#or maybe a retro prediction of what the future could look like

[pixieokapi]

Almost didn’t believe this was real, it’s such an interesting looking space. Found the image on facebook and pinterest also saying it is a 1969 swimming pool though, so I believe it’s real.

Apparently it’s a German pool, designed by Verner Panton. The pinterest caption specified that it was built for the Spiegel Publishing House.

And, if you google Spiegel Publishing House, a site that appears to be focused on Verner Panton has images of other rooms in the building, plus a brief description of what exactly he designed - which included things like the lamps and wall cladding. The other rooms are very colorful too, so I guess Panton was given the go ahead to do pretty much whatever designs he wanted. Or maybe he was famous for being so involved in his creations and such behavior was expected?

His name led me to a Wikipedia article that appears to be about him and says he is very famous, but it doesn’t have a lot of sources attached so I don’t know how much to lean into it. (Although it does mention the Spiegel Publishing House as one of his works among a list of others, so perhaps the info is true despite the lack of sources?)

The Wikipedia article says he is “considered one of Denmark’s most influential 20th-century furniture and interior designers.” So he is undoubtedly more popular and probably more well known in Denmark and maybe Germany. If any Danes or Germans or people who have studied this period of interior design have more information on him or similar designers, I would welcome the info!

(Particularly if it leads to more pictures of interior design like this pool room. It is a very striking image.)

A 1969 swimming pool

[pb-dot]

Film Friday: The Fifth Element

I've had One Of Those Weeks, and my participation in the writeblr summerfest has put me in a retro mood, so fuck it, let's talk about my childhood favorite movie. Before Luc Besson's The Fifth Element I don't think I had favorite movies. I loved 'em all, but then this absolute chaos of a space opera came along and showed me the wonders of obsession. Maybe it was the confidence of the worldbuilding, maybe it was 90's Kung Fu Waif extraordinaire Leeloo, maybe it was how unashamedly horny the whole affair was? I couldn't tell you, but the thing worked for me. So join me, why don't you?

As far as alien conspiracies with an interest in earth goes, you could do a lot worse than the Mondoshawans. These big steampunk-looking lads are working against the propechied coming of a great evil, and the perfect being, The Fifth Element, who is destined to defeat it. When something big, spooky and fiery manifests in the universe exactly as the mondoshawans predicted, future earth welcomes the mondoshawans back to deal with this entire business, were it not for alien mercenary interlopers who blows the entire thing up.

Now, this being the future and all, humans salvage enough of the assumed perfect being to reconstruct it. When the perfect being turns out to be a naked Mila Jovovich, this comes as somewhat of a surprise to humanity, but assuredly not to the audience. Leeloo, as the kickass nymph is called, flees from her re-creators and stumbles into the flying cab of one ex-millitary schlub Korben Dallas, played by Bruce Willis. A plot of shenanigans, mixups and crossing and conflicting plots ensue as Korben and Leeloo race to recover the four elemental stones needed to save the world from the vague space evil thing, at times frustrated by the machinations of arms manufacturer and full-time Bad Person Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman.)

While the plot isn't what I'd call particularly complex, it is fun. The shell game of impersonations and near misses to get Korben and Leloo to the planet Floston in particular is fun, although it does saddle us with noted eccentric radio fuckboy Ruby Rhod (Christ Tucker.) There is this re-occuring note of Korben just kind of being along for the ride while Leeloo takes on most of the main character duties. Sure, they kick roughly equivalent amounts of ass in an absolutely preposterously "90's cool" fight scene and a very of-the-era shootout, respectively, but other than having the unpleasant task of extracting the macguffin stones from a side character, Korben is largely reactive, and you can see a fair bit of the late stage die hard movies where John McLane is an action movie badass first and an everyman in the wrong place at the wrong time second if at all, in K-man's role here. Now don't get me wrong, I can watch In His Prime Bruce Willis do cool action shit all day, but the lack of pluck does undermine his character's achievements a bit. Watching 1988 John McLane coming out of a fight scene mostly in one piece by the skin of his teeth feels astounding, watching 2007 John McLane take down a helicopter by launching a car at it hardly breaking a sweat just can't compete.

As for Leloo, ah, yes, Leeloo. This role, it seems was Mila Jovovichs in to the action scene, where she found a very Kate Beckinsale-esque niche as an action gal. Now, she looks like a stiff breeze could carry her away, but kung-fu girl power being what it is at the time, where there is a will, there is a way. With Jovovich I kind of always feel like there's a will. The roles aren't often all that flattering, Leeloo has this childishness to her in her non-ptsd moments that makes the building romance with Korben perhaps feel a bit... icky? Granted, she is a perfect warrior and at least 300 years old if we include her (apparent) genetic memory, but I do find myself wishing they'd gone more for elven agelessness instead.

This has all been very critical I feel, so let me underline how goddamn fun this movie is. The Diva Dance scene alone is worth the price of admission for the sheer indulgent spectacle of it, Zorg is a fun bit of future corpo villainy although he doesn't really interact with the main plot much, and although "love is the fifth element" is about as aggressively of a 90's note to end on as is at all possible, the earnestness with which it is delivered is almost enough for me to feel anything about a Bruce Willis performance and that certainly isn't nothing.

Also looking at The Fifth Element feels like a type of Sci-Fi we don't get enough of these days. It's old school B-Sci Fi with an unusually high budget. There's world building here, but not the kind of "bursting at the seams and spinning out into a million expanded universe" world building that is seemingly mandatory in the metatext-obsessed world of today. This is one french pervert deciding that he wants to make a big dumb movie about aliens and spaceships and saving the world, and going about to do so. It has rubber masks, it has needlessly sexy flight attendants on a journey that'll be undertaken in cryosleep, it has inherently villainous shape-shifting space orcs. It's not here to explain itself for one goddamn moment so take your franchise wiki-making ass elsewhere. Granted, it didn't make much money from what I hear, so there's maybe a good reason we don't get movies like this any more, but a boy can dream can't he?

[lov3rs-go]

2023 fashion predictions!!!!!

(Note: I do not have a fashion degree. But i'm usually ahead of the curb w these things.) 

We are going to continue to see this super tumblr-grunge “rockstar’s gf” aesthetic throughout the rest of december with a touch of “city girl/lana del rey” and “winter y2k” vibe. (suede, mary janes, black tights / white fluffy knee-high boots, cropped puffer jackets, hello kitty..) I could see this morphing into a rus-core (weird ass name but im not sure what else 2 call it IM SO SORRY.) brutalist vibe- black monochromatic fits, big boots, cyber vibes mixed with a distinctly “vintage” vibe. But the 80’s are more “in” than ever, so it wouldn’t shock me if we leaned more towards an 80s-90s grunge/mall goth look either. 

As winter comes to an end, the Tumble Girl (™) has it’s chance to absolutely BLOW UP. I could see us reverting right back to 2014 tumblr with maybe hints of 2020 cottage core during spring. (I think a nostalgia for 2020 is going to happen sometime in the future, where people start to miss the creative freedom 2020 gave us and we bring back those fashion trends in full-force- and though I can’t guarantee it will happen at the start of 2023, I definitely believe it will happen in the next year or two) 

During the end of spring/start of summer, there's going to be a new “aesthetic” with maximalism/cyber y2k/manic-pixie-dream-girl vibes. Big, chunky plastic/resin jewelry, lots of silver (eye shadow, boots, skirts), chunky boots/shoes, fun hairstyles with lots of colorful hair clips/beads, big futuristic sunglasses, sportswear inspired jackets/tops. Sort of like a cyber-y2k revival of the retro futurist aesthetic in the 60s. 

If you want fit ideas for any of the upcoming eras lmk I can put a pinterest board 2gether ! dont take this as gods word pls- im probably right but dont place ur bets on it. Also, following trends isnt important- do what you want. I just thought this could b interesting :P

[tsuchiman]

Review: Cyberpunk 2077

Recently finished this after playing it on-and-off for the last 3 months. I started it last year, it didn't hook me so I dropped it but picked it back up and got into the swing of things.

At first, the vanilla game was mostly enjoyable but certain things started to irritate me. I noticed that most guns didn't do any damage to foes, which led me down the rabbit hole of modding via Nexus Mods. After adding in a realistic combat mod, I started fooling around with other mods just to fully customize the experience. Most of it modified minor things: crowd behaviors, water textures, more diverse weather rotation, increased traffic density, etc. The mod that hit the nail on the head was an EBM music modifier, adding in songs from bands like Nine Inch Nails and Front 242 as you ride around the city.

After the mods came the post-processing. I work with Reshade in a lot of games to add in some usually much needed zest into the final image, and this game needed it. The raw image isn't as impressive as I was expecting, so after much tweaking I finalized an image that I would prefer to see. It all made for better looking screenshots. Although, I didn't play it with an RTX driven card, so no ray-tracing. But even without the high-end rig to run ray-tracing, the game does a great job creating a realistic environment while maintaining a steady 60 fps on my RX 6700 XT at 2K resolution.

The game itself was interesting and about as accurate as you would expect the title to imply. If you've read any William Gibson or Philip K. Dick, or watched pretty much any cyberpunkish sci-fi, then the experience was either familiar or felt like you walked into a mashing of those stories. Everything in this universe looks as if it's been built onto something else, creating an embedded, living greeble effect. The lingo that people use is quirky but unique; "preem", "gonk", have been set into my head as new terms. The design language is stuck between a retro-vision of what the future could have looked like from the perspective of the 80's-90's cyberpunk scene, and with modern-influenced perspectives about how the internet of our day actually works, how AI has actually come to function, etc. The cyberspace environments were somewhat predictable in their design, but functionally worked without being overwhelming, visually or conceptually.

The inclusion of transgender or trans-sexual themes should be noted, since in this universe, body modification is the norm. There is one character I came across that after some time building the relationship, you find out that she was previously a he. The game doesn't focus on it much, but the inclusion of transgender themes makes me ask why there's a lack of transracial themes. The body-modding mechanic is integral to the world-building of the story. It would have been interesting to experience more people who's identities were pushed to all sorts of extremes: differenced sexes, spliced sexes, spliced races, possibly even spliced with animals. Where's the gene modification? Where are the cyber cat girls?

The romance between you and the characters you end up working with was an interesting mechanic. I picked female V, but didn't necessarily have to try too hard to pick who I romanced. The game seemed to favor offering your lady companions as possible romance partners instead of the male companions, but maybe I'm biased since all the women are quite attractive. As conversations IRL usually have a hint of innuendo, adding in sex as an outcome adds a touch of realism since most games don't use it or can't. Flirtation and the inevitable sex scenes were half-way between intimate and comical, but this game isn't designed to be a porno. But again, if the developers are going to include sex as an option, why not push to the extremes?

The only thing that kept me motivated throughout the game was the unraveling of Johnny Silverhand's past and current attachment to you. I won't say any spoilers here, but it was genuinely interesting to experience the dynamic between you and him. It's an interesting take on psychology, implants, cybernetics, the concepts of "soul" and "personality" locations, and the morality entwined between all of these. I chose a more amicable path with Johnny, so the outcome was beneficial for both of us. But there are options where you can essentially stay combative with him, and I'm guessing eventually rejecting him outright like a parasite.

The criticisms I do have for the overall structure of the game is how open-world design can both be a benefit and a hazard. The environments were well crafted, everything fit perfectly into the name "cyberpunk", and after modding a bit, it was accentuated that much more. The drawback with the open-world element is that eventually everything starts to look the same in the city, and I quickly started watching the minimap when navigating, instead of tracking by environmental cues. I felt as lost as I do when I'm using Google Maps.

The environments could have instead been designed by something like "old" versus "new" city designs. The old city would have had an aesthetic that looked like everything was retro-fitted. The new city could have been more like Mirror's Edge. Perhaps there could have been a dome-city, for high-end-profile people only, with no air pollution from some future fancy air filtration system. Perhaps contrast this with a slum-city. Excluding the cyberspace scenes, the visual change between environments only became apparent when you travelled into the desert, or after adding in an increased weather cycle mod. Besides that, the neon eye-candy and megacity flora-fauna was like being lost inside a pinball machine. Eventually it all blurs into a revolving same-ness. In a way, it makes me wonder how the game would have been had it been designed more linearly, with a semi-open world design, something like the Metro 2033 series.

On the topic of environmental design, the faction system that's present, or not present, felt a bit lackluster as well. As it is, there isn't much weight to your decisions other than defining the personalized storyline. You end up working with people from particular factions, yet you yourself never get tied to these factions. I would have found it interesting if the factions you ally with start to define other faction behavior. Choosing to work with the police should affect how other gangs trust you, and vice versa. Maybe you can develop a relationship with a gang, only to infiltrate them for a job for the government. Maybe the government is revealed to have splinter factions within, so that a job becomes difficult with an either-or decision. Territories could be defined by faction influence and control, so maybe you could have a bounty on your head under certain territories, or given special permissions in areas with groups you've been good with. This could have come with access to special items, vehicles, body mods, etc.

Overall, the game is most definitely the definition of "cool". It takes itself seriously, pushing the tech-noir aspect while keeping the zaniness of a future one awry out of the picture. Did it break the sound barrier for me? Not necessarily. But it is rare for me to finish a game. I still haven't finished Witcher 3, which is approaching a decade old soon. So for Cyberpunk 2077 to keep me hooked until the end says something. Or maybe it was just Panam's ass.

[revchainsaw]

Bumblebee (2018)

Good Evening worshippers, and welcome! Today the Cult of Cult goes a little more mainstream than usual. It's been a while since i've tackled a big Hollywood superhero film. But I do believe that these sorts of films will be remembered fondly my small groups of people in the future, especially the smaller films that are being overshadowed by the big bad MCU, films like 2018s Bumblebee.

The Messsage

Bumblebee was originally released as a prequel to the Transformers franchise that had started all the way back in 2007. However, reboots had really hit the market as a way to breath new life into struggling franchises, and the Transformers series had already gone to just about every absurd extreme you could imagine. No changes were made to the movie as it was released, but with it's more childish and heartfelt tone, and a new aesthetic that was softer, smoother, and all around just generally more pleasing to the eye, I think it was a wise choice to rebrand Bumblebee as a new beginning.

Our story is of two friends from two very different worlds and how they came together. Our first character is Bumblebee, then known as B- number sign/it doesn't really matter. Not yet Bumblebee is a soldier set with securing a safe location for the Autobots to regroup and make their home as they suffer a pretty serious defeat on cybertron at the hands of the tyrannical Decepticons. Optimus Prime, here again voiced by Peter Cullen and looking so much more like himself, assigns this task to Bumblebee promising him that they will meet him there when the time comes. Then Optimus fucks off for the rest of the run time making way for our little hero.

Bumblebee lands on Earth and is immediately set upon by John Cena and his military goon squad. It probably would have been wise for Bumblebee to avoid John Cena but in his defense, he couldn't see him. Hardy har har. In his attempt to flee his voice box is damaged, he seeks sanctuary by taking the form of a run down little VW bug, and suffers from amnesia.

Then we have Charlie. Charlie is not like other girls. She likes cars, all the retro music, which wasn't retro when the movie takes place, so I'm supposed to just think she's a rocker but it kinda seems like she'll listen to just about anything. I think in 2018 liking Motorhead and The Smiths (who are used ad nauseum in this movie) is perfectly common, but I feel like in the 80s that was a much different and much older attitude to take.

Anyway Charlie's poor family lives in a super fucking nice house and are poor because the dialogue keeps insisting they are so it must be true despite all the shit they have that actually poor people would sell blood and teeth to attain, but hell, this is Hollywood and Hollywood poor is like regular people upper middle class. Charlies family is so poor that instead of giving her a one time graduation/birthday present to buy a part for a car she already has, they just give her a moped, She also spends all her time at a pull apart where the manager (who might be her uncle that wasn't super clear) is willing to just give her a Volkswagen so I don't understand why she didn't already have the project car up and running. Whatever, it's a plot contrivance. All you need to know is that Charlie is tenacious and hard around the edges cuz her dad is dead and she's not yet mature enough to process that in a healthy way. Maybe her character arch will teach her to let others in, we'll have to find out.

There's also a wacky nerd named Memo, and some bad guys, and John Cena. They are all also pretty archetypal and contrived and don't really do anything of note that isn't just filling a beat that this kind of movie needs to walk. Charlie starts Bumblebee up, discovers he's a robot and the two begin to bond. Charlie learns to make a friend, and bumblebee is learning about himself. They get into hijinks and get revenge on a bully girl who makes Regina George look like a saint, she pretty much only picks on Charlie exclusively for having a dead dad.

The moment Bumblebee is woken back up, some technology goof em up that both he and Charlie are unaware of brings two Decepticon baddies into the picture. I don't remember their names, but since I love The Venture Brothers let's say they can be "Jet Boy and Jet Girl". Jet Boy and Jet Girl are sometimes cars, sometimes various flying military vehicles, and they make friends with the deep state and plan to get all the adrenochrome from all the orphans, or just to go find Bumblebee and beat his ass good cuz their bad guys. Let me tell y'all though, Jet Boy and Jet Girl are so bad that they don't even care that the government is listening when they reveal that they are planning on bringing a Decepticon Invasion and after they rough up Bumblebee real good they are going to destroy all life on this planet. So they start by killing a military scientist.

John Cena is after Bumblebee and he's homies with Jet Boy and Jet Girl until the military scientist butt dials him and he hears the evil plan. John Cena goes from heel to face and helps Bumblebee and Charlie save the day. It's a giant CG clusterfuck climax a la any superhero film in the last 10 years and I basically stopped watching. BumbleBee pulls a Hellraiser on Jet Boy, and then he hits Jet Girl with a freaking boat. Charlie uses her diving skills do dive down and save him, but he's a Giant Robot and he was okay and it was literally pointless for her to to except as a way to show that her character has completed her arch by doing the thing that was representative of her connection with her lost father.

Bumblebee turns into the Camaro from the first movie, meets up with Optimus prime, and the stage is set for this prequel to squeeze more prequels out. So it wasn't very creative, but was it bad? Let's find out.

Please Stand to receive the Benediction.

Best Aspect: Transform the Franchise

Bumblebee was directed by Travis Knight of Laika fame and it shows. This movie marks a stylistic change in the transformers franchise, as in it doesn't look like utter dog shit, but it also represents in many ways a tonal shift. It does hold on to a lot of gross sleaze that has unfortunately been forcibly jammed into the DNA of the franchise but it also attempts to be a more heartfelt entry. The characters of Bumblebee might all be sort of a waste of time, but at least they are doing something with emotions, even if the emotions of the characters are only explored as deeply as a children's cartoon I'm glad they are there. In the previous installments the only thing the characters did between running from action piece to seizure inducing action piece was drool over underage girls like a bunch of chimpanzees at the facility where they test experimental E.D. meds. It was nice to see that at least somewhat tampered. This transformers movie feels more like it's for kids and young teenagers, and strangely that more friendly tone makes for a much less juvenile product.

Worst Aspect: Remember I Love the 80s from the 2000s

I hope you really like Stranger Things. I do, but because Stranger Things was so successful it' s going to be everywhere. Not true Stranger Things just 80s nostalgia porn. This 80s nostalgia is going to be forced on you whether you like it or not, and it's not going to be fun. It's gonna be in your shows, in your music, in your Sunday like Bacon in 2010. It's that or Marvel Franchise Brand Whedonisms. Bumblebee is that brave movie that says, "Why not both?" It would seem fitting that a property as quintessentially 80s as Transformers should feel completely comfortable doing a period piece set in the 80's but it's so fucking half hearted it's depressing. It wasn't done to appreciate the roots of the IP, it was done to cash in on a trend and it feels it. All they did was throw up a date and insufferably force an 80s soundtrack down your throat as if that was enough to convince you that this movie needed to be set during this time. Other than that you could have told me this film was set in 2007 and I couldn't tell you any different.

Best Character: Charlie's an Angel

I liked Charlie. Sure her Arc is predictable, her taste is dumb, and she isn't exactly a master of her own destiny to any degree. But at least she is a woman in a transformers movie who's got something going on. Sure she's defined entirely by grief, but that sure is better than pretending that being able to work on cars is a feminist character trait instead of a weird fetish thing. They certainly do that thing with Charlie, but at least it's not the only thing they throw at the wall. Bumblebee is by no means out of the woods in this department, but it garners a lot of goodwill for trying. Like a racist uncle who just started his journey out of ignorance, but hasn't yet realized he has to stop asking mortifying questions to the barista at Starbucks. Okay, maybe that's an extreme metaphor. I'm saying that perhaps Charlie is not a great character but she's a great character for a Transfomers movie.

Worst Character: It's JOOOOHHHNNNN CEEEENA!!!!

Why is John Cena in this movie? I don't hate the guy, but his character seems pointless. You could remove him from the movie completely and replace him with any one of the random military goons at any point and it changes nothing. What was with that dumb salute at the end? It seems like they put him in this movie in post and it was just to pump up cast list. I wish he was given anything to work with. I can't remember his characters name, and it's not like John Cena did a bad job, I was just annoyed every time they kept giving him hero shots. I felt like I was watching a trailer for a different movie.

Best Actor: Optimal Primo!

Every time Peter Cullen speaks I want to listen. There's a reason they haven't had Chris Pratt or somebody with a bigger name come in and take over the role at this point. He's why the audience keep coming back. Peter Cullen IS Optimus Prime, and there's no changing that. He also wins twice. He's the best actor in the movie AND he's barely in the movie. Good call Peter.

Worst Actor: Mean Girls 2, Meaner and Girlier

I don't want to be cruel so I'm not going to go into to much detail, but there's an actress in this film who's performance is so mustache twirlingly evil and stupid that it ruined my suspension of disbelief when i knew going in that i was about to endure a 2 hour toy commercial about robots that turn into cars. Beldar Conehead was a more convincing human being than Tina.

Best Effect: Goo Be Gone

I really appreciated when the bad guys shot the government nerd into a blast of snot. That was pretty fun for me. Best part of the movie hands down.

Worst Effect: Live Action?

Bumblebee is a cartoon. It's a great looking cartoon but it doesn't sell itself that way. If we were doing a Roger Rabbit thing I'd have no gripes. However, I think CG is just getting worse. I'm criticizing this and it's still lightyears better than the previous entry's on the franchise. No transformation or fight sequence in Bumble Bee had me straining to make sense of what I was looking at. I think it was a great idea to start using some basic shapes and outlines to these characters, and return somewhat to their 80s designs. But at certain points, especially when there were no humans in the shot, i was pretty convinced I was watching Clone Wars. There may not be anyway around this, as the Transformers concept might not be able to be pulled off in any more effective manner. It's a minor gripe, but I just didn't think it looked like anything other than a very expensive cartoon, and in this franchise that's a compliment, because it least it looked like SOMETHING!

Best Scene: Space Opera

I am not a Transformers fan. I missed the boat on the cartoon as a kid. I would sometimes catch it at friends houses but I was more into Batman, Star Wars, and Ninja Turtles. By the time I came onto the scene the world had moved on to Beast Wars. I did one day arbitrarily decide that my favorite Transformer was Sound Wave. He looked great in this. I am a big fan of the return to form with a lot of the character designs in this. They really did keep the things that worked from the other adaptations, and they are steadily removing the things that didn't. For this reason, the scenes on Cybertron, particularly the battle with Soundwave (i prefer for personal reasons) looked great and were exciting to watch. I remember thinking Cybertron used to look like a Marilyn Manson shot a music video from inside to dumpster. This is so much better.

Worst Scene: Blocking the Box

There's a scene in Bumblebee where Charlie's family decides the best way to save their daughter was to cause a pile up of vehicles in an intersection, and it's pure contrived writing that saved any character in that sequence from being killed in a horrific traffic accident. It was stupid, played for laughs, and it wasn't exciting as much as it was anxiety inducing. I also thought that there was no reason the covert military group covering up extraterrestrial life wouldn't just disappear this family of fucking morons in their little piece of shit car. The logic of the scene was just so childish like, "No they won't hit me, I'm a good person."

Summary

Bumblebee may be remembered fondly in a decade. I think especially if the Transformers franchise were to end here. It didn't get the publicity of the other films, and that really is a shame. For my money, this was the best Transformers movie so far. I was very tempted to give Bumblebee a C, it does just enough to right what was wrong from the other movies to make me appreciate all that work. This movie has heart, and if you are at all into Transformers then l think you should see it. It's still pretty stupid, and pretty basic. It's not offering anything new to the genre, and it feels like a commercial for more movies. I really wish we could just get movies that want to tell a story. I thought it over and decided that it wasn't fair not to grade Bumblebee on it's own merits. Bumblebee is substantially better than the films that preceded it, but that's not saying a lot, when the films that preceded it are joyless exercises in self abuse.

Overall Grade: D

[tfw-no-tennis]

mtmte liveblog - 2012 annual

iirc the annual takes place between 7 and 8, or something. whatever, im gonna go for it

shifts in art style always throw me off phewwww

i cant remember what theyre doing but i find it really funny that first aid is there squaring the fuck up to punch shit

ah yes of course how could i forget the time they shrunk down to fight tiny robots in ultra magnus’s head. a comic classic 

poor magnus lmao

HBJSDKFBSHJFDHJSD HIS TERRIFYING SMILE HAUNTS MY NIGHTMARES. LOVE IT

love the continuation of magnus’s law-vision

the fact that everyone is dunking on magnus for smiling ONCE hvbhjdksbfjks

rewind and chromedome ough

i feel like cyclonus spends 90% of his early mtmte screentime staring broodingly out of windows lmao 

tg so precious

lmaooo i love the flashes of rodimus saying ‘til all are one’ All The Time

rodimus just wants to be like his dad ok

rodimus telling drift to go meditate or something vbhjfdbhdsjkf

i love rodimus calling magnus out on referring to himself in the third person lmaoooo but also I'm like Oh I See That [eyes emoji]

wish i had emojis on the computer sigh

lmao so the circle of light is a bunch of pacifists With Big Ass Swords

them betting on how long it'll take rodimus to say ‘til all are one’ vbkjsdhbfjhkhsdf

damn so ambulon rlly did switch sides late in the game 

cyclonus is here!! being an emotionally closed-off fool as usual 

nooo rodimus let tailgate speak

cant believe rodimus graffiti’d tailgate

drift, immediately: rodimus is FUCKING POSSSESSED 

ratchet: ok, no, 

godddd everything abt the galactic counsel here is so funny. ‘its big - its grey - its taxpayer funded’ hvbkjshdbfjkdf and the fact that their ship is called ‘the benign intervention’ lmaooo

also DAMN that is a BIG ASS SHIP 

‘a fleshling in a stupid hat’ i love rodimus and his irrational hatred of hats

magnus comin in CLUTCH with the dry-ass clauses shit 

rewind vhjbdskfbaksdfn ‘the sub-section 7 defense - sneaky’ ily

tailgate hvbhjadkfbjskdf its ok that you don't know what's going on

also tailgate serves a vital role in the story as the audience insert character (or w/e its called), bc he’s often confused which allows for handy exposition that we the audience also need lmao 

i find it so interesting to see how the cybertronians are viewed by the rest of the galaxy - we don't see a lot of aliens but its always fascinating when we do, because of COURSE they’re mostly gonna think of the cybertronians as destructive and war-like when that’s what they’ve been up to for 4 million years 

ooof swerve :( swerve is one of those characters who you’re like ‘haha he’s funny’ most of the time but pretty often he’ll have startling moments of like, deep pain about life or w/e, and you’re like Oh Shit and then you kinda move on, until finally the swearth arc hits and it all comes together. what I'm saying is that this is some nice building towards that 

HGDSBJFKJSJBDF THERE IT IS THERE IT ISSSSSSSSSS

THE PANEL WHERE REWIND IN ALT MODE CAN FLY FOR SOME REASONNNNNN

i fucking love that shot so much. does everyone see this. rewind is a GIANT FUCKIN FLASHDRIVE and he’s hovering ominously thru the air. like, what happened to all the biz from issue 1 or w/e where his husband was roasting him for having a non-mobile altmode? if he can fucking HOVER than Actually rewind is the fucking coolest, no contest 

or like, is the implication that they all teleported there (having switched to alt mode along the way i guess?) and rewind is just like, suspended in midair? bc that's what the speed bubble text implies, but it also totally looks like they're just travelling across the area and rewind can levitate

anyways. that panel has always cracked me up lmaoooo

rodimus calling the council ‘fascists’ hvbhduifbjsdjfajskf sir i love you 

GODDD and there's the joke payoff from a few issues ago - rewind, facing front, hearing drift transform behind him and not only being able to tell its drift without looking, but also being able to tell that drift is upset, JUST like chromedome said he could....fucking PEAK i love that type of payoff humor

ooof and more swerve introspection. i mentioned earlier but i fucking LOVE how this series showcases the extremely wide range of reactions/coping mechanisms that everyone has towards the endless war finally being over - and swerve really nails it here: confusing peace with happiness, and assuming that everything would automatically be better after the war is over, when in reality you still have to work just as hard to build shit rather than break it

also i adore the horror of a guy who is half-embedded in the wall, his face stuck in a rictus of terror & death, waxing philosophical about how peace is about the freedom of choice, and how they should all just feel lucky to have survived...oof, that's very specifically ironic coming from you, dude 

but i do love the little characterization we get here for ore, a character who is literally already dead and has so far been used as a plot device pretty exclusively, but we still get to know little things about him here, and how HE feels about the war and the current peace, etcetc. it really makes the story and characters seem believable, like every character has a story even if we don't take the time to see it 

love cyclonus posing coolly 

kinda love how clear it is that drifts whole hippy schtick is just a front to cover his anger, and a tool to make him seem like an approachable, upstanding autobot

drift dramatically monologuing while pointing his sword at the sky is extra funny with everyone else just staring at him doing this

cyclonus why are you grabbing at the edge of the hole you're falling into, you can LITERALLY FLY, 

magnus finally getting some appreciation for being The most law abiding guy like, ever 

genuinely forgot abt the whole metrotitan plot that happens here 

GOD when rodimus is like BRAIN QUEST TIME and then we smash cut to them at the brain ‘six minutes later’ vhbhkudfjbjksf i live for that shit 

also that would be even funnier animated which further proves that we need an mtmte/ll animated series, please, somebody, 

HBDSJKFSHDJF REWIND IS SO FUCKING FUNNYYYYYY you cant even tell if he GENUINELY didn't think cyclonus could talk or if hes just being a dick but either way? comedy gold 

oh i adore the flashbacks being in a different artstyle, especially one that's so retro 

i love rewind being a history geek, and cyclonus passionately explaining cybertronian creation theory

HHHH i fucking LOVE the myth/lore stuff like....a lot of franchises tend not to dwell in this type of mythology, you tend to get The True Version Of Events, but this kind of explanation rocks bc it totally sounds like the kind of religious mythology that naturally develops based on a species’ progression

and drift and ratchet’s very opposing and polarizing views certainty do make for interesting perspectives, tho i feel like the story sometimes leans too much towards ratchet being ‘more correct’ bc, logic! or something idk i feel like i used to have a couple mild opinions on this but i don't remember

and its funny bc i am, irl, an atheistic medical professional who believes in science above all else - essentially just like ratchet. but i feel like the narrative portrayal skews a little more in his favor than i’d like, despite that 

skids just out here being a bummer, completely unprompted. cant even blame you tho dude 

hhhhhh chromedome talking abt rewind ;_; 

and when he says ‘maybe there’s someone out there who can save your life, too’ and cyclonus is there....hhhh

god i fucking LOVE drift and rodimus’s entire relationship. the layers...the LAYERS!!!

OH HEY ITS THOSE ROBOTS SKIDS FOUGHT 

ah, inconvenient laser time!

ok i fuckgin love how cybertronian’s brains look just like the planet cybertron. that's so fucking great 

of COURSE brainstorm brought his shrink ray 

truly i love the convo between ore and swerve, especially overlaid onto everyone fighting 

oof, the themes and plot threads of this annual are all so nicely tied up (which is something i love abt mtmte, especially early on when the story is smaller), with swerve now choosing to disobey an order from rodimus

oh yeah, the circle of light! that's who you've been looking for this whole time basically! 

and then the ending, hearing that magnus smiled (willingly!) :) i love it

rodimus’s profile says ‘finds it difficult to sit still’ bc rodimus is an adhd icon

lmao i feel like over half of my sentences in this recap - and in most of my recaps - contain ‘i love it’ or ‘i love how-’ or some variation upon that theme. I'm predictable 

anyways - the annual! i love this issue. its really long which is cool and i feel like it does a lot to flesh out the setting and lore, and even the characters as well. also, as i said above, it does an excellent job telling an exciting and well-contained story, with solid story beats throughout and plot threads that emerge and get resolved all within this issue, even while leaving plenty of stuff up for future resolution. that's the Early MTMTE Special, and i adore it. tho i will say I'm glad we’ll be getting back to the regularly scheduled art style, bc this one didn't really do it for me 

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapter 224-226: Pirates, serial killers and a killer rabbit’s much awaited backstory.

For the sake of time, I will combine my summary of the past few chapters that I missed while I was traveling and I don’t want to break it into smaller bits.

Chapter 224 had a color cover featuring none other than our favorite solitary wildcat sniper Ogata.  I personally love the retro look for this!  It looks like a classic comic from the 1960s with the odd color scheme and the handwritten shaded boxes.

The one box highlights the “100″ in Ogata’s first name as the kanji hyaku and the rest in latin letters. 

The text refers to “Come on, Let’s Go! On wildcat Ogata’s sure-hit express! (one step forward!).  Thanks to discussions on discord the phrase is in reference to the cat moving and delivery company in Japan, Yamato transport aka 黒ねこ (Kuroneko).  A huge shout out to tsurumineko for translating the pun based on their “target hitting/sure hitting” level of service.  I was previously familiar with the company in part due to my love of cats and noticing it everywhere when I’ve visited Japan.

Here is the official logo with a mom cat carrying a kitten and their official HQ (from wikipedia).

I can’t help but wonder if this implies that Ogata is a very reliable character in regards to performing his duties or that he hopes to one day make sure bring his own “kitten” home.  Will Ogata be the one to take Asirpa back home to her kotan, Huci and her family? Either way, it implies that Ogata will get the job done, just like Kuroneko will deliver that package on time for you!  He’ll snipe that target, he’ll get that info, he’ll make sure your mission is a success etc.

The retro look also makes me think of comics like these:

Batman works a bit outside of the law and has that dark edgy feel to it and Ogata also wears a cloak!  Plus, look at the style of Batman and Robin, they’ve got quite the build just like our GK boys do.

Anyways, the cover is a combination of Kuroneko delivery and Batman.

Chapter 224 starts at the Uryu river as Asirpa is lighting a fire to attract a swan to it so that they can have it for dinner.  For some odd reason, Noda chooses to rehash the Asirpa is going to kill a cute/beautiful animal for dinner.  She pulls Sugimoto’s head when she sarcastically replies to him that they will gently grab the swan. . . .

I don’t understand this need to return to early Sugimoto-Asirpa humor.  Shiraishi has returned from pooping and a swan approaches as the two of them freak out upon noticing the other.  I personally find Shiraishi’s concern valid - swans are total assholes, so I’d also want to be upset at a swan at close range.

Asirpa beats it and they begin to prepare it for dinner in a temporary shelter as early on in the manga.  This is a repeat of when they first started working together and ate the deer that Sugimoto failed to shoot.  The three of them in Asirpa’s tent cooking some dinner.

Keep in mind Sugimoto didn’t want to eat the otter head etc etc and he still has issues with things beyond brains.

This time Asirpa really highlights the need to give it the Inaw offerings and place the head in the river.

Sugimoto still can’t eat animal heads and still looks awkward.  However in contrast to chapter 25, after eating Shiraishi begins to explain what he’s observed from Heita’s belongings.  He explains to us in a flashback what Heita told them about gold panning.  He knows now that gold from different rivers looks different so there is a way to identify where it came from.  And now, we get to see Shiraishi shine as he begins to help them lay out a new strategy for finding the gold without the skins.

He first off explains what we already know about the “Noppera-bou incident” which I find interesting based on the fact that he uses Noppera-bou - I wonder if Shiraishi thinks someone else killed the 7 Ainu men and Wilk was moving the gold, but not involved as Wilk told that to Sugimoto.

Shiraishi points out there may be people who know where the gold is hidden - and since supposedly Wilk moved it all by himself, he wouldn’t be able to move it that far. 

He then continues to state, they just need to find the region where the gold dust was from and look close by.  Sugimoto is not convinced by Shiraishi’s line of reasoning at all.  He has a look of total annoyance and he’s like - “we” can’t identify a hidden gold dust stash etc.  I’m disappointed that Asirpa simply chimes in that he’s an idiot as she eats the swan head that Sugimoto wouldn’t.

Shiraishi has to remind them what they learned from Tanigaki back when he was injured and recovering with Huci at Asirpa’s kotan.  Part of the gold was taken from the stash by Wilk and the boat capsized on Lake Shikotsu.  Therefore, they know where a sample of the gold is.  As soon as Shiraishi reminds them of what they know from Tanigaki, he catches Asirpa’s attention and she takes him seriously.

She then summarizes where he’s been going with this - they likely won’t have the skins so they need another game plan.  Bravo Shiraishi!  He has created a plan B for them, better than Sugimoto’s “um maybe we will sweep in and steal the skins from Hijikata or Tsurumi . . .”

Sugimoto immediately rejects Shiraishi’s plan on the fact it is too hard and whines about it.  Asirpa at least has a well thought out and rational reply that the lake is too deep, so they can’t get the evidence.

This leads into a flashback with Heita and our pirate convict at Lake Shikotsu the previous year.  We get a “typical” reveal of his character as he’s completely in the nude about to dive into the cold spring water.  Boutarou the Pirate’s real name is Oosawa Fusatarou and this reveals some of his background as a talented swimmer and diver.

He’s got some rather unique eyebrows - reverse Koito ones and he reveals that he’s going to dive for 35 minutes.  He then uses special breathing techniques to get as much oxygen into his system and he’s got large feet, webbed hands (due to cell death not occurring between his digits during fetal development btw) and he became a convict by drowning people and stealing their stuff.

By having a rope tied to his ankle, Heita can signal to him when his time is up and he can come up from his deep free dive.

The chapter then returns to Shiraishi pointing out that Heita and Mr. Pirate already found the gold.  This means that Shiraishi took the time to look at all of Heita’s samples and that they know the location and it is linked to one of the still remaining convicts.

Shiraishi then reveals that he knew that there was a guy who was intense, physically robust and pushed himself to the limits - so if he could dive to find the gold - he would be the most likely to succeed. The flashback shows that he was able to dive down to Wilk’s canoe and that Heita found at least 4 locations for the gold dust.

With the list of rivers, it means the gold dust found in the canoe can be traced to these four rivers: Toppu River, Saru River, Sorachi River and Shiriuchi River.  I have labeled each of those rivers on the map of Heita’s description of rivers that can be panned for gold and included a few cities for reference.  In yellow is the current approximate location of Asirpa, Sugimoto and Shiraishi on the Uryu river.  The rivers where the gold dust is from are in magenta.  The Toppu River is the closest one to them and the Sorachi and Saru Rivers are reasonably close.

The only river that is further away is the Shiriuchi River fairly close to Hakodate.  Google maps has the Shiriuchi River labelled as the Chinai River (I checked with translator GlassHouses for clarification - apparently it can also be read as the Chinai River and there is one located in Shikoku - thanks for the help!) so if you try to find it in English it won’t be labelled correctly.  Lake Shirotsu is the large lake on the map just next to my arrow pointing to Sapporo.  Only put on a few cities for easy reference, Otaru, close to Asirpa’s kotan, Ashikawa and Kushiro. 

The chapter then ends with Sugimoto holding the list of rivers as his eyes are white.  He figures if they head to those rivers, since the pirate knows where the gold is from they just need to catch a pirate [and skin him].  Stop looking so well murder-y Sugimoto.

The tag line at the end states that every river eventually leads to the sea . . . I guess this must be true in Japan perhaps, but if you live in a basin, or in the Great Lakes region of North America the lake does not lead to the sea . . . . but I digress.  This likely has to do with the pirate reference or something.

Recall that in 223, Hijikata is the one who remarks that Boutarou the pirate is making his move.

with the end of 224, it is confirmed that Boutarou is another faction entering the quest for the gold. 

Quick observations and predictions from this chapter.

1.) Ogata is about to become a key player based on his color cover (if you don’t already get that Ogata is important).  Momma cat needs to take her kittens home.

2.) Shiraishi has laid out their plan to look for the pirate.  This may lead to an alliance or Sugimoto just trying to skin him based on the ending page.  I personally think an alliance with Asirpa-Sugi-Shiraishi and Boutarou to be the most interesting. . . .

3.) Hijikata is not surprised by Boutarou’s move to enter the quest.  He was working with Heita and now we know he will likely have his own faction as well.

4.) Based on my map, some of the parties will need to visit each of these rivers in order to gather information.  With the much farther away Shiriuchi River, it takes the cast close to Hakodate.  I can see this being key in future events involving Hijikata (due to his historical death during the Battle of Hakodate), Koito, since he was kidnapped in Hakodate by Tsurumi with the help of Ogata, Tsukishima and Kikuta.  It seems like some sort of confrontation at Hakodate is in the cards.

Chapter 225 - Another convict enters the story.

So chapter 225 starts out with a clear reference to the infamous serial killer, Jack the Ripper who targeted prostitutes in Victorian London and was never caught.  Oh yay, another serial killer - just my fav type of convict. [rolls eyes] The chapter title slums seems to refer to the slums of Sapporo where alcohol and prostitution were the few releases and the area was ripe with disease and violence. 

An older woman is walking back to the inn of her client, he’s a much taller man wearing a western style of dress and a top hat.  The woman is chatting away, she explains that she used to come from a wealthy family in Nagoya, since she’s in Hokkaido, it either implied her family was on the losing side during the Meiji revolution or that her late husband was on the losing side sent up to Hokkaido.

She’s clearly flush with drink and she turns to notice that he may be Japanese based on her “Huh? You’r Japa . . .” as he then grabs her by the face and proceeds to slit her throat and then cut up her body.  As she struggled we get to see her hand pulled his jacket open a bit revealing yet another tattoo - so yep, another convict.

The following morning shows Sapporo police officers trying to keep the press away from a covered corpse, the woman covered with a straw mat.  A member of the press is confirming what happened with a very suspicious looking police officer. Apparently, there was prostitute who was killed in the same location within the past month or less e.g. indicated by the 31st of last month (we don’t know how far into the current month things are).  The man is revealed to be a criminal inspector and he has a shaded face and interesting wrinkles under his eyes.

From the start, this criminal inspector seems to be quite tall compared to the reporter.  The next page reveals his identity as he’s trying to get a scoop on the story by bribing the inspector with food.  The inspector’s face is covered as he simply tells him to shut up as he turns away.

The action then shifts to the temple where Hijikata and Co. are staying as we the readers are reminded that the man is Ishikawa Takuboku, the reporter who meet up with the group back when they had their photos taken before Abashiri in Kitami.  Most of the group went to the photo studio with Hijikata while Shiraishi went off to the red light district with Takuboku instead as they hung out with sex workers and got very intoxicated on Hijikata’s money.  The drunken Ishikawa blurts out that Hijikata is going to buy up newspapers to control the press.

Shiraishi knew that the Russo-Japanese war resulted in sales of papers but Ishikawa revealed that the change was due to the addition of pictures!  Hence part of the reason why having a photo of Asirpa will be important to his Republic of Ezo plan.  Again this exchange between Shiraishi and Takuboku-chan illustrates that Shiraishi is a pretty observant and smart guy.  He’s def aware of more things than people give him credit for.

He’s finally back reporting to Hijikata and asks for more spending money.  Unfortunately, he’s trying to get money from Nagakura who is having none of this and reminds him bluntly that if he wants money it needs to be information not printed in the papers.

Ushiyama makes a comment on how gruesome the murders are and wonders if the man has some issue with whores.  Ishikawa comments that it is “unfortunate” since he hopes the man is apprehended quickly since he currently has a prostitute in the area that he is rather fond of.  Wow, way to show how you care about women trapped in sex work Ishikawa . . . that the were likely sold into but I digress.

The English translation has Ushiyama refer to sex workers as whores, and Ishikawa’s use of prostitutes implies a little more respect, but maybe not since he’s concerned his current interest in Sapporo may get his fav woman killed and he won’t be able to sleep with her any more.  What is clear is both men seem awkward in their opinion of how women in sex work should be perceived.

This is clear based on Nagakura’s reply to Ishikawa’s statement that he hopes he dies in a ditch.  Hijikata completely ignores the info and just asks Kadokura if there was a convict in Abashiri who fits the description for the current killer.

Kadokura doesn’t reveal the name of any other information about the killer.  Clearly, this information will be revealed when it becomes relevant and Hijikata is concerned that if this man is a convict and he is making such violent headlines that Tsurumi and his men in the 27th will certainly realize that they should investigate as well.  It seems after Abashiri, Hijikata is taking Tsurumi as seriously as possible as well as the arrival of Ariko into his group after he was beaten up by Usami.

Hijikata’s reference to the 27th hunting the possible convict leads to another mallard flying.  The final part of the panel shows Ogata aiming at the duck.  Ogata fires at the duck.

The duck flies on, but Ogata simply exhales as he works the bolt with his left hand.  He’s looking smug yet determined again.  We don’t seem him exhale like this frequently, but it does remind me of his “I shot the woodcocks” proud face or a focused “hmmph”  this is what I expected look.

The final panel shows two tail feathers from the duck fall to the ground both having been shot by Ogata.  It is clear that Ogata is pleased with his progress on re-learning how to shoot ducks with his left eye.  He’s making good progress - I’m not sure if we will get to see him make a successful kill in the manga or if Noda will keep it for a big reveal scene where he makes an amazing shot.

There are two ways to look at this i.) Ogata knows he’s getting better and he’ll let others see that he can still snipe and that he’s still a sniper.  ii.) Ogata gets better, but publicly doesn’t want others to know he’s back to “normal” and uses his injury as a way to hide his regained sniping ability as his wildcard.

Both of these can be advantages for Ogata - everyone assumes he’s a sniper and forgets about all of his other skills.  Or he makes others assume he’s weaker and than uses that to defeat them - an obvious sucker is Sugimoto - Sugimoto would look at one-eyed Ogata and think, “well if I can get close enough to break his arm again I can totally finish him off . . .” as Ogata then snipes Sugimoto again . . . (okay, not likely to happen just like that but you get my idea).

The chapter then shifts to an unnamed village along the Sea of Okhotsk.  This is a vague descriptor, and as my map indicates it can be along this entire coast of the northeastern part of Hokkaido.  Yay!  The panel is quite simple as it shows a dead horse laying down.

The final panel shows Usami looking down upon the horse.  Stares down at the horse as his eyes are white around the iris. As his head shifts a little to his left.

It is clear by the next page that Usami is the likely cause of death for the horse.  A random man yells “Who did this?  Who killed my horse!” as it shows Usami shuffling off rather quickly to avoid being caught in the act of horse murder.

Tsurumi is then outside of a shop that sells newspapers reading a newspaper with great interest. He then speaks to Kikuta who is nearby, telling him that the murders in Sapporo appear to be the work of an escaped tattooed convict.

He orders Kikuta to go to Sapporo to look into the convict.  And that he should take Superior Private Usami with him.  Wherever Tsurumi is along the coast is unclear, but Tsurumi seems to think staying on the eastern coast will allow him to find Asirpa from that area.  Plus, he has sent Tanigaki in search of them as well. . . Kikuta replies yes sir rather calmly in a typical Kikuta fashion.

Usami walks up behind him with completely black eyes when Tsurumi tells him to take Usami with him. . . Kikuata can’t be too happy wit this as his reply is hesitant . . .” . . . yes, sir . . .” as he gives him the stink eye. 

Usami then speaks up highlighting that he really doesn’t want to go with Kikuta.  This is quite bold from a superior private, but Usami seems like he can get away with this in front of Tsurumi and Kikuta almost smirks as he feels the same way.  Tsurumi doesn’t even turn to reply to Kikuta, he simply replies that Usami will be of use to him in Sapporo and Kikuta looks curious as to in what context Usami will be helpful.

Tsurumi figures that Hijikata’s group will also move there to investigate due to the newspaper coverage and that they should avoid them if all possible.  Tsurumi doesn’t want them running into each other. 

This is interesting as Kadokura is currently in Hijikata’s group and can easily recognize Usami so that may come into play.  Usami beat the crap out of Ariko so he’ll be tied to the situation.  Ogata is back with Hijikata for now and has a previous work history with Kikuta and there is enough information for the two of them to have some sort of showdown/reunion etc.

With somewhat erratic screen tones behind Usami and a equally creepy font he declares that running into Hijikata’s group is fine.  He concludes that Ariko will be a useless spy and that he will just kill them all and steal everything - problem solved.

And with that Usami gives off super creepy vibes at 110%.

He and Kikuta don’t get along at all - when they were chasing after Toni Anji which required a well thought out plan he was useless and whiny and Kikuta couldn’t take it and also trusted Ariko to succeed.

When they were chasing Asirpa off of the ferry - Usami’s solution was to simply kill Huci and Kikuta was clearly appalled by how Usami’s mind seems to work.  It was clear when Usami beat up Ariko that Kikuta was both hurt and torn about the entire situation.  This likely is setting up some sort of disagreement between the two men.  Kikuta is a sauve, sexy man, who appears a bit cocky at times but he gives off a vibe of really caring for others and avoids harming others who are not involved in things.

The next page reveals that indeed both groups are hunting down the convict in Sapporo.

Hijikata has brought his entire entourage.  He leads the group followed by Ushiyama and Nagakura.  Kadokura, Toni, Kantarou, Kirawus and then Ariko follow behind.  Ariko looks back at Ogata watching them from a distance and taking up the rear as he prefers.

Kikuta leads with Usami behind, his face partially obscured by his visor of his army cap - Kikuta is too sexy to every wear a hat and mess up his excellent hairstyle.

It is interesting that even when you zoom in a bit, Ogata has his blank expression as Ariko nervously looks back at him.  He was nervous to see Ogata and he likely thinks Ogata is onto him as a spy or maybe even thinks that Ogata is still working for Tsurumi.  

It looks like Kirawus is watching Kadokura - I wonder if he’s onto Kadokura playing dumb.  The two of them may get drunk and joke around, but I think Kirawus has been watching both Kadokura and also used him to get closer to Hijikata.  I think both of these men are carrying secrets that will be important as time progresses in the manga.  I just can’t shake the feeling that Kirawus knows more about the Ainu murders and I have a theory that he keeps his forehead covered b/c of some scar or something from the incident where the 7 Ainu men were murdered.

The next page has present day Tsurumi thinking of something disturbing based on the screen tones around him and it reveals a flashback, in Meiji 28 (1895) and back in Tsurumi’s home area of Shibata, Niigata.  The flashback starts with someone asking Tokushirou, Tsurumi’s first name, about how the battlefield was.

The next page reveals Tsurumi talking with a man who appears to be his martial arts teacher for jujitsu.  Tsurumi tells his teacher that he observed something interesting in war.  Despite the vast amount of training that soldiers underwent before battle, most of the men actively avoided trying to kill the enemy soldiers.

Tsurumi goes on to state that during the American Civil war troops went to great lengths to avoid killing each other (as the nature of a civil war that split families apart at times) and he spends the rest of the page discussing that most humans will really try to avoid killing each other, even in the case of war.

This really is the heart of one of the major issues of GK.  What happens to men who go off to war and the actually kill others?  How do men do this and how to they move forward (or in the case of many of the elite men of Tsurumi’s 27th) how do those men get sucked into killing and do all of the dirty deeds for him.

This gets at the concept of how a person can be turned into a killer and be able to go to great lengths to kill and in this quest for the gold - who can serve Tsurumi best.

After perhaps working or training with his sensei, Tsurumi has changed into his uniform and is telling children nearby (perhaps students of the dojo) to be careful of Master Takeda’s horse is ill tempered (confirmation of the identity of the man he was just talking to) and that it may kick them.  The fact that Usami killed a horse in the present time and then there is a flashback about a horse seems to indicate this will be something to do with Usami’s past.

A voice then calls to Tsurumi, calling him Mister Tokushirou, indicating a person familiar enough with him to call him by his first name but with respect.

This flashback now has revealed not one, but two people close enough to Tsurumi to use his first name either as a senior, his sensei and this unknown yet clearly younger person.  Tsurumi responds, that he recognizes who the person is - revealed to be a younger Usami.  He tells him that he’s gotten taller again, and then calls him by his first name, Tokishige.

Usami is blushing as he looks at Tsurumi before he replies yes, still blushing with black eyes as it reveals that he is Usami Tokishige, 14 years old. This means Usami was born in 1881.

Of course the editorial tagline mentions that he is yet another of the boys pining for Tsurumi.

Chapter 225 ends with several things as the main points:

1.) The next convict is a serial killer and is in Sapporo.  This will lead to a likely encounter between Hijikata’s group and Kikuta and Usami.

How will this showdown happen?  I’m hoping that Kadokura notices Usami and tips off the rest of the group and KIkuta and Ogata catch up.  They seem to be more morally centered members of the 27th concerned about others who can get caught in the crossfire.

2.) The manga is back to the concept of the ability to kill, what makes a killer? what makes a murder? and what makes a soldier?  Tsurumi wants men willing to go into the depths of hell with him to accomplish his goals.

Tsukishima will see this to the end - he’s officially dead on the outside and inside after his Koito confrontation.

Nikaido is losing all of his humanity to be a test subject for a new and improved solider.

Usami has clearly had a vibe that something is totally off with him since he was first introduced.  The fact that Koito was groomed by Tsurumi when he was 14, means that Usami’s age and blush shows that he was a previous and older Tsurumi fanboy.  The chapter ends with the idea that Tsurumi likely was involved in grooming him.

Usami is clearly a great soldier and killer for some of Tsurumi’s goals - this chapter is making it clear that Usami is “special” in the context of murder.  Or that he lacks some sort of moral compass or control in regards to murder and killing.

3.) That criminal inspector at the Sapporo police department is shady as all hell.  He could be the convict in disguise - and he’d fit the trope of the murderer working in the police so that he can’t get caught.  Or he’s a total red herring.

Chapter 226 -Sacred Ground

The chapter starts out with a brief update on the status of the Asirpa-Sugi-Shiraishi-Vasily group.  They are stopping by an Ainu kotan and Sugimoto notices another dog that looks exactly like Ryu, but isn’t Ryu.  Shiraishi is the one to remark that Ryu stayed behind as Tanigaki gave Cikapasi Nihei’s rifle so he won’t be going anywhere.  Interestingly, Sugimoto remarks that he hopes that Cikapasi and Ennoka treat Ryu well so he “let’s go” of his attachment to the rifle and move on. 

This is an odd remark from Sugimoto, since he himself needs to move on from a lot of stuff ~ he can see it in a dog’s life but not his own.

This leads to a key comment from Asirpa about Ainu dogs, that their loyalty towards owners can be a bad thing since they get jealous and ill tempered.  A Japanese man owned one and the dog was well treated but he ended up scolding it due to poor behaviour and went hunting without the dog.  The dog’s reaction to rejection was to kill of off the man’s chickens . . . Shiraishi then comments that people will do the same thing for the love of another.

The following page is the title page with the title and a young Usami and Tsurumi. Based on the fact that we know Usami is very loyal to Tsurumi and he has killed for him - I think it is clear the story about the loyal dog is Usami and Tsurumi is the man with the chickens. . . oh great - this chapter is surely getting to the root of his creepy vibes!

Usami tells him that he’s there even on a day to not train even though after he performed housework and chores to help his family he is more than willing to walk 2 hours one way to come to that very spot on the dojo grounds.

Usami’s face is completely shaded so clearly something dark is tied to that place.

The next page reveals that Usami refers to that spot as “our sacred place” as the wind dramatically blows by as Tsurumi looks at his back.

This leads to a flashback in the flashback, 2 years earlier so 1893, showing Usami’s family.  He’s 12 and he appears to have his mother and father, an older sister, younger brother and another younger sibling on his mother’s back as well. 

His father asks him if things are going well at the dojo and with his training.  He replies that Mister Tokushirou told him he’s the most talented of all the students that he’s seen there before.  Therefore, at the age of 12 he was comfortable enough to call Tsurumi by his first name - san! 

This catches the attention of his older sister and his mother as they look at him in shock and awe, his mother stopping her mending of clothing while his sister blushes.  His sister asks excitedly “Mister Tsurumi Tokushirou = Tsurumi Tokshirou-san?” followed by her having a teenage fangirl moment over him while his father looks on with shock and concern.  His mother confirms that he’s got to have talent since his father was talented too . . . I guess this implies that Tsurumi’s father was a well know ladies man and it is clear that Tsurumi is also seen as a ladies man in the area.

So, Tsurumi is clearly a charismatic, charming and a confirmed ladies’ man and is the 4th son of another man who was also very well known and must have been an important samurai family.  Usami is happy that his family are glad to hear he’s attracted the attention of an important local man.  Their family is large and it looks like since his mother is mending clothes they aren’t the richest family but they must come from a more noble/samurai background than some of our other cast members.  It looks like the Usami household is a happy and fertile one.

Clearly, Tsurumi is interested in getting to know Usami and some time later, Tsurumi is working the water wheel that his family uses to pump water for their rice paddies.  Tsurumi clearly is doing some sort of research into him and he seems to realize that using the foot powered water wheel leads to the develop strong legs.  Usami is explaining how hard the work is based on their location etc when he is interruped by another young boy.

This other boy is introduced as Takagi Tomoharu another 12 year old boy.  He really reminds me of Sugimoto a bit, that slightly messy hair and friendly look.  He clearly is another Tsurumi fanboy.

Tsurumi also calls him by his first name and asks if his father is doing well and the boy responds excitedly as Usami silently smiles with his eyes closed in the background having Tsurumi’s attention focused on another person.

Sometime after school, Tomoharu tells Usami to stay over at his house since they have training at the dojo and they can go to school the next morning.  He then adds that Tsurusumi will be at the dojo that evening!  This immediately gets Usami’s attention and he runs to the dojo yelling “Hurry, hurry!” so Usami is excited by this!

The next page shows the dojo and both boys want Tsurumi’s attention to train with each of them and Tsurumi just smiles back, again Usami’s eyes are closed.

Sometime later it shows Tsurumi in winter leaving the dojo - we don’t get the full conversation, just that Tsurumi is responding to something that Usami said. Usami will be graduating - I guess based on his age primary school - and Tsurumi who’s face is obscured asks if he will keep training at the dojo.  Usami responds with his eyes closed again stating he will have to help his father work on their family farm so it may not happen.

Tsurumi then turns and looks at him in a very friendly way telling him to continue at the dojo to become much stronger - he’ll be able to surpass Tsurumi as well based on his skills with time.

Tsurmi then states he won’t be able to visit the dojo soon, with the impending Sino-Japanese war he’s about to go off to (with Tsukishima) and finally Usami opens his eyes with concern in them as well as light in his eyes.  Usami is clearly worried about Tsurumi leaving.  All of a sudden his friend appears interrupting him and Tsurumi again telling him to go home together.  Again we don’t know what else Usami was going to say to Tsurumi . . .

The winter gives way to spring, when the school year ends and another one will begin.

We get a scene where Usami is able to pin Tomoharu down and someone tells them to stop for the day . . . maybe Tsurumi maybe not.  It is clear that just like Sugimoto’s friend Toraiji - Usami is the natural martial artist while Tomoharu will always lose to him.  Tomoharu is sulking in the dojo and Tsurumi has to ask him what’s wrong so that he and his sensei can lock up.  He reveals that he’s never been able to beat Usami before he leaves.  Tomoharu then cases after Usami who is waiting outside for him.

It looks like he told Tsurumi that he’s leaving and Tsurumi got him to approach Usami to tell him about his departure to high school? in Tokyo.  However, Usami is not surprised as he already knew his friend was leaving and tells him that he really doesn’t want to spar with him one last time.

Usami from a very dramatic angle tells hi that he doesn’t want to lose on purpose b/c he’s worried about his feelings . . . and before he finishes Tomoharu yells his reply that he shouldn’t, that wouldn’t be a real friendship, it would end it.  Usami has light and sparkle in his eyes as he says his lines and his friend sounds like a passionate young Japanese man with fighting spirit.

Tsurumi tells him that he will watch their match in the corner of the yard - the sacred place which Usami will say to Tsurmumi 2 years later. . .

The next two pages are a montage of memories of Tomoharu with Usami as he thinks to survive alone in Tokyo requires him to defeat him.  It seems that Tomoharu really enjoyed his time with Usami - but I really get the feeling that Usami just tolerated him.  It really does have this vibe of a one sided friendship, I could even see him staying over at Tomoharu’s place just to be closer to the dojo and by extension Tsurumi.

Tomoharu cries as he knows he’s fighting hard but still ends up defeated by Usami.

This scene is very much like the Sugimoto’s flashback in chapter 35 - courtship.  He met Toraji at his burnt down house on his wedding day and he attacks Sugimoto who promptly defeats him.  With his eyes full of tears, Toraji refuses to give up and goes for another round with Sugimoto as he roundly defeats him again.  This clearly is linked back to Shiraishi’s comment about humans and the people that they love.  Yes, Sugimoto is a dick to show up, make Toraiji upset, beat him and then congratulate him on his marriage which only makes Toraiji more annoyed.

Yet, in their second round ends with him declaring that he may have lost to Sugimoto in kendo and judo, but he won in the battle for Umeko’s heart. . .

This is clearly a parallel with Usami and Tomoharu and this is linked to Sugimoto.

Anyways back to 226.  Tomoharu despite being defeated pulls on Usami’s shirt and states that he’s not done yet.  The next full page panel shows Usami’s reaction -

full on murder rabbit!!!  He’s gained the white along the edge of his black pupils as he’s drooling, his veins are bursting and his entire face is contorted in rage/anger/i don’t know what else.  I call him a murder rabbit based on a nickname that the lovely Merdopsuedo came up for Usami a long time ago.

She calls him the The Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog, based on the rabbit that lives in the cave and kills many men in an excellent scene requiring the use of the Holy Hand grenade of Antioch in “Monty Python and The Holy Grail”.  This flashback has confirmed all of our fan jokes and theories and was a much better nickname the previously proposed one of “Thumper” the rabbit from “Bambi”.

Tomoharu only gets a glance of his face as he raises his foot before he firmly kicks him in the throat with his bare heel.

This action is enough to even shock Tsurumi!  We see Tomoharu make his last gasp for air as Tsurumi, the man who watched his family die in Vladivostok, perhaps killed by his own actions or those of Wik, Kiro and Sofia.  Tsurumi is a broken and twisted man by this point before he even heads off to the Sino-Japanese war, but Usami’s actions have completely caught him off guard.  He thought he was helping out with a teenage issue and he’s just resulted in the death of Tomoharu by accident.  Look at those wide open eyes, sweat on his forehead and those stress lines!  Tsurumi is completely shocked.

It is clear a man who has seen terrible things like Tsurumi (as we don’t know what his spying and previous military service was like) he is shocked by Usami’s violence that he uses as he clearly struck a killing blow on his friend.

And with that the chapter ends!

Wow!  Usami’s backstory is clearly revealed to be super creepy as I was always afraid of.  At the age of 12 he killed the boy who on the surface appeared to be his best friend.

Final thoughts on chapter 226

1.) Usami may be a natural born killer rabbit who always wants to please Tsurumi.  Chapter 227 will likely further explain why that part of the dojo is sacred to both of them.  Sei Kobiyama also mentioned on twitter that due to both Tsurumi and Usami practicing jujitsu/judo indicate they both came from samurai families.

Tsurumi has alluded to the fact that his family was once wealthy when he was young and we know he’s the 4th son and they lost the wealth.  It is clear based on Usami’s families reaction to him the Tsurumi family was well known.

Usami is clearly not in a wealthy household that has to work very hard to survive, yet has a connection to samurai habits and culture.  This may be a link to chapter 225 referring the the slums of Sapporo and how the murdered woman was from a once wealthy family that lost it - likely a pre-Meiji era samurai family.

Is Usami jealous of Tomoharu?  Or does he want Tsurumi’s attention all to himself?  What motivates him?  He seems off the entire time before he kills Tomoharu so I think there is more going on than we realize just yet.

Does this information from Sei Kobiyama imply that since Sugimoto and Toraiji also practiced kendo and judo that they were also from poor samurai families also fallen on hard times in the Edo area?

2.) I believe that Usami and Sugimoto are supposed to be compared in some way with this flashback.  Both men are talented in judo and when they kill both men are demon or animalistic in the way that they fight and kill.  Yet, one killed his crybaby best friend while the other one as far as we know was unable to save his friend.

Noda has kept away from Sugimoto’s past and his unresolved issues surrounding Toraiji and Umeko for a long time.  This may lead to the reveal of more of Sugimoto’s past and what really happened when Toraiji died and Sugimoto clung to his dying body, giving up the sled for Tsukishima at Mudoken.  It keeps alluding to a potential situation where Sugimoto is either indirectly or directly related to the events that result in Toraiji’s death.  And keep in mind in the flashbacks his nickname is Tora-chan or Tiger.  If Kiro is Tanigaki’s tiger, we’ve discussed that Toraiji is Sugimoto’s tiger . . .

Sugimoto currently has a broken wrist and maybe he will have to rely on Asirpa, Shiraishi and Vasily his non-friend, not-enemy-ally.  I think Usami may be a link to more background into Sugimoto.

Keeping that in mind, I suspect that Kadokura will lead to more background into Ogata as his father would have been a contemporary of sorts with Koito and Hanazawa, but on Ogata’s mother side.

Well that is all I have for now with the chapters!  I’ll work on getting a few more meta up hopefully in the next few days including as long delayed cover analysis and some Koito meta!

[botnation]

If you’re looking to travel to another world, tune in to Angela Ho.

Angela’s fine mashup of pointillism and retro/pop surrealism frames each of her high-spirited imaginary playscapes. This unique style sprouted over a decade ago and flourished when she decided to place paid work on hold for nine months. It was this gestation period for personal, artistic growth that gave birth to the comprehensive portfolio that altered the course of her career. By honoring herself, she found the fertile foundation needed for a vast land of dazzling, hypnotic, characters that suggest the truth.

For a deep dive Q&A with Angela on her background, character personalities and flow states...

What were you like as a child?

I was very quiet and incredibly shy around people I didn't know well, although I messaged my sister to help me with this question and she says I was cheeky. My sister and I would always be drawing and with my older brother, we'd have our own mini drawing competitions, I'm not sure if this was good in terms of sibling rivalry though. Our parents gave us a lot of educational-type toys which involved drawing, painting, crocheting and making plaster models. I read a lot, I loved Snoopy comic strips.

At what age did you take a break from paid work to focus on your own art? What were some of the phases and internal struggles you went through during this time? How did this decision impact where you are now?

I was in my mid-30s when I took a break, I was thinking about how time can pass so quickly, our lives are just a tiny blip in the scheme of things so we might as well make the most of it. During this roughly 9 month period I spent a lot of time in my small workspace drawing a lot, reading and looking at anything which caught my attention, like old Fleischer Studios cartoons and anything scifi. The self-imposed isolation wasn't easy as I can be quite social but after this experience I think I've learnt an emotional self-reliance I hadn't had before. I think this has made Covid-19 bearable. I also got over some thoughts I had about choosing to pursue my artistic inclinations and whether it could contribute to the world in some way.

Have you ever felt limited in your expression? How were you able to overcome these limitations? 

Yes. It's still something which I'm working through, how to handle it. I'm realizing that if you're able to express yourself truly openly it is a privilege, although it should be a universal right.

What role (if any) would you say spirituality has with your art?

Initially I was going to answer this question with a "no" in terms of a spirituality guiding me with my work. I have mythical creatures in my art, spiritual ones borne of nature or characters which personify abstract concepts. I like the idea of omnipotent mostly well-meaning beings inhabiting my art but they come from imagination and fantasy and stay firmly within the borders of the board I'm painting or the screen on which I'm drawing or animating.

But aside from mythical creatures, I have had experiences while working where I've felt that there is some outside force helping me along, I'm not sure how to explain it, I've thought it must be some biochemical result of intense focus but haven't explored the concept of it much for fear of sounding flakey. But I brought it up with my artist and designer friend Calvin Ho and he recommended I read a book called "Flow" from the 1990s. So I may have a more clear answer at a later time but for the moment I'm referring to it as The Force. I love Star Wars.

Are there any defining moments in particular where you've felt this force/flow most?

Yes and when I think about these moments they're associated with music, maybe it's music which produces this flow. When I began working as an illustrator and was working on a digital artwork of a kaleidoscopic storm, it was probably the first time I really felt like I didn't entirely produce the work, that something else assisted. I'm wondering now whether there is some kind of musical trance state involved. Also, when working on my 'Interspecies Utopia' show and perhaps more recently having slowed down along with the world while working on a commission for a musician in San Francisco. I feel it when I've switched off from everything, am lost in music and am purely into the work. I could be listening to anything from Four Tet to The White Stripes which I've been listening to again recently or Science Noodles, a Hong Kong-Taiwanese band I've been listening to on repeat. Right now I'm listening to Brian Eno's 'Music For Airports'.

How important is nature to your wellbeing and what effect does it have on you? Do you have any favorite hiking trails in Hong Kong?

Walking in nature is extremely important to me especially in a fast-moving city like Hong Kong where I've lived since 2008. The rhythmic motion of walking and breathing and not being distracted by various things has the instant effect of calming me and recalibrating me. Hong Kong is full of walking trails and green areas, my favorite trail would be Tai Long Wan in the area of Sai Kung, it's a bay made up of four beaches with hills behind it. The Peak Morning Trail is also a favorite as I live near to it and walk it regularly.

Do your creatures ever “speak” to you — and do they have different personalities? If so, what are some of them?

I'm waiting for my creatures to speak to me. I'd like to work more with narrative whether in picture book form or animation so I'd like them to lead me but they do have nascent personalities. A lion character I have is stoic yet kind, it doesn't speak much but when it does the words are important so you'd better listen and never ever cross the lion as it has the power of all nature within it, it can become poetic justice incarnate. A female head I use in short animations represents the inner world of an every-woman, she gets buffeted about by everyday and world events but easily expresses joy too. She thinks too much, I guess she only has a head, maybe I should draw her with her body more often.

In what ways have you been exploring augmented reality and animation in your works? Do you have any upcoming projects that fuse these mediums?

I'm still working on how augmented reality can more significantly extend the narrative of my static artwork, mainly they have been experiments in subtly adding meaning via animation. I've used AR with my 'Interspecies Utopia' exhibition, the HKwalls mural and a work in the Paste-Up Festival in Berlin. Currently, I have a singular artwork idea in mind I'd like to generate but I'm not sure of the physical space it will occupy yet.

What is your intuitive sense regarding the art in the future? In 2120, what do you foresee as the mediums? How much value will be placed on art and artists?

This question makes me think of the Singaporean survey by The Sunday Times which did the rounds of social media in June. It was about the top 5 most and least essential jobs within the context of the pandemic. I was skeptical of this survey but I think a lot of people would have nodded their heads in agreement at artists being at the top of the non-essential list. But I think art and the arts are incredibly important. I think we need to tell stories about ourselves through fiction and emotive means which may elicit empathy and an understanding which news cannot give us. I think there should be more to us than survival and living in their most basic forms. I'm not sure about predicting the future 100 years from now but I wish I could see how things are in 2120, perhaps art will be more interactive and immersive and work somehow with science more. But closer to our present, I really hope that art and artists will make it through the pandemic and current instabilities and that they'll be intact when we eventually settle into a new normal or get back to how we were. I think art is needed for escapism and to make sense of this surreal time of dramatic change.

[animefan299110]

My RWBY Future Predictions

Backstory: Salem and her goonies are defeated (with the exception of Emerald, who realized her mistake to trust Cinder and aided Team RWBY and their comrades) and Ozpin’s soul has left Oscar’s body.

10 years later...

Ren:

Ren walks around the remade and repoluated Kuroyuri.  He smiles at how his childhood town was returned to it’s former glory.

???: Hey Ren.

Ren turns to see his wife running towards him and smiles.

Ren: Hey Nora; how are things on the south end?

Nora: Great! You good on the north end?

Ren: Yes, no sign of Grimm anywhere.

Nora: Great.  By the way, there’s something I want to tell you...something important.

Ren: What is it?

Nora: Ren...I’m pregnant.

Ren: That’s...That’s incredible!

Ren wraps her arms around her and spins her around.

Weiss:

Weiss (riding in a car while talking on her Scroll): And how are our factories in the south, Mr. Coal?

Mr. Coal: Doing well, Mrs. Schnee.  Production is right on schedule and the workers are reported to have been well treated.

Weiss: Glad to hear.  Thank you for letting me know, Mr. Coal.  Tell Flynt I said hi.

Mr. Coal: Will do, Mrs. Schnee. (hangs up)

The car arrives at a lavish mansion. Weiss steps out and smiles at how well she’s maintained her life.  Upon entering, she is greeted by a butler with white hair and a kind smile.

Weiss: Good afternoon, Klein.

Klein: Good afternoon to you, my dear.

???: Mother!

Weiss looks up the stairs to see a little girl running down the grand stairs. She smiles and swoops the girl into her arms.

Weiss: Hello Willow, how was your day?

Willow: Great. And yours?

Weiss: Things are well with the company. Did your father behave himself today?

???: Yes, he did.

Weiss turns to see her husband smiling at her and combing his fingers through his blue hair.

Weiss: Oh really?

Neptune: Yep; didn't look at any women at all today. Besides, (walks up to Weiss) the girl I need to look at is you.

Weiss gives a small smile and pecks him on the lips.

Willow: Mother, will you be able to come to my ballet recital this tomorrow?

Weiss: Yes, I was able to push some things over and I'll be able to there with your father.

Willow: Yah!

Blake:

Blake sighs as she writes out her speech for the next United Races meeting, a organization comprised of representatives from each race to discuss and aid those in need. Blake helps to represent Faunus and their rights. Though they still had a ways to go, relations between humans and Faunus have gotten better since the death of Salem.

The sound of her window opening catches her attention. She looks up just in time to see her husband leap through the open window.

Blake: sigh Would it kill you to use the front door?

Sun: Give me credit; at least I'm not crashing through the roof. Anyways, I thought I'd bring you lunch (holds up a picnic basket) and (turns around to show a little girl with cat ears clinging to his shirt) lil' Melanie wanted to see you.

Melanie: Hi Mommy.

Blake (smiling): Hi Sweetie.

Sun opens the basket and pulls out a bento box and hands it to Blake. He then pulls out a sandwich for Melanie before getting a bento box for himself.

Sun: So how are things going with that speech?

Blake: Almost done; just have to make a few revisions. I should still be able to join you and Melanie for dinner at Mom and Dad's.

Melanie: Yah! Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Sun and Blake chuckle/giggle at their daughter's cuteness.

Sun: And Emerald is set to be your escort?

Blake: Yes (her features sadden a bit) I feel bad for her, though. She still feels as if she needs to redeem herself for all that she's done. Personally, I feel like she already redeemed herself by helping us defeat Salem.

Sun: When she feels that she has redeemed herself, we'll be there for her. (Blake nods in agreement) By the way, we received a letter in the mail from Ilia. Seems like she and Coco are doing well in Vale.

Blake: I'm just glad she was able to find someone who could make her happy.

Sun: Just like you.

Blake: Yes.

She walks over to Sun and kisses him lovingly.

Jaune:

At the newly built Beacon Academy...

Jaune: Remember, being a leader means having to look out for your teammates. You also need to interact with them; find things to do that you all enjoy. Having good relations with your teammates can help strengthen the bond between you and the others.

The bell rings for the end of classes.

Jaune: Okay; remember. On Monday, I want your journals handed in. I want to see what activities and interactions you and your have done.

The class leaves and Jaune turns to the blackboard to wipe off the chalk.

???: Nice end to the lesson, Professor Arc.

Jaune (not turning around): Ah; Professor Xiao Long. I take it Combat Training went well today?

Yang: Yep; knew that pack of Boarbatusks would be useful one day.

Jaune (smirking): Always one to make things harder for the first years, huh?

Yang: They need to learn quick. Otherwise, they won't learn at all.

Jaune (turning around): Whatever you say, Ya- (stops when he sees Yang wearing something similar to the combat outfit she wore as a student)

Yang: Yeah; I figured I'd throw on something retro. A little blast from the past. So what do you think?

Jaune: What do I think? (places both hands on the table behind Yang, trapping her) I think we better get out of here before my fiance sees you.

Yang laughs as Jaune kisses her neck.

Jaune: It looks great, Sunshine.

Yang: Knew you'd like it, Lover Boy.

They kiss passionately with Jaune's hands grabbing Yang's butt cheeks. Yang responds by wrapping her legs around his waist and running her fingers through his hair.

???: Ahem.

Jaune and Yang stop their kissing and look at the front door to see Glynda Goodwitch, the headmistress of Beacon Academy, glaring at them.

Glynda: While I do not mind if you two show affection for each other, I will ask that you do not show it in the classrooms, even when students aren't around.

Jaune: S-Sorry professor. Won't happen again.

Glynda: Hmph. (walks away)

Jaune: phew That was close.

Yang: Yeah; maybe we should take this somewhere more...private. I know a nice apartment we can use.

Jaune: Well then, (holds out his hand) lead the way.

Ruby:

Ruby walked through the woods after taking care of a Grimm problem in Mistrel. There were still Grimm roaming the land, even after Salem's defeat. But they were few and scarce, so the jobs were becoming easier.

She soon sees a house with a garden. As she comes out of the woods, she smiles when she sees the door opened.

???: Mommy!

A six year old boy named Dipper and a three old girl named Pyrrha rush out. Ruby scoops both of them up and hugs them.

Pyrrha: Mommy, I ate a bug today.

Ruby: Oh really? Does that mean your dad's been cooking again? (whispers) Don't tell him I said that.

???: I heard that.

Ruby's husband walks out the door, leans down, and kisses Ruby.

???: Hi Ruby.

Ruby: Hi Oscar. (looks down at their kids) Hey you two, why don't you both get ready for dinner?

Dipper and Pyrrha: Okay.

As the kids race into the house, Oscar hugs Ruby into his chest, which she gladly returns.

Oscar: So how was the job?

Ruby: Good; the Grimm were easy to deal with.

Ruby then notices Oscar looking down at her and smiling.

Ruby: What is it?

Oscar: Just counting my blessings. (he kisses her) I love you, Rubes.

Ruby: I love you too, Cookie.

[vydante]

ey babe! i jus wanna ask, how’s restart? ya wanna share any plans you have for it for the future? and btw, i love the story and your writing!

Hi hun!

It’s- honestly?

Ch.11 went a whole different route than what I was planning on doing (hell, I’ll even put the TWO whole ass drafts under the read more; warning, it’s SUPER long and I’m never using it so no losses on my part) but I’m happy it went the way it did haha. I finished it in 2 solid days, even if it took me months to update.

Uhh, as for future plans...?

*SPOILERS FOR RESTART? But not really?*

Next two chapters we (SHOULD BE, NO GUARANTEES) are gonna be dealing with CA:TWS... Then, right afterward, we may or may not have a filler chapter, and then we’ll dive into a certain Sokovian base (wink wink). As for AOU... Hm. ;)

AAAH I have so much stuff I wanna tell you guys about :,)

Well, so far that’s what I (canonically) have lined up.

As for other junk: I have 4 specials drafted, 2 What If’s (not canon, but mainly for filler and exploring unused ideas :D) and like, a couple out of place chapters that I wanna slide in the future arcs.

BTW, I have a question to ask: if I had any trashed drafts or whatever, do you guys wanna read it? I’ll post it all in one post (other than Ch.11, I don’t have any other trash right now, but still), probably here.

Anyways. Below cut is the cut draft PT.1 for Ch. 11. WARNING: it might be super incoherent.

Admittedly, Project Renaissance was a huge file.

Of course, it wasn't just all about one particular thing. No, there were files and files that lay underneath it, but even then each one was just as large as the other.

There were ones like 'World Domination', where it was just filled with new projects and products for Stark Industries, like prosthetics (SI really branched into the medical field after your dad made Rhodey his leg braces) and newer editions of tablets, phones, and laptops, too. Hell, even your car and motorbikes blueprints were on there, too- something SI had never dived into up until you had taken over. Improvements in cleaner energy were also there, but that's been the main target for SI for years, so that didn't really count.

Then there were files like 'Supernova' and 'Milky Way', which were a bit more important than others. Project Supernova had to do with Extremis. You wanted to stabilize it as much as possible, then throw it into the darkest corner possible and never have to look back at it; you only wanted it to serve as a... The last resort, of sorts.

Yeah, sure, Tony had a stable version of Extremis locked and loaded, hidden deep into the Tower's database, but it was barely usable. And as for Project Milky Way, it's more or less a Stark Internship program. It'd be really beneficial to high school (and maybe middle school) students, so you suppose...

("More like an excuse to properly recruit that Parker boy," DAHLIA snarks. Brat.)

But what had your constant attention were the big dogs, which, if you remembered correctly, should be happening quite soon.

Files like 'Snakes In The Grass' (S.H.I.E.L.D.-RA), 'Hot Tub Time Machine' (Sargeant Barnes), and 'On Your 6' (Project Insight) all had your attention right now, and for obvious reasons, as you nervously glance at your calendar.

3 more months. 

That was about all the time you had left before the big day was supposed to happen, and you were nowhere near as prepared as you should be. 

Sure, you had lots of contingency and protocols planned out already, but there was only so much you could predict what would happen. 

God, it sucks that you're not 21 yet, because your mind sure is buzzing for some Jäger right about now. You're not an alcoholic by a long shot but... You glanced at a picture of you and your dad.

You sure as hell understood alcoholics, though.

And for that, you needed to get your hands on B.A.R.F. All you need is to remember that one guy's name...

"DAHLIA, pull up the files for, ah... What was his name? Quin... Quincy? No, no... Gw- Quenti- Quentin Bank- Beck? Beck. Quentin Beck- give me his file."

"I was worried you were having a stroke."

"I will if I don't see his file in T-minus 1 second."

You wiped your jittery hands clean of any leftover muck, definitely feeling 5 shots of espresso and 2 hours of intermittent sleep finally taking its toll. You glanced through the files that she had pulled up. There were the basic files: his biography, works, and reports, but those weren't what you were interested in.

"Filter it for anything regarding- uh- B.A.R.F. Like- eh- Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing."

All of the files slimmed up to where it was all organized in one, neat folder. You quickly skimmed through all of it, but it all seemed to be experimental work. For now, anyway.

"Progress on B.A.R.F.?"

"Mr. Beck and his team are currently

There he was, in all of his glory. Though he was immaculately dressed in all black, just as you remembered when you and your dad had to clean up the mess that was the fight on the highway. 

God, he's even bigger in person.

"Identify yourse-!"

As much as you didn't want the room to look like a hospital room, you hadn't exactly had all the time in the world to prepare the room for the man of the hour. 

Still knocked out, 

"Hey, Jon Snow. You 'wake?"

Taking a closer look at him, he looked a lot more worse for wear than you had remembered him being. Then again, the Barnes you saw was completely free of the brainwashing, a-la Princess Shuri and the Wakandan scientists.

(You knew eavesdropping was wrong. It didn't need an explanation as to why.

But despite all that, you made no effort to walk away from listening to the conversation that was going on between your dad and Prin- King T'Challa. It was obvious to you and your dad- along with anyone else with a brain in their skull- that the ex-Avengers (or, at least, Barnes)- was in the nation that was Wakanda. You didn't know how your dad had managed to skirt around that with T'Challa, but you didn't really care.

You just wanted to know what they're gonna do about it.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Dr. Stark? While I know that I, along with Mr. Barnes as well, would appreciate your more than generous offer... I also understand that there is... Tension between the two of you..."

Generous offer?

What the hell is T'Challa going on about? What offer?

"Just... promise me one thing."

"Just... I don't want him to- to try and find me. And if you can't do that- then... Then at least make sure he doesn't get near (Name)."

You bristled.

What?

"(Name)? Your son?"

"Yeah."

"If you could oblige me, may I know your reasoning?"

You strained your ears to the best of your abilities, but even your dad's murmuring was too intelligible for you to make out any words.

"I... I see... If those are your terms, then we will graciously accept the use of your Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing technology for Mr. Barnes's recovery..."

What?)

Your dad was more than happy to not take partial credit for Barne's recovery, so long as it was kept a promise that Barnes stay every little bit away from him (and you, surprisingly enough).

So, it was really unfair that you pitted 2023 Barnes against...

That.

Blank eyes stare directly in front of him, and interestingly enough, he doesn't make an effort to look you in the eye. He's strapped in his chair for extra precautions, but the lingering resignation in his eyes, no matter how blank they are, makes you want to vomit. It makes you sick, knowing that after each mission he's sent out on, he's probably getting strapped back into a goddamn chair and getting his whole hard drive wiped and reconfigured...

You glanced away from him, subtly bringing your hand up to your mouth. You coughed, praying that nothing comes up to your mouth as disgust fills your gut.

"Mission parameters incomplete."

His voice was quiet, for what it was. You weren't sure what you were expecting, but the softness of it was a surprise.

"Excuse me?"

"Mission parameters incomplete."

"Ah, man..."

"Yeah, no, how am I not surprised...?"

"Uh, hm. Hm, hm, hm..."

You pursed your lips.

He visibly perked up- either that, or you're kind of losing it.

"Oh well, that doesn't matter, I can fill the air with my gibberish anyways."

No response. Just a bleary and blank stare.

At least he was looking at you.

You smile.

"That's fine. Either way, as long as I have a say in it, you're not going back to HYDRA. I'll make sure of that, Barnes."

[lovelykhaleesiii]

Definitely

Pairing: Tony Stark x Reader (High School AU)

Words: 1738

Summary: Tony is the popular tech student, and the reader is a theatre geek, although with homecoming creeping closer...Who will Tony attend the dance with?

Warnings: fluff, cheesy dialogue, short time jump periods (***)

REQUESTED BY: @carolyn-stark-91 (hope you enjoy it!) 

________________________________________________

It was inevitable to know that Tony Stark was heading somewhere in life...Throughout high school he was known for being one of the most intelligent students to have ever walked these halls. His father being the Howard Stark, it was greatly expected by many of the teachers, let alone his parents that he achieved constant success. He needed to fill his father’s shoes and that was final. Nonetheless, amongst the students he was known for his notorious reputation: his sarcastic comments, his renowned ‘good looks’ which also you couldn’t deny, although unlike many of the girls in your classes you were most composed… You were morally taught that one’s appearance could never amount to their personality: one of the many lessons you stood by. Nonetheless, Tony was also favored amongst the guys of the school: everyone simply wanted to be him, and the closest they could ever achieve was simply by being with him. You on the other hand, were a much more independent, secluded individual. You had always been devoted and focused on your studies: consistently striving to be the best, which most difficult considering you shared many of the same classes as Tony. You’d always sensed that there was some sort of academic competition between you two, that Tony had been oblivious to. Despite this, it had never occurred to you that a social life was an integral part in high school. Your parents had also repeatedly taught you that working hard now would pay off in the future, and that was exactly what you had been doing since your first day of high school. Your undying interest in theatre, however, led you to meet your dearest friend, Abby. Both of you initially strangers had grown not only to becoming active members of your school’s theatre department, although Abby had grown to become your beloved best friend, as you were hers. Thus, life in high-school hadn’t been all that bad as many would warn you about.

Now that the school year was coming to an end though, that meant that the annual homecoming was edging closer in your schedule. You usually weren’t very attracted to the thought of going to these typical school events, although Abby being as persistent as she was, was adamant on your attendance.

“Come on Carolyn! You need this break, just this once. It’ll be great...Have a little fun in your life for once, will ya’?” Abby had pleaded, having begged endlessly for weeks now, simply for you to attend the dance.

“How about if I say I’ll think about it?”

“Come on Carrie! Please, at least come for me? You do realise that Tony’s going?”

“And?”

“I know you have an inkling of a crush on him...I mean which girl doesn’t?” She cheekily insists.

“Oh please, I would never...I could never. He’s that and I’m just-just this” you sheepishly exclaim, as you hastily wave your arms up and down your body.

“Carrie, let’s just make sure he knows exactly that you’ll be his greatest loss.” She reassuringly winks, knowing well enough by now, that you were indeed planning on attending the senior homecoming.

***

Days had passed since you had agreed with Abby that you would attend your school’s annual homecoming dance. By the following day, you began to question your haste decision, though knew there’d be no excuse out of this one...It was a done, sealed deal. Your anxious thoughts were in no time relieved, as the pressure of the dance, what to wear and the discussion of partners was the talk of the school. Nearly all conversations you had walked by revolved around homecoming,and your anticipation grew by the day as the date edged closer. Both Abby and you managed to make some time after school to purchase a formal dress, and you were both set for your make-up and hair appointments, although there was still only one crucial thing missing… You had no partner. Not that you were saddened by the thought of attending alone, nor pressured into arriving with a partner… You merely just were looking forward to a relaxing, stress-free night, having been convinced that it was a well deserved night.

The most heated topic discussed however, was around who Tony was planning on attending with. In your mind, in your own little fantasy that special girl would be you, thought the chances of that happening as you had calculated was minimal to impossible…

Having no sense of obligation to attend with a partner, the sheer, recurring figment of your wild imagination that evoked a sense of optimism, that Tony would one day proudly approach you, all romantic and enchanting as he was, that he’d be the one to ask you out. You felt giddy just thinking about it, however it was essential that you redeem your consciousness and acknowledge how far-fetched your day-dreams would become…

Having arrived to Physics you made your way to a seat towards the centre of the class, as you’d always had to then organise your books and pens for the class ahead. Physics was just one of the few classes you’d shared with Tony, and nonetheless it was one of your favourite subjects. Having been so distracted by assembling your stationary, you hadn’t realised that Tony had gradually made his way towards the seat in front of you…

“Hey gorgeous” you had heard the pleasant, yet familiar tone of his voice.

Looking up in sheer shock, your eyes had simply widened as your mouth remained partially agape. Before you could have even uttered a reply back, he continued his conversations with you.

“I was thinking maybe Carrie, that you’d like to come to homecoming with me? That’s even if you do plan on coming...I hardly see you attend school parties and all. Such a shame really. I want to get to know you a bit more, other than knowing you as my competition.” He’d sincerely proclaimed, finishing the sentence off with a sly wink.

Helplessly blushing, quickly redeeming your composure you had replied, “Homecoming...with me? What ever made you think of that?” You’d quizzically questioned.

“Like I said...I want to get to know you, Carolyn. You think I’ve never noticed you before, c’mon now. You’re incredibly smart, and just-” observing you up and down, making you feel even more giddy “-beautiful...I have no doubt also that you’re an absolute sweetheart.” He reassuringly smiled. “Now how about homecoming, hmm?”

Without a split second of hesitation, your pure humane instinct had kicked in.

“Definitely” you cheerfully respond.

“Beautiful… Make sure you’re ready by 6.00.”

***

“I still cannot believe Tony asked you out. Like out of the girls in the grade...You!” Abby shouted, as you both had prepared yourself for tonight’s dance, at your house since you’d conveniently lived closer to the school.

“Ouch...What’s that supposed to mean?” you insist, snapping your attention towards your friend as you’d finished adjusting your dress.

“I mean come one Carrie...Who knew he had the hots for you? You’re always just that quiet girl in class...Really does go to show that Stark is observant.” She exclaims, as her excitement enticed your anticipation.

Rolling your eyes, the pure physical act of talking about Tony and having to see him soon, somehow frightened you… You’ve never felt so under prepared, not even for an exam.

“So James is also arriving at 6 to pick you up?” you questioned’ intending on changing the topic of discussion, only to have Abby once more mention Tony.

“I bet he’ll pick you up in a fancy limo...Oh Carrie, you’re one lucky girl!”

Soon enough, as you’d both finished up for the evening, as Abby’s partner having eagerly arrived first, was the first to go. As you awaited downstairs with your parents, as they hastily took pictures of you, the sudden shock of the doorbell ringing left you paralysed senseless.

“Evening Sir, I’m her to pick up your daughter, Carolyn?” you heard Tony retort, has you watched your father’s reaching hand greeting Tony with a handshake.

Making your way over to the door, you’d insisted that you both should head off; feeling most strange as you’d never really had any another classmate arrive to your doorstep, with the exception of Abby.

“Sweetie, let us know when you’ve arrived to the school, and please-” your mother diverts her pleaing attention towards Tony “-please have her back before 12.”

“You have my word” Tony reassured, as he smiled once more, before taking your arm in his, guiding you to the retro automobile that he’d driven.

Along the drive Tony had completely surprised you. A compliment left his mouth each time he talked: explaining how beautiful he looked, how he’d never seen such beauty before and how blind he’d been to have associated himself with you from early on. You of course, after having regained your composure, you too had remarked on how handsome Tony looked in his navy suit. Many times you’d seen Tony attending formal social events, though never in person… Such a heavenly sight.

Upon arriving to school, just in time as the dance had just begun, Tony merely proved how much of a gentlemen he truly was. Opening all the doors you’d passed on your behalf, as your arm was entwined with his: providing a sense of security. Everyone was completely astonished by the two of you together...Some girls, you’d been certain threw some cold looks, which was understandable, although you chose not to dwell on it. You managed to also find Abby who unsurprisingly was already on the dance-floor, along with her partner. Meeting Abby’s comforting gaze, you felt incredibly reassured that tonight would be well, not at all overwhelming as you;d predicted. For heaven's sake, you were attending homecoming with the Tony Stark, a boy who simply yet willingly just wanted to know more about you. Despite it being all too surreal it was all that mattered for now. Disrupting your thoughts, Tony had interfered as he sarcastically exclaimed:

“It would be a shame, if the most beautiful girl in school chose not to dance with a lucky guy like me...What do you say? Shall we?” Tony insisted, gently grasping your hand, stretching it up as his luscious lips pecked its back.

“Definitely” you whispered, smiling up at Tony as you met his hearterning eyes.

Like you said...High-school wasn’t all that bad.

[darknpretty-blog]

So someone's reached the main 5 oh oh! Their 50th birthday celebration! Not any major deal. fifty will be the healthy forty. And denial is the brand new mathematics! Anyway, it is one of the milestone birthdays, that somehow always seem to be much more funwe hostile, when was the final time you went to a surprise 48th Birthday Party?

Needless to say, you want to be right there with an unusual methods to help your birthday celebration star glow in the spotlight! So listed here are 50 amazing ideas for a 50th birthdaysome that will cost as little as 50 centssome which are a little more extravagantsome designed to just need your thoughtfulness and time. And that's a thing they'll like as much if not more!

Tell it such as it's. Write a listing of 50 reasons why they are the very best, then get it framed! Or even also include 50 photos as well as convert everything into a photo guide.

Stress-free birthday. Gift a 50 minute knead, manicure or facial foundation. Join them if you are able to pay for it!

Living is a roller coaster. Top for the amusement park with the birthday star, you, as well as three more friends as well as ride 10 different rides. Sure, the carousel is important.

Being lucky? one by one wrap fifty one dolars lottery tickets.

Have a sweet teeth? Buy fifty portions of special chocolates or candies from yesteryearor gift label fifty donut holes or even 50 of their favorite cookies! (Wrap in batches of five or 10 so they are able to freeze some for later!)

Let's assume cheesy. Make a fun 50-minute video clip of family and friends wishing them a happy day.

Couch-potato free. Get in concert once a week to walk one mile 1 day. It's a present which usually keeps on giving. (Take two weeks from out of 52 for vacations, etc!)

Talk about some teeth. Get together with family and friends and overflow the mailbox of theirs with 50 birthday cards!

Talk about a few laughs. Fill up their inbox with 50 distinct digital songs, video games and birthday wishes!

Try painting the city. Give them a $50 gift card to the fave restaurant of theirs, theater, club, etc. Not terribly original, we know, but generally appreciated! A word: Limo

Bingo! Imagine every one of the video games you can play using fifty penniestiddly winks, bingo, penny pitch, etcthen enjoy yourself enjoying them!

Might I help? Deliver 50 minutes of tutoring in a number of apps they do not know how to work with.

Tis safer to giveMake a summary of fifty simple ways you could potentially volunteer the time of yours, then go and help out together. Or donate $50 to the preferred charitable organization of theirs.

Kill the dollar. If saving $$isn't the thing of theirs, get them an investing for dummies book as well as give them $50 to get their first share of stock.

Cheers! Gift wrap a $50 can of wine with a note that it is an unique bottle to be provided with their another person special.

One reservoir excursion. Treat them to a whole day of situations which are inside a 50-mile radius of where they live. (A rise in the woods, a round of mini golf, lunch in the park, etc.)

Just what the heck does that suggest? Opt to discover fifty new words if you gather (over time, of course!) For fun, keep paperwork and find out who remembers probably the most fresh phrases!

Sorry, I am not really a mind reader. Gift a 50 minute psychic readingmake the own predictions of yours ahead of time and then check notes in the future!

I am here for you. Promise one another a number of 50-minute soulful conversations sans texting, email-checking, phone answering, twittering, etc.

I will never forget Paris. Share with each other a list of 50 men and women, places, things that made you who you are today.

2 left legs. Gift item a 50-minute swing dance lesson. Gift item 1 for you as wellyou deserve a little fun, too!

LOL! Spend 50 minutes with each other doing a thing you both dislike (laundry, grocery shopping, etc.), but do it in a different manner (blindfolded, in heels) for making it funny and ridiculous.

The Big 5 0. Invest the day together going around city taking photographs of clues, billboards, etc. with the number 50 within them. If you cannot find lots of, perform the 5 as well as the 0 separately and develop a collage!

Flashback! Throw a retro gathering commemorating the 50-year-old's birth year-complete with music, hair styles and clothing from that particular era.

Attack which! Get a group in concert, go bowling and find out who can mark under 50 while not spreading gutter balls.

That is a lot of hot air! Get a 50-balloon bouquet and tie it to their wrist.

Yeah, that as well. Make a 50 is nothing to Snicker at indication and put it in a bowl of bite sized Snickers bars!

For Her: Add a cannot trust you're flippin' 50! label to a pair of interesting flip-flop sandals.

For Him: Create an It is (Name's) 50th Birthday! Tie one on! Have a bunch of older connections in a bowl and in addition have everybody who use 1 for a team picture!

Money Does not Grow on Trees. Effectively, perhaps it doesA money tree is a fun strategy to present fifty dolars money!

Still Hot at fifty. Gift basket filled with hot sauces and spices perfect for a great cook or grill-master.

A Box-o-Balloons. Put notes or maybe cash inside fifty inflated balloons then seal them in a label. A lightweight present to provide and / or drive (ground delivery).

Really? Gift item a 1-year membership to AARP!

A Farewell to Youth. Throw a party by having an RIP tombstone cake, fifty black balloons, etc., as well as advise navy outfit.

Just how many techniques are you able to say fifty? Finish off the sentence Turning 50ġ with items in a gift basket. Example: ȡis nuts! (peanuts); ȡstinks. (air freshener); ȡis merely peachy! (schnapps).

Might the force be with you. Have the team think of fifty lines from favorite movies and also see how many they are able to drop into the chat at the birthday party of theirs.

Hmmmthat's puzzling. Get a jigsaw puzzle with 50 parts. Or create one by lowering a big greeting card into puzzle shapes, placing in an envelope and mailing with your best wishes! You can also order a personalized New York Times puzzle with the real front page of their birthdate!

Call me moneybags. Offer the birthday star $20.50in fifty quarters, 50 nickels, 50 dimes as well as fifty pennies. Naturally you are able to make that $70.50 by bring 50 singles, also!

Red-colored alert! Reddish alert! Create a 50th Birthday Emergency Kit and also include whatever you think is suited for any birthday celebration owner (aspirin, noisemakers, adult diapers, etc.)

Something Old. Something Gold. It is their personal 50th anniversarygive them something in vintage gold or something wrapped in gold.

M-m-m-m beneficial. Purchase 50 MY M&M'S Party Packs of personalized candies complete with pics and words and phrases!

An evening meal is Served. Arrange a progressive 50th birthday dinner party, with each host/hostess serving a thing that was to the entire year the birthday celebration star was born. Dress correctly!

Who stated that? Make a book of fifty quotations on birthdays and also ageing, ranging from enjoyable to inspirational.

Suits me to a T. Purchase a custom T-shirt with some enjoyable copy on it. Example: Looks twenty two, Feels eighteen, Acts 10that can make me fifty! Or Does the shirt make me appear fifty? Check out online for some other creative ideas!

Better YetOrder customized t-shirts for the whole gang that feature a picture of the birthday celebration star and also a personalized email about converting fifty! Wear them at a party, out to a birthday dinner or even to a favorite watering hole.

Lots of memories. Take fifty downloadable pictures & fill them into an electronic photo frame.

Checking between the collections. Present them along with the publication, fifty Things to do When you Turn fifty: fifty Experts about the subject of Turning 50. It's a wonderful assortment of thoughts from people as Garrison Keillor, Suze Orman, Erica Jong, along with a lot more. Well, 47 additional, to be exact!

Did another person say party? Throw a themed gathering such as a South of the Border fling with invitations for any Nacho Average 50-year older. Fulfill Mexican food, hang a few piatas, etc. Some other themes could possibly consist of tropical-Life's a beach and afterward you switch 50! etc.

A treasury of your time. A number of days before the big working day, have friends and also family members every produce a scrapbook page which has favorite accounts, cards, mementos, photos, and more. Take all of the pages in unison and make a really special recollection album.

It all offers up. Do most of the things on this list. We're sure it will guarantee a lifetime of enjoyable as well as relationship!

[smashmusicideas]

November 24: How Has Adding Newcomers Changed?

This post will feature no information at all from the recent leaks for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I have, however, been looking into some of them, and how a few fans have taken the information to try to discern whether particular choices of spirits, bosses, or music point to any possible downloadable content. Again, this isn’t about that. I won’t be talking about what they’re asking, the evidence being used, or anything of the sort. But their questions about characters have made me think of another question about what of Smash has changed.

Of course, virtually every aspect of what Smash is has changed, altered, or expanded over nineteen years; it’d be nuts if it didn’t at least challenge itself. But specifically, I’m thinking of how it looked at characters. Let’s look at it by game.

Smash 64: the main franchises and icons that Nintendo had, at least at the time. With the exception of Fox (and beyond the importance of his game at the time, he’s important just for his role in Smash), all of the original eight would have to be in any game like this. The other four are weirder, since they were chosen partially to take animations from the rest of the cast, but other than Ness they were iconic and important for the era.

Melee: expanding the main series and filling in odd gaps. Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon surged with important and memorable characters, but most of the rest of the Melee newcomers were more odd or distinct. Having two Fire Emblem characters gave the biggest new series a bit more of an identity, Ice Climbers and Game & Watch ensured retro representation was a thing, but other major series like Donkey Kong and Kirby were left without anyone.

Brawl: bringing in the final BIG icons while looking to the future. Wario, Diddy, Meta Knight, and Dedede were the most outstanding characters, while Sonic was needed just on a historical level. Meanwhile, newer characters like Lucario and Lucas represented Nintendo in the years after Melee came out. Throw in a couple characters with a strong name recognition like Pit, and you have a game that fills out the big gaps of the last while making a few gestures to a new direction.

Smash For: newness, mechanical gimmickry, and a sense of uniqueness. Far more than the last game, we got new characters, ones who would end up partially defining where Nintendo would go in the years of the Wii U (hell, Greninja’s now in a trailer for a Ryan Reynolds movie). There was also an interest in pushing the limits of what these characters could do, with Robin, Bayonetta, and Rosalina using wild movesets and mechanics. And with five third party characters, there was a clear interest in looking outside of the Nintendo norm. This was also furthered through the DLC.

Ultimate: popularity and “importance,” to Nintendo and “the fans.” With the exception of Incineroar (and Richter, but he doesn’t quite work as an example), every single fighter in the base game was highly requested, relevant, or with a modern presence - often with at least two of those values. The Echoes only further this, and with such a small amount of space for them, it’s clear there was an interest in going all out in the fanservice. And yet, the first DLC fighter is an amazingly bizarre choice, and we’ve no idea of what Nintendo wants with the other five. So maybe we’ll see an entirely different direction just for the DLC? It even matches the (non-Echo) newcomers from the base game for size, so contrasting them will be fairly easy.

Even without this, It’s clear Smash is, and has always been, willing to change up how it approaches characters - at least, inclusion of characters - throughout each game. They’re all treated as fighters first when actually in development, of course, but the process for considering them does change a bit each time. It means we can’t treat each game as a clear blueprint for the next.

However, there are common themes that do run through each game: a desire for characters both old and new, an interest in mechanically unique fighters, an effort to buff pre-existing franchises, and at least some concern for the inclusion of new series. Those are all important; it’s how important they are that differs for each game. And I think that if there is a way to predict Sakurai, it’s through predicting that. Brawl came seven years after Melee, and Smash For came six years after Brawl. Those are the two most known for having mechanically unique and newer fighters, probably because they had so long to look at Nintendo change and shape. That’s not something Melee or Ultimate (which, as planning started at the end of 2015, couldn’t predict how huge the Switch would become) could do.

Admittedly, it’s hard to predict how that will shape up with this period of DLC, but I do think looking at it in those terms will help for the next games. I think some direct patterns - one new Fire Emblem person, one new Pokémon person - are easy and sensible, but looking at why those changes in direction happened should be useful in the games to come.

(Link to my writings on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

[vanquisher2099]

Part One: A Waitress Walks Into a Bar

Jennifer Stock woke up grumpy, which was nothing new. She was exhausted, because she’d had to work overtime the day before and she’d need to work overtime today too if she wanted to make rent. It didn’t help that her bed was barely held together and the mattress was, at a conservative estimate, at least twenty years old. The apartment had provided furniture, but it was clearly the same furniture it had provided its first tenant when the building opened decades ago, and everything seemed to have a patina of grime on it that Jennifer, at least, had never been able to get rid of.

The center of the apartment’s single room was dominated by a table which seemed to function as a place to eat as well as a place to keep an old analog computer setup, from a time when a computer meant a separate box connected to various peripherals. Jennifer activated the monitor just long enough to scan the news (which was mostly concerned with the anniversary of the agricultural scandal four years ago) before shutting it back off and making her way to the kitchen area to rummage through mostly empty cabinets in an effort to find something she could call breakfast. That turned out to be a half bag of chips and a cup of coffee which, at least, was relatively warm.

A quick shower later and she was out the door, headed for the diner to serve coffee and fried foods to the other people unfortunate enough to be awake at five in the morning. The diner, which was in the midst of its third redesign (it had started as a 1990s retro coffee shop, shifted to a sci-fi inspired Diner of the Future look, and was now deep in what passed for ‘modern’ design, meaning that it was a lot of stainless steel surfaces and natural lighting), was predictably empty, as the early morning rush didn’t really start until six. Jennifer was okay with this, of course, because it gave her an hour or so to actually finish waking up.

There was, of course, the usual crap from the manager, who had put quite a lot of his life into the upkeep of this place and would be damned if he saw it lack for anything. He also had a thoroughly annoying habit of ending most sentences with a “hmmm?” as if everything he said was a rhetorical question. “Jennifer, I noticed your tables’ condiment caddies have gotten a little disorganized, hmmm?” “Jennifer, table four seems like they want to speak to you, hmmm?”

Jennifer, for her part, ignored it and occasionally flipped him off when he wasn’t looking. It gave her a modicum of satisfaction, and her fellow employee, a young dark-haired woman named Clarissa, seemed to think it was hilarious. Like most service industry jobs, small acts of rebellion were often necessary in order to maintain sanity during a torrent of requests from customers convince they were right in all things (because they’d been told so by the sign on the wall that promised they were), even when they most definitely were not. Jennifer liked some of the regulars just fine, but it was the people passing through that tended to give her the most trouble – people who weren’t interested in taking time to realize their server was a human, and maybe worthy of the minimum amount of respect humans should get. Or worse, the ones who didn’t realize (or care to realize) the difference between being polite and being flirtatious. Unfortunately, customer service frowned on the practice of breaking fingers.

It was, in short, another perfectly boring day – the sort of workday that feels just slightly too long than it should, where the body is convinced it’s worked for twelve hours about four hours in. Jennifer finally took her lunch break, which meant (for her) walking down the street to a different café that at least had an outdoor patio where she could sit in relative silence and begin mustering the necessary strength of will to go through another four hours of waiting tables. That was, at any rate, her plan until she was rudely interrupted by someone sitting down directly across from her. Jennifer was not easily startled, and merely looked up with a raised eyebrow.

“Normally,” she said mildly, “People ask before they sit down at a table that is clearly occupied. It’s considered polite.”

The intruder, an old man wearing a suit and an amused expression, did not appear to feel any particular chagrin for his rudeness. “You’re a difficult woman to find, Miss Stock. Were you aware of that?”

Jennifer snorted. “You know my name, so I’m sure even a cursory search on the net would make me shockingly easy to locate.”

“Ah yes, but knowing your name – that’s the real trick, isn’t it? You have so many of them.”

“I have two, assigned at birth by my parents, just like everyone else.”

This got a laugh from the old man. “Ah yes, of course. The esteemed Mr. and Mrs. Stock, who nobody seems to remember, even though they’ve got quite the comprehensive history – houses, birth certificates, parents of their own, even – going all the way back to their ancestors from the 1900s. A most notable family if they existed, which I think we’re both well-aware of that they didn’t.”

“That’ll come as a surprise to them,” Jennifer said evenly. “Dad will probably take it pretty hard.”

“You’re committed to the bit, I’ll give you that.” The old man said, still smiling in a way Jennifer was beginning to find infuriating. “But no matter – I’m not here to debate whether or not your name is really Jennifer Stock, or if it’s Theresa Cunningham, or maybe Elise Karter, or whatever other name you’ve used in the last three years. I, certainly, am not paid to care who you claim to be. I was paid for a very simple task, which, if you’ll permit me just a moment, I shall complete now.”

It would have taken a very observant eye to see Jennifer’s body tense slightly, preparing to spring into action. The old man possessed, as it turned out, a very observant eye. He raised his hands gently. “Now now, there’s no need for that. I was paid to deliver a message, and, if you’ll permit me to reach very slowly and deliberately into my jacket here, I shall slide it across the table to you – face down, of course. After that, you never see me again, nobody in this café gets dragged into any kind of collateral damage situation, and you remain a simple waitress in a small town. Does that sound agreeable to you?”

The slight tension in Jennifer’s posture relaxed, and she shrugged. “Well, I have no idea who you think I am, but if there’s no dissuading you, feel free to pass on whatever message you think it is I’m supposed to get. Make it fast though – my lunch break’s almost over.”

With, as promised, a slow and deliberate motion, the old man reached into his pocket and withdrew a small piece of paper which he placed on the table and slid over to Jennifer. Then, with an equally slow and deliberate motion, he stood from the table and nodded in parting. “There, that was rather easy, don’t you think? Now, if you’ll excuse me, I too have other business matters that I must see to today. Goodbye, Miss Stock.”

Jennifer, for her part, nodded back and watched the old man slowly make his way down the street. When he was out of sight, she looked down at the message with an expression that was half-curious, half-annoyed. With a huff, she stuck the note in her pocket without reading it, paid for her lunch, and headed back to the diner for the rest of her shift. If she seemed to be a little more terse than usual, her boss didn’t notice. After the shift was finally over and Jennifer headed for her car, Clarissa waved her down to ask for a ride, and Jennifer, unable to think of a reason not to, acquiesced.

“Hey,” Clarissa said, with all the subtlety of the young, “You seemed kind of pissed after lunch today. Something happen?”

Jennifer sighed. “I ran into some old man who claimed we knew each other. The whole thing was awkward and uncomfortable.”

“Sounds like it. Who did he think you were?”

“No idea. He just kept trying to make conversation and I just wanted to be left alone. He got the hint eventually, but it kind of ruined my lunch break, you know?” Jennifer sighed. “Guess I should count myself lucky he didn’t get violent or anything.”

Clarissa took this all in and nodded agreement. As Jennifer pulled over in front of Clarissa’s building, she suddenly seemed to remember something. “Hey, some of my friends and I were planning a get-together later this week. You wanna come along?”

It was difficult to tell, Jennifer thought, whether Clarissa was just being polite, or if she genuinely was making some kind of overture of friendship, and both possibilities filled her with a low sort of anxiety. Either way, a little socialization would probably do her some good. Jennifer grinned. “Yeah, I think I do!”

Clarissa seemed delighted. “It’s a date! I’ll text you the details as soon as I’ve got ‘em, okay?” She bounded out of the car and headed into her building before Jennifer had the chance to change her mind. Jennifer spent the few minutes it took to drive to her own house torn between feeling pleased with herself for being social and wondering if she’d made a mistake. She only remembered the note in her pocket when it fell out as she was changing out of her work clothes, and it brought a decisive end to much of any thinking about future parties.

The note, as it turned out, was handwritten in a small, difficult-to-parse script, perhaps as a way of displaying its authenticity. Certainly, Jennifer thought wryly, it would offend a forger to write so sloppily. The note consisted of two sentences. The first read, “You could have told me.” The second, “She’s still looking for you.” At the bottom of the note were two letters which served as the signature: M.M.

“Well.” Jennifer said, to nobody in particular. Then, after a moment, “Fuck.”

Part Two

Prologue

[newhologram]

Glorious purpose, sacrifice, and the god who started it all

Send a heartbeat to The void that cries through you Relive the pictures that have come to pass For now we stand alone The world is lost and blown And we are flesh and blood disintegrate With no more to hate

- The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning by Smashing Pumpkins (because this song is 100% about Avengers)

Been on an MCU binge to put everything under a microscope, so here’s what’s been rolling around in my brain. 

Infinity War spoilers below with speculation/theories for Avengers 4 that includes A4 spoilery set leak stuff. 

**SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT**

* * *

There’s a lot to talk about as far as theories as we were given some hopeful leads in IW and other films. Just to take inventory on some other speculations and fun ideas: 

Shuri may have backed Vision up

Soul World: is that where Gamora is? Is that where everyone who was dusted went?

Nebula may get a meaningful role in helping to take Thanos down

Captain Marvel’s role in all this??

The possibility of Adam Warlock coming out of his cocoon

The Eternals maybe

Hawkeye/Ronin

Thor’s Stormbreaker handle being made of Groot somehow solving something

Thanos being overcome with grief in his isolation

The possibility of a major time jump in A4 to see how Earth has moved on after the snap, which may include Tony’s future with Pepper and their child. Everyone will have lived so many years with the consequences of the snap.

It also feels like each character might have to go on their own hunt for the stones, which might lead to an interesting reversal of the loss and sacrifice they faced in IW. I wonder who gets assigned to each stone and how that’ll play out for their individual character arc? There’s one stone for each original Avenger, so that’s cool to think about 

Erasing versus dying. If you’ve heard anything about “the Event” that a lot of astrologers have been talking about lately, basically our reality is due for a cosmic event which splits us—leaving people behind and taking the rest into a prosperous new universe. Some will be “erased” from this existence. It’s been called the Rapture. Which is uh. Pretty interesting considering IW premiered on the actual date of the rapture prediction and how the Snap is absolutely a kind of sad superhero bad ending rapture. 

Rewriting everything that we’ve seen in the past 6 years in canon

I’ve also seen some talk of theories such as “Loki is Bruce Banner in disguise”. I can see why this theory is popular because Bruce acts really weird the whole movie and seems to know things he shouldn’t. But I’m not too into it because it feels like there’s a big payoff coming with the Hulk (as in, we better get a cool shot of him bursting out of the Hulkbuster armor, like the toy).

There’s also some talk about spotting Quicksilver and even Wolverine on the set but I have nooo idea what those would even mean, not just in regards to the plot but with the whole joint custody thing Sony, Fox and Disney have been working out. 

All of that said, I’ve been thinking about a few other threads in particular though, so that’s what I’ll be exploring here. Just speculation for fun. Let’s see where it leads.

☀ Undying Fidelity

The opening scene was really suspicious to me for many reasons. These directors are sharp and I believe there is purpose to everything we see as well as what we don’t see.

Let’s talk about my boy Loki.

He starts out pretty scared. The guy is sweating bullets. 

After the Hulk engages Thanos, Loki isn’t on screen for several minutes. We don’t see him reacting or hiding or anything. I don’t trust that, especially not with the Russo bros directing it. I feel as though something is being hidden from us in this moment, distracted by the Hulk just as much as the bad guys are.

When he reappears to offer himself as a guide to Thanos, suddenly his demeanor is totally different. He seems calm, resolved even. 

His choice of words is very important. The most suspicious to me are: “rightful heir to Jotunheim”, “God of Mischief”, “do hereby pledge my undying fidelity”. Loki does not want us to forget that he’s not only a Jotunn, not Asgardian by blood, but he’s a God, and a very, very cunning one. To be honest, it doesn’t feel like that last line was for Thanos at all. It honestly feels like he’s saying it to someone else—maybe himself. To his own duty in this moment. Which brings me to the next bullet point:

After that last line, dagger forming, his eyes quickly dart down. There’s a pause. A small beat there. He looks as though he’s steeling himself. That, to me, is the face of a man who very much knows he’s about to die. It’s a very Obi-Wan moment, right in front of Thor. It’s somehow even more heartbreaking if he knew it was coming, and was still so scared and small when Thanos wrapped his fist around his neck. 

Loki’s a smart cookie. He may be relatively young for a god/alien but this isn’t his first rodeo. He already knows how deadly and terrifying Thanos is without the Gauntlet/stones, so what does he think he can do right now? He knows a little dagger isn’t going to win this for them and that’s precisely the point. He isn’t dumb enough to try that sincerely, which makes me believe even more that it was strategic. I have a feeling Thanos chiding him about his choice in words (”undying”) is going to come back to bite him in the ass.

Back to Loki’s words being important. When he’s first about to surrender the Tesseract earlier in the scene, he says to Thor, "I promise you, brother, the sun will shine on us again."  He says it with so much purpose.

And his final words to Thanos: “You will never be a god.” Another reminder: Loki is a god. He’s survived a black hole, stabbing, Hulk-smashing, Grandmaster’s orgies, and likely more in his years. We’ve come to expect him to fake his own death by this point, though I’m still on the fence about whether this one was fake, or a necessary one he knew needed to happen, or somehow a bit of both. I wonder, only a little, where did Loki’s body go, is it just floating around with the rest of the dead? 

For that matter, where the hell is Valkyrie? Is there any meaningful payoff rather than just humor for Korg calling Loki a ghost in Ragnarok? I’m not too hopeful for something like that, but it’s a thought. 

Later on in the film we see Thor, another god, (barely) survive the concentrated full force of a dying star. I’m supposed to believe Loki, an incredibly gifted frost giant child trained in the arts of magic, Loki Ha Ha Duplicates of Me Everywhere Odinson, Loki I’m Right Where I Need to Be Laufeyson just has a sudden brain fart, tries to stab the Mad Titan, gets his neck snapped in front of his brother, and it’s not on purpose? 

BITCH. DID. NOT. TURN. BACK. TO. BLUE. 

Do I really think Loki is still alive? I don’t know. Loki is very, very dear to me but like I said, I’m on the fence. Because it seems like the deaths that happened before the snap, save for Gamora, might be permanent because we needed to feel that the stakes were high. On the other hand, again, Loki is very gifted. We’ve seen him “die” before and I still have a very hard time believing he’s fully dead and not god-level deep coma smacked down needing time to regenerate if he doesn’t just turn blue right after since his iconic look is an illusion too. His line about the sun shining on them again uses the word “us”, which could indicate a revival and reunion somehow. 

But I’m cry because you know he and Thor got into a lot of trouble growing up, and big brother was always there for him. But then little brother goes through some hard stuff, falls into a black hole, gets picked up by a cult, and it all comes down to this moment now: no home to return safely to, no mother to console him after Odin’s discipline, Thor unable to save him. 

♥ We Don’t Trade Lives

Before I go into A4 speculation, let’s look at how each character deals with sacrifice, just for fun: 

Loki is given a choice: his brother’s life, or the Space Stone → Loki surrenders and sacrifices himself 

Quill is given a choice: the love of his life, or Thanos getting closer to winning → Quill is hesitates and is unable to keep his promise of sacrificing Gamora

Gamora is given a choice: her sister, or the location of the Soul Stone  → Gamora surrenders to spare Nebula 

Thanos is given a choice: his favorite daughter, or the Soul Stone → Thanos sacrifices Gamora for the stone

Dr. Strange is given a choice: Tony Stark, or the Time Stone → Despite earlier warning Tony he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice either him or Peter if it means keeping the Time Stone safe, he surrenders the stone → He sacrifices his duty, his life, and the lives of everyone else who gets dusted in order to put them on the one right path he saw out of over 14 million

Wanda is given a choice: Vision, or the Mind Stone → Her struggle with this choice starts earlier on when Vision offers to sacrifice himself to destroy the Mind Stone → Cap tells him “we don’t trade lives”  → Wanda is also not willing to immediately kill him when asked → They run out of time and options, Wanda finally sacrifices Vision, which as we saw didn’t really work out the way they wanted

Our characters struggle with sacrificing something important to them in order to save the universe (remember, in the eyes of Thanos, he’s saving the universe too). Many of the characters value their loved ones above everything else and don’t want to have to make that choice. They don’t want to face the pain of a life without that person, or they don’t want another person to suffer or die painfully because of them.

Alright. Let’s talk bidness. 

♛   Reframe the Future

Yeah—remember B.A.R.F.? Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing. 

This has to be what Tony will use to look back at things. I see him replaying the events of the first Avengers over and over, trying to figure out how it all could’ve gone so wrong, what clues they missed, and how to fix it. 

Which brings us to the question of time travel. Is this where the idea of Infinite Avengers will come in, if the multiverse is explored? I don’t have too much of a lead on that, but it’s interesting to think about. If that ends up being the title of A4 it would certainly point to that.

(Note Tony’s greying hair which supports the idea that A4 will start 5-10 years after Infinity War)

Many have speculated about the devices on their wrists in these photos, as well as the fact that while Tony and Ant-Man seem to be their present selves, others are in their old costumes from the first Avengers. Doesn’t quite answer why Cap is wearing a device, unless they recruit lots of multiversal Avengers from various timelines/realities/points in history to help? (Wouldn’t it be crazy to find out that Ant-Man has been a secret tiny time traveling Avenger the whole time?) 

It’s hard to know exactly what kind of time travel shenanigans we’re dealing with. Maybe we’ll learn more when we see Ant-Man and the Wasp, since they’re going to be dealing with the quantum realm, where time doesn’t really exist. In the quantum realm, every possibility exists at the same time. 

We do have some clues though. 

Exhibit A: Loki in all his muzzled glory, as seen at the end of Avengers.

We know that this time travel plot would involve going back to where it all started. But what could be done, what is Tony’s play? 

Exhibit B: Tony Stark in S.H.I.E.L.D. gear. More specifically—

As one of Loki’s escorts.

What we don’t see in Avengers is how everything goes down when they take Loki back into custody (after grubbing on shawarma). We don’t see the discussion about what to do with him and Thor’s decision to take Loki and the Tesseract back to Asgard. 

So, again, what the hell is Tony’s game plan? 

If he’s disguised as a guard, there could be a chance to get alone with Loki and talk to him. Tell him everything that goes down. Get him to help. Get info from him, and make sure he knows how things need to play out in order for this all to work.

I’m not sure how yet though. It seems this could somehow involve Stark making his own Infinity Gauntlet, but that’s later down the line. Where does Loki fit into the plan beyond the time travel scene? That may be all we get of him. 

I’m so excited for the possibility of my two favorite characters working together or even having just once more scene together, however it plays out. Tony and Loki both smiled at each others’ jokes in A1 and I loved it. I feel like their dynamic would be so interesting to explore more. Tony totally clocked that Loki is a diva, because they’re both like that lol.

☮ Glorious Purpose

But what’s most interesting to me right now is the implication that if this is the closed loop kind of time travel, it would mean Loki has known about all this since the end of Avengers. 

When the Hulk was distracting everyone, was Loki hiding behind a wall, readying himself for what he knew he needed to do next? I’ve heard talk of the possibility of a duplicate since that’s what Loki does, but would Thanos have been able to tell he was killing an illusion? He didn’t have the Soul Stone then which likely helped him tell which Strange was real later. I’ve also heard talk of a Loki switchout, but I’m not too convinced because it would involve somehow transporting another Loki there. Not so sure there would be a stealthy way to do any of that. 

Did Loki die in the beginning of Infinity War fully knowing all those years that it was going to happen, that it needed to happen, in order for the sun to shine again?

Did Loki die to help save the universe?

...

If Loki knew those few weeks on Sakaar were going to be his last, do you think he was like, “Guess I better live my best life and spend my final days sipping cocktails on Grandmaster’s lap.”

My final speculation prediction REQUIREMENT from Marvel Studios is to have Avengers 4 end with a beautiful Pepperony wedding filled with superheroes. Whoever’s left, that is. 

(This also means if there’s a time jump, Tony will possibly erase the present he has with Pepper and their child in order to save everyone... Should be interesting.)

In conclusion, have this whiteboard drawing I did for @spazzeon as I tried to explain all of this

[listoriented]

Brigador: Up-Armored Edition

I write to you from a friend's living room. This is maybe the third time I've started this post - the first time I was in a (pretty shit) cafe, where I remembered that I still have issues to sort out re: feeling self-conscious about doing writing in public, while the next attempt was at the kitchen table of a different friend on the other side of Melbourne to where I sit now. The point I wish to not-so-cleverly communicate is that I'm on the move again, the vagary of conditions of being mobile and staying with friends slightly less conducive to mouse and keyboard games like, pertinent example, Brigador, which this here blog post is (a little superficially) about. I should add that even though I didn't bring a mouse with me, there is definitely a mouse here that I could borrow (sitting right in front of me, in fact. Should I take a photo? No), and that it wouldn't be too hard to temporarily shift e.g. the stationary, tobacco, textbooks (but probably not the 1000 piece puzzle which if not finished seems very close to it), move this laptop from my actual lap and onto the table, plug in and play. But I'm starting to realise how much gaming is a hobby of domestic interior comfort for me. The space comes first, then the habit. Arguably/ideally it should be the other way around.

Sometimes life chooses when you're finished with the game - is a thing I wanted to write, leaning into the wince, extra helpings of cheese, melodrama leaking down my face, although even then it’s a painful simplification. It's more that mix of circumstance with the self-determined pressure of like, how long you should spend on any one game in a dumb myopic self-indulgent project versus an ongoing desire to slip in diary snippets while making it first and foremost about the game and also, like, not getting bogged down in personal shit. With Brigador I had, back in Canberra, almost - ! - finished the campaign, anyway, though a bit of last-minute research told me this whole campaign mode that I'd been playing was a more recent addition (the 2017 "up-armoured" part, in fact) to the game, and is kinda meant as a large tutorial section to the game proper, which is (I think) a freelance, permadeathy, scores and upgrades situation. Silly me for assuming.  

Brigador is a - here, do you like descriptors specific to videogames and nothing else? - cyberpunk isometric bullet-hell mech shootybanger. You WASD your mech around the map, mouse-aiming at specific targets and enemy mechs/infantry while trying to not get blown up. The mechs can be slow and clunky, fast and fragile, with a few different weapon options and special abilities. It's set on a planet (I think?) called Solo Nobre, where there are lots of factions and loyalties and uh... I don't know. There was a lot of competently written flavour text for each mission. I dutifully read all of it but I wouldn't know how to go about paraphrasing the narrative (if there is any).

At a systems level though Brigador is, like, surprisingly solid. Fuck it. I’ll say it. It’s good. It’s a good game. It's endearingly simple, utterly mindless fun. The mechs aren't much to look at, but they have a real sense of weight to them - the heavy ones are almost painfully slow, while the lighter ones float effortlessly across the grid. There's enough control and tactical variability there that you could get quite a lot of mileage out of it; I found the heavy mechs with big guns generally easier to pass missions with, while I suspect the stealthy and/or zippy ones might take a bit more practice to use without meeting certain failure. Every building, wall, barrier in the game is destructible, which is a bit gimmicky but also, good. Also, the cannon fire is backed by some really decent clattering sound effect work, while the industrial synth backing track escalates in tempo as the pewpew gets hectic.

It doesn't seem like much to look at, at first, with a weird mixture of repeating doodads, lo-fi polygon shapes with newer engine textures making it seem like it belonged to no particular place and time. But even this I came around to. There's a restrained but wonderful use of neon/fluoro, against the ever drab industrial backgrounds. I quite liked the shadowy, half-lit streets and the renditions of retro-future industry, even while it was difficult to see the neighbourhoods and commercial districts that dotted the game’s story as anything other than open-plan mazes with a few illuminated but-otherwise-meaningless targets.  

To be in Brigador is to be passing a moment just fine. And that's kind of about it. That's about it with a lot of games, I guess, although there's a purity of having basically-nothing-else present here. Nothing to think about. I think, particularly when I started to struggle with some of the longer missions, sometimes insta-killing my mech by driving into an unseen gas-station or similar (some of these are not well marked) right at the end of the mission and thereby having to repeat the whole thing again, swearing at the computer and the game and myself but also not really caring, I felt a heightened awareness of the futility of all this which, yeah, is nothing new, but I mainly only feel it when I play shittier, less altogether well-glued games than this one. Like, what is the point, actually? Brigador is functionally excellent; a pretty effective waste of time. How many times can I come to this particular conclusion about a game? For the lifetime of this blog.

When/Where: Brigador: Up Armoured Edition was in the June 2017 Humble Monthly. This is the first time a game from Humble Monthly has come up, I think, and it's also coincidentally from the first Monthly I got (after a long time of being like, no, that’s stupid). I think the carrot here was Stellaris, which predictably I still haven't had a proper go with, a year later.

Who: It was developed by Stellar Jockeys [official site], a four-man team across Illinois and Washington State (I know where these places are because America is everything even though I've never been there, hi). The game originally hit early access in 2015, full market in 2016, and the Up-Armoured re-release was June 2017 (same time as it was bundled with the monthly).

Duration: I played it for...7 hours. I unlocked 6 out of 63 achievements (wow so few) and one of those was for accidentally opening the console.

up next is Broken Age, beginning a run of adventure games being four of the next five in the list. Expect interrupted business as always.