#world champion qualities vs… not so much

[rhaenella]

Nico speaking facts talking about Lando’s race in Singapore:

“There’s three moments here. And that’s so strange. I can’t remember myself, or Max Verstappen, or Lewis, when leading so comfortably with thirty seconds making three major mistakes like that. That was a bit strange. I know Singapore is so hard concentration [wise]. Physically it’s so, so tough. But it was… I don’t know what it’s down to that there’s so many little… But we know that from Lando that he tends to make those little errors all the time everywhere. We’ve seen that from him.”

[vimesbootstheory]

CK S6 Pt1 Thoughts

Do we still call this "the cut" or did we leave that behind on LJ? Anyway the thoughts are under the cut. I haven't looked at anyone else's thoughts yet, no idea whether this is echo chamber stuff or if I watched a different show than the rest of you.

Overall I honestly had a blast, I'm probably gonna talk more here about stuff I disliked but that's because positive stuff kept me glued to the screen while negative stuff sent me to vent in the notes doc I had open in another window lol

Eagle Fang was Johnny's thing, not an extension of Kreese's Cobra Kai, and I was so angry at the show for not understanding that that I burst into tears

I continue to think that the big cast is spreading character work too thin, such that most characters were either made much less interesting than they have been in previous seasons (e.g. Daniel, Miguel) or were given too little time with the character work they had (e.g. Robby, Kenny) or both.

Characters I made particular note of who are now boring: Daniel, Amanda, Sam, Hawk.

I was surprised in particular how Daniel was given virtually no character work other than this token Miyagi thing. I prefer when Daniel's a bitch. Daniel being The Reasonable One is incredibly boring.

We kinda got slutty gi back? In hallucination form? Briefly?

This was a hard realization: I don't think I ship Daniel/Johnny in these episodes. I'm still absolutely bonkers for them in previous seasons (1-4 mostly) and in the fandom sphere but honestly I wanted Johnny away from Daniel most of the time in s6e1-5. I found it really off-putting how much Daniel was trying to change Johnny into someone he's not.

Fave new character was Kwon. Enjoyably silly. I like his anime hair.

Delighted that Jarmen baby is a girl, even more delighted that the topic of the baby was pretty backgrounded, didn't spend a lot of time on it.

I am filled with incandescent rage that they neutered SamTory; it was weird rooting for Johnny's terrible strategies to make them frenemies instead of friends. But it looks like they're not quite done yet so I'm gonna cool my heels on this point.

Team Captain nepo babies lol. I would be so pissed if I were any of the other Miyagi-Do students.

Loved Johnny championing his female students. In an ideal world I would not have had a little voice at the back of my head wishing he'd spend the same kind of quality time with Robby (How about some Robby time? Robby? Robby now? Johnny and Robby?); nevertheless for what it was, I still really like Johnny supporting Devon and (to a lesser extent) Tory. Meanwhile Daniel over here in his sexist era I guess, ok. Like he really only wanted to send his daughter and no other girls.

Peyton List is the part-season's MVP, obviously obviously. She was so great. Kicked ass, kicked acting's ass. Tory was probably the meatiest character of the season, too, though that's not saying a ton.

My worst fears were not realized re: Johnny's character. He still isn't the fully-realized guy he was in early seasons, but relative to other characters, he's having a pretty OK season IMO. Knock on wood.

I was unexpectedly all riled up on Anthony's behalf. Why does he HAVE to get into karate? Why does he have to be Daniel 2.0? At least this was addressed textually.

So pissed on Kenny's behalf. Justice for Kenny. He deserved one of the top 6 spots. He got poo pants instead. Jesus Christ.

Loved the Lawrence vs Barnes fight, very metal, excellent choreo, love watching Zabka move. I would bet the cobros are lighting up at having an answer on that particular head-to-head.

This has been a running thing with Cobra Kai for a while, but I'm not even sure how I as an audience member was supposed to see Johnny's current teaching style? Honestly I loved his day of blended-style lessons. Obviously broken glass in the koi pond is not a great idea. But like. Jesus Christ, Daniel, katas HAVE STRIKES. WHAT DO YOU EVEN WANT.

Did they really just write Chozen out without any goodbyes? :(((

Daniel's ego flare-up and "I'm the boss" moment, contender for only interesting aspect to his character in these five eps. Hell yea hell yea. Show some goddamn teeth Daniel LaRusso.

One thing I think CK excels at and has always excelled at is keeping the stakes up for tournament-style fights, such that more often than not, I can't tell just through narrative signposting who's going to win. Robby vs Miguel in particular was a nail-biter. I did a full-body arm-pump when Robby won. Though the stakes were weird because it's not as someone can't win in Barcelona if they're not a captain? That was confusing and makes me think it's going to be their way of doling out successes across the main four kids. Like Robby and Sam for the captains, and then Miguel will win, presumably Tory too when she flip-flops back to team good guys again.

Interesting acting/directing/writing (idk which) choice during Robby vs Miguel, Johnny visibly rooting for Robby.

I love that Johnny brought up losing his mum when Tory's mum died, but I really hope they get the chance to bond over it at some point.

The fuckin magic jewel bottle cap got me so bad. Resourceful DIY toys is poor person realness and it was so cute and heartbreaking.

It's weird that new!CK got into the tournament because it's clearly not really the same dojo, so they haven't really qualified.

I'm so pumped about Kreese being the main villain. That was true before the season began and I still feel that way.

I'm excited for part 2!

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

I saw something about the scores on twitter and for the first time since his announcement I was glad about Shoma's retirement. I do feel very bad for Yuma though. Such a talent and he has to deal with that. (And no hate towards Ilia. He has no control over his own scores.)

Same. I fear Yuma will need a world title to make his PCS higher than Ilia's at this point...which is such a shame bc he is the better skater, maybe not jumping content wise but definetly skating wise and I think everyone can see that.

The PCS for Ilia are a joke. They were a joke before even when Shoma competed, but at least Yuma and Shoma usually had higher PCS than Ilia, what they should have based on the skating skills alone. No hate towards Ilia, he does work on his pcs and I'd say he has a performance quality but not like in pcs criteria, but there is also where the problems begin and it's a judging problem ever since IJS was implemented. There is no separation between each part of the PCS compartments. It's all muddled together. And just bc Ilia "improved" doesn't mean he improved this much to warrant 9s in all compartments. So yeah Ilia's scores are a joke, BUT ofc it's not his fault and also he deserved to win. So at the end of the day even with the clownery of scoring we should ask the question: Did the right skater win? And yes the right skater won. (And surprisingly despite all the scoring nonsense I think there are just few cases in the last 10 years were the wrong person got the Gold imo)

I'd say though that it is not a surprise that Ilia's PCS got higher than Yuma's. Ilia is the world champion, he gets a bonus as world champion it happened before. If you're considered best of the world, you get a better treatment, it doesn't happen every time but with certain factors like other more decorated skaters absent/retired and high TES you can bet on the judges to fall for this. It's quite similar to what happened with Shoma vs. Nathan since 2018 Worlds. Until Pyeongchang 2018 Shoma always had higher PCS than Nathan bc objectively Shoma is better in skating skills and presentation than Nathan, but since Nathan won and produced highest TES of everyone regularly his PCS rose too and were always higher than Shoma's. Seems like once you win suddenly some rules don't apply anymore. Improvement or not, no one can improve so much in just a summer break.

So I am definetly happy Shoma is retired. Though if we think it from the other side, maybe in comparison to Shoma Ilia's PCS may not have risen as much? 🤔 I mean Ilia is the current world champion, but Shoma would be the most decorated men skater in comparison with two titles, so maybe Shoma would still get higher pcs, it's no guarantee and we will never find out but it's a sidenote to mention....the TES on the other hand...well I think Ilia can smash every competition with his TES even if he makes mistakes. So on TES alone Shoma would not hold up to Ilia anymore...so back to the original statement that I am happy Shoma is retired 😌

[lesharl-eclair]

strollonso fic recs part 1: fics

4 fics from authors who have just the one strollonso fic, and who somehow added SO MUCH to the genre. whose other works are equally insanely mindblowing (the charles/bono fic that i am still not oVER BY THE WAY... the painfully high-quality webbonso. charlos and landoscar.) im crying how do you guys do it (these fics actually changed my life i am not kidding:

all fics below the cut; if you enjoyed these fics, please show the authors comment and kudo love; should you be the author of a fic that's here, and don't want to be here, please reach out to me and your wish is my command :)

victor's spoil by venerat (E, 1.9k)

Two hours later Lance is told he’s going to the winner’s room. “Oh,�� Lance says stupidly. "Uh. Me? Now?”

ouUEGHHGEUGHHH the rancid vibes. it's all mind games here. lance's desperation vs nando's casual (playful????!!!) viciousness.

the attention to detail is so stunning. the way the scene is set, the inherent power imbalance, lance so eager to please it's almost painful to watch....

"Even when Fernando aims it warmly, it still makes Lance shiver. That’s because Lance, of course, is fucked up. He’s already getting hard between his legs, just because Fernando chose him. Just from being here, from the anticipation of knowing his role. From the uncertainty of sitting there, waiting." im sobbign <3

this one rearranged my brain a lot. one of my favourite renditions of their dynamic.

***

in the hold by @pressurizer2 (M, 1.9k)

Lance scrunches his nose and makes a noise of protest as soon as Fernando’s hand leaves his ankle.

im still reeling at this concept okay. i havent gotten over it yet i don't think my review is sufficient to describe how good this is but can we talk about this like

"Mouth open and sucking in air, trying his best to keep quiet, Lance feels both compressed and torn apart by the intensity of Fernando’s attention, redirected. He’s being talked about, but not talked to. Praised but not acknowledged. Lifted up high and pushed down hard." such a waaay with words!!!! i am very extremely enamoured.

the push and pull here is perfect: bratty lance (<3) trying to elicit a reaction, nando willing to indulge despite his discipline (he's actually so into it.....it's all a game for him.......uuuueegeghheheu.....) the way tension is built and released is so so masterful and a delight from start to finish :)

***

A Little Bit of Exhibition by @sweetpeapoppy (M, 5.1k)

He’d heard all of the rumours about the way Fernando operated in Formula One, how ruthless he was, how he terrorised his teammates, how he would grind you down until you doubted your own abilities. Lance knew he didn’t need that. But he also knew he didn’t have a choice either, Fernando was coming to Aston Martin whether he liked it or not.

nando as an exhibitionist is...something. how he draws lance in to do the most brazen things, how lance is powerless to resist, is such a tantalising prospect. lawrence's obliviousness makes me want to shake my head patronisingly ("Lawrence agreed, feeling grateful he had another driver pairing that were getting along." ??????? ?????) this fic really shines because of all the details (sweater paws?? hand on nape??? the actual db12 feature???) the "canon compliance" makes your concept so true to life and now i can't unsee it.

the thing that stayed with me was the image of nando bent over the car. it still makes me lose my shit to think about.

***

I make two grand an hour by @kritischetheologie (E, 3.1k)

Lawrence had made Lance read an entire fucking book on this history of Formula 1 before he started the job, and all Lance could remember from the 2000’s was the German guy who won all of them, before the other German guy started winning all of them. But still, who did this guy think he was, trying a line like that on him? Aston Martin wasn’t the type of team that could hire a double world champion. “Michael Schumacher won in 2005,” he said, trying to project more confidence than he felt. “Nice try.”

BRATTY LANCE. I MIGHT ACTUALLY CRY

the voicing is nailed doWN to a tee and i am thriving. there is one very interesting roscoe related comparison in there that i will not be forgetting any time soon. this ticks all the boxes for me - backstory, characterisation, humour, there is even Plot !!

also love the offhand mention of glance.....they could have been together in another universe..... "Everyone was short except for George Russell, who was both tall and fast. Why couldn’t his father have invested in Mercedes instead?"

this author brings so much delight and depth to every single one of the pairings she writes about, and i will not be forgetting about this any time soon.

***

that's all for today :) i DO have more strollonso fic recs on the way so keep your eyes peeled if you like what you see !!

if you enjoyed this, or if i missed any fic, please let me know :) drop me an ask mayhaps if you would like more fic recs, and i will try my best to give timely unqualified opinions <3

[batsplat]

If Casey hadn't retired in 2012 and they put marc in with him what would of that meant for Dani like were would he have gone? probably for the best we didn't find out because while Casey Marc team mates is an amazing thing to think about it would have gone so badly

uh. maybe ducati? the way the timeline of 2012 unfolds, there was just never any situation where it looked all that likely dani wouldn't be with honda at least for 2013 - so there's not all that much available speculation about where he'd go. at the start of the year, the rookie rule is still in place and it looks like marc will have to spend a year with a satellite team. casey announces his retirement fairly early, and it's only a few months later that you get the rookie rule scrapped. which is what clears the way for marc to honda. idk, maybe there would've been less momentum behind scrapping that rule if casey had stayed, though I imagine the honda satellites' wariness of just getting marc for a one year loan deal where he messes up the sponsorship agreements and then pisses off again would still be a factor. I discuss how that silly season played out more in this post, but let's just say for a moment marc does get the factory seat and casey sticks around... well, it'd be bad timing for dani - his stocks weren't all that great at that point, having been outscored by both of his teammates the previous year (albeit partly due to injury), one of whomst had comfortably won the title. by the time marc actually joins the team, things are looking rosier for dani again within honda because of the impressive second half of 2012 he'd had, but ofc by then it would've been too late. you'd imagine a step down to a honda satellite would feel too humiliating - dovi didn't want to do it the previous year, and it would've been worse for dani given the expectations people had previously had of him and also how much that factory honda team had once been his. theoretically, there's a factory yamaha seat being freed up - but regardless of how you feel about early 2012 valentino vs dani in terms of quality of rider, yamaha already had a proven world champion on their books and were always going to go for the golden goose they had such a distinguished history with. to me, that vacant ducati seat feels like the logical place for dani to go in that scenario, and I reckon he'd get the shout for that over dovi. there's not really any other options either - all the other factories at that point are running crt bikes, and you'd take basically anything over that. in pure competitive terms, you'd choose a satellite honda in 2013 over a factory ducati, which was still around two years away from being plausibly race winning machinery in anyone-but-casey's hands. but, well, obviously it's an ego thing too where I'd imagine dani just wouldn't want to accept anything other than a factory seat. it'd have been interesting to see how far dani could've gotten with that team, how competitive he would have been by the time the bike's performances catches up etc etc

and yeah, I already talked about the casey/marc scenario in this post. my take with that is always 'I get why people would've liked to see it play out but it's really for the best that it didn't happen'. just not a good combination on any conceivable level, though on the plus side marc's feud count would be looking a tad healthier

[theburgessobserver]

Pt.3 The Hidden Truth

Since Ancient times there have been sightings and recordings of strange manifestations in the sky.

It was always speculated on the possibilities of….visitors from another world

Today from the skies of California!

The fields of Kansas!

The Freezing Wastelands of the Poles!

The Rice Patties of the Orient!

The Atlantic Ocean!

The Airlanes of the world!

…come persistent reports of UFOs Unidentified flying objects which we have come to know as…flying saucers,something had to be done!

In Dayton Ohio the Air Intelligence Command gathers in search data from all corners of the globe 95 percent of the objects prove to be of natural origin.While 5 percent remain still listed as unknown.

The Air Force is aware of the widely held belief that some of these could be flying saucers from another planet,while there is nothing conclusive in the evidence.The probing and digesting the probing information about UFOs continues unceasingly!

As a result headquarters of the hemispheric defense command in Colorado Springs issued an order:

Any military installations are to fire on sight at any flying objects unidentifiable.

But even as they did this the military wondered if their know-how and best weapons would be effective in any battle of

THE EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Ahhh that's so scary!”Bob said

“Aw come on Bob it's only a movie”Beastman comforted him

“How about a Roger Corman film?Or better yet a documentary.”The Cockroach man suggested.

“Why not a beach film I love those” Link was saying remembering the good old days of rampage and women.

I didn't really pay much attention to that movie they were putting on,besides I was so big I could hardly tell what was going on. The set was so tiny. Sigh…time sure does pass here at a snail's pace.I met some other inmates like Beastman he was quite nice and cultured but we could only see him only at daytime because at night no matter where he was he would lose control of his instincts and be completely feral and dangerous.

Then there was Jaromir the Vodyanoy(or water spirit) who went as far as to flood a village for not leaving his lake alone ,while he went on the run afterward through lakes heading towards the sea,it ended with a showdown with the WASPs(World Aquanaut Security Patrol)after which he was captured and was used as an example to other water spirits to be wary of the consequences of their actions.

Then he was a japanese Yokai Shapeshifter he was a mysterious robber and stole from many jewelry collections he was called the invisible striker as he would take the form of any guard or official,while it was hard to catch him they eventually did and locked him up here .Its rue form was Kitsume which meant fox.

Then there was the Goblin Queen.She is from what I heard from Doc the queen and warrior champion of her subterranean hidden kingdom.But that was not enough for her,when the treaty was signed she was against all the way through and disregarded it many times.In the end she was taken here to prevent her from causing real trouble,unlike others she had many perks like looser rules,far better quarters etc. mainly due to her background and power and to keep her happy again to prevent trouble from her domain.

“Even among misfits I'm a misfit”I said to myself

Meanwhile Bob changed the channel and was watching static

“Woah did you get that?CCSSSSHHH!Now that is quality tv!”He said mimicking the static

“Bob, it's on static change the channel!”Beastman said in reply

“Yeah, put on something cool and tropical, ''Link suggested. Hopefully he thought of himself as being very cool especially after being in ice for millennia and he loved the warmth and atmosphere of it.It was a convenient truth that the planet had left the Ice age that froze him.

“You mean like ... .Monster Beach?”The dim-witted Blob said

“Oh No not that again”Link said annoyed

I was looking over the oatmeal and reminiscing of the good old days,days which were not long ago,I just lost almost any taste for food, my life was without any flavor. My life is just dull, gray,monotonous and uncomfortable with enough food to keep me going yet not have any taste to give me an appetite.I had been here for two weeks and It was hard for me to be familiarized with this weird life .It felt like a fever dream .As if I had gone insane and was locked up and put on medications…and yet it was so real.

“Well…at least with this gunk I won't have any weight woes”After this gunk isn't very tempting I said

“Yeah at least I won't gain any weight!”I said aloud trying to stay optimistic.

“But you've already gained Tons of weight” Bob said brainlessly and unintentionally insensitively

“THANKS BOB!”I said I was angered by his remark,He most likely didn't mean it of course. but i couldn't help it.Im not the type to be sarcastic but this was just so…well…different.

Suddenly a large helicopter appeared and it was towing a light,the light which guided Grubzilla back to his cell where he would slumber, meaning it was time for him and us to go to sleep.

“Oh well it's time to go to sleep, good night!”Cockroach said

“Sleep well Amazonia!”Link said

“Have a nice night Ginormica!”Bob said

“Her name is actually Titanica!”Beastman said

“No Its Susan”I said

While I chose the name Titanica it was against my will i just found it to be the best of a bad lot. My,I wish they would just shut up and stop calling me that!I am not Titanica,I am Susan!

In the cell I was deep in thought and then I saw the kitten “Hang in there”Poster and said to myself“Okay,Susan Murphy Hang in there and face the facts.You're in Jail unfairly imprisoned and none of my friends know where I am,but they know I'm missing, Derek might know some powerful people,Mom and Dad will also do there best,and everyone present at the wedding saw it happen and will…….. “EUREKA!That's it!”I shouted loudly and happily.

But then I remembered I was under 24 hour surveillance by the personell observing me. So I thought to myself“Some of my friends and family were filming and taking photos at my wedding,and would still be filming and taking photos when I turned to a giantess.That's excellent proof!Like who wouldn't want to take a photo of something as weird as that…The Government can't keep me a secret anymore!They must know I've been kidnapped.The Government can't keep me with that out and about!They just can't!"After that I calmed down from my elation and went to sleep.

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I had a strange dream that night,that I was a celebrity and that bilions watched videos of me growing up to giant size on televisions and at meets and well just frankly everywhere.And that I was a phenomenon known as “Bridezilla!”. I felt odd and embarrassed,then again many are most likely seeing the video while I was still dreaming.Oh well I couldn't be that bad!

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The next morning as I woke up I went into the day with new hopes.

Suddenly a beeping sound came.The beeping sound that announced the meals we were to get.The other inmates noticed it as well.

“Oh Boy!It's eat time” Link said happily as he and the gang raced up to the table.

Link dished up his favorite meal,raw fish!He happily dug into it in his primitive manner.

“That is thoroughly repulsive” Doc said

Then he was dished up his food,trash.

“Oh look, a lovely slipper” he said and started to devour it,Bob tried to reach out to take some ,but Doc noticed and promptly pushed him away.

“Sorry but this is my rubbish pile”he said to the blob

He happily indulged in it,When I first saw Doc eat trash I wondered how could someone like eating trash but then I remembered that he said he fused himself with genes of a cockroach and that it not only affected him physically but also mentally,It was like from that book Metamorphosis where that guy got turned into a bug and found how much he loved rotten things.

Then again i must admit Doc has been doing a pretty good job of disregarding his bug instincts and has been acting very kind and civil .In fact I bet he's the nicest person i met since…the day…As for Bob seeing as he's such a simpleton…well such a thing wouldn't really have much taste or completely bizzare taste at that.

“Doc!DOC!DOC!DOOOOOCCCC!!!” Bob screamed in terror

“I forgot to breathe. What will I do?How can I breathe help me Doc!”The brainless blob screamed in terror!

“Bob,you are a Blob and you do not need to breathe”Cockroach deadpanned,this wasn't the first time this week Bob had that type of problem.

“WOW!THANKS DOC YOU'RE A LIFESAVER!”Bob said happily and I saw him shaking the hands with Doc

Some time later I layed down alone,when suddenly I felt a scurrying up my legs. I used my hand to scrape it off. It was Jacques and he went flying all the way to the wall and hit it with a thud his hands were twitching.

"OH!Im so sorry!"I said realizing I accidentally crushed him,how emberassing!

“No no my dear it is my fault entirely I should have asked before i climbed on you at times the bug part of me takes control and I don't notice”Jacques-Yves said

“Anyway I have something to tell you”He said while he scurried over in front of me.

“My examinations of you have proven most intriguing,Susan.I have no Idea what could have caused it.Do the scientist from the examination know anything about it?”He asked me curiously

“The scientists just call it Chemical X”I said “They don't know much about it,in fact they are not even sure if it was an element,it could have been anything really.

“Well ,maybe we should give it a name then”Jacques said

“Titanium?No wait that's already been taken".Cockroach mused

Susanium?He said,I blushed, it was nice but kinda unfitting.

“Cockroachium?”I said,Doc smiled back.

“I don't know,I have been running checks on you,whatever it is it affect you completely right down to your quantum levels”Doc was deep in thought

“Hmmm,Quantonium?It seems fitting.”He said

“Yeah,I think that's just a fine name for it,if it even is an element.”I said Doc's name was okay for now.

“Well for all I know and the scientist too, what happened to you could have been anything like just a magic trick that changed you,but that would be daft!”he said jokingly

“Yeah”Was all I said,he was right and it made me think,maybe it wasn't some kind of element or radiation or all that jazz.Maybe it could be something beyond our comprehension…then again maybe I was just overthinking,I looked back at Jacques.

I liked him. He was so nice to me and so understanding,maybe because he was at one point a normal human being too and he was rather intelligent in addition to being accustomed to all sorts of beasts

“Doc, this place is like Alcatraz for the supernatural” I said to the tiny bug headed white cloth scientist.

His large cockroach eyes looked at me and then thought about something and then he said

“More like Tartarus!”

“What?”I answered,like what's this tartar something?

“Its from Greek mythology Doc swiftly replied It was used to imprison Demons,Titans and certain humans as a prison,you know interesting story the titans who were giants led by Cronus were banished there as punishment It was said to have been a prison built by the gods.Odd how there are such strange parallels between the real and the mythical…then again you're mythical giantess and you real,I guess it's just a coincidence”The seemingly tiny doctor told me

I was amazed by his knowledge and kinda embarased by my ignorance,so then left to the side for awhile

Monger arrived inside and again a helicopter used its light to direct Grubzilla away,I was disgusted by the way he treated him as if he was just an object

“Monger,I need to have a word with you” I said trying to look serious,I was waiting for this all day…at least i thought it was day,Deep down i was nervous however.

“Sure thing”He answered and the flew to me

“What about..visits?When will I see anyone from my family again?”I said

“No visits to any monsters ,sorry but that's just the way it is can't bring just anybody here for any reason we gotta keep this place and you secret”Monger said

“How long will I have to be here?" I demanded “How long will you keep this little game of yours up?Another day?week?Month or a year?”I said desperately as tried to come to terms with his previous sentence

“Forever” Monger said cooly and calmly and landed his jetpack and turned it off and walked towards me

“After all the military is expert at covering up and creating misinformations to fill in the gaps…If it is necessary that is…after all most think the Easter Bunny is a fable.”He explained

“So…I'm just gonna rot here for always and always and always, for doing nothing wrong?”I said “In fact a lot of these other creatures are too!And they arent all that bad”

“Well,I wouldn't say so”!Monger said

“But they're innocent!”I told Monger in a defiant tone!

“Innocent eh?”Monger said

“Actually most if not all are guilty. Each of them went on a rampage,caused destruction,were a danger to society and possibly even killed people intentionally or not!Grubzilla has the highest damage and death count by far and while he didnt mean to destroy part of Tokyo ,he is still a hazard and a big one at that!Link went on a rampage and kidnapped many innocent women and killed a several men who were trying to stop him from getting the girl.”

"And Beastman killed several people too,no wonder he gave himself up as he realized he couldn't control himself at night in the slightest.And wisely saw this as the correct choice"

"And that Blob, while he can only eat inorganic matter he still eat through a few city blocks caused property damage several people were injured and he imperiled many innocent lives!If You are in any doubt we have the M-Files for it and even if not convinced then we even have footage of there rampages!"

“But I didn't go on a rampage!”I protested,I WAS IN THE RIGHT!I didn't Kill anyone,I didn't intentionally become a giantess,or intentionally cause any trouble .Im Innocent .I'm supposed to be free!

“True!But you must understand that you did cause some havoc though unintentionally as well as being well…a giantess,I'm sorry but you were just too dangerous to be around,that and we need to keep myths hidden and Giants aren't exactly easy to hide or cover up.And If you would be free many would panic and possibly even try to kill you. And also we have agreements for cover-ups for a reason you know for your benefit and societies at large”Monger said

“How did you even think you'll cover me up?And all these creatures and their actions as well?”I said trying to get him off his arguments though he did plant a seed of doubt in my head with his proclamations

“Well Link was actually “revealed” to be an actor in a suit who was part of a movie production and the whole thing including the footage was brushed off as a publicity stunt.The Wolf-man was just a gag of several teeagers who had a suit and scared people with it.”

“Bob was just called a lab explosion which caused the damage and some of the gasses escaping from it ,caused people to hallucinate.”

He finished his long speech with “I Could go on but you get the point.”

“But you can't just expect people to unsee me!There were many by me and I wouldn't be surprised if photos or videos were taken of it!You just can't tell them to unsee that!And you can't just do as if I never existed!”I said to try and fight against all of his statements.

“True,but we can give “explanations” and “reveal the truth to the public”.As for those who saw you we just advised them to not talk about it,besides no one would believe them.And those Photos were destroyed and while a video of it was leaked by someone at the wedding and shown on a Mystery channel we quickly disavowed its legitimacy.We said that it was actually done as a parody of monster movie made by some students in Modesto and sent there actually to promote their film efforts”

So…I really was alone asking if my parents or friends would visit would obviously be fruitless so I asked for the last remaining thing

“Can I at the very least call my parents or write to them?”I said holding on to a last string of hope for some,any contact

“That is not an option,there is a risk of an information leak”Monger continued in a stoic voice cutting off the last thread of hope

“EVEN A SERIAL KILLER HAS THE RIGHT TO THAT!”I screamed in rage,I was infuriated,I screamed so loud that some glass from some of the observatories cracked and broke.

Monger gave me a disapproving look which then turned into one which looked more like disappointment.

“I am sorry”He said

And with that he walked away…

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I contemplated the whole situation while some know the videos are taken as fake and anyone in Modesto who saw me would be discouraged and my parents couldn't do anything.I was…On my own.

I sat down and cuddled myself into a ball into one corner.I could feel tears slowly forming in my eyes.

“Cmon Susan”I said to myself “Get up and face it.It aint all bad!”I had to push through it.No more crying now!I thought that maybe what he told me were lies…fat chance!

So here I am in my dimly lit room,not long after the lights went out and the room plunged into darkness.I went down and started to cry again,I curled up into a ball and eventually stopped crying.I tried to make myself happy.

I tried to still dream about the happy days, the days of being NORMAL!Those days have to be back.

Then I thought about the test they conducted on me and those surveys of my body.There still is hope!The scientists were working out to find out what happened to me,and if they did they could cure me and everything could be just Honky Dory again…

“But…if they're trying to figure me out ,there must be more to it”I thought to myself.If they figured out how I work,what would stop them from making their own giants?I thought to myself. So I have two outcomes…and both bad…and even if they cure me, who knows how long…will Derek still be waiting for me?

That night I had a nightmare, giants destroying city blocks crushing innocent people causing war,death,famine and plagues…well ok maybe not plagues but still…..all this…and then I saw myself being pointed at by the victims in what was left of Modesto“You……you did this”One said “No wait I didn't mean to I”I tried to defend myself and those victims...they were my friends and "choke"family! “You…did this to us”Another one said. “This was all your fault,If it were not for you we wouldn't have lost everyone we knew,our homes and suffered greatly under all of this”

“MONSTER!MONSTER!MONSTER!”My former bes friends chanted while pointing at me in the ruins of my hometown."Wait Im sorry!I never wanted this.

Then I saw that they brought to me Derek…he was dead and they said “He Died because of you,”I looked at Derek…his starry eyes still looking outward as if searching for me,never to see me again in this barren wasteland.

“DEREK?DEREK!DEREK!”I cried out,Clutching his body,we would be forever separated husband and wife.Then I cried out “NOOOOO!!!!!”

With a shock I woke up and looked around just to make sure I was still here.

“Oh,It was only a bad dream”I said in relief, resting myself and giving a large sigh of relief,everything calmed down and was quite save for my breathing,I then thought back to the experiments,what happened in the dream could become maybe one day a sad reality.

I really have to get out of here.

----------------------------------------------------------

Firstly the end was done as a nightmare (So if it doesn't make sense or have contrivances i did it intentionally to boil it down to her worst fears and pains coming to get her,after all dreams(and nightmares) have no limitations and can really show us thing we cant see)

The Next Parts will be different:There lenghts may vary due to what part of the story thell tell and I will change the POV character too to give us more insight and characterisation of these characters(I am working on several chapters at once to make better connections between the stories and to plan ahead so sorry for the delays im working on it still)

I made this fake-out opening just because i thought that the monsters should watch something in there spare time(also yes Earth vs the Flying Saucers is a real film I had on dvd and though quoting it would make the opening more interesting…and those 5 percent are most likely the guardians and other such magical beings)

The Reason Wasps found Jaromir was because some babyteeth in the area were sent to look for him and managed to know exactly where he was heading and then telling tooth who told Wasp who were ready and waiting for him.

Description

She is human like in body and size,but with some difference like her scaly-green skin,her pointy ears(not to cartoonish proportions tough still)she also has violet hair and two of her teeth can be retractable between normal and sharp. It is stated in mythology are ruled by the smartest and strongest of them.Like she is motivated by greed.There are several breeds some may be nearly elf like and only live a few decades while others like herself are humanoid and are far more powerful and itelligent.For she can be stabbed right through and only have it as a slight flesh wound.She also has some weaponry like a flying broomstick like thingy.Like all she has the ability to see in darkness.While many say shes crazy its just one of her ploys to incite fear to her enemies.

While in myth they were all seen the same, some types(like hers)are considerably intelligent,despite being almost always portrayed as being ugly and dimwitted.

Fun Fact

The Guardians had to assemble to take her down,while she threatend to attack the world above.

[sometipsygnostalgic]

my pokemon shera headcanons:

adora and catra are the protagonist and rival. ive contemplated other options but nothing else works. sometimes adora works better as the rival, sometimes catra does. ive drawn adora as N and catra as Hilda before but catra is a good Silver or Blue or, whats his face from gen 5 part 2. Hugh. That asshole.

actually glimmer would make a good Hugh, or Blue, or a gen 8 rival. i feel like Glimmer has a lot in common with both Marnie and Bede from generation 8. she has a bit of Barry in her too. not so much Hop even with their family similarities cos Hop is way too much of a quitter. 

shadow weaver is a member of the elite 4 AND the evil team at the same time. 

scorpia also belongs in the elite 4 but the thing is theyre never there at the same time 

i think the elemental princesses can form the gym leaders and the elite 4 but i can’t see glimmer settling for the position even if she becomes a member, like blue marnie and bede shes always going to be trying against adora/catra for the championship

netossa would make a good champion she reminds me of cynthia

mara would also make for a good champion she reminds me of alder and red and i think thatd be an epic adora vs her mentor battle

hordak is the evil team leader and frankly he is fucking made for the role. he is dark and evil but also socially isolated and misguided and has redeemable qualities and will have a crobat. he already has Imp which is the she-ra equivalent of a crobat. hordak is cyrus but with a redemption arc. 

entrapta i cannot make my mind up because shed be a good professor but shes also the same character as colress who was the evil team leader in gen 5 but only because he just really wanted to see what made pokemon strong and once he was satisfied it was love and affection he just fucking left the evil team like it was nothing, while ghetsis (the closest thing to horde prime) screamed at him. in gen 7 colress comes back as a good guy to absolutely fuck over ghetsis, it’s so funny. 

entrapta would also make a good palmer, he is the gen 4 battle frontier leader and has super ADHD like his son, but micah would also make a good palmer in contrast to glimmer’s barry. either way i think entrapta would be one of those surprise battles that kicks your ass after you think youve already beaten the champion and won the game. 

catra would love dark types they have a million cats. catra has a litten. look at it. that’s a catra. 

adora loves normal types but ends up with psychic and fairy types somehow. thats a galarian rapidash. how did it get there? it’s called Swift Wind.  

glimmer IS jigglypuff

bow has rowlett on tap. how can he stop himself from getting more? 

if i made entrapta a gym leader shed be ghost type. you know shed love ghost types. and bugs. i know most people go steel/electric and thats valid but entrapta is ghost. 

as in the last post, hordak is a literal mimikyu, so naturally entrapta has adopted at least one. 

i think scorpia deserves a growlithe. growlithe/arcanine is one of my all time favourite pokemon and the friendliest fuzziest dog in the world and also used as pokemon police but the police are good in pokemon so it’s okay. 

[sun-marie]

hiii! 7, 8 and 12 ftom your canon da worldstate <3

wheeee thank you so much for the ask <333 I'll go ahead and answer for wardens, champion, and inquisitor!

7. If they had to choose one person most important to them, who would that be?

Katherine Cousland - Her brother, Fergus. They were close growing up together, and that intensified when he was the only surviving member left of her family </3 Aelon Mahariel - Tamlen :( If he was still able to find his clan, probably Ashalle or Merrill, but over the course of the game, Morrigan becomes an irreplaceable part of his life <3 Anwen Hawke - Fenris, especially after the Chantry Explosion, when it turned into them vs the world James Trevelyan - His cousin Ava, who he was very close with as a child before she was taken to the Circle, and with whom he reunites at Skyhold.

8. Who do they hate the most, and do they have an arch-nemesis?

Katherine Cousland - Pretty standard for a Cousland, but she loathes Arl Rendon Howe. She never really liked him before he went and murdered her whole family it from there it all went down hill Aelon Mahariel - I don't think he has a "nemesis" per se, but he actually doesn't like Duncan very much since he believes he stole him from his clan. He also doesn't like Alistair. Or Leliana. Or Loghain. Or Eamon. He's kind of a hard person to get along with. Anwen Hawke - She doesn't have much of an issue with the Arishok until he invades and Meredith is more of an oppressor, so I think Sister Petrice would be the closest she has to a nemesis. Petrice remembers her from before she was a noble and beyond her general awfulness, her personality gets on Anwen's nerves. James Trevelyan - The rivalry Corypheus sets up goes both ways, but he also hates Lord Seeker Lucius on Cassandra's behalf. Cassandra's faith is one of her most admiral qualities in his eyes, and to see how deeply Lucius betrayed her instantly shot him up to "oh this dude's gotta die" status

12. Attitude towards Mabari?

Katherine Cousland - Pubby :3 (shout-out Ferdie <3) Aelon Mahariel - Despite his distaste for 'wet dog' smell, he admires their strength, loyalty, and intelligence Anwen Hawke - PUBBY :333 (shout-out Declan <3) James Trevelyan - ehhhh those ferelden dogs? they're fine, he could take them or leave them. Certainly nothing to get so worked up about, but if one's around he's not above giving them a good head scratch

Your Canon DA Worldstate Ask Game

[ulkanews]

For Canada, this Gold Cup has lost its lustre

Depleted men's team competes for continental soccer championship

The biggest event in soccer this year is the Women's World Cup, which kicks off in just over three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. In the meantime, there's a sizable men's tournament happening in this part of the globe. The CONCACAF Gold Cup — the continental championship for North and Central America and the Caribbean — is underway now, primarily in the United States.

The Gold Cup holds a special place in Canadian soccer history. Its precursor, the CONCACAF Championship, once served as the region's qualifying tournament for the World Cup. Canada won it in 1985 to earn its first World Cup appearance the following year. The next generation's defining moment came at the 2000 Gold Cup, where Canada surprised everyone by lifting the trophy for the first (and still only) time with a 2-0 victory over Colombia in the final in L.A.

Canada's chances of reaching its first Gold Cup final since that incredible run seemed pretty strong after the men's team topped CONCACAF's World Cup qualifying tournament en route to its first World Cup appearance since 1986 last year in Qatar. But that effort, along with Canada's run to the CONCACAF Nations League title match in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, ended up sapping the team's Gold Cup hopes.

Coach John Herdman announced shortly after his team's loss to the United States in the Nations League final that most of his best players will not be available for the Gold Cup. They need time to recover from a long European club season with a World Cup dropped into the middle and the Nations League Finals tacked onto the end. Alphonso Davies, Jonathan David, Cyle Larin, Tajon Buchanan, Alistair Johnston, Ismael Kone and, just yesterday, Stephen Eustaquio were taken off the roster. Longtime captain Atiba Hutchinson is also missing after retiring following the Nations League final. Several U.S. players are skipping the Gold Cup too, including star midfielder Christian Pulisic.

Herdman will still have goalkeeper Milan Borjan, midfielder Jonathan Osorio and a few others you'll know from the World Cup team. But the coach said he'll use the Gold Cup to get some of his "young lads" a bit of international experience as Canada approaches qualifying for the upcoming Copa America.

The intensely competitive South American championship, featuring World Cup champion Argentina and perennial power Brazil, is being hosted by the United States next summer and six CONCACAF teams will be invited. Those will be decided in the 2023-24 Nations League, which kicks off in September. Canada has a bye to November's quarterfinals, where a win will earn them a spot in the Copa America.

Qualifying for the Copa America is vital for the Canadian men because the tournament is a rare chance for them to compete against quality opponents ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which Canada is co-hosting.

Canada Soccer, currently engaged in labour disputes with both the men's and women's national teams, says it's so broke right now that it may not be able to schedule international friendlies for either squad this fall, making tournament play more important than ever. The women can attest to what happens when the tuneup matches are left to Canada Soccer. They were afforded just one friendly this calendar year in preparation for the World Cup: a match in France back in April.

Despite their depleted roster, the Canadian men shouldn't have much trouble reaching the knockout stage of the Gold Cup. The world's 47th-ranked team opens group play tonight at 7 p.m. ET in Toronto vs. Guadeloupe, which does not have a world ranking because it is not a member of FIFA. Canada then travels to Houston to complete its group-stage slate vs. No. 116 Guatemala on Saturday and No. 165 Cuba next Tuesday.

The top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the quarterfinals on July 8 and 9 in Arlington, Tex., and Cincinnati. The semis are on July 12 in Las Vegas and San Diego. The final goes July 16 at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium, the hyper-modern venue that hosted the Super Bowl in 2022.

Source: cbc.ca

[ectonurites]

Sorry if there’s tons and it’s a pain to list them, but I’m curious, which comics are you currently reading? Like which series are on your pull list, even if you’ve not necessarily caught up completely

OK so before the summer started I was up to date on So Many Things but with my job over the summer being very busy and then things being complicated irl for me since then (mostly medical stuff, both my own and elsewhere in my family, most notably with my uncle passing away a few weeks ago) it's caused me to be specifically like 4-5 issues behind on several things.

[Also, my actual 'i purchase these physically' pull list is much smaller than this whole list, but I think you're asking more about what I've read than just what I've bought.]

gonna put this under a readmore because it's long lmao

To start with ones i'm up to date on/mostly up to date on (like only 1 or 2 issues behind at most)

Batgirls

Batman

Batman Incorporated

Superman: Son of Kal-El

Tim Drake: Robin

Batman: The Knight

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths (and trying to read the related tie-in oneshots too)

Dark Crisis: Young Justice

Dark Knights of Steel

DC vs. Vampires (though I no longer really want to read this one after the controversy about Otto Schmidt came to light recently, but I'd read all of it that was released before I become aware of that situation)

The New Champion of Shazam!

Poison Ivy

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons

Plus some recently finished series that are also in that category:

Nubia: Queen of the Amazons

Robin (2021)

Task Force Z

Then ones I'm further behind on (so more in that 4-5 issues range or I'll specifically note if I think necessary):

Batman/Superman: World's Finest

Batman: Urban Legends

Detective Comics (I just haven't had a chance to read it since Ram V took over, but I've read all of Tamaki's run)

The Flash

I Am Batman

Nightwing

Wonder Woman (I haven't read any of it since Trial of the Amazons ended, but I've read everything from Infinite Frontier-ToTA)

Batman vs. Robin (I haven't actually had a chance to read this one yet but I like, have it on my physical pull list thus own the issues)

Monkey Prince

Then they haven't started yet but I have Blue Beetle: Graduation Day and Stargirl: The Lost Children on my pull list for when they start, and once release dates for Kon's book from Round Robin come out i'll be adding that to my pull as well.

Thennnn ones I am not at all up to date with but do intend to get to at some point:

Action Comics (I fell off right when Warworld saga started which was like over a full year ago so it goes here)

Sword of Azrael

Multiversity: Teen Justice

Anyways it is very funny to me that internally I keep being like 'ugh i'm barely up to date with anything rn :(' when that's not even a little bit true. there's just so many books and i wish i consistently had the time and energy for all of them (even the ones i don't necessarily enjoy as much, because i just Like being up to date and Aware of what's going on regardless of quality)

[darkwood-sleddog]

Ok, this is a very genuine question, but could you please list out and maybe go in a bit detail on what's wrong with the whole AKC, and history? I've very curious with wanting to know when such a stress on looks and bloodline came to be, especially when older breeds were simply bred for a job.

The AKC and kennel clubs as a concept are not inherently a bad thing. I think registries are a GREAT thing, we should be keeping track of pedigrees and accepting registrations imo. What’s frustrating to me is the closing of stud books (meaning no new blood can enter breeds) and an unrealistic expectation/desire for perfection/uniformity and the attitude that surrounds that.

Dogs shows and kennel clubs came to be because people wanted a way to exhibit their breeding stock and compare them, so they could plan their breedings, they sprung up around cattle showing (and we can see the similarities to these two venues today). There’s a pretty nice article HERE. 

In the modern day, many people believe that a breeding is only reputable if the dog is both health tested AND titled to Championship. It was not always like this in the past, just go look at pedigrees from the early and mid century 1900s. Championship and often Grand Champion in the US have become expectations to prove ones reputability instead of proving the actual quality of the dog. Breeders that breed non-championed dogs can be ripped into by many people, believing that the dog has not proven itself to be breeding quality (often completely ignoring that the dog may bring other things to the breeder’s program like a good temperament, working attitude, genetic diversity, structural fixes etc).

The sport of showing, or taking conformation as a sport to excel in rather than what it is supposed to be (an evaluation of breeding quality in dogs) creates a competitive atmosphere which means that people will be acquiring or breeding a dog that meets what is most likely to win. This causes extreme uniformity (it is not unrealistic to expect breeds to be uniform and represent breed type across a spectrum in the breed, but for them to look clone like is, imo, not it). This competitive nature has gradually grown and grown over the years, as is natural (humans love to compete with each other). 

In addition, the show world is very “who you know” so judges are not necessarily impartial (and this is not a new thing in dog shows, the partiality of judges has been questioned since the beginning lmao) and well known judges may put up dogs related to their own lines or what they desire, creating a specific ring look. In a desire to win (be it conscious or not), many people will breed towards a ring trend and this is how many breeds have changed dramatically or subtly over time in addition to actual improvements and disprovements in structure and health that may happen over time with breeding programs. This creates an exclusive club that truly feels outing to those not on the “in” and the exclusive group of people will push their agenda, therefore forcing those with slightly differing dogs to look elsewhere (truly some of these people can be so nasty and the rise of social media has not helped this). This means that dogs that don’t fit the now very narrow view of the breed are pushed out of show circles or into non AKC show circles, effectively reducing the gene pool (because often AKC folks will look down on non AKC clubs in the US and not intermingle their dogs). In addition, in AKC dogs can be handled by a professional handler, somebody who makes money specifically off handling dogs in the show ring, creating further exclusivity (handlers can be expensive and is also connected very much to “who you know”), competitive nature, and includes a bit more capitalism. 

The extreme uniformity in many show dogs we see today is the result of closed stud books. When a stud book is closed you can’t add ANY new genetics, this makes it very easy to breed true to type (meaning when you breed a border collie to a border collie you will get more border collies for example), but as dogs are culled from that gene pool (perhaps they don’t fit the ring trend or have a minor flaw like a white marking), the dogs become very closely related. Especially when you are in show circles many of the dogs are even MORE closely related. This causes extreme uniformity because the show only people are unwilling to take dogs into their gene pools they deem “lesser” for being a bit different, but no less of the breed than their own. Now many breeders are aware of the dwindling genetic diversity in their breeds and conscious do things to help this, however it’s not enough of them imo.

To fix some of these issues Champion and Grand Champion need to be reserved for truly exceptional dogs and I think for working breeds a working test prior to championship being attained would be appropriate and for companion breeds, a companion temperament test. Currently if a dog is campaigned for a length of time and the judges they are shown under are chosen carefully, they can champion (dogs need 15 points and 3 major wins for CH in AKC). Which is not necessarily then a mark of quality, just a mark of how much money/time the owner/breeder had to put towards the dog achieving points). A less exceptional dog may be campaigned for a long amount of time and a truly wonderful example of a breed may campaigned for a short amount of time and they will both be Champions (and unless you know what went on with that specific dog and aren’t very educated in that specific breed then how will you know the quality of Dog 1 is different than that of Dog 2 when they are given an equal stamp of quality from the show ring?) 

A more expansive grading of the dog’s quality (E for Exceptional through P for poor for example vs just points/Champion and above) would allow a greater diversity in the ring and a more nuanced explanation of what that judge/club thinks of the dog’s breeding quality (The Norsk Kennel Club has a system similar to this). Reduce entry fees. Ban professional handlers (reduction of capitalistic intent in the show ring), make Champion a mark of a truly exceptional dog, understand that not every dog is exceptional, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t breeding quality. Make health tests on parents mandatory for the registration of litters. Open stud books. Make registrations more easily to looked up/at. If a marking or coloring occurs naturally/historically within the breed it should be fine to show (I’m looking at YOU white shepherds). Would that make showing more complicated? Heck yeah. Would any of these changes be likely to happen? Heck no...the AKC is pretty stuck in their ways.

This is a really complex question, not one I’m able to answer in 100% accuracy in terms of why and how, other than....dog people are privileged. And they operate the AKC as such. I recommend looking into the literature from decades past and comparing them with prevailing attitudes now to get a better feel for how your breed of choice may have changed for better or for worse. Old breed literature and looking at how that literature evolves over time is a great insight into the ever morphing attitudes in the AKC.

[lucemferto]

I talk about the current troubles of the Dream SMP.

If you want to help me out, please reblog! You can also retweet my tweet and upvote my reddit post. Thank you.

Script under the cut

I really hope Technoblade succeeds in breaking Dream out of prison.

Now why would I say that? Well, it’s because there’s this feeling in the fandom right now that Dream SMP Season 3 is … going slow. That there’s not much happening. Some have blamed it on the pace of how lore streams are doled out, saying we get too little lore stretched out over too much time. Others postulate that it’s the quality of the lore – that the individual plot points are badly told or that the high production value of certain streams prevent the story from gaining momentum.

Now, because I’m me, I think I identified the problem as something that’s structurally wrong with Season 3 as opposed to Seasons 1 and 2. In order to explain that we must look at one of my favourite narratological theories: the Three-Act-Structure.

But before we get into that, here’s your obligatory reminder to please like this video, comment your thoughts down below in order to help me with YouTube’s algorithm and subscribe if you really like my stuff. Please feel free to check out my social media presences and share my videos on there so that more people have the chance to see them. Thank you so much.

Let’s get back to the video:

 Chapter 1: The Three-Act-Structure Explained

The Three-Act-Structure as a model to explain narratives finds its roots far in the past with its earliest recorded instance being in the fourth century by the Roman grammarian Aelius Donatus though similar ideas were also expressed by everyone’s favourite Greek philosopher Aristotle.

Since then, the model has been continuously evolved and used throughout recorded history. There are also alternative models such as the Five-Act-Structure, the Six-Act-Structure, the Eight-Act-Structure, the … Nine-Act-Structure, Jesus Christ. But the Three-Act-Structure has reigned the undisputed champion in modern-day creation and analysis of narratives.

The particulars of the Three-Act-Structure as we know it today were codified in Syd Field’s 1979 work “Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting”, which has since become the Go-To-Work when it comes being a screenwriter in Hollywood. You want to write a script? You need the read the “Screenplay”.

The modern Three-Act-Structure is comprised of the following points/sequences:

-       The Backstory/Exposition: Exactly what it says on the tin. Sets up the Ordinary World that the characters inhabit, let’s us know about what character’s general deal is. It serves as an introduction to the story and world of your narrative.

-       The Point of Attack: This one is not often talked about and doesn’t feature in every story, but it’s still worth mentioning. This is where the major tension/conflict/dramatic question (structurally, these terms fulfil roughly the same function) is set into motion. It usually doesn’t include the protagonists of the story, but rather the antagonists.

-       The Inciting Incident: This is where the protagonists are sent on their way. We are introduced to their personal conflict and given a reason as to why they would have to leave the Ordinary World behind.

-       The Turning Point: This marks the end of Act I, where the personal conflicts of the protagonists and the major conflict of the overarching story intersect and coalesce. It is the natural fallout of the inciting incident, the big dramatic status quo change that we need in order to get the story going.

This naturally leads into Act II, where all the minor character conflicts are resolved and integrated into the larger conflict. This is what is referred to as the Rising Action: through the resolution and incorporation of the minor conflicts into the major conflicts, the story gains momentum. The action rises.

This act has two big culminations:

-       The Mid Point: The first culmination or Mid-Point sees some sort of shift in the major conflict. Maybe all the minor conflicts set-up in Act I are resolved and thus the major conflict becomes the full focus or the major conflict gains an additional factor. Instead of defeating the evil bad guy, the Heroes now have to defeat the Bad Guy and save the Damsel

-       The Lowest Point: The Lowest Point marks the end of Act II. Here the villains are just short of victory or maybe even achieve victory. In a romantic movie, this is the cliché end of Act II fallout which naturally leads into chasing the Hero chasing the love interest into an airport.

With the Lowest Point, the Heroes begin the third act almost or fully defeated. The stakes are high and everything seems hopeless. But then comes:

-       The Twist/Resolution: Usually, the twist coincides with either the protagonist or some sort of character having a eureka-moment or resolving their personal conflict – their Want vs. Need.

-       The Climax: With their problems resolved, the protagonists can venture forth to stop the villains or antagonistic force or save their love life.

-       The Dénouement: After the villain’s defeat/the resolution of the final conflict, the protagonist returns to the ordinary world, but changed by their experiences. The Dénouement is the one part of Act III, that can really drag it out – think the many, many endings of Return of the King for instance.

Up until now, I usually focused on that end of Act II/Act III-part when discussing the storytelling of the Dream SMP such as the Final Disc War, November 16th or Doomsday. Because Doomsday wasn’t just the Lowest Point in terms of storytelling quality.

But for Season 3, I instead want to focus on this section, The Inciting Incident and The Turning Point. Because this is where the current storytelling falters. The narrative has failed to pick up momentum, something that is achieved through a successful Inciting Incident and Turning Point.

So, I want to make the theory palpable and apply the Three-Act-Structure – with focus on Act I and early Act II – to all three Seasons of the Dream SMP to see where Seasons 1 & 2 succeeded and Season 3 failed.

 Chapter 2: The Three-Act-Structure Applied

Despite being much less written out and planned and more focused on the roleplay-aspect, both Season 1 and Season 2 somehow stumbled into recreating the Three-Act-Structure pretty well (S2 had its problem, but on the whole, it was still generally discernible).

I’m not here to discuss why narrative conventions and tools of literary analysis are applicable to something as seemingly idiosyncratic as the Dream SMP, I will do that in a future video. For the purposes of this video, we will simply have to take it at face value that these tools are applicable.

Season 1, which was probably the most consistently and competently written out of the three seasons thus far, has a very clear major tension/conflict: Who gets to steer the fate of L’Manburg, whether that be through stewardship or dissolution. It ties deeply into the personal conflict of our protagonist Wilbur as well as the external threat as represented by our villain JSchlatt, the best character in the story.

And not just that, basically every character whether that be Tommy, Tubbo, Niki, Fundy, Dream or Technoblade is invested in seeing this major tension resolved.

All this is achieved through a wonderful inciting incident and turning point. The inciting incident, the personal conflict for our protagonists, is Wilbur calling a presidential election. He wants to solidify power; his personal conflict being gaining full control over L’Manburg – I will talk about it more in my Wilbur-video.

This leads to the Turning Point, which in this case is a very natural cause and effect: Wilbur loses the election his sense of self shattered and JSchlatt, best character, takes over L’Manburg declares himself Emperor and exiles Tommy and Wilbur. The protagonists are forced out of their Ordinary World and the dynamic of the server is changed forever. The Main Tension or Major Conflict has been fully established.

This has server-wide consequences that every character is impacted by. All the many personal conflict are now framed by this all-encompassing major conflict. Thus, everything feels like it’s building up towards the same climax. Whether that be Fundy’s personal conflict as a deep-undercover spy, Niki’s conflict as the resistance in Manburg, Quackity’s struggle for power under Schlatt or the threat of Schlatt trying to expand Manberg into Dream SMP territory.

This even applies to the most disconnected conflict in Act II: The War between Sapnap and Tommy. Because even here, Sapnap’s stated goal is to gather enough power to take over Manberg. Now, that the power dynamic has shifted once it has signalled to other antagonists that the power dynamic can shift once more. The Balance of the Ordinary World is disrupted.

And from the Pogtopia-side, this conflict serves as a great way to not only build up their team, but also as a mini-version of their major conflict. If they cannot defeat Sapnap, what chance do they stand against Big Bad Emperor Schlatt.

Season 2, in spite of all the problems that it has, also managed to pull off the inciting incident and turning point rather well. The Inciting Incident here being Tommy burning down George’s house – his intent being to gain some leverage to win his discs back – which then again lead very gracefully into the Turning Point: Tommy being exiled from L’Manburg.

Tommy’s personal conflict – regaining his discs – was folded into the major conflict: Breaking Dream’s grip over the SMP (and in effect creating a new power dynamic on the server).

Tommy’s exile led to Tubbo being pushed by Quackity to institute the Butcher Army – an antagonistic force intent on making L’Manberg the strongest nation on the server; in effect dethroning Dream. This would of course lead to Hog Hunt and Technoblade’s involvement; ultimately bringing a lot of momentum into the narrative.

Now, Season 2 doesn’t pull this off as graciously as Season 1: You will have noticed that both the Inciting Incident as well as the Turning Point are pretty exclusively focused on Tommy which leads to the major conflict revolving mostly around Tommy and the characters in his orbit – which is not ideal when dealing with an ever-expanding ensemble cast.

While Season 1’s Inciting Incident and Turning Point also had Wilbur as their centre point, they were open enough to allow for other characters such as Quackity, Sapnap and most crucially Schlatt to naturally integrate themselves into the narrative.

What also doesn’t help is that the Rising Action up until the Midpoint is almost exclusively focused on Tommy as I discussed in my Philza-video. There is dramatic and narrative momentum, but it comes at the expense of basically every other character or storyline. The Butcher Army and New L’Manburg are painfully underexplored.

But still, despite its flaws, Season 2 managed to get the ball rolling. So where did Season 3 go wrong?

The main problem that Season 3 has is that it presented us with a large number of potential inciting incidents, but no concrete turning point. We have a lot of personal conflicts, but are as of yet missing the big major tension or conflict that ties it all together; that gives the framework in which the personal conflicts of the characters can intersect and resolve.

I think just to showcase how scattershot Season 3’s storytelling is right now; I’ll have to list all the big plot points of the season as they happened:

1.    Tommy meets with the Egg and shows an immunity to it. The Egg orders the Eggpire to kill Tommy in order to proceed with their plan

2.    The prison gets into lockdown mode, while Tommy is visiting Dream

3.    Tommy gets killed by Dream

4.    Tommy gets resurrected by Dream

5.    Technoblade and Ranboo come into contact with the Egg

6.    Quackity comes into contact with the Egg

7.    The Syndicate meets up and checks out Snowchester

8.    Tubbo loses a nuke

9.    The Red Banquet

10.  Tommy breaks into the prison

11.  Wilbur gets resurrected

Now, quite a number of those could have worked as either inciting incidents or turning point with some narrowing the scope of the narrative more than other. The early points involving Tommy for instance would have pushed him again into the role protagonist akin to how it worked in Season 2, while others like the Syndicate, the Red Banquet or Wilbur’s resurrection would have established the respectively involved groups or characters as the drivers of the major tension.

But none of these avenues are taken. All these conflicts are still insular; their resolutions don’t build to anything.

Tommy’s resurrection – which in my opinion is the first plot point that could have been used as the Turning Point relatively easily – changes the course of the prison and Las Nevadas-storyline, but has little to no impact on the Eggpire, Syndicate or Nuke-storylines.

Similarly, Tubbo losing the nuke could have led to the major tension becoming every faction hunting for the missing nuke in order to fulfil their personal agendas. But again, no dice.

And this just keeps adding up and up. Each new plot point subconsciously leads the viewer to expect that this will be the one to establish a major, unifying tension for the season – and then nothing comes of it. Though the volume of “lore” is still relatively high, the narrative momentum that is needed in order to make the viewer invested in the storyline is diminished with every potential turning point that is ignored in favour of more set-up.

And this structural problem of Season 3 when compared to Seasons 1 and 2 is made the most apparent when looking at …

 Chapter 3: The Eggpire

Oh, my poor boys. Where did it all go wrong?

To give some context: The Eggpire or Crimson-storyline actually started in the middle of Season 2, where they managed the impossible: Establishing a storyline with some narrative momentum and impact outside of the major conflict.

So, how did they do that and do it successfully at that?

The first thing we need to understand is that the Season 2 Eggpire-storyline basically involved no one from the “principal cast”. As such, the story was not chained to the developments that were going on there – such as Exile, Hog Hunt, the Green Festival, etc. – and instead had more freedom to do their own stuff.

The Eggpire-storyline in Season 2 was for the most part self-contained. So much so, that people were viewing it not as a part of the on-going narrative, but rather in the vein of Tales from the SMP: A story that stands alone, the resolution of which would have no impact on the server as a whole.

And, to be fair, they could have gone that route. But the writer(s) behind the Eggpire-storyline decided to be more ambitious.

The Eggpire-storyline in Season 2 follows its own mini-version of the Three-Act-Structure, with BadBoyHalo serving as its protagonist. The big narrative movements coincide and are influenced with dramatic movement in his own personal conflict. He is the Wilbur of this storylines – the once good man (relatively speaking), who falls from Grace.

Now, the thing that makes the Eggpire-storyline in Season 2 quite brilliant is that they ultimately tied the resolution of their tension into the major conflict/tension of the Season 2.

Doomsday saw the Lowest Point of the main storyline of Season 2. With L’Manburg’s destruction and Dream’s future imprisonment, there was a huge power vacuum on the server – a power vacuum that BadBoyHalo, now fully under the control of the Egg, was ready to fill.

The climax of the Eggpire-storyline in Season 2 saw the rise of the Eggpire as they spread the seeds of the Crimson in the L’Manburg-crater, intent on taking over server – thus adding onto the dramatic tension that Doomsday already established, making the Lowest Point feel even more foreboding and successfully linking their erstwhile separate storyline to the main tension of the overall narrative. The villains for Season 3 seemed to be perfectly set-up.

And then Season 3 rolled around and they … bungled it completely.

Though the Eggpire eventually came into contact with almost every active character in Season 3 – such as Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo, Technoblade and Quackity – they completely failed at driving the major conflict and establishing themselves as the main antagonistic force of the storyline the same way Schlatt and Dream had done in the Seasons prior.

The biggest missed opportunity in that regard is without a doubt the Red Banquet. Now, I talked in the past about how the Red Banquet failed just on its own – at least a specific aspect of it – but now we’ll have to talk about how the Red Banquet fails in the context of Season 3.

Because this was the moment that all the storylines could have been brought together. The Eggpire could have succeeded in their endeavour and established themselves as the most prominent force on the serve. This event would have impacted the server as a whole and thus the entire storyline.

Immediately we would have had a major conflict to drive all other storylines – such as Tommy’s storyline, Snowchester, the Syndicate, Kinoko Kingdom and Las Nevadas – to stop the Eggpire from fully taking over the server. All the character-specific conflicts could have then happened within the framing of this major tension.

Maybe Tubbo and the rest are hunting for the nuke, because they think it’s the only way to stop the Eggpire. Maybe the Eggpire wants to free Dream, because he could be of use for the Crimson. Tommy could get abducted by the Eggpire because he is some sort of chosen one or whatever and the onus would fall on the other characters to save him and stop the villains – so Tommy would become the damsel effectively.

Maybe they decide that the only way to defeat the Eggpire is to bring back Wilbur and that’s how that storyline gets integrated. Maybe the disparate forces disagree on that or other plot-points and there’s some infighting between them.

But still: All conflicts would be unified by this one major tension. The Red Banquet would have been the Turning Point to lead into Act II of Season 3, where all the problems would be viewed with the knowledge that the Eggpire and the Crimson was looming in the distance.

Alas, we did not get that. Instead, the Red Banquet turned out to be just another plot point in a long line of plot points that promises more in the future. Smaller personal conflicts are resolved just within the limited scope of their individual storyline and a major tension is yet to be seen.

When Bad says that there’s just one more Egg-stream planned, I hope he’s either misleading or not being clear enough on what he means. Because if this was it; if the Eggpire-storyline just kinda dies here – too connected to all other storyline to be seen as standalone and yet too separated to be enjoyed in the context of Season 3 as a whole – then it would be a worse writing choice than Doomsday.

 Epilogue: How the Prison Break can bring it all together

To bring it all back to the sentence I opened this video with: I hope Technoblade succeeds in breaking Dream out of prison, because this could finally be the Turning Point that introduces a major tension to the narrative of Season 3.

I hoped that Wilbur’s resurrection would fill that role, but disappointingly that plot point is again relegated to driving the tension of a few chosen storylines instead of providing a major tension for all players involved.

And with five months into Season 3, this Act 1 has gone on for far too long! For comparison, the entire written storyline of Season 1 encompassed 4 months. Season 2 took place in only 2 months. Season 3 has already exceeded both their runtimes and still seems to have yet to truly start.

Whether Technoblade breaks Dream out or Quackity succeeds in trapping Technoblade in Pandora’s Vault – there needs to be a turning point somewhere in sight.

Because my biggest fear is that we’re already past it. That the Eggpire-storyline will just fizzle out and that some other plot point will retroactively reveal itself as the turning point – because that would mean that Season 3 would have a horrifically unfocused, saggy and just generally unengaging second act. And that would be a shame.

Thank you so much for watching. Once again, please feel free to like, comment and subscribe. The links to my social media are all in the description down below. I have a bunch of stuff planned for the future including a very long video on Wilbur as well as two videos that have nothing to do with Dream SMP.

Until then, please be excite.

[redwineconversation]

Camille Abily OL Interview (July 29)

Interview posted on OL Twitter's account.

Should I put this under a read more? Probably. Will I? Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Abily talks a lot about the Trophy of Champions, which is basically when the winner of D1 Arkema plays the winner of the French Cup. Per football tradition this is Lyon vs. PSG. I find it interesting that she outright said that they were treating the ICC as a preseason tournament and their main focus was going to be on the Trophy of Champions.

Journalist: France vs. Germany, it's a game you watched very closely, what did you think of it first of all?

Abily: Of course, it's a match we followed very closely, because we had 5 players on the French side and one of the Germany side. So obviously it's a game we paid attention to, especially as someone whose French, as a football French fan. There was a little bit of frustration and disappointment because we all wanted this French team to go even further.

Journalist: The viewing numbers were published this afternoon. There were about seven million viewers on the combined [French] broadcasts. It's great exposure, great promotion because these are really high quality matches.

Abily: Absolutely. It's the Euros, France vs. Germany, it's one of the best [matchups] in Europe, even in the world. They're part of the best [national] teams. It's exceptional for women's football. And the fact of having a [broadcast] channel like TF1 - and Canal, obviously, of course - but it was finally accessible to everybody. And it's top, really, because we could that people were following. Women's football is progressing, because more people are watching.

Journalist: What's bad for others is good for you. You're going to get back quite a few of the international players. Can you explain to us how that is going to go? They're going to come back a few at a time, I imagine.

Abily: Yeah, exactly. We're trying to give them as much vacation time as possible, even if it isn't always possible for those who are going deep into the tournament. We have big games coming up, with the Trophy of Champions on August 27 [Lyon vs. PSG]. But first we get Signed Bruun back, who was knocked out in the group stages, and who will be back next Monday, August 1. After that, second wave, with Lindsey Horan and Ada Hegerberg, who were also eliminated - well, Lindsey it's different, because her tournament finished earlier - but Ada [and Norway] were knocked out of the competition pretty quickly. After that, it's the wave of quarterfinalists, where there is Janice Cayman who was knocked out, the Dutch players, Damaris, Daniëlle van de Donk. Chris [Endler] as well, who played in the Copa America which finished a little later, August 8. Then finally it's the French players, who will be back right before we leave for the United States, as well as Sara Dabritz. It's true that Sara Dabritz will be a little shortchanged on her vacation time. But I think it's important [for her to come back early], she's a new player, she needs to be integrated into the group. So it's important for her, and for us, to come to the United States.

Journalist: Quickly, how is preseason going? You've been back for a while now. You've got a small group at the moment. How is it going for now?

Abily: It's going really well. It's true that we have a lot of young [academy] players at the moment, which is good for them, because they get to see how it's done at the highest level in France and in Europe. They're playing with and against top French and other international players. So it's good for them. It's good for us, too, to see what the academy is producing. And it allows us to have numbers as well. As long as they [the international players] aren't back yet, it's hard to have sufficient numbers for a practice. So it's interesting with the academy players, but we're looking forward to getting the international players back and the group to be back to normal.

Journalist: So you basically said it there, the big thing in preseason is going to be this tournament in the United States.

Abily: Yeah, because it's basically there that we will have the whole group back. We'll have 14 days to prepare for the Trophy of Champions, knowing that it's not a lot of time. Especially as there will be two big games, against Chelsea on the 17th and then Portland ... or the Mexican team ... So some nice games coming up, but we can't lose sight of our objectives, which is really to be ready for the Trophy of Champions.

[danwhobrowses]

NXT World's Collide - Initial Thoughts

Now to part 2 of 3

In NXT UK's last hurrah before taking a hiatus and becoming NXT Europe, what remains of the UK roster are to be integrated into the normal NXT, including their titles. The World's Collide event sees NXT UK cross NXT in battle in our second PPV of the Weekend, All Out will be (somehow) fitted in tomorrow

Spoilers for the PPV

No matches for the Kick-Off, bit remiss given how it's only a small card

Starting with NA title with Pretty Ricky, but Melo with the hanged jerseys mind games, Sikoa among the shirts, Melo has the NA title decal on his knee pad too

The two are very clean in their wrestling, a great double springboard cutter to cancel each other out popped the crowd

Also Stu Bennett has been great on commentary

Melo wasn't sneaky leaving his foot out for Trick to pull like half an inch XD

Good match, probably could've benefitted from story, Trick did bide Melo time but it was the paul smackage when Ricochet landed on his feet for the Shooting Star Press

Oh, so Roddy's dead

There are a lot of bodies for this four way

Ahhh Briggs and Jensen eliminated first by Gallus, so much for the NXT UK Tag Champions

That alliance between PD and Gallus didn't last

Creeds then eliminate Gallus, who don't leave quietly

Julius' hot tag was great

The eliminated teams are fighting in the ramp for some reason which leads to a le sigh ref bump

Kemp then of course uses this to turn on the Creeds

Urgh they had to go with the Zoolander Twins, where was Brutus throughout all of this?

The same promos from Clash are on NXT, does WWE think that we don't watch both?

Tony D'Angelo trying to validate the fact that he lost LDF doesn't work, but he looks to be trying to side with Cameron Grimes who blows him off

You make Meiko come out first!?

Bit too much smoke for Bea/Blair

Mandy arrives in a...car? Sporting USA attire

Someone is screaming far too much

Yeah that list doesn't do Mandy favours

Reminder that Meiko is 42 years old and still amazing

Bit dumb though to wait for Mandy to pose and not take advantage of it

Mandy's gear seems to be struggling to contain her girls

KAMIGOYE! Only 2

Of course the fickleness of American crowds that they will cheer anyone American against non-Americans

And Rose *URGH* wins, Meiko hits the Scorpion Rising on Blair and after having to set her up, Rose hits both with the running knee

I am absolutely fucking baffled that between Bea Preistley and MEIKO SATOMURA, WWE choose Mandy Fucking Rose to still be their champion

Why do I even bother? They made her beat Raquel, KLR and Io after all, I just expected the better wrestler to win

They moved Axiom vs Nathan Frazer to Wednesday :/

Just be Nikki Cross and Piper Niven already!

First to challenge all active women's championships but won nothing in NXT

Chance is literally so mini compared to Doudrop XD

Toxic Attraction make a distraction which occupied Nikki so that KC2 can beat Piper, even though Piper proved able to handle both women previously in the match

That's 3/4 interferences btw, plus Nikki could've made it, weak match really

Main Roster bias made the tag champs look weak as it is

The Dyad are just weird, why couldn't we have the Grizzled Young Vets?

Still not sure how I feel about Bate with the long Jesus hair

Of course my internet chooses the main event to start blipping out and killing the vid quality, I've seen the buffer bar longer than I saw Bate's entrance

Never been done? Titles have been unified from two different brands and even companies for like decades

Bronn's shoulder was well up from that Airplane Spin slam

Bronn kicks out of the Tyler Driver 97 but Bate gets to the ropes for the Gorilla Powerslam

Bate forgoes the second Tyler Driver attempt to try his rebound Shotei and runs into a spear to lose

Least Tyson Fury didn't come out to sing American Pie, but again it was just, fine? I guess I never quite bought that NXT would give it to Bate

There's something missing as well, I can't quite explain it but it's like that buzz in my chest that makes me into it, Bate and Bronn are great workers, but I feel like they could've done a lot more

Conclusion

Honestly, I would've rather slept. The opener was good but after that it was just a snowball of weak booking choices, I get you wanna make it feel evens but the fact that Pretty Deadly and Mandy became unified champions in succession then postponed a potential best of 3 banger between Ben Carter and A-Kid shows the mentality NXT 2.0 has at play, thew Vince-ism is still there, right down to the 'home team' bias.

I also hope that the NXT UK belts aren't gone, they are WWE's best looking belts, and if they are gone I will happily take the UK title for myself if they name a price.

Overall it was fine, somehow didn't top Clash at the Castle, ball's in All Out's court now. Now I have to have 5 hours sleep...

Match Results (and Predictions)

Carmelo Hayes (c) [w/ Trick Williams] def. Ricochet (Pinfall via Small Package) Pretty Deadly [w/Lash Legend] def. The Creed Brothers (c) [w/Damon Kemp], Briggs & Jensen (c) [w/Fallon Henley] & Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) [w/Joe Coffey] (Final Pinfall by Prince on Julius after chair shot) - NEW UNIFIED TAG CHAMPIONS Mandy Rose (c) def. Meiko Satomura (c) & Blair Davenport (Pinfall by Rose on Blair via running knee) - NEW UNIFIED WOMEN'S CHAMPION Chance & Carter (c) def. Doudrop & Nikki A.S.H. (Pinfall by Chance on Doudrop via 450 Knee Drop) Bron Breakker (c) def. Tyler Bate (c) (Pinfall via Spear) - NEW UNIFIED CHAMPION

[cupidcreates]

akdsfjkdksj I wasn’t expecting you to churn all this content out so quick (´∀｀)♡ omgosh you went above and beyond with the love language ask!! I love to see your interpretation of these characters so what do the cast consider the perfect date to be? low key vs high key? local vs out of town? -😌✨

Thank you! I’m glad you liked the love language post, sorry it took so long lol. As for their favorite dates I think I’ll do the same characters here:

Katsuki Bakugou

Rock Climbing/Hiking Dates

Canonically one of Katsuki’s favorite things to do is go rock climbing so he’d definitely want to bring a SO along every so often. If you’re an athletic person and enjoy being outdoors this will be a very fun date! If you’re not a very athletic person (as many of us aren’t) Katsuki will settle for just going for a short hike along a trail. Katsuki gets super talkative on hikes as well, as you’re walking he’ll just be talking about literally anything! From Hero work to his friends/family, to things that have been bothering him lately. Whatever is on his mind he’ll share with you while you’re both out, which is incredibly helpful as he doesn’t ever discuss his feelings at any other point in time. Plus it gives him a chance to show off how fit he is in front of you, which you both always consider a plus.

Izuku Midoriya

Movie Dates

A Classic, perhaps a little plain even, but Izuku absolutely loves to take you to the movies. He loves everything about the date, from discussing what you’re about to watch, to getting the snacks, to whispering in the back row (if you’re the type to get annoyed by talking during a movie he’ll keep this to a bare minimum). He loves being able to snuggle up next to you and hold your hand while discussing the finer points of the plot (If you’ll tolerate talking of course). Don’t think he’s being innocent here though, he definitely uses the darkness surrounding you as cover as he runs his hands up your thighs. Unbeknownst to most, Izuku is actually very much a horndog. He conceals it very well but he’s only barely capable of keeping his hands to himself when it comes to his SO. Any chance he gets to touch you he’ll take it, more than likely this is why his second favorite type of date is usually a stay-in date...

Shoto Todoroki

Dinner Dates

Another Classic, Shoto loves to treat his SO to expensive treats with his favorite being food-related dates at lavish restaurants. Not a week goes by that he doesn’t take you out on the town for the night at some place you’re sure you couldn’t even afford a glass of water at. It’s almost never the same place twice either, Shoto is actually a foodie and enjoys trying new types of cuisine whenever he can. He’s got a whole list of places he wants to take you, and if they require reservations he’s already got them locked down. If you love eating Shoto is your man, he’ll make sure you’re set with a wide variety of foods to choose from and always remembers any place you happen to be partial to.

Denki Kaminari

Amusement/Water Park Dates

Denki is a fun-loving guy through and through, he knows how to have a good time and wherever you happen to go he makes sure you do too. That being said, his absolute favorite place to take you is to an amusement or water park. It’s not often you two get to go, as you’re both very busy with your respective hero work most days, but when you do it’s a day-long affair. You’re there from the minute the park opens to the second it shuts down, riding as many rides as you can manage, eating greasy garbage food, and making sure to strike the dumbest poses for any rides that take pictures. You’ve got a whole scrapbook of these photos by now, their ridiculousness increasing with each new one added.

Eijirou Kirishima

Beach Dates

You wouldn’t expect Eijirou Kirishima to be a Thalassophile (Def. Person who loves the ocean) but he is. He adores being on the beach and it’s his preferred location for a date. You’ve spent many a sunny afternoon seaside with Eijirou, building sandcastles, chasing crabs, and just enjoying the ocean. One memorable afternoon you found yourselves right next to a sea turtles nest and you got to watch the babies pop out of the sand and scurry towards the ocean, assisted by Eijirou as he chased off the seagulls looking to make them a meal. Eijirou also enjoys surfing, and if you know how to do so he’ll get you matching boards so you can ride the waves together. If you’re not partial to surfing he’ll be sure to pull out all his tricks while you watch him, he’ll even let you onto his board with him so you two can just float together by the shore. Of course you two can’t go to the beach year round, but when you can you’re both sure to make the most of these sunny days, even if he does get an awful sunburn by the end of it. 

Hitoshi Shinsou

Gaming Dates

Hitoshi isn’t what one would call ‘social’ when given the choice between going out for a night and staying home he’ll almost always choose the latter. So it’s expected that his favorite type of date is one where you two can stay inside and enjoy each others company. You both work so hard as Heros, why not spend your days off relaxing with one another? He can spend hours alone with you, preferably kicking your ass at Mario Party or some other multiplayer game. He doesn’t need anything except you, his consoles, and a pile of your favorite snacks to have a good time. That being said, if you want him to go out for a date the best way to convince him is to take him to some kind of arcade, especially if it’s a VR arcade. He feels a kind of nostalgic joy for these places and won’t hesitate to return and feel like a kid again. Plus it’s always nice to repeatedly prove to you that yes he is the champion of Dance Dance Revolution and you will never usurp this title from him.

Tamaki Amajiki

Park/Picnic Dates

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, Tamaki loves spending time outdoors; surrounded by and in awe of nature and it’s complex inner workings. He enjoys just taking time to appreciate the world around him, so dates where you can both relax outside and enjoy each other’s company are his favorite kind. He has a specific hill at his favorite park he likes to take you, bringing a lunch of all your favorite foods he sets you both up under the biggest shade tree for an afternoon. You both lay back on your worn picnic blanket and just cloudgaze, talking for hours about anything and everything. Much like Bakugou, Tamaki gets very talkative on these dates, discussing his week with you and anything new he might have learned over the course of it. He’s so very endearing on these dates its easy to fall silent and just listen to him for hours.

Mirio Togata

Crafting Dates

Mirio likes to have memorabilia from your dates, so you can expect a lot of dates to center around making things. More than just your average painting classes Mirio has also taken you to sculpting, woodworking, and glass blowing classes to name a few. At the end of your dates you both exchange what you’ve made and Mirio absolutely adores anything you craft, regardless of its quality in your eyes. He puts his heart and soul into making you something and more often than not it turns out spectacularly. Mirio wasn’t as good with the ceramics class, but you love the warped vase he made (even if it was technically supposed to be a cup at the start, we’ve all been there). Mirio’s kept everything you made him and even has a shelf in his house just dedicated to what you’ve made, it makes him so happy to come home after a hard day of work and see physical memories of his time with you.

Keigo Takami

Aquarium/Zoo Dates

Underneath Keigo’s charming and charismatically upbeat personality lies a bitter and broken man, drained by his role in Hero Society and left an empty shell of his former self. Underneath that personality lies a kid who never got to have a proper childhood and desperately wants to make up for it. He now uses his dates with you to do just that; not that you mind of course, dates with Keigo are always fun and lighthearted and you love to see him truly enjoy himself for once. Keigo’s favorite places to go are definitely large and intricately designed Zoos and Aquariums. He loves to look at the painstakingly accurate and detailed natural habitats, make fun of the stranger animal names you find, and learn new information about foreign bird species. Loves to mimic their calls too, much to the irritation of the birds and the zoo employees. He makes it a point to always get you a stuffed animal at the end of the date, ensuring that you now have a massive collection of them sitting all around your room. You’re always kept up to date on any Zoo or Aquarium events thanks to Keigo, as he has a calendar dedicated to all the unique events they have going on throughout the year.

Touya Todoroki

Crash Dates

Dabi is...well he’s unpredictable at the best of times and it’s very rare that you two have time for anything even resembling a date (being an S class villain does make it hard to exist normally in society and do normal couple things but it ees what it ees). However, when he can take you one a date --well the term “date” is generous here- it’s never a dull one. You’re not sure how he does it but when you go out you always manage to end up somewhere Dabi could never get into naturally. From sold-out concerts, to stand up shows, to parties at lavish houses belonging to people you’ve never even heard of let alone met before; dates with Dabi are always somewhere you two definitely shouldn’t be. One memorable morning he took you to a country club where you got to each fancy exclusive rich people food and play a horrible facsimile of golf before you were eventually found and chased out. It’s always fun to see how long you two can crash an even before being found out.

Tomura Shigaraki

Cemetery/Haunted Places Dates

Tomura Shigaraki is a man who enjoys his space from other people, in his opinion the only good person is a dead one (unless he’s talking about you, of course). So it’s not abnormal for your dates to be in a place far away from others. Again the term “date” is being very generous, more often than not he’ll approach you, tell you to follow him, and you’ll wind up in some abandoned building or graveyard. Normally this would be cause for concern, as this is exactly what happens in horror movies before someone gets killed, but Tomura has a soft spot for you so your safety is ensured. Tomura loves to see a place reclaimed by nature, vines growing over a run down house or worn out gravestones breaking apart into chunks of marble with barely legible words on them. He doesn’t talk much on your dates, but will often give you a random bit of insight about him; like on one date where you both walked alongside abandoned train tracks at dusk and he told you about the dog he had as a child. He seeks no pity from you, and these dates are not the conventionally romantic type, but you enjoy being able to be with Tomura in a way no one else ever has or ever will.

[moonawrites]

wait holy shit i understand nothing about football, but what's happened?

I'll try to summarize in brief terms! Basically, the current structure of European club football is like this: Every country has a domestic league with a promotion/relegation system. For example, the English Premier League, La Liga in Spain, Serie A in Italy etc. are the top flight of football in those countries. It's a pyramid system with multiple flights, there are 2nd tier leagues whose best teams get promoted up to the top league, and the bottom teams from the top league get relegated to the next tier down every season and so on. Each league plays for their own domestic league title and domestic cup. The clubs in the top tier leagues also compete to participate in the UEFA Champion's League (UCL) which is a European knock out style competition where all the top clubs from each country compete to be the European champions, it's a huge deal. Basically depending on the quality of the league they can send a certain number of clubs to the UCL, so for example the top 4 Premier League and La Liga teams qualify. There's another competition called the Europa League for the next teams down as well. Theoretically this means even the smallest clubs have the opportunity to compete at the highest level, and the top teams can never get complacent because they're not guaranteed to play. A bad season where a top team finishes 5th means that year they don't play in the UCL. A small team can work their way up the pyramid to the highest tier and then work on qualifying for UCL/UEL. It's not a perfect system obviously and there have been a lot of issues, there's so much corruption, and reform was needed (and being worked on).

A couple of days ago though, 12 of the top clubs in Europe announced a breakaway Super League, where the best clubs in Europe would regularly compete with each other. It would replace the Champion's League. The 15 founding clubs would always be guaranteed to play (even though some have not even been able to qualify for UCL regularly in recent years) and there would be 5 spots for other teams from all of Europe. The idea is this would create excitement about football again and provide more competitive matches between the best clubs. The sort of exciting matches we all wait for to see at the UCL, we would just get to see every week and it would eliminate "less exciting" games. But the idea got pretty immediate backlash. At the end of the day it's clearly all about the biggest clubs making more money. They'd play more "big" games between big teams with big stars in big stadiums around the world and get big sponsors. The teams would win big money. It eliminates competition and pressure, it compromises the integrity of the sport, it fucks over football fans and players, it would destroy smaller clubs who would never have a hope of competing at the top level. It's just all a mess. And like, imo, if we see those games every week it would not hold any of the excitement of a Real Madrid vs Liverpool UCL final anyways. It's all just glorified friendlies between the richest clubs. Obviously none of the managers or players were consulted even though they're the ones who play the sport, it's all the club owners and presidents whose only motivation is greed. But even now a lot of the clubs involved are having second thoughts because of the backlash apparently, and some reportedly were more pressured into participating for fear of being left behind than actually wanting to join. Chelsea reportedly pulled out first and a lot of teams seem to want to follow. So we'll see how it goes. But if this does end up going through it would completely disrupt the system of football in Europe right now. There's talks from UEFA and FIFA (the European and global football associations/governing bodies) that teams could be banned from all domestic and European competitions for participating and players could be banned from international competitions with their national teams (so like, the Euros and the World Cup). It's all a nasty mess.