#quote number 38

[quote-tournament]

Second round, tenth fight

Quote number 38 :

"Life is only precious because it ends, kid. Take it from a god. You mortals don't know how lucky you are."

-Mars, Rick Riordan's The Son of Neptune

VS

Quote number 40 :

"Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I've given up all chances at inner peace. I've made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there's only one conclusion: I'm damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they've set me on a path from which there's no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down, there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.

What is my sacrifice? I'm condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else's future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I'll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? Everything!”

-Luthen Rael, Andor (2022)

[the-physicality]

i am actually so thrilled that we have the order as of right now down.. i've said it before i'll say it again, i. need. coaches. but people are yapping about how dallas sucks, but she is the player that will make it not suck.

[todays-xkcd]

Hint: If you ever encounter this puzzle in a crossword app, just [term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality].

A Crossword Puzzle [Explained]

Transcript

[A square 15x15 crossword puzzle is shown. Only 21 of the 225 squares are black. The black squares are in a pattern that are 180 degree rotationally symmetrical. Three black squares down from the 11th column and similarly three black squares up from the 5th column. Three black squares out from the right in row 7 and then two more black squares diagonally up from the end. Similarly three black squares out from the left in row 9 with two more black squares diagonally down from the end. A single black square is three above the first black square on the diagonal going down to the right and similarly there is a black square three under the first of the diagonal squares going down to the left. (Row 6 column 12 and Row 10 column 4). Finally there are three black squares on a diagonal crossing over the central point by going up from the left through the central point (Row 8 column 8). There are numbers at the top of every column (except the one that is a black square) and similarly at the left edge of all rows (except the one that is a black square). There are also numbers at the bottom of every black segment (except the one that reaches the bottom) and all rows after black segments except the one that reaches the right edge. In total all numbers from 1 to 51 is written. They are written in reading order from 1 to 51.]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

[Below the square there are two rows of clues for each number that belongs to across (rows) and to the right there are one row of clues for each number that belongs to down (columns). Both segments have an underlined and bold title above the clues. ]

'''Across'''

1. Famous Pvt. Wilhelm quote

11. IPv6 address record

15. "CIPHERTEXT" decrypted with Vigenère key "CIPHERTEXT"

16. 8mm diameter battery

17. "Warthog" attack aircraft

18. Every third letter in the word for "inability to visualize"

19. An acrostic hidden on the first page of the dictionary

21. Default paper size in Europe

22. First four unary strings

23. Lysine codon

24. 40 CFR Part 63 subpart concerning asphalt pollution

25. Top bond credit rating

26. Audi coupe

27. A pair of small remote batteries, when inserted

29. Unofficial Howard Dean slogan

32. A 4.0 report card

33. The "Harlem Globetrotters of baseball" (vowels only)

34. 2018 Kiefer song

35. Top Minor League tier

36. Reply elicited by a dentist

38. ANAA's airport

41. Macaulay Culkin's review of aftershave

43. Marketing agency trade grp.

44. Soaring climax of Linda Eder's ''Man of La Mancha''

46. Military flight community org.

47. Iconic line from ''Tarzan''

48. Every other letter of Jimmy Wales's birth state

49. Warthog's postscript after "They call me ''mister'' pig!"

50. Message to Elsa in ''Frozen 2''

51. Lola, when betting it all on Black 20 in ''Run Lola Run''

“Down

1. Game featuring "a reckless disregard for gravity"

2. 101010101010101010101010 [sub]2→16

3. Google phone released July '22

4. It's five times better than that ''other'' steak sauce

5. ToHex(43690)

6. Freddie Mercury lyric from ''Under Pressure''

7. Full-size Audi luxury sedan

8. Fast path through a multiple choice marketing survey

9. 12356631 in base 26

10. Viral Jimmy Barnes chorus

11. Ruby Rhod catchphrase

12. badbeef + 9efcebbb

13. In Wet Let's ''Ur Mum'', what the singer has been practicing

14. Refrain from Nora Reed bot

20. Mario button presses to ascend Minas Tirith's walls

24. Vermont historic route north from Bennington

26. High-budget video game

28. Unorthodox Tic-Tac-Toe win

29. String whose SHA-256 hash ends "...689510285e212385"

30. Arnold's remark to the Predator

31. The vowels in the fire salamander's binomial name

32. Janet Leigh ''Psycho'' line

34. Seven 440Hz pulses

37. Audi luxury sports sedan

38. A half-dozen eggs with reasonably firm yolks

39. 2-2-2-2-2-2 on a multitap phone keypad

40. .- .- .- .- .- .-

42. Rating for China's best tourist attractions

43. Standard drumstick size

45. "The rain/in Spain/falls main-/ly on the plain" rhyme scheme

[hyruleinterviews]

In honor of David Lynch (1946-2025)

In honor of David Lynch (1946-2025), some quotes about how his work on Twin Peaks influenced the Zelda series.

Quote 1:

PEOPLE:

Kensuke Tanabe, age 35. Link’s Awakening Writer.

Takashi Tezuka, age 38. Link’s Awakening Game Director.

Yoshiaki Koizumi, age 30. Link’s Awakening Writer.

QUOTE: "Tanabe: When I started [on Link’s Awakening] I was given a list of requirements by the director, Mr. Tezuka, such as no Triforce, no Princess Zelda, no Hyrule, and a closed field. …

Mr. Tezuka requested a world full of strange characters like in Twin Peaks, which was a popular show back then. I then wrote a script that fit my vision of an egg hatching on a mountaintop ending the world with Koizumi’s ‘Your dream? Or someone else’s dream?’ Koizumi worked on the main thread of the story and I did the odd characters. "

Quote #2:

PEOPLE:

Takashi Tezuka, age 49. Director of Link’s Awakening.

Eiji Aonuma, age 46. Director or Producer of various Zelda games.

Satoru Iwata, age 49. 4th President of NIntendo.

QUOTE: "Tezuka: Oh, right, about Twin Peaks…

Aonuma: Whoa, here we go. [laughs] Iwata-san, do you know about Twin Peaks?

Iwata: No. Bring me up to speed. [laughs]

Tezuka: We were talking about this before you arrived. I was talking about fashioning The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening with a feel that's somewhat like Twin Peaks. At the time, Twin Peaks was rather popular. The drama was all about a small number of characters in a small town.

Iwata: Okay…

Tezuka: So when it came to Link's Awakening, I wanted to make something that, while it would be small enough in scope to easily understand, it would have deep and distinctive characteristics."

Quote #3:

PEOPLE:

Mark Frost, age 70. Co-Creator and Executive Producer of Twin Peaks.

QUOTE: "Q: [Interviewer asks about his meeting with Nintendo developers, who were reportedly inspired by Twin Peaks for Link’s Awakening]

Frost: They were talking to me about a Twin Peaks game, and they mentioned Zelda at the time. They said, ‘One of the things we love about your show [Twin Peaks] is how there’s all sorts of sideways associations that can drive the story forward.’ They asked me about that as they were thinking about expanding the Zelda universe.

… I’d played lots of Dungeons & Dragons when I was young, so I was familiar with the kind of story they were thinking about. I think I said, ‘Don’t be afraid to use dreamlike, Jungian symbolism. Things can connect thematically without having to connect concretely.’ It was things like that that I was urging them [to consider]."

Quote #4:

PEOPLE:

Shigeru Miyamoto, age 58. Producer of Ocarina of Time.

QUOTE: "Miyamoto: I didn't want to tell a story [in Ocarina of Time] so much as I wanted to have a lot of people appear around the main character and portray their relationships. Some years back, a television show called Twin Peaks was popular. When I saw that, the most interesting thing wasn't the ins and outs of the story, but what kinds of characters appeared.

… I think those suspicious and odd characters alone are interesting. I'm more interested in their presence than who is whose cousin and whose parents were sworn enemies way back when. … What's important is what role that person plays and how they contribute to portraying the main character."

[rosiehrs]

YOU DON'T KNOW MY NAME ## bae joohyun

influencer!irene x fem!reader

SUMMARY ⤻ irene was a private influencer and y/n was an avid follower. you were extremely open about your admiration for the older girl. like every other fangirl, you want her to notice you – but she doesn't know your name. (and you don't know hers)

CONTENTS ⤻ smau, non!idol x reader, wlw, fluff, crack, minor angst, fangirling, pining

WARNINGS ⤻ dark jokes, strong language, suggestive jokes, large age gap? (reader is 21, irene is 32), will add more in the future!

FEATURING ⤻ red velvet, jennie kim (blackpink), im nayeon (twice), nakamura kazuha (le sserafim), aeri uchinaga (aespa), choi yena (soloist), kim gaeul (ive), shin yuna (itzy), more characters to come in future chapters ˆ-ˆ

STATUS ⤻ ongoing.

UPDATES ⤻ whenever i can!

PROFILES..! yena's charity work. millennials + yeri.

CHAPTERS

O1 – GET UP

O2 – dm her u won't

O3 – the beginning

O4 – yeri knows

O5 – opposites attract

O6 – default settings

O7 – compatible?

O8 – 'i always win'

O9 – unnie collector

10 – number exchange

11 – 'i'm almost there'

12 – date night (half written)

13 – burn the trauma suit

14 – friends

15 – filtered yn era (?)

16 – card reading

17 – kirby says hi

18 – stranded

19 – 'i see you'

20 – saviour (written)

21 – 'i don't like her'

22 – invitation

23 – realisation

24 - right but wrong

25 - close to you

26 - quote of the day

27 - blue

28 - every sunday

29 - pent up (written)

30 - let it all out

31 - call

32 - yena's right

33 - still stands

34 - thanks, nayeon!

35 - valentine

36 - everyone has a date

37 - fourteenth

38 - blocked!

39 - nayeon

40 - self respect

41 - welcome katy

42 - event

43 - omfg

44 - square one

45 - you

46 - cowabunga

more to come..

taglist (closed)

[thebluemallet]

What Colin Calls Penelope In Bridgerton

Between Part 1 and 2 of season 3, I made a post about wanting to see the numbers on what Colin calls Penelope throughout the show because I thought there was a significant increase in the use of "Penelope" over "Pen" as their relationship matured.

Well, I did a very quick rewatch of seasons 1 and 2 (basically fast-forwarding to the parts I knew Colin and Pen would either interact or Colin would mention Penelope) and a rewatch of season 3. AND I HAVE THE NUMBERS!

So here's a breakdown on what Colin calls Penelope through all three seasons of Bridgerton. I'll give the total as well as if it was said directly to Penelope or to other people.

(If someone wants to make a chart or something with all of this data, I would not hate that)

Pen

Season 1- 8 (directly)

Season 2- 10 (directly)

Season 3- 23 (directly); 1 (indirectly); 1 (unclear. He said it to Dream Penelope); 25 total.

Total number of times Colin has called Penelope "Pen"- 43

The rest is below the cut because this post got long!!

Miss Featherington

Season 1- 1 (indirectly)

Season 2- none

Season 3- 1 (directly); 2 (indirectly); 3 total

Total number of times Colin has called Penlope "Miss Featherington"- 4

Penelope

Season 1- 1 (directly)

Season 2- 1 (directly); 1 (indirectly); 1 (unclear. He was talking to Penelope but quoting himself--"I said to myself, 'If Penelope can see me this way...'"); 3 total

Season 3- 5 (directly); 22 (indirectly); 27 total

Total number of times Colin has called Penelope "Penelope"- 31

Miss Penelope

Season 2- 1 (indirectly)

Total number of times Colin has called Penelope "Miss Penelope"- 1

Penelope Featherington

Season 1- none

Season 2- 2 (indirectly)

Season 3- 3 (directly)

Total number of times Colin has called Penelope "Penelope Featherington"- 5

Auntie Penelope

Season 3- 1 (indirectly)

Total number of time Colin has called Penelope "Auntie Penelope"- 1

If I lumped "Miss Penelope," "Penelope Featherington," and "Auntie Penelope," into the same group with "Penelope," then Colin has called her Penelope a total of 38 times throughout the series. Which means "Pen" is still the winner.

And if any of you were curious, he called her "my bride-to-be" 1 time (directly), his "future wife" 2 times (directly and indirectly), "my wife" 2 times (both indirectly), and of course, as we all know, he called her "Mrs. Bridgerton" 1 time in the final episode.

[forasecondtherewedwon]

3 & 38 💕

Thank you, friend 💕 This prompt took my face in its hands and whispered, "Drunken late-night bus ride."

3) SHIP: Cressida x Eloise

38) SCANDAL: public drunkenness!

more Bridgerton-themed fic prompts

Happy Times We Had (And Yet the Times Were Sad)

Pairing: Cressida x Eloise Rating: M Word Count: 1729

Summary: Drunk on champagne and shining like two falling stars, Eloise and Cressida take the bus.

They rushed onto the bus, out of breath, and Eloise hoped it was the right bus. The lit-up number over the windscreen had seemed right as they’d dashed down the sidewalk, but it was only a blur in her memory as she snapped open her clutch and poked around for their fare.

The driver pitched the bus forward, which Eloise supposed was as much a mark of trust as a completely arseholish thing to do; he was assuming she could pay. The bus swung away from the curb to avoid a parked car and Cressida wrapped her arms around Eloise’s waist from behind, the pair of them swaying together. As soon as Eloise got their fares sorted, she took Cressida by the hand and led her, wobbling, down the aisle, collapsing into a pair of seats across from the rear door. She fumbled out an error-riddled text to Benedict, saying they were on their way home.

The pair of them glittered in their evening finery—dresses with little straps that crisscrossed their backs and sparkling eyeshadow fallout under their eyes. Their insobriety made the effect all the prettier. Eloise grinned lazily as she stared at Cressida, whose head rested back against the window, headlights and neon lights and stoplights sliding past outside, her perpetually too-tight blonde hair tugged loose to drape, like a third drunk, over her shoulder.

“D’you think he’ll be angry at me?” Cressida asked.

Eloise twisted until the pointy toes of their high heels knocked together. The large sequins on Cressida’s skirt would leave impressions in Eloise’s bare knees as she pressed against her.

“Who?”

Cressida sulked.

“My father.”

“Oh yes. Well,” Eloise reflected, patting her friend’s hand, “you did call him a pompous, uptight bastard. And you gave him the ol’ ‘fuck you’ gesture when we were on our way out.”

Cressida slumped a little in her seat, tilting her head.

“But d’you think he’ll be mad?”

“I think…” Eloise said slowly, because the thought was still forming and because she was drunk. “I think, if your father sat down with himself—”

“Mhmm.”

“—and really got to—got to know himself—”

“Mhmm.”

“—that maybe he would maybe see tha’ he is a pompous, uptight bastard,” Eloise concluded.

Cressida’s head swung loosely from side to side.

“That is never going to happen.”

“No, it doesn’ seem likely,” Eloise agreed. “Maybe if you hadn’ said it in front of all of ‘respectable society.’” Her air quotes were expansive.

“‘Respectable society’ can kiss my ‘Daisy by Marc Jacobs’-scented arse,” Cressida declared, yanking her shoes off and dropping them onto the floor of the bus.

Eloise laughed richly, leaning her head on Cressida’s shoulder. After a minute, she sighed. She could feel Cressida breathing. Turning her face just a little, Eloise inhaled. She could smell Cressida’s perfume, mixed with champagne sweetness and, gradually, the lingering scent of smoke that clung to Eloise, courtesy of the cigarette she’d smoked in the restaurant bathroom before they’d made their escape.

“You smell really nice,” Eloise observed.

“Thanks.”

The word sounded wet, so Eloise raised her head, and saw that Cressida was silently weeping. Eloise’s mouth fell open in panic. She was not good at this: emotion. She had never been a natural at comforting others, never the right-shaped shoulder to cry on. Her younger siblings had always gone to their mother for solace—failing that, to Daphne or Benedict (to be fair, so had Eloise). In this moment, with Cressida’s fat tears washing her bottom row of eyelashes of mascara, leaving them pale and clustered and vulnerable to the world, Eloise had never wanted to help so badly.

She touched Cressida’s cheek and gently shushed her, but it was obvious that Cressida was a deadly combination of too overwhelmed and too intoxicated to stop crying that easily.

“I’ve totally fucked my life,” Cressida sobbed.

And Eloise said, “No. No. No,” in various sympathetic tones, meaning each repetition with her whole heart.

“They’ll send me away!”

“They can’t. You’re not some child in boarding school, you’re at uni.”

But Cressida was shaking her head, adamant.

“They’ll send me away. They’ll make me live in Denmark. I got too good at Danish. I never should’ve declared a minor, but my father said a language would be good for—good for my business degree,” she wailed.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Eloise thought fast. “I’m going to hide you in my closet.” This thought had indeed come to her fast, but was perhaps not sound.

Cressida sniffed.

“In your closet?”

“Uh huh. I’ll protect you.”

Although her face was streaked with tears that glimmered pink and gold, Cressida smiled. She pulled Eloise’s hand onto her lap and held it.

“You sound about four years old,” she said.

Eloise smiled back and reached out to trace the shape of Cressida’s chin with her fingers.

“I dunno about that, but I think I’d melt if you called me ‘baby.’”

The bus rolled jarringly over a pothole, nearly flinging Eloise from her seat. She gripped the nearest pole and swiveled her head to look out the window. Well done, she thought to herself. Right bus after all.

“C’mon,” she said. “Le’s get off at the next one.”

She told Cressida not to forget her shoes, and they hobbled off with all the grace with which they’d made their ascent. The bus puffed hot air and pulled away. Cressida squinted at the buildings they faced from the sidewalk. Her heels dangled from her hand, her fingers hooked through the straps.

“Is this right?”

Eloise grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around to look across the street.

“Oh. I know where we are,” Cressida announced. “You are protecting me.”

But Eloise felt a bit embarrassed about that, and the other thing she’d said, now that they were out in the warm evening air and the bus wasn’t lurching them along. They darted across the road. It wasn’t until they were on the other side, not a ten-minute walk from both of their houses, that she looked Cressida in the eye—and this was because Cressida grabbed her hand to stop her.

“This would all be awful without you,” she said.

Just for Eloise, there were streetlights like angels’ eyes that made Cressida’s hair glow and her dress shimmer and her eyes shine above the muck of her cried-off mascara, and the way she watched her was divinely tender and fearful, both.

Eloise kissed Cressida on the cheek; she wasn’t so tall without her shoes on, with her hair down. Eloise breathed her in, then stepped back.

Cressida wore an alarmed, animal expression, like something not used to human touch. But then she dropped her shoes—Eloise heard the clatter—and sunk her fingers into Eloise’s tangled hair. Eloise was breathing fast, but Cressida just leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. Eloise’s eyes crossed as she watched Cressida’s close.

“Don’ go,” Cressida murmured.

“I-I’m not.”

Eloise was ashamed of the stammer, thinking she was making too much of this. She was always making too much of things, but this was worse than usual because it would hurt more. She’d thought, someplace between the restaurant and here, that it was time. She had misunderstood; Cressida was only drunk and morose, lonely and needy. Maybe she did see how Eloise needed her (it was different) and she was playing on that. She used to be that sort of mean girl. Eloise didn’t want to think her friend capable of such a personal cruelty though. She just doesn’t understand, Eloise told herself, staring at Cressida’s blurry, too-close face. She won’t feel me wrapped around her finger until I start cutting off her circulation.

“Don’ go,” she was still mumbling, shaking her head, their foreheads rubbing.

Somehow, Eloise’s heart felt heavier in pieces than it had a moment ago, whole. But she wouldn’t go. She couldn’t. Cressida meant too much to her. They were each other’s life raft in all this society bullshit and parental expectation. Anyway, she wasn’t about to leave her friend standing drunk and barefoot on the sidewalk.

Gentle, Eloise reached up to pull Cressida’s hands from her hair. Without warning, Cressida thrust her face forward and kissed Eloise on the mouth. Eloise blinked.

Now it would hurt, and this hurt would scar—when she had to maternally tuck Cressida’s hair behind her ears and say, That’s enough now, Cress. But before she could speak, Cressida said, “Baby.”

“What?” Eloise’s voice sounded choked.

And Cressida’s fingertips trailed up and down the sides of Eloise’s neck, and she traced the pendant that hung against her throat, and she pressed their faces together, and she said, “Baby,” and she kissed Eloise again.

Eloise kissed her back, sloppy and yearning, cataclysmic and sweet. Cressida wasn’t someone she could kiss and laugh about it the next day. She couldn’t enjoy these benefits and keep being just-friends. She couldn’t hook up with Cressida, have a fling with Cressida, eat Cressida out on a pristine bench in a private park after dark because her dad was the worst and she was somehow even prettier with swirls of cried-off makeup making her cheeks look like candy-coloured Italian marble. Eloise couldn’t do this and recover, but she did it. How could she not? She did it and she led Cressida through the gate of the private park with their fingers linked, and Eloise laid her back on the pristine bench and crouched to give her head while Cressida named all the constellations she could see, getting all of them wrong. Eloise did it, gambling that it wouldn’t seem ugly when they were sober. She did it, remembering the pressure of Cressida’s arms around her waist while she paid for the bus. How, how, how could she not?

And then Cressida curled into Eloise’s side and said, “You’re the only one who matters.”

And Eloise combed her fingers through that long blonde hair and said, “That isn’t true.”

And it could’ve ended there, but Cressida went to Eloise’s home because her house wasn’t one, and slept in a guest room, and, half-awake, lifted the sheet for Eloise when she turned up later on, a way to beckon her in because she was dithering in the doorway. They slept deeply.

Eloise, who had appointed herself protector, woke up to feel Cressida wrapped around her from behind.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Seth Mandel

So what’s the updated number of casualties? Hamas says 40. After the strike, Israel released a detailed photo dossier of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists killed in the strike—19 of them. That leaves 21 possible civilians and proves that, yes, it was a command center after all and without any doubt a legitimate military target. (Israel also used smaller, more targeted bombs for the strike so it could hit the command center directly.)

Then Israel released another dossier with an additional 12 Hamas officials identified among the deceased. That brings our total number of terrorists killed in the strike to 31. (There is another report claiming that number can be raised all the way to 38, but it’s unclear at the time of writing if the level of detail available can definitively back up that number.)

There are, at most, nine possible civilians among the dead.

So let’s review. We went from 93 killed (“all” of them civilians, according to a source quoted by CNN) in a school and shelter to 31 Hamas officials killed in a targeted strike on a confirmed command center, with anywhere from two to nine possible civilians killed.

Those civilians should be mourned. Any innocent life lost is a tragedy. And now that we know it was a command center, we also know Hamas is to blame for their deaths.

Obviously, it would be much better if the media would report accurate information. But once you understand how these pieces of propaganda are put together, you can disassemble them yourself and construct the reality.

[otmaaromanovas]

please if you can possibly tell me who of OTMA and Alexei was the biggest baby and who was the smallest and in order to biggest to smallest if possible please ?

Hello! Thank you for your question - of course :)

The children's weights at birth, from Nicholas's diaries: Olga: "She is a big baby 10 pounds in weight and 55 centimetres in length" Tatiana: "Tatiana weight 8 3/4 pounds and is 54 centimetres long" Maria: Nicholas did not write Maria's weight or length in his diary. I've seen 9.9 pounds floating around, but I am get to see this confirmed by a primary source Anastasia: "The little one weights 11 1/2 pounds and measures 55 centimetres" Alexei: Alexandra made detailed records of Alexei's measurements in her notebook. Numbers are in grams and centimetres. "Weight 4660 [10.2 pounds], length 58. Measurement of the head 38; chest 39."

Therefore, in weight order:

Anastasia at 11 1/2 pounds (5.2kg)

Alexei at 10.2 pounds (4.6kg)

Olga at 10 pounds (4.5kg)

Maria (unconfirmed number: 9.9 pounds / 4.5 kg)

Tatiana: 8 3/4 pounds (3.9kg)

Hope this helped :)

Photos: Anastasia, Alexei, Olga, Maria, and Tatiana in formal photographs at a few months old, from Alexandra's formal photograph albums

Sources: 📍 Lottie Bailey, 1895 Diary of Tsar Nicholas II, (n.p., 2022), entries starting 3/15 and 4/16 November 1895 📍 Helen Azar, 'Tatiana Romanov: Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia', The Romanov Family, quoting Nicholas II's diary entry dated 29 May 1897 [Old Style] 📍 Andrei Maylunas, Sergei Mironenko, A Lifelong Passion: Nicholas and Alexandra: Their Own Story, translations by Darya Galy, (New York: Doubleday, 1997), pp. 184, 206, 243

[seeminglyranch87]

Taylor & Travis Timeline

January 2025 - Part 1

Jan 4/5 - Travis arrives in Denver ahead of game.

Chiefs v Broncos, Empower Field, Denver, CO.

T Kelce, P Mahomes, C Jones and other key players will not play as Chiefs are #1 seed and in the playoffs. Chiefs are defeated 0 - 38.

Travis on the sideline...

January 8 - Travis Kelce wins the 2024 Nationwide Charity Challenge! Nationwide has awarded a $35,000 donation to Kelce’s foundation, 87 & Running. (NFL x Travis responds x)

Taylor Swift is named No. 1 artist on Billboard's 100-position Top Artists of the 21st Century chart, based on performance on the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Hot 100 songs chart from the start of 2000 through the end of 2024 (x)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by billboard (@billboard)

January 13 - Travis Kelce talks with Pat McAfee on his podcast (x) about the Aura Taylor brings to Arrowhead when she is in attendance and her music writing in their home...

McAfee "Is there going to be an aura in that place, a little bit extra? You know what we're talking about," referring to Taylor Swift. Kelce "Oh yeah, you know it, baby, it's playoff football, man."

McAfee "Let's just say you're hanging and out and having a little dinner and all of the sudden the creative juice sparks, and the absolute beast [Taylor] that you're sitting with who is going to go down as maybe the most famous icon in the history of music...are you a motivator every single time?" Kelce "Oh, yeah. You know it. I'll never chime in but I'm here to support it, I'm here to see where it can go."

full interview x

Jared Koller of KCTV5 local news collates footage of Taylor from this seasons Chiefs games (x)

January 15 - Travis Kelce speaks with Stephen A. Smith (21:08 x)

31:40 Stephen: "Travis Kelce off the football field you living a little bit better than most..." Travis "I'm enjoying all aspects of life, me and Taylor are happy and I couldn't be happier to have that confidence that comfort off the field and all the support I could ever ask for in the stadium man" 

Stephen confesses that he loved the Eras Tour so much he went to a second show.

Travis is asked about how life is on and off the field...

33:45 Travis "I think personally you know that's the beauty of being in a very strong relationship is that you get that support to be able to come in and focus on your craft focus on being the best version of you... that's why I wanted to be at the concert supporting her and being there for her making sure she feels comfortable and supported and everything she's doing in life..."

45:57 Stephen: "Is Miss Swift encouraging you to continue to play or to retire cause it is a violent sport?" Travis "she's fully encouraging me to enjoy playing this game and she loves coming to Arrowhead and coming to the games and cheering for me so I got all the support in the world to keep chasing these dreams" 

50:35 Stephen "Is it all right for us to call you a Swiftie? Travis "oh yeah I'm the number one Swiftie"

Taylor Nation are quoting Travis on X within the hour of the interview being aired (x)

Travis training for the divisional playoffs.

January 16 - National Hat Day - Travis signing caps for charity. Travis knows his maths... "13 + 87 = 100" (x)

January 17 - Travis Kelce named 1 of 6 Playoff Captains.

Taylor Swift in NYC with parents Scott & Andrea, brother Austin and friend Ashleigh Avignon.

Travis is interviewed by ...

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[arshipweek]

AR Ship Week - Scorpia Backstory in the Book and the TV Show

This is the last weekly post in the lead up to Alex Rider Ship Week. Only one week left!

This week we have a guest post by @icebluecyanide​ about the differences between Scorpia in the book and TV canons.

Scorpia Backstory in the Book and the TV Show

After two seasons of ominous statements and mystery, series three of the TV show finally dove deeper into the criminal organisation known as Scorpia, and the way their history intertwines with Alex’s. But what is their backstory, and how does it differ from what we see in the books? 

In this meta, I will be diving into some of the changes in how Scorpia is presented in the book (Scorpia) and the TV show. Since this is a rather broad topic, and could potentially lead to me listing every single difference from the book, I will focus specifically on the Scorpia backstory and on the structure of Scorpia as an organisation.

I’ve used book quotes throughout this meta, including page numbers. The page numbers refer to the 2014 Walker Books (UK) edition.

Scorpia 

Let’s start this off by taking a look at how Scorpia is described in both the book and the show. I’ll first give an overview of Scorpia in the book, then move on to the TV show and do a comparison.

Scorpia in the book

Scorpia was all over the world. It had brought down two governments and arranged for a third to be unfairly elected. It had destroyed dozens of businesses, corrupted politicians and civil servants, engineered several major ecological disasters, and killed anyone who got in its way. It was now responsible for a tenth of the world’s terrorism, which it undertook on a contract basis. Scorpia liked to think of itself as the IBM of crime - but in fact, compared to Scorpia, IBM was strictly small-time. (Scorpia, p. 39)

In the book, Scorpia is a criminal organisation that has its roots in the early 1980s, during the last decade of the Cold War. As we learn in Scorpia (2004), it was founded by people who were involved in the Cold War as spies or assassins or secret police for various governments, and who realised that as the Cold War came to an end, they would be able to make more money going into business for themselves.

It was a fanciful name, they all knew it, invented by someone who had probably read too much James Bond. (Scorpia, p. 38)

The name of Scorpia is taken from their four fields of operation: Sabotage, Corruption, Intelligence and Asassination. They will take on any client that is willing to pay them, and don’t care about who gets caught in the crossfire. They’re a powerful organisation, and as Julia Rothman mentions, sometimes even the intelligence agencies make use of their services for jobs that cannot be traced back to them. They operate very much as a business, and they don’t make things personal, but they also are ruthless in getting even and don’t make hollow threats. Scorpia don’t forgive and they don’t forget.

Scorpia is led by an executive board consisting of the original founders. Of the original twelve, only nine remain at the time of the book, including Julia Rothman (the only woman on the board) and Max Grendel (the oldest executive). The executives on the board are equal partners, but for each project one of them is assigned as the leader, in alphabetical order. (It’s unclear how this works for The Australian, who in some editions doesn’t have a name.)

At the time of the book, the project that Scorpia is focused on is Invisible Sword, and the executive in command is Julia Rothman. There is a client, who is offering a great deal of money for Scorpia to break the special relationship between the UK and the US, and most of the Scorpia board seem unconcerned about the principal target of the weapon being children. The only exception to this is Max Grendel, who is old and has grandchildren of the same age, who has enjoyed getting rich working for Scorpia over the years, but who now wants to retire and not be a part of the new project. Sadly, his retirement gift is a suitcase full of deadly scorpions, so his retirement is rather brief.

Scorpia are an international company, with offices and people all over the world. However, Alex first runs into them in Venice, where Mrs Rothman has a large mansion on the grand canal that is referred to as the Widow’s Palace. On the island of Malagosto, near Venice, Scorpia also has a school where they have a training and testing facility for their assassins. This is where John Rider and Yassen Gregorovich were tested and trained, and it’s where Alex also takes part in lessons. 

Scorpia in the show

Blunt: At that time, we already knew that SCORPIA were the single most dangerous emergent threat since the Cold War. (3x07)

At first glance, the Scorpia we meet in the TV show appears to be from a canon divergent AU where the organisation was all but destroyed around the time when Alex was just a baby. This is a fascinating change, and also makes intuitive sense, as of course the third series of the show came out twenty years after Scorpia (2004) did. From the start, we get hints that Scorpia in the show is different from the one in the books. 

We first learn of the name Scorpia at the end of s1, as Mrs Jones and the rest of the Department realise that Yassen Gregorovich was behind Ian’s death, and that he is still alive. Going by the descriptions we are given, Scorpia was as powerful in the past as they were when Alex met them in the book:

Smithers: I know the file, of course. At one point, they were responsible for a tenth of the world’s terrorism. 

Crawley: And political assassinations, personal vendettas. All available to the highest bidder, without remorse or compunction. (1x08)

In 2006, Scorpia was taken down by the Department, in a well-coordinated operation based on the info John Rider was able to gather. Alan Blunt was in command as all over the world, the bases and known locations of Scorpia were raided. In the chaos, some members of Scorpia went missing and managed to escape, such as Julia Rothman and Yassen Gregorovich, but when they failed to resurface in the five years that followed, their files were closed and they were assumed to be dead.

After this, Scorpia seem to have retreated to the shadows, and operated almost entirely in secret. While they no longer have the same presence in the world, they still have both funds and technology to continue their work. They have no problem spending several millions to fake the payment for the assassination of the US president in season 2 at Yassen’s request, and they have a system set in place with a phone line that can be reached only with a specifically assigned code, or else the number will be disconnected, as we see when the Department pretend to call as Martin Wilby to determine who he got his orders from. In the first two seasons, Scorpia took jobs such as helping with Dr Greif’s plan at Point Blanc, and Damian Cray’s Eagle Strike plan, and they still appear as ruthless as in the book, not caring about the deaths those plans would cause.

At first, we mostly encounter Scorpia in the scenes with the Department, where Scorpia (through Yassen) have turned Martin Wilby to pass on information about the Department and got him to lure Ian Rider to his death at Yassen’s hand. Interestingly, Ian appears to be the only person still looking for Scorpia:

Crawley: I don’t think they ever went away. I think they just got better at hiding. And we were so confident we’d finished them. Only Ian was still looking, of course. (1x08)

Ian seems to have been aware of Yassen’s survival, and presumably who he works for (“Oh Martin, you have no idea who you’re working for.” - 1x01), but none of the rest of the Department have any idea until Alex mentions having seen Yassen at Point Blanc:

Blunt: Scorpia.Mrs Jones: It explains everything. The sophistication, the global reach, and Wilby. Given our history, of course they would target us.Crawley: But we finished them.Blunt: Well, clearly not. (1x08)

In season three, we see Alex (together with Tom and Kyra) actively looking for Scorpia by visiting old locations mentioned in the files on Smither’s phone (that Kyra stole). These include Berlin and Venice, where presumably Julia Rothman had her Palace like in the book. They end up finding Julia in Malta, where she is from. This is a change from the books, where she is Welsh. We meet Nile, her apparent second-in-command, and Max Grendel, who apparently also survived the takedown.

As Alex is pulled into Scorpia, we also learn that they are planning an operation called Invisible Sword. Unlike in the book, this is not a job they took on for a client, but something Julia Rothman came up with personally. As the season goes on, we discover that while she explained it as a way to demonstrate Scorpia’s power and boost their reputation, the real objective was to take revenge against the Department for the blow they dealt Scorpia seventeen years ago.

Scorpia Leadership

Let’s narrow in further for a moment on the question of who is in charge in Scorpia. There do appear to be some changes in the leadership of Scorpia in the TV show, and part of these can be explained by the canon divergence, while others suggest that perhaps this has always been a different Scorpia. Firstly, it’s good to note that instead of talking about an executive board, the leadership are referred to as council members:

Nile: I wondered if perhaps one of the other council members decided to push their luck. (3x01) 

In general, the show appears to have less of a ‘business’ vibe compared to the book. It may be that this is a change that only came with the new Scorpia, but this may also always have been different in this universe. Similarly, we hear that Julia Rothman was elected as leader, which suggests that also the way of picking a leader isn’t the rotated schedule from the books. It appears that Julia Rothman has been elected after the failed jobs with Dr Greif and Damian Cray, in an attempt to bring Scorpia back to prominence.

Razim: We elected you because you promised to restore our influence globally. And so far, we have seen nothing. (3x01)

Speaking of Razim, we get another change from the book. The name Razim is a reference to one of the new board members brought on in Scorpia Rising in the books, and he wasn’t present in the original Scorpia book. It makes sense that with most of the organisation taken down years ago, they will have filled their ranks with new members. However, there is some suggestion that perhaps Razim was actually part of Scorpia leadership before Julia:

Julia: Razim’s always resented me. He thinks when Nicolai died, inherited my place at the table. (3x01)

Julia Rothman

Max: And besides, we both know you earned your place. (3x01)

It appears that unlike in the books, Julia Rothman was not a founding member of Scorpia in the show. This also matches up with what we learn about her from the Department file on her, where it states she ‘possesses broad knowledge of Scorpia Operational Structure and is being groomed for command’. She was most likely part of the inner circle through her husband Nicolai, given the comment about inheriting her place.

Nicolai Rothman/Mrs Rothman’s husband definitely appears to have been alive and married to her for longer in the TV show than in the book, although in both she is eventually known as the Widow.:

Mrs Rothman’s multimillionaire husband had fallen to his death from a seventeenth-storey window. It had happened just two days after their marriage. (Scorpia, p. 45)

Also an amusing detail is that in the book Nicolai Rothman is a multimillionaire, while in the TV show he’s referred to as a billionaire. Julia Rothman is canonically richer in the TV show!

Malagosto

Let’s take a moment also to look at the differences in how Malagosto is portrayed in the two canons. In both the show and the book, Malagosto is a training facility for Scorpia operatives, but that appears to be where the similarities end. The location is different in the two canons, with it being on an island near Venice in the book, and on Malta in the show. Specifically, we discover that there is a Scorpia base located underground in an old Cold War listening post on Malta. It might be that the original location had to be abandoned after Scorpia was raided, but the fact that The Department show no recognition to the name later suggests that they have never heard of it before. Definitely, the base in Malta was not known before. 

This raises some questions about whether John Rider actually trained at Malagosto in the show as he did in the book. We do have the following quote from Julia Rothman, which if taken literally suggests that he was on Malta with Alex:

Julia: Twenty years ago, your father stood where you are now. Ready to join Scorpia. (3x04)

However, if John trained at Malagosto, it is strange that this location wasn’t known to the Department or raided in the operation to take down Scorpia. So perhaps the quote should be taken metaphorically, with Alex being about to join Scorpia as his dad was, and perhaps John never trained with Scorpia. After all, in the book, he was likely only tested rather than trained, so he may have been tested elsewhere and simply put to work.

THE STUDENTS

Another difference related to Malagosto concerns the students or recruits who are present when Alex is there. In the book, d’Arc (the principal or headmaster of the school) mentions that there are usually around ten to fifteen students. Most of them appear to be people who were either part of the intelligence world or soldiers who have defected:

Alex knew all of them by now. There was Klaus, a German mercenary who had trained with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Walker, who had spent five years with the CIA in Washington before deciding he could earn more working for the other side. (Scorpia, p. 174)

They are people similar to John Rider, who already have had training of some sort that makes them suitable for Scorpia. In this sense, the school is firstly a testing facility, where Scorpia checks if people have the right skills to become part of Scorpia. Alex himself is an exception due to his age, but as d’Arc and Mrs Rothman discuss, he already has experience from both his missions and his uncle’s and MI6’s training. The other students are all older, but treat Alex surprisingly well and are friendly to him.

In the show, the recruits are all orphans and likely closer in age to Alex himself. There is no indication that Alex himself is an outlier in terms of his age. The other recruits also don’t appear to have had prior training if we take Alyona and Oleg as examples. They seem to have been children without families, either taken from orphanages or similar. Some, like Oleg, may have shown a propensity for violence which drew Scorpia’s interest, but they were not the trained soldiers or intelligence agents we see in the books.

This change could perhaps have been a result of Scorpia needing to operate from the shadows. While in the books they could recruit rather blatantly and without worrying about being noticed, they have tried to keep a low profile in the show. Perhaps they have shifted to training teenagers into operatives instead, as they have ‘No baggage, no background. It helps.’ (3x04).

It’s also noteworthy that there are only four other students aside from Alex present at Malagosto. Again, this is easily explained by Scorpia having shrunk in size and operating in more secrecy, and no doubt it made it easier for them to make the commitment of training teenagers. Sadly for Alex, they are not as nice as in the book, and he gets beaten up for being seen as weak on his first day there.

THE BUILDINGS

Another change seems to be in the buildings themselves. As mentioned, Malagosto in the show is located in an old listening post dating back to the Cold War, and that’s reflected in the lack of natural light and the bare, metallic and industrial vibes of the interior. The listening post also appears to be on a remote part of the island, but all that’s visible on the surface is a few abandoned buildings, and Scorpia seem to keep their presence low-key. 

In the book, we see the same outside appearance of abandoned buildings, as Scorpia has retrofitted an old monastery for their needs. The appearance is deceptive, however, as the insides have been modernised and Alex’s own room is much more luxurious than the one he gets in the show:

They left the main building and walked over to the nearest apartment block that Alex had seen from the boat. Again, the building looked dilapidated from the outside but it was elegant and modern inside. Jet showed Alex to an air-conditioned room on the second floor. It was on two levels, with a king-sized bed overlooking a large living space with sofas and a desk. There were french windows with a balcony and a sea view. (Scorpia, p. 164)

Alex was left alone. He sat down on one of the sofas, noticing that the room had a fridge, a television and even a PlayStation 2 - presumably put in for his benefit. (Scorpia, p. 165)

The other buildings are similarly updated, and students can train outside as the island is sheltered by trees and away from the mainland. It makes sense that in the show this is less of an option, because Scorpia are much more motivated to keep their presence hidden from the authorities. In the book, they have a legal reason to be there, as they bought the island on a lease from the Italian government, but in a world where Scorpia is assumed to be destroyed, they would need to be more careful. This explains why we only see the students go outside once for training, and that was during a night incursion exercise.

THE TEACHERS

Malagosto is a training facility, and a training facility needs instructors. This plays a larger role in the book, where we are introduced to several of the teachers at Malagosto in Alex’s time there. There is Gordon Ross, the technical specialist who teaches about weapons and explosives, Professor Yermalov, who teaches martial arts and practical skills, and Ejijit “Jet” Binnag, who teaches Botany (focused on poisonous plants). There are classrooms and textbooks and lessons as if it were a real school, but also more practical lessons such as diving and gun practice.

In the show, it’s a bit unclear who normally teaches at Malagosto. We only see two people acting as instructor – Nile and Yassen – and Yassen appears to have been assigned to Alex as a tutor rather than having general teaching duties. Nile appears to take on the role of instructor, but we also see him running around taking care of things for Julia Rothman outside, so he can’t be a full-time teacher. Perhaps we simply don’t see other instructors (much like how we don’t see the catering at Malagosto), or the training is handled more informally, with students working on their skill individually as we saw Syl doing in her first appearance.

One other thing related to the teaching at Malagosto is that in the book, John Rider is mentioned to have been an instructor there. During this time, he was also in charge of Yassen’s training for a while. This isn’t mentioned in the show, and while we get Alex asking if John trained with Yassen, we never get an answer. As Malagosto wasn’t known to the Department, as mentioned before, John was probably not a teacher in this universe.

Since we already touched on him briefly, let now take a look at John Rider and his mission to dive deeper into some of the changes.

John’s mission

Blunt: The intelligence John gathered during that time enabled us to strike at the very heart of Scorpia. Within months, we’d dismantled their entire operation. (3x07)

Based on what we are told, John’s mission is largely the same in both the book and the series. We learn that John was a decorated soldier who was in the Parachute Regiment and had seen combat before (in Afghanistan and Iraq in the show, Northern Ireland, Gambia, and the Falklands in the book). But everything seemed to go wrong for him when he killed a man in a bar fight, and was sentenced for manslaughter. 

He goes to jail for two years in the show, while in the book Mrs Rothman claims he was there for less than one, and there is some ambiguity about whether he went to jail at all:

“Everything Julia Rothman thought she knew about your father was a lie.” Mrs Jones sighed. “It’s true that he had been in the army, that he had a distinguished career with the Parachute Regiment and that he was decorated for his part in the Falklands War. But the rest of it — the fight with the taxi driver, the prison sentence and all that — we made up. It’s called deep cover, Alex. We wanted John Rider to be recruited by Scorpia. He was the bait and they took him.” (Scorpia, p. 347)

Scorpia took the bait, and John was recruited by Scorpia. In the show, we learn that John spent three years embedded in Scorpia, learning names and details about the organisation, including their long term goals and ambitions. In the book, the timeline is fuzzier, but we know he spent several months in the field as an assassin before working as an instructor at Malagosto. We are simply told that he ‘had told [MI6] as much as [they] needed to know about Scorpia’ (Scorpia, p. 348).

The reasons for breaking off the mission were similar then in both the show and the book. The risks were increasing, John had discovered most of what he set out to discover, and Helen was pregnant with Alex and John wanted to be with his family. In the book, we also specifically learn that there was a risk due to Julia Rothman, who had fallen in love with him. 

This is a point where the canons seem to deviate slightly, because the show is more explicit about John being asked to get close to Julia Rothman. The file on the Widow (Julia Rothman’s codename) mentions that a Department operative Hunter (John Rider) was assigned to develop a relationship. Julia Rothman herself told Alex that his dad was a ‘very close friend’ of hers, and showed him what are clearly love letters describing John’s feelings for her (3x03). 

Now, some of this is also in the book. Julia Rothman tells Alex she was very attracted to his father, and that he was a handsome man. And one of the letters from the show is taken straight from the book: 

My dearest Julia, A dreary time without you. Can’t wait to be at the Widow’s Palace with you again. John R. (Scorpia, p. 151)

Interestingly, we do see that Julia apparently went by her code name despite the fact that she and John became close enough over the years that she passed him information about Scorpia. John himself was known as Hunter to the Department rather than this being his Scorpia code name like in the book (although the code name isn’t mentioned in Scorpia itself). He signs the letter with his initials JR in the show, and she clearly knew him as John Rider.

It’s well possible given the way Julia Rothman doesn’t mention Alex’s mother in her initial story to Alex about John, that she was not aware at the time that he was married or that John was already with Helen. In the book, she specifically mentions that while she was attracted to him, he was married to Alex’s mother, suggesting that they never acted on the attraction.

The story of John’s capture is roughly the same, there is a trap set for him (on Malta in the book), and he is captured. A few weeks later, Scorpia kidnap a senior British civil servant (or his son, in the book) and MI6/The Department make them an offer to return John Rider to them in an exchange. This takes place on Albert Bridge in the book, while in the show it’s on another bridge somewhere. John’s death is faked, and the idea is that he will be given a new identity along with Helen and Alex so they can live quietly and without Scorpia knowing he was actually a spy.

This is the point where we get the biggest divergence in the backstory, as in the show the information gathered by John’s mission is enough to take down most of Scorpia. The operation is largely orchestrated by Alan Blunt, which is part of why Julia Rothman’s plot in the show is also aimed at him:

Mrs Jones: I’ve been looking at how we brought down SCORPIA 17 years ago. Really was an astonishing operation. Dozens of agents. Coordinates across three continents. Forty-seven key figures, dead or arrested. The entire SCORPIA hierarchy decimated overnight. You waged a private war against Scorpia, made it your mission. (3x06)

It’s not specified whether the take down of Scorpia happened before or after John and Helen’s plane was blown up by a bomb. Blunt tells Alex that ‘within months’ they were able to dismantle Scorpia’s entire operation, while Julia Rothman took six months to track John down. It seems more likely that Scorpia was taken down first, as this would give the Department an extra reason not to suspect Julia Rothman as being behind the bomb on the plane. Blunt’s reaction to Alex’s suggestion that it was Julia Rothman suggests that they didn’t have a clear suspect for all those years, which makes sense if Scorpia were believed to be defeated and not heard from again (aside from the bombing of the plane itself). WIth Scorpia gone, it also makes sense that perhaps someone became too careless in hiding the fact that John Rider is alive, as there would have been less reason to worry. 

In the book, we are first told merely that there was a bomb on the plane, which exploded and killed John and Helen and the pilots instantly. Mrs Jones and Alan Blunt seem to have no doubt about it being Julia Rothman, who had discovered the truth, although they are not clear on how she learned about it. MI6 learned valuable information about Scorpia through John’s time as an undercover spy, but they either don’t know enough to take Scorpia down for good or they don’t act on their information. 

In a way, the book takes a more cynical approach to the relationship between Scorpia and MI6. Scorpia are too large to take down completely, and any half-hearted effort to destroy them will lead Scorpia to seek revenge. And if you can’t beat them… As Julia Rothman herself points out, the secret services may nominally oppose Scorpia, but they are not above making use of their services:

The secret services can’t do anything about us. We’re too big and they’ve left it too late. Anyway, occasionally some of them make use of us. They pay us to do their dirty work for them. We’ve learnt to live side by side! (Scorpia, p. 132) 

Wrapping it all up

So what does it all add up to? As we’ve seen, the show’s portrayal of Scorpia shows an organisation that was nearly brought down seventeen years ago, and that has been operating in secrecy ever since. This single divergence explains most of the differences that we see in the present day structure of Scorpia, from younger recruits to the new leadership. However, we also saw that some aspects have always been different in this universe. The code names for both Julia Rothman and John, as well as the fact that John never mentioned Malagosto show that the backstory in the show was different even before Scorpia was taken down.

In the end, Scorpia is a different organisation in the book and the show, but in many ways it is also still the same. They are a group of people who are ruthless in their pursuit of power and money, who have no compunction about killing and even enjoy it. Scorpia may have been brought to the brink of destruction in the show, but even while hidden from the world, they have been able to keep up their activity for seventeen years. 

Until they encountered Alex Rider, that is… :) 

[hawkeyeslaughter]

mash ask game ( part two ) !! 😚😚 y’all know the drill . send me an ask with one of these questions :) ( the numbers are different to differentiate from the first ask game here )

27 . which era is your favorite ? hawkeye/trapper/frank , hawkeye/bj/frank , or hawkeye/bj/charles ?

28 . which is your comfort episode ? maybe not your favorite episode , but an episode you watch to feel happy ?

29 . favorite wife ? louise mcintyre , lorraine blake , peg hunnicutt , louise burns , or mildred potter ?

30 . do you have any lines you find yourself quoting in real life ?

31 . who had the worst write off between trapper , frank , henry , and radar ?

32 . they make a lot of references to popular media back then , do you have a favorite ? if you don’t know / aren’t familiar with them , any favorite impersonations that they do ?

33 . is there something your favorite(s) did that you didn’t feel like made sense for their character ?

34 . what’s your favorite scene location ? ( ex . swamp , post op , mess tent , etc etc . )

35 . out of the “ dear … “ episodes , which one is your favorite ?

36 . what’s your favorite canon ship ? least favorite canon ship ?

37 . favorite famous guest star ?

38 . which character would you be most likely to entrust with keeping a secret ?

39 . if you could pick one character/patient that died to live instead , who would you pick ? ( excluding henry come on guys 🙄🙄 )

40 . is there a certain episode you associate with a certain memory ? ( ex . one you’d watch with your parents etc )

41 . who’s tent do you think has the best interior ?

42 . which food from the mash mess tent , if you had to eat a meal from there , would you pick ?

43 . your favorite general to make visits at the 4077th ?

44 . which 4077th party do you think was the most memorable ?

45 . which one of any of the swamp rats’ friends was your favorite and why ?

46 . favorite one of the swamp rats’ out of uniform outfits and/or articles of clothing ?

47 . what quirk does your favorite character have that you find most endearing ?

48 . what episode are you showing to your friend as a first impression to get them into mash ( pilot barred )

49 . is there a duo that you wish the show had done a bit more with ?

50 . what’s an episode that everyone seems to love but you don’t really like ? alternatively , which episode do you think needs all the love ?

51 . what’s your favorite announcement over the camp speakers ?

52 . wildcard again ! poster can pick whichever question they want to answer !!

[achy-boo]

Dominique De Luca

Sapphire Lake Dorm's only Master.

A boy with secrets that is too disturbing to heard or talk about

Never ask or mention his bloodied camera..

Name: Dominique De Luca

Romaji: De Luca Dominique

Quote: "Is it wrong to take a photo of every..single..thing just to keep the memories forever?"

V/A: HiMERU from Enstars(Japanese), Lyney from Genshin(English)

Gender: male

Sexuality: Bisexual demiromatic

Age: 23

Birthday: March 12th

Zodiac Sign: Pisces

Eye color: gold with a grey aim mark on one eye and an x on the other eye

Ha Color: dark blue(before TWST) a grey and light blue duo color hair (After TWST)

Height: 6'6ft

Weight: 120 lbs

Race: Human????

Homeland: Strasbourg, France

Family:

Unknown French Mother(Deceased/Murdered)

Unknown Italian Father(Deceased/Murdered)

School Status and Fun Facts

Dorm: Sapphire Lake Dorm

School Year: he had to repeat 2nd year due to…an incident

Class: 2-A

Student Number: No.38

Occupation: Florist/Photographer(Part time)

Club: Photography club

Best Subject: History

Favorite Color: Funny enough he loves pastel colors

Favorite Food: Paris-brest

Least Favorite Food: He does not like pecan pie and pumpkin pie(It is the taste of it)

Likes: Desserts, Food, music, coffee or tea, photography, rainy/cloudy days, trying new food, children, watching movies at 3am, anime, manhwa

Dislikes: He hates bitter food/drinks, heat, summer, Crowley(depends), people asking or mention his bloodied camera, reliving his past

Hobbies: drawing, listening to music, drinking tea in the rainy days, photography(this is very important later on)

Talents: Empathy to apathy depends on the situation, silver tongue, blackmailing

Nicknames: Sapphire Lake’s Master(Original Title) France’s Ghost Face(Formal/Never heard in NRC)

Other Nicknames: Domi(Tsukii) Quince(Dawn, Deuce), Mimi(Only the kids and Kianisha can call him that)

Appearance and Personality

Appearance: Dominque De Luca stands at 6'6 and a half with grey and light blue duo color long hair that reach his knee length, golden eyes with one had a grey aim mark on one eye and a x on the other. He has dark tan skin with two marks on his face(It is removable btw), In Sapphire Lake Dorm, he wears a gothic baggy clothes however he is very fit and muscular under it. He have four tattoos and three piercings(He is more silent about them). One of his signature items is the chains around his right arm.

Personality: Dominique is what people call him. A good package deal. Meaning that you will have to deal with his constant mood changes depending on the person who he is with. Dominique is flirty(HELLA flirty) but he knows his limits. Bro is sadistic in general when it came to words or actions. However due to him being Sapphire Lake’s only Master, he learn to held off the urge until he gets the green light. Other than that, he is one very interesting guy.

𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒂

He is the only one in 2nd years that have a deep connection with the Libya Family due to him being friends with Valerian and Ambrose Libya(Ambrose is a boy btw)

He had two photographic cameras(one is forbidden to mention or even ask about it)

He is more protective if you get to know him

He had scars on his back

he is very fit and muscular underneath the baggy clothing he wears

He prefers baggy clothes( But skin tight clothes is fine by him)

He lets the others do his hair(He lets Vil, Crewel and Tsukii chooses his aesthetic)

He used to be a RSA student but bride Crowley to never tell anyone but Sapphire Lake Dorm about that

The Dark Mirror has to look into his soul 4 times to confirm which dorm he belongs too

His main aesthetic is Gothic Victorian

He has veiny arms and hands

Scream for the Camera

“Pictures held a thousand words and stories so look at the camera and make your loudest screams. Scream for the camera!!”

Dominique's UM and its involves his bloodied camera. The UM is about you being your childhood/ favorite places and Dominique taking pictures of said places but each picture get more and more terrifying as time past. The pictures will involves your worst fears and regrets until a unidentified killer appears and the real nightmare begins. You will be chased by said killer as you tried to escape while agonizing and blood curling screams was heard constantly. You have 30 minutes to find a camera and snapped the picture of anything until its too late. What happens after you failed? Then you will see Dominique in front of you with a malicious smile and take a picture before...and after your brutal demise.

The skull in the camera is the final moments of the person's life before they are never waking up.

@yukii0nna @queen-of-twisted @sweetlyvibe @lxdymoon0357 @yumeko2sevilla @kousaka-ayumu @yoghurtsan @aventxsha @txemptress

[sakuplumeria]

Moriarty the Patriot / Yuukoku no Moriarty Ask Game

Choose a number and put it in my ask box! I’ll answer the question. Feel free to reblog if you want to answer questions too :)

1) Your favorite character from the series

2) Team Moriarty or Team Sherlock

3) Who is the most underrated character?

4) Which character do you think should appear more often?

5) Do you have a character that you liked but currently not anymore?

6) Do you have a character you dislike at first but grew on you along with the development of the series?

7) If you ship characters, which is your favorite pairing?

8) Most ruthless character

9) Sexiest character

10) Make me choose [character] or [character]

11) Which character is still a mystery to you?

12) Do you agree with the Moriarty plan if you lived in that era?

13) What is your favorite arc?

14) What is your favorite quote or scene?

15) What is your favorite episode?

16) What is your favorite song or soundtrack (from the anime or musicals)?

17) Do you prefer manga, anime, or musicals?

18) Do you prefer subs or dubs?

19) Which is the funniest moment in the series?

20) Which is the scariest moment in the series?

21) YNM produces another OVA. Which story do you want to see getting animated?

22) Do you enjoy writing/drawing/creating fan works for the fandom?

23) When you read YNM fanfics or see fanarts, what genre do you enjoy the most?

24) An alternate universe you’d like to see

25) Your favorite headcanon of YNM

26) If [character] turns into an animal, what animal do you think she/he will be?

27) If the characters are stranded on an uninhabited island alone, who do you think will survive the longest?

28) Which character is best at the art of disguise?

29) Which character do you think is the most like yourself?

30) Which character do you think is the least like yourself?

31) If you HAD to choose one character to die (for real), who would it be?

32) Your favorite character has magical powers! What powers do they have?

33) Your favorite character creates a Tumblr account. What do they like to post?

34) What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of your favorite character or you think she/he would use a lot?

35) You're in the team! Who do you think you'll get along with the most?

36) What other anime/manga do you like?

37) Do you read ACD’s Sherlock Holmes?

38) Do you read or watch any other adaptations of Sherlock Holmes?

39) Which adaptation of Sherlock Holmes is your favorite so far?

[beardedmrbean]

A British court ruled Wednesday that police can seize more than 2.6 million pounds ($3.3 million) to cover years of unpaid taxes from influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan.

The Devon and Cornwall Police force went to court to claim the money, held in seven frozen bank accounts, from the Tates and a woman identified only as J.

At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring ruled that financial transactions by the brothers, including transferring almost $12 million into an account in the name of J, were a “straightforward cheat” of the tax authorities.

A lawyer for the force said that the Tates were “serial” tax evaders who failed to pay any tax on 21 million pounds in revenue from their online businesses, including War Room, Hustlers’ University, Cobra Tate, and OnlyFans, between 2014 and 2022.

Andrew Tate, 38, accused the government of “outright theft” for freezing his accounts and seizing “everything they could.”

“This is not justice; it’s a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system,” Tate said in a statement. “This raises serious questions about the lengths authorities will go to silence dissent.”

At a hearing in July, attorney Sarah Clarke quoted from a video posted online by Andrew Tate, in which he said: “When I lived in England I refused to pay tax.”

She said J — who can’t be named because of a court order — wasn’t involved with the brothers’ businesses.

A lawyer for the brothers, Martin Evans, argued that the bank transfers were “entirely orthodox” for people who run online businesses. He said the siblings spent money on a number of “exotic motor cars,” but did nothing illegal.

The proceedings are civil, which carries a lower standard of proof than criminal cases. Goldspring had to decide on the balance of probabilities whether the Tates had evaded tax.

Court documents show an estimated total of about $3.4 million is held in the seven accounts police can now seize.

Andrew Tate is a former kickboxer and dual British-U.S. citizen who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X.

He has been banned from TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook after the platforms accused him of posting hate speech and misogynistic comments.

He and Tristan Tate, 36, face criminal allegations in Romania, including human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women.

They are set to be extradited to the U.K. once those proceedings are over to face further allegations of rape and human trafficking.

The Tates deny all the allegations.

[trashymammalishere]

distract me pls

1: Is there a boy/girl in your life?

2: Think of the last person who hurt you; do you forgive them?

3: What do you think of when you hear the word? (you choose)

4: What something you really want right now?

5: Are you afraid of falling in love?

6: Do you like the beach?

7: Have you ever slept on a couch with someone else?

8: What the background on your cell?

9: Name the last four beds you were sat on?

10: Do you like your phone?

11: Honestly, are things going the way you planned?

12: Who was the last person whose phone number you added to your contacts?

13: Would you rather have a poodle or a Rottweiler?

14: Which hurts the most, physical or emotional pain?

15: Would you rather visit a zoo or an art museum?

16: Are you tired?

17: How long have you known your 1st phone contact?

18: Are they a relative?

19: Would you ever consider getting back together with any of your exes?

20: When did you last talk to the last person you shared a kiss with?

21: If you knew you had the right person, would you marry them today?

22: Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

23: How many bracelets do you have on your wrists right now?

24: Is there a certain quote you live by?

25: What on your mind?

26: Do you have any tattoos?

27: What is your favourite colour?

28: Next time you will kiss someone on the lips?

29: Who are you texting?

30: Think to the last person you kissed, have you ever kissed them on a couch?

31: Have you ever had the feeling something bad was going to happen and you were right?

32: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex you can talk to?

33: Do you think anyone has feelings for you?

34: Has anyone ever told you you have pretty eyes?

35: Say the last person you kissed was kissing someone right in front of you?

36: Were you single on Valentines Day?

37: Are you friends with the last person you kissed?

38: What do your friends call you?

39: Has anyone upset you in the last week?

40: Have you ever cried over a text?

41: Where’s your last bruise located?

42: What is it from?

43: Last time you wanted to be away from somewhere really bad?

44: Who was the last person you were on the phone with?

45: Do you have a favourite pair of shoes?

46: Do you wear hats if your having a bad hair day?

47: Would you ever go bald if it was the style?

48: Do you make supper for your family?

49: Does your bedroom have a door?

50: Top 3 web-pages?

51: Do you know anyone who hates shopping?

52: Does anything on your body hurt?

53: Are goodbyes hard for you?

54: What was the last beverage you spilled on yourself?

55: How is your hair?

56: What do you usually do first in the morning?

57: Do you think two people can last forever?

58: Think back to January 2007, were you single?

59: Green or purple grapes?

60: When the next time you will give someone a BIG hug?

61: Do you wish you were somewhere else right now?

62: When will be the next time you text someone?

63: Where will you be 5 hours from now?

64: What were you doing at 8 this morning.

65: This time last year, can you remember who you liked?

66: Is there one person in your life that can always make you smile?

67: Did you kiss or hug anyone today?

68: What was your last thought before you went to bed last night?

69: Have you ever tried your hardest and then gotten disappointed in the end?

70: How many windows are open on your computer?

71: How many fingers do you have?

72: What is your ringtone?

73: How old will you be in 5 months?

74: Where is your Mum right now?

75: Why aren't you with the person you were first in love with or almost in love?

76: Have you held hands with somebody in the past three days?

77: Are you friends with the people you were friends with two years ago?

78: Do you remember who you had a crush on in year 7?

79: Is there anyone you know with the name Mike?

80: Have you ever fallen asleep in someones arms?

81: How many people have you liked in the past three months?

82: Has anyone seen you in your underwear in the last 3 days?

83: Will you talk to the person you like tonight?

84: You're drunk and yelling at hot guys/girls out of your car window, you with?

85: If your BF/GF was into drugs would you care?

86: What was the most eventful thing that happened last time you went to see a movie?

87: Who was your last received call from?

88: If someone gave you $1,000 to burn a butterfly over a candle, would you?

89: What is something you wish you had more of?

90: Have you ever trusted someone too much?

91: Do you sleep with your window open?

92: Do you get along with girls?

93: Are you keeping a secret from someone who needs to know the truth?

94: Does sex mean love?

95: You are locked in a room with the last person you kissed, is that a problem?

96: Have you ever kissed anyone with a lip ring?

97: Did you sleep alone this week?

98: Everybody has somebody that makes them happy, do you?

99: Do you believe in love at first sight?

100: Who was the last person that you pinky promised?