#spy playing cheating cards

[pixelgamer07]

Um.... last two games I played were Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix and Raft. So... idk I'm drawing a blank here.

duality of man

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 69

One time while escaping from a cell, Romana commented that it would be child's play to unlock the door with her sonic screwdriver. She then said it was literally child's play as doing so had been a game back on Gallifrey. (Audio: Subterranea)

One of Jamie's distant relations became a spy during World War II and used the name "the Doctor." (Audio: Operation Werewolf)

On his report, Borusa gave Theta Sigma a 7 in the subject of "Physical Inactivity." He commented that his pupil seems to think he is a mountain goat. (Short story: Report on Term's Work)

Memory lanterns are Time Lord devices that resemble paper lanterns but record an individual's thoughts and memories. During the Time War, many Gallifreyans released these lanterns as a desperate ploy to not be forgotten, as they thought they would all die. (Novel: Engines of War)

Ben, Polly, and Jamie played with a ouija board on the TARDIS. This caused a dark cloud from the time vortex to slip inside Jamie's mind, affecting his behavior. The Second Doctor banished the cloud by reading a recipe for Bajaxx stew written in Ancient Gallifreyan. (Short story: Something at the Door)

Jarra To killed the previous overseer of the Axis. Eventually, a Time Lord came to investigate, but they killed them. By the time the Fifth Doctor and his companions landed there, they described the corpse as "rank" with oozing flesh and insect larvae. (Audio: The Axis of Insanity)

After leaving Nyssa, Tegan, and Marc behind, the Fifth Doctor had several adventures on his own. Eventually, he encountered his Eleventh self, and he decided to return to his companions because he didn't want to be like him - companionless and disparaged in 1892. (Audio: Thin Time)

Time Vortex leeches live in the time vortex, and the Doctor had thought they were a myth from Ancient Gallifreyan songs until one of them clung to his Eleventh self's TARDIS exterior. (Comic: Space in Dimension Relative and Time)

One time, a man called Gaylord Lefevre played a game of cards against the Toymaker. He cheated and used a needle to mark cards, but the Toymaker was aware of this and altered his cards to be a hand full of jokers when Gaylord wasn't looking. The Toymaker claimed he wasn't cheating but instead following a new rule that Gaylord had introduced - that cheating was acceptable. (Comic: The Greatest Gamble)

Gallifrey has a transtube, which is basically an underground train. It has a central station under the Capitol. (Novel: The Ancestor Cell)

One time after the Seventh Doctor was knocked out, he drowsily told Ace that he had had a terrible dream. A man with ringlets had been reaching out to him, saying, "Come in, Number Seven, your time is up." He was talking about the Eighth Doctor. (Audio: The Silurian Candidate)

Maria Mazzini once commented on how powerful the Fifth Doctor's thighs were - after slapping them. (Audio: Serpent in the Silver Mask)

One time, the Fourth Doctor decided to take Sarah Jane to Geshtinanna. The journey in the TARDIS took nine weeks, during which both became bored and tired. While traveling in the time vortex, the clocks in the TARDIS all stopped, and the Doctor then detected the remains of another TARDIS in the vortex, trapped their because the pilot had made the mistake of locking their course. They were worried that they too had fallen to the same fate and were unable to change course, but when the day of materialization finally came, they successfully materialized. The Doctor realized that the TARDIS had stopped all the clocks out of respect for her fallen fellow TARDIS. Even after nine weeks of travel, they materialized nowhere close to Geshtinanna. (Short story: Eternity)

The Seventh Doctor has shifted his genetic makeup enough to disguise himself before and mimic someone else. He admitted that he learned this trick from the Master, who frequently used regeneration as a disguise. (Novel: Original Sin)

On Gallifrey, there are two hundred and eight tenses in their languages. They don't translate well. (Novel: The Crystal Bucephalus)

First 1 Prev 68 Next 70

[nightisawkward]

"Another challenger… it has been ages. Perhaps you have forgotten how this game is played. Allow me to remind you."

Happy halloween fellas!!! Hermitcraft/Life SMP inscryption AU ft. Boatem gang I cooked up awhile ago but never got around to posting B-) Wild life smp has reminded me how mentally ill I am about putting these Guys in Situations so here I am

Mild to major inscryption spoilers under the cut!

For those familiar with the game, the general roles are:

Luke Carter - "Challenger"/Grian

In this AU Grian is still a trading card-based youtuber who's recording all this nonsense going down real time as in canon, but has closer ties to the GameFuna company equivalent, named "WatcherCorp". His old college roommate/best mate Jimmy went to work for them, but mysteriously passed away in a fire at their headquarters. He found the Inscryption cards in Jimmy's leftover personal belongings a few years after his death, and decided that the best way to honor him would be to make a video featuring the project he put his heart and soul into... in more ways than one.

Key difference from canon Inscryption: Grian's mind is sucked into the game of Inscryption whenever he is playing. He is able to enter and leave the game at will, but he doesn't realize this until he first dies to Leshy/Pearl and ejects himself unconsciously out of fear of dying. The only reason he realizes he isn't hallucinating is because his camcorder footage proves he actually enters the game. He obtains the "Watcher's Eye" during Act 1, which he keeps for all future acts and allows him to see things he shouldn't see as a Challenger.

P03 - "Scarred Stoat"/Scar

Despite being the one who convinces Grian and the other Scrybes to stand up against Pearl, no one seems eager to spend any more time with the conniving conman than absolutely necessary. This may have something to do with Scar's history of backstabbing and cheating both Scybes and Challengers whenever it benefits him most. Which makes it rather unfortunate that Grian is must spend time with Scar in order to gather as much information as possible.

In the beginning, Scar and Grian do not get along in the slightest. Grian finds Scar's attitude too "fake", while Scar finds Grian's "cowardice" to be irritating. At some point, the two go from passive-aggressive fighting, to a grudging truce, to more friendly, lighthearted banter. Neither person seems to trust the other, but it doesn't seem to stop the two from being ✨saddled with unnecessary feelings✨. Scar's Act 3 world is much like Leshy's Act 1 world, with much more emphasis put on environmental storytelling and general Vibes than actual gameplay. Even if his game is a smokescreen for his true goal of Ascension, he feels strangely obligated to give Grian his best shot.

Scar in his proper Scrybe form appears more steampunk than canon P03. Think of a Grumbot with Scar's boatem base aesthetic and tons of missing nuts and bolts. P03's bastardous tendencies+ Scar's steampunk base made this role perfect for him.

Magnificus - "Horned Wolf"/Impulse

Impulse is a talented artist and an even more talented programmer. His future sight stems from his literal sight: His eyes are able to see read the code veil behind Inscryption, allowing him to predict likely futures based on what code is running. He often laments his status as an NPC, claiming that if he were given administrative privileges and the actual ability to modify source code he would have been able to escape Inscryption long ago.

He is rather absent in Act 2, focusing on finishing his "artwork" as soon as possible. He uses his brush to create a menagerie magical creatures with strange abilities in hopes that using one in battle might trigger a unfixable bug, allowing him to rip a hole through the source code. It is unclear whether he was able to accomplish his goal before Act 3 roles around, but it seems like Scar's method of Ascension seems awfully similar to Impulse's... perhaps a sneaky spy was able to steal Impulse's information?

As a proper Scrybe, he resembles a walking mop or a yak with overgrown fur. Most of his features are indistinguishable, save for his small horns and his glowing goat eyes.

Lemora - "Distinguished Stinkbug"/Mumbo

Mumbo is by far the most easygoing Scrybe in the cast. While he would greatly prefer an eternal slumber over yet another temporary ceasefire amongst the Scrybes, he is willing to work with the others in Act 1 simply because he finds his stinkbug form too uncomfortable to sleep in. Mumbo's goal is simple: to delete the game of Inscryption, and therefore himself, and finally rest. However, finds the constant power struggles in the world of Inscryption rather tiring and simply can't be bothered to make a grab for power himself to achieve this goal. This hasn't stopped him from asking Grian to destroy floppy disk of Inscryption. Unfortunately for him, the temptation of the o̷l̵d̷ ̶d̸a̶t̷ [REDACTED] mysteries within Inscryption are simply too powerful for Grian to resist.

As a proper Scrybe, he looks almost exactly like Mumbo's minecraft skin: A pale, mustached man with blood red eyes who resembles a vampire. Mumbo denies all vampire allegations. While he is the most "normal" looking Scrybe, Grian would still hesitate to call him "human" ...there's just something slightly off about his appearance that sets him on edge.

Leshy - "Game Master"/Pearl

Pearl is an unforgiving gamemaster that puts more emphasis on providing the player a challenge than her canon counterpart. After her self-proclaimed "tutorial", there is no more handholding and she gives Grian an absolute hellish time. Grian is only able to get a slight edge when he discovers all of the Scrybes, who provide him with stategy help to even the playing field. It is unclear whether Pearl actually enjoys running her Act 1 game or not: she seems to derive an animalistic pleasure from defeating Grian, but there are times where she seems tired and fed up with the endless gameplay loop and intentionally throws during key fights. She switches between manic and depressed at the drop of a hat.

During Act 2, she barely even tries to give Grian a challenge, allowing him to progress straight to her boss fight without any side quests to "get it over with quicker". She seems to hold a deep grudge against Scar for some reason, which is the only thing that motivates her to take action to stop him during Act 3.

Mysteriously, Grian finds a burned and unusable Unicorn card within her Act 1 cabin. Upon discovery, Scar immediately suggests that Grian leave it where he found it. Some things are best left forgotten, after all...

[azriels-shadowsinger]

Game Night (Azriel x Reader)

summary: You and Azriel have been kinda flirty for a while, but it has never actually gone anywhere. When game night turns into strip poker… well i’m sure you can guess where this is gonna go.

wc: 1.5k

a/n: i haven’t written anything in a long while bc ive been kinda very depressed so this may suck. also thank yall so much for 200 followers!!

!!warning: suggestiveness at the end.

The males should have known it was a bad idea when you four females insisted on the game. Mor had oh so innocently suggested a game night, after which Nesta randomly got the idea to play poker out of nowhere, followed by immediate approval from you and Feyre. Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel had wrongfully assumed that you all had suddenly gained interest in the game and wanted to learn for fun, so they agreed.

The night started out wholesome. You were ‘learning’ the basic rules of the game while losing a decent amount of money. As expected, Rhys was trying to help Feyre as she kept losing money to his brothers. After several rounds of defeat and many more rounds of drinks, the males started to notice that you four were losing less and less. Actually… you were all holding the majority of the chips by this point. Azriel, in his usual perceptive manner, accused you four of cheating and hustling them. You and Mor couldn’t help but break out laughing.

“I’m sorry! It was just too easy!” You said between giggles.

“Especially when Rhys started telling Feyre his cards in her mind so she wouldn’t lose, which she immediately told to us!” Mor laughed loudly. Feyre gave a sheepish grin and Nesta only smirked while pulling her most recent winning to her pile. Rhys, Cass, and Az couldn’t help but to laugh, commending you for being able to trick them. Cassian, however, insists that they were going easy on you the whole time.

“Well, it’s on now. No more holding back, right boys?” Cassian says with a smug grin while dealing new cards to the table.

“It shouldn’t be too hard to win, now that I figured out each of their tells.” Azriel stated matter of factly while peaking at his cards. His shadows swirl around him, blocking anyone from being able to see the hand he was dealt.

“Oh really? You think you can tell when we’re bluffing? I think you’re overestimating those spy abilities, Az. You haven’t called any of my bluffs correctly so far.” He shrugs. “I think we may need to make this game more interesting since you three claim you’re going to actually try now. I’m thinking we raise the bets to-“

“Let’s play strip poker!” Cassian bellows, obviously drunk, and cutting you off before you can say anything else. Rhys exchanges a look with Feyre. “I think that Feyre darling and I are going to retire for the night before we lose more of our money or our clothes. Goodnight everyone!” He laughs. They throw their cards on the table and winnow away, leaving just you, Nesta, Mor, Azriel, and Cassian at the table.

Cassian stares expectantly at Nesta. “Cmon, Nes! Say you’ll play!” She sighs dramatically and agrees. “Fine. Only if Y/N, Mor, and Azriel all agree to play too.” Your face turns red. While you don’t doubt your poker abilities, the thought of stripping in front of Azriel… or worse, seeing him half naked, makes your heart race. You and Azriel have only ever gone as far as flirting with each other, but these Illyrians are always flirtatious, so you don’t think it means anything. Regardless, your mind wanders to the mental image of a shirtless Azriel, sparring in the training ring this morning. It’s always so hard not to stare. His abs, his arms, his wings…

“Y/N? Are you playing or not?” Mor questions, pulling you from your daydream. You realize everyone has agreed but you now.

“Sure, whatever.” You say quieter than before, still slightly blushing. You look at your cards nervously, praying to the Cauldron for a good hand. Luckily, you get it. The round goes on, and eventually Cassian is the first to lose an item of clothing, opting to lose his shirt and making a big display of removing it.

An hour later, you have all had several more drinks, everyone has discarded a couple items of clothing (except for Cassian who was down to only his boxers and his left sock), Mor got tired and left, and you were focusing way too closely on one of your poker chips in an attempt to not stare at Azriel.

Cassian flips the last card and… it’s not what you need. You bite your lip nervously, pushing several chips to the middle of the table while trying to maintain a confident façade. “I raise.”

Cassian and Nesta both fold, leaving just you and Azriel. You feel his eyes on you, probably trying to tell if you’re bluffing. Your skin heats under his gaze. Trying to appear more confident, you meet his stare, only to notice he’s not staring at your face, but rather a bit lower. You blush and Cassian clears his throat. “Uh, your move, Az.” Azriel immediately looks away, staring back at his cards.

“Um, I fold.” He mutters and tosses his cards on the discard pile, and you can’t help but notice the way his other hand is clenching and flexing under the table.

“Y/N wins! Az, looks like you’re down to your boxers now!” Cassian slurs slightly. Your eyes go wide and you give a panicked look to Nesta.

“Cass, I think it’s time for us to head home. I’m tired.” She gives him a look that he obviously must recognize because he is very quick to leave, obviously excited to get home. They say goodbye and head out, leaving just you and Azriel.

You stand to gather your things, but Azriel stops you. “Are we done playing, sweetheart?” You feel his eyes trail down your half-exposed body.

“You can keep your pants on, Shadowsinger. It’s late and I’m drunk. Plus, if we play another round then one of us will end up a bit more naked than friends should be around each other.” You laugh awkwardly. Azriel’s eyes darken slightly and he leans in to whisper in your ear. “Scared you’ll lose?” You shudder at the closeness and the feeling of his breath on you.

“No. I just don’t think you want me to find out that the wingspan theory isn’t true.” You quip back with a raised eyebrow. He lets out a short laugh and sits back down. “Deal the cards.” He says smugly.

You deal the cards, trying to ignore the tension thick in the air. What the hell is he doing? How are you supposed to act friendly and hide your feelings if you see him naked? How is he going to react if he sees you without a bra? You deal the last card and look at your hand. Not terrible, but definitely not great. You bite your lip nervously. The round plays out and it’s time to place the final bets. You make your bet and then look to Azriel, biting your bottom lip nervously. He studies his cards, then sets them down to look at you.

“You wanna know something, Y/N?” He picks up a poker chip and spins it between his fingers. Gods, those fingers. “You bite your lip when you’re nervous. Did you know that?” You freeze. “And while it has been rather advantageous to know when you’re bluffing this whole game, I do find it kind of cute.” He slides all of his chips into the middle pile. “I knew you were bluffing the last round. And I know you are now too.” His voice is low and full of confidence. Your face is completely red now as he flips his cards over. Royal flush.

You turn your cards over in defeat and he grins. “I win.” He says smugly. He stands and saunters towards you, caging you between his arms in your chair. You look up at him, and you can see the silent question in his eyes. Is this okay? You nod softly and he smirks.

“As the winner, I think it’s only fair that I get to claim my prize. May I?” He gently slides your bra strap down your shoulder. This is actually happening. Weeks of flirty words and lustful glances, leading to whatever is about to happen.

“Rules are rules.” You maintain eye contact and reach behind to unclasp your bra. He grabs your wrist, guiding it back down and reaching behind you himself. His fingers softly trail up your spine, leaving goosebumps behind, before he reaches the clasp and unhooks it. Your bra falls to the floor and Azriel’s eyes roam over you hungrily.

“Gods, you are even more beautiful than I imagined.” He gently guides you to stand, walking you back to the wall and pressing you against it. “I have wanted to do this for so long.” He whispers against your skin before moving his lips to yours. He kisses you with no restraint. One hand cups your face while the other moves up your side. You melt into his touch, savoring his taste. A small moan leaves your mouth, causing him to growl softly.

Azriel pulls away for a moment to say something, but before he can, you hear footsteps in the hall. Quickly, you rush to grab your clothes before anyone can see you. Moments later, whoever it was walks past the room towards the kitchen. You let out a breath, continuing to get dressed.

You give a look to Azriel, who had already managed to get fully dressed somehow. He can read the question in your eyes. Now what? Azriel reaches out a scarred hand toward you. “We can keep playing the game in my room.” He smirks. You take his hand and you two quickly head out, leaving the cards and poker chips on the table.

idk what this was. honestly it was a WIP from months ago and i’m not sure if I love how it ended up but whatever i just am trying to write again :)

[felassan]

this post is under a cut in case anyone would consider it to be DA:D spoilers, as the things it mentions came from the leak a year ago (spoiler warning for link) that included screenshots and a gif of the game. (the things this post mentions are therefore not new information and this does not reference a new leak)

I'm just thinking again about Rook (which seems to be the PC's name or title) and the imagery conjured by the name. ◕‿◕ this post is just speculation and overanalyzing for fun. also this post is a now-finished draft from my draft section from a while back.

I think it would work as a surname (like "Hawke") or a codename (think Leliana's spies and contacts such as "Butler", "Farrier", "Butcher", "Charter", etc although these are all professions that end in "-er" or "or" iirc). it could also be a title (like Warden, Hero, Champion, Inquisitor, Herald) or a nickname - like maybe it's short for "Rookie", it's a Varric-assigned nickname and it references how the DA:D PC is the newest member of the team after he recruits them?

I think it sounds catchy, and cool - it's snappy and short, Hawke-like in this way. and it sounds like the kind of name a spy or secret agent might have in a fantasy, superhero or sci-fi-type setting.

a rook is a black bird, Corvus frugilegus, a member of the corvid family. rooks have been perceived as vermin and nuisances by people in the past, and persecuted due to this. they bear a resemblance to their crow and raven relatives, both birds which have a large cultural footprint and lots of symbolism in areas such as folklore and art. Hawke obviously also had a bird motif going on from their surname and associated art pieces. corvids also bring to mind the Antivan Crows (assassins, thieves, & spies), reminding of the stuff about how in this game the PC may be trying to operate under the radar, and the reporting on a previous iteration of DA:D which had the game concept as being focused on spies and heists. rook plumage is inky black, bringing to mind darkness and shadow.

from the bird angle, a "rook" sounds neat opposite a "wolf" imo. wolves are obviously another animal that have large footprints in culture, myth and folklore. in the natural world there is symbiosis sometimes between wolves and corvids when hunting/feeding. there are lots of photos of wolves and corvids together.

a colony of rooks is called a rookery. of course, the fortress of Skyhold has a rookery. it's from there that Inquisition Spymaster Leliana operates (operated) sending her black birds on missions with letters and messages to her many agents and spies throughout Thedas. what if Rook is one of Leliana's... "rooks"? a spy or agent of the remnants of the Inquisition.

A rook is also defined as "A cheat or swindler; someone who betrays" [noun], "mist, fog" [noun] and "to cheat or swindle" [verb]. it's also a type of trick-taking card game. these sorts of things bring to mind a rogueish, stealthy aspect, and the shady, shadowy dealings and card-game played in Minrathous Shadows.

a rook is also a chess piece. they're castle-like (since "rook" can also mean a castle or fortification) and usually have their top in the shape of a battlement. they can move in any direction along a rank or file on a chessboard on which they stand (horizontal/vertical, not diagonal). they can also do the "castling" move. in history, rooks have also been called towers, castles, rectors and marquesses. in chess, each player starts the game with two rooks at opposite ends of the first rank. chess itself is a game of strategy and tactics. "the chessmaster" as a trope is a character type who manipulates events, tugging on strings and moving 'pieces' into place on a metaphorical chessboard. [Solas' DA:I dialogue about his past, like the one he has with Sera about cells of spies/agents, hark to this]

in the castling move,

"Castling is a move in chess. It consists of moving the king two squares toward a rook on the same rank and then moving the rook to the square that the king passed over. Castling is permitted only if neither the king nor the rook has previously moved; the squares between the king and the rook are vacant; and the king does not leave, cross over, or finish on a square attacked by an enemy piece. Castling is the only move in chess in which two pieces are moved at once."

castling rules often cause confusion, even occasionally among high-level players. historically the move has its roots in the "king's leap", of which there were two forms and which arose in part it seems due to increasing importance of king safety as other pieces were given increased powers through time as the game developed. "the king would move once like a knight, or the king would move two squares on its first move. The knight move might be used early in the game to get the king to safety or later in the game to escape a threat." basically it moves the king away to safety and the rook to a more active position. there is also kingside castling and queenside castling. I wonder, symbolically.. is Rook more the king's rook, or the queen's rook? (reminds me of the Left Hand and Right Hands of the Divine hh). who or what is the king in this hypothetical analogy? the World of Thedas itself? as a castle or fortress.. Rook is the bulwark against what's to come? [over-thinking ik ik, tis just for fun hh].

by now we're all familiar with the chess game Solas plays in banter dialogue with Iron Bull during DA:I. in the in-world chess game, rooks are called towers. Solas moves his right-hand tower once. at a later point in the game, Iron Bull's "Arishok" piece takes Solas' left-hand tower, getting a check and leaving him feeling triumphant. Bull asks Solas wth he is doing as Bull takes Solas' remaining tower. "Your last tower, by the way". Bull, a spy and liar himself, bears down on Solas' pieces "with his full army", thinking a win is in sight. Undeterred, Solas executes a few moves in a sneaky plan and entraps Bull in a checkmate, winning the game after sacrificing various pieces to enact his plan.

rook also brings to mind the Tower tarot card and its meanings. it's associated with sudden, disruptive revelation and potentially destructive change. it connotes danger, crisis, sudden change, destruction, higher learning, and liberation, as well as adversity, calamity, deception, ruin and unforeseen catastrophe. reversed, it connotes things such as negligence, carelessness, apathy and vanity (vanity.. pride). in this depiction of the Tower tarot, lightning strikes from the sky, striking a crown (hubris) off the top of a tower and setting it alight as people fall from the tower to their doom. this imagery and the upright meanings of the card bring to mind the sudden massive change Solas seeks to bring about (destroying the Veil), the revelations and liberation for some that it might bring, his identity as Fen'Harel Lord of Tricksters (deception) as well as the destruction he seems to think the Veil destroying action will cause ("as the world burns in the raw chaos"...). the 'Tower scene' has also already played out once before in Thedosian history, when Solas created the Veil and sealed the Evanuris away, leading to the fall of Arlathan and its wonders. in modern Thedas, Morrigan and Flemeth (as well as possibly some side 'prophecy' type things) both allude to a big change coming to the world.

in DA:I, the Tower tarot card is ofc none other than Solas' ending card, if he is not romanced. in the DA:I version of the card, we see Solas, cloaked in a dark robe and holding a mage staff under a half-moon or eclipse. darkness seeps from his shadow, stark against the orange sky, and blends with the giant black Dread Wolf, looming ominously and open-mouthed above him with its many eyes. (the Tower tarot card Solas scene is later referenced in DA:D promotional art and DA:D-era in-world murals). it makes sense to have assigned this to Solas given the above discussed meanings of the Tower tarot card, but it's a verrry inchresting choice imo to then give "Rook" as a name/title for the DA:D PC.

and most inchrestingly, there's the symbol from the front of Mark Darrah's mysterious Red Book. this mysterious red book shows "a flaming rook" on the cover. the book was an internal guide for developer and publisher eyes only that summarized the vision for DA:D, in its Joplin iteration. we know that the Joplin project has since been revised to an extent that it was the newly codenamed Morrison instead, but the red book is known to still contain plenty of ideas likely to appear in DA:D. most pages of the book remain highly classified. it's the symbol on the front that's of most interest to us though for the purposes of this post. there is a castle, tower, or rook, like a fortress or the chess piece. above the tower, a fire burns, reminding us of the burning tower from the Tower tarot card imagery and what that symbolizes, as well as Solas' "world burning in the raw chaos" line from Trespasser. inside the fire is a wolf, the Dread Wolf, in a now very-familiar and repeated motif in DA:D art, merch, murals, teasers etc. whatever else "rook" may connote, it feels like it's not an accident at all that the PC's name is apparently "Rook", given this depiction of a fiery rook and the Dread Wolf together.

what do you think? ^^

[gietterbug]

Spy x Family Code: White - Highlights

*This post contains spoilers. Scroll away if you still need to watch the movie. **Reposted because it didn't show in the tags.

Since the movie is out and has been circulating on the internet, I would like to talk one thing or two about it. I'm overjoyed about the release and have watched the movie numerous times. So here are some highlighted scenes, or at least the ones that have become my favorites and lingered in my mind for way too long.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

First off, this scene. It's just a small gesture of Loid because apparently he's worried about Yor's mouth due to the "irritating" lipstick she's wearing.

But tell me, what kind of man would give a woman such a pleasant little gift if he did NOT love her. It's not like, "You're nothing to me. Here's a new lipstick for you!"

Loid is not going to declare "I LOVE YOU" explicitly; the hell is he going to, but we have eyes, and we see. Your small gesture and little gift say everything I need to hear, and I won't take your for the mission excuse anymore, Loid Forger.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I'm fully aware that the "Yor getting jealous" trope is becoming redundant nowadays. Some people say they're overdoing it and no longer find it interesting to talk about. But I beg to differ. I'm still on the Yor's jealousy bandwagon because it's become a crucial element in her and Loid's relationship. Yor does not necessarily have the right to get jealous and upset about the idea that there is someone else in Loid's heart. Heck, I dare say she can't pull out the "wifey" card because we know it's all fake.

But that's not that.

For me, to say that Yor is jealous there might be another woman in Loid's life is an understatement. It's not to say she is being greedy, but she does want Loid, and only him, not just because she's technically his wife—her genuine feelings for him are growing, and we can see that. She does not want to lose him, let alone to be out of the picture. It's Yor being true to herself. It's Yor fighting for her love and affection for Loid.

Extras:

Yor's heart is already shaken at the possibility of Loid cheating. And HE does not help by throwing such flattery and complimentary comments about his wife. This dense man…

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

I liked what Anya did in this scene.

Afraid of her family falling apart, she tried everything she could to prevent that, and that is... through her parents' flirting 😏

She's still a little kiddo, but being the telepath that she is, she still wants her family to stay intact. Anya pushing Loid and Yor together to have some kissy-kissy time never gets old, to be honest. I always enjoy it every time she does that. Anya recollecting what Becky said about divorce and the "supposedly" bloodbath also added some comedic sense to the scene.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

This has got to be my #1 favorite.

The only physical intimacy in this scene is just Loid putting his hand on top of Yor's. Nothing more. Okay, we may have moved past that episode where LoidTwilight pulled a honeytrap on Yor, AND we can't dismiss the fact that maybe, there's a definite chance that he just used her.

But this time, he is determined to keep Yor around for real. He even restated his granade proposal to stick with each other—basically their wedding vows—and had no intention to break that promise. What's this smell? It's a whiff of peak romance.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

This scene made me feel warm and fuzzy.

What came to my mind when I was watching this scene was that although Twilight is the best and most renowned spy there is, he's still lacking some things. One of them is, for sure, parenting, which we saw from the earlier episodes of the series, he picked it up from books.

Yor always plays along with Anya to keep her entertained, and it's also one of her ways of parenting that some people may have dismissed. Yor arguably does better in this field than Twilight from her own experiences, the big chunks of which were from when she raised little Yuri. This should eliminate the questionable discourse of Yor "unfitting" for the mother role.

This scene got extended to when Yor told Loid that it was a family trip, that Anya was looking forward to this trip, and that they all should go together.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

This may be the last for now: the Forgers walking hand in hand at the end.

I couldn't imagine the hardships this family went through throughout this movie. (Ok, I know some were absurd, but let's move past them for the sake of this post.) Despite being a fake family, they still came as one and worked hard together to put things back in their place and resolve all the problems. Like... they didn't have to do that; their family is a pretend. But they did. They're complete, and it's so beautiful to see ❤

[cocoa-rococo]

Koopaling Headcanons: Larry

Larry | Morton | Wendy | Iggy | Roy | Lemmy | Ludwig

Everyone's favorite little brother and general pest for plumbers! He's just a lil' rascal.

Right handed.

His love of tennis originally started as a way to stand out from his siblings, but eventually, he really enjoyed the sensation of playing.

He became a big fan of a Horse Girl animated show after the Olympics, but is super embarrassed about it and won't tell anyone because he thinks it wrecks his ‘cool guy’ image.

Red-green colorblind.

He likes painting with Bowser Jr, and he's a decent comic artist, but he's pretty shy about showing people his work, partially stemming from feeling inferior to Ludwig.

Hypoglycemic. Combine that with his age and his tennis hobby, this boy burns through glucose like a powder trail. It's also partially why he eats so much.

Very much a visual learner, as he tunes out if people tell him things without example, and gets frustrated if asked to try and do something on his own / with his hands and zero instruction.

A frighteningly good pickpocket. He once had a conversation with Bowser and managed to take off all five of his spiked cuffs in three minutes. It's only when he returned them did Bowser even realize they were gone.

He's a big fan of milkshakes, especially chocolate ones. Also a big fan of blowing his straw wrapper at his siblings before he drinks, and blowing bubbles in his drink if he's thinking.

Favorite breakfast food is waffles, with butter, syrup, chocolate chips, and fruit.

Can beatbox almost anything, and he's learning how to breakdance, too. He likes looking up tutorials and practicing in his room for both the space and privacy.

He does gaming streams in his free time, mostly online team-based games or RPGs that let you sink hours of play into useless but fulfilling sidequests. Gaming companies love him because they’ll get guaranteed sales if they offer a trial.

Has a pretty good head for directions, but only for cities. If you tell him you need to find a building from a particular place, he'll give you precise instructions on where to go. Highways and roadmaps are a completely different story.

That said, he got lost so often as a kid that Ludwig gifted him a compass, and he carries it with him constantly.

Not really a flower person, but ever since he got an anonymous bouquet of them, he's got a small appreciation for forget-me-nots.

He's a big fan of punk rock bands, and would love to attend a concert (and be a professional rockstar).

Favorite fruit is either strawberries or pears, but one of his favorite treats is caramel apples.

He’s got a leather jacket that's got a big star bedazzled on the back. It’s his prized possession because he thinks it makes him look cool (and it does, marginally).

Saw a flyer for a new DJ at the Electrodrome and applied on a whim. He got hired (much to his surprise), and greatly enjoys his work. In fact, his time learning the electronics is what inspired his light company.

Likes watching baking and cooking shows with Morton, but while Morton watches to improve and get ideas for recipes, Larry watches to yell at the contestants, because what the FUCK, Michael!!!!! Don’t put your custard on a high temperature, it!!! Is going!!!!!! To curdle!!!!!!!!!!!!

Legitimately has a very good palate for food, and can point out individual flavors where others can't. He will also visit a five-star restaurant and order chicken tenders off the kids menu.

One of his favorite things to do when he was a kid was hiding around the castle and pretending he was a spy; listening in on conversations and writing them down, coming up with codes, always carrying a walkie-talkie, the works. It started his earlier pictographic babble, and what lead him to being such a sneakster later on.

Can and will cheat outrageously at any card, board, dice, or wheel game. Not at video games, though. Those are sacred. That and laser tag.

Looooves chocolate, especially fudge. Do not let him get anywhere near fudge.

He was a shark kid growing up. He dreamed of visiting the aquarium for his birthday, and when he finally got to do so, came home with an armload of various shark plushies and memorabilia.

A big fan of giving and receiving nicknames. Bowser once called him ‘blueberry’ and he cried about it for like seven minutes.

He’s got an admiration for Princess Daisy, for both her fearless attitude and tennis skills.

Favorite candy is gummy worms, but is really fond of sour stuff, too, along with super sugary energy drinks.

Loves sci-fi books / comics and mecha anime with Iggy, but personally loves the adventure genre with pirates and treasure hunters and wild westerns.

Has a private stash of snacks he keeps hidden in rotation for both late night munchies and keeping away from his siblings.

Genuinely likes cooking, but baking feels too precise for him. That said, he's more then happy to taste the end results of both.

Likes going skating with Wendy and Lemmy. He keeps trying complicated moves and keeps running into the walls.

Runs a recipe blog that doubles as a restaurant critique and rating site. It's gotten surprisingly popular.

[mandareeboo]

Here's an ask: Got any Generator Rex headacnons or ideas from what you've seen of it so far?

Just a few basic ones! (And no spoilers, please!)

Nanites work a lot like cancer cells. It's a mutation of the body itself. They can be benign, or they can be SUPER malignant.

Rex can play most any card game but he doesn't know how to play them correctly. Bobo Haha taught him to cheat only.

6 is Rex's legal guardian- can sign him into and out of hospitals, etc. Neither one of them like to discuss how he's legally Rex's dad.

This guy?

Hates his job.

Rex is ambidextrous but out of necessity; he was born left-handed.

Noah is some rich kid whose dad wanted to get in good with Providence and got him the job of "spying" on Rex

Holiday's sister is younger than her and it eats Holiday up inside

[justin-russos]

The Rogue is The Master Theory

the recent episode altered my brain chemistry and i am literally going insane of how many connections Rogue have with The Master it's not even funny anymore.

When we first see Rogue the song was playing "Bad Guy" I feel like this is way to on the nose. Like why play a song about being a Bad Guy if Rogue is intended to be a good guy? ( he's not) I did some research of what the role Rogue does in dnd (i don't play dnd only bg3) here what is says "A rogue is a sneaky person who has tricks up his sleeve, not like a magician, but like someone who would steal your wallet or cheat at cards." If you search up on Google of what rogue means, it says "a dishonest or unprincipled person." (Rogue is a liar liar pants on fire)

Also Rogue could be a reference to the band Rogue Traders the band who made the song Voodoo Child (Vote Saxon, I guess)

The Master is also notorious as a "Rogue Time Lord."

Why choose a Kylie Minogue song? Remember Astrid that kissed Ten? (that's her)

Next is an another song "Poker Face" this again feels like is way to on the nose because Poker Face literally means "an inscrutable face that reveals no hint of a person's thoughts or feelings." I feel like this alludes to Rogue wearing a Poker Face

When 15 first entered Rogue's ship he literally commented how "Messy," the ship was. Same interaction when 13 and her fam visited "O's" house and Graham commented how messy the house was inside of Dwahan!Master disguised TARDIS

Inside the ship we can see Rogue messing with the console that eerily looks like the TARDIS'S console room. The TARDIS could literally be disguised as a ship. Similarly what happens with Dhawan's!Master's TARDIS disguised as the house from the Spyfall episode.

The Master is also known for cosplaying/roleplaying someone else aka Agent O so why couldn't he act again but this time a different disguise, as Rogue. "Look for the Spy!Master." to "Look for the Dungeon!Master." (if he wants to continue with the dnd theme)

And they both had similar lines when they both entered the TARDIS for the "first time." Dwahan!Master: "Shut up." Rogue: "Oh my God."

Plus the TARDIS immediate dislike to Rogue? not because he's a bountyhunter (She loves Jack and River. Maybe because she knows that's The Master who threatened to turn her into a black hole?)

Also how did Rogue travel to 1813 if he's doesn't have a time machine (aka the TARDIS disguised as his ship)

but hey, it's just a theory, A FILM THEORY! Thanks for reading! Alright this is what my brain mustered up with the Master!Rogue theory while watching the episode multiple times now my brain is fried. if you have other mentions/clues that Rogue is The Master please comment I would like to know. This is basically merged from other theories I've read here so sorry for any repetitions it's my first theory.

[cheemscakecat]

Oh… OH.

Guys hear me out… BLU Spy is a film buff who likes the Film Noir genre.

If you haven’t heard of/watched film noir, it’s 40s-50s era detective movies. If you’ve watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit, you basically get the gist of what the genre is like. Jessica Rabbit is a subversion of the fem fatale trope of a shrexy lady who works for the bad guys or is the main bad guy of the movie. Judge Doom is the crooked cop/official, R.K. Maroon is another corrupt party that allied with Doom. And Eddie Valiant is our cynical and jaded detective protagonist.

Now think about movies for a minute. How many times does the protagonist do something impossible because it looks cool? Be honest, John Wick is doing some maneuvers that make zero sense to real martial artists and government agents. Now think about how BLU Spy acts in Em Blue and Meet the Spy.

How many times does a detective/cop/agent protagonist go fight a dangerous person alone, and win? Usually there’s a struggle, but they still win. Spy didn’t though. Imagine he’s having a nightmare where one of the aspects is literally “You’re not that guy pal. Trust me, you’re not that guy.”

This is not the time to make demands, this is the time to shoot the guy with a bigger, faster gun before he can get you. But the good guy usually manages to shoot first or dodge, so he can have the confidence to do something this risky. Except it doesn’t work for Spy.

I can’t help but wonder if one of the reasons is that Soldier is an actual war veteran and not crazy like RED; remember how I mentioned real experts before? What if Solly’s fighter logic is cancelling out Hollywood logic in the scenes where he and Spy are together? Of course, that’s not the only reason why Spy can’t do the cool things he’s trying; it’s insecurity.

What happens in Meet the Spy?

So BLU Spy decided to do the dramatic thing and monologue to his teammates about the RED Spy in base, knowing darn well that one of them is probably said Spy. Carrying literal dead weight with the RED’s weapon lodged in it. With full confidence.

Some people think he knew “Scout” was RED Spy, but I actually think he fell for it. Why else would he say “nothing. Nothing like the man currently inside this building!” and then give said abnormally skilled and dangerous Spy his knife back? And that’s not the only reason he didn’t know, either.

This folder of dirty pictures is BLU Spy’s trump card. Yeah, showing it to RED to humiliate him would be funny… but not the most satisfying outcome. Giving it to the Admin for enemy team blackmail? More satisfying. Giving it to one of RED Spy’s enemies so they can kidnap BLU Ma or study the layout of that room? Devilishly satisfying. But that’s still not his end goal.

Scout is the youngest member of the team with the most to learn. You’re telling me that the same Administrator who hired a Director to get dirt on RED team, and doesn’t even care much for Pauling, doesn’t have two-faced Spies on both sides? BLU and RED teammates willing to sell their team’s secrets for bonuses or their own protection? Oh they exist.

This BLU Spy is not one of these double crossers IRL; but he does look for dirt on RED team. He was probably taking the dirtier pictures to get shot of RED without his mask, but he left it on. But he found out BLU Ma is consorting with an enemy teammate, and that’s very important. He wasn't showing this to Scout just to assert dominance as an older teammate, he was saying “Look, your mama can’t be trusted. Don’t give her your information.”

“PATTY CAKE? PATTY CAKE?! I don’t believe it! [cries]”

“Believe it sister, she played Patty Cake.”

It’s the same thing but more disrespectful, he’s trying to wise the real BLU Scout up about mercenary work.

And before anyone asks, no, BLU Spy is not BLU Scout’s daddy. No sane parent would show those pictures to their child, even if he’s an adult and his mama cheated. Besides that, Spy shows literally zero interest in romance during Em Blue, even when he’s telling Archibald what promotions he wants. That’s… not a normal occurrence in Film Noirs.

I’m not saying getting tricked by RED Spy and loosing those pictures before the real Scout could see them is the reason BLU Spy doubts his own abilities. But it’s at least a factor in the bigger reason.

[piracytheorist]

OKAY

I think it says a lot about my job that I was able to concentrate on it today and completely forget we GOT TRAILER

It was a mistake to check tumblr first thing in the morning, before I even got out of bed, but in my defense, I didn't expect it would drop at such a day and time! But anyway I did jump off of bed, turned on my laptop and recorded my face as I watched it. I needed to have that memorized XD

So, spoilers about the trailer below, and my own predictions about what each scene could be for! Reminder that I'm anime only, but have read the chapter that the first episode (probably) is based on, so for the most part I know what's going on, but for the rest I'm very much NOT aware :D Don't spoil me please :D

FAKE FAMBLY IS BACK

Manipulative Anya at her best! We love our gremlin!

Oh he's looking good :D

I fucking love this image. Look at Twilight pouting in the background. He doesn't understand why a child finds news boring.

WE GOT BLOOD WE GOT THORN PRINCESS IN ACTION LET'S GOOOOO

your honour I love him. Why does he look like he's ready to cry!

Ok from a first hearing the OP song sounds super cool. I feel like it's got "Mixed Nuts" vibes and I love it! I gotta look it up later!

Jeez Loid. Woman just woke up. Is that how he honeypoted all of his other missions?

Yor having a meltdown in the foreground and Anya being cute waking up in the background <3 I love my fake fambly <3

... okay. That's how his honeypots worked.

Yellow roses, if I'm correct, symbolize friendship. Interesting.

This is going to be a disaster and I cannot wait. Also I'm spotting Anya and Franky doing a horrible job at hiding in the left pic XD

My heart skipped a beat when I heard Anya's voice say "Moja-Moja" :')

Very sneaky. Much hiding. Wow. There's no way Franky thought this was working XD

The way all of this could have been solved with a "I tripped down the stairs and fell on my butt and now it hurts to sit" but hey we're getting a funny date how can I ask for more

Also the way Yor says that line my god

I am so ready for more Yor you have no idea

I gotta say, showing this moment is perfect for anime-onlies who haven't actually read this specific chapter. Loid just looks worried and Yor looks enraged. So many feelings for this episode XD

Are those macarons? What were the fucking chances that yesterday I went like "Next morning I'm gonna pass by that bakery that makes macarons". I haven't had macarons in years, yet I see one (1) advertisement about that bakery and its macarons and I go like yeah why not. Macarons. And now this. The fuck.

GREMLIN ANYA IS BACK

Honestly, her face in official merch is always a :D face with an almost unnaturally big smile all the time that I've missed her silly little face.

AH I WAS SENT THAT AS A MANGA SCREENSHOT!

Are those playing cards she's throwing? And is she reading someone's mind? I don't even care if she's cheating, good for you girl

Yeah, buddy, welcome to the real world.

I remember that line from the end of the bullet-in-butt date chapter, and I gotta admit I don't really like it... but the way Eguchi delivers it makes me think he's not like "Women amirite" but more like "All my years of training did not prepare me for how people are like in their day to day lives because spy training has skewed my perception of day to day 'normal'" and that's perfectly valid.

But also what the fuck is happening here. What is that cat. Why is Yor about to Thorn-Princess it. What.

So Anya goes on a studying rampage, fails, and ends up crying on her penguin?

This only made me sad, what the fuck. It looks like Loid and Yor are looking at her failing grades, and Anya is disappointed in herself. I will don my clown wig again and say "If Loid doesn't go and reassure her so help me GOD"

I... don't like the ending theme song. But that's mostly a matter of taste, I guess.

Aw.

They dare throw this to anime onlies when they know we won't get romantic canon twiyor content until three to five business years from now at least

The assassin group... I'm supposing he means the one Yor works for? How long does "for a while now" mean? Wasn't Yor working for them since she was a teenager caring for Yuri?

In any case, wow that's a very intense visual.

omg omg omg

from the colour and the angle this looks like a vision Bond has. Loid and Yor are smiling and blushing but why does it make me feel sad!!

I don't know if it's because of what is said in that moment (they look like unrelated scenes since the line is being said by a woman who I'm guessing is a fellow assassin working with Yor or something) but then there's this

And we just don't see Yor like that often, if at all in the anime so far.

What is Franky wearing? It looks like a military jacket or something. I wonder if that's just stylistic choice or it's something more important.

*snorts laugh*

Gotta admit, from a few tidbits here and there it looks like Twilight is finally gaining some more understanding of himself and his situation... but the way he says that just makes me think that realization makes him more concerned than anything else.

So I can say with conviction this did fix something in me. Though I guess the first episode will be the bullet-in-butt date, so it will take me another week to go into new territory. But! Bullet-in-butt date in 12 days! And new cool stuff to look for later on! I'm so happy!

(Again, I don't want spoilers for any of these. Just let me have my fun speculating :D)

screenshots taken from the unofficially subtitled trailer here!

[distant-velleity]

back at it again with the crack fics

summary - i love you scarabia student B (not)

word count - 900+

warnings - dumbasses

tagging - @thehollowwriter

~

Ace sighs, flicking a card out of his sleeve. “This is so boring. Anyone wanna play cards?”

“Not with you,” says Deuce, his legs draped across Jack’s lap.

“Y’always cheat,” agrees Epel from his seat on the couch’s armrest.

“It’s pointless to play with someone who plays unfairly!” declares Sebek, seated on a pillow on the floor.

Jack nods in solemn agreement.

“You all suck.” Ace sits up to look at Chrysos, who’s leaning against the windowsill and staring outside. “What about you, Mr. Poker Face?”

“Don’t feel like it,” mutters Chrysos, narrowing his eyes intently at the sight beyond the glass.

“Ya look like a maiden whose husband went off to war,” Epel comments sarcastically.

Deuce shrugs. “I mean, Santiago did go outside to spy for us…”

A huff comes from Sebek. “For what noble cause? It can hardly be considered a war.”

“And he’s not my husband,” adds Chrysos, a little too late.

“Sure—”

Before Ace can finish, a parrot comes soaring in from the hallway. Santiago transforms in the middle of the Ramshackle lounge in a burst of feathers.

“You guys!” he exclaims. “You’ll never believe what just happened outside.”

It’s like he flipped some kind of switch—all the freshmen are instantly energized again, paying full attention and bombarding him with questions.

“Did that Scarabia guy say something?”

“How’s Yu?”

“Tell us the details!”

“You didn’t get caught, right?”

“Okay, wait, slow down!” Santiago holds up his hands. “‘Kay, so that guy who asked Yu to step out and talk with him for a bit. The August dude. He had an envelope with him and said the contents were really important. So I didn’t think much of it ‘til he shoved it into Yu’s hands and waited for him to read it.”

“Most improper behavior,” Sebek mumbles (which would just be normal volume for most people) distastefully, and no one disagrees for once.

“Right?” Santiago asks. “Anyway, listen to this: Yu asked him what his intentions were, ‘cause apparently the entire letter was just poetry, and then August bowed and asked Yu to go out with him?? So that’s where we’re at right now—”

The group explodes into a cacophony of shouts and protests.

“So he’s the guy who’s been leaving those poems in front of Ramshackle?!”

“First he chased you and Yu to Octavinelle during winter break, and now this?”

“Yu’s gonna say no, right? Tell me he’ll say no!”

“This is absolutely unacceptable!!”

“I’ma give him a piece of my mind—”

“Guys.” Jack’s ears twitch. “We can stand here yellin’ about it all day, but it’s happening right now. We gotta act.”

“Say less,” Ace replies immediately, rubbing his hands together.

They all make a beeline for the front door, tripping over each other, but with a clear goal in mind.

…

Compared to the last few times he was crushed on, Yu has never been in a situation like this.

“—I’ll get you flowers every day, I’ll do whatever you want,” insists August, a little aggressively desperate. “Won’t you date me?”

It’s very uncomfortable.

“Um…” Yu acts shy, tucking a strand of his hair behind his ear. In reality, he wants to get away from the demands he’s endured for the past few minutes. The poetry was good, though, and that’s about it. “I don’t know, really… I think—”

“YU!”

August pales as Ace runs up to them, planting himself firmly in front of the TA.

Yu is equally dumbfounded, though more innocently. “Ace?”

“Yu~uuuu,” whines Ace, playing the part of a bratty boyfriend as he leans forward to cup Yu’s cheeks in his hands. “Didn’t you promise we’d spend more time together today? What are you still doing with this guy?”

“Wait, you’re taken?” August asks incredulously, just in time for Santiago to swoop in as a bird, transform, and blind him with an explosion of feathers.

“Sorry, Ace,” Yu plays along in a placating voice. “As soon as this is taken care of, we can do whatever you’d like.”

Ace’s eyes light up with mischievousness only Yu can see. “Promise?”

Behind him, Epel kicks August in the shin. Deuce, Chrysos, Sebek and Jack work together to drag the Scarabia student away silently. Santiago catches Yu’s eye and offers him a thumbs-up.

Yu sighs in fond exasperation and looks back at Ace. “Haha. No. Whose plan was this?”

“It was an unanimous group decision. Aren’t you gonna thank us?”

The rest of their squad, with poor August in tow, exit Ramshackle’s gates and head down the path to the Hall of Mirrors.

“Maybe,” Yu concedes. “When they get back from tormenting him.”

“Cool.”

Ace grins.

“And for the record, I would still definitely be a better boyfriend than that guy if we were actually dating.”

Yu punches him in the shoulder.

(BONUS:

Jamil can only watch as Yu’s band of menaces unceremoniously dump one August Ventus at his feet. He almost feels bad for the freshman. Almost.

“He’s all yours,” Jack says gruffly, and turns to leave Scarabia through the mirror. Everyone else but Santiago follows suit.

Except for the desert winds, there is silence.

“So,” Jamil finally says, “what happened here?”

“You can ask August for the details,” Santiago replies, sounding unusually happy considering the situation.

August groans.

“I’m sure he wants to tell you exactly what happened,” continues Santiago. At this point, he can’t stifle his smirk.

“You suck,” August complains weakly, rolling onto his back to sit up.

Santiago snickers at him. “Sucks more to be you.” He turns to Jamil and beams. “Have fun dealing with him. See ya.”

He runs off towards the dorm building without elaborating.

Freshmen. Jamil watches and shakes his head in resignation, then turns back to August. “…So, again, care to explain?”)

[angelfrommontgomery]

Pls explain the Michigan football thing more

For you I will try. I am not the most versed scholar on the topic but the background you need:

The Michigan Ohio state rivalry is rooted in an actual dispute over land (the toledo war)

From 2012-2019, Ohio state won every year

Since 2015, Michigan has been coached by Jim harbaugh, former Michigan quarterback

In 2019, tensions are high. Harbaugh has never beat Ohio state. Tensions are so high in fact, Michigan players attempt to take off an osu players shoe.

In 2020, Michigan has a TERRIBLE season and cancels the osu game, citing covid, but many are skeptical about the real reason

Jim Harbaugh gets a NEW CONTRACT. With a pay cut. He goes from highest-paid head coach in the conference to eighth. But if he starts winning, there’s incentives in his contract to win.

2021 Michigan wins

Credit where credit is due, Michigan had a good team. No suspicions are raised

2022 they win again, after coming back in the second half. Lots of rumors about them “stealing signs”

The deal with sign stealing: to call a play, teams have signs for the coaches to communicate with players. The nfl has technology in their helmets to avoid this problem btw. It’s not illegal to have somebody scout the other teams signs during the game, but it is illegal to send somebody to another game to scout signs “in-person”. It’s also illegal to record the other teams sideline like that. This is because it would give bigger teams a big advantage while smaller schools can’t afford to bankroll spying.

OCTOBER 2023: it breaks that Michigan had a staffer stealing signs. most people assume this story will amount to nothing. It’s hard to prove sign stealing.

THEN it comes out that this Michigan staffer bought 30 tickets over the past three years (since…2021… when they were better…) in his own name on his own credit card. His venmo transactions are public and he appears to be paying others to go to the games and record for him.

Rumors on message boards confirmed:

Many people suggest he could have been a lone actor, who decided to do this on his own, which would lessen the penalty.

THEN it comes out how crazy this guy is. He wrote a 500 page plan to become Michigan head coach in 15 years called his “Michigan manifesto”. He also includes other buddies of his that are coaching staff at other schools.

We all think it’s over, this guy is crazy and did this by himself. How sad for all the Michigan haters

Just a few hours later, the news drops that Michigan computers had detailed budgets and schedules of the sign stealing operations.

So not only was this guy crazy and wrote a Michigan manifesto, the entire program was participating in the cheating with him at the lead. It’s the best of both worlds for a hater like me

Many other rumors are still out there waiting to be confirmed, like the rumor that Michigan shared their knowledge of Tennessee’s signs so their opponent could ruin their championship chances.

Among the rumors

Is the cheating staffer on the sidelines of a Michigan state game???? It certainly looks like it

Note that he hides his face during the tv broadcast. And he wears shades at a 7pm game

How much crazier can this get? Will Jim Harbaugh leave? How much did this effect the 21/22 championships? Did they share the illegal signs? Will Michigan have to vacate their 2021-2022 wins? That would restore Ohio states winning streak… but we won’t know until the end of the season. Michigan hasn’t played since this news broke, but they are back this weekend. We will see how they look. This is the best thing that ever happened to a Michigan hater like me

[animehouse-moe]

High Card Episode 2: Make a Choice

So, admittedly, not as action packed and cool an episode as the first, but super interesting for two main reasons. Kingsman and Cards.

So let's look at that first one, Kingsman. I'm fairly certain the majority of people out there know of the Kingsman movies (which were originally comics). They know of the sort of rough around the edges underdog being picked up by a suave and sensible mentor to help with some top-secret spy stuff. They know of the Kingsman suit store, of the classic spy tropes. They know of that bar/pub scene in the first movie.

A lot of it is in this High Card episode. Of course, they can't give it all direct and literal references, but stuff like Wizardsman really makes the comparison clear as day.

Anyways, the cards. This episode confirms it. They all have "themes". We sort of knew with the diamonds, but it could have been a simple coincidence. Today though, we got another heart card so can properly confirm (you can cheat if you use the opening). So, what are the "themes"? Well, we know 3 of the 4 themes for sure. The heart suit is constitutional, or "enhancement", cards. Chris' 5 of Hearts is effectively immortality, and the bad guy's 3 of Hearts this episode was Rocking Rock which made his body super strong and durable. So how about diamonds, which we already know of? Well, now that we know how broad the themes can be, I would assume diamonds to be able to exert control over reality. Lucky Lunchman and his ability to effectively gamble and luck out on existence, and Bobby Ball's ability to turn people into marbles. Additionally, because of this theme, we can assume the talk about human combustion is another diamond suits player. Regardless, moving on, thanks to the opening, we know of the suit (and ability) of Wendy's card. She possesses a spade, and is able to create a katana (or potentially more specifically a Nodachi given the size), and has leather gauntlets instead of gloves. This means that the spade suit is used for weapons, though I would assume with a twist given what we know of Finn's two of spades. This leaves Clubs as the most unknown, the only person possessing one being Vijay (thanks to the opening). Vijay's clubs makes use of vines-slash-nature, but since we don't have any other one to compare to, it's hard to give an answer as to what the theme of clubs may be.

More in terms of the abstract of the episode, I really enjoyed the direction of it. They continue to provide a wide range of style that really sells the appeal of the series. It's got swagger, it's got a strong sense of self, and above all it sells the personality of each character. They keep shots wide with several characters, they have plenty of low angle shots to sell the scale and grandeur of them, and the list continues. The lighting and overall color palette of the series helps a great deal with it though, it provides a great deal of contrast and allows them to go all out with the feel of certain scenes.

As a side note I love this one, because the little tea filter or whatever it is (sorry, not well versed in tea stuff!), is symbolism for the filter through which the cards select the player, and that last little drop is the example of the bad players that would abuse the cards slipping through.

I think my point's been made, so moving on. The last little bit I'll speak about is the exposition. It's always great when there's a character that genuinely doesn't know of the comings and goings of what's behind the curtain, and they don't miss a beat in capitalizing on that to explain things and sell us on Finn. We learn a great deal about the X-Playing Cards, and about the nature of the world. They give some hints as to how the cards might choose their players but there's nothing set in stone. And lastly, I really enjoyed seeing Finn's mentor/adoptive father Lindsey again this episode. I believe it's really important to include those characters when possible within stories like this, particularly when it's a foundational aspect of a character like Finn. The whole piece about choices and decisions with this episode, due to Lindsey's involvement, was really solid.

So, not quite the first episode by any means, but it makes the most of the typical cadence and flow of a fresh series as it goes through the motions of explanations and recruitment. Looking forward to what they do with the next episode now that the playing field has opened!

[distopea]

A Night in Sicily

PS notes: dialogues are in English, but they all chat in Italian ✌️

“No, no, no! Matheo! God dammit how many times have I told you? Fuck you, why did we miss that this idiot had the petit in his sleeve from the first minute!” 

“Oh here we go again… Shut up, Tomaso, you were never good at playing the French Tarot anyway…” 

“You fucking should have played it earlier! Dammit! That’s basically cheating!” 

“What? Hey, who do you call a cheater? Learn to count the trumps! I won, so suck it off! You should have seen it coming the moment I called for the Heart King!” 

Another lively night in Palermo, the distant fading sound of the cicadas still invading the living room. They were all around the same large wooden table, sharing a meal before their departure the next morning. Alba, the matrone and mother of Mario, the head of the local Albertini mafia, was spying from the kitchen, a frown on her features. She was surely too old to be there, standing while they were all sitting, but there was no discussion possible. Whenever Alba would demand their presence around the table, there was no man strong enough in Palermo to refuse her invitation. And no one bold enough to ever forbid her from cooking for them. 

Her wrinkled features came out of the kitchen with two large plates of tiramisu ready to be served, and suddenly, there was a general whimper escaping everyone’s throat, Gabriele’s included. Well, he almost forgot that Gabriele was his real name here; he had been called Lorenzo for years now (his alias for the mission), sitting among them, and sharing the same food. Everything felt a bit blurry for a couple of months now. “No, mama, no!” Mario shook his head and massaged his eyelids, quickly followed by Tomaso and Matheo, who were not interested in their game cards anymore and patted their bellies with nothing but pain written on their features. “We’re stuffed, how do you want us to fit in our suits tomorrow if you keep feeding us like this… I need to see my abs, mama!” 

“No slander under my roof!” Alba answered in her usual rolling accent from the South of Sicily, as she tapped Gabriele’s shoulder and offered her famous manipulative smile; the one who let him know that he wouldn’t be able to bargain. “See how my good boy Lorenzo is treating me. He never says no to me!” There was another general huff, and Mario this time only chuckled. “Always using Lorenzo as your scapegoat whenever you need someone to be kind to you. That poor boy can’t say no, that’s a part of his job!” 

She slammed a generous amount of tiramisu inside of Gabriele’s plate, the young man, barely at the end of his twenties, quite cornered right now. He was her best excuse. She almost shoveled a spoon between his fingers, and she eventually tousled his hair with a profound tenderness. “He’s more educated than any of you! He’s like a grandson to me… A good-mannered boy, who never lets down his mama. I’m proud of him!” There were more protests around them, but the atmosphere was nothing but genuine. A family reunion with people who could trust and respect each other. 

A family… 

A grandson… 

She had never said that before, at least, not out loud. He had always felt it; despite her rude and brutal manners, Alba was nothing but welcoming and soft. Like with her current grandsons, Matheo and Tomaso, she was openly showing affection towards Gabriele. He was a member of this family, and despite his profound need to fight this truth, he knew that he was sinking into this dangerous sea. As they kept arguing against the forced dessert of their grandma, Gabriele looked up, shudders traveling through his entire body. 

Who was he? 

He had vowed to protect citizens from people like Mario, Matheo or Tomaso. He had abandoned his true identity to sneak into the wolf’s den, so certain that none of them could ever be humans. Monsters, assassins, deviants… And yet, he was just like them. They were playing cards in the evening, talking about girls, art, their dreams and fears they might share… They could laugh until tears would bloom at the corners of their eyes, and they could fight like brothers for the slightest thing. He was hugged by Mario whenever he was doing a good job, he was poked by Tomaso all the time, and he would spend his Friday evening fixing Matheo’s bike with a cold beer. He always felt the urge to defend those he mistakenly considered as his brothers, his heart and soul torn apart by his identity fading and changing over the years, the name of Gabriele sometimes surfacing through one phone call or one secret meeting to share the intel he had gathered. 

Who was he? 

There was no monster in front of him, but humans, with a different vision of life, with different codes and manners, but surely a heart and emotions. Because, in the end, who was wrong? Who was the most monstrous among all the protagonists of this story? Were they truly to blame when the police had failed so many times to protect people? Wasn’t he such a fraud, sitting there and sharing their loving atmosphere, as if his intentions and mission weren’t to destroy them? No, no… He had to believe in their cause. He had to believe in his vows. He had seen the blood, he had seen violence and self-justice. It wasn’t fair, and it wasn”t right. 

Was he… wrong about this too? 

“Fratello…” Tomaso shook his arm, and Gabriele understood he had been the head in the clouds for too long. “Care to show Matheo how you play well?” 

“Ugh, we never know what’s in Lorenzo’s head, that’s a bad idea. He’ll beat us if he ever gets to call the King first.” 

“Oh come on, when he plays you whimper and when he doesn’t, you beg for his help… Come on Lorenzo, let’s show him!” 

"Alright, but both of you will clean my bike if you lose, so you better get your sponges and soap ready."

His heart was in the depths of his stomach, his emotions shattered. Yet, he nodded and decided to live this lie for a bit longer. He gripped the card and clipped a brand new cigarette at the corner of his lips, mask on, as he was indeed playing the game so well. He was not a monster… He was not a monster…

He was not… 

A MONSTER. 

[karkkidoeswriting]

Happy STS! If you were to design a deck of playing cards based on characters in your WIP, who would you assign to be the King? The Queen? The Jack? The Ace? And the Joker?

Happy STS! Oh this is a fun question!! I will do this for the Bear Castle Chronicles cast.

The King - Faerathos. Mostly because he is the oldest sibling and the heir of their clan (legally not anymore heir to any land or titles because their clan was stripped of them but still). He's also the politician of the siblings and the one who grew up in court.

The Queen - Agrippa. She is literally a heir to a throne, though her title would be High Priestess, since it's a theocratic monarchy but close enough to a queen I'd say. She also grew up very privileged and sheltered in a very high status noble family.

The Jack - Valeri. I honestly don't know if this is based in any actual reality, but I've always thought of the jack as a knight/retainer. Which is why Valeri fits it as he is a soldier, generally fairly knightly person and the type of person who likes to serve.

The Ace - Cassia. Being a spy, she is very much the ace card that's pulled at the last minute out of left field. Especially out of sleeve, since she's not above of cheating or lying (is ace up in your sleeve a saying in English too? I'm not sure if this makes sense).

The Joker - Fiolev. I was considering should Fiolev and Cassia be the other way around since Fiolev is aroace, but these fit much better really. Fiolev is definitely the chaotic and trickster type of character. No one in power ever considers him as a real player or threat, but he manages to fuck shit up in ways no one would have considered even. He also does a lot of impersonating and scamming people, which fits to the way the card functions.