#v1 is speeding through that shit

[youbluegumball-sonofabitch]

I find it endlessly hilarious that all of ultrakill happens in like. one day. Gabriel's countdown until he fucking dies is ONLY 24 hours. Meaning V1 has waltzed through actual hell in probably 15 hours at max.

Like imagine you are Hell, super-organism supreme, and you see this blue gumball son of a bitch stroll in. It starts ripping and tearing, pretty normal machine stuff, you expected this. It's a little late to the party, considering other machines have already delved into the middling layers, but hey its catching up pretty quick! And then its stacked up against V2. You expect V2 to win. It already has seniority in Hell, and, well, it's version 2. Later versions are usually superior to older ones, in your experience. Then it kicks V2's ass and steals its fucking arm.

Alrighty then! This one is going to be very, very entertaining. You like that.

It continues to plow through the layers, prevailing through unwinnable fight after unwinnable fight. It stares down the Corpse King and matches it blow for blow until he, too, is felled. It beholds the power of an angel and then proceeds to wipe the floor with that poor bastard, something you have NEVER seen before.

And it continues in much of the same fashion as it descends. Annihilating everything. It even goes toe to toe with the strongest souls you contain, and bests them as well, in fights that don't last longer than a few minutes. You have to ponder that. It was satisfying to watch. It was entertaining, enjoyable. But those souls had big ambitions. They would have been entertaining, too. And yet, they were over and done with mere moments after they achieved their long-awaited freedom.

The thought makes you feel hollow, empty. That is because you are. That parasite is slowly killing you, draining you of any life you literally hold. And it does it with brutal efficacy, never slowing. It punches hard and it punches deep and it punches fast and it is punching through you. You throw more things at it. More enemies, more projectiles, more mere annoyances. It prevails through unwinnable fight after unwinnable fight. You don't feel fear. You win, technically, either way. It dies and you stave off your impending death in this abandoned world, or it succeeds and you get entertainment.

Does it even know what it is doing?

[lespetitesmortsde]

Imogen is professional. She can work with just about anyone, including new emergency doctors.

or

A Doctor/Hospital/Medical Stuff AU.

Day 11 of Imodnovember. 11 AUs down, 19 to go. Prompt: Tear

The first time Imogen meets the emergency doctor, she gets not even ten words out of them.

--

Imogen jumps up into the rig after Mr. Pock O’Pea, “Let’s see if we can get a reading on those waves before we get to the hospital,” Imogen says, uncoiling the electrodes. “Sir, we’re going to need to remove your shirt and please lie down on your back.”

She’s placed the first six leads on V1 through V6 when the body under her hands goes limp. “Make sure he’s still breathing,” she orders and Dorian’s already in motion. She finishes placing the electrodes and waits for the machine to start displaying the waves.

“Shit,” she mutters. She swiftly knocks three times on the window to the cab of the ambulance. The ambulance speeds up, revving higher beneath her feet.

[Read the rest on AO3]

[miiilowo]

How did Dispatch come to be? (like in terms of being manufactured by humans, assumedly). Are they like a proprietary design created in response to rumors of the V series in order to try and also occupy the market niche of killing Earthmovers or smth like that? I think like given their smaller size (approx v1 size i think) and also desire for superior movement capabilities (whiplash enjoyer moment) they would be quite well-fit for the same roles that v1 hypothetically would have been designed to fill. or perhaps, in accordance with their namesake, the chainsaw tail (is that a chainsaw tail? i think that is a chainsaw tail) could actually be an implement designed to allow dispatch (ok so the train of thought is derailing a little because i thought dispatch meant like search and rescue but i am also usually wrong) to enter large piles of rubble and recover technology and/or blood sources from it to preserve resources used in the war effort.

please stop the ideas from flooding my head the bookshelf is waterlogged god this shit is unreadable

I will be so real with you I barely have any lore figured out. this reply is going to be very stream-of-consciousness bare with me

I did have stuff figured out before, but with the design change it makes less sense than it used to. The name 'dispatch' in this sense is [as google says]

deal with (a task, problem, or opponent) quickly and efficiently. // "they dispatched the opposition"

ORIGINALLY, before the redesign, they were a precursor to streetcleaners that would cut through swathes of people and/or machines and dismember the bodies (hence the giant swords) for easier assembly and cleanup, but since streetcleaners were much more efficient they got phased out pretty quickly and there was only a couple petering around Anywhere. they're definitely agility > strength/health

this doesn't work as well now since the sword arm is a swordsmachine augment ^_^ i dont mind the Repurposed V Model idea, but i feel like i see it around a lot and i'd wanna go for something a bit different. what that is i dont know. i could just make it so the normal arm is an augment and the sword arm is an original design feature

The dispatch i draw is definitely supposed to be a unique one that's modified itself to high hell and back. The tail, sword, and various Sharp Bits would be some highlights. this is to say that, while they're generally supposed to be quick and efficient, this specific robot REALLY REALLY REALLY likes being quick and efficient. i do tend to draw them with v2, so theres a solid chance they caught a glimpse of it fucking shit up (and saw the whiplash arm) and took notes from it i guess

Your proposal that they'd fill the same niche as v1 does make sense. They could be an earlier model or prototype that didn't make it to full production because there was elements that weren't optimized or buggy and they went back to the drawing board, which would make the desire for Speed make more sense. something something wanting to prove a point

[pigswithwings]

whats ultrakill im very curious

GRINS. SO BASICALLY. (this will be long and I will be YELLING underneath the cut because I feel very strongly about ultrakill)

ULTRAKILL (ALL CAPS) IS A FIRST PERSON SHOOTER GAME THAT IS ALL ABOUT GOING THROUGH THE LAYERS OF HELL. IT WAS CREATED BY ARSI PATALA, ALSO KNOWN AS HAKITA, AS WELL AS MANY OTHERS. ULTRAKILL IS NOT FULLY FINISHED BUT IT DOES CURRENTLY CONSIST OF TWO PARTS (ALSO CALLED ACTS), WITH A THIRD ACT IN DEVELOPMENT RIGHT NOW.

anyways ULTRAKILL's wacky setting in Literal Hell isn't the only unique thing about this game. things such as YOU ARE A ROBOT (called v1) AND YOU KILL CREATURES OF FLESH AND MUST USE THEIR BLOOD / GUTS TO REGAIN YOUR OWN HEALTH is really fun. i am not explaining this concept this is just a given fact in this game. so you can guess how the game might be associated with a lot of violence and (albeit pixelated) gore. that's another thing I forgot to mention: ULTRAKILL has a really cool aesthetic (what with the graphics being based around vintage shooter games) it is very cool to play + watch people play it

AND ALSO you know the whole "you have to bathe in blood to heal" WELL THAT MAKES THE FIGHTING FUN because it encourages players to get up close to enemies and play quickly and in a more risk taking style and I LIKE that I LOVE when the combat is fast but not "I can't see what I'm doing" level of fast and ULTRAKILL DELIVERS ON THAT. let's talk about the fighting now actually.

so you can run and dash and slide and jump and all of these actions either get you very fast or very far. the game basically encourages you to go at a breakneck speed ( also kill as fast as you can - there is what is called a "style" meter that ranks you based on how fast and well you can dispatch enemies) and overall it is genuinely very exhilarating.

the enemies are. well you're in Literal Hell so they look just a little bit weird. most are made of flesh and blood but they're all shaped in unique ways that lets you recognise them pretty quickly. but there are also boss fights that include Regular People like the archangel fucking Gabriel (it's okay he's normal and Not having an identity crisis! and he's Not working that out through slightly homoerotic violence with you, the player) and King Minos (it's okay he's normal and Not incredibly regretful of his ruined kingdom and resentful of you for your actions) and V2 (it's okay this guy isn't You but Red) and a bunch more but they're all so cool. of course each of them is a different difficulty and skillset but god damn if each of them arent incredibly unique and shit. really cool stuff for real.

DID I TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC? YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR ABOUT THE MUSIC ANYWAYS ULTRAKILL's music has been described as "breakcore" and whatnot and it does frequently use samples of the Amen Break (that's the fast paced drum break used in hundreds of songs. you know the one go look it up mate) and it really helps to set the mood and tone for most levels and fights. but also the game frequently makes use of droning / bass tones for more serious scenes and there is even some piano pieces in there for special levels!! and I am a sucker for piano for you know how that goes. seriously please listen to the ultrakill ost it is so.

I dunno I just think ultrakill has a lot of love put into it (you can literally look up Hakita's development videos from FIVE YEARS AGO) and it's really recognizable. I haven't even mentioned the Easter eggs or how most of the negative reviews on Steam ask for robot gay sex or even most of the lore here but this is just a general overview. but I would love to learn more and analyze the lore of the game much much more. it's amazing. I an trying to learn how to draw them. thanks for listening I am not normal about this game

[tumblingxelian]

Saw a post, I won’t reference it or even put this in the T-ai tags cos I don’t want clowning on my blog but the level of disregard some people have for Ruby & Yang really irks me.

It doesn't matter that Tai shut down to the extent Ruby & Yang, grieving children, could be left alone for hours and nearly die.

It doesn't matter that Yang was the who read to Ruby as Ruby herself establishes in V1.

It doesn't matter than Yang was the only person who bothered trying to help Ruby address her CQC problem before Volume 5!

It doesn't matter that its Yang Ruby goes too for advice following the Fall of Beacon, expecting her to have answers.

It doesn't matter that Ruby & Yang are both clearly used to Qrow being carried home shit faced drunk by strangers and were the one's left to deal with him.

It doesn't matter that Tai doesn't even understand how Yang's Semblances works, if she misses nothing happens dammit we've seen this, or that he shouts at and infantilizes her and dismisses her trauma as moping.

It doesn't matter that Tai leaves Ruby to wander the world, or expects Yang to once again go out and take care of her while he sits on his ass at home.

It doesn't matter that Yang forces herself to speed run her recovery to go take care of Ruby again.

It doesn't matter that Yang outright establishes she had to keep the family together and this fucking traumatized and damaged her.

It doesn't matter that Ruby establishes Yang was the one who raised her.

Nothing they say or do or demonstrate or suffer through matters, nothing Ta-i himself does or more accurately consistently fails to do matters. Somehow he's still best dad while Ruby & Yang are just lying liars or idiots who don't realize how good they have it.

Fuck that!

[heyyouknowbts]

✨ get to know me tag ✨

Thanks for tagging me @duck-tan 💞💞💞

when is your birthday? May 11

what is your favourite colour? purple

what is your lucky number?  666

do you have any pets? 3 cats named Loki, Pudding, and Mochi

how tall are you? 5′5.5″ (yes, that half matters gdi)

how many pairs of shoes do you own? more than 10 less than 20, too lazy for an exact #

favourite song? how can people have a favorite song? i don’t understand but we’ll say my favorite song today is Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac bc it’s stuck in my head

favourite movie? Ghost World (also my favorite graphic novel but NOBODY ASKED YOU THAT PANDA jeez)

what would be your ideal partner? hey, you know BTS? maybe somebody from BTS

do you want children? NO.

have you ever gotten in trouble with the law? only a speeding ticket once, bored cop in Oklahoma. Oklahoma sucks, I SAID IT AND I’M NOT TAKING IT BACK

what colour socks are you wearing? they’re some Harry Potter socks that are blue with some cartoon Sirius dudes

bath or shower? bath in theory, shower in reality

favourite type of music? probably progressive rock but i’m very open to all types of music

how many pillows do you sleep with? 2, one for the head and one between the knees

which position do you sleep in? i roll back and forth on my sides

what don’t you like when you’re sleeping? waking up

what do you have for breakfast? i fast through the mornings bc breakfast makes me ill

have you every tried archery? yea in a friend’s backyard. i’d like to try it for real but now i have arthritis in my hand thanks to an autoimmune disease so it would probably suck

favourite fruit? mango!

favourite swear word? motherfucker

do you have any scars? lots

are you a good liar? i don’t think so but i’ve never been caught in a big lie so, maybe?

what’s your personality type? INTJ

what’s your favourite type of girl? all of them, are you kidding with this question? girls are so soft and beautiful that’s like picking a favorite member of BTS CAN YOU REALLY DO IT BECAUSE YOU’RE SATAN, OR ARE YOU LYING

left or right handed? right

favourite food? ice cream

are you clean or messy? mostly clean, but i have a few designated “chaos” spaces in my home (like my closet, i think Jimmy Carter lives in there)

favourite foreign food? pad thai

how long does it take for you to get ready? 20 minutes no makeup, 30 minutes w/makeup

most used phrase? lmao/lmoa

are you a good singer? actually yea

do you sing to yourself? bro i sing constantly

biggest fear? dying in a fire

do you like long or short hair? on myself? long

are you into gossip? yesss gimme that T i love talking shit as long as it’s not hateful

extrovert or introvert? introverted but not at all shy

favourite school subject? i liked history and art

what makes you nervous? driving

who was your first real crush? a boy in my 4th grade class, quickly replaced by another boy in my 4th grade class lmao

how many piercings do you have? 7, all ears tho

how fast can you run? depends on what’s chasing me

what makes you angry? bro there’s a whole list, but i’ll just name 3. people who believe shit on facebook is news/real, capitalism, misogyny

do you like your own name? actually no. my parents named me after a Boston song bc they were like 20 and dumb, and idk i wish my name was a bit more unique. i don’t need to be named XR-V1 or whatever, just not having 3-5 other people with the same name as me everywhere i’ve worked and gone to school would be nice

what are your weaknesses? anxiety, negativity, stubborn/bratty

what are your strengths? memes, sarcasm

what is the colour of your bedspread? grey i got them bamboo sheets brooooo they’re so nice

colour of your room? white

this was long but fun! tagging the homies (no pressure tho!) @suryanwesha, @e-uph0r1a, @rosegaming117, @snailosaur, @sunshinerainbowsbts, @aestaeticbts, @blueversaillesdreams and anyone who wants to do it, please tag me so i can get to know you 😊

[sirianhewigxiii]

What are some things that you want to happen in volume 8 of rwby?

oof, where do I even begin? xD

Well, maybe should start by saying that I won’t be deeply upset, raging or feeling personally attacked if none of what I wished for happened xD

Having said that I hope this won’t be to much of an answer for you ^^“ and maybe some of this could go to both V8 and V9, but here’s my list:

- I’d want Winter and Whitley talking, Whitley must have been very young when she left for Atlas Academy and since Jacques basically erased her existence from the manor how could Whitley not always have just thought of his oldest sister as the one who was never there and „never like her“. Winter also must have felt his resentment and while trying to carve a way for her younger siblings and distancing herself from the family name wouldn’t have been able to try and bond and connect with him. But Jacques is gone and unlike Weiss who will continue her travels both will remain in Atlas.

- I’d want Willow to realize how she needs to get her shit back together now and maybe this to happen (and get Klein back as well)

- I want Pietro not to die and now that Penny has her own/Fria’s/the maidens' aura, him not having to worry about using part of his aura to rebuild her from now on (because judging by what she told Ruby about herself in V1, Penny herself isn’t even aware of how her father is sacrificing part of himself every time) and I really want both of them to be safe

- I want Weiss and Winter to find each other when all is done and Weiss telling her that she understood how Winter called the reinforcements on her to make sure she keeps walking her own path and Winter to end up being the new military leader/general (but I’m sure Weiss did get it judging by her last look and words at Winter)

- I want the Happy Huntresses to break Robyn (and Qrow) out of the transport, save them and all of them holding the line in Mantle

- I want the Thirsty Moms and their kids to be save xD (my heart would break otherwise)

- I want for Ren and Nora to actually properly talk after all, even though Ren’s „never been good with words“ because damn, poor Ren was so scared of opening up and admiting his feelings for Nora for so so long, because of all the bad that could possibly happen and boy, was he proven right (in his opinion) when Neo pulled her stunt on him and got away with the lamp, it distroyed him and I really don’t want him to pull away from her now

- I want Jaune who couldn’t do anything to save Pyrrha and broke down because of it, and who now lost somebody else under his care as a leader (Oscar) to show all his growth and pick his team up again

- I want the Bees to finally have an actual quiet moment together when all the chaos is done :)

- I want to see Jacques rotting in a cell :) I hate him with a passion.

- I’d want Neo to see how Cinder’s been playing her and ditch her ass (and I mean it would be hilarious if she started traveling with Ruby and the rest, but that is very unlikely xD)

- I’d really like to know more about Cinder’s backstory, we only know she alludes to Cinderella and after that whole rant about „Atlas Elites“ (towards Winter who ironically had thrown away her inheritance, worked her ass off and distanced herself from her family name) I am more than intrigued to find out about everything she’s been through, maybe a flashback now that she „thinks that she finally made it by getting the lamp“ or something like that (I, at least, can’t remember anything ever been mentioned about her past)

- I’d want Salem to be pushed back somehow, maybe settle for the lamp and go after the sword for now and the staff remaining where it is. (which is probably true wishful thinking)

While Atlas and Mantle would still be seperated, the people living in the slums in the crater wouldn’t be crushed and the people in Atlas wouldn’t die falling.

And with Robyn in the Council, Winter as the new military leader/Atlas Headmistress also having one council seat, instead of James’ two and maybe Penny making up for the final seat things can slowly get patched up just like things between the people in Mistral and the Faunus are getting better now

- I want Ruby to find out more about her semblance or moreso ask about Summer’s semblance, since it seems to have been the same. It is clearly not just a speed semblance, she’s been able to split herself up to go around things and we also know that she can merge others into her semblance, remember when she saved Weiss („Thank me later.“) and even her petals became red and white?

- some more (less subtle than in V7) Whiterose is always welcome, but Weiss has to worry about her home, Ruby is supporting her by being by her side, and silently checking up on her. Ruby also knows she the one who everybody wants/needs to be making the bigger decisions (like Blake told her at the very beginning: “We will follow your lead.��), so I don’t think this is the proper headspace for them to be as flirty as the Bees, who have already been through their traumas and shit with Adam :)

@jninja1234

[waterwindow]

@bloodshadow213  Okay! This is actually the second ask I’ve gotten about Al in the last couple days.

 So I guess hopefully I’ll be able to help the Anon as well with the information.

    Al’s story is complicated. And 90% of it took place in V1 which means it’s laced with campy jargon, continuity errors, stories being told out of order and.... “””comics logic”””

WARNING, THIS IS REALLY LONG.

  It doesn’t help that a lot of Wiki data and other online sources on him are completely false. Most of them confuse him with his Astral Twin Alvin and they can’t even get his actual height correct EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE THE INFORMATION IN COMICS CLEAR AS DAY

if you’re going to WRITE THE ARTICLE could you please at least---   

 read the comics (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

  ahem.

   Despite that he’s one of my favorite characters, and so I’ve spent a LOT of time (YEARS) thinking about him so I’ll be the first to admit my interpretation of events is completely biased. I’ll do my best to separate concrete information from my headcanons.

anywho here’s Albert, HE’S..... HANDSOME.....

   Okay so Albert- he’s got a few split personalities. Mr. Element and Doctor Alchemy. He’s also got the power to transmute elements. Yes- another misconception is that Albert’s gun or the philosopher’s stone is where he gets his powers. And where it was apparently retconned that Al needs the Philosopher’s Stone for most of his existence that wasn’t the case. 

(and personally I still don’t believe that’s the case, because we’ve only ever seen ALVIN actively loose his powers when the stone is taken from him. And that might make sense once I get into who and what Alvin is. But let’s focus on Albert for now)

  Anyhow, yes Albert is a metahuman.

He got his powers from meteoric radiation beamed into his brain as an infant. And his powers and split personalities are linked somehow or somewhat with celestial activity.

Anywho, the Element Gun at the very least is more like a magic wand that he can use to channel his power through. And it’s actually useless in the hands of someone else.

  (I have a few headcanons that the Philosopher’s Stone might also be a meteorite- if not a larger piece of the meteorite that originally mutated him as a baby. Or it could be a figment of his imagination (link to headcanon).)

One thing that does seem consistent is that Albert’s powers are more or less suppressed and he has to assume one of his undesirable personalities to “unlock” them. 

BUT EVEN THAT’S NOT ALWAYS TRUE. Here’s Al saving a firefighter as Mister Element.  

(This isn’t the first time Mr. Element has been heroic, So it’s my headcanon that the Mister Element personality isn’t necessarily ‘split’ with Albert’s. It’s just a more intense version of himself. Because out of Costume, Albert is quiet and mild-mannered.)

ENTER THIS ASSHOLE

So there’s a plot where Eobard needs Albert’s help to get his speed back. But Albert won’t help because his powers are ‘locked’ behind his ‘Evil’ personality. So Eobard makes Albert go and steal stuff (with the random ability to hypnotize people by vibrating that he magically obtains for this single story) And spends the entire adventure trying to impress Al and gaslight him into thinking he likes crime.

And poor Al is just

he’s so done. It’s horrible I ship it

 OKAY ANYWAYS

My ultimate point here before I got distracted fangirling is that despite Barry’s efforts to help, Eobard wins Al over and convinces him that he IS ultimately Evil.

The story ends with Albert momentarily betraying Eobard right as he was commanded to kill Barry. (using the power of self-hypnosis to counter-act Eobard’s influences.) Though convinced he is forever and permanently evil at that point, Barry knocks him out and uses the cosmic treadmill to take Albert to the future where he can be um

‘cured’

of his evil tendencies forever.

COUGHS this isn’t a lobotomy at all

So yeah! Al is ‘’’’cured’’’’

ENTER THIS STINKY BOY

Albert’s been a good. So Alvin shows up and starts running around as Doctor Alchemy COMMITTING CRIME. This is the first story we see him in so everyone thinks Albert is the one running around in costume, of course.

 (Barry, Iris, and Rita are all part of Al’s life but I haven’t gone into them in depth for brevity- because holy shit this is long....)

(yes you read that right, Rita keeps tranquilizers on hand for Albert- for... obvious reasons- earlier in this post you saw he wigged out and caught their car on fire while they were in it. SHE PUTS UP WITH A LOT....)

( Headcanon-talk though. It couldn’t have been easy for Al either knowing he could be called a liar or drugged by his spouse at the drop of a hat. Of course Rita has every right to fear for her life. And she’s done a lot for Al, at the risk of her own safety. But that being said... they do get an off-screen divorce, and I believe it was 100% mutual. 

   This has got to be an unpopular opinion, since the fandom loves Rita and of course I’m sad they wrote her out of the story as well. I love her too! But it couldn’t have been easy for Al either. Living with a mental illness and a distrusting spouse who keeps a weapon on hand to use against you. And it’s clear later on that Albert literally has such an awful time keeping his shit together that he needs much more help than just Rita can provide. RAH RAH BLAH BLAH-)

Anywho,

 they cart Albert off to jail, but Alvin kidnaps him. With every intent to frame him for all the crime he sees fit to do.

According to Alvin, he is Albert’s psychic/astral twin. Born at the same time and with an identical childhood to Albert’s.

Again according to Alvin, they sit on some sort of moral Teeter-totter. Where whenever Albert is good- Alvin feels an uncontrollable urge to be evil. and vice-versa.

Anyways he invented this potion called Desmodium where the fumes can cause people to be susceptible to hypnotic suggestion (Wow Alvin knows about hypnosis too, his entire life is so coincidentally similar to Albert’s) - which is how he was able to use Rita to lie about Albert’s alibi and frame Albert for Alvin’s crimes. He explains that because of their psychic connection, Alvin was able to locate where Albert hid the philosopher’s stone and used it to take up the mantle of Doctor Alchemy.  (in this scene Albert is also under the influence of Desmodium which is why he’s just sitting dead-eyed like a doll)

  So Alvin leaves to try and kill the Flash, and once he believes he has won, he reveals himself to Barry- and obviously he doesn’t succeed, so now Barry knows the truth of what’s going on and is on Albert’s side. Meanwhile, Albert escapes and feels the uncontrollable urge to don the Mr. Element costume to combat his evil twin. (Wigging out from the stress probably- which is why I headcanon that the Mr. Element personality is just a stronger-willed and decisive version of Albert.)

SO THEY FIGHT. It’s glorious. 

Albert saves a firefighter, Barry sees the whole thing. Also Rita and Al meet up off-panel where he explains everything to her and she in turn explains everything to Barry and that’s completely convinced him that Albert is completely innocent and is in fact trying to do the heroic thing.

  SO Albert, Rita and Barry work together and ultimately defeat Alvin. And from there on Alvin takes up the mantle of Doctor Alchemy permanently, becoming an honorary Rogue while Albert goes into retirement.

 (Alvin seems to be the only one who ever hung out with the Rogues at all and had a relationship with them. He seems to have got along well with Lisa - or at the very least she seems entertained by his antics. Whereas she has no patience for perverts, and yet she’s bemused by Alvin’s flirtations when he’s drunk. Also Alvin being in consortium with the Rogues is why I believe Hartley much later comments on how ‘Freaked out’ the Rogues are of Albert. 

Because whO IS THIS GUY? WHERE’D THE FUN REDHEADED AL GO.... Also all things considered, of course he laughed in their faces.)

I’M NOT DONE YET.

VOLUME 2

  So somewhere along the line, Alvin discovers that he isn’t in fact Albert’s astral twin. That he’s actually a completely artificial construct born by the philosopher’s stone (or Albert himself depending on your interpretation) Personality completely made up of Albert’s ‘Dark Side’.

 (WHEN or HOW Alvin came to this realization isn’t explained, but if I had to headcanon it might have been when he somehow survived his ‘death’ in his Blue Beetle cameo.

He attempts to merge with the Philosopher’s stone and it leads to his demise... AND THEN APPEARS AGAIN FOUR YEARS LATER IN THE FLASH. WE CAN READ INTO THIS- THEY DEFINITELY DIDN’T MAKE A MISTAKE.....)

Anyways, back to Flash v2. In volume 40 and 41 Alvin has completely lost his mind- likely due to his identity crises and tries to take over Albert’s life completely. Convincing Wally and Linda (and himself apparently) that he is ACTUALLY Albert Desmond, and not the evil twin.

But Wally figures out that it’s actually Alvin and defeats him.

   And finds Albert locked up in the closet (FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG....)

Hopefully not long, Wally postulates that Alvin had been listening to Albert’s phonecalls and wanted an opportunity to get the Flash once and for all. 

 Alvin is taken to jail, but escapes almost instantly, leading to a fight with Wally that doesn’t look like it will end well for him. BUT GUESS WHO SHOWS UP JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME

butt

Fake memories you say, Wally? Would certainly explain why Alvin’s life was so identical to Albert’s.

And that is the end of Alvin, killed/absorbed by his own brother.

....

hey- remember this?

It’s almost like Al’s story could be read as a metaphor for neurodiverse repression to the point of self-destruction. Instead of working with him, they literally lobotomized the ‘evil’ out of him and gave birth to a physical manifestation of how he felt himself perceived by the outside world.

i’ve been reading these comics for too damn long

Anyways! After that, Albert vanished into the wind. He became Doctor Alchemy permanently and denounced the Mr. Element name- calling it an ‘embarrassment’. He became solitary and committed crimes much darker than his previous. (notably, a cop-murdering spree in Gotham).

  Albert is literally unstoppable and the only reason he’s not wreaking havoc is  He’s now characterized by his unhealthy obsession with books and escapism and finding ‘Peace and Quiet’. 

Not only that, he seems to have developed a something of a grudge against Wally. (Either that or he’s too far gone to care about anything any more)

And that’s..... basically the end of the story. There’s some loose ends that got nuked out of existence right before Flashpoint. Something insinuating that Albert may have a larger role to play or knows more than he’s letting on- but it’s literally so vague it could be interpreted as anything. The plot is lost in the wind, unfortunately.

  But If you made it all the way to the end, thank you for listening to my dramatic summery of Al’s story

 Believe it or not, but I wasn’t even half as thorough as I could have been. So I definitely encourage you to read v1 and draw your own conclusions.

[yangingaround]

(Part 1) Not to shaft Yang, but I disagree with you that she’s had the least “rush in recklessly” moments. She basically initiated the fight in the Yellow Trailer by being overly-aggressive if all she wanted was information (and wasn’t there to basically start a fight). In 1x8 she jumped into the Nevermore’s mouth even though there was no one in immediate danger and simply dodging would probably have been the better tactical move.

Anonymous said:

(Part 2) She had (misplaced) overconfidence in trying to take Neo by herself in 2x11 and was nearly killed for it, and then in 2x12 she launched herself into the air (needlessly) without looking and immediately got knocked down by Nevermores from behind. In 3x6 the whole situation with Mercury could have been avoided if she’d simply side-stepped his attack (which RWB_ probably would have done) rather than attacking back.

Anonymous said:

(Part 3) And in 3x11, while I understand it was an emotional moment and she had to react quickly to make sure Blake didn’t get hurt further, she leaped into the air (again needlessly) making herself basically a sitting duck for Adam’s attack, whereas if she’d rushed him but kept her feet on the ground she would have had a much better chance of dodging his attack. Monday morning quarterbacking, I know, but still, Taiyang’s right in that she needs to learn to keep a more level head in combat.

Anonymous said:

(Part 4) By comparison, Blake, for example, has only really thrown herself into danger twice (3x11, and 4x3) and both times there were civilian lives under immediate threat, which was not the case in the Yang examples I noted. Again, Yang’s one of my favorite characters, so I’m not trying to shit on her. But I definitely think she’s had a problem with recklessness in v1-3.

Yellow trailer: Junior was already having his goons surround her - that fight was starting whether Yang wanted it to or not. Yang played up a distraction to catch Junior off guard and throw the first punch (which cleared out the night club of civilians) but that fight was starting anyway (Junior even admits that he and his goons started it in the manga adaptation of the trailer - which is supposed to be canon)

1x08: are we forgetting that how they were fighting the Nevermore was Ruby’s plan? by jumping into the Nevermore’s mouth, Yang not only had it’s attention but could make it go where she needed it to go for the plan to work - ‘dodging’ wouldn’t have made it plow into the cliff, especially not given that Yang is primarily a close quarters combatant

2x11: a)Yang didn’t have backup because near everyone else was having to fight another henchman (also “this one’s mine” doesn’t scream overconfidence, it’s “i’ll take this one, you go on ahead”. sticking together would’ve wasted time they didn’t have) and this whole situation was far beyond anyone’s skill level and no one had the time to team up and attack these minions when the priority was stopping the train (or was Weiss being reckless for fighting a big dude with a chainsword alone instead of making Blake stick around?)b) Yang was exhausted because she didn’t sleep as far as we saw, which affected her stamina and made it easier for Neo to knock her out (which she only did once Yang adapted to her fighting style - oh look at that, Yang was thinking, what a novelty apparently - and caught up with it enough to actually grab hold of her). all Neo had to do was stay out of her way and play for time, Yang needed to incapacitate her as quickly as possible and c) the car was an enclosed space, filled with Dust crates and she couldn’t rely on her typical combat style without setting them off, meaning Yang was severely limited in what she could do - and what else could she do? run away? Neo would either get in her way or attack one of her friends during their fights. recklessness implies she had a choice and she made the rash, thoughtless one - that’s not the case here

2x12: okay quick question, the Grimm were all coming through an underground tunnel so how in the hell was Yang supposed to know there would be Nevermores flying overhead? Yang taking to the air, considering she would most likely still be tapped out from exhaustion and the fight with Neo (and so direct combat would’ve put her at risk too, we later see her throwing cars at Grimm instead of engaging them directly), was her playing tactical and trying to stay away from direct attack, and getting sidelined by factors she had no reason to consider

3x06: so some dude just lost a fight and jumped to attack you, do you a) dodge out of the way, giving him opening to attack again when you are coming off an intense fight and are low enough on aura that another attack could do some damage? or b) stop him (as you are trained to fight monsters, so preventing further attacks is what you are literally trained for) so he doesn’t do it again? because defending herself makes sense, and most likely wouldn’t have even been penalised if it weren’t for the fact that it was a trick to make her look like a monstrous, thoughtless brute (because people only have a problem with Yang responding the way she did because we know she was set up - they think “Yang was stupid because she didn’t dodge and now she looks like a monster”, it’s like a lot of people forget that Yang doesn’t have the same information we do as an audience and it’s very often difficult to see the apparently ‘obvious’ solution when you’re in the middle of a situation)

3x11: this is just straight up victim blaming (which is also what Taiyang was doing), but alright. another question; ignoring that Yang isn’t an emotionless robot, it had been an extremely stressful 24 hours, someone she loved was in danger(there is no way anyone could keep a level head there) and that Yang values Blake’s life above her own; what other options did Yang exactly have? any of her usual tactics could be deflected, miss, take too much time, or could have hurt Blake themselves. bull rushing Adam with everything she had, as quickly as possible (and she had to get through a window frame so going for the direct ground attack would’ve taken longer than jumping, which leaves Blake in danger more - and close to the ground or not, Adam can still swing a sword so even if she would’ve dodged it wouldn’t have mattered, we saw in the Black trailer that thing’s got a very big radius, there’s literally no difference in those two methods except your suggestion is slower, Yang wasn’t even that high up and had her abilities powering the speed of the attack, on foot she would’ve still been slower), was the fastest way to get his focus off Blake and on her. and again, she had no idea that a) he had the kind of ability he does and b) that it was already charged up. those are things she didn’t know and in that moment, wasn’t what was important to her (i even stated that the two times Yang has actually thrown herself into danger, it’s been to try and save a loved one, where her own safety is not her primary concern - Yang’s even implied that she only takes care of herself because others might need her later, so in a moment where someone needs her, her own safety isn’t going to be on the priority list, and Yang doesn’t dodge in fights when her teammates are present, only when she’s alone. this still isn’t a case of Yang being reckless, this is Yang’s tendency to only place value in herself for how useful she can be to others, so she only takes care of herself for the possibility of someone needing her, reaching a terrible, logical conclusion)

that was just a bad situation with no good way out of it with everyone making it out okay - the point of that scenario wasn’t ‘Yang is a reckless idiot and lost her arm for it’, which is victim blamey, it’s a reality check, the villains are stronger, better fighters than the girls are currently - that they’ve still got a long way to go

(i’m surprised you didn‘t mention 2x04 and jumping on the mech and getting smashed through several reinforced pillars for it - you seem pretty intent on blaming her for losing her arm so why not that? you can’t blame someone for not knowing something - because you literally can’t plan for everything - or not having much choice in the matter)

but let’s examine Blake, shall we? she’s gotten less fight time than Yang has but she still manages a few more examples than the ones you cited (which i hadn’t even considered as examples; because Adam is an abuser deliberately playing on her trauma - daring her to run away again pretty much ensured she wouldn’t use her semblance to fight him and instead engage him directly - and there’s no way she could act rationally there, so claiming that is victim blamey as hell. and Blake was the only one present who could put an immediate attack in on the sea monster - literally doing her job before the Grimm turned out to be much worse than it looked)

1x16: threw herself into the fight at the docks, eventually solely going after Roman out of anger despite being outmatched

2x05/6: Blake’s obsession with tracking down Torchwick drives her to a point of exhaustion and she would’ve gotten herself killed if she’d continued on that because she wasn’t resting or eating. that is recklessness

4x09/10: chasing after a White Fang spy whilst completely unarmed and with no plan

do you know what the big difference i’m seeing here is? things more often than not work out for Blake when it comes to throwing herself into danger (the same is true of Ruby) - Ruby, then Penny showing up and Roman deciding to just leave, the spy turning out to be someone Blake knew that wouldn’t directly attack her - while with Yang sometimes they don’t, and the audience reads that as Yang being punished for recklessness because there’s this odd audience fixation that Yang is always in the wrong (do you really think a character that nearly got herself and her sister killed when they were kids - and actually believes they should have died - while stubbornly, recklessly chasing after something. is going to have a problem with those things in the present? it doesn’t make sense to have that in a backstory if it’s still a problem in the present, proving the character learned nothing, when that’s evidently not the case). Yang is shown to be the most levelheaded and thoughtful member of her team, and there’s no evidence she isn’t in fights she doesn’t have personal stake in (where it’s understandable that she responds more emotionally), except for people not paying enough attention to factors outside of Yang and deciding she must be at fault when things go wrong even when all she’s doing is responding to a threat and doesn’t have a whole lot of options. but she gets shat on because she’s the ‘angry’ one (even though her letting her anger out seems to help her focus more than hinder it - anger isn’t itself bad, people are allowed to be angry but Yang is always the only one criticised for it even though when examining it she’s evidently in control of herself), and dismissed as an reckless idiot that doesn’t look before she leaps because no one looks beyond the surface with her (as per usual) to consider any underlying factors

[ramen-y-cajal]

Vision in the brain!

Continuation of this post

So there’s this vague... misunderstanding that what you see in your left eye is processed on the right side of the brain and vice versa... which is... incorrect. Essentially, both eyes are processed with both sides. But the RIGHT side of both eyes goes RIGHT, and the LEFT side of both eyes go LEFT. The optic chiasm is where these paths cross

There are lots of areas in the brain involved with vision, but it seems the one that constitutes the vision in the most conscious sense is the Primary Visual Cortex (V1) located in the backity back of the occipital lobe. Not only is this where vision occurs, but it’s also where dreams and imagination occurs (oooooo), literally. If you are told to imagine something (um? a dog?), your visual cortex will do the same thing as if you were looking at the actual dog! So it seems to be responsible for the conscious experience of “seeing”. It’s also important for  static and moving objects, edge detection, and pattern recognition

Damage to this area not only makes you blind, but you can no longer have visual dreams, hallucinations, or imagine images. It takes away all possible senses of vision in the most broad sense of the term. The weird thing is, your eyes aren’t done doing their jobs. If you tell someone with V1 blindness to point to something, they do it with a surprising amount of accuracy for someone who is blind. They can predict the color, movement, and shape of objects as well. It’s difficult to determine if this is the result of incomplete damage to V1 or if the eyes are communicating with other areas...

Identification of images seems to take 2 streams from the V1 area, the ventral and the dorsal stream, also known as the what and where pathways. The ventral stream travels through the temporal lobe, which has areas of identification (some are vague like... “oh it’s kinda round and fluffy?”, some are “this is a motherfucking face”-fusiform gyrus). The Dorsal stream travels up through the parietal lobe, which deciphers basically... where the image is coming from

Also can we talk about my professor’s “helpful study tip” for this? because it’s fucking adorable

Damage to the inferior temporal lobe may result in visual agnosia. Y’all heard that pretentious “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” or whatever... It’s (not based on but eerily similar to) this, and it’s meant to call out the concept of perception. They handed a pipe to a guy with visual agnosia and he was like “umm??? it’s? it gets longer... it starts out thin, seems to curve into a rounded, hollow end? But I for the life of me don’t know what this is!” and the doctor was like “it’s a pipe” and the guy was like “huh. I suppose it is...” Then the doctor said “what if I told you it wasn’t a pipe?” and the guy was like “well then I’d have to believe you.” so he sees the image clearly and can identify its features, but he can’t... identify it.

(for the record, ceci n’est pas une pipe means that a painting of a pipe is technically not a pipe... I like the neuroscience version better)

Also worth noting is the V4 region, which is important for color perception. If you see something that’s green in a room with red lighting, you can still figure out that it’s green, even though it looks different from what green looks like in other contexts. That’s because of your V4 region keeping its shit together.

FINALLY there’s the V5 area, also known as the MT area (Middle temporal), which is again, motion oriented. Different areas of the MT area respond selectively to specific speeds and directions. They’re the reason you can tell a man is running in a picture, even when he isn’t moving. Your brain makes assumptions based on context clues. Next to the MT area is the MST area (medial-superior temporal cortex). which kinda... lowkey... helps with depth perception and movement? Part of it is the trick where you see a road getting narrower in an image indicating that it’s getting further away? The MST area is the part that makes that assumption

Citation:

Kalat, J. (2016). Biological Psychology. Australia South-Western. 12E

[texanredrose]

Hello! Sorry to bother but I'd like to ask if you know how emblems work in rwby? The Schnee emblem gets passed down from generation to generation but how about the others? Tai has a different emblem than Yang, if i can recall correctly. Do people make their own or do they already have it once they are born? If weiss and blake ever tie the knot, would they merge their emblems or just have different ones?

Shit, we’re getting into headcanon territory, because there is no canon explanation for the emblems. Strap in, because this is going to get long, but damnit am I fond of my ridiculous headcanons, and I’m considering this an open door to talk about them for a minute. Here are my thoughts on the whole shebang.

Alright, now, while we haven’t gotten a concrete explanation for it in canon, there’s a lot of things we can base conjectures on; now, unfortunately, my personal headcanons got jossed in V4, because Qrow’s semblance is just so left field. However, the theory I operate under is that the war that was fought eighty-some years ago not only explains the “color rule”, but also provides a basis for the emblems and semblances.

The entire crux of the conflict revolved around individuality and personal expression. Names, semblances, and emblems are all directly tied to that. The Schnees, or perhaps just Jaques in particular, supported the side that frowned upon such expressions of individuality, which is why the current generation of Schnees all share emblems, semblances, and similar naming conventions (all starting with ‘W’ and having different ‘i’ vowel sounds in their names)(I’m aware this may or may not apply to Whitshit, but it’s also not been shown that it doesn’t, so he’s essentially a blank slate and we have Winter and Weiss as evidence that this holds water). This extremely inhibits their individual expression through normal means and we see that conflict reflected in Weiss’ character arc across the Volumes, struggling to be her own person and get out of her father’s control. Meanwhile, at the opposite end, we have the only other (mostly) full family to compare: the Xiao Longs/Branwens/Roses. Qrow, Raven, Taiyang, Yang, and Ruby all have completely unique names (although Qrow and Raven share a theme, due to being twins, which I think is a cute touch), semblances (more on this in a minute), and emblems (again, Qrow’s and Raven’s are related). Obviously, these lineages were on the winning side of the war, and they continue the tradition they fought so hard to win. Through Taiyang, Yang, and Ruby, we can see that families tend to share certain aspect in common even if they support(ed) the individuality side of the war. Because of this, I’d say it’s safe to assume emblems are adopted at some point, probably around the time a semblance emerges or at puberty as a cultural rite of passage for teenagers. Everything else is open for interpretation, though. 

 The design is probably created based in part on input from the individual destined to bear it and also family traditions. I would say it’s highly likely that Yang’s resembles Taiyang’s but shares little in common with Raven’s and Summer’s due to her estranged nature with her blood mother and perhaps some lingering doubts over whether Summer truly considered her a daughter or not. So, instead of simply copying her father’s design, Yang added the flames at the top as stylized extensions of the prongs on Taiyang’s design, inspired by her semblance. Ruby’s design is likely based on Summer’s (whom I assume would have a white rose of some sort) and Yang’s, perhaps as a sign that she wasn’t particularly close to Taiyang due to his depression after Summer’s passing and saw Yang as a surrogate mother, taking the rose and flames without copying the heart design. This sort of mutation over several generations would maintain unique designs expressing individuals while still holding enough common basis to link family members. (So, if you’re big into researching family histories or whatnot, this would be an added dimension to explore within the world of Remnant, and I think that’s kinda neat.)

I also think people tend to keep the same emblem throughout their lives. Think of it as a way to reaffirm who you are within the RWBY-verse; your parents give you a name that makes you an individual (or, if you’re a Schnee or member to a similarly minded family, confirms you as a scion of your lineage) and you choosing your emblem is your way of taking control of your identity. Although you might grow and change as the years pass, you’d probably keep the same design, except maybe making small changes to reflect certain obstacles. In a lot of ways, I think Taiyang having his emblem tattooed on his arm is no coincidence; emblems are somewhat fixed, the same way tattoos are, but you can always add or remove from them, if that’s your choice. Considering the trials and tribulations ahead of Weiss and Blake, I think they would continue to bear the marks they chose, as a sign that they’re proud of the challenges they’ve overcome and don’t regret their decisions, even the ones that were wrong at the time. Blake would do it because she’s learned so much from her younger days and she doesn’t want to forget those past mistakes; Weiss would keep it because she had no choice in the matter but now she owns it, and she won’t run from the difficult hand she was dealt. However, as with everything pertaining to a person’s identity, they could choose to change to something that fits them better over time; I just personally don’t see either of them doing so.

Were Blake and Weiss to ever tie the knot, I feel it’s safe to say that they would break the Schnee tradition of maintaining the strict control over individual expression and encourage their children to design unique emblems for themselves. I think it would be extremely likely that at least one child (most likely the first born, but perhaps the second or third depending) would merge their emblems together, with the middle third of Blake’s emblem (the central dot and top leaf) serving as the center and the Schnee’s snowflake points surrounding it, or some other manner of combination that would show distinct ties to both parents. Perhaps taking Blake’s emblem and stylizing the points of the leaves to mimic the Schnee snowflake and adding more leaves, making the design symmetrical- those sorts of alterations.

I think this goes for semblances as well; although the Schnees have “hereditary semblances”, I think any children Blake and Weiss have would be capable of creating unique semblances, although they will likely still be able to summon and generate glyphs. Again, I default to the only other example of closely related individuals we have: the Branwens. Now, Qrow’s semblance throws this theory out, unfortunately, but I have been working under the assumption that all semblances are hereditary, just in a different manner than what we understand the term to mean.

Without clear evidence of Qrow’s semblance (V1-3), Raven and Yang are the only ones we’ve seen, and though their semblances manifest in strikingly different ways, they share a common theme: damage redirection. While Yang internalizes the damage she suffers and deals it back tenfold, Raven can apparently create wormhole-like portals that would redirect projectiles and could even deflect blows depending on how she can control them. In the V3 fight against Winter, Qrow also displayed signs of damage redirection (although I guess we’re going with the canon explanation of ‘bad luck’), seeing as several times when Winter attacks, the force appears to not hit Qrow but does damage his surroundings. (There’s also a moment after one of these particular attacks where there’s a sound effect and an animation tick with Qrow’s eyes; it’s a blink and you miss it thing, but damn did it stand out when, in the very next episode, they talk about hereditary semblances and there’s only one character who has something happen to her eyes when her semblance is active, and she just so happens to be related to Qrow.) With these three examples, we have three semblances that share a common theme but do so in different ways: Yang internalizes damage to redirect it while Raven and Qrow externalize damage to redirect it, which again is in keeping with the twin theme and keeping their individuality distinct but closely related. This is also in keeping with Yang’s characterization as being the Team Mom and a caring individual; she would be the type to internalize her own negative feelings for others’ benefit. This is how an individual’s personality affects their semblance and how it manifests. Yang’s child(ren) would likely retain this damage redirection theme but would develop it in a way that’s unique to them. I think it’s also highly likely that Ruby’s semblance comes in part from Taiyang, as Ruby’s speed is a lot like Yang’s strength, both being amplified while their semblances are active, whereas the appearance of rose petals probably comes from Summer’s side of the family. (If not the petals, then perhaps the way her semblance seems to affect her cloak/cape, seeing as that’s something Summer also wore. Because this is a hereditary, Ruby wouldn’t need first hand knowledge on how her mother’s semblance manifested to portray a certain aspect of it.) Again, because of the emphasis on children choosing their own path in expressing their individuality, Yang and Ruby have unique semblances that appear to share nothing in common, but would likely have a small thread connecting them.

The Schnees, on the other hand, have an overtly ‘hereditary’ semblance due to the emphasis on stifling individuality and following in the footsteps of those who came before. Weiss can summon not because Winter can summon but because she was raised believing that she was supposed to be able to summon. Same thing with the glyphs; Winter and Weiss share these traits because they were raised from a very young age to believe that’s what they’re meant to be able to do, rather than discovering their abilities on their own. In this manner, I think Weiss’ child(ren) would be still be capable of summoning (because it would take more than a single generation of “Schnees can summon” to fade into obscurity) but wouldn’t be able to perfectly replicate Winter and Weiss’ style of summoning, because Weiss wouldn’t raise them to believe that was all they were capable of doing. (In a way, it’s like the old story about tying elephants with ropes, if that helps.) I also think this in part explains why Weiss initially had difficulties summoning, but that’s another story.

All of this also happens to be my basis for the conflict between Qrow and Winter that’s referenced in V3. Being old enough to have likely learned about her family’s/father’s thoughts on the war, Winter likely actively chose to rebel against her father and his controlling manner, embracing the ideals of the winning side. That’s why she specifically became a Specialist- to be a unique asset out of many, to literally be ‘special’ in a way that her father/family would revile. Qrow, on the other hand, has seen first hand what damages a complete lack of control generate: Raven and the pain she’s caused Taiyang and Yang. I think V4 kinda confirmed her as being something of a loose canon, concerned about her own interests and little else, which probably caused a bit of resentment in Qrow. He would probably come to see such encouragements for a person to do what they wished as inherently flawed advice and want to see a bit more control, someone actively discouraging a person from doing things with the expectation that they’ll listen and not fight about it, essentially supporting the ideals that were defeated in the war. At some point, Winter and Qrow crossed paths and the war came up, at which point they found each other being unable to see the other’s point of view despite having historical reasons to agree with each other. It also lends a bit more context to Qrow’s line “you specialists think you’re so special” and Winter’s reply of “it’s in the name”; he’s demeaning her idea that being special somehow makes her better than her father whereas she’s pointing out how, as a Schnee, she’s already better than him for not following him into the SDC. However, just as many years ago, neither side is willing to bend and instead fight to resolve their differences (which they can’t).

Anyway, that’s way more than you asked and mostly useless because it relies on continuity that isn’t present, but those are the ‘rules’ I operate under when creating/writing characters and fics within RWBY’s universe.

[prinzitravels-blog]

Hello! It’s 9pm in London. Joey is already sacked out and I am very close behind him after the insanely amazing day we had! It feels like we have already been gone for days because we managed to get so much in.

I can’t just start with London, because getting here was an experience in itself. When Joey and I booked these tickets,  we did so through using miles we bought which we thought would save us money in the end. Because it was so much cheaper than normal,  we thought it would be fun to try business class once on our way to London. I’m telling you….that is THE WAY TO GO!! We ended up having seats on the tippity top of the plane…in what felt like our own personal bubble on top of the aircraft. The seats laid down completely so we could sleep, and the lovely British flight attendants were just that: LOVELY. 

We made friends with the flight attendants Sue, Julie and Anna right away by telling them that we were on “holiday” for our anniversary. They brought over champagne right away, and we sucked down a glass each before the plane ever even left the ground. 

These personalized flight pods were the greatest thing ever. I was as comfy as a clam and all of my flying fears disappeared. Everything was fabulous from start to finish including the pre-boarding private lounge (a little too bougie for us, but still fun!), the food (these meals were like whaaaaat?!) And the incredible flight staff. 

I had to continue writing this on Tuesday because I fell asleep with the phone on my chest as I was writing this last night. The true sign of a good day!

We landed in London at 1130 am their time Monday. Heathrow is a cool airport, but as we have learned quickly, there is a LOT of walking from place to place in airports and train stations here! If you don’t plan ahead a little, I would imagine it is very easy to miss your flight. Everyone was right when they said the tube was easy to navigate: we got off the plane, got our luggage, breezed through customs and found our Piccadilly line right away. This is the first time Joey has ever been on any sort of subway, so he had a little bit of that “deer in headlights” look as we navigated the London underground…but it was easy and fun for both of us! 

We hopped off the tube at Piccadilly circus and made our way outside. Wow! What a sight. It reminded me so much of when I walked up from the train station in New York. There’s too much to take in at once. Piccadilly Circus is crazy….it reminds me of a smaller time square dropped right in the middle of old Europe. Big red double decker buses were zooming around traffic circles, big electronic billboards, people everywhere. We knew our hotel was only a 3 minute walk away, but very hard to find, so we trusted in Google maps which got us there lickity split.

We stayed at this awesome cheap boutique hotel called the Z hotel. The location was great…down some little side street called orange street…close enough to the heart of everything but not right in the middle. The outside of the hotel literally looked like a small garage, and everything about the hotel was small, but all we needed. We checked in via the small caffe in front (different!) And dropped our backpacks off in our VERY small (totally IKEA-like) room.

No time for a nap! We hit the ground running and started out on foot toward the British museum. That place was AMAZING. Entry is completely free, and it was by far the most impressive museum we have ever been in. Not only is the architecture totally stunning, but the exhibits are insanely cool, particularly the Greek and Roman section. We couldn’t believe how many original statues/sculptures and pieces of structures they had. This was a really great place to see even if you aren’t a huge fan of museums (which I am).

Next we walked from the British museum to the John Snow pub, which has been on my bucket list for a while! All through college I was obsessed with the story of Dr. John Snow and the Broad Street water pump. If you don’t know the story, it’s a science classic. John Snow (no, not from Game of thrones) was a physician in London in the 1800’s.  In the late 1800’s there was a devastating Cholera outbreak in London, and he was one of the first people to create a disease cluster map and figure out that the water pump on broad st was the likely source of contamination. He had the water handle removed from the pump so people would stop collecting water from it, and the outbreak ultimately ended. Cool right!? The pump is gone now, but there’s a pub dedicated to him right across the street. Cheers to science!

From there, we walked all the way down to Buckingham Palace, which was about 2 miles. We walked through a few beautiful parks along the way, all full of beautiful statues, flowers and surrounded by old beautiful buildings. Buckingham was beautiful…flowers are getting planted all along the palace, but sadly no blooms are out yet. There’s gold all over the place, so that’s fun…and we watched the guards change places a few times which was also totally fascinating to us. The number of things we are seeing that is totally new to us is countless, but one would include spikes all around the tops of statues or carvings that prevent the (hundreds) of pigeons from landing, pooping on and ruining these structures. Who knew?!

From Buckingham we walked allllll the way down to Big Ben ( MORE super beautiful parks along the way). We didn’t go over to Big Ben or check anything out inside, but I got some good pictures and gave it a big wave. From there we walked all the way back to our hotel on Haymarket and orange st to come up with a game plan.

We toyed with the idea of going to see a musical in the West end, which would have been wonderful…but we really wanted to catch dinner in a classic English pub and get a good night of sleep after such a long day. So that’s what we did.

Now, we assumed there would be an English pub on every corner, but we didn’t find that to be true (at least not where we were). We did circles around Piccadilly looking for a legitimate English pub. We found a good looking one called ST. James corner and settled in there. This place had everything we were looking for: dark wood, dimly lit, fish and chips, icy cold bartenders and lots of people. Interesting fact: you tell the bartender what you want to eat and where you’re going to sit (figure that out before you go to the bar) and they will bring everything out to you. We ordered two orders of fish and chips with peas and bread and butter. Also one cider beer and two waters (which the bartender was so offended we asked for….is that weird to do in an English pub? #embarrassed). 

The food was seriously so good….seriously. The cider was the yummiest I’ve had in a long time, super refreshing!! 

With all of our London tourism-ing out of our system, we headed back to the “Z” for some shut-eye. 

We absolutely loved London. It’s a big crazy city, and it sort of feels like several of our big cities at home but just different enough. It definitely has a Philly/New York feel to it, but then a giant red double decker goes by, or you look up and see these incredibly old buildings and quickly realize you are not in the USA. Everything about it is charming. Never once did we feel unsafe, and with the exception of the bartenders at the pub, the people were incredibly friendly. The city is SO walkable, and pretty easy to navigate. The men are SO damn stylish here and I LOVE IT! The only challenges we faced here were trying to remember to hang to the right on escalators (people will whiz by you on the left, and I’m sure we pissed several people off before we knew that), crossing the street (but they have painted “look left” and “look right” on the streets for those of us that can’t figure it out…thanks London!) And walking down the left side of the sidewalk instead of the middle or the right.

We did SO much walking that we felt we got a really great taste of the city. We loved it and would go back in a heartbeat. Thanks London, until next time…cheers!!

Next up: from London to Venice 

Xoxo,

A and J

From Denver to London, May 2017 Hello! It's 9pm in London. Joey is already sacked out and I am very close behind him after the insanely amazing day we had!