#the genesis also uses these bits so it might be good to take a long hard look at it too

[got-eggs]

cant wait for my phone to be repaired so i can buy the Gamebit screwdriver bits(yes theyre called that) so i can clean the SNES, AND replace the batteries in the SNES/NES games

[altocat]

Angeal and Genesis finally take Sephiroth to Banora au 🙏

Sephiroth has been emotionally preparing for this trip forever. He's genuinely excited. He never gets to travel for fun and would love to see a taste of country life away from Midgar.

The first thing on the agenda is to make sure Sephiroth stays FAR away from Genesis' parents. They would eat up all his time giving him the grand tour, basically using his visit as free publicity for their business. Every time they come to snatch Sephiroth up, Genesis intentionally creates a huge distraction while Angeal whisks Sephiroth away.

Sephiroth loves the sunny weather, orchards, and country hospitality. He could get lost in these trees forever.

Angeal has him finally meet his mother Gillian. Sephiroth is shy, naturally. He ends up dumping a ton of praise for Angeal and commending her for raising one of the finest soldiers in all of Shinra. Gillian looks proud of her son, but there is a sadness in her eyes that Sephiroth can't quite read.

Angeal also introduces Sephiroth to his father...but it's a gravestone at the far end of town. Sephiroth gives Angeal some time to talk to his dad alone...since it's been a long time since he's visited.

Genesis shows the barn where he and Angeal used to hang out in as kids. And the makeshift fort in the woods, somehow miraculously still standing after years of being away. None of them can fit inside.

Gillian cooks for them, Sephiroth and Genesis for once not squabbling due to their mutual admiration and wanting to be on their best behavior.

Gen's parents finally catch up with them and somehow brought the local press with them. Genesis gets genuinely angry, especially now that there's cameras flashing everywhere. He grabs Sephiroth's wrist and just books it for the woods. Angeal "accidentally" sets off a huge Materia smokescreen and stalls everyone up.

Sephiroth and Genesis wander around in the forests for a bit, Genesis venting about how they're ALWAYS like this--clout chasers. He hates being around them. They never understood him. They were always in it for themselves.

Sephiroth just listens, head cocked, watching his friend with concern. Things are starting to make a little too much sense.

It's quiet for a bit, Genesis and Sephiroth just walking together, silent save for the chirping birds. They find a secluded spot beneath the trees, Genesis murmuring that now's probably as good a time as any. He pulls out two Banora Whites, awkwardly explaining that they came from his family's private orchard. He wanted something less abrupt, more rehearsed. But they'll never find peace so long as his family is poking around town. Might as well enjoy a good thing while they have it.

Sephiroth takes the fruit, hesitantly taking a bite. Genesis watches him expectantly, no snide quips, no poetic recitals. Simply curious, somewhat nervous.

"It's...good."

"Yeah? Really?"

A nod. "Really good. Better than I've ever had it."

"Grew it myself. The tree, I mean. Planted it when I was six."

"You did well."

"Did I?"

Sephiroth leans back, nodding earnestly as he takes another bite. "Really well. I mean it, Genesis."

"Heh...Gift of the Goddess."

They rest beneath the tree for a bit, eating the apples, enjoying the nice afternoon breeze. Genesis' eyes are wet, though Sephiroth never notices. They'll have to head back into town eventually to collect Angeal. Assuming the mob hasn't eaten him alive. But for now...this is nice.

And possibly the best day of Genesis' life.

[featherlumina]

Genesis Headcanons: His Wing

Hooboy, I have so many thoughts and feelings about this boy's extra feathery limb. Here we go!

His wing is huge. I did measurements once but the thing is like, at least twice as long as he is tall, which makes it near 4 metres / 13 feet (welp, this is more of a fact than a headcanon, but there ya go.)

Instead of preen oil, he has powder down feathers (like cockatoos or pigeons), that he needs to consistently apply. Gen's a dusty boy.

He does a full feather moult once a year and is always impressed at how freaking huge his primary feathers are, despite how he might otherwise feel about his wing.

When his wing first bursts from his back, he is able to both hide and manifest it at will. However, each time he does, it becomes increasingly painful, and it becomes permanently part of him after Modeoheim. Clothing modifications become a must after that.

Once he's healed he regains control over manifesting it, but the longer he leaves it hidden, the more uncomfortable it becomes - like a deep, burning ache mixed with itchiness. My post-DoC headcanon is that he ends up leaving it out nearly all the time, as a way of openly accepting who he is and what he's done.

The little feathers at the top of his wing are extremely soft and velvety and I want to pet them oh my god-

Preening and maintaining his wing takes up a lot of time. His relationship with it might be fraught but he can't make the most of it with it in poor condition. It becomes something of a calming, grounding ritual as the years of degrading wear on. Also, his copies help. If he's feeling charitable or in a good mood, he helps them too sometimes.

If Genesis is in good health and his wing is properly maintained, his feathers are gorgeous. Mind you, they really start to show stress bars, break in odd places and disintegrate far more easily the worse the degradation gets.

He definitely uses it as a blanket or shield from the world when he wants privacy.

At the place where his wing merges into his shoulder, the feathers also sprout towards his spine, down his back and over his shoulder. There's a sort of radius or gradient of feathers that get smaller the further you get from the wing itself.

Early on, he refined his flying skills by studying monsters, especially griffins.

He's a bit miffed that his wing doesn't have any interesting patterns or colours like those of hawks or owls (he especially wishes it looked a bit flashier like Phoenix) but he's always had a fascination with ravens, so he can't really complain.

His favourite time of day to fly is night, as he's far more inconspicuous and blends in to the sky - and his night vision is excellent, given he's a SOLDIER.

At one stage, he fashions one of his feathers into a basic quill. He uses it specifically for writing LOVELESS notes.

I probably have more, but this post is already rather long. XD Hope you enjoyed!

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #2879: Quagsire (Neo Genesis)

Cards that were of one type but used a different type of Energy were always cool, as they could potentially diversify a deck by having a Weakness to a different type or could hit an opponent's Weakness in a way that was unexpected. Quagsire brought a Water attacker that used Fighting Energy, which didn't help diversify Weaknesses that much with Fighting-types (many were already weak to Grass) but did provide a way to hit Fire-types harder. This also could have some value with Steelix, as Fighting was typically the secondary Energy type due to Onix being Fighting, and going after Fire-types was very useful there. Quagsire wasn't exactly built in a way where you could surprise anyone with it, but the concept was there, and the idea, at least, was a good one.

70 HP wasn't too impressive for a Stage 1. While not too rare, you'd usually want to see 80-90 considering that the old standard for Basic Pokemon was 70 for so long. A Grass Weakness was actually really annoying with that type being used quite often to handle Feraligatr, at least in any format with the Base Set cards rotated out. Scyther was still a problem in Base-Neo, and Crobat, Exeggutor, and Erika's Victreebel all had to be watched out for later. The Lightning Resistance wasn't the biggest thing in the world, though the help against the occasional Elekid or Zapdos wasn't bad to have. Quagsire's Retreat Cost was 2, and that meant help was nice. You might be wanting to save your Warp Points for Pokemon with even higher Retreat Costs considering the really high amounts on most things you'd pair Quagsire with, so you'd be paying that sometimes.

Surf was just a very standard Water-type attack. 2 Water Energy got you 30 damage, which was not the reason you wanted to run Quagsire considering its niche was being a Water-type with Fighting requirements.

Earthquake was more interesting. 2 Fighting and 2 Colorless Energy was a lot to ask for. There was a need to slowly build Quagsire up while sitting behind another Pokemon, which was a bit of a problem if trying to deal with Fire-types as those Fire-types could blast away at the rest of the team if they got going quickly enough or could Double Gust out the Quagsire at that point. The damage was rather good; 60 for 4 Energy wasn't amazing, but was enough to take anything down that had a Water Weakness so it certainly did its job. The 10 damage to everything on your own team could add up if you did it repeatedly, especially for things that were usually around like Cleffa. You had to be careful with this attack.

Quagsire did seem to work well with the very good Steelix, though it was certainly less than ideal with the huge Energy cost. The biggest obstacle preventing it from seeing play was that Kabutops was released in the very next set, and while Kabutops was a bit more annoying to get into play it was far faster at actually being able to do damage. The coin flips Kabutops needed were not enough to prevent it from having better outcomes than Quagsire on average, and Quagsire was just not going to see much use. It was a fun concept of a type of card that became much more common as more sets were released, even if Dark Golduck did the idea first.

[kidflashimpulse]

i'd like to shout out Chris Jones, the artist for YJ Targets, for not drawing Bart weirdly skinny. Chris drew him to basically be on par with Tim, and his legs are the most muscular part of him (he has thigh muscle. i salute Chris). and the comics are more on model than the show so i'm just glad to see that's what he's SUPPOSED to look like (also: love the confirmation that Bart's built heavier than Ed. personally i don't think Ed is THAT skinny, but i still take the win)

for real, shout-out Chris Jones!! MVP

i totally get you anon, like HOW do you have a hero who’s whole thing is LITERALLY running and not have their thighs built/toned/thick af, it’s literally illogical otherwise. like i get their speed relies on their metagene but… they literally need to use their muscles for it and speed-metabolism or not, their legs get worked tf out lol

the same goes for ass too like when i read fics and my guy gets described as flat i’m like… are we talking about the same character here?? sdfghjkl /j /srs

in terms of him in animation, i think S4 generally has superiority with more consistency though not by a huge margin, S3 also had its good moments . (New Genesis episode, Illusion of control, Fighting Granny episode) His scene in his backyard with the legion is personally gold also because he generally looks great there in a way that it looks like how he’s SUPPOSED to (this is more in terms of face and in general lol) so that singlehandedly carries the season for me my only thing for both 3 and 4 are when his upper body feels a bit disproportionate to the rest of him (like u said, the legs should be and ARE his strongest muscle, anything else just doesn’t make sense). But whenever that happens it’s usually cause u can tell he hasn’t been drawn with as much care as when he’s a bit more of the focus. So i don’t get too fussed over it. When he’s in civvies he’s also generally drawn better so it could also just be the build of his suit, who knows. Point is, animators r doing their best with the time/money they’ve been given, so this all isn’t at all on them and just on us being crazy lol It’s nice though to see him and all the other characters drawn in a more consistently balanced way in the comics !

id tag chris to express our gratitude but maybe it’s not best to tag him under the context of a thicc thighs appreciation post LOL

but in the meantime, let’s enjoy a collage of our guy (who might I add is getting nerfed like crazy here, literally all his falls shouldn’t be happening but i’ll just pretend bro isn’t even trying too hard and taking it easy lmfao)

ALSO in general, his bart art is SO GOOD like look at these, amazing:

I love how he draws his smile in these lmfao

So if possible, please support Chris by buying some copies, they’re great to have as a collection and reasonably priced as well, here’s a link for those who may be interested:

(u can change the location i believe it should have global availability idk why it’s set to canada lol)

i also totally get you about Ed like… i’ve mentioned this ages ago but for Ed’s own sake he better have gotten way stronger by now (and considering how he ate that fight with Tim and Looker it’s pretty promising) so i also don’t think he’s supposed to be as crazy skinny as some of his animated moments might have him but yeah, Barts been in the game for so long now so it makes sense .

[daily-rayless]

15 Years of Naoto

It's time for another character appreciation post! And it's one we're long due for: Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4.

February 2009, my first Naoto.

Witness the genesis of my eternal awkwardness drawing The Hat. I might not be able to explain why the hat bedevils me so, but I can take a stab at explaining why I love Naoto so much.

March 2009

Persona 4 wasn't my first Persona. I'd played P3 about half a year earlier. But while I liked it, it wouldn't really light up my brain until 2010's P3P. But P4, that was the first Persona I got excited for. And it largely came down to the characters, and ever since playing it, one of my favorites has been the Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane.

May 2009

I wish I could remember more specifics from then, what it was or when it was that first drew me to Naoto. The design is great, very stylish and streamlined with a bit of a 60s/70s flair of nostalgia.

September 2009

And I still love the original VA's performance, the measured way in which Naoto typically speaks, the deadpanning, the momentary awkwardness, the heartbreaking vocal lifts during the more painful and dramatic scenes.

November 2009

If you knew me in 2009, you know that whole year was basically sunk in Persona 4 fanfic and fan art and a ton of it was dedicated to Naoto. This was when my original writing was suffering, and I really turned to fandom for artistic expression. I'd written a little Persona fic prior to that, but now I really got into it, and I made friends with a great community of people because of it.

March 2010

I think in some respects Naoto's a character who's taught me a lot creatively. Naoto isn't easy to write – composed, intelligent, mature, but far from bullet-proof, either physically or emotionally. Detached but not unfeeling, seasoned but in many ways very immature and self-conscious. That air of being in command of a situation, even to an intimidating degree, while in reality being this very small person who fears not being taken seriously and then abandoned.

December 2010

For about a year, I probably drew more Naoto than anything else. (You'd think that would let me master The Hat.) To me, Naoto feels very steely, but with this delicate beauty as well, and I enjoyed capturing that. Possibly drawing Naoto again and again influenced my artistic style overall, taking it out of its more angular style in 2008-9 and into the softer more doll-like look of 2010-11.

November 2012

And of course I was and am a fool for the KanNao dynamic. The contrast between their characters, but the way they also compliment each other while coming at things so differently, is so good.

February 2013

As time's gone by, I've lost touch with Naoto artistically. Other interests, both fandom and original arrived, and I don't regret that. Losing touch with a character doesn't mean I no longer like them. But because most of my P4 stuff is in my creative rear view, I look back on it with nostalgia – a short but happy period in my fandom past.

November 2019

Coming back and drawing Naoto feels a bit like revisiting an old house I used to live in, or maybe a school I went to. And even after all these years, I still remember the lines, the shapes – the Naoto-ness.

November 2023

Someone else might look at this one and compare it to the soft, smiling December 2010 Naoto and think that's not even the same character. But not to me. Looking at them, I see the differences, but I still see Naoto in both of them.

April 2024

Naoto's one of those characters who had a big impact on me, my writing, my style. You don't just forget about that.

[talesofourworlds]

Rinwell

🌟 Drop one of my characters’ names in my inbox and I’ll tell you 10 facts about them 🌟

Rinwell chose to settle in Elde Menancia after the events of the main game because of the massive library there. It provided boundless opportunities to research, for one. For another, Menancia had come to feel very homey to her out of all the places she and the others had traveled to. It also gave her a chance to remain close to Kisara and, for a time, Dohalim. Even after the events of BtD, it's easy to find Rinwell holed up in the Menancian library researching away.

Though Rinwell knows it will take a long time to have people change their view on mages, she still is fully intent on working toward that goal. She hopes her parents are proud of her for trying so hard to make it so mages can be seen in a good light. There are days when it's difficult for Rinwell to try and further this goal, but she has hope in its progress.

Due to her nature as a mage, Rinwell needs to keep her strength up a fair bit so she can do what she needs to do in combat. Using so much astral energy does take a lot of energy, after all. So does dodging, as her style of fighting does make her need to stay on her toes so she can cast and also avoid getting hit. The quickest way for her to regain energy is by eating sweets, at least as far as she can tell. The struggle comes in maintaining a more balanced diet, which Kisara tries her hardest to make sure Rinwell and everyone else actually do. Rinwell just tends to prefer the boost she seems to get from sweets in particular. She also has a nostalgic reason for the preference, as she has fond memories of sharing sweets with her parents when they were still alive.

I've said this before on this blog, but it took a while for Rinwell and Dohalim to trust each other enough to be able to use Radiant Genesis together. It also took them a while to actually start viewing each other as friends. Specifically it was Rinwell that took a while on this front. Sometime after everything with Almeidrea, though, she opened herself up enough to not only apologize to Dohalim for how she'd been treating him, but also open herself up to the idea of really being his friend.

Rinwell originally didn't consider the idea of Hootle maybe wanting to stay in the Owl Forest with the other owls. It wasn't until the party had started finding more of the owls around Dahna and helping them get back home that the possibility hit her. And Rinwell resigned herself to the idea of having to say goodbye to her closest friend. Naturally, it was a shock when Hootle made it clear that he didn't want to leave her. She still cherishes her bond with Hootle quite a bit, so the relief of knowing he still wanted to stay with her was better than she could have asked for. She knows that one day he still could decide he wants to go join the other owls, though, but hopes that it won't be for a long, long time.

After meeting Edna, Eizen, and Chronos, the idea of exploring other worlds became pretty intriguing to Rinwell. She isn't sure if she'll ever get the chance to world hop, for lack of a better term, but she always keeps an eye out for books on the subject to see what she can learn. Being separated from her friends would be difficult, Rinwell knows, but she still is curious about what other worlds might exist beyond the one she knows.

Part of her wants to try and harness the power of Indignation like Ganabelt could. And Rinwell has actually made attempts to do so. Always without the rest of the party knowing, of course. She doesn't want them to worry about her potentially getting hurt from trying to harness such massive amounts of light astral energy. Still, she knows she's a capable mage. If she gets enough practice, then perhaps one day she'll be able to do it. For the time being, though, it's a subject she's limited to research and the very occasional attempt at practicing. She feels like utilizing Thunder Blade a lot might be a key, but isn't too sure how to actually put that knowledge into practice beyond just using the arte a lot.

Shooting Star is one of Rinwell's personal favorite artes that she learned while traveling with Alphen and the others. It takes a long time to cast, and can leave her in a vulnerable position while she's casting, but she feels like it's worth the effort when it can do a lot of damage. She also is partial to Celestial Hammer in terms of her aerial artes.

She has a tally of the amount of times Law has used Tenebrous Claw in combat. It started as a thing she did out of annoyance, but eventually just became something she kept track of in general. Especially after hearing a conversation between him and Kisara where he commented on how repeated usage of Mystic Artes would make them not so mystic. She herself struggles to actively use her own Mystic Artes since she tries to keep herself out of harm's way and isn't the best at perfectly dodging attacks, so it is still a little annoying seeing Law making such liberal use of his own. But still. It makes him happy. Who could blame him for that?

Rinwell definitely has stopped by Calaglia on more than one occasion following the events of the main game to get doughnuts. Sometimes she also uses the opportunity to visit with Law, but most of the time? She's mainly there for the sweets. She won't deny it, either. But it is good to catch up with Law when she can get the chance.

[digital-chance]

Heyo there! Ask incoming!

Tell me about some inspirations for you original works, whether those be conscious "I need something like this in my story" inspirations, or ones where you've realised later, "Oh this probably influenced my stuff now that I think about it".

I love to hear about what things inspire others.

Sorry for taking so long to respond! This is such a good ask and I want to talk about all my wips, but I'll just pick one.

Nova Futurum was inspired by many things. Directly, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Ghost in the Shell, and mechas like from Neon Genesis Evangelion. After some thought, some stuff from Blade Runner 2049, Akira, and Minority Report (2002). There is also this y2k Digimon movie that is so fucking cool that I love and it really inspired me from a young age. Like it might not have been amazing but I still liked it and it influenced me so idgaf.

It's also directly inspired by a different one of my works which is an original OC species called Mechangels. I really like that work a lot but it's on the backburner for now.

I've mentioned this before but another source of direct inspiration for Nova Futurum is the Kowloon Walled City and the culture that was built after stacking buildings so close together and maximizing the amount of space being used. I know a lot of people are inspired by the same city and get orientalist but I do not intend to take that route. Nova Futurum is American and it's based on the idea of "how can America get even worse?" and the like.

I'm such a fucking nerd about cyberpunk media, especially cyberpunk anime, which is a bit funny because I haven't seen a lot, just some. But what I've seen i've thoroughly enjoyed. I'll take any cyberpunk media recommendations, ofc, but I don't guarantee any timeliness about when I watch/read it.

;// nova futurum tag list: @dru-reads-writeblr @another-white-void @outpost51 @zeenimf / contact me to + or - from list

[attourney-at-lycan]

TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT YOUR OCS. NOW. GO!!

I GOT LIKE TWO OTHER ASKS ABT PRESONALITY AND BACKGROUND SO I MIGHT AS WELL JUST ANSWER THEM HERE

genesis was born into a basically a military family that prides themselves in being the best at providing o’khasis w/ strong knights/guards/bodyguards- some of the ppl of their family serve directly under Lord Garte himself- so she was raised in a way that taught her how to fight and serve those above her. she was taught from the moment she could wield a sword how to be the best weapon for anyone, a sword unable to have their own opinions, beliefs- she passed at the top of her class in knight academy and when zane cane around to build the jury, he chose genesis to be one. she’s pretty much what you can expect from someone who was raised in this way, she doesn’t seem to show any emotion or sympathy, she can be cruel and has convergent thinking, she’s not… cold or mean? but sort of monotonous? in a way? she has zero social skills so she does not do well alone in a public setting. she’s extremely obedient to authority figures and uhhhh thats all i can come up w/ for her? she has a bit of a strange relationship with jeffory? by that i mean, jeffory tries to stop genesis whenever she does something cruel when zane’s not around. he has to spend a while to convince her to out her fists down and just jgnore it bc zane’s not gna care. he sorta feels bad for her since she never really got that freedom at all? kinda like an animal born in captivity who even if you give them a way out, they probably wont take it bc their little area is all that they know. if that makes any sense, its so weird to compare my ocs to animals but thats sorta the best way i can explain it.

CONNIE- ohhhh connie connie he’s great. originally i had planned to make him some sort of deranged scientist/inventor who was stuck in the dimension of a different god for years and while thats not completely off what i want to do, i’m kinda not set on that now. but anyway, connie is basically con man extraordinaire but also a coward at times- he’s an alchemist, also doctor also surgeon also herbologist also scientist also researcher also archeologist also historian also he used to work in a circus for half a year if that can add anything to his resume- when he’s not getting himself killed trying to discover the secrets of the dead gods, he’s creating medicine to help those who cannot pay for a healer or expensive healing potions, or he’s out stealing shit from zane or he’s doing some other shit. anything other than getting a good night’s sleep. i do plan on- it’s a bit of a funny little “spin off idea” where its aaron and connie traveling together before the events of mcd, where connie hires aaron to accompany him on a small bodyguard job turned years long adventures with aaron keeping connie from joining the souls in the nether. he’s sm fun ik telling u-

ares i dont really have much tbh? in my rewrite meteli’s a port city that has a lot of run-ins with pirates and so ares was picked up by pirates and dropped off @ meteli where he basically grew up there before something happened that caused him to die? maybe he and some other riff raffs were too close to the nether portal and boom shit happened now ares is a shadow knight- ALSO i forgot to mention he is half elf, my only non human oc (FOR NOW- i tend to go apeshit w/ ocs) his personality tbh is kinda 🧍i dont know actually- the closest i can get is like a chill dude that likes to do the least work possible but if forced to he will be pretty cruel? im not sure on him yet but he’s fun..

also here are picrews (bc i cant draw for shit im so sorry) of them w/ the order being the same as how i mentioned them

[killscreencinema]

Shining Force (Sega Genesis)

Back in the day, when I had a Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis was just a console I played at other kids' houses sometimes, I would often be curious about the RPGs that Genesis offered. SNES was going through a golden age of RPGs, thanks largely to third party developers like Squaresoft, Quintet, and even Capcom to a degree with the Breath of Fire series.

So I'd read about games like Shining Force, Beyond Oasis, or Phantasy Star on the Genesis, and always be curious if they measured up to the likes of Final Fantasy III (aka 6 - I'm just gonna call it "3" for the sake of this review), Chrono Trigger, or Secret of Mana.

Well, I can say when it comes to Shining Force, at least, it comes very close... but falls short a bit. In the game's defense, it was developed in 1992, which a couple years before Squaresoft would really raise the bar for RPGs with the release of Final Fantasy III. One might argue they had already raised the bar with previous entries into the FF franchise, but FF III is the most ambitious and cinematic in scope by far.

But this isn't a review of Final Fantasy III... but we'll get there eventually, oh yes.

So the Shining Force's failings are forgivable, and to be honest, I probably would have overlooked them even back in 92, because the gameplay is so darn fun... for the most part.

The game is a tactical turn-based RPG, a genre I have great affection for, where you move your party into position on a map, with the objective of defeating the enemy units. It's about as simple as that. For the most part, it's very entertaining, however...

Okay, so let's get to the problems: first and foremost, the story. It's your boiler plate, formulaic, boiler plate fantasy story about an unassuming hero who is called by destiny to stop a dark force from being unleashed, blah, blah, blah. Whatever. The story could have been easily enhanced by developing the characters a little more, because lord knows there's a bunch of them that join your "Shining Force" by the game's end, but usually when they join your team, that's it for them. They almost never utter a peep again, unless you talk to them at heardquarters, but even then, they just say the same dialogue over and over. There's never any contextual changes as the story progresses. It's minor, but it can make a big difference when it comes to making the game a little more engaging. It's a shame, too, because the character design is so good.

Another issue is the menu system is clunky as fuck. We're talking Earthbound levels of Mclunky. Dealing with inventory or equipping everyone with weapons is such a tedious process. When buying weapons, the game lets you know who can use what type, but good luck figuring that out if you find one and try to figure out who to give it too (sometimes it's obviously, but other times, such as when a werewolf joins your party, it's not).

Finally, the gameplay. It's fine, as tactical RPGs go, but the game is lousy with cheap bullshit such as how often your characters miss when attacking the enemy versus how often the enemy lands BRUTAL (often deadly) critical hits. The game will also often start battles with your party on the complete opposite side of the map from the enemy, on terrain that inhibits your mobility, making it taking FOREVER to close the gap. This is particularly punishing, because one of the worst aspects of tactical RPGs is how time consuming each battle can be, which can be annoying when you get close to finishing it, but lose because your character missed but the enemy wiped you out, and now you have to start ALL OVER. UGGGGH. And mark my words, unless you play this on the Switch's Sega Genesis Online, where you can use the save state or rewind feature, you're going to be dying and restarting battles a lot.

Honestly, even with the rewind feature, I almost quit my playthrough during the final boss, because he has three heads that are capable of devastating long range area attacks and minions that endlessly respawn. It's a nightmare, but pro-tip - if you stick a useless party member at the spot where the minions spawn, they can't respawn. This makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

Anyway, I complained a lot, but I mostly really enjoyed Shining Force, and I will give it this much - it was a unique direction to take an RPG in a time when turned-based JRPGs were flooding the market.

[techtakesoff]

What would a session with a Bard of Time, Heir of Void, Mage of Doom, Prince of Blood, Page of Space and Maid of Breath look like

It'd probably look a little like this.

Session Size

Bard of Time, Heir of Void, Mage of Doom, Prince of Blood, Page of Space, Maid of Breath. This is a very, very interesting setup.

Space/Time Players

Bard of Time and Page of Space. Oh. Oh no.

In case of a Scratch?

Bard of Time might struggle with a Scratch. They need a push to accept their aspect, and depending on if/when the Scratch happens, that might be their push that's needed. If it's not the right time, it might get fucked up.

Genesis Frog Breeding

You have a Page of Space. None of your other players are really equipped to deal with the breeding, so this'll have to be taken on alone. But, the Page of Space starts off with knowing approximately jack shit about Space, so this is going to be one hell of a struggle for them.

How about the situation on The Battlefield?

Offense: Bard of Time, Prince of Blood Defense: Heir of Void, Support: Page of Space, Mage of Doom, Maid of Breath

We start off with the Bard of Time, someone who needs a push to accept their aspect in order to stop continously destroying whatever of their aspect exists. The Bard of Time passively destroys the Time of others, whether that be through aging them up, or putting them in an infinite timeloop, the Bard destroys. The Prince of Blood, on the other hand, destroys relationships and bonds by ripping them up, and rejecting the idea of rules in the first place. If used against others, it is perfect for wreaking havoc and chaos. If used against your own team, it is a recipe for disaster.

For defense, we have the Heir of Void. Now, that sounds like a completely unassuming title, Heir of Nothing, but their abilities are very important. They can become nothing, their essential invisibility cloak, which makes them perfect for knowledge. They'll know the secrets of others because others won't even know that the Heir of Void was there.

And onto support, which starts out with the Page of Space, someone who I've talked about time and time over, so I've said a lot about them. As long as they are given time to come into themselves, the Page of Space will be able to do literally anything as they see fit. And the Mage of Doom. The Mage of Doom is one of your more gloomy players, as they'll be able to know when someone dies and how they die, which could prove to help a bit, because then they might be able to provide advice on Not Doing That Thing. Not just that, but there is also the Maid of Breath, who is a masterful escape artist, being able to provide freedom for anyone on your team at the drop of a hat. On the flip side, though, the Maid of Breath can tear up the roots that enemies have, disconnecting them from their teammates and bonds, which is potent and powerful.

Relationships

Prince of Blood and Witch of Breath. Someone who breaks bonds all day and someone who will give freedom to others whether they want/need it or not. That is a recipe for disaster, oh my lord. The only advice I can give here is to take fucking cover.

Pros:

It's.. beatable!

Powerful offensive players.

Somewhat balanced O/D/S.

Cons:

Space player who might not have a single clue on what they're doing, nobody to help them.

Two players who uproot and destroy connections between people.

Someone who knows when people die and is pessimistic about it.

Chance at success?

I have no way in hell how this'll be beaten, but it'll be very interesting to see be played out, for sure. Good luck, you'll need it.

[yubsie]

I actually had a lot of fun with the various holiday traditions in We Need a Little... so I’m going to take a moment to babble about where various things come from. A big thing I wanted to do with this one was write a Star Wars holiday fic rather than a Christmas fic.

Problem: Star Wars worldbuilding is a bit uneven and one of the things it tends to lack if cultural details. So while I dug into some DEEP lore, I also made a lot of stuff up.

Life Day: Okay, we all know about this one. It’s canon, it’s the go to holiday for winter holiday fics, but given the timeframe and the fact that it’s a Wookiee holiday, it wasn’t going to play a big role. Orga root grows on the surface of Kashyyyk, is quite perilous to harvest and is traditionally served on LIfe Day.

Solstice Tide: This was a lucky find! My husband had already suggested that the Coruscant holiday should be a commercial nightmare that Kanan hated it. Then I found out that the LIfe Day Treasury had a story set during the High Republic era where the Jedi would invite people into the Temple to share in abundance and it being a corrupted Jedi holiday? Perfect.

Sutuu pouches: Also canon! My husband patiently tromped through the book store with me looking for the LIfe Day Treasury when I realized online one of the illustrations was a Twi’lek and it might have something useful for me! The tradition they’re tied to is from Aaloth and it involves bonfires that burned longer than they should have when fighting off the Sith. So they assemble these little tinder pouches. The story in the book involved a rebel finding magnesium rich moss and throwing it at a stormtrooper at a key moment.

Sinya ek Sinya: The holiday didn’t have a name but hey I found a dictionary of Twi’leki terms! The thing about conlangs largely built from RPG supplements is they lack key grammatical features. LIke conjunctions. Though I did eventually find a word for “of”. I wanted to name the holiday Night of NIghts but there was no word for night so it translates to Dark of Dark. Eleni making sure they marked this holiday was a big part of the genesis of the entire rest of the story, and the sutuu pouches gave me a nice specific thing for her to do.

Ryshcate: This is mostly a throwaway reference because they didn’t have the ingredients, but it’s a traditional cake used to mark special occasions (birthdays, really missing Corellia, apologizing to your fellow Corellian). It is, of course, a boozy dessert. This originates from Legends but was canonized by... a cookbook, sure.

Catabar bread: Catabar is one of the few canonical cooking spices that have been established in the GFFA, and it fit the niche of sweet baking spice.

Unnamed Mandalorian Holiday: Does it actually involve fireworks, or does Sabine just want to blow something up and no one else knows enough about Mandalorian culture to argue? The galaxy may never know.

Tanaab Festival of Lights: Oh, did I ever make this one up. More specifically, I made this up for a holiday fic about Wes Janson that I wrote in high school. It is possible the fic is still findable on TF.N but I will not be doing so because I am sure I’d find it painful to read something I wrote that long ago. I did remember the candle tradition though, and thought it fit this story really well. Oddly, this is probably the most directly Christmas inspired custom in the entire story. Or rather, it was inspired by Advent with the specific coloured candles symbolizing specific things.

Night of Frozen Sand: My husband named this one. No, I have no idea what the significance of the light up bantha horns

Twenty-Eight Glimmers: This one was [Raltiir Holiday] for the first draft. I wanted to build an actual custom around ugly sweaters after reading a hilarious Twitter thread about “Your Christian students will be celebrating Yom Christmas soon” that mentioned them and I liked the idea of an ugly sweater explicitly bringing good luck. A custom about luck seemed like a good fit for Hobbie (who still managed to get injured in the fluffy holiday fic, bless him). So then I started researching Raltiir to find something I could build a holiday around. ANd it turns out that most of what we know about Raltiir involves... banking. But! It has 28 moons and while I have several questions about how big these moons are if a terrestrial planet only slightly larger than Earth has that many, it seemed obvious that the winter light based holiday had to incorporate them. You don’t just go around having TWENTY-EIGHT MOONS in your sky and not develop customs about them. (ALso the tides on Raltiir must be a freaking nightmare to predict)

Long Night: And then fairly late in the process I realized I had somehow overlooked Lothal even though that’s the most obvious holiday for the Ghost crew to mark. I’d already did a couple variations on lighting fires, so I went more sound based for driving away the night. Which had the bonus of Kanan musing about just always putting bells on the baby (a thing blind parents do in fact do!)

Tinsel: This does not tie to a specific planet, I just wanted to put tinsel on Chopper.

[whatwewrotepodcast]

PPiS Chapter 2: Theo

Chapter 2: Theo

Theo made his way back to the import/export docks. Though his upright back and broad shoulders would never give it away, he was exhausted. It had been a long, slow flight to get back to Genesis. He’d known the Idalia had needed work when he bought her. She was a classic, but she’d lived a life long before she came into his possession. Most starships capped out at three to four years before they became scrap metal, useful for nothing more than being melted down and beaten into new materials for the new models. But frigates like the Idalia were built to last. Albeit with a little bit of help. Their parts could be rebuilt and replaced. The hull could be patched and welded. The systems could be upgraded and rewired however it was needed. The Idalia was a long term investment. Problem was, the big investment had wiped out a significant portion of his payout from the Alliance. If they were going to make it out here on their own, the Idalia would have to earn her keep.

The dock had emptied out considerably since he’d left that morning. Trading ships had a lot of ground to cover and competition was fierce. Most ships embarked on their journeys as early as possible. The Idalia was easier to spot now that the two cruisers that had been docked either side of her had left. He could see the cargo bay open and a hover hauler at its base, in the midst of being loaded.

Unfortunately, without the cover of the crowed, he was also much easier to spot, and he’d barely made it through the gates of the dock when a familiar voice called out.

“Captain! Captain Wolfe!” a man jogged lightly towards him, waving his military cap in hopes to get Theo’s attention. Theo gritted his teeth, but came to a halt, letting the Officer run to him.

“Officer Ifan,” he greeted. Officer Ifan had once been in his command. Still a little wet behind the ears, but also still loyal to the cause and keen to fight the good fight. His ruddy cheeks were a little shiny as he gave Theo the customary salute before standing at ease at a curt nod from Theo.

“Captain Wolfe, it’s good to see you,” he said, replacing his cap over his buzzed hair. His bright blue eyes looked over Theo’s attire. It was brief, but Theo’s jaw clenched. It had been a number of months since he’d stopped wearing the uniform, but it still felt strange. Instead he’d replaced it with a uniform of his own. Black cargo pants, black tech shirt buttoned up right and a vest that looked like a grungy faux leather material, but in actuality was lined with shield plates along the front. Wouldn’t do much if he were caught in a cross fire, but it might stop a shot straight for the heart.

“What can I do for you, Officer?” he asked, glancing over the man’s shoulder towards the Idalia, an obvious indication that he was in some hurry. Officer Ifran shrugged a little.

“I heard you was taking on salvage contracts?” he said, his gaze returning to Theo’s for a moment before looking away again. Theo’s eyes narrowed a little at Ifran. He seemed on edge, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, unable to hold Theo’s gaze. It had been long enough now that his departure from the Alliance would be known throughout Genesis, and even further out. He wondered what the rumour mill had been churning.

“Indeed. If the price is fair,” he answered, his own weight steady on his feet beneath him, a stark contrast to Ifran’s fidgeting. Ifran nodded, scratching at his throat, leaving red marks on his pale skin.

“Right, I thought so. Just saying, I heard that Henna put a new contract out. Real big one. But she’s been real dicey bout who takes it. Hard to even get a meet with her,” he said. Theo grunted, putting a few pieces together. Henna wasn’t Alliance affiliated, exactly. But she was one of the largest repositories for jump flight supplies. Food cartridges, water capsules, even plants. She supplied half of Genesis and majority of the ships with everything they needed to survive.

Henna was clever, and dangerous. She knew better than to let the Alliance take on a salvage contract for her. Half of it would be requisitioned before she even saw it. But she also wouldn’t trust the average deadbeat scavenger with it either.

“I’ll look into it,” he said, nodding curtly to Ifran and making to move around him. Ifran hesitated, reaching out to catch Theo’s elbow to stop him. Theo stopped dead and looked down at Ifran’s hand on his arm, then slowly back up at Ifran. He saw fear flash clearly through his blue eyes as he snatched back his hand and took a step back.

“Captain Toberd asked me to… pass it on. He said if you got the contract, he’d be happy to talk with you,” he said, his voice diminishing a little under Theo’s glare. Of course it was starting to become a little clearer now. Toberd had risen to ranks by making others work for him. Not particularly honest, but it had proven to be effective. Clearly he thought if Theo could get the contract, he would share the salvage with the Alliance. He clenched his fists by his sides, feeling his anger bristle up his spine. Even if he was inclined to assist the Alliance, crossing Henna would have to be one of the dumbest moves he could possibly make.

“Give Captain Toberd my regards,” he growled and Ifran’s white skin paled even further, his ruddy cheeks losing their colour altogether. He had spent long enough in Theo’s regiment to know when to back down. Ifran nodded, then saluted hastily as he retreated.

“Yessir. Good to see you, sir!” he said. Theo turned away without another glance, taking a deep breath in through his nose and parting his lips just enough to let it out as he made his way towards the Idalia.

“Pan?” Theo called as he approached the cargo bay. He glanced over the hauler, frowning. It had only been loaded with half of their cargo. He’d been gone for long enough that he would have thought the hauler loaded and long gone by now. A loud clang and a muffled curse came from within the ship and he headed inside.

“Oh give it up, you useless piece of junk!” Pan was swearing, kicking one of the clamps that held the cargo secure during flight.

“You better not be talking to my ship like that,” Theo said dryly, coming to stand behind him. Pan jumped and spun around, grinning sheepishly at Theo.

“Oh, did I say useless piece of junk? Clearly what I meant was… timeless treasure,” he said, patting the crate affectionately. The family resemblance between the brothers were strong, but where Theo had been hardened by his time in the military, the much younger Pan still had some maturing to do. He was a little lankier than Theo, though with the same olive brown skin and dark hair. Theo grunted back at him.

“I’m sure you did,” he said dryly, moving to crouch by the maglock with a frown. He opened the panel on the side and saw the problem. Loose connection. Half the power board had all but perished. Thankfully it had done so in a way that meant the clamp had permanently shut over the crate, rather than letting it loose mid-flight. He’d have to add that to the list for the mechanic.

“I tried all the usual things. Swearing at it, hitting it. I couldn’t get it to let go,” Pan said, pushing the toolbox around towards Theo with his foot. Theo grunted, pulling it closer and rifling through till he found the ultrasonic file and pick.

“Did you try saying ‘please’?” he muttered, putting the pick in his mouth as he crouched more comfortably over the panel. He knew a few tricks, though he wasn’t a professional, and he would probably break it even more than it already was. But he was pretty sure he could at least get it to release the crate.

“I refuse to pander to tyranny,” Pan said, leaning his hips back against the crate and crossing his ankles. “How’d it go? You find someone to work on this timeless treasure?” Theo grunted, taking the pick out from between his teeth and replacing it with the file. It was easy enough to remove the perished connections, given they were already mostly dust. If he could input them into the reservoir, he was pretty sure it would give him enough power to release the mag lock.

“I did. Soon as we finish unloading, I’ll take her over,” he said, carefully using the pick to guide the wires into their new home. A soft whine followed by a low hum told him that he’d achieved something. Whether or not it was his desired outcome or not was yet to be determined. He closed the panel and got to his feet, moving around to the controls. “Please,” he muttered, pressing his palm down on the release. For a moment, nothing happened and Theo frowned. Then the crate shuddered and the clamp clunked twice before the maglocks finally released with a hiss, freeing the cargo. Pan snorted, turning to face it.

“Oh sure, you talk to her and she starts purring. Meanwhile I so much as walk too heavily and the floor falls out from beneath me,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Gimme a hand. My back hurts,” he added, grasping one edge of the crate. Theo nodded, taking the other end.

“So what’d the mechanic say then?” Pan asked after they’d finished loading the hauler, wiping his hands on his faded jeans. Theo shook his head as he secured the load on the hauler carefully.

“Not much. They’ll need to check her out before they can give me any guarantees,” he answered. Pan pulled a face, climbing up into the seat of the hauler.

“Alright. But they’re probably not as much chop as whoever the Alliance have got working on theirs, right?” Pan flicked the switch, powering up the hauler with a rumble. The sound of it was enough to hide Theo’s own rumble and he took a second longer than he needed to adjust the mags.

“They used to work for Alliance some time ago,” he said. Pan ran his fingers through his hair, carefully sweeping it forward once more from where it had fallen flat during their heavy lifting.

“And you think they’re good?” he asked, looking back down at Theo. Theo nodded.

“Yes, very,” he said. “Alright, you take this to the warehouse. And when you’re done, you need to go the Hedera warehouse. Henna’s got an open salvage contract, see if you can get us a meeting.”

“Hedera warehouse?” Pan repeated, looking a little uncertain. “We’re just starting out, you think we could snag a contract like that?” Theo’s head dropped to one side briefly.

“She’s looking for experienced pilots. I’ve had dealings with Henna. Should be enough to at least get us in the door,” he said. Pan grinned at him, lifting his brows.

“Oh, you’ve had ‘dealings’ with her have you? I see. Sure it’s wise to strike up business with an old flame?” Pan laughed. Theo just shot him a look, unamused by his teasing.

“I’ll meet you at the Spiral alright? See if you can get us a room. We won’t be able to stay on the Idalia,” he instructed. Pan rolled his eyes but nudged the hauler into gear.

“Fine, alright. Since when don’t boys kiss and tell?” he muttered as he took off. Theo stepped back as the hauler pulled away, watching him go for a moment. Taking the contract after Captain Toberd had sent work to him was risky. No doubt he would want some sort of reclamation for the information. But Henna was a fair trader with big contracts. If he could get reliable work with her, they might actually be able to make something of themselves.

It took a frustratingly long time to limp the Idalia around to the hanger bay. The left thruster had all but given out completely, and she listed continuously towards the right. Slowly and carefully he had to maneouver her into the relatively small docking bay, only occasionally firing what was left of the portside thruster to straighten her up a bit before limping further in. A quiet symphony of alarms and bells rang the entire time, though after flying a solid 6 hours with them already, he was becoming quiet adept at tuning them out altogether.

The hangar bay was much like the shop front. While in theory it was a large space, for a docking bay it was relatively small. Everything looked worn and tired, in a functional well-used kind of way. The space was cluttered with tools and carts and parts. The only clear space was the docking pad. After what seemed like forever, he finally managed to land and power down his engines. He tapped his display and watching as the external pressure gauge dropped and the oxygen metre soared as the hangar bay doors closed and the area began to pressurise. He saw a tall set of metal stairs leading up from the dock to a metal sliding door, which opened as Onyx stepped through. He headed out, sidling through the half open door to the bridge and made his way to the main hatch. He hit the button to open it and it squealed as it began to opening before shuddering for a moment. There was a loud bang and the door hissed to a halt, only half open. Theo grimaced. Good first impression, he thought, pressing the button again, in case it magically fixed the hydraulics which had clearly just crumpled to death.

“What in the fucksickle is this?” he heard Onyx exclaim as they got to the base of the stairs. Theo stepped forward, squeezing himself out of the gap the door had left with a small grunt. He paused, straightening his flight jacket back into place.

“This is the Idalia,” he said, one hand behind his back, the other gesturing back to the steaming ship in question. Granted, she needed some work. But that’s why he’d brought her here, wasn’t it? “She’s a classic. A little rough around the edges perhaps, but they don’t make them like this anymore,” he added, before she could cast any more aspersions. Onyx arched a brow at him briefly, then looked back over this ship, their critical eye raking over every detail.

“Ay there’s a reason for that. She’s a shitheap,” they said as they prowled forward. They chewed absently on a toothpick, peering up at it underneath where the port thrust had quietly begun to smoke. Theo clenched his teeth, feeling the familiar rumble in his ears. He’d hoped Onyx, being a mechanic, might appreciate a job like this. Evidently not. He stayed where he was, watching them as they made a brief circuit around the ship, assessing.

“Gon’ be a few weeks, like. At least,” they said as they came back.

“Weeks?” he repeated. He had been expecting a number of days, to be sure. But weeks complicated things a little. He hoped Henna’s contract wasn’t time sensitive. “Very well,” he said. Onyx shrugged, sliding him a glance as they shrugged carelessly.

“Want it done fast, take it to your army pals,” they said. Theo glanced at them, keeping his expression neutral as his hands clenched behind his back.

“Unfortunately not an option. Nor is it their… specialty,” he said. Like any of those Alliance hacks would know what to do with a ship like this. He knew that. And so did Onyx. He turned to face them, steeling himself against their vitriol. They were watching him with narrowed eyes, dark with suspicion. “What do you need from me?”

“For you to piss off,” they said mildly, looking back at the ship. “Ay, I’ll send you the parts lists soon’s I know what I’m needin. Soon as the creds hit the deck I’ll get on workin,” they said, shooting him a baleful glare. “Sooner fixed, sooner you’re fucked off, ay bootlicker?”

He glanced back at them, but he refused to give them the joy of a reaction from him. Good to know this wouldn’t likely be a long term partnership. Maybe once the Idalia was patched up he could find another mechanic on another station.

“Indeed,” Theo said, turning for the stairs which he presumed lead to the exit. “I’ll send you my details. Keep me updated.”

“Anything to keep your shadow from darknin my door, love,” they snapped. Theo took another deep breath in through his nose. With such a winning personality, was it really any surprise that they were finding it hard to get work? Regardless, he needed them, a fact which they were well aware of. He let it go, continuing his escape. A couple weeks, and he’d never have to deal with them again. He could manage that, right? They could throw all the insults they wanted at him, all he had to do to annoy them in return was act like he hadn’t even heard them. Stars cry if they knew they’d actually landed a blow or two.

“The fuck am I gonna do with you, ugly?” he heard them saying as they reached up to yank on something in the belly of the ship. Theo frowned, watching them for a moment. Apparently the past wasn’t yet long enough ago.

[the-firebird69]

Hells Angels Duisburg best time

We have real horsemen and we don't need your clan Trump and mac daddy said oh s*** at the last post because it's incredible he says it's stellar it's like a fireworks show that lasts more than 5 minutes.

What a wonderful day that car is saving a lot of lives I don't believe how potent one car can be it's ridiculous and it's selling like crazy and the Genesis car sales have picked up and it's not because the advertisement they're taking those down they can't be production they have sales are through the roof and they're going absolutely nuts buying them

-we've recorded top selling numbers of these cars and it is in the high millions no it's in the high trillions already it's probably about 350 trillion globally for Chrysler and Genesis and they're saying it's another 50 trillion so 400 trillion between them 300 is Chrysler 100 Genesis and they're anticipating a lot more right now they can make about 100 trillion a week that would take them for weeks that's far too slow Robert Shaker is thinking of opening plants it's getting resistance from all around and he can't seem to do it he would do with the equipment and people are telling him not to reopen the plants it is a fight right now his sales are way past it they have about 7 million no 700 million requests for the mega car and $300 million requests for the smaller mega car and 200 trillion requests for the Chrysler supercar and that's right they're up to 400 trillion sales of the regular car and there's already 200 trillion requests for the Chrysler supercar well okay two trillion and he thought that was a little crazy but 2 trillion is plenty Ferrari sells about 2 trillion in 10 years Corvette sells 2 trillion in 3 or 4 years and he said to start production and we're going ahead and doing that at some point and really we're not going to do that yet it says we're going to end up stamping them and we might as well get ready to do that answer this it's probably true and the Aston Martin does it and a few other cars are switching to it and it takes too long we have a huge number of people who are willing to switch over but they're selling the company first and we need all that equipment it's going on now we are going ahead with pre-sales for several companies one of them is the

* Chrysler motor company which is engines only we mentioned it earlier we're going into the meeting shortly and several other companies

*Ace hardware you said we bought it before but now it's the presale agreement being signed and we are proceeding to prepare to purchase the whole thing and finalize the agreement fairly soon we also have our eyes on do you remember which the guys are saying they're going to be willing to sell but the right amount and they are saying that we're going ahead with it soon and we're going to sign these agreements and get moving the reason we're going to sign over the reason

*we're going to purchase the rest of home Depot and Lowe's is the other guys are coming forward to sell it we're getting ready now it's a huge day because of these pre-sale agreements

*several others are going forwards they are all class A companies that are Fortune 500 their big companies and we stand a lot to lose if we don't take them over it's a dangerous business they are approaching us with questions about the process and money and things like that and we are answering them secretly but the money is real and Trump says all sorts of stuff and we're having a lot of problems with him right now he is getting ready to try and take over another ship what he says not sure where or whose it was and he says he's going to use his death his cover

*other companies that are pretty big and they are for sale and we are purchasing them nobody else has stepped forwards and their money is no good they say it's not exactly true but it's a little bit harder to get them to do it right and there's a couple things they want to talk about and we have answers are real simple. Two such companies and they go together or Ikea and home Depot furniture company it's the same company believe it or not and home Depot is supplying a lot of the hardware. It started early as the '90s hardware was missing home Depot home Depot got so many calls that they started stalking it and Ikea did not they lost business to other places but they picked up another outlet home Depot where people could just pick stuff up better yet have it delivered for a lot less money and we're going to continue that and it really gets delivered from the home Depot distributor it's an awesome thing that happened it was the guys idea and it worked without destroying Ikea they kept having our son say stuff and it was Lowe's they start selling furniture and did better and they did it on their own and realized it there a bunch of jerks so those two places they helped a lot of people and it's good for them we're going into high gear and hiring people like madness today couple more companies and we're going to announce them in a moment

Thor Freya

Olympus

He's doing well and he's eating the right things it feels a little better but he needs to rest and people need to let him he's going to be tired a minute from the sugar

Hera

[pokemon-card-of-the-day]

Pokemon Card of the Day #2853: Murkrow (Neo Genesis)

Murkrow probably didn't look like much at a glance, because there were no big numbers on this card. It didn't take hits very well and was only going to chip away a little on offense. Oh, but it could trap Pokemon up front. That's how this little card went from looking weak to being rather terrifying with the right set-up, as Murkrow took that sort of lock about as far as it could possibly go.

50 HP, of course, was not going to excite anyone. Murkrow might survive a weaker attack, such as one from Kingdra, but a lot of Pokemon would push through that if given the opportunity. The Psychic Resistance did give a nice Dark Gengar match-up, even if the Sleep made things extremely awkward if you weren't ahead on cards left in the deck. Murkrow could also retreat for free, letting it act as a pivot if Mean Look wasn't the right play at that point of a game. While pivots were easy to come by with Cleffa and the like in every deck, having an extra one was never bad.

Mean Look didn't even do any damage and required a precious Darkness Energy, but it was still a rather absurd attack. It prevented the Defending Pokemon from Retreating as long as Murkrow was the Active Pokemon. If you could get something useless stuck up front and had Dark Vileplume on your Bench, your opponent could simply be stuck watching Murkrow play while they couldn't do anything. It should be noted that evolving also ended the effect, so you couldn't just hit a weak Basic. There were interesting plays, though, including using Erika's Victreebel to force said Pokemon out under a Dark Vileplume Trainer lock or even using the Promo Smeargle to change the type of a somewhat weak Pokemon to make your own target if they couldn't retreat before locking them in.

Feint Attack provided a bit of damage, as a Darkness and a Colorless Energy did 20 damage to 1 of the opponent's Pokemon. This let Murkrow pick off Benched Pokemon, since Mean Look, once used, stayed in effect until one of the Pokemon up front was no longer Active.

Murkrow wasn't the easiest thing to use, as any switching card ended its lock. You had to have ways to make sure a Pokemon couldn't deal damage to Murkrow, a way to prevent switches using Trainers, and a way to force the right Pokemon up front in the first place. There were some consistency issues there. The reward was so good in the Rocket-On format especially that, despite needing a lot of pieces to work, it was one of the better decks in at least the more modern form of the format. It was even good in the version before the Slowking errata that was played at the time since it paired well with Slowking itself. Mean Look was a bit too good at what it did if the opponent couldn't use Warp Point or Double Gust.

[the-hem]

"The Voice in the Wilderness." From the Gospel of Saint John, 6-9, 19-26.

The Voice in the Wilderness is propesied in the Book of Isaiah, circa 800-700 BCE. Israel was conquered by the fiercely monotheistic and legalistic Assyrians and the first real prophet of Israel, Amos began to record his testimony followed by his son, Isaiah ben Amoz thereafter.

Solomon's sons and their exesses left the Kingdom wide open and in came the Assyrians with their Legal Code and life was never the same. The Book of Isaiah reminds the former people of the Kingdom of Israel their God and His Code, His Torah were every bit as good as that of the Assyrians and to take heart.

The Prophet John, circa 100 CE proclaims the Voice in the Wildnerness the voice of one longing for the unconditional, unmodifiied, inimitable Presence of God was speaking, prepare to heed it.

Following is how this process of speaking and hearing is recorded in the Fourth Gospel. First came the Light and the Witness to the Light, which is of equal importance in preparing for the Arrival of Christ. Without this process, whether through the eyes or the ears or the nose or the skin, or through taste, called Ha Shem in Hebrew, one cannot know God. One must prepare and then one may Know.

In between the self and the Self, is something called John:

The verb חנן (hanan) means to be gracious or to favor. Nouns חן (hen), חנינה (hanina), תחנה (tehinna) and תחנון (tahanun) mean favor or grace. Adverb חנם (hinnam) means freely or gratis, and adjective חנון (hannun) means gracious.

John-Natan is the gift:

The masculine noun מתן (mattan), meaning gift; marriage gifts (Genesis 34:12), offerings (Numbers 18:11) or presents (Proverbs 18:16).

The feminine version of the previous noun: מתנה (mattana), also meaning gift or offering. This noun is also used to describe the "gift of one's hand", that is one's talent(s) (Deuteronomy 16:17).

The feminine noun מתת (mattat), meaning gift or reward (Ezekiel 46:5, Ecclesiastes 3:13).

Together we get Jonathan, the name of King David's woofie:

"The shape-shifting verb נתן (natan) means to give in a broad bouquet of senses, from regular giving or bestowing, to setting or putting, to transforming one thing or situation into another.

This verb's three nouns מתן (mattan), מתנה (mattana) and מתת (mattat) all mean gift, again broadly ranging from a regular present to an offering to an innate talent (being "gifted")."

The Witness

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 

7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 

8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

A man sent from God is a sentient being who leads others out of the darkness of insentience, called the wilderness. We know baby John and Baby Jesus spoke in the womb, so one presumes that John achieved sentience in utero, and came to report on the circumstances as an adult about the adult version of Christ.

Sentience is transmitted. God gives us life, the Light behind one's eyes, but the real gift of life is sentience. As the Earthbound Spirit of God, Christ is the pre-eminent Cause of sentience in the modern world. He taught people how to be fully civilized after Rome caused the final remants of the Israelite civilization to fold. Fortunately remnants of His Christianity have remained with us.

As with learning to add or subtract, to sing or play the violin or fix a car or swim in the Olympics, God does none of these things. The real gift of life comes from other human beings, and we sell this short. Christ's Cause was the same- to teach people how to be kind.

For this to work, we need to see someone being nice, and we need to believe they are of God in Christ or the Testimony is just offal, it is rot.

The Values in Gematria for the above verses are:

v. 6: the Value in Gematria is 4541, דהדא, "the echo of dahda" "the echo of understanding back on itself."

v. 7: the Value in Gematria is 4658, דוה‎ח‎, a doh ho, "a report for the masses about Him."

v. 8: the Value in Gematria is 3914, ג‎טאד‎‎, gettad, "the gate to love."

The government of Rome wasn't exactly telling the world it was in love with it, nor did the people have any delusions about this, just as we should not, especially after the cuntlappers and President Biden gave Ukraine the big schcrew last week.

John's message to the peopleof Rome and now to us about a God that demonstrates love for the universe was scandalous and outrageous. People gathered to interrogate him on the other side of the Jordan...that means they were grown ups with adult minds:

The Testimony

19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders[c] in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. 20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”

21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

22 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”[d]

24 Now the Pharisees who had been sent 25 questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

26 “I baptize with[e] water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. 27 He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”

28 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

The Values in Gematria for verses 23-38 are as follows:

v. 23: the Value in Gematria is 7655, ז‎והה, identified, ‎‎‎"he crawled."

v. 24-25: the Value in Gematria is 8917, חטא‎ז, he sinned...

v. 26-27: the Value in Gematria is 12913, יבטאג‎, will be tagged.

To be tagged in Judaism and Christianity is to achieve unity between tagin and kether, and know oneself as pure consciousness, beyond all categories, timeless, a point that crystallises out of the Ein Soph Aur, the pure Balsam of the Holy Spirit.

v. 28: the Value in Gematria is 6010, סאאֶפֶס‎, saapes, at zero, at the ankle. To grab the future by the ankle, as Jacob did with Esau is to presume cannot ignore or forget the agonizing details of its origins.

John told the world it could, should and would be a better place, but first it was going to have to grovel and admit something unusual had to be done.

As in the Age of Isaiah and then the Gospel Era we have a Code to implement. Its rationale is above: an end to sin and cowering before God and the achievement full unity with His Hallow Spirit.

Here endeth the lesson called the Kabbalah of the Witness and the Testimony in the case of the Glorious Revelation of the forthcoming of the importance of the Christ.