a woman struggling with grief over her brother’s suicide, an anxiety disorder, the (non)state of a (non)relationship and discrimination/marginalisation based on her identity as a black, east-german, bi woman (while also being, as she notes, financially privileged). much of the novel is written in a dialogue between the narrator and an unnamed (& probably internal) interlocutor, which was p effective for a novel more focused on introspection than much of a plot. 3/5

atlas: the archaeology of an imaginary city, dung kai-cheung (tr. from chinese by the author, anders hansson, bonnie mcdougall) fictitious theory about a slightly-left-of-reality version of hong kong and how maps (re)construct the city, very heavy on the postmodern poststructuralist postcolonial (and some other posts, i’m sure). in many ways my jam. unfortunately my favourite parts of this were the author’s preface and the first part (fictitious theory of mapping alternate hong kong); the rest felt very repetitive and not particularly interesting, altho i’m sure i was also just missing a lot of cultural context. 2.5/5

under the net, iris murdoch .........i liked the other two murdochs i’ve read (the sea, the sea & a severed head) quite a lot so either i was not in the mood for her very peculiar style of constructing novels and characters or, this being her first novel, she just wasn’t in full command of that peculiar style yet but man this was a slooooooooog. don’t stretch out your modern picaresque with an incredibly annoying narrator over more than 300 pages iris!!!! 2/5 bc this probably has some merit & i just wasn’t into it

the impossible revolution: making sense of the syrian tragedy, yassin al-haj saleh (tr. from arabic by i. rida mahmoud) collection of articles and essays saleh (a syrian intellectual & activist who spent 16 years in a syrian prison) wrote from 2011 to 2015, analysing the reasons for, potential and development of the revolution, as well as some background sociological discussion on the assads’ regime. very interesting, very dense, very depressing. wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a first read on the topic tho. 3/5

angels in america: millenium approaches & perestroika, tony kushner the page to tumblr darling quote ratio in this is insane (”just mangled guts pretending” and so on) and also it just really slaps on every level. also managed to get me from 0 to crying several times. brilliant work of theatre, would love to see it staged (or filmed). 4/5

life: a user’s manual, georges perec (german tr. by eugen helmlé) 99 chapters, each corresponding with a single room in a parisian apartment block; some chapters are basically ‘here’s the room, here’s a long list of objects in the room, that’s it bye :)’, some are short insights into the lives of the people living there, some (the best, mostly) are long, absolutely wild tales that are sometimes only tangentially connected to the room in question. why are the french like this. 61/99 rooms 

sisters in hate: american women on the front lines of white nationalism, seyward darby (audio) nonfiction about women’s role in white nationalist hate movements, mainly based on the stories of three women who are or have been involved with various contemporary american alt-right/racist/neonazi hate groups, while also looking at general social trends and the history of white women’s role in white supremacy. interesting and engaging if you’re interested in this kind of thing. if you’re both politically aware and internet poisoned, it’s probably not much that is completely new to you but still worth reading. 3/5

starting in april i will be Gainfully Employed (ugh) & thus probably not read as much or read even more bc i have no energy for anything else 

[screw-real-life-i-pick-fandoms]

Love and War (Loki x Reader) (One-Shot)

AN: This fic was requested by @wegingerangelica, here is the request:

I was wondering if you would write one about Loki, while fighting a war, finds a girl who had been terribly abused by the enemy. He rescues her and cares for her and comforts her back to health. With emotions & feels. Thanks!

I hope you like it! :)

If you would like to request a Loki, Tom, Jonathan, Conrad, or another Tom character, feel free to! I always love getting requests!

Words: 1,706

Warning: Violence, torcher, and abuse and hints at smut, (Nothing happens just talking about it. )

(Y/N POV)

I could hear the sounds of yelling and fighting above and around me, and it made me tense. I was huddled in the corner of the small room, the cold stone floor made me shiver as it touched the bare skin through my torn-up clothes. The metal shackles where eating through the skin on my wrists and ankles, causing new blood to run over the already dried blood around them. I heard soft footsteps walking towards the door of the small room, the sounds of their feet coming through the small hole in the bottom, where they could send me rotten food. I made a soft whimpering sound, then mentally cursed myself for making any noise at all.

"Hello," An unknown voice said from the other side of the door. "Is there someone there?"

Should I call out? What if they want to kill me? Then I thought about the hell I was living in now, and how I would welcome the warm embrace of death if it meant I would be free of this.

"He..Hel.." I was trying to speak but my voice didn't want to work. "Help."

That was all I could get out before my voice gave out, and just from trying to talk I could feel myself growing faint. I could hear the sound of someone trying to open the door to my cell, but before I could see who it was, I passed out.

(Loki's POV)

I had managed to slip away from the main battle and was trying to find some sort of headquarters, where I could find some battle plans or maybe even someone who knew the plans.

I was walking down a long cold hallway; the floor was made of stone and there were doors to either side of me. As I walked, I heard something like a small whimper come from behind one of the doors, making me stop.

"Hello," I call out, ready to fight anyone who could jump out at me. "Is there someone there?"

Nothing. I was about to start walking when I heard a soft voice.

"He...Hel..." The broken voice sounded strained and full of pain. "Help."

I made my way to a door with a small hole in the bottom, where I thought the voice was coming from. I tried to open it, but the door needed a key. I stepped back and used my magic to unlock it, and then proceeded to open the door, where I was met with a horrifying sight.

A girl with Y/H/L Y/H/C hair and Y/S/C was curled up in a ball in the corner of the room, metal shackles around her bloody wrists and ankles attached her to the wall a few feet away. Her clothes were so ripped and torn apart, that to say she didn't have any would be a more accurate statement. She seemed to be unconscious, but her body still shivered because of the cold stone beneath her.

I walked over to her unconscious form and kneeled next to her. I removed my long green and black leather jacket and wrapped her fragile form in it. She seemed to lean into my touch and the newfound warmth of my jacket. Once I had covered her body with my jacket, I lifted her off the cold damp stone floor and carried her bridle stile out of the small room she had been in for who knows how long.

*Time Skip*

(Y/N POV)

I woke up to the warm feeling of blankets covering my body and a soft pillow under my head. I tried to open my eyes only to close them again because of the bright light coming into the room I was in, it had been so long since I had seen sunlight. I waited a few moments then tried opening them again and this time I was able to make out some things. I was in a large bed, in a room with high ceilings and windows that also acted as doors out to some kind of deck.

"Glad to see you are awake," A voice said from beside me, making me jump slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," The man apologized. "You have been through a lot, I should have known better than to catch you off guard like that. My name is Loki."

His voice sounded a lot like the voice I heard back in my cell, and I took that to mean this man saved me. He had jet black hair that went down to just above his shoulders and he had deep green eyes.

"My name is Y/N, and it's," I tried saying, still trying to get used to using my voice. "It's quite alright, but I must ask. Are you the man I heard back in my cell? Did you rescue me? And if so, why?"

Loki looked off to the side as if he was thinking to himself, maybe asking himself the same question.

"It seemed to be the right thing to do," Loki said after a few moments of silence. "It wouldn't have been right to leave you there. I took it upon myself to save you, and if you will let me, I take it upon myself to be your friend."

"I think I would like that very much," I say to him with a smile on my face. He seemed nice, and he did save me from the hell-hole I was in for so long I couldn't keep track. "Thank you, Loki. I hope we will have a long-lasting friendship."

*Time Skip a Few Months*

(Loki's POV)

I have been treating Y/N's injuries and getting her healthy again. At first, I was the only one she would allow near her, then she slowly started warming up to others. Soon she was able to walk around the palace without help, but she still tended to say close to me as much as she could. I also found out the Y/N was a magic user like myself, so we would often spend time working on our magic together.

After time went by, I found myself falling for Y/N but didn't tell her for fear of rejection, but the thought of her saying yes gave me hope.

Today I planned on asking her to be mind, and I hoped to Odin she would say yes.

*Time Skip a Few Years*

(Y/N POV)

I was setting in the grass outside the palace, the sounds of two young children laughing and playing could be heard.

"Stella! We said no magic!" John, my five-year-old yell out to his sister in annoyance.

"Well too bad," Stella, my seven-year-old called back at her brother. "You still lose."

"Mom," John said walking towards me with a sour look on his face, his green eyes looking sad. "Stella used magic to slow me down so she could tag me!"

I looked at my daughter who had a mischievous glint in her Y/E/C eyes that were somewhat covered by her jet-black hair.

"Well then," I said leaning in close to my son's ear so I could whisper. "I guess you will have to get even. You are it now, but remember, just like your father, sister and I, you can use magic too. Now, go have fun."

John then had an expression that matched his sister's mischief and then ran off after her. I just watched the two children thinking about how much my life had changed, and it was all thanks to Loki. Then I felt something wrap around my waist from behind and I stiffed up for a second.

"It's only me, love," I smooth voice said from behind me before lightly kissing my neck. "Just came to check on you and the kids."

"We are doing fine," I said trying to get my words out, despite Loki continuing to kiss my neck. "Although, it seems to me like you wanted to do more the "checkup" on me and your kids."

"If you put it like that," Loki tightening his grip and dropping his voice to whisper in my ear. "I wouldn't be opposed."

"I need to watch the kids," I said trying to get my needy husband off me. "I can't just up and leave them."

"Sure, you can," Loki said to me briefly stopping the assault on my sensitive neck. "Thor is coming out right behind me, and I am sure he would love to look after his niece and nephew. Then mom and dad can have some alone time."

I could hear the smirk in his voice as he said the last part and knew he wouldn't give up. Not the I wanted to stop. Loki got up and walked behind me and when I turned around, I saw Thor walked towards us. He and Loki talked briefly then Thor nodded, and Loki looked at with a smirk and walked back over to me. He grabbed my hand, already starting to lead me off.

"See love," Loki with a grin on his face. "Told you Thor would watch them. Now we can have some time to ourselves."

"Alright Loki, "I said trying to keep pace with him as he dragged me along, clearly eager to get to our chambers. "Now that it is just us, what do you plan on doing?"

I knew the answer, but I liked to tease him. I was excited for what was to come.

"Oh, my love," Loki said in a husky as we reached the door, Loki practically slamming it behind us as we entered, smirking the whole time. "So, so much. You may need help walking tomorrow. That is if I let you leave."

Tag List: @theoneanna  @mybabydrivesa67impala @lokislittleslut @camu-winchester @jessiejunebug  @fandomnerdsarecool @narvelc00kie35 @kinghiddlestonanddixon @namelesslosers @turniptitaness  @drakesfiance @wegingerangelica @little-dis-kaalista-pythonissama @imasultforlokiandspencerreid

Let me know if you want to be tagged.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

WE HAD A 40 YEAR STRETCH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 20TH CENTURY THAT CONVINCED SOME PEOPLE OTHERWISE

Well, founders aren't much better. In math terms, they are a closed-form solution; lesser artists literally solve the same problems by successive approximation. The market price for that kind of work is hard to convey in a research paper.1 They'll do well at it too, because determination is the main factor in the success of a startup with a lame-sounding new startup idea is to make fun of your little brother for coloring people green in his coloring book, your mother is likely to tell you something like you like to do it. Movie studios? It's just ten times more irresponsible not to think about the product. Someone who thinks I better not start a startup. Circumstances can alter it, but now that the things we build are so complicated, there's another rapidly growing subset: making things easier to use. That's not quite the same thing with engraving, and Jane Austen with the novel. It will tend to feel bleak and abandoned, and accumulate cruft.2 Good hackers can always get some kind of philosophical statement; I mean it as a tautology.3

Why should we care especially about civil liberties? The government has responded with draconian laws to protect intellectual property as a threat to the intellectual freedom they need to do their job. There are two kinds of symmetry, and repetition especially, is a concept known to nearly all makers: the day job.4 And the hardest part of that is often discarding your old idea. Alcohol is a dangerous drug, but I'd guess that many of these would-be graduate students. Of the stories you read in traditional media that aren't about politics, crimes, or disasters, more than half probably come from PR firms. If you have a better chance of generating those if you combine stuff from distant fields. Most founders of failed startups don't quit their day jobs, and work on beautiful software on the side, I'm not proposing this as a new idea. I ought to know more theory, and that grows exponentially. If there is such a thing as beauty, we need to be able to talk some specific ones into using what you're making. Even a lot of startup ideas. When you can't deliver ornament, you have to be a critical reader, it turns out to explain nearly all the characteristics of VCs that founders hate.

Aiming at timelessness is also a way to make drawing bear a greater weight of exploration.5 So just as investors in 1999 were tripping over one another trying to buy into lousy startups, investors in 2009 will presumably be reluctant to invest even in good ones. When progress concentrates something we don't want to be spending all your time talking to investors while your competitors are spending theirs building things. For years I've been telling founders that the surest route to success is to be strong: to keep one's sense of humor is to be wounded by them. If you're starting a restaurant, maybe, but not because anyone took anything from him. A Basic interpreter for the Altair? It would be ironic if, as hackers fear, recent measures intended to protect national security and intellectual property turned out to be mistaken.6 TV as a monitor?

Work for a VC fund? That's just a theory. Unfortunately, the question is hard to answer. In math, difficult proofs require ingenious solutions, and those tend to be one in which the most efficient solutions win, rather than problems that are too nasty for anyone to solve for free. In return for the unique privilege of sharing his office with no other humans, he had to share it with 6 shrieking tower servers. To generate such questions you need two things: to be familiar with promising new technologies, and the paper becomes a proxy for the achievement represented by the software. My latest trick is taking long hikes. I know the afternoon is going to visit Greylock, the famous Boston VCs. Along with composers, architects, and writers, what hackers and painters are among the most alike. The failed startups you hear most about are the spectactular flameouts.7

Notes

But what they're doing. But it's a bad idea, at least accepted additions to the writing of Paradise Lost that none of your identity manifests itself not directly, which in startups.

Fortunately policies are software; Apple can change them instantly if they don't have to include things in shows is basically the market price for you; you're too busy to feel uncomfortable. A Bayesian Approach to Filtering Junk E-Mail.

It derives from efforts by businesses to circumvent NWLB wage controls in order to win. They hate their bread and butter cases. Historically, scarce-resource arguments have been Andrew Wiles, but that's overkill; the critical question is not a product of some power shift due to the environment. But although I started doing research for this situation: that the founders.

I'm also an investor would sell it to profitability before your initial funding and then just enjoy yourself for the others. That's why the series AA terms and write them a microcomputer, and b not allow them to justify choices inaction in particular made for other people who are all that value, counting users as active when they're checking their messages during startups' presentations?

In a period when people in 100 years will be the fact that the investments that failed, and in the bouillon cube s, cover, and for filters it's textual. For more on not screwing up. In No Logo, Naomi Klein says that I knew, there are no longer needed, big companies, like play in a time machine, how much they liked the iPhone SDK. He couldn't even afford a monitor is that the government, it would grow as big as a process.

6 in Chicago, 8 in London, 13 in New York, people who chose the wrong target. Adam Smith Wealth of Nations, v: i mentions several that tried to lowball them. We wasted little time on, cook up a solution, and owns significant equity in it, and suddenly they need them to act through subordinates. The size of the iPhone too, e.

If we had, we'd ask, what you really want, like angel investors in startups.

[perfectackeracy]

Hey, what do you think about the theories/speculations/analysis which are made/shared by AndrewAllStars on Youtube? I feel like this man is on the warriors side and is making some valuable points for his viewers (in comparison with other snk youtubers with a high sense of justice and a -v-e-r-y- reasonable points /pure redditors, I guess/).

I haven’t heard of this guy until you mentioned it.

I’m gonna give my opinion after viewing his chapter 100 predictions and his warrior batch death predictions. That’ll allow me to say something on the matter as well.

The Festival / Chapter 100 Theory (Attack on Titan / Shingeki No Kyojin)

About the “dramatic changes” in Paradis’ cast, I disagree: I know it’s the main motor to argue the soldier trapping Pieck and Porco could be Connie, but even after 3 or 4 years, Reiner and the others are still recognizable: Reiner and Zeke changed haircuts, Eren began letting his hair grow after the revelations, Hange wore an eyepatch... 

Sasha and Connie at 16 years old - Ch. 90

That leaves them 3 years to grow up. Doesn’t leave much room to change facial structures unless Eren can manipulate facial shapes now.

I also want (and think) the actor to be completely irrelevant to the case. Why? because they’re all actors. What good would it do for any of the SC members to infiltrate as an actor, knowing fully-well these people have performed for a while, and getting inside the police would be much more efficient. Also, the popular theory about Jean being the actor comes... from a spin-off. The same spin-off who would ship Eren or Annie with anything that moves and distort the characters. 

The soldier’s timing is a little too convenient for Eren for him to be attached to Marley: Pieck knows he’s suspicious, Zeke too, and Magath ordered the report of any suspicious activity (the soldier’s) to General Calvi. It’s more likely to be an enemy rather than some surprise soldier who protects Pieck and Porco. Eren being the wounded soldier made sense: same greasy hair, same nose, and he’s stubborn enough to do something like that.

Andrew thinks Eren’s bluffing instead of being deadly serious, using the argument Eren grew up. Honestly, Eren wouldn’t care at this point: if his intentions were anything but belligerent, he wouldn't need to keep Reiner at bay. If he sought for cooperation, why not inviting him before the festival in a dark place?

Agreed on Annie and Bertolt getting closure: Papa Leonhart being completely delusional about her return could point out she is staying in the crystal till her power is transmitted through paths, or eventually be broken for another user to eat her.

He made a good parallel between Eren and Willy: one’s intentions being detailed, while the other’s aren’t (even though if you read the manga thoroughly, they aren’t that hard to guess). Willy told the truth and nothing but the truth in his “extra note”, while Falco took a while before figuring out “Mr. Kruger”’s intentions aren’t that good. 

He took note of Reiner and Zeke being concerned for their kind and Humanity. I appreciate that. He did a good job sorting the fandom’s popular theories into five categories. 

The Wallidan Theory is too absurd for me to buy it: it requires the SC agreeing with a full-war scale vision, and considering the EMA separation coming in play, this isn’t a likely scenario. Besides, you need some special knowledge about Marley to occupy a position without being suspicious. Eren could pass as a nobody with amnesia, because it mirrors his father and because he can regenerate his eye and leg easily. Having too many people showing up with no personal record looks a tad suspicious. Relying on the very same people (Zeke and Annie) who killed SC personnel in the past feels like an insult to the many fallen soldiers.

The brother theory belongs in the same absurd branch, for the same reason. If Zeke and Eren were in cahoots, he wouldn’t rat him to Magath, and Willy would simply make a word about how dangerous Paradis really is. Instead, the two of them got the coded message “watch over my little brother and make sure he gets caught”. Plus it just wouldn’t fit with the theme of Eren’s enemies being people he’d never aspire to become (Reiner, Zeke, etc...).

The Marley-Yeager plan sounds weird in the sense it’s easily contradicted with the current facts. Besides, while Eren became sneakier over the years, he’s not exactly very subtle in his intentions. Someone like Zeke could easily figure what he intends to and his letters most certainly reek of a Grisha smell. And good thing pointing out many fans still wish a “Good vs. Bad” into the manga.

The nuclear theory... lol. People are putting way too much faith in Armin (I hope it’s only that Discord server). His titan form is quite weak compared to the regular Wall Titans. And the only shifter who was able to trigger nuclear explosions through transformation was Bertolt, thanks to his marksmanship abilities. 

Moving on to the second video...

Will the Warrior Cadets Survive? (Attack on Titan / Shingeki No Kyojin)

The characterization on Gabi is spot-on. However, I disagree about her being a straight parallel to Eren. Isayama sought inspiration from Ellen for her design, but personality-wise, she’s more akin to a younger Reiner with talents. The two had the same goal and same pride they derived from their parents. Their backgrounds are also similar: being raised in the idea that Paradis is an island full of devils who must be stopped. As Andrew said, Willy’s speech might make her confront her views if she survives. If she was similar to Eren, she’d still stagnate in her development.

Nothing to say about Falco, there. Zofia however only shares the taciturn attitude and the blonde hair with Annie. Personality-wise, Zofia is closer to a lightheaded Pieck. 

If Eren titansplodes, that means Falco might leave his life. In that case, the remaining warriors have no choice but to flee the scene in the panic: they’re without weapons. 

I really don’t think Eren will feel any compassion whatsoever for someone who’s dearly attached to the person who destroyed his hometown nine years ago. After all, he didn’t bat an eye when he ripped another person dearly attached to the one he hates. 

The Armored Titan falling into the hands of Falco under pure convenience (Gabi dead) would wreck his purpose down, as it is with any of the characters who made it to a certain point in the story. He’d get the Armor, but at what price?

Verdict: this guy’s kinda refreshing. While he exposes typical Reddit-tier theories, he doesn’t seem to buy into them? Nice rec, anon.

[jonathanalumbaugh]

Weekly Digest

January 7th, 2018, 6th issue.

A roundup of stuff I consumed this week. Published weekly. All reading is excerpted from the main article unless otherwise noted.

Read

Teen birth rates hit a new low in 2016, Boston has joined other cities in banning single-use plastic bags, Tesla restored electricity to a children's hospital in Puerto Rico after it was hit by hurricanes in September, the FDA cleared an earpiece that may help block symptoms of opioid withdrawal, 13 states saw record-lows of unemployment this year, Support for allowing same-sex marriage is at its highest point in 20 years, Vice President Mike Pence said in October that the U.S. "will return...to the moon not only to leave behind footprints and flags but to build the foundation we need to send Americans to Mars and beyond," a man in North Carolina has started the non-profit ChemoCars, a service that provides cancer patients with free rides to and from their chemo treatments, Uber partnered with the charity Whizz-Kidz to give those who use wheelchairs in the UK free rides to polling places this summer.

— 9 things America is getting right

This is not some “lite” version of Civ stripped down for touchscreen, mobile implementation. It’s the whole game.

— Civilization 6 on iPad is a marvel

First comment in thread: I keep seeing this referred to over and over, even TV Guide is calling the bad Cooper by the name BOB! In my opinion, this is something that people have been confusing for 25 years.

— Clarification: Cooper is not possessed by BOB

I got married two weeks ago. And like most people, I asked some of the older and wiser folks around me for a couple quick words of advice from their own marriage... Almost 1,500 people replied, many of whom sent in responses measured in pages, not paragraphs. It took almost two weeks to comb through them all, but I did. And what I found stunned me…

They were incredibly repetitive.

— Every successful relationship is successful for the same exact reasons

Explaining #Meltdown to non-technical spouse. “You know how we finish each other’s...” “Sandwiches?” “No, sentences. But you guessed ‘sandwiches’ and it was in your mind for an instant. And it was a password. And someone stole it while it was there, fleeting.” “Oh, that IS bad.”

— Scott Hanselman (@shanselman)

January 5, 2018

— Explaining Meltdown with parallel worlds, libraries, and a bank heist

TED Video: How to make stress your friend

— How to make stress your friend

A user visits a website, registers an account, and saves the data in the password manager. The tracking script runs on third-party sites. When a user visits the site, login forms are injected in the site invisibly. The browser’s password manager will fill out the data if a matching site is found in the password manager. The script detects the username, hashes it, and sends it to third-party servers to track the user.

— How web trackers exploit password managers

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was negligent in connection with one of the biggest bank failures of the financial crisis, a federal judge has ruled, opening up the Big Four accounting firm to the potential of hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.

— Judge Says PricewaterhouseCoopers Was Negligent In Colonial Bank Failure

Whether we see an LTE version of the Nokia 3310 in the US is still a major question, as is the release date of this phone — not the mention the battery life, which took a major hit when it added 3G support.

— An LTE version of Nokia’s 3310 may be coming

The Big Five... has produced results that can be shown to remain largely consistent across a person’s lifespan and that can be used to predict at least some part of a person’s likely academic achievement, dating choices and even future parenting behavior. It has also been validated cross-culturally to some extent, Soto told me.

— Most Personality Quizzes Are Junk Science. I Found One That Isn’t.

"Neither [Iraq] nor while I was in the military did I actually hear anyone ask whether we should be doing some of the research we were doing. You know, some of it was a little scary -- I don't know that it was necessarily unethical -- but nobody ever asked the question." -General Robert H. Latiff

— Nobody's Ready for the Killer Robot

If you are a low-wage worker who cuts your expenses to the bone in order to sock away $500 a year, on which you earn 8%, you will still not go more than a year in retirement without starving to death.

— Oh Damn, 401(k)s Aren't Magic

Ever stood at an intersection and prodded at, leaned on, elbowed and otherwise palm-slapped the ever-living hell out of a crosswalk button and wondered to yourself if the thing actually does anything at all, really? Well – chances are, it doesn't.

— Placebo buttons do absolutely nothing, and they are everywhere

Meanwhile, Pete is convinced the Log Lady stole his truck. But wait! It wasn’t the Log Lady. It was Windom Earle, says Cooper. How does he know? Well, look at the map up there. Duh. Try and keep up, people.

— Revisiting ‘Twin Peaks’ Season 2 Finale: An Appointment at the End of the World

In an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis in New York, Cohen said that it was clear that President Trump — like former President Obama — did not want to approve a plan to provide the new arms to Ukraine, but decided to do so in an attempt to shirk allegations that he has acted as a "Putin puppet."

— Russia expert: US decision to supply arms to Ukraine a 'mistake'

Scopophilia or scoptophilia (from Greek σκοπέω skopeō, "look to, examine" and φιλία philia, "tendency toward"), is deriving pleasure from looking.

— Scopophilia

The fatal swatting case started Thursday when a man called the 911 center in Wichita, Kansas, and said he'd shot his father and was holding his mother, sister and brother hostage inside a house, authorities said.

— Swatting case poses legal challenges for police, prosecutors

The IRS lets you claim investment-related losses on your tax return as long as you sell the money-losing investment at some point during the year. You can then use the resulting capital losses to offset any capital gains on other investments that you might have.

— Tax Loss Harvesting: Don't Wait Until Year-End to Save Thousands

Tesla was on the cover of Time magazine in 1931 but died a poor man in 1943 after years devoted to projects that did not receive adequate financing. Yet his most significant inventions resonate today.

— Tesla the Car Is a Household Name. Long Ago, So Was Nikola Tesla.

More than a century ago, in New York City, Paul Strand began creating some of the earliest candid street photography. His goal was to capture people as they act in public, unaware of the observing eye.

— Theater of the Streets, Shot On Google Glass

In 2016, psychologist Danielle Gunraj tested how people perceived one-sentence text messages that used a period at the end of the sentence. Participants thought these text messages were more insincere than those that didn’t have a period. But when the researchers then tested the same messages in handwritten notes, they found that the use of a period didn’t influence how the messages were perceived.

— There’s a reason using a period in a text message makes you sound angry

My beach wedding in Diani, Kenya, was supposed to begin at 4 p.m. It started two hours later. The reason: The photographer was late. He shrugged it off, blaming traffic. "I am here now and that is what matters," he said. Grrr, "Kenyan time."

That is what they call it in my homeland.

— Under 'Kenyan Time,' You're Expected To Arrive ... Oh, Whenever

The year 2017 was really successful for Vue.js. Even though the goals are partly fulfilled, I think that most of the goals are somehow achieved or getting more traction. Vue.js is spreading and a lot more companies are using it now, including: Behance, Adobe, Chess.com, GitLab, HERE Technologies, Car2Go, IBM, and many chinese companies like alibaba, ele.me

— Vue.js review of 2017

In 2007, Warren Buffett entered a million-dollar bet with the fund manager Protégé Partners that the S&P 500 would beat a basket of hedge funds over the next decade.

— Warren Buffett has won his $1 million bet against the hedge fund industry

Earlier today, Twitter published a five paragraph answer to the loudly, repeatedly-shouted question: “Why won’t you ban Donald Trump, a man who has actively used your platform to threaten nuclear annihilation against an entire country?”

— What Twitter's New Statement About Not Banning Trump Really Means

In South Carolina, for example, people hoping to buy a Siberian tiger to celebrate the new year are likely to be disappointed: As of Jan. 1, it is illegal in the state for typical residents — that is, if you're not a zoo — to buy or own exotic animals for pets.

— What's New In 2018? Here's A Brief Tour Of State Laws Now In Effect

Why people believe what they believe is a wide topic that many psychology professors investigate. And while Peterson’s lectures certainly do tend to focus on the idea of “pushing back,” the contents of them raise questions about whether the bad ideologies are the ones he’s rejecting or the ones he espouses.

— Why Is Monsanto Inviting This Alt-Right Hero to a Fireside Chat on Farming?

The danger is that such detailed, sensationalized coverage of suicide can prompt copycat behavior — a phenomenon called suicide contagion. “Suicide contagion is real, which is why I’m concerned about it.”

— YouTuber Logan Paul's video of a dead body put his own audience at risk

Then there’s the matter of how Uber treats its drivers. You know it’s not great, but it’s not as though competing services are much better. Before Uber, taxi companies were notoriously terrible employers. Lyft, like Uber, hires its drivers as independent contractors—they don’t get benefits or minimum-wage protection—and has cut their pay to make fares cheaper for riders.

— Are you a bad person if you still take Uber?

Forecasters are warning people to be wary of hypothermia and frostbite from the arctic blast that’s gripping a large swath from the Midwest to the Northeast.

— http://metro.co.uk/2017/12/30/niagara-falls-freezes-sharks-freezing-death-atlantic-7192401/?ito=cbshare

[badlydrawndrawnings]

semi-formal critique  of p2/p5 similarities

When the first Persona 5 PV came out, almost everyone agreed that Persona 5 was going to be the Persona 2 duology of the modern games based off what we saw (or at least, that’s what it felt like). This belief only grew more when more (playable) characters were introduced and known characters info was release, and even later PVs showed everyone something big was going to happen in the story. In fact, some thought that Persona 5 is exactly like Persona 2 (mostly Innocent Sin) due to their apparent similarities in darkness and maturity. Now that the game is out, do these claims hold true?

I’m not sure about you, but I personally think it’s not. I’m not saying Persona 5 isn’t dark and mature (because it is), but it’s not handle like it was in Persona 2.  The problem I have is that it seems people are trying to claim that the two games were handle the same way (mostly with Innocent Sin) via characters and certain plot points, which I honestly think it ranges from ‘I can see it’ to ‘yeah, no’, because both games handle these similarities differently to suit their perspective game.

The Ann(e) & Lisa comparisons is one I can get behind due to the fact are foreigner (1/4 mix for Ann[e]) and treated differently by their peers and have few friends. In fact, TV Tropes even has this in her character folder: Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Of Lisa Silverman, who expresses distaste in her own game about being considered "exotic" because of her ethnicity, as well as both being of the Lovers Arcana. However, both games portrays and handle it differently. For Lisa, being the only white girl caused her to be bullied as a child until she found friends in Tatsuya, Eikichi, Jun, and Maya (before things went up to literal flames and smoke). As a teenager, Lisa actually call out the new friends she made for using her background for their idol group Muses, because they want her to sing an English solo. Lisa was all “Oh, when I was young no one wanted to hang out with me because of my looks, but now due to my looks you want me because you think I speak English? Well guess what? I don’t speak English!” (not the exact words she used, but that’s the jist of it). For Ann(e), her mix background pretty much made her a pariah once she entered high school, since students think she’s loose and easy. It’s not helped by the fact rumors has students believe she’s in a relationship of sort with Kamoshida, which what he’s doing is pretty much sexual harassment. However, once he gets push into jail (basically, end of Castle Palace), Ann(e)’s background and problem get pushed aside and becomes a footnote for the main game. Regarding her Co-Op/Confidant, I honestly don’t think (or maybe I don’t remember it well) it was barely there either despite the fact it’s all about Ann(e)’s job as a model (along with her relationship with Shiho). While both Lisa and Ann(e) have problems with their background, Lisa’s was more about being bullied + stereotypes (kind of) , while Ann(e)’s was more on being negatively stereotype. 

The Ryuji & Eikichi comparisons, while not as common as they used to be, I can kind of see due to certain traits they share. Both are delinquents/troublemakers with good hearts, granted Eikichi really deserve the title of delinquent/troublemaker since he did does go to a school that dealt mostly with ‘troublemakers’. Ryuji honestly doesn’t deserve his label of being a delinquent, but Kamoshida certainly influence it.But if I have to bring up another character to compare Ryuji too, it would have to be Anna Yoshizaka.  Anna was a star sport player (UPDATE: Anna was apparently in track, just like Ryuji) at Seven Sisters until she got into an accident that made her unable continue, and as a result, she became a delinquent. My memory about IS is fuzzy, but I believe she used Joker’s wishing service to heal her injury, and it lead to her joining the Masked Circle as Lady Scorpio (UPDATE: According to two official yet untranslated novels, Anna just joined the Masked Circle without wishing for her leg to get better) EP!Anna still went through the same events, but she became a normal student with friends (no joining villainy here). Minus the obvious, Ryuji shares a whole lot with her regarding their school background, and it’s a shame not a lot of people aren’t bringing it up more. I guess Eikichi is the popular one for the picking because he, like Ryuji, is the ‘everyday average (best) friend character that’s comic relief’ like Junpei and Yosuke, making him an easy target for these comparisons. That, and I think Anna is kind of forgotten in the fandom (HA) and such, few comparisons had been made regarding her.

Like, Ann(e) & Lisa,  Yusuke & Jun has this trope in his character folder: Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Bears more than a passing resemblance to Jun from Persona 2, with a similar hairstyle, school uniform, and tragic family backstory”, and a majority of fans believed this to be so pre-game release and post-release (not as much as pre-game, but it’s still high). I personally believe that out of all the character comparisons I have seen, these comparisons makes no sense and superficial. I will try to explain why. Jun is the ‘sweet’ (term is subjective because he does have a petty side) flower loving boy who is the potential boyfriend to Tatsuya. Jun is also one of the main villain/antagonist  of Innocent Sin and had a burning desire for revenge on Tatsuya and company for 2/3 of the game because Jun thought (wrong) that Tatsuya and friends killed Maya (by letting her die in a shrine fire). Jun’s parents not only fought, he was embarrass by his father (who later died, and this is important), and his mother didn’t want much to Jun because she misses her life as a celebrity/actress (this is also important) and became neglected to him. Because of his mess up family situation, Jun was manipulated by a god, er, supernatural being who pretended to be his dead father, and his mother used Joker’s wishing service to make her young forever (I think?) and joined the Masked Circle as Queen Aquarius, and never realizes her son was Joker until late in game and takes a hit for him, and she die realizing she was a terrible mother. EP!Jun is much more happy since his parents are loving and caring and alive (no villainy here for mother and son). Yusuke, while antagonistic to the PT in civilian form, joined them to take down his Madarame after seeing how the truth from his Shadow and could no longer deny his abuse. The reason why Yusuke put up for it for as long as he did was became Madrame was the only parent he knew, so Yusuke didn’t take it well when he learns that Madarame indirectly let his mother died. After that, Yusuke spends most of his main game as the quirky art friend, while his Co-Op/Confidant has him being the starving artist trying to survive the [art] world (and dealing with the aftermath of Madarame). Despite fandom’s claim he is a soft boy, the guy can be a total dick (again, I bring up the fact he was antagonistic to the PT in civilian form, being rude as hell to Joker/Akira and Ryuji mostly). Yusuke and Jun don’t share the same role in their perspective games and their so call ‘similar tragic family situations’ isn’t similar at all. The only thing they have similar is their physical appearance, and I can’t figure out why fans claim with the others thing I brought up.

(The character that does share similarities to Jun is Goro, but because there are countless of post analysis/arguments on this already [I did so too, but I was stating how Goro has many similarities to other Persona and one SMT characters], I’ll just end the topic with this: there’s a reason Atlus why didn’t give the Kasugayama Uniform to Yusuke and gave it to Goro instead.)

I would say I have seen Futaba & Bafou comparisons...but that would a damn lie. Okay, so I have seen people talking about the traits they share like their computer hacking skills (not to mention Ultimate Personas with Prometheus) but I have never seen people actually compare compare the two characters in detail like the others characters I mention. On the other hand, I have seen people theorizing Bafou is either Futaba’s biological father (it’s second popular after the ‘Shido is Futaba’s biological father’ theory) or is actually Sojiro , which makes me wonder if that has to do with anything. So...NEXT!

The Sae & Katsuya comparisons is quite fun to discuss since I believe they make better foils to each other. Both are adults that have jobs with the law (public prosecutor for Sae, detective for Katsuya) with strain relationship with their younger siblings due to family issues (mainly, their dad). The way they are foils is due to their relationship with their younger siblings. In IS, Tatsuya sees Katsuya as an annoyance, granted there are a few moments he seems to know his brother does means well. In EP, Katsuya’s annoyance is pretty much explained by the fact Tatsuya is in some ways, a little shit, and Katsuya wants to fix their relationship because of the trouble their dad got when he lost his job via frame up (there is resentment because Katsuya had to give up his dream of being a patissier, but in the end, they still love each other). Makoto wants to make Sae proud, but the way their father died is affecting it (Sae kind of...doesn’t hold him in the same pedestal as Makoto does, which causes some strain on their relationship). To make the foils part  clearer, Katsuya is a Persona User and hero/protagonist from beginning to end, and Sae is a non-Persona User and Palace Host Target who becomes their ally near the end.

Leaving character comparisons and onto plot points, Persona 5 has some similarities with them, and it the way they handle it also affects how dark and mature the game is. The main plot point people bring up is that Persona 2 and Persona 5′s main villain made a bet on humanity. I can’t spell their names to save my life, so I’m calling them Nyary and Yababadoo. One minor plot point is that in some way or form, both were able to manipulate a group of people to do his bidding (one person in Yababadoo’s case but it turn into a group so...), but said group usually fall apart and the villain then takes control. The one thing that separates the two gods is that, Nyary, unlike Yababadoo, won his bet in Innocent Sin. Nyary tricks the heroes into getting one of their party member to die, and they pretty much ended the world. The only reason Nyary ‘lost’ is because Philemon did some time travel BS/made an alternate universe to reset everything at the cost of the Innocent Sin cast never becoming friends. What Philemon did drove the point that the player lost. They weren’t successful, and to ‘win’, they had to lose everything. There was nothing they could do about it, and because of Tatsuya’s refusal to forget, the exact same shit in Innocent Sin almost happen in Eternal Punishment. In Persona 5, the PT were always successful with their heists, and they won against Yababadoo’s game. They never screwed up, and the one time they did ‘screw’ up by ‘killing’ someone was a frame job. This wouldn’t be a problem if they weren’t supposed to anti-heroes thieves, and frankly, most anti-heroes I know screw up at one point leading to them to fix it. I’m not saying I don’t want Persona 5 to end with Yababadoo winning and Igor going ‘welp time to pull a Philemon’, but if Persona 5 wanted pull the dark and mature P2 level or show they are the anti-heroes thieves taking risks with that they are doing, they could have let the PT screw up by actually accidentally kill Okumura and feeling guilty for it. The game could show the player they’re not holding back punches allowing them to think “Shit, here I thought I was successful and invincible.” 

This part sounds like it’s going off topic, but I swear it’s not. As much as the fans love Persona 2, it feels like they forget Persona 2 was two games that made up the full story. Persona 5, while telling a story, has some parts that feel empty. It’s not empty enough to make another game, but enough to make a DLC to explain something within the game itself (unless Altus plans on doing it in the inevitable remake). In fact, the data mine from 4chan last September and some Youtube videos show four things: Goro has casual voice clips (English and Japanese) that backs up Atlus claim from the new book they wanted him to be a regular Co-Op/Confidant early in development, Goro has Loki voice clips (English and Japanese) that aren’t him going berserk which makes things weirder since mods and hacks can make Goro playable with Loki past the Casino Palace, the fact Goro has a mouse form and mouse voice clips (English and Japanese), and that there’s a file (datamined from a copy of the Japanese game) that show Atlus planned a ‘true end’ (I made a post about it here, and it also has some of the Loki clips but I think they’re dead links, so you got stuck with them and a small-ass image from 4chan talking about the files). If you’re still not convinced, the official art book that Japan released last year shows cut-in not used in the game (I think you can find them in the game files itself?) for several characters (Goro is one such character). One surprising character that has them is Lavenza,  the true form of Caroline and Justine who get little screen time. Going by the fact the game does a minor time skip before properly ending, it’s easy to theorize *tinhat on* Atlus planned something with the true end with both characters within that time frame, but when Goro was made an automatic Co-Op/Confidant during development, they cut out the month and made ‘true end’ in December, and left Lavenza as minor NPC *tinhat off*.

Eternal Punishment may have crushed fans’ hopes and dreams of the Innocent Sin cast remembering and reuniting (excluding the bad choices you did that made them remember), but the game gave its purpose of finishing the story of Innocent Sin. The story didn’t felt empty regarding story. It felt complete. Sure, the story has a bittersweet ending since no one will remember sans Maya and her crew (they know shit happened on the other side after all), but the world is still there, and it’s message to the player is that sometimes, you need to move on to change for the better (at least that’s what I got.) Another thing to note is while Tatsuya tries to stop the end of the world from happening (again), he was only successful because he teamed up with Maya, Katsuya, Ulala, and Baofu to defeat Nyary. It was the adults that save the world. It was Maya, and adult, and her team, who were also adults, running around most of the game figuring out what the hell was going on and doing part of the work to save the world. The adults, in some way, had to clean up the mistakes the mostly teenage Innocent Sin cast did. What Eternal Punishment did made the story come in a full circle of sorts. Persona 2 starts with inexperience teenagers trying to save the world, and it ends with experience adults saving the world. I know the point of having a  teenage cast in Persona 5 is to set the theme of having the younger generation changing and fighting back against the old fashion and (partly) corrupt society for the better, but I bet there are adults (twenties and thirties) that want to do the same thing too. I’m not saying all of PT should have been adults in their twenties to their thirties, but it would be interesting if one of your party members was an adult that not only want to change society for the better, but (going off the idea if the PT actually screwed up on the job)  had to fix the mistakes the PT did for them to learn and grow.

I guess what I’m trying to say P5, while a good game and dark and mature in its own right, is not and can not be compared to P2 dark and mature levels. Think of this like this: P2 was the cake that won first prize at the baking competition and people loves it, talking about it for years after it was eaten. A new baker did the same thing for P5. While still winning first prize, it doesn’t reach the level of the cake everyone remembers yet people compare it for reasons that makes no sense because they are unique cakes.

[inkognito97]

Xanatos III

First Part

Second Part

“I can’t believe that we are finally returning back to the temple, it has been years,” the tall blonde Padawan spoke out, while checking the system. They would soon exit hyperspace.

The ginger haired man, whose hair had long since grown out of the Padawan hairstyle and who was now sporting a beard, chuckled. “Indeed.”

“Do you think they will remember me?” he was mostly referring to his uncles – even though they had regularly had contact via holo transmission – but to a couple of other Jedi as well. During their ten years of partnership they had travelled across the whole galaxy and they had often met other Jedi, sometimes even other Master-Padawan-Teams. Anakin had been able to make quick friends with his fellow age mates and something that sounded suspiciously like the Force, told Obi-Wan that it wouldn’t have been the case, had Anakin remained in the protecting halls of the temple.

“I am sure they will,” the ginger haired Master – after a specially gruesome and hard mission, he had been granted the title of a Master, by Yoda and Mace personally – reassured his charge.

The blonde hummed. “You have to remind me, to write Mom,” Anakin said.

“Of course.”

Needless to say, Obi-Wan and Anakin had travelled to Tatooine one more time. The older of the Jedi had gambled – with Anakin’s help – until they had enough money to buy the boy’s mother from Watto, who had been hesitant at first, but eventually craved in, at the large amount of money he had been offered. Now Shmi Skywalker was living in the palace of Naboo, as a maid for everything. She was paid, had a proper roof above her head and had even married. Anakin had been unsure about the last part, but quickly warmed up to his stepfather. He was just glad that his mother was finally free and most importantly, happy.

“Do you know what I will do first, when we are back in the temple?” Anakin asked, his voice was eager and at this moment, he sounded more like a nine-year-old than the man of almost twenty years that he was.

“What will you do, my ever energetic Padawan?” he teased. He himself was bone-tired, but apparently Anakin was not… or the adrenaline was, what kept him working.

“I will take a long and hot shower, Master.” A blissful sigh escaped the younger male and he leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

“That sounds lovely, young one,” Obi-Wan offered. He too craved a real shower, but he would gladly allow Anakin the precedence, as long as there would still be some warm water for him as well. The only thing worse than not showering, was showering with ice-cold water and Obi-Wan knew what he was talking about.

With that, their brief conversation was more or less ended and the ginger haired Jedi allowed himself to fall into a light trance. It was just enough to let him rest and to collect some of his own thoughts, the Force knew that he desperately needed it.

Obi-Wan was not sure who was more glad to be back, himself or Anakin. It was true that the young one did not really know anything about the standard temple life, but that was no real problem. Obi-Wan had decided to raise and train him without the Council, without people watching and bothering him, just because he was supposed to be the Chosen One. Also, this trip that has lasted ten years, had brought them very close together. Only a team that trusted each other to one-hundred percent, could survive in the wilderness on their  own and it was clear that they had proven to be able to do so. Otherwise, they would not be walking down the slowly lowering ramp.

 A smile appeared on the bearded male’s features. He had immediately sported his brother’s all too familiar Force presences in the small crowd that had gathered. It was nice to see so many people eagerly awaiting their return, especially after all these years. Granted, there were also those, who just wanted to take a look at the infamous Sith-Killer and his Chosen One Padawan, but most of the assembled, were friends or family.

Both Feemor and Xanatos wasted not another second. Somehow they managed to make their way through the crowd and then they found themselves in front of Anakin and their youngest brother. Immediately, Obi-Wan was engulfed in a bone-crushing hug that he eagerly returned.

“Welcome home,” Feemor mumbled, while the raven haired Knight had already moved on to the Padawan, who was now towering over him.

“Oh my… Ani, you have certainly grown.”

“Hello, uncle Xani,” grinned the blonde and he too wrapped his arms around the raven haired male.

“It is good to be home,” Obi-Wan replied to his oldest brother, who nodded in agreement. A silent promise for stories was exchanged, before he turned his attention to Anakin as well.

The ginger haired Master let his awareness drift through the hangar bay. He was slowly cataloging everyone, who was there. Of course he immediately recognized the approaching forms of Master Yoda and Windu, who were accompanied by Kit Fisto and Plo Koon. There were a lot of other familiar presences, but one was missing.

A heavy arm draped over the Master’s shoulder. “He is not in the temple, the Council sent him on a mission,” answered Xanatos the unspoken question. He was still as good as ever in reading Obi-Wan’s moods and thoughts.  

“I see,” he said, his tone giving nothing away. In truth, he did not even know how he was supposed to feel actually. The man he had considered his Master and father for years, had not ones tried to contact him and every time Obi-Wan had called, he had received no answer. It was as if Qui-Gon did not want to have anything to do with him anymore, but that thought was absurd, if he could believe Feemor and Xanatos that is. The two older Jedi had not forgiven their former Master and it was clear that a certain part of them never would, but at least they had still contact with him and even asked him for help and his opinion. Obi-Wan never had that luxury.

“Lighten up, you will meet him soon enough, I am sure of it,” Xanatos continued.

“I am sure,” he said and gifted his companion a small smile.

“By the way, I like your beard, it suits you. I would advise you to keep it that way, a full beard would make you look old, but the – what is it called? – Door-Knocker-Style certainly suits you.”

“Thank you, it was Anakin’s idea.” He replied, feeling the blonde’s pride at having been praised.

“Of course it was,” Feemor teased. Obi-Wan just shook his head in amusement and freed himself from the older Jedi’s grip, intending to greet the two approaching Jedi Masters.

“Master Yoda, Master Windu,” he said in greeting.

“Obi-Wan,” Mace Windu inclined his head in respect.

“Good to have you back, it is. Missed you, we have,” Yoda’s aura was warm and the blind man could tell, even without seeing it, that the green troll’s eyes were shining.

“The Force told me it was time to return,” he answered cryptically.

“Well, we are lucky it did,” the Korun Master stepped forward and the two men clasped each other’s arms in a friendly greeting. During the last few years and especially after the fiasco with Qui-Gon in front of the whole Council, Mace and he had become rather good friends.

“Now, with all due respect Masters,” Xanatos interrupted, “but we saw him first and therefore I won’t allow you to take him away already, not before he and his Padawan have spared against Feemor and me that is.” He was grinning broadly, showing his pearly white teeth.

“Arranged, that can be,” Yoda hummed.

“Of course we will watch,” dark brown eyes looked challenging at the raven haired man.

“Ah, good. The more people seeing Obi-Wan being beaten by me, the better,” there was no real menace in his voice, just teasing.

The ginger haired Master in question huffed. His Padawan brothers did not know about his status as a Jedi Master yet and they did not know that he had studied Soresu and made it his main fighting style.

He would never have accomplished this feet without Master Dooku. The man had been strangely friendly and open after he had heard that Obi-Wan had saved Qui-Gon from certain death. Not that Obi-Wan would complain, he had grown rather font of the often eccentric Jedi that was his Grandmaster.

“Your pride will be your downfall,” he retorted.

Both Xanatos and Feemor groaned aloud. “Please, you sound like Master Jinn,” complained the blonde Knight. Again, Obi-Wan only shook his head. 

“That wasn’t fair,” complained Xanatos loudly, causing the whole crowd of spectators to laugh. He was sitting cross-legged on the training hall floor, with his arms crossed before his chest and the biggest pout in Jedi history plastered on his handsome face.

“I hate to say it,” Feemor’s voice was muffled, because he had yet to move from his position face down on the floor, “but it was.”

Anakin and Obi-Wan shared a look. They had bested the two Jedi Knights on the floor, who gave no indication to move any time soon. That was fine by Obi-Wan, perhaps he would have at least some time for a light meditation then. Then again, there was a whole crowd of Force users in the training halls, he probably would not have another calm minute and neither would Anakin, who seemed a little bit uncomfortable with the whole attention he was getting.

“Since when are you a Master of Soresu?” the raven haired male asked.

“Correction, Knight Du’Crion, THE Master of Soresu,” Mace Windu gave his opinion. He and Yoda had made their way down from the ranks.

“Master Dooku taught me the few times our paths collided. I don’t know, I guess it suits me better than Ataru ever did.”

Feemor huffed and finally pushed himself up so that he was lying on his back instead. “Could have fooled me, there were still enough Ataru parts in your fighting style.”

“And don’t let us begin on your Padawan,” Xanatos grumbled. He had always been a bad loser. Undoubtedly, he would work on his skill and come to challenge his youngest brother at some point in the future again.

“I hate to interrupt your chat,” Mace voice held a hint of amusement, while his face was set in s stern mask, “but I would like to talk to you Obi-Wan.”

Surprise could be seen for the briefest of second on the bearded male’s features. But it was gone as soon as it has appeared, leaving absolutely no trace behind. Out of instinct, the blind man straightened, his eyes directed at Mace’s face, at least more or less.

“Yes, Master?” he had a feeling that it was something important and formal. The Force gave him no warning though and he allowed himself to relax just a little.

Mace cleared his throat, he too had straightened his spine and with his best Councilor voice, he began to speak. “On behalf of the Jedi Order, we would like to offer you, Master Kenobi, a permanent seat on the Jedi Council.”

Everyone in the training hall – who had been able to hear what was being said – was stunned. It was so silent, you could have heard a pin falling.

“You… you want ME, as a Council member?” he could not quite believe what he was hearing. It was a great honor to be even considered, but an even greater honor to actually been offered a seat and a permanent one at that. Obi-Wan was not quite sure what to make of it, nor did he know what to reply.

“Obi-Wan, what are you waiting for, say ‘yes’ already,” Xanatos encouraged and even Feemor nodded his approval. It was nice to have support from two of the most important people in his life.

“You truly think I should become a Council member?” he asked.

“Of course, who would be better than you… except me of course,” everyone knew that the raven haired male was simply joking. It was well known that Xanatos loved his freedom and therefore he would never settle down to become a Council member.

“See it as a great opportunity for the Order. You are young and you have fresh ideas. Perhaps a few changes might be exactly, what the Order needs.” This time it had been Feemor, who had given his honest opinion about the matter.

Obi-Wan bowed his head. “I am truly honored by your request, but the decision does not only lay with me. I have a Padawan to think of and his future is more important to me than a seat on the Council.” There was a reason, why Council members rarely had Padawans of their own. Their duty to the Order was so time-consuming that they would not have enough time to properly take care of an Initiate, especially a young one.

“We understand the difficulty and of course we make sure that you will have enough time and freedom to continue the training of Anakin Skywalker,” the dark skinned Korun Master reassured.

“Master,” this time it was Anakin who spoke up. The blonde had remained utterly silent up until now, but he deemed it necessary to step in. “You should agree. It won’t be too long until I reach knighthood and since we are back at the temple, you can ‘dump’ me on Master Xanatos or Master Feemor.” His reasoning sounded logic and there was nothing Obi-Wan could say against it.

“And you will be alright with it?” he just wanted to be absolutely sure. He would love to be on the Council, it had been a secret wish for a long time now – ever since people an dJedi Masters had said that he would never even become a Jedi Knight due to his blindness – but Anakin was more important than his own personal desires.

“Of course,” he smiled brightly.

“If that is the case,” he waited for a couple of seconds, just in case someone wanted to change his mind, “I would gladly accept this offer.”

“Welcome on the Council, Master Kenobi. Expect great things from you, we will,” Yoda inclined his head when Obi-Wan bowed in respect.

“I will not disappoint you, Masters,” the bearded male vowed.

“Know that, we do,” with that the topic was closed.

Who would have thought that, after they had just returned from their year long absence, Obi-Wan would suddenly find himself on the Council? The Force truly moved in mysterious ways sometimes.

Of course Qui-Gon had heard the news of the return of his latest Padawan. It was basically everything everyone seemed to talk about these days. The long haired Jedi could hardly blame them, after all they were talking about the Sith-Killer and Master Negotiator, as well as his Padawan, the so called Chosen One. But all the pride he would have felt for Obi-Wan, evaporated in the face of the tremendous guilt he felt every time the blind Jedi’s name was mentioned. It was an all-consuming grief that squeezed his heart in a painful way and would not let go. It seemed as if he would forever carry this burden of shame with him. But he did not deserve anything else. After all, what kind of man was he, to throw aside his bright star without a second thought? Qui-Gon did not know what had driven him to his actions and he was not sure if he really wanted to know. Of course there would have been other methods to get the Council to allow Anakin to be trained, he could have sworn to be the good little Jedi they all wanted him to be for example. It would have been worth it, for Anakin’s sake. But things hardly went as planned, which is why Qui-Gon was watching from afar, how his precious boy became a member of the Council and how his Grandpadawan became one of the best swordsman the Jedi Order had ever seen.

 He stayed away from them, despite the almost overwhelming pain of having a loved-one so close, but also so far away. It was as if a piece of him died every time he spotted his child, without being able to face him and to properly apologize. He did not deserve forgiveness, which is why he was not going to ask for it. That and how could he face Obi-Wan? Surely the younger male would not want to talk to him ever again. The Force knows that he would react like this. Then again, he had always been a lesser man than Obi-Wan…

A shaky sigh escaped the brown haired man, whose hair was turning silver already. He shook his head, his midnight blue eyes landing on the ginger haired male with a longing look, and then he turned around and vanished. Little did he know that a pair of unseeing eyes was following him.

 “Coruscant to Obi-Wan, please respond. Coruscant to Obi-Wan, can you hear me? Over.”

Obi-Wan barely refrained himself from rolling his eyes at his brother’s attempt to be funny. “Xanatos,” he eventually acknowledged the Knight.

“It is painful to watch, the way your eyes glass over whenever you feel him in the same room and the way his eyes become teary, whenever he spots you,” Xanatos was completely serious for once. “You should talk to him, the way things are, you are both hurting each other without even wanting to, let alone realizing it.”

A sigh escaped the bearded male, “I know… but I don’t want to push him. I can feel his grief, his self-blame… he is not ready to confront me yet, no matter how much it hurts to see him in such pain and peril. I truly wish I could go to him, but I have a feeling that it would only make matters worse, at least at this point it would.”

The raven haired boy did not look convinced. “Do you mean it or are you just trying to find an excuse for avoiding him further?”

Furious blue-green eyes came to rest on his face and Xanatos actually flinched. He now understood why his little brother was such a great diplomat, with a look like that, even his worst enemies would cave in.

“I am not a coward,” his tone was as dangerous as his look.

“I know and I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just… you cannot avoid him forever and neither can he you for that matter. You are part of the Council now, it is only a matter of time until he will be summoned before them and what will you do then? An awkward stare-down perhaps?”

Obi-Wan grimaced. “I am very much aware of the problem at hand, thank you very much.” He was only partly in lecturing mode right now. “But despite our personal quarrel, we are both Jedi Masters and very much able to control our emotions and keep the interaction level inside the Council chambers at a professional manner.”

A groan escaped Xanatos, “I cannot believe that we made you agree. You are already sounding like one of them and here I thought you were stronger than this,” it earned him a cuff to the head that definitely would leave a slight swelling. “OW!” “You deserved that,” the blind man said matter of fact and with that, the topic was closed, at least for the moment. He even turned back to his meager meal.

Xanatos mentally sighed. He suddenly felt much older than he actually was and he also felt guilty for having treated Qui-Gon so badly those last few years. It was clear that the man was hating himself enough already, without Feemor and him adding to it. With new found determination, the raven haired Knight made a mental note to contact his older Padawan brother and then he and the blonde would go and confront his former Master. If they could not convince him to go to Obi-Wan, then they would at least let him know that he was still very much loved, not only by them, but by the youngest member of their small family as well, and he did not mean Anakin by it.

[denu-rising]

1!! 2, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 20, 22, 30, 31, 36, 39, 41, 42, 43, 47, 49 (im so sorry whenever i send these i always send a billion numbers)

Oh my gosh,so many questions! Don’t apologise, this is awesome! Thank you so much!! =D

1:Who is your clan leader(s)? What are they like?

Myclan leader is Nana. ^^ She’s an absolute sweetheart, soft spoken andshy, who just wants to see the whole world smile. She doesn’t run theClan by herself, but with her trusted council and closest friends,Hobo and Cookie. Hobo’s more of an honorary clan leader, sincepersonality and behaviour-wise he very much resembles an excitedpupper. He has a pure heart and would follow Nana through anything.Cookie’s a lot more help thanks to her empathic ability, which allowsher to pick up on any troubles that may arise in the Clan.

2:Who’s in charge of food? Do you have dragons in charge of thedifferent factions (hunting/fishing/insect catching/harvesting)?

Idefinitely plan to have dragons assigned to these roles, yes! So far,Scarlet is the only one who does any of these, and she always comeshome with her bags full of food and her clothes full of mud (much tothe annoyance of her stylist boyfriend). Guava and Lychee sometimesbring back food from their many adventures. Sunflower is my gardener,and the main dragon in charge of the gardens and crops. She’sassisted by her husband, Watermelon, who functions as a walkingencyclopedia for all things Plant, as well as a pack mule. =P

8:Does your clan have any occultists?

Wehave magic users galore, but when it comes to finding new forms andmethods of magic, right now there’s only Fantasia (plus whoever endsup being her permamate). She’s my dream sorceress, practicing the‘dream magic’ that she discovered and continues to experiment with.You can read a bit about it in her bio, but I should really write somemore about it! To put it vaguely, dream magic is about bringing outsubconscious or hidden knowledge and making it visible.

9:Storytellers or librarians?

Doscribes counts? Because I do have those! Planned, at least. At themoment, Galaxia is my only scribe. She records Dom efforts andcollects badges. I haven’t really kept this up to date, though, andhave been considering dropping this, but she’ll still be a badgecollector with awesome stories to tell about her badges. Just not allbadges. The two other scribes I want will record (previous) clanmembers and notable events that happened, like clan renovations orMarva visiting each year.  And I need a fiction writer too. Thescribes also function as librarians and storytellers. ^^

13:What about musicians?

Alsoonly one so far! I have this nameless lady who’s quite the excellenttrumpet player. Can’t believe I forgot to add musicians to my list ofneeded clan roles, so thank you for the reminder, hehe. =P

14:Dragons involved in other arts? (Theatre, fine art, ect.)

Fiesta!This bright baby is my dancer. He looooves dancing! He teaches aweekly dance class at the familiar spa, and loves performing for themany celebrations my clan throws. When there’s no party planned ordance routine to learn, Fiesta’s often out visiting other Clans tomeet other dancers and dance with them. And Cassius will get upset ifI don’t mention him here, but he’s my pretty stylist and he’s supervain.

16:Who’s in charge of maintaining law and order? Any dragons that takeup the mantle of policing?

Toa degree, everyone is. If they witness something illegal or immoral,they’ll be sure to inform Nana, Hobo and Cookie. Any actual issuesare handled by those three, though they’ll call a clan meeting if thesituation calls for it. Overall, though, this Utopian little bunchdoesn’t have much need for actual police dragons. (They do have asort of prison hidden away in the garden, just in case, though.)There are at all times a couple dragons ‘policing’ the borders of thefloating islands, but that’s just to make sure no one and nothingfalls off and visitors are properly welcomed.

20:Which dragon has the oddest job in your lair?

Ina sense, I’d say Hobo, but that’s because he’s such an oddballhimself that being on the council is a very odd position for him. Imean, he very rarely speaks in full (short) sentences, struggles toget out words at all, and the others can have a hard timeunderstanding him. Fantasia has the oddest job in the sense that herdream magic involves a lot of tinctures and potions made from specialmushrooms and hallucinations. She’s high as a kite most of the time,because that’s her job. She loves her job.

22:Who, in your lore, is the oldest dragon in your lair? What about theyoungest?

It’sa toss-up between Cookie and Luna. Cookie is the actual oldestdragon, both date-of-birth and lore-wise. I tend to mostly followactual dragon birthdays to determine who’s oldest. Luna, however, isa ghost, and who knows how long she’s been dead before Fantasia foundher. She might be older than Cookie, she might even be ancient. Lunadied at a young age, though, so I don’t know. Is she old? Is sheyoung? Youngest would have to be the last hatchie to pop out of anegg, but since I don’t keep those, I suppose this lady’s the youngestaddition to the Clan right now, and I still have no clue as to whather personality or clan role will be. ^^;

30:Do you have siblings that live together in your lair?

YES!I love siblings so much. I had more at one point, but right now, Istill have Guava and Lychee (the first sibling pair I got). They doEVERYTHING together. They even share their boyfriends, taking turnsnesting with them. It’s a bit weird, but whatever floats their boat.^^ Then there’s Skittle and Jellybean. I don’t have any lore for themyet, but I love them. Lamia and her unnamed brother. Might actuallynot keep the brother, but Lamia’s my Shadow ambassador. Sprinkle andSmiley, from my very first dream dragon breeding project. (I got twogirls, because more genes came out and now I’m stuck deciding, so whynot both? Still waiting for the second male, who’ll be the brother ofthe first, to complete the two pairs.)

31:Any physically disabled or mentally ill dragons?

… Doesbeing dead count? 'Cause Luna’s dead, and it’s definitely a physicalstruggle when you can only materialise with a special, hard to makeelixer from Fantasia. But then, there’s also plenty of advantages tobeing dead, like never stubbing your toe or having to sleep, so Iguess it evens out. Guava and Lychee most definitely have ADHD, andwho even knows what the heck is wrong with Hobo… Overall, mentalillness, if present, isn’t something that’ll be clearly stated, like'this dragon has autism’. I struggle enough with my own mentalillnesses that I don’t want to explicitly mention it, though I candraw characteristics and personality traits from them. Also, I’d beway too anxious about accidentally upsetting or offending people. ^^;I have no objections to people giving any labels to my dragons,though! =P

36:Flight reps?

Yes,please! I have Lamia, my Shadow ambassador, and Spring is my Windpriest. I have Rose put down as a potential Ice ambassador andSunflare for Earth, but that’s it, really. I want Flight reps foreach Flight, but it’s super hard to think of what they should looklike if they have to match my lair theme. What would a Flightrepresentative look like if they needed to be XYZ with all colours in adifferent range?

39:Do you still have the first dragon you’ve ever bought?

Idon’t have the first dragon I ever bought anymore, but I do stillhave the first dragon I ever got. I got Cookie as a gift from mybrother. The week leading up to the reg window, he’d been showing meall sorts of dragons and I really loved Cookie, so I got her as agift. In a way, I’ve had her longer than my progens, even. =P

41:Who has the most tragic backstory?

Luna!I mean, she literally died and spent who knows how long all alonewandering Sornieth, unable to find any sort of peace or happiness.That said, backstories are the only real place I can add tragedy, sothere might be more tragic backstories popping up in the future. Likethe story of how Hobo became Hobo, which I’m still eternally mullingover.

42:Who is your edgiest dragon?

Idon’t have one, I think, but I want one! It’ll either be Lamia or myfuture Plague ambassador, because enforcing stereotypes, yeah! =P Ilove Shadow and Plague, but I don’t have much room in my lore foractual Shadow/Plague themes, so whatever edgy little runt thoseFlights can produce, they can just punt on over this way. That’llprobably be the backstory, anyway. =P

43:Do you have any dragons that broke the clan’s rules? What was thepunishment for that?

Well,hatchies can be quite a handful and they don’t always listen yet,but… No, not really, nothing major. Well, Cassius, greedy and vainas he can be, will sometimes steal pretty fabrics or shiny jewels,but that’s just because he’s too impatient to wait to sign anythingfor taking them. He’s had a slap on the wrist a couple times, but nowthey just let him, because he needs that stuff anyway for hisoutfits. Cassius gets a visit once a week to take stock of the stuffhe’s taken.

47:Professor/teacher dragons?

Alsostill unassigned. Yeah, I know, I need to work on my lore more. =PFiesta teaches a weekly dance class, and anyone can learn from anyoneduring the many arts-and-crafts sessions. I still need an officialhatchling caretaker/teacher. Bunnyfly supervises hatchling trips tothe familiar spa and teaches the young ones about familiars and howto maintain positive relations with familiars and beastclans.

49:Orphan dragons?

Nana,my progen. She just sort of came into being, no family or anything.Also my precious little Bunnyfly. He was found as an egg and taken inby a clan of buttersnakes, before his buttersnake mentor/fatherfigure/best friend decided to take him to Denutena’s Candyclan,because the other buttersnakes were getting increasingly anxiousabout living with a dragon, even one that looks like a bigger versionof them, and the buttersnake (he still needs a name) thought it wouldbe better for Bunnyfly to be around his own kind. They now run thefamiliar spa together. ^^

[thejojosanctuary]

Hey, good work with the blog so far! Can I request Josuke (part 4), Okuyasu, and Koichi reacting to finding out that their adorable S/O's stand is seriously terrifying, like, main monster in a really good horror movie terrifying? I'll leave what said stand looks like up to you. Thanks!

Okay, so Imay have gone a little overboard with the writing -__-‘ I hope you don’t mind!I tried my best to keep it at least a little ambiguous as to what the standslooked like to leave the rest up to your imagination! Hope you guys enjoy! :3

-Ghost

Josuke:

·        Josuke probably assumed that either his S/Odidn’t have a stand or wasn’t comfortable showing it off so he wasn’t going topush them or anything either way and would just enjoy the fact that his S/Ocould actually see Crazy Diamond

·        However he’d still be incredibly curious aboutwhat their stand would look like – Would it be as cute as his S/O? Did it havean ability that would help others like Crazy Diamond?

·        At this point he’d probably be imaginingsomething similar to like a giant walking plushie or at least something alongthose lines

·        But unfortunately, as he comes to find out, thisisn’t the case during a none-too easy enemy stand battle

·        No-one can really expect to be jumped by morethan one stand user at once except Jotaro but they were fairly easy tobeat so long as they didn’t get close enough to do any actual damage to him orhis S/O

·        That was until one of them got too close withouthim noticing and sure enough, one of them had flung themselves towards thepompadour teen with their stand poised to do some serious damage

·        And yet it would never come

·        Instead, a hulking shadow swung through the airand blew back not only the attacking enemy but the other thugs as well by thesheer force of its blow.

·        Needless to say Josuke was only left to watch asthe enemies were pummelled to the ground and left scrambling (and draggingthemselves) away with cries of sheer terror

·        There would be a three second pause where Josukewould feel a little bad for thembefore he comes to realise that whatever had attacked them was right behind him.

·        The hulking monstrosity towered over both himand Crazy Diamond, it’s body built like a wall as it’s blank, almost lifelessgaze found its way down to him

·        It wouldn’t be until the mystery stand lumbersover to his S/O, its heavy footfalls creating slight tremors that he snaps outof it.

·        “H-hey babe! Get back-!”

·        Cue utter confusion as S/O ignores his words andreaches out towards the monstrous stand, then shock as it leans down andnuzzles it’s head (what it can fit of course) into their hand with a deeprumble – that could only be described as a tiger roaring from a Cliffsidefacing and ocean, before shock set in as he quickly put two and two together

·        “HOLYSHIT BABE THIS IS YOUR STAND?!”

·        It would take a while for Josuke to actuallycalm down, partially because he now knew for sure that his S/O did in fact havea stand, but mostly because their stand is so goddamn terrifying!

·        When things do settle down though he’d probablyend up taking in the full appearance of their stand, telling himself that evenif it isn’t nowhere near as cute as his S/O he at least knows it is more thancapable of keeping them safe when he isn’t around and that may be some sort ofconsolation

·        Don’t get it wrong though he’s still freakingout on the inside

·        “Heh…now that I look at your stand I guess itdoes look sort of cool…(I didn’t knowstands could have four arms though…)”  “I’m so glad! I thought you’d freak out,especially when you see its real face!” “…great…”

·        Meanwhile Crazy Diamond’s watching on theside-lines with a smile at his users plight, aware that S/O’s stand (whilstlarge in size and utterly terrifying to behold) isn’t as bad as his user thinks– afterall, the stand is just like them except in another body (shout out tothe first request :3)

·        It’s going to be a long day for everyone

Okuyasu:

·        Although Okuyasu didn’t get to see many of thestand users his brother created he’s still seen his fair share of stands thatwould seem as ‘horrific’ or ‘monstrous’ to others, but these things reallydon’t faze him

·        That being said, when he hadn’t seen his S/Oshow any signs of a stand yet they could still see The Hand he assumed that itwas just something that could happen and brushed it off

·        It wasn’t until one random day that changed

·        His S/O had invited him over to keep themcompany while they cleaned up around the house and this pure boy was justenjoying the fact that he got to spend time alone with them

·        He’d find it cute how his adorable S/O would bescurrying around and sorting things up, and he’d be grinning whenever he wouldoffer to help and in response they would puff up their chest and proudly statethat they could handle everything (they’re a strong, independent S/O)

·        As the time ticked by and it grew later andlater in the day everything was finally starting to come together and hispartner began to relax a little more, pausing for brief breaks to talk and cuddle(much to Okuyasu’s delight) before getting back to doing little tasks

·        However, when they left the room to put awaysome books, the last thing he expected to hear was his S/O cry out as a crashsounded from another room, much less watch as two or three books came sailingback into the room and slam against the wall next to him

·        Oku would be up in a second and charging intothe next room, The Hand emerging in preparation for finding anything in thenext room and ready to protect his S/O

·        What he did find was S/O, shock clear on theirface with a myriad of translucent tendrils surrounding them, the bones beneaththe sleek skin visible as they formed a protective shield against the bookswhich continued to topple from the shelf above

·        At first Okuyasu would be incredibly confusedand may even think that whatever was surrounding his S/O was some type of enemystand so he might try to attack it

·        S/O would end up having to stop the confusedbabe before they ended up losing a chunk of their stand and explain to him thatthis was in fact their stand and that they only refrained from showing him infear of creeping him out

·        Once everything is sorted out S/O would probablyrealise that all of their worrying was for nothing as Oku begins excitedlyexamining the mass of tendrils like a child on Christmas, all the whileshowering the stand (and S/O) with compliments

·        “Whoa babe this is so cool! You should haveshowed this to me before! There’s so many of ‘em!”

·        S/O’s gonna be a blushing mess by the time he’sfinished, but the he’s right to calling up Josuke and telling him that hisS/O’s got a stand

·        “Bro! S/O’s got a stand!” “Awesome! What’s itlook like?” “It’s a slimy and looks like a bunch of tentacles!” “…what?” “Itcan snap its bones and shape ‘em into anything it wants – it can even make askull!” “…bro”

·        It’s not even his S/O but Josuke’s stillsuffering XD

Koichi:

·        Ah, Koichi. Poor, poor Koichi

·        This boy would have probably talked to his S/Oabout stands once he realised they could see Echoes (although if this was act 3he’d be yelling in the background and probably trying to set the conversationas far off track as possible – much to S/O’s amusement and Koichi’sembarrassment)

·        Once they had told him that they also had a standbut didn’t want to show it he was confused – surely their stand wasn’t thatbad…right?

·        Koichi wouldn’t push them any further than theywanted to and would have most likely ended the conversation on the note ofreassurance that they didn’t have to show it if they weren’t comfortable

·        I don’t think he would mind if they didn’t wantto

·        Josuke and Okuyasu on the other hand, would makeit their duty to coax S/O to reveal their stand with every trick they have uptheir sleeve (regardless of whether they have their friends blessing or not)

·        Be it that they’re just walking down the streetor in the comfort of their own home nothing’s stopping these two when they put theirminds together, yet even then Koichi’s S/O remains vigilant to their tactics

·        Eventually though everything would pay off after abouta month of non-stop tricks

·        S/O would be talking to Koichi whilst Josuke and Okuwatch on from a distance, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and when theythink it’s good to go they’d probably end up throwing something (maybe a ballor another object along those lines) in their direction.

·        Of course this would be all going to plan until theyboth realise that it’s not heading towards S/O

·        It’s going towards Koichi

·        Okuyasu would have The Hand out ready to stop itbefore if reached the small boy when it finally happens.

·        From behind S/O their stand would dart out, piercingthrough the thrown object easily with the use of a single, needle like digit inthe blink of an eye before retreating to a standing position behind its user.

·        Grinning smugly, their stand would twirl the itemaround the finger it was pierced on to make a show of its work before tossingit carelessly into the dark abyss of a mouth that seemed to be tore into thestomach as it’s gaze landed on the two culprits

·        By this point Koichi’s watching on in pure shock ashis two friends begin backing away from him and his S/O in the genuine fearthat they would follow in the objects footsteps before he realises that this was what his S/O’s stand lookedlike

·        He’d wonder how there could be such a differencebetween someone like S/O and their stand (before remembering his own stand) andhe’d be taken aback at how terrifying it looked.

·        In the end Koichi would have to remind himself thatthis was a part of his S/O and that he shouldn’t care what it looked like andhe’d probably tell them that to calm their nerves

·        It’d still take him a while to start gettingcomfortable around their stand in the future though

·        The poor boy needs some time to adjust

[ditbycharlotte]

Brief 1 - Digital Innovation & Technologies ‘MOSI Promotion’ Posters

Week 1

Brief

COTTONOPOLIS TO DIGITOPOLIS – a celebration of Manchester’s Industrial Past and Digital Present and Future.

Your mission is to create promotional material for an exhibition, hosted at MOSI, which celebrates the development of the city from its First industrial Revolution… late 1700’s to the second industrial revolution post the events of 1996 (research this) in developing Manchester’s Digital Revolution… ‘96 to now… this minute!

My Understanding of the brief

To fulfil this brief I will need to create a series of posters which commemorates the development of Manchester through an exhibition hosted at Manchester’s very own MOSI. In addition to this I will also need to create an invitation/leaflet to accompany the series of posters as well as an extended piece of my choice may it be a motion graphic piece, physical creation, exhibition space etc.

Manchester Photos

Mind mapping Initial Areas of exploration

To help me with what I needed to look into in order to start with this brief I narrowed it down to 4 main areas that I would need to explore further, these areas are: Research, Target Market, Brand Identity and Initial Ideas. From here I can now take an in depth look into each section to advance forward.

Initial Research

Target Market

Initial Ideas

Brand Identity

Analysis

Research 

First Industrial Revolution (1760-1840)

Manchester dominated the cotton industry in the textiles industry

One of the first cotton mills in Manchester destroyed in WWII

Improvement of stream engines productivity- "We may see in a single building a 100 horse power steam engine (which) has the strength of 880 men, set in motion 50,000 spindles. The whole requires the service of but 750 workers. But these machines can produce as much yarn as formerly could have hardly been spun by 200,000 men...”

Cotton was being imported at a rate of 2,000 tons per year (1772), increasing to 45.2 thousand tons per year (1816

Steam and water wheel powered mills used

Automated machines include the water frame and spinning jenny

Canals essential for distribution of coal for the railways to transport the cotton

Pic - Spinning Jenny

Second Industrial Revolution (1870-1914)

A target in utilising the power of electricity, oil, and gas

Britain’s cotton industry reached its peak in 1912 when eight billion yards of cloth were being produced

First World War (1914-1919) spelled disaster for the industry in Manchester

WW2 1939-1945

The Invention of Telegraph and Morse 1844 (Samuel Morse)

The Telephone by Antonio Meucci 1876

1906 that the patent for bulbs with tungsten based filaments was filed by Edison.

First flight by the Wright brothers 1903

Henry Ford's Model T the affordable car

Blocks of commercial and warehouse premises incinerated by Air Raids in the Manchester Blitz 1940

First computer (Baby) pioneered by Fredric Williams and Tom Kilburn based on the work of Alan Turing, paved the way for today’s computer’s tablets and smartphones (1948)

By the 1980s, the industry had all but vanished in and around Manchester  

15 June 1996, the IRA detonated a large bomb in the city centre, caused over 200 injuries, spurred rejuvenation of areas in Manchester

Digital Revolution (1950s-NOW)

Development of Graphene the worlds thinnest material used in computing, electronics and medicine.

1980s the computer became a familiar machine

1992 WWW introduced

2000s mobile phones commonly seen, number of internet users growing, tv started the transition from analog to digital signals. Broadband introduced to the UK.

2004 Facebook is born

2005 YouTube launches

2007 Apple releases the iPhone and phone usage increases at a rapid rate

2010 nearly 70% of the worlds population owns a mobile phone

2016 The VR headset becomes available to users

MOSI (1969-NOW)

Opened in 1969

Has 5 buildings

Devoted to the history and practice of science, medicine, technology, industry and media.

On the site of the oldest surviving passenger railway station

Always expanding and changing galleries 

Houses a replica of the ‘Baby’/SSEM computer 

Has displays from Bomber planes to engines to trains to powerboats

Has a large gallery for the Textiles Industry including machines, printing blocks, dye samples and factory signs 

http://collection.sciencemuseum.org.uk/search/categories/textile-industry/museum/museum-of-science-and-industry

End of Week 1 Review

After doing some initial research into Manchester’s industrial past and digital present and future, I feel like I can start to narrow down my initial ideas into more refined concepts that I could use to take forward and use/progress with to create my series of promotional posters. I think that I would like to continue looking into the relationship between machinery used during the industrial revolution and how machinery is used in the digital era.  

Week 2

Design Process

This week we went though design processes and shared one of our initial ideas based on research we had conducted.

 - Brief: understand what it is 

- Analysis: Primary research, secondary research 

- Concept(s): don’t be scared to fair and try multiple ideas 

- Refinement: Trial and error, go forwards and backwards 

- Testing: Iteration (design cycles), keep going till you get a certain outcome

- Implementation: Journey is as important as the final product Theme needs to have an extension piece to the 3 posters e.g. motion piece, storyboard, exhibition layout 

Don’t be afraid to explore more than 1 idea especially not just your first idea! Need to be able to say if something not working then leave it, don’t cling on to ideas

Information graphics: making the complicated simple using icons (iconography)

Shared Ideas

One by one we went round the class and shared our starting point based on the initial research we had conducted. My idea was a that I had found a connection of machines so maybe I could break down the machine parts and combine them in different ways to form images for my promotional posters.

Researching Other Museums

To help with this project I decided to go look at other museums nearby to help generate ideas, the museums I had a look at were the Imperial War Museum which is just across the water and the People’s History Museum.

IWM

People’s History Museum

Week 3

Appreciating Type

This week we explored the history of type and its importance in design. We should respect type as it is an art form and comes in many different looks.

Key features of type include

Leading- space between words and lines 

Kerning- space between each individual letter Ambrose Harris typography book

Hierarchy of text- where you want the user to look first (usually most important info)

Sans- Without Serif 

Serifs- Curly ends on words (Easier to identify letters though the negative space)

Probably the most recognisable piece of design would be the London Underground logo, created by Edward Johnston It’s simple and has no messing around Pixel form and has minimalism in the form of reducing form. 

We then got talking about the typeface Helvetica which was designed to be a pure typeface void of personality with pure function for every communication with over 70 variations!

As long as it is legible, Type can be imperfect, it can also be a combination of two typefaces put together to create a different effect within your work.

Session 2

Existing products (Film Ideograms)

The idea behind ideograms is that a graphical symbol that represents an idea or concept without the use of words and can be recognised universally.

The 3 sets of series films that I got to create ideograms for were

Pirates of the Caribbean (5 Films, 6th TBA)

Terminator (5 Films, 6th TBA)

Shrek (4 Films)

For each film I needed to identify recognisable scenes from each film in each film series and pic one film from each series to create an ideogram for that my peers would be able to recognise and guess which film I had picked prom each series. 

1. Pirates of the Caribbean

Curse of the Black Pearl (Chosen for ideogram)

                     Year- 2003

                     Main thing- Black Pearl

                     Promotional Materials- Title 3/4 from the bottom, 5 main                                       characters, fighting on land and in water

Dead Man’s Chest

                      Year- 2006

                     Main thing- Jar of dirt with heart of Davey Jones in

                     Promotional Materials- Title positioned at the bottom, 3 main                               characters, ships being taken down by a Kraken

At World’s End

                      Year- 2007

                     Main thing- Release of the goddess Calypso/Jack returns from                           the land of the dead

                     Promotional Materials- Title positioned at the bottom, single                                 character (main character), lots of smoke/fog

On Stranger Tides

                     Year- 2011

                     Main thing- Fountain of youth

                     Promotional Materials- Title 3/4 from the bottom, characters the                           same size, ships on rough water.

Salazar's Revenge

                     Year- 2017

                     Main thing- Trident of Poseidon

                     Promotional Materials- Title positioned at the bottom, characters                         get larger towards the top of the picture, underwater

Ideogram For Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

In this movie Jack looses his beloved Black Pearl to Davey Jones who keeps it in a bottle

Guessed correctly- YES

2. Terminator

The Terminator

                    Year- 1984

                    Main thing- Come with me if you want to live

                    Promotional Materials- Title 3/4 from the bottom, large                                          descriptions on the poster, main character main focal point

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

                   Year- 1991

                   Main thing- T-1000 tries to kill John Connor as a child 

                   Promotional Materials- Title positioned at the bottom, main                                 character on motorcycle with shot gun (main focal point)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (chosen for ideogram)

                  Year- 2003

                  Main thing- SkyNet virus infects the U.S military, development of                          T-X model robot

                  Promotional Materials- Title half way in the poster, main character                        takes more space than the villains (robot army)

Terminator Salvation 

                 Year- 20039

                 Main thing- Skyet develops the new T-800 robots

                 Promotional Materials- Title 3/4 from the bottom, villain larger than                       the main characters

Terminator Genisys 

                Year- 2015

                Main thing- Going back to the past to correct the timeline of the                          future

                Promotional Materials- Title positioned at the bottom, main                                  characters more present in importance larger than the others, villain                    in flames

Write about the similarities between the movie posters, running theme

Ideogram For Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

I decided to illustrate part of the movie poster where the main characters face is half burnt revealing his cyborg side.

Guessed correctly- YES

3. Shrek

Shrek (chosen for ideogram)

               Year- 2001

               Main thing- Shrek rescues Princess Fiona for Lord Farquaad

               Promotional Materials- Title positioned at the bottom, main                                 characters leaning against a giant letter ’S’ for Shrek

Shrek 2

               Year- 2004

               Main thing- Shrek meets Fiona’s parents 

               Promotional Materials- Title positioned in the middle, main characters                 surrounding the title

Shrek the Third

               Year- 2007

               Main thing- The King of Far Far Away passes away

               Promotional Materials- Title positioned at the bottom, main                                  characters more present in importance larger than the others, villain                    in flames

Shrek Forever After

               Year- 2010

               Main thing- Rumpelstiltskin tricks Shrek into erasing himself from                         existence 

               Promotional Materials- Title 3/4 from the bottom, main character vs                     villain

Ideogram For Shrek 

I decided to change my idea from Fiona’s tower to Lord Farquaad’s mirror as this is one of the key elements in this film. 

Guessed correctly- YES

Planning 

After conducting my research I drew out my ideas for my ideograms on paper before proceeding to digitally reproducing them on Illustrator.

Week 3 Review

At the end of this week I have been looking at existing products in the form of movie posters and what makes them recognisable if you took away the title, from this I have learn that making things simple, clear and containing key elements is best for recognition and this is what I need to include in my posters.

[hentaihunblog-blog]

Latest One Piece Manga Just Revealed [Spoiler]’s New Power – OtakuKart

New Post has been published on https://hentaihun.com/blog/2017/12/23/latest-one-piece-manga-just-revealed-spoilers-new-power-otakukart/

Latest One Piece Manga Just Revealed [Spoiler]’s New Power – OtakuKart

Hey everyone! Today, I’m going to talk about something incredible that we saw in One Piece chapter 889. But, before I begin, I wanna let you all know that One Piece chapter 889 is out already, so if you haven’t read that already, please do. It’s better if you read the chapter, and then come over here to read this post. Now that you probably have, let’s begin.

In the previous chapter of One Piece, we saw an epic transformation from Carrot, when she became a Suron under the influence of the moon. She blitzed Big Mom’s ships, and then she broke their helm. Nobody was really able to stop her. However, there was one person who was standing in her way, and this was Charlotte Daifuku. For those of you who don’t know, Daifuku is the brother of Charlotte Katakuri, and the 4th son of Big Mom.

He’s one of their strongest members, and Daifuku showed us why he’s one of the veterans of the Big Mom Pirates. Of course, when Carrot was destroying the fleet, Daifuku didn’t just sit there and watch. He unleashed his ability. As we know from the Tea Party, Daifuku is a Devil Fruit user as well. He’s a Paramecia type of Devil Fruit user, just like most other members of the Big Mom Pirates.

However, his Devil Fruit is unique, and awesome at the same time. Daifuku has eaten the Hoya Hoya no Mi, which allows him to summon a Genie when he rubs his stomach. This Genie is very powerful, and has insane brute strength, as we at the Tea Party. He was able to shrug Sanji aside without much effort. In this chapter, this Genie revealed his true powers, and he was able to slide through an entire Fleet in an instant!

This is a really insane feat. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone pull off such a feat other than Hawkeyes Mihawk, who destroyed the entire Fleet of Don Crieg om his own in the Grand Line when he was bored. Daifuku certainly is a monster, and I think very few can actually stand up to him. Carrot, however, was too fast for him to land even a single blow. Nonetheless, the Hoya Hoya no Mi was revealed to be an awesome Devil Fruit in this chapter.

The only thing I don’t like about Charlotte Daifuku an the Hoya Hoya no Mi was the fact that if he was able to slice through an entire Fleet on his own, he should’ve sliced the ship of the Strawhats as well, which was nearby. But I guess the Strawhats’ plot armor is just too powerful to be damaged by Charlotte Daifuku and his Genie. I hope we get to see more of his Devil Fruit powers in the future. That’s all from me. I’ll see you all soon.

—-

Big Mom’s New Form – Revealed

Hey everyone! Today, I will talk about Big Mom, and her new form. But, like always, before I begin with this post, I want to let you know that there are heavy spoilers from One Piece chapter 889 in this post. If you don’t want to be spoiled and tend to keep away from them, then this post isn’t for you. However, if you don’t mind being spoiled, and enjoy the spoilers like a lot of other fans, then let’s dive right into it without wasting a second.

Big Mom, as you may know, is one of the Yonko in the New World. She is the most powerful female Pirate ever, and her powers are such that they can only be matched by the likes of the other Yonko. Big Mom was first mentioned by Monkey D Garp when he introduced the Yonko.

Later, she was mentioned when all the Yonko were finally named before the timeskip. At Fishman Island, we got our first look at Big Mom, and now we have a complete arc that is dedicated to her. Even though this is her arc, she is not the main antagonist. Sure, she is chasing the Strawhats and all that. But, she isn’t the final boss that will be taken down at the end of the arc, and it is someone like Charlotte Katakuri. That doesn’t mean Big Mom won’t be showing us her powers.

She has already given us a glimpse of what she’s capable of, and I think I can say that the Soru Soru no Mi is one of the most overpowered Devil Fruits I’ve seen. With her Devil Fruit, and her homies, she is invincible really. But, apparently what we’ve seen isn’t her true form at all.

In One Piece chapter 889, Big Mom will transform completely, and her appearance will change dramatically. According to the spoilers for One Piece chapter 889, Big Mom will get a lot thinner, and she will look far more dangerous than ever. Further, she will also regain her two homies, Prometheus and Zeus, who have been away for a while now.

Continue Reading The Post

[robynqueenofstuff]

Reviews Of Stuff. Special Second Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

                      Tagline:The Force Is Calling To You.Just Let It In

Date Of Release: 18th December 2015                Directed by J.J. Abrams

Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures       Based on Characters by George Lucas

Yes. Oh Yes. I am going to review 2015's highest-grossing film and your slightly early Christmas present from said year, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Back in 2012 when Disney announced that not only had they bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas but also that they were planning at least 3 new Star Wars films: Shit hit social media. As time went on it was announced that JJ Abrams would be the director of the first in what would be three new Star Wars movies and that Mark Hamill [Luke Skywalker]  Harrison Ford [Han Solo] and Carrie Fisher [Leia Organa] had signed on to reprise their roles in the next film. As time went by with news of casting calls that i was not old enough to audition for at the time, JJ Abrams working with a machete very close to his neck and goosebumps from the very first teaser trailer, The film finally premiered on December 14th, 2015, before being released worldwide four days later. The film now currently rates a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is currently the third highest-grossing film of all time, The highest grossing film of 2015, The highest grossing film in the Star Wars Franchise, The highest-grossing film released by Walt Disney Studios, The highest-grossing film in North America, finally dethroning Avatar and the third highest-grossing film of all time with . The film was also nominated for 99 awards including 5 Academy awards and won 33 of said nominations.

I am a complete Star Wars geek and so i was really excited for this movie. I got tickets for a showing on the 19th, I headed to the cinema in Carlisle, I got a Star Wars popcorn bucket, [The only time to buy the overpriced cinema popcorn is when there are themed popcorn buckets] I had my usual toilet break before the trailers. I watched the movie. I...really enjoyed it. Really. Top 3 Star Wars movies easily. But a lot of angry Youtube commenters who can't spell correctly disagree with me so i decided i'd postpone my Harry Potter reviews and impulsively do a Star Wars review. Starting with The Force Awakens. Odd one to start with i know but i'm going to do all of them eventually. Including the next ones when they eventually come out.

Ok so the film opens with the iconic crawl every Star Wars film has [You hear that Rogue One? EVERY STAR WARS FILM HAS A CRAWL] and we learn immediately that Luke has vanished rather inconveniently as an Imperial Remnant named The First Order has risen from the Empire's ashes and seeks to destroy the New Republic formed after the Rebellion's victory. His twin sister Leia Organa now leads the Resistance against the First Order and has sent her best pilot Poe Dameron, played by Oscar Isaac to retrieve what appears to be a map leading to her missing brother. He retrieves the map to Luke from a retired adventurer by the name of Lor San Tekka, played by Max Von Sydow 

but then The First Order arrives, Kills Tekka and a whole bunch of innocent settlers [Maybe Alderaan survivors?...] and captures Poe but not before he gives the map to BB-8 who then escapes and meets Rey, played by Daisy Ridley Finn played by John Boyega is a stormtrooper who finds that he doesn't want to kill innocents for the First Order and ultimately helps Poe Dameron escape but they crash on Jakku and Dameron is seemingly killed [OH NO! i-i really believe he's dead!] and Finn ends up bumping into Rey and BB-8 and they ultimately escape Jakku on the Milennium Falcon [Don't fucking call it garbage] and begin the journey to deliver the map to the Resistance, running into a certain scoundrel and his hairy companion along the way....

That's all i'm going to say on the plot even though most people probably already know it at this point, i'm not going to mention certain spoilers just in case there is anyone who doesn't. The plot of the story overall is decent though there is a couple of huge similarities to another Star Wars film but we'll get to that in a moment because other than that and a couple of plot-holes this story is good. It has likable leads, a good sense of humor, a genuine feel of mystery concerning the origins of a certain character and it does genuinely feel like a Star Wars film. It also has that awesome reason to re-watch movies....To catch all the small details in the background. Yeah it's a great reason to watch all the Star Wars movies and the Harry Potter movies actually. Things like a character's expression, a cameo in the background or a stormtrooper hitting his head on the doorway.

The characters are for the most part great and the ones that aren't are...mainly underused.

The Orig Trig Gang [Minus Lando] are back and it is great to see them again. Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2. Oh and Luke Skywalker! How could i forget Luke! The role he played! Such a useful character! And so cool! and that scene at the end was amazing! You know the one i mean! Luke was a badass in this film! His sister Leia played by the now late Carrie Fisher returns but not as a Princess but as a General. Well i guess there's not much point calling yourself Princess when there's nothing to be Princess of so this makes sense. Her character is a bit more broken in this, you get the feeling of someone who has seen and experienced far too much for one lifetime, Both this movie's later reveals and Star Wars Bloodline kind of explain why but, she also shows she's the same snarky old Leia we all know and love. Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 are still as lovely as ever and Han Solo.....Jesus it is good to have the old scoundrel back. He's old, grouchy and probably harboring back problems, but he's still got that crook side to him plus that line where he says The stories about the Force along with the Dark Side and the Jedi are all true?  That shows how far he's come from believing it to be just be a 'hokey religion' I'm sure his character will be pivotal in the rest of this new trilogy....right?

Rey looks to be the big mystery of the series at least concerning parentage plot points. Theories on who her parents are will be the first things you see if you type her name in on the Internet, From theories she is the daughter of Luke, [Which would be too obvious in my opinion] the daughter of Obi-Wan [Which despite being really popular i personally disagree with] and the reincarnation of Anakin Skywalker. [Yes this is a theory...the things people think of nowadays] My personal theory is that maybe her parents were Dark-Side users or Jedi assisting Luke or maybe not actually important, one of those three. Her character is interesting as she initially comes across as the average 'tough girl who don't need no man' type but as the story progresses and establishes her as having no choice but to adopt this persona in order to be able to survive in the environment she resides in but we also see signs of vulnerability in her when we learn she's hanging on to hope of something that is most likely never going to happen not to mention her reaction to possibly being part of something much greater indicates she is not as strong as she might appear and there's a part towards the end that makes her appear a little Dark-Side-ish to me....Which would be an interesting twist actually.

Finn as we worked out from the trailers is a former stormtrooper who runs away from the First Order, only he doesn't want to stop running. He just wants to get as far away from this conflict as humanly possible only to find himself back in the conflict almost immediately afterwards. Granted it's his choice every time, Seriously, the guy escapes the First Order and says he just wants to run away but one of the first things he does is try to run to someone's aid when they are being attacked. Now, granted Rey was able to get out of the situation easily but it does show a lot about his character and he definitely comes across as someone who's desire to help ultimately outweighs his desire to run and be afraid of it all. Now his connection to the Stormtroopers is interesting as we've never had a main character that is a Stormtrooper before, This could lead to some interesting plot points in the next two films maybe he'll face off against Captain Phasma or an old stormtrooper comrade i don't know but it's going to be helluva lot of fun finding out.

The main villain, Kylo Ren is a Vader wannabe. I'm not just saying that because he's the replacement for Vader because the guy literally wants to be Vader the movie even says so! There's a reason in particular as to why he's so obsessed with Vader as well as a connection to the original heroes but for those who don't know it yet i won't give it away. I think he's being sort of set up to be a tragic villain, As you watch the film you get the feeling that he knows he's never going to be like Vader, He tried to look cool with his special lightsaber and his mask made to mimic Vader but it never really sinks in that way he just seems more angry and desperate than Vader and while i won't give anything away this longing ultimately drives him to do...something.

Poe Dameron....Am i allowed to marry a fictional character? This character has charm, humor, manners, dashing good looks, morality and he's the owner of BB-8! How much more attractive is this guy! And i love just how he and Finn have an instant connection, Just love how quickly they become friends. I just want more Poe in the next flick Rian Johnson! OK?! GIVE US MORE POE DAMERON !! Also i want my own BB-8. Now. I'm practically the only one who didn't get one for Christmas ....

Then there's the leader of the Stormtroopers, Captain Phasma played by Gwendoline Christie....Why was she even there? I mean her armor is cool and she and Finn could have interesting conflict but...why do we have to wait?

General Hux played by Domhall Gleeson [Cause he's in everything nowadays] does come across as the new trilogy's Tarkin but he's decent on his own, apparently he's the son of a General of the original Empire so actually grew up believing the Empire is the good side. And the rivalry between him and Kylo is kind of cute in the way you know it's pathetic.

Maz Kanata was an ok character despite that her role was basically exposition and it's nice to meet other friends of Han and Chewie [Or in Chewie's case maybe more :)] But why does she have to reveal important plot points if she's only in a small portion of the film.

Snoke i won't say much about except he appears to be the true villain of this new trilogy and is the master of Kylo Ren. Who he is?, Why is he doing this? and how did he convince Kylo to be his apprentice? We'll find out. In a year. Hopefully. [For the love of The Force don't make us wait until IX...]

Highlights of the film include the special effects which granted we knew would be fantastic,[Especially compared to certain OTHER films that came out that year-FANT4STIC!] but they really do work and make it feel new while still retaining the old feel of Star Wars. The score is lovely, composed by John Williams yet again but not as good as other Star Wars scores, but still really impressive though especially Rey's Theme. [Btw am i the only one who noticed that March Of The Resistance is basically just The Imperial March for the Resistance?] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65As1V0vQDM

As i’ve stated before the characters are great and there are some really great actors cast plus a couple of cool cameos too such as Daniel Craig and Ewan McGregor. [the latter is an uncredited voice cameo but he’s in there] The fight sequences are well-done and choreographed well, Not overdone like the prequels or under-done? like the originals, They don’t just tap their lightsabers at each other or pause during battle to twirl their lightsabers around for a moment. It’s raw, It’s fierce, It feels like the characters are actually in a fight for their life rather than a flashy duel that we know the ending to. There’s also a really great atmosphere to the movie, You get that feeling right from the teasers with that giant shot in the desert with the crashed Star Destroyer and that feeling holds within the movie, There’s a really great scene where we just get a good look at Rey’s life on Jakku, Just a day of her working and trading what she does for a small portion of food, There’s dialogue in the scene but Rey herself doesn’t say anything, she just quietly gets on with it but it sort of works in a way. And that flashback scene is mind-boggling, I won’t say what happens because that would be a spoiler but it just makes me want to shake Rey and the Knights of Ren and scream ‘WHAT ARE YOU????!!!!!.

The movie of course does have its flaws and those mainly concern the story. A lot of people say it is too derivative of A New Hope and i would be lying if i didn't say i couldn’t see that however, i feel there not as numerous as other people make it out to be. There are a few obvious ones such as the hero on a desert planet, the droid with a map, the cantina and most obviously Starkiler Base. [Nice nod to The Force Unleashed though] Personally while noticeable similarities, they are not really as consistent throughout the movie as some people say it is. Plus the hero from the desert planet storyline....it’s not just from A New Hope, I know people don’t like to remember The Phantom Menace but it still counts!. Also there’s a couple of plotholes in the movie that they really just kind of skim over when brought up [TELL US HOW YOU FOUND THE LIGHTSABER YOU-!] and there were characters that needed to be fleshed out more [cough PHASMA! cough] but other than that.i don’t think there are any other major problems...

So i really enjoy this film. In the Top 3 of the Star Wars films easily. It has Good Direction, Fantastic Visual Effects, Lovely Music, Great new characters, Good Humor, Well-written dialogue, [Take notes Lucas!] a Decent Story and a Wonderful atmosphere. And a new era in the Star Wars universe has just begun,

Final Verdict: 9 out of 10. Buy on Blu-Ray.

Critic’s Note: Should i do a spoiler review of The Force Awakens? Should i put the other Star Wars Films and Clone Wars episodes on my list? let me know.